Chapter 369

Chapter 369: The Starless Night

The Shaded Realm.

This underground world lay dozens of kilometers below the surface, formed by countless interconnected caverns and passageways. The known areas alone rivaled the entire territory of the Delos Empire in size—not to mention the mysterious regions remaining undiscovered.

The rocky firmament above held neither sun, moon, nor stars. Rumors claimed dimensional passages to the Demon Realm existed in its deepest reaches.

“Cursed Land.”

That’s what many called this place after its discovery in Midi’s previous life.

Upon entering the Shaded Realm, even Midi—with his dual lifetimes of Experience—felt immediate discomfort. Though separated from Arad, the Sea of Clouds shared similar environments aside from magic concentration. Different factions and terrains existed there, but light persisted. Its inhabitants resembled humans, most lacking flying skills. For Midi, entering the Sea of Clouds had been like visiting a foreign nation—challenging, yet manageable for basic survival needs.

The Shaded Realm differed entirely.

This wasn’t merely “another nation” but “another world.” Its shadows bore no resemblance to night on Arad or the Sea of Clouds. Normal nights offered moonlight, starlight, or sunlight reflecting from high-skies clouds. Here, no natural light existed.

No matter how keen one’s eyesight, nothing became visible. The phrase “not seeing your own outstretched hand” described it perfectly. Creating artificial light—like a torch—risked attracting magical creatures from hundreds of kilometers away, akin to blood drawing sharks in seawater. The Maker would face inevitable Death. Unless a supreme expert, even the strongest would exhaust themselves against endless enemies.

A cruel irony existed: light meant to aid survival instead invited destruction. Thus, artificial glow rarely appeared here.

For native races and magical creatures, darkness posed no issue. Most possessed innate Night Vision Abilities—infrared vision detecting temperature shifts, bat-like echo-location, heightened smell or touch. Some creatures had entire bodies functioning as sensory organs, detecting faintest temperature changes across vast distances.

On Arad or the Sea of Clouds, such traits would be extraordinary talents. Here, they were mere survival basics.

Midi, being human, lacked every one of these abilities.

To navigate the Shaded Realm, the only ability Midi could use was "psychic vision."

As an application of telepathy, this power proved immensely useful.

With it, Midi bypassed physical barriers to detect any thinking creatures nearby – from tiny skull mice to six-meter-long cave lizards and swarms of blood-sucking bats.

Yet despite its advantages, psychic vision remained ill-suited for the Shaded Realm’s challenges.

Midi needed to identify terrain features more than monitor simple-minded magical creatures.

Where lay the treacherous chasms?

Where flowed the precious underground water veins?

Which paths held edible fungi?

Which tunnels led nowhere versus those offering safe passage?

In this lightless subterranean maze, such environmental awareness meant survival.

Rot’s advice offered little comfort. The Eighth Apostle claimed Midi needed to develop "environmental awareness" through telepathy before achieving full terrain perception via psychic energy alone.

Moreover, maintaining psychic vision drained energy rapidly. Unlike innate talents, this skill demanded constant psychic energy expenditure. Even with the Inheritance of the Sea Emperor, Midi couldn’t sustain it continuously. During rest periods when deactivating the vision, he became vulnerable as prey.

Numerous creatures stalked him by tracking residual temperature and scent. Though undefeated in battles so far, each confrontation risked permanent failure. Without the Hawk Brigade’s support, his former Status meant nothing here. He’d become a lone adventurer in eternal shadows, relying solely on his blade.

Rot observed with reluctant admiration. "I never thought a human could adapt to the Shaded Realm this swiftly without sight."

Midi smiled without arrogance. His previous life had taught worse hardships than darkness. He’d known powerlessness, endured countless agonies. Losing vision now couldn’t shake him – though practical troubles remained. Beyond perpetual night, his magic regenerated at frustratingly slow rates here.

It wasn’t that the magic concentration in the Shaded Realm was weak.

On the contrary, likely due to being an enclosed space, the magic here felt even richer than the Star Ocean’s.

Yet this magic contained "impurities".

These impurities made Absorption extremely difficult for Midi – what normally took fifteen minutes to restore now required two to three hours.

This forced him to carefully plan every battle.

For someone accustomed to using magic freely, this restriction felt particularly frustrating.

"Can we filter out these impurities from the Shaded Realm’s magic? The Absorption process here is too inefficient," Midi asked through telepathy to Rot.

While having a supreme expert’s knowledge nearby helped, Midi disliked relying on others without first exhausting his own efforts.

Though bound by fate, he knew true strength came from self-reliance.

Over-dependence would only weaken him.

But after failed attempts to solve this himself, the young man reluctantly sought Rot’s aid.

"Impurities?" Rot paused before erupting in laughter.

The Eighth Apostle’s mirth reverberated through Midi’s consciousness, leaving him perplexed.

When the laughter subsided, Rot explained: "Those aren’t impurities. They’re Radiance of Darkness – unique to this realm’s magic!"

"Radiance of Darkness?!" Midi’s eyes widened.

Suddenly Rot’s amusement made sense.

As an Awakened One, Midi required Radiance of Light for promotions between level 50-60. From level 60-70, he needed Radiance of Darkness.

He’d worried about finding this rare substance, never realizing it surrounded him here.

No wonder Rot found his oversight laughable!

This revelation meant promotions here wouldn’t be an issue.

Instead of simple Absorption, refining the magic would simultaneously restore and strengthen him.

Without further discussion, Midi immediately began refining.

As Radiance of Darkness flowed through him, the dormant Spirit Dragon Sword in his body stirred.

New dark patterns emerged across its deep-blue etched surface.

With each growing pattern, Midi felt his stagnant level-60 cultivation awaken. Energy gathered like stormclouds, threatening to break through to Level 61.

"Here, this Radiance-infused magic is called Dark Magic," Rot commented lightly. "Though proximity to the Demon Realm strengthens Death’s Pursuit Order, your Dragon’s Blood White Crystal body levels as easily here as common practitioners. Don’t grow complacent – even this speed won’t outpace Death’s hunt."

"If Dark Magic isn’t the reason," Midi frowned, "why did the Time-Space Gate bring me here?"

Rot’s answer came without hesitation:

"Undoubtedly for the Shaded Realm’s greatest heritage."

"The Dark Dragon City."