The war had begun to shift. The victory of the Jun family over the Yi clan was no longer seen as a mere fluke—it had become a signal. A warning. A declaration.
In the grand halls of the three great families—Du, Jin, and Shen—councils gathered in dimly lit chambers, where shadows moved with the same weight as words. The heads of the clans debated not on whether to act, but on how quickly they could move against Jun Mo Xie before his influence became irreversible.
"He's not just a boy," growled Du Tian, the patriarch of the Du family. "He is a strategist. A leader. And a threat."
"He humiliated the Yi," added Jin Zhan, eyes narrowed. "We cannot allow a new power to rise unchecked."
"I suggest sending an emissary to the palace," said Shen Lao, stroking his long beard. "Let the emperor know this boy's ambition threatens stability. We can crush him with the crown's authority."
While they plotted in secrecy, Jun Mo Xie was already several steps ahead. At the center of his vast camp, which had grown into a military city of sorts, stood a towering spiritual dome—an energy cultivation chamber designed to enhance the training of his soldiers.
His army was now divided into specialist units, each led by a commander of his own choosing—men and women who once were beggars, gamblers, or broken by the cruelty of the world. Now, they were cultivators. Warriors. His shadows.
Within the spiritual dome, hundreds trained in synchronization. Breathing, strikes, stance—all in harmony. Overseeing them was Li Lian, instructing with fierce precision, while Li Lin oversaw body strengthening through hand-to-hand combat drills.
"Faster! Your opponent won't wait for your footing!" Li Lin shouted, moving between formations. She corrected stances and encouraged even the weakest to push their limits.
The third heroine, the princess, stood among her elite supporters, guiding spiritual cultivation and discipline. She focused on teaching them balance—how to conserve energy in long battles and extend their spiritual reserves.
Meanwhile, Li Lin—the fourth, the spirit beast in human form—worked with those sensitive to beast energy, preparing them to bond with spiritual creatures. Her lessons included taming wild energy and understanding a beast's emotional signature.
Jun Mo Xie sat in his war tent, poring over maps. His grandfather and uncle joined him.
"They're moving," said his grandfather. "Our scouts report the Du and Jin families gathering near the northern pass."
Jun nodded. "Let them. I want them to think we are vulnerable."
His uncle frowned. "That's dangerous."
"It's calculated," Jun replied. "We'll draw them in... to the Mist Valley. I've planted traps and formations there for weeks. Once they commit, we collapse the valley."
The elder men exchanged glances. What they saw in the young man wasn't arrogance—it was terrifying precision.
At night, Jun addressed his forces, standing on a high platform, surrounded by his heroines.
"You were once forgotten," he declared. "Now, you are remembered. You are the Shadow Army. And soon, the world will see that no one casts a darker shadow than we do."
Thunderous roars erupted from the ranks below. The army believed in him. Not because he promised them victory, but because he made them strong enough to take it.
Later that night, Jun met individually with his top commanders in a war council. Each brought intelligence from their regions. One reported an incoming merchant caravan suspected of supplying arms to the Shen family. Another detailed suspicious formations near the eastern border.
Jun studied every report and formulated three alternate plans. "We cannot fight with strength alone," he said. "We will use their greed, pride, and fear against them."
Back in his tent, Jun outlined his next project: Army Two. A new force comprised of outcasts, rogues, and those abandoned by the kingdom. They would be trained under the same system, shaped into a strike force designed for covert operations and sabotage.
A messenger arrived from the capital: "Seven cultivators of Ascended rank have entered the fray. They include the Hellfire Monk and the Lady of Azure Dust."
Jun chuckled. "Good. The stronger they send, the more glorious their defeat."
The next morning, new soldiers were brought before Jun—those who had shown potential but lacked discipline. He addressed them personally, something rare. "You want power? Earn it. You want freedom? Train for it. You want to matter? Then become a shadow worthy of my banner."
These soldiers, some barely more than teenagers, found something in Jun's words that resonated deeper than any formal order. It was a chance. A belief. They began training harder than ever.
As part of their orientation, Jun implemented a ranking system: Copper, Silver, and Gold Shadows. Each level brought new privileges and access to specialized techniques written in Jun's own hand from his memories of his previous world.
Meanwhile, in the dense forests bordering the Mist Valley, elite scouts deployed subtle spirit-marked traps—camouflaged arrays that would freeze enemies in place, drain their energy, or reverse directional senses.
"We turn the forest into a maze," Jun explained during a council briefing. "One step wrong, and they're ours."
Jun also dispatched Li Lian and a squadron of elite soldiers to secure an abandoned fortress near the river that could serve as a fallback point. There, she encountered resistance from rogue mercenaries, whom she defeated through sheer tactical brilliance. Instead of killing them, she offered them redemption under Jun's command.
To her surprise, they accepted.
Elsewhere, the princess met with scholars of the capital who sympathized with Jun's reforms. She arranged secret information exchanges and recruited them to build a mobile communication network between camps.
Li Lin, deep in meditation within a beast cave, began bonding with a rare Thunderfang Panther—its energy volatile but promising. She envisioned merging its agility with her own battle skills.
That evening, fireworks lit the sky over the Shadow Camp—not for celebration, but as a test of a new signal system. Three colors, three meanings: red for attack, blue for retreat, gold for reinforcement.
Standing beside his heroines atop the watchtower, Jun whispered, "Now we're ready."
The wind carried the scent of war. Distant drums echoed. The enemy was app
roaching.
And the Shadow Army stood in silence, waiting to make history.