Ten years passed in a flash. Han Shuo, with the help of the Five Elite Zombies, had finally managed to construct a Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester in Elysium. On the day the fruits of their labour were ready to be harvested, all the negative energy and Yuan energy gathered around the clouds above Pandemonium, as if being sucked into the formation.
Pandemonium had grown to ten times its pre-war size. Looking over, one could see huge mountains piercing the sky like swords. The few palaces in their midst seemed to be filled with traces of energy, almost visible in the moonlight.
Thanks to the energy gathered by the formation, the cultivators within Pandemonium could feel how much denser the various energies were. It was almost as if they were leaning back comfortably in a sea of different energies.
In the centre of the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester, there was an amber-coloured room that looked like the purest of crystals that continued to radiate a magnificent aura. Inside, Han Shuo sat still and motionless as a mist of smoke surrounded his body.
When the Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester began to work, it would begin to continuously gather the negative energies in the surrounding area, which could be converted into demonic yuan that Han Shuo could absorb at a rate of hundreds or thousands of times faster. Without the formation, it would take Han Shuo thousands or tens of thousands of years to bring his body's demonic yuan to the Diablo Realm.
But now, he could shorten that time by up to a thousand times. As the continent with the densest Yuan energy, Elysium had a huge concentration of energy that the formation could channel into Pandemonium. Thanks to this sudden influx of power, Han Shuo's body strengthened at a dizzying rate as he converted the negative energies. Demonic Yuan seeped into every single cell of his body, transforming it as it flowed through his veins.
Han Shuo's main body had been absorbing such energy non-stop, using the Cauldron of Myriad Demons as the focal point of the formation, helping him advance by leaps and bounds.
A decade soon passed, and the conflict was now present throughout Elysium. Ever since Yarus and Talbot had attacked the Guardians of the Dominions of Life and Light as soon as they had left the Fringe, the battle between the Dominions of Light, Life, Water, Destruction, Darkness and Death had begun for good and lasted for ten full years.
While that was a long time from the perspective of an ordinary human, it was the blink of an eye for the gods of the night. There had been only minor skirmishes during the past decade, no real major battles. It was as if the conflict was building up to something even greater.
The other divine domain weren't taking part in the battles as they had in the past, choosing instead to observe and perhaps secretly influence the situation to their advantage. The Fringe had changed a great deal in that time. The Hexopolis had long since been rebuilt, and under the leadership of the House of Han, Wasir and Salas, it was once again prosperous. No matter what gods came to the city, they wouldn't ask for a single black crystal coin to stay.
Still, it wasn't enough time for the city to fully recover from the previous conflict. Still, it was a good omen for the future. The ongoing fighting also caused many rogue gods to flee to the Fringe as refugees.
With the situation in Elysium in near-constant flux, tensions were high. Han Shou ordered the Fringe to stay out of foreign affairs and to mind their own business. With his help, the members of the House of Han improved by leaps and bounds. Many of them managed to break through a realms. Fanny, Emily and a few others who had received overgod souls improved at an even faster rate with Han Shuo's divine elixir. They were currently at the mid-stage of the Highgod Realm, and at this rate, they would soon break through to become overgods.
At present, the power of the House of Han far surpassed that of all the other great clans in Elysium. If they were to engage in battle with any capital city of any of the divine realms, they would surely win.
After word spread of Han Shuo's killing of Gyál a decade ago, the various gods of Elysium were made aware of the existence of another being as powerful as a Quintessence Overgod. As a result, Han Shuo was elevated to their level.
As Han Hao, who had become the leader of the Godhunter Alliance, he had been nowhere to be seen for the past decade. It was as if he had disappeared. No one knew his whereabouts, although Godhunters in general still appeared from time to time to plague the Divine Domains.
Apart from the three Quintessence Overgods who had met Han Hao in person, only a few knew that he had developed his own Quintessence to become the thirteenth Quintessence Overgod.
All of this was a sign that a storm was brewing in Elysium.
*****
On one faithful day, a single figure stepped into the Dominion of Death. As he stepped in, he felt a strange pulse of energy. But instead of immediately taking defensive measures, he stopped. It was as if he stood there, waiting for something to happen.
Moments later, a head appeared in the air, formed of pure death energy in Nestor's face. It looked down at the young man who had entered its domain emotionlessly and said, "You have come, Bryan.
This was indeed Han Shuo, but not his main body, but rather the amalgamation of his thirteen avatars. There was a fine line across the middle of his head that looked like a long scar. It was as if he had been split in two; the skin on the left half was white as jade, looking holy and benevolent, while the skin on the right was dark and venomous.
All this time, Han Shuo had been trying to unite the Six Fusion Avatar and the Seven Fusion Avatar, but he simply couldn't find a way. After ten years of painstaking efforts, the best he could do to reduce the rejection between two polar opposite avatars was to use the power of space to split them down the middle before fusing them.
This forcibly fused body was still considered to be two parts. If he wasn't careful, the energy bursts from the mutual rejection would cause the two halves to clash again. But that was the way he wanted it. He hoped that by observing these rejection reactions he would be able to find a way to unite them.
"Nestor, why did you send a message for me to come here?" he asked calmly.
A year ago, someone from the Dominion of Death came to Pandemonium to give Han Shuo the Seal of Nestor. When he unsealed it, he found that it was an invitation to speak in the Dominion of Death. Since his main body was still absorbing energy in the middle of the formation, he couldn't come 'in person', so he sent his Fusion Avatar instead.
"This isn't your body, is it?" Nestor asked after some observation.
Han Shuo furrowed his brow and chuckled. "Nestor, you couldn't have asked me to come here to harm me, could you?"
Now that he considered himself Nestor's equal, he spoke casually, not bothering with formalities. Back in Pandemonium, Nestor had intended to harm Han Hao. If not for the fact that he had suddenly become powerful and Han Hao had received his own Quintessence, Nestor might have actually killed him. That left a bad taste in Han Shuo's mouth, hence the lack of respect.
"If I wanted to deal with you, I wouldn't have bothered to wait until now," Nestor replied calmly, "Back when you captured Hill's soul, I knew you were in the Dominion of Death. I could've killed you ten years ago instead of letting you grow for the past ten years."
Hearing this, Han Shuo could finally be sure that the Gods of Death and Darkness were definitely aware of Han Shuo's presence in their territories. The reason they didn't act against him was perhaps because they needed some of his power to help them open Aethernia or something.
"Alright. Then why did you seek me out?" Han Shuo said, now relaxed.
"You killed Gyál, so the God of Light will no longer try to make peace with you, given his personality. The battle of the gods this time will involve every divine dominion. Even the Dominions of Space and Destiny will be embroiled in a fierce battle. The Fringe may be smaller, but it can still be considered one. What are your plans?"
Han Shuo found the question rather strange. "Are you saying you want me to join you?"
""Back then you cultivated the energies of death and destruction. That is your true nature, and you don't get along with the God of Light, so why not stand with us? But don't be in a hurry to accept or reject. Come to the dominion of darkness. The three of us will soon meet you in person to discuss this and other matters. Do not worry, you will definitely benefit from this."
After some thought, Han Shuo said, "Alright. I'll wait for the other two to come and we'll talk." Of course, they were referring to the Overgods of Destruction and Darkness.