Deployed all around the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester were intricate demonic formations of all sizes. Based on his insight, Han Shuo reckoned that those demonic formations were all rather powerful. The Pentacloud Miasma had almost ended Donna and her party. In all likelihood, those on the opposing forces must have run into a demonic formation just as deadly.
The constant inhuman shrieks were a great source of distress for those who were recovering their energy. Bolten and Bowen were roused and had shock smeared across their faces.
As though the Grim Reaper was being extra hardworking that day, yet another loud, ear-piercing screech sounded from a distance. It was the voice of a female. They all knew immediately knew that the young married woman on the other team had perished.
What a nightmare! That’s two deaths!
Li Wei was flustered. She had a fearful expression when she looked at the Black Gust of Doom up ahead.
Donna watched as Li Wei gazed ahead with dread, the schadenfreude smile on her face gradually faded to be replaced by a grave expression. Donna creased her brows and kept silent for a moment before she said,
You all have heard those shrieks and should know what that meant. Having gone through that previous obstacle, I believe that all of you should now clearly understand that this mysterious place is packed with danger. What’s for certain is, the next obstacle will be even more challenging.
Everyone listened quietly to Donna’s speech. She took a deep breath before she continued,
Perhaps, at the next obstacle, some of us might perish as they have. If any of you want to retreat, now is the time to do so. Although it will not be something to be proud of, it is at least much easier to be accepted than death. Given the influences of your families, this is an option you can afford to take. Take a moment to consider it!
After hearing Donna’s words, the three youngsters kept completely silent. Their faces were filled with indecision and they couldn’t seem to decide.
Colbert and Han Shuo, on the other hand, were not burdened with indecision. Colbert had no care in his life and was determined to follow after Li Wei. Han Shuo was determined to enter and get to the bottom of it. He wanted to figure out what was actually going on inside and was naturally not about to retreat.
Additionally, Han Shuo had a brief understanding of the Black Gust of Doom. He was confident in
coping with its attacks and therefore wasn’t worried about it.
I will not make any new breakthroughs if I stay within my comfort zone. I want to venture further!
Bolten was the first to come to a decision and he declared it resolutely.
If someone as cowardly as Bolten dares venture inside, then I can do it as well!
Li Wei clenched her teeth and declared in a staunch manner.
Bowen was a man who would follow his elder brother’s decision and this time was no exception. Colbert, who placed Li Wei above everything, including his own life, would naturally follow her into the next formation. Donna understood that even if he did not utter a word.
Fine then. I will give you all a little more time before we advance together. Should any of you lose your life, I shall inform your family of your bravery. They will be proud of you!
Donna praised.
Without wasting more words, Bolten and the others made full use of the time to replenish their divine energies.
Bryan, I have suddenly become very curious about you. You must have experienced countless life-or-death situations on this continent?
Donna suddenly smiled and looked at Han Shuo with interest. She seemed to want to understand what kind of a person Han Shuo actually was.
Han Shuo stared blankly and pretended to be in deep thought about the question for a moment before he smirked and nodded, telling her,
I guess you can say so. Low-level material planes are just as violent. You must fight for anything that you want. Staring death in the face is quite a common occurrence!
No wonder,
Donna replied. She then suddenly turned the topic of discussion by asking,
What is the energy that you cultivate in? What makes it so peculiar? In all my times venturing through various material planes, I have never seen anything remotely similar!
Han Shuo kept silent for a moment, smiled, and calmly answered,
It’s just a minor, non-mainstream energy that is too inferior to be shown in public. It’s quite normal that you have never seen it. Haha, it really is mediocre and not worthy of your curiosity.
Han Shuo had no wish of discussing anything relating to the cultivation of demonic arts and Donna could see that. After hesitating for a moment, she smilingly nodded and did not press on with her questions.
Actually, I’m curious to know more about the Elysium. Do you mind?
while the others were cultivating, Han Shuo and Donna who were unoccupied had a chat with each other. As he was very curious about the Elysium and that was the material plane that Donna came from, he figured he could learn more about that world from Donna.
Bechymos and McKinley had depicted a little about the Elysium to Han Shuo. But as both of them had been trapped in distant worlds for many years, any description they had for Han Shuo was from ages ago and the circumstances there must have changed at least somewhat. Elysium, the Plane of Gods, was Han Shuo’s next destination. He wanted to have a detailed understanding of the place before heading there.
It’s hard to tell you everything briefly. You will understand the place after going there. It is the center of all material planes. The twelve Overgods all seem to be cultivating in hiding over there. I believe you can tell just how special Elysius is from just those two sentences.
Donna answered smilingly.
Han Shuo nodded and did not ask any further questions. He became even more determined to leave for Elysium, the Plane of Gods.
Time flew by. After what seemed to be just a short while, Bolten and the others were awakened from recovering their divine energy when Donna called out to them.
It’s about time. We can’t stay here for too long, otherwise, when we reach our destination, we may just find that Kaiser and the others have salvaged everything there!
Seeing that the party understood her, Donna took a deep breath and marched ahead.
Everyone be careful. You better hold your guard up from the beginning,
Han Shuo reminded his allies. He had carefully recalled once though the information that Chu Cang Lan had about the Black Gust of Doom while the people were recovering their energy.
After having the bitter experience prior, they no longer looked down on this small god from a low-level material plane. With Han Shuo’s reminder, they all started deploying full-body defenses before even entering the formation.
Han Shuo nodded and was very pleased with their prudent behavior. He too deployed his protective shield and stepped into the Black Gust of Doom after Donna.
As soon as they entered, a powerful, chilling wind came blasting at them. There were grayish, low-hanging clouds hovering above their heads all around. No one could see their surroundings clearly.
Han Shuo scanned the area through whizzing, chilling wind that carried devastating power but he simply couldn’t see a hint of Donna’s figure.
Han Shuo stopped advancing and noticed that he had lost track of Bolten and the party. He knew then that the Black Gust of Doom had been triggered the moment they stepped inside. With the transformation that swept the environment, it was not possible to locate the others’ trails.
Han Shuo, of course, was none too distressed because when he stepped inside, he discovered that those terrifying whizzing winds had all miraculously avoided him, travelling around instead of at him.
The situation was just the same as the Pentacloud Miasma!
With a sense of relief in his heart, Han Shuo observed his surroundings for a while. He could obviously tell that those powerful, chilling winds were everywhere. They did not change their direction for anything but when they reached his shield congealed using demonic yuan, they would simply detour around him.
This meant that Han Shuo was also safe and sound within the Black Gust of Doom. He didn’t need to worry about being attacked.
A thought suddenly crossed his mind, Could it be my cultivation in demonic arts that makes me immune to all the formations here?
To test this hypothesis, Han Shuo deployed his two avatars and put them beyond the protection of his shield.
In an instant, the terrifying wind stormed at Han Shuo’s two avatars. That power was filled with ruthlessness and the wind felt as though it could penetrate his bodies. It caused Han Shuo’s two avatars immense pain.
Han Shuo immediately realized something. Then, with one thought, the avatar of destruction concealed the energy of destruction within its body, transformed into the Demonslayer Edge form, and started circulating a small bit of demonic yuan that originated from his main body within. An astonishing transformation occurred once again. All the chilling winds suddenly started changing direction and blew around the Demonslayer Edge.
Meanwhile, that avatar of death transformed from the skeletal staff only contained the divine energy of death and was constantly being devastated by the chilling wind. The situation was far from good.
It was now clear to Han Shuo. As his two avatars were connected with his consciousness, they managed to easily return to Han Shuo’s main body even under the adverse effects of the Black Gust of Doom.
After the experiment, Han Shuo was convinced that he, a cultivator of demonic arts, was completely immune to attack from all the demonic formations in this place. Even the demonic weapon that had transformed into his avatar of destruction was not subjected to the effects of the demonic formations as it contained a small bit of demonic yuan.
Based on Han Shuo’s understanding of the Pentacloud Miasma and the Black Gust of Doom, he knew that these two formations in their normal setup would absolutely not discriminate based on the energy one cultivated in. The only explanation to his immunity was, that terrifying existence who deployed these demonic formations had forcibly altered the demonic formations so that they would not attack any demonic arts cultivator!
Without needing much thought, Han Shuo understood that the existence who had deployed everything in this place must also have originated from Earth. Perhaps he too knew that no one in this universe knew a thing about demonic arts when he made this masterpiece that prevented all those who cultivated in other energies from entering but left the door wide open to any demonic arts cultivators.
Why would he do so? What were his intentions?
Han Shuo was very puzzled and grew increasingly curious.
However, even after turning over in his mind, he still couldn’t figure out a thing. In the end, he decided to put down all thought, and venture deeper to investigate.
With one pulse of his consciousness, Han Shuo discovered the positions of Donna and the other four. In this strange place, his sight and the souls of his two avatars that cultivated in the edict of destruction and element of death could not get a glimpse of the environment. His consciousness formed using demonic arts, however, were not hindered at all and could clearly sense the surroundings.
After unfolding his consciousness, Han Shuo suddenly discovered that Donna and the others had incredibly unstable souls and they all appeared extremely emotional.
They were stuck in a daydream!
Han Shuo immediately came to that diagnosis. The Black Gust of Doom didn’t just contain powerful chilling wind. If one were to stay inside the formation for an extended period, they would sink into a terrifying land of fantasy where one would repeatedly revisit the most heartbreaking and the most terrifying events one had encountered in their lives. Furthermore, the formation would amplify the effects that the painful ordeals had, crushing their hearts and souls.
In this land of fantasy, if they could not maintain a strong will, they could possibly even sink into madness – forever. Besides having to face the attack of the powerful wind, they would also have to face their worst nightmares simultaneously. Even an expert with formidable strength could become mentally crushed and spiral into a madman in a short period of time!
Unlike the Pentacloud Miasma, one did not need to look for some abstruse pattern to find the way out from the Black Gust of Doom. That was because, the moment that a person entered the formation, they would immediately be assaulted by powerful wind while simultaneously being confronted with the most horrible scenes of their lives. If one could not walk away from the anguish stored at the bottom of their hearts, they wouldn’t be able to make a step forward. Hence, having additional mazes to solve would be superfluous.
After slowly expanding his consciousness, Han Shuo soon discovered that Li Wei and Bolten were in the most critical condition. Who knew what terrifying events the two had experienced but their souls were in utter chaos. It was as though they could be mentally crushed and sunken into madness at any moment.
The situation was critical and there wasn’t much time left. He knew that if he didn’t take action right away, Li Wei and Bolten would be the first two to die in this place.
With Li Wei and Bolten having apologized to him, Han Shuo no longer felt animosity towards the two. Besides, he knew that given the present conditions, he would have a much better chance of survival if Li Wei and Bolten lived on. Hence, he disregarded the former hatred and immediately took action.
When he arrived beside Li Wei, he discovered that she was screaming and shouting hysterically. Any grace that she held herself up with was now gone!
Han Shuo did not know what Li Wei was experiencing but when he tried to hold her, Li Wei started clawing wildly and tried to bite him. She had absolutely no clue of the surrounding conditions and it appeared that she wouldn’t be able to recover within a short period of time.
Seeing that this situation persisted and he had to get her out as soon as possible, Han Shuo decided to more forceful. Taking advantage of the fact that Li Wei could not organize an effective resistance, Han Shuo gave her a swat and knocked her out. With one hand, he held Li Wei by her waist and rapidly flew to Bolten following the senses of his consciousness. He saw a hysterical Bolten heavily panting, trying to defend against the attacks of some invisible threats.
Having dealt with Li Wei, Han Shuo knew he could not be polite and knocked Bolten out the same. He buckled him by his shoulder and managed to carry the two out from the Black Gust of Doom very quickly. He then returned to the Black Gust of Doom and repeated the same thing to the weeping Bowen and the frantic Colbert – knocking them out and then carrying them out from the formation.
Han Shuo again returned to Donna, the last of his teammates trapped in the formation. Although she too was trapped in a fantasy, her situation wasn’t as dire as the others’ – perhaps a testament to her strength. When Han Shuo approached Donna, he saw that Donna was wearing a grievous face and screaming in desperation,
Don’t leave me, I beg you, please don’t go!
When Han Shuo arrived beside Donna, about to knock her down, Donna seemed to sense something and suddenly embraced Han Shuo. Her rosy lips suddenly planted themselves onto Han Shuo’s before he could react.
