CHAPTER 469: Shattered

It turned out that both the Metal Elite Zombie and the Fire Elite Zombie, who had obtained treasures of their respective attributes, could indeed release an incredible amount of energy.

Under the Metal Elite Zombie's manipulation, the Golden Truncheon transformed into a giant pillar glowing with golden rays. With the force of millions upon millions of tonnes, it smashed directly into the huge ice block surrounding Ice celestial Corey. A terrifying shattering sound erupted. At the centre, Corey suddenly felt an unprecedentedly powerful energy rush out, causing his body to shake violently and his aura to become unstable.

The Fire Elite Zombie immediately followed. One by one, clouds of raging inferno burst out of the fire lotus in his hand and fell onto the solid ice that had not yet completely disintegrated. Thick smoke billowed from where the fire and ice met.

Corey turned pale with fear. Had it been just one of Han Shuo's miraculous martial arts techniques that had destroyed his ice shield, he might not have been so terrified. However, it was only two strange-looking zombie warriors who defeated the ice boulder containing the divine energy of the Ice Goddess, something completely beyond his imagination.

"What the hell are they?" Corey was stunned by the Fire Elite Zombie and the Metal Elite Zombie. He clung to his longsword, which was covered in a layer of diamond-hard ice, as he stared at the two elite zombies, somewhat nervously.

At that moment, Han Shuo suddenly scurried out of the thick smoke like a ghoul. The demonic blades caused the fingernails on both of his hands to grow dramatically to a metre in length. As he waved his hands in a crisscrossing motion, demonic light beams shot out violently, seemingly weaving a huge intangible web to trap Corey.

Corey was extremely nervous. It was already extremely difficult to deal with Han Shuo alone. Now he had to deal with the Fire Elite Zombie, who had been refined with pure elemental fire energy. He vaguely felt as if the Fire Lotus was actually subduing him, which made Corey extremely uncomfortable. Seeing Han Shuo charging towards him, Corey shot out shard after shard of ice as he retreated backwards.

Suddenly, right in front of Corey, Han Shuo grew weaker and weaker until he disappeared completely! However, the sense of danger never diminished, only increasing in magnitude. This caused Corey great distress.

With him at the centre, icicle after icicle fiercely shot out from the long sword in his hand in all directions. After losing Han Shuo's trail, this was the best idea Corey could come up with to attack him.

After Corey launched the full-coverage attack, the huge net that fell directly over his head seemed to be destroyed and disintegrated under the bombardment of the icicles.

But Corey did not feel any better. On the contrary, the sense of danger that always surrounded his heart was growing stronger. Corey had gathered all his concentration, spinning rapidly at the same spot on the floor, trying to locate the source of the danger, but he couldn't find anything.

As the sense of danger built up to a climax, a sting of pain shot through the soles of his feet. Corey was visibly frightened and jumped high into the air to escape the sneak attack that had suddenly come from beneath his feet.

Beneath Corey's feet, Han Shuo, who had used the Earth Elite Zombie to construct underground tunnels for his surprise attack, raised his head with a malicious smile to look at Corey the Ice Celestial. As cold light shone from the demonic blades in his hands, ten dark rays shot out from his fingertips like snakes, biting at Corey. Not only were they faster than lightning, their trajectories were even more tricky and unpredictable.

Damn it! Corey cursed his own carelessness. In a frenzy, he whirled his longsword downwards.

Of the ten slithering rays, six were stopped in their tracks by Corey's panicked defensive strike, while another four clung to his body as if they were his own shadows. Then, one by one, they exploded at his hips and waist. A waterfall of fresh blood gushed from his wound and Corey's pitiful howl rang out.

While he's wounded, deal him the final blow!

Han Shuo soared into the sky. Demonic light seemed to be constantly circulating within the metre-long demonic blades in his hands. Another ten beams accumulated at his fingertips, ready to take Corey's life at any moment.

Out of Han Shuo's anticipation, this Ice Celestial Corey, one of even more honourable status than Tiana in the Ice Shrine, when his lower body was burst open by those rays, went so far as to hastily pull out a magic scroll. Before Han Shuo could even get close to him, Corey had activated the snow-white scroll.

"Retreat!" Corey shouted at the top of his lungs. The snowflakes that filled the air suddenly rushed towards him. In a split second, Corey the Ice Celestial disappeared into the snowfall.

As Corey's pitiful howl echoed, the snowflakes that had blanketed the region suddenly enveloped each of the few remaining experts of the Ice Shrine. The five of them seemed to melt into the snowflakes, miraculously disappearing in front of Han Shuo's eyes.

Even though he could sense their presence in the snow with his heightened awareness, Han Shuo could not pinpoint their exact location. It was as if they had all melted into the snow. He could sense them, but he had no way of attacking them!

As the group of six disappeared, the blizzard that had enveloped the entire canyon ceased. Han Shuo could feel the presences of Corey and his party gradually fading away. When Han Shuo could no longer sense their presence, the icy chill that had enveloped the entire canyon remained, but the snowflakes in the sky were gone.

The undead creatures who had lost their targets, not knowing what to do, stood stunned as they awaited further orders from Han Shuo.

"Father, they are gone!" the Earth Elite Zombie reported naively after slowly rising from the ground next to Han Shuo.

"They managed to escape! Their method of escape was truly a miracle. It was actually achieved by merging with the ice and snow," Han Shuo muttered to himself. He instructed the Earth Elite Zombie, "Open the underground tunnel. Bring out the dark dragon Gilbert and the cage!"

"Okay!" the earth elite zombie replied bluntly. Immediately afterwards, the ground beside them suddenly split open to form a cave. Gilbert the Dark Dragon and the cage containing the Dark Dragon race emerged.

Gilbert lay on top of the cage, his tears constantly falling into it. He said nothing, but wept unceasingly at the patriarch of the dark dragons, Gilges, who lay directly below him. His grandfather's eyes were red with tears, and he choked back sobs as he comforted Gilbert.

After glancing at Gilbert and the other dark dragons in the cage, Han Shuo quietly stepped away from them. Han Shuo knew that it was best for them to be alone together in such moments. Besides, Gilges might want to tell Gilbert about certain secrets of the dark dragons. It seemed inappropriate for him to stay there.

As the temperature in this area returned to normal, the ice and snow that had previously covered the ground began to melt. Han Shuo sent the undead creatures back to the netherworld one by one, and then considered the purpose of the Ice Glow's presence.

The Ice Shrine and the Church of Light had very friendly relations, and both had great influence over the continent. Although the two religions professed different doctrines, it was an open secret that they were privately allied. Therefore, Han Shuo's hatred for the Church of Light, coupled with Tiana's betrayal the last time, made it seem fitting that Han Shuo would view the Ice Shrine as his enemy.

Although Corey had successfully escaped through the snowflakes that filled the sky, Han Shuo had still left an everlasting mark on his body. Moreover, with the existence of Tiana, this enmity he had with the Ice Shrine would be impossible to resolve peacefully. Han Shuo had even begun to think about how to deal with the Ice Shrine.

As Han Shuo continued to think, he felt a message from Gilbert asking him to come over. Without hesitation, Han Shuo arrived next to Gilbert. He saw that although Gilbert was still wearing the same sad face as before, his mood had finally stabilised somewhat.

As each of the dozen dark dragons imprisoned in the cage looked at Han Shuo, Gilbert's grandfather, Gilges, leaned over to Han Shuo from inside the cage and thanked him sincerely, "The last time Gilbert returned, I heard about some of your past accomplishments. I never expected that you would be the one to save our kind. In the name of all dark dragons, I thank you for your great favour!"

"You're welcome. The relationship between Gilbert and I isn't as simple as you might think. Helping you was the right thing to do!" Han Shuo made a hand gesture, indicating to Gilges that he did not need to be so polite.

"I understand. No ordinary person would ever be willing to risk his life for his magical pets. To rush here from afar to help us dark dragons, that alone has fully explained your affection for Gilbert. It was indeed his good fortune to follow you!" Gilges was certainly a thoughtful man. Based on the fact that Han Shuo was going to help Gilbert, he concluded that Gilbert had definitely followed the right master.

"Grandpa, stop discussing such useless things!" Gilbert complained. He then looked at Han Shuo impatiently and asked, "Master, can you open this damn cage? I have tried countless methods, but nothing has worked!"

"Let me try again!" Han Shuo replied and proceeded to use several demonic fighting techniques. However, this cage had been blessed by the Ice Goddess, as Corey had mentioned, and indeed contained an exotic divine energy. No matter how powerful our attacks are, we're all frozen and disarmed by the bone-piercing, icy divine energy, unable to open the cage.

As the main soul of the Demonslayer Edge merged with the energy of the Crystal of Destruction, it now needed to be completely enclosed. With the help of the unimaginably sharp Demonslayer Edge, Han Shuo was absolutely confident that he could smash this cage to pieces. However, since the Demonslayer Edge was currently unavailable, it remained a major headache.

Although the golden staff wielded by the elite metal zombie could destroy anything, if the staff were to actually bombard the cage, the dozen or so dark dragons already on the verge of death would most likely give up before the cage did.

If this cage hadn't been enchanted with the divine energy of the Ice Goddess, Han Shuo would have been certain that he could cut it open. But the current situation had left him at a loss.

As he racked his brain, he suddenly remembered someone who might be of use. He let out a soft cry, "Perhaps there's still a way!"