Despite both spirit energy and physical energy being resources that would exhaust themselves and have to be renewed, the Dragon Move draining one's body of spirit energy would cause Wilbur to sink into a deep fatigue in a matter of seconds. Thus, Wilbur could not help but be wary of it. Thus, Wilbur made up his mind to only use the Dragon Move if he was really in a tough spot. It was only the next morning when Wilbur's spirit energy was mostly restored. He opened his eyes and let out a long breath. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Wilbur scrambled to get off his bed, coming up to the door and opening it. Standing there was Bernard Stoli, the vice-captain of the Black Panthers. Bernard got straight to the point. "I've got good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?" "The bad news." Bernard smiled. "Why not the good news first?" Wilbur said, "Well, the bad news would give me a good idea of the extent of the situation." Bernard nodded. "The bad n
"You're exactly right." Wilbur was a little shocked and found the whole situation rather hard to believe. "But there were Shadow Men in Wearson Valley too, and there was Shadow energy there too. Why hadn't the Shadow King come here through those Shadow energy, but chose this one instead?" Bernard said, "The Shadow King's Shadow energy is completely different from the Shadow energy of regular Shadow Men. The Shadow King can only enter another dimension through his own Shadow energy, and then destroy that world. Unfortunately, this world is the one the Shadow King is currently infiltrating." "What?" This was the last thing Wilbur had expected. "The Shadow King can just… go to any other dimension he wants as long as it's through his own energy?" "No, he needs to make a sacrifice every time. Shadows represent darkness, and it takes a cultivator's own heart to break the dimensional barriers to form a connection with the Shadow King and then gain his power. Kearson secretly borrowe
All eight of the Black Panthers smiled, and it was clear that they thought Wilbur was being ridiculous. Wilbur was confused. "Is there really no way to stop the Shadow King from coming to this world?" "Well, there is one way," said Perry. "If someone can talk Locke out of sacrificing himself, that would work. However, Locke just lost the one reason he suffered through all that pain for so many decades. Now that Hart is dead, changing Locke's mind will be nearly impossible." "Maybe I could give it a try? Molton's already dead, and he killed Hart. Locke's already avenged his son, and he should let go of his hatred now. Locke can't just screw all of Rostead over just for his own selfish reasons." Bernard chuckled. "Sure, you can give it a try if you think you can do it. We'll handle the Shadow King's clones while you're at it. As long as we find all of the Shadow King's clones and kill them before it gets dark, the Shadow King will not come to this world." "Hang on." Wilbur fu
Wilbur left the hotel and could not help but bark out a laugh of indignation at the image of the eight Black Panthers taking their own sweet time to enjoy their food. Rostead had a huge storm coming for them, but these guys seemed oh so calm, even ordering their food and having Wilbur pay for it. He wandered on the streets for a while before stopping abruptly and looking up at the sky in confusion, thinking, 'Could it be that those guys have seen someone even more powerful than the Shadow King? Were they holding back in that last battle against me?' Wilbur shook his head, hailing a cab and making his way to the airport. One could get to Rostead from Terya by plane or ferry, but Wilbur chose to fly there due to the time constraint. The two countries were close enough to each other, and Wilbur landed at Korlyn International Airport in less than two hours. Upon getting into a cab, Wilbur dialed the number of Locke Jackson, the head of the Jackson family. "Hello, who is this?"
"Yes, Hart was in the wrong for speaking to his competitor in such a tone, but it did not warrant his death. That was why I had someone take out Molton. Some people tend to forget who they are the second they come into big money. Haron was a good worker, and I had half a mind to train him myself, but he left Rostead." Locke sat with his back to Wilbur as he spoke. He stopped wiping the photo of his son abruptly, turning to look at Wilbur. "Do you think it was cruel of me to kill Molton?" "What happened to Molton is more or less a retribution of his own doing, but I understand where you're coming from, Mister Locke. I'm very sorry. I should not have worked with him. I never wanted this to happen." "That's enough." Locke cut Wilbur off. "You can drop the act. We're all businessmen here, and there's no way you don't know about that ancient trade route since you've worked with Haron and Molton. You're here for that treasure, aren't you?" "No, Mister Locke. I think you've misunder
"If the entire world goes down with this, then so be it!" Wilbur knew that Locke had made up his mind to sacrifice himself and clenched his fists. "Mister Locke, I know it is not my place to request this upon you, but you can't just screw all of Rostead over for your own personal gain." "Oh, really? What, are you going to stop me? Do you want to kill me? I've dominated the economy for two whole decades. God knows how many people want me dead! It's a pity they all ended up dead, and you're going to meet the same fate as them, Wilbur Penn!" Having finished his response, Locke suddenly reached out with his right hand. His arm extended a dozen or so meters, grabbing Wilbur and raising him into the air. A powerful, terrifying aura filled the room. Wilbur summoned the thunder cleaver, swinging it out and chopping Locke's arm clean off before landing back on the floor. "You bastard!" Locke glowered at Wilbur. He bent over, and it was seen that his back had split open. A huge hand
As the car sped off, Bernard asked, "So, did you find out how Locke managed to seal the Shadow King's energy inside him?" "I did, actually. Locke is a cultivator too, and he's a member of the Church of Bloodism. He cast his evil sorcery just now and tried to kill me in his room." "That bastard! I knew he wouldn't have just let go of resentment like that." Perry glanced at Wilbur from the rearview mirror. "Do you believe in karma, Wilbur? Everything that happened to Locke was his karma for cultivating evil sorcery for his own selfish gain. Now that his son's dead, all his hard work and suffering was in vain. That's his punishment from god." Wilbur said, "I'm not in the mood to joke around with you guys. I just want to know if there's any other way to stop the Shadow King from coming here if I can't change Locke's mind. Could we find the Shadow King's clones and kill them first? Would that work?" "No, it won't. The world of the Shadow Men is a special one, and they can remain u
Bernard pointed at the full moon in the sky, and everyone looked up. The moon in the sky was slowly changing. An eclipse was currently happening. Bernard said, "Once the glow of the moon is completely gone, the world belongs to the Shadows. The Shadow King shall be reborn from the body of his sacrifice." All eyes were on the moon as most of its glow was now gone, turning it into a crescent. Perry then said, "Get into formation, guys." The Black Panthers took their spot, muttering chants at the same time. The next second, a powerful wave of spirit aura exploded out of them. It took shape in the form of a gigantic black panther, standing in front of the eight men. The panther looked up at the moon, letting out a loud howl. The next second, a shred of light appeared from where the moon had been fully covered. The eclipse was put on hold, and a faint ray of moonlight shone down on the hotel balcony. Everyone felt a weight fall off their shoulders, heaving a sigh of relief. "