The weariness in Linde's eyes had not completely faded, but the excitement of gaining new strength acted like a stimulant, dispelling the heaviness in his body.
He slowly stood up, sensing the new, deep, dark patterns that had appeared on the surface of the purple polyhedron in his mind—representing the [Shadow Abyss Halo].
Lin De had a sudden thought.
Buzz!
An invisible wave instantly spread out from Linde as the center!
It was neither as fiery and bright as golden battle aura, nor as pure as the perception that activated vision, but rather a cold, viscous, dark force field that seemed to devour light!
This force field first acts on Linde himself.
Lind's figure blurred instantly, as if merging into the deep shadows of the corner of the secret room. He felt that he was no longer merely being obscured by the shadows, but rather that he had achieved a strange "harmony" with the shadows themselves.
With a slight thought, his body, as if weightless, instantly "slid" from the center of the secret chamber to a shadowy corner near the stone wall. The entire process was silent and incredibly fast, exceeding the limits of physical movement! This wasn't a high-speed sprint; it was more like... a momentary "displacement" on the "surface" of the shadow!
"Shadows moving..."
Linde understood; this was one of the effects of the halo enhancing him.
He could even vaguely "sense" a deeper dimension beyond the shadow of the stone wall—a desolate, cold, and repulsive "shadow realm." Although his current abilities were insufficient to truly enter it, he could already touch its edge.
This sense of movement is fluid and natural, as if a part of one's instincts has been awakened.
Next, Linde turned his attention to the aura's external projection effect.
He focused his mind, trying to restrain and guide that cold, dark force field.
laugh……
Thin, yet substantial black mist emanated from Linde's body.
This fog was not simply darkness; it carried a chilling vitality, as if countless tiny black worms were wriggling within it, emanating a strong aura of corrosion and annihilation.
As soon as it appeared, it seemed as if some of the light in the sealed room was absorbed, and the temperature dropped sharply again.
Linde's gaze locked onto the light vein box on the stone platform, which had just been sealed with the Shadow Abyss Essence and whose surface runes still emitted a faint warmth.
This box was originally a container he meticulously crafted using the power of the Light Veins to imprison the power of Shadow Abyss.
He carefully controlled the wisp of black mist, as if manipulating a dangerous venomous snake, slowly approaching the light pulse box.
The instant the black mist touched the surface of the light pulse box—
Sizzle!
It was like a red-hot iron being pressed onto ice!
The patterns on the surface of the light pulse box, which originally shimmered with a gentle light, suddenly erupted with intense resistance!
But it only lasted for a moment before the light quickly dimmed and dissipated under the erosion of the black mist!
The light veins that made up the patterns seemed to be "nibbled" away, emitting a faint, teeth-grinding cracking sound!
The warm and resilient barrier of light vein power was quickly neutralized and disintegrated in the face of this pure Shadow Abyss energy, as if it had encountered its nemesis!
Within a few breaths, the faint light on the surface of the light pulse box, which symbolized sealing and protection, completely went out, turning it gray and dull, as if it were just an ordinary metal box.
It has lost the ability to isolate and seal the power of Shadow Abyss!
"Corrosion... counteracts the power of the light veins..."
Linde stared at the now-ineffective light pulse box, his eyes gleaming.
The effect was even more devastating than he had anticipated! The energy released by the Shadow Abyss Halo was extremely destructive to the forces of order and light!
Linde now essentially possesses both the power of the Shadow Abyss and the power of the Light Vein.
These two forces are mutually restraining, like fire and water.
After the test was completed, Lin De had a thought and withdrew the Shadow Abyss Aura.
The cold, dark atmosphere in the sealed room quickly dissipated, but the lingering chill and the dim patterns on the light source box still indicated what had just happened.
"Meow...Master...what you just now..."
Nix witnessed the whole thing, and her little face was now filled with shock and a hint of barely perceptible fear.
As she watched the black mist emanating from Linde's palm, and how easily it disintegrated the power of the light veins, a primal instinct deep within her bloodline made her feel intensely uneasy.
The feeling... was like seeing a natural enemy. A familiar feeling that stirred her soul made her fur stand on end, her tail tucked tightly between her legs, and she let out a low whimper.
At the same time, the "rules" contained within the black mist gave her a strange and indescribable attraction, as if they were echoing something dormant within her.
Lind keenly caught Nix's reaction.
Her shock was expected, but the deep fear and the hidden, contradictory tremor in his heart set off alarm bells.
He recalled Nix's innate ability to traverse shadows, an ability that even surpassed that of many other creatures in the Shadow Abyss. That traversal was equally silent, equally instinctive, and equally deeply connected to the dimension of shadows!
"Shadows moving..."
Lind's sharp gaze fell on Nix, with an unprecedented scrutiny.
“Nix, your shadow talent… seems to have a striking resemblance to this Shadow Abyss in its manifestation… perhaps even… more natural?”
Nix's body stiffened slightly, her amber pupils contracted sharply, filled with confusion and unease:
"Meow? Nix... Nix doesn't know, meow... Nix is just... born with... it's like breathing, meow..."
She instinctively took a step back, as if trying to distance herself from the lingering aura of Shadow Abyss on Linde, but couldn't help looking at him with a probing gaze.
It's something you're born with! Like breathing!
These words struck Lind's heart like a heavy hammer!
Holy Blood Orc! Nix is a Holy Blood Orc with ancient and sacred blood! This is a fact that Lind has already confirmed.
Holy Blood Orcs are typically associated with powerful vitality, elemental affinity, or even divine power, such as immense strength, fire resistance, or healing abilities.
But what about Nix? What is her core ability? It's an almost instinctive affinity for and ability to move through shadows! This ability is powerful and eerie, seemingly incompatible with, and even contrary to, the wildness and vitality symbolized by the Beast God!
This is why Nazra, who is also an orc, was so shocked that she couldn't speak when she saw Nix.
Nix's condition was vastly different from the other Holy Blood Orcs.
Lind had previously thought that Nix's talent was special, but he had not investigated it in depth, attributing it to the complex mutations of the orc bloodline.
But at this moment, after he personally experienced the "Shadow Travel" originating from the source of the Shadow Abyss, and compared it with Nix's natural ability, which seemed to be part of the shadow itself, a chilling coldness quietly crept up Lind's spine.
Nix's shadow-walking is so pure! So primal! It's something that can't be achieved through acquired skills or ordinary mutations!
Her abilities and the sense of movement granted by the Shadow Abyss Aura, though one originates from her bloodline and the other from the system in terms of power attributes, actually point to the same origin at the level of "rules"—the deep rules of the Shadow Dimension!
Even more so, Nix's movement seemed more "natural," as if she were born to be a part of that dimension!
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