GDK 825: Could it be him?
***Ethereal City. Inside a luxurious villa in the southeast region.
The wounded highgod of thunder, after taking plenty of detours, finally returned to his home. Upon arrival, he scuttled to his secret chamber and used thunder divine essences to heal himself.
The highgod had suffered quite some injuries in the battle against Little Skeleton. He needed a period before he could regain his full health.
The divine essences glistened and sparked in his palm as the lightning divine energy slowly filled the damaged areas around his divine body. He could finally start to relax.
The highgod of thunder’s mind was shrouded with fear after having fought Han Hao. The fusion of the energy of death and demonic arts had produced an extremely strange but wicked energy. Although his strength was not in the least inferior to Little Skeleton, in a battle, the highgod of thunder was completely on the back foot.
It was the few bone spurs that caught him by surprise that had caused him the greatest injuries. He could not avoid the bone spurs and his divine body was pierced. This had prevented him from unleashing his full strength in the remainder of the battle.
While he was resting and recuperating, he suddenly sensed an unusual spacetime fluctuation in his villa. With one thought, a big crystal ball appeared in his hand and he used it to observe around his house. He saw that Baum the City Lord had noiselessly arrived at a secluded spot in his house.
He kept away the divine essences in his hands and using the crystal ball, he instructed, “Bring the City Lord here!”
Two divine guards immediately moved out from the shadows and respectfully led Baum to the secret chamber. After the two divine guards dismissed themselves, Baum immediately bunched his brows and asked, “Leon, what actually happened?”
“That Celestial Pearl Pharmacy is really, really terrifying! I was occupied with that woman and then a teenager abruptly appeared. That teenager had pursued me from the Pharmacy all the way to the stone forest. I just couldn’t shake him off. After battling him, I discovered that I am no match against him!” explained the person called Leon in a fearful manner and a frightened face. “If that woman and that teenager were to join forces, I’d have been killed. I finally now believe what you have told me previously – that Bryan ought to have similar strength as yours!”
Leon had suffered a crushing defeat in his attempt to raid the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. His soldiers were all killed and he nearly suffered the same fate. It was a huge blow to him, both physically and mentally. It appeared that he might even just forget about avenging the death of his younger brother.
Baum coldly groaned after hearing those words. He said, “Leon, have you forgotten who killed your brother? Are you going to tell me that you won’t be taking revenge for your brother?”
Leon forced a smile and then let out a sigh. He replied, “I want to avenge his death. But, if I were to persist, I’m afraid that my entire family clan will be joining him! City Lord, the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy is too strong for me to handle. If you do not have complete certainty, please, do not drag my family clan into the mess!”
“Don’t you worry about it. I understand the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy much better than you do. Tonight, at the very least, you have managed to figure out their true strength. The next time that we strike, it will not end up like this. Rest assured, I will only look for you when I’m certain that we can utterly crush them!” consoled Baum. After taking a short pause, he asked, “Tell me about that teenager – how he looked, his strength, energy, temperament – I want to know everything.”
“He looked at fifteen or sixteen years old. He has a rather bewitchingly handsome face. He cultivates in the energy of death but his divine energy is rather peculiar. It was not pure but its power was very frightening! He’s uncommunicative and doesn’t talk at all. From his looks, he should have killed plenty of people before. Ah yes, his attacks were incredibly ruthless. Every strikes his make was to kill. Truly a frightening teenager!” fear could be seen on Leon’s face when he talked about Little Skeleton.
Baum started to share Leon’s uneasiness as he listened to the explanation. But for some reason, the more he heard, the more he felt that he had come across the description of this person before. Then, suddenly, someone came across his mind. His face jolted and he softly cried out, “Could it be him?”
“Who?” Leon was stunned and he immediately asked, “City Lord, do you know who he is? What’s his origin? For all the ages I have lived on Elysium, I have never heard of anyone who possessed such terrifying strength at such a young age. Does Your Lordship know?”
“Nothing. You focus on healing your injuries and get to full health. For now, you should avoid going outside as much as possible. I will look for you when I have a surefire plan in place!” Upon finishing those words, before Leon could ask any more questions, Baum hurriedly left the villa. He vanished in the blink of an eye.
***
Han Shuo was very happy about Han Hao or Little Skeleton’s arrival. For several days in a row, he had been staying with Han Hao, Han Tu, and Han Huo, discussing all kinds of random things. Han Shuo had also told Han Hao about his understanding and recent discoveries in demonic arts.
Although Han Tu and Han Huo were there, for some reason, the two understood nothing about the demonic arts that Han Shuo taught. They also did not show any interest in cultivating demonic arts. Han Shuo thought that there was no point in forcing the two to cultivate demonic arts if they did not want to. Therefore he spent most of the effort on Han Hao.
When Han Shuo started talking about the true essences of demonic arts with Han Hao, he was shocked to discover that Little Skeleton already had an in-depth understanding of it. He was already very skilled at refining weapons, demon generals, and related fields. He was also adept at deploying demonic formations and using demonic weapons that were driven by the soul. Han Shuo could not help himself but gasp in amazement.
Han Shuo was also very amazed at the dual-energy in Little Skeleton’s body. He did not expect that just with the portion of memories from his soul, without any guidance from anyone, Little Skeleton could attain such great heights in his cultivation. It was simply miraculous.
Han Shuo also discovered that Little Skeleton was astonishingly good at understanding profound demonic art concepts. He needed only a moment of thinking to understand even the most complicated methods of manipulating energy. He did not reveal any expression of being confounded from start to finish and had been absorbing demonic arts knowledge from Han Shuo like a sponge.
Half a month went by like the blink of an eye.
During that time, Han Shuo and Little Skeleton had been conversing at the secret underground chamber at Celestial Pearl. Although they did not use intimate words that a normal father and son would in their conversation, the two, whose minds were connected, knew that they were closer than any other parent and children in the world. They were so close that they did not need to adorn their relationship with any extra superfluous words.
Han Mu, Han Shui, and Han Jin had yet to arrive at Ethereal City and Han Shuo was getting worried yet again. Through Rose, he asked the Ethereal City divine guards to pay attention to those entering the city and to lead anyone called Han Mu, Han Shui, and Han Jin immediately to Celestial Pearl Pharmacy.
One day, Han Shuo started talking about Baum the Ethereal City City Lord. He told him about McKinley’s presence and the reason he remained friendly to Baum for now. Little Skeleton thought in silence for a moment before he suddenly said to Han Shuo, “Father, I have an idea. I might be able to find out from Baum where the divine body is hidden!”
“What’s your plan?” Han Shuo was rather astonished. He said, “The highgod of thunder has managed to escape. Baum might have learned of your identity from that guy. I don’t think that Baum would trust you if you look for him now.”
“I can get other godhunter leaders to ask him. As long as the price is right, they will surely help me with it!” Little Skeleton waggled his eyebrows and explained, “In the world of godhunters, there are no friends and no relationships. There are only profits! With enough money, they would do anything and everything for you!”
“Crystal coins are no issue. If you think it’ll work, there’s no harm in trying!” said Han Shuo in a faint smile after he thought about it for a moment.
“Then I need to take a trip outside Ethereal City. Father, in the future, we should avoid meeting in public places. My reputation isn’t so good in other Dominions. If others were to learn about our relationship, it will not be good for your Celestial Pearl Pharmacy,” said Little Skeleton after hesitating for a moment.
“We will talk about it in the future. You be careful out there,” Han Shuo was worried about the same thing. He had learned from Little Skeleton that his godhunter followers in several other dominions were notorious for their misdeeds. If the public were to learn of their relationship, it will severely impact the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. But for the moment, Han Shuo did not have a good solution for this potential issue.
“Don’t worry, father. There are only a few in the world who could stop me from escaping, and Baum is not one of them!” said Little Skeleton confidently. As a cultivator of demonic arts, Little Skeleton also knew many bizarre but miraculous methods of escaping. Therefore, it was not an outlandish claim.
Han Shuo nodded smilingly. Ever since he learned that Little Skeleton had the strength to injure a mid-stage highgod expert and was cultivating multiple types of demonic arts, Han Shuo became truly at ease about Little Skeleton’s safety.
Although the Elysium was enormous and it housed a large number of powerful experts, Han Shuo reckoned that only a very small number of gods were capable of killing Little Skeleton. Therefore, after hearing that Little Skeleton wanted to leave for some time, Han Shuo agreed to it straightforwardly.
Five days after Little Skeleton left, Han Shuo, who had been anxiously waiting for Han Mu, Han Shui, and Han Jin, finally received the news.
The news came from Myles, the local manager for Goldstone Enterprise. Myles wasn’t looking happy when he showed up. He informed Han Shuo that Han Jin had arrived at the Goldstone branch at Ethereal City, but he was severely injured!
Han Shuo’s face immediately turned cold. Without saying a word, he left Celestial Pearl Pharmacy with Myles and rushed to the Goldstone store.
When Han Shuo entered the secret chamber in the Goldstone store, he saw Han Jin who was in poor health. Han Jin, a cultivator of the metal energy, looked very frail and weak at this moment. As soon as he saw Han Shuo, with great difficulty, he forced a smile and struggled to sit up.
Han Shuo hastily stepped forward and held him before channeling his demonic yuan to Han Jin’s body. “Don’t speak. Your injuries are severe. We need to stabilize your condition first!” Han Shuo carefully took out a golden and shining pelleted medicine and stuffed it into Han Jin’s mouth. He chewed the medicine and swallowed it.
Han Jin’s face immediately started to look healthier after taking the gold-nugget like medicine and could be seen slowly improving.