Chapter 173: Ultimate Suppression

Xu Qing did not pay attention to the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's performance. At this moment, he was suppressing it while looking up at the distant horizon.

His mind recalled the scene when he first obtained the shadow.

That was in the jungle forbidden zone, when he and the Thunder Squad were killing a pack of Black-Scaled Wolves. The moment a Black-Scaled Wolf died, its shadow spread over, as if wanting to parasitize him.

And it was in that instance that the purple crystal truly changed in meaning, sealing this shadow.

Since then, his shadow had mutated.

To be precise, his shadow should have become the carrier of the Black-Scaled Wolf shadow, and the two had merged together.

The other party's ability to absorb heterogenous matter made Xu Qing's cultivation smoother. While he himself was incomparably pure, the shadow was also constantly absorbing heterogenous matter to grow, and its combat power also improved accordingly.

In the days that followed, the shadow had no other changes besides assisting, and Xu Qing, after discovering that he could control the shadow, made it his hidden trump card.

Until that time with the killer fish, the shadow revealed a hint of spirituality, followed by the mute youth's reminder, and the act of it truly waking up on the Mermaid Island to extinguish the Spirit-Sensing Lamp.

Since then, the shadow not only revealed spirituality but also showed a certain level of intellect.

Xu Qing had long anticipated all of this.

But his cultivation base could always suppress it, and with the purple crystal's suppression, although he had some concerns, he still let the other party grow stronger, which led to the previous scene of backlash.

Regarding the shadow's backlash, Xu Qing was not surprised; this was within his expectations.

But the fact that the shadow could attract the giant dragon chariot was something Xu Qing was very surprised by, which gave him more guesses about the shadow's origin.

"But no matter what, for me, you have more disadvantages than advantages." Xu Qing lowered his head, looked at the shadow calmly, and spoke indifferently.

His tone made the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor shiver in his heart, and the shadow also clearly felt the difference from usual, radiating an even more terrified emotional fluctuation, incomparably violent, as if begging for mercy.

"Since that's the case, what use are you!" Xu Qing closed his eyes, raised his right hand, and pressed it onto the shadow on the deck without hesitation.

This time, the purple light did not radiate to suppress, but fell directly onto the shadow's body along Xu Qing's right hand. The next instant, the boat roared, the shadow could not withstand it, and it let out an unprecedented, miserable shriek.

An emotion mixed with pain and anger radiated from within, surging into Xu Qing's perception.

Xu Qing did not pay attention and continued to suppress it.

And its miserable wailing made the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's heart tremble. He instinctively retreated some distance, and when he looked at Xu Qing, tension appeared in his eyes.

Amidst the rumbling, the shadow became dimmer in its wailing, and then with a *bang*, it shattered, changing from its original tree state into an ordinary shadow.

The wailing also slowly weakened from being miserable, turning into begging, while a sense of weakness spread out.

Xu Qing was expressionless and continued to suppress it.

One hundred and eighty times, two hundred and forty times, three hundred and twenty times...

His purple light erupted and roared time and time again, suppressing it time and time again. The shadow on the deck had become blurry in this constant dimming, its wailing growing weaker and weaker, while the decisiveness in Xu Qing's eyes contained his determination.

He was truly going to erase it completely. As for how to solve his heterogenous matter after the other party died, Xu Qing was not too worried.

There was a question of primary and secondary here; his purple crystal was primary, and the shadow was secondary.

Although the shadow could absorb heterogenous matter, since the purple crystal could seal it, it could also seal other things similar to the shadow. At worst, after killing it, he could go to the forbidden zone more often and find another seal to replace it.

So even though the shadow was already extremely dim at this moment, his suppression continued. Three hundred and fiftieth time, four hundred and sixtieth time, five hundred and seventieth time, six hundred and eightieth time... The entire process did not have the slightest pause, incomparably resolute.

Until the shadow, in the constant dimming, had to shrink and gather into a ball, making its color not so dim, but a bit thicker. Its form changed into a little person, posing in a kneeling posture, constantly kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Xu Qing looked coldly at this kowtowing shadow person, and his right hand pressed down again.

Amidst the rumbling, he slapped it to pieces with one palm.

The shriek stopped abruptly.

Xu Qing's expression was calm. He sat under the sunlight. No shadow appeared beside him, but he did not pay attention to this eerie scene. He stood up, walked to the edge of the magic ship, and looked down at the black ocean.

At this moment, under the sunlight, if he had a shadow, the shadow's position should have been reflected on the ocean filled with heterogenous matter.

Standing there for a long time, Xu Qing walked back to the bow and spoke indifferently.

"Get out!"

The deck was quiet, with no trace revealed.

Xu Qing suddenly smiled, the cold light in his eyes appeared again, the purple light on his chest faintly shone, and the moment it was about to erupt again, the previously collapsed shadow appeared on the deck, trembling.

The moment it appeared, it rapidly shrank, turned into a little person, and kowtowed quickly. The sense of begging was much stronger than before.

"You were slow to come out." Xu Qing spoke slowly and suppressed it again.

With a *bang*, the little person collapsed, and a miserable wail let out half a sound before it dissipated.

Xu Qing was expressionless and closed his eyes to meditate. He discovered that this shadow was a bit troublesome to kill, so he studied the purple crystal on his chest, looking for a way to kill the shadow completely.

Time passed, and soon it was noon, the time when the scorching sun was at its strongest. Amidst the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's extreme tension for half a day, Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked calmly at the deck.

"Get out."

The next instant, the shadow condensed at an astonishing speed, seemingly afraid that if it were slow, it would be tortured again.

Although its shadow was still very dim, after more than an hour of recovery, it barely had a contour and returned to the tree shape.

At this moment, in the emotion transmitted during the trembling, besides begging, the sense of fear was more than ten times greater than before.

"You have been by my side for a long time, you should know my character."

Xu Qing looked coldly at the shadow. He wanted to kill it, but studying the crystal required time, so under his gaze at this moment, after the other party's terror grew stronger, Xu Qing spoke slowly.

"I'll give you three months to change my mind about wanting to kill you. If you can't do it..." Xu Qing did not continue.

The shadow shivered and kowtowed constantly, as if promising.

"Tell me now, after you were promoted, what is different from before." Xu Qing glanced at the shadow.

"Bite... control..." The shadow tried hard to transmit information, but it was too weak now, and perhaps due to its own characteristics, it was difficult for it to complete a full expression of language after promotion, so it could only describe as much as possible.

Xu Qing frowned. The other party's expression was somewhat singular. He needed to know accurately what the shadow's ability was after promotion; this concerned the arrangement of some future battles.

"Master, leave it to me!" The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor finally found an opportunity and hurriedly spoke. Lightning flashed across his body, making him move extremely fast, directly arriving in front of the shadow. He stared at the shadow's hundred-plus eyes and asked in a low voice rapidly.

"I ask, if it's right, you blink; if it's wrong, you nod. Now tell me, what are you saying you bite? Bite heterogenous matter? Bite flesh and blood? Bite shadows?"

The shadow looked at the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor, and unkindness appeared in its eyes, but there was no way now. It couldn't describe it clearly, so it could only obey. Soon, after hearing the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor say "bite shadows," it hurriedly blinked.

"Bite yourself? Bite others?"

"Bite one bite? Bite everything?"

"Is that called swallow... control after swallowing? Control the body? Control the soul?"

After some communication, the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor suddenly realized and turned his head to look at Xu Qing rapidly.

"Master, I understand. Little Shadow means that it can swallow other people's shadows, and the moment it completely swallows them, it can control the other party's body. But for you, Master, because there is something that makes it fear, it can't do it!" After the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor finished speaking, the shadow clearly revealed an emotion of agreement and nodded rapidly.

But soon it reacted and shook its head rapidly.

Finally, it looked at the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor a bit confused. Clearly, Xu Qing's unprecedented suppression earlier had damaged its spirituality, and even its intellect was not as good as before.

"Little Shadow, you must remember, blink if it's right, nod if it's wrong. This way, the recognition will be very high, which is convenient for me to understand the meaning of the words you want to say." The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor spoke with a kind face, without showing any ulterior motives.

After hearing this, the shadow blinked hurriedly.

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's smile became even gentler, but in his heart, he thought, *Little brat shadow, you still dare to show malevolence to me, the Ancestor. Let's see how I punish you in the future. As long as you get used to my interpretation and get used to nodding when you are wrong, then I have too many ways to make you suffer a big loss without knowing it. *

Xu Qing did not pay attention to the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's little thoughts. After hearing the shadow's ability, he was somewhat moved.

This ability, in his view, was very eerie. At the same time, regarding the terrifying thing the shadow mentioned, Xu Qing knew it was the purple crystal.

"Anything else?"

"Child... observe..." The shadow spoke hurriedly, and after speaking, it looked at the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor.

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor had another round of communication and then explained.

"It has another ability: it can peel off its shadow eyes and hide them in other people's shadows, allowing you, Master, to observe through it."

"Domain..." The shadow transmitted a sound again.

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor thought for a while, asked a few questions, confirmed what the other party wanted to say, turned to look at Xu Qing, and spoke respectfully.

"Master, the shadow says it can also form a state similar to a shadow domain, but it cannot last very long. However, once opened, its ability within the domain will be greatly improved."

Listening to the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's explanation, the shadow was clearly comfortable. Looking at the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor, it felt that the other party was not as disgusting as before, so it blinked rapidly.

Xu Qing was thoughtful. The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's change was visible to the naked eye, and the shadow here was clearly more eerie after promotion. Cooperating with himself could make his own moves have more changes.

After pondering, Xu Qing looked at the ocean, and the giant dragon chariot from just now appeared in his mind.

Gradually, his eyes narrowed, and he thought of what Elder Zhao had said about the rare secret technique carved inside the dragon chariot.

Imperial-level secret technique, Golden Crow Refines Ten Thousand Spirits!

"How can one enter the dragon chariot to learn this secret technique..." Xu Qing was moved. Looking at the ocean, as he pondered in his eyes, the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor to the side squatted beside the shadow and began to persuade it.

"Little Shadow, I know you actually find Master very unpleasant, right?"

The shadow was stunned and hurriedly nodded.

"You shouldn't be like this. I have read many ancient books, and in them, anyone who has a rebellious nature doesn't have a good ending. Of course, I know you are not convinced in your heart. You feel that the vast sky is the place for you to fly, so you always want to backlash, always want to kill the great Master, is that so?"

Xu Qing heard this and looked over.

The shadow trembled under Xu Qing's gaze and nodded cautiously. ===== CHAPTER 174 =====