More importantly, the Mysterious Black Lotus deep in the valley was called the "Shadow Demon Lotus"! The word "shadow" in its name was no coincidence.
If he chose Shadow Dominator, he might be able to seize that heaven-sent opportunity more quickly!
Fortune favors those who brave danger, but I can't just charge in headfirst.
Xiao Han swiftly made his decision. Shadow Devour is the most practical divine skill for growth right now. Maximizing its potential is the way to go! Besides, who says Shadow Dominator can't involve space? The Demon Lotus itself contains spatial fluctuations!
"System, I choose—Shadow Dominator!"
[Ding! Host's selection confirmed! Evolution path for the Eternal Night King Martial Soul locked: Shadow Dominator!]
[Evolution beginning!]
The instant the system notification ended, an unimaginably vast surge of shadow origin energy erupted from Xiao Han's body! The energy did not come from outside, but from the Eternal Night King Martial Soul itself, as though an ancient power that had lain dormant had finally awakened!
Boom!
Black light of overwhelming intensity surged out like a tide, instantly enveloping Xiao Han and forming a massive, constantly writhing cocoon of black light that floated in midair.
Countless profound runes rose and sank across the cocoon's surface, giving off a pulse that made the heart clench. Its aura was deep and unfathomable, as though it led straight to a bottomless abyss of darkness.
"Aagh—!"
Indescribable agony surged through every inch of Xiao Han's flesh, piercing to the bone and reaching his very soul!
His body and soul seemed to have been forced into an invisible furnace by a tyrannical force, where the most primal power of shadow was taking them apart completely and putting them back together!
His meridians snapped apart inch by inch. The moment the pain struck, shadow energy surged in, scouring and repairing them. In the blink of an eye, the reconstructed meridians were far tougher and wider than before.
His bones gave off muffled cracking sounds under the strain, and he felt them breaking again and again. Yet a strange power enveloped them, making them denser and darker in color as they shattered and were remolded.
The sensation in his soul was the strangest of all, as if it had been cast into an eternal night without stars.
Countless fragments of knowledge about shadows, darkness, devouring, and control turned into a torrent of information, forcibly pouring into his consciousness and branding themselves into the depths of his soul!
The pain was far more intense than when he had cultivated the Creation-Heaven-Penetrating Art and absorbed the Qi-Blood Pill. It was truly like scraping poison from his bones and shedding his mortal body for a new one!
Xiao Han clenched his teeth so tightly that bloody foam seeped between them. His muscles knotted and trembled violently beyond his control, yet deep within, his consciousness remained perfectly clear, marked by a stubborn streak and a fierce refusal to yield!
He could clearly "see" his understanding and control of shadow power rising at an almost unreasonable speed!
Before, when he used the Eternal Night Monarch's power, he had mostly relied on the Martial Soul's instincts or the slight insights gained from the A Step to the Ends of the Earth movement technique.
But now it was different.
He felt that he had touched the roots of shadow, understood why it existed, how it flowed, and how it devoured all things...
The feeling was wondrous. His mind suddenly opened up, as though he had been born to be the master of this darkness!
At the same time, the [Shadow Devour] ability he had only recently acquired underwent an earthshaking transformation under the surge of evolutionary power!
It had originally only absorbed the negative energy around him passively, with mediocre efficiency. Now, it was as though a powerful engine had been installed: its devouring speed and conversion efficiency had increased more than tenfold!
Xiao Han even felt an intense "hunger"!
An urge from the depths of his soul to devour all darkness and negative energy!
He felt that if he wanted to, he could swallow every shadow drifting through the valley in a single gulp!
The agony still tormented him, but Xiao Han had begun to adapt. He even tried to actively guide the vast, pure evolutionary power through every corner of his body, consolidating his rapidly growing sense of strength while repairing the injuries left by his earlier battles.
The life force of the Chaos Green Lotus was also quietly at work, cooperating with the shadow energy's power of reconstruction to ensure that his body did not truly collapse during this violent evolution.
Even more to Xiao Han's surprise, as the Eternal Night King Martial Soul evolved, the spiritual power in his dantian, which had nearly run dry, was forcibly stirred into motion, spontaneously accelerating the circulation of the Creation-Heaven-Penetrating Art.
The dense spiritual energy in the surrounding world, along with some of the pure energy released during the evolution, was drawn madly into his body by the cultivation art!
The barrier at the Fourth Level of the Martial Artist Realm groaned under the impact of this power, threatening to give way at any moment!
Time slipped quietly by amid the extreme pain and rapid transformation.
After an unknown amount of time, the radiance on the surface of the massive black cocoon enveloping Xiao Han gradually receded inward, and its writhing ceased altogether.
Crack!
An exceptionally crisp shattering sound rang out, and a fine crack appeared on the cocoon's surface.
Immediately afterward, cracks spread rapidly like a spiderweb.
Bang!
The cocoon exploded into a sky full of the purest shadow energy particles. Rather than dissipating, the particles were drawn by an invisible force and raced to pour into Xiao Han's body as he floated in place.
Xiao Han was still the same Xiao Han. His clothes had long since been reduced to rags, revealing a lean, well-defined body covered in fine scars. But the impression he gave had changed completely.
His bearing had become deep and inscrutable, and a faint pressure naturally surrounded him. It was the aura of one who held dominion; simply by standing there, he made the darkness around him grow tame.
Behind him, the phantom image of the Eternal Night King Martial Soul appeared once more.
The evolved Eternal Night Monarch was no longer the blurred outline it had once been, but had become exceptionally solid and majestic!
It was a monarch clad in pitch-black battle armor. The armor's material was impossible to describe, as though woven from the purest shadows, with a deep luster flowing across it!
His face remained shrouded in shadow, impossible to see clearly, but from where his eyes should have been shone two points of dark starlight, as if ablaze—cold, indifferent, and looking down upon everything!
He merely floated there in silence, yet the entire space around him subtly warped, and even the light dimmed as it passed by him!
Shadow Dominator!
Xiao Han slowly raised his hand and spread his fingers, his mind stirring slightly.
Whoosh!
The shadows on the surrounding ground sprang to life like soldiers receiving an order. They raced toward his palm and, in the blink of an eye, gathered into a sphere of dark energy that constantly changed shape.
From within the sphere came a sense of devouring and annihilation that chilled the heart.
"So this is... the power of Shadow Dominator?" Feeling the power surging through his body and his unprecedented closeness to and control over the shadows around him, Xiao Han could not help but let the corners of his mouth lift slightly.
He felt as though he had become the night's own son. Wherever there were shadows, he was king!
Although the spiritual power in his body had not truly broken through the threshold, it had settled firmly at the peak of the fourth level, and his foundation had become incomparably solid.
Breaking through to the Fifth Level of the Warrior Realm was only a matter of time.
More importantly, after this evolution, both his physical toughness and his soul strength had increased considerably.