[As your protector, Lu Zhong is loyal both to you and the family. Since he promised to keep your secret, you believe he won't leak it.]
[You ask Lu Zhong to destroy the "mastermind's" body to avoid any accidents. Then, you ask him about the situation with the destined protagonist, Ye Chen.]
[After dealing with the "mastermind," you remember Ye Chen, the child of destiny who was being hunted at the beginning.]
[Hearing your question, Lu Zhong looked slightly ashamed and explained that Ye Chen had many secrets and could unleash powerful trump cards. He wasn't able to kill Ye Chen but only cut off one of his arms and took a few things.]
[Lu Zhong took out Ye Chen's severed arm and a bloody storage bag from his storage ring.]
[You raised an eyebrow, surprised. On one hand, you were impressed that Lu Zhong managed to keep one of Ye Chen's hands and snatch a storage bag. On the other hand, Ye Chen, with only the fourth level of magical power, managed to escape from Lu Zhong, who was at the seventh level of sainthood. This reveals the terrifying power of the "old man" inside him.]
[You took Ye Chen's broken arm, thought about it for a moment, and decided not to destroy it. Instead, you placed it in your storage ring. In a world full of strange and mysterious arts, including curses, this severed arm could prove useful in the future.]
[You opened the bloody storage bag to find numerous cultivation pills and spiritual materials. These were some of the opportunities Ye Chen had collected over the years.]
[In the corner of the bag, you found an ancient black token featuring a fierce beast with a single horn and a menacing face.]
[You studied the token for a while but couldn't figure out its origin. However, since it was collected by Ye Chen, the destined protagonist, it must be significant. So, you decided to keep it and planned to have the Lu family investigate it.]
[The cultivation resources were a fortunate find and perfectly suited your needs. You asked Lu Zhong to take you to a private villa in the center of Magic City to rest and recover. You were ready to focus on cultivating and gaining more strength.]
[You entered the villa's secret room, instructed Lu Zhong to guard outside, and began swallowing the pills to prepare for training.]
[As you looked over the [Ancient Dragon Elephant Sutra] and [Thousand Shadows Magic Art], you hesitated, finally deciding to focus on the [Thousand Shadows Magic Skill], the strange magic.]
"In the villain simulator, I was cautious this time. I didn't trust the Lu family completely and didn't directly ask them for martial arts techniques," Lu Shen thought.
"Do I suspect someone in the Lu family is behind this, or do I just not want to leave traces?" he wondered.
He was a bit surprised but quickly guessed what was going on. It made sense—he'd been in Magic City for less than half a month when he was surrounded and attacked. Caution was normal.
[The Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture] is a heavenly-level martial art that focuses on physical defense but lacks offensive or escape skills.
Unless you condense specific "magical power" when breaking through the fourth level, it essentially makes you a warrior with a strong health bar but no real combat skills.
The only useful talent he had was [Grease the Soles of Your Feet], which served as a life-saving ability.
However, the [Thousand Shadows Magic Skill], with its ability to transform into various forms and become a shadow, would make up for some of his weaknesses.
The "mastermind" earlier had only been a sixth-level extraordinary person but nearly escaped from Lu Zhong, who was far stronger. This showed how deadly the [Thousand Shadows Magic Art] could be.
Lu Shen seriously doubted that if Lu Zhong hadn't caught the opponent off guard, he might not have been able to stop him.
If he could cultivate this skill and combine it with his [Grease the Soles of Your Feet], he might just have a chance to rival a Heavenly Master renowned for their ability to escape.
[You chose the [Thousand Shadows Magic Art] for its terrifying potential.]
[This evil magic skill seemed to have been created by an extraordinary magician, possibly beyond the heavens. It contains various evil and mysterious techniques, but only the first half of the volume remains. The second half was torn away.]
[You began to study the enlarged copy that Lu Zhong had written for you, but quickly realized you couldn't understand it because the text was a mix of ancient magic and divine scripts.]
[An hour passed, and you were still at a loss. Anxiety began to rise, but then a calm, cool breath began flowing from your spine to your mind. You felt drowsy, and a special state took over.]
[In your vision, the words of the [Thousand Shadows Magic Art] began to transform into tadpoles, swimming and rushing into the palace between your eyebrows.]
[You successfully began practicing the [Thousand Shadows Magic Art] and reached the first level almost instantly, gaining the ability to create "Magic Shadow Clones."]
[Is it the [Supreme Emperor Bone] that's making this possible?!] Lu Shen thought, his eyes widening in surprise. He hadn't expected the mysterious "Supreme Emperor Bone" to have such miraculous effects.
It allowed him to bypass the usual practice thresholds, forcing a rapid entry into the skill.
This was truly incredible.
Additionally, it also accelerated his cultivation speed, far surpassing any so-called "golden fingers."
[On the first day, you reached the peak of the first level of the [Thousand Shadows Magic Art], allowing you to create nine "Magic Shadow Clones," each with 10% of your combat power.]
[You felt a strange emptiness, and the "Supreme Emperor Bone" began to feel "hungry." Unconsciously, you took Ye Chen's storage bag, extracting bottles of pills and spiritual materials, consuming them one by one.]
[Such a terrifying amount of medicine would be dangerous for those in the Mountain and River Realm or even the Extraordinary Realm. They would fear it could lead to an explosion and death.]
[But the "Supreme Emperor Bone" in your body released an overwhelming devouring force, absorbing all the energy.]
[Your cultivation speed for the [Thousand Shadows Magic Art] skyrocketed.]
[The next day, you broke through to the second level, gaining a new ability: shadow control, allowing you to freeze your target's shadow.]
[On the third day, you broke through to the third level, gaining the ability to transform your body into a shadow.]
[On the fourth day, you reached the fourth level, unlocking "Shadow Simulation," which allowed you to mimic the appearance and aura of the target when touching their shadow.]
[Consuming special energy to improve the skill levels—could your name be [Supreme Emperor Bone] and not [Deep Blue]?!] Lu Shen watched, astonished by the rapid progress in the [Villain Simulator]. Wow, even rocket speed couldn't match this!