Five days later. At the entrance to the most mysterious place in the Abyss Realm: The Void.
Han Shuo and the fifteen demons who followed closely behind Demon King Manticole finally arrived at their destination.
It was a strange region filled with huge, menacing plants. Every one of these strange, towering trees would attack Han Shuo and the group with ferocity. There were swamps and marshes everywhere, and a colourful miasma hung in the air. There were also some huge and strangely shaped abyssal creatures roaming about.
Manticole must have been very familiar with this area. He led Han Shuo and the group on a crisscrossing flight, stopping only when they arrived at a magnificent scene of colourful, vitreous stardust currents rising into the sky.
Han Shuo took a quick look around. He discovered that after Manticole had unleashed his Domain of Divinity, not a single plant or living thing was so unintelligent as to dare approach them. The intense element of darkness gathered around Manticole from all directions. After a short time, the Element of Darkness within Manticole's Domain of Divinity became ten times more concentrated. All the other elemental energies that normally existed between heaven and earth were nowhere to be found within the space it covered. Even the four edict powers were distorted.
The fifteen Black Jade Guards who were escorting Manticole immediately felt very uncomfortable. With no elemental energies to rely on, and not yet truly godlike, their hearts were filled with a sense of powerlessness and unease.
Fortunately for them, Manticole did not keep his Domain of Divinity deployed for too long. It wasn't long after he unleashed his Domain of Divinity that Han Shuo sensed that in another region not far away, the Element of Lightning suddenly began to solidify rapidly. A long rumble echoed through the sky. A group of men were rapidly approaching Manticole.
Manticole withdrew his Domain of Divinity immediately after the rumble. He said to Han Shuo in a warm voice, "Leviathan is here.
Leviathan, one of the five great demon kings of the Abyss Realm, cultivated in the elemental energy of lightning and had a rather deep-rooted friendship with Manticole. Shortly after Manticole withdrew his domain of divinity, an imposing silhouette of intertwined lightning bolts landed before Manticole in the blink of an eye.
Leviathan stood three metres tall. Two huge horns protruded from its head. Lush body hair covered his skin. His powerful body glowed with electric sparks. At first glance, Han Shuo thought Leviathan resembled a wild bull, if not for his human face.
Upon arrival, Leviathan chuckled and said, "Manticole, I have been here for a few days. What took you so long?"
"Better to be punctual than early prematurely," Manticole said mildly. He lifted his head to look at the beautiful, colourful space and continued, "The stardust stream hasn't completely disappeared yet, has it?"
Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh... A dozen or so shadows arrived and landed behind Manticole. Every single one of them was of demon strength; they were the Thunderguards, direct subordinates of Leviathan.
A pair of silver pupils spewing bolts of lightning suddenly turned towards Han Shuo. With an interested tone, Leviathan asked, "This unfamiliar-looking friend must be the one who wiped out three Shadow Warriors in an instant, Mr Han Shuo?"
Han Shuo smiled faintly and nodded. In a manner that was neither overbearing nor submissive, he greeted, "Hehehe, hello." Just like Manticole, Leviathan was a Lowgod. Even without activating his consciousness, Han Shuo could sense the terrifying energy on Leviathan's body. He guessed that the other three demon kings must also have lowgod strength.
Han Shuo couldn't help but compare. With his three souls, Han Shuo currently possessed enough power to take on any Demon King. Considering that Little Skeleton had become a lowgod of death, in addition to the Penta-elemental Undead Formation formed by five elite magical zombies, Han Shuo was confident that he had enough power for self-preservation. Therefore, he began to inwardly plan some things that would be advantageous to him.
Leviathan looked deeply into Han Shuo's eyes, lightning bolts flashing brightly through his silver pupils. After a long while, he chuckled, nodded, and said, "Not bad, qualified enough!"
Han Shuo understood that Leviathan must have sensed the power of the Destruction God from his body. This was the realm of the Abyss. Without sufficient strength, one would not receive the proper respect. It was because Leviathan sensed the destructive energy of Han Shuo's devastating avatar that he truly regarded Han Shuo as an equal friend.
"Since you have been here for so long, have you discovered the tracks of the other three?" Manticole asked smiling after waiting for Leviathan to acknowledge Han Shuo's strength.
"Those three arrived a long time ago. They are currently occupying three positions, all waiting for the moment when the stardust stream around the void disappears," Leviathan replied with a serious look and a deep voice.
Han Shuo lifted his head and looked at the sky. The colourful stardust stream resembled the vast ocean of galaxies, mysterious and enigmatic. Streak after streak of brilliant rays of light appeared and disappeared like shooting stars. Emerald green, sapphire blue, amethyst purple and halos of everything in between wafted gently past them.
Han Shuo knew that beyond the stardust stream lay the entrance to the Void. He opened his consciousness very slightly and secretly sent a strand of it drifting towards the stardust stream. He tried to explore the Stardust Stream very subtly and carefully.
Stardust currents had a very corrosive and destructive effect on the soul. Any life form with a soul, upon entering the Stardust Stream, would immediately feel its effects. Their souls would be corroded and disintegrated in an instant, their consciousness shattered, and all traces of their souls vanished between heaven and earth.
Even experts like Manticole and Leviathan, who were true gods, were powerless against this stardust current. All they could do was wait patiently for the time when the Stardust Stream would naturally disappear, and only then would they dare to enter the Void. It was clear how threatening this stardust current was!
As a strand of Han Shuo's consciousness sank into it, those bizarre sand-like energies suddenly reacted. The glorious sky of the Void blossomed with dazzling colours and quickly gathered towards the area where that strand of Han Shuo's consciousness was probing. The soul-corroding energy within the exotic stardust current immediately entered the strand of consciousness, attempting to dissolve and shatter the sample of Han Shuo's soul.
The consciousness formed by the demonic arts was incredible. Han Shuo knew that the Stardust Current had the terrifying power to corrode souls, yet he remained fearless in sending a fraction of his consciousness to venture inside. This was precisely because during the time he had carefully researched the abilities of his consciousness, he had learned that consciousness could split into countless parts and still reassemble into one. This was the reason for his seemingly reckless attempt.
This strand of his consciousness was being rapidly corroded away. But it could regrow at an even faster rate. This caused a strange light to shimmer in that region. Even though the energy of the stardust current was eating away at that strand of consciousness, it was not being shattered at all.
"Hahaha, some idiot rushed in without waiting for the stardust current to dissipate. Looks like there are some smaller forces involved, unaware of the dangers," Leviathan said with a face of glee at the misfortune of others, as he looked up at the region suddenly bursting with its own fireworks.
"Yes, it's only the newcomers who know nothing of the treachery of the Void who would act so recklessly," Manticole agreed as he lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
As he listened to the conversation between the two Demon Kings, Han Shuo, the culprit behind the fireworks of light, quietly withdrew the strand of consciousness that was still intact and healthy. He thought to himself, "Although the Stardust Current is indeed terrifying, my consciousness seems to be invulnerable to it. From this point of view, the consciousness formed by the demonic arts is definitely much more magnificent and powerful than the Elemental Soul or the Edictal Soul formed by the Twelve Fundamental Powers.
Manticole and Leviathan stood right next to Han Shuo. However, these two Lowgod demon kings couldn't detect this little manoeuvre of Han Shuo's wonderful consciousness. This gave Han Shuo the feeling that the Demonic Arts were superior to other cultivation techniques, while also further solidifying his firm belief in cultivating in the Demonic Arts.
After Han Shuo withdrew his consciousness, that piece of sky was no longer dazzling with brilliant light. Leviathan turned around and solemnly explained to the group of Thunder Guards behind him, "Each and every one of you, especially those who have come here for the first time, remember this: do not charge forward until the stardust stream has completely dissipated. You all saw the sight just now, when the Stardust Current stopped glowing with light, it meant that the soul of the intruder had perished and was destroyed.
When Leviathan had finished speaking, Manticole also turned to his fifteen Black Jade Guards, made a solemn face, cleared his throat and said, "You had better listen carefully. In the Void, none of you may act on your own initiative without my command. If you act on your own initiative and cause me trouble, I will make you taste what is worse than death. Understand?" It was obvious that in Manticole's mind, the lives of these minions he had raised himself were of little value to him.
"Yes, my lord!" the fifteen Black Jade Guards, including Bord and Zinia, replied with trepidation. Each of them showed fear on their faces, as if they remembered the terrible methods of this normally mild-looking demon king.
Han Shuo was somewhat astonished and thought to himself, "A Demon King is indeed a Demon King. No matter how gentle and harmless he appeared in normal times, that was nothing more than a mask for his evil ways.
"So what should we do now?" After all, it was Han Shuo's first time here. Although he had learned some things about the Void from Bord and Zinia, there were still many things he didn't understand.
Towards Han Shuo, this existence of the same class, be it Manticole or Leviathan, both behaved rather friendly. The two replied simultaneously, "We are waiting!" After a short pause, Manticole explained, "We wait for the moment when the stardust disappears!"
Han Shuo nodded and said nothing more. He patiently joined the others in waiting for the moment when the stardust stream disappeared.
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