Chapter 172: The Final ???? ????
Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to the patriarch’s performance. He just continued suppressing the shadow while still looking off at the horizon.
He was thinking back to the time when he acquired the shadow. It was back in the jungle forbidden region when he and Squad Thunderbolt had fought a pack of black-scaled wolves. The shadow had come out of one of those wolves, almost as if it were a parasite. [1]
That was the first time the violet crystal within him had done anything different from before, as it had sealed the shadow. From that point on, his shadow had changed. More precisely, it seemed like his own shadow became the host for the black-scaled wolf’s shadow. The two had become one.
From then on, his shadow could absorb mutagen, which made his practice of cultivation go much more smoothly. Of course, as the shadow absorbed mutagen, its battle prowess increased. Other than helping him, the shadow hadn’t done much or changed. And after Xu Qing figured out how to control it, it became one of his trump cards.
It was when he killed that young merman that his shadow first showed some signs of intelligence. Later, the Mute warned him about the shadow. And then there was the time when the shadow seemed to wake up and extinguish the Spirit Breath Lamp in the Merfolk Isles. After that point, his shadow didn’t just seem alive, it seemed intelligent. [2]
Xu Qing had long since predicted where it all was going. However, the entire time, he had been able to keep the shadow suppressed with his cultivation base and the violet crystal. Therefore, though the shadow had been of concern to him, since he never let it get too strong, there was no risk of it attacking him. The fact that it had done so just now wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was that the shadow had somehow attracted the giant with the dragon chariot. That got him even more curious about what exactly the shadow was.
Looking down calmly at the shadow, he said, “Regardless, as far as I’m concerned, you’re more of a risk than a benefit.”
When Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior heard those words, he shivered.
At the same time, the shadow could sense that things were different this time around, and it emitted fluctuations of terror and pleading.
“Since that’s the case,” Xu Qing continued, “I don’t need you around!”
Closing his eyes, he extended his right hand and pushed it down onto the shadow on the deck. Violet light surged out with suppressive force, causing the entire dharmaskiff to tremble. The shadow didn’t seem like it could last much longer, and let loose an unprecedented shriek, along with emotions associated with pain and anger.
Xu Qing could sense them, but he ignored them and kept suppressing the shadow.
Hearing the howls of grief, the patriarch was so shaken he backed up a bit and looked nervously at Xu Qing.
The shadow howled as it grew fainter, until a sound rang out like something shattering, and the shadow reverted from a tree to its previous ordinary form. Another weak cry rang out, one of pleading.
Face completely expressionless, Xu Qing continued suppressing the shadow.
180 times. 240 times. 320 times.
Violet light erupted as he suppressed the shadow over and over again. It grew fainter, more transparent, and its cries grew weaker.
Xu Qing’s eyes remained decisive. He really did intend to wipe the shadow out of existence. As for how he would deal with mutagen afterward, he wasn’t sure, but it didn’t concern him too much. To him, the violet crystal was his most important asset, and the shadow was secondary.
The shadow could absorb mutagen, but the violet crystal could keep it sealed. If that was the case, then it meant the crystal could seal other things similar to the shadow. Worst case scenario, after the shadow died, Xu Qing could start hunting forbidden regions and try to find something else similar to the shadow.
Therefore, no matter how weak and faint the shadow became, he continued suppressing it.
350 times. 460 times. 570 times. 680 times.
He continued relentlessly and without stopping.
Eventually, as the shadow grew fainter, it shrank into a ball, making it a bit less faint. At that point, it took the shape of a small person that began kowtowing over and over again.
Xu Qing looked at the shadowy person and once again suppressed it. With a single palm, he crushed it. A scream rang out.
Xu Qing remained calm as he sat beneath the sun, casting no shadow whatsoever. Ignoring the strangeness of that, he walked to the edge of the dharmaskiff and looked out at the black water. Given the angle of the sun, if he had a shadow, it should have been cast out onto the mutagen-filled sea.
Standing there, Xu Qing looked toward the prow of the boat and said, “Get the hell out into the open!”
Everything was quiet on the deck of the boat.
Xu Qing suddenly smiled, and his eyes turned cold. Violet light glittered on his chest as if it were about to erupt out.
At that point, the trembling shadow appeared on the deck in the spot where he had been suppressing it. It quickly converged into the shape of a tiny person, which began kowtowing over and over again pleadingly.
“You took too long,” Xu Qing said, and he suppressed it a few more times. There was another bang, and the little person screamed, then exploded.
Xu Qing remained completely expressionless as he sat there meditating, his eyes closed.
As it turned out, killing the shadow was much more difficult than it seemed. It looked like he would need to do some more research into the violet crystal to see if he could come up with a more efficient method. Some time passed, and eventually it was noon. With the sun hot overhead, and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior stewing in anxiety, Xu Qing finally opened his eyes and looked at that same spot on the deck.
“Get the hell out into the open!”
This time, the shadow appeared with astonishing speed, clearly terrified of being tormented further. It was still faint, but after recovering for a few hours, it had regained some strength, and now looked like a tree again. Trembling, it sent out emotions of pleading and terror that surpassed anything from before by ten times over.
“You’ve been with me long enough to know what I’m like,” Xu Qing said, looking at it coldly. He really did want to kill it, but it would take time to figure out how to use the violet crystal to do so. Therefore, seeing how terrified it was, he said, “I’ll give you three months to convince me not to kill you. If you fail....”
He trailed off and didn’t say anything further.
The shadow trembled and kowtowed over and over again to voice its agreement.
Looking at it, Xu Qing said, “Listen well. It doesn’t matter that you experienced a breakthrough just now. Nothing has changed.”
“Gobble... control....” the shadow said.
However, whether because it was so weak, or because of its inherent nature, even after its breakthrough, it wasn’t capable of ordinary speech, and had trouble expressing itself.
Xu Qing frowned. He needed more detailed information. Now that the shadow had risen to a higher level, he wanted to know what it was capable of. That information would be critical in fights later on.
“Milord, I’ll handle this!” the patriarch said. Lighting crackled around him as he hurried over to the shadow’s side, squatted down, and glanced at its one hundred eyes. Lowering his voice so Xu Qing couldn’t hear, he said, “I’ll ask you some questions. Blink for yes. Nod for no. Now, tell me what you meant just now when you said ‘gobble.’ Gobble what? Gobble mutagen? Gobble flesh? Gobble shadows?”
The shadow clearly didn’t like the patriarch, but it had no choice but to follow his lead. Eventually, when it heard the patriarch say ‘gobble shadows,’ it blinked.
“Gobble yourself? Or gobble other peoples’ shadows? Gobble a mouthful? Or the whole thing? Control the body? Or control the soul?”
After communicating in this manner, the patriarch finally reached a certain level of understanding, and turned to Xu Qing.
“Milord, I get it now. Little Shadow means to say that it can devour the shadows of others. Once it consumes the entire shadow, it gains control of that individual’s body. However, milord, you possess something that it fears greatly, and thus, it didn’t work on you!”
As the patriarch explained, the shadow sent out emotions of approval, and nodded repeatedly. But then, only a moment later, it started shaking its head vigorously. Then it stared helplessly at the patriarch.
Apparently, Xu Qing’s unprecedented act of suppression had damaged its intellect to a certain degree, leaving it less intelligent than before.
“Remember, Little Shadow,” the patriarch said kindly, showing no signs that he had any ulterior motives, “blink for yes, nod your head for no. That method should make it relatively easy for me to figure out what you’re trying to say.”
The shadow blinked.
Though the patriarch was smiling, inside, he was thinking, This obnoxious shadow still dares to look at me maliciously? Just wait and see how I punish you! Once you get used to me interpreting for you, then as long as you remember how to say yes and no, then I can think of numerous ways to make you suffer!
Xu Qing wasn’t concerned with whatever the patriarch was scheming. But he was interested in the shadow’s bizarre ability. He also found it intriguing that the shadow was terrified of the violet crystal.
“Anything else?” he asked.
“Eyes... observe....” the shadow replied quickly, and then it looked at the patriarch.
After another back-and-forth conversation, the patriarch explained what the shadow meant.
“It has another ability that lets it send out shadow eyes and hide them in someone else’s shadow. If you do that, milord, you can observe things through those eyes.”
“Domain...” the shadow said.
The patriarch thought, then asked some follow-up questions. After confirming the shadow’s meaning, he turned respectfully to Xu Qing.
“Milord, it can create something like a shadow domain. Once it’s formed, its powers become much stronger while inside the domain.”
The shadow seemed pleased with that explanation, and looked at the patriarch with much less revulsion than before.
Xu Qing thought about the situation. The patriarch’s changes were visible to the naked eye. Meanwhile, the shadow just grew more and more gruish. It was actually a good combination, and gave him a lot more options.
After some more thought, he looked back out at the sea, and recalled the giant pulling the dragon chariot. His eyes narrowed, and he thought back to what Elder Zhao had told him about the dragon chariot containing some sort of secret magic. An imperial-class secret magic. Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits! [3]
I wonder if I could get into that dragon chariot and learn that secret magic.
The thought excited him as he looked out at the sea. Then a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
Still squatting off to the side, the patriarch said, “Little Shadow, I know you don’t like our lord and master very much, do you?”
The shadow seemed surprised, but quickly nodded.
“You shouldn’t be like that,” the patriarch continued. “I’ve read many ancient records, and I can tell you that rebels never meet a good end. I know you don’t like how this has turned out for you. You think that flying free is the only way to live. And thus, you’re still thinking of rebelling. In fact you want to come up with a way to kill our amazing lord and master, am I right?”
Hearing the question, Xu Qing looked over.
Seeing Xu Qing’s gaze shift, the shadow trembled and cautiously nodded.
1. Xu Qing killed the wolf and got the shadow in chapter 13. ☜
2. The shadow “being alive” was mentioned in chapter 76. The Mute warned him about the shadow in chapter 111. And it extinguished the lamp in chapter 117. ☜
3. Elder Zhao talked to him about the chariot in chapter 110. ☜