Shadow Domain

"A true case of Twin Martial Souls..."

Cheng Xiao furrowed his brow. Although he could now initially wield both Martial Souls, he felt no joy.

The imbalance between the two Martial Souls had already become irreversible. The Tai Chi array merely acted as a buffer between the Martial Souls and his body, preventing his body from being instantly overwhelmed.

Yet the cracks in the shadow sphere continued to multiply, with the Power of Destruction occasionally spilling out from within. The pace would gradually accelerate. Sooner or later, both powers would be completely unleashed, and the Tai Chi array would no longer be able to cushion them.

There was little difference between that and a countdown to death. How could Cheng Xiao possibly be happy?

Fortunately, the initial release of his two Martial Souls was not entirely bad news.

"My Soul Power broke through!"

Cheng Xiao sensed the changes brought by the release of his Martial Souls and was shocked to find that his Soul Power had risen two levels in a row, reaching level twenty. As long as he obtained a Soul Ring, he would become a Soul Grandmaster!

"And... a domain!?"

Cheng Xiao's gaze flickered. With a thought, he could sense every shadow within a hundred meters. This was the Shadow Domain. At the same time, a Soul Incantation surfaced in his mind.

"Stand Up!"

When the Soul Incantation appeared, even Cheng Xiao's composure could not stop his heart from pounding hard against his chest twice. His breathing even stalled for a moment.

The Soul Incantation consisted of only three words, yet it was the ability Cheng Xiao had been yearning for ever since awakening his Martial Soul!

The domain's effect was simple. After Cheng Xiao spoke the Soul Incantation, he could extract the shadows of the dead within the area covered by the domain. Those shadows would obey Cheng Xiao's commands unconditionally!

Compared to when they had been alive, the shadows he extracted would be greatly weakened. However, shadows could neither die nor be destroyed; they only needed a certain amount of Soul Power to be immediately reformed.

For now, though, he could only store twenty shadows—one slot per shadow.

"As expected..." Cheng Xiao sighed.

He had not expected to become fat in one bite. Otherwise, he could head to the border between the two Great Empires of Star Luo and Heaven Dou today, gather an army of shadows tomorrow, and directly overthrow both empires.

Pah! What a beautiful dream!

He had not even solved the problem of his Martial Souls conflicting, and he was already daydreaming.

Cheng Xiao silently cursed himself twice before considering his next move. "So I need to be careful with my choices..."

Since his Martial Souls had been initially released, he naturally could not continue following the original plan step by step.

"First, I need to obtain a Soul Ring. Then I need to select at least fifteen shadows, leaving five slots open for emergencies."

With fifteen shadow guards, he would at least have some ability to protect himself. Though it still could not compare to having a Titled Douluo for a father...

"Should I extract Soul Beasts or Soul Masters..." Cheng Xiao hesitated.

The Shadow King was also known as the King of the Undead. Its methods were not much different from those of a necromancer. If he killed too many people, Spirit Hall might set its sights on him.

"It seems I can only target Soul Beasts for now..."

"What did you say!? Level twenty?" Cheng Yu's face was filled with disbelief.

He knew his nephew's Innate Soul Power. It had only been level one. Without some fortunate opportunity, it would already have been impressive if he broke through to level twenty by middle age.

Yet now his nephew was telling him that he had already reached level twenty?

"Mm, I broke through a few days ago." Cheng Xiao nodded.

After receiving his nephew's confirmation, Cheng Yu stood there in a daze.

He was not a Soul Master, but he knew some of the standards used to judge a Soul Master's talent. If one broke through to level thirty and became a Soul Elder before the age of twenty, their future would be limitless.

Level twenty at eleven years old!

A Soul Grandmaster at eleven years old!

That qualified as genius-level talent anywhere! By the time he graduated, countless intermediate Soul Master Academies would surely scramble to send invitations.

With nine years left, the chances of breaking through to level thirty were extremely high!

And after reaching level thirty, with some maneuvering, he might even secure a noble title. Even if it was only the lowest rank of baron, the Cheng Family could leap from commoners to nobility!

After becoming nobles, the share of the market they could claim would expand as well. Those commoner merchants would absolutely not dare start disputes with their family!

"You brat, you really know how to give me a difficult problem!"

Cheng Yu's expression shifted constantly as his brows drew tightly together.

If his nephew had no talent for cultivation, everything would have been easy. He could simply return home after graduation and inherit the family business.

But now, his nephew had displayed abilities far beyond the ordinary, putting him in a difficult position.

Should he support him, or not? Cheng Yu did not dare make a hasty decision.

Cheng Xiao understood his uncle's concerns, so he did not speak. Instead, he remained silent and gave his uncle time to think it over.

He knew very well that raising a Soul Master was expensive. An ordinary family would find it difficult to support an outstanding Soul Master. To make his family support him with all their strength would require great resolve.

Leaving aside anything else, even hunting Soul Rings was a problem that many families could rack their brains over without finding a solution.

Those contestants in the Soul Master Tournament might all have optimal Soul Ring configurations, but which of them was not a genius cultivated by their respective academies?

In truth, most low-level Soul Masters did not have optimal Soul Ring configurations for either their first or fifth Soul Ring.

Their first Soul Ring was not optimal because poor families could not afford to hire powerful Soul Masters to hunt hundred-year Soul Beasts. They could only settle for ten-year ones.

The danger posed by a ten-year Soul Beast and a hundred-year Soul Beast was not even on the same level. Naturally, the fees for hiring Soul Masters were different as well.

Just look at Nuoding City's Junior Soul Master Academy. Did it not also have countless students whose first ring was merely a white ring?

Did they think the teachers were running a charity? Without payment, who would risk their lives to help them hunt a four-hundred-year Soul Beast at the limit? The academy's fees were merely much cheaper than outside. They should not expect others to work for free.

As for the fifth ring...

It was extremely difficult to determine a Soul Beast's age. Hundred-year Soul Beasts only showed distinguishing traits every hundred years, thousand-year Soul Beasts underwent major changes every thousand years, and Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts only displayed an obvious trait every ten thousand years.

The optimal age for a fifth ring was between ten thousand and twelve thousand years. The selection range was too narrow, yet one had to identify differences of merely a thousand years among ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts. The slightest oversight could cause an error. Too high, and it could endanger one's life; too low, and it would no longer be an optimal Soul Ring configuration.

Great sects and great families with deep foundations naturally did not have to worry. With support from their elders, along with the sect's accumulated resources and detailed records, they could almost always hunt Soul Beasts according to optimal Soul Ring configurations.

But many independent Soul Masters had no elders to support them and could only hunt by themselves, making it easy to miss the mark at these two stages.

Therefore, for ordinary commoners without any foundation, raising their children to become more outstanding would inevitably cost a fortune. Even bankrupting the family would not be unusual.

"Sigh, if you were completely useless, it would be easier. But you're neither here nor there, and that makes people worry." Cheng Yu gave a bitter smile. "Your Innate Soul Power was clearly only level one. How are you cultivating so quickly?"

His nephew reaching level twenty at eleven was certainly a pleasant surprise, but his Martial Soul was a mutated Martial Soul, and his Innate Soul Power had only been level one. His future was full of uncertainty.

No one knew whether he would get stuck at level twenty-nine and fail to break through for the rest of his life. Cheng Yu had heard that Nuoding City's Junior Soul Master Academy, where his nephew studied, had a teacher like that.

If the family gave him their full support, only for him to get stuck at level twenty-nine and fail to break through, would that not mean all their money had gone down the drain?

Cheng Yu rubbed his forehead. After sighing for a while, he asked, "You're only level twenty. Hunting a six-hundred- or seven-hundred-year Soul Beast should be enough, right? Why do you want to kill Soul Beasts that are two or three thousand years old?"

The Cheng Family could still afford a mere hundred-year Soul Beast.

But Soul Beasts that were two or three thousand years old were practically the configuration for a Soul Ancestor. If the family supported Cheng Xiao, it would seriously drain their resources.

PS: I decided to make Stand Up a domain ability. If I made it a Soul Ring skill, a thousand-year Soul Ring would not suit such an overpowered skill, while a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring would come far too late. I imagine quite a few of you came here wanting to see this, and it would lose its appeal if dragged out until the later stages. After thinking it over, a domain skill seemed most appropriate. Please go easy on me.