A dozen dark shadows swarmed up.

Gu Shen tightly held the Ruler of Truth, staring at the pitch-black world in front of him. The strength of the Ruler of Truth depended on the host's spiritual power, and it was unknown whether his current state and the domain he had set up could withstand this level of impact.

These shadows that landed seemed to possess a heavier weight than ordinary people. The ground trembled as they ran, and dust flew up. Gu Shen, leaning against the stone wall, could feel the obvious vibrations.

He nervously stared at the silver threads.

Could he withstand it?

"Buzz!"

It was no longer a silent cut, but a slight roar. When a dozen shadows rushed into the silver thread domain at the same time, Gu Shen felt a sharp increase in the consumption of his spiritual power in his mind. The pain in the back of his head felt like a deep iron spike being inserted.

The taut silver thread broke.

Then, a continuous sound of cracking and breaking echoed. The continuous silver threads were shattered by the impact, and under the reflection of the blazing fire, the broken silver threads projected a cool and white cold light like torn silk.

At the same time, the seven or eight tall shadows that collided in the front were also cut apart by the invisible sharpness--

By breaking through the silver thread domain, they also paid a price.

"This is... silver thread!"

This time, Qu Shui understood Gu Shen's means.

Inside the narrow cave, there were densely packed silver threads hanging. These threads were thinner than hair, but as sharp as knives. Once touched, they would be cut, let alone when they were hit during a full sprint...

The girl's expression turned gloomy.

She didn't expect that this Dr. Xiao Gu, who usually appeared gentle and refined, would be so vicious when he took action.

First, he attacked her with silver arrows, and then set up the strangling thread. If she had approached him first... she would probably have been beheaded.

"Capture him, I want to live."

After Qu Shui regained her composure, she coldly said this sentence and slowly retreated. She stood outside the cave, observing the situation inside with indifference... Since she had already figured out Gu Shen's means, there was nothing to worry about. It was just a battle of attrition now.

She had collected enough shadows through hard work!

Unfortunately, once these shadows solidified and were shattered, they could not be resurrected.

However... these consumptions were nothing.

If she could cut off Gu Shen's shadow... Gu Shen's shadow was more valuable than all of them combined. Maybe she could even cut off that beautiful flame at the center of Gu Shen's eyebrows and claim it for herself.

...

...

"She has calmed down... now she wants to engage in a battle of attrition with me."

Seeing Qu Shui slowly retreat from the cave, Gu Shen's expression remained unchanged.

This was within his expectations.

Provoking the other party was to maximize the possibility of killing the shadows while the silver thread domain still existed!

What he was most worried about was whether the Ruler of Truth could withstand the impact... but obviously, the situation was better than he expected. The silver thread domain was destroyed by half under the collision of the shadows, but it also killed eight of them.

These shadows themselves did not possess any additional attributes. They seemed to only retain the "power" of their original hosts, without any burning or corrosive traits.

In that case... they were just tall wooden men that could move.

Gu Shen closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Remove the silver thread!"

The Ruler of Truth trembled and roared again. The silver threads shattered and turned into flying debris. However, these fragments of spiritual power did not dissipate in the air. Instead, they gathered like a tornado, quickly converging towards Gu Shen's hands, where he held them in a virtual grip--

Gu Shen imagined the appearance of Nanjin handing him a knife on the rooftop in his mind.

He needed a knife.

A very sharp, sharp enough to cut through everything.

"Boom boom boom--"

A gust of wind swept over, and Gu Shen opened his eyes. There was no panic or fear in his pupils, only extreme calmness. In this instant, there was only one thing left in Gu Shen's line of sight.

It was a nearly two-meter-tall shadow, more burly and powerful than the other shadows. It bent down and smashed a piece of rubble, lowered its body, and charged towards Gu Shen like a wild beast, carrying a silent roar.

It occupied Gu Shen's entire field of vision.

And in the next moment, the field of vision was occupied by a bright and somewhat dazzling flash of the knife.

The ruler that Gu Shen held in his hands was filled with a snow-white light, condensing into a slender and long Tang knife. The blade was narrow and straight, with a small handle, and the blade emitted a faint coldness.

He took a step forward and swung the knife, the same one he had practiced for fifteen days under Nanjin's guidance in the underground venue.

Countless times of arduous practice every day.

Just for this one swing.

The final assessment was not used, but it was used today.

When the light blade touched the air, it felt as if it had pierced into a lake. With each degree of downward pressure, the air shattered like a lake, forced to ripple out countless sparkling silver lights. The space at the forefront of the blade collapsed like a collapsing waterspout.

In an instant.

The shadow that collided in the front collapsed, as if it had plunged into a meat grinder. The next moment, the entire black head, enveloped by the sharpness of the blade, was twisted and shattered by the waterspout, making a sound like the explosion of cloth. This was only the sharpness of Gu Shen's swing when he was halfway through. He half-knelt and exerted all his strength to deliver this swing!

As a result, this sharpness illuminated the entire dark cave with a silver-white brilliance.

The powerful blade tornado roared and struck. In the narrow terrain, this swing exerted twelve times its killing power, and the other shadows on both sides were all caught in the tornado and were instantly shredded without exception.

"Boom!"

Late at night on the riverbank, it seemed as if there was a roaring water dragon.

The surging river water burst out, creating a huge water column.

But in an instant, it returned to silence.

The falling water splashed down.

The long night was still dark and quiet.

Qu Shui stood blankly outside the cave, trying hard to see the scene inside the cave, but she couldn't see anything. Her vision was already blurred by the blood flowing, and her eyes were dazzled by the white light just now, leaving her in a state of darkness.

Explore the extended edition on pawread.com.

The buzzing sound echoed in her ears incessantly."Don't move."

A voice, calm yet tinged with a hint of fatigue, echoed in front of her.

She shivered subconsciously, a sharp pain radiating from her neck.

As her vision gradually cleared, she saw the scene before her... a slender silver knife, its tip pressed against her throat.

The man holding the knife was none other than Gu Shen.

Qu Shui was still reeling from the shock of the previous attack, her expression bewildered.

Gu Shen, his face expressionless, gripped the silver knife tightly, his gaze fixed on the girl. He could understand her shock; even he was astounded by the effect of that strike.

The transformative power of the Scale of Truth seemed to be even stronger than he had imagined.

However, the energy consumed by that strike was also immense.

After delivering that blow, he was completely drained. If he had used his trump card from the start without eliminating all these shadows, he... would probably be done for.

It took a long while for Qu Shui to regain her composure. She laughed at herself mockingly, her voice hoarse as she asked, "Are you... a swordsman?"

Gu Shen shook his head, telling the truth, "I've trained for fifteen days, learned just a little."