Chapter 376 Shadow Hunt

The Astral Void Realm.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Massive, dark clouds of primordial energy churned violently in the sky above.

Kael sat cross-legged on the Monarch’s Throne, his eyes closed, his breathing perfectly even despite the chaotic maelstrom of mana around him.

"From the boundless dark, I draw my breath. Through the shattered void, I carve my path. I am the Sovereign of the Abyss, and all laws shall bow before my will..."

He chanted the Mantra of the Void Sovereign. With every syllable, his Transcendent Core pulsed, greedily absorbing the dense ambient mana. A massive vortex of purple-black energy swirled around his body, forming a miniature cyclone.

The ten-square-kilometer expanse began to tremble. The dark nebula above churned violently as Kael’s mana surged. He had been stuck at the 98% bottleneck for too long. Now, fueled by the abundant mana he had planted and the intense training within the time-dilated realm, the wall finally shattered.

CRACK! BZZZT!

A terrifying vortex of dark, silver, and blue energy erupted from Kael. His Transcendent Core spun wildly, drawing in the ambient mana of the realm and converting it into pure, refined energy. The very fabric of the Astral Void Realm expanded, the ground trembling as his soul sense surged outward, sweeping past the fifty-meter mark and expanding to a staggering 250 meters.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Host! You have broken through to Spirit Soul Rank 5.

[Soul Sense expanded. Transcendent Core capacity increased. All Rule Powers solidified at the Third Step.]

Kael let out a long, slow breath. The power surging through his veins was intoxicating. He stood up, clenching his fists. He was finally at the at the second stage of the mid Spirit Soul realm.

Two Weeks Later, The Border of the Kingdom of Dawn.

The world had descended into absolute carnage.

BOOM! CRASH!

The frozen continent of the Kingdom of Dawn had become a meat grinder.

The war with the Kingdom of Britannia had escalated far beyond border skirmishes. The Britannian heavy cavalry, armored in enchanted silver and riding massive eagles, had smashed through the northern passes.

The sky above the Frostbite Pass was choked with the smoke of burning mana and the screams of dying soldiers. The war between the Kingdom of Dawn and the Kingdom of Britannia had officially erupted, and it was a slaughter.

BOOM! CRASH!

The distant sounds of artillery and shattering ice echoed across the frontlines. The Kingdom of Dawn was losing, and losing badly.

With the Second, Third, and Fourth Generals dead, the Dawn army was leaderless. The Britannians had already seized three major cities: Frosthold, Iceveil, and the strategic port of Whitehaven. The First General was desperately holding the northern border, but he was outnumbered ten to one.

King Bjorn "The Frost-Blooded" was forced onto the battlefield himself. He wielded his massive Frost Dragon tusk greataxe, shattering enemy battalions with sheer physical strength and Tier 6 body cultivation. But even a monster could only be in one place at a time. While he slaughtered thousands on the frontlines, his kingdom was bleeding out from the inside.

And yet, despite the losses, the Kingdom of Dawn was always considered the weakest of the five kingdoms. King Bjorn was the newest Origin Realm cultivator among the five rulers. He was a monster, yes, but the rulers of the Elves, Vampires, and Wolves were older, their rule powers far more profound. Bjorn was fighting a war he couldn’t win, driven by the paranoia and poisoned words that Kael had planted.

The Shadow World.

While the mortal world burned, Kael stood in a realm of eternal twilight.

Whoosh...

Kael sat cross-legged in his private chamber, his physical body anchored to the material world. However, his consciousness was elsewhere. He had used the Dark Summoning technique, but not to call a beast. Instead, he reversed the flow, projecting his soul directly into the Shadow World.

This dimension was a mirror to reality, but corrupted by pure shadow mana. The sky was a perpetual, swirling twilight of deep purples and pitch-black clouds. The ground was composed of jagged, dark stone and floating islands of crystallized shadow. Rivers of dark miasma flowed upward, defying gravity. Massive, skeletal trees devoid of leaves clawed at the sky.

Because he was only projecting his soul, Kael was practically invisible to the physical inhabitants here. Only spectral beasts or creatures with incredibly high soul perception could detect him.

Thud. Thud.

Kael strolled through the perilous landscape. The weakest beasts here were at the Mana Heart realm. He passed by a group of massive, shadow-coated dire wolves tearing into a giant, armored spider. SHRIIEEK! The spider’s legs were ripped off, black ichor spraying.

Further in, two colossal shadow tigers clashed, their claws tearing spatial rifts in the air. BOOM! The shockwaves rippled through the ground, but Kael walked through them, his soul form intangible.

He continued deeper. The beasts here were at the Peak Spirit Soul realm. His current summoned beasts—the Dark Wolf, the Dark Serpent, and the Dark Wyvern—were originally at the Peak Spirit Soul realm in the Shadow World. But when summoned into the material world, the universe’s laws suppressed foreign entities, dropping their power to Rank 7 or 8.

If I want to defeat an Early Origin Realm cultivator, I need a beast of equal power, Kael thought.

Suddenly, an idea struck him.

But what if I place them in the Astral Void Realm? The realm had time dilation—five days inside for every day outside—and absolute law manipulation. They could grow immensely strong in there.

Kael formed a hand seal, summoning his three primary beasts.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Dark Wolf, the Dark Serpent, and the massive Dark Wyvern materialized in front of him. They looked around, confused, sniffing the air but unable to see Kael’s soul projection.

Kael waved his hand. FWOOSH!

A massive rift to the Astral Void Realm opened. Because of their soul-link, the beasts couldn’t resist. They were sucked into the rift, transported into the time-dilated Inner World where they could grow stronger in a realm devoid of the material universe’s suppression.

Kael smirked. That solves that problem.

The Inner Zone.

Kael left the peripheral zone, pushing deeper into the Shadow World. The further he went, the darker and more oppressive the atmosphere became.

BOOM!

A massive shockwave nearly disrupted his soul projection. Even in his soul form, Kael could feel the terrifying shockwaves of the battles occurring ahead.

He crested a ridge of dark crystal and looked down. His eyes widened.

In the valley below, a monstrous creature stood tall. It was a colossal, quadrupedal beast, standing over fifteen meters high. It resembled a terrifying fusion of a prehistoric titan and a demonic dragon. Its body was covered in dense, interlocking pitch-black plates that actively absorbed ambient light, making it look like a moving void. Massive, leathery wings folded against its back, and glowing crimson eyes radiated pure malice. A singular, massive horn of dense, dark purple energy jutted from its forehead, crackling with spatial rule power.

It was clashing with another beast of equal terror.

The opponent was a massive, six-headed shadow hydra. Its scales were a sickly, translucent green, dripping with venom that dissolved the very stone it touched. Each of its six heads was the size of a small house, breathing torrents of corrosive shadow flames.

ROOOAAAR!

The winged demonic titan lunged, its purple horn piercing through one of the hydra’s necks. SPLURT! Black blood sprayed. The hydra screeched in agony, its other five heads snapping forward, sinking venomous fangs into the titan’s armored leg. CRUNCH!

The resulting shockwave obliterated the surrounding landscape.

Kael watched, his heart pounding. His eyes gleamed with ambition. They’re at least at the Mid Origin Realm. Yeah, these are the right babies.