GDK 774: Infamous
The news of Hofs losing his right arm spread to the entire Darkness Dominion in no time. Every family clan of every city would discuss the incident that took place in Hushveil City. Han Shuo and Rose had suddenly become the center of attention of the Darkness Dominion.
Although it’s been some time since Han Shuo and Rose thrown Hushveil City into chaos, as none of the populace of Hushveil City had met them before, Hushveil City had no clue about the ident.i.ty of the murderers even till now. However, most people suspected that the murderers originated from the House of Sainte.
Wallace and Andre, who knew that their House of Sainte had no partic.i.p.ation in the matter, were forced to answer and respond to the widespread rumors and accusations, distancing themselves from the Hushveil City incident. With that, the ident.i.ty of the mysterious a.s.sa.s.sins became more mysterious.
After losing an arm, Hofs turned unusually low profile. He paid no heeds to things happening in Hushveil City but went into seclusion to focus on healing his injuries. Without Hofs being available to explain what actually happened, the rumors became more and more distorted from the truth. Unknowingly, the public’s depiction of Han Shuo and Rose became more and more malevolent and monstrous.
*** The City of Shadows, the Sainte Residence.
Wallace and Andre had just handled yet another wave of questions from City Lords of other cities in the Dominion. They wanted to learn from Wallace if those two attackers who had made an enormous mess in Hushveil City originated from the House of Sainte.
“Who could it be?” mumbled Wallace in a thoughtful face. He continued, “Although Hofs is the weakest of the Seven City Lords, he is nonetheless a late-stage highG.o.d expert. But unexpectedly, he would lose an arm to an attacker in the territory of his Hushveil City. How unimaginable!”
“Why? Why Avery and Ha.s.sling? What grudges would the attackers have with the two?” asked Andre. He too was puzzled and confused.
“Well, in any case, we have everything to gain and nothing to lose in Avery and Ha.s.sling being dead. Haha, no wonder everyone would suspect that the attackers came from our family clan!” Wallace laughed and exclaimed, “Although I can easily defeat Hofs in a duel, I doubt I could easily escape from the encirclement of so many Hushveil City experts and even kill so many of their divine guards. That fella is truly miraculous!”
“Brother, could it be Bryan?” A strong suspicion rose from Andre’s heart. With his brows bunched, he said, “In the City of Shadows, other than our family clan, only Bryan held grudges with both Avery and Ha.s.sling. In addition, Bryan is an expert in concealing himself and his skills in escaping are extraordinary. On top of all that, Bryan has recently disappeared without any explanation. I doubt it is just a coincidence!”
“That’s impossible,” Wallace shook his head smilingly. He turned to look an Ande and explained, “Although that chap possessed decent strength, he is not that strong, is he? I know Hofs’ strength. There’s no way Bryan can cut off his arm. It’s impossible. Definitely impossible.”
“Don’t be so sure!” Andre put on a solemn face and refuted, “We do not know of Bryan’s actual strength for sure. We could detect Andrina, the daughter of the G.o.ddess of Destiny, was concealing her actual strength from the start. But as to Bryan, if he had not struck Portlem back at the banquet hall, how would we have known that he actually possesses such great strength?”
Andre took a deep breath before asking Wallace in a deep voice, “Brother, if it’s actually Bryan who did it, what should we do?”
Wallace kept silent for a moment before he replied, “If it really is Bryan, that’d be even more wonderful!”
“But what about Hushveil City?” asked Andre.
“Hofs have been injured. Hushveil City has greatly diminished in strength. I have no fear of him!” Wallace coldly groaned and continued, “His Hushveil City had secretly sheltered Avery. I have yet to settle scores with him on that matter. He is in no position to pressure us on anything.” Then after a short pause, Wallace laughed and said, “If it really was Bryan, it wouldn’t be too big of an issue. The last time that I met the OverG.o.d of Darkness, I have mentioned about Bryan. The Lord instructed that our family clan must give Bryan the best treatment hearing that the G.o.ddess of Destiny has expressed Her goodwill to Bryan. Tell me, would that chap be in any sort of trouble?”
“The G.o.ddess of Destiny is truly influential!” After thinking for a moment, Andre softly exclaimed in admiration, “This chap is really a lucky one!”
“He is.” Wallace said in a faint smile, “But we must be overthinking. That chap likely does not have that much strength yet… ”
***
The rumors had naturally also found their way to the ears of the House of Han. Sanguis, Bollands, Gilbert, and others knew that Han Shuo and Rose were the mysterious attackers without needing to think.
Before Han Shuo traveled to Hushveil City, he had met with the three and introduced them to Rose. He had also revealed that he was up to something big. The three offered to help Han Shuo in his mission but Han Shuo rejected them with the excuse that they might be a burden to him.
After listening to the details about the incident at Hushveil City, they became absolutely certain that the two daring perpetrators who committed outrageous crimes in Hushveil City must be Han Shuo and Rose. Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert were surprised by the realization. They could not be more admiring of Han Shuo’s strength.
Soon enough, other core members of the Han Family such as Emily, Phoebe, Strathole, and Ayermike learned about the truth from the three. Knowing that they must keep the insider information to themselves, the core members of the Han Family agreed to keep it a secret and to only discuss it in private.
The divine guards from the Fifth Corps had also previously met Rose. However, as there was plenty of white-haired lady in the Darkness Dominion and as most people did not know Han Shuo well, other than those of the Han Family, no one suspected that Han Shuo and Rose were the perpetrators.
One month later, Han Shuo and Rose returned to the City of Shadows.
Along the journey home, Han Shuo collected all sorts of precious and rare medicinal ingredients found on Elysium. He used the ingredients to produce many pelleted medicines that nourish his demonic infant. After one month of nursing, his demonic infant was slowly starting to recover. However, complete recovery would take a longer time.
Unlike the demonic body, the demonic infant doesn’t heal from injuries easily. This was why Cauldron Spirit spontaneously withdrew its energy from Han Shuo’s body as soon as it detected that Han Shuo’s demonic infant was injured.
While using natural herbs and ingredients to nourish his demonic infant, Han Shuo a.s.siduously practiced fusing his domains of divinity. He had discovered the knack of forming the miraculous domain and understood that the domains would amalgamate once the divine souls of his avatars become in synchrony with his consciousness.
Han Shuo had yet to figure out all the miraculous powers of the amalgamated domain of divinity. However, he knew that this new and amazing domain of divinity was powerful enough to contend against that of Hofs’. From the last battle, Han Shuo discovered a novel cultivation path – the fusion of the energy of death and destruction!
After one month of fumbling about, Han Shuo discovered that boundaries deployed within the amalgamated domain of divinity would be multiple times stronger than any released by his avatars alone. The new domain would also allow faster than usual absorption of elements from the environment. It also possessed hostile and aggressive characteristics. Learning all these had filled Han Shuo with great excitement.
Before Han Shuo had time to fully familiarize with his new domain of divinity, he had arrived at the City of Shadows with Rose. To avoid unwanted attention, Han Shuo asked Rose to cover her long hair with a green headscarf, concealing her most eye-catching and distinctive feature.
Han Shuo had heard a little about the widespread rumors about himself. He did not expect that he would become so infamous for his deeds in Hushveil City. He felt a little odd to be the center of attention of the entire Darkness Dominion while those around him had no idea that he was the person they were discussing.
Soon, they returned to the Han Residence. Seeing the refres.h.i.+ng decorations in his home covered with flowers and plants, Han Shuo’s heart became at ease.
Rose seemed very interested in the landscaping of the Han Residence. The Profound Continent-style of decoration happened to fit Rose’s likings. She suddenly felt that perhaps a bustling and crowded city isn’t all that dull.
But what made Rose felt even more at ease was being beside Han Shuo. After having spent much time with Han Shuo, Rose gradually understood him better. Although she was technically his slave, Han Shuo had never treated her like a slave.
This was especially true when they faced great dangers. Instead of having his slave bear the brunt, Han Shuo risked getting injured to keep her alive. Because of this, Rose no longer feel too worried about being bound by Han Shuo as his slave. She even felt that it wasn’t all that bad.
As soon as Han Shuo stepped into his Han Residence, his apprentices, harem, and other members came to welcome his return. They soon went into a secret chamber for discussion.
Han Shuo was informed that no major event had taken place during his absence. The only major event that will take place soon was the compet.i.tion between the Seven Corps. The members of the House of Han were very curious about Han Shuo’s deeds in Hushveil City and kept on asking for his account.
Han Shuo had expected that the members of his family clan would figure out that he was responsible for the chaos in Hushveil City. He did not deny it but narrated the story once through without too many details. Emily and the others would secretly take a peek at Rose while Han Shuo told the story. They were shocked and amazed by the terrifying might of this silver-haired beauty.
“From today onwards, she is a member of our House of Han!” declared Han Shuo as he pointed at Rose.
“Master, we have transported the materials for the Eight Desolation and Torment Formation to the Residence. Should we set it up in the largest gymnasium?” asked Gilbert.
The members of the House of Han, especially Stratholme and the others, were greatly interested in the Formation. The divine guards of the Fifth Corps, Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert had told the Han Family members a thing or two about the Formation. They could not wait to temper themselves using the Formation.
A great majority of the divine guards who entered the Formation had obtained some improvement in strength. Inferring from his divine guards’ achievements, Han Shuo was sure that his talented clansmen and clanswomen would obtain a deeper understanding of the energy they cultivated after a round of tempering inside the Formation. Their strengths too would increase.
“Very well. We will rea.s.semble the Eight Desolation and Torment Formation in the House of Han. Hehe, this time, I can increase the power of the Formation to an even greater level. Sanguis, Bollands, Gilbert, if you are interested, I can let you have a taste of being attacked by highG.o.d sous!” said Han Shuo in an evil smile. He had obtained a large number of divine souls from Hushveil City. He had even reaped several highG.o.d divine souls in the journey. This will allow the power of the Formation to be pushed to a higher level and make the tempering process more effective.