"The wind has risen, it's time for you to die."
Jiang Xiu felt the breeze brushing past his palm, his eyes as calm as a lake, calmly looking at the abyss ants before him.
At his feet was a black shadow ready to fight at any moment.
"Black One, go!"
Soon, Jiang Xiu targeted another small abyss ant. With a flick of his wrist, the black shadow beneath his feet charged forward, heading straight for it.
The next moment, the two figures clashed, while Jiang Xiu watched silently from the side, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.
"The extracted shadow retains sixty percent of its combat power in life, intelligence... hmm, this thing doesn't have intelligence yet."
Jiang Xiu analyzed inwardly, but he already knew through his Shadow Monarch Martial Soul that the amount of combat power retained in a shadow in life was linked to his strength.
That is, as Jiang Xiu's strength increased, the combat power of the extracted shadow could gradually approach that of its original body, or even be replicated one-to-one.
"Truly formidable power."
Jiang Xiu exclaimed, his short sword reappearing.
Taking advantage of the abyss ant's struggle with Hei Yi, he killed it with a single blow, then extracted its shadow again, adding another member to the legion.
As time passed, the shadows around Jiang Xiu multiplied, reaching nine in total.
These shadows surrounded Jiang Xiu, as if protecting their king.
"Pfft!"
Another sound rang out, and a shadow ant fell, its shadow slowly rising.
But at this moment, Jiang Xiu's blood-red eyes shone brightly, and then an extremely dense dark power surged from beneath his feet, instantly plunging everything within a ten-meter radius into eternal night.
The ten shadows surrounding Jiang Xiu's scarlet eyes instantly became excited, their aura rising.
"Ten men form an army."
"Has this activated my Martial Soul's Innate Domain?!"
Sensing the surrounding darkness, Jiang Xiu's blood-red eyes grew even brighter, and after experiencing the effects of this Innate Domain, his heart trembled slightly.
His innate domain, named the Monarch Domain, has three main functions.
First, within the domain, any shadow he extracts will have its overall strength increased by 20%, with no limit on the number.
Second, using the Monarch Domain greatly conceals his own aura, from the inside out.
The third point, and the one Jiang Xiu values most, is the Monarch's Majesty, unaffected by the pressure of any living being's aura, including bloodlines!
Furthermore, this is a growth-type domain, strengthening as Jiang Xiu's power increases.
However, Jiang Xiu currently values the latter two functions most, since his shadow is currently in the Abyss, the territory of the Abyss Saint King.
If discovered, his shadow would be utterly destroyed. Although
the Abyss Saint King usually slumbers, sending the Spirit Emperor to patrol the various Abyss planes on his behalf, this cannot be ignored.
Regarding the effects of the Monarch's Majesty, Jiang Xiu immediately thought of Tang Wulin.
Although his first martial soul, the Purple Emperor Annihilation Dragon, is known as the Ancestor of Sub-Dragons and is rumored to have been born alongside the Dragon God, its level should theoretically be no lower than the Golden Dragon King.
However, Tang Wulin possessed the entire origin of the Golden Dragon King, while he only had a Martial Soul.
Furthermore, all the Soul Beasts and Soul Beast Masters on the continent were suppressed upon encountering him—simple yet powerful, like the version of the game's answer.
Now, with the Monarch's Might, he could temporarily relax.
After familiarizing himself with the effects of the Monarch's Domain, Jiang Xiu smiled slightly.
Although powerful geniuses emerged in abundance during the Douluo Continent III era, it seemed his sword was still effective!
Suppressing his excitement, Jiang Xiu prepared to continue the fight, because no matter what the future held, he was still just a Soul Master who hadn't even obtained his first Soul Ring.
A fallen genius wasn't a true genius.
But just as Jiang Xiu led the Shadow Soldiers to kill the eleventh Abyss Ant, he was about to continue extracting shadows when he felt slightly dizzy.
"It seems today's slaughter will have to end here,"
Jiang Xiu said regretfully, withdrawing his hand. The Shadow Monarch's extraction had no limit; it could infinitely transform the shadows of the dead.
However, his mental strength was limited.
His physical body was strong, but his mental strength couldn't keep up.
After all, he had only awakened his martial soul less than half a day ago and hadn't even begun meditation.
"I'll spare your lives for now, but next time it won't be so simple."
Jiang Xiu's gaze swept over the dense swarm of abyssal creatures before him, and he chuckled lightly, but his tone was indifferent, devoid of any warmth.
Whether it was to avenge his parents or to save his future self, these abyssal creatures deserved to die.
It wasn't about justice, just a difference in perspective.
"Hmm?"
Just then, Jiang Xiu noticed that two abyssal ants not far away had started fighting until one won and ate the other.
After eating it, the victorious abyssal ant grew even larger.
Jiang Xiu was slightly taken aback, then laughed.
He had forgotten that the entire abyssal plane followed only one law: devouring and evolution.
This applied not only to the abyssal plane but also to the abyssal creatures themselves.
And the king of each race, even the top-ranking emperor, is the strongest of each race, having devoured countless of his own kind.
True Abyss creatures never play by the rules of inheritance.
"This law of the jungle is truly dangerous yet fascinating, Black One.
I will lead you through a bloody path from the bottom, so that you, as someone from the bottom, can see a sight you've never seen before."
Jiang Xiu's gaze was deep and unfathomable as he gently inhaled the gunpowder-filled air and stroked Black One at his feet.
"Smack smack!"
Black One, lacking intelligence, simply expressed its loyalty to Jiang Xiu.
"Kings, emperors, even the top ten emperors of the abyss, I will meet you all in the near future."
Jiang Xiu's lips curled into a smile, a resolute glint flashing in his blood-red eyes, which then turned dangerous.
Although the abyssal creatures he extracted were the same ant royal race that attacked Snow City, they lacked intelligence but retained fragments of memories from before their rebirth.
From these fragmented memories, Jiang Xiu learned that this abyssal tide was not initiated by the abyssal plane itself, but rather a sudden spatial rift that sucked away these ant royal race, causing them to descend above Snow City.
"Was this an accident, or was it deliberately orchestrated?
There aren't many people with such abilities these days."
Jiang Xiu's gaze was deep, then he suppressed the thought.
His current strength was still too weak to support his investigation.
Feeling a weakness creeping into his spirit, Jiang Xiu slowly sank his consciousness into the shadow, gradually returning it.
As his consciousness returned, the tall shadow vanished silently, taking ten shadow soldiers with it as it sank into the scorched earth and disappeared.
...
"I'm back."
Under the bright lights, Jiang Xiu slowly opened his eyes, looking at the surrounding silver-white metal walls, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
But he knew very well that it was all real.
"I wonder how much time has passed now. Is the time flow in the Abyss Plane the same as that in the Douluo Continent?"
Jiang Xiu looked around but couldn't find a clock, and his communication soul tool had long been destroyed in the Abyss Tide.
But just then, a strong voice came from outside the Soul Guidance Emergency Center, as if two people were talking, and their tone even seemed to be igniting a war.
"Old Dong, it's not that I don't want to give you face, but I'm taking this person away today, no one can stop me!"
"Old Mu, don't mess with me. Do as I say, and everything will be fine.
If you dare to use force, I'll use the military's ten-position soul guidance cannon to bombard you, making your mecha fly away with you!"
(End of this chapter)