GDK 690: Arrival at the City of Shadows
Erebus, one of the seven chief divine guards of the City of Shadows, had beaten back Brovst, a leader of the Godhunter Alliance. The crisis in this valley had been resolved.
When those survivors in the valley learned from that green-haired man that it was Erebus who had come to their rescue, they all cheered. All those midgod level divine guards left the valley as soon as they discovered that there weren’t any remaining godhunters and there were no spoils of war to be harvested.
Following their departure, Han Shuo and the other survivors dispersed from the valley.
After flying out from the valley, Han Shuo hovered high in the air and cast his gaze into the distance. He noted that this bumpy Chicoro mountain range housed unbroken chains of mountains that stretched beyond the horizon. After unfolding his consciousness, Han Shuo sensed the countless presence of life in the mountain range. Through the visions of several demon generals in the Cauldron of Myriad Demon, Han Shuo discovered that those lifeforms took on all kind of strange and unique shapes.
He saw a lion the size of a small hill, a python several hundred meters in length that had a sharp black horn on its head, an enormous eagle spitting raging inferno as it battled a giant python curled up on the ground.
Observing the ground, Han Shuo discovered that the magical beasts on Elysium, perhaps affected by their environment extremely abundant in elemental energy, grew to be extremely formidable. Not only were they colossal, but some were also innately gifted with the ability to utilize the elemental energy found between heaven and earth. Their life aura was extremely massive and some were more frightening than lowgods.
As Han Shuo continued to survey the scene, he discovered that starting from the valley and extending towards the north, the ground was filled with deep craters. These large craters ought to have only taken shape recently as some the of cracks were growing larger while several small mountains were still swaying. Enormous rocks would tumble down the mountains from time to time.
Immediately, Han Shuo realized that the scene he witnessed was caused by the great battle between Erebus and Brovst. Han Shuo slowly traveled along the trail of devastation. Ever so often he would glance all around as he tried to approximate their true strengths from the vestiges of their battle.
All along the journey, Han Shuo saw scenes of complete ruin caused by the two exchanging blows. He had walked past multiple collapsed small mountains and enormous trees with a girth that would take ten people to wrap their arms around, uprooted. The earth was also torn into multiple deep ravines. Han Shuo arrived at a vague estimation from the scenes he saw.
Once he arrived at a collapsed mountain, Han Shuo discovered that the scars left on the ground did not extend any further. It appeared that when they battled to this mountain, they took the fight into the sky or perhaps one of them chose to escape. That would explain why Han Shuo did not discover more remains.
Han Shuo learned from the green-haired man that the Chicoro mountain range was not far away from the City of Shadows. From that collapsed mountain, Han Shuo traveled north on foot and took three days to exit the Chicoro mountain range. It was obvious that this mountain range was vast.
After three days, Han Shuo found even more strange and bizarre magical beasts. Some of the magical beasts were so mighty that even Han Shuo dared not to provoke them, staying far, far away. From the classification of magical beasts that Han Shuo was aware of, those mighty creatures would have far exceeded rank five and were around rank eight or nine.
Other than some bizarre magical beasts, Han Shuo also discovered some natural treasures containing immense spirit energy, namely Emerald Grass, Fire Fruits, and Blueheart Stone. Some of these natural treasures could simply be devoured to raise Han Shuo’s demonic yuan while some could be turned into pills with wonderful uses after some simple refining processes.
These things were all unclaimed. A great majority of people on Elysium had no understanding of the wonderful uses of these valuable natural treasures. Naturally, Han Shuo would not be modest in helping himself. He bluntly collected every last one of those natural treasures he discovered along his journey. When Han Shuo finally exited the Chicoro mountain range, the demonic yuan in his body had increased considerably.
Han Shuo did not waste any more time after walking out from the Chicoro mountain range. He spent half a month traversing several large and small villages and forts before finally, on an early morning, he arrived at one of the seven major cities of the Darkness Dominion, the City of Shadows. Standing before the magnificent gate made of black rock that touched the sky, strangely, Han Shuo felt a feeling of tininess and insignificance.
When Han Shuo raised his head to look at the towering dark gates, he could sense an awe-inspiring, majestic demeanor. Even though it was early in the morning, there was a large stream of people lining up to enter the city like Han Shuo.
Unlike Fort Verka, most of those entering the City of Shadows were lowgods and midgods. There were even one or two highgods entering the city with VIP treatment. Those with basegod and demigod strengths were incredibly rare to be seen. The few beings with such strength were minors and children.
When Han Shuo came to stand before the city gates, he truly came to recognize that thanks to the intensity of elemental energies in the atmosphere and the openness in martial art cultivation, beings in Elysium were indeed pervertedly mighty and powerful. Back on Profound Continent, a demigod or basegod would either be an overlord or an engine that propels an entire nation. However, at this City of Shadows of the Elysium, even children who had yet to reach adulthood were already that powerful. The differences between the two worlds could not be more obvious.
After observing for a moment, Han Shuo too started walking into the city. After handing his divine tablet and a piece of purple crystal coin, he was finally inside the City of Shadows.
The first things that entered his eyes were densely packed boundary towers and magical towers erected behind the city gate. They were filled with sparkling energy stones that seemed to provide the city with an endless supply of energy required to sustain their luxurious lifestyles.
“Hello, excuse me, may I know how to get to the House of Lavers?” Han Shuo approached a divine guard stationed at the city gate and asked urbanely.
The disdainful look on that divine guard’s face diminished when he heard “House of Lavers” from Han Shuo. He gave Han Shuo a careful look before he pointed southwest and answered, “Head in that direction for approximately half a day and you will be in its vicinity. The House of Lavers is one of the five major families in the City of Shadows. Once you get there, pretty much anyone there can point you to the exact location.”
Han Shuo thanked him smilingly and started heading southwest.
Compared to Fort Verka, the City of Shadows was more than ten times the size. Each and every building here was so tall they could touch the sky. For some reason, while traveling in the City of Shadows, Han Shuo felt as though he had yet to leave the Chicoro mountain range. He also realized those mighty beings preferred living in lofty and tall buildings. From his senses, he detected that the elemental energy was slightly denser in high places. Although it was just one tiny bit denser, it was more than enough reason for these beings who sought ever greater strengths to build their houses high and tall.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the buildings would collapse under their own weight if built too tall, perhaps these godly existences living on Elysium would have built their houses all the way to the heavens. Their desire for strength was only a fine line away from insanity.
As Han Shuo walked through the buildings as magnificent as mountains, a feeling of insignificance yet again rose from his heart. There were energy towers, magical towers, and boundary towers glittering with gentle light all around him. Some of those energy towers seemed to have the function of gathering elemental energy. After walking into the City of Shadows, Han Shuo clearly sensed the elemental energy of darkness and death grow more intense.
Along the way, Han Shuo saw dazzling lineups of gymnasiums and shops of all kinds. They were all targeted in serving godly beings. Most of the goods being sold were divine armor, divine weapons, divine scrolls, and crystals of different functions.
For some reason, perhaps affected by the various and numerous energy towers and boundaries in the city, the coverage area of Han Shuo’s consciousness had significantly reduced. Although they did not pose a hindrance to other gods who were accustomed to having the presence of all kinds of energies, the probing ability of Han Shuo’s consciousness was adversely affected.
Puzzled, Han Shuo tried to boost his senses by using Cauldron Spirit’s energy. He discovered that even with Cauldron Spirit’s energy, he could only take in the situation of everything within a one-mile radius. Compared to the vast City of Shadows, a circle of one-mile radius was tiny.
While surveying his surroundings, Han Shuo had unwittingly traveled for half a day. When a new block appeared before him, he immediately realized that he was very close to his destination. Just as that divine guard had said, the Lavers Family was known to every person in this region. Han Shuo found out the precise location of the House of Lavers after going to some random shop to ask.
After twenty minutes, Han Shuo was standing right in front of the House of Lavers. There were towering buildings as far as the eye could see. There were many energy towers, boundary towers, and magical towers between the structures, supplying the House of Lavers with any kind of energy they required.
The sky and the space around him were sealed by powerful boundaries. Without strolling around, Han Shuo arrived at the main gate. He gently cleared his throat to attract the attention of the two divine guards stationed at the front.
Unlike other divine guards in the City of Shadows, those divine guards under the House of Lavers wore green colored armor. At the center of their chest piece was a design of a dark sun which Han Shuo had seen embroidered on Donna’s clothing. Therefore, Han Shuo knew that he had arrived at his destination when he saw that design on the divine guards’ armor.
“Youngster, what are you sneaking about?” one of the divine guards glared at Han Shuo vigilantly. He was a lowgod cultivating in the element of darkness and possessed early-stage strength.
“I’m looking for Miss Donna of Lavers. Please inform of my request!” Han Shuo said in a cordial manner as he handed over a few purple crystal coins smilingly.
The expressions on the two divine guards simultaneously relaxed when they saw Han Shuo’s courtesy. The man put on a faint smile, took Han Shuo’s purple crystal coins, and asked, “You do know Miss Donna?”
Han Shuo nodded and replied, “My name is Bryan. Please inform Miss Donna that I’ve come.”
“Just a moment!” the two divine guards became much more polite after they received Han Shuo’s purple crystal coins. One of them rapidly headed into the house.
“Where do you come from? How did you get to know Miss Donna?” The other divine guard was unoccupied. Seeing that Han Shuo was an agreeable person, he started conversing with him.
“I acted as her guide in her last mission. That was how I came to know her. I’ve come here to look for her because she invited me,” Han Shuo replied smilingly.
“In the Lavers Family, Miss Donna can be considered as a relatively pleasant Master. You really are lucky to know Miss Donna. However, you still need to be careful inside the Lavers Family. There are some young master and young lady who wouldn’t be as tolerant,” the divine guard felt that Han Shuo was a person he could get along well with and therefore seeing that no one was around, he gave Han Shuo a word of warning.
“Oh?” Han Shuo cried out in surprise and asked, “Do you mind telling me who is in the Lavers Family?”
“Lord patriarch has a younger brother and a younger sister. Miss Donna is the second child of Lord patriarch. She has an elder brother called Diwei. Lord patriarch’s brother has two sons and one daughter. The Lord patriarch’s sister has married to the Bruce Family at the Destruction Dominion. She no longer lives here. There are also a dozen or more collateral relatives living here. Some of them are like Miss Donna and the Lord Patriarch – they are easy to get along with; but some, not so. After going in, you should be careful not to provoke those people by all means,” the divine guard cautioned.
Before coming over, Han Shuo had not heard Donna mention anything about her Lavers Family. He had come to the Lavers Family merely to look for Donna and learn a few things from her. He had no thoughts of working for the Lavers Family. Therefore, Han Shuo did not completely take that divine guard’s warning to heart.
After exchanging a few casual sentences with that divine guard, Han Shuo sensed Donna’s aura. Soon enough, Donna, wearing an emerald green long skirt and a big smile, came into Han Shuo’s view. “Bryan, what took you so long?” Donna’s smile became even more cheerful when she saw Han Shuo.
That divine guard that chatted with Han Shuo immediately viewed Han Shuo in a new light when he saw that Donna had personally come to welcome him. He originally thought that Han Shuo was merely trying to get a job under the Lavers Family by utilizing his relationship with Donna. Han Shuo, after all, was merely a lowgod. They ran into this kind of situation practically every day.
“There were some things that needed time to resolve. I couldn’t just leave without making proper arrangements. That world is my territory after all!” Han Shuo explained smilingly, pausing for a moment before he continued, “Miss Donna, you seem to have become even more beautiful after all this time!”
“You are such a sweet talker!” Donna scolded playfully before she pulled Han Shuo inside by his sleeves, “What are you standing here for? Come on in!”
The two divine guards were amazed that Donna appeared to be trying to pull Han Shuo closer to the Lavers Family. When Han Shuo’s figure completely disappeared, that divine guard who had been chatting with Han Shuo murmured, “Although Miss Donna is an amiable person, she never was cordial to this level, right?”
The other divine guard nodded and remarked, “This youngster is nothing simple!”