Chapter 470: The Festival to Welcome the God

The Holy Shadow Heavenly Palace is a vast complex, with the Sacred Ancestor’s Temple located at its center. In front of the temple lies a spacious square that can easily accommodate over a hundred thousand people.
The festival to welcome the god takes place in this square. If nothing goes wrong, the entire celebration will last a month, during which tens of millions of Shadow Clan members are expected to come here to worship the Shadow God.
Su Che and Shadow certainly wouldn’t stand around idly in the square; instead, they were invited into the Sacred Ancestor’s Temple, where statues of the Sacred Ancestor and the Shadow God stood.
The entire temple was enclosed within three layers of the highest-grade isolation barriers. Even Lao Hei’s detection abilities couldn’t penetrate them, let alone Su Che’s spiritual senses. Thus, one had to enter the temple in person to “view” the majestic statue of the Sacred Ancestor.
Yet, the moment Su Che first saw the statue of the Sacred Ancestor, he was stunned!
Not only Su Che but even Lao Hei in the Heavenly Prison was dumbfounded. He murmured in a daze, “How is this possible? He looks exactly like Yu Qing!”
Indeed, the life-sized statue standing atop the altar had Yu Qing’s exact features—his facial features, body proportions—virtually identical, with not a single difference. Even the unique aura of calm dignity and subtle arrogance was portrayed vividly.
“Yu Qing?”
“How could it be Yu Qing?”
At that moment, Su Che could hardly believe his own eyes. Fearing there might be some illusionary array in the temple affecting his mind, he asked, “Lao Hei, do you think he resembles Yu Qing?”
“It’s not just similar—it’s exactly the same. It’s definitely Yu Qing,” Lao Hei replied immediately. “Master, we already knew that Yu Qing was the reincarnation of some important figure from the celestial realm, and this Sacred Ancestor of the Shadow Clan also comes from the celestial realm. Could it be…”
“It’s possible.”
Su Che understood what Lao Hei meant and murmured, “Perhaps it’s more complicated than we thought. It’s not just about reincarnation.”
“But…” Lao Hei raised doubts. “If Yu Qing is indeed the reincarnation of the Sacred Ancestor of the Shadow Clan, then he should be highly skilled in the ‘Great Shadow Art’ and the ‘Way of Shadows.’ Why then, during his time on Qi Yuan Star, did he show no awareness of your shadow?”

“I don’t know,” Su Che shook his head inwardly. “Perhaps it’s because Yu Qing is merely a reincarnation of a small portion of his original spirit, yet he hasn’t awakened the memories related to the Great Shadow Art. Or maybe my shadow didn’t show any abnormalities when I left Qiyuan Star, but only later on…”
At this point, Su Che stopped speaking, as he wasn’t sure exactly when his shadow first began to behave strangely. All he could confirm was that it was after leaving Qiyuan Star via the teleportation array, arriving at that desolate planet, and entering the Mi Xian Realm to capture Jing Lanshan, Heng Yi, and Miao Li, that he first noticed something odd about his shadow.
“Anyway, this matter is becoming increasingly complicated. Who exactly is Yu Qing? Perhaps only he himself knows.”
Thinking of this, Su Che felt worried. Given Yu Qing’s complex background, it was possible that one day they would inevitably end up on opposing sides. Even though neither of them wanted that to happen, life often forced people into situations beyond their control.
Just as the Elder Qingxuan had said: No one can resist the arrangements of fate.
Leaving the distant matters aside, even just this statue of the Sacred Ancestor—if it was indeed related to Yu Qing—left Su Che at a loss as to how to handle it.
“My shadow came to Shadow Star clearly with some intention. Could it be that it wants to steal benefits from Yu Qing?”
Su Che believed that Shadow Star might well be a move Yu Qing had prepared before his reincarnation, one that was extremely important to him. If he and his shadow ruined his overall plan for petty gains, how could they explain themselves to him later?
Though these thoughts occurred in just a few moments, they were noticed by several Shadow Clan messengers at the Reaping Void stage, who observed Su Che’s changed expression. Of course, this included the Leader of the Sacred Shadows as well.
However, none of them spoke up to ask. Instead, they silently watched Su Che’s facial changes. These powerful cultivators, who had lived for thousands of years, could surely think of and guess much more than those so-called wise men in the mortal world…
At Lao Hei’s reminder, Su Che quickly adjusted his emotions, restoring his normal expression, and his gaze returned to the statue of the Shadow God.
That statue was nothing but a dark human silhouette. Strangely enough, it was exactly identical to his own shadow. No wonder those Shadow Clan messengers were so astonished when they first saw his shadow.
As for the statues of the Sacred Ancestor and the Shadow God on the altar, his shadow remained indifferent, staying by Su Che’s side silently, without any change.

“Tianyu Daoist, this way, please.” One of the vice leaders, Ying Sanqian, led Su Che to the seating area on the left side beneath the altar, assigning him a seat as a distinguished guest. Yet, the Shadow also followed, sticking closely to Su Che’s side. It was akin to the relationship between the Sacred Ancestor and the Shadow God atop the altar. “Lord Shadow God, your seat is over there,” Ying Sanqian said cautiously, pointing at the lofty altar. But the Shadow showed no reaction, completely ignoring him, as if silently conveying: As the great Shadow God, why should I obey the arrangements of these insignificant insects? Do you have the right to decide where I stand or sit? “Tianyu Daoist, what do you think we should do…” Ying Sanqian looked troubled and turned to Su Che for help. “I can’t do anything either,” Su Che said helplessly, spreading his hands. “I guess, aside from the Sacred Ancestor, no one else in the world can command the Shadow God.” Ying Sanqian was speechless. In truth, he knew well that the so-called celebration to welcome the god meant nothing to the Shadow God at all. To put it bluntly, mortals’ thoughts were nothing but delusions; who could know the true purpose behind the Shadow God’s return… “Ying Sanqian.” The leader of the Sacred Shadow Sect called out in a deep voice, shaking his head slightly at Ying Sanqian. Ying Sanqian nodded helplessly, not daring to insist any further. Thus, the celebration to welcome the god began amid such awkwardness. Outside the temple, ordinary members of the Sacred Shadow Sect, unaware of the insides, were overjoyed at the return of the Shadow God. As one of the vice leaders praised the god, the entire square erupted into excitement. This was a clear example of the blind worship and obedience of lower-class people—they would never have the chance to know the true secrets. Inside the temple, however, the situation was completely different. The Shadow God’s indifference and disregard quickly cooled down the high-ranking members of the Sacred Shadow Sect from their illusions and joy. More and more people fell silent, with only Ying Sanqian and a few other vice leaders in charge trying their best to maintain order and carry out the prearranged rituals and programs one by one. In fact, Su Che also didn’t want to see things turn so awkward, but indeed, his own shadow was unyielding—no one could control it, not even the Sacred Ancestor, if he were to return.

During this time, Su Che would occasionally glance at the towering statue of the Holy Ancestor, feeling an increasingly strange sensation in his heart: “How could he be Yu Qing?”
“What kind of situation will arise if this continues?”
According to the plans of Ying Sanqian and the others, the celebration to welcome the deity would last for a month. Even if the Lord of Shadows lost patience and left early during that time, the festivities outside the immortal palace would continue.
Yet, no one expected that just three hours later, a sudden upheaval would occur.
It wasn’t caused by Su Che’s shadow, but rather…
Around noon, a dance performance was taking place inside the immortal palace. Dozens of young men and women expressed their utmost reverence and love for the Holy Ancestor and the Lord of Shadows through their dances.
Of course, among the important figures in the palace, few were truly enjoying the performance; instead, they were all preoccupied with their own thoughts…
Suddenly, an inexplicable disturbance arose in the palace, coming suddenly with no warning!
Whoa!
The core members of the Holy Shadow Sect, who were all at least at the Yuan Ying stage of cultivation, could clearly sense this disturbance. Each of them grew tense and silently scanned the surroundings.
Who could be so bold as to act so recklessly in front of the Lord of Shadows, creating such a sudden mental disturbance? It was clearly an act of extreme rudeness and disrespect.
Including Su Che and the leader of the Holy Shadow Sect, they were also secretly investigating, unsure of what had happened.
Only the shadow, which had remained motionless all along, slowly raised its head and looked toward the statue of the Holy Ancestor on the altar.
Following its movement, Su Che also glanced in that direction…
He saw thin layers of mist, black mist, emerging from the facial features and orifices of the statue of the Holy Ancestor.
“Holy Ancestor!”
It wasn’t just Su Che; some of the Sacred Envoys present also noticed this.
“Is the Holy Ancestor manifesting?”
“Could it be that the return of the Lord of Shadows has caused the Holy Ancestor to appear?”
No one in the palace dared to make loud noises; most communicated with each other through telepathy among those closest to them. After all, they were all highly experienced high-level cultivators who wouldn’t panic and shout like ordinary people at the slightest disturbance.
“Finally, something’s going wrong,” Su Che thought anxiously. “I just don’t know if this is a blessing or a curse for me.”
If the statue of the Holy Ancestor hadn’t had Yu Qing’s face, Su Che would have thought it was likely to cause big trouble. But since it was related to Yu Qing, it was hard to predict.
Huhuuh…

More and more black mist emerged from the Statue of the Holy Ancestor and drifted downward, quickly coalescing into a misty figure at the base of the statue, its color growing darker and darker.
A figure!
As soon as this figure took shape, Su Che’s heart skipped a beat: “Trouble! This thing looks very much like my own shadow. Could it be that the true Shadow God has never left the Star of Illusions?”
“For over a million years, it has been guarding here… or rather, waiting for Yu Qing’s return?”