Across a wide swampy plain, several thousand relatively high-level abyssal creatures were battling it out. Among them were Triops, which stood nearly five metres tall, and high-level beings that looked exactly like Hemanna and Sylph, mounted on titanic, eight-clawed, one-eyed abyssal demons. It was obvious that the forces of the Triops were dominating the other side, rapidly reducing the numbers of their opponents.
These abyssal creatures walked on the surface of the swamp as if they were on solid ground, not one of them sinking through the crystalline layer into the swamp. Fresh blood of all colours splashed across the area. Fighting among the abyssal creatures was extremely brutal, with defeat usually resulting in death from being torn to pieces. It was a barbaric scene.
There were only a dozen or so Triops, but they all played the role of leaders. Of these Triops, the strongest was on a par with Hemanna and Sylph. None of them was as powerful as the one Han Shuo had met in the space-time discontinuity zone. Under the command of these triops, large and small abyssal creatures swarmed towards the Shero Regiment of War Demon Valley, mounted on eight-clawed abyssal demons.
Hemanna and Sylph entered the fray and joined the Shero regiment, which numbered only a few hundred men, in resisting the Triops' attacks with all their might.
Deaths and injuries occurred with every passing second. Han Shuo watched for a while and discovered that the higher-level beings, whether they were the Triops from Venomfang Castle or Hemanna and others from War Demon Valley, were all able to skilfully use the elemental energy available in the world. It was only those massive, ugly, filthy low-level abyssal creatures that would attack with their bodies alone. Han Shuo learned some interesting facts about the Abyss Realm from Hemanna and Sylph. The creatures that took human form were all abyssal creatures that had evolved to a very high level and possessed extreme strength.
In general, large, ugly abyssal creatures were mostly lowly existences.
This was the first time Han Shuo had actually witnessed a battle between two forces of the Abyss world. Each side would always have low-level abyssal creatures leading the charge. These low-level beings were basically cannon fodder. They would always be the first to die in any attack. Even those who were lucky enough to survive the initial clash wouldn't be so lucky in the many attacks that followed.
Their fighting techniques were remarkable. Every part of their body could be used as a deadly weapon. The Triops' tails were full of blades. Each blow would leave gaping wounds or even cut straight through.
After a moment of observation, Han Shuo noticed that even with Hemanna and Sylph added to the equation, the forces of the War Demon Valley were dying and diminishing. After a while, all of the eight-clawed, one-eyed abyssal demons and their riders were completely destroyed. It was only now that the Shero Regiment seemed to consider retreating.
Severed limbs, broken arms and internal organs were ripped from the bodies as the massacre continued. Some of the savage lower creatures even began to feast on the organs of their enemies. Compared to the battles on the Profound Continent, this battle between the abyssal creatures was nothing short of disgusting. But these abyssal creatures were used to such cruelty. Even Hemanna and Sylph, two beauties, did not show the slightest trace of fear or disgust as they concentrated on fighting. Their attacks were no less vicious.
When they struck, lightning and fire element energy would surge into the bodies of these abyssal creatures, unleashing horrific destruction within their bodies in fractions of a second and causing instant death.
As the Shero Regiment suffered more and more casualties, they finally decided that it was time to break out of the enemy's encirclement. Han Shuo, who had been watching from the sidelines, felt that his time had come and marched step by step into the fierce battle.
Rows and rows of bone spears streaked across the sky before tearing large holes in several of the abyssal creatures fighting for Venomfang Castle. In the centre stood Han Shuo, deploying the Boundary of Fear and Weakness. He added a Necromancy Acid Bogs spell over the entire swamp.
Han Shuo then used 'The Great Disintegrator', a necromancy spell that Han Shuo had learnt not too long ago, on these abyssal creatures as his practice targets. As the spell was used over and over again, on successful occasions, the abyssal creatures enveloped by the spell, whether they were filthy low-level creatures or humanoid Triops of high-level existences, would disintegrate into nothing.
Soon, the Triops noticed Han Shuo's presence behind them. One of them, perhaps the boss, pointed to another Triops expert behind him and instructed him to finish Han Shuo off.
The expert then brought over two hundred abyssal creatures of various ranks and charged towards Han Shuo. But before they could get close, their bodies began to melt away when they came into contact with the acidic swamps.
However, a number of particularly powerful abyssal creatures, who might even be capable of spewing corrosive toxins themselves, showed extreme resistance to the corrosive substances. Several dozen green-skinned, not-so-bulky abyssal creatures emerged from the acid swamps unharmed, still charging Han Shuo relentlessly.
Earlier, in the space-time discontinuity zone, Han Shuo had resisted the abyssal creatures for quite some time using only necromancy magic. These abyssal creatures were not much stronger than those Han Shuo had encountered in the space-time discontinuity zone, and of course they were no match for him. Restricted to all forms and types of pure necromancy magic, Han Shuo slaughtered all of the two hundred or so abyssal creatures that came at him.
Not even the Triops expert who attacked upon command could escape Han Shuo's hand. It was killed by the demonic blades.
Somehow, in this realm of the Abyss, Han Shuo had a certain thirst for blood. Throughout his spirited killing spree, Han Shuo's mind was calm. It was as if his actions were influenced by the principles of the carnal realm.
After slaughtering well over two hundred of Venomfang Castle's creatures in one go, Han Shuo felt completely uninhibited. He chuckled as he charged around violently like a demon. He unleashed the demonic arts to their fullest extent. Every abyssal creature that came near Han Shuo was sliced and diced by his demonic blades, with not a single lucky survivor.
In the blink of an eye, Han Shuo had opened a path to the Shero Regiment, where Hemanna and Sylph were. The members of the Shero Regiment had obviously been taught by Hemanna and Sylph that Han Shuo was not an enemy, but a friend, as they all showed happy faces when they saw Han Shuo's amazing performance.
Even then, Han Shuo had yet to reveal his full potential. If he had summoned the huge number of undead creatures, he could have even captured the entire force of Venomfang Castle. But he understood that in such an unfamiliar environment, some modesty was wise. Keeping at least a few cards up his sleeve would better ensure his own survival.
"You should all evacuate. I will hold them back!" Han Shuo said in a most heroic manner after making his way to Hemanna and Sylph.
The two alien ladies watched Han Shuo charge through the densely packed forces of Venomfang Castle and noticed the huge difference from when he had previously fought with them. The cruelty and ferocity of his attacks gave them a tremendous shock. It was only now that they realised that Han Shuo clearly did not see them as his opponents.
The law of constant fierce competition in the Abyss Realm had directly led to the phenomenon of women worshipping the mighty and strong. Han Shuo's image had suddenly swollen in the eyes of Hemanna and Sylph as they saw him, insolent and callous, slaughtering his way through as if nothing could stop him. It seemed that the more Han Shuo showed his cruel, cold-blooded side, the more passionate they became for him.
"Brother, from this day forward, I, Nambrough, shall be your friend," a tall, tusked man from the Shero Regiment with python-like arms pledged to Han Shuo with a heroic spirit.
This hulking alien Nambrough stood two metres tall. His back was covered with hedgehog-like spikes, and his huge palms were packed with rows of teeth.
He seemed to be cultivating in the element of darkness. Every time he struck, there would be a tiny flicker of the Dark Element. His snake-headed hands with flickering forked tongues could spit out large doses of the destructive elemental energy of darkness.
Compared to Hemanna and Sylph, Nambrough was far more powerful. The dark element had accumulated in his body to such a degree that even Han Shuo was somewhat astonished. There was no question in Han Shuo's mind that the element of darkness would fill every cell in his body if he went any closer, and he could form the body of the dark element once the impurities in his body were removed.
After observing Nambrough's body with his Consciousness, Han Shuo immediately came to a revelation. Mage on the Profound Continent cultivated mental power and used that mental power to appreciate and understand the elemental energies. Over time, as their souls grew stronger and stronger, they would form an Elemental Soul. Then, with the Elemental Soul, they would attempt to connect with Elemental energy to fuse it into their bodies, forming an Elemental Body.
It was only when a magus had successfully formed both an Elemental Soul and an Elemental Body that he could be considered to have laid the foundation for becoming a god. The way they did it in the Abyss Realm, however, seemed to be the exact opposite. They paid more attention to fusing elemental energies into their bodies first. Based on Nambrough's body, Han Shuo concluded that their cultivation path was to fuse their bodies with the elements first and gradually form an elemental body.
Without the help of an Origin Crystal, a highly skilled magus on the Profound Continent would perhaps spend hundreds of years gradually forming an Elemental Soul by carefully sensing the elemental energy with their souls and coming to certain understandings of it. Although there were some mages on the Profound Continent who could form an Elemental Soul, very few could form an Elemental Body.
The reason for this was that from the very beginning, they mainly emphasised the use of their souls and mental power, and manipulated elemental energy through their souls. After tens or even hundreds of years of connecting to the elemental energy with their souls, once they understood it to a deep level, they would be able to form an Elemental Soul without relying on an Origin Crystal.
However, because they had not cultivated their bodies from the beginning, almost every magus had no idea how to form an Elemental Body, no idea how to even begin the task. As far as Han Shuo knew, on the Profound Continent, mages who could form an Elemental soul had a hard time forming an Elemental body.
On the Profound Continent, it was practically an insoluble problem for a magus to form an Elemental Body. Even those few experts who were lucky enough to become gods would never reveal the secret of how they managed to do it. Well, perhaps they had no idea themselves. That leap was simply too difficult to cross, and many mages remained at that level forever, never knowing how to become a god.
Looking at Nambrough in front of him, and thinking about Hemanna and Sylph, Han Shuo came to the startling realisation that the cultivation path they had taken was opposite to that of the Profound Continent, and therefore they should know better how to form an Elemental Body. However, since they placed special emphasis on cultivating their physical bodies, it would probably be just as difficult for them to form an Elemental Soul.
The two worlds had completely different approaches to harnessing elemental energy. Han Shuo actually had some understanding of the mage side of things. If he could learn the ways of this world and how they cultivated the body to form an Elemental Body, wouldn't that mean that Han Shuo had found the ultimate answer to becoming a god?
Suddenly, a thought crossed Han Shuo's mind. He remembered the mystery that lay in the next level of the Cemetery Of Death. Han Shuo had learned from the Skeletal Staff that unlocking the secret would turn him into a god. This had to be the secret he had been waiting for; to combine the two different methods of the two worlds.
If this was indeed the case, could the original owner of the Cemetery of Death have come to this Abyss realm? Had he come to learn the true secret of becoming a god from the different ways the two worlds used the elements? The deeper Han Shuo thought, the more excited he became. Somehow, Han Shuo felt that this hunch of his might actually be true. Perhaps the original owner of the Cemetery of Death had truly come to the Abyss Realm before, or perhaps a plane of existence similar to the Abyss Realm had come to understand the means of becoming a god by gathering the wisdom of two worlds.
Hemanna was slightly worried when she saw Han Shuo looking at Nambrough with a gleam in his eyes, "Han Shuo, Han Shuo, are you okay?"
Nambrough's heart grew colder and colder after being stared at by Han Shuo's glittering eyes for a while. The two-metre tall burly alien put on a smile that was uglier than tears and said to Han Shuo, "Friend, I'm sorry, but I'm not the kind of person you imagine me to be! If you really have such thoughts, I can introduce you to some others with the same preference. But please don't look for me. I beg you, please stop looking at me like that!
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