Gu Yue's Arrival, The Abyss Legion!

"I see, then let's keep our voices down."

Hearing this, Na'er instantly lowered her ethereal voice and even slowed her pace.

Bathed in the sunlight, Na'er wore a white dress, her silver hair cascading over her fragrant shoulders. Her violet eyes were full of spirit; compared to four years ago, she now radiated an even stronger aura of youth.

"Actually... the soundproofing in our Body Sect rooms is quite good, Na'er. You don't have to be so cautious; I was just reminding you not to knock on our Junior Brother's door."

Seeing this scene, a flash of embarrassment crossed the sturdy young man's honest face as he scratched his head.

He was none other than Mu Ye's eldest disciple, Jiang Xiu's senior brother, A Ruheng, and his martial soul was one of the most elite Body Martial Souls within the Body Sect.

After the Body Sect's base was established four years ago, Mu Ye had brought A Ruheng along with him.

"Why don't you go rest in the main hall first?"

A Ruheng asked, accustomed to the situation. Since arriving here, Na'er had frequently come to visit his Junior Brother, Jiang Xiu—if not seven days a week, then at least six.

"It's fine, I'll just wait for him here."

Na'er shook her head, her beautiful eyes shimmering with light. She sat on a wooden stump outside Jiang Xiu's room, her fair calves swinging back and forth as she kept her gaze fixed firmly on his door.

"Alright then, I'm going to go train my body."

A Ruheng shrugged and headed toward the medicinal bath room, a sense of urgency lingering in his heart.

Back then, he had thought himself a one-of-a-kind genius, but after arriving in Shrek City and meeting Jiang Xiu and Na'er, he realized what a true genius was. At their age, he had been far behind them.

Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder if those two had secretly cheated somehow...

However, he felt no jealousy; he simply viewed them as benchmarks to motivate his own progress.

"Listen to Master: as long as you don't train yourself to death, train until you're dead!"

A Ruheng encouraged himself before resolutely stepping into the new type of medicinal bath Mu Ye had prepared for him.

"Jiang Xiu, why won't you come out yet?"

After a while, Na'er pouted, her beautiful eyes filled with strands of confusion and a sigh.

She was usually not this impatient, but her master, Leng Yaozhu, had told her some news this morning: a genius had been discovered at the East Sea Spirit Pagoda branch, and she had to go inspect them personally.

That was fine, but what made Na'er jump was that the genius's name was Gu Yue!

Why can't this person just stay in the Star Dou Great Forest? She already took seventy percent of the power, yet instead of cultivating properly, she's wandering around the human world. Could it be that I took too much of our wisdom?

Na'er whispered inwardly. She truly didn't understand why Gu Yue would come to the Spirit Pagoda, but a sense of inexplicable nervousness welled up in her heart.

"Forget it, I'll know when the time comes."

Na'er sighed softly, shaking her small head to clear the confusion.

Since her master was taking her to the East Sea Spirit Pagoda tomorrow, she had come to find Jiang Xiu today because she wanted him to go with her.

"Big Brother! It's time for you to protect your little sister Na'er!"

Na'er clenched her delicate fists, her beautiful eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Inside Jiang Xiu's room.

Jiang Xiu sat cross-legged on his bed, his body wreathed in dense dark energy, his consciousness already submerged within the Abyss Plane.

The seventy-sixth layer of the Abyss.

Black smoke billowed, blood splattered, and the sounds of roaring and slaughter mingled together. Countless black shadows stood upon the ground.

"Press the attack! Keep pressing!"

Within the dark Monarch Domain, Jiang Xiu's blood-red eyes were filled with composure. He brandished his straight blade, commanding the dense Shadow Legion beside him to charge forward.

In front of the Shadow Legion stood a massive Abyss Ant. This creature was as large as a soul-guided armored vehicle, its sharp mouthparts gleaming with a ghostly light. Its dark purple body was covered in hard, armor-like plates.

Most astonishingly, there were seven dark yellow patterns on the back of this giant Abyss Ant, and the aura it emitted had reached the level of a seven-ringed human Soul Saint.

There was even a hint of intelligence in its tyrannical eyes.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

Under Jiang Xiu's command, the Shadow Legion fought without fear of death, their scarlet eyes filled only with killing intent. Those at the forefront possessed energy fluctuations comparable to Soul Elders and Soul Ancestors.

"Crunch! Crunch!"

The giant Abyss Ant's mouthparts opened and closed, and one shadow soldier after another perished instantly. To this creature, these shadow soldiers were nothing more than a crunchy snack.

Yet, before dying, these shadow soldiers would leave their mark on the giant Abyss Ant. Upon death, they transformed into streams of energy, regenerating within Jiang Xiu's Monarch Domain to charge into battle once more, though they were slightly weaker than before.

Jiang Xiu watched the scene, feeling no rush. After four years of development, the number of his Shadow Legion had reached nearly seven thousand!

Even if two-thirds of these seven thousand soldiers were below the strength of a Spirit Grandmaster, and even if they were but a drop in the bucket for the vast Ant Emperor Clan, it was still a Shadow Legion that had begun to take shape.

"Seven thousand against one, the advantage is mine!"

Watching the giant Abyss Ant continue its slaughter, Jiang Xiu remained perfectly calm. While his Shadow Legion had yet to stand out in terms of quality, their numbers were beginning to show their edge.

"Oh no! Why are there more of them the longer we fight!"

Watching the Shadow Soldiers surging toward it like a torrent of darkness, a sinister thought flickered through the mind of the giant Abyss Ant.

At its energy level, although it lacked true intelligence, it had begun to develop its own instincts.

The Shadow Soldiers before it possessed not a shred of life, and they only grew in number the more it killed; with cracks already appearing on its hardened carapace, a faint urge to retreat stirred within its heart.

"It seems the time has come."

Watching the Abyss Ant prepare to retreat, Jiang Xiu's gaze shifted, and he swung the straight blade in his hand forward.

Within the Monarch Domain, twenty larger Shadow Abyss Ants rose slowly like flowing water, each radiating an aura comparable to a Spirit King.

"Shadow Group, charge!"

Following Jiang Xiu's command, the legion formed by these twenty Shadow Soldiers instantly dispersed into the Shadow Torrent, continuously striking at the giant Abyss Ant from the shadows.

In summary, it was divided into three parts in total.

"If I weren't worried about attracting attention, you would have been finished long ago."

Watching the Spirit Saint-level Abyss Ant gradually being submerged, Jiang Xiu nodded in satisfaction.

He had not deployed his entire shadow army to surround and suppress this Abyss Ant, but only one-third of it.

"Ant Emperor, Spirit Monarch, you could never have imagined that this seventy-sixth layer of the abyss has already, imperceptibly and gradually, changed its surname to Jiang."