Chapter 150: The King Of Shadows (3)

[A special stat, Shadow, is created.]

[An entity of immense caliber has sacrificed itself, passing everything to you. You gain 50 Shadow special stats!]

I was taken aback. The King of Shadows had committed an enormous act of trolling.

‘No, maybe it’s not such a big deal.’

I tried to deny it. But upon further thought, it’s not that Seolhwa Ryeon had lost the way to obtain the power of the shadows. It’s just that the entity granting her the power had changed from the King of Shadows to me.

There’s a way for Seolhwa Ryeon to awaken the power of the shadows by receiving a part of the special stat, Shadow, that the King of Shadows used to give.

For that, I first had to master the special stat, Shadow.

‘But it’s embarrassing.’

The reason I brought Seolhwa Ryeon here was to bestow upon her the power of the shadows. However, the King of Shadows saw more potential in me and transferred all his power to me.

If I managed the special stat well, I could pass it directly to her, but even I was not adept at using the power I had just received.

“It’s fortunate.”

“Fortunate…?”

“Yes. It’s more fitting for you to wield the power of the shadows than for me. I still have much to learn in handling power.”

Seolhwa Ryeon said, her smile bright and devoid of any shadows.

‘I want to give it to her by any means possible.’

This thought comforted me.

I opened the multidimensional shop. I had been contemplating buying talent for a long time.

[Spirit King (S) - 2,500,000]

A talent on par with Sword Demon (S). Unlike Sword Demon, which focuses on speed, senses, and swift swordsmanship, Spirit King emphasizes control over spiritual powers.

[Would you like to purchase? (Y/N)]

I pressed Y. Then, a burst of light spread, and something flowed into me.

[Inscrutable Talent (A-) and True Heart (A), Shield of Spirit Ability (B-) are absorbed by Spirit King (S)!]

[The proficiency of Spirit King (S) increases. Spirit King (S) ascends to Spirit Sovereign (S+).] [As Spirit Sovereign (S+) awakens, the Conceptual Stat Energy of Defying Heaven increases by 4.]

[As Spirit Sovereign (S+) awakens, the Conceptual Stat Alchemy increases by 5.]

[As Spirit Sovereign (S+) awakens, the special stat Shadow increases by 5.]

My senses expanded. All sorts of inspirations came to mind, and I realized that I hadn’t been using spiritual powers properly until now. It was as if I had wings or a tail, and now I could handle them properly.

‘Luck is on my side.’

Spirit King (S) was a power that controlled the control ability of spiritual powers. The higher concept, Spirit Sovereign (S+), meant possessing the dominion ability over spiritual powers. From control to dominion. It meant that if the opponent has the ability of control, one could take their control for oneself.

If in this world there was another born with a Heaven Defying Body who learned Black God Martial Arts.

Their natural enemy would be none other than me. Because all the Energy of Defying Heaven they used was under my control.

I used the ability of Spirit Sovereign (S+) to its fullest, handling the power of the shadows. The shadows gathered in my grasp. Spirit Sovereign (S+) interprets the ability of the special stat, Shadow.

‘This is how it feels.’

I spread my hand and used the special stat, Shadow.

Whisk. The shadows swirled and gathered in my hand.

I felt the shadows. I recalled the sensation when Decaron passed his power to me.

‘I should have acquired this first.’

It’s useless to regret, but I wished I had. I recalled the sensation and handled the shadows.

[Spirit Sovereign (S+) understands the ability of the special stat, Shadow.] [Spirit Sovereign (S+) acquires a talent derived from the special stat Shadow, a Derived Contract (B).]

Ding.

Derived Contract (B) from Transfer.

By transferring your power to another, you can impose restrictions and set conditions on the recipient, thus binding them in a contractual relationship. However, there's a risk: if the recipient becomes stronger than the giver, the latter may be consumed by the former. Its rank has decreased due to this imperfection.

You can choose a recipient to share some of your stats with.

The recipient of the stats feels gratitude and affection towards the user of this talent.

“I think I roughly understand.”

“Excuse me?”

I opened and then clenched my hand. It seemed the rank had decreased because it wasn’t properly observed. However, this was sufficient for sharing my stats.

Whirring. Shadows gathered in my hand. It wasn’t as natural as what Decalon did, due to my inexperience.

However, the shadows gradually became familiar. Eventually, the flow changed, becoming similar to Decalon’s technique.

“…Do you mean to say you think you understand?”

“It’s the power that Decaron gave to me. Get ready.”

Upon my words, Seolhwa Ryeon quietly sat down on the floor in a cross-legged position. I placed my hand on her head. The shadows started flowing with my movement, beginning to envelop Seolhwa Ryeon.

[Activating the Derived Contract (B) from Transfer. The special stat Shadow decreases by 5.]

Seolhwa Ryeon began to be engulfed in shadows.

‘It’s going well.’

Lee Seo-ha took a moment to observe Seolhwa Ryeon. The flow of shadows enveloping her was stabilizing, indicating that she was beginning to master the special stat Shadow. The flow stabilized slowly, eventually moving according to her will.

It was still a feeble power. However, in the future, it would become a formidable power that would assist her.

Lee Seo-ha sat for a moment, contemplating the special stat Shadow.

‘Shadow stats are good for creating soldiers.’

Similar to a necromancer, soldiers created with shadow stats were strong against most powers. Although they had flaws, they were not as extreme as those of holy power or the power of starlight. Instead, being strong against the power of light, they could become even stronger.

‘The level of ordinary soldiers is too low for me. Then, that’s the only method.’

Lee Seo-ha, who had spent tens of thousands of hours in Epic World, thought about how to use the shadow stat as soon as he obtained it. And that method proved quite useful for him.

‘The fact that the Black Flame Celestial God harbored it means it does not conflict with his own power.’

Thus, creating ‘it’ with shadow stats was the right decision. If one had obtained shadow stats, it was the power that could exert the greatest strength.

Lost in thought up to this point, Lee Seo-ha sighed inwardly.

“It would be nice if it goes as planned.”

There was still something that worried him. When he first fell into this world. When he obtained the Heaven Defying Body, whether he could obtain the power he had envisioned.

That power, like the Heaven Defying Body, was based on mystique. The power was similar to the system that displays the status window. A power that could be compared to the power of Defying Heaven.

However, such a vessel was needed for it. Because it was a power comparable to the Heaven Defying Body, it required a significant allocation.

‘Can I contain it?’

Lee Seo-ha wondered. Black Heaven had said his vessel was incomparably large. Thanks to that, he had only achieved half of his potential, and the transcendents found his vessel interesting enough to be intrigued.

The King of Shadows also saw his vessel and forcibly passed the power of shadows to him instead of Seolhwa Ryeon.

‘Well, if it doesn’t work, I can just forcibly expand the vessel.’

There was no need to worry yet. If necessary, he could enhance his caliber to expand the vessel. Even if that failed, the ability to increase the vessel’s size or purchase talents from the multidimensional shop was sufficient.

As he was deep in thought, Seolhwa Ryeon had almost completely gathered the shadows.

When she opened her eyes, a black light emanated from them. A small shadow writhed next to Seolhwa Ryeon.

“Thank you, elder. Thanks to you, I have acquired a new power.”

“It was a power you were meant to collect originally. Things went slightly awry, but it’s fine as long as you’ve managed to gather it.”

Lee Seo-ha reached inside the altar. He felt something resembling a book brush against his fingertips.

‘Found it.’

Lee Seo-ha extracted the book. It was a black book with a black cover. This was the secret manual that would enable one to master the art of shadows. Lee Seo-ha quickly skimmed through the book before handing it to Seolhwa Ryeon.

“What is this?”

“Study this. The enlightenment of the one known as the King of Shadows is contained here.”

“You should learn it first. It suits you more than it does me.”

“It’s alright. I’ve already committed the content to memory.”

More precisely, he had allowed Eternal Heaven to perform the art, and through that, he memorized the entire content of the book. It’s as if the memories of the art are stored elsewhere, causing little confusion in his memory.

“And before you read the book, there’s something I want to teach you first.”

“What is it?”

“Follow me.”

Lee Seo-ha led Seolhwa Ryeon to where the shadow soldiers had been. All the shadow soldiers were dead, their corpses lying dormant here.

‘I should have controlled it more carefully.’

Had he known this would happen, he would not have completely destroyed the bodies of the shadow soldiers. Lee Seo-ha felt a brief pang of regret and then extended his arm.

Whooosh! Shadows condensed and reached out towards the corpses of the shadow soldiers.

-Kuooooo!

The powerful Shadow Dominion ability, controlled by the Spirit Sovereign, was reviving the shadow soldiers.

“What is this?”

“This is the most basic power of shadows. Originally, it’s a power to subjugate the dead to one’s shadow and use them.”

Lee Seo-ha spoke up to that point and then gathered the shadow soldiers. Thinking of the best way to draw out the power of the shadows, he gave an order to the soldiers.

“From now on, kill each other.”

It was time to create Gu Poison.