CHAPTER 131: Some Rejoice, Some Worry

The Dark Forest was now covered in a thick layer of snow. Han Shuo sloshed through it as he made his way to the dwarves' village.

The dwarves had been forced to leave their village because of the forest trolls. Although Han Shuo vaguely knew where they had moved to with the help of the original demons, he wasn't exactly sure where they had gone for such a long time.

The forest trolls had left long ago and hadn't reappeared. Han Shuo felt that the dwarves wouldn't necessarily be willing to give up their old village, so he decided to head in that direction first.

When Han Shuo arrived at the entrance to the village and looked around, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. From the various hiding places and arrangements around the passageway, Han Shuo could tell that the dwarves hadn't left.

Han Shuo whistled long and loud, shaking the accumulated snow from the tree branches. His sensitive ears heard the sound of approaching footsteps as several dwarf warriors with battle axes appeared after a short while, approaching from a distance with cautious expressions on their faces.

"Don't worry, it's only me, I've returned as promised." Han Shuo shouted immediately before the dwarf warriors could get close to him.

The dwarf warriors in the distance all let out involuntary sighs of relief when they heard Han Shuo's voice. As they walked over to Han Shuo, one of them said, "Many things have been difficult now that winter has arrived. Even though the village is exposed, we are unable to build proper houses in such a short time, so even though we knew of the potential danger here, we still didn't want to suffer in the cold and returned to the village."

"Winter is here, so this time I've come to bring you some winter rations and thick clothing. You can also rest easy about the forest trolls. They won't bother you anymore." Han Shuo smiled slightly and comforted the dwarves.

The dwarves immediately cheered when they heard this. Their expressions were astonishingly overjoyed and filled with sincere joy and celebration.

"This is wonderful! We've eaten most of the rations you brought last time in the last few days. The Chief thought something had happened to you because you hadn't turned up for so long, but we didn't know how to help you either, so all we could do was worry about you. It's wonderful that you've come. Let's hurry and go to the village and tell everyone the good news. The dwarf who had spoken earlier spoke joyfully as his short, sturdy legs moved quickly forward towards the depths of the village.

When they heard that Han Shuo had come, all the dwarves who had been warming themselves indoors from the frosty winter weather came out one by one to greet Han Shuo.

"Oh, it's fantastic that you're all right Han. We were so worried about you." The dwarf warrior Bennett spoke with a look of surprise.

Han Shuo said little and walked over to an area of flat ground that had been cleared of snow. Then, with a smile, he took the rations and daily necessities out of his space ring. He spread them out and gathered them into piles that covered a large area.

"These are the rations and necessities I've brought with me this time, along with some thick clothing to keep you warm this winter. Also, you won't have to worry about the forest trolls making trouble for you in the future. You can live here in peace and without worry, the forest trolls won't cause you any trouble in the future. Han Shuo explained as he watched the dwarves' joy. He felt that his actions had elicited an appropriate response.

All of the dwarves were overjoyed to see the floor covered with rations and necessities. Even the female dwarves, children and elderly who had been hiding in their houses came out when they heard the news and began to cheer in the distance.

"Thank you Han, if it weren't for your rations and necessities, I think many of us would starve and freeze to death this winter. These rations and clothes are enough to get us through the winter. How can we thank you?" Chief Calvin knelt before Han Shuo in the dwarves' grand gesture and spoke with great gratitude.

"We are friends, so say nothing of gratitude." Han Shuo replied.

To be honest, these rations and clothes weren't worth much money, but it was a bit difficult for the merchants to transport them over. Therefore, after entering the Dark Forest, whether it was the forest trolls, dwarves, or other species, everyone would be willing to pay a high price in exchange for rations and daily necessities.

However, with the transport matrix in the cemetery of death and the large capacity of the space ring, this task, which would have required many men and resources, was easily accomplished by Han Shuo without any difficulty.

"Han, you said that the forest trolls would no longer bother us, is that because the elves have already waged war against them and completely destroyed them?" The dwarf warrior Bennett thought of another matter and asked Han Shuo with great excitement.

As he asked this question, Han Shuo suddenly spoke up and asked Bennett, "Could it be that the elves are already planning a great battle against the forest trolls?

Nodding, Bennett angrily said, "In fact, they've even invited us, saying that they want to teach those evil raiders a hard lesson. But our village's defences are too weak and the chief doesn't want us to take part. Isn't it the elves who have created this situation so that the forest trolls won't invade us again?"

"Of course not, the scourge of the forest trolls will be slowly contained in the future. Be at peace. Hm. All right, all right. I still have some things to do and I'll come back to see you in the future." Han Shuo spoke.

He then spoke a few random words and hurriedly left the village, despite the dwarves' efforts to keep him. Bennett said that the elves were going to make war on the forest trolls. Han Shuo couldn't sit still after hearing this. Before, he would have wanted the elves to wipe the floor with the forest trolls.

But now, the forest trolls were completely under his control, and could even be described as his private army. Besides, he needed the forest trolls to cooperate with Emily's mission. If the elves were to make trouble now, it would be a rather inconvenient time.

Besides, it would take many days to travel from here to the forest trolls' stronghold. Han Shuo still had many things to take care of in the empire, and he really didn't have the time. This gave him a bit of a headache.

After careful consideration, Han Shuo felt that there was no particular rush for things either. He would only delay things by a day or two if he took care of Phoebe's affairs first, accompanied her to a banquet, and then went to the forest trolls.

The elves might not make a move against the forest trolls in those few days. Besides, though the elves were strong, the forest trolls were no pushovers. After so many years of conflict, the fact that the elves had not wrung any major concessions from the forest trolls showed how things stood.

As the sky darkened, Han Shuo took advantage of the darkness/silence to hurry back to the Cemetery . He was in no hurry to leave immediately, so he once again took out a Fruit of Dagmar and endured an extremely painful torture within the Cemetery of Death, digesting the Fruit of Dagmar like the last time and once again opening up parts of his brain.

When Han Shuo felt that his body had recovered and was once again reborn, the clarity of his five senses had taken another leap forward, while the concentration speed of his mental strength and the circulation speed of his magical yuan had also improved. Han Shuo could vaguely sense that there were signs that he was about to break through the moulded spirit realm. It looked like he'd soon be able to move on to the next level of demonic magic.

The next level would be the realm of 'True Demons'. Once he entered this realm, Han Shuo would become an infant demon, a true demon by definition. The previous three stages of solid realm, open passages, and moulded spirit were merely to strengthen one's foundation for demonic magic. Before becoming an Infant Demon, a practitioner wasn't really considered a demonic practitioner.

It was only after he entered the realm of true demons that Han Shuo would truly be considered someone who had entered the halls of demonic magic. As an infant demon, he'd be able to fly through the air and use magical yuan to refine magical treasures. He'd be able to reforge the Demonslayer's Edge and train in various other amazingly powerful magics. He'd even be able to refine the Yin Demons that were one step above the original demons.

In other words, the true demon realm was a limit. After reaching this realm, Han Shuo would have many opportunities to improve his strength. His strength would once again take great leaps forward, so Han Shuo was filled with indescribable joy as he vaguely felt that he was showing signs of breaking through.

By now it was morning the next day, and Han Shuo did not stay here. He used the transport matrix in the Cemetery of Death to return to the Empire and went straight back to the Academy.

After the ambiguous conversation with Fanny, Han Shuo's heart was filled with boundless expectations. Although Fanny hadn't immediately agreed to his pursuit, he basically understood Fanny's heart. He understood that if he went one step further, reached the level of Adept Mage, and graduated from the Academy, he'd be able to win the teacher's heart.

He was still a little unclear on some of the new magic and more technical terms, so he had to ask Fanny. Therefore, Han Shuo still needed Fanny's guidance at this stage.

When he returned to the academy and made his way to the Necromancy major, he suddenly realised that he had become a celebrity when he met students from other majors along the way. The looks that other people used to give him were filled with surprise and admiration, with some pretty female students even revealing a glimmer of romantic interest in their eyes.

This kind of attention greatly satisfied Han Shuo's vanity. He was in a good mood all the way. Seeing the attention and feelings of the pretty girls, Han Shuo even greeted them with a friendly smile. The female students immediately ran away with short steps and reddened faces.

However, as soon as Han Shuo passed by the training grounds, his good mood was immediately shattered. The smile on his face was replaced by a darkened expression. Earth Rider Knight Clark stood at the door of one of the Necromancy Major's training grounds, wearing a form-fitting shirt and holding a large bouquet of fresh flowers. He looked inside with a faint smile.

Passing through the open doorway, Han Shuo saw Fanny smiling as she explained some magical theory to some necromancy students. Judging by her demeanour, she wasn't affected by Clark, nor was she even looking at him. She practically ignored Clark's existence.

Still, Han Shuo felt annoyed when he saw Clark standing there, gazing at Fanny soulfully. As he took large strides towards the doors of the training ground, he suddenly leapt forward and deliberately pushed with his right shoulder after tilting his body, scattering the bouquet of fresh flowers all over the ground.

Han Shuo had deliberately lightened his stride just now, only speeding up as he approached Clark. Clark had been so absorbed in watching Fanny that he had not noticed.

Clark had been taken by surprise and reacted too late. It was a bit funny how broken and scattered his bouquet was now.

"Oh, I'm sorry, so sorry. It's just that these are the training grounds for the Necromancy Major, and I bumped into you by accident because you were blocking the door." Han Shuo immediately apologised when he saw Clark spitting fire with his eyes and staring at him.

"Oh, Bryan, what are you doing here on the training grounds today?" When Fanny saw that Han Shuo had arrived, her beautiful eyes immediately lit up and her whole face glowed with health. She motioned for Han Shuo to hurry up and come in.

Han Shuo was somewhat mollified by Fanny's reaction, but Clark's existence still annoyed Han Shuo, and so his facial expression was a bit ugly. He looked at Fanny and then at the fresh flowers in Clark's hands. He said with a sour voice, "Who is the noble knight Clark is waiting for here with flowers in his hand?"

Fanny started and rolled her eyes at Han Shuo in a bad mood. Then she walked over as if to express her attitude and spoke a little coldly to Clark, "Mister Clark, I think I've been clear enough. I just want to teach in peace and hope that you won't bother me anymore. Besides, your status is noble and exalted. I don't want to get into any unnecessary trouble with you, I think you understand what I mean?"

Fanny's words were addressed to Clark, but also to Han Shuo. They were an obvious rejection of Clark's persecution and a subtle indication to Han Shuo of her own attitude, telling him to relax and not to think too much.

So when those words came out of Fanny's mouth, Clark's face immediately became dull and dejected, while Han Shuo felt damn good and let the smile return to his face.

Clark nodded his head, extremely depressed, and sighed deeply. He took the penniless flowers and left the training grounds with a dejected face, not saying another word.

"Are you satisfied now?" Reaching out to pinch Han Shuo, Fanny said viciously, "How dare you not believe me!"

"Ouch, that hurts, I believe you, I believe you!" Han Shuo felt like he was on cloud nine as he pretended to be in pain.