Chapter 439 - 308: The Crisis Arrives

Chapter 439: Chapter 308: The Crisis Arrives

Tang Wen forced himself to calm down.

By the wall, the firelight stretched the shadows long.

He took a deep breath, trying to identify them: his and Third Lady’s shadows, the shadows of the two White Tigers, the tank-like shadow of the Thunder Rock Crocodile Turtle beneath them, and the long shadow of the Stone Dragon lying on the ground.

They all checked out.

His gaze shifted quietly, landing on a corner of the stone wall. A twisted shadow was there, bobbing slightly up and down, as if it were eating something!

’When did this get in?’

’It’s one thing for me not to have noticed, but how did the two White Tigers miss it too?’

He shifted his angle to take a furtive look—the two White Tigers had their eyes closed, apparently fast asleep!

’That shouldn’t be possible!’

He took a breath and steadied his racing heart, but his thoughts were a mess.

Feigning nonchalance, he turned to look in the direction of the shadow’s source.

Hm?

There was nothing there.

’I must have seen things.’

Tang Wen turned back again.

The twisted black shadow was still on the stone wall, looking like a vicious dog tearing at its prey!

What? He turned around but saw no physical entity.

He turned back again and saw the shadow.

’No physical body, only a shadow?’

’What is this thing?’

Tang Wen turned back and forth several times, his mind reeling with questions.

’A shadow-type Exotic Beast? A shadow monster?’

He thought for a long time but couldn’t recall any Exotic Beast that fit the description.

He simply placed his hand on Feng San Niang’s breast and kneaded it gently.

To his surprise, she was already fast asleep, and very soundly at that.

Tang Wen closed his eyes. ’Something’s definitely wrong!’

’How could she be sleeping so soundly?’

’Even if she feels safe in my arms, she shouldn’t be completely unresponsive.’

He pulled his hand back from her breast and fell into deep thought. ’Could I be dreaming?’

’No, what’s the point of worrying so much?’

’I’ll just blast it with Sword Gang and see what happens. Who cares what kind of shadow it is!’

Tang Wen gripped his saber, then relaxed his hand. ’If this is a dream, and I use Sword Gang, will I also be swinging my saber in reality? Could I hurt Third Lady?’

His eyes shifted, and he silently called out in his mind.

The Experience Panel immediately popped up before his eyes.

The light gray, semi-transparent Experience Panel was exactly the same as always.

He couldn’t use it to distinguish between reality and a dream.

Tang Wen had no choice but to reach out, place a hand on Third Lady’s slender waist, and pinch hard. The beauty in his arms remained completely unresponsive.

His heart sank completely.

’I’ve really run into something sinister.’

After some thought, he took out the Black-eyed Snake’s eyeball that Feng San Niang had just given him. He held it before his eye, channeling his Spiritual Power and vision through it. His sight instantly changed, the familiar, colorful world transforming into a monotonous combination of blue, green, and red.

’Isn’t this just... thermal imaging?’

Tang Wen scanned Third Lady and the Exotic Beasts.

They were deep red.

’But is this all an eyeball from a Peak Sixth-Grade Black-eyed Snake can do?’

’Just provide the vision of an ordinary snake?’

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the shadow on the wall, but he only saw a patch of pitch-blackness, as dark as thick ink.

Tang Wen raised an eyebrow. ’This snake eye... besides its "thermal imaging" ability, it can also see black? But what does the black represent?’

He turned his head to examine the Exotic Beasts:

In his sight, the two White Tigers were primarily red, but they were also surrounded by a black aura, like an outline drawn with a black pen.

Observing closely, he discovered that the lines varied in thickness and intensity.

The black line around Hu Niannian was a little thicker.

The black line surrounding the other White Tiger was slightly fainter.

Looking again at the Stone Dragon and the Crocodile Turtle, he saw that although the former was huge, the black line around it was even fainter, almost a dark gray.

The Crocodile Turtle’s outline was slightly darker than the Stone Dragon’s, but only marginally so.

A theory began to form in Tang Wen’s mind. He looked last at Feng San Niang; the black outline surrounding her was nearly the same intensity as the Stone Dragon’s.

The two White Tigers’ outlines were much darker than those of the other three.

Tang Wen instantly realized his guess must be correct: the black lines represented the intensity of one’s Spiritual Power.

The Thunder Rock Crocodile Turtle and the Stone Dragon were wild Fifth-Grade beasts.

They hadn’t spent much time refining their Spiritual Power and knew almost no Spiritual Secret Techniques.

The two White Tigers, however, possessed a complete clan inheritance and knew many Spiritual Secret Techniques.

Feng San Niang was from the Commerce Association’s direct lineage and at the Peak of Sixth Grade. She had cultivated the Spiritual Meditation Method to a considerable degree and was only a hair’s breadth away from Fifth Grade.

Therefore, the black lines around her body were about the same as those on the two wild Fifth-Grade beasts.

This series of deductions made Tang Wen’s heart tighten even more.

If a Fifth-Grade being only had a thick black line around it...

...then what did that make the pitch-black, completely solid shadow on the wall?

And what was its strength?

’Fourth Grade?’

His heart sank.

He lowered the Black-eyed Snake’s eye, and his vision returned to normal.

He turned, using his and Feng San Niang’s bodies as a screen, and took the Unity Mirror out from his Void Stone.

It was now clear that there really was a black shadow on the wall.

Moreover, it had somehow caused Feng San Niang and the Fifth-Grade White Tigers to fall into a deep sleep without anyone noticing.

Or perhaps, it had pulled him into some kind of deep dream state.

Subconsciously, Tang Wen was more willing to believe it was the second scenario.

Otherwise, the black shadow’s strength was at least Fourth Grade.

His fingertips touched the icy surface of the mirror.

His fingers flew across the surface, writing down everything about his current predicament to send to Hu Lan.

He had calculated the risk of this action.

He figured that since he hadn’t shown any malice toward the mysterious shadow, and since sending a message wouldn’t harm it in any way, it shouldn’t provoke a direct attack.

He finished writing in a single, fluid motion. The mirror’s surface flashed, and the message was sent.

A long moment passed with no reply.

With a heavy heart, Tang Wen shoved the Unity Mirror back into his Void Stone, his hand closing around a piece of Warm Jade.

Sealed within this specially crafted jade was a single, full-power strike from a Peak Fifth-Grade expert.

It was his final Killing Move, a last resort he wouldn’t use unless he had no other choice.