GDK 856: Piss off
At the Northwest ocean of Venomfang Mountain, Han Hao was lying quietly on the seabed.
During the past two years, Han Hao, with his group of godhunters, had been very active all around the Fringe. After consuming the divine energies of several highgods, he finally advanced to the mid-stage highgod realm in his cultivation of the energy of death. Simultaneously, he had also made great progress in his cultivation of demonic arts.
As Han Hao was not a regular human being, it was hard to determine the exact demonic arts realm he was in. Just like Dark Dragon Gilbert, the divine energy in his body had demonic properties. But unlike Gilbert, he had a greater and more complete understanding of demonic arts. With his great intelligence, Han Hao was able to pave his own unique cultivation pathway.
A few days prior, by fighting that follower of Salas’, Han Hao gained a rough idea of his true strength. He knew that even if pitted against a late-stage highgod, he was certain to come out victorious using his energy of death and demonic energy.
Han Hao did not gather the element of death to cultivate. Instead, he set his mind completely empty and sank into a state of ultimate tranquility.
Inside his body, the mixture of death divine energy and demonic yuan energy was slowly circulating. Han Hao noticed that when he had fully relaxed, counterintuitively, his cultivation would speed up.
After lying under the ocean for five days, Han Hao had lost track of the passing of time. His mind was drifting in his own thoughts…
The fish, shrimp, and other odd creatures that lived under the sea swam past him as though he wasn’t there; as though he had fused and become one with the seabed.
Then, one day, Han Hao’s soul was startled and he was roused from the deep meditation. He looked all around with his glowing eyes. He furrowed his brows, opened up his soul, and started carefully sensing the changes in the environment.
For some reason, every living thing under the sea was trying to leave the region. They became extremely frightened and seemed to be trying to run away from something.
A bizarre energy fluctuation came from the surface of the ocean and penetrated deep down. They were like thousands upon thousands of invisible tentacles spread across vast regions, feeling, searching for something. The low-level lifeforms in the sea did not know what it was but they instinctively felt threatened and tried to leave the region. Han Hao’s soul, of which sensitivity had been enhanced by his cultivations of demonic arts, sensed the minute amount of the element of lightning in the formless and shapeless undulation.
Han Hao took no time to come to his senses. Several demon generals flew out from the seven bone spurs on his back and slowly spread in every direction. He then grabbed his bone spear, concealed all his aura, and started shooting across the seafloor.
Above the ocean, Salas, who was standing high and proud, suddenly smirked and said to himself, “There you are!”
But when Salas was about to strike, he suddenly discovered that his divine soul was losing track of his enemy. Even the strands of soul energy he injected into the ocean were rapidly losing their grip.
Salas let out a cold groan. His majestic figure suddenly shot to the bottom of the ocean and he started pursuing his target which his senses were rapidly losing track of.
Being deep under the sea had no effect on Salas’ flight speed at all. He streaked across the seafloor like a rocket.
The feeling of danger followed Han Hao relentlessly. Han Hao, being aware of the pursuer’s identity, activated the unique divine energy in his body and ran with all his strength.
Under the sea, one was fleeing for his life, the other was pursuing vigorously…
Half a day later, Han Hao flew out from the ocean and came to a mountain range lined with lush forestry. He did not continue to escape but stood under an enormous tree with the bone spear in his hand. It was as though he was waiting for something.
A few minutes later, frightening thunderbolts appeared out of thin air before they gradually transformed into Salas’ massive figure. His cold bright eyes stared down at the motionless Han Hao as he shouted, “Youth breeds heroism, indeed. But it also breeds imprudence! Turns out that the person who killed Ansike is you! Han Hao, you have grown more and more unbridled in the Fringe over the past two years. How dare you touch my man!”
Han Hao did not reply. His head was slightly dropped while his hand was tightly clutching his bone spear.
“Han Hao, I’ll give you a choice. As long as you are willing to serve me, I will spare you from death!” shouted Salas coldly. Han Hao had made plenty of news in the Fringe. Some of them made their way to Salas’ ears. Han Hao had proved himself to be a formidable expert by murdering Ansike who possessed late-stage highgod strength. Han Hao was exactly the kind of talent Salas had been looking for, and therefore he made Han Hao the offer.
Wearing an emotionless face, Han Hao raised his head and looked at Salas. He said in just as emotionless a voice, “Piss off, bitch.”
Other than Han Shuo, the person who created him, Han Hao was not going to serve anyone. Even in the Godhunter Alliance, Han Hao would do as he wished and would not accept the binding of any other being!
“What a shame,” Salas let out a soft sigh. Enormous spherical lightning abruptly struck above Han Hao.
The dazzling, spherical lightning was the size of a hill. Filaments and sparks could be seen meandering on its surface. As it descended towards Han Hao, thousands upon thousands of thunderbolts spread out from the ball, forming a giant net made of electricity. Han Hao had been completely enveloped.
Although Salas did not possess the Quintessence, he was nonetheless an overgod. It took him a gesture of his finger to gather all the elements of lightning in the several hundred mile radius into his ball lightning. The net made of electricity carried an astonishing amount of joules. All the creatures living nearby were charred by its energy.
The electrical net was dense and expansive and had completely trapped Han Hao. Even the laws of spacetime were distorted by Salas’ mighty electrical power. A space scroll would be useless. As soon as the enormous net connected to the ground, the gigantic ball of lightning started crashing down on Han Hao ferociously. It seemed as though this would be his end.
The terrifying ball of thunder touched down and a world-shaking explosion was heard. All the trees, rocks, and even sand were reduced to dust. A mountain was flattened by the overwhelming power.
Salas had made just one attack. After throwing his lightning ball, he just stood there, did absolutely nothing, and waited for Han Hao to die. However, after everything died down and the dust settled, his face jolted and he started looking all around with his eyes that were sparking with electricity. He discovered that Han Hao had disappeared without leaving the slightest trace.
It should have been impossible for a highgod to escape his attack, not even one who cultivated in the edict of space. Salas thought that Han Hao would be dead without a doubt. He was shocked to discover that Han Hao had inexplicably vanished into thin air.
Salas’ face turned dark. His divine soul gathered the element of lightning and started extending outwards, attempting to locate Han Hao. However, for some reason, Salas could no longer sense Han Hao’s soul. Salas was puzzled as to his knowledge, this would only be possible if Han Hao was extremely far from him or he was under the protection of a very powerful barrier.
But unbeknownst to Salas, Han Hao was not under a barrier and he was just a thousand miles from him. The reason that Salas could not sense his position was that Han Hao had mastered the method of transforming his soul.
Han Hao realized that Salas must have somehow learned his soul signature ever since he noticed that Salas could always manage to find him. After thinking for a moment, Han Hao became certain that Salas must have left something in Ansike’s divine soul which allowed Salas to sense his soul signature after he killed Ansike.
The only feasible way for Han Hao to escape from Salas’ pursuit was to alter his soul signature. His soul had to fundamentally transform or Salas would always find him wherever he hid.
This was an impossible task for the gods in this universe. The signature of one’s divine soul was invariable unless they made a breakthrough in their cultivation which would alter the signature slightly. To them, it was impossible to actively change their soul signature using any method or energy. Salas was aware of this fact and therefore he had left a unique trace in Ansike that would allow him to sense the soul signature of Ansike’s murderer.
It may have been an impossible task for most people, but Han Hao was a unique lifeform and a cultivator of the demonic arts. There was a special technique in demonic arts specifically for altering one’s soul. Han Hao had started learning and understanding its theory and rapidly practiced it while being pursued by Salas.
Then, finally, when Salas’ lightning ball came crashing down, Han Hao successfully learned the technique and his soul signature transformed! But Han Hao knew that even though he had successfully altered his soul signature, he was still no match against Salas. Therefore, he had decisively activated Demonic Blood Disassembly and escaped.
Inside a cave that was a thousand miles away, Han Hao was sitting motionlessly. His body was drenched with blood.
After changing his soul signature, Han Hao no longer felt as though he was being stalked by invisible eyes. However, his body was severely injured after having activated Demonic Blood Disassembly. Other than his jade-white skeleton that was completely intact, his skin, flesh, and meridians had all shattered. He had also exhausted most of his divine energy.
Han Hao at this moment was wearing a calm face as though he was completely numb to any amount of pain. He was slowly redirecting the divine energy in his body to circulate and repair his shattered flesh. This body of his that had been produced using a unique method possessed healing power just as miraculous as Han Shuo’s demonic body. By now, blood had stopped leaking from his wounds. His veins and meridians were also reconnected under the effect of his divine energy…
The recovery process took Han Hao half a month, which was much longer than what Han Shuo would have needed. After he regained the ability to move, he took out several medicinal pills Han Shuo had specially refined for him, swallowed them, and spent a period of time to recuperate. He then left the cave and started hunting for other gods ravenously, consuming their divine energy to replenish the energy used on activating Demonic Blood Disassembly.
While Han Hao was regaining his strength by hunting others, Han Shuo, who had failed to locate the former, came to Empyrean Peak alone.
He halted at the foot of the mountain, raised his head, and gazed at the looming summit with a staunch face.