Chapter 6: Innate Realm! King!
"The wind has risen, and it's time for you to die."
Jiang Xiu felt the breeze brushing against his palm, his eyes as calm as a lake as he gazed calmly at the Abyss Ant before him. At his feet, a dark shadow stood poised for battle.
"Hei Yi, attack!"
Soon, Jiang Xiu targeted another small Abyss Ant. With a wave of his finger, the dark shadow beneath him sprinted forward, charging straight at it.
The next moment, the two figures engaged in a fierce battle, while Jiang Xiu watched silently from the side, his eyes flashing with brilliance.
"The extracted shadow retains 60% of its original combat power. Intelligence... well, this thing doesn't have intelligence yet,"
Jiang Xiu silently analyzed. However, he had already learned from his Shadow King spirit that the amount of combat power retained by a shadow is directly linked to its own strength.
In other words, as Jiang Xiu's strength increased, the extracted shadow's combat power would gradually approach that of its original form, perhaps even a one-to-one replica.
"What a powerful ability!"
Jiang Xiu sighed. The dagger reappeared in his hand, and while the Abyss Ant was fighting Hei Yi, he struck it dead with a single blow. He then extracted its shadow again, adding one more member to his army.
As time passed, the shadows surrounding Jiang Xiu multiplied, until there were nine of them, surrounding him like a king.
"Puff!"
Another sound echoed, and a shadow ant fell, its shadow slowly rising.
But at this moment, Jiang Xiu's bloodshot eyes shone brightly. Then, an extremely dense dark force surged out from under his feet, instantly plunging everything within a ten-meter radius into eternal night.
The crimson eyes of the ten shadows surrounding Jiang Xiu suddenly lit up with excitement, their aura rising.
"Ten men make an army."
"Is this activating my martial spirit's innate domain?!"
Sensing the surrounding darkness, Jiang Xiu's bloodshot eyes brightened, and after sensing the effects of this innate domain, his heart trembled slightly.
His innate domain, called the Monarch Domain, has three major benefits. First, within the domain, the shadows he extracts will gain a 20% boost in overall strength, with no limit on the number of shadows he can extract.
Second, using the Monarch Domain allows him to significantly mask his own aura, both internally and externally.
The third benefit, and the one Jiang Xiu values most, is his royal prestige. This prestige is immune to the pressure of any living being's aura, including their own bloodline!
Furthermore, this is a growth-type domain, increasing in strength as Jiang Xiu's power grows.
However, the latter two benefits are currently of primary importance to Jiang Xiu. After all, his shadow is currently in the Abyss, the domain of the Abyss Saint Lord. If discovered, his shadow would be doomed.
Although the Abyss Saint Lord usually slumbers and dispatches Spirit Emperors to patrol the various Abyssal planes on his behalf, this still requires precaution.
Regarding the effects of royal prestige, Jiang Xiu's first thought is Tang Wulin. Although his primary spirit, the Purple Brilliant Heaven-Slaying Dragon, is known as the ancestor of sub-dragons and rumored to be born in conjunction with the Dragon God, its level should be no lower than that of the Golden Dragon King.
However, Tang Wulin possessed the entire essence of the Golden Dragon King, while he was merely a martial spirit. Moreover, the continent's spirit beasts and spirit beast-like spirit masters were instantly suppressed upon encountering it. Just like the version answer, it was simple yet powerful.
Now, with the power of the Monarch, he could finally relax.
After familiarizing himself with the effects of the Monarch's Domain, Jiang Xiu smiled faintly. Although the era of Dou San was filled with powerful geniuses, it seemed his sword wasn't at all disadvantaged!
Suppressing his excitement, Jiang Xiu prepared to continue the fight. No matter what the future held, he was still just a spirit master who hadn't even obtained his first spirit ring. A fallen genius wasn't much of a genius.
But just as Jiang Xiu and his shadow soldiers slew the eleventh Abyss Ant, he was about to continue extracting shadows when a slight dizziness hit him.
"Looks like today's killing spree has come to an end,"
Jiang Xiu said with regret as he withdrew his hand. The Shadow Monarch's extraction had no limit; he could infinitely transform the shadows of the deceased.
However, his mental strength was limited. While his hardware was powerful, his mental strength couldn't keep up. After all, he had only just awakened his martial spirit less than half a day ago and hadn't even begun meditation.
"I'll spare your lives for now, but next time you come, it won't be so easy."
Jiang Xiu's gaze swept across the dense swarm of abyssal creatures before him, and he chuckled softly, but his tone was cold and emotionless.
Whether it was to avenge his parents or to save his future self, these abyssal creatures deserved to die.
This wasn't about justice, it was simply a matter of perspective.
"Huh?"
Just then, Jiang Xiu caught sight of two abyssal ants not far away fighting each other. One emerged victorious and devoured the other, after which the victorious ant grew even larger.
Jiang Xiu was momentarily taken aback, then burst out laughing.
He had forgotten that the entire abyssal plane adheres to a single law: evolution through devourment. This applies not only to the abyssal plane but also to abyssal creatures.
The king of each race, even the top emperors, has devoured countless of their own kind, the strongest of each race.
True abyssal creatures never practice inheritance.
"This law of the jungle is both dangerous and captivating. Hei Yi, I will lead you to fight your way out of the depths, allowing you, even those at the bottom, to witness scenery you've never seen before."
Jiang Xiu's gaze was melancholic, as he sniffed the smoke-filled air and caressed Hei Yidao beneath his feet.
"Baji, baji!"
Hei Yi, devoid of wisdom, simply expressed his loyalty to Jiang Xiu.
"Kings, Emperors, even the top ten emperors of the Abyss, I will meet you, in the near future."
Jiang Xiu's lips curled up, a flicker of determination in his bloodshot eyes before turning menacing.
Although the Abyssal creatures he had extracted were the same Ant Royals who attacked Snow City, despite their lack of intelligence, they retained fragments of their memories from before they were forged and reforged.
From these fragments, Jiang Xiu learned that this Abyssal Tide wasn't initiated by the Abyssal Plane itself, but rather a sudden rift in space that sucked these Ant Royals away, landing them above Snow City.
"Was this an accident, or was it intentional? Not many people possess such means these days."
Jiang Xiu's eyes dimmed, and he quickly suppressed the thought. His current strength was too weak to investigate these things.
Feeling a wave of weakness, Jiang Xiu slowly sank his consciousness into the shadows, gradually returning.
As his consciousness returned, the tall shadow quietly vanished, carrying ten shadow soldiers with it into the charred earth, disappearing.
...
"I'm back."
Under the bright light, Jiang Xiu slowly opened his eyes and took in the silver-white metal walls around him. It seemed as if everything just now was an illusion.
But he knew it was all real.
"I don't know how much time has passed. Is the flow of time on the Abyss Plane consistent with that on Douluo Continent?"
Jiang Xiu looked around but couldn't find a clock. His communication soul guide had long been destroyed by the abyssal tide.
But at that moment, a strong voice came from outside the Soul Guide Emergency Center. It sounded like two people were talking, and even the tone of their voices hinted at a war.
"Old Dong, it's not that I don't give you face, but I must take him away today, no one can stop me!"
"Old Mu, don't talk nonsense with me, just do what I say, and everything will be fine. If you dare to use force, I will use the barracks' ten-level soul guide shells to bombard you, and let your mecha fly with you!"
(End of this chapter)