Finally, Gu Qingfeng arrived at the shadow where the Shadow Demon was hiding.
It was a patch of tree shadow, and all it took was lifting a branch to reveal the inky black figure beneath.
At this moment, the Shadow Demon was extremely tense.
Just as Gu Qingfeng was about to lift the branch, a faint sound came from not far away.
In an instant, Gu Qingfeng shifted his position and ran towards the source of the noise.
The Shadow Demon immediately breathed a sigh of relief and silently praised its own cleverness.
In fact, the noise just now was a trap it had left behind during its escape. While fleeing, it had tampered with the shadow of a wild rabbit, intending to create a disturbance and draw attention.
Unexpectedly, Gu Qingfeng fell for it.
However, to prevent Gu Qingfeng from returning, the Shadow Demon stayed in place for at least the time it took to burn a stick of incense. Seeing that Gu Qingfeng still hadn't appeared, it finally relaxed, realizing that Gu Qingfeng must be searching other areas.
After all, this forest was vast, and he couldn't focus on just one area.
Suddenly, the Shadow Demon moved.
Its shadowy body flowed like water towards the distance, silent and undetectable.
It felt that the timing was right; if it didn't leave now, given that guy's freakish abilities, he might just set the entire forest on fire.
However, just as it had taken a few steps,
Suddenly!
A chilling, sinister voice came from behind it.
"I found you!"
The Shadow Demon was startled, and when it turned around, it saw a pale face covered by dappled tree shadows, grinning maniacally in the dark forest.
It was Gu Qingfeng!
In that instant, the Shadow Demon felt as if it had fallen into an ice cave! Its mind went blank from the shock of Gu Qingfeng's sudden appearance, and its heart almost stopped.
Looking at Gu Qingfeng's grinning face, a horrifying thought suddenly flashed through the Shadow Demon's mind.
This is it! I'm going to be eaten by a demon! Wait... isn't it me who's the demon?
Help! Someone's trying to eat a demon!
Gu Qingfeng looked at the Shadow Demon, which was almost scared out of its wits, and thought to himself, "Little trickster, do you really think you can fool me with that little scheme?"
He had seen this kind of plot countless times in movies, TV shows, and novels over the past decade. Whenever the villain was about to catch the protagonist, some small animal would always make a noise, and the villain would be lured away.
Did you think I would fall for that?
Wait a minute... why do I feel like I'm the villain here?
It's all the Shadow Demon's fault. It must have given me fake wine to drink.
The Shadow Demon was stunned for a moment, then quickly activated its shape-shifting ability to escape. However, this time Gu Qingfeng was prepared and doggedly pursued the Shadow Demon, not giving it any chance to shake him off.
The two raced each other, neither able to gain the upper hand.
Whenever Gu Qingfeng caught up to the Shadow Demon and tried to strike, his attack speed couldn't match the instantaneous nature of the Shadow Shift technique, and the Shadow Demon would always teleport away just as he lifted his hand.
After a long stalemate, they even started chatting.
“Gu Qingfeng, continuing this chase is meaningless. Both of us can shift forms and shadows, and you should know that as long as I don't stop, you can't catch me. Why not call it quits here?”
Gu Qingfeng knew the Shadow Demon was telling the truth, and continuing this stalemate was actually disadvantageous to him, as his Shadow Power was running low.
But how could Gu Qingfeng give up? Earlier, he had declared that if he couldn't catch the Shadow Demon, he wouldn't deserve the surname Gu. A man of honor keeps his word.
Today, he must finish off the Shadow Demon!
So, while teleporting, Gu Qingfeng pondered how to limit the Shadow Demon's shape-shifting ability.
At this moment, he thought of his nine years of compulsory education, specifically the lessons on shadows.
Finally, inspiration struck, and Gu Qingfeng realized the solution!
To counter the art of transformation, one must first eliminate shadows. Without shadows, the art of transformation couldn't be activated.
How to eliminate shadows?
Naturally, with light!
Just as the sun has no shadow, light is the greatest nemesis of shadows.
With this in mind, Gu Qingfeng looked at the Shadow Demon and asked, "Do you believe in light?"
The Shadow Demon was puzzled and didn't understand what he meant. But soon, as Gu Qingfeng acted, the Shadow Demon understood.
Gu Qingfeng activated his Flame Mastery ability and summoned the Bone Demon Fire, which instantly enveloped his entire body.
In that moment, he became a fiery figure emitting a ghastly white light.
The white light immediately dispersed a patch of shadows.
But that wasn't all!
The light wasn't enough!
Gu Qingfeng simultaneously activated his Indestructible Body, and a dazzling golden light burst forth from his body!
The golden light and white flames intertwined, merging into each other, turning the flames into a golden blaze. The golden light shone intensely!
In that instant, Gu Qingfeng resembled a divine being descending from heaven, engulfed in golden flames, or a sun falling to earth, banishing all darkness!
Or, most like a Super Saiyan.
The dazzling golden light pierced through the darkness, illuminating the Shadow Demon, whose inky black figure was now completely exposed, and its shape-shifting ability instantly failed. (Disclaimer: The Shadow Demon is an independent shadow, a living entity, and cannot be dispersed by light.)
The Shadow Demon was horrified and quickly ran towards the shadows behind some nearby trees.
Although the golden light had dispersed much of the darkness, remember that light travels in straight lines, and shadows still remained behind some trees.
That was the Shadow Demon's lifeline.
However, Gu Qingfeng had finally broken the Shadow Demon's ability to shift and blend into shadows, and he wasn't about to let it re-enter the shadows.
With a wave of his hand, a ball of bone demon fire was thrown towards the Shadow Demon's path of escape, and the trees in that area instantly caught fire!
The shadows were immediately dispersed by the firelight.
The Shadow Demon wasn't stupid either; it quickly changed direction. But Gu Qingfeng was faster, and multiple balls of Bone Demon Fire were thrown in all directions, setting the entire forest ablaze.
This left the Shadow Demon with no way out.
It glared at Gu Qingfeng with a grim expression: "Even if you've blocked my escape, what can you do? As a shadow, I am immortal and indestructible. You can't kill me, and even if you possess Shadow Power, it won't help. I can sense that your Shadow Power is running low after continuous shifting. You don't have enough to kill me."
Gu Qingfeng smiled: "I think you might have misunderstood. I'm not trying to kill you by trapping you."
The Shadow Demon snorted coldly: "Not trying to kill me? So you want information from me about the Blood Demon Cult? Dream on!"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head: "I'm not interested in the Blood Demon Cult."
The Shadow Demon was puzzled, as if it had thought of something, and suddenly raged: "Then what do you want? I already told you, there's only one bottle of poison, and it's gone."
Gu Qingfeng's forehead immediately showed a black line.
"You jerk! I know it's gone, I don't want the poison."
"Then what exactly do you want!"
"Hit me."
"What?" The Shadow Demon felt like it had misheard.
"Hit me hard. As long as you make me feel good, I'll let you go. What do you say?"
The Shadow Demon stared at Gu Qingfeng with a look of shattered worldview: "Are you out of your mind? Why are you not chasing me for poison, but instead chasing me to hit you?"