That henchman of Polo seemed very uneasy. And as soon as he exited Ethereal City, he put on a stern face and whistled.
Then, a dozen or more shadows flew out from the dense forest around him and surrounded him in no time.
The henchman of Polo’s then solemnly handed the enormous bag to one of those who appeared. He said in a heavy voice, “For some reason, I feel that something isn’t quite right.”
“Lord Kodiak, you are being overly cautious, “ one of the godhunters flattered. He said smilingly, “Should we return to base right away?”
Kodiak nodded and replied, “I have left a message in the City. Han Hao should come to us after he received it. Everyone be extra careful, this body is worth two million black crystal coins. It took me a great deal of persuasion to get the body from Baum. We cannot afford to make any mistakes.”
The godhunter smilingly said, “I doubt anyone is going to try to rob this soulless body from us.”
“Don’t be so sure!” Kodiak furrowed his brows and suddenly turned to gaze behind him.
Little Skeleton, or Han Hao, did not conceal his form and aura. He had deliberately done so so that Kodiak could sense his presence. Han Hao slowly walked to the party and threw a large sack of black crystal coins in front of Kodiak. He said, “That’s the rest of the black crystal coins. Now give me the divine body.”
Kodiak heaved a breath of relief when he saw that the comer was Han Hao. He saluted Han Hao in the etiquette of godhunters and smilingly said, “Hello, you must have received my message.” He then turned his eyes to the bag of black crystal coins under his feet and put on a troubled smile. He said, “It is true that the divine body is for you, but my chief had instructed us to bring the body back to base. Erm, do you mind making a trip with us?”
Han Hao shook his head, walked straight towards the godhunter who was carrying McKinley’s divine body and took it from him. Then, in an indifferent voice, he said to Kodiak, “Go back. Tell Polo that I have the body and you have received all the crystal coins. The transaction has been concluded, right here, right now.”
Upon finishing those words, without even giving them another look, Han Hao started leaving with McKinley’s divine body.
“Errmmmm… “ the godhunter who had been flattering Kodiak put on a grimace and asked, “Is this going to be a problem?”
“Let’s check if there are enough black crystal coins,” Kodiak immediately crouched and opened the bag under his feet after Han Hao left. After counting for a moment, he put on a faint smile and remarked, “All the crystal coins, indeed. This Han Hao guy is really straightforward and efficient at doing things. Let’s go, we will return to base and inform Lord Polo of it. I think His Lordship won’t be angry at us as we are already outside of Ethereal City.”
***
Inside a rocky valley outside of Ethereal City, Han Hao put down the enormous bag and started unraveling it. After tearing away layers of animal skin, a crystal coffin was revealed. It contained a person that seemed to be deep asleep. The body, however, has no soul.
“This special coffin has been preserving McKinley’s body and kept it in an active and functional state. How considerate of Baum,” said Han Shuo smilingly as he put his hand on the crystal coffin. After putting all his focus and sensing for a moment, he continued, “Baum has placed a unique tracer on it. Fortunately for us, we are not in Ethereal City. Otherwise, he will be able to sense it when we place a finger on the coffin.”
As Han Shuo spoke, he inserted a stream of demonic yuan into the crystal coffin. A dark string started moving around McKinley’s divine body, slowly eating away the tracer that Baum left on McKinley.
After a while, Han Shuo withdrew his hand. He took out the Holy Grail that housed McKinley’s divine soul.
“I… I can… I can sense it… After thousands and thousands of years, finally… I finally sense myself again… “ an intense fluctuation came from the Grail before Han Shuo could even speak. McKinley at this moment could not be more emotional. The Holy Grail that housed his soul started to glisten brilliantly.
The divine body in the crystal coffin was his. It was only natural that McKinley could instantly sense his own body from such a short distance. He was so excited that he was talking incoherently. It was easy to see why McKinley would be so excited to have his body back after living in the day-less prison for tens of thousands of years.
Then, a faint, blurry shadow started to slowly float out from the Holy Grail. Han Shuo had removed the energy in the Grail that imprisoned McKinley’s soul prior to this. McKinley could fly out from the Grail without any obstruction.
After McKinley’s soul flew out from the Holy Grail, he slowly floated towards the crystal coffin. He fused into the coffin smoothly like a drop of water falling into the sea.
Then, a violent space-time fluctuation came from the crystal coffin. Soft cracking noise sounded as hairline cracks started growing on the coffin. A tinge of healthy red gradually appeared on McKinley’s old and pale body as an aura of life started emanating from the body.
The crystal coffin contained an elderly man with grey-white hair. He had a pair of long white brows that touched his cheeks. Although the man was old, his skin and flesh were not at all loose. It even seemed as firm and powerful as that of a young man. When the aura of life reappeared on the divine body, Han Shuo noticed that the body started to rapidly transform.
Gradually, his cheeks turned redder and his muscles firmed up as the cracks on the coffin grew larger and denser. His eyes started rolling around underneath his shaking eyelids.
Then, suddenly, McKinley opened his bright and deep eye. The crystal coffin shattered with a loud bang.
McKinley stretched his body and moved his arms, legs, and head all around excitedly. He was involuntarily screaming, “Ohhhh yeahhh! I’m back! I’m finally back! Baum, Gyál, you better watch out, I’m coming for you! Wahahaha!”
Han Shuo and Little Skeleton stood together as they watched McKinley celebrate his revival by screaming and dancing. It wasn’t surprising that McKinley would be so ecstatic to regain freedom after being trapped for so long. Now that McKinley’s divine soul and divine body were reunited, he had regained his full strength. He was no longer just a powerless soul that can be kicked around but a proud, mighty highgod.
A long long while later, McKinley finally calmed down – somewhat. He laughed heartily as he went to give Han Shuo a big hug. He jumped up and down as he said, “Thank you, thank you so much, Bryan! I still cannot believe that you have actually got me my body back. How am I ever going to repay you for your help!”
Han Shuo felt uncomfortable from head to toe being hugged so tightly by a gay old man. He struggled free from McKinley and smilingly said, “Now that you have regained your body, tell me, how do you plan on getting your revenge? If you want to, I can help you with killing Baum. We can go to the City right away!”
The position of the City Lord of Ethereal City rightfully belonged to McKinley. After Baum is dead, McKinley should retake his rightful role. Han Shuo’s friendship with McKinley went much deeper than with Baum. If McKinley became the City Lord of Ethereal City, it would be tremendously helpful to his future development.
“I can make space divine devices for you. You know, I’m very good at this. Interplanar transportation matrixes, magical mirrors – any divine devices you need, I can make them for you!” pledged McKinley in a big smile.
Space divine devices were very rare on Elysium. They cannot be forged by any average alchemist. For this reason, divine devices of the space edict were invaluable. It was not unusual for a person with an insane amount of black crystal coins to be unable to find a suitable space edict expert who would produce them the divine device they wanted.
McKinley was near the pinnacle in the cultivation of the space edict energy. He must be a true expert at producing space divine devices or he wouldn’t have made that promise to Han Shuo. And coincidentally, Han Shuo could really use those divine devices. Han Shuo could not be happier to hear those words and he smilingly replied, “That’d be wonderful!”
“I need to make a trip to the Space Shrine and inform the Overgod of my ordeal. As for killing Baum, I can’t do that just yet. Baum is the current City Lord of Ethereal City. No matter what he did, I must consult with the Overgod before doing anything to him. But once I have His Lordship’s permission, I can immediately come back to kill Baum,” said McKinley.
Han Shuo understood McKinley’s concerns. He nodded and replied, “No problem. I’ll be at the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy in Ethereal City. You can find me there after you have consulted with the Overgod.” The Shrine of the Overgod of Space must be located in some secret location somewhere in the Space Dominion. It was needless to say that McKinley, a receiver of the Divine Seal from the Space Overgod, should know where it was hidden.
Before leaving, McKinley repeatedly thanked Han Shuo and promised to look for him after he gave the Overgod of Space an account of his ordeal and to reward him by making some commonly used space divine devices. He seemed rather embarrassed that he had to leave so soon. After being repeatedly hastened by Han Shuo, McKinley finally said goodbye. He ripped a fissure in space-time, walked into it, and disappeared.
“Father, do you think that he will succeed?” Little Skeleton seemed a little skeptical. “Baum has served as the City Lord of Ethereal City for such a long time and he would have become closer with the Overgod. Would the Overgod believe McKinley’s words?”
“Who knows? But McKinley seemed very confident. Perhaps he has some hidden aces under his sleeves!” replied Han Shuo after thinking for a moment.
***Two days later.
Han Shuo and Han Hao had returned to Ethereal City. Han Shuo was examining Metal Elite Zombie’s condition when he was suddenly jolted – he noticed that the entire Ethereal City seemed to be shaking!
Moments later, Han Shuo received yet another shock. Through the demon general he used for surveilling Baum, he saw that the entire City Lord’s manor had suddenly been shrouded in a violent space-time fluctuation. The space-time fluctuation carried an unparalleled amount of power. It pulverized the entire manor house in a moment.
“Noooo!!! Spare me! My Overlord!!!” Baum’s could be heard shrieking miserably from the center of the manor.
Several hundred Spatial Edge appeared out of thin air and sliced at Baum. He was obliterated in a snap. Not a cry was heard and not one bit of Baum remained.
A great stab of pain spread in Han Shuo’s consciousness. In the next instance, Han Shuo discovered that the demon general he placed in the manor had also been annihilated. The final scene that the demon general transmitted was a manor that had been razed to the ground. Not a single soul survived in the vast City Lord’s manor!
