A 'visiting advisor' was someone who was well fed in peacetime, but had to charge through enemy lines at critical moments. In other words, they were high-level cannon fodder.
Han Shuo was new to this world and didn't have a very thorough understanding of the situation in the Abyss Realm. But Crosius made it clear to him what his role as a 'visiting advisor' entailed. Thinking that he could pack up and leave the War Demon Valley if anything went wrong, Han Shuo immediately accepted Crosius' proposal and made a deal with Crosius in feigned courtesy.
Crosius was rather straightforward. When Han Shuo agreed to the proposal, he immediately ordered Qunoa to arrange a place for Han Shuo to stay, and presented him with a medallion of lead-grey stone. On the back of the stone medallion was carved a demon. It signified Han Shuo's identity as the visiting advisor of War Demon Valley.
"The three-storey building in the centre is yours. You now have absolute freedom in War Demon Valley. If there's anything you need, you can always let us know. As long as it doesn't inconvenience us, we'll do our best to help you," Qunoa said with a smile as he pointed to the building.
The location of this mansion was behind Crosius' magnificent building. The manor had a dozen or so buildings in a haphazard but picturesque arrangement. All those who lived here were high-ranking cannon fodder hired by the War Demon Valley. The three-storey building assigned to Han Shuo was the tallest and most magnificent of them all.
"Thank you. Oh, and if it's not too much trouble, please arrange for Hemanna and Sylph to visit," Han Shuo bluntly asked for his bounty from Qunoa. In any case, Crosius had already agreed to release Hemanna and Sylph to Han Shuo.
"No problem. I will pass on these instructions. It won't be long before Hemanna and Sylph arrive," Qunoa said in a very friendly manner, revealing a faint, knowing smile.
"Thank you then. Oh, and if the enemies from Venomfang Castle come by, please don't hesitate to ask when my help is needed." Since Han Shuo was being 'paid', the least he could do was offer help.
"Everything will be done according to Lord Crosius' wishes. You have just arrived in War Demon Valley and have not yet had a good rest. I will not disturb you any longer," Qunoa said without any further courtesy and politely announced his departure.
There was more than one visiting advisor in this area. As Han Shuo unfolded his consciousness and began to survey the area, he discovered that no one here could possibly threaten him. He headed straight for his three-storey house. On the way, Han Shuo caught glimpses of some silhouettes in the buildings next to him that seemed to be watching him. However, Han Shuo didn't pay them any mind.
The structures in the Abyss Realm were nothing if not grand. The building in which Han Shuo resided contained no fancy furniture except for a few drab tables and chairs. The decoration was minimalist and clean, in keeping with Han Shuo's aesthetic judgement.
After posting the 'do not disturb' sign outside his door, Han Shuo locked all the doors and closed all the windows, then set up a soundproof and early warning magic formation. Immediately after, he summoned the Earth Elite Zombie to dig out a large secret chamber deep underground. After that, Han Shuo pulled out his skeletal staff, ready to seriously dig into the secrets locked inside.
Han Shuo knew that the skeletal staff contained all kinds of bizarre messages. However, because the timing was never right and he did not have enough mental strength, Han Shuo had never put much effort into drilling into the secrets within the skeletal staff. But now that he was trapped in the Abyss Realm, his way home forcibly cut off, the Skeletal Staff became a pillar of hope for Han Shuo.
Holding the skeletal staff in his hand, Han Shuo focused his attention and gradually released his mental power. He slowly wrapped it around the staff like a fine thread.
As his mental energy flowed into the skeletal staff, Han Shuo immediately noticed that the tri-coloured skeletal staff emitted soft halos of yellow, blue, and purple. He suddenly sensed three different types of strange energy emanating from the skeletal staff. Even though Han Shuo could sense them, they felt extremely vague and weak. He had no idea how to use the energy.
The skeletal staff had three main functions, namely doubling the power of necromancy spells, allowing one's soul to travel to the netherworld and back, and rejuvenating one's youth. Han Shuo had long since understood the three strange energies in the tri-coloured skulls of the skeletal staff. The first wonderful special ability of the Skeletal Staff did not require any additional incantations to be dispelled. All one had to do was hold the skeletal staff while casting necromancy spells, and the function would be activated automatically.
Han Shuo had also long since mastered the art of transporting his soul to the netherworld. However, when it came to youth rejuvenation, Han Shuo felt that he had only just begun to grasp it. Rejuvenation magic was only effective on a certain group of people, so Han Shuo had yet to test it properly.
And now, as Han Shuo slowly channeled his mental power into the tri-coloured skeletal staff, he could clearly sense the presence of the three energies. However, he was unable to extract any useful information from the energy, which was a great source of frustration to Han Shuo.
According to the words of the Church of Calamity and the lizard king Dagassi, the tricoloured skeletal staff contained many secrets. These secrets even contained information about the Great War thousands of years ago, which had involved every powerful being that had ever existed on the Profound Continent, as well as some secrets about the existence of the Cemetery of Death.
Wolf of the Church of Calamity had explained, the very complex and intricate large-scale magical transportation matrix system within the Cemetery of Death seemed to be capable of transmitting to another plane of existence. Given this information, Han Shuo assumed that the skeletal staff would contain certain information about planar teleportation. If he could learn the secrets of the interplanar transportation matrix from the skeletal staff, then he could forgo meeting this demon king, Manticole.
The tricoloured skeletal staff flashed three soft lights of yellow, blue and purple. He could sense the three energies from the tri-coloured skulls, but he had no idea how to obtain the secret locked within the skeletal staff.
There was no way to proceed! Han Shuo was dismayed. He knew that the Skeletal Staff contained amazing secrets. Yet, as the master of the staff, he didn't have access to any of those secrets. This feeling plagued him to the core.
into his mind. Secrets are usually hidden in a person's brain. There were three skulls of three different colours on this skeletal staff. Could the secret be hidden in those three coloured skulls?
When Han Shuo thought of this, his eyes opened wide. He turned his gaze to the skeletal staff and examined it carefully once again.
The tri-coloured skeletal staff was about 1.3 metres long. Its entire body was made of a green, jade-like material. The three skulls were non-human and had the colours yellow, blue and purple. The yellow skull had three eye sockets, the blue skull had a single horn, while the purple skull's roof was riddled with finger-sized holes.
Upon closer examination, Han Shuo discovered that the yellow skull with three eye sockets looked incredibly familiar. Not only was it much smaller, but the positions of the three eye sockets were virtually identical to those of the Triops Han Shuo had seen in the territory of Venomfang Castle.
Remembering the three-eyed evil god Ansidesi that he had seen under the slave trading house in Valen City, he discovered that except for being more massive and having horns on its head, the three-eyed evil god Ansidesi looked practically the same as the Triops and the yellow skull on the skeletal staff. Han Shuo determined that the three must have come from the same race. Shortly after, Han Shuo carefully poured all of his mental power into the three-eyed skull on the skeletal staff, especially the three eye sockets.
Something wonderful happened. Han Shuo's mental energy clearly sensed that the energy within the three eye sockets of the three-eyed skull was the most intense. They even formed a kind of defensive energy similar to a barrier, preventing Han Shuo's mental strength from probing further into the three eye sockets.
This must be the point of my breakthrough! Han Shuo thought immediately and rejoiced. He focused his attention even more and his mental energy was no longer scattered but focused as he attacked the three bizarre defensive energies, trying to unravel the secrets within this three-eyed skull.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Han Shuo's body shook. He felt as if his mental strength had crashed into an immovable mountain. The mental strength of a Grand Magus wasn't able to break apart three strange energies contained in three eye sockets. This came as quite a shock to Han Shuo. He realised that the Skeleton Staff was indeed unique.
With a morbid expression on his face, Han Shuo took a deep breath and completely withdrew all of his mental power. He meditated for a while to regain his mental strength.
Even though Han Shuo could use the power of his consciousness, he dared not do anything too rash with the Skeletal Staff. This was because the energy of consciousness came from demonic arts, and Han Shuo was afraid that the skeletal staff might come into conflict with the energy of his consciousness and cause irreversible damage to it. Therefore, Han Shuo had only used his mental power all this time.
After a while, Han Shuo had fully recovered his mental strength. This time, he did not attack all three energies at once. Instead, he attacked a single eye socket. Ping! A high pitched sound struck. The defensive energy in this eye socket had finally been defeated. Han Shuo was overjoyed. He immediately repeated the action on the other two eye sockets and had successfully removed all the defensive energies.
Soon after, Han Shuo learned some extremely interesting information from the three eye sockets.
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