Chapter 396: Sacred swordmaster’s proposal (2/2)
“Bryan, is-is your master currently still in the Profound Continent? C-can I visit him?” While Han Shuo was letting his imagination run wild, the emotions of sacred swordmaster Karel was suddenly in chaos, his eyes glistening as he looked at Han Shuo and asked.
Han Shuo abruptly returned from his wild thoughts, smiling bitterly as he shook his head. Repeating what he said to Bollands to fob Karel off,“After Master imparted this martial technique to me, he departed from the Profound Continent. I’m also clueless regarding his whereabouts. I’m sorry.”
“So that is the case!” Karel was clearly somewhat disappointed as he muttered, “It’s truly a pity. I’ve already remained in this rank for so long, if I have the opportunity to meet such a formidable person and maybe ask for guidance regarding some problems, perhaps I would be able to break through my bindings…”
For people who have reached the level of sacred swordmaster Karel, their only concern was to constantly improve their strength. At his age, he was already numb toward wealth, rank, fame, and power. Even the strength of a country was unable to contain people like him and they only longed for and pursued the rumored half-divine realm mentioned by their ancestors.
“Previously when I visited the underground world, I met a grade five magical creature. Maybe you have already found out some information about him through the Dark Mantle. The Ancient Lizard King Dagassi had left after reaching the half-divine realm. I suspect that maybe he has also left the Profound Continent and headed for a more expansive plane.” Han Shuo was silent for a while before suddenly speaking again.
Karel who was contemplating something was roused by Han Shuo’s statement. Soon after, Karel sighed and said, “Legends have said that those who reach the half-divine realm would be actively approached by the guardian of the plane of the Profound Continent and the guardian could assist these characters to break away from the Profound Continent’s constraints.
This information was told to us by Stranglethorn Vale’s Stratholme when we previously went to the Seven Grand Duchies. Stratholme was only a step away from the half-divine realm and he vaguely knew some of the Profound Continent’s deeper secrets. It appears that the half-divine magical creature should have obtained the qualifications to leave.”
Old demon Stratholme! Han Shuo creased his brows when he heard of this person once again, this time from Karel. Han Shuo completely understood Stratholme’s true strength, a step away from the half-divine realm. It would seem that he was more formidable than Karel.
Only experts that reached the strength of half-divine realm would possess the qualifications to be summoned by the plane’s guardian. It seemed like the Profound Continent was indeed full of unknown mysteries. Han Shuo was secretly alarmed as he replied, “I reckon that Dagassi has indeed left. Ah, such a distant dream, I truly don’t know when would I have such qualifications.”
“You still have a long time to explore. Furthermore, you have a good master and ought to be quicker than us. Ai, for people like us who are already too old, this bottleneck has been restricting us all along. We can only wait bitterly if we are unable to make a breakthrough.” Karel sighed, his snow-white hair and loose skin demonstrating the ruthlessness of time. An expert like him could really live much longer than ordinary people but the distance of this final step was incomparably far.
As he looked at Karel, this was the first time Han Shuo realized that even those supreme characters in the Lancelot Empire had their own troubles. Perhaps this was also his only worry! Han Shuo didn’t know how to respond and only maintained taciturn in front of Karel, waiting for Karel to awaken from his moodiness.
After a while, Karel vaguely had a trace of comprehension. He then looked at Han Shuo engrossingly, smiling as he said, “I’ve heard Bollands describe many of your miracles but I’ve still never truly seen your martial technique. Maybe your martial technique would be able to give me some inspiration. If you don’t mind, we can spar a little.”
Han Shuo was somewhat startled that with Karel’s status, he would suggest to spar with himself. However, Han Shuo understood that what Karel fancied was the technique he practiced and not Han Shuo’s personal strength.
Han Shuo stared blankly for a moment before smiling and replied modestly, “A spar is out of the question. For you to be willing to advise me is already more than I could wish for. Do forgive me in advance for being presumptuous.”
Karel seemed to appreciate Han Shuo’s straightforwardness, smiling as he nodded his head and said, “Don’t worry, just use your martial technique to attack me. I’m extremely curious about your martial technique. Let’s see what’s the difference with the fighting aura I cultivated!”
Han Shuo was similarly excited when he heard Karel’s sentence as he had not figured out his true strength ever since he reached the separate demon realm. Han Shuo felt sufficiently confident when facing great swordsman ranked opponents but he had yet to come across sacred swordmaster ranked experts.
Although the dark elves’ matriarch Adele that he previously met in the underground world was extremely strong, Han Shuo realized as he stood before Karel that Adele was still weaker than Karel. Furthermore, Han Shuo didn’t truly fight with Adele previously,purely using evil ways to harvest yin to replenish yang and sucked Adele dry and not genuinely fought with Adele.
Han Shuo could perhaps be able to truly understand the current strength of his separate demon realm through fighting with sacred swordmaster Karel. This would also help him make an accurate judgment the next time he met a strong opponent. Therefore, Han Shuo was somewhat excited when he heard Karel’s proposal for them to spar.
“The martial technique i practice is called demonic magic, which resembles fighting aura but has different characteristics to fighting aura. Perhaps you would be able to sense it in a while.” Han Shuo retreated a few steps, the Demonslayer Edge suddenly appearing in his hand.
“For Bollands to think so highly of you, it proves that your martial technique definitely has its peculiarities. Hehe, Bryan, you don’t need to hold back. Don’t hesitate to attack me.” Karel stood up from the boulder, taking out a translucent longsword from his spatial ring. The longsword was three fingers wide, a hundred and thirty centimeters in length and had a cross engraved on the sword hilt.