A giant upside-down turtle statue sped above the dark sea, shrouded in a fluctuating bubble of qi. As it flew higher and higher, the statue carved a smaller and smaller trail on the sea's surface, as if trying to avoid leaving a trace. The turtle itself had already turned invisible in the center of its belly, creating a doughnut-shaped hole through which the dark sea was visible. The invisibility spread steadily, as if an unseen force were engulfing it.

In the center of the turtle statue, where this invisibility originated, black smoke billowed. The smoke appeared to materialize from thin air, but it was actually pouring from Liu Xing's stomach.

Standing in the center of the turtle, holding weapons in both hands and willing the invisibility to spread as fast as possible, Liu Xing could not help but grit his teeth. He was angry and annoyed at the demonic cultivators. If they hadn't come, he would have had plenty of time to reattach his friends' limbs. As it was, only he, Lin Zhuyu, and Qing Yuan had all their limbs intact. He was also annoyed because he needed to activate his invisibility. While useful, making the ground invisible would cause his friends discomfort, and he wanted to avoid causing them more pain, even if it was only a little nausea. Then there was the anger mixed with fear. The billowing smoke came from his stomach, and he could not will it to become invisible. It was like trying to paint running water. This made his invisibility less effective, which meant that whether they were invisible or not, the Nether Lotus Sect would know their location and follow them. His only hope now was to outspeed them, because if they caught up, he was pessimistic that he could fend them all off while protecting his friends.

Once the turtle statue was high enough, the trail on the sea below disappeared. Once the statue was completely invisible, only the smoke from his body left a trail. He clenched his weapons and peered into his consciousness, where he saw the black creature still spewing smoke.

"Should I yank it out forcefully?" he muttered. It would hurt like hell, and he was sure that doing so would damage his consciousness. But if that mark was destroyed, their odds of hiding would shoot through the roof. The only problem was the risk. What if yanking it out damaged him directly, to the point that he lost consciousness, couldn't control his qi, or was gravely injured? If the Nether Lotus Sect arrived then, not only would his friends be kidnapped, but he would also be killed.

As he thought, he could hear the whimpers of several people and a soothing voice reassuring another. Then he heard Qing Yuan say in a light tone, "We will be safe."

Those words were directed at the others, but they affected him, too. Yes, they would be safe. Whatever happened, they would be safe.

Even if the Nether Lotus Sect knew their location, they would be safe if they kept moving. At that, he decided that if they traveled for a full hour without an attack, he would undo the invisibility and reattach their limbs again. "Yes," he muttered, "we will be safe."

The Nether Lotus Sect had people with spatial affinity who could teleport. But aside from Han Jiulao, it seemed that long-range teleportation was not too easy. He was sure the only reason the Nether Lotus Sect could teleport into Water Tower City was because of the Jin clan's help, which meant that while they could teleport to different islands, they needed cooperation from the inhabitants. This meant that if he avoided islands and cities, they could not teleport directly to him. Han Jiulao was the only exception, though from Qing Yuan's description of the demonic cultivators, no one matched his appearance.

"We will be fine," Liu Xing inhaled deeply as he tried to rein in his racing heart.

Just then, as if the world was conspiring against him, he suddenly felt a moving source of qi behind them. He spun around instantly. In the distance, a long, dark silhouette moved through the water at high speed. Liu Xing clenched his weapons and walked to the edge of the turtle statue so that he could see the thing that followed them more clearly. Its shape resembled a great spirit beast, one that reminded him of the blue snake he had fought inside the dome recently. However, the qi it emitted was not prickly like a spirit beast's; it was human qi, dark and sinister, as if crafted from pure malice.

Liu Xing willed his turtle to move higher with more intense speed, making some of the women yelp in pain and surprise. At that moment, the thing following them broke the surface of the sea, and he could see its head. It was indeed a snake. However, it was not natural. Its scales were black, looking as if they were made from strokes of brushed ink. Its eyes were white voids with black dots in the center, also like drops of ink on paper. As more of its body was revealed, the entire creature looked as if it had slithered out of a black-and-white painting and come to life.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Upon seeing it, Liu Xing knew this was either a treasure or a technique of someone from the Nether Lotus Sect, and from the feel of it, it was quite strong. Perhaps as strong as the electric eel, or even stronger. Still, he was confident he could kill it, but only if he could move freely and use his entire arsenal. Since he had to remain on the defensive, he pressed his lips together and watched the snake below with his full focus, his hands clenching his gun and stone blade, ready to attack.

The turtle statue rose higher and higher. Although its shape was invisible, black smoke continuously gushed from Liu Xing's stomach, revealing their position. He would have moved far away from the turtle to lure the snake away, but he had to stay in contact with the statue to maintain its invisibility.

Below, the snake looked up at his position, its eyes conveying no feeling or emotion. It was as if the snake were merely a doll being controlled from far away.

For a while, the world was silent, as if holding its breath. Liu Xing continued to rise, trying to reach the black clouds and hide among them, while the snake moved across the sea, its eyes following him. For a moment, Liu Xing thought that perhaps this was the extent of their encounter. This snake was strong and oversized, with a head that could probably swallow ten people at once, but it could only move on land and in water; it had no means to chase him into the sky. With his heart hammering steadily against his chest, he truly hoped he wouldn't have to fight. After all, fighting this snake was not only risky but also offered no benefit. Since it was not a cultivator or a spirit beast, even if he killed it with his gun, no bullets would form from it.

But then, the center of the snake suddenly began to bulge, as if a giant prey had appeared in its stomach, like a python that had swallowed a calf. The snake's expression didn't change, but its eyes suddenly shone with red light, and crimson qi began to swirl around it.

Instantly, Liu Xing knew the snake meant to do something. Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, he aimed his gun downward and activated his Exploding Lightning Missile Technique, which was fueled by the qi he had stored in his Ethereal Pearl from killing spirit beasts. With his eyes shining with focus, he pulled the trigger six times, sending six bolts toward the bulging snake like falling stars. Without stopping, he channeled some of the qi into his stone blade, causing it to glow purple, and then with a shout and a strong slash, he unleashed a gigantic purple crescent that could behead several giant snakes at once, making the wind screamed as the crescent of purple qi descended.

The snake looked at his attacks without expression. Then, its bulging back popped with a loud sound accompanied by an explosion of black ink, and from the wound sprouted two giant, black wings, like those of a bat. It instantly flapped its newly created wings and shot up into the air like a rising dragon, intending to dodge all of his attacks. Indeed, the purple crescent qi hit only water, slicing through it as it traveled down, likely not stopping until it reached the seabed. But his six lightning missiles curved and then rose into the sky, chasing the black snake with two wings on its back.

Liu Xing gritted his teeth as his mind worked hard on multitasking, from maintaining his stone turtle's ascent to controlling his Eyes of Lightning, as well as the Lightning Missiles. He endured and controlled the missiles manually, chasing the intended target across the sky. The black snake soared, moving left and right, up and down in a seemingly random pattern, and his lightning missiles followed it like six piranhas trying to catch a single shark.

He thought this chase would last for several more minutes, perhaps long enough for them to reach the clouds in the dark sky. This snake had suddenly sprouted wings, after all, so it would definitely try to attack directly. He was hoping the clouds would conceal them and enable him to attack the snake. Instead, as if it had had enough, the snake suddenly turned its body around. Instead of flying away from his missiles, it flew toward the missiles themselves with its mouth wide open. Inside its maw, a shining blue portal was swirling. Liu Xing tried to maneuver the missiles around, intending to hit the snake's head from the side, but the creature accelerated and snapped its jaws, swallowing all of his Lightning Missiles. The missiles didn't explode in its mouth. Instead, he heard a faint explosion from far away. Liu Xing snapped his head in that direction and saw the silhouette of the island where Water Tower City was located.

The snake then roared and flapped its wings as it sped right toward him, mouth open wide, revealing the portal inside. Liu Xing pressed his lips together and gripped his weapons harder. He had been mistaken. This snake was not an attack sent to chase, capture, or kill him. It was merely a portable portal connected to its owner, making it possible for the Nether Lotus Sect to instantly close the gap between them.

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