Chapter 477: Obedience Only

Inside the grand hall, two shadowy figures, each wielding their own magical artifacts, stood facing each other in silence for over a dozen breaths…
Finally, Su Che’s shadow moved first. Of course, it wouldn’t continue attacking; instead, it chose to obey Su Che’s orders and swiftly floated toward the entrance of the Mi Xian Realm.
Although the Mi Xian Realm was completely invisible, rendering them unable to detect its entrance, they still remembered the location where Su Che had disappeared just moments ago.
Sure enough, when the shadow reached that spot, it smoothly entered the gaping mouth of the Mi Xian Realm and hovered quietly beside Su Che.
“Can you still recognize me?”
Su Che, still in the guise of Yu Qing, asked out of curiosity.
The shadow nodded vigorously, clearly stating, “Even if I turn to ashes, I’ll still recognize you!”
Su Che also nodded lightly, thinking to himself, “That mysterious shadow mistook me for Yu Qing and couldn’t tell the difference; yet you can still recognize me. Clearly, you’re stronger and smarter than him.”
At that moment, Lao He’s mind was quite clear, and he immediately reminded him, “Master, it’s not necessarily about who’s stronger or smarter. Your shadow is simply your shadow—it’s part of your body. No matter how you change, it will naturally recognize you.”
Your shadow is just your shadow…
It sounded like nonsense, but it made Su Che suddenly realize, “Right, I completely forgot about that.”
The shadow was obedient enough to follow him in; then, would the mysterious shadow outside obey the orders of this new master, “Yu Qing”?
It turned out that the mysterious shadow didn’t come to the entrance of the Mi Xian Realm. Instead, it shot up to the altar, penetrated the protective barrier, and slipped inside the statue of the Holy Ancestor.
“Has he gone back?”
Su Che frowned, worried. “Could it be that he saw through my performance just now?”
“Not necessarily,” said Lao He. “Since he wants to leave with you, maybe he needs to pack his things first. Be patient.”
Packing his things was just a joke—meaning there was likely something else inside the statue of the Holy Ancestor that he had to take with him…
It had to be said that at this moment, Lao He showed quite a bit of “wise” insight—his prediction proved correct!
Before long, the mysterious shadow flew out of the statue of the Holy Ancestor and headed toward the entrance of the Mi Xian Realm.
When it got closer, it stopped again and asked tentatively, “Master, should I go in?”

From this question, it was clear that the mysterious shadow still harbored many doubts and confusions. It was merely out of deep-seated obedience that it dared not defy its master’s orders.
This was the tragedy of being a servant—even though it had independent thoughts and could recognize various inconsistencies, it could not overcome the powerful restraint imposed by the word “obedience.”
As long as it couldn’t prove its new master was a fraud, it had no choice but to obey; there was nothing more to say.
“I’m leaving.”
Su Che replied coldly, “It’s up to you whether to come or not!”
Such a response carried a hint of taunting, while also fitting well with Yu Qing’s manner of handling things.
Su Che knew nothing about that Sacred Ancestor Immortal, so he could only act according to Yu Qing’s personality traits. He believed that if Yu Qing himself were here, he would speak in a similar way.
The mysterious shadow could sense the displeasure in its “new master’s” tone and immediately grew panicked, rushing to say, “Master, wait for me!”
Before its words faded, whoosh! It dived into the Mi Xian Realm.
It had no idea it would enter a special space; it thought it was the master using some teleportation magic to take it away from the Shadow Star. That’s why it blurted out, “Wait for me!”
Swish!
Once it fell into the trap and entered the Mi Xian Realm, the entrance closed automatically. Without Su Che’s permission, no one could exit.
“Master, where is this?”
Looking at this extremely strange realm and the shadow floating beside Su Che, the mysterious shadow grew nervous, seemingly sensing something.
Su Che watched it silently, feeling a hint of sympathy. After all, it had been deceived out of loyalty. In fact, even though it knew of the dangers and suspicions, its loyalty forced it to obey.
Such foolish loyalty was admirable yet tragic.
“Just now, did you deliberately cut off the connection with the statue?” Su Che asked gently.
“Yes, Master,” the mysterious shadow replied respectfully. “If I couldn’t cut that connection, I wouldn’t be able to leave the Sacred Ancestor’s Hall.”
Hearing this definite answer, Su Che and Lao He guessed that since it had severed the connection with the Sacred Ancestor statue, its immortality must have been broken as well. If it were blasted again by the Shadow’s Demon God Spear, its fate would surely be…

Su Che sighed silently and said to him, “I need the two of you to merge and work together to ascend to a higher form of existence, so that you can better assist me. What do you think?”
It was merely a conciliatory statement; in truth, ever since he entered the Mi Xian Realm, his fate was no longer in his own hands.
The mysterious shadow remained silent for a brief moment before nodding and saying, “Yes. Such an opportunity might be the only chance for us to ascend in our lives. I never imagined there could be someone like us in this world.”
The shadow was clever; he had realized that his master favored the other shadow. If the two merged, it would surely be under the dominance of the other, with him becoming the unfortunate victim.
Obedience!
Nevertheless, he had no choice but to obey. Unless he could produce solid evidence proving that this new master was a fraud.
And his purpose in remaining on the Shadow Star for over a million years was actually to wait for this new master.
That was his fate, already predetermined.
“You unfortunate one have finally embarked on this path of destruction, just like that unfortunate me back then…”
Su Che crossed his arms and said in a deep voice, “Do you understand what these words mean?”
“I understand, master.”
The shadow knelt in the void, bowing in reverence, “In whatever form, I will always be by your side, never abandoning you.”
At this moment, he chose self-sacrifice, knowing that his own thoughts were unimportant—what mattered was that his master could successfully avoid that path of destruction in this life…
Since his master would take a completely different path of growth in this life, it was only natural that he would need a completely different “shadow” by his side.
“Master, I am ready,” the mysterious shadow said, kneeling on the ground, his voice trembling slightly…
At this point, Su Che had nothing more to say. He simply turned around and waved at his own shadow.
Swish!
The shadow rushed at the mysterious shadow, mercilessly grabbing its head and beginning to devour and merge it in its own way…
Su Che couldn’t bear to watch this feast of consumption, so he shut off his consciousness, thinking only, “I hope that after the merger, you can help me answer the many questions in my mind.”
There were simply too many questions.
What was the relationship between the Holy Ancestor and Yu Qing?
Was this mysterious shadow the Shadow God from back then?
What did the path of destruction refer to?

Although these questions seemed unrelated to him, since he had encountered them, Su Che would still feel uneasy if he didn’t figure them out. After all, these matters were surely related to Yu Qing, who had done him the most good in his life. How could he ignore him in trouble!

Pururu…

A strange sound came from behind him, as if a tube was drawing something out, sounding truly spine-chilling…

After more than half an hour, there was no sound behind him anymore. Lao He said, “It seems it’s done.”

Su Che slowly turned around and saw that only a shadow remained in that spot—definitely his own shadow. It hovered motionless there, clearly absorbing the abundant nutrients from this “feast.”

After a while, the surface of the shadow became mirror-like, and in the blink of an eye, it took on Su Che’s appearance.

Now, a fake Yu Qing and a fake Su Che stood face to face, which felt extremely strange.

“Thank you.”

The shadow could actually speak!

“You can speak after all.” Su Che let out a long sigh and said to it, “There’s no need for thanks. You must know how many questions I have in mind.”

“Ask away.” A faint smile appeared on the shadow’s lips, though it was a bit stiff and awkward.

Clearly, it was imitating Su Che’s most common smile, but since it was the first time, the imitation wasn’t perfect.

“Let’s talk about you first,” Su Che said in Yu Qing’s voice, “Do you come from the burial ground of the Sky-Devouring Rat, that is, the caves inside the underground labyrinth?”

“Yes,” the shadow nodded. “That day, you didn’t dare go in, so I had to follow you out.”

“What’s your origin…” Su Che asked subtly.

“I don’t know!” The shadow shrugged. “I’m not sure how I was created, but it’s definitely related to the bones of the demon gods left behind by the Sky-Devouring Rat. Perhaps I’m a new form of life formed from the lingering souls on those bones, yet I can’t leave them and have been trapped in the underground labyrinth for countless years, able only to create some ghosts to ease my loneliness. Until your arrival…”

Su Che nodded inwardly, thinking, “Indeed, almost every piece of the demon god bones has a trace of lingering soul. I saw this as early as when I obtained the first fragment of bone in the Floating City.”

So, Su Che asked, “Is it because I am the heir of the Sky-Devouring Rat’s power, and you can use my shadow to leave there?”
“Yes,” the shadow nodded cheerfully, with a hint of childlike innocence on its face. “Since that day, I have been your shadow. Isn’t that good?”
“Good!”
Su Che couldn’t help but laugh. “There’s nothing wrong with it. Welcome to be my shadow; it’s an honor for me!”