https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-254-Skipping-Work-to-Tour-the-Shadow-Realm/12850412/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-256-Imperial-Death-Shadow-Dark-Armor-King/12850417/
Chapter 255: The City of the Shadow Realm, the Black Market of Shadow Beings
Chapter 255: The City of the Shadow Realm, the Black Market of Shadow Beings
After entering the camp and having a friendly conversation with the group of dead shadows, Qin Muye found that he had gained nothing.
He discovered that these dead shadows had not ventured far from their camp and had never seen any shadow beings. Although they were friendly towards him, their goodwill was minimal.
As for more information, they knew very little. There were no significant forces around, only their single camp.
They also had no knowledge of ancient shadow monsters or imperial dead shadows, as they lived in a relatively isolated environment. Moreover, the camp itself was quite young, having been established only two hundred years ago.
For the humans of this world, a century was already a great age, but for dead shadows, it was just a negligible moment.
Shadow beings could not achieve eternal life; not all extraordinary systems had the ability to extend one's lifespan. Guoshu, for instance, did not have this function.
At most, it could make a person healthier, allowing them to live a few more years and maintain their vitality.
Moreover, the core of shadow beings was their shadows, not their physical bodies. Most of their combat methods involved their shadows transforming into armor and loading onto their bodies, commonly known as shadow armor.
It was similar to the concept of Kamen Riders or Armored Warriors.
After learning that these dead shadows were mostly homebodies and offered no benefits, Qin Muye naturally left.
The Shadow Realm was sparsely populated, and while the overall strength of dead shadows was higher than that of shadow beings, their numbers were significantly smaller.
Fortunately, Qin Muye had determined his approximate location and planned to head directly to the territory of the imperial dead shadows.
From the current situation, it seemed that the dead shadows in this camp were just ordinary dead shadows with no special abilities.
As he moved farther away from the camp, the number of shadow monsters gradually increased, indicating that he was about to leave the area under the dead shadows' control.
One shadow monster after another fearlessly attacked him, driven by the desire to feast on his flesh. This made Qin Muye quite annoyed, and after some thought, he decided to use the transdimensional teleportation channel to leave.
He had initially intended to gather some materials, but the ground was littered with severed limbs and the monsters kept coming in waves, almost forming a beast tide.
Therefore, Qin Muye had no choice but to leave.
He did not have the coordinates of the Dark Shadow City where the imperial dead shadows were located, only some rough guesses, so he could only try his luck.
The dead shadows did not call themselves dead shadows but referred to themselves as the Armor Clan. This was similar to how a cult would call itself a Holy Church rather than a Cult. No one would willingly defame themselves, much like how it would be foolish to call yourself stupid just because someone else did.
The term "dead shadow" itself was a derogatory term, meaning a dead shadow. Naturally, the dead shadows were not pleased with this, and the imperial dead shadow had renamed their race as the Armor Clan, with himself as the Dark Armor King.
It was said that some dead shadows who challenged the imperial dead shadow called themselves the Light Armor King, hoping to be on equal footing, but nothing came of it.
Wanting to be on equal footing or even calling oneself an Armor King was not a big deal as long as one had the necessary strength. However, it was clear that a certain dead shadow who lacked foresight did not have that strength.
Emerging from the transdimensional teleportation channel, Qin Muye carefully observed his surroundings and soon saw an ancient city.
The city was predominantly black, which was not surprising. In the Shadow Realm, not only were the stones black, but even the plants and trees were black, making it impossible to distinguish colors.
This meant that the materials used to cultivate shadows were also black. In the Shadow Realm, black was the dominant color, as evidenced by the black dead shadows and shadow monsters.
"Dark Shadow City. Looks like I got lucky and found it right away," Qin Muye said, looking at the words on the city gate. Several dead shadows were guarding the entrance.
Seeing the sudden appearance of Qin Muye, they immediately became alert.
The entrance to Dark Shadow City was not as bustling as Qin Muye had imagined. Instead, only a few dead shadows were entering and exiting.
This was quite normal. First, some dead shadows could fly and did not need to go through the city gate, as evidenced by the shadows he saw flying over the city walls. Second, there was no commerce or outer towns or villages, so there was no large-scale movement of people in and out of the city.
"Human, did you wander into the Shadow Realm by mistake, or did you enter on purpose?"
A dead shadow drew a weapon and asked cautiously.
It had to be said that the residents of this large city were much more knowledgeable than those in the smaller camp. Just by asking whether he had wandered in by mistake or come intentionally, Qin Muye realized that there seemed to be a passage from the Human Realm to the Shadow Realm that had not been sealed.
"Does it make a difference?" Qin Muye asked.
"If you wandered in by mistake, we will send you back. If you came here on purpose, you need to be inspected before entering Dark Shadow City," the dead shadow explained.
"Alright, I came here on purpose. How do I need to be inspected?" Qin Muye was straightforward about it.
"We need to inspect your... uh?" The dead shadow had intended to say that they needed to inspect his shadow, but he suddenly realized that Qin Muye's shadow had not fully awakened and was only at the second stage, the solid shadow, which was impossible to inspect.
A shadow at the solid stage was like an embryo, posing no threat at all, so there was no way to conduct an inspection.
"You pass," the dead shadow quickly put away his weapon and let Qin Muye into the city.
Do they really need to inspect? This is a joke, with Qin Muye's shadow in its current state, even if he died in Dark Shadow City, his shadow would not develop into a dead shadow, so there was no threat at all.
Understanding the situation, Qin Muye found it somewhat amusing. It seemed they judged one's strength by their shadow.
But then he thought about it, and it made sense in this world. After all, the main system was based on shadows. What else would they look at? Cultivation levels? There was no such thing in this world, as it was not a world of cultivation.
Qin Muye smoothly entered the city. Before entering, he asked how to meet the Dark Armor King. The dead shadow was straightforward and told him that he needed to inform the Dark Armor King, who would decide whether to see him.
Once inside the city, Qin Muye noticed some out-of-place shadow beings setting up stalls, selling various modern electronic devices and daily necessities.
However, only barter was accepted here, so they were all trading for resources.
This confirmed Qin Muye's suspicion that there was indeed a hidden passage between the two realms. Otherwise, the Shadow Realm was not like the Human Realm; there was nothing edible for humans, and consuming anything, whether shadow monsters or other things, would inevitably lead to shadow corruption.
Even food brought from the Human Realm would be affected, making it impossible for humans to live in the Shadow Realm for long. This situation made exploring the Shadow Realm even more challenging.
The shadow beings only glanced at Qin Muye and then ignored him. After all, seeing a new person was nothing special; there was already a whole street of people.
'No wonder smuggling is so profitable. Tsk, a single trade can yield nearly ten thousand times the profit.' Qin Muye observed the barter system, where items that could be bought for a small amount of money in the Human Realm could be exchanged for nearly a hundred million units of shadow cultivation materials in the Shadow Realm.
And the dead shadows also benefited. For them, these items were like wild flowers and grass, perhaps rare but not nonexistent.
These items could only be used during the shadow stage, and once one became a dead shadow, they would become useless, so they had no value. However, they could be traded for some rare and exotic items, making them more valuable.
It was a win-win situation for both sides.
This is why the Imperial Dead Shadow tacitly approved of the shadow beings' activities, which added a bit of vitality to the otherwise dull Dark Shadow City.
Qin Muye only glanced at the shadow beings and then ignored them. The city only protected the rights of dead shadows, not those of shadow beings. As long as there was no excessive violence on the streets, the dead shadows would not care.
But if a shadow being was killed on the street, that would be a different story.
After all, this was the territory of the dead shadows, and a group of illegal immigrants had no rights here.
This was the domain of the Imperial Dead Shadow, not a concession, and it was impossible for the shadow beings to do as they pleased, especially since they lacked the ability to do so.
These shadow beings were only at the second stage. If they caused trouble, they would be killed on the spot by the guards.
Otherwise, why would they behave themselves? They would have already started plotting.
The reason they didn't attack Qin Muye was that he had nothing of value. His ordinary clothes did not make him look like a wealthy person; otherwise, someone would have already followed him.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
