Great Demon King

Han Shuo and the Cauldron of Myriad Demon were overseeing the Pandemonium from the formation crux on the surface. Adding to the Penta Elemental Undead Formation deployed by the Five Elite Zombies, Han Shuo believed that Han Hao could safely activate the gravestone in the Pandemonium without alerting the Overgod of Death.

A burst of chilling wind suddenly blew in the Pandemonium. Shadows barely visible to the naked eye whooshed across the thick mist and gathered on various demonic formations.

Han Shuo split his consciousness into millions of strands and scattered it across the Pandemonium, forming a unique boundary made of soul energy that could obstruct every form of soul probing.

Inside the gymnasium, red, yellow, gold, white, and green radiances began shooting everywhere. The Five Elite Zombies, who were sitting cross-legged around the gymnasium, flooded the space with their energies and expelled all elemental energies.

Then, suddenly, the gymnasium seemed to have entered another dimension. Bollands, Sanguis, Gilbert, and Scarlett could see inside the gymnasium, it felt as though the gymnasium was millions of light-years away.

It was as though the gymnasium was no longer a part of the Elysium; as though what they saw in front of them was an illusion. The Five Elite Zombies, Han Hao, and Han Shuo were sitting just in front of them, and yet, they could not sense the slightest hint of their auras. If they were to close their eyes and look using just their souls, they would see an empty field of nothingness.

“The energy of the Five Elite Zombies has completely isolated the gymnasium from the rest of the world. The law of spacetime has been altered and the gymnasium has effectively become a material plan of its own. It may seem as though they are right in front of us, but they are no longer a part of the Elysium. I believe that even an Overgod won’t be able to detect their activity inside,” remarked the astounded Bollands after sensing the changes to the gymnasium.

Sanguis and Gilbert were amazed. They did not expect that the formation formed by the Five Elite Zombie would be so miraculous. It was as though they had created a separated, independent spacetime in the gymnasium. In this universe, the Overgod of Space might be the only other existence capable of such a marvelous feat.

Of the four, Scarlett was perhaps the most dumbstruck as she did not know much about the House of Han nor was she aware of the miraculousness of demonic arts. She was rather confused after seeing the Five Elite Zombies, none of whom cultivated the edict of space, disconnecting the gymnasium from the rest of the world. She almost thought that she was hallucinating.

“Sanguis, Gilbert, and Miss Scarlett, we should retreat a little,” suggested Bollands before he quickly explained, “The spacetime around the gymnasium is now very unstable. The entrance before us should be one of the few remaining links still connecting the gymnasium to the Elysium. If Han Hao were to do something that destabilizes spacetime, spacetime fissures could be generated and we might get trapped in a corner of the universe.”

Upon hearing Bollands’ words, Scarlett hastily retreated. Even the usually bold Gilbert jolted and quickly made some distance from the gymnasium with the others, lest they be affected by the highly unstable boundary.

Han Shuo’s avatar of destruction carefully sensed the energy that filled the gymnasium and sensed the energies of the Five Elite Zombies gradually fusing together. Thinking that everything was ready, he nodded to Han Hao and said, “You may begin.”

Han Hao who had sat cross-legged on the ground slowly closed his eyes. His chest started throbbing and pulsing bizarrely. Moments later, bit by bit, the Quintessence Shard emerged from Han Hao’s chest and hovered a meter before him.

When the Quintessence Shard emerged, the gymnasium which had been purged of elemental energies and isolated from the environment by the Elite Zombies, was suddenly flooded with the element of death. They came pouring in through the tiny spacetime fissures around the gymnasium and gathered towards the Shard.

“Oh no! The power of the Shard is indeed extraordinary, so much so that it could absorb the lament of death in dimensional fissures through the spacetime fissures!” cried Han Shuo in alarm and he immediately commanded the Five Elite Zombies, “Deploy all your power and seal those spacetime fissures. If we are to allow the element of death from the environment to enter the Shard, the Overgod will surely sense it!”

The Five Elite Zombies recognized how grave the situation was and immediately exerted all their strengths, releasing streams of colorful radiances that assembled and fused with the five-colored cloud on the top of the gymnasium. The Penta-elemental Undead Formation became even more energetic and all the spacetime-fissures were sealed.

Simultaneously, Han Shuo’s consciousness that had split up and scattered across various regions sensed the unusual flow of the element of death in the Pandemonium. They were gushing into the gymnasium through those fissures at an unimaginable rate.

Han Shuo was alarmed. He sent a portion of his consciousness to the gymnasium and formed a layer of boundary around it. The thousands and thousands of demon generals aimlessly wandering around the Pandemonium suddenly shot into the boundary and adhered to it. The originally invisible barrier suddenly turned to a dark shade. It was as though a dark egg-shell had enveloped the gymnasium.

After retreating to a safe distance, Bollands suddenly discovered that there was a layer of dark substance shrouding the gymnasium. He immediately cried, “It’s my Senior brother’s energy!”

Sanguis and Gilbert also detected Han Shuo’s life aura on the dark substance. The spectators were shocked and stared at the black shell in astonishment while guessing what was going on.

***

At the same time, over at a waterfall in the border of the Fringe, a burst of light suddenly came from Nestor’s eyes and he gazed at the depths of the Fringe.

Nestor could sense a strand of energy that he was most familiar with broadcasting from the depths of the Fringe. He was certain that the Quintessence Shard bearer must have activated the Shard again. He immediately started moving towards it.

However, just as Nestor turned his body, he suddenly discovered that the aura of death seemed to be concealed by some kind of energy and he lost track of the beacon.

“Huh? What is going on? Why did the signal suddenly vanish? This is strange… “ Nestor was somewhat puzzled. He knew the characteristics of the Death Element Quintessence Shard better than anyone and that there was no way to conceal the pure energy the Shard emanates when the bearer uses it.

After bunching his brows and thinking for a moment, Nestor still had no clue what might have happened. But nonetheless, he started moving towards the rough direction of the Shard.

***

Once a Quintessence Shard was activated, no ordinary energy could conceal it. The energies used by Han Shuo, Cauldron Spirit, and the Five Elite Zombies, however, did not originate from this universe. Using their miraculous demonic arts, they had managed to temporarily conceal the purest energy emanating from the Quintessence Shard. This was why the Shard had suddenly dropped out of Nestor’s senses.

The millions of strands of consciousness and the tens of thousands of demon general energy had gathered to form a layer of extremely tough defensive barrier around the gymnasium. On top of that, the Five Elite Zombies had isolated the gymnasium from the Elysium. By working together, they managed to conceal the energy emanating from Han Hao’s Quintessence Shard.

“Good. Keep going!” shouted Han Shuo’s avatar of destruction.

Han Hao explored the secrets of the Quintessence Shard freely and without any worry. The seven bone spurs on his back were trembling slightly as his purple eyes stared fixedly at the gravestone hovering before him. The abstruse inscriptions on the gravestone could vaguely be seen flashing in his eyes.

All these while, as Han Hao had constantly sensed the presence of the tremendously mighty existence, he never dared to delve and study the gravestone intensively. But it was different this time. With Han Shuo and the Five Elite Zombies helping him conceal the energy, Han Hao knew that he could finally study it without fear of being tracked by the Overgod of Death. He opened up his soul and tried to learn the gravestone’s power and gain complete control over it.

Lines of bizarre runes began to float out from Han Hao’s eyes and slowly flowed into the gravestone. Gradually, the gravestone that was only the size of a fist started enlarging. And in just moments, it had grown to several dozen meters tall. There were eerily white inscriptions slowly moving about the gravestone’s surface as though they were alive.

At this moment, Han Hao seemed very tiny while sitting next to the enormous gravestone. But Han Hao did not seem to panic. The seven bone spurs on his back suddenly detached from his body and stuck on the enormous gravestone.

Then, without any warning, blood-curdling shrieks and wails simultaneously sounded from the seven bone spurs. Desperation, fear, pain, madness, hatred, and other negative energies overflowed from the bone spurs. The energy came from the countless tormented souls which Han Hao had accumulated over the years.

Densely packed runes were swimming inside Han Hao’s pupils, synchronizing with the gravestone in front of him. It was as though some sort of incredibly abstruse connection was being formed.

Crack… Crack…

The gravestone that had reached the top of the gymnasium was still enlarging, causing a most frightening sound to play in the gymnasium. It was as though the gymnasium would burst apart at any moment!

The Five Elite Zombies were wearing grave expressions and sweat had drenched their faces. It seemed as though they had exhausted a considerable amount of energy.

“Father, if the gravestone bursts through the gymnasium, this space will immediately collapse and our remaining connection to the Elysium will be severed! What should we do?” transmitted Han Jin to Han Shuo.

Han Shuo was aware of the situation. If the gravestone bursts through the gymnasium, the spacetime constructed with the joint power of the Five Elite Zombies will crumble. By then, even if they weren’t crushed into smithereens, they would be sent into distant corners of the universe and be trapped in the endless void of space for the rest of their lives with no hopes of ever seeing another living being again.

Han Shuo attempted to communicate with Han Hao but discovered that his soul had now intertwined with the gravestone. It seemed to be fusing with the gravestone. Throughout this process, Han Hao must not be distracted by the slightest or the consequences will be unimaginable!

After hesitating for the moment, Han Shuo instructed, “He has entered the most critical stage. We need to keep hanging on. Do not push against the gravestone – we do not know how it would reach and it could cause dire results!”

“Understood!” the Five Elite Zombies gritted their teeth and replied. It had been arduous for them to maintain the spacetime and the expanding gravestone was only making the task harder. If it wasn’t for Han Hao, they wouldn’t have agreed to it without any hesitation.

They were putting their lives on the line! If spacetime collapses, their bodies and souls would be absolutely shattered!