GDK 653: Suspense
A Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester was a wonderful formation for assembling the mystical yin aura. Han Shuo only had a basic description of this formation in his memories and had no idea how to assemble one.
This Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester was obviously made by forcibly altering and reshaping the natural landscape and environment. The scale of the undertaking had simply left Han Shuo stupefied.
Could there have been a second demonic arts cultivator on Profound Continent?
Han Shuo's heart was filled with appall. Immediately, he recalled Chu Cang Lan. Could Chu Cang Lan have still been alive, and had he, too, come to this universe?
But after some careful thinking, Han Shuo immediately rejected that possibility. On the basis of the scale and abstrusity of this super-sized Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester Han Shuo observed, he reasoned that this formation could not have been deployed by a demonic arts cultivator at the Nine Changes realm. Based on Han Shuo's knowledge, Chu Cang Lan was merely at the Nine Changes realm before his death. Moreover, there was no information pertaining to the method of deploying a Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester found in his memory.
All the memory that Chu Cang Lan had about the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester composed merely a brief description of the formation. This kind of abstruse formation that required forcibly altering nature's laws and changing heaven and earth could only be deployed by mightier demonic arts cultivator who had ascended.
What the hell is going on here?
Han Shuo's heart was filled with utter astonishment and disbelief. It was akin to the wild ocean waves in a monsoon. As his consciousness constantly twisted and warped to beat back the mystical demon that constantly plagued him, he rapidly turned over in his mind in silence.
That spirit demon of his hovered back and forth outside the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester and dared not to venture any deeper.
The Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester could not only alter the laws of heaven and earth, but it had a myriad of other miraculous functions. Han Shuo was aware of a few of those from Chu Cang Lan's memories. Han Shuo had spent a great deal of effort in refining that spirit demon. Han Shuo would grieve and mourn if he were to lose that spirit demon to this Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester.
The spirit demon kept on hovering around the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester and silently observed the legendary formation while Han Shuo carefully defended himself against the mystical demon assaulting him.
"Ah!!" Li Wei suddenly cried out loudly. Her voice was filled with immense horror.
Han Shuo was jolted by that scream. When he gathered his attention and looked, he discovered that Li Wei had on an expression extreme dread. Her eyes were filled with helplessness.
Han Shuo sent out a strand of his consciousness and with one quick observation, he discovered that the mystical demon attacking her had penetrated her body's defenses and were corroding her soul.
"Idiot!" Han Shuo remarked in a low voice. He inwardly thought, You are a lowgod that cultivates in the elemental energy of death but doesn't know to utilize soul attacking method that you should be an expert in. Serves you right.
Perhaps Li Wei had never experienced a situation like this, when she sensed that a mystical demon had intruded her body, she became utterly panicked and had absolutely no idea what she should do. She lost her usual craftiness and wittiness.
"My Lady, attack with your soul!" when Li Wei shrieked in panic and horror, Colbert yelled from a few steps away.
Colbert and Li Wei possessed identical strengths but he surely had much more battle experience than Li Wei did. When confronted with the crisis, Colbert managed to find an effective way of defending against the mystical demon at the most critical moment and he immediately informed Li Wei about it.
In such a critical situation, Li Wei followed Colbert's instruction without even thinking. She gathered all her energy of death and started attacking the mystical demon with her soul.
With that, the mystical demon that was devastating her body was immediately forced out. Li Wei was overjoyed to see that the manner of attack was very effective. Hence, she sent more and more soul attacks at that mystical demon.
As long as the correct method was found, one would have no difficulty in self-preservation against a mystical demon. Under repeated soul attacks from Li Wei, that mystical demon could no longer invade her body. It could only streak around her and had to resort to other manners of attack.
Although Han Shuo was screaming and shouting like the rest, he actually had the easiest time dealing with the attacks. He silently raised his body temperature and restricted that mystical demon with his wonderful consciousness. It didn't take much effort from Han Shuo to completely neutralize the mystical demon's attack.
Donna who cultivated in the elemental energy of darkness didn't spend too much effort either. She merely enveloped herself within absolute darkness and completely concealed her aura within the darkness. When a mystical demon flew into her absolute darkness, it was unable to accurately sense her location and had to throw attacks in all directions. The Brook brothers were just as terrified as Li Wei was in the beginning. But before mystical demons attacked their souls, the Brook brothers permeated their bodies with the edictal energy of destruction. Perhaps because the energy that threatened to destroy everything was too powerful, the mystical demons felt a sense of danger and did not linger in their bodies for long.
The party of six, including Han Shuo, by deploying their own unique skills, managed to stand firm and resist attacks from mystical demons.
Kaiser and Eriksson's party who were just a short distance away heard Li Wei's loud shouts and discovered her party's presence.
Kaiser and Eriksson who were in the realm of midgod were obviously able to deal with those mystical demons much more easily than their teammates. The pressure on them was also greatly reduced when a portion of the dozen mystical demons besieging them went on to attack Han Shuo and his party.
Han Shuo had destroyed the Shrine of Ice and had injured Eriksson's soul when he manifested on this continent with his soul. There was no way that Eriksson would forget this hatred. He immediately charged over when he discovered Han Shuo.
During those few days, Kaiser had learned from the Church of Light establishment on this continent about Han Shuo's deeds and grievances with the church. After learning that Han Shuo had killed the Light Pope on this continent along with the two demigods, he too was resolute in completely eradicating Han Shuo.
So, when Kaiser saw that Eriksson started charging at Han Shuo, for the purpose of taking vengeance as well as to make sure that Eriksson succeeded, he hastily followed suit.
"I have let you escape from your doom for the last time. Let's see if you'll still be as lucky this time!" Eriksson taunted in a ferocious, icy voice.
All those youngsters who were strenuously resisting the onslaught of mystical demons were shocked to their cores by those words. Having just heard Eriksson himself authenticate the story, these people finally realized that Han Shuo's claim was not untrue.
All of them originally thought that Han Shuo was merely bullshitting. After all, it truly was unimaginable that a lowgod could escape from the boundary of a midgod. It was understandable that they might not be convinced of its genuineness. But now that Eriksson himself had validated the claim, there simply was no room left for doubt. With that, they became even more astonished.
Han Shuo was appalled when he saw Eriksson charging at him with such hatred. He knew that he had no chance of winning against Eriksson who was a midgod. He immediately began considering his countermeasures.
Suddenly, darkness completely shrouded the region with rich and intense element of darkness flooding every corner. Donna who was within absolute darkness let out a soft chuckle, "Eriksson, you seem to have forgotten that I'm here. Do you really think I'll let you do anything to him?"
The phenomenon was an 'Absolute Darkness', which can be deployed by a god of darkness through their Domain of Divinity. Within the absolute darkness, other than the caster itself, no one else would be able to see with their naked eyes. Those within the absolute darkness would also find their ability to sense soul greatly diminish in sensitivity and would be vulnerable to sneak attacks. Both Eriksson and Kaiser's jaws dropped when Donna's voice sounded.
"So it's you that they send here!" Eriksson's face suddenly sank and he shouted, "Don't you think that I would be afraid of you just because you have a mighty divine weapon to rely on. You'd still get beaten against both Kaiser and me!"
"Really?" Donna giggled and said calmly, "Well then, why don't you come in here and prove it!"
However, instead of advancing further, Eriksson halted halfway in his path after hearing Donna's dare. When Kaiser caught up to Eriksson, he gazed ahead at those shrouded within absolute darkness and deeply pondered for a moment before advising Eriksson beside him, "We have more important business to attend to. There's no point in being hasty. We can have an all-out fight with her when the time is right!"
After hearing Kaiser's advice, Eriksson kept silent for a moment. Then, instead of rashly charging forward, he groaned, turned on his heels, and left!
Both Kaiser and Eriksson returned to their four teammates and continued to cooperate with each other in resisting the mystical demons' attacks. They had no intention of fighting a battle on two fronts. After the midgod duo returned, Donna withdrew her Domain of Divinity of Darkness. The space around Han Shuo and the others resumed to normal.
Han Shuo sincerely thanked Donna.
"We are all on the same side. You are welcome!" Donna replied smilingly.
From the fact that just Donna alone could cause Eriksson and Kaiser, two midgods, to feel intimidated and worry about their actions, Han Shuo was certain that Donna's overall strength surpassed Kaiser and Eriksson's combined! This realization again filled Han Shuo's heart with awe. When he again looked at Donna, there were a few additional traces of respect showing in his eyes!
"The reason that they did not immediately attack was that they had exhausted too much of their divine energy in dealing with these bizarre creatures. We have just arrived and have not suffered many injuries. That was why they were so cautious with their attacks!" Donna softly explained after glancing at Kaiser and his party.
Han Shuo did not reply but nodded his head.
Donna gazed at Kaiser and his party and contemplated in silence. After a while, as though having suddenly recalled something, she looked at Han Shuo in amazement, and said, "How come you seem so relaxed?"
Han Shuo stared blankly and immediately came to his senses. During and after that daunting but harmless experience, the mystical demons never ceased their attacks. Although their lowgod teammates could finally firmly defend themselves against the mystical demons, they were fully occupied in doing so and could not afford any distractions. The situation was similar over on Kaiser's side. Other than Kaiser and Eriksson, those lowgods were all completely battered and appeared to be under great pressure.
Aside from Donna, Kaiser, and Eriksson, the three with midgod strengths, Han Shuo was the only one who could maintain his composure at this moment. He seemed to have no worries about the strange creature that was constantly bombarding him with attacks and had no trouble talking to Donna calmly. Han Shuo was merely a weak lowgod. It was not surprising that Donna would be shocked by her observation.
What a careful and observant woman! Han Shuo thought. He forced a smile and hastily explained, "The strange thing that is attacking me is weaker than the others!"
Donna was stunned. She squinted to sense that mystical demon assaulting Han Shuo. Her heart was again filled with shock.
When those mystical demons first charged over, Donna had made a round of examination with her soul and discovered that those mystical demons had similar energy profiles. She also noticed that the mystical demon that attacked Han Shuo was actually slightly stronger than the rest. Donna was certain that her senses could not be wrong. However, now when Donna again probed with her soul, she suddenly discovered that the mystical demon attacking Han Shuo has somehow becoming the weakest among them.
This secret discovery made Donna's heart even more crammed with doubts. She couldn't understand how it was that none of those mysterious creatures attacking them had tired out but the one attacking Han Shuo was significantly weakened.
Donna again carefully observed Han Shuo for a moment. She discovered that Han Shuo had now resumed his screaming and looked frantic. But having witnessed Han Shuo's performance just a moment ago, there was no way that Donna would believe that Han Shuo was afraid of those mysterious creatures!
Donna found it both funny and infuriating to see Han Shuo acting like he was being strained. After thinking for a while, she came to yet another shocking conclusion.
Could he have injured that strange creature? Impossible, I must be mistaken. He's only a lowgod. If I couldn't find a way to diminish the strange creature's energy, how is it possible that he has? But, how could I be mistaken in my senses? It can't be. I have never made a mistake like this!
Donna's heart at this moment was like a tumultuous sea. She stared at Han Shuo absolutely perplexed. It was as if Han Shuo was hiding a great secret that she had no clue about.
But there was one thing that she knew - Han Shuo did not want anyone to learn of the secret. Donna shook her head vigorously as though wanting to fling off the messy thoughts from her head.
"Huh? What's going on? They ran! They are running away!" Li Wei screamed.
Those strange creatures that persistently attacked the party like lunatics whizzed away all of a sudden. Streaks of grayish shadows flew into the distance and disappeared without a trail.
The mystical demons are returning to the Ninth Heaven Mystical Yin Harvester, Han Shuo said in his mind.
Kaiser and his party too had heaved a deep sigh of relief. Among them, a beautiful woman even grumbled, "Those wretched creatures finally got away again!"
Han Shuo's receptive ears heard the conversation on the other side. From the words of that beautiful woman, Han Shuo determined that those on the opposing side ought to have encountered this situation before. After thinking for a bit, based on his limited understanding of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester, Han Shuo managed to infer some of the conditions of those mystical demons.
"They have exhausted much more divine energy than we have. This is the golden opportunity for us to strike!" Donna said softly but sternly. The next moment, she suddenly commanded, "Each of you find your own target, I will hold up Kaiser and Eriksson. Attack!"
Hedonist's notes:
Translator: Hedonist
Editor: Emily