Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao
chapter-1112

Chapter 1112: Shadow

Shao Sisi, Xia Wuque, and the five other people could all be regarded as some of the most powerful cultivators of this galaxy’s younger generation. If the seven of them teamed up—no, three of them would be enough—they would be able to look after two people each, yet they would still have quite a good chance of carrying their remaining team members through the tower.

The trial in this tower was probably similar to the trial of the stone statue formation. Those at the Mountain River Tier definitely wouldn’t come across dangers at the Sun Moon Tier. Otherwise, that would be an execution, not a trial.

To them, bringing two people each wouldn’t pose a problem.

The reason for their gathering was in order to get to know each other. After all, they were all destined to enter the Majestic Heaven Sect. At that time, the advantage of their backgrounds would drop significantly. Thus, it was advantageous for them to acquaint themselves with more prodigies.

“Hehe, let’s go.”

With the addition of Ling Han and Shui Yanyu—and counting the spear-wielding man in as well—their team had already reached 10 members. Right now, they were standing before an eerily dark entrance. This was the entrance of the bottom level. If a team didn’t have 10 members, they would be blocked at this entrance.

They entered the bottom level together.

Their surroundings instantly changed. They were in a spacious hall that had gigantic and towering columns. Unlike the entrance, this hall wasn’t dark. This was because the columns were radiating with light.

“Master, Little Asura can’t move!” the Asura Demon Emperor suddenly exclaimed. “Little Asura’s been trapped in this puppet, and I can’t even move a finger!”

Ling Han nodded in his mind. Sure enough, there was a limit of 10 people per team. Moreover, there was a limit on their cultivation level as well. Thus, he naturally couldn’t use puppets. Otherwise, it would be far too unfair. He retrieved his Vajra Seal and Lion Seal, and sure enough, these two divine seals had also become dull and lifeless. It was clear that they couldn’t be used.

By the looks of it, it was impossible to use items above the Mountain River Tier in this tower, regardless of whether they were God Tools or divine seals.

Ling Han was slightly puzzled. If this tower was a Spirit Tool, then its Tool Spirit was far too intelligent.

“Detestable fake!” Small Tower grumbled in displeasure. It was extremely proud, and it couldn’t accept other tower-shaped God Tools.

“Be careful, everyone!” Du An warned. Although there were eight supreme prodigies here, they still had two items of baggage, after all. If either of these two people were defeated, the entire team would suffer.

“Are there any dangers here?” Xia Wuque unleashed a burst of Origin Power that surged out like a water ripple.

This burst of Origin Power didn’t possess any offensive ability, and was merely a way to probe the surroundings. This place restricted one’s divine sense, after all. However, one could still probe distant locations if they used their Origin Power as a feeler.

“Hmm?” A serious expression appeared on his face. He pointed at a corner, and said, “There’s something there.”

The 10 of them walked over together. When they arrived near the corner, the first thing that they saw was a pool of blood. Then, they saw a corpse that had been ripped into six pieces.

“By the looks of the corpse, this person was probably attacked by a large Demonic Beast,” Du An said as he collected a drop of blood to examine. “Their resistance had been futile when they were struck by a claw, and their body was instantly ripped into pieces. The time of their death was under 30 minutes ago.”

“Which means this person entered with a team just then,” Shao Sisi said as she nodded.

A solemn expression appeared on their faces. A danger that was unknown was the greatest danger.

“We won’t pass if we just stand here. Let’s keep going.”

They continued to walk forward. Everyone still talked in the beginning as they had just met each other. However, their shallow relationships also meant that there was little for them to talk about, and they quickly ran out of topics. They eventually fell silent, and all that could be heard was the soft sound of their steps.

The light radiating from the columns shone onto their bodies, creating long and drawn out shadows that moved as they walked.

Ling Han was bored, and he started counting the shadows on the ground to pass time. ‘One, two, three, four, …, 10, 11.

‘Hang on…’

He faltered for a moment before the astonishment suddenly hit him. ‘Why are there 11 shadows? There are clearly only 10 of us. The 11th shadow… signifies that someone joined our group without our detection.’

This realization made his head go numb with apprehension. Eight members of their team were supreme prodigies, yet none of them had detected this uninvited guest! Ling Han had only noticed because he had been counting their shadows out of boredom.

“Stop for a moment,” he said.

Everyone stopped where they were. However, they were all feeling a little confused. They had been walking smoothly, so why had Ling Han suddenly called for them to stop?

“What’s wrong?” Xia Wuque asked impatiently. In reality, he didn’t want to be in the same team as Ling Han. Although Shui Yanyu was also brought closer to him as a result, there was a person that he detested between the two of them. Thus, it was pointless even if she was here.

Ling Han waved his hand dismissively. If it weren’t for the fact that only teams of 10 could pass, he definitely wouldn’t bother with this person at all. He swept his gaze around, and his expression changed drastically.

“What’s wrong?” Shui Yanyu hurriedly asked.

“T-there are only 10 people here!” Ling Han stammered with some difficulty.

“Heh, Brother Ling, are you a little too tense?” Quan Lixuan said with a chuckle. He had spoken politely in order to give Ling Han some face. If it had been someone else, he would’ve immediately scolded them. What was there to be astonished about? If there weren’t 10 people, would there perhaps be nine people? Or would 11 make you happier?

Right now, he had genuinely become suspicious. Could someone like this pass the stone statue formation?

‘Strange!’

Ling Han looked at the ground again, and his expression changed even more. “Guys, count the number of shadows on the floor.”

“Ling Han, have you had enough yet?!” Xia Wuque roared. He had already been displeased with Ling Han to begin with, and thus he was naturally even more ticked off now.

The others remained silent, yet their expressions had already exposed their thoughts.

“Hang on!” Shao Sisi’s expression also changed drastically, and she said, “Look at the shadows on the ground!”

The others finally looked at the ground after hearing her repeat Ling Han’s words. Their expressions also changed drastically.

There were 11 shadows!

How was this possible? There were clearly 10 of them, so how could there be an 11th shadow?

They had to be seeing things!

“One, two, three, four, five…” The others all started to count the number of team members. However, there were only 10 of them no matter how they counted. Meanwhile, there were 11 shadows on the ground.

Ling Han composed himself, and said, “Everyone, move.”

The others nodded and raised their arm. The shadows on the ground also mimicked their actions. The problem was, all 11 shadows did the same.

“Do it one by one!” Ling Han raised his arm first, and only one of the shadows mimicked his action.

The others raised their arm one after another. The second person, third, fourth, fifth… eighth, ninth, tenth.

Shua!

Everyone looked toward the shadow that hadn’t moved from beginning to end.

“Die!” Ling Han unsheathed his Divine Demon Sword and activated it with his Origin Power. Wisps of auras flowed down, each of them as heavy as a mountain. At the same time, flames surged into the air and transformed into a firebird.

These were the divine patterns of gravity and divine patterns of flames that Ling Han possessed. He had inscribed them into his Divine Demon Sword, and at this moment, he had activated both of them together.

Boom!

Sword light flashed about like a rain of arrows.

Everyone instantly looked over, only to see that the number of shadows on the ground had already become 10 again. That mysterious shadow had disappeared, and they couldn’t find it anywhere.