Above me, everything was pitch black, not a single response. Anxiety gnawed at me—there was no time left to think. Rachel Lan’s condition was dire.
If the fragments of her existence in this world were lost, the person known as Rachel Lan would vanish forever.
"Tell me—coexistence, since it can grant instinct, then it can also take it away, right? What’s the method?"
I shouted again and again, demanding answers, but all around me, there was only uncanny silence—no reply at all.
During dinner, I’d already noticed the darkness inside Rachel Lan’s body—something was stirring. If it erupted, Rachel Lan would be devoured. That was my greatest fear.
I began to drift upward, but quickly hit the top—there was nothing there. The long, black, strip-shaped thing was gone. I reached out and touched it; it was as hard as concrete.
Instinctive coexistence was rejecting me. My connection to coexistence seemed to have been severed.
"Come out. I know it’s you—my shadow."
I roared, and after a long moment, wicked laughter drifted from all directions. I looked around; suddenly, a pair of golden eyes appeared right before me. My shadow, upside down, materialized above.
"Has your brain burnt out, Ethan Zhang? You want to give up your instinct on your own? I won’t allow it."
"There's... nothing I can do anymore."
I spoke each word slowly and deliberately.
With a crash, my shadow grabbed my throat with one hand and pressed me down. I slammed into the ground. He gripped my neck tightly, murder gleaming in his golden eyes.
"If tomorrow comes, get out of here, Ethan Zhang."
With one hand, I gripped the shadow’s wrist and slowly pried his fingers from my throat.
"Only coexistence can save Rachel Lan. There’s no other way."
I shouted at the top of my lungs.
"Heh, looks like you need a break. Leave everything outside to me. After all, your mind is completely gone now."
My eyes widened as my shadow’s darkness began to dissipate, while my own body started to blur.
"Don’t even think about it."
In an instant, I felt it—he wanted to replace me, to become the master of this body. I swung my hand, and a Deathbane Aura Blade, woven from black and white, appeared in my grip. With a slash, something in the empty space before me seemed to be severed.
"You’re the one who cut off my connection with coexistence."
As I spoke, an identical Deathbane Aura Blade appeared in my shadow’s hand. He swung at me—clang! Black and white currents intertwined, swirling relentlessly.
"In the past, I let you act as you pleased, but this time, I absolutely won’t allow it—giving instinct to someone else, that’s out of the question."
In a flash, my shadow drifted in front of me, swinging his blade. I roared and blocked it. In this space, black and white energies went wild.
"Lose your instinct, and you’ll never see the sun again, Ethan Zhang. Do you understand what I mean?"
"I won’t die. Never."
I roared, brandishing my Deathbane Aura Blade at my shadow. The two blades burst with intense black light, white currents spilling everywhere.
Suddenly, my shadow vanished from before me. Instantly, I swung my blade in a wide arc behind me.
My shadow dodged perfectly and gripped my throat. In an instant, my body was enveloped by black and white currents—he was still trying to replace me.
I couldn’t move at all—more than half of me had already been replaced.
Just then, a white hand—Ethan Zhang, Heavenly Soul—grabbed my shadow and pulled him away from me.
"Hmph. Are you just going to stand by and watch him lose control?"
My shadow roared in fury. Heavenly Soul turned and glanced at me.
"This time, I’m on his side too, Ethan Zhang. If this really happens, there’s no turning back. If you won’t think of us, at least consider them."
The Seven Ghost Souls appeared behind me once again.
"Lose coexistence and you’ll die, Ethan."
Spirit Snake walked over, step by step. I sat on the ground; on both sides were things I cherished most. If I died, the promises I made to them would never be fulfilled. But if I didn’t act, Rachel Lan’s growing darkness could never be suppressed.
But the answer was already in my heart. Without a moment’s hesitation, I stood up.
"Sorry, everyone, I..."
"Don’t worry, Fang—you won’t die."
Suddenly, not far from us, a silvery gleam appeared, followed by a full moon. Black Moon emerged from within.
"Hmph, you really know how to exploit an opening."
My shadow muttered.
"Ha, thanks to you for cutting Fang off from instinct—I was able to slip right in."
"Go ask Emperor God. He should know—what is Rachel Lan really like, arriving in this world? Even if you understand how this world is built, and why people are born, do you truly grasp how Rachel Lan came to be?"
I stared blankly at Black Moon as he waved and walked over slowly.
"Schemes are all linked, one after another. I don’t understand why they’d tell you everything about this place, but keep the core secret. Doesn’t it seem too coincidental to you?"
As Black Moon spoke, every pair of eyes turned to him.
"It’s as if this whole world is forcing you, Ethan Zhang, to hand over your instinct completely."
"You... what are you trying to say?"
I swallowed, looking at Black Moon, carefully recalling everything that had happened since arriving in this world—all of it centered around Rachel Lan.
"Don’t forget, I’m with the Nether Syndicate—well, I used to be. Ethan Zhang, our founder Old Tom studied Instinct deeply, long ago."
"You mean Old Tom, the Cat Grandfather?"
Black Moon nodded.
"Normally, instinct can’t be taken away. But we once used a certain ritual and managed to seize the instinct of a dying Nether Syndicate member. Or rather, we let that instinct continue in another’s body. From that, we learned that instinct can transfer either by ritual or by the will of the owner. But people are greedy."
Again, Black Moon let out a strange laugh.
"That guy knew his end was near. He wanted his instinct to pass to his descendants, but he still had selfish motives. His instinct saw through him, so it couldn’t be inherited. The folks from Hades Circle know this even better—instinct can be inherited, and inheriting it doesn’t mean instant death."
As Black Moon spoke, my shadow glared at him in anger.
"Hmph, that’s just your side of the story. Don’t you have selfish motives too? If Ethan Zhang didn’t have this instinct, would you work with him?"
"It’s true—if Ethan Zhang didn’t have the instinct for coexistence, I wouldn’t have sought him out."
Black Moon didn’t seem to be hiding anything.
"Ethan Zhang, you’ve met Granny Nina, haven’t you?"
I stared at Black Moon in a daze. Yes, Granny Nina was an old friend of Master Swallow. She gave me the Three Good Dreams, allowing me to survive in Mona Ouyang’s world, and with those dreams, I broke Martin Ouyang’s power.
"Instinct is also a form of karmic law. Granny Nina once passed her instinct to the next generation, so she left the Nether Syndicate and lived in a small mountain village for centuries."
I swallowed.
"You can’t prove what you’re saying is true."
My shadow still looked at Black Moon with disbelief.
"There’s a reason the Nether Syndicate is called the strongest in the world of rituals. We’ve always devoted ourselves to studying bizarre phenomena, spells, and everything like that. We understand far more than any sect—whether human or ghost, our knowledge is always evolving."
Black Moon continued his story: after Granny Nina gave her instinct to the next generation, she left the Nether Syndicate. She lived alone, bearing the weight of death—she was already dead in a way. I remember what I sensed: Granny Nina’s body had no flesh or bone, just a shell. In the end, when she died, both her soul and body vanished.
"Fang, you must have heard Master Swallow talk about karmic law—this is what happens when you violate it. But she used a certain ritual to fix her soul and already dead body in place after her instinct left, halting death itself."
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
My shadow roared again in anger.
"What I mean is, I’m qualified to use that ritual too. Such forbidden arts are everywhere in the Nether Syndicate. Some require the founder’s approval—like the one that seized your instinct before."
My heart skipped a beat as I stared at Black Moon. He started to smile.
"If there’s a way to seize instinct, then there’s a way to let it leave your body and keep you alive. That’s why I think this time, you should go all out. After all, to draw something out, sometimes you have to bleed a little."