Monarch of Darkness

The Northpeak forest was stretched beyond the distant horizon. The inner region of forest was like a prehistoric fiend who was waiting for preys to go near it. The cold gaze of moon wasn't reaching the thick vegetation of forest and entire forest was like the playground of dark creatures.

Anything else could have done some trouble for Evan but not the darkness. Darkness was like a natural blessings to him. Every member of Hendrickson family found darkness easy to use and he was no exception.

Evan was moving carefully amidst the gigantic trees and dense shrubs. A night full of darkness was like a sunlit day for him. Shadow rats were proficient in moving in the darkness and they were being used as scouts. Constantly using soul conciousness was not a option as it kept tiring his body out. His body cultivation had not developed yet to use his powerful soul all the time. 

He found Shadow rats useful after using them for a while. Their large number was enough to cover a huge area and their informations were reaching him through the soul link of their leader.

Earlier when he was traveling alone in the Northpeak forest, he was forced to use his soul conciousness many times due to unavoidable circumstances. Using soul conciousness was like two sided sword for him as it could also give away his location to powerful enemies. If by chance his soul conciousness got caught by any nascent soul stage expert or experts with more higher cultivation, he would be doomed.

Evan decided to keep Shadow rats for a longer period in future. Their scouting ability changed his opinion about these small creatures. After taking a proper rest, he was already full of spirit again. He was currently moving like a fish in water in the dark forest. A sudden sense of danger came from his side and Evan twisted his body instinctively. It was a ferocious looking snake who attacked him suddenly. Evan unsheathed the short sword from his back and swung it toward the snake. A metallic sound came from the body of the snake and he immediately understood that he was in problem this time.

Evan probed the snake with his soul conciousness and found out it was a middle stage profound transformation realm magical beast. Without thinking much, he immediately decided to run away. From it's body which had blue metallic luster, he had already guessed it's identity. It was a highly venomous Bluescale viper which was extremely ferocious in nature. Even high level magical beasts tried to avoid it due to its poison. Although he was immune to poison but he couldn't protect himself from it's metal attributed fang attacks.

Evan used the Shadow ghost technique and ran forward. His movement was extremely quick but this time he was competeing with a magical beast who was proficient in speed also. The viper spit out poison towards him and ferociously lunged forward towards his shoulders. If it was any other humans, Evan could have outmatched them but this time he struggled to avoid the Bluescale viper. He used the Shadow ghost technology and barely managed to save himself.

The eyes of viper gleamed dangerously. It swept his tail towards him. This time Evan couldn't avoid it's sudden attack and struck on his belly. His body flew in the air and he collided against a nearby tree. 'Cough, cough', he threw up blood violently. Dark red blood started to trickle down from his lips.

He tried to stand up but couldn't do it immediately. The snake charged toward him viciously again. Seeing the situation, Evan commanded the Shadow rats to attack the snake. Three peak stage Meridian opening realm Shadow rats attacked the Bluescale viper from different angles.

Sensing the attack coming from the Shadow rats, the Bluescale viper changed it's course of attack immediately. It bit toward a Shadow rat which was attacking it from it's left side but it's attack was in vain. The shadow rat which was attacked by it, quickly burrowed into the ground without getting hit by the Bluescale viper.

All the time the Bluescale viper was chasing Evan by using the trees and shrubs to move. This time while attacking the Shadow rat, it's body landed on the ground. Immediately it felt someone was biting it's body. It was it's skin on his lower body which was touching the ground and the sensation of getting bitten was coming from this region. It's lower skin was not as much hard as it's upper skin and precisely, it was it's most smooth and vulnerable point. 

The sensation of getting bitten grew rapidly and it could feel that many creatures were now gnawing at it's lower body. The Bluescale viper hissed in pain and released a bluish gas from it's mouth.

It fiercely wriggled it's body to struggle free from the biting Shadow rats but Shadow rats didn't let it go. Their struggle continued but Evan couldn't be found on that place anymore. He had already fled from the scene without caring about his injuries. This time to stop that vicious viper, he had to sacrifice three powerful Shadow rats. "It seems I need to subdue some more powerful magical beasts to safely move in this place", Evan thought to himself.

He rested for a while on top of a tree. This time even if he would have used his soul conciousness, he couldn't have avoided being attacked. In the enormous Redwood forest, he couldn't unleash his entire soul consciousness. Otherwise he would attract a lot of unwanted attention. Before finding the Shadow rats, he was using his soul conciousness cautiously. He was not spreading it too far to avoid trouble. In the inner region of Redwood forest, no one could tell when danger would come. This time, the Bluescale viper was a prime example.

After resting for an entire night, Evan recovered completely. When the sun started to show its face in the distant horizon, Evan started to move again. After a journey of five days, he reached the area adjacent to the thunder valley.

The sky was full of clouds in that particular area and the flashes of thunder could be seen appearing continuously. The ear piercing sound coming from the valley could struck fear in any onlookers heart. Evan could feel the fear of Shadow rats. No magical beasts could be seen in the vicinity but Evan knew there must be thunder attributed magical beasts in that area. Instead of being afraid, he was quite eager to enter the valley. He was planning to use this chance to master both the thunder and water element.