GDK 642: Track and kill
The mysteriousness of the isolated island had caught Han Shuo's attention but he was not there to investigate it. There were more pressing matters at hand.
Firstly, he had some errands to run. But more crucially, Han Shuo had yet to regain all his strength. He did not want to waste any of his time or energy.
Han Shuo was startled by the sight of some sort of projectile hurtling into the air. It was that mighty sea creature that his consciousness had come across, flying in rage when it saw Han Shuo, not showing any fear. It emerged from the island that it occupied and approached Han Shuo.
An existence of such strength was indeed considered to be mighty on Profound Continent. But in Han Shuo's eyes, it wasn't worthy of being taken seriously. Han Shuo had important matters to attend to and therefore did not want to deal with the creature. He walked right back into the Cemetery of Death.
Although the setting of the Cemetery of Death was now very different, everything was still the same inside. The enormous interplanar transportation matrix at the center would still have no trouble conducting short range transmissions.
By using the jumbo transportation matrix, Han Shuo returned to the underground chamber at his City Lord's mansion at Brettel City. Shortly after, using transportation matrix facilities, Han Shuo teleported from Brettel City to the Southern Border. Subsequently, he departed from the Southern Border and flew towards the Empire of Orcs.
During that great battle at the Dark Forest, Han Shuo had left not just severe injuries on the Primordius Dragon, but also a tracer inside the Primordius Dragon's badly mangled body using a special demonic technique. Through that, Han Shuo could determine the dragon's exact location.
The Primordius Dragon, to have been seriously injured at this critical juncture, would surely recuperate from his injuries at the most secluded and the safest place he knew. Han Shuo reasoned that the Primordius Dragon would return to where his interplanar transportation matrix was. The interplanar transportation matrix was the key to everything. As long as Han Shuo could locate it and destroy it once and for all, then those from the Church of Light and Shrine of Ice would have trouble entering Profound Continent. In that case, the forces on Han Shuo's side would face no resistance in the impending battle revolving around the last layer of the underground world.
It was with this thought in mind that Han Shuo did not pursue and kill the Primordius Dragon when he tried to escape. He also did not start following the Primordius Dragon immediately as he knew that the dragon would be most vigilant during that moment. Wounded, Han Shuo did not have full certainty that he would not be discovered by the dragon if Han Shuo were to stalk him.
Through the tracker implanted within the Primordius Dragon's flesh, using a special technique of the demonic arts that was as stealthy as one's own shadow, Han Shuo determined that the Primordius Dragon was at the barren land where the orcs lived. Han Shuo saved himself the trouble of traveling long distances by using the transportation matrix facilities in Lancelot Empire. He managed to arrive at the Southern Border with no effort and infiltrate the territories of the Empire of Orcs from there.
Being at the Nine Changes realm, Han Shuo could alter his physical body to any form he wished. After entering the land of orcs, Han Shuo assumed the form of an ordinary orc. He even took some rather minor roads when heading deep into the Empire of Orcs.
The lands of the Empire of Orcs was indeed barren. All along the way, all he saw was dry and cracked earth. The sparse plants had an unhealthy yellow tinge. It was rare to find any verdant greenery.
The ground was made of yellow soil which seemed unsuitable for growing crops. Coupled with the dry and hot weather where rain was rare, even the most resilient plant that managed to sprout would ultimately wither.
It was not surprising that the orcs would have such a voracious covet for the fertile lands of the Lancelot Empire, traveling great distances to initiate invasions at every opportunity. The soil that they lived on was just too infertile.
Han Shuo had merely glanced around as he ventured deep into the Empire of Orcs. He did not waste time in further examining the environment.
After half a day's worth of time, Han Shuo passed right through the Empire of Orcs and came to an even more desolate, bleak plain with yellow soil. This region was only slightly better than a desert. There were no plants and the only fauna were some fierce magical beasts that roamed the plain in a large group. They seemed to be hunting for solo travelers.
The plain was expansive and Han Shuo spent quite some more time traversing it.
After crossing the plains, Han Shuo had unexpectedly come upon a mountain range which his senses detected to be brimming with vitality, magical beasts running amuck. The sky was drizzling when he arrived. The surface was muddy and hard to pass. Ash gray swamps could be found everywhere. It was a completely different scene from what he saw inside the Empire of Orcs.
The environment around this place was similar to the Dark Forest, ignoring its excessive precipitation. It was as though all the rainwater that was supposed to fall on the Empire of Orcs had fallen on this place instead. All along the way, he would find pools of water that ranged from deep to shallow. The magical beasts that inhabited the place were extremely strong. The cruel law of the jungle was closely observed.
Han Shuo truly didn't know that after traversing the Empire of Orcs and a piece of vast field, he would find such a peculiar place. The Primordius Dragon was coincidentally staying in this region.
As soon as Han Shuo arrived, he slowed down his pace and concealed the aura of life on his body lest he aroused the Primordius Dragon's attention. He cautiously walked towards where the Primordius Dragon was located.
Han Shuo again traveled for some time and evaded many powerful magical beasts en route. He slowly approached the spot that his consciousness sensed.
The overcast sky continued to drizzle, Han Shuo sighted a forest of vines chaotically banded together. When he stepped inside, he noticed that the element of earth in this area was much more intense compared to anywhere he had ever been. Han Shuo was certain that the Primordius Dragon was just nearby.
Han Shuo decided to hover and avoid touching the ground with his feet. He was afraid that the Primordius Dragon who cultivated in the elemental energy of earth might have ways of detecting his presence through the earth. Han Shuo was extremely cautious as he progressed, so cautious that he did not even push aside the vines in his path but to took winding detours around them instead.
After moving in that manner for ten or so minutes, Han Shuo suddenly stopped. He sensed the presence of a barrier right ahead of him. The person who deployed the barrier ought to cultivate in the elemental energy of water. Han Shuo could sense the softness of the barrier as well as a trace of chillness that it gave off.
Han Shuo did not rush to destroy the barrier. He stopped for a moment and unfolded his consciousness to carefully probe for any signs of activity inside the barrier. One of the functions of the barrier was to block and cut off the sensing power of the soul. However, as Han Shuo had left a certain tracer inside the Primordius Dragon's body beforehand, Han Shuo's consciousness could induce resonance with the tracer on the other side of the barrier. With that, Han Shuo could bypass the obstruction of this water element barrier and sense the auras of living beings within.
Besides not wanting to alert the Primordius Dragon inside, the reason that Han Shuo behaved so cautiously was to make sure that those experts from alien material planes had yet to arrive. If there was just one expert from an alien material plane that had arrived and Han Shuo were so reckless to barge in, he could very well land in a predicament with no hope of reprieve. Han Shuo had no choice but to be very cautious in guarding against the unexpected.
Through the tracer he left inside the Primordius Dragon's body, Han Shuo's consciousness slowly expanded and spread inside the barrier. He could detect the Primordius Dragon hiding underground. His soul was smooth and tranquil as though having sunken deep into a slumber. It appeared that the Primordius Dragon was recovering from the injuries to his body and soul this way.
After attentively inspecting each and every corner inside the barrier, Han Shuo was pleasantly surprised as he discovered no trace of any soul other than the Primordius Dragon's. Han Shuo took a breath of relief. He couldn't help but draw a merciless sneer on his face.
As long as he made use of this opportunity to break through the barrier, kill the Primordius Dragon, and destroy the interplanar transportation matrix inside, then Han Shuo could at least enjoy a good duration of time in peace and need not to be on edge about the arrival of hostile experts from alien material planes.
Han Shuo stopped probing with consciousness. He calmed himself and adjusted his body and consciousness to their most optimal state. One of his avatars transformed into the Demonslayer Edge and flew into his hand.
Once his avatar transformed to be the Demonslayer Edge, the ruthless energy would soon surely emanate from it like steam from a hot bath. As not to draw the Primordius Dragon's awareness of the threat until a little later, Han Shuo spent some time forming a protective layer around the Demonslayer Edge using demonic arts, temporarily concealing the ruthless aura that it gave off.
The demonic yuan in his body gushed into the Demonslayer Edge. When combined with the violent, chaotic negative energies contained within, the Demonslayer Edge blossomed with sinister light. The layer of protective membrane looked as though it might disintegrate at any moment.
More and more energy gathered. The moment that the protective layer finally lost all its effect, ruthless and sinister energy erupted from the tip of the Demonslayer Edge. The millions of souls inside the Demonslayer Edge could almost be heard shrieking miserably. A trail of chilling demonic light streaked across the sky and smashed onto the boundary deployed by the god who cultivated in the element of water.
As Han Shuo knew that the barrier contained an enormous amount of energy, he did not withhold his strength. He concentrated his energy on the peak and erupted it in an instant.
Swash!
The barrier of water element tore as it was slashed by the Demonslayer Edge. A crack of two meters long and half a meter wide was produced. Han Shuo's body blurred and shot through the crack at lighting speed, crossing to the other side of the barrier.
As soon as Han Shuo breached the barrier, he sensed extremely intense yuan energy of earth. The yuan energy of earth in this place was in fact much richer and more intense compared to at the Dark Forest where the Cemetery of Death was previously planted. Han Shuo was astounded as he right away realized that this must be a place of extreme earth even more ancient than the one in the Dark Forest.
After becoming a god, Han Shuo understood that of the five places of extremes, the yuan energies of earth and fire were somewhat different from the elements of earth and fire that experts in this universe could absorb raw. However, with the insight that Han Shuo had now, he reckoned that the yuan energies of earth and fire found in the respective places of extremes were actually a new state of element after the elements of earth and fire were condensed by several dozen folds. Due to the unique presence of the places of extreme earth and fire, the elements of earth and fire in those places would become more and more condensed until the yuan energies of earth and fire were formed. These yuan energies were different from their elemental energies counterpart but there was no difference in energy composition. It even had greater energy density after being condensed.
The reason that the Lord of Flames who occupied the place of extreme fire could cultivate to be an Emperor of Flames so rapidly was because she had mastered the method of absorbing the yuan energy of fire, a condensed form of the element of fire. As Primordius Dragon had occupied this ancient place of extreme earth, he surely must also have figured out the method of absorbing the yuan energy of earth. No wonder he would escape to this place after being injured.
A series of thoughts crossed Han Shuo's mind at lightspeed. He knew that he had to finish the Primordius Dragon as soon as possible because the Primordius Dragon would recover at a speed beyond his imagination while staying in such a strategic place. Hence, after quickly thinking, Han Shuo shot directly towards where the Primordius Dragon was located.
An appeal from the translator: Dear readers, as you may understand, translating is no easy task, especially when trying to maintain a certain level of quality at such a pace. Recently, my patreon pledges have fallen by around 1/4 for no apparent reason. This coincidentally happened at a time where the chapter length will soon increase by around 30%, which means Emily and I will have to spend more time working on each chapter. Therefore, here I ask that you, my beloved readers, to consider supporting the project on my patreon. If you choose not to, I'd be happy to know why and if there is anything I could do to change your mind. Thank you. -Hedonist
(Next chapter will be released on 22nd March, around 2am GMT +8)
Hedonist's notes:
Translator: Hedonist
Editor: Emily