The shadow race members may look intimidating because of their odd looks, but they were physically
average. Therefore, Austin could easily take them down.
"You know how powerful I am, don't you?"
Austin stood his ground with a stern face.
"Please forgive us, sir! We beg you! We will never find fault with you!"
The shadow race members were incessantly begging for mercy.
"Don't be afraid. He is alone. We have him outnumbered. We can joint hands to launch the Shadow
Tide Array!"
Some of them believed that through their cooperation, they could take down Austin. They frantically
encouraged their clansmen so they could boost their morale.
"We can kill him if we form the Shadow Tide Array together!"
Hearing their companions' proposal, they felt a fire rose in their hearts. After all, it did make sense.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Huge noises echoed in the sky all of a sudden.
The countless shadows around Austin started moving and gradually formed a unique pattern in the air,
which turned out to be a special array. Tremendous energy surged up and down with frightening
momentum.
In just a matter of seconds, an array made of numerous shadows was formed around Austin.
Boom! A deafening explosion permeated their ears. The space around them shook violently.
The Shadow Tide Array looked like a colossal web made of darkness. It headed straight to Austin,
enveloping him from every direction.
Austin activated the sword aura continuously. Countless sharp sword auras shot out non-stop to
prevent the enormous shadow web from consuming him.
To Austin's surprise, however, the shadow web seemed to be tenacious. Although it was continually
being torn apart by the sharp sword aura, it kept on repairing itself to its original intact state in the blink
of an eye.
"Ha-ha! Are you afraid now, human boy? The Shadow Tide Array is very powerful. Breaking it is not
going to be an easy task."
The shadow race members guffawed. They were confident that they finally had Austin by the palm of
their hand.
"Oh, really? Do you really think I can't break this? This is just a small array. I've dealt with arrays
greater than this one. This is basically a piece of cake,"
Austin insulted flatly. A faint smile formed on his lips.
"You arrogant piece of shit!" one of the shadow race members shouted. Then, he turned towards his
clansmen.
"Guys, let's reinforce our energy on the array. No matter what happens, we must kill this human brat!"
Apparently, Austin's arrogance had enraged the shadow race members tremendously, so they all
clamored for Austin's death.
"Transform the array!"
one of the shadow race members shouted at the top of his voice.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
All of a sudden, the huge shadow web twisted and turned into the shape of a human.
The shadow was truly akin to a human form, complete with four limbs and a pair of eyes. However,
instead of two eyeballs, it had two red flames in the eye sockets. It was a peculiar sight.
"I'll eat you whole, human boy!"
The humongous shadow creature pounced on Austin in full force.
"Ha-ha, try my Flying Swordsmanship before you eat me up,"
Austin satirized as he dodged its attacks.
Not long before this, Austin had learned the real Flying Swordsmanship from the swordsmanship
master in the sword shrine.
Still, he hadn't had an opportunity to use it.
Austin focused both his attention and energy.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A flying sword dashed out of Austin's body.
Whoosh!
The sword came at lightning speed that it was hard to follow where it went.
When it reappeared, it had already rushed into the huge human-shaped shadow and made several
cuts to it.
Boom!
The flying sword contained immense energy, so it slashed the array smoothly like cutting tofu. After a
few moments, the human-shaped shadow was cut into pieces and could no longer be reorganized.
The real Flying Swordsmanship that Austin learned from the swordsmanship master was much more
powerful and mysterious than the incomplete version of Flying Swordsmanship that he had cultivated
by himself.
If he were to utilize the real Flying Swordsmanship to the highest level, he could control the flying
sword to fly across the entire Sea of Chaos and hit anybody within this area!
Of course, with Austin's current cultivation base of swordsmanship, he could not reach such a terrifying
level in a short time.
Austin estimated, however, that he could assault his enemies within the range of about ten universe
communities if he directed his flying sword to attack with his mind.
But if his goal range was the entire Sea of Chaos, his current capacity was practically nothing. He still
had a lot to improve.
The Sea of Chaos was comprised of roughly around ten million universe communities.
Aside from its long range, the real Flying Swordsmanship had another advantage, which added to its
force as the real Flying Swordsmanship—it could be used with various kinds of laws.
The simplest laws for its use were the law of space and the law of time.
Combined with the two kinds of laws, its speed and flying trajectory would become difficult to predict. It
would appear and disappear like ghost.
Once again, countless brilliant sword auras were launched. Their sharpness intensified, at least a
thousand times sharper than in the past!
In other words, Austin had significantly improved his Flying Swordsmanship.
"Sir, please forgive us!
We were just scared! We will never offend you again. Please let us leave!"
Finally, all the members of the shadow race felt frightened. They all knelt down before Austin and
begged for his mercy.
The moving shadows prostrated around Austin, letting pitiful sounds and begging for mercy. They all
looked miserable as they pleaded.
"Fine, playing with you bores me.
Now, can you listen to me and behave yourselves?"
Austin eventually conceded as he let out a small smile.
He merely provoked them so he could gauge the shadow race's strength. He wanted to know what
special skills these shadow guys were good at.
If it hadn't been for that reason, he would have killed all of them in a snap.
Shoop! Shoop! Shoop!
Austin focused his attention and used the Puppet Strings on them. Countless red threads filled the
whole sky and dashed towards the members of the shadow race.
"Wait! Isn't this a secret skill from the spiritual race?"
"Who are you? Are you from the human race or the spiritual race?"
"There's no need to ask. The human brat must be enslaved and controlled by a martial arts master of
the spiritual race. Whoever behind the human brat, that creature is manipulating his body to make
trouble in our territory!"
"Aren't you afraid of provoking a war between the shadow race and the spiritual race?"
The shadow race members felt a little cheated on with Austin's display of power. They were
dumbfounded and angry at the same time.
"Run!"
Seeing the terrifying power Austin brought, all the members of the shadow race scampered around,
trying to escape out of sheer fright.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Just in an instant, the densely-knitted red silk threads wrapped up all of them like dumplings.
Only a few members of the shadow race managed to escape.
"Ah, f-fuck! Let me go!"
Most of the members of the shadow race couldn't run away in time. Their spiritual souls were
enveloped by the red strings. They were all struggling out of control.
Soon enough, when all of their spiritual souls were enveloped by the red strings, everything went quiet.
"Master!"
These shadow guys knelt down around Austin and shouted respectfully in unison.
"Wow, your bodies are so peculiar. They are indeed made up of shadows."
After enslaving the shadow race members, Austin was able to take a closer look of their physique. He
clearly observed them and accurately knew what their physical structure was. This amused him so
much.
"Master, our physical structure is not as unusual as you think it is.
In fact, there is another race called the shadowless race, which is much more peculiar than we are,"
one of Austin's new slaves said to him.
"Oh, shadowless race? What's so special about them?"
Austin curiously asked.
"The shadowless race possesses no shape nor form. They're like mist.
In fact, they are a mass of living air,"
the same slave respectfully explained.
"That is indeed a strange race!
Everything is possible under heaven!"
Finding this phenomenon bizarre, Austin sighed. He was both in awe and in surprise.
"The shadowless race is rare. They had formed from the evolution of the shadow race.
In other words, the shadowless race is one of our branches,"
the slave further expounded.
"I see,"
Austin murmured with a nod.
"Your first task is to tell me more about the isolated alien spaces.
I will ask some questions, and anybody who knows the answer will talk,"
Austin ordered.
"Understood, master!"
Austin's shadow slaves answered in unison.
"Master, with all due respect, it's best if we find a place to hide first.
I'm afraid our king might have already received the news of your arrival.
Now, the martial arts masters of the shadow race might have been sent out in search of you. They will
never let you go once they get their hands on you,"
a slave suggested.
"Okay, let's leave here first and find a place to hide."
Austin gave his consent after thinking for a while. Then he rolled his sleeve and took the shadow slaves
with him to find a safer place.
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