Han Shuo followed Donna into the House of Lavers. After passing through a series of boundaries and energy towers, they arrived at a tall building where Donna lived.
Illuminated by magical lamps, the interior was glorious. They entered a large lounge where Donna invited Han Shuo to sit down. She then asked him with bright eyes about his journey to this place.
Han Shuo briefly described some of the events he had encountered since arriving at the interplanar transportation facility. Donna listened patiently as Han Shuo told his story before she sighed, "It seems I wasn't thoughtful enough. I did not expect you to run into God Hunters, let alone multiple times. It's a fortunate coincidence that Lord Erebus found Brovst. Otherwise it would have been disastrous for you!"
"I have heard that Erebus is one of the seven chiefs of the Divine Guard in the City of Shadows. When he descended into the valley, I could feel the fearsome aura around him. What kind of power does he have?" Han Shuo knitted his brows and asked. He was very interested in this being they called Erebus, even though he had never actually seen its face. He had previously examined the remains of the great battle between Erebus and Brovst. He wanted to verify his assessment of their strength through Donna.
"That is correct. Lord Erebus is one of the seven chief divine guardians. He possesses Mid-stage Highgod strength, and of the seven, his strength ranks third. He is a renowned expert in the City of Shadows!" Donna went on to explain, "All seven Chief Divine Guards are from the five great families of the City of Shadows. My uncle Avery is also one of the seven. But he is only ranked fifth. He possesses Early-stage Highgod power."
"Apart from your House of Lavers, who are the four major families in the City of Shadows? Which one is the strongest?" Han Shuo was suddenly interested to hear Donna introduce the distribution of power in the City of Shadows. After arriving in a foreign environment, the first thing one should do was to familiarise oneself with the surroundings. Han Shuo knew from experience that it would be useful to know who could be dangerous and which people he could not afford to offend for the time being.
Donna smiled and immediately began to explain the distribution of power in the City of Shadows to Han Shuo.
Han Shuo quickly understood that in the City of Shadows, apart from the Lavers family to which Donna belonged, there were the Sainte family, the Kinson family, the Kisa family and the Buller family. Of these, the Sainte Family was the strongest, as the patriarch of the Sainte Family, Tracy, was the City Lord of the City of Shadows. The top three Divine Guards all belonged to the Sainte Family. Therefore, the Sainte family had the most influence in the entire City of Shadows.
The other four families, including the Lavers, were obviously less influential than the Sainte family. There wasn't too much of a discrepancy between the four in terms of strength. Their family members also enjoyed prestige and held high positions in the City of Shadows. They had their own divine guards and controlled many of the city's shops and gyms.
The Sainte family was the dominant power in the City of Shadows, with no other influence or family clan able to threaten their authority in the city. The other four families were closely aligned with the policies of the Sainte family and followed their lead. Needless to say, the four families were very respectful of the Sainte family. However, the four families would openly fight and manoeuvre against each other in recruiting experts for their own families. They would also fight over deposits of energy ores and rare metals.
In short, the family clans would do whatever it took to increase and improve their strength, including taking over all kinds of materials and resources. They were afraid of fighting with the Sainte family, but not afraid of open competition with other families.
After briefly explaining the situation in the City of Shadows to Han Shuo, Han Shuo remained silent in contemplation. Donna did not interrupt his thoughts, but waited patiently for Han Shuo to digest her words.
After a while, Han Shuo smiled and nodded. He said, "I would have expected the Lavers family to be the strongest in the City of Shadows!"
"We have worked hard to achieve that. But unfortunately, my Lavers Family is very young in development, far behind the Sainte Family, who have tens of thousands of years of history. Those old families would usually have a few latest Highgods in their family. These families can be considered as the first rate. My Lavers family is second-rate at best! Donna explained with a smile, mocking herself. Afterwards, she smiled at Han Shuo and asked, "Do you feel disappointed after hearing my report?"
"Disappointed about?" Han Shuo was confused.
"Disappointed that my family isn't the most powerful influence and therefore might limit your growth in the future," Donna smiled.
"Well, that has nothing to do with me," Han Shuo shrugged and continued with a smile, "I have no plans to work for your family. In fact, I have no intention of becoming a divine guard under any family on Elysium for the time being. There's really nothing for me to be disappointed about."
"Bryan, I think I should explain something about Elysium," Donna smiled faintly and continued, "If you want to gain a foothold on this plane of gods, unless you are a high god of mighty strength, you have to align yourself with a powerful family. When it comes to the Dominion of Darkness, Death, and Destruction, the most powerful organisation here is none other than the Church of Calamity. Apart from the three transcendent Overgods, all the Cardinals of the Calamity Church are patriarchs of these ancient families. Even the core members of the Church are occupied by the elites of these families. It is virtually impossible for those without connections and ties to enter the inner circles of the Church. You will find that if you do not belong to a family, especially as you have only recently arrived on Elysium, doing things will be quite intrusive".
After listening to Donna's explanation, Han Shuo forced a smile and nodded. He replied, "I understand. But right now, I really have no desire to get involved in any ventures. Right now, I just want to learn more about Elysium and travel around to improve my strength."
"Never mind, let's not talk about it for now. You just arrived in the City of Shadows today. I will take you to wander around. If you ever change your mind later, our Lavers family will welcome you with open arms!" Donna did not force Han Shuo to agree to join her Lavers Family right away.
"Sure, I really want to get to know the City of Shadows," Han Shuo said as he stood up smiling.
"Come, I will show you around my house first. Just live here for now. You can leave for a new home when you find a better opportunity," Donna stood up and led Han Shuo to the highest level of the building. She then began to point at the towering structures, describing each one, right down to the gymnasiums, smelting rooms and living quarters of some of the special characters. Han Shuo only needed to listen once to memorise all the information with his most amazing Consciousness.
"Sis, who's that you're with?" a deep and resounding voice suddenly came from the top floor of a building opposite them. In response, a majestic figure entered Han Shuo's line of sight. The man had similar facial features to Donna and looked like someone in his thirties. However, after learning about the lifespan of these godly beings on Elysium, Han Shuo knew that this man was much, much older. This man was cultivating in the Energy of Destruction, and possessed around the Late-stage of Midgod strength.
"Elder brother, this is a friend of mine. I mentioned him to you last time, his name is Bryan. He is from a material plane called the Profound Continent," Donna introduced Han Shuo to the person she called Elder Brother from several hundred metres away.
"I see. We will be leaving for the Space Dominion soon, make sure you have made the proper preparations," Donna's elder brother replied indifferently, returning to his room on the top floor without giving Han Shuo a second look.
"He's my older brother, Diwei. It's just his natural temperament - he doesn't like to talk to people. Please don't take offence!"
Donna explained to Han Shuo. Han Shuo smiled and said nothing. From the early performance of Bolten and Li Wei when they first arrived on the Profound Continent, Han Shuo knew that the inhabitants of Elysium had a natural tendency to feel superior to those living on other material planes. It was within his expectations that Diwen would react so indifferently.
In fact, Han Shuo would have felt strange if Diwei had reacted with enthusiasm, knowing that he was from a lower material plane. "Come, I'll take you out now to roam the streets. I can't remember the last time I saw you use powerful divine weapons. Since you gave me the honour of being your very first host on Elysium, I will reward you with a decent divine weapon!" Donna declared righteously and began to drag Han Shuo outside.
The Laver house was a large complex of buildings and naturally had more exits than just the front door. Donna used a side door to lead Han Shuo away from the compound and towards the busiest streets. Han Shuo was dazzled by the variety of goods sold by these shops.
"Actually, I don't need any divine weapons. In fact, I have so many that I need to get rid of some!" Han Shuo said to Donna with a smile as they walked along a street lined with shops.
"What?" Donna stared blankly for a moment before giggling, "When we left the Profound Continent, we only left you a dozen or so purple crystal coins. That was enough for you to find me, but to buy proper divine weapons, that amount is nowhere near enough. Divine weapons sold at that price are no good. You must have been cheated."
"Well, take a look at these. Are they any good?" Han Shuo handed Donna a space ring.
It contained the divine weapons and divine devices he had collected in the Void, items he had plundered from the bodies of Emperor, Eriksson and those who had perished in the Godhunter's Valley. He had kept his priceless divine essences and some potentially useful divine weapons in another space ring.
Since Han Shuo had removed the seal on the space ring, Donna knew what was inside as soon as she came into contact with the space ring.
Donna stared at Han Shuo in amazement. After scanning every single item in the space ring, she forced a smile and remarked, "I think I should sell these divine weapons for you instead of getting you one. Bryan, I really cannot understand how in the world you got your hands on these things. I did not realise that you were actually quite wealthy!"