51: The shadows are everywhere, and the new skills of the desperate shadow are developed

The half-token in his hand was piercingly cold, as if he were holding a piece of ten-thousand-year-old ice. The blurry Shadow Mandala flower pattern on it emitted an unsettling, strange aura.

Lin Chen's heart felt squeezed by an invisible hand, and the intense sense of crisis made the hairs on his back stand on end.

Hall of Souls! It's the Hall of Souls again!

Even this ancient battlefield, far from the center of the Black-Corner Region, desolate and silent, had their reach!

Moreover, judging by the token's material and pattern, the Hall of Souls personnel operating here likely held a status even higher than that Dou Huang from Demon Flame Valley!

"I must leave this area immediately!" Lin Chen made the judgment instantly.

Since the other party dropped the token, he was likely operating nearby, and the token itself might even be some kind of trap or marker.

Without hesitation, he raised his stealth state to the maximum. The Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art circulated at an unprecedented speed, and his entire being seemed to completely merge into the surrounding shadows and Death Qi. His aura, heartbeat, and even life fluctuations were weakened to the extreme.

Like a ghost, he silently retreated rapidly in the direction he had come from.

However, just as he retreated less than a hundred zhang—

"Buzz..."

The gray mist surrounding him suddenly fluctuated violently. The previously dead air rippled like a lake surface disturbed by a stone.

An invisible yet immensely vast power suddenly descended, instantly locking down the space for several miles around, like a giant cage!

Spatial Lock! And it was a Spatial Lock far more complete and powerful than the shoddy version beneath Demon Flame Valley!

Lin Chen's figure abruptly froze. He felt as if he had run into an invisible yet tough spiderweb. The surrounding space became incredibly viscous, making movement extremely difficult, and even escaping into the shadows was greatly obstructed.

"As expected, it was an ambush!" His heart sank; the worst had happened.

"Chhh Chhh Chhh..."

Accompanied by a grating sound, like countless fingernails scraping bone, blurred, translucent figures slowly emerged from the gray mist around them.

They were no longer the unconscious remnant Souls he had encountered before, but had solidified into clearer, more ferocious forms—some resembled soldiers in broken armor, wielding shattered shadow blades and swords; others looked like twisted Demonic Beast skeletons, with pale green Soul flames flickering in their eye sockets; and many more were indescribable, twisted monsters formed purely of resentment and Death Qi!

They swarmed densely, rushing in from all directions, completely sealing off all routes of retreat. Their numbers were far more than a hundred!

The aura they emitted was cold and brutal, filled with hatred for all living things. Although their individual strength was mostly at the Dou Master to Great Dou Master level, such numbers, combined with their strange forms and imperviousness to destruction, were enough to make even Dou King experts feel their scalps tingle!

And the appearance of these strange creatures was clearly related to the suddenly activated Spatial Lock!

"Trespassing in the Forbidden Ground, stealing the sacred object... Ant, your Soul shall become nourishment for the 'Other Shore Flower'..."

A hoarse, dry voice, sounding like two bones grinding together, drifted faintly from the depths of the gray mist. It was ethereal and impossible to pinpoint its exact location.

The voice held no emotion, only an indifference that disregarded everything.

Lin Chen's expression was extremely grim. The opponent could not only control the Spatial Lock but also command these battlefield resentful spirits!

This was definitely the work of the Hall of Souls, and the newcomer's strength was terrifying, likely far surpassing a Dou Huang!

His mind raced. He forcefully suppressed the fear in his heart. Fighting head-on was a dead end; he had to find a way to break out!

His Soul Power calculated the trajectories of all attacks, the strength of the energy, and... every detail of the surrounding environment at an unprecedented speed!

He realized that although these resentful spirits were controlled, their movements were not completely unified. They gathered primarily relying on their instinctive hatred for the aura of living beings and some form of command.

Their attack methods were also relatively simple, mainly Soul shockwaves and Death Qi corrosion.

The energy-devouring characteristic of the Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art might restrain their Death Qi attacks, but the sheer number of Soul shockwaves was enough to collapse his Sea of Consciousness!

"I can't be trapped and killed here!" A fierce glint flashed in Lin Chen's eyes.

He fiercely bit the tip of his tongue. Stimulated by the sharp pain, he unleashed the Dou Qi from his recent Breakthrough to a six-star Dou Ling without reservation!

But instead of attacking outward, he frantically poured the massive Dark Shadow Fighting Energy beneath his feet!

"The Shadow Stealth Art isn't just for hiding!" He roared, and his body suddenly began to spin!

"Shadow Spin: Vortex!"

Centered on him, the pitch-black Dark Shadow Fighting Energy rapidly spread out like ink dropped into clear water, forming a rapidly expanding dark vortex as he spun!

The vortex generated a powerful suction force, not to absorb energy, but to frantically churn the surrounding viscous spatial power and the dense gray mist Death Qi!

This was a technique he spontaneously created in desperation, based on the Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art's control over energy and the way he had previously seen the Earth Core Fire Python churn lava!

Its purpose was to create chaos and disrupt the Spatial Lock and the resentful spirits' perception!

Boom!

The dark vortex rapidly expanded. Wherever it passed, the gray mist was churned as if boiling, and the spatial power became extremely chaotic.

Although the invisible Spatial Lock was not broken, its effect was indeed greatly weakened!

The approaching army of resentful spirits immediately fell into chaos. They relied on Death Qi and resentment to sense their target, but now that the environment was violently disturbed, they became hesitant and disorganized, like ships without a lighthouse. Some weaker resentful spirits were even directly shredded by the vortex, turning into pure Death Qi which Lin Chen absorbed in the process!

"Hmm?" A slight sound of surprise came from the depths of the gray mist, seemingly not having expected Lin Chen to possess such a method.

Now was the time!

A sharp light burst from Lin Chen's eyes. He forcefully stopped spinning, and his body shot out like an arrow released from a bow, charging toward the direction where the spatial seal felt weakest in his perception, seizing the moment the Spatial Lock loosened and the resentful spirits were in disarray!

At the same time, he gripped the Medicinal Pill he had obtained from the Hall of Souls Dou Huang—one that contained cold, sinister Soul Power—and swallowed it without hesitation!

As the Medicinal Pill entered his stomach, the icy, Soul-piercing energy instantly exploded, causing him intense pain in his Soul. But because of this, his Soul aura instantly became somewhat similar to that of the resentful spirits, making him much harder to lock onto!

"Limitless Steps · Shadow Escape!"

His speed soared to the maximum, leaving trails of afterimages as he narrowly slipped through the gaps in the attacks of several gigantic skeletal resentful spirits!

The resentful spirits' attacks missed, hitting empty air and stirring up Death Qi everywhere.

"Stop him!" The hoarse voice carried a hint of anger.

Immediately, more and stronger resentful spirits surged forward like a tide. Among them, several general-shaped resentful spirits appeared, whose auras were comparable to the Peak of the Dou Ling stage and who had condensed almost solid armor!

They hacked out gray saber glints, accompanied by mournful Soul shrieks, sealing off all of Lin Chen's forward routes!

There was no avoiding it!

Lin Chen's pupils contracted. At the brink of life and death, his thoughts became exceptionally clear.

His Soul Power calculated the trajectories of all attacks, the strength of the energy, and... every detail of the surrounding environment at an unprecedented speed!

He noticed a pit that had collapsed due to the vortex's churning on his rear-left. The Death Qi inside was exceptionally dense, even forming a temporary shadow area.

Directly ahead, the strongest saber glint came from the armored resentful spirit general!

In a flash of lightning, he made an extremely risky decision!

Instead of dodging, he concentrated most of his Dou Qi on his back and forcefully "crashed" into the strongest saber glint, aiming toward the pit behind him!

At the same time, his hands turned pitch black, and the highly condensed Shadow Erosion Dou Qi was not used for defense, but was slammed forward in a forceful, empty press!

"Shadow Grasp!"

A strange suction force erupted, not absorbing energy, but skillfully pulling two other weaker Soul shockwaves, causing them to slightly deviate from their original trajectories and crash into another nearby attack, largely neutralizing each other!

Meanwhile, he solidly "received" the majority of the armored resentful spirit general's saber glint with his back!

"Pfft—!"

As if struck by a heavy hammer, Lin Chen violently spat out blood. His back was a bloody mess, and he could even feel the severe pain of his bones cracking!

But using this immense impact force, his body accelerated like a cannonball, and in a near-suicidal manner, he accurately smashed into the pit dense with Death Qi!

Boom!

He crashed heavily into the bottom of the pit, spitting out another mouthful of blood. His vision went dark, and his injuries were extremely severe.

But the moment he landed at the bottom of the pit, he endured the intense pain and slammed his hands onto the ground!

"Shadow Erosion · Body Fusion!"

He pushed the Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art to the limit of what he could withstand, no longer just concealing himself, but attempting to completely "fuse" himself into the dense Death Qi and shadows within the pit!

Ripples spread across the surface of his body like water. His aura and fluctuations instantly assimilated perfectly with the Death Qi environment of the entire pit, making them indistinguishable!

At this moment, he seemed no longer a living person, but a part of the ancient battlefield's Death Qi, a piece of broken bone on the ground, a wisp of gray mist in the air!

Above, countless resentful spirits swarmed, circling above the pit and letting out confused shrieks.

They had lost their target; the aura of the living person seemed to have vanished into thin air!

In the depths of the gray mist, there was silence. The hoarse voice did not sound again, seemingly also in doubt and sensing the situation.

At the bottom of the pit, Lin Chen curled up in the shadows, as if petrified, his breathing and heartbeat almost completely stopped.

Wrapped in the dense Death Qi, the wound on his back surprisingly did not bleed; instead, it was temporarily frozen. The Shadow Erosion Dou Qi spontaneously absorbed the surrounding Death Qi, slowly repairing his injuries, but the backlash also burned inside his body like sinister fire, bringing continuous, intense pain.

He dared not move an inch, fully maintaining this unique "Body Fusion" state.

This was a deeper comprehension of the Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art achieved while on the brink of death, an ultimate application that combined his inherent "passerby" trait with the stealth characteristics of the Cultivation Technique!

Time passed minute by minute.

The resentful spirits above hovered for a long time, eventually seemingly confirming that the target had either "vanished" or been assimilated, and began to gradually disperse, sinking back into the ground or fading into the mist.

The powerful Spatial Lock fluctuation also slowly subsided and concealed itself, as if it had never appeared.

After a long time passed, only when he was certain that the cold feeling of being watched had completely vanished did Lin Chen cautiously and extremely slowly lift the Body Fusion state.

"Cough... cough cough..." The violent coughing pulled at all his wounds. He felt his body was like a piece of porcelain about to shatter.

But his eyes shone with excitement.

He had survived! Not only did he escape the ambush by the Hall of Souls expert and the siege by the army of resentful spirits, but he also created two application techniques during the battle: "Shadow Spin: Vortex" and "Shadow Grasp." Most crucially, he comprehended the deeper method of "Shadow Erosion · Body Fusion"!

This was not merely stealth, but an extremely ingenious disguise and infiltration technique, capable of deceiving spatial perception to a certain extent!

Although the consumption was immense and the burden on his body was heavy, it was undoubtedly a life-saving divine skill!

He struggled to sit up, took out a healing Medicinal Pill and a trace of earth core soul marrow, consumed them, and began healing his injuries with all his might.

This place was temporarily safe and dense with Death Qi, making it an excellent location for healing and consolidating his new comprehension.

At the same time, his apprehension toward the Hall of Souls reached its Peak.

The opponent's layout here far exceeded imagination; they could not only activate the Spatial Lock but also control resentful spirits on such a scale. Their objective must be enormous.

That "Other Shore Flower Plan" and the "Yellow Springs Entrance" were probably more dangerous and deep-seated than the situation at Demon Flame Valley.

"I must raise my strength quickly!" Lin Chen clenched his fist, his gaze falling upon the shadow Death Qi crystal in his storage ring.

With this item, coupled with the environment here, he was confident he could achieve another Breakthrough in a short time!

But next time, he absolutely could not be so passive!

He closed his eyes. While healing his injuries, he repeatedly rehearsed the battle in his mind, perfecting the newly comprehended techniques, especially the "Shadow Erosion · Body Fusion" technique, which he felt held even greater untapped potential.

In the depths of the ancient battlefield, the gray mist still permeated the air. Beneath the silence, the undercurrents grew fiercer.

Lin Chen was like a shadow dancer performing on the tip of a blade, seizing a thread of life in desperation and quietly accumulating the power to overturn the storm.