Shadow Valley

The five of them advanced for several more hours toward the very center of Shadow Valley. The fog around them grew thicker and thicker, almost dense enough to make it impossible to see one's own hand. A biting chill filled the air; even their breaths emerged as white mist and formed tiny ice crystals on their face coverings.

"Watch your step," Argyle warned in a low voice, his words especially muffled by the dense fog. "The ground here..."

Before he could finish, a Shadow Figure suddenly pounced from the mist, moving so fast that its outline was nearly impossible to make out. Jialan only had time to instinctively twist aside before a sharp pain tore through his left arm—three bone-deep wounds instantly shredded his robe, and blood gushed out.

"High-grade Shadow Beast!" Argyle shouted, finally drawing his longsword. Dazzling Light Battle Qi flared like the first light of dawn, instantly illuminating their surroundings and revealing the attacker's true form.

It was a pitch-black creature the size of a bear, its entire body seemingly formed from the purest shadows. Only its two scarlet eyes gleamed with malevolent light. Its claws were half a meter long; those very claws had nearly torn off Jialan's entire arm. Most unsettling of all, when it had hidden within the thick fog, Jialan had failed to detect its presence even with several spells enhancing his senses.

"This is impossible..." A soldier staggered back in terror, his silver longsword trembling in his hand. "How could a high-grade Shadow Beast appear in Shadow Valley? According to the accord, the barrier should..."

The battle erupted in an instant. Argyle's Light Battle Qi naturally countered Shadow Beasts, but he did not dare unleash his full strength; excessive energy fluctuations could draw even more terrifying beings here. This high-grade Shadow Beast was clearly unusual as well. Not only could it resist light-based power, it could even absorb part of the battle qi and convert it into its own energy. Every attack carried a bone-chilling dark corrosion.

Enduring the pain, Jialan used the Soothing Rain Spell to temporarily seal his wounds. He swiftly formed hand seals and chanted an ice spell in a low voice. "Ring of Ice Seal!" An icy blue halo spread outward, successfully slowing the Shadow Beast. Yet to his shock, the spell, which was highly effective against ordinary Shadow Beasts, could only hold this one for a few short seconds.

"Aim for its eyes!" Argyle shouted, slashing the Shadow Beast's forelimb with a Light Slash. The three well-trained soldiers immediately formed a triangular formation, their silver weapons carving wound after wound into the Shadow Beast's body—these specially made weapons were inscribed with runes designed to counter dark creatures.

The battle lasted nearly half an hour. Every attack from the Shadow Beast carried corrosive Dark Energy. Wherever its claws raked across the ground, plants instantly withered into ash. One soldier was accidentally struck across the shoulder, and an entire patch of flesh immediately began to rot, releasing a nauseating stench.

At last, beneath Argyle's Holy Light Judgment, the Shadow Beast let out a shrill howl and dissolved into black mist, dispersing into the air. Only a fist-sized black crystal remained.

"This is far too abnormal." Argyle picked up the crystal with a grave expression. Light Battle Qi caused wisps of black smoke to rise from its surface. "A high-grade Shadow Beast couldn't possibly pass through a planar rift... unless..."

"Unless the rift has grown larger." Jialan finished for him, a chill rising in his heart. He quickly cast healing spells on the wounded soldier, but wounds caused by dark corrosion were extremely difficult to heal. He could only stabilize the soldier's condition for the moment.

Argyle turned his gaze toward the depths of Shadow Valley, where the fog had taken on an ominous purplish-black hue. "Shadow Valley connects to the Shadow Sub-plane. This rift has always been guarded jointly by the two great empires. Under the Border Shadow Accord, only low-grade Shadow Beasts can pass through it. High-grade individuals should be blocked by the dual barriers."

Shadow Valley lay deep within the Misty Forest at the border between the Longsheng Empire and the Aus Empire. Its unique spatial structure had formed a natural rift leading to the Shadow Sub-plane. The two empires maintained garrisons here year-round and had erected dual barriers around the rift to prevent high-grade Shadow Beasts from crossing over. Under normal circumstances, only low-grade Shadow Beasts could pass through the rift as a "pressure-release valve." If high-grade or even master-grade Shadow Beasts crossed over in groups, it would pose a catastrophic threat to the entire continent.

"Why haven't we received any news at all?" Jialan asked in confusion as he bandaged the wounds. "Did the border garrisons of both nations not notice anything unusual? Something as serious as an expanding rift couldn't possibly happen without any warning."

Argyle's expression darkened further. The black crystal in his hand creaked as he squeezed it. "That is precisely the problem. Ordinarily, any fluctuation in the rift would trigger an immediate alarm from the monitoring arrays of both nations." He raised his head, danger flashing in his eyes. "Unless... someone deliberately tampered with the monitoring arrays' data."

The three soldiers exchanged looks, clearly frightened by the possibility. Jialan suddenly recalled the undead wearing Aus Empire uniforms and the dark runes on their chests. A terrifying suspicion gradually took shape in his mind—could the Aus Empire have colluded with the Dark Council and deliberately allowed the Shadow Rift to expand? But what would be the purpose? What role did the imperial military command play in this? Letting Shadow Beasts invade their own territory?

The group finally reached the center of Shadow Valley. The sight before them made Jialan involuntarily hold his breath—a massive black vortex hovered silently in midair, at least twenty meters across and rotating slowly. Dark red patterns occasionally flickered across its surface, pulsing like blood vessels.

The rift leading to the Shadow Sub-plane was firmly sealed by two barriers: the outer layer was the Longsheng Empire's golden barrier, while the inner layer was the Aus Empire's blue barrier. Both appeared completely intact, their surfaces shimmering with flowing light, as though everything were normal.

"The barriers... look fine?" one soldier asked doubtfully.

Argyle, however, frowned deeply. "It's too quiet. Under normal circumstances, the barriers should be constantly battered by Shadow creatures." He stepped closer and examined them carefully. "And the frequencies of the two barriers are completely identical. That isn't normal..."

Jialan also sensed that something was wrong. How could two barriers from different sources and with different properties resonate so harmoniously? It was as if some force had forcibly synchronized them. Beneath that superficial calm lay a disturbing sense of wrongness.

A dozen or so meters from the vortex stood three or four unusual trees, growing at scattered intervals. Their bodies were translucent milky white, their trunks covered in golden patterns as if liquid sunlight flowed through them. Yet strangely, their roots were deeply embedded in pitch-black soil, their rootlets an ominous dark red. Each tree bore seven or eight white fruits that emitted a gentle glow—the goal of their journey, Sun Fruit.