CHAPTER 677: A Village

After Han Shuo increased his flying speed with the demonic yuan in his main body, Bonnie and his party were unable to catch up with Han Shuo and Akley. The distance between the two parties grew wider and wider.

Akley was very curious and kept asking how Han Shuo managed to escape from the Godhunter and how he saved him from Bonnie. Han Shuo came up with an excuse, saying that Dolores had rushed over and scared the godhunter away.

As for saving him from Bonnie, Han Shuo explained that he had used some kind of hallucinogen. Since Akley, who was at the centre of the commotion, had only seen their surroundings covered in mist before they managed to escape, he did not question Han Shuo's explanation.

Akley had a rough idea of the location of the Divine Essence Mine, but unfortunately they were both unfamiliar with Elysium and didn't even know where they were. They wouldn't be able to find the treasure without finding their own location first.

"We need to find a settlement and ask the locals!" Akley said.

"Of course we will. But first we have to remove the tracker from you. Otherwise, Bonnie and his gang will find you eventually," Han Shuo nodded and suggested.

"Sure. You find a safe place to land and we will search for it carefully," Akley was receptive to Han Shuo's suggestion after being saved twice by Han Shuo and still being wounded.

Han Shuo used the Cauldron Spirit's energy to increase the range of his consciousness, allowing him to detect activity even further away from him.

Han Shuo once again chose a barren hill and soon he and Akley landed on top of it.

"I'm going to start examining myself!" Akley said quietly after sitting down on a deep green rock. He closed his eyes and began to search for the tracker on himself.

Since he was badly injured and had only recovered a small amount of his energy, Akley wasn't in the best condition and therefore couldn't find the tracker on his body.

Seeing that Akley was having trouble locating the tracker, Han Shuo pulsed his consciousness and focused his full attention on Akley. He began to carefully search for anomalies in Akley's body. The consciousness was formless, disembodied, and even more elusive now that it had reached the Omen Realm. Akley was unable to detect Han Shuo's actions.

After a while, Han Shuo finally said, "At the back of your chest, on a piece of bone near your heart! It seems that you received a severe blow to your back earlier. The tracker must have been placed there at that time!"

"That wretched Bonnie, he could have easily finished me off, but he didn't because he was waiting for me to slowly use up all my energy so that he could capture me alive. What a bloody brilliant idea!" Akley slowly realised Bonnie's intention.

For Bonnie to be able to hit Akley in the back and leave a tracker near his heart meant that Bonnie was perfectly capable of killing Akley by shattering his heart! However, Bonnie was more interested in claiming all of Akley's soul.

A god who knew a little about souls could very easily get all the information he wanted from a mortal's soul. However, as one's power increased, one's soul would become more complex. An ordinary Lowgod might be able to extract any information from the soul of a demigod, but extracting information from the divine soul of another god of the same class would be an impossible feat.

Bonnie obviously had no way of getting the information he wanted from Akley's divine soul, so he didn't dare kill him. Instead, he planned to capture Akley alive, bring him back to the Blue Ocean Continent, and have someone with even greater power extract the information from Akley's soul.

"Remove the tracker quickly. Otherwise, it won't be long before they find their way here!" Han Shuo hurried.

Not wasting a word, Akley began to gather the energy of destruction within his body at the back of his chest. After locating the tracker according to Han Shuo's instructions, Akley suddenly pushed. A loud, high-pitched ringing sound was heard. After that, Akley stopped pushing and took a few heavy breaths.

After carefully feeling for a moment to make sure Akley's tracker was destroyed, Han Shuo nodded and remarked, "That's one problem solved. We can try to go around this area and ask for our current location as well as the direction to our destination!"

"The Divine Essence Mine is located within the dominion of the Overlord of Darkness. According to the description on the scroll, the Divine Essence Mine isn't too far from the interplanar transport facility we came from. That's why I escaped there!" Akley revealed to Han Shuo.

"Let's go, we'll find someone to ask!" Han Shuo grabbed Akley again and took off.

"Can you not do that next time? It's very uncomfortable to be dragged like this - I feel like I'm being taken hostage!" Akley rolled his eyes and complained to Han Shuo.

"I'll take note of that," Han Shuo replied casually. He obviously did not take Akley's words to heart.

It was only after they arrived on Elysium that Han Shuo realised just how vast the material plane was. The two of them had to spend a long time just to fly out of a valley that housed an interplanar transportation facility. This would simply be unthinkable on the Profound Continent.

According to Donna's description, Elysium was thousands of times larger than Profound Continent and was perhaps the largest material plane in the universe. Han Shuo wasn't completely convinced by these claims, but he finally understood that Donna's words were true after arriving at this material plane.

Throughout Han Shuo's flight through the valley, he discovered no animal tracks. He only observed the presence of bizarre looking plants. Han Shuo was puzzled by this discovery.

Finally, they left the valley. All that appeared before their eyes was a land of yellowish earth that stretched beyond the horizon.

Han Shuo had learned from Dolores that after crossing the plain of yellow earth, he would find settlements of villages where he could ask the villagers for directions to the City of Shadows. Although Han Shuo didn't plan to go to the City of Shadows just yet, he still needed to find some locals to help him. So he spent two days crossing the plain with Akley in his hand. Soon after crossing the plain, he discovered the presence of life.

Han Shuo did not spot a single life form as he flew across the barren plain. He immediately sped up when he discovered the presence of other humans.

Soon, a small village, similar to the one Han Shuo had found on the Profound Continent, appeared in front of him. Before entering the village, Han Shuo probed the place with his consciousness and discovered that these people souls were composed of a variety of strengths, contrary to Han Shuo's expectation of finding a population composed entirely of godly existences.

"I found a village of humans. But don't worry, they're not too powerful. It should be very safe!" Han Shuo put Akley on the ground and the two of them started walking towards the village.

Han Shuo could hear laughter and happy voices in there before he got close to the village. Using a mystical demon, Han Shuo discovered that the village was holding a religious ceremony. Based on his understanding of the Calamity Church, Han Shuo immediately realised that these villagers were praying to the three Overgods of the Calamity Church.

The commoners in this world were much more formidable than those on the Profound Continent, perhaps due to the abundance of elemental energies in the atmosphere of Elysium. After a brief observation, Han Shuo discovered that most of the villagers were Demigods, along with a handful of Basegods. Even children of a young age possessed the strength of Archmages and Swordmasters on the Profound Continent.

"Perhaps you don't understand the more detailed situation on Elysium, but usually when you cultivate to basegod strength, you won't stay in small villages like this. Instead, they will go to large cities and attempt to join the forces of large family clans in order to gain power and wealth, and thus advance in life.

"Most of these people who remain in the villages are the mediocre, or perhaps children who have not yet matured. Therefore, there's no doubt that there are no real experts in the village. Even the godhunters won't come to such villages because they won't find any gods!" Akley explained after Han Shuo put him back on the ground.

"This is your first time on Elysium, but why do you sound like you know a lot about this world?" Han Shuo asked, tilting his head.

"This may be my first time, but my master has been to Elysium many times before. Every time he returned from Elysium, he would tell me in great detail what he had encountered. That's why I know more about it than you! Akley explained.

"Where is your master now? Why doesn't he come with you considering the situation?" Han Shuo was astonished and asked the logical question.

Akley's brow furrowed slightly, his lips curled to one side and his eyebrows knitted together. He let out a sigh and replied, "He was badly injured on Elysium and soon after he returned to the Blue Ocean Continent, those from Bonnie's family clan surrounded him... and killed him."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Han Shuo felt bad for reminding Akley of the painful event.

Akley forced a smile and replied, "It's all right. I came to Elysium not only to obtain the divine essence mine, but also to find the man who hurt my master. Once I find out who he is, I will avenge my master!"

Han Shuo silently doubted Akley's vow. If his master had been seriously injured by that attacker, what exactly could Akley do to that person?

"What do you mean with those eyes?" Akley glared angrily at Han Shuo and said in an irritated voice, "Yes, my strength is indeed very weak now. But after I find the divine essence mine and obtain enough divine essence containing the energy of destruction, the situation will be completely different!"

Han Shuo nodded inwardly after hearing Akley's explanation. It turned out that the reason Akley was looking for the Divine Essence Mine wasn't just to get rich.

"We're here!" Han Shuo and Akley had unwittingly entered the village while they were talking. Some of the children who were happily playing went up to them and surrounded them, asking them in their childish voices where they were from.

"A place far, far away!" Akley replied impatiently.

Han Shuo was not so unfriendly. He randomly pulled some small toys out of his space ring and gave one to each of them with a big smile on his face. The children were very happy to receive the toys. They cheered and jumped around while tugging at the corners of Han Shuo's shirt.

Several adults in the distance saw how friendly Han Shuo was with the children, giving them a good first impression. They greeted Han Shuo from a distance and motioned for Han Shuo to come over to them.

"Relax man! We are here to ask for help, not to start a fight. Stop scowling!" Han Shuo advised Akley as they walked deeper into the village. However, Akley did not seem to heed the advice.