In the northwest ocean of Venomfang Mountain, Han Hao lay quietly on the seabed.
For the past two years, Han Hao and his group of Godhunters had been very active throughout the Fringe. Having consumed the divine energies of several Highgods, he had finally reached the mid-range Highgod realm in his cultivation of Death Energy. At the same time, he had also made great progress in his cultivation of the demonic arts.
Since Han Hao was not an ordinary human being, it was difficult to determine the exact realm of demonic arts he was in. Just like Dark Dragon Gilbert, the divine energy in his body had demonic properties. But unlike Gilbert, he had a greater and more complete understanding of the demonic arts. With his great intelligence, Han Hao was able to forge his own unique cultivation path.
A few days earlier, by fighting this disciple of Salas, Han Hao had gained a rough idea of his true strength. He knew that even if he were pitted against a Late-stage Highgod, with his death energy and demonic energy, he would surely emerge victorious.
Han Hao did not collect the Death Element to cultivate. Instead, he completely emptied his mind and sank into a state of ultimate tranquillity.
Inside his body, the mixture of Divine Death Energy and Demonic Yuan Energy slowly circulated. Han Hao found that when he was completely relaxed, his cultivation counterintuitively accelerated.
After lying under the sea for five days, Han Hao had lost track of time. His mind was lost in his own thoughts...
The fish, shrimp, and other strange creatures that lived under the sea swam past him as if he weren't there; as if he had merged and become one with the bottom of the sea.
Then, one day, Han Hao's soul was startled and he was awakened from his deep meditation. He looked around with his glowing eyes. He furrowed his brow, opened his soul and began to carefully sense the changes in the environment.
For some reason, every living thing under the sea was trying to leave the area. They became extremely frightened and seemed to be running away from something.
A bizarre energy fluctuation came from the surface of the ocean and penetrated deep into the ocean. They were like thousands upon thousands of invisible tentacles, spreading out over vast areas, feeling, searching for something. The lower life forms in the sea did not know what it was, but they instinctively felt threatened and tried to leave the area. Han Hao's soul, whose sensitivity had been heightened by his cultivation of the demonic arts, sensed the tiny amount of the element of lightning in the formless and shapeless wave.
Han Hao took no time to come to his senses. Several demon generals flew out of the seven bone spurs on his back, slowly spreading out in all directions. Then he grabbed his bone spear, hiding his entire aura, and began shooting across the ocean floor.
Above the ocean, Salas, standing tall and proud, suddenly smiled and said to himself: "There you are!
But as Salas was about to strike, he suddenly discovered that his divine soul was losing track of his enemy. Even the strands of soul energy he had injected into the ocean were rapidly losing their grip.
Salas let out a cold groan. His majestic figure suddenly shot to the bottom of the ocean, and he began to pursue his target, which his senses were rapidly losing track of.
The depth of the sea had no effect on Salas' speed. He shot across the seabed like a rocket.
The sense of danger followed Han Hao relentlessly. Knowing the identity of the pursuer, Han Hao activated the unique divine energy in his body and ran with all his might.
Beneath the sea, one fled for his life, the other chased him relentlessly...
Half a day later, Han Hao flew out of the sea and came to a mountain range surrounded by lush forests. Instead of running, he stood under a huge tree with the bone spear in his hand. It was as if he was waiting for something.
A few minutes later, terrifying bolts of lightning appeared out of nowhere before gradually transforming into the massive figure of Salas. His cold, bright eyes stared down at the motionless Han Hao as he shouted, "Youth breeds heroism, yes. But it also breeds recklessness! It turns out that the person who killed Ansike is you! Han Hao, you have become more and more unruly in the Fringe over the past two years. How dare you touch my men!"
Han Hao did not answer. His head was slightly bowed, his hand gripping the bone spear tightly.
"Han Hao, I'm going to give you a choice. As long as you are willing to serve me, I will spare you from death," Salas shouted coldly. Han Hao had made a lot of news in the fringe. Some of it found its way to Salas' ears. Han Hao had proven himself to be a formidable expert by killing Ansike, who possessed Late-stage Highgod strength. Han Hao was exactly the kind of talent Salas had been looking for, so he made Han Hao the offer.
With an emotionless face, Han Hao raised his head and looked at Salas. In an equally emotionless voice, he said, "Piss off, bitch.
Except for Han Shuo, the person who created him, Han Hao would serve no one. Even in the Godhunter Alliance, Han Hao would do as he pleased and would not accept the binding of another being!
"What a shame," Salas sighed softly. An enormous ball of lightning suddenly struck above Han Hao.
The dazzling ball of lightning was the size of a hill. Filaments and sparks could be seen meandering across its surface. As it descended towards Han Hao, thousands upon thousands of thunderbolts spread out from the ball, forming a huge web of electricity. Han Hao was completely enveloped.
Although Salas did not possess the Quintessence, he was still nonetheless an Overgod. With a flick of his finger, he gathered all the elements of lightning within a radius of several hundred miles into his ball of lightning. The web of electricity carried an astonishing amount of joules. All living creatures nearby were charred by its energy.
The electric net was dense and vast, and had completely trapped Han Hao. Even the laws of space-time were distorted by Sala's mighty electric power. A space scroll would be useless. As soon as the giant net connected to the ground, the gigantic lightning ball began to crash down on Han Hao. It seemed like this would be the end of him.
The terrifying thunderbolt landed and a world-shaking explosion was heard. All the trees, rocks and even the sand were reduced to dust. A mountain was flattened by the overwhelming force.
Salas had made only one attack. After throwing his lightning ball, he just stood there, doing absolutely nothing, waiting for Han Hao to die. However, when the dust had settled, his face jerked and he began to look around with his eyes sparking with electricity. He discovered that Han Hao had disappeared without leaving a trace.
It should have been impossible for a Highgod to escape his attack, not even one who cultivated in the Edict of Space. Salas thought that Han Hao would be dead. He was shocked to discover that Han Hao had inexplicably vanished into thin air.
Salas' face turned dark. His divine soul gathered the element of lightning and began to expand outwards, trying to locate Han Hao. But for some reason, Salas could no longer sense Han Hao's soul. This would only be possible if Han Hao was extremely far away from him or under the protection of a very powerful barrier.
But unbeknownst to Salas, Han Hao was not under a barrier and was only a thousand miles away from him. The reason Salas could not sense his position was because Han Hao had mastered the method of transforming his soul.
Han Hao realised that Salas must have learned his soul signature somehow, since he had noticed that Salas always managed to find him. After thinking for a moment, Han Hao became certain that Salas must have left something in Ansike's divine soul that allowed Salas to sense his soul signature after killing Ansike.
The only possible way for Han Hao to escape Salas' pursuit was to change his soul signature. His soul had to change fundamentally, otherwise Salas would always find him wherever he hid.
This was an impossible task for the gods of this universe. The signature of a divine soul was unchangeable, unless they made a breakthrough in their cultivation that would change the signature slightly. It was impossible for them to actively alter their soul signature using any method or energy. Salas was aware of this fact, which is why he had left a unique trace in Ansike that would allow him to sense the soul signature of Ansike's murderer.
It might have been an impossible task for most people, but Han Hao was a unique life form and a cultivator of the demonic arts. In the Demonic Arts, there was a special technique for changing one's soul. Han Hao had begun to learn and understand its theory and was rapidly practising it while being pursued by Salas.
Finally, when Salas' lightning ball came crashing down, Han Hao successfully learned the technique and his soul signature changed! However, Han Hao knew that even though he had successfully changed his soul signature, he was still no match for Salas. Therefore, he had decisively activated Demonic Blood Disassembly and escaped.
In a cave a thousand miles away, Han Hao sat motionless. His body was drenched in blood.
After changing his soul signature, Han Hao no longer felt like he was being followed by invisible eyes. However, his body was severely injured after he had activated the Demonic Blood Disassembly. Apart from his jade-white skeleton, which was completely intact, his skin, flesh and meridians were all shattered. He had also used up most of his divine energy.
Han Hao was wearing a calm face at this moment, as if he was completely numb to any pain. He was slowly redirecting the divine energy in his body to circulate and repair his shattered flesh. This body of his, created using a unique method, possessed a healing power just as miraculous as Han Shuo's demonic body. By now, blood had stopped flowing from his wounds. His veins and meridians were also reconnected under the effect of his divine energy...
The recovery process took Han Hao half a month, much longer than it would have taken Han Shuo. After regaining his ability to move, he took out several medicinal pills that Han Shuo had specially refined for him, swallowed them, and spent some time recuperating. He then left the cave and began to hunt down other gods, consuming their divine energy to replenish the energy used to activate the Demonic Blood Disassembly.
While Han Hao regained his strength by hunting others, Han Shuo, having failed to locate the former, arrived at Empyrean Peak alone.
He paused at the foot of the mountain, lifting his head to stare at the looming peak with an unwavering expression.