GDK 626: As Expected
Step by step, Han Shuo made his way to the bottom of the Cemetery of Death. The barriers that used to pose Han Shuo some resistance no longer had any effect on him. He descended through the layers unimpededly but halted right before crossing the barrier at the final layer.
Though Han Shuo knew that this layer of barrier would not cause him any obstruction, he had merely gotten accustomed to stopping and examining the barriers. He fixed his eyes on the barrier ahead of him and carefully examined it with his soul.
After becoming a lowgod, Han Shuo in fact no longer had much expectations for the so-called secret to becoming a god that was stashed away at the bottom-most layer.
After spending time in the Abyss realm, Han Shuo had a rough idea of the contents he would discover within. He had, after all, achieved the realm of lowgod with two of his souls. Of course this information about how to become a god did not intrigue him. The reason he was so keen on investigating it nonetheless was that entering the final layer of the Cemetery of Death had always been a wish of his all along. Moreover, he wanted to see if there were any materials stored there that would be useful to him.
The barrier ahead of him was formed with pure mental strength. After obtaining the divine soul of a midgod, Han Shuo recognized the function and deployment method of the barrier with one look. Instead of forcibly breaking through the barrier as he had been doing Han Shuo merely extended his hands and laid them against the invisible barrier. His mental strength made one pulsation and the barrier seemed to have turned into liquid, allowing him to cross without any intense resistance.
Han Shuo walked into the last and final layer of the Cemetery of Death. After looking all around, Han Shuo discovered a rhombus-shaped lens at the center. Behind the lens was a simple magical matrix for storing mental strength. There was nothing of value around the chamber, which disappointed Han Shuo somewhat.
With just one glance at the rhombus lens, Han Shuo immediately recognized that it was a special mechanism for leaving messages. Han Shuo walked to the front of the rhombus lens and placed his hand on it. The aura of the skeletal staff inside his body flowed into it. At the next instance, the rhombus lens started to glow.
An indistinct figure appeared inside the rhombus lens and thereupon, that familiar voice sounded from the middle of the lens, “My child, I’m very happy that you have come to this stage. Being here also means that you are now a sacred magus. Very well done. However, I must tell you this, in our eyes, becoming a sacred magus is just the very first baby step. Now, let me tell you the secrets to becoming a god. Remember this carefully… “
It was just what Han Shuo anticipated. The so-called secret to becoming a god was precisely through the method of fusing one’s body and soul with the element, something Han Shuo comprehended long ago. However, the explanations contained in the lens were very detailed. The person had a deeper understanding of this matter than Han Shuo did and Han Shuo learned a thing or two.
The lens was set up to play the recorded message when activated. Han Shuo stood there without moving and silently listened to the message.
After describing the secrets to becoming god once through, the message did not immediately stop. It continued, “As long as you have memorized all these and truly comprehend them, becoming god will not be that difficult to accomplish. But after that, if you want to progress even further and obtain even greater strength, look for the dark dragons of the underground world and show them my skeletal staff. Ask them for the path to the bottommost layer of the underground world. There you will find great rewards!”
“The Cemetery of Death isn’t merely a place to hide. It also has a attack mechanisms. First of all… “
“Inside the skeletal staff, you will find a deeper level of the understanding I have of the energy of death as well as basic knowledge about material planes. If you can master them, we might even have a chance to meet in person…”
“Finally, best of luck!”
The figure within the rhombus lens started flashing until the lens fractured and disintegrated.
As Han Shuo was already a god, the information inside the lens wasn’t particularly exciting to him. After listening to the message left behind by that person, Han Shuo forced a smile and shook his head. He truly hadn’t found anything particularly special or useful.
The only thing that baffled Han Shuo was his mention of the last layer of the underground world. According to him, at the very bottom of the underground world laid the way for gods to progress even further.
Han Shuo still recalled that back then, the dark dragons were assaulted and interrogated by a group of experts from the Shrine of Ice lead by Ice Celestial Corey. They were in search of the path to the last layer of the underground world. He had previously learned from Gilges, the patriarch of dark dragons, that the race of dark dragons had been living at the underground world to guard and protect the pathway leading to the last layer in accordance to the command of the original master of the skeletal staff.
Upon reflection, he reckoned that there really could be something miraculous at the deepest layer of the underground world. Otherwise, those from the Shine of Ice wouldn’t have traveled thousands of miles just for some subterranean exploration, and the owner of the skeletal staff wouldn’t have been so concerned about it for so long.
Perhaps it was because his strength had been advancing by leaps and bounds, Han Shuo grew to lack expectation and excitement towards many things. After thinking through about the message, Han Shuo was sure that he hadn’t learned anything new.
His avatar of death walked back to the interplanar transportation matrix and sat cross-legged again on the same spot. He withdrew a divine essence of death he obtained from the Void and silently digested the elemental energy of death contained inside.
This divine essence of death was extremely precious and it hadn’t been easy for Han Shuo to come by. It could provide him with enormous benefit in growing his divine energy. Han Shuo treasure the item very much.
Han Shuo planned on recombining all three souls before heading to the Calamity Church headquarters. However, his avatar of destruction had yet to fully recover while his main body that had exhausted a great amount of demonic yuan in refining the spirit demons also needed some time to recover. Hence, Han Shuo decided to have his avatar of death absorb the piece of divine essence during that period as well as to properly digest the experience previously obtained from the great battle.
Inside the Cemetery of Death, all three of Han Shuo’s bodies were sitting cross-legged in silence. They were either recovering their energy or absorbing more.
Time flew by swiftly and unnoticed. After an undetermined period of time, when all three of his bodies had fully recovered, Han Shuo finally left the Cemetery of Death.
The three spirit demons were still in hibernation stages. Han Shuo knew that as spirit demons possessed the ability to constantly evolve, they would take a much longer time to refine compared to other types of demon generals. Upon completion, the spirit demons would be patiently waiting for Han Shuo to collect them. Han Shuo didn’t need to keep watch at all times and so he was comfortable with separating from the spirit demons.
Han Shuo had no idea precisely how long he had stayed inside the Cemetery of Death. After leaving the Cemetery of Death, Han Shuo silently returned to Ossen City. As soon as he reached there, he left a trace that would get him in touch with Wolf. Wolf had probably been waiting for information about Han Shuo all along as very soon after Han Shuo produced the trace, Wolf was at Han Shuo’s door.
“Lord Bryan, where have you been? Why have you disappeared again all of a sudden for a whole month?”
“Oh, nothing much. I went cultivating for a while,” Han Shuo answered smilingly.
“Wow, I truly did not expect that your Lordship would still be so hard at cultivation even when you have become so mighty. This is truly admirable,” Burt Zili, who came along with Wolf, said sincerely as he looked at Han Shuo full of reverence.
“Lord Bryan, His Highness the Pope has hastened us several times already. If your Lordship doesn’t head to the headquarters soon, I have reason to believe that His Highness might actually come down here in person,” Wolf said hastily.
“Oh? Why so anxious all so suddenly?” the last time they met, Wolf had said that the Pope of the Calamity Church told them not to rush things. Therefore, Han Shuo was puzzled to see that Wolf had now suddenly begun pressing.
“Your Lordship’s noble act of killing the Light Pope and the two demigods has caused an enormous shock at the headquarters. His Highness the Pope and all the cardinals are wild with joy. They are desperate to thank your Lordship in person. After all, your Lordship’s conduct and deeds are all just too brilliant!” Burt Zili rushed to answer before Wolf could open his mouth.
Han Shuo was at a loss of words. He grinned at Burt Zili, who was wearing a revering face, and the excited Wolf before asking, “Well then, did you guys take advantage of the situation to carry out strikes against the Church of Light?”
“Of course!” Wolf couldn’t conceal the excitement in his heart when this matter was brought up. He cheerfully said, “Thanks to your Lordship’s magnificent feat, in addition to Lancelot Empire’s strong denouncement of the Church of Light, the Church of Light’s reputation on the continent has suffered a devastating dive. As your Lordship had killed the Light Pope, the morale at the Church of Light was bottomed. Of course we wouldn’t let go of this opportunity to hit them when they were down. In just a short one month’s time, we destroyed more than a hundred churches of the Church of Light all over the continent and killed several thousand of their followers. Haha, this is truly delightful. If this trend continues, it won’t be long before our Calamity Church can come out from hiding and operating in the dark, and openly disseminate our religion in every country!”
Han Shuo, too, was delighted by the news. Perhaps because Han Shuo cultivated in the energy of death and destruction, he had all along disliked the Church of Light very much. The Church of Light also viewed him as the biggest heretic on Profound Continent and had spared no effort in eliminating him. When Han Shuo was trapped in the Abyss realm, he vowed to completely destroy the Church of Light. It was only natural that Han Shuo would feel happy when he heard from Wolf just how miserable the condition at the Church of Light was.
“This is all your Lordship’s meritorious achievement. Without your Lordship slaughtering the Light Pope and the two demigods, our Calamity Church would certainly not be able to attack the Church of Light so effortlessly. Only a being like your Lordship would be able to beat a powerhouse like the Church of Light into decline all by yourself. This lowly servant simply doesn’t know how to express his admiration towards your Lordship in words!” Burt Zili gladly licked Han Shuo’s boots with no sense of shame.
“Okay, enough!” Han Shuo had an ego to fulfil too. He chuckled at the great feeling of being praised like that. Shortly after, he happily said, “Let’s go. I’ll head to the headquarters with you.”