"I'm not interested," said Liu Xing.

It's a demonic technique. Although Liu Xing understands that you can't be soft in this world, he doesn't want to kill people unnecessarily, let alone steal other people's bodies.

"Five hundred years!" shouted Ji Dongyang. "I can guide you to achieve immortality in five hundred years. Trust me, I'm a good mentor."

"A mentor who would bully his disciple and annihilated his sect. More importantly, I want to know everything about that shadow of yours. Tell me your story from start to finish."

Ji Dongyang offered his shadow, his mentorship, even his treasure to bargain for his life, but Liu Xing squeezed Ji Dongyang and declined. He only wanted information.

Understanding that Liu Xing couldn't be easily swayed, Ji Dongyang sighed and told him about the man so lucky it made Ji Dongyang disgusted with him and about the black bird.

Liu Xing asked what experiments he did to the black bird. Ji Dongyang said he dissected it, made it swallow many herbs, and even tried to breed it. In the end, Ji Dongyang successfully extracted the shadow and made it a part of him.

"It's nestled in my consciousness now, although it's so thin I can barely see it, thanks to some busybody," he grumbled while glancing at Liu Xing.

Liu Xing asked for more information, but the only interesting thing was where the Blood Wing Sect and that black bird came from. The location is on the northern side of the Dark Forest Continent, in a small empire called Blue Wind Empire. Liu Xing had never heard of this empire, which means either this empire had no connection to the five great sects or it was merely isolated.

Liu Xing decided to visit that empire someday. He needed to trace back the black bird. It would probably be hard. After all, he needed to trace a single black bird that lived hundreds of years ago, but Liu Xing couldn't ignore the possibility that the darkness was nestled in this little empire.

Liu Xing tried to squeeze more information, but after talking for hours with Ji Dongyang, Liu Xing realized he had already gotten the most meaningful information from him. Which meant it was time to end this.

"Ji Dongyang," Liu Xing said while pointing his gun at him. "Anything else you want to say?"

Seeing his left hand raised, Ji Dongyang became pale. "W-wait a minute. Aren't I useful to you? Didn't I give you all the information you wanted? Surely you would reward me for my cooperation."

Liu Xing remained silent. There was nothing more to say to Ji Dongyang.

"I promise you would benefit greatly if you keep me alive! I can be your informant, your executioner, or your slave! I will work for you and serve you. M-master. Please spare this Ji Dongyang's life."

"Ji Dongyang, I want to say that I'm a righteous cultivator. But you did speak a glimmer of truth. In this world, whether you are a demonic cultivator or a righteous cultivator, people still do bad things. Whether someone is treading a righteous path or a demonic path, there are moments that force them to dirty their hands. I too have killed people, and I would do so again if my judgment tells me it's the right decision."

Liu Xing rested his hand on the trigger.

"Wait, wait, wait. You bastard! I told you everything, and you want to kill me? I retract my statement. Heavenly Thunder Sect is not the most despicable. You are! So let me free. Let me free!"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Liu Xing didn't waver. If Ji Dongyang lived, how many people would he possess and kill in the process?

"Please, I'm begging you. I want to live. I promise to leave my demonic path and start anew. Please, please, I don't want to die."

Liu Xing pulled the trigger. The moment he did, Ji Dongyang's head exploded into smithereens, leaving a wriggling snake body that soon lay still.

His bullets now had six glowing stripes, and a little black smoke floated in the air before being sucked by the gun.

Seeing this, Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. He then checked his gun, looking for differences. But aside from the six glowing stripes, there was nothing different.

"Is the gun absorbing Ji Dongyang's shadow? Will every darkness I encounter be absorbed by the gun?" Liu Xing wondered. Aside from encountering another darkness to see if the gun absorbed it, there was no other way to test it.

Observing the six strips, Liu Xing's lips formed a thin line. He expected he could absorb energy by killing people, and he didn't know how to think about this particular property.

Tossing Ji Dongyang's remains, Liu Xing pondered the nature of a demonic cultivator. If it's someone who kills to advance, does Liu Xing fit that criteria?

"Am I a demonic cultivator?"

Before he could think about it, the portal above suddenly spat out a cultivator. Then another, and another, until dozens of people fell out of the portal. Like a man eating a watermelon and spitting out the seeds.

Liu Xing observed them. Liu Xing spotted Han Zhong among the many falling cultivators. He flailed his left arm, his right arm missing, his face pale as paper.

Yan Yu, with a stoic expression, didn't seem to mind falling, her robe and hair fluttered in the sky, and she wielded a thin black sword in her right hand. The sword was pitch black, and Liu Xing realized that if Ji Dongyang were alive, he would try to possess Yan Yu using that black sword.

Soon, they landed. Some landed on their feet, some, like Han Zhong, tried to reduce the impact by rolling, and some fell like sacks of rice, creating dust clouds that made Liu Xing worry about their survival.

A particular group landed smoothly together. This group consisted of five people, each wearing black and red clothes. They looked battered, with wounds and dried blood on their faces and torn clothes. One man held a giant fan that looked torn into several parts. None carried gourds. Instead, their backs were covered by thin sheets of ice. The white-haired man in front had a large slash wound on his right arm, fresh and still dripping blood.

Seeing this, Liu Xing realized Yan Yu had hindered them. They had fought, and judging by the group's appearance and Yan Yu's pristine look, Yan Yu had won.

After they all landed, they looked around, checking the crater and the hole where Skull Hill once stood. They were probably confused about why they emerged from a pocket dimension into seemingly foreign land.

Then, they looked at him in unison.

Liu Xing stood atop the remains of a giant centipede, now a mountain of flesh and spirit beast heads. He looked like a deranged person who enjoyed killing spirit beasts and creating hills from their heads. Moreover, Liu Xing's entire body was stained with dirt and dried blood, making him look like someone who had dived into a sea of blood, emerged from it, and rolled around in the mud.

Seeing him, some of them looked pale, some trembled, and all widened their eyes, even Yan Yu, the stoic one.

For a moment, Liu Xing wanted to check if they were possessed by Ji Dongyang, but he soon realized it wasn't necessary. He could confirm Ji Dongyang's death because his gun had absorbed Ji Dongyang's qi. No one emitted black smoke, so Liu Xing was pretty certain Ji Dongyang was truly dead and not possessing anyone else. The most likely person to be possessed was Yan Yu, who wielded the black sword. Since she was from the same sect, he could check on her later and monitor her periodically.

Liu Xing realized he might look scary, so he clasped his hands, did a slight bow, and jumped away.

For now, he wanted to find a secluded place to absorb qi from the gun. With that amount of qi, Liu Xing would surely advance to Lock Opening's sixth stage!

Although the events were unexpected and he wasted many bullets, the result was still bountiful.

With that in mind, Liu Xing went deeper into the Dragon Skull Forest, leaving behind destruction so wide a hill was destroyed, thousands of spirit beast heads, and dozens of cultivators with wide eyes full of surprise and fear.