I, Gu Qingfeng, Vow to Call You the Strongest

Gu Qingfeng's sudden outburst of acting left the Shadow Demon momentarily stunned.

It gave Gu Qingfeng a complex look, as if questioning his intelligence, and thought to itself, "My blade didn't even scratch your skin, do I really need you to tell me that? We have no grudge, so why are you treating me like an idiot?"

"No wonder you're ranked second among the Seven Demon Generals. With such power, I admit my inferiority. Today, I, Gu Qingfeng, declare you the strongest."

Gu Qingfeng continued his performance.

The Shadow Demon felt an inexplicable sense of awkwardness and, without looking back, turned and fled. Using Shadow Shift, it disappeared from Gu Qingfeng's sight in an instant.

The Shadow Domain dissipated, and the shadows in the room receded, revealing vibrant colors once more.

Seeing the Shadow Demon flee, Gu Qingfeng was furious. It wasn't that the demon had escaped that angered him, but rather that it had ignored his acting skills, which were on par with a Hollywood legend!

"Do you even understand acting?!"

"If I let you get away today, I won't even deserve to keep the surname Gu!" Gu Qingfeng's face twisted with rage as he leaped out the window, merging with the darkness outside.

In the darkness, Gu Qingfeng, using his master-level soul power and spiritual sense, firmly locked onto the Shadow Demon's constantly shifting position and activated Shadow Shift to chase after it.

The Shadow Demon continuously used Shadow Shift to teleport through the shadows of Wutong Prefecture—shadows under eaves, tree shadows by the road, and even the shadows of passersby, all serving as its stepping stones.

In just a few breaths, the Shadow Demon had escaped Wutong Prefecture and reached the wilderness.

In the wild, it was even more at ease. Though the moonlight hindered the darkness, the dense trees provided endless shadows.

It teleported through the forest, covering a hundred miles in the blink of an eye.

At this distance, the Shadow Demon felt safe and began to rest.

After all, this was only one of its shadow clones, and the shadow energy it contained had been significantly depleted by multiple uses of Shadow Shift. Moreover, Shadow Shift not only consumed shadow energy but also soul power.

Shadow Shift required soul power to lock onto targets, much like how running requires eyes to see.

Therefore, the distance of Shadow Shift was not only limited by the range of shadows but also by one's own soul power. If your soul power only covers 500 meters, you can only teleport 500 meters.

Just as the Shadow Demon was resting, it suddenly turned pale!

Because it sensed a fluctuation of shadow energy nearby!

How was this possible?

The Shadow Clan was almost extinct. Could there be another member of my clan in the world?

The Shadow Demon immediately looked toward the source of the fluctuation. A shadow appeared out of nowhere, and as the shadow receded like a tide, Gu Qingfeng's grinning face was revealed.

The Shadow Demon's face changed drastically. How could it be Gu Qingfeng!?

"Who exactly are you? Why can you also use Shadow Shift? Are you also a member of the Shadow Clan?" The Shadow Demon fired off three questions in a panic.

Gu Qingfeng shook his head. "What I am doesn't matter. What matters is, I was 'severely injured' by you earlier. Why didn't you finish me off and instead ran away?"

Shadow Demon: "...

Seeing that the conversation wasn't going anywhere, the Shadow Demon turned and merged into the darkness, disappearing once again.

Gu Qingfeng's anger intensified. He hated two kinds of people the most: those who talked too much and those who thought he talked too much.

What's the meaning of turning your back and leaving without a word when I'm talking to you? Do you look down on me?

Shadow Shift activated, and Gu Qingfeng, relying on his master-level soul power, teleported far beyond the Shadow Demon's (which was just a shadow clone) range, blocking its path.

The Shadow Demon wasn't willing to back down. It weaved through the shadows of the forest, changing direction hundreds of times in a second, trying to shake off Gu Qingfeng.

Gu Qingfeng furiously mobilized his perception, searching for the Shadow Demon's position, but due to its rapid changes in direction, he found it difficult to lock on.

This made Gu Qingfeng feel like he was trying to swat a mosquito at home. He stared at it, waiting for it to land so he could crush it, but the mosquito kept doing 360-degree spins in the air, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

After all, Shadow Shift was the Shadow Demon's ability. Having practiced it for over a century, it was naturally more skilled than a newbie like Gu Qingfeng.

"Could it be that I have to change my surname today?" Gu Qingfeng grew even more furious.

The shadow energy fluctuations had disappeared, and Gu Qingfeng knew the Shadow Demon was hiding in this forest, blending into the shadows and concealing its power, making it hard to detect.

Shadows were naturally good at hiding.

The Shadow Demon was clever. It knew Gu Qingfeng's soul power surpassed its own, so his teleportation range was greater. If it relied solely on teleportation to escape, it would eventually be caught. Moreover, the energy fluctuations caused by Shadow Shift would be sensed by Gu Qingfeng, making it impossible to escape.

Therefore, the Shadow Demon kept changing directions to throw off Gu Qingfeng's lock-on, then hid itself. In the darkness, the Shadow Demon was undoubtedly the king of concealment.

Gu Qingfeng had no intention of giving up his surname. He kept teleporting through the forest, searching for the Shadow Demon's tracks.

The prolonged fruitless search made him furious, but also amused.

Standing in the forest, his face twisted into a sinister smile. "Enjoying hide-and-seek, huh? My dear little sister, you better hide well. Don't let me find you... or else... hehehe..."

The sinister laughter echoed through the night forest, adding an eerie and terrifying atmosphere.

Hiding in the shadow of a nearby tree, the Shadow Demon watched Gu Qingfeng, who looked like a demon, and felt an inexplicable fear rise in its heart. It silently prayed not to be discovered.

Although it was only a shadow clone, its main body had injected a significant amount of essence into it to test Gu Qingfeng. If this shadow clone were to die, the Shadow Demon's main body would also suffer severe injuries.

Originally, it wasn't too worried about Gu Qingfeng being able to harm it, but when it discovered that Gu Qingfeng also possessed shadow energy, it panicked completely. Because the powers of the same source could harm each other.

Back when the Mirror Demon competed with it for the second rank, the clone could hurt it. If it hadn't expanded its Shadow Domain and used infinite teleportation to exhaust the Mirror Domain until it collapsed, it would have lost. Although the clone could also use infinite teleportation, the two kept teleporting endlessly, neither able to harm the other, relying solely on whose Shadow Domain lasted longer.

Beating the Mirror Demon was purely due to the advantage of the Shadow Domain. The rules of the Mirror Domain were strange, so it consumed more energy, while the Shadow Domain only covered shadows, making it more energy-efficient and longer-lasting.

This was why the Mirror Demon never accepted its defeat, feeling it had lost unfairly.

...

"Is it here?" Gu Qingfeng suddenly flipped over a clump of grass.

But there was nothing inside.

"Not here?"

Gu Qingfeng turned to search elsewhere.

"Come out!"

Gu Qingfeng pounced again, only to find nothing.

The Shadow Demon watched as Gu Qingfeng got closer and closer, its "heart" almost jumping out of its throat, though it didn't actually have a heart.