424: Chapter 424 The Dark Mysteries!!!

That thought contained no complex language, yet it conveyed an utterly certain, resolute message:

"Will not be discovered."

Qin Yan was taken aback.

"Not even... an Imperial realm expert?"

That thought came again, still certain:

"No."

Qin Yan fell silent.

He knew that Little Black never spoke without basis and would never make a rash judgment on such a critical issue.

However, he still found it difficult to feel completely at ease.

Right at that moment, as if sensing the lingering doubts deep within Qin Yan's heart.

Little Black, deep within the Blood Fiend Nest, made an unprecedented move.

Little Black suddenly straightened its slender trunk!

All its branches trembled in unison!

"Hummm—!"

A low, ancient hum reverberated.

Immediately after, Qin Yan 'saw' that countless densely packed, hair-thin, yet heart-palpitatingly profound and shadowy... black runes suddenly appeared on the seemingly slender branches of the small black tree!

These runes were not static; they were as if alive, slowly crawling, flowing, and intertwining on the surface of the branches.

Every time they moved, they would form a dark trajectory.

The runes gathered more and more.

They left Little Black's branches, swirling, coiling, and weaving in the air.

Finally, under Qin Yan's incredulous gaze—

Countless dark runes condensed into thumb-thick, pitch-black chains that shimmered with a cold, faint light!

The chains hovered in the air above the Blood Fiend Nest, slowly rotating.

Each chain exuded a darkness so pure it was extreme!

Qin Yan's pupils constricted sharply at this moment!

These dark runes...

He had seen them before!

In the Blood God Hall of the Canglin Ancient Peak, after he personally killed that wildly roaring dark mass that contained the Black Demon Emperor's obsession.

Dark runes had once flashed and vanished.

That was the Darkness Profundity!

Qin Yan stared blankly at the small black fiend tree gently swaying in the Blood Fiend Nest, at the chains formed from condensed Profound Mysteries of Darkness surrounding it.

For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Just how much Darkness Profundity was this?

One percent? Two percent? Or... ten percent?

He didn't even dare to think of higher numbers.

Because that would be too insane.

"Little Black..." Qin Yan spoke with difficulty, "how do you have... so much Darkness Profundity?"

Little Black shook its black branches, its movements carrying a hint of confusion, a hint of innocence.

It didn't know either.

Then, it transmitted a piece of information to Qin Yan.

The content of that information plunged Qin Yan into an even deeper silence.

"Slept for a while."

"After waking up, I got stronger."

"My mind gained many techniques I didn't know before."

"These things... also inexplicably appeared inside me."

Qin Yan: "..."

He looked at Little Black's innocent appearance and remained silent for a long, long time.

In the end, a thousand words and thoughts condensed into a sigh filled with complex emotions:

"...Is this the talent of the Fiend race's Imperial lineage?"

He knew the Fiend race's Imperial lineage was exceptionally gifted.

But he had never imagined that the phrase 'exceptionally gifted' could be terrifying to such an unreasonable extent.

Sleep for a while, and you break through.

Sleep for a while, and you awaken countless inherited combat techniques.

Sleep for a while, and a vast amount of Darkness Profundity, enough to make even a 10th-rank Imperial expert take notice, appears out of thin air within you.

This was no longer just 'talent'.

This was—cheating.

However, Qin Yan quickly snapped out of this immense shock and sense of absurdity.

"No... that's not right, this isn't normal."

"How could pure Fiend Imperial lineage blood possess so much Profound Mystery?"

He had personally witnessed the dark mass of the Black Demon Emperor's remnant soul.

That was an existence condensed from that Black Demon Emperor's lingering will and a portion of its origin.

Yet, even the Darkness Profundity it displayed was far inferior to the several dark chains Little Black had condensed now!

Just what...

was Little Black's origin?

Qin Yan took a deep breath, suppressing all the surging speculations and doubts in his heart.

Now was not the time to delve into these matters.

He pulled back his thoughts, refocusing his attention on the chains of Darkness Profundity surrounding Little Black.

What a pity.

Truly a great pity.

So much Darkness Profundity, yet with Little Black's current realm, it simply couldn't truly activate it.

Qin Yan remembered clearly.

Back in the Hidden Dragon Assembly, the reason he could unleash terrifying combat power surpassing the 9th rank while not even at the 4th rank.

Was because Blood Fiend—that Blood Path Sovereign—personally intervened, temporarily bearing and wielding that one percent of Blood Path Profound Mystery for him.

And now, Little Black...

Although it possessed such terrifying reserves of Darkness Profundity, it was like a child guarding a mountain of gold but lacking the strength to carry it.

Could see it, but couldn't use it.

However...

Although Little Black couldn't activate the Darkness Profundity to attack, couldn't transform the power of Profound Mystery into world-destroying, earth-shattering killing force like Blood Fiend...

It seemed it wasn't completely 'unable to use' these Profound Mysteries either.

No matter what.

These Profound Mysteries of Darkness had already acknowledged Little Black as their master.

They were a part of Little Black.

And thus... a part of him.

With them present, Little Black's comprehension of the Dark Path would reach a terrifyingly high level.

More importantly—

With them present, any attempt to probe the dark aura on his body—be it detection, perception, or even higher-level divine sense scans—would be blocked by these slumbering Profound Mysteries of Darkness.

"You have such a powerful concealment method, why didn't you say so earlier!"

Qin Yan immediately shouted in exasperation.

When he learned that the Fiend race was the enemy of all realms, he had been thoroughly frightened, unable to sleep peacefully for several nights in a row.

Inside the Blood Sea Nest, Little Black shook its branches in confusion, transmitting back a thought tinged with innocence and a bit of grievance:

"You never asked..."

"And besides, I hadn't fully understood the specific uses of these Profound Mysteries of Darkness before.

It was only when I tried mobilizing them recently that I discovered they could be used this way..."

Qin Yan: "..."

He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

There really was no point in getting worked up over a sapling that had just been born not long ago and was still muddled about its own abilities.

"Alright."

He waved his hand helplessly, accepting this explanation.

Then, still unwilling to give up, he fired off a series of questions at Little Black: the origin of those Profound Mysteries of Darkness, Little Black's true identity, whether it knew more secrets about the Fiend Imperial lineage, if it could actively enhance the concealment effect...

However, regarding many things about itself, Little Black truly had only a partial understanding, and was even clueless about some.

It only knew it was a Fiend Tree, a descendant of the Fiend race's Imperial lineage, naturally attuned to darkness.

As for why it was attuned? What was in its bloodline?

Where did those Profound Mysteries of Darkness come from? How far would it grow in the future?

It had no idea about any of it.

After asking around in a circle, apart from confirming that Little Black indeed possessed extremely terrifying yet undeveloped dark potential, Qin Yan gained almost no useful information.

"Forget it, there's plenty of time ahead, we'll figure it out slowly."