The entire Hushveil City group led by Eugene was slaughtered by Han Shuo. Not one survived.
The air at the cave entrance was filled with the stinking smell of blood. The Cauldron Spirit circled in the air, collecting Eugene's Mid-stage Highgod soul. Not only Eugene's, but also the divine souls of the fallen divine guards were drawn by the Cauldron Spirit and sucked into the Cauldron of the Myriad Demon.
According to the Cauldron Spirit, the highest rank spirit demon must be created with a Highgod's soul. A spirit demon of this level was more powerful than any demon general, and could provide more power to the Cauldron Spirit. Since the destruction of the Exalted Demonlord, the Cauldron of Myriad Demon had not produced a single one of these highest-rank demon generals. Now that Eugene's divine soul has been captured, there will finally be a spirit demon in the Cauldron.
Eugene and his army were reduced to puddles of blood in a matter of moments. As well as watery blood, the ground was littered with the severed bodies of Bollands. It was a horrible scene.
Anito, Deco and two other divine guards from the Third Corps were overcome with shock. Their brains had been short-circuited.
"Anito, didn't you say that apart from Eugene, you encountered enemy forces from Darksoul City? What are you waiting for? Show us the way," Bollands ordered.
It was only then that Anito seemed to come to his senses. He seemed frightened and alarmed as he asked Han Shuo, "Lord Bryan, did, did you just kill Eugene?"
"Is there a problem?" Han Shuo replied calmly after putting on a bright smile.
"Lord Bryan, although there is a constant battle between the seven cities of the Darkness Dominion, the Chiefs of Divine Guards would almost always be spared. When a Chief of the Divine Guard dies, it escalates into a major issue. Eugene was one of the Divine Guard Chiefs from Hushveil City. Now that he has died here, the City Lord of Hushveil City will surely get involved," Anito replied worriedly. Although the cities had never ceased their hidden battles with each other, their Divine Guard Chiefs were highly respected and enjoyed immunity. It was extremely rare for a Divine Guardian to be killed.
Divine Guard Chiefs were the pillars of a city's strength and were highly regarded by their city lords. The death of a Divine Guard Chief would anger them and perhaps even escalate into an all-out war between two cities. Anito was frightened as he thought of the grave consequences of Eugene's death.
"Ah, it doesn't matter. I will personally justify myself to the City Lord!" Han Shuo, however, did not see it as a big deal. He said smilingly, "Let's go Anito, time to kick the asses of those from Darksoul City!"
Anito's heart trembled with fear at Han Shuo's reply. He had a flashback of the time he first met Han Shuo in the City of Shadows, of the horrible attitude he had shown towards Han Shuo. A chill ran down his spine as he thought about it. He thought, "Luckily, I ended up becoming friends with him. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't even know how I die. He hid his power so well and seemed so harmless. But when he erupts, it will be a massacre! This guy is truly a ruthless, vicious person!
"Come with me, my lord. Those from Darksoul City also have a Chief of Divine Guards. He killed two of our comrades!" Deco was much bolder than Anito and showed Han Shuo the way.
As they travelled, Deco explained to Han Shuo that those from Darksoul City had actually been the first to arrive at the mountain. They did not want anyone else to get close to the mountain. Those from Darksoul City discovered Anito's men snooping around the mountain and were killed.
After that, Eugene and his men from Hushveil City arrived at the mountain. This time, however, the two forces did not clash, seeing that their strengths were roughly equal. The forces of Darksoul City decided to compromise. They occupied some of the largest deposits and left the rest unguarded, allowing Eugene and his men to take those deposits.
This force from Darksoul City was led by a Divine Guard chief called Jirofi. He had the same power as Eugene - a Mid-stage Highgod. He cultivated the energy of destruction.
With Deco leading the way, the group soon arrived near the centre of the mountain. All around them were cave entrances. Each entrance was guarded by a few divine guards from Darksoul City.
"Lord Bryan, Jirofi of Darksoul City should be at the largest cave," Deco said to Han Shuo upon arrival as he pointed to a cave.
"Our Darksoul City has claimed these deposits. Go to other deposits - do not force us to attack!" a divine guard from Darksoul City warned as he looked coldly at Han Shuo and his party. His attitude was very arrogant.
Bolland, Sanguis, kill some of them, show them who's the boss!" Instead of wasting words, Han Shuo instructed Bollands and Sanguis to start killing.
By killing, Bollands could increase his killing intent, Sanguis could gain energy from the blood of their enemies, while Han Shuo could harvest more divine souls. Killing others would only benefit the three demonic arts cultivators. After all, it was the ones from Darksoul City who had made the first strike against the men from the Third Corps. Han Shuo saw no reason to avoid violence.
As soon as Han Shuo finished his words, Bollands and Sanguis pounced on the two divine guards of Darksoul City at a cave entrance. Sanguis drew a string of blood from his palm as he glared at the divine guards with his bloody-red eyes. As soon as their gazes met, the two divine guards felt the blood boiling in their bodies.
At that moment, Bollands arrived beside them. The slender longsword in his hand emitted a bright flash before slicing through the divine guards. Chak Chak! They were dismembered. Their bodies, now cut into pieces, fell to the ground, spurting blood in all directions.
Before the divine guards at the other cave entrances could come to their aid, the tragedy had happened.
They immediately screamed in high-pitched voices, sending distress signals to Jirofi. They had seen how terrifying Bolland and Sanguis were and noticed that Han Shuo, the leader of the duo, had not made a move. Not daring to be reckless, they were on high alert, carefully watching Sanguis and Bollands as they called for their boss.
A moment later, thirty-seven divine guards, including their chief Jirofi, rushed out of the caves. Their clothes and armour were darkly smeared. It seemed that they had been busy digging for energy crystals.
As soon as he rushed to the scene, Jirofi shouted, "What's going on?" When he saw the warm, fresh blood under his feet, his face turned dark and seemed angry. Jirofi had a plump figure. His eyes glittered with a sinister and scheming light. At that moment, his fierce gaze had turned to stare at the calm and unruffled Han Shuo standing in the centre.
"As of today, this mountain and its deposits belong to the House of Han of the City of Shadows!" Gilbert announced after bravely stepping forward. He gave Jirofi an arrogant look and continued, "Eugene was killed by my master because he was not tactful. If you do not wish to follow his path, drop everything and leave now!"
"House of Han?" Jirofi raised an eyebrow and replied coldly, "The only family clans in the City of Shadows that I know of are the House of Sainte, the House of Lavers, the House of Kinson, the House of Kisa and the House of Buller. Since when is there a House of Han?"
"Cut the crap. Leave all the energy crystals you extracted behind and get your asses out of here!" said Gilbert in a bossy and arrogant manner, "Leave now or stay here forever!"
Jirofi seemed harder to deal with than Eugene. He did not seem to be upset or affected by Gilbert's rude shouting and insults. With a smile on his chubby face, he said to Han Shuo, "You want us to retreat without even demonstrating that you have enough strength to challenge us? It doesn't work that way, boy." Jirofi had discovered that Han Shuo was the leader of his party.
Under Jirofi's provocative gaze, Han Shuo put on a faint smile and replied, "Then you won't be leaving!"
As soon as he finished those words, the seventeen flying swords appeared again. A cold wind blew and whistled as the swords shot towards the divine guards glaring at Han Shuo. Not only were the seventeen swords incredibly sharp, but they also carried a terrifying corrosive, poisonous, and chilling aura. Under Han Shuo's miraculous control, they swept across the space like a shadow, piercing the bodies of the divine guards. All those struck by the flying swords began to melt at a rapid rate, soon turning into bloody puddles.
Jirofi was greatly alarmed and intimidated by Han Shuo's vicious flying swords. Fearful light flashed from his eyes as he immediately shouted, "Stop! We will leave immediately!"
Still with a warm smile on his face, Han Shuo replied, "Sorry, you shouted too late!"
The seventeen flying swords suddenly converged on Jirofi and the Cauldron Spirit's energy flooded Han Shuo's body. Ceaseless Pain, the first form of the Avici Godslaying Sword Formation, was once again deployed. The scene from hell instantly consumed Jirofi as the pain overwhelmed every nerve in his body. Controlling the sword formation with his mind, Han Shuo pierced thousands of holes all over Jirofi's body.
Outside of Ceaseless Pain, one will only see swords flying wildly in the pitch black air. They cannot see what is happening inside the sword formation.
Suddenly, Han Shuo's body became blurred and he flew into the Ceaseless Pain. His Avatar of Destruction flew out of the Cauldron of the Myriad Demon and began to consume the divine energy left in Jirofi.
Jirofi cultivated in the energy of destruction. Most of his divine energy had been consumed by the Sword Formation. However, due to his immense strength and the fact that Han Shuo had deliberately tried not to kill him immediately by manoeuvring the flying swords with precision and accuracy, the intense corrosive power had only torn down the defences of his divine energy and not spread to his entire body.
Han Shuo rushed into sword formation to absorb the remaining divine energy in Jirofi before he died. Although only a fraction of the divine energy was left in Jirofi, as he was a Mid-stage Highgod, it was still very beneficial to Han Shuo's Avatar of Destruction.
Gradually, all of Jirofi's divine energy was consumed. With no energy left to withstand the corrosive power of the flying swords, Jirofi was liquefied. His space ring was conveniently picked up by Han Shuo.
The seventeen flying swords flew back into Han Shuo's body as the Cauldron Spirit flew out. It cheered like a child gifted with a toy as it put away Jirofi's Highgod soul. It then fluttered around, collecting the souls of those divine guards who had also been killed by Han Shuo. Some of the divine guards from Darksoul City escaped. But with Bollands, Sanguis, and Gilbert hunting them down, they will not survive for long.
Instead of personally chasing and hunting down the escaping divine guards, Han Shuo had his three apprentices do the job. Unlike Bollands, Sanguis and Gilbert were inexperienced in hunting to kill. This would be a great exercise for both of them, and the experience might prove useful in the future.
With the demon generals watching them, and with Bollands, this experienced assassin, Han Shuo believed that none of the divine guards from Darksoul City would survive.
"My, my lord, you are truly shocking!" exclaimed Deco as he looked at Han Shuo with awestruck eyes.
Anito, on the other hand, seemed quite frightened. He said dejectedly, "Lord Bryan, Jirofi of Darksoul City was also a Divine Guard Chief. Now that they have lost two Divine Guard Chiefs, the two city lords will surely go after you to punish you."
"What do their deaths have to do with me?" Han Shuo smiled mischievously and said, "Eugene and Jirofi had clearly killed each other while fighting for control of the mountain, a mutual destruction. The tragedy had already happened when we arrived. I did nothing at all!"
"Huh? Didn't you..." Anito was confused by Han Shuo's lying through his teeth. Then his face jerked. As if he had realised something, he also started to smile mischievously. He said admiringly, "Very wise, my lord!"
"As long as none of those from Hushveil and Darksoul Cities are alive, whatever we say will be the truth. It doesn't matter if the two City Lords believe us. If there's no evidence against us and we deny everything, there's not much they can do to us! Deco also wore a face of admiration. "My Lord, what about the few who escaped?"
"Don't worry about them. With Bollands, none of them will live to tell the tale!" replied Han Shuo with a smile. He hesitated for a moment before telling them, "I hope you will all keep this a secret. We must tell everyone the same story, even Lord Erebus and the City Lord. Otherwise, if it gets out, we will all be in trouble!"
Anito, Deco and the other divine guards patted their chests and promised to keep it a secret. Anito said, "Don't worry, my lord, we won't tell anyone. Hehe, but I think the City Lord would find out a thing or two, considering how wise he is."
"There's nothing we can do about that. But as long as we don't leak the story and keep it consistent, we'll be fine!" said Deco smiling. After the incident, they grew to respect and fear Han Shuo. In fact, they respected Han Shuo more than Erebus, who had led them for many years. They knew they had to cover their asses since they had been personally involved in the matter.
"Find and collect their space rings, carefully. They must have extracted a ton of energy crystals by now. The crystals are ours, make sure you don't miss any," Han Shuo instructed.
The gods they had killed had all melted into blood and seeped into the ground, leaving only their metallic divine weapons and space rings. As long as they were careful, their flesh would not be corroded. As for the gods killed by Bolland and Sangui, even though their bodies were in a bloody state, it wouldn't corrode. Therefore, Han Shuo was satisfied with their safety.
While Anito and the other divine guards searched and collected the spoils of war for Han Shuo, Bollands returned. He bowed to Han Shuo and said, "Senior, all settled!"
Han Shuo nodded with a smile. He was very pleased with the end result of this journey.