Liu Xing didn't fully agree but saw no need to debate right and wrong with Ji Dongyang. He knew not all so-called righteous cultivators were good. In this xianxia world, might made right, and the last one standing wrote history and painted themselves however they wanted.

"The most despicable aren't us demonic cultivators, but those who claim to tread the righteous path while doing despicable things in secret. The Heavenly Thunder Sect is the worst offender. They are the most despicable sect in the world!"

The Heavenly Thunder Sect was one of the five great sects on the continent, on par with or the Purple Moon Sect. They were famous for their explosive power and ruthlessness. Liu Xing remembered people dying on missions after crossing paths with them. However, he wouldn't judge them based solely on Ji Dongyang's words.

"Don't stray from the topic. What about your shadow?"

"I'm getting there. You are the one who strayed from the topic." He paused. "So, the shadow. It's actually why I annihilated my sect. When I became a new elder, a disciple interested me. He had no talent, resources, or connections but stumbled upon fortune as if the world favored him. Once, on a mission to pick a herb, he found a stone that sped up cultivation. Another time, he found a pocket dimension filled with spirit stones. Everywhere he went, treasure appeared. It was ridiculous."

Liu Xing pinched his chin. This story reminded him of generic xianxia web novels where protagonists had heaven-defying luck, finding gold even when they went to the bathroom. If this world was a story, then perhaps this man is the main character.

"Who is he? Is he still alive?" Liu Xing asked.

"You don't need to know his name. He's already dead. Anyway, this guy stumbled upon a black bird. It was so small it could fit in your palm. The black bird seemed normal, and he brought it back to the sect, but I knew he wouldn't pick up an ordinary thing, so I retrieved the bird."

"You bullied him?" Liu Xing asked.

Ji Dongyang snorted. "I didn't need to bully him. I was an elder. He got plenty of spirit stones in the exchange, so our transaction was fair."

Liu Xing doubted it, but he let Ji Dongyang continue.

"After doing some experiments on the bird, I realized that this bird is not a black bird, but a white parakeet. There was something that clung to its feathers, making it look like a black bird."

"That's your shadow," Liu Xing said.

"Indeed, that is my shadow."

Liu Xing remained silent, waiting for Ji Dongyang to continue, but he seemed content to stay quiet, likely because he didn't want to reveal his secret. Liu Xing raised his left hand toward Ji Dongyang, the hand holding an invisible gun. Ji Dongyang's face suddenly paled, and he hurriedly began to speak.

"I don't know where the shadow comes from, but it has several... interesting properties."

"Such as?" Liu Xing prompted.

"It can enhance techniques. Any Base Grade technique would become an Earth Grade Technique, and any Earth Grade Technique would become a Heaven Grade technique if enhanced with the shadow."

"That's a strong property. What if you enhance a Heaven Grade technique? What would it become?" Liu Xing asked.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ji Dongyang grimaced. "It enhances the overall power, but it's still a Heaven Grade technique. If I had a technique stronger than Heaven Grade, then I wouldn't have ended up like this."

Ji Dongyang spoke as if techniques higher than Heaven Grade existed, which wasn't surprising, but it broadened Liu Xing's horizons. Are there also hidden cultivation realms? He wondered. In this world, there are seven stages of cultivation: Lock Opening, Core Splitting, Sun Refining, Sun Collapsing, Black Sun, White Sun, and Immortal Realm. Usually, xianxia worlds have nine realms, with each realm having nine stages because in Chinese culture, nine is the highest number. But in this world, there are only seven stages. Is it possible there are nine realms in this world? Liu Xing wasn't sure, but at the very least, if someone crossed into the seventh realm, they would become immortal.

"What's the second property of the shadow?" Liu Xing asked.

"It can also refine impure qi and accelerate your cultivation slightly."

That property seemed normal; after all, many treasures and techniques could refine impure qi. Impure qi usually came from sources like beast cores or qi extracted from other people. But Ji Dongyang mentioned it as if he wanted Liu Xing to think this ability wasn't very special. The shadow is probably phenomenal as a cultivation aid.

"The last property is if I absorb the shadow, then I become a black cloud like what you saw. Although you are the first one who can actually see my form. Everyone else thinks I just vanished."

Liu Xing's eyebrow rose. "Is that so?"

"Yes. When I possessed that robber's body, didn't his friends fail to see the shadow I emitted? Only you can see it, which is a mystery. If our positions were reversed, I would want to dissect your body and experiment on you."

Liu Xing squeezed his hand, and Ji Dongyang apologized for his rude comment. Liu Xing didn't mind too much; he was thinking about why he could see the shadow while Pu He and Han Zhong couldn't. He was, for all intents and purposes, a normal cultivator. He practiced a normal cultivation scripture and had normal techniques. The only difference was that he now had a gun, and others didn't.

"Wait a minute," Liu Xing muttered.

He glanced at his invisible gun. Didn't his gun have similar properties to the shadow?

His gun absorbed techniques he used, but when Liu Xing reabsorbed the technique, it became stronger. His Lightning Cloak was only a Base Grade, yet its effect surpassed that of a Base Grade technique. His gun could also refine impure qi. If he killed a spirit beast, the gun absorbed the spirit beast's core, and Liu Xing could then absorb it and advance his cultivation rapidly. Lastly, while the gun didn't turn Liu Xing into mist, it did grant him invisibility. Suddenly, Liu Xing's heart started racing. Is it possible that his gun is also created from the shadow? Is it all merely coincidence?

Liu Xing thought for a moment, then decided to test a conjecture. He glanced at his invisible gun and deactivated the invisibility. His black gun gleamed in the sun.

"Ji Dongyang, do you see the weapon in my hand?" Liu Xing asked.

Ji Dongyang glanced at Liu Xing's left hand and shook his head. "I don't. Is your weapon some kind of artifact?"

"Are you sure you don't see it? Are you messing with me?" Liu Xing squeezed harder, and Ji Dongyang panicked, insisting he didn't see it. After confirming this, Liu Xing loosened his grip and made the gun invisible again.

So, the gun is actually invisible from the start, which is odd. If this gun is already invisible to others, why does it have the ability to become more invisible? It's like having a black wall and adding another layer of black paint to it. It doesn't make sense. But he soon considered two possible explanations. Nui might have made the gun doubly invisible to ensure it couldn't be perceived by others. The first layer makes it invisible to normal people, while the second layer hides it from his main enemy—the true darkness he needs to defeat. The second possibility is that the invisibility is needed so it can spread to his body. Perhaps the truth is a mix of both, or maybe another reason entirely. Whatever the answer, the main thing was that his gun had similar properties to Ji Dongyang's shadow.

"Alright, any other interesting information about your shadow? Another property you're hiding, perhaps?"

Ji Dongyang shook his head. "No, I'm not hiding anything else."

"What about your possession technique? Is that also an effect of your shadow?"

"No, this technique is mine. Well, it's mine now. In the past, it was a unique technique of the Blood Wing sect, but now they are in the depths of hell, and the only one who knows this technique is me." He snorted. "This technique is Heaven Grade, although with my current power, it's only at the level of Earth Grade." Ji Dongyang smiled then. "How about I teach you this technique? Combine it with your power, and you could achieve immortality in less than a thousand years!"

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