Chapter 448: Chapter 389: Invasion and Evolution
An expanse of wasteland that had been ploughed over and over again by war, leaving only charred soil and scattered stubborn rocks.
In a cave half-covered by several weathered boulders and completely inconspicuous, space rippled slightly, and the figures of Jeming and Anya slowly shifted from illusory to solid.
The light inside the cave was dim, the air thick with dust and a trace of Light Element presence, but the Energy level of the residual Energy aura was extremely faint.
Jeming’s gaze swept across the cave walls and finally settled on a massive block of basalt at the bottom of the cave that was completely out of place with the surroundings, looking far too regular.
"It’s here?" Anya lowered her voice and asked. Her perception spread out like invisible tendrils, cautiously probing every inch of space around them.
Jeming glanced down at the faintly glowing map projected by the terminal on his wrist, then cross‑checked it with the precise coordinates and Energy markers sent by the Starfall Wizard, and nodded:
"That’s right, the coordinates match, and the abnormal Energy convergence below also points to this spot. Under this rock should be the narrow fissure that leads down into their ’secret works.’"
The two of them said nothing more and simultaneously deployed their scouting methods.
Jeming’s Spiritual Power seeped into the microscopic structure of the boulder like precise mercury, while Anya probed by means of Life sensing attached to the microorganisms in the cave and the faint air currents.
Soon, their perceptions penetrated the thick layers of rock and "saw" the long, narrow, downward‑winding fissure below that had been deliberately hidden away.
From deep within the fissure came a faint, rhythmic, massive Energy pulsation, like the heartbeat of a slumbering Giant Beast.
"These light clusters... their awakened intelligence hasn’t been around long, but their instinct, or rather survival wisdom, is pretty much maxed out." Jeming withdrew his perception, a hint of amusement in his tone. "Know that if you want to do something big, you nest underground, use thick rock to mask Energy fluctuations and light leakage. This is basically a complete betrayal of their ’radiant’ nature."
Anya looked at the boulder and asked, "How do we get down? Blast straight through it?"
"No." Jeming shook his head. "Lord Starfall wants detailed data from close‑range observation of the entire process of their ’plan’ being carried out. Spooking them now would make it pointless. We have to infiltrate and lie low, only show ourselves when they’re at their most complacent, thinking success is at hand. Before that, we stay hidden as much as possible and observe quietly."
"Got it." Anya nodded, then looked at Jeming. "In that case, we need a very covert infiltration method."
"Indeed, but the crack behind this is too narrow. A normal person can’t get through at all..." At this point, Jeming looked a little awkward.
To be honest, he had no problem with ordinary body‑concealment or Energy‑concealment techniques, but in a situation like this, he really didn’t have any good methods.
Mainly, in normal operations on the Plane Battlefield, Jeming was part of the main force; he never had much need for this sort of technique.
Using the Five Elements Rainbow Transformation Mirror for Light Transformation could send them straight down, but the disturbance would be too big: "In this situation I can only resort to Alchemy..."
"Your Alchemy to reshape terrain would be too noisy and might trigger whatever alert mechanisms they’ve set along the route. Let me handle it."
Jeming followed the suggestion readily: "All right, what do you have in mind?"
Anya did not answer. She merely lifted her slender wrist and gave a light beckon.
From amidst her long hair, several strands of black Shadow, even finer than hair and almost impossible to catch with the naked eye, quietly drifted out and coiled around her fingertips as if alive.
Jeming could clearly sense that these were also a type of Spirit of Nature, only a comparatively rare kind related to Shadow Spirit Bodies.
The next moment, these Shadows rapidly swelled and spread, like a soft, lightless black curtain, sweeping over toward Jeming and herself.
Jeming did not resist, letting that icy‑cold sensation press against his skin.
The feeling of being wrapped in Shadow was very peculiar.
Looking out from within, his field of vision seemed separated by an extremely thin layer of black glass. The light dimmed, color saturation dropped, but outlines of objects remained clear.
As for his own body, there was almost no change in sensation. Breathing, heartbeat, Energy flow all proceeded as usual; even the casting of Perception Magic was not noticeably hindered.
It was as if this Shadow only operated on the optical level, and could even to some extent absorb and distort stray Spiritual Fluctuations.
"Don’t make a sound. Stay close to me." Anya’s voice sounded directly in his mind; it was some kind of finely tuned spiritual communication.
Immediately after, Jeming felt a slight shift under his feet, and his whole body drifted forward along with the mass of "Shadow" enveloping them.
From the outside, the spot where they had been standing had turned into a patch of deep, writhing Shadow with blurred edges.
This Shadow, as if possessing its own intelligence, adhered precisely to the bumps and dips of the cave rock and to the boundaries between light and dark, "flowing" soundlessly to the side of the boulder that blocked the fissure.
When the Shadow touched the surface of the boulder, there was no impact. Instead, like water meeting porous reef, it quickly split into countless finer strands, seeping in along the tiny gaps between the boulder and the cave wall and the natural micro‑fissures within the rock itself.
Jeming could feel his own body, under the wrapping of the Shadow, undergo an extremely supple deformation as well, as if turning into a liquid without fixed shape.
Yet this deformation brought no discomfort or pain, only a strange sense of weightlessness and flow.
The Shadow "flowed" past the boulder barrier and entered the narrow fissure that extended downward.
The fissure was less than a finger wide, twisting and winding, riddled with rough rock edges and sharp gravel.
But under Anya’s exquisite control, the Shadow moved like the most agile of fish, always finding the most suitable path, slipping downward in perfect Stealth, soundless and unseen.
