Location: Star Dou Forest – Deep Interior
The air was thick with ancient power. Spirit pressure coiled around the towering trees, heavy enough to crush a lesser soul master with a glance.
Ren walked through the forest like it belonged to him. His shadow cloak trailed behind, feeding off the ambient energy, slowly bending this world to his will.
Suddenly, his senses flared.
A presence.
No… three.
He appeared before them in an instant.
Three soul beasts stood in his path—each one cloaked in aura more ancient than the sky. Beautiful. Powerful. Proud.
A flaming nine-tailed fox with eyes like twin suns.
A serpent woman whose silver scales shimmered with moonlight.
A phoenix-woman with wings that dripped fire and pride.
Each of them: over 100,000 years old. Each: destined to be hunted by mankind.
Not this time.
Ren stepped forward, eyes gleaming. The Shadow Monarch within him pulsed—and he extended his hand.
"I won't hunt you," he said. "I'll elevate you."
The fox narrowed her eyes. "You seek to dominate us."
"No," Ren smiled. "I seek to make you eternal."
He offered them a bond—a union of shadow and soul, not to weaken them, but to empower. With the Pocket Hunting Dimension, he could preserve their forms, evolve them, gift them human shape and spirit power.
They accepted.
And in that moment, three of the most feared soul beasts in history became his wives—reborn in human form, beautiful beyond compare, and bound to his rising empire.
Location: Nearby Village – Outskirts of the Forest
A small village sat at the edge of the world. Spirit Masters rarely visited it—there was no glory in guiding commoners.
Ren arrived in silence, cloaked in black. The villagers backed away in fear, until they saw him smile.
And the girls—especially the young women—saw something else. Power. Mystery. Something that called to them in a way they didn't understand.
Among them was a girl with no martial soul—beautiful, but considered worthless. Ren touched her forehead, and something awakened within her—a shadow spirit beast martial soul of divine rank.
She would never be weak again.
That night, others followed. And Ren promised them more—power, respect, and a place at his side.
The shadow army grew. So did his harem of loyal, once-forgotten girls who now burned with strength the world would soon fear.
Location: Spirit Hall – Tang San's Training Grounds
News reached them like a rumor soaked in dread.
Tang San paused during his training. "A black-robed man... in the forest?"
Grandmaster frowned. "Ignore it. Spirit Hall always invents new threats."
Tang Hao scowled from the shadows. "They won't be a threat to us."
But they were wrong.
Ren had already marked them for destruction—not out of vengeance, but because they were false heroes. Their so-called righteousness reeked of hypocrisy. Tang Hao, the man who abandoned his family. Grandmaster, the "teacher" who hid behind excuses. Tang San, the supposed prodigy with a god complex and a savior's ego.
Ren would expose it all. Piece by piece.
End of Chapter 40