The moment they stepped out of Hushveil City, the two of them were no longer in any danger, as there were countless natural hiding places in the vast mountain range that covered the entire sky without a boundary. Han Shuo was like a fish in a bowl being released into the sea. Falling into a heavy encirclement was no longer a concern.
Han Shuo and Rose stopped running. They descended into a dense forest and, with the help of Han Shuo's demon generals, found a temporary hiding place.
A fog-shrouded rock face became their temporary hiding place. Han Shuo and Rose landed on the cliff face. He exhaled softly and said smilingly, "This region is filled with thick fog. An average expert won't be able to find us. It will take an expert of Hofs' class to detect our presence. Take a rest for now. We will wait for our pursuers to catch up."
Han Shuo had managed to put their pursuers from Hushveil City far behind, and it will take them some time to reach this place. Han Shuo and Rose could use this opportunity to recover their energy.
"Um, you can let go of my hand now," Rose said quietly with her head lowered.
Han Shuo stared blankly for a moment. Only then did he realise that he was still holding Rose's hand. He let out an embarrassed laugh and immediately let go. He then sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to regain some strength.
"How are your injuries? Is it critical?" Rose asked in a soft voice after a moment of hesitation.
Han Shuo opened his eyes, turned to Rose and smiled. He replied, "I'm fine. No worries."
"Thank you for holding them back and letting me escape first," Rose said.
Han Shuo could feel that Rose's attitude had changed. Han Shuo was used to Rose being quiet, cold, and even mean in her words. He couldn't get used to Rose being so kind to him all of a sudden. After being startled for a moment, Han Shuo calmly replied, "It is not my practice to let people who work for me die. Besides, I knew I could get away from them. It's no big deal."
After finishing these words, Han Shuo closed his eyes again and put on a concentrated and busy face.
Rose, who was about to say more when she saw that Han Shuo had begun to regain his energy, decided not to interrupt him. She simply watched Han Shuo quietly from beside him. For whatever reason, Rose felt comfortable being alone with Han Shuo on that foggy cliff face. She even felt a strange sense of joy.
A faint smile appeared on Rose's lips. With a calm and contented heart, she quietly sat down next to Han Shuo and began to recover the divine energy she had used up in Hushveil City.
***
"Find her! I don't care if you have to dig three metres underground, do whatever it takes and find them!" shouted Hofs, his dark face and voice filled with pure rage and anger.
Hofs and his party had been searching for ages but had found no trace of Han Shuo and Rose. The experts from the three major family clans in the search party began to doubt that Hofs had actually hit the attacker.
Hofs claimed that he had managed to hit one of the attackers. Given that Hofs was a Late-stage Highgod, and that he had used his full strength in the attack, unless the attacker was an Overgod, there was no way that this attacker would show no signs of being affected, as even a Late-stage Highgod like Hofs would suffer serious injuries.
An injured Highgod strength would surely show signs of exhaustion after being pursued for such a long time. By now, the pursuing party should have caught up with the injured attacker and killed him.
However, the reality was quite different from their expectations. Not only weren't they able to close the distance to the attackers, but they were so far behind in the long chase that they lost track of the two attackers. This contradicted Hofs' account.
If Hofs wasn't the City Lord of Hushveil City and the patriarch of the House of Hofley, these people would have long since called Hofs out, accusing him of giving misleading information without having full knowledge of the situation, and perhaps even calling him a liar.
"City Lord, this mountain range is vast and we have lost sight of our targets. Instead of searching in one large group, I suggest we split up by family clan to cover more ground. Even though the two of them are exceptionally strong, I'm sure a whole family clan can defeat them. If they can't, they can always call for help. What do you think, my lord?" Granro patriarch suggested.
Rage must have consumed Hofs' rationality, for he felt that the suggestion was appropriate to the situation. Hofs nodded with a dark face and instructed, "Ok. We will split up by family clans and continue the search. Signal and call for help if you spot their tracks.
Westin, who had lost over two hundred elite divine guards to Han Shuo and Rose, had been waiting for those words. Immediately and without a word, Westin signalled with his eyes to the divine guards under his family clan and left the search party. Soon after, two other clans left the group and continued searching in different directions.
Thus, the four major family clans of Hushveil City, including Hofs', split into four search parties. Each party's forces would slowly become more scattered as they searched further out. The situation was similar to when the Godhunters had tried to hunt down Han Shuo.
Gradually, night was giving way to day. By the time the scorching sun reached the highest point in the sky, the four family clan search parties had become very far apart.
The glaring sunlight pierced through layers of thick fog and shone down on Han Shuo as he sat on a rock face. Suddenly, Han Shuo's eyes opened wide. He cried softly, "Someone is approaching!"
Rose who was resting and cultivating. Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times before she opened her beautiful eyes. She looked at Han Shuo for a moment before she said, "I will follow your plan.
After fighting alongside Han Shuo in Hushveil City, Rose had come to admire and fully trust Han Shuo's decision making.
"Members of the House of Simon. Hehe, this family clan is really unlucky to keep running into us," Han Shuo said with a mischievous grin. He then stood up and continued, "This time we will kill this Highgod named Anker!"
"Okay!" Rose exclaimed excitedly as she stood up. She asked, "How do we do this?"
"Follow me!" Han Shuo flew into the dense fog and slowly descended into the dense forest below. He led Rose in sneaking up to Anker while avoiding the detection of several divine guards nearby.
Han Shuo had chosen to attack Anker because he cultivated in the energy of death. His divine death energy would be useful to Han Shuo's avatar of death.
Some of Han Shuo's demon generals had been following Anker, watching his every move. Anker had shown too much desire and greed to be a Divine Guard chief in Hushveil City. Han Shuo had seen his desperation before he fled Hushveil City. That was why Anker took Han Shuo's bait and followed his false images.
After entering the mountain range, Anker seemed even more impatient and desperate. He kept telling his subordinates to spread out, to cover a larger area.
These divine guards were mediocre in strength. Even a dozen of them wouldn't be enough to resist Han Shuo and Rose for a moment. Anker had clearly shown no concern for the lives of his divine guards. Perhaps he wished that Han Shuo and Rose would slaughter his men so that he could learn their whereabouts.
Anker had repeatedly failed to witness Han Shuo and Rose commit massacres and had yet to understand the true depth of their terrifying power. At this moment, he could not wish for Han Shuo and Rose to show themselves more so that he would have a chance to become the Chief of the Divine Guard.
Perhaps the Creator was touched by his sincerity, as the figures of Han Shuo and Rose gradually appeared in the distance. They even marched towards him step by step.
Anker was overjoyed. He praised the Creator in his mind before immediately shouting, "Kill them!
These divine guards around Anker had also taken Han Shuo's bait at the Hushveil City Gate. They too had no idea how deadly Han Shuo and Rose really were. At Anker's command, the divine guards charged at Han Shuo and Rose without the slightest fear. Their hearts were filled with excitement.
Han Shuo nodded to Rose and immediately flew towards Anker. Before the excited smile could fade from Anker's face, the seventeen flying swords had flown out of Han Shuo's body and completely enveloped Anker. Han Shuo wanted to finish the job before the other divine guards of the House of Simon reached the area.
Before he could even launch an attack, Anker suddenly discovered that he seemed to have fallen into another dimension of pure evil. Dark energy, unlike anything he had ever seen or heard before, was coming at him violently from all directions. He was like a small boat at sea, caught in a violent thunderstorm, battered by violent, choppy waves. He could feel death calling to him.
It was then that Anker knew he had made a mistake, a terrible mistake!
Unfortunately for Anker, his regret came a little too late. Anker, who had only recently become a Highgod, was quickly disintegrating under the fierce corrosion of Han Shuo's seventeen flying swords. His life force was weakening as the divine energy in his body was being rapidly depleted.
Han Shuo's Avatar of Death suddenly flew out of his body towards Anker, who was at the centre of the seventeen flying swords. At the same time, his Avatar of Destruction flew towards a Midgod of Destruction who had been badly injured by Rose. The Avatar restrained the person from behind.
A moment later, the two Avatars began to drain divine energy from their victims.
At the same time, Han Shuo put his mind into a calm and serene state. He used the Demonic Blades with his main body to help Rose slaughter the divine guards. Since Han Shuo had begun to consume divine energy, not a single divine guard who witnessed his act could be allowed to live. Otherwise, if others found out, Han Shuo could end up in a terrible situation.
The moment Han Shuo's mind and consciousness entered a state of tranquillity, it seemed to somehow affect his avatars who were consuming divine energy. In an instant, the divine souls of his avatars and the consciousness of his main body formed a most harmonious connection. The three souls seemed to merge.
The Divinity of Death and Destruction Domains suddenly formed around Han Shuo's avatars. They overlapped and began to merge in a miraculous way that no one could understand.
Suddenly, a whole new type of Domain of Divinity bizarrely appeared. The Edict of Destruction raged in the Domain of Divinity, while the Element of Death poured into the Domain at ten times the normal rate. All the elements, except the element of death, suddenly disappeared from around Han Shuo.
The bizarre transformations did not stop there...