The shadow fell silent upon hearing Chen Fan's laughter.
"You claim I cannot find your true form?" Chen Fan's smile widened, yet it sent an inexplicable chill down one's spine.
*Snap.*
Another snap of his fingers. Chen Fan reveled in this feeling of absolute control.
Space froze, including the shadow.
Simultaneously, Chen Fan struck, his left hand reaching into the darkness.
"Boom!"
An aura of impending destruction erupted.
"How is this possible..."
Before the cry of shock could fully fade, Chen Fan retracted his hand.
In his grasp, a mass of shadow writhed and struggled.
"Huh?"
Chen Fan seemed surprised. "No physical body? That's not right... Shadow clone."
"Interesting."
It had been a long time since he encountered anything this intriguing.
A clone was one thing.
A shadow clone, a detached shadow, that was another matter entirely. This was truly interesting.
"Buzz."
A spinning compass appeared in Chen Fan's hand.
The Dragon Mark Compass, making its debut on the continent of Dameria.
The struggling, twisting shadow in Chen Fan's hand contorted and began to refine.
"Emerge."
His voice was soft, yet it commanded the very rules of heaven and earth.
A single drop of blood appeared.
The entire shadow was distilled into a drop of blood, which fell into the Dragon Mark Compass.
The Dragon Mark Compass began to spin, the world seemingly flipping over, the world unfolding within the compass.
Guided by the Dragon Mark Compass, a line appeared.
"Found you."
A smile graced Chen Fan's lips, and his figure vanished from the room in an instant.
Gone with Chen Fan was the residual shadow within the room.
And just as Chen Fan produced the Dragon Mark Compass.
From a distant golden palace atop the Holy Mountain, the figure seated upon a golden throne opened his eyes.
It seemed as though he had not opened them in a very long time.
The moment they opened, the entire Holy Mountain trembled.
In the next instant, countless powerful figures shot into the sky, converging before the palace.
Among them, six Cardinal Bishops stood at the forefront, followed by White-robed Bishops, and then the Knights of the Holy Mountain, bearing their colossal golden swords.
Finally, three ancient figures, on the brink of senescence, approached and stood before the Cardinal Bishops.
These three held a status even higher than that of the Cardinal Bishops.
The Holy Emperor's momentary opening of his eyes had alerted everyone on the Holy Mountain.
"It is nothing."
The Holy Emperor's voice echoed from within the grand hall.
"Bang."
All present fell to their knees. "Greetings, Holy Emperor."
"Rise."
His voice devoid of any emotion, he asked, "In these past few days, have any major events occurred on the continent of Dameria?"
Everyone pondered.
Finally, an elder standing at the very front spoke, "Reporting to the Holy Emperor, no major events have occurred."
"..." With a brief silence, the Holy Temple fell silent once more.
Though they were perplexed, the assembled crowd dispersed in silence.
...
Chen Fan was unaware of the events that transpired on the Holy Mountain.
He was even more oblivious to the fact that his act of retrieving the Dragon Mark Compass had alerted the Holy Emperor at the peak of the Holy Mountain.
At this moment, he stood atop a tall building.
This edifice reached a hundred meters into the sky.
The gusting evening wind ruffled his clothes as he calmly surveyed the scene below.
"Swoosh."
In the next moment, the floor beneath him began to melt.
His figure descended into the building, landing in the empty top-floor hall, shrouded in darkness.
From within the darkness, a figure slowly rose.
"You destroyed my shadow?" The voice from the darkness dripped with fury.
"Mm."
Seemingly unwilling to elaborate, he spoke calmly, "The Skull Society is quite powerful. One foot already in the Divine level. Not bad..."
Up close, the opponent's cultivation could not be hidden from him.
"You..."
At these words, the figure in the darkness immediately felt a chill.
To see through his cultivation with a single glance, how could this person be weak?
Suddenly, the figure in the darkness felt a sense of unease.
"Don't be afraid."
Chen Fan considered himself quite reasonable. "Leave Wenlan City. Do not return for a while."
He was domineering, and he had the backing to be so.
"Ridiculous."
The opponent's rage turned to laughter. "With a single word from you, you expect my Skull Society to retreat?"
"I knew this wouldn't be solved by words."
Chen Fan sighed with a touch of helplessness, rubbing his brow.
Many times, he wished he could resolve matters in the simplest way possible.
But reality proved that force was ultimately the solution.
So be it. If these fellows weren't beaten into submission, no one would listen to him.
"Since that is the case, I will personally escort you out."
"Retreat."
A soft command, and the darkness receded like a tide.
"Dream on."
The opponent was clearly not one to be trifled with.
Where darkness resided, his power was supreme. Even a Divine level expert would find it difficult to defeat him quickly.
Alas, he had gravely misjudged Chen Fan's strength.
"Whoa."
The single word 'Retreat' seemed to possess world-destroying might.
The darkness was annihilated.
And with it, the opponent's resistance was crushed.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, and then, his entire being was struck by the power of the word 'Retreat.'
*Bang!*
A physical body that had one foot in the Divine realm could not withstand a single word.
With a 'bang,' his physical form exploded.
He attempted to reform, but Chen Fan caught him, tossing him upwards with a casual flick.
"Whoosh!"
The mass of flesh and blood, balled up, whistled as it flew out of Wenlan City.
...
"Bang."
The Cardinal Bishop jolted in alarm.
"What is it?" inquired the White-robed Bishop.