His earlier injuries had also mostly healed under the combined effects of the Chaos Green Lotus and the power of evolution.
He rose and stretched his limbs, his joints crackling as explosive power filled his body.
His gaze involuntarily turned to the deepest part of the valley, where the dark lotus stood in silence—the Shadow Demon Lotus.
The "preliminary control" granted by the system had established a faint, mysterious connection between him and the lotus. It was as if a single thought would let him touch the power hidden deep within it.
Without hesitation, Xiao Han reined in his aura and cautiously approached the Shadow Demon Lotus.
The closer he got, the clearer the stirring in his soul became. The faint spatial fluctuations and dense shadow aura permeating the air seemed to be calling gently to him.
When he reached the lotus, Xiao Han could see that the silvery-gray sheen flowing along the edges of its petals, dark as ink, was not still. It was subtly distorting the space around it at an exceedingly subtle frequency.
"This is it." Xiao Han took a deep breath, suppressed his excitement, and extended a finger, attempting to touch a lotus petal with a wisp of spiritual power bearing the aura of the Eternal Night Monarch—the Shadow Dominator.
The instant it made contact, a sudden change occurred!
There was no rejection as he had imagined, nor any clash of energies.
The Shadow Demon Lotus trembled gently, as though it had encountered a long-lost loved one. A cold, pure, boundless energy surged along Xiao Han's finger and poured wildly into his body like a flood breaking through a dam!
This energy was extraordinarily peculiar. It contained both the immense power to dominate shadows and a trace of profound fluctuations that distorted space!
"Hiss—such pure energy!" Xiao Han's entire body shuddered. He felt the energy fill every limb and bone in an instant, every cell cheering and leaping for joy!
Preliminary control really was the key! Refining the core of the Shadow Demon Lotus went more smoothly than he could have imagined, as naturally as water flowing down a channel, without the slightest obstruction!
The lotus's immense source energy surged through his body. As if drawn by something, a portion of it flowed of its own accord into the majestic apparition of the Shadow Dominator behind him.
The eternal night king martial soul greedily absorbed this power from the same source like a taotie. Its aura, having only just completed its evolution, began to rise and stabilize once more.
The shadow armor grew more solid, and the dark stars in its eyes shone even brighter. The [Shadow Dominator] trait was thoroughly reinforced and deepened!
The rest of the energy washed directly through Xiao Han's limbs and bones, merging into them and nourishing his body and soul.
Just then, the Creation-Heaven-Penetrating Art within him seemed to receive a powerful stimulus. Without any guidance from Xiao Han, it began circulating wildly on its own!
The art circulated at an unprecedented speed, like a vast whirlpool, swiftly refining and absorbing the lotus's source energy as it poured into his body. It converted the energy into the purest spiritual power, replenishing his nearly dried-up qi sea!
Boom!
An irresistible force erupted like a volcano that had been building up for ten thousand years!
Under the onslaught of this pure energy, the incomparably sturdy barrier of the fourth level of the Martial Artist Realm proved as fragile as paper and was breached in an instant!
Fifth level of the Warrior Realm!
Yet this was only the beginning!
The energy contained in the Shadow Demon Lotus was simply too immense, and the speed at which it was refined and absorbed was astonishing!
His newly attained realm had yet to fully stabilize when an even fiercer torrent of energy swept through him again!
His qi sea expanded wildly, his meridians widened and grew stronger, and both the quality and quantity of his spiritual power soared at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Boom!!
Another muffled rumble sounded, as though some shackle within his body had been broken once more!
The barrier at the peak of the fifth level of the Warrior Realm was swept aside, offering almost no meaningful resistance!
Sixth level of the Warrior Realm!
Only then did the violent torrent of energy gradually subside, finally merging completely into Xiao Han's body, where it was fully refined and absorbed by the Creation-Heaven-Penetrating Art.
"Whew..." Xiao Han let out a long breath of turbid air tinged with an inky sheen. Feeling the unprecedented surge of power within him, he could not suppress the wild joy on his face.
Two levels in a row!
From the peak of the fourth level of the Martial Artist Realm, I've soared straight to the sixth level of the Warrior Realm!
Moreover, this was not a forced increase that had left his foundation unstable. Quite the opposite: under the combined effects of the Creation-Heaven-Penetrating Art and the Shadow Demon Lotus's source, his foundation was even firmer and deeper than before!
Every bit of his spiritual power was incomparably pure, and the strength of his body had risen another notch!
"Sixth level of the Warrior Realm..." Xiao Han clenched his fist, feeling the mighty power surging at his fingertips, a keen light flashing in his eyes. "If I faced that Black-Scaled Mad Ape again now, even at its peak, I might... be able to lock arms with it head-on!"
Of course, this was only a preliminary estimate. After all, a vast gulf lay between the Martial Master Realm and the Warrior Realm.
But with the Shadow Dominator and sixth-level cultivation, he certainly would not be left in such a sorry state as before. At the very least, he had the confidence to hold his own and even seek a chance to turn the tables and kill it!
Worth it! Risking my life to enter the valley was a massive haul!
Suppressing his excitement, Xiao Han began testing the new ability he had just acquired.
With a thought, the light within a radius of several meters around him abruptly twisted and dimmed, as though shrouded by an invisible black veil. In an instant, it became the embryonic form of a domain of absolute darkness!
Within this domain, Xiao Han felt his senses expand without limit. Every stir within dozens of meters, even the faint movement of energy in the air, registered clearly in his mind.
At the same time, he could feel that the domain naturally suppressed and interfered with things outside it. Though the effect was still very weak, it was enough to affect an enemy's judgment and actions.
"An embryonic Eternal Night Domain... Its range isn't large, and its interference is limited, but combined with assassination and sneak attacks, its effect will be astonishing!" Xiao Han nodded in satisfaction.
Next, he tried using A Step to the Ends of the Earth again.
Whoosh!
His figure flickered, leaving a faint afterimage in his place, and he appeared ten meters away in an instant like a ghost!
He was at least fifty percent faster than before! His path was also far more unpredictable, tracing several sharp turns through the air that were difficult to catch with the naked eye, as though he had completely disregarded the law of inertia!
What delighted him even more was that, while using the footwork, he could draw on the Eternal Night Monarch's power more freely, briefly merging his body into the surrounding shadows to make tiny jumps!
Although he could currently jump only one or two meters and the ability consumed quite a lot, it undoubtedly made his movements even more elusive and unpredictable, giving him another powerful trump card whether he was pursuing an enemy or fleeing for his life!