Han Shuo, who had been sitting in silence for a long time, immediately stood up when the huge interplanar transportation matrix next to him blossomed with blinding white light. He focused all his attention on the interplanar transportation matrix.
Han Shuo had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. He understood that the glowing of the interplanar transportation matrix indicated that the Calamity Church experts from the distant material plane would be arriving soon.
"Oh...? " came a soft voice from within the interplanar transportation matrix. The bright light faded to reveal two women and three men.
The one at the head of the group was a lovely and beautiful woman in a navy blue dress. She had bright eyes and white teeth. Her body was filled with an intense element of darkness, shining with seductive negative rays. From the terrifying aura that Han Shuo sensed from her body, he determined that she must be a Midgod expert.
Right behind the beautiful woman was a young lady in a short purple skirt. Her fine arms were as white as snow, her face was delicate and pretty, but her eyes seemed unusually cunning. She cultivated in the element of death and possessed Mid-stage Lowgod strength. Standing behind the young lady were two young men who had cultivated the Edict of Destruction. They had Herculean jaws and also possessed Late-stage Lowgod strength.
The last person was a skinny old man who looked like he couldn't move a muscle. He had cultivated in the elemental energy of death and possessed the approximate strength of a Late-stage Lowgod.
The group of five consisted of a beautiful woman, a young lady, an old man and two youngsters. The woman was the only Midgod of the group, while the rest of them were Lowgods. This filled Han Shuo's heart with shock.
The young lady looked around before her eyes quickly fell on Han Shuo. "Tall one, so you are the one who is supposed to welcome us? Hahaha, why do you look so lazy?"
"Li Wei, watch your words!" the woman warned before stepping out of the interplanar transportation matrix. She then said to Han Shuo, "Li Wei is a bit mischievous, please don't take offence."
By this time, Han Shuo had finally recovered from the shock of her arrival. He put on a bright smile and relaxedly said, "Welcome to the Profound Continent!"
"A low-level material plane? Well, this is going to be boring!" Li Wei wrinkled her nose, stretched her body, and began to look around. She seemed to be searching for anything that might pique her interest.
"Li Wei, why don't we take a look around and see if there's anything fun to do in this low level plane?" one of the young people cultivating in the Edict of Destruction suggested.
"Sure! Let's go!" Li Wei was delighted and immediately agreed.
The beautiful woman furrowed her brow. "No one will separate from the group before we understand the circumstances."
Upon hearing these words, Li Wei shrugged at the young woman and replied in a lazy voice, "Okay, I understand. Big sister Donna, you are so strict with us!"
Donna smiled and replied, "We are not here for sightseeing or fun. Those guys may have already arrived. Besides, if you were to meet them alone on this unfamiliar continent, you would surely be in great danger. We should find out about the situation here before we decide on our next move.
After assessing the five of them and listening to their conversation for a while, Han Shuo could tell that the beautiful woman they called Donna must be the leader of the party. Han Shuo also noticed that the old man who cultivated in the element of death remained silent the whole time. His glances towards Li Wei were filled with respect, as if he were their sworn servant. As for the two young men cultivating in the Edict of Destruction, one was talkative while the other was silent.
Donna told the group to be quiet before politely asking Han Shuo, "We don't know much about the circumstances on this continent. Would you mind giving us a brief introduction?"
As Donna began to talk business, the other four stopped being a nuisance. Their gazes converged on Han Shuo at the same time, silently waiting for his insight.
Facing the observant gazes of the five godly existences, Han Shuo put on a calm smile and said calmly, "There is nothing special about the circumstances on this continent that warrants an introduction, not that you would care anyway. However, I would like to inform you about matters related to the mission. The entrance to the underground world is in a forest. The path to the lowest level is possessed by the race of the Dark Dragons. I have very close relations with the Dark Dragons, so it will not be a problem to find the way.
Your enemies have already arrived on this continent. To protect this interplanar transportation matrix, I have no idea of their position or actions at this time. All I know is that one of them came from the Shrine of Ice in the Midgod Realm... "
Skipping over some of the trivialities, Han Shuo briefly described the most basic circumstances on the Profound Continent to the group.
"Okay, that's pretty detailed. Not bad," Donna nodded smilingly. Right after that she changed the subject and asked, "Oh, right, what should I call you?"
"Bryan," Han Shuo replied.
"Bryan, let me introduce you," Donna said smiling as she turned her body to the side and pointed at the young lady behind her, "This is Li Wei, late stage Lowgod of Death. She is from the Kiaran family. This old man is a servant of her family who also possesses late-stage lowgod strength. His name is Colbert. The two brothers are Bolten and Bowen. They are from the Brook family. As for me, I'm Donna. We will have to inconvenience you during our stay on this material plane.
Each time their names were mentioned by Donna, they would nod at Han Shuo as a gesture of greeting. However, Han Shuo could tell that the group of five did not really take Han Shuo seriously. Their greetings were superficial and did not come from their hearts.
In their eyes, Han Shuo was a minor god on a low material plane who didn't carry much weight - a nonentity, a mere tour guide who was too inferior to accomplish anything great. It was only natural that they had no real respect for Han Shuo.
Donna had made sure to note the family names of the other four but had missed out her own. This left Han Shuo somewhat puzzled. From what Han Shuo learned from Bechymos and the memories passed down by the original owner of the skeletal staff, he knew that the Overgods of Death and Destruction had close relationships. There was nothing strange about Li Wei and the Brook brothers' arrival.
However, Donna, who obviously cultivated in the elemental energy of darkness, came here as the leader of the party. That had somewhat astonished Han Shuo. He thought to himself, Could it be that the Overgod of Darkness is now mingling with the two evil Overgods?
While Han Shuo was astonished, Li Wei suddenly let out a soft cry and arrived next to the glass jar containing the sea monster. Excitedly, she looked at the sea monster in the shape of a small octopus that was happily swimming around and laughingly remarked, "Hahaha, what an ugly little fish! Fascinating!"
As she spoke, she began to remove the boundaries that Han Shuo had placed around her, attempting to take the little octopus out and play with it without the slightest scruple.
"Don't touch it! It is not a pet!" Han Shuo's eyebrows furrowed and he yelled lightly.
It wasn't as if Han Shuo cared about the life or death of this sea monster. In any case, this place was his territory and the sea monster could be considered his property. For Li Wei to tamper with his things without first asking his permission was an impertinent behaviour that Han Shuo found rather displeasing.
"Just an ugly little fish, nothing of value. Let me play with it!" Li Wei ignored Han Shuo's words and was ready to remove the boundaries and pull out the sea monster.
A shadow streaked through the room and landed next to Li Wei in an instant. Before she could react, the glass jar was already in Han Shuo's hand. Han Shuo waved his hand and the boundary around the cemetery automatically opened a small seam. Immediately, he threw the jar out. The glass shattered halfway through its trajectory, releasing the sea monster who hastily scurried out to sea.
"Holly Molly, what are they? What a bunch of terrifying humans!" the sea monster trembled in fear as it sensed the extremely formidable auras of Li Wei and the group. It quickly cut through the water and swam away.
"Get out of here! Go as far as you can. If you don't want to die, you'd better leave this part of the ocean forever," Han Shuo told the sea monster.
Han Shuo had promised the sea monster that he would spare its life and he did not want to break that promise for Li Wei, especially when Li Wei showed no respect for him as the owner of the property.
"You... You took my stuff?" Li Wei couldn't answer for a moment, muttering as he looked at Han Shuo in confusion.
"This thing was mine to begin with. It's none of your business that I freed it," Han Shuo said indifferently.
Before Li Wei could say anything, the skinny old man had fixed his dark eyes on Han Shuo. He looked displeased.
Meanwhile, Donna was looking at Han Shuo in astonishment. She was taken aback by his inhuman speed; he was so fast that even she couldn't react for a moment. But what was even more shocking to her was that she did not feel that Han Shuo was using the energies of death or destruction!
Donna's curiosity about Han Shuo was officially aroused. Seeing Colbert's gloomy look, she smiled and said, "It's just a small fish, so what if it's set free! Li Wei, as guests, we should act within the norms and not be rude!"
Li Wei was originally in a bad mood. But after hearing Donna's words, she acted as if nothing had happened and smiled and groaned, "What a stingy guy, hmph!"
After Li Wei spoke, Colbert lowered his head again and returned to that lifeless expression.
Bolten, the one who had invited Li Wei to take a walk around this world earlier, muttered to himself in a low voice, "I didn't expect someone from a low material plane to be so interesting!
"If you don't mind, we can go to the underground world right now," Han Shuo said calmly, as if he didn't hear what these people were saying and didn't see the contempt in their eyes.
"That would be great," Donna happily agreed.
"I will lead the way." Han Shuo must have been quite displeased inside for taking her trekking from the Boundless Sea instead of using transportation matrices to get to the Dark Forest.
Of course, Donna and her party had no idea that Han Shuo had a much faster shortcut to the Dark Forest by teleporting from the Cemetery of Death to Brettel City and from Brettel City to Valen City. Therefore, they did not say much, but followed him and flew straight towards the Dark Forest.
As they flew through the clouds on their way to the Dark Forest, Donna seemed to be interested in getting to know Han Shuo better because of his peculiarity. She thought for a moment and asked, "By the way, how did you know there was a Midgod from the Shrine of Ice here?"
"I met him!" Han Shuo turned his head and replied with a smile. He was still polite to Donna.
"What a shameless lie. How could you still be alive after meeting a Midgod enemy? Especially when they know that you are in possession of the interplanar transportation matrix!" Li Wei sneered contemptuously. She seemed to be taking revenge for Han Shuo snatching the sea monster from her just before.
Despite Li Wei's annoyance, she wasn't as impulsive as she seemed on the surface. Since she had to give Donna a face, she did not fly into a rage on the spot, but planned her revenge slowly.
But Han Shuo's blatant claim that he had met this Midgod was simply too ridiculous to believe!
"Believe it or not!"
Han Shuo smiled and gave a short reply. He had no intention of arguing with this lady.
Donna's heart was also filled with astonishment, but she did not question the validity of Han Shuo's words. Instead, she asked, "Where did you meet him? What exactly happened?"
"I killed the Planar Guardian of this plane and destroyed his interplanar transportation matrix. Then, as I was about to leave the boundary, I was captured by this Midgod. I nearly died from serious injuries while trying to escape the Boundary. It's a pity I was a step too late. If I had been there a few days earlier, they probably wouldn't have made it there at all!" Han Shuo said regretfully.
"Wha... What? You killed the Planar Guardian here and even destroyed his interplanar transportation matrix?" Even Donna couldn't help but cry out in surprise and looked at Han Shuo strangely.
"Haha, you managed to escape the boundary of a midgod.
You, sir, are a professional bullshitter! Hats off to you!" Bolten burst out laughing and said in an eccentric, condescending tone.
Han Shuo forced a smile and shook his head. He did not explain further.
"Bryan, did you really destroy the other interplanar transportation matrix?
Are you absolutely sure?" Donna had a serious expression on her face as she asked.
"Of course!" Han Shuo said confidently, "If you don't believe me, just ask one of them to go over there and take a look."
"No matter how you destroyed the other interplanar transportation matrix, if it's true, then we will have the upper hand in this battle. Right, I will take note of this achievement. Don't worry, you will be well rewarded," Donna was overjoyed at the unexpected good news. She had not expected to receive such wonderful news so soon after her arrival on this continent.
This news meant that if anyone on Donna's team was injured, they would be able to return home quickly and even use the interplanar transportation matrix to bring in more experts to help, while those on the opposing team would not be able to replenish their forces. They might even have to face great difficulties on the way back.
Han Shuo shrugged his shoulders and smiled brightly. He was not boasting or flattering them. He seemed extremely relaxed.
Donna nodded in agreement and immediately came to a much more favourable opinion of Han Shuo. She felt that although Han Shuo's strength might be weak, his aspirations and attitudes were not ordinary. She glanced with her beautiful eyes at Colbert who was standing next to Li Wei.
Donna knew that although Li Wei was an impertinent girl, she wasn't one to hold a grudge for long. Her servant, Colbert, wasn't so magnanimous. Donna felt that given Colbert's strength, he could easily teach Han Shuo a painful lesson. So Donna glared at the old man to make sure he wouldn't.