Taking Stock of Opportunities

"Which bastard came up with this hellish opportunity? Fuck me... Shadow Transformation?" Ling Li sat on the ground. He first grumbled, then froze slightly upon hearing the system's voice and looked toward the system panel.

The system did not have many functions. Aside from digitizing Ling Li's various bodily attributes, it seemed to have no other purpose. Yet whenever the system issued a reminder, it always meant that Ling Li's body was undergoing a massive change.

Before Ling Li could study this newly unlocked ability, the black material around him abruptly turned white and emitted a white glow. Against that glow, the black runes on the walls became incomparably conspicuous. The area around Ling Li was no longer the Blood Pool from before, but an empty stone chamber. Six vacant display stands stood in the center of the chamber.

Ling Li narrowed his eyes slightly. The profound runes on the walls began to shift without pause. Countless runes twisted, deformed, moved, or simply vanished. Before long, those mysterious runes had formed a cultivation technique upon the walls!

"Misty Shadow Art?" Ling Li read aloud the three large words at the very top.

As soon as his voice fell, the words formed from the twisting runes linked together into a small snake. It began to slither swiftly, pouring into Ling Li's shadow.

As the runes flowed in, a blood-red scene appeared in Ling Li's mind. It depicted a vast plain. Above it, a purple giant dragon and a phoenix ravaged the dark clouds, while people dressed in all manner of clothing slaughtered black-robed figures who controlled black shadows.

Blue-violet lightning and dim black flames swept through the air. Spatial cracks stretching tens of thousands of feet spread like spiderwebs, wantonly tearing apart every object they engulfed.

The image slowly dimmed, and an unwilling voice sounded beside Ling Li's ear. "My clansmen were all slaughtered, and our treasures were completely plundered. My descendant, this is my final gift."

As the voice faded, an enormous mass of information suddenly surged into Ling Li's mind. It was precisely the Misty Shadow Art that had appeared on the wall earlier!

The flood of information made Ling Li's head swell with pain. He was very familiar with this sensation; it had been the same when he inherited the original Ling Li's memories.

As this information poured in, changes occurred once more within Ling Li's qi sea. The spikes on his sea-urchin-like Dou Core began to soften and lengthen, resembling both octopus tentacles and dark vines.

Once the information transfer was complete and the Dou Core's transformation ended, Ling Li could clearly sense the state of his shadow. He could even control it to perform actions different from those of his own body.

Misty Shadow Technique: transform one's shadow into poisonous vines. Upon reaching mastery, the poisonous vines would fill the skies and stretch endlessly for thousands of miles!

Ling Li's status panel became:

Host: Ling Li

Cultivation: One-Star Dou Spirit (0/100W)

Attribute: Dark Wood

Bloodline: Devouring Spirit Clan (Fourth Grade: 0/8000)

Cultivation Technique: Misty Shadow Art (Earth Tier Mid Grade)

Skill: Blade Arts (Mastery: 80/100)

Weapon: Dark Night (Mysterious Tier Low Grade: 0/1000)

Ability: Devouring Spirit Demonic Core (Development: 2/3)

Ability Skills (2/3):

Devour Spirit LV.2 (3000/20000) (Can evolve at LV.10)

Shadow Transformation LV.1 (0/1000) (Can evolve at LV.10)

Dark Realm (Locked)

Other: System Space (Opened)

Energy: 600

"My strength has risen by a full nine stars, my bloodline has advanced by one grade, Dark Night has reached the Mysterious Tier, I've unlocked a second ability skill, and I even obtained an Earth Tier Mid Grade cultivation technique!!" Ling Li clenched his fists excitedly. The power that had become difficult to control after his explosive increase in strength drove his nails straight into his flesh, blood dripping continuously. Pain bloomed across his palms, but it was quickly washed away by his joy.

A Dou Spirit could be considered an expert throughout the entire Gamma Empire. In the Gamma Empire, whose territory spanned tens of thousands of miles, there were no more than two hundred Dou Spirit experts and only a little over twenty Dou Wangs. As for Dou Emperors, even counting the old schemers hidden away, there were only Yun Yun, Yun Shan, Jia Xing Tian, Hai Bodong, Fa Ma, and the Dark Sea Flood Dragon Beast—five people and one beast.

There was even less need to mention an Earth Tier Mid Grade cultivation technique. The best technique Ling Li had hoped to obtain was only a Mysterious Tier High Grade one. In the northwestern corner of the continent, Earth Tier techniques were pitifully scarce; Earth Tier Mid Grade techniques simply did not exist. Even in the Black Corner Region, the highest-grade technique ever auctioned had only been Earth Tier Low Grade.

"The black-robed figures in that scene should have been members of the Devouring Spirit Clan, but it seemed they weren't only being hunted down by the Ancient Eight Clans..." As his emotions slowly settled, Ling Li could not help recalling the scene that had appeared in his mind.

The purple giant dragon that fired lightning was most likely a Great Void Dragon, while the multicolored phoenix that used black flames was probably a Heavenly Demon Phoenix. From what Ling Li knew of the original story, dragons and phoenixes seemed to have only those two clans.

As for why they had been hunted down by all sorts of factions, Ling Li had already deeply experienced the power of the Devouring Spirit Clan's bloodline. Even a pig, as long as it kept its head down, did nothing, and kept eating, could become an expert.

A bloodline like this either stood at the peak or could not be allowed to exist at all!

"I've taken all the benefits. Should I think about revenge? Forget it, forget it. I don't have the strength to make enemies of all the continent's top factions."

Ling Li believed his greatest virtue was knowing his own limits. For something with no benefits whatsoever and enormous risks, he would always stay as far away as possible. Of course, if he had to accomplish certain revenge objectives before receiving all these things, then he might consider it.

As for the familial bonds and master-disciple bonds that were held in such high regard on the Dou Qi Continent, Ling Li did not care. He had only been in this world for two years, and when he arrived, the original owner had already been all alone. He was not going to concern himself with any of that.

After lying on the ground for who knew how long, Ling Li slowly tried to stand. A sudden surge in strength would be accompanied by side effects such as an unstable aura and difficulty controlling one's power. Sometimes, these side effects could even threaten one's life. Therefore, on the Dou Qi Continent, direct inheritances like enlightenment empowerment were rare. Even when they existed, the person granting the inheritance would not bestow it outright, but would add seals to allow the power to flow in gradually.

Thus, when faced with a sudden increase in strength, most people chose to deliberately suppress their cultivation and stabilize their foundation at the same time. If Ling Li possessed the strength of a Dou Emperor or above, he would have done the same. But now, raising his cultivation by any means necessary and preserving his life was the proper path.

What? You said his aura was unstable and his foundation would be ruined? No matter how light an overweight fatty was, he was still heavier than someone skin and bones, right? As for being unable to control his own strength, Ling Li felt that apart from a few harmless bloody holes in his legs and palms, there was nothing particularly bad about it.

After the Blood Pool vanished, he seemed to have fallen into a stone chamber resembling a treasure vault. At the center of the chamber, six empty display stands stood in two rows. The stands were not made from that special black material, but they still appeared extremely sturdy.

Each of the three stone platforms in front had a groove, with inscriptions below them respectively: Cloud Day, a short sword pattern; Dark Night, a long saber pattern; Heavy Xuan, a heavy sword pattern. The three platforms at the rear held upright racks, which appeared to have once displayed cultivation techniques or Dou Skills.

Yet without exception, every stone platform was completely empty.