Chapter Forty-Seven: The Faceless Shadow Demon

Once they entered the spatial corridor, everyone felt a heavy, oppressive force pressing straight onto their chests, making even their movements sluggish and their breathing slightly labored. Fortunately, they were all martial experts, their bodies far surpassing ordinary humans in strength. Though the sudden spatial pressure caused some initial discomfort, their bodies swiftly adapted to the new environment.

They proceeded through the corridor, formed by divine runes that constructed the spatial barriers, every step weighted with caution, each of them wary of imminent danger.

Leng Tian walked at the rear, his spiritual senses spread wide and vigilant. He had heard rumors that creatures from alternate dimensions lurked within the corridor—an idea that filled him with both curiosity and unease, uncertain of their powers and whether he would need to summon divine armor for defense.

The corridor was not long. With their speed, it only took a moment to traverse the distance and step into a spacious, elliptical hall.

The group of powerful figures exchanged glances, uncertain how to choose among the passageways that appeared before them.

“It seems we must each enter the Ancient Realm alone,” Wang Mang observed calmly, his gaze sweeping over the dozens of passageways arranged in an ellipse.

“In that case, I’ll choose this one,” Du Qingfeng, dressed in white, said without hesitation, striding into the passageway before him.

Yan Nanfei, ever composed, casually selected a passage once Du Qingfeng had passed through and disappeared from view.

Next, Li Tianzheng and Wang Mang each entered the passage in front of them. Luan Yudie smiled at Leng Tian in the crowd, then, with Guoguo, gracefully slipped into a passageway, her figure vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Bao Xiong, after glaring coldly at Zhuang Jinlian in the crowd, let out a disdainful snort and strode away.

Zhuang Jinlian, her face radiant, sashayed into a passage, utterly unbothered by the threat from Bao Xiong. In her eyes, he was merely a brute—a man of muscle, not worth her concern.

Leng Tian remained still, quietly watching as the many profound experts entered the passageways one after another. Soon, he was the only one left in the elliptical space. Where moments before it had been bustling, now it was so silent he could hear his own breathing.

Feeling a strange sensation, he turned back to look at the entrance of the corridor, but saw nothing. “Is it just my imagination? Why do I feel as if a pair of eyes is watching me from the shadows?” Leng Tian had long sensed that he was being observed from behind, but every time he extended his spiritual senses, the feeling would vanish as if it had never existed.

Surveying the remaining passages, Leng Tian chose one on the left and entered, his steps measured as he watched for any movement ahead.

A vague figure appeared in the elliptical space, standing where Leng Tian had just been. With a soft chuckle, it vanished in a flash.

The walls inside the corridor were formed by barriers of divine runes, resembling upright mirrors whose surfaces rippled like water, as if one could step directly into them.

The deeper he went, the more expansive the space became, eventually opening up to the size of a courtyard. Leng Tian, clad in his azure armor, his eyes swirling with three colors, noticed that the further he advanced, the more his vision was obstructed. This was due to the wisps of white-gray mist drifting through the space, not dense, but enough to slow his progress in the dim, shrouded corridor.

Suddenly, Leng Tian’s heart trembled with dread. His spiritual senses were being devoured, half swallowed in the blink of an eye. Alarmed, he instantly recalled what remained of his senses.

His tri-colored eyes blazed, piercing through the layers of mist, and he caught sight of a shadowy, ephemeral black figure whose deep green eyes met his.

In that instant, Leng Tian felt a dizzy spell in his mind, as if his very soul was being pulled from his body. As his will faltered, the azure armor enveloping him seemed to sense a foreign energy invading. Divine blue light, laced with intricate runes, transformed into a long blue spear that shot toward the creature with green eyes at unimaginable speed.

A wave of relief washed over Leng Tian as his mind cleared. He realized that the divine armor had saved him at the critical moment, but lingering fear remained.

A piercing scream, unlike any known creature, rang out ahead, shaking the entire space. Leng Tian’s eyes narrowed, gathering light into a single point to penetrate the mist and fix upon the shadow.

Through the white-gray mist, Leng Tian saw the black shadow’s chest pierced by the spear of divine power, its formless body twisting in agony, the pain-filled cries echoing in his ears. Those deep green eyes stared back at Leng Tian.

A sharp voice resounded in his mind, “Human, luck is on your side. But don’t think you can escape the devouring of the Formless Shadowfiends.”

With that, the shadow, self-identified as a Formless Shadowfiend, was swiftly dissolved into nothingness by the supreme power in the divine spear.

“Formless Shadowfiend! So these are the so-called beings from the alternate dimension—their ability to devour souls truly inspires fear from within!” Leng Tian let out a breath as the shadowfiend vanished, but immediately his brow furrowed. “The consumption of divine power is enormous—just one spear depleted a tenth of my armor’s strength! If a few more of these creatures appear, I’ll be in real danger!”

Staring at his armor, now a tenth thinner, Leng Tian felt a deep sense of peril. With a moment’s thought, he refrained from extending his senses again, quickening his pace until he vanished into the concealed mists like a passing breeze.

After Leng Tian departed, two pairs of green eyes flickered through the mist, watching where he had vanished—two more shadowfiends from the alternate dimension.

The two shadowfiends exchanged glances, as if communicating. After a moment, their forms drifted forward, silently pursuing Leng Tian along his trail.

Cautious of every shift in his surroundings, Leng Tian dared not release his senses. The earlier encounter had thoroughly dispelled any such inclination. Focusing his mind, he narrowed his eyes—“They’re here.”

Ahead, through the swirling mist, a black shadow entered his vision. The green eyes flashed eerily, causing a slight tremor in his mind.

“What a terrifying ability! Without the divine armor, I’d have no choice but to seek refuge in Purgatory!” Leng Tian directed the divine runes on his armor outward, preparing for another shadowfiend assault.

“Human, abandon your hope of survival. Your divine power is limited—let’s see how long you can last. We Formless Shadowfiends are immortal and will exhaust your divine energy before slowly devouring your soul…”

The shrill voice buzzed in his mind. Leng Tian’s gaze sharpened, and twin beams of tri-colored light shot toward the shadowfiend hiding in the mist.

Just as he attacked, three shadows lunged from behind, their ethereal forms wrapping around him from head to toe. His azure armor erupted with divine light, burning away at the insubstantial bodies of the three shadowfiends.

A piercing shriek came from ahead, accompanied by a warning in the minds of the shadowfiends: “Brothers, beware—this one has divine power within him, and it harms us even more than water-based energy. I was careless and part of my formless body has been truly dissolved beyond recovery!”

The three shadowfiends gripping Leng Tian were shocked, their deep green eyes flickering in alarm.

Leng Tian’s mind raced as he manipulated the divine light to dissolve the shadowfiends wrapped around him. Feeling his divine power rapidly waning, he made a sudden decision—and, in a heartbeat, vanished from the corridor with the three shadowfiends in tow.

A soft exclamation echoed in the space. The shadowfiend who had been struck earlier drifted out, its green eyes scanning for any trace of its kind, but sensing nothing.

It muttered to itself, “Why did I sense the power of the Realm just now? Yes, even though it was faint, I can’t be mistaken!”

Its gaze grew uncertain as it stood there, a bad premonition settling in. It suspected its companions would not survive.

“The power of the Realm! Who is this human? What is that tri-colored divine power that even my formless body cannot withstand? It’s impossible to recover from such dissolution. It seems some price must be paid to devour him. It’s been so long since I’ve tasted a human—how I miss it…”

As it spoke, a transparent tongue slipped out, licking the air.

Within Purgatory, the great dragon Max unleashed golden dragonfire, enveloping Leng Tian’s body. The searing flames hissed as they burned the very air.

Within the fire, the azure divine light shone brilliantly. The three shadowfiends’ black, formless bodies began to dissipate. Seeing this, Leng Tian shouted, “Open—!”

The divine light surged, breaking the shadowfiends’ grip. His body burst free from the blazing golden flames.

“Brothers, fall back! This one is dangerous—my formless body is all but disintegrated!” cried one of the shadowfiends as all three fled desperately.

Only now did Leng Tian see their true forms—worthy of the name “shadowfiend,” they were like shadows themselves, lacking any substance, as intangible as a person’s silhouette cast by the sun, ghostly and insubstantial.

“Hmph! In Purgatory, this is my domain. Shadowfiends or not, today you’ll be destroyed here!” Leng Tian, sensing the weakened power in his divine armor, curled his lips into a cruel smile.

He turned to the dragon Max. “Do you know anything about the Formless Shadowfiends? What exactly are they? Is divine power the only force that can resist them?”

Martial Dao Apex 47—Chapter Forty-Seven: The Formless Shadowfiends, END.