Chapter 502: Nether Shadow Evanescence
For ordinary cultivators, the nether prison drought fruit would not only be useless, but it would even bring them harm. But for cultivators with higher levels of cultivation, this fruit would be extremely beneficial.
This fruit was capable of revealing one"s true nature, clearing the darkness, allowing a cultivator to straighten the wrong path they had taken in the past during cultivation. The cultivator would be able to understand their own deficiencies, and could even correlate the karma of their previous and current lives.
The essence of entering the Dragon Ascension Realm was to form the draconic aura, form a draconic spine, and step through the gate of fate and transform into a dragon among men. The essence of entering the Soul Foundation Realm was to brighten one"s soul power, allowing one"s soul to take form, before finally forming a soul foundation. The realm beyond the Soul Foundation Realm was the Heaven Battling Realm, also known as the Saint Realm. To reach this stage, one had to give clarity to one"s true nature, reforge one"s soul, and form a saintly body capable of defying the heavens.
The nether prison drought fruit was a top-tier sovereign medicine. Although it was incomparable to a saint medicine, it was capable of allowing a Soul Foundation Realm expert to give clarity to his true nature in advance, which would be extremely helpful for when the cultivator in question attempted to break through into the Heaven Battling Realm.
Before entering the Soul Foundation Realm and improving one"s nature, one would become imbecile if one consumed a nether prison drought fruit. It would be extremely difficult for someone like this to regain his true nature. Thus, a medicine of too high a grade might be a poison instead of a medicine.
After the memory awakening of his bloodline, Xiang Shaoyun had gained a lot of knowledge in regards to the numerous devil materials. Thus, he naturally knew the usage of the nether prison drought fruit. He stowed the fruits and was in no rush to consume them. It wouldn"t be late to use one in the future when he needed it.
Now that he had gotten what he had set out for, it was time for him to continue hunting devils for contribution points. Even so, he was in no rush to leave. Rather, he started asking the old nether prison devil about the devils in the area so as to make things easier for him. He did not have much time left before the period of half a year was over. He had to make use of every second he had with the greatest efficiency. Naturally, the old nether prison devil hid nothing from him.
"This lord needs some time to get used to this body so I can restore my strength and return to the clan as quickly as possible. You may leave now," said Xiang Shaoyun.
"Yes, lord. May the lord remember us, the nether prison devils," said the old nether prison devil deferentially.
Xiang Shaoyun then left in a certain direction. He was heading back toward the area near the entrance to the second layer. After all, the devils there would have lower cultivation levels in comparison to the devils in the deeper area.
And thus, Xiang Shaoyun wasted no time and started a slaughter of devils. Apart from tempering his battle techniques, he also released the ghostrunes out so they could have a taste of the environment in the Devil Domain.
About 2,000 of the ghostrunes had been killed by the puppet, but they bred extremely quickly, so that wasn"t much of a loss. They only needed to somewhat stunt the growth of their bloodline, and soon, their numbers would go up again. Xiang Shaoyun commanded them to maintain their numbers at 8,000. At that command, a portion of them were immediately a.s.signed to the task of breeding.
Xiang Shaoyun also gave them a large number of devilish energy stones and devil cores, allowing the ghostrunes to be able to continue growing stronger despite the breeding. It also allowed the newly born ghostrunes to quickly grow in strength. As for Gui Qi, as the patriarch, he was still the strongest ghostrune. His strength had grown once more, reaching the fourth-stage Emperor Realm. His growth speed was astonis.h.i.+ng, but it was completely within reason.
After all, Xiang Shaoyun had given him a large number of devil cores. Like the demons, the devils would be able to grow however fast they wanted so long as they had enough resources to support their growth. That was how Gui Qi had come to grow so fast.
During this time, Xiang Shaoyun"s understanding of the numerous battle techniques and combat tactics was also growing rapidly. Nowadays, each of his kills would be completed instantly by making use of a single instant of his opponent"s carelessness. He would not give his opponent any chance, and with that, he was able to kill at great efficiency.
Recently, he had also started cultivating a different Imperial Nether Clan"s innate ability, the Nether Shadow Evanescence. The Nether Shadow Evanescence was one of the most mysterious innate abilities the Imperial Nether Clan had. Like the Nether Soul Domain, the Nether Shadow Evanescence was one of the three greatest techniques of the Imperial Nether Clan.
This ability was ranked alongside the Nether Soul Domain not because of its prowess, but because of its ability to grant the user invisibility and let them become undetectable. This was most certainly a unique and unmatched secret technique that was akin to a cheat. How many people could actually achieve true invisibility to the point one could be completely undetected? As one of the Four Paramount Devil Clans, the Imperial Nether Clan was capable of that feat.
The Nether Shadow Evanescence was a secret technique that could only be used through the power of one"s bloodline. Using this ability, one would be able to become one with the surroundings, becoming formless and shapeless. If one tried escaping while using the Nether Shadow Evanescence, the escape would basically be a success. And if used when attacking, the attack would rarely fail as well. That was how the Nether Shadow Evanescence had come to be known as one of the three greatest abilities of the Imperial Nether Clan.
Although Xiang Shaoyun was not a pure-blooded imperial nether, he had excavated the talents of the Nether Soul Domain since young. That only meant that his bloodline had originated from the purest imperial nether branch. Otherwise, he wouldn"t have been able to access the talents of the Nether Soul Domain at such a young age.
Now that he had consumed the blood essence of a pure imperial nether prince, the purity of his bloodline had further increased, awakening more of the clan"s innate abilities in him. That proved that his bloodline was now with a high purity, allowing him to cultivate yet another one of the three greatest abilities.
Xiang Shaoyun had also been frequently making use of his bloodline power in battles recently, allowing him to further increase comprehension of the profundities of his bloodline. All that was in preparation to cultivate the Nether Shadow Evanescence. After spending some time in cultivation, he finally grasped the essence of this ability.
The Imperial Nether Clan was able to use the Nether Shadow Evanescence due to a unique attribute in their bloodline, the attribute of invisibility. The bloodline was capable of allowing one"s body to have the same frequency with one"s surroundings, achieving the effect of invisibility. This was an ability exclusive to them. Of course, there was a limit to the amount of time one could stay invisible. After all, the ability required the support of one"s bloodline power.
At present, Xiang Shaoyun was located in an area filled with stones. He stood straight like a spear and took a deep breath, preparing his body for invisibility. After a short while, he muttered, "Bloodline, activate!"
At that command, his blood roiled, and an odd transformation started occurring from a concentration of blood at a corner of his body. Abruptly, his body started blending into nature, becoming undetectable.
It was at this instant that Xiang Shaoyun started running toward a nearby Devil Emperor. It was a six-horned iron devil, a sixth-stage Devil Emperor residing in the area. It was resting in an open s.p.a.ce, its body as large as a mountain. On its head were six iron horns that looked incomparably tough. A thick coat of iron furs covered its whole body.
A Devil Emperor this powerful was capable of sensing all changes in its surroundings, even when sleeping. Yet Xiang Shaoyun was able to arrive beside it completely undetected.