TDG : rise of shadow army

At this moment, on the third floor of the school's library, there were many small rooms originally intended to be reading rooms for the students of the Holy Orchid Institute. However, they had now become the base for Nie Li and his group since Nie Li and Chan Wei had been hired by the Holy Orchid Institute as library assistants.

Being a library assistant did not require them to do much, yet they received three hundred demon spirit coins per month. With such benefits, who would refuse? The Holy Orchid Institute's decision to hire these two boys seemed rather strange, but after thinking about it for a moment, Nie Li understood the reason.

The upper management of the Holy Orchid Institute had done this to protect Nie Li and Chan Wei from the suppression of the Sacred Family. Even though a library assistant was not a prestigious position, it still made them employees of the Holy Orchid Institute. Even the Sacred Family would have to think twice before taking action against them due to potential repercussions.

In this matter, Nie Li was grateful to the Holy Orchid Institute. Vice Principal Ye Sheng did not yet realize that because of the elder's words, which had led to Nie Li being hired as a library assistant, the Holy Orchid Institute would reap great benefits in the near future. For now, the principal had already received a visit from Chan Wei, who had been given a special pass allowing him access to the Bronze 2-star hunting zone of the institute.

This area was somewhat more dangerous as it contained highly agile gray-furred monkeys, crimson-maned wolves, and horned sheep that served as prey for the wolves. Chan Wei arrived early at the training grounds, knowing that the students would be in class for the entire morning. As he moved slightly deeper into the forest, he discovered a small herd of horned sheep.

The herd consisted of fifteen individuals, among which one larger horned sheep stood out, likely possessing a demon spirit. Charging forward while brandishing throwing knives, he swiftly launched them, piercing through the eyes of the nearest sheep, which died instantly. The rest of the herd only became aware of the attack once one of their own had already fallen.

Chan Wei drew the knife engraved by Nie Li before releasing his shadows. Twenty horned sheep, even larger than the one with the demon spirit, charged alongside him before the remaining group could fully react. It took only thirty seconds to annihilate the herd before he began his collection routine.

Chan Wei refined the herd and stored the sellable materials in his interspatial ring, leaving behind the bloody carcasses to attract crimson-maned wolves. He waited for half an hour before spotting five wolves approaching. Crimson-maned wolves were Bronze 2-star beasts with teeth strong enough to shatter stone.

Measuring three meters in length including their tails and standing at one and a half meters tall, the five wolves began feasting on the remains. Chan Wei's thirty shadows suddenly charged from all directions, taking the wolves by surprise. Meanwhile, Chan Wei launched his attack from above.

One wolf died instantly as three throwing knives were embedded into its skull, while another had its throat pierced by the engraved knife during Chan Wei's dive. The remaining three wolves noticed the human but, upon turning their attention toward him, were trampled by the shadows. This battle ended even faster than the previous one.

He replaced his horned sheep shadows with wolf shadows before resuming his hunt. The gray-furred monkeys proved more challenging due to their agility and movement within the trees. These monkeys closely resembled chimpanzees but were slightly larger.

Fortunately, Chan Wei was stronger than them, so he eliminated them one by one with his engraved knife, as he always missed with his throwing knives. After the battle against the few gray-furred monkeys, he also swapped their shadows for those of the sheep. He then climbed up a tree before beginning to cultivate, with the miniature shadows bowing before him.

The scene resembled followers worshiping a god due to the difference in size. Upon closer inspection, the miniature shadows were enveloped in an aura emanating from Chan Wei, with faint threads connecting them to him.

A booming sound echoed, signaling that Chan Wei had just broken through to the 4th star of the Bronze rank. The slaughter continued throughout the morning until Chan Wei's ring was completely full. The number of victims totaled 50 horned sheep, 102 wolves, and 53 monkeys. He hunted much faster this time, thanks to the monkeys taking care of dismantling the corpses and the fact that he could hunt multiple creatures simultaneously without relying on various drugs like in his first hunt with his three brothers.

He loaded all the excess shadows into demon crystals to sell and chose to keep 20 wolves and 20 monkeys as soldiers, now that he had reached the 4-star level. His shadows also leveled up to three stars during his cultivation, but none had surpassed that rank.

"My strength is increasing faster than my soul force. I think I'm already a 5-star Bronze fighter. My shadows seem unable to surpass or match my rank, so I estimate that I won't be able to extract shadows from creatures of a higher level. But the monkey in the ruins is at least a 5-star Silver and of spiritual quality," Chan Wei thought as he made his way to the market to sell his loot.

Chan Wei repeated this operation several times over the next five days. He quickly reached the 5-star rank, unfortunately breaking his primary crystal in the process, thus advancing to Silver 1-star and earning over four hundred thousand demon spirit coins from the mutated spirits of 3-star wolves and monkeys, as well as raw materials.

Chan Wei now had enough power to assist Nie Li in the short term. He controlled 20 crimson-maned wolves at 4-star Bronze and 30 gray-furred monkeys at 4-star Bronze. Additionally, he had bought a second interspatial ring for Nie Li and some basic pills for one hundred thousand PED, along with a new, more advanced evaluation crystal.

In a small room inside the library

Nie Li spoke up. "Nie Li, offending the Sacred Family like this—wouldn't that be a bad idea?" Du Ze finally said after remaining silent for a while. Being a cautious person, he turned his gaze toward Chan Wei, who had just entered alongside Xiao Ning'er.

"It doesn't matter if it's good or bad, as long as it feels good," Lu Piao scoffed, curling his lips. He also glanced at his brother, raising a thumb in approval, which made Xiao Ning'er blush.

Nie Li nodded at Du Ze. "I know! These past few days, we haven't attended class, so Shen Xiu is probably anxious," he said before giving Lu Piao a light tap on the head.

"Don't worry about that, Brother Nie Li. I forgot to tell you since I was out hunting, but our group, along with Ye Ziyun, has been exempted from classes. I've already reported that we don't need private tutors, except for Ye Ziyun since I can't speak on her behalf. So, don't worry about her spending more time with Shen Yue," Chan Wei finished with a smile.

"Thank you! Brother Chan, to keep Lu Piao quiet, tell us your situation and also how your training went," Nie Li requested with a smile directed at both of them, causing Xiao Ning'er to shift slightly.

"Alright, but first, what I'm about to say must not leave this room under any circumstances," Chan Wei declared, looking at Nie Li, Du Ze, Lu Piao, and finally Xiao Ning'er in turn.

"Don't worry, Brother Chan Wei, we will not betray your trust," Nie Li assured him, followed by nods of agreement from the other two boys.

"I promise, Chan Wei," Xiao Ning'er said, taking his hand in hers. Chan Wei gently stroked her hand with his thumb, smiling at her as she blushed slightly before turning his gaze back to the others.

"I am now a 5-star Bronze-ranked Demon Spiritualist, and I have 50 Yin creatures under my command, all at 4-star Bronze," he announced.

So powerful—those were the only thoughts that Xiao Ning'er could form in her mind. She also felt a wave of excitement knowing that the one she had chosen was so talented.

Silence filled the room after his statement, while he felt Xiao Ning'er tighten her grip on his hand. Nie Li was the first to react.

"Congratulations, Brother. I imagine you'll be leaving us to join the Genius class?" Nie Li asked impassively, causing Xiao Ning'er's hand to tremble slightly. The other two, who had also been about to congratulate him, stopped in their tracks and stared at him.

"Does Brother Nie Li have such a low opinion of me, burning the bridge after crossing it? I've already said that no matter what you face in the future, I will stand by your side, ready to help. Besides, I have a little gift for you!" Chan Wei replied, tossing a ring toward Nie Li before placing his second hand over Xiao Ning'er's to calm her trembling.

"HAHAHA, I knew Brother wasn't that kind of person, but teasing the other three just to see their expressions was too tempting," Nie Li said, glancing at Du Ze and Lu Piao, who were making twisted faces.

"Chan Wei and Xiao Ning'er love each other, but Xiao Ning'er has an arranged marriage with the Sacred Family. However," he continued, turning his gaze back to Chan Wei, "in a few months, Brother will be strong enough to crush the Winged Dragon Family and the Sacred Family if they still insist on honoring this marriage, right, Brother?"

"Absolutely," Chan Wei declared dominantly, tightening his grip on Xiao Ning'er's hands.

"Chan Wei, a little gentler, please," she quickly said in response to the slight pain, before blushing at her own words. She then hid behind him.

After a few minutes of answering questions from the other boys and giving the poor girl time to calm down, Nie Li spoke up again.

"I just spent more than three thousand Demon Spirit coins to buy three primary soul crystals. I want to test your aptitude!" Nie Li said, looking at them.

"Brother, take a look at the ring I gave you," Chan Wei said with a smile. Nie Li took the ring and slipped it on before sending a probe inside. He discovered a batch of pills along with 200,000 Demon Spirit coins.

"Brother, did you ravage the entire hunting ground?" Nie Li asked, clearly impressed by his brother's efforts.

"A little," Chan Wei admitted, "but I need to move on to the next hunting ground, which houses some Blizzard-type beasts like Wind Spirits and Ice Beasts. The problem is that they're ranked between 3 and 5-star Bronze, mixed with plenty of other creatures. It will be an additional source of income while helping me improve. But let's continue with the aptitude test instead," he said, hoping the vice principal would authorize him to go.

"Aptitude test? Didn't we already have our aptitudes tested when we enrolled in the school? Are you talking about a test like Brother Chan Wei's, where you look inside?" Du Ze asked, puzzled.

Nie Li mysteriously smiled and said, "Exactly!" Since the founding of Glory City, they had always used the traditional method. Their soul force had already been determined, so what did Nie Li want to test? A primary soul crystal cost a thousand Demon Spirit coins, and Nie Li had actually bought three at once. Given the deep knowledge Nie Li had demonstrated, they trusted his words without question.

"Generally, unused soul crystals are the most sensitive. If they are used to test a person's soul realm, they will be extremely precise. But once more than one person has used the same soul crystal, it will experience interference and will barely be able to test the type of soul realm and the strength of soul force," Nie Li said with a laugh.

"Apart from the type of soul realm and the strength of soul force, what else can be tested?" Lu Piao asked curiously.

"The attributes and shape of the soul realm!" Nie Li answered with a smile.

Du Ze, Lu Piao, and Xiao Ning'er all exchanged glances. What Nie Li had just said seemed very profound. Chan Wei simply smiled— the group was almost complete; only Ye Ziyun was missing.

(Author's note: I'll try to publish a bit today, and I hope you'll enjoy the AI-generated images for certain scenes.)