Tombstone inscriptions that could fill libraries suddenly flooded into Han Hao's mind, instantly stunning him. He became as still as a stone.
Meanwhile, the tombstone that emerged from his chest continued to gather the elements of death, as if it wouldn't stop until every element of death in the Fringe had been drained. But this time, instead of growing in size as it gathered the element of death, the tombstone radiated a ghastly white light.
The tombstone was densely packed with inscriptions, and only a portion of them had separated from the tombstone and entered Han Hao's brain. The remaining inscriptions began to wriggle on the tombstone as it was illuminated by the ghastly white light, absorbing the element of death pouring in from all directions.
Scarlett, who had been blasted away, was horrified. Not knowing what had happened to Han Hao, she stared at him in panic for a moment before trying to get closer to Han Hao to get a clearer picture. But before she could get close, another burst of energy erupted from the tombstone, blasting her away again.
The burst of energy was intertwined with a strand of Han Hao's consciousness. He had reduced the power erupting from the tombstone. Otherwise, given Scarlett's strength, the energy would have instantly disintegrated her soul instead of just throwing her safely into the distance.
After several more failed attempts, Scarlett gave up trying to approach Han Hao. She stood in the distance and watched him anxiously, hoping that he would not be injured by this tombstone that had appeared out of nowhere.
The ghastly white radiance began to flow away from the tombstone and towards Han Hao like a most bizarre liquid...
The motionless Han Hao was slowly enveloped by the liquid of white light before every piece of clothing on him was suddenly torn off and ejected, leaving his body naked in front of Scarlett. His pale white skin gradually became transparent, as if it had been transformed into a clear crystal. Scarlett could even see his veins, organs and skeleton.
Then, through the pores of his skin, the ghastly white light began to seep into Han Hao's body, spreading to every bone and organ. He began to emanate a death energy aura of extreme purity.
Scarlett was relieved to see that the white light on the tombstone was not harming Han Hao, but nourishing him and transforming his body. She stared at the transformation in amazement, guessing what the divine weapon on Han Hao's chest was, and wondering how something so wonderful and powerful could be forged.
After a long, long time, all the white radiances had merged with Han Hao's body and the tombstone suddenly shrank and disappeared into his chest.
At the same time, the element of death stopped flowing into the area and the environment immediately returned to normal.
A moment later, Han Hao took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes. The volumes of scriptures quickly disappeared from his pupils and he returned to normal.
Han Hao gently knit his eyebrows and muttered to himself, "So this thing is called a Quintessence Shard..."
"Han Hao, are you all right?" exclaimed Scarlett as she rushed over to Han Hao immediately after sensing that the boundary protecting Han Hao had vanished. She reached out a hand to touch Han Hao's chest where the tombstone had disappeared to examine him.
Han Hao shook his head. His hazy eyes returned to their usual cold calm. He looked at Scarlett, who was still a little panicked, and replied quietly, "Don't worry, I'm fine. My body and soul have just changed for the better and I've learnt a few things."
"What exactly just happened?" Scarlett was surprised to hear that even his soul had changed.
"Nothing..." Han Hao did not explain. He lowered his head and looked at his naked body before pulling a black warrior's robe from his space ring and casually putting it on.
It seemed that it was only now that Scarlett realised that Han Hao was still unclothed. She covertly glanced at Han Hao's naked body before turning away from Han Hao, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
After putting on his new clothes as if nothing had happened, Han Hao instructed, "Come, let's get started.
***
Nestor, the Overgod of Death, was still searching for traces of the Quintessence Shard near the border of the Space Dominion. Suddenly, he turned and looked in the direction of the Fringe. From the towering mountain, he muttered to himself, "It's in the Fringe... Who could it be? Is it one of the Sovereigns? With the general location known, it will be much easier to find the bearer..."
The Overgod of Death, who had been hiding his omnipotent power, stopped wandering aimlessly around the region and headed for the Fringe.
***
Over on the Fringe, the Osteoburg.
Logue, a cultivator of the energy of death, was receiving the leaders of various factions who wished to submit to his rule. Without warning, Logue turned in horror and looked in the direction of Han Hao with horror on his face.
"My lord, what is the matter?" asked one of Logue's henchmen after seeing Logue suddenly stop his speech and reveal the bizarre reaction.
Logue did not answer. He rose from his seat and stared fixedly in Han Hao's direction. Fear was written all over his face. After staring for a while, he muttered to himself, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! The Overgod of Death would never come to the Fringe. But besides the Overgod, who else could possess such awesome and pure power?"
"My lord, is everything all right?" asked Logue's henchman again.
"That will be all for today. The plan remains the same. I must go," Logue said, before immediately leaving his Osteoburg and a group of confused and bewildered guests.
***
Over at the Pandemonium.
Over the past six months, the members of the House of Han had fully assimilated the divine souls in the crystal balls that Han Shuo had given them. And during that time, the Pandemonium had consumed a ton of divine essence of various energies. The large stockpile of divine essences that Metal Elite Zombie and the House of Han had accumulated over the years had been almost completely used up in those six months.
As their realm status improved, they began to increase their divine energy levels by absorbing divine essences. This allowed them to make rapid breakthroughs. However, since Divine Essence was rare and expensive, even the filthy rich House of Han and Metal Elite Zombie were unable to acquire enough of it. As a result, the Pandemonians began to face a shortage.
To make matters worse, certain types of Divine Essence were in greater demand, as most members of the House of Han cultivated the same Fundamental Forces. The Divine Essences of the Death and Dark Elements had already been exhausted two months earlier.
This left the Pandemonians in a frustrating situation. In order to advance to the next realm, one needed to possess the appropriate depth of insight and divine energy. These House of Han members had the former, but lacked the latter. They felt stuck, and gradually they became somewhat desperate.
Although it was easier to gain divine energy than it was to gain the deep understanding and insight of a fundamental energy, it was still a process that took time. Even though the concentration of elemental energy in the Pandemonium was much greater than elsewhere, and its cultivation was accelerated, these House of Han members still felt that it would be too slow. It would take them at least several decades to accumulate enough divine energy for each breakthrough if they only cultivated in the Pandemonium.
Even though several decades wasn't that long, given their ridiculously long lifespans, it still seemed like an excruciatingly long time to these House of Han members when there was a much faster alternative.
None of these core members of the House of Han were Godhunters. However, some of their henchmen, such as Goron and the others, were. The members of the House of Han, thirsting for more power, began to question them about a certain subject. It seemed as if they were tempted to commit the crime.
One day, Han Shuo, who was cultivating in his underground gymnasium in the Pandemonium, finally made a great breakthrough. By assimilating two Late-stage Highgod souls and consuming divine energy, his two avatars reached the Late-stage Highgod realm.
With the help of his miraculous and powerful consciousness, his two avatars managed to quickly digest the sea of memories contained within the Late-stage Highgod souls. And as someone with complete control over his mind, Han Shuo was immune to the addiction that came from consuming another person's divine energy. Therefore, he would occasionally venture outside the Pandemonium to capture unsuspecting Fringedwellers and devour their divine energy.
As a result, Han Shuo's avatars were able to reach the realm of the Late-stage Highgod in just six months. He was progressing much faster than his family clan members.
"Stratholme, gather every core member of my house. I have something to say." Han Shuo did not immediately proceed with the stabilisation of the new realms, nor did he experiment with the power of his hybrid domain of divinity. As soon as his avatars had reached the new realms, he emerged from his gymnasium and gave Stratholme the instruction.
Soon, every core member of the House of Han was gathered before Han Shuo.
"I know you are all getting impatient, and some of you are even thinking of becoming Godhunters," Han Shuo said as he scanned the group, his glaring gaze moving a little slower as it swept over Gilbert, Ayermike and a few others. Han Shuo's consciousness covered the entire pandemonium and he knew every slightest movement and sound they made.
Han Shuo continued in a serious voice, "But this is not something you can just stop once you start. Yes, your strength will improve rapidly, but you will also descend into madness at an even faster rate. You will lose self-control; your mind will be corrupted, your intellect perverted, and you will not be able to stop for the rest of your life! The long term costs of this far outweigh the benefits. I command you all now - don't even think about doing it! Never!"
Han Shuo knew how addictive it was to consume another person's divine energy. Few in the universe could break the addiction. He and Han Hao had only been able to overcome it because of their extraordinary circumstances and abilities.
"Master, what should we do? I can break through right now, I just need more divine energy!" asked Gilbert, who seemed rather desperate.
"Don't worry, I have a plan," Han Shuo replied confidently.