40: Sacrifice Li Yan? Let’s learn about the side effects.

Li Yan did not act rashly, but hid in the stealth Formation he had set up, seeing the entire dense forest filled with eerie villagers holding torches and searching for him.

Corpse Puppet Su Mo, who was by his side, was holding a bowl of spiritual liquid and sipping it in small mouthfuls.

As she replenished her energy, she blinked curiously, "Master, they are very weak, let me handle them."

"No, there must be something abnormal when things are out of the ordinary."

"Look at their shadows."

Li Yan, hidden within the stealth Formation, pointed at the villagers' shadows.

He saw that the villagers' shadows were twisting in a strange posture, as if the shadows were alive and had their own thoughts.

Based on this assessment...

These villagers must have been controlled by the shadows, searching for Li Yan's whereabouts.

Thinking of this, Li Yan muttered, "Although I know the Su Family's Blood Shadow power is immense, they actually dare to use shadows to enslave villagers outside Mi Mountain City."

"Aren't those shadows of the Su Family afraid of offending the Venerable of Mi Mountain City?"

Just then, Li Yan saw several shadows of the villagers whispering to each other.

"Can shadows communicate? Hmm... I've got it!"

Li Yan formed a hand seal with two fingers, releasing his own shadow and extending it outwards.

When his shadow approached the other Blood Shadows, the other Blood Shadows had no guard against Li Yan whatsoever.

Those dark shadows merely glanced at Li Yan, then continued their discussion.

"A villager reported during the day that an outside Cultivator came to Niujia Village."

"He neither lives in a villager's home nor stays in an inn, where could he be hiding?"

Another shadow coldly replied, "It must be that Daoist Zhang Jiu who interfered and saved that outsider's life!"

"You all continue searching. If you can't find that person and delay the sacrifice... you know what the consequences will be."

"Yes!"

The other shadows dared not speak further and immediately dispersed, beginning to search for Li Yan's whereabouts.

And the dark shadow giving orders let out a low growl, "That dog Daoist Zhang Jiu, he's ruined my plans again and again."

"He'd better not leave the city at night. If I catch him, I'll definitely refine him into a Shadow Puppet!"

Meanwhile, Li Yan, through his own shadow, eavesdropped on their conversation.

Indeed, just as he had guessed, the shadows refined by the Blood Shadow Art all possessed self-awareness.

They would Possess the original host's body, and they were not even satisfied with just one Shadow Slave; they even wanted to refine some ordinary people into Shadow Puppets!

These common folk, holding torches and aimlessly searching in the forest, were a type of Shadow Puppet.

Li Yan also noticed that there was a white Crescent Shadow between the eyebrows of that dark shadow.

He was different from the other shadows; the Crescent Shadow between his eyebrows should be used to distinguish their Rank.

At this moment, the dark shadow with the Crescent Shadow on its brow looked towards Li Yan.

"Newcomer? A new face."

"Looking at your dull appearance, you must have just arrived not long ago."

"You, come with me."

In the eyes of the Crescent Shadow, Li Yan's shadow appeared dull and emotionless, likely a newly born shadow.

Upon seeing such a dull-eyed shadow, the Crescent Shadow felt little caution.

Li Yan's shadow was not exposed, and he, filled with curiosity, silently followed behind the Crescent Shadow.

Just like that, this group of shadows searched the dense forest in a circle but did not find Li Yan's main body.

Once that stealth Formation was activated, it was truly difficult to find a hidden person in such a vast forest.

Seemingly impatient, the Crescent Shadow angrily cursed, "It's almost dawn, and we still haven't found that boy."

"I'm afraid that boy isn't here! Now, I probably can't go back and report..."

"All of you, come here!"

Accompanying the Crescent Shadow's furious roar, the villagers' dark shadows, like pythons crawling on the ground, extended to the open space.

"There was no harvest today, so each of you must sacrifice an arm to pledge loyalty to the Blood Shadow Venerable."

Saying this, the Crescent Shadow wrote obscure and difficult-to-understand ancient immortal seals on the sand on the ground.

Li Yan could not understand the ancient immortal seals on the ground, but he secretly memorized the shapes of the characters.

And the dark shadow with the Crescent Shadow on its head began to issue commands to the other Shadow Puppets.

"Begin the sacrifice!"

The Shadow Puppets lined up, pressing their left hands to the ground.

Visibly, the shadows' left arms slowly turned to dust, being absorbed by the sacrificial Formation.

Accompanied by cries of sorrow, the shadows' arms were severed, and they, too, felt pain.

Li Yan originally intended to seize the opportunity to slip away and extinguish his shadow.

However, he heard the System chime.

"Detected a sacrificial ritual with strong side effects. Host, please proceed quickly; this is an opportunity not to be missed!"

Hmm?

Seeing those shadows sacrificing their left arms, the System actually prompted him that it was an opportunity not to be missed.

A bold idea emerged in Li Yan's mind.

At this moment, the dark shadow with a Crescent Shadow on its brow looked around, saw a group of dark shadows who had lost their left arms, and nodded in satisfaction.

Then, he saw Li Yan's shadow and immediately reprimanded, "You're the only one left! Hurry to the sacrificial Formation and offer your arm to the Blood Shadow Venerable!"

"Yes."

Li Yan's shadow spoke woodenly, without any emotion.

In reality, under Li Yan's control, it began to walk towards the trap Formation.

He mimicked the others, raising his hand and manipulating his shadow to place its arm into the sacrificial Formation.

The dark shadow with the Crescent Shadow on its forehead had not yet realized the seriousness of the matter.

He began to chant the sacrificial incantation, preparing to sacrifice Li Yan's shadow's arm.

"Detected that the Host's shadow is being sacrificed. Side effect reversal initiated!"

"Side effect: Sacrificing the shadow's left arm to the Blood Shadow Venerable."

"Effect reversal: Absorbing the Blood Shadow Venerable's abilities."

Reversal of Heaven and Earth!

At this moment, no one realized that Li Yan, this seemingly dull and self-unaware shadow,

was continuously absorbing and transmitting the Blood Shadow Venerable's abilities to Li Yan's main body.

"Absorbing the Blood Shadow Venerable's abilities, you have mastered—Blood Shadow Incarnation Art."

"Absorbing the Blood Shadow Venerable's abilities, you have mastered—Shadow Puppet Art."

"Absorbing the Blood Shadow Venerable's abilities, you have mastered—Blood Shadow Immortal Art!"

"Absorbing the Blood Shadow Venerable's energy, your Cultivation has increased to Ban Xue Realm Fourth Rank."

"Absorbing..."

When Li Yan began to sacrifice himself, even the Heavenly Gods would tremble.

How was this a sacrifice?

This was clearly an offering of love.

While other shadows were sacrificing themselves, Li Yan, on the contrary, began to fleece them.

One skill after another was mastered by him, and his own Cultivation was still rising.

And all of this happened silently; probably not even the Blood Shadow Venerable had noticed.

However, the shadow with the Crescent Shadow on its brow did discover something was amiss.

"Hmm?"

"Wait, what's going on?"

"Not only was your arm not sacrificed, but your... your shadow is growing stronger?"

Although the Crescent Shadow couldn't understand why this was happening, he realized the abnormality of the situation.

"Who exactly are you?"