114: Chapter 114 Shadow Giant

Countless shadow soldiers rushed forward one after another, shattering and reforming again and again.

The black tide seemed endless, tightly strangling the entire valley battlefield.

While others fought desperately for points, resources, and rankings, every time Lin Yan killed a shadow, the system granted him no points, nor did his experience move.

These shadows were merely phantom residues and pseudo-creatures; they did not count towards the battlefield elimination criteria, so naturally, they would not drop any rewards.

But only Lin Yan knew—every time he shattered a shadow, crushed a dark figure, or defeated a shadow's move, his passive [Physical-Magic Dual Cultivation] was silently stacking layers!

[Physical-Magic Dual Cultivation Layer +1]

[Physical-Magic Dual Cultivation Layer +1]

[Physical-Magic Dual Cultivation Layer +1]

... 3,200 layers ... 3,500 layers ... 3,800 layers ... 4,000 layers!

The layers skyrocketed, the stacking speed terrifyingly fast.

The shadows were endless, unkillable, and instead became the perfect target for Lin Yan to stack Physical-Magic Dual Cultivation for free.

With one horizontal slash, Lin Yan caused swathes of shadows to crumble; his blade light was cold, his killing swift and decisive.

Yet the shadow residue on the ground instantly writhed and coalesced, and the shadow soldiers that had just shattered reformed once more; their moves, rhythm, and attack patterns became more precise each time, closer and closer to Lin Yan's combat style.

Deep in the valley, Han Zhiyuan, hidden in the darkness, had heavy eyes.

He saw it clearly. The faster, stronger, and more decisive the other party killed, the faster his shadows reorganized, learned, and adapted.

"Super high endurance, unsolvable defense, crushing output..."

For the first time, extreme shock arose in Han Zhiyuan's heart.

This Lin Yan completely transcended his understanding of all geniuses of the same rank.

Ordinary geniuses would have long been exhausted by the endless sea of people, but this person fought more steadily and strongly the longer he killed.

Since the sea of people couldn't grind him to death, then—

A cold light flashed in Han Zhiyuan's eyes, and the shadow patterns on his fingertips surged.

"Shadow Aggregation!"

Boom—!!

The darkness across the entire valley churned violently, and countless dissipated, residual, and dormant shadow powers frantically converged in one place.

Countless monster shadows, Contestant shadows, and broken shadow guard remains all fused together!

A pitch-black pillar of light rose from the ground, and an immensely massive shadow body boomed into existence, standing in the center of the valley.

Standing over ten meters tall, its entire body was pitch-black and solid, with ferocious, explosive muscle lines; its hands were covered in shadow claws, and the oppressive feeling around it was terrifying.

Shadow Monarch!

This was the ultimate group combat form that Han Zhiyuan had condensed by gathering the shadow foundation of the entire valley.

The Shadow Monarch took a step, the earth trembling; its claws Rend the air, crashing down towards Lin Yan with the momentum to crush everything!

This was no longer a sea-of-people entanglement; it was a true top-tier lethal assault!

Facing the giant palm that blotted out the sky, Lin Yan did not move a single bit.

He lifted his blood-colored blade light slightly—instant cast, instant slash!

One slash. Simple, ordinary.

Pfft—!!

The massive, pitch-black Shadow Monarch body was instantly sliced open from head to toe by an extreme blood-colored edge.

The huge body froze in mid-air, and the next second it shattered with a boom, filling the sky with exploding shadow mist.

One move! Instant kill!

The valley was deathly silent.

Han Zhiyuan, in the shadows, felt his entire being shocked, his pupils violently contracting.

The Shadow Monarch, which he had condensed using the shadow foundation of the entire valley, couldn't even block a casual slash from the other party?!

This kind of damage, this kind of physical body, this kind of offensive strength was simply inconceivable!

The fire of greed instantly burned fiercely in his heart.

"Too strong..."

"This person's shadow is definitely the top-tier treasure I have ever seen in my life!"

"If I can seize his shadow and turn it into my permanent shadow guard!"

"Within the final circle, no one will be able to stop me! I will be completely invincible!"

"Your shadow..."

"I have decided on it."

Han Zhiyuan's mind was completely set.

The next moment, he used his trump card ability— [Shadow Replication: Ten Thousand Battles Mimicry!]

It could reshape a nearly perfect permanent shadow based on all information collected during the battle.

The longer the battle, the more detailed the observation, and the more times they clashed, the more the shadow could infinitely imitate the opponent's physique, moves, rhythm, and characteristics, infinitely approaching the original's strength!

Of course, the cost of this ability was immense.

Throughout the entire Dungeon, he could only condense a few permanent shadows.

Therefore, every time he chose a target, he was extremely cautious.

And now.

Lin Yan was the person he determined was most worth copying.

The countless flying shadow mists no longer reorganized into ordinary soldiers.

They all began to compress, condense, and shape themselves to the extreme.

The black mist churned and gathered, and a human silhouette slowly emerged.

Physique, standing posture, sword-holding stance, the killing aura around the body...

It was becoming more and more like Lin Yan!

In just a few breaths.

A pitch-black mirror image, identical to Lin Yan in appearance, physique, and temperament, stood quietly in the center of the valley.

It had no eerie green pupils, no hideous shadow features, only the same indifference and coldness as the original, and the pitch-black long blade in its hand was filled with blood-colored shadow-mimicry murderous aura.

This was not a temporary shadow!

This was—a permanent replica shadow!

Inside the valley.

That pitch-black figure stood quietly, not rushing to attack.

It just watched Lin Yan.

Rather than fighting, it was more like observing.

The next moment.

It slowly raised its right arm.

The movement was almost identical to Lin Yan's sword-holding stance.

Swish!

The shadow blade cut through the air, and a pitch-black blade aura suddenly slashed out.

Lin Yan lifted his blade to intercept.

Boom!

The blood-colored blade aura collided with the black blade aura, and a violent shockwave swept through the valley.

Lin Yan raised an eyebrow slightly.

This slash... already had a bit of his own charm.

In the center of the valley, two figures constantly crossed.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The blades constantly collided, sparks flying everywhere.

The black shadow swung its blade with increasing proficiency—the angle of the slash, the footwork, the way of exerting force.

Even the subtle habits Lin Yan had when dodging were being learned bit by bit.

At the beginning, it could only exert 30% of its strength; after a dozen rounds, it was already approaching 50%.

A moment later.

60%... 70%...

The combat power and techniques of both sides were getting closer and closer, as if they could predict the other's next step, dodging in advance or colliding blades, neither able to cause effective damage to the other.

The few Contestants watching from behind were already watching with their scalps tingling.

"It... it's getting stronger!"

"It can actually learn!"

"If this continues, won't it really copy a second Lin Yan?"

...

The light in Han Zhiyuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

It was almost a success!

This was the slowest replication he had ever done in his history.

Lin Yan was too strong.

And precisely because of this.

The time his shadow needed to learn and imitate was equally astonishing.

Finally.

With the last wisp of shadow merging in, the black shadow slowly raised its head.

Its face was already nearly identical to Lin Yan's.

Physique.

Eyes.

Sword-holding stance.

Almost no difference could be found.

If it weren't for its body being pitch-black like ink, anyone would probably think that it was another Lin Yan.

The moment it completely formed, Han Zhiyuan's breathing suddenly stopped, and a monstrous wave rose in his heart!

Deep in the valley.

Han Zhiyuan's eyes were slightly closed, sharing the full perception of that shadow through [Shadow Body Homology].

He could clearly perceive the terrifying foundation hidden within this shadow.

Strength, speed, physical body... infinitely close to the original!

It even possessed part of the crushing explosive power replicated from the recent battle!

The combat power of this shadow exceeded the sum of all his shadow legions by dozens of times!

"It's done!!"

Han Zhiyuan's heart was extremely hot, ecstasy surging.

"With this Lin Yan mirror image shadow!"

"In this Chaotic Battlefield, I am already invincible!!"

"Not to mention this Chaotic Battlefield, even if I enter higher-level Dungeons in the future, I will have the capital to sweep everything!"