Han Shuo and the group possessed immense strength. It only took them half a day to fly from the Boundless Sea to the Dark Forest.
Bolten, Li Wei and the others whispered to each other after hearing Han Shuo claim that he had managed to escape from a Midgod. They thought that Han Shuo was just talking big, and their glances at Han Shuo were even more contemptuous. On the contrary, Donna, the party leader, seemed to take a much greater interest in Han Shuo. She continued to discuss the circumstances and life on the Profound Continent with Han Shuo in high spirits.
Having reached such heights in the demonic arts, there was no way that Han Shuo would deliberately humble himself in front of Donna or anyone else because of their superior strength or identity. All along, his demeanour had been neither overbearing nor submissive, but always casual and relaxed. Donna, who had observed all of this, nodded in agreement.
According to Han Shuo's observations, whenever he and Donna had any sort of cheerful conversation, there seemed to be a few traces of hostility in Bowen's glances towards him.
By now, Han Shuo had managed to figure out the relationships between the five of them. Of the Brook brothers, Bolten was obviously interested in Li Wei. His actions had said it all. As for the mute Bowen, his glances towards Donna were filled with respect. This came as a surprise to Han Shuo.
The ever-observant Han Shuo could detect the slight hostility in Bowen's eyes, but did not let it bother him.
After arriving in the Dark Forest, Han Shuo suddenly felt the presence of the Dark Dragon Gilbert. With a pulsation of his consciousness, he spotted Gilbert pacing back and forth across the plot of land where the cemetery used to be.
"Please excuse me for a moment, there's something I need to take care of," Han Shuo apologised to Donna before suddenly turning into a streak of dark radiance and flying towards Gilbert.
Gilbert's heart was a mess. He had paced the area several times and still couldn't find any boundary. Adding to the desolate wreckage around him, Gilbert thought he had the wrong place and began to search further afield.
It was obvious that a great battle had taken place here, and Gilbert could guess what it was. However, just like Emily, Fanny and Phoebe, Gilbert had blind faith in Han Shuo. He had no idea that the enemy was so formidable that Han Shuo had to move the Cemetery of Death and go into temporary hiding.
While Gilbert was still scratching his head, he suddenly felt Han Shuo's presence. His heart was at peace and he hastily raised his head to the sky.
Han Shuo landed beside Gilbert and asked chirpingly, "Have you just come out of the underground world?"
My admirable master, why can I not sense the boundary around the cemetery of death? What happened?" Gilbert asked loudly as soon as he saw Han Shuo.
"The Cemetery of Death isn't here anymore. I moved it to prevent certain people from finding it," Han Shuo explained. He continued, "I don't have time to give you all the details right now. You have just emerged from the underground world, do you know about the secret your race of dark dragons has been guiding? Tell me now if you know - it'll save me a visit to your grandfather later."
Seeing that Han Shuo was rather impatient, Gilbert told him the secret his grandfather had recently revealed to him without thinking. After he had told Han Shuo everything, Han Shuo asked puzzled, "What's wrong? Why do you look so worried?"
"I will explain when I return. In the meantime, take refuge in Sunshine Valley or Brettel City until further notice. When I've finished my business, I'll look for you," Han Shuo instructed.
"Have you run into any trouble? Master, I can help you!" Gilbert said excitedly. He was pleased instead of surprised.
"The trouble is too big, you can't help! This battle involves godly experts. At your current strength level, you cannot participate!" Han Shuo told Gilbert the harsh truth.
Gilbert's excitement was immediately dampened and he was now terrified after hearing Han Shuo's words. Seeing that Han Shuo seemed to be in a hurry, he did not ask any more questions but simply said, "Be careful," before leaving in the direction of Sunshine Valley.
After Han Shuo left the group of godly experts, they landed on top of a tall, lush ancient tree. Bolten furrowed his brow and asked Donna in a deep voice, "Big Sister Donna, do you really believe this guy?"
Li Wei and Bowen turned to listen to Donna's answer.
"His words sounded a bit mysterious. I don't really know why, but I think he can be trusted!" Donna replied smiling after thinking for a moment.
"Sister Donna, are you serious? This guy is obviously full of shit. How could you trust him? The way I see it, this guy has little strength, but is very bold and could tell blatant lies. I really have no idea how a tiny god from a low-level material plane could be so brazen! Li Wei said angrily. Bolten immediately agreed with her words. Even the silent Bowen nodded his head.
Donna tried to hold back her laughter when she saw Li Wei's angry expression. Smiling, she asked, "He should speak humbly, submissively, be flattering and sycophantic in his manner. Is that how you think he should behave?"
"Of course! When we go to other low-level material planes, isn't that how the local experts treat us?" Li Wei felt it was only right that they should receive the highest treatment from Han Shuo.
Donna shook her head with a smile and said, "People like that have an ulterior motive towards you. They may want you to give them a promotion, or they may intend to feed off you for the benefit of your family. These people, even if they are gods, are destined not to succeed!"
"So this guy will succeed?" Bolten said somewhat contemptuously.
"I don't know. But in any case, from my point of view, he's much better than such people!" Donna thought for a moment before she looked at the group of youngsters and said, "You have a lot to learn from this young man, Bryan.
The three youngsters looked around dismissively and seemed to have turned a deaf ear to Donna's words. In fact, Donna had stirred their arrogance. In their minds, they thought, "He's just a little character with no power or authority from a low-level material plane. How is he qualified to be someone to learn from?
Donna noticed the look on their faces. She sighed softly and stopped explaining.
These young people all grew up in families of enormous influence. Pampered and privileged from birth, they possessed amazing powers at such a young age, nurtured with great care by their families. Back on their worlds, they were always protected by their elders and families, hence their pride and arrogance. It wasn't entirely surprising that they would look down on someone from such a low level material plane.
Han Shuo returned as quickly as he had left. After flying back to Donna and the party, he said straightforwardly, "Come with me!"
Like spotlights being turned on for the first time, several figures streaked through the air, arriving at the entrance to the underground worlds in the blink of an eye. With Han Shuo leading the way, they made their way to the second layer of the underground world without encountering any obstacles.
"Wait, who is guarding the entrance to the last layer?" Donna asked suddenly.
"It is guarded by the race of dark dragons on this continent. But we don't have to go through them, I've already found out where the path is," Han Shuo replied.
"Then does that mean that apart from you, only the race of dark dragons know about this secret?" Donna asked after thinking for a moment.
Han Shuo nodded.
"Oh? Then, just in case, you should ask the dark dragons to get as far away as possible. Otherwise, the enemy could find the entrance to this place by finding the dark dragons here," Donna advised Han Shuo after a second of silence.
"Big Sister Donna, I think the best method is to execute all the dark dragons," Bolten suddenly suggested.
Han Shuo was immediately enraged by these words. He groaned, "The dark dragons have paid so much to keep this secret for all of you. Is this how you treat those who have done nothing but give to you?"
Donna also knitted her brows and gave Bolten a rather displeased look. She grumbled, "Bryan is right. These dragons don't just need to be spared, they deserve to be preserved. Otherwise, who would dare to work with us in the future?"
Bolten could ignore Han Shuo, but not Donna. As soon as he heard Donna, Bolten put on an awkward smile and said, "Don't be angry, Big Sister Donna. I wasn't serious."
Donna nodded and thought for a moment. Suddenly she said, "Bryan, I think we should inform those dark dragons first. Otherwise, if those guys come looking for us, they might wipe out the entire race!"
Han Shuo's heart stopped. He suddenly had a terrible premonition. He realised that if those from the Shrine of Ice couldn't find him, then they would surely go on to find the way to the last layer of the underground world and execute the entire race of dark dragons so that Han Shuo and his party would not be able to enter.
When Han Shuo thought of this, he became a little worried and hurried to the home of the dark dragons. Since Donna and her party needed Han Shuo to lead the way, they went along with him.
When Han Shuo arrived at the Dark Dragon Valley, he saw that the ground was littered with dead bodies. The patriarch of the dark dragons, Gilges, had died with his giant dragon eyes wide open!
"It seems we are too late!" Donna said in a deep voice.
Han Shuo walked over to the body of the Dark Dragon Patriarch Gilges, stunned. A torrent of anger surged through his heart as he saw the way Gilges had died. He reached out to close Gilges' dragon eyes. Han Shuo's consciousness pulsed. Through Gilges' soul, which had not yet fully dissipated, he used a special demonic technique to access the scenes Gilges had seen in his final moments.
A drop of his blood essence spilled from his middle finger. Then, using the last strand of Gilge's soul that had not yet dissipated as a primer, the massacre that had taken place here not long ago was projected into the air like a film.
Donna could tell that Han Shuo's heart was filled with rage from his cold and murderous appearance. As she was about to say a few words of comfort to Han Shuo, she suddenly saw the image projected into the air and immediately screamed in surprise. She stared at Han Shuo in disbelief.
Donna wasn't alone; Li Wei, the Brook Brothers, and even the lifeless Colbert were all stunned!
"That's Emperor! And Eriksson! How, how did you do that?" Li Wei screamed after foolishly looking at the pictures. She wore a face of disbelief.
Han Shuo raised his hand and sent out a hand seal. The drop of blood essence that was dispersed into the air gathered itself before returning to Han Shuo's body. With that, the last remaining trace of Gilges' soul was completely dispersed between heaven and earth.
Dark Dragon Gilges, I will avenge your death! Han Shuo said in his mind.
From these images, Han Shuo understood who was responsible for the massacre. He also heard the last scream of the old dark dragon, which was filled with boundless hatred. Unfortunately, as the soul of the old dark dragon was too tormented and he arrived too late, he couldn't reassemble the soul of the old dark dragon.
"I think you all saw what happened as well," Han Shuo said in a deep voice as he suppressed the anger in his heart.
Perhaps Han Shuo's performance was just too amazing, even the arrogant Brook Brothers did not find fault with him. They all wore confused expressions, their eyes filled with doubt.
"Colbert, in our advanced techniques of Death Energy, is there a method to show what a soul has seen? Li Wei stared foolishly at Han Shuo, but her words were directed at Colbert behind her.
"For Your Grace's information, we can indeed obtain some information from deceased souls. However, this is usually not mastered by someone below the realm of the Highgod. What's more, even Highgod who have mastered this skill could not possibly re-project the scenes so clearly!" Colbert, who was staring at Han Shuo in astonishment, thought for a moment with his eyes closed before replying in a grave voice.
The gods of the higher material planes were all thunderstruck.
"Bryan, the energy you just used doesn't seem to be the elemental energy of death. Besides, I have visited many material planes, but I have never seen anything as miraculous as what you just did. What was going on?" The more secrets Donna discovered about Han Shuo, the more her heart was filled with doubt.
"We low-level material plane people have our low-level techniques. The energy I'm using doesn't belong to any of the twelve fundamental powers, and it's non-mainstream and extremely rare. It's normal that you've never seen it." Han Shuo wasn't in a good mood and answered monotonously.
"Can you tell us more?" Li Wei was very engrossed. A glorious radiance shone from her eyes, which were fixed on Han Shuo.
"Sorry. No," Han Shuo said coldly and straightforwardly.
"Li Wei, everyone has their own way of cultivating. It's not polite to ask such a question!" Donna criticised Li Wei before she chuckled softly and said, "I've just become more and more curious about you!" She then cast a meaningful glance at the Brook brothers and said, "I think you two should believe what Bryan said by now.
After witnessing Han Shuo's miracle, the Brook brothers were astonished. However, they remained sceptical about Han Shuo's previous claim. They gently cleared their throats and did not reply.
"Let us go. I think these people have started their operation," Han Shuo said in a cold voice as he mourned.
"Bryan, these things happen all the time. You can remember this hatred, but if you see Eriksson and Emperor, don't do anything impulsive!" Donna paused to sigh before continuing, "In my opinion, even if you have some miraculous skills, you are still no match for them!"
Han Shuo knew that Donna was telling the truth. He nodded and said in a deep voice, "I realise that." After thinking for a moment, he said to Donna sincerely, "Thank you.
He could feel that Donna was being sincere with those words!