Chapter 78: Sunset Drive
Arc had been right: altering himself came easier now that he had crossed the Fourth Coil.
Since his soul and body were now aligned with the concept of ‘firearm’ and all of its components, shifting from metal to gunsmoke felt like water being transformed into steam: almost natural.
As he cycled inside the metal wagon until his entire self became gaseous mist, his senses faded away until only his awareness of qi remained. Gunsmoke didn’t have eyes, a nose, or fingers to touch objects with; only his spiritual senses let him perceive the world around him. His gun and clothes merged with his insubstantial form, perhaps because the technique considered them extensions of himself.
Yuan couldn’t quite explain this state of being. He felt more fragile than ever, and his core’s hold on his body had become so incredibly weak that it took a lot of willpower just to keep himself from breaking apart into smaller pieces. A gust of wind could send him spiraling away. The mental effort and qi expenditure were extremely high too.
But on the other hand, Yuan felt that nothing could actually harm him. While Arc once warned him that his transformation made him especially vulnerable to spiritual attacks, most physical blows would phase through him. Being able to float around and slip through cracks could also have its uses.
Yuan canceled the technique and returned to his physical form. He had managed to continuously keep it up for about half a minute, much longer than Toshiro’s second-long use of his ability. The transformation itself hardly took an instant to unfold.
Nonetheless, Yuan doubted he would use the technique for so long. His gunsmoke form prevented him from attacking, and his invulnerability to physical hits came at the cost of exposing his core or risking being blown away by a strong breeze. For all of his boasting, Toshiro’s tactic of using it as a short-lived defense against incoming attacks seemed to be his best option.
“Since it’s an evolution of Black Haze…” Yuan wondered out loud. “How about calling it… Black Mist? Black Smoke?”
“How about Black Mirage?” Orient’s voice asked lightly from the walls, which caused Yuan to look up at the ceiling. “My apologies if I startled you, Yuan. I… I thought you were used to me watching.”