GDK 646: The energy of life
That creature living in the Boundless Sea had been searching for Han Shuo around that region. It was, without doubt, the mightiest existence to dwell in this expanse of the ocean and was accustomed to having all other beings kneel under its appendages.
Through its long years of existence, the sea monster had finished off countless creatures who dared challenge its might. Accustomed to victory, the creature thought of itself as the mightiest expert on Profound Continent. If not for the fact that it couldn’t leave the sea for extended periods, it might have long stepped on land and stirred up havoc.
As soon as it received the message Han Shuo transmitted, the creature flew into a rage and charged straight towards the island on which Han Shuo stood.
From the gourd island, Han Shuo could sense that enormous waves were being generated at sea. He reasoned that the sea creature ought to have been as massive as the Primordius Dragon. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been able to generate such enormous displacement to the sea water.
As the Cemetery of Death was on the gourd island, Han Shuo didn’t want to leave any trace of battle on the island. He immediately took off when he sensed that the creature was approaching.
Over on a stretch of ocean between the two islands, Han Shuo, hovering loftily in mid-air, came into contact with that massive sea creature.
The sea was turbulent and choppy as though a typhoon was raging. Seawater was sent high up into the sky before raining back down.
An enormous figure gradually emerged from the depths of the sea, creating tumultuous billows. After a loud and long splash sounded, the figure was completely revealed from the sea. It transmitted a furious message to Han Shuo, “Damned human! How dare you question my might in this sea where you do not belong. You want to stay? Fine, I shall grant you an eternal slumber on the seabed!”
Han Shuo had made out the creature’s appearance the moment it surfaced from the ocean. It was a sea monster similar to an octopus. It had an enormous body and a number of tentacles that would extend and flutter in all directions when it was furious. It appeared to possess an astonishing amount of power.
The sea monster also possessed a layer of shell-like armor as tough as steel which provided protection to its abdomen and vital parts of its body.
The sea monster gradually flew into the sky making threatening gestures. Han Shuo had anticipated that a creature of its level ought to be able to fly.
“Big octopus, eager to lose your life, aren’t you?” Han Shuo sneered at the sea monster.
Some alien races were innately gifted with unique body structures. These races need not cultivate in any of the twelve fundamental forces but could still become incredibly mighty. The six-horned tribal king, Pegasus the manticore, and the ancient lizard king, were examples of such unique races. People of their races either possessed god-like might or some kind of unique ability. They grew stronger by evolving.
This sea monster that resembled a giant octopus must have belonged to one of those races. Han Shuo couldn’t sense the presence of any of the twelve fundamental energies in its body, yet its soul was extremely mighty. From this, Han Shuo understood that this big sea monster ought had evolved to this stage through some kind of innate talent.
“Big… Big octopus? How dare you think of me as such a primitive organism! Damned human, you will pay for your insolence!” the sea monster hovering above the sea said angrily.
“Look at yourself. What are you if not an octopus?” Han Shuo was stunned. He found the big octopus’ reaction to be rather amusing.
“I’m not an octopus! Never was!” the big octopus flew into a violent rage as though someone had dug up a scar buried deep within its heart. It charged at Han Shuo furiously with its enormous tentacles swinging about.
The Domain of Divinity wouldn’t have much of an effect on existences like this sea creature that didn’t rely on elemental energies for strength. When Han Shuo saw the sea monster charging at him while waving its tentacles in the sky, a sneer still on his face, he deployed multiple necromancy boundaries around the monster and proceeded with a succession of the Grand Disintegrator spell.
Under the effect of multiple trump card necromancy boundaries, the sea monster who sprung into action with terrifying momentum gradually became sluggish and powerless. Its flying speed grew slower and slower.
The boundaries deployed by the lowgod Han Shuo were obviously very effective against the sea monster.
With each Grand Disintegrator spell that landed on him, big chunks of his fluttering tentacles would abruptly shatter, break off, and fall into the sea, staining the seawater with blood.
Stuck at the center of those boundaries, the sea monster could not even get close to Han Shuo. It was very much enraged to see its tentacles fall off one after another, and yet, there was nothing that it could do about it.
“Damned human, you heinous creature!” the sea monster whined with a weak voice even though it was very much enraged. Its body was growing weaker and weaker.
“Ha. You see yourself as unbeatable with this wee bit of strength?” Han Shuo sneered while casting disdainful gazes at the sea monster that was struggling.
Yet another necromancy magic was deployed. Out of thin air, an enormous cage made of bone materialized under the sea monster. Bones as white as snow assembled to forcefully trap and restrain the enormous sea creature.
Without moving a muscle, Han Shuo sent row after row of bone spears ferociously shooting at the sea monster. The sea monster reacted by repeatedly shrieking. It seemed to be in great pain.
“Nice acting!” Han Shuo sneered.
When those bone spears landed on the sea monster’s body, all they did was leave blood stains on its tentacles. Thanks to the layer of shell-like armor around its vital parts such as the abdomen, Han Shuo’s bone spears had merely been deflected and did not cause it any serious injuries.
As those tough armors had not been penetrated and injuring the tentacles wouldn’t threaten the sea monster’s life, Han Shuo easily made out that the sea monster was actually faking those shouts.
Having had the experience of fighting against the Primordius Dragon, Han Shuo was no longer intimidated by beings that possessed astonishing defensive power but were poorly skilled at attacking and defending with the soul.
Han Shuo focused his mental strength. Instead of using the ‘Soul Chafe’ spell he had recently mastered, he bombarded the sea monster with the ‘Soul Tremor’ spell.
Naturally, the power that a spell would unleash differed with the realm of the castor. This ‘Soul Tremor’ spell conjured by Han Shuo, who was now a lowgod, was beyond anything the sea monster could endure.
Right after the Soul Tremor spell was cast, a ghostly wail echoed from that enormous mouth that was lined with rows after rows of white teeth. This intense shriek was filled with pain and misery. It was obviously not faked. The screech started loud and grew weaker over time. It sounded like the sea monster was heavily injured.
“Come on, keep shouting! I want to hear you scream!” Han Shuo looked down at the sea monster under his feet. He struck a posture of making yet another wave of soul attack.
“Spare me, please spare my life!” contrary to what one might expect, the sea monster was quick to adapt to circumstances. As soon as it realized that Han Shuo possessed the strength to kill it, the sea monster admitted defeat and begged for mercy.
Han Shuo was stunned. He had not anticipated that a creature as mighty as this would immediately give in the moment it met a superior being.
“Please spare my life, this will not happen again in the future. From today onwards, these waters shall be your territory. I will stay far out of your way!” the sea monster hastily added. He thought that Han Shuo was being indecisive when he remained silent.
Han Shuo was at a loss of words. When he looked at this sea monster, who was raging just a moment ago, suddenly bowing its shoulders and begging for its life to be spared, he was somehow reminded of dark dragon Gilbert who was currently in the underground world.
This sea monster and dark dragon Gilbert were two absolutely distinct beings, and yet, Han Shuo saw many similarities between the two.
Han Shuo suddenly felt rather worried for dark dragon Gilbert. The secret of how to enter the final layer of the underground world was within the grasp of the dark dragons. By this point in time, all those experts from all major material planes seemed to be interested with what laid at the depths of the underground world. Han Shuo was worried that Gilbert might be affected if those godly experts were to head down there.
“Please spare me. I’m just a puny little octopus. There is nothing to gain in killing me, it’ll just be a waste of your energy… “ the sea monster jabbered on and on when Han Shuo remained silent. It even conceded to being a puny octopus.
“Give me a reason not to kill you!” Perhaps because this sea monster was similar to Gilbert in certain aspects, as Han Shuo chose not immediately finish it off.
“I know a secret location. There might be great treasure buried inside. I can show you the way if you spare me!” the sea monster thought for a moment before it hastily replied.
“Oh? What treasure?” Han Shuo casually asked. He didn’t appear all that interested.
“I don’t know either. It’s a magical place. Even I could not enter it. But I believe that an existence as mighty as you should be able to enter. I’m willing to show you the way, right away, as long as you don’t kill me!” The sea monster appeared very anxious when it saw Han Shuo show little interest.
“Alright then. Take me there. If that place really is interesting, I might consider letting you walk free!” Han Shuo said indifferently.
As though having found the last straw to grasp at, the sea monster promptly tried moving forward to show the way. But immediately, it noticed its awkward circumstances and asked in a pitiful voice, “Can you release me from this?”
Han Shuo wasn’t worried that the creature would escape. He withdrew the boundaries around it and removed the enormous white bone cage that trapped it.
“If you try to escape, I promise you will die an excruciating death!” Han Shuo warned with a sneer on his face.
The sea monster was terrified and repeatedly affirmed that that would not happen. Its enormous body suddenly plunged into the sea.
It turned out that those tentacles that Han Shuo had severed off the sea monster did not sink down after they fell into the sea. When the enormous sea monster submerged under the sea water, those detached tentacles swam back to where they had snapped away and stuck right back on like glue.
It seemed routine for the sea monster to recover those severed tentacles, like they would be fully healed before long. After a moment of observation, Han Shuo became rather amazed by the rejuvenation ability of this sea monster. He inwardly conjectured that perhaps the founder of demonic arts was inspired by the remarkable ability of this species to rejuvenate so quickly - even more remarkably than an octopus, in fact.
Han Shuo followed behind the sea monster unhurriedly. He noticed that the sea monster was indeed very well-behaved. It did not even dare to move any faster. It appeared that the sea monster was scared to death by Han Shuo’s power!
Soon enough, they arrived at their destination. It wasn’t far from where the sea monster settled. It was the same exact area that Han Shuo’s consciousness could not enter.
“So this is the place. I should have figured!” Han Shuo mumbled to himself upon arrival.
“How, how do you know this place? It’s impossible, it’s a lost secret. I discovered it first and have never seen you come over. There’s no way that you would know!” the sea monster exclaimed when it overheard Han Shuo’s mumbling.
“Stop shouting. I had inadvertently discovered this place when I sensed your location the last time. What are you making a fuss about?” Han Shuo groaned impatiently. The sea monster immediately recalled its position and quickly shut up.
When the sea monster was finally silent, Han Shuo entered into the sea and followed the creature to the bottom of the island. Deep under the water, among a thick cluster of seaweed, Han Shuo sensed the presence of the boundary that previously blocked the probing of his consciousness.
“This is the place, right?” Han Shuo asked indifferently.
“Yes. There seems to be an invisible obstruction around it. I can’t enter it,” the sea monster explained. After a short pause, it added, “However, sometimes, some kind of unique energy overflows from it. Long ago, I was just a small octopus feeding here. By mere chance, I was struck by that energy. That’s how I am what I am now.”
“Wha… What?” Han Shuo was shocked. He looked at the enormous sea monster and cried out in disbelief, “The energy that overflowed from that place made you this powerful?”
“Yes! I’m certain!” the sea monster hastily answered.
Now that really was a miracle! Han Shuo became extremely astonished. To hear that the energy that overflowed from the boundary would turn a small octopus into a powerful sea monster was inconceivable.
Huge waves surged inside Han Shuo’s heart. He pondered for a moment as he stared at the invisible boundary up ahead. He finally came to the conclusion that it was only by touching it with his hand that he could truly understand what energy the boundary was made of. Hence, Han Shuo slowly marched ahead with his hand held out, trying to push against the boundary.
Before he got close to the boundary, however, a burst of strange energy suddenly shot towards Han Shuo’s hand that was extended forward. It was a powerful energy. Even Han Shuo had to evade it with great haste.
A lump of green light brimming with vitality flashed across the boundary before it immediately resumed to normal.
Han Shuo, who managed to withdraw at extreme speed, would be drenched with cold sweat if he wasn’t underwater. He sensed that the firepower was aimed at him alone!
After carefully turning over in his mind, Han Shuo finally understood what it was. He cried out in surprise, “The edictal energy of life! I get it now!”
The mysterious edictal energy of life may well have been the only energy that could transform the morphology of the octopus from meager to monster. The edictal energy of life and the elemental energy of death were at repelling polls from each other. Therefore, it was nothing unusual for this avatar of Han Shuo’s that cultivated in the energy of death to have such a violent reaction to the boundary.
Han Shuo thought about it through and through for a moment. He believed that his current strength was insufficient in fighting against the boundary. Then, suddenly, he recalled of wood elite zombie. His heart was filled with delight and he quickly summoned wood elite zombie.
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Next Chapter will be released on 28 Mar, around 4am, GMT+8