Chapter 450: Twelve Round Spheres (1/2)
GDK 450: Twelve Round Spheres
Without the burden that was Cecilia and her gang, Han Shuo strided into the depths of the Tarrag Canyon. Along the way, he traipsed through throngs of magical beasts, mid- and high-level ones scattered throughout.
But when Han Shuo arrived where his mystical demons had come to a halt, he no longer saw a single magical creature. A pungent scent waft in the air where Han Shuo sensed no magical elements. Something was very, very wrong.
Surveying the scene surrounding him, all Han Shuo could see was the endless trails left by magical creatures all the way into an infinite distance, millions or billions of footprints. Apart from this, there wasn’t much useful information. The few mighty presences he had sensed with his consciousness previously gave Han Shuo a sense of his own mortality.
On the plus side, Han Shuo had only himself to worry about, and with his current strength, he believed that even if he didn’t manage to defeat the forces inside, escaping unscathed wouldn’t be too much of a task, so long as he wasn’t surrounded. It was self-confidence that allowed Han Shuo to venture in alone.
Wishing not to linger for extended periods, he entered the region. That strange energy that had thwarted the mystical demons did not have the same effect on an expert like Han Shuo. With a sway of his body, Han Shuo passed through the liquid-like defense effortlessly, and proceeded with his descent with the aid of the sensing capabilities of his consciousness.
Not a moment later, the State Preceptor of the former Verdun Dynasty, Stratholme, arrived at the region where Han Shuo had just been standing. Along the way, Stratholme the old monster babbled what sounded like gibberish to himself, and only ceased his blabbering as he paused outside the region. He let out a gentle gasp. The old monster had obviously discovered the energy field meant to hinder any average person. He waved his hand, and his left hand pressed on the empty air gracefully, as though he was pushing open an incorporeal door. His body then drifted in through the air like a ghost, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Not long after Stratholme entered, another person arrived. The lightly-built old man had bushy, snowy brows so long that they flowed to his neck. From the outer perimeter of the region, lightning pierced through the invisible defense like a sword, allowing him to intrude.
Then, yet another person, a delicate and dignified madame, whose body was wrapped in layers of mist, passed seamlessly through the defense.
Soon afterwards, several more teams of adventurers, who regarded themselves with decent strength, arrived as well. Their curiosity compelled them to delve into the area, but they were nevertheless forcibly prevented by the defensive shield. No matter how hard they tried, they could not break through the defense. All they could do was gaze into the air and lament their inadequacies.
Han Shuo, the first person to intrude, carefully concealed his presence, and his enormous consciousness went from overflowing to restrained. Instead of barging all the way forward like he had previously done, he first wrapped up his own body, and hid in the shadows of some colossally tall trees, pacing himself as he journeyed forward.
Not only was any elemental energy absent in this region, but even oxygen in the atmosphere was extremely thin. Utilizing his exquisite ability to exercise control over his body, Han Shuo closed all the pores on his skin, stopped his breathing and heartbeat, and had his demonic yuan slowly revolve around the demonic infant. As a consequence, unless one caught sight of Han Shuo with their own eyes, even one with the most outstanding strength would not be able to detect Han Shuo’s presence through their perception.
Along the way, severed limbs of magical beast littered the grounds, which were further stained with various assortments of fresh, colourful blood from the magical creatures. It seemed that the mangled bodies lying around were all of high-ranking magical creatures levels two and above. Severed limbs of super-ranked creatures such as the dragon could be seen everywhere.
Without needing much thought, Han Shuo understood that it was the tragic deaths of these high-ranking magical creatures that caused all the other magical beasts of Tarrag Canyon to flee. Indeed, if not for the countless dead high-ranking creatures, the other magical beasts which had lived their whole lives in the depths of Tarrag Canyon would never desert their home all so suddenly.
What was actually going on in there? Han Shuo got even more curious.
Doing his best to blend in with his surroundings, towering trees and thick shrubs, Han Shuo hiked for another ten minutes at a moderate pace, and finally reached the deepest part of Tarrag Canyon. Once inside, the scene of an endless, crystalline lake caught Han Shuo’s eyes.
The water was so serene and pure that it looked like a huge mirror laid over the land, not even the teensiest ripple could be seen. This view of vast blue waters simply wasn’t enough, however, to distract from the surrounding landscape of the countless carcasses of super-ranked magical creatures, all of which seemed to have died under the most inexplicably gruesome circumstances, and not a single one of which wasn’t severely dismembered.
The brilliant hue that filled this great lake at the heart of the canyon resembled that of a sapphire crystal, refracting a resplendent blue under the gentle illumination of sunlight. The encircling sea of remains of super-ranked magical creatures left an exceedingly unsettling atmosphere.