***Ethereal City. Inside a luxurious villa in the southeastern region.
The wounded Highgod of Thunder finally returned to his home after many detours. Upon arrival, he retreated to his secret chamber and used Thunder Divine Essences to heal himself.
The Highgod had suffered quite a few injuries in the battle with Little Skeleton. It would take time for him to regain his full health.
The divine essences glittered and sparkled in his palm as the thunder divine energy slowly filled the damaged areas around his divine body. He could finally begin to relax.
The Thunder Highgod's mind was shrouded in fear after the battle with Han Hao. The fusion of the energy of death and the demonic arts had produced an extremely strange but evil energy. Although his strength was not inferior to Little Skeleton's, the Highgod of Thunder was completely on the back foot in a fight.
It was the few bone spurs that had taken him by surprise that had caused him the most damage. He could not avoid the bone spurs, and his divine body was pierced. This had prevented him from using his full strength for the rest of the battle.
While resting and recuperating, he suddenly felt an unusual space-time fluctuation in his villa. With a thought, a large crystal ball appeared in his hand and he used it to observe the area around his house. He saw that Baum, the City Lord, had silently arrived at a secluded spot in his house.
He held the divine essences in his hands and used the crystal ball to command, "Bring the City Lord here!
Two divine guards immediately emerged from the shadows and respectfully led Baum into the secret chamber. After the two divine guards dismissed themselves, Baum immediately knitted his brows and asked, "Leon, what actually happened?"
"This Celestial Pearl Pharmacy is really, really scary! I was busy with that woman, and then a teenager suddenly appeared. This teenager had followed me from the pharmacy to the stone forest. I couldn't get rid of him. After I fought him, I discovered that I was no match for him," the person called Leon explained with a frightened expression on his face. "If this woman and this teenager had joined forces, I would have been killed. I finally believe what you told me before - that Bryan should have similar powers to yours!
Leon had suffered a crushing defeat in his attempt to raid the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. His soldiers were all killed, and he almost suffered the same fate. It was a huge blow to him, both physically and mentally. It seemed that he might even forget about avenging his younger brother's death.
Baum groaned coldly when he heard these words. He said, "Leon, have you forgotten who killed your brother? Are you telling me that you will not avenge your brother?"
Leon forced a smile and then sighed. He replied, "I want to avenge his death. But if I persist, I'm afraid my entire family clan will join him! City Lord, the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy is too strong for me. Unless you have complete certainty, please do not drag my family clan into the mess!"
"Don't worry about it. I understand the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy much better than you do. Tonight, you at least managed to find out their true strength.
The next time we strike, it will not end like this. Rest assured, I won't come looking for you until I'm sure we can crush them," Baum comforted. After a short pause, he asked, "Tell me about this teenager - what he looked like, his strength, his energy, his temperament - I want to know everything.
"He looked about fifteen or sixteen years old. He has a rather beguilingly handsome face. He cultivates in the energy of death, but his divine energy is rather peculiar. It was not pure, but its power was very frightening! He is uncommunicative and doesn't speak at all. From the looks of him, he must have killed a lot of people by now. Oh yes, his attacks were incredibly ruthless. Every blow he struck was meant to kill. A truly frightening teenager," the fear could be seen on Leon's face as he spoke of Little Skeleton.
Baum began to share Leon's discomfort as he listened to the explanation.
But for some reason, the more he listened, the more he felt that he had heard this description of this person before. Then, suddenly, he remembered someone. His face jerked and he cried out softly, "Could it be him?"
"Who?" Leon was stunned and immediately asked, "City Lord, do you know who he is? Where's he from? In all the ages I have lived on Elysium, I have never heard of anyone possessing such terrifying strength at such a young age. Does Your Lordship know?"
"Nothing. Concentrate on healing your injuries and regaining your full health. For now, you should avoid going out as much as possible.
I will seek you out when I have a surefire plan!" With these words, before Leon could ask any more questions, Baum hurriedly left the villa. He was gone in the blink of an eye.
***
Han Shuo was very happy about the arrival of Han Hao or Little Skeleton. He had stayed with Han Hao, Han Tu, and Han Huo for several days in a row, discussing all sorts of random things. Han Shuo had also told Han Hao about his understanding and recent discoveries in the demonic arts.
Although Han Tu and Han Huo were there, for some reason, they did not understand anything about the demonic arts that Han Shuo was teaching. They also showed no interest in cultivating the demonic arts. Han Shuo thought that there was no point in forcing them to cultivate the demonic arts if they did not want to. Therefore, he spent most of his efforts on Han Hao.
. When Han Shuo began to discuss the true essence of the demon arts with Han Hao, he was shocked to discover that Little Skeleton already had a deep understanding of them. He was already very skilled in the refinement of weapons, demon generals, and related fields. He was also adept at using demonic formations and demonic weapons driven by the soul.
Han Shuo could not help but gasp in astonishment. He had not expected Little Skeleton to be able to reach such great heights in his cultivation with just the soul's memory portion, without any guidance from anyone. It was simply miraculous.
Han Shuo also discovered that Little Skeleton was astonishingly good at understanding profound demonic art concepts. He needed only a moment of thought to understand even the most complicated methods of energy manipulation. He showed no sign of being confused from start to finish, absorbing Han Shuo's knowledge of the Demon Arts like a sponge.
Half a month passed like the blink of an eye.
During that time, Han Shuo and Little Skeleton had been talking in the secret underground chamber of Celestial Pearl. Although they did not use the intimate words that a normal father and son would use in their conversation, the two of them, whose minds were linked, knew that they were closer than any other parent and child in the world. They were so close that they did not need to embellish their relationship with superfluous words.
Han Mu, Han Shui and Han Jin had not yet arrived in Ethereal City, and Han Shuo was once again worried. Through Rose, he asked the divine guards of Ethereal City to be on the lookout for anyone entering the city and to take anyone named Han Mu, Han Shui and Han Jin to Celestial Pearl Pharmacy immediately.
One day, Han Shuo started talking about Baum, the Ethereal City Mayor. He told him about McKinley's presence and the reason why he remained friendly with Baum for the time being. Little Skeleton thought in silence for a moment before he suddenly said to Han Shuo, "Father, I have an idea. I might be able to find out from Baum where the divine body is hidden!"
"What is your plan?" Han Shuo was quite surprised.
He said, "The Highgod of Thunder has managed to escape. Baum might have learned your identity from him. I don't think Baum would trust you if you went looking for him now."
"I can get other godhunter leaders to ask him. As long as the price is right, they will surely help me!" Little Skeleton wiggled his eyebrows and explained, "There are no friends or relationships in the Godhunter world. There are only profits! With enough money, they would do anything for you!"
""Crystal coins are no problem. If you think it will work, there's no harm in trying," Han Shuo said with a faint smile after thinking about it for a moment.
"Then I must take a trip outside of Ethereal City. Father, in the future, we should avoid meeting in public places. I don't have a good reputation in the other Dominions. If others find out about our relationship, it will not be good for your Celestial Pearl Pharmacy," Little Skeleton said after hesitating for a moment.
"We will talk about it in the future. Be careful out there," Han Shuo was worried about the same thing. He had learned from Little Skeleton that his Godhunter followers were notorious for their misdeeds in several other Domains. If the public found out about their relationship, it would have serious repercussions for Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. But at the moment, Han Shuo did not have a good solution for this potential problem.
"Don't worry, father. There are only a few people in the world who could stop me from escaping, and Baum is not one of them!" said Little Skeleton confidently. As a cultivator of demonic arts, Little Skeleton also knew many bizarre but miraculous escape methods. Therefore, it was not an outlandish claim.
Han Shuo nodded with a smile. Ever since he learned that Little Skeleton had the power to injure a Mid-stage Highgod expert, and that he cultivated several types of demonic arts, Han Shuo had become truly reassured about Little Skeleton's safety.
Even though Elysium was huge and housed a large number of powerful experts, Han Shuo believed that only a very small number of gods were capable of killing Little Skeleton. Therefore, when Han Shuo heard that Little Skeleton wanted to leave for a while, he readily agreed.
Five days after Little Skeleton left, Han Shuo, who had been anxiously waiting for Han Mu, Han Shui and Han Jin, finally received the news.
The news came from Myles, the local manager of Goldstone Enterprise. Myles didn't look happy when he appeared.
He informed Han Shuo that Han Jin had arrived at the Goldstone branch in Ethereal City, but he was badly injured!
Han Shuo's face immediately turned cold. Without saying a word, he left the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy with Myles and rushed to the Goldstone Store.
When Han Shuo entered the secret chamber of the Goldstone Store, he saw Han Jin, who was in poor health. Han Jin, a metal energy cultivator, looked very frail and weak at that moment. As soon as he saw Han Shuo, he forced a smile and struggled to sit up.
Han Shuo quickly stepped forward and held him before channeling his demonic yuan into Han Jin's body. "Don't speak. Your injuries are severe. We need to stabilise your condition first!" Han Shuo carefully took out a golden and shiny pellet of medicine and stuffed it into Han Jin's mouth. He chewed and swallowed the medicine.
Han Jin's face immediately started to look healthier after taking the gold-nugget like medicine and could be seen slowly improving.