June 1, 2023.
A world-shattering battle took place in the Demon Shadow Cave.
The protagonists of this battle were the Demon Shadow Squad and the God of War Squad.
This was the first encounter between the two teams since the rise of the Demon Shadow Squad.
It began with fierce contention.
The cause was reportedly that the actions of the God of War Squad affected the respawn of the Demon Shadows.
Out of a desire to protect the overall interests of the Water Blue Star, the Demon Shadow Squad declared war on the God of War Squad.
The Demon Shadow Squad deployed almost their entire force for this battle.
A full thirty-eight peak Saints, along with over a hundred mid-stage and late-stage Saints.
Such a powerful lineup had previously slain Heavenly Dao Saints from other realms.
It could be considered the most formidable force on Water Blue Star.
And the God of War Squad.
There were only Zhu Yan, Tang Xiaowan, and Luoluo.
Although Luoluo had consistently ranked first in the game and was known to everyone.
She was, after all, just a girl who focused on support.
Most people believed her actual combat power was inferior to some of the strong attackers in the Demon Shadow Squad.
Moreover, Zhu Yan and Tang Xiaowan were not among the highest-ranked members of the God of War Squad in terms of strength.
Everyone initially expected this battle to be one-sided.
The Demon Shadow Squad would undoubtedly emerge victorious.
They would teach the God of War Squad a lesson for daring to trespass on their territory.
And firmly solidify their title as the foremost power on Water Blue Star.
But no one had anticipated.
The outcome of this battle would be so unexpectedly different.
With three individuals facing an overwhelming force of over a hundred people.
In the end, it was the smaller God of War Squad that emerged victorious.
And the process was extremely brutal.
Eleven peak Saints from the Demon Shadow Squad were severely injured, while the other more than twenty peak Saints sustained minor injuries.
The remaining Saints all bore wounds.
Nearly half of them were on the verge of death.
The God of War Squad also paid a heavy price.
After the intense battle, all three had their immortal power severely depleted.
Zhu Yan's arm bled profusely from an injury.
If not for his exceptional innate recovery abilities and Luoluo's continuous support with her healing divine abilities.
He might not have been able to hold on.
Tang Xiaowan, with her stealth divine abilities, had ensured her survival through high-priority skills.
However, her immortal power consumption was also immense.
A weapon of innate supreme treasure grade was also destroyed in this battle.
After the battle, all three were panting for breath.
Tang Xiaowan could barely stand.
She had to be supported by Luoluo to remain upright.
When the three returned to base, everyone was shocked.
"We did not fail our mission!"
Zhu Yan handed over a Chaos Universe Bag filled with hundreds of Demon Shadows of various strengths to Yang Jun.
Then he collapsed.
The other two women were also helped back to their rooms by Han Qingqing to rest.
"Good brother!"
Yang Jun's nose felt a little sore as he patted Zhu Yan's shoulder.
Since the others had successfully completed their mission.
He couldn't afford to lag behind.
The combat power monitor, integrated with the Heavenly Outer Divine Crystal, was finally ready for use.
"Begin analysis immediately!"
Yang Jun waved his hand.
He initially thought this would be a simple task.
He would just throw in the various Demon Shadows one by one, and the powerful combat power monitor would provide a comprehensive analysis.
And from the different assessments of their respective strengths, a more thorough judgment could be made.
The Demon Shadows below the Golden Immortal level indeed behaved as expected.
The combat power monitor quickly yielded results.
They were essentially soul-type creatures that could slightly increase the energy cap of physical beings.
But from the Golden Immortal level onwards, things became strange.
"Unknown anomaly detected, possessing a certain risk."
"Would you like to use energy to eliminate it?"
"Alternatively, the corresponding controller can perform a gradual elimination, which takes longer."
Yang Jun's eyes lit up.
The main event had arrived!
This was likely the aspect that he and Feng Ge had found suspicious.
Eliminating it directly would be simple, as there was more than enough stored energy.
However, doing so would make it difficult to uncover the truth behind these Demon Shadows.
"Gradual elimination!"
"This operation requires 0.001% energy and takes 1 minute."
"Multiple targets can be added for batch elimination."
"The operation can assign controllers for individual control or allow shared control to reduce time."
The energy cost alone startled Yang Jun.
Direct elimination only required 0.0001% energy.
Yet, gradual elimination increased the cost by tenfold.
There was definitely something fishy going on!
He felt that he was on the verge of discovering the truth about the Demon Shadows.
There were three Golden Immortal level Demon Shadows in the Universe Bag.
Yang Jun had Yang Tian and Tan Fen step forward.
The three of them controlled simultaneously for individual operations.
One minute later.
The three masses of Demon Shadows enveloped by the combat power monitor's light changed their appearance.
From the previously dark and sinister look.
They transformed into balls of pure white, warm energy.
And under the combat power monitor, the description also changed.
Energy Target 2
Absorption Effect: Increases immortal power limit by 10% (Chaos Immortal Power by 1%)
Yang Jun was puzzled.
Before this, he had consulted others about Demon Shadows.
Let alone increasing the immortal power limit,
Some could even directly increase current immortal power or boost immortal power recovery speed.
Not to mention those that could enhance the power of divine abilities or treasures.
Why did the effect weaken after choosing gradual elimination?
Before he could experiment further.
The combat power monitor uncharacteristically provided a description.
"Energy Target 1 has been gradually eliminated."
"Analysis results: This energy is the form of an unknown species. Those with a certain combat power possess self-awareness. Upon merging with a physical body, they can gradually eliminate the physical body's consciousness, usurp it, and gain independent control."
"Direct elimination provides feedback of energy replenishment to the reserve energy."
"Gradual elimination completely erases the original self-awareness, transforming it into purified energy. This purified energy can enhance physical body capabilities. Depending on the physical body's own qualifications, the amount of purified energy that can be absorbed varies."
Self-awareness?
Yang Jun involuntarily took a step back.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Holy hell!
These Demon Shadows possessed self-awareness?
Then, how could so many people on Water Blue Star absorb them without realizing it?
Were they being invaded by the Demon Shadows' consciousness without even knowing it?
The Demon Shadows below the Golden Immortal level seemed to lack consciousness.
But these Golden Immortal level ones, with the combat power monitor's help, it cost equivalent to 100 billion immortal crystals to convert.
If it were higher levels, the increase would be exponential.
The members of the God of War Squad could absorb the converted purified energy through gradual elimination.
But others on Water Blue Star did not have this advantage.
Yang Jun exchanged glances with the others, seeing the solemnity in their eyes.
Did this mean trouble?
Now, there were likely many humans on Water Blue Star who had absorbed Golden Immortal or higher level Demon Shadows and had already fallen victim!
The Demon Shadows' consciousness remained hidden during normal times, making it unnoticeable.
But once they gradually eliminated human consciousness and took over,
By then, the original humans of Water Blue Star would have effectively become members of this Demon Shadow species.
If in a battle, someone confidently turned their back to a person,
And that Demon Shadow-possessed person suddenly betrayed them.
Everyone present broke out in a cold sweat.
A conspiracy!
This was a shocking, colossal conspiracy!
…
Thanks to Xu Jin Ge of the Western Yue Imperial Palace for the blade gift.