GDK 691: The five families
Han Shuo stepped into the House of Lavers following Donna. After walking through a bunch of boundaries and energy towers, they arrived inside a tall building where Donna lived.
Illuminated by magical lamps, the interior was showcased gloriously. They stepped into a big lounge, where Donna invited Han Shuo to have a seat. She then asked with bright eyes about his journey to this place.
Han Shuo briefly described some of the events he encountered ever since arriving at the interplanar transportation facility. Donna very patiently listened to Han Shuo narrate his story before she sighed, “It seems that I wasn’t thoughtful enough. I did not anticipate that you would run into godhunters and multiple times at that. It’s such a fortunate coincidence that Lord Erebus found Brovst. Otherwise, it would have been disastrous for you!”
“I heard that Erebus is one of the seven chiefs of divine guard in the City of Shadows. When he descended upon the valley, I could sense the terrifying aura on him. What kind of strength does he have?” Han Shuo creased his brows and asked. He was very interested in this being they called Erebus although he had never actually seen his face. He had previously examined the vestiges of the great battle between Erebus and Brovst. He wanted to verify his estimation of their strengths through Donna.
“That’s right. Lord Erebus is one of the seven chief divine guards. Possessing mid-stage highgod strength, of the seven, his strength numbers in third place. He is a well-known expert in the City of Shadows!” Donna further explained, “All seven chief divine guards came from the five major families of the City of Shadows. My uncle, Avery, is also one of the seven. But he ranks merely in the fifth place. He possesses early-stage highgod strength.”
“Other than your House of Lavers, who are the four major families in the City of Shadows? Which is the strongest?” Han Shuo suddenly got interested in hearing Donna introduce the distribution of strength in the City of Shadows. After coming to an alien environment, the first thing that one should do was to familiarize with oneself with the surroundings. Han Shuo knew from experience that it would be useful to know who could be dangerous and which people he could not afford to offend for the time being.
Donna smiled and immediately began to explain the distribution of strength in the City of Shadows to Han Shuo.
Han Shuo quickly came to understand that in the City of Shadows, other than the Lavers Family where Donna belonged, there were the Sainte Family, Kinson Family, Kisa Family, and Buller Family. Of them, the Sainte Family was the strongest as the patriarch of the Sainte Family, Tracy, was the City Lord of the City of Shadows. The chief divine guards that ranked in the top three all belonged to the Sainte Family. Therefore, the Sainte Family had the greatest influence in the entire City of Shadows.
The other four families, including the Lavers Family, obviously fell short in terms of influence compared to the Sainte Family. There wasn’t too much of a discrepancy between the four in terms of strength. Their family members also enjoyed prestige and took on high positions in the City of Shadows. They had their own divine guards and were in control of many of the shops and gyms in the city.
The Sainte Family was the dominant power in the City of Shadows with no other influence or family clan able to threaten their authority in the city. The other four families aligned themselves closely to the policies of the Sainte Family and followed their lead. It was needless to say that the four families were very respectful towards the Sainte Family. However, the four families would fight and maneuver against each other openly in recruiting experts into their own families. They would also fight over deposits containing energy ores and rare metals.
In short, the family clans would do whatever it took to raise and improve their strengths, including taking over all kinds of materials and resources. They were afraid of fighting over things with the Sainte Family but were not afraid of any open competition with other families.
After explaining the situation in the City of Shadows to Han Shuo briefly, Han Shuo remained silent in contemplation. Donna did not interrupt his thoughts but patiently waited for Han Shuo to digest her words.
After a while, Han Shuo put on a smile and nodded. He said, “I would have expected the Lavers Family to be the strongest in the City of Shadows!”
“We have been working hard to achieve that. But unfortunately, my Lavers Family are really young in development, far short of the Sainte Family who have over tens of thousands of years of history. These ancient families would usually have a few late-stage highgods in their family. Those families can be considered as the front ranking. My Lavers Family is second-rate at best!” Donna explained smilingly, mocking herself. Afterwards, she smiled at Han Shuo and asked, “Do you feel disappointed after hearing my account?”
“DIsappointed about?” Han Shuo was confused.
“Disappointed that my family isn’t the mightiest influence and therefore might limit your growth in the future,” Donna smiled.
“Well, this has nothing to do me with,” Han Shuo shrugged and continued with a grin, “I have no plans to work for your family. In fact, I have no intention of becoming a divine guard under some family on Elysium for now. There’s really nothing for me to feel disappointed about.”
“Bryan, I think I should explain something about Elysium,” Donna put on a faint smile and continued, “If you want to gain a footing on this Plane of Gods, unless you are a highgod of mighty strength, you must adhere yourself to a mighty family. When it comes to the Dominions of Darkness, Death, and Destruction, the most powerful organization here is none other than the Calamity Church. Other than the three Overgods with transcendental statuses, all the Cardinals of the Calamity Church are filled with patriarchs from those ancient families. Even the core members of the church are occupied by the elites of those families. It is practically impossible for those with no connections and ties to join the inner circles of the church. You will find that without adhering to a family, especially since you have arrived on Elysium only recently, doing things will be rather meddlesome.”
After listening to Donna’s explanation, Han Shuo forced a smile and nodded. He replied, “I understand. But for now, I really have no desire to commit to any undertakings. At present, I only want to learn more about Elysium and travel everywhere to improve my strength.”
“Nevermind, let’s not talk about this for now. You arrived at the City of Shadows just today. I will take you to roam all around. If you ever change your mind later, our Lavers Family will welcome you with open arms!” Donna did not force Han Shuo to immediately agree to join her Lavers Family.
“Sure, I really want to get to know the City of Shadows,” Han Shuo said as he got up his seat smilingly.
“Come, I will first take you on a tour around my house. Just live here for the time being. You may leave for a new place of dwelling when you find a better opportunity,” Donna got up and lead Han Shuo to the highest level of the building. She then started pointing at the towering structures and introduced each one, right down to the gymnasiums, smelting rooms, and living quarters of some special characters. Han Shuo only needed to listen once to remember all the information using his most amazing consciousness
“Sis, who’s that you are with?” suddenly, a deep and resounding voice came from the top level of a building opposite them. Subsequently, a majestic figure entered Han Shuo’s line of sight. The man had similar facial features with Donna and looked like someone in his thirties. However, after learning about the life span of these godly existences on Elysium, Han Shuo knew that this man was far, far older than that. That man cultivated in the energy of destruction and possessed approximately late-stage midgod strength.
“Elder brother, this is a friend of mine. I have mentioned him to you the last time, his name is Bryan. He comes from a material plane called Profound Continent,” from several hundred meters away, Donna introduced Han Shuo to that person she called elder brother.
“I see. We will head to the Space Dominion soon, make sure you have made the proper preparations,” Donna’s elder brother replied indifferently and returned to his room on the top floor without giving Han Shuo a second look.
“He’s my elder brother, Diwei. That’s just his natural temperament – he doesn’t like talking with people. Please don’t take offense!” Donna explained to Han Shuo.
Han Shuo smiled and did not make any remarks. From the early performance of Bolten and Li Wei when they first arrived on Profound Continent, Han Shuo knew that inhabitants of Elysium had a natural disposition to feel a sense of superiority over those living on other material planes. It was within his expectations that Diwen would react so indifferently. In fact, Han Shuo would feel strange if Diwei had reacted with enthusiasm knowing he came from a low-level material plane.
“Come, I’ll now take you outside to roam the streets. I don’t remember seeing you use any powerful divine weapons the last time. Since you have given me the honor as your very first host on Elysium, I shall reward you with a decent divine weapon!” Donna declared righteously and started pulling Han Shuo outside.
The Lavers’ house was a large complex of buildings and naturally had more exits than just the front door. Donna lead Han Shuo away from the compound using a side door and towards the most bustling streets. Han Shuo was dazzled by the variety of goods sold by those shops.
“Actually, I don’t need any divine weapons. In fact, I have so much in excess that I need to get rid of some!” Han Shuo said to Donna smilingly as they walked along a street lined with shops.
“What?” Donna stared blankly for a moment before she giggled, “When we left Profound Continent, we only left you a dozen something purple crystal coins. Those were enough for you to come and locate me but to purchase suitable divine weapons, that amount is far from adequate. Divine weapons selling at that price are no good. You must have been scammed.”
“Well, take a look at these. Are they any good?” Han Shuo handed a space ring to Donna. It contained the divine weapons and divine devices he collected in the Void, items he plundered from the dead bodies of Kaiser, Eriksson, and those who perished in the godhunter’s valley. He had kept his invaluable divine essences and some divine weapons potentially useful to him in another space ring.
As Han Shuo had removed the seal on the space ring, Donna knew what was contained inside as soon as she came into contact with the space ring.
Donna stared at Han Shuo with astonishment. After scanning through each and every item in the space ring, she forced a smile and remarked, “I think, I should sell these divine weapons for you instead of getting you one. Bryan, I truly cannot understand how in the world you got your hands on these things. Truly did not make out that you are actually fairly wealthy!”