Chapter 67: The Shadow, Bubai

Silver Law Sequence 121, Instant Bloom: At the cost of lifespan, alter one's timeline to enter a state of time acceleration.

Another time-related ability? But unlike the previous one, this clearly possessed terrifying combat potential. The description was simple, but a moment's thought revealed just how horrifying Instant Bloom truly was.

If he accelerated his own time a hundredfold, wouldn't that make him a hundred times faster? It wasn't just a matter of running fast—every single action would speed up.

For example, a routine of eating, drinking, using the bathroom, and showering might normally take an hour, but under time acceleration, it could be finished in a single second. If the user was already fast to begin with, this would make them practically invincible, even mimicking the effect of stopped time.

Seeing this, Su Mu wondered how such a staggeringly powerful ability could only be ranked Silver. Just how terrifying was a Gold powerhouse?

With a rustle of paper, he turned to the final page: Transcendent Taboos.

1. Revealing any information regarding the Nightmare World to ordinary people is strictly prohibited. Violators will be hunted down by the Empire.

Note: Nightmares possess the ability to spread through cognition. The more people who learn of nightmares, the easier it is to trigger a Nightmare Invasion in reality. By the same logic, ordinary people aware of the Nightmare World's existence are far more likely to enter it than those who remain ignorant.

That rule was easy to understand. After all, people dreamt of what they thought about during the day. It was difficult to dream of something completely unknown, but once the mind held information about the Nightmare World, the chances of dreaming of it naturally spiked.

2. Laws are housed within the spirit. The limit is three. Exceeding this limit will trigger a Transcendent conflict and cause a mental collapse.

3. Pursuing the wrong Transcendent path will make advancement impossible. Forcing advancement will result in a mental collapse.

"Mental collapse?" For some inexplicable reason, reading those words gave Su Mu the sudden urge to try it. He even wondered if he could use that method to rein in his endlessly growing spiritual power.

"This world just keeps getting more interesting." He closed the file, a deep smile hidden behind his Tinted Glasses.

"All that effort to survive was definitely worth it."

He then took off the Tinted Glasses, set them on the nightstand, shed his jacket, and got ready for bed.

A soft click came from the next room as a door opened. Those heavy footsteps unmistakably belonged to Yang Dongqing. Thud, thud, thud... Yang Dongqing was sneaking downstairs.

He was probably off to experience the dazzling nightlife of the Upper District.

Su Mu ignored him and peacefully went to sleep.

Tick, tick, tick...

Time ticked by minute by minute. The room was so quiet that only the turning hands of the wall clock could be heard.

Moonlight slipped through the curtains, casting a hazy glow over Su Mu. He lay on the bed, his shadow cast upon the cold floor.

Suddenly, his shadow moved!

The shadow's arms slowly stretched out, extending into two massive hands that resembled withered branches. Gradually, the darkness roiled until it finally stood up from the floor, morphing into a towering humanoid silhouette whose head nearly brushed the ceiling!

Swish!

A pair of scarlet eyes snapped open where the shadow's head should be, fixing a cold, unblinking stare on the sleeping Su Mu.

The scene was utterly horrifying. Anyone would find it hard to accept that after falling asleep, their own shadow would suddenly stand up, transforming into a towering monster watching them from beside the bed.

"Good friend, we meet again."

Su Mu had opened his eyes at some point. His deep irises emanated an azure glow, as if the sky itself was reflected within them, looking ethereal under the moonlight.

He smiled at the dark silhouette, greeting it with casual familiarity.

The shadow remained completely unresponsive, maintaining its unblinking stare.

Su Mu had previously been pondering a question. The shadow was clearly not a monster from Tingting's nightmare, but merely a parasite feeding on her. Yet, when he destroyed the nightmare, the shadow hadn't tried to stop him like the villagers had. It had simply allowed the nightmare to shatter.

That contradicted its behavioral patterns. Now, the mystery was finally solved.

The shadow had already hidden itself inside his own shadow, following him back to the Real World.

It made perfect sense. After all, he was one of the only two people to survive the shadow. With Tingting gone, the shadow naturally chose him.

"Hungry?" Su Mu suddenly asked. He had just sensed a mental fluctuation from the shadow, much like a pet begging its owner for food.

He smiled faintly. "No wonder you couldn't hold back and came out. You're starving. I'm just curious, though—what exactly do you eat? People?"

The shadow transmitted another mental fluctuation. Su Mu suddenly understood. "You feed on the human spirit? Hahaha... then you definitely picked the right person to follow."

The shadow had dragged all the villagers of Zhao Family Village into the darkness, turning them into walking corpses. It clearly didn't eat human flesh, only spirits. And coincidentally, spiritual power was the one thing Su Mu lacked the least.

Following that, an incredibly pure stream of spiritual power surged into the shadow. The entity began to silently chew.

Feeling his spiritual power being consumed, Su Mu's eyes lit up. Ever since becoming a Transcendent, he had been fretting over how to expend his daily overflowing spiritual power. He hadn't expected a solution to fall right into his lap.

Hypnotizing ordinary people like Zhao Chaoyao barely put a dent in his spiritual power anymore. As a nightmare monster capable of devouring an entire village, the shadow's capacity naturally went without saying.

Su Mu continued to pour in his spiritual power, wanting to see where the shadow's limits lay. Yet, barely halfway through, the shadow stopped eating.

"Full already? Friend, your appetite is lacking." He sighed and shook his head, disappointed.

Now that he thought about it, the shadow likely hadn't devoured the spiritual power of the hundreds of villagers in Zhao Family Village all at once, but rather chipped away at it little by little.

"Forget it. It's better than nothing. It at least consumes more spiritual power than hypnotizing the Poisonous Snake Gang."

Fully satiated, the shadow melted like water, turning back into a normal shadow and vanishing. It was as if everything had been a mere hallucination.

However, Su Mu noticed that the connection between himself and the shadow had grown tighter. It was likely because it had fed on his spiritual power. Not only that, but he felt as if the shadow had just grown a fraction taller.

"Since you've chosen to follow me, I should give you a name. Let me think..." He stroked his chin, carefully pondering the shadow's traits.

Its greatest trait was its blackness. In that case, he should give it a name that didn't include the word 'black,' but let people instantly know it was black upon hearing it.

"I'll call you Bubai."