Ethan raised his hands as he circulated the Shadow Essence, and within the next few seconds of concentration, a dark substance in liquid form covered his arms before gathering around them and hardening into a sharp and long black blade.
It was as if his hand itself had turned into a very sharp sword.
He concentrated once again, and the black liquid that had hardened around his arm turned back into liquid form.
More and more shadowy black liquid manifested all over his skin before hardening, and within a few seconds, the black liquid had completely solidified into full-body armor, like another layer of skin, with a shadow blade in his hand.
Ethan performed various sword moves and techniques for a few minutes before easing up as the shadow armor vanished.
"Controlling it is difficult and takes time, but nothing a few hours of daily training cannot fix," he thought.
He could sense that just using the Shadow Essence for a few minutes depleted more than half of his reserves, but by using the [Energy Restoration] function of the Codex Of Creation, his Shadow Essence was regenerated in a few seconds.
"With such energy regeneration, I can face multiple opponents at the same time for a long period and still not exert myself physically, simply blasting them with energy-costing techniques," Ethan grinned.
"I can't wait to fight."
"Speaking of fights, I should get ready for every surprising situation, just in case..." Ethan said.
In every world Ethan woke up in, there were three aspects of his life he wanted to ensure were covered for his safety: offense, support, and recovery.
He had already covered offense with the hundreds of techniques in his mind.
His cultivation had already strengthened with attaining Nine Qi natures, so the effects of his physical attributes were doubled, and his qi grew significantly stronger with each cultivation level.
Thus, the offense aspect was fully covered.
He would say the support aspect was also partially covered by the powers and abilities he obtained from his Shadow Essence, which had become part of his cultivation base, but that alone was not enough.
In his opinion, the Support aspect was more important than the other two.
Ethan went straight to another room, much larger than the others.
It was labeled [Corpses], and the moment he entered, an intense, bone-chilling cold enveloped him.
The room contained hundreds of long, wide safes, each holding dozens of real corpses.
At first glance, the place resembled a mortuary, but Ethan did not consider it one.
These bodies were his own, vessels his soul had once inhabited in the various worlds he had lived through.
Each of them had reached the level of an immortal cultivator, and even in death, they still retained traces of that immense power.
In every world, Ethan had pursued a different path of cultivation, and in some, he had even lived as entirely different races.
The room was sustained by powerful magic, fueled by energies drawn from the Dome of Energy, preventing the bodies from decaying or deteriorating.
Do not judge him; he kept them purely for study.
After all, each of these bodies contained valuable materials that could help him grow stronger.
Until now, he had not discovered a way to utilize them, but with the Codex of Creation, he could finally analyze, create, and integrate their power to his current self.
Among the corpses were not only his past bodies but also those of individuals he had encountered in his past lives, beings who had been either too powerful or too talented to ignore.
Ethan approached one of the safes and opened it. Inside lay a tall, pale corpse, a vampire with long brown hair and a muscular build.
This was his body from when he lived as a noble vampire in the world known as Nightshade, the fifth world he had inhabited.
Nightshade was a realm of darkness, built upon oppression and power, one of the harshest worlds he had ever endured.
The horrors he witnessed there had hardened him more than even the werewolf world, Lunaris, he lived in.
It was also one of the few worlds where he had not reached the same level of strength as in others.
He closed the safe and moved to the next one.
When he opened it, another vampire's body was revealed, this one with crimson hair and an aura far more powerful than the last.
"It's been a while, Count," Ethan said with a grin, his eyes falling on the sword wound piercing the corpse's chest.
There were four species of vampires, categorized by bloodline and talent: plebeian vampires, noble vampires, high-class noble vampires, and royal-class noble vampires.
When Ethan had lived in Nightshade, he had been a normal noble vampire.
The corpse before him, the Count, had been a royal-class noble vampire, one of the most talented and powerful beings among the entire vampire race.
The Vampire Count was also one of the reasons Ethan had died back then.
However, before his death, Ethan managed to kill the Count as well, though his own body was damaged beyond repair.
He quickly collected the Count's corpse and stored it in the Dancing Library, along with himself, before he too succumbed to death.
Every time Ethan found himself on the brink of death, he would return to the Dancing Library to die.
"Dex, is it possible for you to analyze the regenerative capabilities of this species of vampires and use Creation to replicate and integrate it into my current body?"
"Well, I expected that… I was only asking if it's possible, and how much karmic energy it would cost?"
"That much? It's far more than the cost of gaining attunement to Shadow Essence, but I understand why it's so high," Ethan muttered.
It wasn't just vampiric abilities he was interested in.
He also planned to create abilities from other races, but if just the vampiric abilities cost this much, he was certain the cost would only increase as he tried to integrate more.
"Forget it. The cost is just too much." Ethan rubbed his chin.
"Is there any way to reduce it?"
"Still not enough, huh… I've studied the vampire race for hundreds of years, and it's still not enough," Ethan sighed dismissively.
He fell silent for a few moments, deep in thought.
Then, as an idea struck him, a faint smile crept onto his face, and his eyes widened with realization.
"Begin creation."
"It's simple... a growth-type unique visual ability that can see into the true nature of anything it's used on, at every level of existence, whether physical, non-physical, or spiritual, and comprehend it directly from its essence."
"Since it's a growth-type ability, it will evolve alongside the user, me. However, for now, it should be at its lowest form and power, corresponding to my current level."
"How about Eyes of Truth, in the sense that it can see the truth within the nature of anything?"
"Yeah, I know it'll cost a lot, but it'll be worth it. Do it," Ethan ordered.
In the next moment, the Codex opened, revealing a new page filled with constantly shifting symbols that appeared and disappeared in a steady rhythm.
An hour passed as Ethan's mind buzzed with intense energy.
Suddenly, his eyes began to emit a golden light for several seconds before he lost all sensation in them.
When he opened his eyes again, the once brown irises had turned a brilliant electric blue, flickering with countless lightning-like sparks that danced across them.
His vision was sharper than ever before, yet more than that, he could now see countless particles, wavelengths, resonances, spectrums, and energies that filled the space around him.
When he glanced at Kagetsu, in that instant, every detail of her being her energy circuits, flow, spiritual and physical constitution, even her soul became visible to him.
He then closed his eyes, deactivating the [Eyes of Truth] for now, though his irises remained their new, brilliant lightning blue.