Chapter 374: A Philosophy of Blasphemy
This chapter is unedited. etvolare is halting translations at chapter 380. Please check this post for further details.
Within the Cemetery of Death, Han Shuo collapsed in the center of the large-scale transportation array, his clothing long since ripped to pieces. His curled up, naked body constantly bled through his cuts and broken flesh. The wounds throughout his body were so deep that even his bones were visible.
Han Shuo’s magical yuan circulated silently within his unconscious body. They were like many tiny streams trickling towards his withered meridians, moistening them. One after the other, they swam towards every nook and cranny within his body, bringing a cool and refreshing feeling.
While unconscious, Han Shuo’s tattered and wounded body gradually healed at an astonishing rate. Shortly, his body had completely recovered to how he was before; with not even a trace of a scar. After his body recovered from this incredible torment, it actually seemed even firmer and stronger than before.
Because there was no sun nor moon at the Cemetery of Death, how much time had elapsed was also a mystery. As Han Shuo leisurely woke up, he noticed immediately that he was not suffering from painful cuts all over his body. Instead, the cells within his body seemed to be brimming with a surging power.
Then, moving from his curled posture and standing up with a stretch, all of the bones within his body cracked explosively nonstop. After probing his body with his consciousness, Han Shuo noticed that the vital organs within his body were still not completely healed. With a thought, he manipulated his magical yuan to wrap around them.
Waves of bizarre power came pouring into Han Shuo’s vital organs. Under the nourishment of his yuan power, Han Shuo’s vital organs began recovering faster by a hundredfold. With just a moment’s effort, the weird feeling within his body disappeared.
After a light exhale, Han Shuo left the Cemetery of Death and arrived near a torrential waterfall. Under this cascading waterfall, Han Shuo sat cross-legged on top of the rock experiencing the most turbulent waters. Despite the incomparably violent current that heavily battered Han Shuo, he stayed completely motionless, sitting erect on top of the rock.
After another few days, Han Shuo finally walked off the rock and looked towards the entrance of the underworld. After hesitating a moment, he finally started heading towards the Cemetery of Death.
Then, a mark suddenly attracted Han Shuo’s attention. He approached it and took a quick look before clearing the rocks away and extracting a letter from deep within the underground abyss. Han Shuo reassembled the message according to a special code before reading the contents of the letter.
This letter was most likely sent here through Emily’s people after she’d personally written it, describing some crucial matters. The current power struggle between the princes had reached a climax within Ossen City due to the deteriorating health of the king. This also caused Lawrence’s identity to be revealed, putting him at a severe disadvantage.
Because King Uhtred Lancelot and the chancellor of finance’s wife had had an illicit affair, resulting in Lawrence, the nobles rejected Lawrence. Furthermore, even the somewhat less traditional nobles also clearly expressed their opposition against Lawrence’s succession to the throne due to his identity.
The king was still alive and functioning well at the moment. He was forcefully suppressing the dissension and legitimizing Lawrence. However, the situation was still developing unfavorably. As of now, Lawrence’s status within Ossen City was somewhat awkward as his faction was the weakest among the princes.
Seeing His Majesty’s health continue to worsen, Lawrence felt anxious. He knew that the moment Uhtred passed away, the situation within Ossen City would be even harder to control. At that time, not only would a bastard of the king not obtain the throne, but perhaps even his life would be hard to preserve.
Yet while Lawrence was apprehensive, experiencing these incomparably troublesome and apprehensive days, Brettel City was outshining the other cities. Favorable news kept arriving one after another, describing how this waste of a city had suddenly began erupting with a new vibrant energy. Although Han Shuo was far from the empire’s capital, his name continued to resound, making him more and more famous.
Precisely because of this, Lawrence suddenly thought of Han Shuo, hoping he would return to Ossen City and help him. During such a crucial moment, Lawrence hoped that while Uhtred had yet to die he could borrow Han Shuo’s support to improve the situation. At the very least, Lawrence could still make the other princes somewhat more apprehensive with Han Shuo in Ossen City.
Han Shuo had already made his decision after he finished reading the contents.
The moment he entered the Cemetery of Death, a dragon’s melodious howl resonated throughout the entire cemetery. Fortunately there was an enchantment enveloping the entire cemetery that never dispersed, or the sound would’ve travelled for hundreds of miles.
“Honorable Master, you have finally returned.” Gilbert was in his dragon form hovering in the skies, but after seeing him, he swept directly towards Han Shuo.
Gilbert’s body seemed to have enlarged somewhat while the scales covering his body had become pitch black. He exuded a sinister, ancient, and desolate feeling. Han Shuo knew that this sinister aura came naturally from Gilbert, while that ancient and desolate feeling was due to absorbing the green dragon beast’s crystal core.
After the uproar, his enormous body gradually shrank and transformed into a person with coarse black skin. His dark black eyes had an additional hint of otherworldliness to them. However, because his body’s sinister aura was too heavy, that hint of otherworldliness was completely hidden.
Han Shuo only shot a glance at Gilbert before immediately sensing a stronger power from Gilbert’s body. He asked with a smile, “How was it?”
“Great! Fantastic! That green dragon beast’s crystal core had an extraordinarily powerful energy which allowed me to advance to the second level of a super rank magical beast. Additionally, I feel that even though I am just at the middle of the second level, my current strength is still extraordinarily powerful. Muahaha! Thank you very much for your grace Master.” Gilbert laughed loudly and heartily, his voice brimming with satisfaction.
“I have received news from the underground world and I believe it will spark your interest a little.”Han Shuo waited until Gilbert’s exuberant laugh subsided before saying in a measured tone.
“What news? Hehe, I have finally recognized that my decision to follow you, Master, was a correct one. If I didn’t follow you Master, how would I be able to advance to the second level so quickly?” Gilbert clearly understood that all of this was due to Han Shuo’s favors. Thus, he couldn’t help but to start bootlicking.
“Gilbert, who would’ve thought that you would actually be the grandson of the underground world’s dark dragon patriarch. You brat, your background is not humble.” Han Shuo was all smiles as he looked at Gilbert. Gilbert felt taken aback, Han Shuo continued, “That patriarch grandpa of yours seems to be extremely worried about you. He even got the dark elves to scout for word of you. It seems like you, runaway-brat, is actually quite the favorite.”
“Great Master, how could you know about these things? Could it be that you’ve actually entered the underground world’s dark dragon city? The astonished Gilbert looked at Han Shuo as he puzzledly pushed for answers.
Gilbert had never told anyone about his identity. Thus, he believed that there shouldn’t be anyone who could know this. He truly felt confused now that he had heard such a statement indicating a clear understanding of his origins from Han Shuo.
“Your dark dragon city has some prisoners. Among them is a group of powerful dark elves from the previous generation. One of them was called Adele. Do you recognize this name?
“Adele. I seem to have heard of this name, however I have never seen her before. Within our dark dragon City, there are indeed some fellows imprisoned within that have grossly offended us. However, I just don’t have any interest in such things. Master, why do you ask?”
“It’s precisely because this Adele had made a promise to your grandpa that she would help to find your whereabouts. However, I’ve already killed her. Not long ago, I absorbed the energy on her body. As a result, I nearly brought trouble to myself and received a backlash. So, I want to ask about things pertaining to Adele.”
After hearing this from Han Shuo,Gilbert was extremely surprised. Then, he stared into space before saying,”I heard that this Adele seems to be the former matriarch of the dark elf clan. She can use the faith of the dark elves to connect to the evil goddess Rose. As a result, she possesses some extraordinarily frightening powers in bed.”
“Adele has been imprisoned within dark dragon city for many years now and it is said that she is extraordinarily beautiful. Considering the fact that our race has such a lustful temperament, we would’ve already jumped on top of her long ago. However, precisely because she can use the power of Rose, not a single dark dragon dares to forcefully take her to bed. They fear that she will suddenly use some treacherous methods while under pleasure.”
“Master, it is also said that Adele herself is also extraordinarily powerful. I’m afraid that even our clan’s second and third ranked dark dragons are not a match for her. It is said that due to her devout faith in Rose, Adele can communicate with Rose and acquire her divine energy. Our dark dragon race is deeply afraid that killing her will provoke the anger of that evil goddess. Thus, we have continued to only keep her imprisoned within. Don’t tell me that you’ve truly killed her?”
“I f*cked her to death!” Han Shuo calmly replied.
“Wahaha….” The little lascivious Gilbert became excited as he looked at Han Shuo with worship, “Master, what happened? Do tell! Hurry and tell your faithful servant the specifics of the situation.”
Seeing Gilbert suddenly becoming excited right after hearing this, Han Shuo walloped him angrily. Only then did he describe the things that he had experienced. Finally, after describing the previous incident where there was a hard to suppress lust, he calmly continued, “I can guarantee that when I went crazy with lust not long ago, besides the energy that I had absorbed from Adele, there was also an even more tremendous and sinister power within my body. That strand of energy brought with it a bit of aura that shouldn’t exist within this plane. If things are as I predict, it probably came from the Spider Goddess Rose. I really don’t know how this could’ve happened. Don’t tell me that the fact that I killed Adele was actually discovered! Could there actually be the existence of deities within this world?”
Listening to Han Shuo’s description of his experiences, Gilbert’s previous excitement transformed into rare seriousness. After thinking for a moment, he said to Han Shuo, “Master, I’ve heard from Grandpa* that this world is not as simple as we think. Even with our dark dragon powers, we can only live in the underground world as if we are suffering from some kind of restriction. Even though my grandpa’s power is frightening, he still can’t avoid such restrictions. I can’t think of anything else that can actually constrain our race within the underground world besides the universal concept of gods.”
Knitting his eyebrows tightly, Han Shuo couldn’t help but to raise his head towards the gloomy and deathly still sky of the Cemetery of Death, sunless and moonless all year round. He began thinking of the Church of Light’s Deity of Light, the Temple Knights, the holy aura on Kosse’s body, and the feeling that Han Shuo felt from the Revelation artifact.
Then he thought of the existence of the Calamity Church and the skeletal staff within his own hands. When he’d first held this skeletal staff, he entered an absentminded state and saw the shadow of a ten thousand meter giant in his mind. Now that Han Shuo had gained a faint layer of understanding, gradually believing in that kind of imaginary existence of gods.
“Master, perhaps you were really attacked by that spider goddess last time. However, it is said that deities cannot truly intervene with the mortal plane. Else, they would suffer restrictions from the laws of this spatial world. Look, even that excessively evil spider goddess cannot do anything to you. This is sufficient proof that even she cannot violate this all-powerful law. There is no need for us to fear her.” The dark dragon Gilbert casually consoled Han Shuo.
Silently nodding his head, Han Shuo finally recognized how insignificant he was. Thinking of the giant’s presence that emitted an aura from millions and millions of years ago, Han Shuo couldn’t help but to feel some reverence within his heart as he said to Gilbert, “Indeed, we cannot surmise the existence of deities, however these deities must be subjected to this spatial world’s restrictive powers. Otherwise, the moment they descend onto this plane, this plane would possibly be turned into ruins.”
“Mmn, the deities must also be antagonistic towards each other, otherwise the Church of Light and the Calamity Church would not wage war for so many years.” Gilbert was also agnostic and didn’t have any feelings towards them at all. Regardless of whether they were evil or righteous gods, he remained as carefree as always, seemingly without a care for the world.
Han Shuo did not think much more about it as he nodded his head, “Alright, since you’ve already evolved to the second level, then you should proceed to the Valley of Sunshine and help Trunks. I believe that the Valley of Sunshine will have a large disturbance soon. If you are within the Valley of Sunshine then the Soul Destroyer Mercenary will be somewhat more secure. Ah, right, you need to pay attention to the matters pertaining to dark dragon city. Your grandpa has been constantly looking for you. I think that even if you don’t return, you should still let someone deliver some news to your grandpa so he won’t need to worry.
“I understand Master, I think that if my grandpa knew I’ve already entered the second level, he will definitely be extremely happy. When I was in dark dragon city, that old guy would constantly pressure me to cultivate for the entire day. I’ve already cultivated or all these years yet I was still at the first level. Now look at me, it’s been barely any time since I’ve left, yet I’ve already succeeded in my advancement. This clearly indicates that his methods are useless!” Gilbert indifferently replied to Han Shuo, seeming wholly unconcerned with his master’s words.
“Alright, I need to return to Ossen City and deal with some matters. However, I will constantly pay attention to the matters within the Valley of Sunshine.” Han Shuo informed him. Then, after Gilbert left, he too took a step into the transportation array.