GDK 661: A mysterious calling
Han Shuo remained calm and did not comment on Li Wei's assessment. He carefully observed Eriksson and his party.
At Han Shuo's suggestion, Donna and her experts focused all their firepower on Eriksson alone. In an instant, interweaved radiances and divine energies bombarded Eriksson.
Just as Han Shuo had predicted, Olde completely disregarded Eriksson. He looked all around the demonic formation, doing his futile work.
Meanwhile, Kaiser heaved a sigh of relief when he was no longer being attacked. He seized the opportunity to recover his divine energy and ignored Eriksson beside him, who was on the verge of death.
Everyone has a selfish side to themselves. It was foreseeable that such a relationship founded on mutual benefits would start to crack when tested with the lightest trial and tribulation.
The burden that should have been shared among Olde, Kaiser, and Eriksson was now zeroing in on Eriksson alone. The pressure that he needed to endure was magnified several folds. Eriksson was utterly exhausted and had consumed a great portion of his divine energy to begin with. And now, having to suffer the shelling, Eriksson was on the verge of collapse.
"Keep up the pressure! Eriksson can't seem to hold on much longer!" Bolten smiled excitedly. Seeing that this midgod called Eriksson was about to be bombarded to death by their attacks, an ineffable sense of pride rose from his heart.
"Lord Olde, Lord Olde, please help us!" when Kaiser saw Eriksson being hammered harder and harder, while he carried on restoring his own divine energy, he cried at Olde for assistance. Olde, however, simply observed his surroundings with his brows furrowed as though he did not hear Kaiser's voice at all.
The conflicts between the Druidic Order and the Shrine of Ice over on Profound Continent had obviously affected the relationship between these two high-level members of the two religious organizations. Olde was definitely not a magnanimous one who would disregard former hatred and put his life on the line for an adversary.
Kaiser sighed seeing Olde treat his pleas so indifferently. He knew he wouldn't be getting any assistance from Olde in this battle. Feeling the scant amount of divine energy in his body, and witnessing the seemingly unending streams of attacks that came from this unknown source, Kaiser weighed in his mind and determined that he had no certainty of self-preservation.
With that in mind, Kaiser merely looked on as his partner suffered torrential attacks. He pretended to have exhausted a severe amount of his divine energy and acted preoccupied with his recovery. He did not show any interest in intervening to help Eriksson defend against the attacks.
"It's not feasible to stay in this spot for extended periods. You all just stay here while I will go outside to try to locate a pathway to the center!" Han Shuo suddenly suggested.
Donna was stunned. She looked at Han Shuo in a perplexed and puzzled manner before she asked, "But if you step out of here at this moment, Olde could discover you and kill you in an instant!"
"Don't worry, I have my ways!" Han Shuo replied confidently. After thinking briefly, Han Shuo instructed Donna, "Be careful and don't leave this place until I return. As long as you stay right here, I can guarantee that none of you will face any sort of issues in terms of safety. But if you walk out of here, you are on your own."
Donna was shocked and at a loss for words. After keeping silent for a short while, she nodded her head in a heavy manner.
"Bryan, where are you going?" Li Wei softly cried out and volunteered, "How about, you bring me along with you! I can be of assistance!"
"No, you can't," Han Shuo immediately declined. But before Li Wei got disappointed, he added, "But if you can finish off Eriksson and the others, you will have done a great deal to assist me."
Han Shuo nodded at his teammates and walked out from this stone forest.
While Donna and her experts attacked Eriksson with all their strength, Han Shuo extended the coverage of his consciousness far and wide. He used the senses of his consciousness to probe for the secrets lying at the depths of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester. While extending the reach of his consciousness, Han Shuo sensed an inexplicable calling from the center of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester.
There seemed to him to be something at the center of the colossal demonic formation that was softly and repeatedly calling for him, waiting for his arrival.
It was a bizarre feeling for him, so bizarre Han Shuo thought that it was merely a misperception at first. But when he concentrated his attention to carefully sense it, he discovered that the calling was being directed at his expanding consciousness. It was attempting to attract the attention of his consciousness.
By this point in time, Han Shuo could be certain that the existence who deployed the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester had to be a senior of the school of demonic arts with transcendental powers. Although Han Shuo had no idea how this terrifying senior made it to Profound Continent, he knew that everything the formidable existence deployed in this place was made to target against otherworldly experts who had nil understanding of demonic arts.
As Han Shuo was a demonic arts cultivator, he was not affected by the demonic formations in this place at all. This meant that even as Donna, Olde, and the others faced danger with each step they took, Han Shuo had an unimpeded path and need not worry about any possible danger coming from the formations.
Having made such an observation, Han Shuo concluded that he had no reason to stress.
Although Donna, Li Wei, and the Brook brothers were Han Shuo's allies, as a cultivator of demonic arts, Han Shuo had no wish of letting anyone know of his secret and he wanted to keep to himself alone whatever rewards that may lie within. It was with this thought in mind that Han Shuo left Donna and the rest of the party. He even had his allies stay in the stone forest to hinder Olde, Eriksson, and Kaiser's progress while he ventured further alone to seek for the rewards at this Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester.
After Han Shuo walked out from the stone forest, Olde, who had been carefully observing his surroundings, immediately discovered Han Shuo. As one who cultivated in the edict of life, Olde possessed extraordinary sensitivity towards all living things. Han Shuo cultivated in demonic arts and formed a consciousness which made his life signature rather distinctive. There was no hiding from Olde like this.
"Youngster, where were you?" Olde's heart was suddenly at ease when he saw Han Shuo reappear. He grabbed Kelly with one hand and flew towards Han Shuo.
Han Shuo was not at all shocked that Olde could discover him. He was not even worried when Olde began to approach him. He merely walked towards the center of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester composedly.
Under Olde's pursuit, not only was Han Shuo's figure becoming further and further away from his sight, even his life signature seemed to be concealed by layers of formless boundaries. Han Shuo was gradually disappearing from both his sight and the senses of his soul.
Olde was extremely taken aback. He was absolutely positive that he was traveling much, much faster than Han Shuo was. However, he didn't just have a hard time catching up to Han Shuo - Han Shuo had vanished from his tracking. This bizarre phenomenon made Olde extremely frustrated and perplexed despite much thought.
Of course, Olde had no idea that while Han Shuo was leaving, a distance-altering demonic formation was triggered. The demonic formation had forcibly re-written the natural law of space, causing the distance between him and Han Shuo to abruptly lengthen. Having no understanding of the miracles of the demonic formation, the more desperately Olde tried to catch up, the further behind he got.
Donna and her experts who were watching the chase scene from the stone forest had amazement across their faces. They witnessed a bizarre phenomenon from their point of view. Han Shuo was unhurriedly walking towards the center of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester while Olde was chasing after him at light speed. Although Olde had obviously exerted all his strength in pursuing him, the gap between them only increased. Olde even looked as though he was flying in reverse. The scene could not have been more peculiar.
"The edict of space here seems to be forcibly twisted. Truly, truly baffling! Who could it be that deployed everything here? It's as though this person is omnipotent!" Donna mumbled to herself. She was appalled.
"Is anything going to happen to Bryan?" Li Wei felt a little anxious in her heart when she saw Han Shuo step into the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester. She always felt that something wasn't quite right but couldn't tell what it was even after thinking it through.
"Why, why do I feel like Bryan is very at one with the environment here? He doesn't get flustered even a bit and is always calm. It's as though, as though this place is his own home?" Bolten subconsciously expressed his own thoughts after deeply pondering for a moment.
Upon hearing those words, Li Wei loudly cried out, "That's right! That's exactly how I feel! His familiarity with this place and his performance here, it all feels like he's in his own home!"
Donna was astounded after hearing Bolten and Li Wei's words. Thinking about it, the doubts in her heart grew even greater.
"Don't mind Bryan for now. Let's put it off until we've finished Eriksson!" Donna instructed.
The party wasted no words. They continued with their relentless bombardment towards the dying Eriksson.
At the depths of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester, Han Shuo slowed down his footsteps as he turned his focus on examining everything spectacular along his path.
The deeper that Han Shuo ventured, the more amazed he became. That calling towards his consciousness from the depths of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester grew more frequent.
All along the way, Han Shuo observed the presence of grotesque demonic formations everywhere. Although Han Shuo could recognize most of the demonic formations around him, they were way beyond his current comprehension. Naturally, the deadly demonic formations in this place had absolutely no whatsoever intention of attacking Han Shuo, granting him a smooth and unimpeded entry.
However, among these strange and bizarre demonic formations, Han Shuo discovered a dozen or more skeletal remains as white as ash. Some of them belonged to humans, while some were great magical beasts. Han Shuo even found two frames that belonged to the Soul Race.
A great war had taken place on this material plane five thousand years before, which involved the original owner of the skeletal staff, the ancestors of the Soul Race, gods from the Church of Light, as well as Olde's ancestor who cultivated in the edict of life.
The war resulted in a victory for those of the Druidic Order, as well as the Church of Light. From the hints surrounding him, Han Shuo surmised that those forces had come to this place and had lost many of their godly experts to these demonic formations.
Han Shuo's insights regarding this colossal Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester, and his rough understanding of the numerous demonic formations in this place, led him to believe that of all those who had tried to seek the secrets of this place before him, not a single one of them managed to arrive at the center of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester.
It was for the simple reason that the demonic formations in this place were just too abundant and too lethal!
The calling originating from the center of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester grew clearer and clearer. That intense calling had completely filled Han Shuo's consciousness. It carried a sinister and exotic power that tempted the heart to hurry forward.
The impact of this seduction on Han Shuo grew more and more intense, so intense that Han Shuo couldn't maintain a mind composed enough to observe his surroundings.
Finally, Han Shuo abandoned all careful observation towards his surrounding. He followed the senses of his consciousness and hurried towards the calling.
Soon enough, Han Shuo arrived precisely at the source - the formation crux of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester.
The formation crux was covered with abstruse and complicated symbols as well as carvings of all sorts of demons whom Han Shuo knew nothing about. The curvy, meandering lines that resembled tadpoles seemed extremely profound and mysterious. Even Han Shuo had not a clue what they were about.
That mysterious thing that was calling out to Han Shuo's consciousness was located under the formation crux.
Han Shuo understood in his heart that in addition to these unfathomable patterns and symbols, this terrifying Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester needed to be supported by a treasure - a treasure that was valuable beyond imagination.
When Han Shuo was about to step towards that formation crux, it suddenly crumbled in on itself to reveal a hole the diameter of a well. The dozen or so mystical demons that had vanished all that time whizzed out from the opening.
Han Shuo was jolted and jumped a few steps back.
Han Shuo reckoned that all those mystical demons ought to have been the same ones he saw when he first descended to the third layer of the underground world. They must have mutated from the souls of those who perished within and around the demonic formation. As some of them were divine souls, they were all extremely formidable after they were turned into mystical demons in this most enigmatic Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester.
Han Shuo had witnessed just how formidable these mystical demons were earlier. Most importantly, he knew that these mystical demons were unlike the demonic formations in this place in that they would attack him. Han Shuo knew that he would absolutely not be able to withstand the several dozen mystical demons swarming at him all at once. Hence, he immediately prepared to withdraw once they emerged.
Han Shuo had expected the dozen something mystical demons to charge at him when he stepped backward to keep a distance, so he was rather surprised when they didn't. They merely circled around the hole on the formation crux.
He kept his distance as he carefully observed them for a moment. When he was sure that the mystical demons had no intention of recklessly attacking him, he again started to approach the formation crux.
Suddenly, the energy that was summoning his consciousness from inside the hole undulated slightly. As though having received a command, the mystical demons orbiting around the hole flew high up into the air and circled from a distance. They seemed to be opening a pathway for Han Shuo.
After a moment of hesitation, with his brows creased, Han Shuo stepped towards the hole apprehensively. He had no idea what would happen to him next.
When Han Shuo arrived right beside it, before he could extend his head out to look, an energy was suddenly released from the hole. It tangled Han Shuo's body in an instant and sucked him into the hole.
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Hedonist's notes:
Translator: Hedonist
Editor: Emily