Chapter 677: Monroe’s Gift

Monroe had thought he would need to spend a lot of time persuading Su Che with a series of tempting conditions before he would agree to his request. He really didn’t expect…
“Yes!”
Su Che nodded without hesitation. “Just as you said, once I have enough strength, I will naturally join your side.”
Pointing at the figure of “Yu Qing” in the water mirror, he added, “To be precise, it’s not to help you, but for the person I know—him!”
For Yu Qing!
To help Brother Yu Qing escape his tragic fate, Su Che was unhesitating and made no conditions, simply because Brother Yu Qing had done him a favor. That was the whole reason.
Lao He had already guessed that Su Che would say this, so he wasn’t surprised at all.
If it were someone else, even if they had made up their mind, they wouldn’t agree easily. They would wait until Monroe listed various favorable conditions, even adding a few more of their own, before pretending to reluctantly agree.
But his master wouldn’t act that way. In some matters, he was simply that stubborn—there was nothing to do about it. He adhered to his principles and wouldn’t waver under the temptation of profit.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons why the Immortal Prison Pagoda chose him as its master…
Of course, Su Che’s response wasn’t impulsive or irrational. He clearly emphasized that it had to be when he had enough strength.
You can’t take on a difficult task if you don’t have the skills. To confront an Immortal Lord, one must at least have the ability to fight back. Not to mention the current human-immortal level—even an Immortal Emperor is just an ant that can be crushed at will by an Immortal Lord.
Su Che knew exactly what to do at each stage.
Still, Monroe was quite surprised. He really hadn’t expected Su Che to agree so easily and readily.
“It’s not for you, but for the person I know—him!”
Just one sentence was enough to show what kind of person he was.
“You’re really great!”
Monroe nodded emphatically. “It’s clear that being friends with you won’t be a loss.”
“If we’re friends, then there’s no need for more words,” Su Che said with a smile. “When it’s time to act, I definitely won’t stand by idly.”
“I understand.”
Monroe nodded again but added, “There’s no need for extra words. But I still have a gift I want to give to my fellow clansmen. Is that okay?”

“Of course,” Su Che said with a smile.
His fellow clansman, as he meant, was none other than his own shadow.
Swish!
Meng Luo raised his hand and pulled out a mass of darkness from his chest. Using some unknown method, he quickly pushed this mass of darkness into the shadow at Su Che’s feet.
Then, acting as if nothing had happened, he waved at Su Che and said, “I won’t waste your time. Go seize your opportunity. We’ll meet again in the Immortal Realm.”
Huh?
Curious, Su Che quickly asked, “Do you mean I have to return to the Immortal Realm early?”
“Yes,” Meng Luo nodded.
“You can leave the Immortal-Demon Battlefield?” Su Che was even more surprised.
“The Immortal-Demon Battlefield can trap a Great Luo Golden Immortal, or even some Immortal Emperors, but…”
Meng Luo’s expression remained unchanged, still dull and stiff, yet his eyes sparkled with pride. “There aren’t many places in the world that can trap me. In the future, your shadow will become like me too.”
“Alright then…”
Su Che wasn’t one to linger. He bowed and said, “See you in the Immortal Realm!”
Meng Luo didn’t respond further. He slowly closed his eyes and then lost all signs of life.
“He’s gone?”
Su Che felt that Meng Luo in front of him seemed dead, or rather, just an empty shell. Sure enough, when Su Che touched him lightly, Meng Luo’s body collapsed to the ground, turning into a shriveled skin.
“That demon princess was right. Meng Luo is indeed a monster in human skin,” Lao He muttered in the Immortal Prison.
Su Che simply stored this skin in the Immortal Prison. Of course, it wasn’t out of a sense of virtue or unwillingness to litter—it was because he realized that this “human skin” was also a treasure, another gift from Meng Luo to his shadow.
In the Immortal Prison, Lao He held the skin and tore at it with his sharp claws before saying, “What thick skin—like a city wall. No wonder that guy always had no expression…”
Undoubtedly, this skin had extremely strong defensive capabilities. Even with some power from the Heavenly Dao, Lao He couldn’t tear it apart. It was likely comparable to top-tier Immortal Artifact-grade defensive treasures.
“This definitely isn’t human skin. I wonder what creature it originally belonged to?” Su Che was also curious.
At that moment, he heard a mental voice from his shadow: “That old guy isn’t bad. The things he gave me are quite substantial.”

Though spoken lightly, Su Che could hear the excitement hidden within and asked, “What was that dark shadow he gave you just now?”
“It’s like another of his avatars, but it only has energy, no thoughts—purely meant for me to devour.”
The shadow replied, “I estimate that digesting all this energy will at least bring me to the strength of a Heavenly Immortal.”
“What? Heavenly Immortal strength?”
Su Che was truly shocked. He never expected that the Shadow God would simply split off an avatar at the Heavenly Immortal level for his shadow to devour, and since this avatar had no thoughts, there would be no side effects either.
The value of this gift was indeed immense!
His own shadow originally only had the strength of the Tribulation stage, which was naturally insignificant compared to Heavenly Immortal level. So, rather than saying the shadow devoured the avatar, it would be more accurate to say the shadow merged itself into the avatar, occupying it as if possessing it.
But was it possible for an ant’s soul to inhabit an elephant’s body?
“Yes, not yet.”
Sensing Su Che’s doubt, the shadow replied, “To completely devour it will definitely take a very long time. I guess it won’t be possible in less than three to fifty thousand years.”
“Three to fifty thousand years? So long?”
Before Su Che could respond, Lao He started shouting in the Immortal Prison, “Your digestion ability is really weak!”
“It’s okay.”
Su Che thought of a solution and said to himself, “Send the shadow into the Time Wheel in the Immortal Prison. With a time flow rate of one to three hundred, it will take at most two hundred years.”
“Oh, right!”
Lao He scratched his forehead and said, “I totally forgot about the Time Wheel.”
Before this, the shadow had never entered the Immortal Prison—not because Su Che didn’t trust it, but because there had been no need. Now, of course, it could go in.
However, during the two hundred years the shadow spent cultivating in the Time Wheel, Su Che would have no shadow by his side, which might make him feel a bit strange.
Of course, that wasn’t important; he could get used to it. The improvement in strength was what mattered most.
Two hundred years later, when the shadow emerged, with its Heavenly Immortal strength and the highly defensive body left by Meng Luo, it would surely become Su Che’s powerful warrior, possibly even able to rival a Xuan Immortal.
At this point, Lao He couldn’t help but wonder, “That Shadow God can casually create a Heavenly Immortal avatar. What level is his true body at? It’s definitely beyond a Great Luo Golden Immortal. Could it be an Immortal Emperor?”
“I don’t know.”

Su Che shook his head inwardly: “He’s like a shadow; his form of life is extremely special. Perhaps there are only two such cases in the entire universe. His true level of cultivation is truly hard to estimate.” At that moment, the Shadow said, “It’s better to wait until we leave the Immortal-Demon Battlefield before sending me in to train. Right now, I don’t have the heart for it.” Clearly, he was worried about Su Che’s safety, which kept him from focusing on training in the Immortal Prison. “Alright.” Since they were all inseparable allies, there was no need for emotional words. Su Che agreed readily. After that, Su Che calmed his mind and sent a thought to the sky: “Guardian Heavenly General, I have fully obtained the opportunities related to pills. Next, I intend to challenge the greatest opportunity in the Immortal-Demon Battlefield. Please grant my request.” He sent the same message three times in a row. With a whoosh, the Guardian Heavenly General, clad in golden armor, appeared high in the sky. “Failure means death! Are you really sure?” The Guardian Heavenly General’s tone was extremely serious. “It’s just dying earlier or later—what’s there to fear?” Su Che replied calmly. If he wanted to leave the Immortal-Demon Battlefield alive, he had to succeed. Otherwise, even if he managed to escape the Sealing Demon Array, he would still die at the hands of the Demon Princess. The outcome would be the same. He had to challenge and succeed—there was no other choice! The Guardian Heavenly General nodded slowly: “If that’s the case, then I’ll send you there.” Su Che immediately disappeared from the Pill Gate Valley and was teleported to another place. A few moments later, Su Che’s figure suddenly appeared inside a golden palace. “Oh my god!” Lao He exclaimed immediately, “This golden light is so bright it almost blinded me.” Though his words were somewhat exaggerated, the palace indeed was filled with dazzling golden light that made it impossible to open one’s eyes. Su Che knew that this kind of golden light wasn’t just ordinary gold shimmering—it was the extremely powerful Holy Light of Destruction. Even a golden-winged demon king like the Demon Princess would surely scream in agony if trapped here. In just a few moments, Su Che felt his eyes burning, his breathing becoming difficult, and his chest throbbing with excruciating pain. “Is this golden light the first trial?” Su Che could only close his eyes, and even his powerful divine consciousness at the human-immortal level had to retreat deep into his mind, not daring to leak out at all. Holy Light of Destruction! This meant that he had inner demons, which caused such a reaction. After all, who in this world doesn’t have inner demons? Everyone has some, to varying degrees.

Lao He snorted, “A guy like Lin Jiu still wants to snatch your opportunities? With his inner demons, he’ll die right away upon arriving here!”
“Yes!”
With his eyes closed and his consciousness reined in, Su Che was like a blind man, able only to stay in one place temporarily. Even so, the agony in his heart was extremely intense, as if countless monstrous faces were screaming desperately inside him…
They were his own inner demons!