Time Realm.
Pink Shen Shihuang felt the energy surging through his body, and his eyes lit up. Shen Shihuang's aura suddenly began to climb.
"So this is the Time Flame?"
The black Taisui Flame on Shen Shihuang grew ever more profound. It was still black, just as before, but the feeling it gave off was completely different. Before, it had merely been black; now, the Taisui Flame was clearly a terrifying energy, deep as an abyss.
Two-Star Dou Zong.
Pink Shen Shihuang watched Shen Shihuang's aura rise straight from One-Star Dou Zong to Two-Star Dou Zong. At the same time, there was no sign of the breakthrough slowing down.
Three-Star Dou Zong.
Four-Star Dou Zong!
Only when he reached Four-Star Dou Zong did his breakthrough finally come to a halt. Yet confusion showed in Pink Shen Shihuang's eyes.
After Shen Shihuang opened his eyes,
he asked, "Is something wrong? That energy just now should have been enough to raise your strength by another two stars. Why did you stop?"
Shen Shihuang smiled faintly.
The other man was right. After the Taisui Flame obtained the Fengxiao Time Flame, combined with the energy from the Green Lotus Core Flame's Origin Flame Seed, it had reached a terrifying level. If he wanted, he could even break through directly to around Seven-Star Dou Zong.
"It's better to make my own strength more solid. I could keep advancing, but I'd be leaping too far, and it would be hard to control my power." Ever since he awakened, he had been at Peak Nine-Star Dou Emperor. After consummating his marriage with Queen Medusa, and with the Taisui Flame's aid, he had successfully broken through to Dou Zong.
But
Shen Shihuang had never advanced through these levels one step at a time. Though his power was formidable, he had always felt that he couldn't truly control it. He might not know much, but he had read novels in his previous life!
The most dangerous thing when breaking through was having an unstable foundation.
"Fine. I don't understand this anyway, so you decide for yourself," Pink Shen Shihuang said indifferently. He couldn't break through on his own. Only after Shen Shihuang advanced would his strength rise to match Shen Shihuang's. What could he say about that?
"By the way, what's your name?" Shen Shihuang looked at the other man and asked.
Pink Shen Shihuang answered directly, "Shen Shihuang, of course! You and I are one and the same, so naturally we have the same name."
Shen Shihuang: "...!"
Shen Shihuang thought for a moment, then said, "You may be my negative side, but you have your own emotions too. Isn't your game this time a manifestation of your own feelings?"
"You and I ended up like this because of time."
"How about I call you Shisheng from now on?"
Pink Shen Shihuang: "Shen Shisheng?"
Shen Shihuang nodded and extended his hand with a smile. "Let's get acquainted. Shen Shihuang."
Shen Shisheng extended his hand too. "Shen Shisheng."
"But shouldn't you let the others go now that you've brought them here?" Shen Shihuang said.
Shen Shisheng glanced at Shen Shihuang.
"As expected."
"Without a negative side, I feel like you won't live very long."
Shen Shihuang was speechless.
"Do you think that without you as my negative side, all I'd have left would be kindness, innocence, and childishness?"
Shen Shisheng replied as though it were only natural, "Isn't that so?"
"You need to understand that in this world, the strong rule, and the weak are prey for the strong!"
"They're no kin or friends of yours. Why let them go?"
Shen Shihuang exhaled.
His negative side—
He had a bit too much bloodlust!
"I have other uses for them. The Taisui Flame needs the Origin Flame Seed energy of other Heavenly Flames to advance. Obtaining the Origin Flame Seed energy of other Heavenly Flames is the fastest way for me to grow stronger."
Before he could finish speaking,
Shen Shisheng said, "You could absorb spiritual bodies too. Countless people die in the Black-Corner Region every day, and some of them are powerful. You could devour their spiritual bodies and still grow stronger."
Shen Shihuang: "...!"
Damn!
Did you think I was part of Soul Hall?
Soul Hall dared to capture spiritual bodies without restraint because they were powerful enough. Even if Soul Hall couldn't handle it, the Soul Clan stood behind them. Who would dare object to their capturing spiritual bodies?
Me?
You've got to be kidding. This kind of thing was the stuff of public outrage. If I captured spiritual bodies, I had no doubt that the next day, so-called "righteous" people would join forces to wipe me out.
It wasn't that capturing spiritual bodies was out of the question; you needed the nerve and the strength to do it.
Just look at Soul Hall. How many alchemists hated them for capturing spiritual bodies? Yet they kept doing it because they were powerful enough. What if it were me?
Heh.
To put it bluntly,
if a Seventh-Grade Alchemist wanted to kill me, I probably wouldn't even be able to fight back.
A Seventh-Grade Alchemist
could still call on several Dou Zun experts without much trouble.
With the little strength I had,
could I stand against Dou Zun experts?
"One of them is the Great Elder of Jia Nan Academy."
In the Black-Corner Region, the man known as Su Qian could only be the Great Elder of Jia Nan Academy—and a Dou Zong expert.
"Jia Nan Academy happens to have a Heavenly Flame."
Shen Shihuang looked at Shen Shisheng. "If you want to grow stronger, you'd better let the people from Jia Nan Academy go. I can use this opportunity to build a good relationship with them."
Shen Shisheng nodded.
"I understand."
"What about the other one? I heard he's from some sect."
"Let him go too?"
Shen Shihuang shook his head.
"We can't make a losing deal. Since we've caught him, he'll have to pay a price to leave."
Hearing this,
Shen Shisheng said simply, "Do whatever you want. I'm not interested in this."
"I'm leaving."
As he spoke, Shen Shisheng turned to go.
Seeing this, Shen Shihuang asked, "Where are you going?"
Shen Shisheng replied, "I don't know either. Don't worry. As long as you're alive, I can't die."
"By the way, I have more abilities than you do."
"If I come across anything good, I'll let you know."
"I hope you get the Origin Flame Seed of the Heavenly Flame at Jia Nan Academy soon. Then my Fengxiao Time Flame will finally be able to unleash some of its power."
With that, Shen Shisheng's whole body turned into pink flames, and he vanished completely.
Watching Shen Shisheng leave,
Shen Shihuang sighed helplessly. "What is all this? Other people get reincarnated without any of these complications. But when it comes to me, I end up with two versions of myself?"
Killing?
Shen Shihuang looked at his hands. "You may be my negative side, but I have these things in me too!"
"No wonder you became a separate individual!"
Shen Shihuang waved the Taisui Flame in his hand, and the flames throughout the Time Realm vanished at once.
Not far away from him,
everyone reappeared.
Su Qian looked a little disoriented, while Mo Tianxing was in a wretched state, as though he had been through something terrible.
The people bound to the pillars of fire also fell to the ground one after another.
"You..."
Su Qian caught one of the students with one hand and looked toward Shen Shihuang.
"You're not that person?"
Shen Shihuang nodded. "We just look alike."
Great Elder Su Qian nodded. "As I thought. The aura around you is completely different from his."
"Father, it's him!"
At that moment,
Mo Ya pointed furiously at Shen Shihuang. "Father, I want him dead!!"