She was dying. Whether planned or not, her death was inevitable. He couldn't tell if this was due to an incomplete reincarnation or her body being incompatible with her existence. What mattered was that she was dying, and her request made sense if she was truly on his side.
She seemed to know that Liu Xing needed to kill an abomination to turn the tide of the battle. By letting him kill her before she naturally died, she could help him gain that potent qi from killing a Core Splitting abomination. Or maybe she didn't know his ability at all, but the fact that she froze every abomination except for him suggested that she specifically chose him as her killer.
"Why? Why do you want me to kill you?" Liu Xing tried to summon his shield so he could move freely in her purple world. But Liu Xing felt that the qi inside him was locked; it didn't want to move. And so, he moved his hands and feet to swim around. Then, when an abomination came close enough for him to kick, he used it as a stepping stone.
The woman looked at him with a blank expression, as if he wasn't worthy of being answered. The purple glow around her diminished more and more, like fire from a dying hearth. There was movement of qi around her, and her form that had been crumbling so fast was now slowing down, as if she was trying to hold on a bit longer so he could kill her.
Liu Xing kicked the abominations around him until he floated several meters in front of the woman. From this close, and without any distraction, he realized how tall she was. Her height was around three meters, and beneath the clothes she wore that were made from stone, he thought perhaps her body was slender, like a typical woman cultivator. Yet, instead of being delicate like a flower, she was more like a boulder—strong and steady and calm. He realized that she was probably a warrior.
Her right blade arm, now swimming around her, was not crumbling, and she pointed at him with her left arm blade as this arm came at him.
"Gift for you." Her voice was melodious, and yet firm, like the command of a queen.
The floating arm settled in his right side, and its base began to transform. Now, this severed arm blade had a handle. It was long and slightly curved. It looked like it was made from stone, but seeing the gleaming blade, Liu Xing knew that this blade was a strong and powerful treasure.
He wanted to ask again why she wanted to die, why she gave her arm for him. But he knew that this question would not be answered. Instead, he looked around him. The abominations frozen in this purple world now had their snake limbs and heads twitching, as if they were trying to break free from the force that froze them.
He knew that this technique, as well as her form, would not hold for long, and so, Liu Xing came to a conclusion.
He would kill this woman. It was the most logical thing to do in this situation.
As if the woman could read his mind, she nodded, then repeated her request. "Kill me."
Liu Xing reached for his gun with both hands. Then, he spread his legs and aimed. "What's your name?"
She heard his question but didn't answer. He repeated the question two more times, desperately wanting to know her name. After all, she was a strong being who could freeze thousands of abominations with a single technique, as well as a woman who would give her life to save Liu Xing and give him a chance to win this battle. He at least wanted her name, so he could be grateful to her properly. Yet, she wouldn't answer his questions, and as he gritted his teeth, heart feeling a bit conflicted, he inhaled deeply and steadied his hands.
"Thank you," Liu Xing said.
The woman didn't react to what he said, and since he knew she wouldn't answer, he pulled the trigger.
An almost transparent bullet shot from his gun right toward her forehead. This was the most basic bullet he had. Usually, something like this would not hurt a strong being like her or the snake abominations around him. Yet, he had a feeling that this bullet was sufficient.
When it hit her head, he could see her head jerk a little bit and create a small hole in her forehead. She nodded, as if satisfied with his action, then smiled.
When she smiled, he felt like the world suddenly lit up, as if one minute ago the world had been covered by thunderstorms, and the sun had suddenly dispersed the storm and given him a warm caress. It made his heart beat faster, as if he had just fallen in love.
Then, she exploded into brilliant purple dust, and the purple world around him vanished, releasing thousands of abominations from their individual prisons. They collided with each other. Their attacks hit the place where he had been, and it exploded into a myriad of explosions.
Liu Xing ignored all this commotion and glanced at the side of his gun.
When he saw six glowing green stripes, he pressed his lips. Then, he turned his head toward where she had stood. There was still a little purple dust circling around, and seeing this, Liu Xing felt his heart grow heavy. It was almost like when Nui had disappeared or when he'd heard news that Mamat had died, but not quite there. Even so, he felt that she was one of the most significant figures that appeared in his new life, which was logically something weird, since he had actually never interacted with her.
"Still, I will not forget about her," Liu Xing muttered.
While her appearance and disappearance were abrupt, the purple light and her purple world etched into his mind, as if she had actually been trying to teach him that technique. It was probably just his imagination, but he decided to believe it was so.
Liu Xing inhaled deeply, deciding to contemplate her later. For now, he had a battle to win.
Liu Xing raised his head and saw thousands of abominations stopped in their places, either on the ground, standing atop floating platforms, or simply flying. Not a single laugh or cackle sounded, and he could see that each abomination wore a serious face, as if the clown attraction was over and they needed to deal with him seriously. But their eyes weren't fully fixed on him—they were focused on the stone blade hovering beside him. This blade was long, almost two meters, and its edge gleamed with a faint purple hue emitting from its surface.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Liu Xing grabbed the blade with his right hand and flicked the Ethereal Pearl into his mouth and swallowed it. He sent the potent bullets into his Ethereal Pearl, let his gun float in the air, then flexed a lightning blade with his left arm.
With six bullets' worth of potent qi from his latest kill, he had enough power to turn the tide of battle. Now, he was not a prey anymore, but a hunter.
He remembered that he couldn't start rampaging and kill them all—after all, they were precious resources to fight Sun Refining abominations later—but still, resentment had taken root in his heart, and he decided to kill some of them before heading to the castle to meet Prince Yang Jinyan and other Yang clan members.
Liu Xing reactivated his Lightning Cloak technique and pointed his new blade toward the foremost abomination. Coincidentally, it was the one that had almost killed him in the white bone forest. Its black skin, golden snake limbs, and coconut ears were unmistakable.
"I'll kill you," Liu Xing said simply. And like a starting pistol, every abomination rushed towards him.
Liu Xing kicked the ground and launched himself toward his target. Its face was serious as it punched the air with its snake arms. Golden orbs flew at him, and a golden tiger the size of a mansion materialized to strike him. Seeing this, Liu Xing's heart beat faster. These attacks are powerful. As a Lock Opening cultivator, he would die if he received such attacks, and even now, they could be deadly. But the blade in his right hand felt so powerful, it made him dare to face the attacks head-on.
Liu Xing sent qi to his gun, reabsorbed it, and channeled it to his new blade. The stone blade instantly hummed with power. Its purple hue brightened, and it held more weight than before. Liu Xing had no doubt that this blade was the strongest treasure he would ever hold. It was stronger and more valuable than all the treasures decking his body. Perhaps its place was among treasures that only the most important people in the Purple Moon Sect could access, which meant this treasure was one of the most valuable in the Dark Forest continent.
Liu Xing shouted while swinging his new blade. Instantly, a purple condensation of qi leapt from his blade, creating a crescent purple qi so high it towered over the giant golden tiger before him. When the purple qi hit the tiger, it easily cut its head in two, then exploded with brilliant purple light, creating a shockwave so strong it blew everything away.
Liu Xing summoned his shield and accelerated faster. His face was serious, his eyes locked onto the abomination he hated most. Seeing that abomination with coconut ears flailing in the sky felt satisfying, and he thought it would be even more satisfying when he successfully split its head in two and destroyed the pale arm jutting from its chest.
Abominations came at him from every side, ten of them, each with red skin and faces scrunched as if they'd just tasted sour lemons. Each opened its mouth, revealing colorful snakes that shot toward him. Liu Xing summoned his turtle in front of him to absorb some of their impact, then kick the statue and spin his body and used the momentum to accelerate toward his target. Though many attacks began raining down on him, his gun began pelting them, and those that came close he slashed with his new blade, which was capable of destroying every attack that reached him.
The rhythm of this fight had changed. Liu Xing was now more confident, moving more swiftly, his gun shooting so rapidly the sound was more like a machine gun than a normal gun, and his blade was so strong that each purple crescent he shot could wound the abominations. He slashed rapidly around him, sending dozens of crescent purple qi in all directions. From above, it would have looked like a purple flower blooming across the battlefield.
Liu Xing slashed at a giant abomination in front of him, his purple crescent pushing it until it fell back. He deflected a punch with his blade, cutting a green snake limb, then shot an Exploding Fist bullet right into an abomination's mouth. The head didn't explode, but it was certainly charred.
Liu Xing summoned his turtle, and with his control as a Core Splitting cultivator, he lifted the turtle and dropped it down toward two abominations trying to shoot yellow and blue condensed qi at him. The attack didn't kill them, but the resulting clash sent their attacks shooting into the sky like a lightning show. A fiery abomination and lightning-shrouded abomination came at him from front and back, their punches timed perfectly. Liu Xing ducked at the perfect moment—the two snakes collided with each other, creating a shockwave, and then Liu Xing, while crouching, rotated his blade clockwise, splitting these two abominations cleanly from their waists up. These were the first two abominations he had successfully killed himself.
He moved within the abomination army like a one-man army. The blade was really powerful—sharp and capable of sending out formidable attacks. But after a full minute of fighting, he finally knew the drawback of this blade. The blade was eating his qi at an incredibly fast rate. Even when he didn't unleash qi attacks, holding it still absorbed his qi. Worse, it ate his normal qi, though this could be offset by sending pure qi to it occasionally. Still, the drawback wasn't really that bad; it could be managed with good qi management and his gun.
Liu Xing slashed horizontally at the neck of an abomination in front of him. It was a white-skinned abomination, with a red nose like a drunk man and ears made from two yellow potatoes. His slash did not succeed in cutting the neck completely, but before it could do anything, he shot the rest of its neck with his Exploding Fist bullet. His gun was now filled with six bullets again. Four of them went into his blade, one was used to unleash an Exploding Fist bullet at a gigantic abomination made of millions of white snakes that were still forming, and the rest was sent into the Ethereal Pearl.
Liu Xing scanned the area around him. The abomination with coconut ears stood only several meters from him with no other abominations hindering his path. It shouted, "Disgusting arms! Disgusting arms!" repeatedly like it was a chant to scare a ghost, and its face contorted into something almost like fear.
While Liu Xing was hindered by many, many abominations, his movement trajectory remained constant. He was always trying to move closer to this specific abomination. And so, the death of other abominations happened in front of this specific abomination, and it probably knew, deep within its ugly soul, that Liu Xing would come and kill it.
Cycling his qi faster and enhancing his Lightning Cloak technique, he summoned his shield and kicked it, launching himself at the abomination. Liu Xing thought it would begin sending tiger attacks, or even golden orbs at him. But to his surprise, the abomination turned its body and fled. Liu Xing's eyes narrowed as he accelerated faster and faster, and then, with a thought, he summoned his turtle right in front of the abomination. It hit his turtle with a loud sound, and its movement came to a halt.
It then turned to the side, but it was already within the reach of his long stone blade, and Liu Xing swung his blade and cut off its two snake feet.
"You cannot run!" Liu Xing shouted.
It turned its falling body and looked like it wanted to unleash punches, but Liu Xing once again swiped his blade, cutting off its two snake arms. The abomination snarled at him, the white arm from its chest reaching out as if trying to strangle him. But while his blade could reach it, it couldn't reach him.
Liu Xing thrust his stone blade directly at the inviting hand, stabbed the golden eye in its palm, and kept thrusting until his stone blade protruded from its back.
He slashed his blade to the side, slicing the abomination in two. The white pale hand twitched as its body began to melt, but Liu Xing sent qi from his Ethereal Pearl into his gun and fired.
An explosion bloomed in front of him, the wind rustled his hair, and as he could see the green stripes on his side glowing, he knew that he had successfully killed the abomination.
Liu Xing jumped high into the sky, summoned his shield, and stood on it.
The abominations rushed at him as if he were a demonic cultivator to be slain, and Liu Xing, now confident that he could win this battle, raised his voice.
"Come at me!"