The atmosphere inside the subterranean chamber settled into a heavy, suffocating silence. Every breath Li Chen took drew the remaining wisps of dark Qi back into his body, sealing the terrifying pressure of his newly forged Shadow Core deep within his Dantian.
He opened his right hand. A small, perfect sphere of liquid darkness spun above his palm, sparking with faint threads of violet lightning. With a single thought, the orb dissipated, dissolving into his skin.
— Congratulations on breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, Master! — Xiao Feng exclaimed, bowing low with sincere reverence.
— The breakthrough is merely a step, not the destination, — Li Chen replied smoothly, his voice now carrying an unsettling, echoing resonance that caused the surrounding stone walls to tremble slightly.
He waved his hand, recalling the Abyssal Heart Cauldron to his spatial ring. As the furnace vanished, Li Chen’s brows knitted together. His heightened spiritual sense, now vastly expanded by his Shadow Core, picked up a subtle disturbance ripple echoing through the floor from miles away. Read the latest chapters at g.com.
It was not the crude, chaotic energy of the local bandits, nor was it the righteous solar Qi of the Sun-Veil Sect. It was a cold, empty void-aura—the signature of an ancient, long-forgotten shadow organization.
SWOOSH!
Without warning, the shadow of a pillar in the corner of the room detached itself from the stone wall, forming into the shape of a masked figure clad in seamless black robes. The figure bore no visible weapon, but their presence was so faint that even Xiao Feng, standing just a few feet away, had failed to notice them.
— Impressive... — the intruder spoke, their voice sounding like dry leaves scraping across a tombstone. — To forge a Shadow Core using the remnant arts of the Dark Dan in such a desolate place... You are no ordinary rogue cultivator, Li Chen.
Xiao Feng instantly drew his blade, stepping in front of the altar, but Li Chen raised a hand to stop him. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
— The Night-Watch Pavilion, — Li Chen said coldly, his crimson-violet eyes fixing upon the masked watcher. — I thought your kind perished during the Great Sect War three hundred years ago.
— We do not perish; we simply wait in the dark, — the assassin replied, taking a step forward. — The awakening of your Dark Dan has sent tremors through the spiritual ley lines of the continent. Our High Patriarch has taken notice. He offers you a choice: join the Night-Watch as a High Shadow Sovereign, or be erased before the orthodox sects realize what you truly are.
Li Chen stepped off the obsidian dais, the shadow-wings behind his back flaring slightly as a ruthless smirk touched his lips.
— You come into my domain to deliver threats? — Li Chen asked softly, dark Qi gathering around his fingertips like razor-