Bang!
As the stone statue shattered, a wail resembling one from the depths of hell erupted from within the broken fragments.
Countless pitch-black, ghost-like entities resembling vengeful spirits surged out.
Their expressions were twisted in agony, their faces contorted with malice.
But before they could escape, a shadowy, ethereal hand materialized and clenched them tightly.
"Cough, cough, cough!!!"
Due to the interrupted ritual, the Old Dragon King's soul was forced back into his original, decaying body.
Now, suffering from the backlash, blood gushed incessantly from his nose, ears, and mouth.
The Old Dragon King's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the man standing where the destroyed statue had been.
Clad in a black trench coat, the man was enveloped in tendrils of deathly black mist, his face obscured by the ominous aura.
His gaze was icy and indifferent, and in his hand, he held a black dagger.
And behind him... floated a sinister, claw-like appendage, seemingly forged from countless fragments of terrifying deathly energy.
The claw gripped all the wailing, resentful spirits that had escaped from the statue.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the number of malevolent spirits was rapidly dwindling.
He was devouring them!!!
"You... who are you?!"
The Old Dragon King thought of a horrifying possibility—especially that dagger.
Even in his nightmares, he could never forget it.
"You're the Night King?!"
The Old Dragon King gasped in shock.
The Night King... had arrived so quickly?!
The man standing before him... was none other than Gu Yan.
Using the Power of Night, he had traversed space in an instant to reach this place.
His goal? To eliminate the frail, bloodied old man before him.
The Old Dragon King.
A centuries-old monster.
Since inheriting the Dragon King Palace, he had been conducting inhuman reincarnation rituals.
His ultimate ambition? Eternal life.
The conditions for immortality were harsh—or rather, the conditions set by a certain entity were particularly cruel.
The most critical requirement was...
Every vessel he possessed had to be a bearer of immense destiny.
Thus, the Old Dragon King not only exploited the national fortune of the Eastern Nation, linked to the Dragon King Palace, but also used his position as its leader to recruit individuals of great destiny from across the world.
In the end, the souls of those he seized were offered to that very entity!
And the avatar of that entity was...
Crunch!
Gu Yan stepped on the shattered remnants of the stone statue, dagger in hand, his cold gaze fixed on the Old Dragon King as he advanced.
"I originally intended to let you live a little longer."
"But on second thought, it's better this way."
"People like you... only bring peace when they're dead."
Gu Yan's layered voice echoed through the cavern.
He was a cautious man, one who never acted without absolute certainty.
But the Old Dragon King had attacked his family.
And for that, he had to die.
At last, terror flashed in the old man's eyes.
The backlash from the interrupted ritual had severed his meridians, leaving him powerless.
No!
He couldn’t die!
Thud!
Before he could utter another word, the dagger plunged into his forehead.
Gu Yan stared indifferently at the Old Dragon King's horrified expression and said flatly,
"Stop screaming. You're no longer the Dragon King."
As his words faded...
Bzzz...
Dozens—no, hundreds—of shadowy figures emerged from the darkness of the cavern.
These... were once members of the Dragon King Palace.
Now, they had been transformed into Gu Yan's shadow soldiers!
"H-how...?"
The Old Dragon King's pupils contracted.
Suddenly, he sensed something—a familiar, overwhelming presence.
"The Dragon King Jade?!"
"You... you obtained the complete Dragon King Jade?!"
His voice was hoarse, his breath growing weaker.
Because of his destiny-laden body, he hadn’t died immediately.
Had this vessel still been usable, he might have even turned the tables and seized a new opportunity.
But now... it was all empty talk.
His soul was imprisoned by the dagger, leaving him no means of escape.
He couldn’t believe it.
The Night King... had obtained the complete Dragon King Jade?!
This had never happened before!
According to the prophecies...
The two were destined to be mortal enemies!
And without fail, every previous Night King had been dragged down by the Dragon King Palace’s ruler, consumed by the Power of Night until death!
Without exception!
"Wait! I was wrong! I admit it!"
"I’ll never oppose you again!"
"Spare me! I’ll tell you an enormous secret—one about the world itself!!"
"You—!"
Thud!
Before he could finish, Gu Yan emotionlessly activated the dagger’s power.
In an instant...
The Old Dragon King’s life force was obliterated.
Every possibility of revival was extinguished.
Against a centuries-old monster like him, the dagger was the most reliable tool.
"Secrets... I’ll uncover them myself."
At the same time...
[Host has lost the emotion: ‘Rage.’]
[Warning: Host has been excessively infected by the Power of Night. Further use of the dagger will accelerate the infection!! Host may lose more emotions!!]
[Host has obtained the complete Dragon King Jade.]
[Host has successfully converted 183 shadow soldiers.]
[Host...]
A flood of system notifications poured in.
Finally, the alerts ceased.
[Host has acquired the title ‘Monarch of Shadows.’ Within darkness, spiritual and physical energy are amplified tenfold!!]
[Host has acquired the skill ‘Shadow Soldier Creation.’ Can now summon shadow soldiers at will using the Power of Night!]
[Note: Shadow soldiers summoned this way are disposable, with power equivalent to only 1/10,000th of the host’s strength.]
After silently processing all the information, Gu Yan’s expression gradually calmed.
He looked down at the dagger in his hand.
And fell into silence.
So this was the price of using the dagger—the cost Xiao Leng had warned him about.
Losing emotions...
This time, it was rage.
What would be next?
What... would he become?
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
For the sake of his unrequited love, his ex-girlfriend abandoned him at the altar, indirectly causing the death of his parents. Just when he thought his life was plunged into darkness, a clueless yet beautiful girl unexpectedly took him in. Looking back, he realized how many hidden gems had always been by his side. A childhood friend who had secretly loved him for over a decade, a stunning but socially clueless school beauty, a mischievous and playful girl who lived for chaos... His ex, filled with regret, pleaded: "I was wrong—can we go back to how things were?" Before he could respond, the girl stepped in front of Ye Shuang and coldly declared, "If you didn’t cherish him, then he’s mine now." Also known as: "After Losing My Job, I Was Picked Up by a Hidden Gem," "The School Beauty I Raised," and "Oh No, I’m Surrounded by Rich Girls."
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
