Of all the cities of the Darkness Dominion, the City of Gorging Clouds was without a doubt the strongest. The city had a large number of powerful experts and a great number of highgods.
The City of Gorging Clouds was substantially stronger than Hushveil City and the City of Shadows, combined. If compared to the family clans in the City of Gorging Clouds, Wallace’s House of Sainte would rank in the top few in strength but it would pale in comparison to Yarus’ House of Broadhurst.
There had been hearsays circulating around Elysium that Yarus, the City Lord of the City of Gorging Clouds, had ascended beyond highgodhood. Yarus was a rather low-key character. As he had delegated many of his work to his family members, it was rare for people to come into contact with him. Additionally, those few who had the opportunity to meet him could not tell the difference between a highgod and an overgod from his aura. For these reasons, the hearsays always remained as nothing more than hearsays.
But that might change soon. Han Shuo, standing near the Broadhurst Residence, immediately realized that Yarus had indeed reached the realm of overgod from the power of the boundless darkness shrouding the Residence.
The elements of darkness that were lingering above the Broadhurst Residence were of Yarus’ doing. There were energy towers erected all over the Residence that functioned as darkness element collectors. Yarus and other cultivators of the darkness energy would benefit from the higher concentration of the darkness element.
Han Shuo’s original plan was to immediately sneak into the Broadhurst Residence and kill Larikson. But after sensing the powerful aura of darkness, he halted in his track and lightly bunched his brows.
If there wasn’t this overgod expert called Yarus, Han Shuo could intrude the Broadhurst Residence with complete stealth, assassinate Larikson, and retreat with ease. But Yarus turned out to be stronger than Han Shuo had expected. With the overgod barrier deployed around the Residence, it was practically impossible for Han Shuo to get inside noiselessly.
If he was found intruding on the Broadhurst Residence, he will most likely face the attack of Yarus. It wasn’t that Han Shuo was afraid of Yarus, but alerting Yarus could completely ruin Han Shuo’s plan. With Yarus, an overgod, and many other Broadhurst highgods, not to mention the environmental advantage, Han Shuo’s chances of killing Larikson was minute.
But worst of all, his trail would be exposed and everyone would know that he had returned to the Darkness Dominion. Wallace and Hofs might go into hiding. In summary, it will really mess up Han Shuo’s plan.
Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Han Shuo decided not to intrude on the Broadhurst Residence but to wait for Larikson to leave his house before striking.
Although Yarus was the City Lord, he was very much focused on his cultivation. He had given almost all of his duties to his family members to handle. Larikson, as Yarus’ younger brother, was delegated a good portion of his work. It was unavoidable and it will only be a matter of time before he leaves the Residence.
Han Shuo withdrew and went to a local Information Broker to purchase the news about Larikson. He learned that Larikson was indeed inside the Broadhurst Residence and he had been inside the City for a while now.
After obtaining the information, Han Shuo returned to the outside of the Broadhurst Residence and patiently waited for his prey to come out from its rabbit hole.
Three days later, in the evening, Larikson and a few divine guards of the House of Broadhurst finally left the house. They were heading straight for the nearest city gate as though they had some sort of mission.
Midway into their journey, Larikson suddenly felt a sense of danger.
“Ello, Larikson! Hehe, great to see you again!” Han Shuo’s voice sounded as he abruptly appeared before Larikson.
“Ah shit,” exclaimed Larikson. Before his voice had even faded, one of his space rings let out a strong burst of light and tore the spacetime in front of him. Larikson shot into the spacetime fissure instantly.
Han Shuo did not expect Larikson to be such a coward, that he would immediately escape by tearing spacetime before they had even exchanged a sentence.
Han Shuo knew that it was too late to attack now. He let out a cold groan and shot into the space-time fissure after Larikson.
He entered a strange dimension filled with dazzling lights. And when Han Shuo warped out to the other side, he found himself under layers upon layers of barriers. He saw a large number of gods wearing sneering faces – Larikson, Hofs, and Wallace were among the crowd!
His consciousness pulsated and he sensed the boundless darkness above him. Immediately, he realized that he had fallen into a meticulous trap of his enemy.
“Bryan of Han, welcome to the Broadhurst Residence. We have been expecting you,” greeted a thin man with a staunch look in a calm, faint smile. This man who had a darkness aura surrounding him was none other than Yarus.
As the City Lord and the most powerful existence in the City of Gorging Clouds, Yarus naturally exuded a noble, kingly demeanor. As an expert in the overgod realm, he also carried a unique, inexplicable quality.
Outside the layers of barriers that trapped Han Shuo were dozens of highgods. Five of them, including Wallace and Larikson, were late-stage highgods while the rest were mid-stage highgods. Most of them cultivated the energy of darkness. They looked at Han Shuo with laughing eyes, as though he was a turtle in a jar.
“Well played, what an impressive ruse. Well played indeed,” Han Shuo took a deep breath, looked at Yarus, and praised, “You are indeed a brilliant man. You not only possess outstanding strength, but you’re also excellent at scheming. No wonder Wallace and Hofs are no match against you, and no wonder your family clan would be more powerful than an entire city!”
“Shut up!” shouted Hofs who felt insulted. “You haughty piece of shit. With Lord Yarus here, you will not get away this time!”
“Bryan, I did not want to be your enemy, but you have been giving me no choice,” Wallace let out a disappointed sigh and confessed.
“HAHAHA YOU WOT M8???” Han Shuo laughed his ass off. After a long while, he finally replied, “I leave you no choice? You mean the two times I have saved Carmelita and the countless times I helped your House of Sainte? Fuck, you have started suppressing my House of Han as soon as it was founded. I was going to move my family clan out from the City of Shadows but you colluded with Hofs and Larikson to exterminate my family clan. And now you are telling me that I leave you no choice? You must be fucking kidding me!”
“The City of Shadows will always belong to the House of Sainte. As the patriarch, I must eliminate all those who could threaten the House of Sainte!” Wallace tried to bend logic.
“What a ridiculous guy,” remarked Han Shuo in a disdained face while shaking his head. He did not say much for he knew that it was impossible to reason with an unreasonable person.
“Well, well. Larikson, Wallace, Hofs, Ralph, all present!” Han Shuo’s eyes went through each of them before it finally stopped on Yarus and smilingly asked, “You must have meticulously planned and prepared for this moment for a long time – here I am. So, what are you waiting for?”
Yarus put on a charming smile before he said to Han Shuo, “I have heard a lot about you, Bryan, and I must say, you are more impressive than your outstanding reputation. Let me be frank – Wallace may have no tolerance for competition, but I’m quite the opposite. In fact, I’m now formally inviting your House of Han to be a part of my City of Gorging Clouds, with the condition that you will set aside your grudges with Larikson. Not only that your presence will be most welcomed in my City, I, Yarus, hereby pledge that what Wallace did to your House of Han in the City of Shadows will never happen in my City of Gorging Clouds!”
The offer came as a total surprise to Han Shuo. He could also tell that Yarus was sincere when he made the invitation.
“Brother! How will that do! He had killed your nephew and many of our experts! How could you let him into the City?!” protested Larikson hastily before Han Shuo could even respond.
“Silence!” commanded Yarus. The arrogant Larikson immediately shut his mouth tight. It appeared as though Larikson was afraid of him.
Yarus, with his brows bunched, turned to Larikson and chided, “It was you and Felder who started the whole thing. Bryan did not kill your highgods unprovoked. And as for your son, he’s nothing compared to an overgod expert. In any case, your dick is still working fine and you can always make more kids!”
“Bro- brother… “ Larikson was rather startled.
Yarus’ face turned cold. He gestured and said, “I have decided, so shut up.”
Although filled with grumbles, Larikson dared not make a voice and lowered his head. He continued to glare at Han Shuo.
Wallace and Hofs standing nearby seem astonished. It was obvious that Yarus had not revealed this intention of his to the two. They looked at Yarus with eyes that seemed to be shouting, <i>Dude, what the hell? That was nowhere in what we have discussed!</i>
Yarus’ attention turned back to Han Shuo. He put on a faint smile and offered, “Bryan, if you will join my City of Gorging Clouds, all grievances are forgiven. Not only that, but I can also provide you much better treatment than what you had from the City of Shadows. Land, manpower, wealth, connections – anything that you need, you will have it. What say you?”
