The Eight Desolation and Torment Formations was originally operated by Han Shuo himself. After that, the task was taken over by the Cauldron Spirit, freeing Han Shuo from all work.
The divine guards cried and screamed like babies as they were ruthlessly drilled in the Chamber of Torture. But with time, they learned to work better with their teammates. Round after round, they were pushed to the brink of death, learning to use their courage to avert danger.
Whenever they felt that their coordination and rapport had grown and the danger had been defused, they would discover how wrong they were. The Cauldron Spirit continued to increase the power of the formation, pushing the Divine Guardians beyond their limits.
Later, when Bollands, Sanguis, and Gilbert saw that the power of the Formation had been greatly increased, they asked Han Shuo for permission to enter the Formation to temper themselves. Naturally, Han Shuo agreed. He also asked the Cauldron Spirit to set up a special area in the Formation for the three of them.
Time passed quickly. A month had passed.
Even though the Eight Formation of Desolation and Torment was fully operated by Cauldron Spirit, Han Shuo did not leave the place. Through the connection he had with Cauldron Spirit, Han Shuo watched as his divine guards within the formation rapidly improved.
In order to allow the divine guards to progress even faster, after some discussion with Cauldron Spirit, Han Shuo decided to teach them some basic demonic combat formations. The formations were easy to learn and master. Essentially, they were methods and techniques that would allow three to seven people to fight most effectively as a team.
Following Han Shuo's instructions, Cauldron Spirit transformed a demon general into Han Shuo's figure and used it to explain the principles of demonic combat formations to the divine guards inside the formation. The combat formations were based on the humans themselves, so they were easy to understand. After a few rounds of lectures, most of the divine guards understood the principles.
Cauldron Spirit continued to drill the diving guards with the Eight Desolation and Torment Formations. When they used the demonic battle formation they had learned, they immediately noticed how effective they were at neutralising threats as a team. Their enthusiasm soared. They began to put more effort into mastering the unique combat formation.
The Divine Guards unknowingly made progress within the formation. Under constant, immense pressure, some of them even managed to break through to a new realm. This raised the spirits of all the Divine Guards. They poured all their energy into the Formation.
Another month passed. One day, a messenger sent by Candide arrived in the valley to inform Han Shuo that Erebus and Aobashi had come to meet him at Lasberg Fortress.
Han Shuo did not want anyone to know about the installation in the valley. Candide, knowing Han Shuo's intention, told Erebus and Aobashi nothing about the valley. After all, Erebus and Aobashi would be Han Shuo's rivals in the upcoming competition. Besides, Han Shuo wanted it to be a big surprise on the day of the competition.
Han Shuo was confident that with Cauldron Spirit operating the formation, there would be no problems in the valley. Therefore, as soon as he received the news, he left the valley and returned to Lasberg Fortress.
After receiving the large amount of energy crystals from Han Shuo, Candide renovated the Han residence in Fort Lasberg. Han Shuo saw energy towers and boundary towers covering every corner when he entered the tallest building in Fort Lasberg.
Erebus and Aobashi, who had been waiting in the reception hall, stood up as soon as they saw Han Shuo and congratulated Han Shuo on becoming the new head of the Fifth Corps.
Currently, Han Shuo's status was just as respected as Erebus' and Aobashi's. As the heads of the Divine Guards in the City of Shadows, the three of them interacted with each other as people of the same social class.
Naturally, given the friendly relationship between the three, they would dispense with most of the formalities. The two of them were very happy that Han Shuo had managed to secure the position. They would much rather work with Han Shuo than with someone they didn't like.
"What can I help you with?" Han Shuo asked smiling, "Oh, right, the matter of the energy crystal deposit has been resolved? Did the city lords of Hushveil City and Darksoul City give you any trouble?"
"Don't mention it. The two city lords were furious when they heard about the death of their chiefs. Not only Aobashi and I, but even the City Lord was harassed by them," Erebus shook his head, sighed, and grimaced, "Such a big mess is not easy to solve. Over the past few days, the City Lord has been calling out to us, urging us to solve this problem as soon as possible. The Battle of the Seven Corps is just around the corner. We are so damn busy!"
"If you two are so busy, then how come you have time to visit me?" asked Han Shuo, puzzled.
"For the Energy Crystal Mountain, of course!" Aobashi glared at Han Shuo and said, "You rascal left a mess and just walked away. Do you know how sick and tired we are of cleaning up your mess?"
"Hehe, the hardest work should be left to the most capable person!" said Han Shuo with a forced smile. Then he put on a serious face and asked, "Those energy crystals in the mountain are worth at least ten million Black Crystal Coins. How does the city lord intend to divide them?"
"The City Lord's original intention was to keep all the mined crystal coins for himself. However, the other two city lords were incredibly angry about the death of the Divine Guard Chiefs, so they were unwilling to give in. Our city lord had no choice but to compromise. The three cities will share all the energy crystals in the mountain equally. Of our city's share, half will go to your House of Han and the other half to the House of Sainte," said Aobashi.
"Doesn't that mean that more than half of the money will go to Hushveil and Darksoul Cities?" said Han Shuo with regret. "We had worked so hard to bring down the mountain, but in the end, we have to give away a large portion of the money just like that. Sigh."
"No one told you to kill two of their chiefs," Aobashi remarked. She looked at Han Shuo with glistening eyes, as if she wanted to see his reaction clearly.
"They killed each other, it has nothing to do with me!" said Han Shuo as he shrugged his shoulders. "Don't slander a good man!"
"Hehe!" Aobashi giggled. She replied with a faint smile, "Well, apart from informing you about the energy crystal mountain, we bring you some important information!"
"Oh? What is it?" asked Han Shuo.
"I received a message from Chief Ralph of the Second Corps that Avery is currently in Hushveil City. He seems to be in contact with Hassling, the owner of the Godswamp Pharmacy. Either Avery or Hassling is your enemy. Now that they have joined forces, they will come after you sooner or later. Ralph said they seemed to be plotting against you right now. You must be careful!" Aobashi's expression became solemn. She continued, "Compared to Avery, the owner of Godswamp Pharmacy will be harder to deal with. Although Godswamp Pharmacy isn't as powerful as a large family clan, their stores reach every region of the Darkness Dominion. They may even be more resourceful in gathering information than a large family clan. Now that they're actively plotting against you, you really need to be careful!"
"So it turns out that Avery has joined forces with Hassling. No wonder!" Han Shuo said in a deep voice as he nodded.
Han Shuo wasn't too worried about the threat. Hassling and Avery were both enemies of the City of Shadows. They no longer had much influence in the city. As long as Han Shuo didn't take a single step outside the city, there wasn't much they could do to him.
Besides, even if the two came to the city for Han Shuo, he could use the Avici Godslaying Sword Formation against them.
"Besides, the official documents have been issued. Fort Lasberg is officially your House of Han. Make sure you put some effort into the fort. It will be essential for your family clan later on," Aobashi reminded her.
"Don't worry, I know what to do," Han Shuo said smiling.
"That's all we have to say... Oh, I almost forgot - your Fifth Corps won't be participating in the Seven Corps Centennial Competition, right?"
"What? We are going to participate! How could we not!" Han Shuo said smiling, "Every corps will be there. There's no reason for us to be absent!"
Aobashi looked at Han Shuo with doubtful eyes, giggled and said teasingly, "Bryan, I have heard a thing or two about the situation of your Fifth Corps. Do you have enough men to form a company? Besides, given the quality of those divine guards you have recently recruited, it's clear that your Corps will rank in the very bottom of the list!"
"It's alright, just focus on the participation part," Erebus patted on Han Shuo's shoulder laughingly and said, "But don't feel too upset about the results. It's only recently that your Fifth Corps has been reestablished. It's quite normal if you don't get a good ranking. When your Corps is up against our First and Third Corps, we will try to make sure that you won't lose in an embarrassing manner!"
"Although there's no way that we would throw a game, given how close we are, we will try to save you some face!" giggled Aobashi in a lovable voice. The two seemed certain that Han Shuo's Fifth Corps that was recently reestablished will lose badly in the competition.
Hehe, don't be so sure! Who knew if you would end up losing instead! sneered Han Shuo in his mind. His face, however, wore the same big cordial smile. "Well then, I shall thank you both in advance!"
Aobashi and Erebus did not drag the conversation any longer and said their goodbyes. Han Shuo knew that the two were very busy with work and therefore did not urge them to stay.
"Avery, Hassling, if you dare step into this City, I don't mind getting rid of the two of you!" Han Shuo mumbled to himself after Aobashi and Erebus left.
Han Shuo first thought was to return to the valley and drill the divine guards. But when he recalled that Cauldron Spirit was there looking after them, there was no rush for him to return. Therefore, he spent time with Candide and others discussing matters about Fort Lasberg.
During a discussion of the territory of Fort Lasberg, by chance, Han Shuo noticed the name 'Demon Mountain'. The mountain was located between Fort Lasberg and Skyorchid Fort. It was under the influence of the City of Shadows. When Han Shuo first arrived in Elysium, he and Akley got their first pot of gold from Demon Mountain.
Inside Demon Mountain, Han Shuo encountered Spider Goddess Rose - the evil goddess who had a conflict with Han Shuo on the Profound Continent. A series of flashbacks came to mind - he remembered when Rose had nearly killed Han Shuo through Adele, when he discovered that Rose had spread her religion in his Brettel City through Adele, and when he spoke to Rose at the altar...
After a moment's thought, Han Shuo felt that he should take a trip to Demon Mountain.
Even if Han Shuo did not have access to the Cauldron Spirit's energy, he could still use the Avici Godslaying Sword Formation to fight a Mid-stage Highgod. Based on what he felt back then, Han Shuo guessed that Rose had Mid-stage Highgod strength. Since Han Shuo was confident that he could handle the situation and that Cauldron Spirit needed to drill those divine guards, he decided to go to the mountain alone without Cauldron Spirit.
Demon Mountain appeared to be a malevolent demon that stood taller than the clouds. Han Shuo expanded his consciousness as soon as he arrived. He immediately discovered that there was a powerful life force at the centre of the mountain. It was indeed the Spider Goddess Rose.
Elysium was a material plane with many races. The non-human races could cultivate the Twelve Basic Powers just as humans could. They also served the Twelve Overgods and had the right to live in different Divine Dominions. There wasn't much difference between them and the average human.
Some of the City Lords of Elysium were of non-human races. According to legend, some of the Twelve Overgods were of non-human races. Racism was basically non-existent on Elysium. Some of the non-human races had different ways of life to humans. Some don't like to live in dense populations. The Spider Goddess Rose was one - she preferred to live alone in the remote mountain, unwilling to live in the city in her human form.
If someone as powerful as Spider Goddess Rose went to the city, all four major family clans would surely scramble to hire her.
Han Shuo felt no fear when he sensed Rose's powerful aura. He entered the mountain carefree. This time, Spider Goddess Rose was not in a deep sleep. Han Shuo was discovered as soon as he set foot on Demon Mountain.
"This is my territory. Please leave!" Spider Goddess Rose's voice sounded from the centre of the mountain.
Normally, a non-human figure with the power of Rose would seek permission from the City Lord before settling in the City of Shadows. This meant that City Lord Wallace had to be aware of her existence. In exchange for being allowed to live in the mountain, Rose would have to abide by the rules of the city and not kill the nearby gods as she pleased.
If Han Shuo and Akley hadn't stolen Rose's divine essences, Rose wouldn't have tried to kill them in anger.
"Do you remember me, Rose?" Han Shuo walked into Demon Mountain with a smile. His consciousness began to transform, changing to the soul signature he had when he was still on the Profound Continent!