Mu You quietly listened to the other party’s explanation. The opponent’s reference to the ’Celestial Dynasty’ must be the Illuminati.
It seems that the Shadow Ghost Box first appeared in the hands of the Illuminati specifically to draw the little girl out, and it nearly succeeded. She was probably fitted with the positioning necklace at that time.
Luckily, the little girl’s mysterious dream capabilities were strong enough for her to escape. Subsequently, there was an internal rebellion within the Illuminati, and the Shadow Ghost Box inexplicably landed in his hands.
The little girl’s previous appearance in his store was not a coincidence either, but rather she had been drawn there by the Shadow Ghost Box. She had an inseparable connection with the box’s shadow ghost; regardless of the physical distance between them, destiny and karma would always bring them together.
"Afterwards, I have also made numerous attempts to find other children deeply intertwined with you, hoping to recreate your group’s experimental process. Unfortunately, all my attempts to simulate your circumstances have proved futile. Otherwise, by now, I would be the only True God wielding control over the Shadow God on this continent and would never have to suffer this fate..." the middle-aged man sighed regretfully and shook his head.
"Is that all for your last words?"
Mu You took a deep breath, and drew his Magic Wand.
The middle-aged man looked up at him, gave a bitter smile, did not argue and instead looked down at the circle of Shadow Ghosts in front of his device.
"Take a look, these Shadow Ghosts are of exceptional quality, raised by my own hands over the years. Though none are as strong as the fourteenth one, each possesses near-legendary level strength."
Mu You looked at him strangely, "You aren’t thinking these Shadow Ghosts can protect you, allowing you to survive, do you?"
Dealing with all these Shadow Ghosts might be a bit troublesome, but he had the Shadow Fur Ball now. Even if he couldn’t beat them, he could just purify them all. In front of the Shadow Fur Ball, these shadows weren’t any different from ordinary ones.
Moreover, killing the other party didn’t require fighting the Shadow Ghosts. He could simply shatter the other party’s life-protecting device which would lead to his inevitable death under the oppressive force of the funeral bell.
The middle-aged man shook his head: "If you could handle the complete Shadow God, what are a few hundred Shadow Ghosts? The moment the Shadow God was defeated, I stopped thinking about opposing you."
"These Shadow Ghosts are a gift I prepared for you."
The middle-aged man said: "When the Shadow Fur Ball devours shadows, quality matters. If it feeds on poor quality shadows, its growth rate will be very slow. Feeding all these quality shadows to the Shadow Fur Ball should suffice for it to pass through its infancy."
"Oh? Trying to bribe me, are you?" Mu You responded instantly.
"You can interpret it that way. In any case, I want to make a deal with you."
"What kind of deal?" Mu You wasn’t in a rush to make his move, and decided to listen to what the other party had to say.
"As you can see, I have lost the Shadow Fur Ball, all my power, and have become a frail old man who is struggling to even protect himself. I am no longer a threat to any of you. Now, all I hope for is to live out my remaining days as a common man."
The middle-aged man looked at Mu You and said: "In return for sparing my life, besides these shadows, I will also give you the results of my centuries-long research! I haven’t spent over a thousand years in this underground research facility for nothing. While raising the Shadow Fur Ball, I stumbled upon certain secrets about the ’God’ and even the real truth about this world."
As if to validate his words, the middle-aged man quickly added: "For instance, even though in the Star Spirit World one can live indefinitely, why hasn’t there been a single person who has truly achieved immortality till now? And why, despite having seemingly long lives does the history of various races within the Star Spirit World amount to a paltry less than two thousand years, with no substantial records of anything before that?"
The middle-aged man looked at Mu You confidently: "I believe you would be interested in this. If you sign a contract, I will share all my knowledge with you. How does that sound?"
There are no immortals?
Mu You frowned at the news, he hadn’t paid much attention to the issue before. Now thinking about it, it appeared to be true. At the very least, in the Human Race, he hadn’t encountered any immortals. The ones with the longest lifespan seemed to be the elders of the Wizard Association, living just over a thousand years.
After some consideration, Mu You shook his head and responded: "I regret to inform you, I refuse."
"Refuse?" The middle-aged man was taken aback: "You are the Fool, isn’t seeking the truth ingrained in your very bones? How could you refuse?"
"Because I’ll find the truth myself, and I don’t necessarily have to learn it from you," Mu You responded. The main thing was that even if he knew the answers to the two questions the middle-aged man posed, it wouldn’t actually benefit him directly. Immortality and the such were too distant for him; he’d take his time to explore these when he had the opportunity.
"Well... that truly is... regrettable..."
The middle-aged man sighed, seemingly resigning to his fate, he didn’t put up any struggle.
In front of the device, one of the chains binding the Shadow Ghosts suddenly broke.