Chapter 92: The Terrifying Growth of the Shadow Army

Lucian sat cross-legged, holding his breath and focusing his mind, his eyes tightly shut.

Sure enough!

Inside the Martial Soul Space within his Spirit Palace, a massive transformation had taken place.

The number of Shadow Soldiers had increased from 1,001 to 10,002. Not only had their numbers grown tenfold, but he had also gained an additional Shadow Military Lord.

10,002!

Lucian could hardly imagine how rapidly his cultivation would advance once he began cultivating at full power.

His foundation was already far more robust than that of ordinary cultivators, surpassing theirs by countless times. With 10,002 Shadow Soldiers cultivating simultaneously, his cultivation speed would be like a rocket compared to that of others.

And these weren’t ordinary soldiers.

All 10,002 Shadow Soldiers had reached the Early Stage of the Martial Master Realm. This was an army that couldn’t be underestimated.

Moreover, their individual combat strength was extraordinary. Even a Martial Master at Perfect Circulation would struggle to match them.

Thinking of this, Lucian moved his mind.

In the next instant, a Shadow Soldier and the newly acquired Shadow Military Lord appeared before him.

Evelyn already knew that he could summon multiple shadows, so there was no need to hide this ability from her. Besides, he still had another 10,000 Shadow Soldiers at his disposal.

Lucian first instructed the Shadow Soldier to test its punching strength.

Back when it had been at Martial Artist Rank 1, the Shadow Soldier could already unleash a force of 3,000 kilograms.

Now that it had advanced to the Martial Master Realm, Lucian expected its strength to have increased significantly.

He wasn’t disappointed.

"Clang!"

A heavy metallic impact echoed through the cultivation room as the testing equipment registered the result.

61,122 kg!

Lucian’s eyes brightened.

As expected, the Shadow Soldier’s strength was astonishing.

He was no longer the novice who understood nothing about cultivation.

According to the information stored in his Martial Artist Terminal, a cultivator’s strength doubled upon breaking through from the Martial Artist Realm to the Martial Master Realm.

However, the actual increase varied considerably depending on the quality of their Circulation breakthrough. The gap between cultivators of different talents was enormous.

Those with poor talent generally possessed a single-punch force of around 200 kg upon reaching Martial Artist Rank 1 through a standard Circulation.

Each subsequent rank increased their punching strength by another 100 kg. By the peak of the Martial Artist Realm, their maximum force reached only 1,000 kg, or one ton.

After breaking through to the Martial Master Realm, their strength doubled to 2,000 kg.

Even then, their progress remained limited. Each subsequent rank added just 200 kg of punching force, allowing them to reach a maximum of barely 4,000 kg, or four tons, at the peak of the Martial Master Realm.

Consequently, most cultivators restricted by their talent became stuck at the Martial Master Realm. Only a tiny fraction managed to advance further and reach the Martial Ancestor Realm.

The situation was entirely different for those with exceptional talent.

Cultivators who achieved the Martial Artist Realm through a Perfect Circulation possessed a punching force of 500 kg upon reaching Martial Artist Rank 1.

Each subsequent rank added another 500 kg.

By the peak of the Martial Artist Realm, their punching force reached 5,000 kg, or five tons—five times that of an average cultivator at the same realm’s peak.

Upon breaking through to the Martial Master Realm, their strength doubled to 10,000 kg.

Furthermore, each subsequent rank increased their punching force by another 1,000 kg. By the peak of the Martial Master Realm, they could unleash an astonishing 20,000 kg of force, equivalent to 20 tons.

The difference between a Martial Master at the peak of the realm who had achieved a standard Circulation and one who had achieved a Perfect Circulation was a staggering 16 tons of punching force.

Yet even such a gap seemed insignificant compared to Lucian’s Shadow Soldiers.

His Shadow Soldier had only just advanced to the Martial Master Realm, yet its punching force had already reached 61,122 kg.

That was more than three times the punching force of a Martial Master at the peak of the realm who had achieved a Perfect Circulation.

And this was merely one Shadow Soldier.

Lucian still possessed another 10,000 of them.

One could only conclude that there was always a higher mountain beyond the one already climbed, and always someone stronger waiting beyond the strongest one had encountered.

The hierarchy of geniuses was remarkably consistent. No matter how extraordinary someone appeared, there would always be someone even more exceptional.

And as cultivators continued advancing, the gap between them would only grow wider.

Lucian’s Shadow Legion could now be considered a formidable force in its own right.

After finishing the Shadow Soldier’s strength test, Lucian turned his attention to the newly appeared Shadow Military Lord.

The moment their eyes met, the latter dropped to one knee and saluted respectfully.

"Master!"

Lucian examined him for a moment before asking, "You don’t have a name either?"

"Yes, Master. Please bestow a name upon me."

"Hmm." Lucian rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I originally named the first Shadow Military Lord Shadow One, but apparently, nobody liked that naming style. So, I’ve decided to give you a proper name instead. Congratulations, you’re now Aldric. Consider yourself lucky. At least you won’t have to spend your entire life being called Shadow Two!"

"Thank you, Master! Aldric is grateful for the name."

"No need to be so formal." Lucian waved his hand. "Now go and test your strength as well!"

"As you command, Master!"

Aldric immediately moved toward the testing equipment.

Clang!

The heavy impact reverberated through the room, and the numbers appeared on the display.

100,560 kg!

Lucian raised his eyebrows.

"Not bad. Your strength is quite close to my own."

He was rather satisfied with the result.

However, the strength test wasn’t the only discovery awaiting him.

As Aldric appeared, Lucian received new information from his Martial Soul Space. The arrival of the second Shadow Military Lord had unlocked an entirely new ability.

Shadow Transformation!

A transformation capable of a thousand changes.

Even Lucian couldn’t help feeling that this skill was terrifying.

Once a Shadow Soldier entered someone’s shadow, it could transform into that person’s appearance and perfectly replicate their physical characteristics and combat data.

But that wasn’t the most frightening part.

When combined with the Shadow Devour talent, Shadow Transformation could acquire the target’s information in its entirety.

In other words, the Shadow Soldier could potentially impersonate the target so perfectly that even the people closest to them might never realize that something was wrong.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Shadow Soldier could completely replace its target.

Lucian’s expression grew increasingly strange as he processed the implications.

This ability is downright absurd!

Imagine someone close to you being silently replaced by a Shadow Soldier, with nobody noticing the difference.

Your family, your friends, your trusted subordinates—all of them could unknowingly interact with an impostor.

The thought alone was enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine.

Fortunately, Lucian was the Lord of Shadows and possessed absolute control over his Shadow Legion.

He had no reason to fear his own subordinates.

But if someone else possessed this ability?

It would be a catastrophe.

In some ways, it was even more terrifying than a parasite.

After all, a parasite might replace someone’s physical shell, but it wouldn’t necessarily possess the victim’s memories, experiences, or accumulated knowledge.

Shadow Transformation, on the other hand, combined with Shadow Devour, could potentially eliminate those very limitations.