Chapter 109: The Nine-Nine Immortal-Slaying Spear

"It has been so many years, yet you truly remain as distinguished as ever, your appearance unchanged."

Facing Yang Jian's flattering words, Lei Xiang accepted them calmly. After all, having consumed the Baochi Pill, his appearance was guaranteed not to age. "Yang Jian, you haven't changed much either. What position do you hold in the court now?"

Yang Jian replied respectfully, "Reporting to you, Young Master, I currently hold the position of Chichi Lieutenant. It is all thanks to your guidance back then; otherwise, I would likely have vanished into dust along with the Blood Fiend Alliance." Yang Jian spoke the truth. Had he not abandoned darkness for light back then, he likely would have been annihilated by Lei Xiang and his companions along with the Blood Fiend Alliance; there would be no "Chichi Lieutenant" today. Moreover, because Yang Jian had surrendered a fifth of his primordial spirit—which Lei Xiang had sealed within his sea of consciousness using the "Boundless Divine Sea"—and a drop of his essence blood remained in a small bottle in Lei Xiang's storage bag, he was naturally so deferential toward him.

Seeing that Yang Jian’s cultivation had not made significant progress and remained at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, Lei Xiang did not ask further. After all, he had hastily departed from the Hongji Foundation Establishment Academy and rushed to the Imperial City for the sake of Dugu Yixiao. "Yang Jian, you lived with Dugu Yixiao. Did you notice anything unusual before he left? Or did he leave behind any letters or objects?"

Yang Jian shook his head. Lei Xiang looked slightly disappointed. "Come, take me to his room to have a look."

Dugu Yixiao’s room was simple and tidy: a table, a chair, and a bed. There was nothing else, and the bedding on the bed was neatly folded. There was nothing suspicious. "Yang Jian, you may go and rest. I wish to be alone for a while." Dismissing Yang Jian, Lei Xiang closed the door with complex emotions. Standing alone in the center of the room, he released his divine sense, searching inch by inch.

The result still left him disappointed; there were no signs of a struggle here, nor were there any marks of chaotic spiritual energy. Could it be that Dugu Yixiao really left of his own accord? Why would he leave without waiting for Lei Xiang to return? Lei Xiang collapsed onto the bed, blue light flickering in his eyes as he aimlessly surveyed the surroundings, his mind fixated on that blue cloth bundle.

The bundle that Dugu Yixiao had always carried was a secret that remained undisclosed to this day. Even to a brother like Lei Xiang, Dugu Yixiao had never revealed it. What kind of secret was it? Could it be because of this secret that Dugu Yixiao chose to leave without waiting for Lei Xiang?

Suddenly, Lei Xiang’s gaze stopped on the wall between the table and the chair. Under the perspective of his blue-eyed vision, on an inconspicuous spot on the wall against the table, there was a faint, shallow smiley face. Without the blue light, even a powerful divine sense would have been unable to detect it.

This was because the smiley face had been scratched on with a fingernail, not carved with spiritual power or sorcery.

The smiley face was drawn very simply with just a few strokes—perhaps the person was in too much of a hurry, or perhaps that was simply their level of skill. A large circle represented the face, two small dots inside were the eyes, and a curved arc beneath the dots suggested an upturned mouth. It was crudely drawn; if Lei Xiang had not been a transmigrator from the modern world, he would never have immediately associated this with a smiley face. Others might have seen only a few curved lines, never imagining it to be a smiley face pattern.

The sun rose and set, and in the blink of an eye, a day had passed. Throughout this day, Lei Xiang neither spoke nor moved, staring blankly at the smiley face. No one knew what he was thinking, and no one dared to disturb him.

***

"Yang Jian, come here for a moment." Following Lei Xiang's voice, Yang Jian walked in quickly. He was surprised to find that after only a day, Lei Xiang looked much more haggard, his eyes bloodshot. Yang Jian did not dare to ask too much, only bowing deeply. "Young Master, what are your orders?"

Lei Xiang’s words were startling. "I have checked. Dugu Yixiao did not leave on his own; he was most likely kidnapped. The purpose of the kidnapping was likely that blue cloth bundle." He ignored Yang Jian’s gaping mouth and continued, "Go and investigate the situation on the day Dugu Yixiao went missing. Investigate thoroughly; do not miss even the slightest anomaly, especially concerning the sentries on duty that day. I want results within half a month."

It was the first time Yang Jian had seen Lei Xiang so serious; he dared not question him and could only nod. Lei Xiang waved his hand wearily. "Go. I am going into seclusion for half a month. Do not disturb me during this time."

Silence filled the room. Lei Xiang was the only one left in Dugu Yixiao’s room. He set up a magic array, placed Lan Xi’s "Hundred-Change Fantastic Pupil" at the center of the array, and only then did he feel at ease to sit cross-legged, adjusting his state to the peak before entering seclusion.

Ever since discovering the smiley face symbol, Lei Xiang knew that what awaited him was surely danger of an unprecedented nature, filled with bizarre mysteries—a hundred times more enigmatic than the Blood Fiend Alliance. As of now, not only could he not find the enemy, but he didn't even know their name. Finding and rescuing Dugu Yixiao was even further out of reach.

The only thing he could do now was to summarize his recent trip to the Elven Tribe and then improve the power of his "Palm-Held Immortal-Shooting Gun" as quickly as possible. Currently, the speed of the gun was acceptable, but the destructive power of the Heavenly Crystal Bullets was lacking. If he couldn't blow a head off in one shot, even if he mangled the enemy's physical body, there was a possibility that the enemy's primordial spirit could escape. Fortunately, he had this "Ironwood" cannonball to study as a reference.

With a wave of his hand, a black sphere the size of a cantaloupe and an ordinary storage bag floated before him. This was the Ironwood cannonball. Along with the jade slip given by Niu Jin and the materials for the Ironwood cannonball, Lei Xiang first cast his divine sense into the jade slip, studying it carefully for a long time. When he withdrew his divine sense, a trace of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. With a thought, three smelting furnaces floated in mid-air. He then grabbed a portion of the Ironwood cannonball materials and threw them into the furnace, followed by tossing the storage bag into the air. White light flashed, and the mouth of the bag spewed out a series of Heavenly Crystal Bullet materials, which were also mixed into the furnace.

Lei Xiang pointed to a spot in the air, igniting the "Mysterious Heaven Departing Fire Array." He suspended the smelting furnace above it. Seeing that the fire was not strong enough, he channeled his internal spiritual power. Finally, his Golden Core contracted, and he spat out a wisp of core fire as thick as a finger, immediately causing the Mysterious Heaven Departing Fire beneath the furnace to crackle and roar into a blazing inferno.

This was the first time Lei Xiang had used his core fire for refining since forming his Golden Core. He was pleased to find that this core fire seemed even more potent than the Mysterious Heaven Departing Fire. He would no longer have to worry about a source of fire for refining higher-grade Immortal-Shooting Guns in the future.

Smelting furnace, initial refining furnace, precision refining furnace.

After these processes, Lei Xiang used a large blue hand formed from energy to pluck a pellet the size of a fingernail from the precision refining furnace. He examined it for a moment, shook his head, tossed it back into the smelting furnace, added half a bottle of gray powder and a small cup of transparent liquid, and resumed refining with the Mysterious Heaven Departing Fire.

Seventeen days later, Lei Xiang slowly stood up from his meditation cushion, holding a long rifle horizontally. The barrel was a dark, shimmering blue, and the stock was made of dark ironwood. The barrel was half an inch wider than the Palm-Held Immortal-Shooting Gun, and it was a foot and a half longer. One could tell at a glance that it was no ordinary item.

***

This was the second Immortal-Shooting Gun Lei Xiang had created in the cultivation world. It was a fusion of the advantages of the Arisaka Type 38 and the Type 99 rifle. He named it the "Type 99 Immortal-Shooting Gun."

The original intention behind designing and manufacturing this Type 99 Immortal-Shooting Gun was born of sheer necessity. At the time, after successfully refining a Heavenly Crystal Bullet with increased explosive power, Lei Xiang naturally took out his Palm-Held Immortal-Shooting Gun to test the results. The outcome left Lei Xiang depressed: while the explosive power had indeed increased by a notch, the Palm-Held Immortal-Shooting Gun could not withstand it, and the barrel cracked during the propulsion of the Heavenly Crystal Bullet, forcing Lei Xiang to repair and re-refine it.

The Heavenly Crystal Bullet was a success, but the gun was unusable. This problem forced Lei Xiang to find another way. Fortunately, thanks to his experience as a special forces soldier in his past life and his familiarity with the structural characteristics of various firearms, he formulated a plan after some contemplation: fuse the Type 38 and Type 99 rifles to create the first long rifle in the cultivation world.

The Type 99 Immortal-Shooting Gun was successfully developed. When tested with the modified Heavenly Crystal Bullets, both the range and destructive power were greatly increased. This gave Lei Xiang more confidence in dealing with the impending dangers. After quickly organizing the findings from his trip to the Elven Tribe, he emerged from seclusion. Since this seclusion had taken two days longer than expected, Lei Xiang was very concerned about what Yang Jian might have discovered.

After removing the Hundred-Change Fantastic Pupil and the array, Lei Xiang sensed that Yang Jian was standing outside, likely having waited for a long time. After calling him in, before Lei Xiang could give an order, Yang Jian took the initiative to report.

"Reporting to you, Young Master, I have thoroughly investigated the situation on that day. Sixteen guards were on rotation, and not one of them discovered any abnormal phenomena. However, the guard Xiao Liu, who was on duty at this mansion, fell asleep for half an hour. I have already had the captain of the guard severely punish him."

Lei Xiang raised an eyebrow and interrupted Yang Jian. "How old is this Xiao Liu? How many years has he been in the guard? Has he ever had similar disciplinary issues?"

"Xiao Liu is twenty years old. He was originally a guard in the Imperial City and has been transferred here for over a year. He has never made a mistake, which is why I spared his wretched life."

Lei Xiang shook his head. "That is not what I am referring to. Where is Xiao Liu now? Go and bring him to me immediately. This person must have a problem."