A smile curled Shen Luo's lips. With a swift flash, he appeared directly behind the black shadow and reached out to grab its back.
Yet just as his palm was about to touch it, the black shadow suddenly contracted, shrinking from the size of a watermelon to the size of a fist.
The instant it evaded Shen Luo's palm, the black shadow abruptly swelled again and shot forward. After flying barely three feet, a ring of light suddenly lit up around it. With a flash, it vanished from Shen Luo's sight.
The moment Shen Luo saw its figure disappear, he discovered that even its aura fluctuations had become completely undetectable, leaving him rather startled.
Before he could figure out what was happening, however, a furious roar suddenly came from overhead. A tremendous force crashed down from above, blasting open the ground.
Shen Luo rapidly retreated, barely avoiding the heavy blow. Yet he was struck by a rippling wave of force, making his chest sink sharply. Under the rebound from that immense power, his body was sent flying out of the ground.
The instant he burst from the earth, a cold gleam flashed before him. A nine-ringed saber whistled toward him, sweeping straight across at his eyes.
Shen Luo was startled, but reacted quickly. Moonlight spilled beneath his feet as he flashed aside. His figure drew blurry afterimages beneath the moonlight as he barely dodged the strike.
After evading that blow, Shen Luo did not dare hesitate in the slightest. As he swiftly retreated, he carefully surveyed his surroundings.
Only then did he discover that, some thirty-odd feet ahead, stood a towering figure nearly a zhang tall.
It wore dark-gold armor beneath a black gauze robe, a black-and-green sash around its waist, crimson leather boots on its feet, and gripped a