Chapter 455 - 339: Re-entering the Shadows, First Probe of the Umbral Domain

Over a hundred Shadow Wolves slowly fanned out, forming a semicircle around them. Their movements were coordinated, like a highly trained army.

There were no roars, no snarls—only a sense of spiritual pressure that washed over them like a tide.

Ian set down the crystal he was holding and calmly swept his gaze over the pack.

"Gaga."

"Present!" The little guy’s voice was filled with excitement.

"Same as always. You harvest, I clear the field."

"Got it!"

The instant the words were spoken, Ian’s Order Divine Body manifested!

HUMMM!

The surrounding space warped abruptly as a silver light erupted from Ian’s body.

But this time, the light was not pure silver. It was tinged with a deep layer of Shadow.

He had intentionally compressed his originally colossal form down to a height of ten meters.

In the Shadow World, he didn’t want to draw too much attention.

Every inch of the divine body was composed of a Gravity Skeleton, Purification Flesh and Blood, and a Time Core.

Deep within his pupils, three Star Orbits accelerated their rotation.

The instant the divine body formed, the Entropy Increase Aura activated. A gray halo abruptly expanded outward with Ian at its center.

Wherever the ring of light swept, the surrounding space began to lose its order.

The movement of Energy particles became chaotic, temperatures leaped wildly between extreme cold and scorching heat, and structures destabilized.

The dozen or so Shadow Wolves at the forefront of the charge suddenly stiffened, the Shadow Energy coating their bodies starting to dissipate.

For the first time, fear appeared in their dark red eyes.

It was a fear of having one’s existence erased.

The Entropy Increase Aura was dismantling the very Energy Structure upon which their existence depended.

But soon, the Shadow Wolves’ Shadow Immunity trait began to take effect.

Part of the aura’s entropy effect was negated, absorbed, and converted into nourishment by the layer of Shadow covering their bodies.

Several Tier Two Peak Shadow Wolves even began to counterattack.

They opened their mouths, and a piercing shockwave slammed into Ian!

At the same time, dozens of Shadow Tentacles erupted from the ground, snaking toward the legs of the divine body.

Ian looked on with contempt as the tips of his left fingers began to glow with a pale golden light.

The Purification Rule, driven at full power!

Twelve golden beams shot from his fingertips, each one locking onto a Tier Two Peak Shadow Wolf.

The beams were as fine as needles, and the Power of Order Purification they contained was a powerful counter to Shadow Creatures.

PFFT...

The beams pierced the layer of Shadow on the wolves’ bodies, striking their cores directly.

The Shadow Wolves let out silent, agonized howls as their eyes abruptly dimmed and their bodies began to disintegrate.

Like ignited paper effigies, they rapidly turned into gray-black energy residue that dissipated into the air.

Meanwhile, the little guy transformed into a streak of black light, darting frantically through the pack.

With each flash, it reappeared behind a Shadow Wolf.

Its Dark Silver beak, like the sharpest of blades, precisely pierced the nape of the Shadow Wolf’s neck.

That was a node of Shadow Energy. Once it was destroyed, the entire Shadow Wolf would lose control and disintegrate.

Gaga’s speed was astounding. In the Shadow World, its strength had increased by at least fifty percent.

Each Shadow Jump was nearly instantaneous.

And every time it appeared, it took down a Shadow Wolf.

The pack descended into chaos.

The front ranks were being disintegrated by the Entropy Increase Aura, the middle ranks were pierced by Purification Beams, and the rear ranks were harvested by Gaga.

Their numerical advantage was meaningless in the face of absolute power.

In just one minute, fewer than ten of the hundred-plus Shadow Wolves remained.

They stopped their attack and began to slowly retreat, their eyes filled with terror.

Ian didn’t pursue them. He dismissed his Order Divine Body, his gaze falling upon the depths of the mine.

There... something had awakened.

"Gaga, come back."

With a Shadow Jump, the little guy landed back on his shoulder.

Its feathers were stained with gray-black energy residue, but with a light shake, it all dissipated.

"Ian, deep in the mine... there’s something big," the little guy said, its expression grave.

Ian nodded. He had already sensed it.

A vast, chilling, and ancient aura was slowly rising from the deepest part of the mine.

The ground began to tremble.

All the Shadow Crystals in the mine simultaneously lit up with a dark purple glow.

The light converged like countless streams, flowing into the depths.

"HISSS!!!"

The ear-piercing screech tore through the silence, exploding directly within his Sea of Spirit.

It was like countless Ice Cones piercing the brain at once!

Ian’s pupils contracted. The Purification barrier of his Order Divine Body deployed automatically.

A pale golden light flowed across the surface of his body, blocking the Spiritual Shock.

But Gaga, on his shoulder, let out a muffled grunt.

The little guy’s feathers bristled, and a flash of pain shot through its silver-gray pupils.

’Level Three Peak... No, it’s close to Level Four...’

Ian muttered to himself, his gaze locked on the depths of the mine.

Ahead, the gray mist was being stirred by some enormous entity, swirling madly.

A massive silhouette slowly emerged.

First, a pair of dark purple compound eyes, each the size of a millstone, reflecting countless twisted images.

Then... jointed legs, so densely packed it was impossible to count how many pairs there were.

Each leg was covered in a jet-black Shell, on the surface of which were natural Dark Gold markings.

As the markings swirled, the gray mist in the mine, the light from the crystals, and even the dissipating Energy from the Shadow Wolf remains were all absorbed by the Shell.

The monster fully revealed itself. Its body length... exceeded three hundred meters.

Like a moving mountain range, it slowly crawled out from the depths of the mine.

’This is... an extremely rare Shadow Lord!’

The monster dragged its three-hundred-meter-long body and settled in the center of the mine, its compound eyes locking onto Ian.

It was the cold, pure... gaze of a predator, as if it were looking at a mobile power source.

It opened its mouth, revealing a swirling vortex of darkness.

The surrounding gray mist, crystal fragments, and even space itself began to collapse into its maw.