GDK 561: Strengthening

“Mister Han Shuo is truly a terrifying character!” Bord remarked to Zinia beside him as he stared at Han Shuo.

“Lord Leviathan, didn’t you say that these energies would corrode the soul? Why is it that Mister Han Shuo appears to be just fine, and even seems to very much enjoying it?” Zinia too looked up and down at Han Shuo astonished, not understanding how he did that.

Leviathan and Manticole turned to exchange glances with each other with eyes flickering with amazement. After a long while, Leviathan finally forced a smile and said to Manticole, “It seems that he is invulnerable to this soul-corroding energy.”

Manticole nodded and replied, “Yep. Let’s wait here for a while.”

The demonic infant was at full force. The large amount of negative energy all around him was drawn to Han Shuo and entered his body. They were then converted by the demonic infant into demonic yuan, which subsequently trickled into every part of Han Shuo’s body like tiny streams.

At this point, Han Shuo’s realm state had been trending towards stability, and he was on the verge of making a breakthrough in his cultivation of demonic arts. For days he had worried about the issue of having insufficient demonic yuan. Who could have guessed that before entering the Void, before even seeing the mysterious Void with his own eyes, he would be so fortunate to obtain a considerable amount of energy.

Strands and strands of demonic yuan flowed into his cells and bones, which then strengthened Han Shuo’s body bit by bit through some kind of bizarre method. Every time Han Shuo made a breakthrough, his physical body was the first to transform and strengthen. This time was no exception. When that demonic yuan circulated, Han Shuo could clearly sense his body becoming even mightier and more robust.

There seemed to be no concept of time inside the Void. After an undetermined amount of time had pa.s.sed, Han Shuo discovered that not the slightest bit of energy around him was converging towards his body.

Although there were a few hundred cl.u.s.ters of that negative energy around the Void, individually, they weren’t actually that powerful. After the demonic infant removed the dross out of the energy, what truly was converted into demonic yuan and absorbed by him was merely 10 percent. Moreover, achieving the Nine Changes realm seemed to require an extraordinary amount of energy. Han Shuo felt that there wasn’t enough energy around him when the forging of his physical body was only halfway done. Therefore, he had no choice but to stop.

Han Shuo reluctantly stopped and thought to himself, It appeared that although there were a few hundred cl.u.s.ters of that energy, it wasn’t enough to support the metamorphosis of the physical body.

Han Shuo took a deep breath and looked at Manticole, Leviathan was very much amazed. He looked deep into Han Shuo’s eyes. n.o.body knew what was on his mind.

Looking all around, Han Shuo discovered that those streaks of flas.h.i.+ng light rays had suddenly reduced. He knew it had to have something to do with him absorbing the energy. This absorption of energy was very useful for advancing his attainments in demonic arts. Han Shuo had grown somewhat impatient with what lay waiting at the depths of the Void, so he smilingly said, “Guys, can we continue forward now?”

“Of course. Let’s go,” Manticole hastily replied. He looked ahead and continued, “Let’s hurry up. We’ve been standing here for far too long.”

With Leviathan and Manticole paving the way, and Han Shuo and a few dozen Demons sandwiched between them, the party continued with their journey. Brilliant rays would fly past from all around them. The meteorite-like rocks would sway about in the blowing of the hurricanes.

As the two Demon Kings put up defenses against the energy around them, they very carefully maneuvered to avoid the giant rocks all around them. Everything went smoothly in their gradual flight towards the Void.

Suddenly, a zone of boundless darkness appeared ahead of them. At first glance, the area looked like a bottomless dark pit.

Rounds and rounds of faintly discernible blood-curdling screeches came from that zone of boundless darkness a great distance away. Manticole explained with graveness across his whole face, “Those miserable shrieks coming from the zone of boundless darkness, those must be the subordinates of the other two Demon Kings. To enter the Void, we will need to make it past this hurdle. During the dive, our sight will be greatly affected and none of you will be able to view your surroundings. Everyone will be affected by it with no exception. As you dive, you will find violent air streams with terrifying impacting force. Those air streams might even contain some rocks, or perhaps weapons left behind by those who previously perished in there. Be exceedingly cautious.”

In reality, these Demons would be extremely cautious even without Manticole’s verbose warning. All those with the capacity to become Demons weren’t of low intelligence. Before the two Demon Kings started the expedition, they must have described the dangers to these Demons. They knew that not all of them would be able to make it past the danger ahead.

In other words, some among them would die in the process of landing in the Void. Even though Leviathan and Manticole did not say it explicitly, everyone there knew what was going on.

“Let’s move.” When Mancole saw the grimness on everyone’s faces, he was sure that all these Demons were aware of the fact. Without explaining any further, Manticole and Leviathan nodded at each other and took the lead to jump into it.

“Bord, Zinia, let’s go in together so that we can look after each other,” Han Shuo smilingly said to Bord and Zinia in an unruffled manner, instead of rus.h.i.+ng to jump inside.

“Thank you Mister Han Shuo,” Bord and Zinia were pleasantly surprised and took the courtesy of performing a big bow towards Han Shuo.

Look after each other? With their tiny bit of strength, what could they look after for Han Shuo? The couple naturally understood that ‘look after each other’, actually meant that Han Shuo would be guarding the two. From the admiring gazes coming from some Demons beside them, the couple realized just how fortunate they were. Their eager and attentive service to Han Shuo and his people sure earned them well.

Han Shuo smiled and did not say a word. He knew that as long as the two lived on, they would still hold a high place in Black Jade City and therefore would still have some value to him.

One after another, the Demons leapt down to the zone of boundless darkness following Leviathan and Manticole. Bord and Zinia only jumped after they received the indication from Han Shuo. Right after, Han Shuo’s figure turned into a shadow and followed behind Bord and Zinia who were holding each other’s hands.

Upon entering, Han Shuo discovered that this zone of absolute darkness did not contain a single photon. Even his remarkable eyesight couldn’t get him a good view of his surroundings. In this place where light could not propagate, lighting up a torch would do nothing.

But for Han Shuo, the consciousness was much more useful than the eyes. As soon as he unfolded his consciousness, every single movement within its coverage area registered in his mind. After Han Shuo had locked onto Bord and Zinia’s presences, there was absolutely no way that they could escape from Han Shuo’s watch. Even Leviathan and Manticole, who were further ahead, were under the surveillance of Han Shuo’s consciousness.

Just like Manticole had said it, this place was pitch-dark and concealed terrifying dangers. Streams of air blowed without a fixed direction. Propelled by some unknown energy, they would flutter all over the place in silence, wreaking havoc under the cover of the absolute darkness. These air streams were filled with sharp objects. Although the body of a Demon-grade expert was formidable in defensive power, it still wasn’t tough enough to withstand the penetration of those sharp objects.

The Void was a peculiar place, and this area was especially so. Han Shuo could hear loud shrieks echoing beside him. But when he unfolded his consciousness, he discovered that the sound actually came from some region far below. On the contrary, those loud howls of pain close to him sounded as small as a mosquitoes.

It seemed inside this place that, the further away the sound originated, the clearer it became. The closer one got to the source, the softer it was. This would be very deadly to an expert as they would have no way of detecting those air streams that were so dangerously close to them.

More and more cries sounded loud and clear from around Han Shuo. He knew that some of those Demons that entered together had perished. Suddenly, he saw a rapidly whirling air stream silently shooting towards Bord and Zinia. There was an incisive conical object within that air stream. If it came into contact with Bord and Zinia, Han Shuo was certain that neither of them would make it out alive.

Han Shuo, who had been closely following Bord and Zinia, suddenly reached out with his hand, grabbed onto Zinia’s supple shoulder, and pulled backward. The downward trajectory of the couple suddenly changed, and they very easily avoided a collision path with that air stream.

Han Shuo’s consciousness covered a huge area. The couple managed to avoid one danger after another by being pushed and pulled like toys by Han Shuo again and again. The party finally touched down and arrived in a huge valley with mist lingering in the air. Bord and Zinia, whose heads were spinning, looked all around and suddenly discovered that of the thirty-something Demons that came down, one third had died. Those that remained were battered and exhausted. Even Manticole and Leviathan weren’t in their best shapes.

“Thank you Mister Han Shuo,” the couple suddenly realized just how fortunate they were and most respectfully expressed their grat.i.tude towards Han Shuo.