Original Sin: Shadow Giant
Lu Li's strength is currently in an awkward position. All his abilities are on the verge of a breakthrough, but he is stuck there. Whether it is the biological transformation of his own shadow, the mutation and metamorphosis of his shadow, or his soul, mental power, and magic power, they are all stuck at that critical juncture.
This meant that although Lu Li was strong, he wasn't strong enough to overwhelm others, which is why he was bitten when surrounded by more than a dozen saber-toothed tigers.
Lu Li pulled out the tooth from his shoulder and threw it like a dagger, but the saber-toothed tiger dodged it. Nine Masks floated out from somewhere in the Pumpkin Trousers and surrounded Lu Li. One by one, Shadow Assassin appeared in the scene. They rushed towards the saber-toothed tiger, two surrounding one and entangled it.
The mask with its broken horn revealed a body like black smoke emerging from behind it. The Shadow Demon possessed an aura of power, compressing the air and igniting it with pitch-black flames, striking the saber-toothed tigers around it. Any saber-toothed tiger that approached him would be stopped and injured by his flaming claws.
The Snake Woman Lilith swayed her snake tail and came to Lu Li's side. She looked at his bitten shoulder with heartache, and her pair of white hands released a purplish-red light, healing the wound on Lu Li's shoulder.
"Still too weak." Lu Li looked at the blood splattered from his body, which shimmered with a dark light. How long had it been since he had seen his own blood? Thinking about it now, it really had been too long. He had too many means to rely on and had protected himself too well. Although there was nothing wrong with that, it had also made him neglect to improve his strength.
Another group of saber-toothed tigers is approaching from afar. The original dozen or so were already difficult to handle, but now another group has arrived, bringing the total number of saber-toothed tigers to over a hundred in a short time. Things are becoming increasingly complicated.
The shadow tentacles behind him wriggled and enveloped Lu Li, forming a huge Shadow Giant. The masks that were originally floating around Lu Li, except for the three that had transformed into human form, were now embedded in the Shadow Giant's face.
Aside from the Shadow Assassin's Envy, the other six original sins also began to affect the Shadow Giant.
The Greed Giant Species caused the Shadow Giant to grow even larger, and all the grass at the giants' feet withered, their vitality being devoured.
The Pride Flying Species caused the Shadow Giant to grow a pair of jet-black demonic wings, granting it the power of conviction.
The enraged Flame Species ignited Fire of Wrath on the Shadow Giant, burning away all life.
The Sloth Plankton Species, fueled by the Flame of Wrath, released countless black smoke-like Plankton that inhabited the bodies of surrounding life forms, spreading disease.
The lustful Beast Species caused the Shadow Giant to split into long, twisted, and disgusting shadow monsters, while some feline elements also appeared on the Shadow Giant, such as a cat tail.
The Gluttony Marine Species creature, like a whale swallowing its prey, enveloped everything around it and devoured it into the Shadow Giant. Pairs of mouths with sharp teeth grew on the Shadow Giant's body, radiating an emotion called hunger as it looked at the creatures around it.
The Touch of Fear, originating from the current Shadow Giant, intimidates all life around it, radiating fear. The Eye of Detection activates, and the face, which originally had no features but was inlaid with six masks, suddenly splits open at the center of its brow, revealing an eye that can see through everything around it.
A long spear materialized in his hand, and the Shadow Giant charged into the pack of saber-toothed tigers. With each swing of his spear, several tigers were swept away, but even more pounced, tearing at the Shadow Giant's body. Each tiger was enveloped in red light, which combined to create what appeared to be bloodthirsty phantoms, tearing at everything in their path while resisting the burning flames of Flame of Wrath and suppressing the disease caused by the Plankton within their bodies.
Countless disgusting, shadowy, serpentine creatures sprouted from the Shadow Giant's body. As the saber-toothed tiger tore at the Shadow Giant, these creatures burrowed into the saber-toothed tiger's mouth and gnawed at its internal organs.
As more and more saber-toothed tigers gathered, the Shadow Giant flapped its wings, shook its massive spear, and spun it backward, driving it into the ground. Dark Shadow Magic erupted, and countless shadow Thorn began to spread wildly from the spear.
Countless Thorn wriggled, twisted, and coiled, fixing all the gathered saber-toothed tigers in place. The next moment, the Shadow Giant at the center suddenly bloomed, like a flower, like a coiled snake, no longer maintaining its human form, transforming into countless black, writhing tentacles that pierced, crushed, and strangled the saber-toothed tigers held in place by the Thorn.
Blood and shadows intertwined. Amidst countless Thorn and shrouded in dark mist, countless lives blossomed. Shadow tentacles writhed, and all the shadows gradually faded into phantoms on the ground, leaving only the corpses of saber-toothed tigers scattered on the ground. Lu Li up his folded Oil-Paper Umbrella, breathing heavily.
Such large-scale manipulation of his own shadow and massive output of Shadow Magic left Lu Li's mental and magical energy insufficient. However, the remaining saber-toothed tigers around him were filled with boundless fear and turned to flee.
Six masks floated around Lu Li, their dim light seeming to have dimmed slightly. Lu Li had not only mobilized his own magic power, but also the magic power within the masks. Judging from the situation, these masks would need some time to absorb magic power before they could be used again.
On the other side, Lilith's figure reappeared on the three masks. Previously, Lu Li Avatar into Shadow Giant, whose attack range was too wide, so they returned to the masks first to prevent accidental injury.
Looking at the three current troop types, Lu Li began to make plans. It seemed that the development of troop types and some other plans also needed to be put on the agenda, otherwise these masked troop types would become increasingly useless.
Without Lu Li's magical support, the black mist Aggregation by the dragon bones gradually dissipated, and the sunlight fell again. Lu Li wanted to open the Oil-Paper Umbrella, but found that his current magical power made even opening the umbrella difficult.
"How pathetic, but they're just some animals." Lu Li chuckled self-deprecatingly. Lilith took the Oil-Paper Umbrella, her snake tail wriggling, and stood behind Lu Li, holding the umbrella for him. Meanwhile, the Shadow Assassin and the Shadow Demon returned to their masks, as the other six Shadow Mask were retracted into the Pumpkin Trousers.
With the saber-toothed tiger gone, Lu Li's final test to reach the Theseus Magic Society came to an end. The road ahead was clear, and soon Lu Li arrived at the castle's moat.
After walking for a while, Lu Li's magic power recovered considerably. So Lilith put away her mask and Pumpkin Trousers, and Lu Li, holding an umbrella, arrived at the drawbridge over the moat.
On the other side of the bridge, a handsome man emerged. In every aspect, he would be considered a male god in modern society. The only flaw and regret was that his left hand was empty; he was disabled.
The one-armed man coldly uttered the secret order, "Life and soul will eventually decay!"
For details on Lu Li's Thorn ability, please refer to Zyra's ultimate ability, as well as the ability to unleash the Prototype's countless tentacles and end everything.