The Journey of Freedom After the Awakening of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit

"So, having innate spiritual energy means you can cultivate, right?" Moria's eyes lit up as he confirmed.

Jing Ni nodded, then looked around at Moriah, stood in front of him, and asked curiously, "Logically speaking, without innate spiritual energy, if you don't die, my husband should also become like a plant, unable to move. But why can my husband still act like an ordinary person?"

"Maybe I'm just special!" Moria said casually, then immediately devoured ten portions of the tree's life energy.

If Xiao Yan'er could gain innate spiritual energy through the life energy of the tree, he can too.

But... what's going on?

He only felt that the innate spiritual energy in his body dissipated naturally as soon as it entered his body, as if his body was a large funnel that could not retain the innate spiritual energy.

Moria asked Jingni about this.

Jingni looked at Xiaoyan in her arms and explained, "I guess that only those who lack innate spiritual energy, like Yan'er, can be reshaped by acquired methods. Those who lack innate spiritual energy cannot be reshaped by acquired methods."

"However, there is always a glimmer of hope in everything. Perhaps there is some kind of spiritual object in the world that can help you, my husband, rebuild your innate spiritual essence!"

Jingni added a final sentence, which was meant to offer Moria some comfort and hope.

"If I can't practice martial arts, then I can't!" Moria's mindset changed quickly, and he wasn't too disappointed, after all, he hadn't completely lost his power.

Since he can't cultivate internal energy or anything like that, he can just focus on becoming stronger through the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.

Now, let's test how much difference there is between using shadows in combat and Jing Ni.

Thinking it over, Moria summoned a shadow servant and said to Jing Ni, "Give Xiao Yan'er to this shadow servant first, then fight me. I want to test how strong I am now."

Jing Ni looked at the shadow servant with distrust in her eyes. She wouldn't give her daughter to a... wait! She hadn't noticed before, but now that she looked closely, wasn't this the same assassin from the Luo Wang organization that she had killed yesterday?

How did it turn out like this?

"My shadow ability can turn the dead into these shadow guards. They will absolutely obey my orders, so don't worry."

Moria explained the origin of the Shadow Servant, which reassured Jingni.

"As long as I can control it completely, that's fine," Jing Ni nodded slightly. She was already somewhat used to Moria's strange abilities and wasn't particularly surprised.

The Shadow Servant took Xiao Yan'er's arms from Jing Ni's and then walked to the side to make room for Moriah and Jing Ni.

By the stream, Moria and Jingni stood facing each other, twenty meters apart.

Jingni's sword was already drawn, held in her slender hand, hanging naturally at an angle. Her gaze was level with Moria's, her body seemingly standing casually, but in reality, she was fully tense, ready to deal with any attack.

"coming!"

With a thought, Moria sent five shadow needles out from the shadow beneath him, shooting towards Jingni at a speed faster than the arrows.

However, Jing Ni's sword swing was even faster. In a flash of sword light, all five shadow needles were knocked away, none of them entering Jing Ni's half-meter radius.

"Hmm!" Jing Ni murmured, somewhat surprised that the Shadow Needles hadn't been dispersed by her.

Whoosh!

The shadow needles that had been knocked away flew back automatically and shot at Jing Ni from various angles.

The Shadow Needle is now under the autonomous control of the shadow, not actively controlled by Moria.

"Ding ding...!"

Jing Ni moved with the speed of the wind and the agility of a swallow. Her long sword danced so tightly that it was impossible to block any of the shadow needle attacks.

The shadow needles were knocked away time and time again, only to be shot back at Jing Ni each time.

Compared to Moria's manipulation, the Shadow Needles, controlled autonomously by the Shadow, act like artificial intelligence, automatically coordinating attacks and avoiding some of Jing Ni's attack trajectories, attacking Jing Ni from more cunning angles.

The Shadow Needle is faster than a shot arrow, but it doesn't come from a distance like an arrow from a bow, giving you enough time to react.

No matter how close the shadow needle is, its initial speed is its maximum speed.

Moreover, it involves the combined attack of five shadow needles.

If Jing Ni hadn't knocked the Shadow Needle more than ten meters away with each attack, she would have been even more difficult to deal with.

For now, Jing Ni is still in a very comfortable position.

"This next one will be fast, be careful!"

Moria gave a reminder, then with a thought, he consciously controlled a shadow needle to shoot out from the shadow beneath him, drawing a straight line through the air and heading towards Jingni's left shoulder.

call out!

Even after Moria's warning, Jingni was still shocked by the speed of the shadow needle.

However, she reacted quickly, a sword intent surrounding her body making her even faster. She held her sword horizontally in front of her in her right hand, and with a slight turn of her body, Jing Ni used the blade of her sword to block Moria's extremely fast-firing shadow needle.

"when!"

"Such immense power!!!"

Jing Ni was astonished, feeling as if a giant boulder, which would take ten people to encircle, was crushing down at a terrifying speed. Under the immense force, her body instantly slid back ten meters.

She managed to condense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into sword energy to disperse the shadow needles and reduce some of their force; otherwise, she would have retreated even further.

"With self-control, the power is unexpectedly strong."

Moria pondered to himself, while simultaneously retracting the five shadow needles that the shadow had autonomously controlled. As for the one he controlled, it couldn't withstand the immense power when it touched the Jingni sword and dissipated, turning into a phantom and returning.

"My husband's attack just now was like an immortal wielding a sword, mysterious and unpredictable!" Jing Ni came over and gave a very high evaluation.

Moria was a little embarrassed by what he said.

"What were those things surrounding you just now?" Moria suddenly asked curiously.

In the final moments of life and death in the Black and White World, Moriah's consciousness underwent a transformation, making him now very powerful. He can sense the special thing on Jing Ni, but he doesn't know what it is.

Jing Ni explained, "That is the spiritual energy of heaven and earth guided by my sword intent. It can enhance my speed, defense, and strength, and can also condense into exceptionally sharp sword energy under the control of my sword intent."

Sword Intent!

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth!

It's somewhat similar to the mind-infused attacks in the One Piece world, which can also enhance attack power. However, here it can also guide and gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

I don't know if I can do it?

Moria closed his eyes, unleashed his full Observation Haki, and then manipulated his consciousness to extend outside his body…

Failed!

Moria's consciousness is just that—a consciousness. He can sense Jingni's sword intent and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but he cannot affect the real world.

If it were Moria's will, that would be fine, but his will is still in his body within the One Piece world.

This is strange. This body in the Qin's World, just like Moria remotely controlling it in the One Piece World, only has a mental consciousness, but no conscious will.

Therefore, the shadow did not merge with his will. The shadow was under his own control and could not be distracted by many things, so he could not use many of his abilities.

"We still need to find a way to accelerate the integration of body and mind!"

Moria opened his eyes and sighed. He had a premonition that a great change, a good change, would occur the moment his body and mind merged.

"Husband, shall we try again?" Jingni asked at this moment.

"Try one last time!"

As Moria spoke, he conjured a shadow suit around himself, using it to control his body. Otherwise, given the strength of his physical body, while his consciousness could keep up, his physical reactions couldn't, resulting in a much slower pace.

If you're not fast enough, you'll basically be killed instantly when facing a top-tier expert like Jing Ni.

Seeing the longsword in Jingni's hand, Moria had an idea. He used his shadow to conjure a Tang sword, and that would do.

Teng!

Jingni swept her sword in front of her and looked at Moria, signaling him to make his move.

"It'll be quick!" Moria smiled, drew his sword, and charged forward with incredible speed.

Jingni was somewhat surprised, not expecting Moria to move so fast and wield his longsword so quickly.

Jingni wielded her sword, but her attacks were primarily defensive, with dodging and parrying as secondary tactics. She did not launch any offensive attacks.

But soon, Jing Ni realized that if she didn't attack, she wouldn't be able to hold on.

Moria controlled his movements using his Shadow Suit, and with his powerful mental control, he was incredibly fast and strong. Combined with his Observation Haki's ability to anticipate attacks, each strike caught Jingni off guard, gradually making it difficult for her to defend herself.

Clang! Clang!

Jingni then began to attack and parry, trying to force Moria to return to defense and thus reduce the pressure on her defense. Her longsword and Moria's Tang sword collided at high speed in the air.

However, after a short while of this exchange, Jing Ni discovered that the problem had not been alleviated.

Moriah's attacks continued to strike at every gap in her defense, and all her attacks seemed to be anticipated by Moriah, who easily dodged them each time.

"It seems that the combination of Observation Haki and a strong mental fortitude gives me a slight advantage in controlling my shadow and body when fighting against top-tier opponents!"

Moria smiled inwardly, a smile creeping onto his face. He used his consciousness to manipulate the shadows, combined with his Observation Haki, to gradually force Jing Ni into a state of disarray.

To be honest, only a strong person like Jing Ni, who has made swordsmanship and combat instinctive, could withstand Moria's preemptive attack.

If it were any of the assassins at the "Kill" or "Earth" level or below, they would have been killed by Moria long ago.

"Humph!"

On the other side, perhaps seeing Moria's upturned lips, Jingni was somewhat displeased. Immediately, she concentrated her sword intent, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth condensed into sword energy on the sword, sweeping out with a horizontal strike.

boom!

Moria's shadow sword was instantly severed, and his shadow bodysuit and Moria were also sent flying far away by the sword, sliding on the ground for more than ten meters before stopping.

Looking at the tear in his bodysuit, Moria smiled bitterly; he had actually been outmaneuvered by brute force.

"Husband, are you alright?"

Jingni sheathed her sword and quickly ran to Moria, feeling quite remorseful, thinking to herself that she shouldn't have used her sword intent.

Did you use your full strength just now?

Moria waved his hand to indicate that he was fine, then asked curiously.

The difference between using sword intent and not using sword intent is too great. I underestimated top experts before.

Seeing that Moria was not seriously injured, Jing Ni breathed a sigh of relief and then replied, "I used about six layers of sword intent!"

Only six floors!

Moria opened his mouth, somewhat taken aback. This meant that killing a master like Hei Bai Xuan Jian would be difficult.

Got it!