Mantis's absorption of the dark law lasted a long time. Shen Fei sat cross-legged on the stone chamber floor with his eyes closed, his consciousness submerged in his soul sea as he watched Mantis digest, integrate, and absorb that mass of law little by little.
He could feel Mantis growing stronger. It was not an increase in reserves of spiritual power, nor a rise in speed or strength, but something more fundamental.
Mantis's understanding of the dark attribute was deepening. Every slash, every concealment, and every ambush began to carry something different from before.
Previously, his Shadow Stealth had merely muted his presence. Now, when he merged into the shadows, even the shadows themselves cooperated with him.
Previously, its Blade Forelimbs had merely been sharp. Now, when its blades cut through the air, they left an extremely faint dark trace that lingered for a breath before slowly dissipating.
Shen Fei did not know exactly what these changes meant, but he could feel Mantis advancing toward a higher level.
Before, he had only sensed the fringes of that level in Ye Zong and Shen Hong. Now, Mantis was slowly approaching it.
Time passed little by little. Immersed in cultivation, Shen Fei reduced his awareness of the outside world to a minimum. He could sense neither changes in the light within the stone chamber nor the passage of time.
Occasionally, he heard faint crackles of lightning from Xiao Ning'er's side and knew that she, too, was cultivating and digesting the law of thunder, but he did not open his eyes to look.
On Xiao Ning'er's side, the integration of the law of thunder was also underway.
When she extended her soul force into that mass of dark blue-green light, its Thunder Attribute aura surged into her body along her meridians, bringing a