The pink queen was surprised to see the human Soul Master remain unusually calm while advancing steadily through her poisonous fog. What startled her even more was the sudden appearance of countless human-shaped shadows behind him.
With a sharp screech, the pink queen intensified the release of her pink poisonous mist.
The other pink maidens, seemingly following a command, also went all out, spraying pink mist from their tiny mouths without pause.
The pink fog, thick enough to cover hundreds of meters, grew increasingly dense. Yet Lü Buliang and his thirty Shadow Soldiers continued forward in perfect formation, their synchronized steps giving the illusion—through the haze—of an army tens of thousands strong, advancing mightily.
As he walked, Lü Buliang closely monitored the movements of the pink maidens. When he saw that they were advancing instead of retreating, he didn't hesitate. Since they were here, they would all be sealed within the Shadow Grave Domain.
A cold light flickered across his heterochromatic eyes as he raised his right hand and shouted, "Kill—!"
In an instant, all the Shadow Soldiers behind him moved as if finally receiving a long-awaited order. Each of the thirty black shadows extended blades from their pitch-black hands, their blood-red eyes glinting with cold resolve. They dispersed and streaked forward along the ground like flowing ink, taking on shadowy forms as they charged toward the pink maidens.
The thirty shadows flitted through the pink mist like a horde of ghosts in the night. As they entered the ranks of the pink maidens, it was as if they passed through an empty field—utterly unimpeded. The shadow soldiers swept past their targets without resistance; the pink maidens could not see them at all.
Each fleeting shadow drove its dark blade down into the head of a maiden.
Splurt.
Blood splashed, accompanied by the dull thud of collapsing bodies.
Within the mass of pink maidens, the only sounds were the shrill insect cries, the slicing of blades through air, and the interweaving of thirty dancing shadows amidst erupting bloodshed.
One after another, the maidens fell. The poisonous mist began to thin as more of them were instantly slain. By the time Lü Buliang had approached within thirty meters of the Giant Earth King and the pink queen, the fog had completely dissipated, revealing a clear and deadly battlefield.
Seeing her subordinates butchered one after another, the pink queen was filled with rage. But beyond her use of stimulating toxins, she had no offensive abilities.
After glaring at the approaching Lü Buliang for several seconds, the pink queen suddenly retreated several meters, suppressing her fury. At that moment, the Giant Earth King beside her stomped its eight scorpion legs forward, placing itself in front of the queen and letting out a thunderous roar.
The roar surged In all directions like a wave of sound and heat.
In theory class, Instructor Zhilin had explained that the Giant Earth King was a high-grade fire-type scorpion soul beast, known for the explosive power of its high-temperature flames.
Now, the roaring sound waves radiated scorching heat, igniting nearby vegetation into an instant sea of flames.
As the roar ceased, the Giant Earth King's snow-white body erupted in crimson fire. Its glowing red stinger arched high, and with a sudden blast, it launched a stream of magma straight at the advancing Lü Buliang.
Still walking forward, Lü Buliang waited until the last moment—just before the magma struck—before activating the Shadow Grave Domain. Black light exploded outward, instantly enveloping a 300-meter radius in a transparent barrier.
Under the domain's effect, all enemy shadows within were suppressed by ten percent, limiting their strength. Meanwhile, allies gained a ten percent power boost.
As the domain enclosed the Giant Earth King and the pink maidens, Lü Buliang simultaneously activated his soul skill—Shadow Exchangetargeting the pink queen standing behind the Giant Earth King.
In an instant, Lü Buliang appeared behind the Giant Earth King, while the pink queen was teleported to where he had just stood—directly in the path of the Giant Earth King's magma blast.
The erupting magma slammed into the pink queen, igniting the night forest in a blinding inferno. Flames engulfed the area, incinerating nearby maidens, while the pink queen herself was charred black, collapsing weakly into the blaze.
Seeing this, the Giant Earth King went berserk. It unleashed its full power, letting out an earth-shaking roar that distorted the air with flames and launched Lü Buliang flying backward.
As he flew, Lü Buliang felt a repelling force strike his body, followed by a wave of dizziness.
Magma Earthsplit Strike!
He was thankful he'd paid close attention during theory class. The dizziness he felt was precisely the first stage of this technique—stunning the target. The second stage would be a searing fire pillar to finish off the immobilized enemy.
Recalling Instructor Zhilin's teachings, Lü Buliang glanced downward. Sure enough, the ground beneath him glowed red. A second later, a pillar of molten lava burst upward like a volcanic eruption, aiming straight for him.
Dazed, he could hardly dodge or defend.
Had his Shadow Martial Soul not evolved, he would have been roasted alive.
Fortunately, after consuming the Octagonal Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot, he'd become immune to both fire and ice, with the black aura surrounding him offering immense resistance to elemental attacks.
And more importantly—he wasn't alone.
Just as the fire pillar closed in to within two meters, the thirty Shadow Soldiers—still killing within the pink maiden ranks—instantly transformed into streaks of shadow and raced to Lü Buliang's aid. Intertwining and merging, they formed a sturdy black shield beneath him, blocking the magma's path.
The fire pillar slammed into the barrier, unable to pierce it immediately. As Lü Buliang's dizziness wore off, he twisted in midair and thrust his palm at the Giant Earth King, launching a shadow-based surprise attack using the surrounding darkness.
His heterochromatic eyes gleamed coldly. All around the Giant Earth King, shadows of nearby plants rose like javelins, infused with extreme ice and fire energy, and shot toward the beast.
Whoosh. Whizz-whizz-whizz.
Countless shadow javelins pierced into the Giant Earth King's body, opening blood-filled holes across its burning shell. Blood spurted and embers scattered.
Once the barrage ended, the shadow javelins withdrew and returned to their original shapes as plant shadows.
The Giant Earth King collapsed, its flames extinguished, its body bloody and lifeless.
At that moment, the 300-meter-wide Shadow Grave Domain began to contract around Lü Buliang like a transparent hemisphere shrinking into itself. As the domain retracted, something eerie occurred—every pink maiden corpse lost its shadow. Not even the moonlight could cast one.
The hemisphere finally collapsed into a single point, merging into Lü Buliang's body. With the domain lifted, the shadows of the corpses remained sealed within. The bodies lay there silently—no shadows, no blood—like hollow shells.
Then, the Shadow Grave Domain erupted once more, black light expanding outward to form the familiar transparent shield over 300 meters.
But this time, the scene within the domain changed. It was no longer the Sunset Forest. Instead, it transformed into a world without sunlight or life—a dark realm filled with hostility.
Strange creatures roamed this world. They were all pitch-black, with glowing red eyes. Most resembled scorpions, varying in size.
This was the true inner world of the Shadow Grave Domain.
The eerie creatures were, in fact, the sealed shadows of the deceased—those of the pink maidens.
Now trapped in this dark domain, each maiden's shadow existed as a twisted replica of its original form, completely black, with blood-red eyes, living forever in this world of shadows.
Sweeping his gaze across the blackened versions of the pink maidens, Lü Buliang finally spotted a larger, distinct figure among them—a black scorpion-like creature different from the rest.
This was the Giant Earth King's shadow.
After killing the Giant Earth King, its shadow had also been sealed within the Shadow Grave Domain.
Lü Buliang retrieved a black mask from his soul tool ring—the same mask he had worn at the Heaven Dou Auction.
His goal was simple: bind the Giant Earth King's shadow to the mask.
Infusing soul power into the mask, the Shadow Grave Domain amplified the process. A powerful force drew the Giant Earth King's shadow toward the mask.
As a streak of black light merged into it, a strange phenomenon occurred—the mask ignited in crimson flames. A few seconds later, the flames died down, revealing a completely transformed mask.
Now resembling a fiery scorpion stinger, the black mask had become a Flame Mask after binding with the Giant Earth King's shadow.
From now on, whenever Lü Buliang wore the Flame Mask, his shadow would merge with the Giant Earth King's shadow, granting him its powers. When his spiritual power called upon inner darkness, he could summon a black shadow army modeled after the Giant Earth King.
To unbind the shadow, one would simply destroy the Flame Mask.
As the Shadow Grave Domain dissipated, the dark world vanished, and the familiar landscape of the Sunset Forest returned.
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