Chapter 121: 【shadow Domain】 Forms
Painful and sharp insect chirping erupted and echoed in the Shadow Space.
A pitch-black giant mantis continuously emitted desperate shrieks, like a cuckoo crying blood or an ape wailing in grief, and simultaneously entered a berserk state, rampaging and crashing around in the size-limited Shadow Space, cracking its sturdy carapace and causing blood to seep out, yet still madly charging without any sense of pain.
On the other side, the Tiger Demon, also inside the Shadow Dream Hole, opened up a small observation room in the Shadow Space, hid inside it, and silently observed. It was just like bricking up a hidden wall in a fixed-area bedroom, concealing oneself in a hidden compartment, and secretly watching the room’s occupant go mad.
The Skeleton Snake Head leaned in close, looking at the mantis crazily crashing into the walls, and puzzledly said: “This doesn’t seem quite the same as Ghost Companion Refinement?”
Tiger Demon: “I inputted the Pillar Man Refinement Program from the Mountain Lord’s Domain into the Shadow Dream Hole. Now this Shadow Space has replaced the Universe Within The Belly, directly drawing on the Shadow Dream Hole’s own energy to help me efficiently refine a Pillar Man. Naturally, it’s different from the digestion process in the Universe Within The Belly.”
Little Spicy Stick thought for a moment and acknowledged: “Makes sense! The Universe Within The Belly is more like our special stomach, mainly for digesting and absorbing nutrients, with Ghost Companions as a byproduct. This Shadow Dream Hole is different—it’s a product of the Tiger Demon’s collusion with the Bubble World, so the refinement method is naturally completely different.”
Tiger Demon nodded: “Right. Compared to a stomach, I think the Shadow Dream Hole is more like a tool, such as a pressure cooker. Moreover, the Shadow Dream Hole has a high status, equivalent to a native Heavenly Realm expert acting with the power of the world to bless and accelerate. I can sense that the mission progress is fast—it only takes 30 minutes to thoroughly refine an ordinary death row prisoner.”
In his eyes, the Shadow Dream Hole = pressure cooker. Those two baskets of Magic Worm Corpses were fuel, and the death row prisoner was the ingredient. Closing the Shadow Dream Hole = sealing the pressure cooker valve, using the pressure difference between the Nightmare Layer and the Bubble World to continuously stew fiercely with the power of heaven and earth, quickly refining a Pillar Man.
From the time he ‘lit the fire’ until now, it had already been 20 minutes.
It had personally witnessed that after the Shadow Dream Hole closed, the two baskets of Magic Worm Corpses were crushed into mud under the pressure of the Shadow Space, while bursting out dense Polluting Energy. This energy was fatal to Insect Cultivators.
Originally, these Magic Worms should have been directly dumped into the Nightmare Layer to exchange for feedback energy to process the death row prisoner. But the Tiger Demon intervened, choosing to let the fans eat first.
Thus, the rolling Polluting Energy poured into the comatose death row prisoner’s body. A mere native cultivator naturally couldn’t withstand this wave of fortune. Most of the pollution just passed through his body, dispersing and leaking out again, then penetrating the shadow barrier (permeation membrane) and discharging into the Nightmare Dimension.
But this wave of pollution infusion further twisted and alienated the comatose death row prisoner, causing the Insect Pollution in his body to go berserk, with endless Power of Pollution impacting the Dao Seed.
It couldn’t eat it, couldn’t eat it at all! The Dao Seed indicated it was force-fed to the point of madly vomiting; the True Qi in its body fully demonized, the meridians distorted and wildly proliferated out of control… Then 99.99% of the pollution passed straight through, but left behind a physical body whose quality had been forcibly upgraded.
The Tiger Demon plucked feathers while passing by; even while dumping garbage, it didn’t forget to make the Pillar Man’s quality break through on the spot.
After massive pollution was transported to the Nightmare Dimension, the Shadow Dream Hole fully operated, replicating Commander Zuo’s previous upgrade mode.
Only this time, the death row prisoner was in a passive position. After the Tiger Demon inputted the Pillar Man Refinement formula, the Shadow Dream Hole simultaneously drew Shadow Pollution from the Shadow Layer + feedback ability from the Nightmare Layer, both processing and refining the demonized death row prisoner.
In just 10 minutes, it successively underwent human cocoon demonization + Pillar Man refinement.
Thus, a Shadow Magic Worm whose quality had broken through to Earth Rank first drained the flesh essence, broke out of the human cocoon, and in the further Hundredfold Accelerated Refinement, desperately and painfully screamed and struggled, continuously crashing into walls to vent its suffering in suicidal attempts.
Soon, this huge mantis wrapped in Shadow Pollution stopped struggling, its body slowly stiffening and hardening. More Shadow Pollution drilled into the cracked exoskeleton to repair the shell, then Nightmare Energy also entered the body to continue transformation and processing.
…
Half an hour later, the Shadow Dream Hole was opened, and the Tiger Demon used its bone snake tail to coil up a black Mantis Town Stone and return to the room. With a boom, the dark mantis crushed the floor tiles, sinking deep into the soil, steady as a rock, posing in a stance ready to devour people.
Immediately after, Yuan Zhu switched back to human stance and inspected the pitch-black Mantis Town Stone with a layer of metallic sheen on its surface. He first lightly tapped the Mantis Town Stone with his knuckles, producing a metallic sound—was it still solid?!
“This is a Pillar Man? It’s not a Ghost Companion after all! It looks more like a town stone placed on both sides of the door.”
Since the demonized mantis had absorbed quite a bit of Magic Worm pollution before death, its exoskeleton presented a bio-alloy material. Now refined into a Pillar Man Town Stone, it inherited the same properties, appearing extremely sturdy and hard to destroy.
Apart from being a bit blacker in color, everything else was lifelike, ferocious and terrifying, posed in a hunting pounce, and emanating a fierce, intense Insect Pollution aura—primitive and brutal, not like a dead object.
Little Spicy Stick: “Boss, it should now be called a Worm Pillar. But using town stones for array setup is reasonable and very scientific. Now mixed with metal components, it’s tough and durable, more practical. Awesome!”
Yuan Zhu stepped forward, spread his arms to hug the black mantis Worm Pillar, and lifted it with effort—it was hefty, feeling like 200kg.
After putting the Worm Pillar back in place and stepping back two steps, he surprisingly discovered that the air around the town stone was slightly distorting, linking with the Shadow Dream Hole behind him, echoing from afar.
Just like metal parts attracted by a powerful magnet, wanting to be pulled over. It was only because of its 200kg self-weight that it remained unmoving.
“This is… Nightmare aura!”
After Shadow Refinement, the Worm Pillar naturally contained dense Shadow Pollution and Insect Pollution. Observing closely now, one could see the air-like steaming distortion on its surface—this was the Nightmare effect.
Spicy Stick analyzed: “The Shadow Dream Hole can draw energy from the Nightmare Layer, so it’s no surprise that this Worm Pillar carries Nightmare properties.”
“I think this refinement was a success. This thing has high technical content.”
Yuan Zhu patted the head of the Mantis Town Stone, very satisfied. Although he had accidentally refined a death row prisoner into an insect town stone, the Worm Pillar had high value.
He had forcibly elevated a mere Human Rank death row prisoner to an undeserved Earth Rank height. And reversed the frail human body into a hard, durable Magic Worm true form! He was simply a genius of the artifact (corpse) realm.
Although refined using the Shadow Dream Hole, the Worm Pillar, like the Ghost Companion, was tightly linked to the Tiger Demon, under its 100% control, without any reluctance.
And stronger than the Ghost Companion in that it wouldn’t disappear after releasing the Tiger Demon Form. Moreover, this thing indeed met the prerequisites for the Mountain Lord’s Domain.
“Plan successful! Just issue simple commands, no active effort needed—as long as there are two baskets of Magic Worm fuel, the Shadow Dream Hole can turn waste into treasure, fully automatically refining Pillar Men. The only restriction is that it must stay inside the Shadow Dream Hole the whole time.”
Yuan Zhu discovered that for the Shadow Dream Hole to automatically refine Pillar Men, the Tiger Demon had to stay in the Shadow Space the whole time, acting as the system program for command. Without it providing the Mountain Lord’s Domain + Ghost Companion talents, the Shadow Dream Hole could only idle.
He was the core soul of Pillar Man refinement! So this Worm Pillar Town Stone was entirely his effort and achievement.
The good news was that the Tiger Demon didn’t wait in vain. The Shadow Dream Hole not only connected to the Nightmare Dimension but was also in the Shadow Layer, able to transform into a high-powered vacuum cleaner to draw Shadow Pollution and reinforce the Tiger Demon itself.
Spicy Stick: “Boss, just treat it as cultivation. Drill in and sleep. I’ll command for you and refine all the remaining Worm Pillars.”
‘Heaven did not give birth to me, Yu Jingzi, and the artifact path eternally remains in long night!’ Right! My boss and I are both peerless geniuses in the artifact/(corpse) circle!
Yuan Zhu nodded: “Then let’s begin. I’m going to demonstrate the unprecedented Dream Refinement unique skill! Strive to refine 12 Pillar Men in 6 hours—Mountain Lord’s Domain completion today!”
Little Spicy Stick was eager to try: “I’ll assist you!” My king and I will together chop out 11 Pillar Men.
Yuan Zhu went out again, bringing more Human Rank death row prisoners from the dungeon, and carried the piled Magic Worm Corpses from the warehouse basket by basket into the bedroom, then activated secluded cultivation mode.
……
Half a day later, Yuan Zhu pushed open the door again, full of high spirits and radiant.
This was simply a perfect cultivation experience—just drill into the Shadow Dream Hole, and the Tiger Demon could draw shadows to get stronger using the Door’s power; simultaneously using the Nightmare’s world pressure difference to fully automatically refine Pillar Men.
He didn’t dare personally use the Shadow Dream Hole’s feedback power, so he let the Pillar Men hold it all, absorbing only the safest and most reliable Shadow Power. If he ever fell out with the World Will in the future, all legal responsibility would be borne by the Pillar Men.
In the end, Yuan Zhu’s room gained five variously shaped pitch-black cicada nymph town stones, three cicada adults. One mantis, two cockroaches, one dragonfly nymph… totaling 12 Worm Pillar Town Stones.
Each was refined from living Magic Worms. Yuan Zhu sensed that inside the town stones were detailed, realistic insect biological structures, completely unrelated to humans—thoroughly super insects. No Twelve Main Meridians, but similar meridian structures.
“Boss is wise, boss is mighty! Taking mere Human Rank sacrifices and overperforming to refine them into Earth Rank Worm Pillars, forcibly elevating the Mountain Lord’s Domain’s range and power by a level—truly a heaven-sent prodigy, gospel of Insect City, material for world salvation!”
Yuan Zhu waved his hand: “Low-key! Humble! Just empty fame.”
When he stepped out of the room door again, Commander Zuo was the first to come forward, excitedly asking: “Did you succeed?”
Yuan Zhu nodded reservedly: “Right there in the bedroom, move them out. Next step is selecting the array site—pick the most central spot, place the Shadow Dream Hole. Then with it as core, determine the maximum perception distance, place the twelve Pillar Men to set the domain range, then open the domain!”
Zuo Fan curiously asked: “My lord, is there any trick to site selection?”
Yuan Zhu: “Not really. Originally setting up a domain requires selecting famous mountains and great rivers, calculating feng shui, surveying earth vein flows, choosing a node rich in spirit vein. And around this ‘spirit eye,’ nail down 12 Pillar Men to intercept spiritual energy and activate the array. Finally, gradually nurture the domain.”
“Now everything has changed. We’ve inverted the heavenly gang—we have the most core Shadow Dream Hole first. It’s the perfect ‘spirit eye core,’ no need for any surveying or calculation—just place the Worm Pillar Town Stones around it to activate the domain. What we need now is to pick a core location, place the Dream Hole, and once fixed, it can’t be moved again.”
Commander Zuo nodded upon hearing this, understanding Yuan Zhu’s idea. Since the Dream Hole was confirmed as the core, everything was simple. He suggested: “Then choose the spot in this underground cavity where the Immortal Realm Tree roots are densest as the core. The future Dream Hole Domain can expand outward from there, better drawing Corrupt Spiritual Energy, then using the Worm Control Array to refine and purify it.”
Yuan Zhu nodded, controlling the Shadow Uniform to grab the nearby Dream Hole, and said to Commander Zuo: “Good, you lead the way. We’ll place the Shadow Dream Hole first, then determine Worm Pillar positions.”
Just like that, the two first found the area richest in Immortal Tree root veins and fixed the Shadow Dream Hole in the air 30cm off the ground. This setup made it easier to open the door and enter the Shadow Space for cultivation or refinement (Worm Pillars).
After completing this step, Commander Zuo energetically carried the Worm Pillar Town Stones one by one, running east and west under Yuan Zhu’s command, constantly sensing the optimal signal distance between the Worm Pillars and Shadow Dream Hole.
Treat the Shadow Dream Hole as a signal base station; each Worm Pillar is a WiFi—not the farther the better. Because per the Mountain Lord’s Domain feedback, after the domain is built, every Worm Pillar is a secondary signal base station, further expanding the range.
Just like that, Yuan Zhu led Commander Zuo throughout the underground cavity, placing the 12 Worm Pillar Town Stones in different positions, not only enveloping the camp but thoroughly covering the limited underground cavity.
When everything was set up, Yuan Zhu entered the Shadow Dream Hole again and activated Tiger Demon Stance. Using the existing Dream Hole as core, he launched the Mountain Lord’s Domain.
The Shadow Spiritual Energy in the Tiger Demon’s body rapidly poured back into the Shadow Dream Hole, then quickly connected to the 12 Worm Pillars. A Magic Array Domain themed on Shadow Pollution expanded in the underground cavity, forming a shadow bubble enveloping a 1km diameter range.
This time, the Shadow Dream Hole’s pollution draw range also overlapped with the Mountain Lord’s Domain scale—no need to manually throw Magic Worm remains into the Dream Hole; it could spontaneously draw all pollution within the domain range. Including but not limited to: spiritual energy, pollution miasma, wild Magic Worms crawling in the soil, slime mold and mushrooms adhering to the stone walls…
The Shadow Dream Hole was the engine, and the Mountain Lord’s Domain was the matching body; combined, they spontaneously operated. The Tiger Demon could adjust all rules within the domain via the Shadow Dream Hole.
At the same time, the ‘Mountain Lord’s Domain’ in the Boss Template twisted and changed to Shadow Domain. The authentic Tiger Demon’s ability to connect Yin-Yang Realms now became connecting Shadow and Reality.
As for the current world’s Shadow (Dream Hole) Domain, it further changed to communicating Present World with Nightmare Dimension + Shadow Dimension.
…
Without Yuan Zhu’s reminder, Zuo Fan and Lu Yan inside the domain simultaneously felt the surrounding environment dramatically change.
The Shadow Eggplant and Brain Eggplant in their bodies transmitted extremely comfortable feedback, and the Shadow Breathing Technique’s efficiency passively increased by 30%.
Faint Shadow Spiritual Energy emerged in the air, and its concentration began to rise. In this wilderness outside Insect City’s radiation range, the pollution miasma in the air rapidly disappeared, drawn away by the Dream Hole, and feedback into unknown energy, merging into the energy channel formed by the Shadow Dream Hole and 12 Worm Pillars.
Zuo Fan felt that even without entering the Shadow Space, he could capture Power from Beyond the Heavens for cultivation. This feeling was very similar to Insect City’s large Magic Array.
Only the two siblings reacted indifferently to the Shadow Domain’s appearance. The slowly rising Shadow Power in the air didn’t make them feel comfortable or uncomfortable.
Because Holy Cough True Qi violently slays low-concentration Shadow Spiritual Energy. Because Holy Light’s intensity is at least five times that of Shadow.
Instead, the disappearing Polluting Energy made their breathing much easier, feeling like the surrounding environment had improved.
