GDK 778: Ludicrous Promise
Han Shuo spent the next couple of days with Dagassi. They talked and recalled about old tales in the Profound Continent.
Out of Han Shuo’s expectation, Fire Elite Zombie’s godmother, the Emperor of Flames, was acquainted with Ancient Lizard King Dagassi. She seemed very excited to unexpectedly meet Dagassi again.
The Emperor of Flames who had named herself Yan Yan cultivated in the elemental energy of fire. She currently possessed mid-stage lowgod strength. Back then in the Dark Forest, she and Dagassi could be considered neighbors. Before Dagassi was sealed by Spider Goddess Rose, he had been to the Place of Extreme Fire where she lived and started conflicts with her.
In the Place of Extreme Fire, the Emperor of Flames possessed absolute superiority and Dagassi could not touch her. There were no able to injure each other and somehow ended up becoming friends. They did not expect to meet each other again on Elysium. They were therefore very excited and kept on talking about interesting past events.
Dagassi used to provide Han Shuo assistance back then on the Profound Continent. Now that Dagassi has come to his Han Residence in the City of Shadows, Han Shuo naturally would gift Dagassi something as a courtesy. Han Shuo knew that the House of Kiaran had treated Dagassi decently and he was not lacking in divine weapons or divine armors. After some consideration, Han Shuo decided to gift Dagassi with some pelleted medicines he had personally refined.
Han Shuo’s medicines were famous for their value. Dagassi, being very close to Han Shuo, spared him the courteous decline and gladly accepted the valuable gift. Seeing that Dagassi and Yan Yan had a lot to talk about, Han Shuo tactfully left the two to themselves.
Han Shuo continued to study the hybrid domain of divinity with Rose for the next few days. But unfortunately, no matter how much he tried, he could not bring the hybrid domain of divinity under his control.
The members of the House of Han assiduously tempered themselves in the Eight Desolation and Torment Formation where they had to fight through countless perils. With Cauldron Spirit controlling the Formation, they were pushed to their limits and their hidden potentials were aroused. They would get flashes of realizations from time to time. Their strengths were rapidly improving.
The Han Residence currently housed a library filled with divine scrolls. The collection was acquired by men sent by Han Shuo from various major divine scroll stores. There were scrolls for every realm of every type of fundamental energy. As the members of the Han Family were very close and harmonious, they would share their cultivation experiences with each other without any reservation. This saved those who were trying to catch up a lot of time and vain effort.
Gradually and unknowingly, every member of the Han Family gained substantial improvement in strength.
Seeing that the competition between the Seven Corps will soon begin, Han Shuo stopped exploring his hybrid domain of divinity with Rose and headed to the Fifth Corps with Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert.
After having been restructured, the Fifth Corps became much more orderly and quiet than before. The divine guards stationed at the entrance stood straight and tall. They wore steady and stern faces. No merrymaking noises could be heard near or in the Fifth Corps. One could sense the solemn atmosphere before even stepping into the compound. As soon as the divine guards saw Han Shuo, they saluted, “Hail Lord Bryan!”
Han Shuo nodded in response before instructing, “Assemble everyone. I want to see if my troops are ready for the competition.”
“Yes, my Lord. We cannot wait for the competition!” replied a divine guard.
When Han Shuo first took over the Fifth Corps, the divine guards had neither the will nor intention to join the competition of Seven Corps. They had no fighting spirit in them and were satisfied with just getting their days by. However, after a round of tempering inside the Eight Desolation and Torment Formation, having experienced horrific scenes and dangers in the demonic formation, their demeanors and mentality transformed. Not only that they were no longer afraid of such a challenge, but they also looked forward to it. They wished to have the competition and fight elite troops of other Corps right then and right there.
With several men passing the command, the only company of divine guards of the Fifth Corps assembled before Han Shuo in no time. The almost one hundred men strong divine guards wore stern faces and stood as steady as a boulder. An invisible but strong austere aura spread from the Company.
Every divine guard gave off an air of indifference towards life and the courage to stare death in the face. Their eyes were filled with unswerving determination and valor. These were qualities that cannot be gained other than living through extensive massacre and bloodshed.
After scanning each and every one of their faces, Han Shuo nodded like a proud father. He was very satisfied with the demeanor they displayed. He thought, <i>The Eight Desolation and Torment Formation have indeed toughened up and transformed them. Even their bearings have completely changed. They definitely will shock everyone in the Competition!</i>
“As all of you should know, the competition between the Seven Corps will take place very soon. I have made a great deal of effort to improve your strengths as much as possible in the shortest time. This is the chance for our Fifth Corps to prove ourselves and regain respect in the City of Shadows. I hope I will not be disappointed!” said Han Shuo in a deep voice as his gaze traveled across the divine guards.
“Rest assured, my Lord! We are no longer the Fifth Corps that drinks alcohol and sleeps all day. I believe that our Fifth Corps will rank among the top in the Competition!” exclaimed Barnard confidently.
The corners of Han Shuo’s lips curved to make a satisfied smile. He proudly declared, “If we are to join the Competition, then we should only strive for one goal – to win the first place!”
Under the astonished gazes of the divine guards, Han Shuo continued smilingly, “Don’t be surprised. I have faith in all of you. You can take the first place without a doubt! We are going to shake up the rankings of the Seven Corps of the City of Shadows. You will take the first place in the team competition while I will defeat Aobashi and become the top-ranking Divine Guard Chief in the City. Our Fifth Corps shall become the strongest army in the City of Shadows!”
Although Han Shuo’s words might be ludicrous to some, to these divine guards standing before him, they sounded bold and filled with sureness. These men worshiped true experts. For some reason, when Han Shuo made the daring claim that he will defeat Aobashi, the current top-ranking Divine Guard Chief, a fire in their heart was ignited. They could not be more enthusiastic and energized.
“Rest assured, my Lord. We will defeat the Second Corps!”
“If Your Lordship has the confidence to defeat Lord Aobashi, then we have the confidence to take the first place in the team competition!”
“Don’t worry, my Lord. Our Fifth Corps will emerge victorious in the Competition!”
The divine guards expressed their burning excitement and confidence to Han Shuo. They could not be more ready for the upcoming competition!
“Excellent!” Han Shuo shouted, “We will tread on top all of them and prove that we are the strongest!”
“We are the strongest! We are the strongest! We are the strongest!” chanted the divine guards loudly. They were brimming with energy and desire for glory.
Han Shuo did not leave the Fifth Corps after that but spent all his time with the divine guards in a gymnasium in the Fifth Corps.
Inside the gymnasium, Han Shuo coldly observed as the divine guards sparred with each other. He did not participate in the sparring but he sent Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert to the field, allowing them to accept any challenges from the divine guards.
Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert were relatively powerful to begin with. And after they were tempered in the Eight Desolation and Torment Formation, they obtained substantial improvement to their strengths. Of all those divine guards who challenged the three to a spar, none could defeat the three.
Although the divine guards had never witnessed Han Shuo’s true might with their own eyes, from the fact that none of them could defeat Han Shuo’s three apprentices, they knew that Han Shuo must be quite something. The divine guards found Han Shuo to be a person filled with mysteries and revered Han Shuo from their hearts.
Time flew by. An official notice from the House of Sainte was delivered to the Fifth Corps, informing that the Competition will be held at Soaring Cloud Mountain Range. After receiving the notice, Han Shuo went through his checklist one last time and led the only Company in his Fifth Corps away from the City and towards the mountain range.
Soaring Cloud Mountain Range was north to the City of Shadows. Han Shuo had been to be mountain range multiple times to collect medicinal ingredients. He was very familiar with the terrain over there. The company of divine guards from the Fifth Corps marched behind Han Shuo majestically, naturally emanating their kick-ass valor. The civilians and members of lesser family clans they met along the way automatically evaded them.
After the large godhunter’s base Han Shuo discovered was sacked, the godhunters seemed to had abruptly vanished from the City of Shadows’ territories. It had been a long time since the gods that dwelled and traveled in the region met any godhunter. The mountain ranges around the City of Shadows became very safe.
Han Shuo originally planned on tempering his divine guards by having them hunt and kill godhunters. However, after searching all-around using his demon general, Han Shuo discovered not a single trail of the godhunters. He had no choice but to give up on that plan. The Company traveled towards Soaring Cloud Mountain Range unhurriedly.
Han Shuo asked Bollands to teach the less experienced divine guards the techniques of tracking, moving stealthily, and assassination. Although Gilbert and Sanguis had been rapidly improving in strength, they were still far behind Bollands when it came to the mastery of certain special skills. Following Han Shuo’s command, they humbly asked Bollands for guidance related to the subject and studied it along with the divine guards.
Mastering the technique of tracking and stealthily stalk someone cannot come without practical training. As godhunters had not appeared in the territory of the City of Shadows for a long time, Han Shuo allowed his divine guards to scatter around so that they can hide from and hunt for each other using the techniques they just learned from Bollands.
On one day, while Han Shuo was deeply pondering about how to bring his hybrid domain of divinity under his control, he suddenly saw that Barnard was walking towards him in hasty footsteps. After saluting Han Shuo, Barnard reported, “My Lord, it’s been five days but the two still have not returned.”
Before allowing his divine guards to practice tracking and stalking each other, Han Shuo had explicitly stipulated that no matter the circumstances, they must return to the Company once every four days. The two divine guards Barnard mentioned had not returned to the Company for five days. This indicated that the two were either in deep trouble or had been in deep trouble.
“Understood,” replied Han Shuo as he stood up.
