Unlike Han Shuo, Hofs doesn't have two avatars. He also had no access to Cauldron Spirit's energy. He could not simultaneously put his attention on maintaining both his black hole and his Domain of Divinity. Gradually, Hofs' Domain of Divinity was forced to shrink to a small size. The element of darkness found in the environment no longer gushes into his domain.
The feeling of regret suddenly rose in Hofs' heart. He started to feel that separating from his party and challenging Han Shuo all by himself was a big mistake.
Unfortunately for Hofs, no amount of regret could help him turn the situation around. All he could do was to persevere and resist Han Shuo's attack for as long as he can.
Gradually, Hofs felt more and more exhausted. After the element of darkness in the environment stopped flowing into his Domain of Divinity, he could no longer replenish his darkness divine energy on the fly. With Han Shuo's miraculous Domain of Divinity and seventeen flying swords exerting greater and greater pressure, Hofs was forced to burn through his darkness divine energy reserves faster and faster.
How I wish those fellas would ignore my orders and come to my aid! thought Hofs. Perhaps luck was on his side that day. At that moment, the experts of Hushveil CIty were indeed rushing to the region, as if they had heard the cry coming from Hofs' mind.
Hofs, who was completely preoccupied with dealing with Han Shuo's terrifying attacks, naturally had no idea about the situation around him. Han Shuo, on the other hand, was fully aware of all the activity around him through the uninterrupted vision of his demon generals. Those approaching were experts from several of Hushveil City's major family clans. They had probably heard the sounds of Han Shuo and Hof's fierce battle.
Knowing how formidable Han Shuo was, these experts came with large groups of divine guards from their family clans. They approached the region in a U-shaped formation. It was clear that they intended to surround and trap Han Shuo.
Rose was oblivious to the situation in the distance. She was still waiting for Han Shuo nearby as Han Shuo had instructed. Although Rose would have no trouble holding off and killing a few of the divine Midgod guards, she would have no chance once the Highgods arrived. Han Shuo knew that he had to end the battle with Hofs as soon as possible, or else Rose might be the first to go.
Although it was clear that Hofs was on the back foot, since Hofs possessed late-stage Highgod strength, and their strength difference wasn't too great, Han Shuo wasn't able to take Hofs' life in a short time.
Han Shuo quickly turned over in his mind to find a method to slaughter Hofs immediately. Suddenly, in his consciousness, Han Shuo instructed the Cauldron Spirit, "Lend me more power. I want to use the second form of the Avici Godslaying Sword Formation - the Deicide Slash".
"No!" The Cauldron Spirit seemed quite horrified. He hastily explained to Han Shuo, "The Deicide Slash requires more energy to activate. Even if I could provide you with that amount of energy, your body will definitely not be able to withstand that amount of energy. You will most likely injure your demon infant if you use Deicide Slash!"
"I am well aware of that. Just give me more energy. I will stop Deicide Slash as soon as the demon infant reaches its limit. Hurry up! There's no time!" Han Shuo said hurriedly.
Since Han Shuo was Cauldron Spirit's master, Cauldron Spirit had to obey his command. Although Cauldron Spirit disagreed with the decision, he had no choice but to fill Han Shuo's body with even more energy.
In an instant, Han Shuo's eyes turned blood red. The veins on his face and neck burst open. His skin and flesh swelled and began to crack. It was as if Han Shuo was going to burst at any moment.
Five times the amount of energy that was already in Han Shuo's body poured out of the Cauldron. The pain that struck every cell from his head to his toes increased fivefold. It was close to the limit of Han Shuo's pain tolerance. Gritting his teeth as blood slowly flowed from his mouth, Han Shuo suddenly raised his head and let out a thunderous roar like a wild beast. The deafening roar spread far and wide.
Demonic yuan energy and general demon energy surged wildly into the seventeen flying swords. The flying swords that had formed Ceaseless Pain by rapidly spinning in unique trajectories suddenly erupted with dark radiance. It was as if seventeen huge and enraged dragons had grown out of the flying swords. The dark radiances associated with the flying swords shot towards Hofs from seventeen different directions.
One by one, the unholy dark radiances struck the centre of the seventeen flying swords. The dark radiances would fuse and merge. Each time they merged, the killing intent emanating from the seventeen flying swords became more intense. When the seventeen dark radiances from the flying swords merged into a huge column, the seventeen flying swords finally shot towards the black hole from all directions.
A terrifying amount of killing intent spread out from the area. After that, an aura of utter power and annihilation erupted. The seventeen flying swords seemed to have merged into one. The thick column of dark radiance rammed into the black hole. An earth-shattering explosion rang out.
The explosion was followed by a pitiful scream from Hofs.
The aura of darkness on the black hole had been completely destroyed by the Deicide Slash. It had only neutralised a small fraction of the power of the seventeen flying swords. The seventeen flying swords continued to charge forward with unstoppable power. It pushed Hofs and the dark spear in his hand deep into the ground. The dark spear shattered, along with Hofs' right arm that held the weapon.
Hofs' right arm was torn apart and he was buried deep underground. The dark spear, made of some kind of wonderful material, unexpectedly unleashed a powerful boundary of darkness after exploding into dark metallic pieces. The boundary managed to stop the rest of Deicide Slash's energy, which would otherwise have ended Hof's life.
The demon general's energy left Han Shuo's body and quickly returned to the Cauldron. Han Shuo spat out a mouthful of blood. He immediately realised that he had just injured his demonic infant by using the Deicide Slash. The Cauldron Spirit took the initiative to drain the Demon General Energy from Han Shuo instead of waiting for Han Shuo to do so, knowing that Han Shuo's demonic infant was injured.
The Boundary of Darkness shattered after blocking the Deicide Slash. Hof's injuries were much more severe than Han Shuo's. Han Shuo had no doubt that if he borrowed the Cauldron Spirit's energy once more, he could end Hofs' life on the spot.
However, his body had just endured an excessive amount of energy. His meridians and cells had been stretched beyond their limits and could not withstand any more of Cauldron Spirit's energy before they fully recovered. More importantly, the experts from Hushveil City were arriving in the region. Han Shuo knew that if he didn't leave immediately, he would not only be unable to kill Hofs, but he might also lose his life.
Han Shuo's demonic body was severely injured after he had violently used the Deicide Slash. Even his demonic infant, the essence of his demonic art cultivation, was slightly injured. If Han Shuo were to use the Demonic Blood Disassembly at this time, his condition would surely get much worse. He might need at least a hundred years to recover from this kind of injury.
Therefore, for lack of a better option, Han Shuo resolutely gave up on attacking Hofs, turned on his heels, and flew towards Rose!
The enormous disturbance caused by their duel had shocked everyone nearby. As the terrifying aura of the Deicide Slash spread out from the area, Rose could not help but move closer to the fight. She was curious and wanted to see what was really happening.
But Han Shuo had returned to her before she reached the area. Since Han Shuo could not use the energy of the Cauldron Spirit to increase his strength, he could only fly at the same speed as Rose. Therefore, he did not pull Rose with him. Rose was worried when she saw blood coming out of Han Shuo's mouth again. However, she did not say a word at that moment, instead concentrating on escaping with Han Shuo.
Soon after the two of them left, numerous experts from Hushveil City arrived from all directions. The earth-shaking explosion and Han Shuo's wild beast roar caught their attention. Apart from being alarmed, they were also extremely curious.
When they finally reached the area, they discovered a scene of devastation. The forest was in ruins. At its centre was a huge crater, still filled with dust and flying rocks. The intense killing intent had not fully dissipated and was still raging in the centre of the crater.
A scream rang out. Rocks and dirt were sent flying. Hofs clawed his way to the surface, revealing his filthy face. He was panting as he looked around.
"Patriarch, your right arm!" an expert from the House of Hofley couldn't help but cry out in shock.
Hofley's right arm had been shattered along with his dark spear. Since Hofley did not have the insane rejuvenation ability of Han Shuo, he was destined to lose his right arm forever. Without his right arm, Hofley's strength would be greatly affected. The next time he met Han Shuo, he would be even worse off.
The experts of the House of Hofley were astonished and frightened to see that Hofs had lost his right arm. The patriarchs of the other great family clans of Hushveil City furrowed their brows. In their minds, they had considered the boy who had disappeared to be a most formidable character. Inwardly, they decided that they had to avoid this deadly killer at all costs, even if it meant disobeying Hofs' order.
Hofs was the City Lord of Hushveil City and possessed Late-stage Highgod strength. He was the strongest expert in Hushveil City. If he lost his right arm to the boy, who else could defeat him in a duel?
Although the three patriarchs were afraid of Han Shuo, they were also secretly excited. They knew that the Hofley House was able to maintain its position as the top family clan in Hushveil City largely because of Hofs' brave strength.
But now that Hofs had lost an arm, his strength would be greatly reduced. As a result, his Hofley family's influence over Hushveil City would also be diminished. The House of Hofley's loss was their gain.
"City Lord, what shall we do?" Although pleased, Westin wore a solemn and sad face as he said, "City Lord, the treatment of your arm is the most urgent matter. Your lordship should return to rest and treat your injuries. Leave the rest to us three family clans. We will do our best and find the murderers!"
These experts had searched everywhere for ages, but they couldn't even find a trace of Han Shuo. On top of that, he had lost more than a hundred divine guards from his family clan. It was obvious that Westin was just making empty promises. Even he doubted that he could capture Han Shuo.
"I will return to the city. I'll leave the rest to you!" said Hofs with a fierce expression. He looked like a wolf that had not eaten in ages. He turned his eyes to look at the faces of the three patriarchs one by one before instructing, "You three family clans will stay in the mountain range and do everything you can to find this guy!
With these words, Hofs gathered the divine guards of his Hofley family and began the journey back to Hushveil City.
Hofs had lost an arm and suffered severe injuries to his body. It was imperative for Hofs to return to Hushveil City immediately. On the one hand, he needed to recover from his injuries as quickly as possible, and on the other hand, he needed to make certain arrangements to secure his family clan's position in the city.
"Let us go. We will return to the City of Shadows!" Han Shuo said to Rose.