As Liu Xing moved across the sea, his Lightning Cloak Technique shrouding his invisible body, he saw a small island not far away.

  He opened a hole into his consciousness and peered through, looking at his two cores as they continued to orbit each other. They were quite close, though he knew he still had time before he would need to manually distance them. While their proximity was important, the reason he peeked into his consciousness amidst his journey was simple. He wanted to monitor his progress in the second stage of the Core Splitting realm.

  He focused on the second core's movement and saw that it was brimming with qi. It was not quite full, but he suspected that if he cultivated even normally, the second core would fill, and then he could focus on his main one. The main core was still far from being full and splitting again to create a third, but considering his current mission, he had no doubt that he would fill it sooner or later. Once he successfully entered the third stage of the Core Splitting realm, his power would increase immensely. While this was still not enough to contend with Ye Xuanming, it was better than nothing.

  The island drew closer, revealing a volcano on it. It was not dormant but was actively spitting a black cloud into the sky. As Liu Xing neared, his skin could feel the rising temperature, and he wondered whether it was a base for the Nether Lotus Sect. It was quite close to the Mirror Tide Empire, and he doubted the empire would be so incompetent as to allow an enemy base to be erected so close. It was either a hidden base, one they could not discern, or the rumors about the empire being truly compromised were true.

  Soon, Liu Xing arrived at the island's edge. Instead of beaches, mangrove trees filled the perimeter. Their numerous roots lodged themselves firmly in the sand, and each trunk was as thick as he was. Liu Xing landed between them, then began to move silently through the forest.

  His connection to Tide Walker was currently thin, as if it were about to break. However, he was certain his shark was on this island. Saving his little shark from the clutches of demonic cultivators had not been on his agenda, but this was not because he did not care. He had thought the shark was truly gone. It was a treasure, after all, and he assumed someone else had already claimed it. But it seemed the heavens had decided their connection would hold, at least for a while, as if giving him another chance to save his companion. Successfully saving his shark would not only fill his heart with immense joy but also strengthen him. The shark was quite formidable and could be a great ally in his quest to save Fang Ruxue and the others.

  For a moment, he considered creating an Eye of Lightning to scout ahead, but he had already decided he needed to remain invisible to avoid detection, so he banished the thought. He could scout with his own eyes as long as he was invisible.

  Liu Xing gripped his gun. "Wait a little bit more, little buddy."

  Soon, he emerged from the sea of mangroves and entered the island proper, where the ground was solid earth instead of sand and water. The forest around the volcano was dense, with large trees jutting from the ground every few meters, forcing him to zigzag to move forward. Before long, he saw white smoke billowing not too far away. Seeing it, Liu Xing stopped and narrowed his eyes. That smoke was not from the volcano. It looked like the smoke from a campfire. It dissipated a short distance into the air as the wind blew it away.

  Liu Xing began to walk slowly toward the smoke. His qi sense told him it was not normal; it was laced with qi. It reminded him a little of Bewitching Princess. He wondered whether it was truly her.

  After walking for a bit, he came to a place that was not wilderness. It was a small settlement. A barricade made from sharpened wood circled it, and inside, he saw a dozen wooden buildings with roofs made from dried straws. However, in the center of this settlement, there was a building with walls made from clay. It had a chimney on top, and the billowing white smoke came from it. This was not a peaceful settlement, though. Blood splattered the ground and the buildings. As Liu Xing moved closer, he realized the blood was still fresh. When he crossed the open gate, knelt near a pool of blood, and touched it with his index finger, he realized it was still warm.

  Willing the invisibility to conceal the drop of blood on his finger, Liu Xing walked toward the central building. His feet deftly avoided the pools of blood, not because he was disgusted by them, but because he did not want to leave a single footprint.

  As he got closer, he tried to sense the qi inside the building and detected only one person, as well as his shark. As he moved nearer, he tried to form a hypothesis about what had happened.

  The Nether Lotus Sect's attack in Water Tower City had been led by Ye Xuanhan. Qing Yuan had said they were led toward the city proper, likely to the Jin clan compound, but along the way, the demonic cultivators began to fight among themselves. He thought that one of those demonic cultivators had fought Tide Walker, and perhaps, when Ye Xuanming arrived and ordered them to come to him, one had decided not to and had run away, carrying Tide Walker with him. It would explain why the shark was here, in a place not far from Water Tower City or the Mirror Tide Empire. A cultivator who had heeded Ye Xuanming's order would have likely entered the portal Hua Beifeng created, while this one had not.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  As he neared the building's open door, he filled his gun with qi. While his theory explained why the shark was here, it did not explain why this demonic cultivator had killed these people, nor did it explain the qi-laced smoke. However, he had a hunch.

  Liu Xing arrived at the entrance and peeked through the ajar door. The inside of the building was quite spacious. He had thought it was a house, but he soon realized it was not. It was a large room filled with boxes and sacks on one side. On the other, there was a furnace and cookware. It was probably a hybrid of a warehouse and a kitchen. Today, though, the one who "cooked" was a demonic cultivator. He wore the signature black and red robe of the Nether Lotus Sect, but he had ripped off the upper part, leaving him half-naked. The man had pale skin, his cheeks were gaunt, and his hair was a sickly white. However, his expression as he stirred a large cauldron emitting white smoke was one of pure glee, as if he were cooking the most delicious food in the world.

  To his side was a wall, and on that wall, Liu XIng saw the people of the settlement. Each of their limbs was nailed to the wall as if they were bloody and horrifying decorations. He could see that almost all of them had their eyes gouged out and their tongues cut. Blood dripped from them, down the wall and pooling on the floor. Seeing this, his eyes sharpened as anger bubbled in his stomach.

  This demonic cultivator was a fiend, likely using these people as ingredients. Liu Xing was no alchemist, but it was clear the man was trying to concoct something. On a chopping block an arm's reach away from the demonic cultivator was his shark—Tide Walker. The little shark was coated red with blood and looked dead. Its eyes were also blank, as if he were truly dead. However, Liu Xing was sure the shark was still alive. The connection between them still existed, and the qi inside his shark had not dissipated.

  "Hehe, to think that I could come across something rare like this! What a steal!" The demonic cultivator threw several eyeballs into the cauldron. The water inside splashed for a moment before it began to evaporate faster. "With this rare ingredient, I can finally concoct the Surging Blood Elixir! When the elixir is completed, I can finally complete all the steps to make my body evolve further! From there, my cultivation will surely soar. Let alone the Black Sun Realm, I could even achieve the White Sun Realm. Perhaps I could become an Immortal later!"

  At that, Liu Xing moved sideways, carefully entering the building without being detected. This man was still in the Core Splitting realm, perhaps the fourth or fifth stage. He was certainly weaker than the demonic cultivators who ganged up on him. Did this man really think he could become an Immortal? Not only would he fail to achieve that, but Liu Xing would also ensure that he would not live to see the end of the day.

  As Liu Xing entered the building, however, a small crack sounded. Liu Xing and the demonic cultivator snapped their heads toward the sound. There, to the side of the room, was a small doll, tiny enough to fit in his palm. It looked like a creature created from clay. It had no limbs, only a smile carved with a knife and a pair of eyes made from red jewels that looked like blood. The doll had cracked. A large gash split it in two. Qi was emerging from the gash. Liu Xing looked at it for a moment and realized the doll was connected to the ground itself. At that moment, he looked toward the demonic cultivator, and the demonic cultivator looked in his general direction. The man was tense, and Liu Xing's eyes sharpened. That unassuming little doll was a small treasure, likely connected to an array formation. Liu Xing had thought this demonic cultivator was careless, but it seemed he had set up a small security measure.

  For a single moment, there was no movement. But in the next, the demonic cultivator tried to snatch Tide Walker from the chopping block.

  Knowing the man was trying to escape, Liu Xing kicked the ground and lunged. The distance between them was so short that the instant the man touched Tide Walker, Liu Xing reached him. Liu Xing launched a palm strike to the man's side. The impact of the simple strike folded the man in half and launched him sideways. He crashed into the wall where the corpses were nailed, and it exploded. The man spat a mouthful of blood, and while he snarled, his face was pale further, as if he feared for his life. He passed through the ruined wall into the backyard of the building. He was about to turn when Liu Xing aimed his gun and pulled the trigger six times. Bolts whistled through the air and instantly hit their target, engulfing the demonic cultivator in a series of six explosions that merged into one. As the man's body exploded into a shower of blood, Liu Xing stood near the smoking cauldron and glanced at his gun. Sensing that there were six bullets inside, he pulled all six bullets of qi directly into his consciousness.

  The moment they entered, the excited second core pulled at one of them. The qi was instantly devoured, and then the core began to vibrate, as if excited that its belly was finally full. Liu Xing looked at it and decided to test it. He sent more qi toward it, but the second core did not want to absorb it. Upon seeing this, Liu Xing nodded, then sent the rest of the qi toward his main core, where it greedily absorbed all of it. It seemed his second core was finally full. It was faster than he had expected, but it was good news. If he continued like this, perhaps breaking through to the third stage of the Core Splitting realm would not be too far away. Hell, if he found twenty or so demonic cultivators at the Core Splitting realm, he could undergo a breakthrough.

  He was happy about it, but he reined in his emotions and focused on the small shark lying on the chopping block.

  "Are you okay, buddy?" Liu Xing asked. He knew it would not answer, so he willed his gun to absorb some of his qi, reabsorbed it into his body, projected it outside, formed it into a ball, and pushed it into the shark's mouth. When the ball of qi was fully inside, it vanished as the shark absorbed it. When he saw its tail twitch slightly, he could not help but smile. "It's time to wake up, buddy. There's a little sect that we need to burn."

  He sent another ball of qi toward the little shark, and its mouth curved into a small, toothy, and ferocious smile, as if it, too, was thirsty for revenge.

  keep the lights on.