"Those who insult my emperor... shall die..." A murderous aura emanated from the shadow as it raised its hand, sending a sword shadow flashing across the heavens before vanishing.
Consort Ming's body was instantly cleaved in two by the shadow before she could even scream.
Chen Guan watched with both shock and delight. He never expected the shadow would follow him out from the underground fissure, nor that it would be so terrifyingly powerful—slaying an entity like Consort Ming in a single strike.
The bisected body of Consort Ming suddenly dispersed into countless white light particles that came flying toward Chen Guan.
Chen Guan instinctively stepped back, but before he could retreat fully, the white particles had already flooded into his body. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel·fiɾe·net
The shadow stood motionless, making no attempt to stop this.
Only then did Chen Guan realize this was a pet conversion process, not an attack.
When all the white particles had entered Chen Guan's body, a new entry appeared in his pet information:
Consort Ming (Legendary): Level 1 Spirit Pet.
Innate Talent: Sacred Body (Legendary).
Secret Technique: Joy Great Method (Legendary).
Secret Skill: Prajna Method (Legendary).
Treasure: Empty Mystic Veil (Legendary).
Special: Reincarnated Fragmentary Spirit, Incomplete Form.
Chen Guan had no time to examine his new pet. His attention remained fixed on the shadow before him.
The shadow stood perfectly still, as if gazing at the distant stars.
"Who are you?" Chen Guan remained silent until the shadow turned to look at him before speaking.
"Just... a... soldier... of... Great... Qin..." Ancient syllables resonated from the shadow before it collapsed back into an ordinary shadow at Chen Guan's feet.
Chen Guan stared down at his shadow for a long time, unable to discern any difference. Had he not witnessed the recent events, he would never have imagined his own shadow harbored another's.
"Seems if I want answers about this shadow, I'll have to ask Consort Ming." Chen Guan first left the forest, taking a circuitous route to confirm he wasn't being followed before returning home.
Back in his room with the door securely closed, he summoned Consort Ming.
The dark room instantly brightened with a soft glow as Consort Ming appeared before him, clad in her mystic veil. However, she could no longer float in midair like before, instead standing on the ground like an ordinary Mystical Spirit, her former imposing aura greatly diminished.
"Consort Ming." Seeing her standing there with vacant, doll-like eyes, Chen Guan frowned slightly and called her name.
"Master," she responded mechanically, her eyes still devoid of their former vitality.
"Playing amnesiac with me?" Chen Guan sneered, fixing her with a cold stare. "Answer my questions properly and I won't make things difficult. Otherwise, I might just follow your example and practice the Joy Great Method again."
The emptiness in Consort Ming's eyes suddenly cleared as she sighed. "I'm already your pet. Must you be so aggressive?"
"You know your status? Then behave like a proper pet." Chen Guan snorted. "What's the deal with that shadow?"
"How should I know? It followed you," Consort Ming retorted.
"Seems you truly don't value your continued existence," Chen Guan said with chilling intensity.
With resignation, Consort Ming explained, "I only know it's an Eternal Shadow. Its origins are unknown to me."
"What's an Eternal Shadow?"
"When people die, their shadows vanish. No shadow can exist independently—except under special circumstances where a shadow persists eternally after death, becoming an Eternal Shadow."
Consort Ming paused before continuing, "There are many ways an Eternal Shadow can form. The most likely is when someone vanishes instantly under tremendous energy—the shadow gets imprinted by that energy. It's like how lightning strikes on ancient buildings sometimes make human shadows appear during thunderstorms—those are a type of Eternal Shadow too. But those are mere imprints without form or consciousness, incapable of touching anything or wielding such terrifying power."
Then she asked Chen Guan, "Did that shadow originally reside in an imperial palace?"
"What imperial palace? I only saw a fissure," Chen Guan replied.
"That was the imperial palace—a place left by the Ancestral Emperor, though it was destroyed in a great battle. I erased the Emperor's Command Scripture carved on its walls."
Consort Ming proved remarkably perceptive, deducing the sequence of events just from knowing the shadow's origin. "If I'm correct, you saw the Emperor's Command Scripture—but those scriptures weren't actually carved on the walls."
"You're saying those scriptures were also Eternal Shadows?" Chen Guan grasped her meaning.
"Exactly. In my haste, I only destroyed the carvings on the stone, never imagining Eternal Shadows would remain. Both the scriptures and that shadow must have been left from that great battle." Consort Ming sighed deeply.
Truly, man proposes but heaven disposes. She had destroyed the Emperor's Command Scripture, yet it had been preserved in this unexpected form. Had the scripture not survived, she wouldn't be in this predicament—she'd have long since turned Chen Guan into her cultivation cauldron.
"What kind of battle was it?" Chen Guan asked.
"I don't know. When the Ancestral Emperor brought me to that island and sealed me within the Great Black Heaven Demon Statue, it was already in ruins. I could only infer from traces that an earth-shattering battle had occurred there. The nature of that battle remains beyond my knowledge."
"But I'm certain that shadow is a relic from that battle. For a mere shadow to possess such terrifying power shows how horrific that conflict must have been. Pity—a shadow is just a shadow. Even if it retains some will, it lacks true consciousness and can't be considered alive." Having pieced everything together, Consort Ming was filled with regret.
Had she not insulted the Ancestral Emperor, she wouldn't have triggered the shadow's will, been destroyed by it, and forced to become a pet to survive.
Chen Guan privately thought: "Did that shadow follow me because I praised the Ancestral Emperor back there?"
"Let's make a deal," Consort Ming proposed. "I'll teach you the secret techniques created by the Ancestral Emperor, and you'll free me from being a pet."
"I already have the Emperor's Command Scripture. Why would I need your teachings?" Chen Guan eyed her suspiciously, certain thoughts forming in his mind.
"You're right to suspect. While the Emperor's Command Scripture was left by the Ancestral Emperor, it wasn't created by him—it was merely designed to counter me. The Ancestral Emperor's true creation has a separate legacy. I was specifically sealed within the Great Black Heaven Demon Statue to preserve this technique." Consort Ming enunciated each word clearly: "The Ancestral Emperor's true creation is called 'The One'."