Chapter 450: The Shadow Incident

There was still nearly 100 million li of star journey to reach Witch Yellow Star. Su Che, riding his top-grade Dao artifact flying sword, would need two days to cover it.
However, after less than an hour of flying, Su Che asked Tian Yin to take control of the flying sword while he entered the Mi Xian Realm. Those three Refining Void cultivators should have been dealt with by now, right?
Indeed, inside the Mi Xian Realm, there were three more large masses with severely damaged bodies. The three Refining Void cultivators had long fallen into a deep coma.
Looking at the three large masses on the ground, Su Che first praised the guardian of the Mi Xian Realm, then intended to imprison them in the Immortal Prison. But suddenly, he saw a strange sight…
The three masses remained motionless, yet their shadows on the ground began to tremble violently in a bizarre manner, swaying back and forth incessantly.
At first glance, Su Che assumed it must be due to a change in the surrounding light source, with flickering light causing such shadows. But upon closer inspection, the diffused light unique to the Mi Xian Realm, along with all nearby light sources, were extremely stable and not flickering at all. So why were the shadows on the ground…?
Su Che looked down at his own shadow and was shocked beyond measure!
“My shadow? Where is it?”
Su Che’s shadow had disappeared—there was nothing at his feet.
How could a person have no shadow? As long as there was light, there would be a shadow, unless the surroundings were completely dark with no light at all, or unless Su Che had entered invisibility, causing his shadow to vanish as well.
Huh!
Su Che immediately cast a fire spell, causing a dazzling flame to glow on the left side of his body.
Under such intense light, one would expect a very clear shadow to appear on the ground on the right side of his body. Yet, there was still nothing on the ground—no shadow at all.
“This is impossible!”
Su Che was astonished. “I haven’t entered invisibility—how could I have no shadow? This makes no sense at all.”
“Yes, master. What’s going on?” Old Black was equally surprised and quickly reminded him, “But this is after all the Mi Xian Realm. Could it be that damned guardian doing this?”
“Right!”
Su Che quickly turned around and confronted the guardian, “Did you do this? You made my shadow disappear—why would you resort to such a silly trick?”
“It wasn’t me.”

The Guardian of Mi Xian stood not far away. Seeing this strange scene as well, he replied honestly, “It seems the shadow of our lord has disappeared. I find it very strange too, but I don’t know why.”
“Are you sure it’s not you?”
Although Su Che was somewhat skeptical, he knew this guy acted in a rigid manner but seemed never to lie…
Just as they were talking, they saw that the shadows of the three fleshy masses on the ground had stopped trembling and swaying. The next moment, Su Che was surprised to find that his own shadow had reappeared on the ground beside him.
Upon further observation, Su Che noticed that his shadow was darker in color than those of the three fleshy masses…
Was it an illusion?
Su Che took a few steps forward and stood close to those three fleshy masses under the same light source, examining them carefully. He could confirm that his shadow was indeed darker and blacker!
“Lao Hei, am I not mistaken?” Su Che asked himself.
“You’re not mistaken!” Lao Hei replied firmly. “The master’s shadow is clearly darker than theirs.”
Swish!
Su Che summoned several Yuan Ying subordinates of similar height and build from the Immortal Prison and had them stand beside him. He looked at the ground again…
It was the same—his shadow was darker and blacker than theirs.
“There’s a problem!”
Su Che realized that there was something wrong with his body. Or rather, something wrong with his shadow.
“Could it be that I’ve been cursed by those people from the spiritual realm without my knowledge?”
At that moment, the only thing Su Che could think of was some kind of curse spell.
Swish swish swish…
All the Yuan Ying subordinates and those three beings in the Lian Xu stage were taken back into the Immortal Prison by Su Che. The joy he should have felt from capturing three beings in the Lian Xu stage was completely overshadowed by his shadow problem, leaving him even more worried.
Of course, Su Che had gone through many hardships and trials, so he wasn’t easily panicked by such a minor issue. Overall, he managed to maintain his calmness and composure.
Outside the Mi Xian Realm, under the dim starry sky, Su Che said to Tian Yin, “There’s a problem with my shadow. Please help me figure out what’s going on.”
So, Su Che first created a barrier that completely blocked external starlight, enclosing himself and Tian Yin inside. Then he lit up a lighting spell within the barrier. The two stood side by side, looking down at their shadows on the ground.

“Your shadow…” Tianyin immediately said, “is clearly darker in color than mine.”
If it were ordinary people who weren’t good at cultivation, relying solely on the naked eye, it might be difficult to tell the difference between the two shadows. But Su Che and Tianyin were both at the Yuan Ying stage, so whether through their divine eyes or their own consciousness, they could clearly discern the difference between the two shadows.
“It’s not just the color.”
Su Che gave a faint bitter smile. “Just now, it actually disappeared outright, only to reappear for no apparent reason…”
Su Che then described in detail the strange occurrences in the Mi Xian Realm, concluding by saying, “It felt as if my shadow suddenly left me and rushed into the shadows of those three Lian Xu cultivators, doing who knows what… After about ten breaths, once it had ‘eaten and drunk its fill,’ it returned on its own… I know this sounds ridiculous, but that’s exactly how it felt.”
Tianyin smiled faintly. “You’re always involved in strange things.”
“Don’t laugh,” Su Che said with a grim face. “I’m asking you for help. I’m also consulting Great Shaman Tianyin—could this be some evil spell or curse cast by someone else?”
Tianyin nodded, pondering for a while, but ultimately shook her head. “At the very least, I’ve never seen or heard of any spell or technique in the world that could turn someone else’s shadow into this state. This is indeed very strange…”
Just as they were talking, something astonishing happened.
Su Che’s shadow suddenly spread its arms and, in one motion, embraced Tianyin’s shadow.
Su Che and Tianyin stared at each other in shock…
Su Che quickly spread his hands to show his innocence: “It wasn’t me!”
Inside the isolation barrier, the two stood under the firelight, side by side, but there was still a space the size of a fist between their bodies. Su Che was indeed honest, with no inappropriate actions, but the shadow on the ground…
Tianyin’s face turned slightly red, clearly feeling embarrassed.
Su Che instinctively stepped back two steps to increase the distance between himself and Tianyin, but the shadow on the ground still clung tightly to Tianyin’s shadow, as if refusing to let go no matter what.
As a result, at that moment, Tianyin witnessed with her own eyes that Su Che’s actual body was completely separate from his shadow, with no connection at all.
Su Che stood dumbfounded about ten feet away, while the shadow on the ground continued to do whatever it wanted.

Tianyin also subconsciously stepped aside a few times, trying to avoid the shadow’s inappropriate actions toward her own shadow. Yet Su Che’s shadow still wouldn’t let go, clinging tightly to Tianyin’s shadow and pulling her further away from Su Che.
“See?” Su Che pointed at the shadow and shouted, “This guy is just that weird.”
“Make it let go quickly,” Tianyin said, staring at her shadow on the ground, feeling extremely uncomfortable and distressed.
Even though it was only her own shadow being mistreated, the feeling was still incredibly awkward. At that moment, she even thought to herself: It would be better to be held by Su Che himself than to go through such a strange ordeal…
“But it doesn’t listen to me at all,” Su Che said, standing there with his hands spread out. “It’s obvious my shadow no longer belongs to me.”
“I don’t care. Make it let go and go back!” Tianyin turned her back, seemingly too afraid to face Su Che directly.
“I’ll give it a try…”
Su Che shook his head helplessly and bowed to his shadow, which was about twenty feet away. “Brother Shadow, you really can’t play such jokes casually. Please come back.”
He had thought this was just a last-ditch attempt with slim chances of success. Unexpectedly, the shadow immediately let go and reappeared at Su Che’s feet in an instant.
“Is it really possible to negotiate?”
Surprised yet somewhat relieved, Su Che felt glad. Since such a strange thing had happened, as long as the shadow had consciousness and they could talk things through, it would be a stroke of luck in misfortune.
Huh…
Su Che immediately dissipated the barrier separating them and removed the strong lighting spells around him. Now, in the dim starry sky, with the faint starlight from all directions, his shadow became almost invisible.
“It’s okay now,” Su Che floated behind Tianyin, took out his flying sword again, and transmitted a message to her, “It seems this shadow, though weird, won’t pose a danger to us for now. Let’s head to Witch Yellow Star to discuss this further.”
Tianyin nodded gently and stepped onto the flying sword.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
The flying sword sped like lightning toward Witch Yellow Star. But for a while, neither Su Che nor Tianyin spoke, as the awkwardness from earlier still left a sense of discomfort between them.

In the Prison of Immortals, Lao He kept laughing maniacally: “This shadow is truly interesting! It must be just like me—unable to stand it anymore. Master, you really should take action. Look, your shadow is so anxious that it’s trying to teach you and urge you to follow its movements.”
Su Che remained silent, his mind in complete chaos. What on earth was going on? The shadow incident itself was already extremely strange, and now it had even come up with something like this…
Such an unknown danger that followed him everywhere, impossible to shake off, would surely make one feel uneasy and panicked. Yet, given its playful behavior just now, it seemed to have a mischievous side, not entirely evil or terrifying…
This was really…
Su Che really didn’t know what to do. The only solution that came to mind was to hurry to Witch Yellow Star, where he would feel safer under the protection of thousands of Witch Tribe warriors.