“Be careful, the shadows here are alive. We need to imitate those four and stand in an empty clearing,” Xing Wuliang said.
There was a mountain not too far from them and its shadow also ended not too far away. When Lu Yun took a closer look at it, he discovered there were at least seven thousand shadows within it—they all belonged to the beings that had died here. There were also shadows of Void World Kings among them.
“This mountain’s shadow can’t possibly be this big, it must be soooo crowded in there. Some shadows are gonna get squeezed out sooner or later. Look at how fat the mountain is!” Lu Yun suddenly pointed at the mountain’s shadow and roared with laughter.
A mystified Brightheart and Xing Wuliang stared at Lu Yun, not understanding why he was suddenly cracking such a lousy joke. However, their expressions froze the next second.
The enormous shadow seemed to have heard Lu Yun and shrank back a little, appearing a bit more normal than before.
“The shadow is also a great dao.” Lu Yun’s smile slid off his face as he considered it. “The one buried here is a powerhouse of shadow dao.”
“Supplemental dao?” Xing Wuliang asked reflexively.
“All three thousand great daos lead to the same end.” Lu Yun shook his head slightly.
Xing Wuliang didn’t fully understand, but Brightheart did.
“Supplemental dao and cultivation become one if you walk either path to the end,” she clarified. “Shadow dao is one such example.”
Taking a path to the end didn’t mean the ultimate peak of cultivation, but the peak evolution of that dao’s order. Shadow dao was both supplemental dao and cultivation—a product of both paths to their apex.
This kind of dao had gone extinct in the fourth realm since the disappearance of the Di Clan.
No legacy of this sort had been preserved in the tomb; this kind of peak dao had been buried here.
Affected by such a great dao, the shadows beneath their feet had come alive. However, they remained shadows. They had to kill and devour their primary selves before they could become independent entities.
“That mountain isn’t a mountain, it’s a burial mound,” Lu Yun suddenly gasped. “The great expert skilled in shadow dao was buried in a pile of dirt!”
“What?!” shrieked Xing Wuliang and Brightheart. The latter knew full well how formidable peak dao was. Someone who could reach those heights was at least a Nihil World Sovereign!
A Nihil World Sovereign had been dumped under a burial mound after their death? How fiercely must their resentment burn!
Unbidden, the two looked to the mountain.
“This isn’t a proper location for a burial mound either, this mountain is just a burial good!” Xing Wuliang realized with shock. “The Cloud Sovereign killed a Nihil World Sovereign skilled in shadow dao to accompany the tomb’s master in death?!
“No, no wait, not burial goods, but tomb keepers! These shadows are here to guard the tomb!”
Lu Yun shuddered when he heard these words. Thank freaking goodness he hadn’t done anything out of bounds after obtaining the tomb’s approval. Despite possessing his full strength, he’d still traveled through the tomb as a true void cultivator.
Otherwise…
If his shadow suddenly attacked him as a Nihil World Sovereign… Lu Yun’s blood ran cold to entertain the thought.
A true void shadow naturally didn’t dare do anything to a primary body that could turn into a Nihil World Sovereign at any time. Under shadow dao, shadows were bestowed with sentience and intelligence.
Though Lu Yun’s shadow had awoken thanks to shadow dao, it was stuck at the true void realm despite its primary body’s true strength.
Why the fuck did you do this to me?!
Lu Yun’s shadow wanted to cry, but couldn’t find the tears to.
“The one buried here shouldn’t be related to the Hallowed Emperor. They should be someone important to the Cloud Sovereign instead. Shall we go in and take a look?” Xing Wuliang asked carefully, still on the lookout for his shadow.
Though he was only a major World Manifest, he was also a supplemental grandmaster. Who knew if his shadow would also possess his supplemental dao prowess?
But instead of attacking him, his shadow had left as soon as it came alive. Plainly, the shadow of a supplemental grandmaster felt that one should use supplemental methods to attack the primary self.
Xing Wuliang felt a headache setting in.
“All of the shadows here are intelligent.” Lu Yun lifted his foot and stomped on his own. “You, go fetch Xing Wuliang’s shadow.”
Lu Yun’s shadow once more rapidly shook his head.
It was a very bizarre sight. The four gaping World Manifests rubbed their eyes to confirm they were seeing things. The boy’s shadow didn’t dare attack himself!
“You four better come with us. too, or his shadow will be the end of you guys.” Lu Yun smiled at the quartet. “The shadow of a supplemental grandmaster won’t behave in a conventional way. He might not choose to kill his primary self.”
The four men shuddered with horror. They’d seen Xing Wuliang’s shadow slip away with their own eyes.
“No!” the bearded man declined sternly. “The shadow of a supplemental grandmaster might not kill himself, but that Void World King’s shadow will definitely come for her! We’ll be dragged in if we follow you!”
“Forget it then.” Lu Yun curled his lip. “Shame, could’ve had four cannon fodder.”
Xing Wuliang: ……
Brightheart: ……
“I knew it! We’re not falling for that!” harrumphed the man. They were trying to find the way out of here. Leaving this world was the safest and wisest decision. Even Void World Kings had fallen to their shadows and been decapitated with one stroke.
“Since the cannon fodder won’t come with us, we’ll go ourselves!” Xing Wuliang was highly wary of his shadow now, deeply afraid that it would suddenly spring out of a rock somewhere and chop his head off.
There were at least seven thousand headless corpses on the ground, and those were just the ones they could see.
Meanwhile, Lu Yun was more focused on the corpses, as was Xing Wuliang also on his guard against them. The latter was one of the most brilliant supplemental grandmasters in the fourth realm—well versed in feng shui and the dao of burial. He could tell that there wasn’t only shadow dao present.
If there were burial mounds for tomb keepers, then there would be four of them in total. One for each cardinal direction, thus providing four peak daos to envelope the world. The corpses here hadn’t fallen to the ground in a random, haphazard manner.
“AHH!!!”
“Help!”
The four cannon fodder screamed the second Lu Yun and the other two left, becoming headless corpses. Brightheart’s shadow stood next to them with a sharp dagger in hand. Her shadowy face splitting apart into an empty void with defined features.
“Who says we have to kill our primary selves first?” sounded a voice that sounded exactly like the Brightheart World King.
