Chapter Ninety-Three: Shadow?

Where am I?

Guo Lang stared at everything around him. There was not the faintest trace of light anywhere. In this darkness, no matter how wide his vision stretched, he could see nothing at all. It was genuinely unsettling. He forced his mind into perfect concentration, and he remembered very clearly the expression on the shadow’s face when Mawei had hurled him in here: that look of wild excitement, twisted with malice. What kind of malice had that been? It was not hatred, but a deep, pure wickedness born of desire, as though killing him would grant everything the other had ever wanted in this life. The intent to kill had been utterly untainted. A chill ran through Guo Lang. Aside from the race of Chaos, he had never heard of a profession trial that could kill someone. Could the Night also possess such a trait?

But as time ticked by, Guo Lang still felt nothing.

In this place where the eyes could see no light and the ears could hear no sound, all he could do was keep every nerve drawn taut, making sure he could react the instant he was attacked. Yet such constant tension was exhausting, and Guo Lang immediately sensed how disadvantageous this was. If the enemy could see him, while he could not find the enemy, then there was essentially no suspense in this battle at all. The other side only needed to wait in the shadows until he was utterly spent, then cut him down as easily as slaughtering a chicken.

No. That was wrong. That was far too unfair.

Just as Guo Lang was growing perplexed, the long-absent voice of the system finally sounded in his mind: “Believer Guo Lang, you have accepted the Shadow Speaker profession trial. First stage: observe and imitate the first host from the perspective of a shadow.”

“A shadow? Imitate?” Guo Lang froze, taking a long while to process what he had just heard.

Then, abruptly, light appeared in the endless darkness. The space that had been so black it seemed to extinguish all hope suddenly glimmered with brightness, and Guo Lang felt as if he had been granted salvation. He nearly tumbled over himself in his rush toward it.

He saw soft sunlight, wooden furniture, and several pots of unfamiliar flowers and plants beside the window. Yet this style of construction seemed strangely familiar.

It was the interior style of the elves.

Guo Lang was certain of it.

But strangely, he could not enter. It was as though an unbreakable mirror separated him from the other side of the world, keeping him from feeling the warmth of the sun or the fragrance of the flowers and plants, even though they seemed so close he could almost touch them.

Then something even stranger happened. His body moved on its own. The posture seemed to be that of rising from bed. The figure was dressed in shirt and trousers, her movements crisp and efficient, but Guo Lang could still sense it: the person was a woman, and he himself was that woman’s shadow.

He had actually become a shadow.

Though bizarre, Guo Lang still forced himself to calm down and began observing this so-called first host.

First of all, her clothing was exquisitely made. Not only was the workmanship superb, but the quality was also far from ordinary: pure silver-grade leather armor. In Guo Lang’s previous life, even after the great age had already lasted twenty years, such attire was still incredibly precious. One had to know that most people only with high-ranking gold-grade status were qualified to wear a full set of silver-grade apparel. In that era, the cost of enchantment had been extremely high.

More than that, this was not some rough imitation. Guo Lang had seen this cut and style in books before. It was the attire of the Windrunner family.

While Guo Lang was still observing, the system voice sounded again: “Believer Guo Lang, you have accepted the first stage of the Shadow Speaker trial. Possess the selected host, successfully observe and imitate her behavior for one week, and if successful you will enter the next stage of the trial. If you fail, a new host will be selected. Current first host: Audacia Windrunner. Rank: middle Silver. Profession: Windrunner, beastmaster-style ranger. Event experienced: the Tide of Corruption.”

The Tide of Corruption?

Guo Lang was startled.

That was a legendary war, and every race’s archives recorded it. This battle had directly altered the course of history and stood as one of the great wars that carried the elf race from its peak to its decline.

The ancient elves had once been the most powerful race in the highest plane of the universe, blessed with long lives, beautiful appearances, enviable talents, and a strange affinity with nature itself. All of that made their civilization unshakable across the cosmos. At that time, the Night and Blood Elves had not yet split away; they were merely branches of the elven lineage.

The Blood Elf line had been the noble branch of the ancient elves, holding the highest council and the imperial succession. The Night and Nature branches, by contrast, had only been offshoots of two popular faiths among the common people. It was an age of joint rule between throne and god, and the elves possessed the most flourishing civilization, along with the support of the greatest number of gods.

And yet all of it came to an end with the Tide of Corruption.

A race of creatures more brutal and terrifying than any other appeared in the universe: the Void. It was a race the Lord of Destruction had spent ages gathering across the cosmos, finally finding one with limitless potential and a perfect affinity for its nature.

From the Tide of Corruption at the beginning, to the later plane riot, the descent of chaos, and the invasion of the beastfolk, that highest plane endured the most chaotic war in history. After the war, the Void was forced back, the elf race split apart and fell into decline, the race of Chaos and the beastfolk both suffered grievous losses, and then, in the Age of Light, humanity rose.

Since then, many great powers had stood side by side in the highest plane; it was no longer the sole dominion of the elves. Guo Lang had only ever seen that highest plane described in books. What had ultimately become of it, who exactly had taken possession of it, and how the ten races had vanished from it—the archives never recorded any of that. But Guo Lang had a vague feeling that the true purpose behind the gods’ cultivation of them was probably that so-called highest plane.

As for what conspiracy lay behind it all, someone as insignificant as Guo Lang had neither the mood nor the standing to guess. After all, it was far too distant from him. He had never imagined that one day he would personally experience an event of such scale.

The Tide of Corruption, as one of the greatest wars in history, was surely magnificent beyond measure. In those days, prodigies abounded; true silver-rankers were everywhere, gold-rankers walked the earth, epic beings were merely priest-level figures, and only legends were the true protagonists of the battlefield.

And he, by some stroke of fortune, had come to such a glorious era...

It was really...

Absolutely damned ridiculous.

Guo Lang was only a step away from shouting curses. What was the meaning of this mission? He had merely advanced to a bronze profession, so why was everything spiraling into something bigger and bigger? What role was he supposed to play if you made the scene this grand?

Clearly, the person he had possessed was a weak silver-rank nobody, someone whose status in this era might not even surpass Guo Lang’s bronze knight from the Federation age. She was unquestionably cannon fodder. And in a legendary event of this scale, even the smallest wave could crush her to death. There were simply too many unstable factors.

Most crucially, from the wording of the mission, this seemed to be a survival-type task. To simulate for one week likely meant he had to stay alive for at least one week. If he died before that, there would naturally be no simulation to speak of. But the problem was: as a shadow, how was he supposed to help her survive a week?

Just as Guo Lang was agonizing over this, the figure had already risen from bed. She stood before the mirror, adjusting her bearing, and Guo Lang finally saw her face head-on.

Truth be told, she was very beautiful. Her figure was tall and slender, her features delicate and lovely. Her silver-white hair had been simply tied back, and combined with the ranger’s distinctive leather armor, she carried herself with a capable, dashing air.

Looking at those deep blue-violet pupils and the elegant patterns unique to the Windrunner family, Guo Lang could not help but freeze. A thought rose in his heart:

So this is... the present me?

No.

A cold voice sounded behind Guo Lang. There was not the slightest warmth in it, only thick, mocking disdain.

“Do not be so self-righteous. You are only a shadow.”