All around the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester , there were intricate demonic formations of all sizes. Based on his insight, Han Shuo guessed that these demonic formations were all quite powerful. The Pentacloud Miasma had nearly killed Donna and her party. In all likelihood, the members of the opposing forces must have encountered an equally deadly demonic formation.
The constant inhuman screams were a source of great distress to those who were regaining their strength. Bolten and Bowen were jolted awake, shock etched into their faces.
As if the Grim Reaper was working extra hard that day, another loud, deafening screech came from a distance. It was a female's voice. They all knew immediately that the young married woman from the other team had perished.
"What a nightmare! That's two deaths!" Li Wei was excited. She had a terrified expression on her face as she looked at the Black Gust of Doom in front of her.
Donna watched as Li Wei gazed ahead in fear, the gleeful smile on her face gradually fading to be replaced by a grave expression. Donna furrowed her brow and remained silent for a moment before she said, "You all heard those screams and should know what they meant. Having overcome the previous obstacle, I think you should all now clearly understand that this mysterious place is fraught with danger. What's certain is that the next obstacle will be even more challenging.
Everyone listened to Donna's speech in silence. She took a deep breath before continuing, "Perhaps at the next obstacle some of us will perish as they did. If any of you wish to withdraw, now is the time to do so. Although it will not be something to be proud of, it is at least much easier to accept than death. Given the influences of your families, this is an option you can afford. Take a moment to think about it!"
After hearing Donna's words, the three young people fell silent. Their faces were filled with indecision and they couldn't seem to make up their minds.
Colbert and Han Shuo, on the other hand, were not burdened with indecision. Colbert had no care in his life and was determined to follow Li Wei. Han Shuo was determined to go in and get to the bottom of things. He wanted to find out what was really going on inside and of course he was not going to back out.
Moreover, Han Shuo had a brief understanding of the Black Gust of Doom. He was confident that he could handle the
attacks and therefore wasn't worried about it.
"I will not make any new breakthroughs if I stay within my comfort zone. I want to go further!" Bolten was the first to come to a decision and he declared it resolutely.
"If someone as cowardly as Bolten dares to venture inside, then I can too!" Li Wei gritted her teeth and declared firmly.
Bowen was a man who would follow his older brother's decision, and this time was no exception. Colbert, who placed Li Wei above everything, including his own life, would naturally follow her into the next formation. Donna understood that even if he did not say a word.
"Very well then. I will give you all a little more time before we move forward together. Should any of you lose your lives, I will inform your families of your bravery. They will be proud of you!" Donna praised.
Without wasting any more words, Bolten and the others used the time to replenish their divine energies.
"Bryan, I am suddenly very curious about you. You must have experienced countless life and death situations on this continent?" Donna suddenly smiled and looked at Han Shuo with interest. She seemed to want to understand what kind of person Han Shuo actually was.
Han Shuo stared blankly and pretended to think about the question for a moment before he smiled and nodded, telling her, "I guess you could say that. The low level material planes are just as violent. You have to fight for everything you want. Staring death in the face is quite common!"
"No wonder," Donna replied. Then she suddenly changed the subject by asking, "What is the energy you are cultivating in? What makes it so special? In all the times that I have ventured through various material planes, I have never seen anything remotely similar!"
Han Shuo was silent for a moment, then smiled and calmly replied, "It's just a minor, non-mainstream energy that is too inferior to be shown in public. It's quite normal that you've never seen it. Hahaha, it really is mediocre and not worthy of your curiosity."
Han Shuo had no desire to discuss anything related to the cultivation of Demonic Arts, and Donna could see that. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded smilingly and did not continue with her questions.
"Actually, I'm curious to know more about the Elysium. Do you mind?" While the others were cultivating, Han Shuo and Donna, who had nothing to do, chatted with each other. Since he was very curious about Elysium, and since it was the material plane that Donna came from, he thought that he could learn more about this world from Donna.
Bechymos and McKinley had told Han Shuo a little about Elysium. But since both of them had been imprisoned on distant worlds for many years, any description they had for Han Shuo was from long ago, and the circumstances there must have changed at least a little. Elysium, the plane of the gods, was Han Shuo's next destination. He wanted to have a detailed understanding of the place before he went there.
"It's hard to tell you everything in a nutshell. You will understand the place after you go there. It is the centre of all material planes. The Twelve Overgods all seem to be cultivating there in secret. I think you can see how special Elysius is from those two sentences. Donna replied smiling.
Han Shuo nodded and asked no further questions. He became even more determined to leave for Elysium, the plane of the gods.
Time flew by. After what seemed to be only a short time, Bolten and the others were awakened from recovering their divine energy when Donna called out to them.
"It's about time. We can't stay here too long, otherwise when we reach our destination we might find that Emperor and the others have already saved everything!" Seeing that the group understood her, Donna took a deep breath and marched on.
"Everyone be careful. You better keep your guard up from the start," Han Shuo reminded his allies. He had once carefully recalled the information Chu Cang Lan had about the Black Gust of Doom while the people were recovering their energy.
After the bitter experience of the past, they no longer looked down on this little god from a low level material plane. With Han Shuo's reminder, they all began to deploy their full-body defences before even entering the formation.
Han Shuo nodded, pleased with their prudent behaviour. He also deployed his shield and stepped into the Black Gust of Doom after Donna.
As soon as they entered, a powerful, cold wind blew towards them. Grey, low clouds hovered above their heads. No one could see their surroundings clearly.
Han Shuo scanned the area through the swirling, cold wind that carried a devastating power, but he simply couldn't see any hint of Donna's figure.
Han Shuo stopped advancing and realised that he had lost sight of Bolten and the group. He knew then that the Black Gust of Doom had been triggered the moment they entered. With the transformation sweeping the area, it was impossible to track the others.
Han Shuo, of course, was not too worried, for when he stepped inside, he discovered that those terrifying gusts of wind had miraculously all avoided him, blowing around him instead of at him.
The situation was exactly the same as in the Pentacloud Miasma!
With a sense of relief in his heart, Han Shuo watched his surroundings for a while. He could obviously tell that these powerful, chilling winds were everywhere. They would not change direction for anything, but when they reached his demonic yuan solidified shield, they would simply detour around him.
This meant that Han Shuo was also safe and sound within the Black Gust of Doom. He didn't have to worry about being attacked.
A thought suddenly crossed his mind, "Could it be that my cultivation in the demonic arts has made me immune to all the formations here?
To test this hypothesis, Han Shuo deployed his two avatars and placed them beyond the protection of his shield.
In an instant, the terrifying wind rushed towards Han Shuo's two avatars. This power was filled with ruthlessness, and the wind felt as if it could penetrate their bodies. It caused immense pain to Han Shuo's two avatars.
Han Shuo immediately realised something. Then, with a single thought, the Avatar of Destruction concealed the energy of destruction within his body, transformed into the Demon Slayer's Edge form, and began to circulate a small amount of Demonic Yuan emanating from his main body. Another amazing transformation occurred. All the cold winds suddenly changed direction and began to blow around the Demonslayer Edge.
Meanwhile, the Avatar of Death that had transformed from the Skeleton Staff contained only the Divine Energy of Death and was constantly being devastated by the cold wind. The situation was anything but good.
This was now clear to Han Shuo. Since his two avatars were connected to his consciousness, they could easily return to Han Shuo's main body even under the adverse effects of the Black Gust of Doom.
After the experiment, Han Shuo was convinced that he, a cultivator of demonic arts, was completely immune to the attacks of all the demonic formations in this place. Even the demonic weapon that had transformed into his Avatar of Destruction was not subject to the effects of the demonic formations because it contained a small amount of demonic yuan.
Based on Han Shuo's understanding of the Pentacloud Miasma and the Black Gust of Doom, he knew that these two formations, in their normal form, would not discriminate based on the energy one cultivated in. The only explanation for his immunity was that the terrifying entity that used these demonic formations had forcibly changed the demonic formations so that they would not attack any demonic arts cultivator!
Without having to think too hard, Han Shuo understood that the entity that had unleashed everything in this place must also be from Earth. Perhaps he also knew that no one in this universe knew anything about the demonic arts when he created this masterpiece that prevented all those cultivating in other energies from entering, but left the door wide open for all demonic arts cultivators.
Why would he do that? What were his intentions? Han Shuo was very confused and his curiosity grew.
But even after turning over in his mind, he still couldn't find out anything. In the end, he decided to put all thoughts aside and venture deeper to investigate.
With a pulse of his consciousness, Han Shuo discovered the positions of Donna and the other four. In this strange place, his sight and the souls of his two avatars, cultivated in the Edict of Destruction and the Element of Death, could not see the surroundings. However, his consciousness, which had been formed using demonic arts, was not hindered at all and could clearly sense the surroundings.
After unfolding his consciousness, Han Shuo suddenly discovered that Donna and the others had incredibly unstable souls and they all seemed extremely emotional.
They were stuck in a daydream!
Han Shuo immediately came to this conclusion. The Black Gust of Doom contained more than just a powerful chilling wind. If one were to remain within the formation for any length of time, they would be plunged into a terrifying land of fantasy where they would relive the most heartbreaking and terrifying events of their lives over and over again. Furthermore, the formation would amplify the effects of these painful trials, crushing their hearts and souls.
In this land of fantasy, if they could not maintain a strong will, they might even sink into madness - forever. Not only would they have to face the attack of the mighty wind, they would also have to face their worst nightmares. Even an expert with formidable strength could be crushed mentally and become a madman in a short time!
Unlike the Pentacloud Miasma, there was no need to look for an abstruse pattern to find a way out of the Black Gust of Doom. For the moment a person entered the formation, they would be immediately assaulted by a powerful wind, while at the same time being confronted with the most horrific scenes of their lives. If you couldn't get rid of the fear in your heart, you wouldn't be able to move forward. Therefore, there would be no need to solve more puzzles.
After slowly expanding his consciousness, Han Shuo soon discovered that Li Wei and Bolten were in the most critical condition. Who knew what terrible events they had experienced, but their souls were in utter chaos. It was as if they could be mentally crushed at any moment and descend into madness.
The situation was critical and there wasn't much time left. He knew that if he didn't act immediately, Li Wei and Bolten would be the first to die in this place.
Since Li Wei and Bolten had apologised to him, Han Shuo no longer felt any animosity towards them. Moreover, he knew that under the current circumstances, he would have a much better chance of survival if Li Wei and Bolten lived. Therefore, he ignored his former hatred and acted immediately.
When he arrived at Li Wei's side, he discovered that she was screaming and shouting hysterically. Whatever grace she had left was now gone!
Han Shuo did not know what Li Wei was going through, but when he tried to hold her, Li Wei began to claw wildly and tried to bite him. She had no idea what was going on around her, and it looked like she wouldn't be able to recover in a short time.
Seeing that this situation continued and that he needed to get her out as soon as possible, Han Shuo decided to use more force. Taking advantage of the fact that Li Wei was unable to organise an effective resistance, Han Shuo struck her and knocked her unconscious. Holding Li Wei by her waist with one hand, he quickly flew to Bolten, following the senses of his consciousness. He saw a hysterical Bolten panting heavily, trying to defend himself against the attacks of some unseen threats.
Having dealt with Li Wei, Han Shuo knew he could not be polite and knocked Bolten out in the same way. He grabbed him by the shoulder and managed to carry them both out of the Black Gust of Doom very quickly. He then returned to the Black Gust of Doom and did the same to the crying Bowen and the frantic Colbert - knocking them out and then carrying them out of the formation.
Han Shuo returned to Donna, the last of his teammates trapped in the formation. Although she was also trapped in a fantasy, her situation was not as dire as the others - perhaps a testament to her strength. As Han Shuo approached Donna, he saw that Donna had a sad face and was crying desperately, "Don't leave me, I beg you, please don't go!
As Han Shuo arrived beside Donna and was about to knock her down, Donna seemed to sense something and suddenly embraced Han Shuo. Her rosy lips suddenly planted on Han Shuo's before he could react.