Chapter 476: The Power of Shadow Souls

Having assumed an identity to inherit the teachings of the three great paths, Su Che did not immediately destroy the statue, as he sensed that there were other secrets hidden within it. First and foremost, there was an energy storage space inside the statue, similar to his own Xumi Divine Seal, which could be used to store various types of internal energy. Sensing the faint gray energy within, Su Che guessed, “This energy is quite special—it must be the Power of Shadow Souls mentioned by that shadow just now.”
“That’s likely,” said Lao He. “Master, this kind of energy is extremely beneficial for cultivators. Should we absorb it?”
“Yes.”
Su Che nodded inwardly. “That shadow said that the soul energy stored for a thousand years was transferred to the Immortal Realm two months ago. So this amount here is probably just a small portion accumulated in the past two months.”
“Even though it’s only from two months, it’s still quite substantial for us.”
Eagerly, Lao He absorbed all the Power of Shadow Souls from the statue’s space into the Immortal Prison. This energy could effectively enhance the strength of a cultivator’s primordial spirit and would surely play a crucial role in Su Che’s next step toward attaining the Divine Transformation stage.
The “amount from two months” mentioned by the mysterious shadow was indeed enormous for Su Che’s Yuan Ying cultivation level. Judging from the current absorption and conversion efficiency, this soul energy would likely last him over a decade without being completely exhausted.
Su Che and Lao He couldn’t help but marvel: If so much could be accumulated in just two months, how much must there be after a thousand years? With the over one million-year history of the Shadow Star, how much soul energy could have been gathered?
Yet another question arose: This soul energy couldn’t have appeared out of thin air. Where did it come from? How could so much of it be accumulated?
Regarding this question, Su Che already had a vague idea of the answer, but he refrained from making hasty judgments and continued to explore the secrets hidden within the statue with Lao He.
After a short while, Su Che and Lao He reached a unanimous conclusion: This statue was almost indestructible, as it contained some kind of mysterious array. It seemed its purpose wasn’t merely to connect with Holy Shadow City but possibly even to link the entire Shadow Star.
For a brief moment, when Su Che’s mind penetrated the array, he experienced a strange sensation: The entire Shadow Star was in his grasp!

This feeling is similar to that on Qi Yuan Star back then, when Yu Qing constructed an immense illusion array that could envelop the entire planet. The person controlling the array would experience a sense of utter satisfaction, as if the whole planet was in their hands.
“If my guess is right, those Shadow Soul forces just now must have come from the billions of Shadow Clan members on Shadow Star.”
Su Che had almost figured it out and deduced in his mind, “The reason why the Holy Shadow Sect forces every citizen to practice the Path of Shadows is because it’s an order from the Sacred Ancestor Immortal. He needs the Shadow Soul forces generated by those billions of citizens. In other words, even while in the Immortal Realm, he can enjoy the selfless offerings of those billions at any moment.”
“That must be it!” Lao He also realized, “Billions of citizens are constantly practicing for him, while he just waits in the Immortal Realm to receive and absorb everything. What a brilliant strategy! It’s given me endless inspiration! Master, we can do the same thing in our Immortal Prison! Billions of beings practicing the Path of Shadows would all serve you, and your cultivation level would soar rapidly, even surpassing that Sacred Ancestor Immortal!”
Su Che nodded silently without any objections.
Earlier, Su Che had heard that on Shadow Star, every one of the billions of Shadow Clan members was forced to practice the Path of Shadows, and those who refused were imprisoned and subjected to forced cultivation… From this, Su Che sensed a strong sense of conspiracy.
Now, it couldn’t really be called a conspiracy—it was rather an extremely clever strategy.
Every member of the Shadow Clan was required to practice. At first glance, it might seem like coercion, as if personal freedom was being trampled. But in reality, the ability to practice the Immortal Path is a great fortune for anyone, bringing endless benefits.
To put it simply, practicing the Immortal Path ensures good health, prevents diseases, and easily increases the average lifespan of an entire race by several decades. In fact, most ordinary Shadow Clan members on Shadow Star can live to be a hundred years old in good health, dying naturally when their lifespan is exhausted.
Of course, there are also elites who continue to advance, reaching stages like Golden Pill, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, and Void Refinement… and even achieving immortality, ascending to the Immortal Realm, and gaining almost endless life.
Practicing the Path of Shadows means giving every citizen a chance to become immortal. The path lies before everyone; how far one can go depends on their efforts and opportunities.
In this regard, it’s quite fair as well.

Of course, elites are just a minority; most commoners must face the day when their lifespan ends. When people die, the power of their shadow souls dissipates, wasted in vain. Thus, the Sacred Ancestor created a grand array to collect the power of the deceased Shadow Clan members into his statue and then transmit it to the immortal realm… It can be said that the Sacred Ancestor didn’t harm any of his subjects; he merely gathered the power of their shadow souls, which would otherwise dissipate after death. This isn’t a conspiracy but rather a highly ingenious design, free from any harm to the world. Of course, these are just Su Che and Lao Hei’s assumptions, and whether they’re true still needs further verification. In fact, Su Che believes this matter has little to do with him, and whether it’s verified or not doesn’t really matter. “If we calculate the average lifespan at 100 years, at least 50,000 people die each day without illness.” Lao Hei quickly calculated and then exclaimed, “In two months, that’s three million units of power left behind by the deceased Shadow Clan members… Master, the power we absorbed just now is equivalent to what three million ordinary Shadow Clan members accumulate over a lifetime of cultivation. What an incredible concept!” “Master, we must learn this method and adopt it! It’s a fair exchange of benefits—mutually beneficial, not harmful, right?” Lao Hei was extremely excited, fearing that Su Che’s sense of justice might oppose this approach. “It’s relatively fair, I suppose…” Su Che imagined, “For my countless subjects, I can grant them healthy bodies, long lives, and even the chance to become immortals… All they need to pay is the energy within them, which they can’t take with them after death and will dissipate into the world. They just need to offer it to me… Would you be willing?” “Willing! Of course I am!” Lao Hei immediately pretended to be a commoner, kneeling down and shouting, “Who doesn’t want health? Who doesn’t want to live longer? Who doesn’t want the chance to ascend to the immortal realm and achieve immortality? Lord, thank you for your gifts. If I die, I’ll leave this body at your disposal—treat it as waste. After all, once dead, who cares about such things?” Su Che smiled inwardly: “The commoner you’re playing still can’t shake his shameless nature.” Lao Hei scratched his forehead and chuckled, “Whether it’s shameless or not doesn’t matter. That’s simply how it is.”

“That Sacred Ancestor is truly a genius of his generation—capable of devising such a principle, namely the Path of Shadows he created.” Su Che thought to himself, “This person is indeed extraordinary.”
By “this person,” Su Che actually meant Yu Qing.
To achieve a similar state of widespread cultivation in the Immortal Prison World, it was necessary to obtain the Shadow Clan’s “Path of Shadows.” However, the inheritance within the Sacred Ancestor statue did not include the Path of Shadows but rather the more advanced “Great Shadow Art” along with two other great cultivation techniques.
Su Che was well aware that even if he mastered the Great Shadow Art, he would still not be able to create the Path of Shadows, which anyone could practice. Developing cultivation techniques is not something just anyone can do.
Moreover, since it already existed, there was no need to expend further effort.
“The most complete cultivation method for the Path of Shadows must be in the hands of past sect leaders. To accomplish this, we first need to deal with that mysterious shadow…”
At this thought, both Su Che and Old Black grew worried. The Sacred Ancestor statue was almost indestructible—so how could they get rid of that mysterious shadow?
The mysterious shadow, still engaged in fierce battles with Su Che’s shadows, also sensed that Su Che had accepted the great inheritance from the Sacred Ancestor statue. This dispelled its doubts, leading it to believe that Su Che was indeed a reincarnation of the master’s distracted essence.
“Master, another path of growth begins anew.”
At that moment, it couldn’t decide whether to rejoice or sigh.
After some time, Su Che and Old Black finally concluded that they truly lacked the ability to destroy the Sacred Ancestor statue and couldn’t think of a way to eliminate the mysterious shadow for now. So, they stepped back, exiting the protective barrier of the statue, and turned to silently watch the mysterious shadow wielding the Whip of the Nether River.
“Congratulations, Master, on successfully obtaining the great inheritance,” the mysterious shadow shouted.
“What’s there to celebrate?” Su Che replied in a deep voice. “All these things originally belonged to me.”
“Master, what are your next plans?” The mysterious shadow dodged the intense attacks of the Demon God’s Spear while asking, “Do I still need to stay here and gather Shadow Soul energy for your main body in the Immortal Realm?”
“No need,” Su Che shook his head lightly. “Come with me. Leave this place. I will surely make other arrangements for the Shadow Soul energy of Shadow Star with my main body in the Immortal Realm.”
“Yes, Master.”

The mysterious shadow had no doubts about Su Che anymore, for he had already received the recognition of the Sacred Ancestor Statue and inherited the profound teachings hidden within it for over a million years. This meant that even if he still harbored many doubts and uncertainties, he must unconditionally obey all orders from his “new master.”
“You two, stop fighting and come with me,” Su Che said coldly, then turned and walked toward the entrance to the Mi Xian Realm.
In truth, even as he gave this order, Su Che himself wasn’t sure—whether the mysterious shadow would obey or if his own shadow would listen.
He wasn’t even certain whether, after transforming into Yu Qing, his shadow would still be able to recognize him.
“Never mind!”
Su Che walked slowly with his hands behind his back, muttering to himself, “Regardless of whether they obey or not, I’ll hide in the Mi Xian Realm first. Safety is the most important thing.”
Once Su Che’s figure completely disappeared into the invisible entrance of the Mi Xian Realm, the two shadows in the grand hall stopped fighting, standing face to face a few dozen feet apart.
Although they had paused their fight for now, it was unclear what they would do next—whether they would obey Su Che’s orders or not…