CHAPTER 240: A strange place

A beam of red light flew out, indicating that Marceau had finally escaped with incredible difficulty. Her wrinkled face was full of dejection as her bright eyes looked around, trying to understand the current situation in the valley.

The beautiful scenery and flower-filled valley had been completely destroyed after the battle between the four giant beings. The gorges in the ground were flowing with lava, while raging flames burned in huge holes, filling the air with a burnt smell.

Marceau glanced around for a moment, breathing a sigh of relief after noticing the absence of the golden dragon, the cyclops, and the giant silver monkey. When she noticed Han Shuo and Sophie staring at her coldly from a distance, she forced an ugly smile on her face. She explained apologetically, "Congratulations to both of you on gaining a new life. I hope you can understand the special circumstances just now, I had no other choice!"

Sophie's face was full of disdain and contempt. She lifted her head and snorted. Without looking at Marceau for a moment, she said to Han Shuo, who was still in the air, "Let's go. There's nothing to say to this kind of person!"

"Yes, I agree!" Han Shuo supported Sophie's suggestion and then looked at Marceau coldly from a distance. As he did so, he naturally emitted a wave of wild aura, but he didn't make a move and instead flew towards the exit of the valley.

Sophie chanted a mysterious incantation from her cherry lips. The pure, white and beautiful Pegasus reappeared in the burning valley and helped Sophie mount.

The huge clouds of flame slowly dissipated from the sky above the valley as the Lord of Flames no longer controlled them. The wind in the sky blew gently downwards, slowly extinguishing the surging flames.

It would definitely take more than a single day for the Fire Elite Zombie to form. It would be a slow and gradual process. From the Yin Demon's observation, the Lord of Flames not only bore no ill will towards the life within the fire lotus, he even treated and protected it as his child. There wouldn't be any problem with the Fire Elite Zombie's safety.

When the Fire Elite Zombie had absorbed enough power, it would emerge from the Fire Lotus. When that happened, this place of extreme fire would also become the fire zombie's realm of fire. Han Shuo would be able to use his connection with the Fire Elite Zombie to sweep away all the various Fire Spirit Stones, so he wasn't in a hurry to collect them.

As Han Shuo left the valley, Sophie rode the beautiful Pegasus and followed him at a moderate distance, eventually disappearing from the valley as well.

Marceau watched both Han Shuo and Sophie leave with a sullen expression, but didn't do anything. It was only a while after the two had disappeared that she looked at the now clear sky and used a levitation skill to silently ascend into the sky.

Han Shuo mentally contacted the Dark Dragon Gilbert as they left the valley. The little skeleton had already been sent back to the other dimension, and the Yin Demon that had been left in the lake of fire also flew out of the crack in the ground and met up with Han Shuo.

When the Yin Demon returned to Han Shuo's side, it also sensed Gilbert's location. Sophie followed Han Shuo at a moderate pace on the Pegasus. She gazed at Han Shuo with her beautiful and sparkling eyes, thinking some unknown thoughts.

Han Shuo had a good impression of Sophie. When Han Shuo had pretended to be injured when he flew up from the Fire Lotus, it had been Sophie who had convinced the indecisive Marceau to let him into the Boundary. After Han Shuo had entered the boundary, Sophie hadn't minded the horrible smell and the horrible appearance of his legs to help Han Shuo sit up.

Sophie's kindness had won Han Shuo's kind disposition, causing Han Shuo to immediately enclose Sophie in his protective barrier after Marceau had cut her out, and to use more magical yuan to protect Sophie.

"I think it's time for us to go our separate ways!" Sophie had followed Han Shuo silently for a while when she finally spoke.

Han Shuo turned and looked at her deeply. He flashed a dazzling smile and said, "You are a kind and just knight. It was a pleasure to meet you!"

They were about to go on their way when Sophie also looked at Han Shuo with deep interest, as if she wanted to commit him to memory. After a while, she smiled and said, "Bryan, if you have time to come and see the Kasi Empire, I can be your guide!"

"Oh!" Han Shuo was happy to hear that. Then he asked curiously. "How do I find you?"

Sophie pouted and glared at Han Shuo. She said strangely, "Did you really just make your debut that you don't know me?"

Han Shuo shook his head and said with a laugh, "Are you very famous?"

"The sacred knight of the Kasi Empire, Zoro, is my father. I am the only earth rider to ride a Pegasus. If you want to find me when you come to the Kasi Empire, you'll definitely be able to find me. Goodbye, interesting rogue!" Sophie left behind a round of bell-like giggles as she flew off in another direction on the Pegasus, entering the sky like a little fairy. She disappeared completely in the blink of an eye.

She was the daughter of a sacred knight! Han Shuo was shocked. Only then did he really pay attention to Sophie's identity. He had never thought that she was from such a famous family and had such a terrifyingly powerful father.

Currently, on the Profound Continent, only the strongest of the strong would have the word 'Sacred' added to their rank. Whether they were Sacred Magus, Sacred swordsmaster, or Sacred Knights, they were the people who were publicly recognised as the strongest. No matter what country they were in, they would hold an exceptional position and earn the adoration of all the people.

People like them had terrifying powers. They could even change the outcome of a battle in an instant. They were beings who served as the tutelary god of a nation, and had a power that made even kings treat them with caution. Sophie's father was a Sacred Knight! No wonder she was so confident and rolled her eyes at Han Shuo when he told her that he had never heard of her.

However, there was another type of existence that transcended the boundaries of 'Sacred' and earned the title of 'Divine'. They were the beings closest to the gods and were commonly called Demigods!

They were the extreme of each class. They were as rare as the scales of dragons and the feathers of phoenixes, and few appeared in hundreds and thousands of years. They were called Divine Magus, Divine Swordmasters and Divine Knights. These demigods had the power to destroy the earth. Their power was equal to that of the gods. If they could break through even more, they would break through the barriers and become true gods.

It was a pity that no such people had yet appeared on the Profound Continent. Those who held the title of 'Sacred' were already at the highest level of existence.

As Sophie rode away on her Pegasus, Han Shuo gazed at Sophie's identity for a moment, then flew to where Gilbert was.

He saw the huge footprints of the Cyclops and signs of an intense battle along the way. The two metre long footprints were clearly those of the Cyclops. All the towering ancient trees had been felled in rows, while some of the smaller hills had also been hit.

With just a few glances, Han Shuo was sure that it was the Cyclops and the Golden Dragon that had fought when they left the valley. Gilbert must have followed the two giant creatures here in secret.

Gilbert was still following the two mighty creatures. Han Shuo could sense that he was constantly on the move, paying no attention to his surroundings. As he followed his contact with Gilbert, Han Shuo fully activated the Art of the Demonic Ninth Heaven and rushed towards Gilbert like a ray of light.

The valley had been in a sea of flames before. Han Shuo only noticed that it was already night after he'd left. The stars shimmered in the sky while the moonlight flowed down like water, it was a pity that the passing scenery was no longer beautiful due to the battle between the two powerful beings.

After flying for a long distance with all his might, Han Shuo heard a loud noise from far away. It was as shocking as the ground breaking apart. The ground seemed to be shaking from this voice. At that moment, the distance between Han Shuo and Gilbert also seemed to be gradually decreasing.

Just as Han Shuo was flying fast, thinking that he would be able to see Gilbert soon, the loud sound disappeared, and at the same time, Han Shuo's contact with Gilbert was cut off. No matter how hard Han Shuo tried, he couldn't sense Gilbert's existence.

Han Shuo was shocked. He had no idea what had suddenly happened. Completely confused by this sudden change, he once again increased his speed and flew towards the place where he had just sensed the Dark Dragon.

With the speed of a shooting star, Han Shuo reached the scene a few minutes later. In front of him, there were still traces of the battle between the two giant beings, but there was also a huge area covered in black mist.

The area was extremely large. Looking down from above, Han Shuo noticed that the black mist covered a radius of 2.5 kilometres. The moonlight was completely blocked by the black mist, preventing it from entering. Han Shuo couldn't see anything with his naked eyes either.

Waves of intense evil filled the entire area. There seemed to be some sort of terrifying danger within the black mist. Han Shuo could not sense the existence of any living beings. It was as if the black mist had completely blocked everything out.

He hovered in the sky for a moment before releasing a Yin Demon towards the area below. The shapeless Yin Demon slowly descended and then shot into the area of black mist.

Han Shuo's connection with the Yin Demon was instantly severed. The Yin Demon that had slipped into the black mist had instantly vanished. Han Shuo could not sense its position at all.

Han Shuo was now truly shocked. His connection with Gilbert was due to the power of the contract, so it was possible for the area to block it. However, the three Yin Demons had been refined by feeding them his own blood essence. To have them disappear after entering this area was truly a bit frightening.

The five kilometre radius below him was completely blocked by the black smoke, he could not see what was going on inside. Han Shuo could only sense that it was filled with an evil aura, which meant that the existence inside was definitely not a simple one.

"The Dark Forest is truly full of secrets. This place is so bizarre! It seems that if I want to understand the situation, I have to go in and find out!" Han Shuo muttered to himself as he looked at the area below. He activated the Magical Yuan in his body to form a barrier that would protect his body and slowly descended into the area below. As Han Shuo slowly approached the black mist, fear, depression, anger, madness and all sorts of negative emotions suddenly surged into Han Shuo's mind. It was as if a force was trying to invade Han Shuo, trying to make him lose his sense of self.

However, the murderous aura that had formed around Han Shuo's body had absorbed various negative emotions from the last two slaughters he'd committed. Being in the realm of bloodlust, Han Shuo was also used to the invasion of negative emotions. He was completely unaffected as his expression remained calm and controlled.

"This is quite interesting!" Han Shuo couldn't help but mutter in surprise after feeling this kind of negative emotion rush into his mind. His body suddenly sank and fell directly into the area.

His lost connections to Gilbert and the Yin Demon were instantly restored. It seemed that the black mist only prevented contact with the outside, but couldn't stop the beings inside from connecting with each other.

He wasn't in a hurry to find Gilbert. Instead, Han Shuo looked around with fascinated eyes. He wanted to fully memorise his surroundings first, so that he could make the right decision when he was confronted with something dangerous.

Han Shuo's vision was affected by the thick black mist. He could only see ten metres around him. This part of the Dark Forest seemed completely different as it was covered in black fog. He looked around, but couldn't find any vegetation within ten metres of him. There were only strange and dark coloured rocks around him.

Beneath Han Shuo's feet was a small green stream. It flowed quietly with no fish in it. When Han Shuo looked up to the sky, the black mist blocked out even the tiniest bit of light. The entire room was dim and filled with the stench of desolation.

"Mhmm!" Han Shuo exclaimed as he saw a strange stone monument through the Yin Demon's vision. It was the fact that there was some writing on the stone monument that made Han Shuo decide to see it for himself.