After emerging from underground, Liu Xing ran as fast as he could. At first, he fled in a random direction, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and the place where Elder Xia Juetian had died. Then he arrived at a small town without fanfare. Still invisible, he had run inside, found a clothing shop, and taken several outfits, several blankets, and some large bags. He had then searched for a place to wash and calm himself. After that, he reluctantly dropped his invisibility and asked for directions to the capital.

About twelve hours later, Liu Xing was nearly at the Twelve Sun Empire's capital, the City of Suns. But before he could arrive, a heavy rain had begun to fall so he had carved a small cave.

Currently, Liu Xing lay on several soft blankets inside a small but spacious cave he had carved himself. A white blanket covered him, its weight on his chest making him feel warm and secure. Nearby, a bonfire danced, providing light and chasing away the cold air.

As the bonfire crackled, the sound of rain pattering outside made the night feel peaceful. The howling wind and creaking branches created a comforting symphony. Liu Xing lay beneath the soft blanket, his eyes tracing the smooth brown roof of the cave. Carved by his lightning blade, it almost shone as if made of polished granite. He could see lines of black and gold intertwining like rivers trying to merge.

As he followed these lines, the sounds of the elements soothing him, his mind returned to the spirit beasts. Especially the black one with green coconuts for ears, golden snakes for limbs, and wriggling yellow teeth. This spirit beast had looked almost ridiculous, yet he couldn't laugh when he remembered it. After all, that creature had nearly killed him.

Liu Xing inhaled deeply, trying to calm his racing mind, and closed his eyes. As darkness enveloped him, a tempting whisper arose from a corner of his heart. It argued that these spirit beasts weren't his problem. He could simply ignore them and flee to another nation. Wasn't he in the middle of a race to become an inner disciple? What if his pursuit of this matter cost him his chance at that coveted position? Logically, it made sense to walk away.

Still, while tempting, and almost half of his brain agreed with it, he couldn't just walk away. This was actually the situation he had predicted would happen when he decided to help his friends in other worlds. He had tried to steeled his heart for this kind of scenario when he attempted to save Chu Zen from Shen Ye. A problem too big for him, one that made him want to turn around and run away. Something that would bring regret if he chose the easy way out.

Liu Xing opened his eyes and decided to do the best and right thing. While he couldn't defeat those spirit beasts alone, he could still warn others about the danger they posed.

"But still, what are those spirit beasts?" he wondered.

Elder Xia Juetian had said they were abominations created from humans and spirit beasts, which implied these creatures weren't natural, but made by someone. They could also steal and use other people's bloodlines. This made Liu Xing wonder how Wei Yi, if he was really behind all this, would absorb all those bloodlines later. Would he eat all those spirit beasts?

As he reflected and let his mind wander, he realized the most important thing about this situation.

It all happened because he was too weak. If he were strong, stronger than Elder Xia Juetian, he could have killed it before it split itself and became a bigger threat. This realization made him acutely aware that what he needed was the same as two years ago when he first realized he had died and transmigrated into this world. Strength. Absolute strength.

With unrivaled power, he could nip almost every problem in the bud. He had a cheat item that could propel him to become the strongest being in this world. And here lay a temptation so great that if he weren't careful, he would slip and fall. After all, his gun could kill other things besides spirit beasts. His gun didn't care whether he killed cultivators or spirit beasts. If they were killed by his gun, he would get their qi.

"What a terrible thought," Liu Xing muttered as a horrible way to get stronger whispered in his mind.

He decided to sleep.

***

Liu Xing woke to the sound of hurried footsteps. Fearing enemies, his eyes snapped open, and he quickly jumped to the cave entrance. With his sharp eyes, he scanned his surroundings and tried to assess whether the sound posed a danger to him.

It was morning, with the sun just peeking over the horizon. He stood at the mouth of a cave several dozen meters above the ground. This artificial cave he had carved into the cliff gave him a vantage point to see everything around him. In the distance, he could see a sprawling golden city, with several towering spires jutting out, a giant statue, and a massive golden castle. He tore his eyes away from the city and focused on his immediate vicinity.

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Below the cliff, there were several small green hills. Each hill was covered with colorful flowers: red, yellow, green, purple, orange, and many more. Some of the flowers had already bloomed, while others were still buds. Beads of dew hung from each flower.

On one of the hills, he saw two groups of people rushing through flower hill, stomping wild flowers as they moved. The first group consisted of two women. The younger woman who looked around his age carried an older woman on her back. She wore an ornate red and gold robe with a crane pattern and a golden hairpin in her black hair. She wore no makeup, and her cheeks were pink and dotted with sweat. The woman on her back looked elderly, but what caught Liu Xing's attention was the large amount of blood gushing out from her back, leaving a trail of red on the trampled flowers.

The group chasing them consisted of three men. One wore shiny armor and held a blood-soaked spear. Another man wore a black robe and carried a bloody sword. The third was bald and wore green clothes with a yellow sash, his fists covered in blood. The three of them dressed as if they were from different groups, but they all shared the same lecherous smile.

As Liu Xing observed them, eyes narrowed, he felt that these three men were quite strong as a group. The man in the black robe and the one in green and yellow were at the Lock Opening realm seventh stage, while the man with shiny armor was at the Core Splitting realm and probably had only one core. The young woman they chased was at the Lock Opening realm fifth stage, while the woman she carried on her back had no qi at all, as if she was a corpse.

"Remember, I'm first!" shouted the man with shiny armor. He had a big nose, narrow eyes, and a thin mustache. As he yelled, the lecherous smile didn't leave his face.

"I'm second!" cackled the man in green and yellow. He had tan skin and yellow teeth and looked rough, as if he was a bandit that just came out from a cave.

"No, I'm second!" the man wearing the black robe shouted. He was young and had pitch-black hair that wriggled like tentacles. He shot an annoyed look at the man in green. "You're third."

"Hehe, all right, as long as you two don't get too rough."

After that, the man in green and yellow jumped toward the young woman, extending his bloodied arms as if trying to catch a limping rabbit. The woman turned her head, eyes wide, then stumbled, falling face-first toward the flowers.

Seeing this, Liu Xing understood their intentions and the gravity of the situation. It was so clear that even a blind man could see it. In a fraction of a second, he summoned his gun, activated Lightning Cloak and lightning blade, and jumped. In this blurry world, time seemed to slow down, and he flew like an arrow straight toward the jumping man. As he arrived, he slashed his lightning blade toward the bloodied hands. His lightning blade easily cut through the two arms, which flew into the sky with blood trailing behind it, and Liu Xing landed atop trampled flowers between the three men and the falling girl.

When the man with green clothes sees him, he widens his eyes. Still barreling toward him, Liu Xing retracted his lightning blade, took a stance, and with a strike as fast as lightning, he unleashed a palm strike toward the man's chin. His palm strike landed, and the man flew into the sky with a mouthful of blood leaping from his mouth. He landed several meters away, face-up. Coincidentally, that was also where his severed arms landed. The arms hit his face, smearing him with blood, and he blinked several times, still in shock. It took him a second to realize what had happened to his arms, and he began to scream like a pig being slaughtered.

The two remaining men stopped running abruptly, their eyes wide as if they'd seen a ghost suddenly appear.

"Sorry to interrupt you all, but would you like to turn around and leave them be?" Liu Xing said politely. As he spoke, the man with shiny armor narrowed his eyes and adjusted his stance, pointing his spear at Liu Xing. The man with wriggling hair pointed his sword at him, while the man in green clothes continued rolling in the flowers and screaming.

"Who are you? Don't you know who I am?" the man with the spear shouted.

"This man is dangerous! Don't chit-chat, let's kill him!" the young man in the black robe said.

"Hmph!" the man with the spear snorted. "He's merely a Lock Opening cultivator, while I'm a master Core Splitting cultivator! There's no way an ant like him is dangerous to me."

Hearing this, a ferocious smile appeared on Liu Xing's face. Truthfully, this man with shiny armor was strong. To be able to advance to the Core Splitting realm meant that he was talented. Still, Liu Xing believed he could win this fight. After all, they weren't as strong as the moss or even the frog he had fought before. Still, to respect his opponent and remain cautious, Liu Xing wouldn't underestimate them.

"Let me ask one more time. Leave her alone, and there's no need for me to spill your blood."

After he said that, a vein popped on the forehead of the man in armor, and even the young man in the black robe narrowed his eyes as if deeply offended.

"Seems like you really don't know who I am. My name is Wei Gang. I'm one of the few masters who achieved the Core Splitting realm, as well as a Field Commander of the Twelve Sun Army. Junior, when you decided to stand in front of me, you chose death!"

"No one has lived after insulting me, Hei Feng! Even if you have some kind of trick to suddenly appear before us, you won't leave this place intact!"

Liu Xing took a deep breath and steeled his heart. He had experienced many small incidents like this before. Whether it was groups trying to rob him or a caravan. Sometimes he would spare the robbers, like what happened with Pu He, Han Zhong, and Mo Yan, but there were also times when he had to kill them. Now, this wasn't just a robbery—it was something far worse, and he wouldn't hold back.

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