GDK 686: Bidirectional Portals
Rahman was the most terrifying leading member of the Godhunter Alliance that Han Shuo was currently aware of. For such a character to suddenly appear at this place specially set up to find godhunters, something must have been very wrong!
After Barnett allowed him to leave, Han Shuo did not immediately take off, instead standing aside to observe Rahman and his gang’s actions. He wanted to see what those godhunters were up to.
By this point in time, the training field had gathered eighty-seven people. Discounting twenty-one divine guards of the House of Croton, the remaining were all cultivators of the edict of destruction. Most of those people had taken and passed the test. They did not leave the training field either, and observed the energy tower in front of Barnett.
These cultivators of the edict of destruction did not immediately leave because the presence of godhunters in Fort Verka had severely threatened their safety. They wanted to watch the House of Croton catch and punish those godhunters.
After all, if those godhunters were not caught and eliminated, as cultivators of the energy of destruction, they would remain targets to those hunters. Naturally, none of them felt comfortable being preyed upon!
Practically every destruction edict cultivator in Fort Verka with at least lowgod strength was gathered in this training field. Han Shuo was certain that there had to be at least a few godhunters among these people. The energy tower did not detect them merely because they had completely assimilated the divine energy of their victims with their own. Han Shuo’s sharp senses picked up that the eyes of a dozen or more lowgods of destruction flickered as soon as they saw Rahman and his bunch enter the training field. They were exchanging meaningful glances with Rahman and those who came in with him as though they were up to something.
With one thought, Han Shuo deduced that something major was about to happen in this training field. He was even less motivated to leave.
“Rahman, why have you come? You cultivate in the energy of darkness. You should be in the clear.” Barnett could recognize Rahman and loudly greeted him from a distance.
“Haha, I’m bringing my friends here to be tested. We want to cooperate with your efforts,” Rahman replied with a cordial smile on his face. His sinister and cold appearance back at his store was nowhere to be seen.
“I know I can count on you!” Barnett thanked him before he instructed to those lined up behind the tower, “Step aside, let Rahman and his friend take the test first.”
Rahman was a midgod. One could point to any location on a map of the universe but one fact would remain standing – the mighty always enjoy special privileges. There were only a few midgods to be found in Fort Verka. As a member of the House of Croton, it was to be expected that Barnett was familiar with Rahman.
Rahman, leading his bunch who cultivated in the energy of destruction, passed through the crowd and walked directly to Barnett. These people who had read the scroll that Rahman deliberately distributed inserted their divine energy into the energy tower one after another. The energy tower was not triggered. Every one of them passed the test.
However, Han Shuo was almost certain that those with Rahman were the perpetrators responsible for the murders in Fort Verka in the recent days. They likely passed the test because they had fully assimilated the divine energy of their victims.
“They are all clean. I don’t believe that Rahman’s friends would do such despicable things,” Barnett said while nodding his head. He seemed to be very close to Rahman.
“Of course!” Rahman replied and laughed heartily. His eyes, however, were wandering all around Eunice. Grinning cheekily, he asked, “Miss Eunice, you must have worked hard these days. You’re exhausted, aren’t you?” His gazes towards Eunice contained a trace of depravity. An average person without senses as acute as Han Shuo’s wouldn’t have discovered it.
“As a member of the House of Croton, this is what I should do – it doesn’t matter if it’s exhausting or not,” Eunice replied coldly. For some reason, she was instinctively disgusted with Rahman and felt ill every time he was in her presence.
“If there’s anything that I can help Miss Eunice with, please don’t hesitate to ask.” Rahman’s gaze constantly traveled all across Eunice’s body and lingered particularly long around her chest.
“No, thank you!” Eunice refused straightforwardly. Women possess extraordinary senses on such things. She had long known that Rahman lusted for her as well as that filthy matter he did with the salesgirl in his shop. Therefore, no matter how Rahman fawned on her, she never responded kindly.
Rahman did not take offense and gave a hollow laugh. However, when he slumped his head, a vicious and sinister light flashed across his eyes.
“Alright. Rahman, you may leave with your friends,” Barnett said smilingly. He knew Rahman’s intentions but wasn’t afraid that Rahman would do anything transgressing towards Eunice as the House of Croton held overwhelming power in Fort Verka.
Rahman nodded his head and started heading outside. However, along the way, his eyes were constantly exchanging glances with certain people in the crowd. Those whose gazes met with Rahman’s nodded their heads ever so slightly as though informing Rahman that their preparations were ready.
Han Shuo had seen every single little movement these people made. He was being very careful and on high alert as he knew that a show would soon take place right here. As his true strength was on par to a late-stage midgod, Han Shuo wasn’t at all concerned about his own safety. Instead, he wanted to stay and watch what Rahman was about to do.
Rahman, who was being closely watched by Han Shuo, had walked all the way to the doorway and would soon leave the training field. Han Shuo was astounded and thought, Could I have been mistaken in my judgment? Could Rahman not even have been thinking about making a move here?
When a great majority of the crowd had placed their attention back on Barnett’s energy tower, Rahman, who was a few steps from leaving the training field, suddenly withdrew a dark-golden sphere. Barnett, Eunice, and the others from the House of Croton had resumed with testing other people and did not notice Rahman’s actions at all.
Rahman did not let Han Shuo wait for a second longer and immediately hurled that dark-gold sphere into the air.
Suddenly, a terrifying aura of destruction gushed out from the sphere which flooded every inch of the air, forming a domain of divinity that enveloped the entire training field!
“What’s happening?” the crowd cried out in surprise. The terrifying energy of destruction that suddenly erupted in the training field had caused some commotion in the crowd.
“Goddamnit, who just unfurled their domain of divinity?” some of those who were oblivious cursed out loudly.
Barnett, who was next to his testing device, was stunned. He cried out in alarm, “Who is it? This is Fort Verka of the City of Shadows! Who is being so unbridled?” Barnett could sense that the aura of destruction that suddenly erupted in the training field wasn’t something that he could resist.
“Uncle, we have a formidable enemy in our presence. I have never sensed such terrifying energy of destruction!” Eunice remarked to Barnett. She was considered rather calm to the threat and was on the alert.
That dark gold sphere hovering high above the training field was ever releasing the aura of destruction and maintaining that Domain of Divinity which enveloped the entire space. When the crowd finally discovered that dark gold sphere over their heads, multiple glowing dark orbs suddenly flew out from the dark gold sphere one after another and flew upwards at the training field’s boundary.
Those glowing dark orbs all adhered to the boundary on the top of the training field and started to circulate rapidly. Those orbs would leave behind a trail of sparks behind their path. They altered the structure of the boundary and caused the aura of destruction to grow more intense.
Han Shuo was extremely shocked. His glistening eyes watched the boundary attentively, not even stopping to take the shortest blink. The energy of destruction and the density of the glowing dark orbs were all too obvious to him. As soon as they flew out from the dark golden sphere, Han Shuo recognized that those were the Orbs of Destruction that he had been trying to learn!
Han Shuo was rather puzzled as to why those Orbs of Destruction were flying about, altering the structure of the training field boundary as well as the fact that he had learned about the Orb of Destruction from a scroll he bought from the scroll store operated by Rahman.
“Who is doing this? Come out!” Barnett shouted at the top of his lungs and his voice had tremendous penetration power. It appeared that he intended to raise the attention of the divine guards outside the training field.
“That’s useless. No one will hear a thing inside here. Even if you shout your throat hoarse, your voice still won’t penetrate through the barrier!” Rahman started walking back to them with an evil smile. He appeared unruffled.
“It’s you?” Eunice cried out in surprise. She asked in a stone-cold voice, “Who do you work with? How dare you stir trouble in our Fort Verka!”
“Miss Eunice, darling, you will soon learn everything about me! I will slowly explain everything to you while pressing you down under my crotch and playing with you!” Rahman no longer concealed his lustful desires towards Eunice and answered impudently.
“Despicable!” Eunice gnashed her teeth and shouted furiously at Rahman’s obscene gazes and shameless words.
“Rahman, do you know how those who stand against the House of Croton end up?” Barnett took a deep breath to slightly calm his anger and asked Rahman with a calm but threatening voice.
Rahman shrugged indifferently and laughed a sinister laugh. “Do you really think that we would give a damn about a small little House of Croton? Oh poor Barnett, you actually think that your House of Croton carries any weight!”
While they were talking, some twenty or so destruction edict cultivators in the crowd walked out and stood beside Rahman, clearly stating their positions.
“Godhunters! They are all godhunters!” Eunice finally came to realize what was going on and pointed at the bunch furiously. She was so angry that her lovable body was trembling while she inwardly faulted herself for not discovering their identities earlier.
All those people who stood beside Rahman were indifferent to Eunice’s finger pointing.
“Kill them all, kill these damned godhunters! Their existences are our nightmare!” Lexis who was brought to this place along with Han Shuo by Eunice shouted righteously. He had always fawned over Eunice and was obviously trying to win her heart. He took this as an opportunity to woo her. The crowd immediately responded in agreement and was stirred up by his shout.
Although Rahman had twenty or so godhunters who cultivated in the energy of destruction on his side, just the divine guards that Barnett and Eunice had could match that number. To add on to those bystanders who were not godhunters, Lexis seemed to be on the winning side.
When Eunice saw Lexis take the lead in helping her, she responded by smiling at him, perhaps as to express her gratitude. Lexis, having seen that smile on her face, became even more excited and took the lead in marching towards Rahman, as if he wanted to win Eunice’s approval by playing the hero.
Idiot! Han Shuo scolded in his heart. Rahman and his gang so daringly stating their identities in the open had amply indicated that Rahman had absolute certainty of victory. But the stunt that Lexis was pulling, he must have been tired of living.
And the fact was indeed as Han Shuo had expected. Before that Lexis, whose blood was pumping with hormones could get anywhere close to Rahman, three Orbs of Annihilation flew downwards in crisscrosses and bombarded him. He shrieked loudly and miserably. Before the crowd’s eyes, Lexis’ thin body began to swell and grew to three times its volume in no time.
Pop! Lexis’ body that rapidly swelled to beyond its limits shrunk at an even faster rate. He collapsed powerlessly on the ground while blood spilled from every pore on his body.
“Kids that are impulsive don’t usually end up well!” Rahman remarked softly. Shortly after, he put on a mischievous, evil smile and said, “Do you think that we would have come here and shown ourselves without any preparations?”
After hearing those words, the small party who followed Lexis in attacking Rahman and his bunch, suddenly halted in their paths. They no longer acted blindly without thinking.
“It hasn’t been easy for us to create such an occasion where all the destruction edict cultivators are gathered together. We do this completely out of good intentions. As long as everyone cooperates with me, I believe that a great majority of you will be alright!” Rahman nodded in satisfaction when those people stopped advancing further.
“Rahman, we will not come to your terms! Godhunters are a bunch of scoundrels wallowing in a cesspool. Don’t think that we will join you in your evildoings!” Barnett coldly shouted and took the lead in walking towards Rahman. The House of Croton divine guards and Eunice immediately followed along.
“To join me in evildoing or not, that’s not up to you to say,” Rahman sneered. He pointed at the destruction edict godhunters behind him and said, “Look at them. Before, they knew nothing about engulfing another’s divine energy. But after I told them how, they became the same kind of people as I am. Barnett, you would only say so because you have never tried that wonderful sensation. Only once you have taken the energy of death of another person, you would know just the kind of ecstacy it is. Would you like to have a taste of it?”
“I want to taste how it feels to kill you!” Barnett was not wavered by Rahman’s words and continued to march towards him.
“Barnett, do be so impetuous. Aren’t you curious what am I actually up to?” seeing that persuasion was ineffective, Rahman switch to another approach – to evoke his curiosity.
Very obviously, Rahman’s new approach was effective. Barnett stopped walking, stared at him and asked, “What do you actually want to do?”
“You will find out very soon!” Rahman proudly pointed at the barrier that enveloped them and shouted to the crowd, “The barrier is now shrinking. If you don’t want to die, you better gather towards the center. I will take you all to a place where you can escape from being killed by the energy of destruction on the barrier!”
After hearing those words, the crowd raised their heads and looked up. Sure enough, they discovered that the enormous barrier that completely sealed the entire training field was shrinking little by little under the propel of the Orbs of Annihilation. Sparks filled with the aura of destruction were leaping about on the barrier.
By now, that dark gold sphere that hovered still above their heads had stopped spewing Orbs of Destruction. It felt like an eye that was looking down, giving the crowd a dreadful pressure.
Han Shuo, who was standing among the crowd, was certain that the dark gold sphere was a very formidable divine weapon whose owner was a highgod cultivating in the energy of destruction. Only a divine weapon in the hands of a highgod could create such terrifying results.
There were approximately three hundred Orbs of Annihilation that came out from the dark gold sphere. They all adhered to the barrier and were revolving. Based on the limited knowledge Han Shuo had, he reckoned that the master of the dark gold sphere could be the person who first came out with the attack method and authored the scroll he bought.
It was precisely because of this reason that Han Shuo, who could escape by going underground using earth elite zombie, did not take avail of the chaos and flee. Instead, he boldly chose to remain among the crowd, coldly and silently watching as the situation developed.
While the barrier around the training field was still contracting, Rahman, who was already standing at the center deployed a Bidirectional Portal out of nowhere.
Bidirectional Portals were a special divine device used for short-distance transportation. They were all manufactured by mighty gods cultivating in the edict of space and were very precious. By having a pair of Bidirectional Portals set up, a person could travel freely from one portal to another. The mighty space god who first invented the Bidirectional Portals originally made it to allow a pair of lovers living in different places to meet more conveniently.
That couple did not cultivate in the same type of energy. One of them cultivated at the northern part of Elysium while the other cultivated at the southern part where the elemental energy they cultivated in respectively was the densest. Therefore, if they wanted to meet, they had to travel long journeys to cross at least half of the vast material plane. Bidirectional Portals would obviously save them a lot of time. Although a Bidirectional Portal could not conduct interplanar transmissions, they were portable and very convenient. But as Bidirectional Portals required relatively precious materials and only highgods cultivating in the edict of space could refine one, they were extremely costly and the layman would never be able to possess one.
Rahman was just a midgod of darkness. Logically speaking, it was impossible that he could possess such a valuable Bidirectional Portal. Therefore, right after he erected a Bidirectional Portal, Han Shuo knew that it too belonged to the master of the dark gold sphere.
Rahman laughed heartily while Han Shuo was pondering in his mind. Rahman pointed at the open portal and announced smilingly, “All those who don’t want to die, enter! Barnett, if you want to figure out the situation, you too must enter! I should tell you that the barrier around you was made using the divine weapon of a highgod. If you don’t cross in there, you will die!”
“Hmph, let’s see what you are up to!” Barnett groaned coldly and stepped into the portal. His confidence, however, seemed to have become somewhat lacking. Han Shuo knew that Barnett was out of any other option.
“After you, my sweet darling. I will be with you shortly!” Rahman said beaming ear to ear when it was Eunice’s turn.
Pooh! Eunice could no longer restrain the loathing in her heart and spat a mouthful of saliva at Rahman’s face.
However, Eunice was getting nervous about her actions. Her Uncle Barnett had stepped into the Bidirectional Portal and most of those left were on Rahman’s side. She was afraid that Rahman would turn violent.
Rahman, strangely, did not flip out. Instead, he extended his index finger to swipe a bit of Eunice’s saliva from his cheek and placed it in his mouth. He even began to suck passionately on it right in front of Eunice. His appearance was obscene!
“Disgusting!” Eunice panicked and no longer dared to look at Rahman. She crossed the Bidirectional Portal with humiliation and abhorrence!
“Hahaha… Hahaha… “ Rahman howled with laughter and appeared very pleased with himself. Then, when Eunice had completely disappeared in the portal, he suddenly turned cold. With an evil grin, he mumbled to himself, “Eunice, you cannot escape from my palms! Soon, I will let you taste something worse than death!”
The boundary around the training field shrunk smaller and smaller. The frightened crowd made their way quickly into the portal one after another. Soon enough, it was Han Shuo’s turn.
Rahman gasped, staring at Han Shuo for a moment before he asked puzzlingly, “I know you. You read my scroll but did not seem repulsed. This indicates that you have thought about utilizing the method of engulfing written on the scroll. But why is it that you did not take any action after that?”
Han Shuo had long known that Rahman was observing everything in his store using some special device. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to tell apart those which would expose him and those which would eventually join him. Therefore, Han Shuo wasn’t at all surprised that Rahman would ask so. He replied smilingly, “That’s right, I have read the scroll and am interested in doing it. However, certain things have delayed my journey and I have not found a target to act on!” He giggled.
“Haha, a kindred spirit! Once you enter, you will have a target for sure!” Rahman laughed evilly and patted on Han Shuo’s shoulder. He ought to have taken Han Shuo as one of his kind.
“I hope so as well!” Han Shuo replied cheerfully and marched into the portal. In his mind, however, he was cursing, fucking hell, don’t touch me with that filthy hand of yours that you’ve put into your mouth!
Hey guys, I caught flu and couldn’t work as productively. I’ll try my best but the next chapter release will probably be delayed by a few days. Will keep you updated on discord. -Hedonist