บท 80: Shadow God

Inside the ruined revolutionary army base, pitch black shadows quickly devoured everything in sight as Jiao used his mysterious technique move 'Devourer Shadow'. Qiang and Lan had tried to get away from it but the shadow spread rapidly, engulfing everything, leaving behind a large spherical hole inside the base. All the rubble, stones, trees, corpses had disappeared. There was a deep crater on the ground, seamlessly merging with the equally deep craters on the stone walls. Silence befell the surroundings as only Jiao remained, hovering in the air.

"Hmph! Finally, all the bugs have been eradicated." Jiao mumbled to himself. "Only that White Clown remains. Let's see how long he can hide from me."

Saying so, Jiao took off, flying away towards his palace.

Inside the palace's dungeon, Wind was standing before a miserable looking Misa. A green jade blade emerged in Wind's right hand. Her lips trembled as she gazed at Misa solemnly. Misa had chosen death. She was struck by Jiao's mysterious technique which could kill her over time anyway, or worse; control her mind. Wind accepted Misa's request with a heavy heart.

"I've already told you all the secrets of the Perfect Body technique that I know." Granny Misa said. "It is still incomplete as we only found a portion of the technique inside the ruin. But you can go ahead and investigate on your own. Perhaps you'll find something. I wish you good luck."

"Thank you, granny." Wind sighed. "Do you have any last words or any last wish? I swear upon my dead father's name, I will make your wish come true!" Wind's eyes shone with resolution.

"Heheh." Misa suddenly chuckled. "You've already changed so much, my grandchild. You were never the type to promise something. Even if you did, you never really meant it. But you're so enthusiastic to fulfill my last wish now. I'm pleasantly surprised."

"…" Wind remained silent.

"Intruder!" Suddenly a loud voice echoed, followed by a loud ringing of a bugle.

"Someone is in the dungeon! All guards to arms!"

The guards of the dungeon and the knights inside the palace were immediately alarmed and started moving. Wind could see it all clearly. She frowned.

"How did they suddenly learn about my presence?" Wind thought. "I should be invisible to them. There is a seclusion strategy installed in this area."

Dozens of guards and knights rushed towards the dungeon at rapid speed. But they weren't heading in the same direction. Instead, they fanned out, covering all the alleys and levels of the dungeon. Just from this act, Wind could tell that the guards didn't know her exact location. They were searching for her.

"How odd…" Wind muttered. "But anyway, I cannot stay here any longer."

"You should indeed hurry back now." Misa too said. "And since you're willing to fulfill my last wish, I'll tell it to you." She smiled and Wind looked at her attentively.

"My last wish is…that may you no longer reject your inner voice." Misa said.

"My inner voice?" Wind was puzzled.

"We all have an inner voice which calls out to us whenever we think of doing something that we shouldn't." Misa elaborated. "The more you reject this inner voice, the fainter it becomes, until it stops calling out to us. Call it the voice of your soul, or your hidden righteousness or the Gods' message or whatever. If you follow it instead of rejecting it, then you can achieve your greater self and eventually become your best version."

"…" Wind listened silently. This was a troublesome request from Misa.

"You've changed." Misa said. "You must already be hearing your inner voice again. I want you to follow it and go against your plans to fulfill what it tells you to do. Would you do that for your grandma?"

"…Sigh… I've never fulfilled my promises. But since this is your last request, I'll honor it." Wind said as tears rolled down her fair cheeks. "Farewell grandma…rest in peace."

Swoosh! The green jade blade moved swiftly and Misa's head rolled on the floor. Wind had killed her as per her previous request.

Bam!! Suddenly the cell door was kicked open. A small party of guards lead by a Master realm knight barged in & were stunned to see a burning corpse on the ground. The flames were highlighting the outlines of Wind's figure. She was wearing her knight armor and had donned a loose white robe over it too. Her back was towards the guards. And obviously, she had burnt Misa's corpse to stop anyone from dishonoring her further.

"You! Who are you! Surrender yourself right now!" The knight shouted waving his sword in air.

Wind slowly turned. Her face was covered with a white clown mask. Her robe hid her bodily features as well. One couldn't tell that Wind was a girl.

"White Clown!"

"It's the White Clown!"

"Kill!!"

The guards and knight jumped at Wind right away.

All the remaining guards were already rushing towards Misa's cell as they were informed by this knight about white clown. There were even three Sage realm warriors among them.

"He's in there! Charge!" A Sage realm warrior shouted and flew in.

Bam! The next moment, he flew out having been struck hard.

Boom! His figure lodged deep inside a wall and he remained unmoved afterwards. This was a Sage realm warrior! Defeated in a single move!?

"With two fists I roam unfettered." Wind thought to herself. She had finally figured out that chapter of perfect body technique which she earlier was unable to. Misa, before dying had imparted all her knowledge about the technique to Wind along with the information of the ruins where she found the technique.

The knowledge Wind gained comprised the combat part of the technique. She was yet to master it but she could already bring out the explosive power of this technique through her body alone! Wind was on whole new level with just this, despite no increase in her cultivation.

"Level 6 Sage realm." The other sage realm warriors guessed Wind's cultivation who wasn't hiding it anymore. The two remaining Sage realm warriors exchanged glances before nodding. They'd attack together!

Swoosh! Swoosh!

"Iron Bear Beast technique!" One of them shouted, erupting his chi explosively as he attacked Wind with both his palms aimed towards him. Wind already could feel an incredible pressure coming at her.

"Imprisonment technique!" The other one shouted, stomping the floor and immediately a strategy formation activated, covering a large part of the dungeon. Very strong metallic bars protruded from the floor and encased Wind and the Iron bear warrior inside a cage.

Swoosh! Wind leapt at the incoming opponent & attacked with her elbow.

"Iron Rhino technique's 'mad charge' move?" The opponent thought, identifying Wind's technique and even the move she was using. Iron Rhino technique focused on defense. It only had one attack move called 'mad charge'. Technically, this move wasn't powerful against the Iron Bear Beast technique's defense aspect.

Boom! The elbow struck the two palms put together. Wind's opponent was flung backwards and broke through the tough metallic bars leaving everyone stupefied.

"T-too strong!" This beaten warrior spoke with clenched teeth and quickly healed his hands which had been broken by just one strike from Wind. Wind had basically slapped his face by using an inferior technique against his.

"Everyone, attack together! Pin him down here. I will deploy my best strategies to support you." The strategy expert Sage realm warrior urged.

Even though Wind was at a higher level than these two, she was still just one person while there were at least a hundred warriors here, most of them being at Master realm. Plus, a strategy expert. They had confidence!

"Yaaaahhh!!" With a vigorous shout they all charged towards Wind, brandishing their weapons and using their techniques.

"Hmph!" Wind snorted and one of her spatial rings shined before hundreds of demons emerged all around her!

Everyone halted in their spots. The dungeon was entirely cramped up now. Immediately the demons started their assault, attacking the soldiers and destroying the walls to make room.

"These are beast!? So many of them!" One of the guards exclaimed.

"Attack!" The strategy expert instructed again. He was unaware that these were not mere beasts but demons instead. They were completely under Wind's control and were much powerful than ordinary beasts. Inside Wind's spatial rings, several nuns along with Aerin, Aisling & Masiba were continuously breeding with demons to give birth to demons. Their numbers had already reached a thousand.

"You'll all die for what you did to granny Misa." Wind said in her mind. A cold light flashed in her eyes. Her mind was on full alert and was urging her to flee before Jiao hears of the infiltration and rushes over. But her inner voice was crying for revenge.

Revenge!!

Loud screams and explosions echoed out in the dungeon. All sorts of techniques and weapons were used. Blood spilled everywhere as humans and demons died by dozens every minute as they fought viciously. The empyrean palace shook as the dungeon was destroyed in this battle, shaking up the very foundations of the palace. The paintings rattled and fell off, the pillars cracked. There was confusion and chaos among the inhabitants.

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Far away, Jiao received an emergency message from the palace.

"Infiltration? White Clown!?" Jiao exclaimed as he learned these two words. His gaze gleamed with mad rage as he flew with his top speed towards the Empyrean palace.

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Away from there, under the grounds of a derelict ruined base of revolutionary army, five people had solemn expressions. They were none other than Lan, Qiang, Huian and the two body guards.

"I thought you were willing to die with me." Qiang said bitterly.

"I lied." Lan said emotionlessly. "You're my mistress' brother. There's no way I'd let you die."

"Well, your mistress is the one who sent me here!" Qiang growled. He was usually very calm and gentle; even pleasantly childish but after Maurice's death he became erratic.

"Of course, he did." Lan frowned. She was well aware of Wind's selfish nature. It was clear to her that Wind sent Qiang to his death. Wind must have had other things that she wanted to do while Qiang keeps Jiao busy. Even though Lan was loyal to Wind, that didn't mean she entirely agreed with her evil selfish mentality.

"I just…couldn't let you die." Lan said with a sigh and then fell silent.

Qiang sighed. He didn't know what to say or do. He understood Lan's feelings. She liked him but they were not in love.

Previously, under death's pressure, Lan decided to protect Qiang instead of dying together. When Jiao used his devourer shadow move, everything was obscured by the darkness. Lan betted on it and pulled Qiang down to the ground, using Earthworm technique to drill deep to where Huian and other two were still hiding. This was a risky bet. The two bodyguards used their technique to hide all of them from Jiao's gaze and it worked! Jiao thought he had killed everyone but he had been duped.

"Let's go to where Mistress Wind is." Lan said. "We must regroup and contemplate on our strategy. I know my her. She won't give up on her aim. She will definitely kill Jiao. You have the same enemy now. Live today and fight together another day to take your revenge!"

"…" Qiang fell silent. In the battle earlier there were still two trump cards that he hadn't used on Jiao. They were very powerful. One was the flesh-eating vine which could even kill Sage realm warriors within minutes. The other was the giant tree transformation. Plant King had used this last trump card against Kol elders in a desperate final battle & had died afterwards. But considering the might of the devourer shadow, Qiang was unsure if his trump cards would have any effect against Jiao. He might just get devoured by the shadow right away.

Qiang took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"She's right, Mr. Qiang." Huian said with a shaky voice. Her eyes were red and teary. She could understand Qiang's pain as she herself had lost her loved one in this battle.

"Let's fight another day and avenge the people we've lost." Huian said.

Qiang nodded. "Yes, let's do that then. With Wind, mother and my father joining in, we'll definitely avenge the revolutionary army."

Lan sighed in relief.

"Then let's go." She said and used her Earthworm technique. The bodyguards did their best in hiding the group from anyone's perception as they all moved towards the Dwarves colony.

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Boom! Jiao broke through the palace's roof and used his observational technique to scout the entire palace. Wind too was using her observational technique at the same time. Both of them saw one another and their hearts flared with rage.

"Jiao!"

"White Clown!"

Wind and Jiao roared and made their move!

Jiao flew towards Wind while Wind retreated! She was angry but not stupid. Even though she wanted to fight Jiao there and then, she knew she can't defeat him just yet. She needed a little more time. Just enough to master the Perfect Body technique!

Jiao flew past the hundreds of mangled corpses littered everywhere inside the damaged dungeon. All the guards and knights were dead, along with the three Sage realm warriors. No one was able to stand against Wind & her demon army. But Jiao could still totally wipe the floor with Wind. He chased angrily and Wind retreated hastily.

"Come back here you wretched scoundrel!" Jiao roared. "You'll pay for what you did to my daughter!"

"Emperor Pull!" Jiao used his technique and Wind felt a suction force pulling her backwards! Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't afford to get caught here. But she was already under Jiao's technique's influence. Her feet skidded backwards as Jiao pulled her.

Suddenly Wind's eyes flashed with resoluteness.

"Since it is like this…" Wind thought & turned around.

'Chieftain charge!' sprinted towards Jiao with rapid speed using a move of the Spear of the Chieftain technique.

Jiao was surprised at once but then stared cruelly at Wind.

"Die!" a scythe emerged in his other hand and he swung it at Wind as she neared him. Time seemed to slow down in Wind's perception and a golden spear emerged in her hand.

'Chieftain hurl! Enhance!' Wind hurled her spear at Jiao with great speed. Most of her chi was consumed in this single attack. At the same time, she used a magic spell 'Enhance' to double the power of her move.

Booom!!! A chi explosion occurred, turning the rubble around them to smithereens.

'Flee!' Wind immediately used the Flee spell using the recoil of the chi blast too, propelling herself backwards like a flash of light.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Wind's body broke through several boulders and pillars as she was unable to control her movement.

Swoosh! Suddenly a black shadow enveloped Wind and she disappeared into it.

"Ohok!" Jiao coughed out a mouthful of blood. He was actually injured! Back when Lan used her trump card, she had only managed to rough up Jiao's armor but Wind's attack came too swiftly and it was too powerful! Her golden spear had pierced into Jiao's shoulder, after getting deflected by his scythe & then the chi blast pushed it further in.

"This bastard… Where did he disappear to?" Jiao scanned miles and miles around him but there was not even a trace of Wind. She had disappeared completely!

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Wind opened her eyes but saw only darkness. She felt like she was floating in a boundless void with not a speck of light in it.

"To think I'd stumble upon a mortal elf!" Suddenly a rasp male voice echoed in the void. "How convenient! Now I can force Amyra to come to my abode hehehe! There are so many things to do then."

"Who are you? Where am I?" Wind frowned and asked. She was trying to use her techniques but her dantian seemed to be inactive! She couldn't use her chi at all. She couldn't even feel it! This was unprecedented.

"Mmm…mortals like you wouldn't possibly know me. You are insignificant worms groveling in the ground!" The male voice said. "But you should praise your great luck that you've stumbled here. You can be of use to me."

"…Wind stayed silent for a while. Her situation was quite precarious. She didn't know the identity of this person and her techniques were unusable. She could be easily killed at this point and even her perfect body might not be able to help survive. Thus she decided to be polite and test the waters.

"You're someone so powerful that I'm rendered powerless so easily." Wind uttered. "To come across such a person and be of use is indeed my great luck. Tell me oh senior, what do you want me to do?"

"Heh-heh-heh!" The male voice echoed. "You are obedient. That is good. I'll tell you; I am…Shadow God. I rule over the darkness and am feared by all the other gods. You will be my hostage from now on until I've lured out Amyra, the elf goddess to my abode. Then you will no longer be needed. I will let you go, hehe."

"Shadow God!" Wind gasped dramatically. "To be of service to a great powerful god like you is my greatest honor! I pay respects at your feet, my lord!" Wind said but in her mind she was thinking the opposite.

"What bullshit!" Wind cursed inwardly. "Luring a female goddess into your abode by using a hostage…even Gods can be this perverted and lowly? This ridiculous bastard wants to hold me hostage? As if I'd roll over at your command!"

"Mmm good." Shadow God spoke and his voice gradually became fainter.

"My lord, may I ask you something?" Wind suddenly said.

"Mmm?" Shadow God hummed. "Speak."

"What if Goddess Amyra refuses to come over and ignores the life of a lowly mortal elf?" Wind said. "I wasn't even born as an elf. I merely transformed into one through an unorthodox technique."

"…" There was silence. Shadow God obviously didn't have the power to see through Wind's past. Wind sighed in relief. Now she could try fooling this perverted Shadow God.

"I was even a man but now I am a female elf of lowest level. I wonder if Goddess Amyra would be moved to help me by ceding to your demands." Wind added. "But if I can get inside her abode using my identity as an elf and become her servant through your guidance, I can be your perfect spy and you can plot against her easily."

"…Hmmm not bad. Your intelligence surely is that of an elf. This is indeed a better option but you must be joking if you think you can trick me into releasing you hehe!" Shadow God said and immediately Wind started to feel suffocated. The black shadows entered her lungs through her nose and mouth and suffocated her like water would.

Wind struggled and coughed but it was to no avail. But she didn't fluster. She knew even if miniscule, she was of importance to Shadow God against the Elf Goddess. He wouldn't kill Wind. He was merely threatening her and pressuring her.

Sure enough, soon the shadows stopped suffocating Wind and she coughed as she began able to breathe again.

"I wouldn't dare, my lord!" Wind immediately said. "I merely wish to be of service to you. As a mortal, it'd be my greatest honor! I am at your disposal, whatever you decide for me."

"Hmph!" Shadow God snorted.

"He fell for it!" Wind snickered inwardly.

"Good for you." Shadow God said. "Alright, I will release you and later help you ascend to the heavens. Then you will infiltrate the elf domain and get close to Amyra. Thereupon you will spy on her for me. I will implant a seal in your dantian which will allow me to know of your position, contact you and even kill you by exploding it if you dare betray me. So do not try to escape, cheat or try anything else hmph!"

"I wouldn't dare." Wind said.

Swoosh! The shadows which were still inside Wind, started to move towards her dantian and formed a black paper like seal of condensed energy. Wind could feel it clearly.

"I can feel my dantian now?" Wind was shocked at this discovery. But she didn't probe by moving her chi. That would be insulting towards this Shadow God.

"Alright. Run off now." Shadow God said. "Cultivate to the peak of Emperor realm and then I will guide you to break through to God realm! Then you can cross over and reach the heaven!"

"The heaven! God realm!" Wind was astonished. No one in the known history had ever reached God realm. There were also only rumors and folklores about the Gods. Wind for one knew that such a place existed. That is where from the treasure strategy had come. Hyun Jung had told Wind and others about all that she knew about its origin, being the formation spirit.

"My lord, if I may be so bold, and if it's possible for you, a God; may I request you another thing?" Wind pushed her luck.

"Hmph! What is there impossible for me?!" Shadow God roared. Wind was easily able to incite his ego.

"Could you let me become a male again?" Wind asked. "I'm not familiar with the ways of women and this will create a flaw in my acting when I spy upon the elf goddess."

"…" Shadow God fell silent for a while before more shadows seeped inside Wind's body speedily. Wind felt as though she was being pricked by countless needles. But it wasn't too painful. By the time this feeling ended, Wind could feel a familiar dormant dragon on his crotch. He was a man again!!

A smiled rolled on Wind's lips.

"You can turn into a male or a female at your will now." Shadow God said. "However, the transformation will cost considerable amount of magic and the transformation will also only last for a day at most. You will have to use magic again afterwards to reverse your gender."

"Can I keep using magic to keep up my appearance?" Wind asked.

"That will work." Shadow God said. "But using magic in front of Amyra or her loyal subjects will cause suspicion. I will not allow failure. If you get suspected and captured, I will kill you immediately! Thus, you should focus on getting used to being a woman while you have the time in mortal realm. I've granted your transformation wish anyway."

"…I understand my lord." Wind said. "I humbly thank you."

"Hmph! Now serve me well, mortal." Shadow God said and released Wind from the void.

Wind realized that he was currently stuck inside the soil underground quite close to the empyrean palace. He was a man again too & his dantian was active again.

"10000 li sight!" Wind immediately scouted his surroundings. Sure enough, he found Jiao staring at him as he too was vigilantly scouting the area for Wind continuously all this time.

"White Clown!" Jiao roared and flew towards Wind rapidly.

"Haze!" Wind immediately cast his third spell and a formless magical force enveloped a large area around him, affecting Jiao's perception. He could no longer see or sense Wind.

"What the…!" Jiao flustered. "What trick is this clown using that can allow him to hide from an emperor?" While thinking so, Jiao still flew into the spot where he had saw Wind moments ago and then he started rampaging there blindly. The underground shook as all sorts of dangerous techniques were used, destroying the area around Jiao. He even ultimately used devourer shadow to completely destroy Wind if he was hiding nearby but it was all for naught.

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"How troublesome." Wind frowned as he used Earthworm technique to dig through the ground and hastily retreated. The empyrean palace had been left several dozen miles behind already. Jiao was still inside the range of haze spell. This was his first time coming across such magic spells. He didn't know that as long as he gets out of the range, he'll be able to scout and find Wind easily.

But Wind was not going to stop even a moment. He had run out of tricks and magic. Thus, he used every ounce of his energy to rapidly retreat and soon he was out of Jiao's range of perception. But still, Wind didn't stop. Jiao's speed was nothing short of astounding. Wind dared not bet on his luck. He kept running at breakneck speed. His destination was Dwarves colony.