Han Shuo and the Cauldron of the Myriad Demon oversaw the pandemonium from the formation crux on the surface. Combined with the Penta Elemental Undead Formation of the Five Elite Zombies, Han Shuo believed that Han Hao could safely activate the tombstone in the Pandemonium without alerting the Overgod of Death.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew through the Pandemonium. Shadows, barely visible to the naked eye, swooped through the thick mist and gathered on various demonic formations.
Han Shuo split his consciousness into millions of strands and scattered them across the Pandemonium, forming a unique boundary of soul energy that could block any form of soul probing.
Inside the gymnasium, red, yellow, gold, white and green radiances began to shoot everywhere. The five elite zombies, sitting cross-legged around the gymnasium, flooded the room with their energies, expelling all elemental energies.
Suddenly, the gymnasium seemed to have entered another dimension. Bollands, Sanguis, Gilbert and Scarlett could see inside the gymnasium, and it felt like the gymnasium was millions of light years away.
It was as if the gymnasium was no longer a part of Elysium; as if what they saw before them was an illusion. The Five Elite Zombies, Han Hao and Han Shuo were sitting right in front of them, yet they could not sense the slightest hint of their auras. If they were to close their eyes and look with only their souls, they would see an empty field of nothingness.
"The energy of the Five Elite Zombies has completely isolated the gym from the rest of the world. The law of space-time has been altered, and the gymnasium has effectively become a material plan of its own. They may seem to be right in front of us, but they are no longer part of Elysium. I don't think even an Overgod would be able to detect their activity inside," Bollands remarked in amazement, having noticed the changes in the gymnasium.
Sanguis and Gilbert were stunned. They had not expected the formation formed by the Five Elite Zombies to be so miraculous. It was as if they had created a separate, independent space-time in the gym. In this universe, the Overgod of Space might be the only other existence capable of such a miraculous feat.
Of the four, Scarlett was perhaps the most dumbfounded, as she did not know much about the House of Han, nor was she aware of the wonders of demonic arts. She was more confused when she saw the five elite zombies, none of whom were cultivating the Edict of Space, which cut the gymnasium off from the rest of the world. She almost thought she was hallucinating.
"Sanguis, Gilbert and Miss Scarlett, we should move back a bit," Bollands suggested before quickly explaining, "The space-time around the gymnasium is now very unstable. The entrance before us should be one of the few remaining links between the gymnasium and Elysium. If Han Hao does something to destabilise space-time, space-time rifts could be created and we could be trapped in a corner of the universe.
Hearing Bolland's words, Scarlett retreated hastily. Even the usually brave Gilbert jolted and quickly moved away from the gymnasium with the others, lest they be affected by the highly unstable boundary.
Han Shuo's Avatar of Destruction carefully sensed the energy filling the gym and felt the energies of the five elite zombies gradually merging. Thinking that everything was ready, he nodded to Han Hao and said, "You may begin.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Han Hao slowly closed his eyes. His chest began to throb and pulsate bizarrely. Moments later, bit by bit, the Quintessence Shard emerged from Han Hao's chest and hovered a metre in front of him.
As the Quintessence Shard emerged, the gymnasium, which had been purged of elemental energy and isolated from the outside world by the Elite Zombies, was suddenly flooded with the element of death. They poured in through the tiny rifts in space-time around the gymnasium and converged on the Shard.
"Oh no! The power of the shard is indeed extraordinary, so much so that it could absorb the lamentation of death in dimensional rifts through the space-time rifts!" cried Han Shuo in alarm, immediately commanding the Five Elite Zombies, "Use all your power and seal these space-time rifts. If we allow the element of death from the environment to enter the shard, the Overgod will surely sense it!"
Recognising the gravity of the situation, the Five Elite Zombies immediately unleashed all of their powers, releasing streams of colourful radiance that gathered and merged with the five-coloured cloud at the top of the gymnasium. The Penta-elemental Undead Formation became even more energetic, and all the space-time rifts were sealed.
At the same time, Han Shuo's consciousness, which had split and scattered to different regions, sensed the unusual flow of the Death Element in the pandemonium. It was pouring into the gymnasium through those cracks at an unimaginable speed.
Han Shuo was alarmed. He sent a portion of his consciousness into the gymnasium, forming a boundary layer around it. The thousands upon thousands of demon generals that had been wandering aimlessly around the Pandemonium suddenly shot into the boundary and stuck to it. The originally invisible barrier suddenly turned into a dark shadow. It was as if a dark egg shell had enveloped the gymnasium.
Having retreated to a safe distance, Bollands suddenly discovered that a layer of dark substance had enveloped the gymnasium. He immediately exclaimed, "It's my senior brother's energy!"
Sangui and Gilbert also detected Han Shuo's life aura on the dark substance. The spectators were shocked and stared at the black shell in astonishment as they tried to guess what was going on.
***
At the same time, over at a waterfall on the edge of the Fringe, a flash of light suddenly came from Nestor's eyes and he looked into the depths of the Fringe.
Nestor could sense a strand of energy that he was very familiar with, emanating from the depths of the Fringe. He was certain that the bearer of the Quintessence Shard must have reactivated it. He immediately began to move towards it.
However, as Nestor turned his body, he suddenly discovered that the Aura of Death seemed to be covered by some kind of energy, and he lost track of the beacon.
"Huh? What is going on? Why has the signal suddenly disappeared? This is strange..." Nestor was a little confused. He knew the properties of the Death Element Quintessence Shard better than anyone, and that there was no way to hide the pure energy the Shard emitted when used.
After furrowing his brow and pondering for a moment, Nestor still had no idea what had happened. Nevertheless, he began to move in the general direction of the shard.
***
Once a Quintessence Shard was activated, no ordinary energy could hide it. However, the energies used by Han Shuo, the Cauldron Spirit and the Five Elite Zombies were not from this universe. Using their miraculous demonic arts, they had managed to temporarily hide the purest energy emanating from the Quintessence Shard. This was why the shard had suddenly disappeared from Nestor's mind.
The millions of strands of consciousness and the tens of thousands of demon general energy had gathered to form an extremely strong defensive barrier around the gymnasium. In addition, the Five Elite Zombies had isolated the gymnasium from the Elysium. By working together, they were able to hide the energy emanating from Han Hao's Quintessence Shard.
"Good. Continue!" shouted Han Shuo's Avatar of Destruction.
Han Hao explored the secrets of the Quintessence Shard freely and without worry. The seven bone spurs on his back trembled slightly as his purple eyes fixed on the tombstone hovering before him. The abstruse inscriptions on the tombstone were vaguely visible in his eyes.
All this time, Han Hao had never dared to delve into the tombstone and study it intensively, as he had always felt the presence of the incredibly powerful being. But this time was different. With Han Shuo and the Five Elite Zombies helping him conceal the energy, Han Hao knew that he could finally study it without fear of being tracked by the Overgod of Death. He opened his soul and tried to learn the power of the tombstone and gain complete control over it.
Lines of bizarre runes began to emerge from Han Hao's eyes and slowly flowed into the tombstone. Gradually, the tombstone, which was only the size of a fist, began to expand. In a matter of moments, it had grown to several dozen metres in height. There were eerie white inscriptions slowly moving across the surface of the tombstone as if they were alive.
At that moment, Han Hao seemed very small as he sat next to the huge tombstone. But Han Hao did not appear to be panicking. The seven bone spurs on his back suddenly detached from his body and stuck to the giant gravestone.
Then, without warning, the seven bone spurs emitted blood-curdling screams and wails at the same time. Desperation, fear, pain, madness, hatred and other negative energies poured out of the bone spurs. The energy came from the countless tormented souls Han Hao had accumulated over the years.
Densely packed runes swam in Han Hao's pupils, synchronising with the tombstone in front of him. It was as if some kind of incredibly abstruse connection was being formed.
Crack... Crack...
The tombstone that had reached the top of the gymnasium continued to grow, causing a terrifying sound to echo through the gymnasium. It was as if the gymnasium was going to burst apart at any moment!
The five elite zombies had serious expressions, and their faces were drenched in sweat. It looked like they had used up a considerable amount of energy.
"Father, if the tombstone bursts through the gymnasium, this space will immediately collapse, and our remaining connection to Elysium will be severed! What should we do?" Han Jin told Han Shuo.
Han Shuo was aware of the situation. When the tombstone bursts through the gymnasium, the space-time constructed by the combined power of the five elite zombies will collapse. Even if they weren't smashed to pieces, they would still be sent to distant corners of the universe, trapped in the endless void of space for the rest of their lives, with no hope of ever seeing another living being again.
Han Shuo tried to communicate with Han Hao, but discovered that his soul was now intertwined with the tombstone. It seemed to be merging with the tombstone. During this process, Han Hao must not be distracted in the slightest, or the consequences will be unimaginable!
After a moment's hesitation, Han Shuo instructed, "He has entered the most critical stage. We must hold on. Do not push against the tombstone - we do not know how far it will go and it could have dire consequences!"
"Understood!" the Five Elite Zombies replied, gritting their teeth. It had been difficult for them to maintain the space-time, and the expanding tombstone only made the task more difficult. If it wasn't for Han Hao, they wouldn't have agreed to this without hesitation.
They were risking their lives! If space-time collapsed, their bodies and souls would be completely shattered!