Chapter Seventy: The Realm of Gunfire and Explosions

Lei Xiang didn’t hesitate for a moment. He extended his long, strong hands and deftly began to disassemble the weapon.

Zhu Chi, standing nearby, stared fixedly at Lei Xiang, watching his every move, afraid to miss any detail of the process. But he was disappointed. Even with his utmost concentration, all he could see was a flurry of blurred hands, shadows overlapping, movements as steady as mountains and as fluid as streams—then, suddenly, all stopped.

Above Lei Xiang’s head now floated seven or eight components of various shapes. Lei Xiang smiled and said, “Master, did you see everything clearly? That was the entire process of disassembling the Immortal-Slaying Gun. Heh, how long did it take me?”

A flush crept over Zhu Chi’s aged face. He hadn’t seen anything clearly—the movements were simply too fast. He mumbled, “I was only watching you and forgot to count the time. Assemble it again, and I’ll time you.”

“All right!” Lei Xiang replied. As soon as the word left his lips, his hands moved with a flurry of afterimages, and then all motion ceased. “Done, Master.”

Zhu Chi could only blink in astonishment. “Five breaths! How is that possible? And I can’t see you using any secret technique. How can you be so quick? You’re even two breaths faster than before. How do you do it?”

Lei Xiang thought to himself, “How do I do it? In my previous life, I was in special forces, disassembling sniper rifles hundreds of times a day. I even won first place in the military district’s skills competition. Without diligence, not even a genius can succeed.” But aloud, he replied vaguely, “I’m not quite sure. I just have some knowledge and experience with assembly and disassembly in my memory.”

Seeing Zhu Chi lost in thought, Lei Xiang quickly changed the subject. “All right, now I need to make the final preparations. Tomorrow, we’ll break through the spatial rift.”

The day passed in a flash. By now, Lei Xiang was fully prepared. In his left hand, he held the Immortal-Slaying Gun; with his right, he rummaged in his storage bag and brought out a small gray-white sphere, about the size of a thumb. He weighed it in his hand, his gaze resting on Zhu Chi.

But Zhu Chi didn’t notice Lei Xiang’s look; his attention remained fixed on the weapon in Lei Xiang’s hand, his eyes full of joy and excitement, and above all, anticipation.

Lei Xiang smiled faintly. “Master, I’m about to cast a spell. This thing has immense explosive power. Shouldn’t you return to my sea of consciousness?”

Zhu Chi licked his lips, hesitating. “But I want to witness for myself the power of this unique Immortal-Slaying Gun. If you just cover me with beast hide defense, won’t that be enough?”

“Beast hide defense?” Lei Xiang was both amused and exasperated. “Master, even a protective artifact a hundred times stronger than my beast hide defense couldn’t withstand the impact.”

Zhu Chi rolled his beady eyes and agreed reluctantly. His body turned into a wisp of black smoke and spun into Lei Xiang’s mind. Once Zhu Chi was inside, Lei Xiang shifted the Immortal-Slaying Gun to his right hand, and with his left, smoothly pulled down the gun’s handle and pressed the white pellet firmly inside.

This nail-sized white pellet was Lei Xiang’s painstaking invention—a “bullet” crafted from Heavenly Crystal as the main ingredient, mixed with other forging materials and finally bonded with beast glue from a demon beast. After countless trials, he had refined just three of them—each one precious and, in the world of cultivation, utterly unique. Since there was no official name, Lei Xiang called it the Heavenly Crystal Shot.

After loading the Heavenly Crystal Shot and reattaching the handle, Lei Xiang gripped the Immortal-Slaying Gun and sped northwest—toward the point Zhu Chi had detected as the thinnest spot in the spatial rift.

He soon reached the place. There was nothing to distinguish it from anywhere else—just the same gray haze, with Lei Xiang suspended quietly in midair, eyes closed.

He waited.

He was waiting for a moment when he could strike unerringly. The spatial rift was highly unstable, always shifting, so Lei Xiang needed to sense when this point was engulfed in a particularly unstable storm—when it would be even weaker. A strike then would increase his chances of success by thirty percent.

Suddenly, Lei Xiang spread his arms. The Dragon-Taming Spear’s Reverse Scale Shield enveloped him. He gripped the Immortal-Slaying Gun with both hands, his expression calm—nothing like someone using the weapon for the first time. No spiritual power needed—just a practiced eye aiming through the sights, and a calloused finger gently squeezing the trigger.

A crisp crack rang out. The firing pin struck the base of the Heavenly Crystal Shot, which shot from the barrel, instantly covering a distance of thirty or forty yards. There, in the midst of the gray haze, an endless barrier suddenly materialized, blocking the projectile’s path.

The Heavenly Crystal Shot struck the barrier and exploded like a white lotus, unleashing a surge of spiritual power that crashed against it without waste. The barrier groaned and shuddered, clearly close to breaking.

A smile flickered across Lei Xiang’s face. He completely forgot the pain in his chest, the result of the gun’s recoil slamming into him. Fortunately, the Reverse Scale Shield had absorbed some of the force; otherwise, he might have been injured. “It seems the Immortal-Slaying Gun still needs modifications—a shock-absorbing system.”

As he pondered this, Lei Xiang’s smile vanished. He reached behind him and caught a gray-white sphere of light, which he promptly tossed back into his sea of consciousness. “Sigh, Master’s soul hasn’t recovered to its peak. Otherwise, how could the recoil have knocked him out? Better for him to stay safe in my sea of consciousness.”

Suddenly, the cracking stopped, and silence returned. Lei Xiang’s eyes locked onto the void, blue light flashing wildly as if to penetrate it. Meanwhile, he loaded another Heavenly Crystal Shot, slid in the magazine, and prepared to fire again.

He didn’t rush this time. Instead, he released the Blue Lotus Disc, pouring several incantations into it. The disc expanded instantly, forming a giant umbrella that shielded Lei Xiang. Zhu Chi, stunned by the gun’s recoil, was now no hindrance; Lei Xiang could freely use the miraculous Blue Lotus Disc. With such a treasure, what was there to fear?

Once everything was ready, Lei Xiang squeezed the trigger without hesitation. The barrel spat out another gray-white Heavenly Crystal Shot, which streaked through the air in a trail of sparks.

A thunderous boom resounded. The entire space trembled. Where the Heavenly Crystal Shot struck, the barrier melted as quickly as spring snow, and soon a gap more than a yard wide appeared, letting in a gust of fresh air.

“Success!”

Lei Xiang drew a deep breath of the familiar air, his spirits soaring. He quickly retrieved the Blue Lotus Disc and rode a beam of light through the gap—at last, he was free.

Delighted, Lei Xiang gazed around—green trees, wildflowers, sunlight, a star-studded sky. Everything was as familiar and beautiful as he remembered. He couldn’t help laughing aloud in joy—but his laughter abruptly ceased as he noticed something amiss.

It was an obvious problem, one he’d overlooked in his excitement. With the sun in the sky, why were there still stars everywhere?

He barely had time to consider this before several points of starlight shot into his body. Lei Xiang lost consciousness and collapsed.