GDK 697: Chap, you indeed have the skills!
Carmelita grabbed hold of Han Shuo and pulled him right out of the Third Corps. As soon as he stepped outside, Han Shuo saw an enormous airship hovering in the sky with a dozen or so figures standing on top. They were wearing the divine guard armor of the Sainte Family and all of them possessed midgod strength.
Without giving any explanation, Carmelita proceeded to drag Han Shuo into the airship and as soon as they boarded, instructed her extremely deferential divine guards, “Refill the energy crystals and set off!”
The airship is the most commonly used transportation vehicle on Elysium. Produced using advanced alchemy technology, this type of large flying machine used energy crystals as its energy source. The airship that Han Shuo found himself in was around a hundred meters long. It was lined with seats that had comfortable cushions.
“My Lady, who is this young man?” a plump, one-eyed woman with no eyebrows asked as she sized up Han Shuo peculiarly.
“Erebus isn’t at the Third Corps, he went hunting for Brovst. I’m sure he brought along those two fellas who are good at tracking,” Carmelita said somewhat angrily before she looked at Han Shuo with slanted eyes and said, “This is Bryan. He’s from a low-level material plane. I have heard from Donna that not only is this person very observant, his insights and abilities in making judgments are remarkable. Donna isn’t one to talk drivel. Her words and assessments have a remarkably high level of reliability. Since I couldn’t borrow experts from Erebus, this guy will have to do,”
“This… this…” The plump, one-eyed woman was stunned. She stammered as though wanting to persuade Carmelita to give up on Han Shuo.
“This what? Even if he can’t make a difference, you really think that we can’t find those who snuck into our City of Shadows by ourselves?” Carmelita was annoyed and shot a glare at that plump woman.
Carmelita was very powerful in the House of Sainte. Although the plump woman wasn’t happy with the decision, she dared not to voice her objection. She merely sighed and looked at Han Shuo up and down with gazes of suspicion.
“I need your help to find some people. You rest for a bit, I will inform you when we arrive. You can be at ease, I’m a friend of Donna’s. You will be just fine,” Carmelita said to Han Shuo before she walked to the front of the airship and sat down on a seat meant for her alone.
Han Shuo was in a daze. He looked at the dozen or so divine guards under the House of Sainte wearing cold and stern faces as well as that plump woman, now looking rather unsatisfied. Without a word, he proceeded to find a seat.
Elysium seemed infinitely vast. Even a small mountain range was around the size of Lancelot Empire’s territories. On this material plane, even the divine soul of a highgod wouldn’t be able to cover too much of a distance. If on top of that, the opponent was carefully concealing their aura, it would be even more difficult to detect and locate them.
Carmelita and her party were probably after a certain infiltrator. She went to the Third Corps looking for Erebus because she needed unique talents who understood geography and were able to infer clues from tiny details. Unfortunately, Erebus and his subordinates who had those special skills were not available. But not to give up for lost, she took Han Shuo into her search party. Han Shuo managed to understand the whole sequence of events after thinking for a moment.
Everyone on the airship was silently cultivating. Han Shuo, accustomed to loneliness and solitude, did not feel bored. He secretly observed how those midgods with outstanding strengths cultivated, hoping to learn and gain something.
Time flew by. Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Han Shuo suddenly discovered that the airship had abruptly decreased in airspeed. When he lowered his head, he found that the airship was travelling over a mountain range filled with colorful miasmic gasses. Those miasmic gasses carried a sour, rotting smell. They should be toxic.
Gradually, the airship stopped above the mountain range. Carmelita who had been silently cultivating all along finally stood up from her seat at the front of the airship. After lowering her head to take a look at the mountain range, she softly instructed, “Alright, we have finally arrived at the Miasmic Cloud Mountain Range. Everyone get ready and disembark from the airship. Based on the information we received, those fellas are inside this mountain range. Be aware, the strange miasmic gasses in the mountain range are very troublesome. Not only do they contain all kinds of toxicity, those gasses can also restrict the observation power of your divine soul. Be extra careful.”
“Don’t worry about it, my Lady. They are all prepared for this!” the plump lady said smilingly as she withdrew a delicate medicinal bottle. She poured some lotion and applied it to her skin. The lotion formed a thin layer of membrane that completely covered her plump body.
The divine guards on the airship all did the same thing. They all applied medicinal lotion to their themselves, leaving a thin membrane on their skin. Only Carmelita did not do so as there was a naturally formed force field of destruction barely visible to the naked eye around her. The force field produced constant undulations to prevent any gas or particles from coming into contact with her skin.
Carmelita took the lead in descending into the mountain range. She suddenly called to mind about Han Shuo when she was in midair and casually instructed, “Get Bryan a bottle, lest he falls to the toxic gasses after taking just a few steps.”
It was when Carmelita’s purple figure submerged into the toxic miasmic gas below that the plump lady threw Han Shuo a medicinal bottle most unwillingly. She said, “Apply this medicine to your body. A bottle of this costs ten black crystal coins. What a steal.”
Han Shuo thanked her. He opened his hand and the medicinal bottle being thrown over flew into his palm. Soon after applying the medicinal lotion, he too had a very thin membrane formed on his skin, enveloping his body in a kind of unique barrier.
Even without using the Invincible Omen Body, Han Shuo had no fear of being assaulted by the toxic miasmic gasses. Having cultivated demonic arts to the stage that he had, Han Shuo could shut off every pore on his skin with only his mind, making him impervious to the toxic atmosphere. Even if Han Shuo was to take large, deep breaths of the toxic air, he could easily expel the toxins from his body through his pores. He only used that medicinal lotion because he did not want to attract that plump woman’s attention.
“I cannot begin to understand why her Ladyship would bring a lowgod here. Let me be clear, we will not care about the life or death of a burden like yourself. If we run into any danger, the best you can do is to run as far as you can – don’t even count on us to protect or rescue you!” the plump woman warned resentfully before descending into the mountain range. She cultivated in the energy of darkness and possessed late-stage midgod strength. It was only natural that she would look down on a puny little lowgod like Han Shuo.
One after another, the divine guards of the Sainte Family descended into the mountain range after Carmelita and that plump woman. The airship then gradually shrunk under the control of a divine guard.
Han Shuo let out a soft laughter. He became rather interested with the situation of the miasmic mountain range beneath him. Han Shuo too descended into the mountain range before the airship started to shrink. When he landed, he discovered that all the divine guards were sticking closely behind Carmelita. They looked cautious and were carefully observing their surroundings.
As the miasmic gas was everywhere, their visions were limited. The farthest any of them could see was less than a hundred meters. Anything further than that was hardly visible. Even Han Shuo who had cultivated in demonic arts for so many years could only clearly take in things three hundred meters away from him.
“Kid, now is the time for you to be useful. Can you locate any trails of those fellas?” that plump woman shot a cold glance at Han Shuo as though she had absolutely no confidence in Han Shuo.
Han Shuo shook his head indifferently, saying, “There’s no sign or tracks of any humans around here. By the way, who exactly are you looking for? What energy do they cultivate in? Do they have any distinctive features?” Han Shuo replied to that plump woman and asked Carmelita, the leader of the party.
“They are a bunch from the Life Dominion, our arch enemies. According to the unwritten rule, any person who cultivates in the energy of life or light, once discovered within our Darkness Dominion, will be killed without exception. They must have a secret agenda to be so daring to trespass upon the territory of our City of Shadows. We must figure out their objectives and then kill them all. Otherwise, if those in other Darkness Dominion Cities were to learn of this, they will mock us City of Shadows for our incompetence!” Carmelita explained to Han Shuo with a fierce look.
Both sides were arch-enemies. Without some very unique reason, the other side surely wouldn’t had bear the risk of being slaughtered in infiltrating the Darkness Dominion. It was no wonder that Carmelita would muster large forces in hunting these infiltrators cultivating in the edict of life.
Han Shuo had a measure of the difficulty of the challenge after learning about who they were after. Cultivators of the energy of life shared an extraordinary connection with nature. Once they entered the mountain range filled with ancient trees and a large number of plants, they would be a most difficult group of people to locate. It was no wonder that Carmelita would think of borrowing talents from Erebus.
Those who cultivated in the energy of life were not only good at concealing their aura using the natural environment, they also avoided destroying the natural environment. Therefore, they wouldn’t leave many trails behind when traveling about in the mountain range. On top of that, as this mountain range was covered with miasmic gas, it wouldn’t be an easy task to locate them, not even for Han Shuo.
Han Shuo had released a dozen or so demon generals through Cauldron Spirit in advance lest that Carmelita would discover them. At this very moment, these demon generals were surveying in every direction, carefully inspecting for any abnormal scene and clues.
Suddenly, one of his demon generals discovered traces of magical beasts having battled fifteen kilometers to the right of Han Shuo. There were a few broken trees there reconnected using some kind of energy, clearly an act of man, not nature. It begged the question, who would be willing to waste time on these natural plants? Well, other than cultivators of the edict of life, who could it have been?
“Come with me,” Han Shuo gently cried out as he took the lead in that direction. But after traveling merely thirty meters, Han Shuo halted in his footsteps. He turned around to look at the divine guards wearing confused faces and Carmelita who was obviously puzzled. He said smilingly, “Why? Don’t believe me?”
“Ermm… Did you really discover something? How is that possible? Even those two under Erebus couldn’t discover the trails of those who cultivate in the energy of life inside a mountain range so easily. How did you do that?” Carmelita’s triangular eyes glistened brightly as she softly questioned with skepticism.
“My Lady, this kid must be making a show. He is only a lowgod. How could he discover their trails so quickly?” the plump woman was distrustful towards Han Shuo and she was straightforward in expressing her thoughts.
“If tracking people has something to do with strength, then Miss Carmelita wouldn’t have brought me here. Don’t be so narrow-minded,” Han Shuo smirked.
“Jackass, how dare you talk to me like that! I can make you vanish from this world forever with just the snap of my finger! Believe me, I can and I will!” The plump woman was enraged.
“Silence, Karina!” Carmelita berated her in displeasure before creasing her sparse brows and asked Han Shuo suspiciously, “You really found their trails?”
“It’s only fifteen kilometers out. It won’t take long to travel there. Just come with me and see it for yourself,” Han Shuo shrugged and answered. Without further explaining himself, he took the lead.
When Han Shuo was about to disappear from their line of sight, Carmelita ordered, “Move, let’s keep pace with him. I don’t think this guy has the guts to deceive me! But if he really dares waste my time, even if he is Donna’s friend, I’m going to make him pay!”
After hearing her instructions, the crowd quickly caught up to Han Shuo and followed behind him. Karina stared at Han Shuo’s back with scorn.
Soon enough, the party arrived at the region behind Han Shuo. Han Shuo was already crouching on the ground pretending to observe something. When Carmelita walked to his side, he stood up with a calm face, pointed at the ancient trees that had been reconnected, and said, “Other than those who cultivate in the energy of life, I don’t think anyone would be so kind towards these big trees. What do you think?”
Carmelita gave just one glance at those big trees before she cried out in surprise, “There are indeed signs of the energy of life on these trees. You are correct, that bunch must have been here!”
With the facts laid out right before their eyes, Karina, the plump woman who originally thought of giving Han Shuo hell, covered her mouth and gasped. The look in her eyes as she stared at Han Shuo had completely changed. Karina hesitated for a moment before she said rather awkwardly, “My apologies, that was petty of me. It appears that you really could be helpful!”
This woman was frank and outspoken. Although she doesn’t give face, she dared openly admit her mistakes when she learned that she was wrong. A character like her was difficult to come by. In addition, after carefully observing for a moment, Han Shuo discovered that Kalina was sincere in her apology. He nodded and assured her, “It’s alright, I did not take it to heart.”
Those House of Sainte divine guards in Carmelita’s party also gasped in wonder. They had a newfound respect for Han Shuo.
“Chap, you really do have the skills. Haha, I knew I could trust Donna’s word! Very good. If we can locate that bunch and get rid of them, I will make sure you get rewarded. Everyone in the City of Shadows knows that I’m most liberal with money!” Carmelita was in a cheerful mood and praised Han Shuo highly.
“Alright, we will all follow your lead until we find those people. How do we proceed next?” Carmelita asked.
Han Shuo was stunned. He was bitterly laughing in his heart because this was the only clue he had found yet through his demon generals and he had absolutely no idea where those people were. Contrary to expectations, Han Shuo had no idea how to respond to Carmelita’s absolute confidence in him.