Soon enough, Han Shuo's Edict of Destruction cultivated avatar had successfully broken through to the Midgod Realm with the help of the wonderful bizarre energy.
But what made Han Shuo even more excited was that his avatar was only halfway through assimilating the bizarre energy!
The energy continued to fuse with Han Shuo's avatar even after it had become an Early-stage Midgod of Destruction. The divine energy in his body continued to rise as more and more enlightening information about the true nature of the Edict of Destruction fused with his avatar's soul.
As this happened, the shattered veins and bones in Han Shuo's main body were rapidly being rebuilt. His body would rattle and crackle as if firecrackers were being set off inside his body. If anyone else was present, they would surely be shocked and confused.
Han Shuo would normally lose track of time in such a state. A series of loud crackling sounds would shake every part of his body, causing him to involuntarily jerk and move with the crunching sound. Han Shuo looked freakish at that moment, to say the least.
"Congratulations, Master! Your body has been strengthened once again. From the looks of it, you should have mastered the second level of the Invincible Omen Body!" Cauldron Spirit's voice rang out in Han Shuo's consciousness.
Han Shuo was roused from what he felt was an eternity of deep sleep. He shook his head and turned his neck from side to side.
Gradually, there were no more crackling sounds coming from his body. Han Shuo grinned and asked, "You mean even if I don't borrow your energy, the Invincible Omen Body will automatically deploy when I'm attacked?"
"Correct. In addition, since your body has become stronger, you can now use my energy for a longer period of time!" the Cauldron Spirit explained.
"Haha, wonderful. Wonderful!" cheered Han Shuo.
Han Shuo's Avatar of Destruction was still in deep meditation within the Cauldron of the Myriad Demon . His main body had fully recovered from all the devastation and damage caused by the energy. He lifted his head and looked around. He saw that he was alone in this huge underground palace.
There were large chunks of shattered rock everywhere. They were dark purple in colour, looking as dark as coal in the dark underground. The energy towers all around had collapsed. The palace in the centre was riddled with holes after being hit by the shattered rocks. It had lost its dignified and solemn appearance.
Blightsoar and Aobashi must have checked and examined the area before leaving. There probably wouldn't be anything important or significant left behind. Han Shuo found nothing of value after circling the chamber several times. Apart from the palace and the energy towers made of stone materials, there were only scattered rock fragments on every surface.
Seeing that he couldn't find anything of value and that his injuries had completely healed, Han Shuo decided to fly up and leave the cave.
After ascending through the pitch-black vertical tunnel, Han Shuo returned to the energy crystal cave. His demon generals were still roaming the nearby caves as Han Shuo had previously instructed. The cave network was now completely empty. There were no divine guards or godhunters to be seen.
Han Shuo left the cave and continued to fly over the cold lake. The gravity above the lake had returned to normal, so Han Shuo had no problem crossing it. After landing safely on the ground, he spent a moment in contemplation, staring at the deep and dark water. Then he took out a medicine bottle and took a sample of the water.
"Huh?!" Han Shuo let out a soft cry of surprise after carefully examining the jet black sample he had collected. His eyes were filled with astonishment.
Originally, Han Shuo had assumed that a large amount of corrosive poison had been dumped into the lake to make it so corrosive. But now that he thought about it, he felt that his assumption didn't make much sense.
This lake was huge and deep. How many bottles of poison would it take to make the large volume of liquid so corrosive?
From Han Shuo's observations of the Godswamp Pharmacy, he could tell that this kind of poison was very valuable to them, as if it took a lot of effort to produce this poison. Han Shuo guessed that they would have to dissolve at least a few tonnes of poison in the lake to make it so corrosive.
However, the Godhunters wouldn't be that stupid to throw tons of such expensive poison into this lake just to create an ineffective defence?
Puzzled, Han Shuo split a strand of his consciousness to carefully examine the liquid he had collected in the medicine bottle. Han Shuo was rather wary of this immensely corrosive dark liquid that could dissolve a midgod in no time.
He discovered that while the lake water did contain some of the poison, it wasn't as concentrated or as powerful as the poison produced by Godswamp Pharmacy. After spending some time in deep thought, Han Shuo came to a startling conclusion - the poisons produced by Godswamp Pharmacy were made using the lake water!
After a moment's hesitation, Han Shuo extended his left index finger and carefully poured a single drop of the dark liquid he had collected onto his fingertip with his right hand.
Sizzle... Slight wisps of smoke immediately emanated from the tip of his index finger. Intense corrosive energy immediately entered the cells and bones of his index finger, attempting to dissolve them into liquid.
The Invincible Omen Body, sensing the terrible destructive power of the corrosive energy, automatically assembled the Demonic Yuan in Han Shuo's body. The moment his skin made contact with the liquid, layer upon layer of defensive energy shields were deployed to resist the corrosion. His Demonic Yuan was rapidly consumed.
Sizzling... The light wisps of smoke turned intense and inky black.
Under the protection of his Invincible Omen Body, the corrosive energy was neutralised, although it did consume some demonic yuan. His damaged and broken cells were quickly rebuilt. His finger was as good as new in an instant.
Such intense corrosive power! This is a hundred times more terrifying than the fiercest acid," Han Shuo thought in shock.
Those divine guards and Godhunters who fell into the lake, with the entire surface of their bodies exposed to the onslaught of the corrosive energy, it wouldn't be long before their divine energy was depleted. This was the main reason why they would be reduced to skeletons. Since Han Shuo had taken precautions, in addition to the miraculousness of his Invincible Omen Body, a single drop of the liquid couldn't harm him.
What a perfect tool for destroying bodies, Han Shuo remarked in his mind. He then took out a huge barrel-shaped medicine container and began to fill it with the lake water. He intended to do some proper research with it. The corrosive power of this water was not only perfect for destroying corpses, but if used on some vicious demonic weapons, it would greatly increase their destructive power.
Han Shuo had no qualms about using such a foul poison. After all, he had consumed the divine energy of others. If the Godswamp Pharmacy hadn't made a move against him, not only would he not bother to expose their crimes, he might even secretly purchase the evil poison from the Godswamp Pharmacy.
It had always been Han Shuo's guiding principle that he would achieve his goal by any means necessary, by hook or by crook. He happily filled several large medicine jars with the lake water. He was happy that he could obtain the poison without having to buy it from the Godswamp Pharmacy!
But what made the lake so caustic?
Han Shuo was at a loss. He knew that a lake wouldn't turn into a corrosive liquid for no reason. There must be a reason!
After a moment's hesitation, Han Shuo decided to investigate the conditions under the lake!
The water of the lake had a tremendous corrosive power. After testing its power by placing a drop on his hand, Han Shuo felt that he did not have enough Demonic Yuan to safely submerge his entire body under the liquid.
Han Shuo then threw stones, glassware and even crystal coins into the lake. He discovered that the corrosive power only affected flesh and tissue. Non-living things like glassware were only slightly affected by the corrosive power of the lake water.
Han Shuo had also tried using demon generals to probe underwater, but it seemed that the lake water could corrode demon generals as well. Although the corrosion wasn't as obvious as it was on human flesh, the demon generals were still very afraid to touch the lake water. It seemed that the corrosive power of the lake water could affect all living things!
After thinking for a while, Han Shuo pulled out the Cyano Demonblaze. With a thought, the Cyano Demonblaze was sent flying into the lake.
The Cyano Demonblaze was one of the demonic weapons that Han Shuo had refined. It had no life aura. Although it would still suffer some corrosion, it wouldn't be enough to destroy the demonic weapon.
With no demon general attached to the Cyan Demon Blaze, Han Shuo couldn't observe the condition under the lake. All he could tell was that the lake was extremely deep. After manoeuvring the Cyano Demonblaze in random directions underwater for some time, and seeing that he wasn't making much progress in learning anything about the lake, he decided to retrieve the demonic weapon from the depths of the lake.
"Master, let me do it," the voice of the Cauldron Spirit suddenly sounded in Han Shuo's mind.
Han Shuo was startled. He replied in a worried tone, "I have tested the water. The corrosive energy in the lake water seems to affect all living things. Even demon generals dare not enter. Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"As the ultimate demonic weapon, this puny corrosive power cannot harm me. Even if I had no demon generals, I wouldn't be afraid of an energy that is a hundred times more corrosive than this lake water.
"Alright then, be careful. Help me find out if there's anything special under the lake. I feel that there must be a unique reason that caused this lake water to be so corrosive. No lake would become so corrosive just like that!" Han Shuo agreed after a moment of thought.
Then, with a thought, the Cauldron of the Myriad Demon slowly flew out of Han Shuo's body and automatically went underwater.