In the vast expanses of the southern reaches of the Dark Forest, near the Cemetery of death.
There was a raging waterfall that cascaded with great, magnificent force into a vast, deep pool below. A bubbling stream ran from the side of the pool, branching off in three directions. The towering trees on the edge of the pool were lush green and there were all sorts of bizarre and exotic large rocks everywhere. Fish could be seen swimming in the clear, crystalline waters of the pool.
The silvery sheen of the flowing water cascaded down like the Milky Way, concentrating in the pool below and giving off a loud roar. The water, flowing down like a long river, spat violently, crashing down on the random rocks below, leaving impressive water trails splashing down on all four sides.
In the corner, slightly to the side of where the waterfall was crashing down, was a hard piece of round stone. A naked man was sitting on the round stone, the muscles of his body evenly toned and full of energy. His legs were crossed as he sat on the round stone, using his body to withstand the violent force of the powerful cascade of water.
The churning currents of water rang out with loud pilipala sounds as they hit the surface of his body. His body swayed slightly, the expression on his face cold as the meridians on his body bulged and pulsed. A faint black light seemed to sparkle over his flesh and skin.
This person was, of course, Han Shuo. After arriving at the Cemetery, his first task was to thoroughly digest the combat aura that the Shadow Ghost killers had left in his body.
After his magic level had risen from the realm of 'solid' to the realm of 'open passages', Han Shuo's body had been reforged. Even the behaviour of the combat aura within his body had changed. Previously, when he had visited the Boozt Merchant Guild, the combat aura that had entered Han Shuo's body had always been surrounded by the magic yuan. Han Shuo had originally thought that things would continue as they always had, with the magic yuan slowly being absorbed as Han Shuo went about his business.
However, the truth proved that Han Shuo's judgement was wrong. The combat aura was not being digested and absorbed by the magic yuan as he had suspected. On the contrary, the magic yuan seemed to be slowly and deliberately loosening its grip, allowing this cloud of martial aura to continuously run rampant through Han Shuo's meridians, causing constant damage to Han Shuo's meridians and even breaking a few bones under the strain.
Logically, this should have been a very painful affair. However, Han Shuo surprisingly discovered that the meridians and bones that had been damaged by the martial aura had once again undergone some sort of change. The reforged meridians had become more tense and wider than before, and the magic yuan circulated at a much higher rate, compared to the other parts of his body. The bones were also much more durable.
After understanding this, Han Shuo discovered to his great joy that if he continued to train at this speed, then according to the rule of magical rebuilding after a breakthrough, the training speed of the 'Open Passages' realm would be several times faster than the speed of normal training.
While he was emotionally remarking that practicing magic was indeed a path of masochism and death, Han Shuo stumbled upon this waterfall. According to the importance of building up one's body while practicing magic, Han Shuo suddenly had the unique thought of using the power of the waterfall to practice magic. The truth proved that Han Shuo's thought was absolutely correct.
As Han Shuo used his physical body to withstand the force of the violent waterfall on the one hand, while on the other hand, feeling the pain caused by the battle aura ravaging his meridians, the speed of his magic training progressed at an astonishing pace. The meridians that had been ravaged and broken by the combat aura all became incredibly, pervertedly stronger.
The power at the centre of the waterfall was the greatest, Han Shuo had only tried it for a brief moment before seeing stars from the enormous power. He held on for three seconds before almost passing out. In his resignation, he could only rely on a corner to train where the waterfall was not too violent, hoping that once his physical body was strengthened, he would be able to stand in the wildest raging centre to withstand the greatest amount of the waterfall's power.
He caught fish to bake a meal when he was hungry, and used the rest of his time to practise magic. After who knew how long, Han Shuo suddenly realised that the training speed of the Open Passages realm had slowed down again after the combat aura the assassin had left in his body had completely disappeared.
"Looks like I need to think of another way to hurry up and break through the Open Gate Realm. It doesn't seem to be the right thing to do if you continue to train so slowly." Han Shuo muttered to himself as his body was as agile as a large fish flying through the pool under the waterfall.
His two hands flashed out into the pool and grabbed two strange looking fish. He swam back to the shore, put his clothes back on and took out his fire-starting equipment to roast the fish. When Han Shuo had eaten his fill and was about to return to the cemetery, his ears heard the faint sound of footsteps.
Han Shuo's senses were now sharper and sharper. Focusing his concentration, he quickly shot towards the source of the sound. Danger lurked in every corner of the Dark Forest.
Not only were there high-level magical creatures, all sorts of exotic races, and numerous adventurers out exploring, Han Shuo had even seen a silvery long dragon flying to an even deeper part of the southern region of the Dark forest one day.
Dragons were the most powerful creatures in the world. Legends said that their bodies were as hard as iron rocks and that they possessed incredibly powerful magic. It was an extremely powerful advanced magical being, one level higher than a level one magical being. Each dragon boasted unparalleled power, and the appearance of a dragon often meant that there was treasure nearby. Any warrior who could slay a dragon gained the respect and admiration of all.
Of course, with Han Shuo's current strength, he wouldn't be foolish enough to become a dragon slayer, but the appearance of the silver long dragon had alerted Han Shuo to the fact that there was an even more terrifying region deeper in the Dark Forest.
After a while, Han Shuo arrived at the place where the sounds had originated. After taking in his surroundings, Han Shuo involuntarily smiled. Who would have thought that he would see familiar faces here.
Ten dark-skinned dwarves with long, braided moustaches, standing only a metre tall, were wielding iron hammers, pickaxes, and spades used for mining ore, and were using them to fight thirty or so forest trolls. Two dwarves had already been hit by long spears and lay dead on the ground. The dwarves were all red-faced. Even though they knew they wouldn't win against their enemies, none of them retreated and fled. They all stayed where they were and fought the forest trolls.
Han Shuo no longer professed complete ignorance of the wondrous races of the Profound Continent. The dwarves possessed extraordinary brewing skills and were even more adept at forging weapons. Their personalities were conservative, and they valued their ale as much as their lives. Their temper was stubborn and fiery, but once you won their friendship, their generosity knew no bounds.
When Han Shuo saw the dwarves still wielding their hammers and pickaxes, shouting and screaming bravely, completely unafraid of death, even though they were no match for the forest trolls, he actually felt a bit friendly towards these dwarves.
Han Shuo also thought that the two things the dwarves were good at might be of some use to him, so he thought for just a moment before suddenly rushing out and quickly slashing with the dagger in his hand, causing one of the forest trolls to fall.
As Han Shuo stood between the forest trolls and the dwarves, summoning the small skeleton after chanting an incantation, the green face of the forest troll leader turned very ugly indeed as he shouted in fear, "That evil human has brought the demon back! Retreat, retreat!"
The forest trolls were obviously very afraid of the little skeleton with seven bone spurs on its back. As soon as they saw the dagger-wielding skeleton appear, they broke into a frenzy at the direct command of the forest troll leader.
"Mighty warrior, I, Bennett, thank you for your help." After the forest trolls had left, one of the strongest dwarves, who wielded a metal hammer, raised it in the troll fashion to express his gratitude.
"No problem. I admire your fighting spirit. Right, why did those forest trolls attack you?" Han Shuo held out his hands and spoke with humility and politeness.
"Huh. Those greedy rascals are robbers. They never work themselves and only think about how to rob others. They wanted us to forge weapons for them for free, so that their plundering would be easier. We refused, and those dastardly robbers harassed us endlessly and killed our relatives. Bennett blew out his moustache and said angrily.
Nodding, Han Shuo added, "So that's the case. They tried to rob my trading caravan once. Those dastardly scoundrels are truly evil!"
"Noble warrior, you've saved us. We would like to express our gratitude with some fine beer. Please follow us back to our village!" Bennett looked at Han Shuo as he extended a friendly invitation.