Great Demon King

GDK 682: Dividing the spoils

Akley stared foolishly and gaped at the divine essences poured on the ground. He was absolutely stupefied.

Earth elite zombie, who emptied the gunny sack filled with divine essences on the ground, looked at Akley with a hostile gaze. It was as though he would pounce on Akley and tear him into pieces as soon as Han Shuo gave him the signal.

Han Shuo heaved a sigh of relief when he learned from earth elite zombie that metal elite zombie was alright. He crouched to sort out the divine essences piece by piece before he reported, “Earth divine essence - nine pieces. Wind - thirty-two pieces. Death - twelve pieces. Lightning - twenty-eight pieces. Destruction - sixteen pieces. Light - five pieces. Life - four pieces. Altogether that’s a hundred and six pieces of divine essence!”

“They, they really are divine essences! You actually did it!” after a long while, Akley wore an overjoyed expression and cried out in surprise.

“Of the one hundred and six divine essences, my son and I will take seventy percent and you will take thirty percent, which is about thirty pieces. I’ll let you have ten divine essences for each of the energy of destruction, wind, and lightning.” Han Shuo raised his head before he continued to Akley, “Any objections?”

Akley understood that Han Shuo and his son gave the most work and labor in obtaining these divine essences. Aside from providing an address, he had practically contributed nothing to the success. On top of that, all along the journey, he had been relying on and troubled Han Shuo to preserve his life. He was lucky to have even taken thirty percent in the end.

Besides, given the current circumstances, even if Han Shuo wanted to take all the divine essence for himself, there was nothing that Akley could do to stop him.

“I don’t have any objection with the allocation, but, since you don’t cultivate in the edict of destruction, why don’t you give all sixteen of the destruction divine essence to me? You can have all the wind and lightning divine essence. How about that?” Akley hesitated before he came up with a counter-proposal.

“That won’t do. I need a few destruction divine essences as well. I have use for them!” Han Shuo rejected the counter-proposal resolutely and suggested, “You can exchange the twenty wind and lightning divine essences for crystal coins that would give you a footing on Elysium, or exchange them for more destruction divine essences. In short, you cannot have them all!”

“What use do you have for destruction divine essences?” Akley asked as he forced a smile. He had no clue why Han Shuo was so insistent on taking a portion of the destruction divine essences.

“Other than the element of death, I also cultivate in the edict of destruction. That’s why I need those crystals as well!” Han Shuo calmly admitted as he exercised the energy of destruction in his avatar and released a destruction domain of divinity through his main body.

Akley was jolted as soon as the domain of divinity of destruction emerged. He again cried out in surprise, “You simultaneously cultivate in two energies?! If you do so, you will not attain the true pinnacle in any of the energies! How could you be so silly!”

Han Shuo had three souls that were connected but independent of each other, therefore he was immune to the issue that Akley described. Han Shuo smiled and shook his head before he replied, “You don’t have to worry about this for me. I know what I’m doing!”

As he spoke, Han Shuo took the initiative to help Akley divide his portion of the divine essence. Han Shuo was rather generous and did not select just the smallest pieces of divine essence for Akley.

Han Shuo selected thirty pieces of divine essence of destruction, wind, and lightning out from the bunch and pushed them to Akley, “This is the share that you deserve. With these ten pieces of destruction divine essence, I believe you could at least attain late-stage lowgod realm. I wish you the best of luck in your quest of avenging your master’s death!” Han Shuo said to Akley in a deep voice.

Akley forced a smile and put away the thirty divine essences. He sighed, “What a pity, what a pity that it’s not a hundred and six destruction divine essences. Just ten pieces of it isn’t nearly enough for a substantial breakthrough!”

“Be content with what you have. The consumption of divine essence is the safest way of increasing the divine energy you have. Ten pieces of divine essence is considered very precious treasure on Elysium. Keep it safe and find a safe place to absorb the energy in them,” Han Shuo reminded.

“Where are you heading?” Akley could tell that the two would soon part ways. After having interacted with Han Shuo for some days, Akley had a pretty positive feeling about Han Shuo. That was why he asked where Han Shuo planned to go.

After all, had it been another person, at this point in time, the person would likely have attempted to murder Akley in order to hog all the divine essence. After carefully thinking, Akley felt that although Han Shuo was a little overbearing, at least he wasn’t hypocritical in his conducts and was a trustworthy friend.

“I’m going to the City of Shadows. But it’s hard to say if I will remain in that city in the future.” Han Shuo too found Akley somewhat admirable. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have helped Akley shoulder the fees of fifty blue crystal coins for his divine tablet in the beginning.

“Take care. I will find somewhere nearby to recover my strength and absorb the destruction divine essences. Perhaps I might search for you at the City of Shadows once I’m through!”

“No problem. Here’s five purple crystal coins. Use it well. Do not reveal your divine essences unless you have absolute trust in the buyer. You’ll put yourself in jeopardy otherwise!” Han Shuo was concerned that without some crystal coins to use, Akley might attempt to sell the wind and lightning divine essences for crystal coins, arouse the greed of people around him, and end up being murdered.

“Thanks a lot. I know what to do - I won’t attract danger to myself. If I choose to sell the divine essence, I will only do so at the Dominion of Space or Destiny. I wouldn’t be so reckless to reveal the crystals and take the chance of being murdered,” Akley knew what Han Shuo was worried about and smilingly assured.

“Well if you say so, I can be at ease. So long!” Han Shuo pointed Akley to a concealed area before waving his hand and bidding him farewell.

After going a few miles away from Akley, earth elite zombie and metal elite zombie both stood still before Han Shuo. After some communication, Han Shuo learned that metal elite zombie was unscathed. Only then was he at ease with sending the two back to the Netherworld.

“Father, this world is more suitable for our cultivation!” earth elite zombie suddenly said to Han Shuo.

Han Shuo stared blankly for a moment before he asked, “What do you mean?”

“The elements in this world are more intense than anywhere else, and it is suitable for any high-level lifeforms to live in. The Netherworld is only rich in the element of death while other elements were not even near the levels of father’s former world. The five of us cannot grow at the fastest rate if we stay in the Netherworld,” earth elite zombie explained.

Han Shuo began to contemplate in silence for a long while before he said, “Except for Little Metal, the four of you are on the verge of becoming gods. You will all stay in the Netherworld before actually becoming gods. We will discuss this in detail after you have all formed divine souls.”

“Understood!” Earth elite zombie nodded his head in a docile manner. Then, he looked at Han Shuo with pleading eyes and asked, “Father, please keep those earth divine essences for me! I will be able to absorb them after I form a divine soul and a divine body!”

“Don’t worry, I’m saving it all for you!” Han Shuo was amused as he inwardly thought, <i>These little ones are getting greedier and greedier!</i>

“You must keep it for me. I will fully comprehend that old dragon’s divine soul very soon!” earth elite zombie exhorted Han Shuo yet again as though he was afraid that Han Shuo would lose those earth divine essences somehow.

“Don’t worry, they’re in safe hands!” Han Shuo assured him smilingly and proceeded to send both earth and metal elite zombies back to the Netherworld.

After earth and metal elite zombies returned, Han Shuo flew towards the City of Shadows following the directions indicated by a villager.

Han Shuo’s mind was rather burdened with indecision during the journey there. Based on earth elite zombie’s words, the five elite zombies could grow better on Elysium. However, of the five, four of them cultivated in the energy of earth, life, fire, and water. These energies were incompatible with the Dominions of the Calamity Overgods where Han Shuo was. Were they to stay with Han Shuo, they would attract trouble sooner or later.

However, Han Shuo could not be completely at ease letting them off to the four respective Dominions separately. This plane was, after all, the Plane of Gods. There were all kinds of mighty gods all around. Han Shuo was concerned about their safety.

With that, Han Shuo was at a total loss for what to do. He had chosen to stand in the camp of the Calamity Overgods. If others were to discover his relationship with earth and wood elite zombie who cultivated in the earth element and life edict, he would be in great danger and might even be taken as a traitor by the Calamity Church.

<i>Ugh, forget about it. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. I’ll just worry about it later in time!</i> When Han Shuo could not make up his mind, he decided to just stop thinking about it. He hurried on with his journey to the City of Shadows.

The Dominion of Darkness was many times larger than Profound Continent. The City of Shadows was one of the five major cities in the Dominion of Darkness. Although it was called a city, it in fact contained several dozen smaller cities and forts of various sizes. A fort there could be bigger than the territories of the Lancelot Empire.

When Han Shuo entered the sphere of influence of the City of Shadows, he discovered that there was still a long journey ahead to the actual City of Shadows.

There were small villages all around its perimeter. After passing through thirteen or so villages, Han Shuo arrived at a fort in the perimeter of the City of Shadows.

But before Han Shuo even got close to the fort, six tall boundary towers that reached through the clouds entered his eyes. The apex of the barrier towers was glowing with deep dark radiance. They took the shape of a six-tipped star which constantly spread a powerful boundary around the fort.

Without a divine tablet and crystal coins, it was impossible to enter the fort.

Divine guards could be found stationed in the gaps between the boundary towers. Their figures were blended with darkness and their appearances indistinguishable as they coldly observed the movements of all those walking into the fort.

Han Shuo found himself mixed among a crowd of gods cultivating in the energy of darkness, death, and destruction heading to the fort. After carefully observing his surroundings, Han Shuo discovered the presence of gods who cultivated in other energy like space, earth, and fire. It appeared that the Dominion of Darkness actually did allow gods of other energies to enter.

After a moment of careful observation and listening, Han Shuo learned that, with the exception of gods who cultivated in the edict of life and element of light, all other gods were allowed entry. This was because the Calamity Overgods were eternal opponents of the Overgods of Light and Life.

Hedonist's notes:

Translator: Hedonist Editor: Emily