Liu Xing drew a deep breath, then channeled qi into the communication orb. The prince's orb would be vibrating now—the signal that Liu Xing was about to make his move. All that remained was deciding how to strike.

"Let's begin with a kill shot."

His gun held only one bullet, but it was special—the last one he'd received from the general. In terms of raw power, it should be capable of obliterating one of the snake limbs to smithereens, though Liu Xing suspected it wouldn't be quite that simple.

For a moment, he considered taking hold of the gun to shoot, an impulse born from anxiety about missing. But he knew better. Instead, he commanded the gun to float toward the third army's horde. He deliberately kept its movement slow, like a soap bubble drifting on a breeze. The orb in his robe, which had been vibrating like an impatient child, finally stilled—indicating the prince and other Yang clan members were in position.

The gun now hovered above the horde of spirit beasts with snake limbs. They continued their mad cackling, their movements strange and unsettling as they walked on serpentine feet. From a distance, they presented a ridiculous sight—like a parade of demented clowns with their colorful skin, ridiculous ears, and the various things bound around their necks.

Liu Xing settled on his target: one of the abominations marching at the edge of the formation. Unlike some of its grotesque companions, this one bore an unsettling beauty. Its skin wasn't chalk-white, but fair and healthy like a cultivator's. The creature's torso was lean, its face delicately feminine, with black hair cascading down its back. A blue cloth wrapped around its neck, matching the color of the snake-limbs that writhed where arms and legs should be. Each snake bore crimson eyes that gleamed with malice. The creature wore a soft, gentle smile, its eyes closed in an expression of serenity. But Liu Xing knew better. That same peaceful smile would remain fixed on its face even as it devoured a child.

He aimed his floating gun at the creature, its position on the formation's flank offering him an unobstructed shot. As he studied his target, something caught his attention.

This abomination, like most of its kind, was naked save for the cloth at its neck. Its entire body was exposed, yet Liu Xing couldn't spot what he was looking for—there was no pale arm protruding from its chest, no golden eye staring from its palm.

His mind raced to make sense of this revelation. This arm had been their weak point, the key to preventing their regeneration. But if this creature lacked such an arm, did that mean it couldn't regenerate?

Liu Xing's gaze darted across the marching horde. His suspicion was confirmed. While most lacked the telltale arm, he spotted one or two that bore them in their chests.

A hierarchy existed within this third army.

The armless ones were newer generations, while those with arm were originals, likely the first of their kind. Though their cultivation levels seemed equal, he suspected their abilities differed significantly.

The discovery lifted his spirits slightly. If not all could regenerate, his abysmal chances of survival had marginally improved.

A fierce smile crossed Liu Xing's face, his heart pounding like a war drum. For the newer abominations, their weaknesses would be conventional like the head and the torso. He decided to target them instead of the originals.

"Perhaps I can kill one with a single shot," he mused.

His gun hovered several meters above the marching creatures. He manipulated the qi around it, angling the barrel slightly downward. Through the tether connecting him to the weapon, he channeled the Exploding Fist technique, infusing its power into the waiting bullet.

Drawing another deep breath, he tracked his feminine target with the gun's tip. With a thought, he pulled the trigger using qi, the action as natural as breathing.

A blinding blue bolt materialized in the air. To any observer, it would have seemed to appear from nowhere.

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Instantly, every spirit beast snapped to attention. The snake-limbs serving as hands and feet turned in unison, and they move like grotesque sunflowers tracking the sun.

His target and several nearby abominations cackled madly, their laughter echoing through the air. They coiled their snake-feet and tilted sideways to dodge, but before they could leap, the bolt struck his target's head.

An enormous explosion bloomed amid the marching army. The shockwave thundered outward, toppling standing buildings and scattering debris. The sound rivaled heaven's mightiest lightning strike, and a massive mushroom cloud of dust rose skyward, winds howling outward from ground zero.

Dozens of abominations were hurled into the air, their snake-limbs flailing like ribbons in a storm. Even Liu Xing was thrown back several meters before he could plant his feet and brace against the maelstrom of wind and force.

His gun now floated above his head. The mushroom cloud towered like a skyscraper, and he hoped his target—and perhaps several others—had been destroyed. But the strips on his gun's side told him otherwise. This mighty attack hadn't killed a single one of the snake-limbed abominations.

Liu Xing swallowed hard as he surveyed the aftermath. The abominations were scattered among the rubble, some piled on top of each other, some with their snake limbs tangled together, but their insane cackling still echoed throughout the City of Suns, probably as far as the Yang Clan compound.

Their heads and snake limbs moved frantically, searching for their attacker. A portion of the horde surged toward the golden castle—a worrying development, given that the Prince and his forces were hiding nearby, waiting for their chance to enter. Others scattered outward, but by some miracle, none moved in Liu Xing's direction. This posed its own problem—he needed to draw their attention.

For a moment, he wondered how to proceed. Then, letting instinct guide him, he dropped his invisibility.

When Liu Xing dropped his invisibility, every nearby abomination snapped their heads toward him. Even the originals fixed their gaze upon him.

He leaped atop a piece of rubble that had withstood both the windstorm and shockwave from his attack. Then he shouted.

His voice thundered like a lion's roar, cutting through the cackling and giggling of the abominations. The sound was so powerful that even the distant abominations rushing toward the castle froze in their tracks and turned.

Thousands of snake-limbed abominations now focused on him.

"Do you remember me?" Liu Xing roared, the veins in his neck straining. He didn't know if the originals passed their memories to their offspring, but that hardly mattered now.

Some abominations laughed harder, while others muttered madly about "disgusting arms."

"I came here to kill all of you!" A fierce smile split his face as he flared his qi to provoke them. Cold sweat drenched his back, but the declaration sent adrenaline surging through his veins, as if the words themselves granted him power.

Though meant as provocation, deep inside Liu Xing wanted to believe his own declaration. That he'd revealed himself to truly annihilate them all. Difficult, yes, but not impossible. Two hundred meters away lay the proof: an abomination charred from head to the tip of its snake limbs. Its black hair had melted, and its neck was burned to a fragile twig that could snap at any moment. Best of all, he saw no signs of regeneration.

"Come at me!" Liu Xing shouted.

Like a stone thrown at a wasp's nest, his challenge unleashed chaos. The first to charge was an abomination with a face deeply furrowed like tree bark, skin blood-red, with bright crimson apples as ears the size of elephant's ears. It surged forward on writhing green snake-feet.

More followed. From above, it would have looked like a breaking dam, spilling a tsunami of grotesque colors toward Liu Xing's position.

Facing the oncoming enemies, Liu Xing activated his Lightning Cloak, spun, and bolted. He summoned his shield and accelerated across the city's ruins. His enhanced Lightning Cloak pushed him faster than ever before. Each kick against his shield generated windstorms that scattered debris. Though the world blurred, he perceived it with startling clarity, as if reality had been reduced to stark grays against a black backdrop, each landmark precisely defined.

Liu Xing glanced back. The abominations pursued like an army of madmen, forming a wave. Some sprinted on the ground, others leapt through the air, many more conjured platforms to run across the sky, and dozens of abominations grew wings of different colors and shapes. Their cackling reached a fever pitch as they began to unleash their attacks.

One creature, its skin black and speckled with white dots like the night sky, soared high on ravens' wings made of writhing tentacles. It unhinged its jaw, spewing thousands black snakes like arrows that darkened the sky.

Behind the colorful tsunami, a massive golden tiger with black stripes materialized, its bulk rivaling a building. It pounced with maw agape, its tongue a golden snake.

A gigantic fireball studded with hundreds of eyes manifested at the horde's front, while an earthen serpent surged forward, growing larger with each moment. A yellow-skinned abomination extended its golden snakes, weaving a sphere of pure white energy aimed at Liu Xing, and countless more attacks emerged from the pursuing mass.