CHAPTER 206: Transformation

Once things were settled, the hot-headed young people with money began to move very quickly.

Florida's injuries were quite serious, and reports from the mercenary band of Cairo indicated that he was still in a coma. Edwin's every move and gesture was closely watched after he entered the valley. He stayed inside the hotel, apparently wanting to tend to the wound in his back first.

Trunks left the Valley of Sunshine after dealing with Han Shuo, saying he wanted to discuss future plans and the good news of Florida's injuries with his brothers.

Phoebe moved around the Valley of Sunshine for the next few days after receiving Han Shuo's enormous wealth. She used her connections to speak to several merchants and also helped Han Shuo gather materials to refine the Wood and Water Elite Zombies.

Emily stayed within the Dark Mantle and seemed to be communicating with the executives. The Dark Mantle leadership seemed to want a big operation this time to take down Bob Ascher.

As someone in the know, Trunks was the one busy putting together a band of mercenaries. There wasn't much for Han Shuo to do once the issue of funding had been taken care of. He used the two days of downtime to return to the Cemetery of Death.

Han Shuo wasn't really worried about Edwin's threats. After all, he had a dark dragon in the Cemetery as a backup. Through some communication, Han Shuo understood that if Gilbert wanted to recover quickly, he'd have to absorb some creature cores.

It was because he understood this, and that he did indeed need Gilbert's strength, that he'd taken Gilbert with him to the Dark Forest over the past two days to hunt down some high-level magical creatures.

The two of them had killed seven Windblade Wolves, four Frost Eagles, and a Medusa in two short days. With Han Shuo's current strength and Gilbert's help, the high-level creature Medusa was defeated after the two joined forces.

Gilbert had largely recovered from his injuries after absorbing these creature cores and the precious blood of the Medusa, and his strength was no longer affected by his injuries.

Gilbert had absorbed all the cores, but had left behind the teeth, skin and flesh. Han Shuo took them all and threw them into one of the warehouses in the cemetery of death.

On the eve of the second night, Gilbert stayed in the cemetery to digest the cores. As for Han Shuo, he went to visit the wide and swiftly moving waterfall near the cemetery.

The waterfall plunged down like the universe emptying itself, bringing with it a ferocious power that swept away all obstacles in its path. It seemed to fall directly from the heavens. Han Shuo sat cross-legged under the falls, positioning himself close to a huge boulder near the centre and enduring the crushing force of the waterfall.

The parts of his body exposed to the waterfall had all turned bright red. Han Shuo seemed to have become part of the rock as he sat there without moving an inch. He looked like a lifeless sculpture.

However, the magical yuan circulated at the speed of ten thousand horses galloping ahead. Every muscle, tendon and bone that the magical yuan passed through was being refined over and over again. The demon infant began to bounce slightly in its abdomen as a small figure just like Han Shuo emanated powerful life force.

Han Shuo had reached new heights during this time. He had finally completely absorbed all of Johnny's soul. Bits and pieces of information floated randomly through Han Shuo's mind. All sorts of disordered memories were also mixed in, appearing as clouds of mist that no one could see clearly.

Han Shuo understood that these scattered bits of information were the memories that Chu Cang Lan had left in his mind. Han Shuo had only been able to obtain small pieces of this information before he reached the true demon realm and his brain had fully developed. Most of the information had been locked away in his mind.

Now that he had reached the true demon realm and his mind had developed, Han Shuo had seen great increases in his memory, comprehension and thinking abilities. Those previously hazy, fuzzy and scattered memories were quickly shedding their veil and becoming clearer under Han Shuo's full scrutiny.

All sorts of bizarre secret magic arts, parts of profound incantations, refining methods to create magical treasures, demon generals and formations were running through Han Shuo's mind at high speed. They became part of Han Shuo's memories that would never be destroyed.

He suddenly woke up after who knew how long. It was hard to hide the excitement, pride and confidence in those eyes beneath the roar of the waterfall. It was as if he'd been reborn, filled with a confidence he'd never felt before.

The solid realm, the open passage realm, the moulded spirit realm, the true demon realm, the bloodlust realm, the separate demon realm, the carnal realm, the nine changes realm, and the omen realm were the nine levels of cultivation that would allow a mortal to ascend to a level of existence as omnipresent as the gods. A terrifying power that could split the heavens and the earth, grow to move mountains and oceans, and ultimately grant its possessor immortality, a magnificent and mysterious blueprint had been drawn in front of Han Shuo.

The blueprint was now unfolded, and Han Shuo was the brush, able to trace its limitless future as he wished. This power that could reforge, fly through heaven and earth, be indestructible, and surpass the wheel of rebirth really did exist!

A thought struck him as all the pores of his body expelled jets of dark grey, murky air from his body. This murky air was the dregs of Johnny's soul that had been left in Han Shuo's body after the demon infant had absorbed the power from Johnny's soul.

Han Shuo's body swayed as he took off, shooting across the sky. He landed firmly on top of a huge tree, donned the dark green outfit of a warrior, and flew towards the Cemetery.

"Huh? Master, you seem a bit different from normal!" Gilbert looked askance at Han Shuo as soon as he returned to the cemetery and couldn't help but speak out.

"Oh? What's different about me?" Han Shuo looked at Gilbert and smiled faintly.

Gilbert shook his head and said, "I can't put it into words. Your eyes seem a bit more mysterious and your aura as well. Mm, you seem more confident, the confidence of having grasped the situation and being sure of victory!"

Han Shuo understood. After receiving all of Chu Cang Lan's memories, he now knew many magical arts like the back of his hand. Even without Gilbert's help, he'd be able to take on Edwin. But since he didn't have enough power, it would be a bit difficult for him to do so.

"Since your injuries have healed, go with me!"

"Wonderful! Are you going to use me to do some sneaky and underhanded things again this time?"

"Shut up and do as I say!"

"Master, I thought I saw that patch of dirt move a bit after you left today!" Gilbert pouted and then suddenly remembered something as he pointed to the area where the Earth Elite Zombie was being refined.

Han Shuo started and turned around to look at the place of Extreme Earth. He suddenly discovered that the centre had indeed sunk. The Earth Qi that had circulated around the area had all disappeared without a trace. Overjoyed, Han Shuo laughed heartily, "Very good, it looks like he's completely absorbed all the earth qi. He'll be able to emerge from the dirt in a few days!"

"Huh, just a zombie, what's so good about that?" Gilbert gave a dismissive look and grumbled.

Just as Gilbert finished speaking, the ground he was standing on suddenly collapsed as a huge crack appeared out of nowhere after a series of earth-shattering rumbles. It caught Gilbert off guard and closed in on him. The crack seemed to be alive as it continued to close, crushing Gilbert's body and causing him to curse loudly.

"All right, all right, let him go!" Han Shuo could feel the Earth Elite Zombie's dissatisfaction from deep within the earth and knew that he must be behind it all.

The originally retracting crack suddenly popped open like a spring. When the immobile Gilbert discovered that the earthquakes and ground shifts were caused by the Earth Elite Zombie underground, he couldn't help but wear a look of extreme shock on his face. He hastily climbed out as the crack loosened.

"He was formed here and has absorbed the earth qi here. This place is his territory. As long as he's here, he can use many times his own power. He can move the earth and mountains, crack the ground, form the earth into a cage to trap you, or form an earth dragon to attack you. It is all incredibly easy for him.

"Remember, don't fight him in his territory. Deep in the ground, he's basically invincible. He may not be able to manipulate everything to his will when he leaves, but any piece of land here can be turned into his weapon!" Han Shuo looked at the scrambling Gilbert with an arrogant smile as he explained weakly.

The elite zombies would be able to greatly increase their strength in the area where they were formed. Anyone who provoked them in their own territory would be committing a foolish act.

Gilbert had insulted him with a word, and the Earth Elite Zombie had immediately retaliated, allowing Han Shuo to understand that the Earth Elite Zombie wasn't a low-level zombie that could only listen to his commands. It looked like it was the same as the little skeleton that had gained its own sentience.

Seeing that Gilbert was behaving himself after climbing out of the crack, Han Shuo spoke in the general direction of the earth elite zombie, "Refine the earth qi well and emerge sooner rather than later!

A ray of thought was sent into Han Shuo's mind. The Earth Elite Zombie had obviously heard his words and sent over an "Understood!

"Come, let's go!" Han Shuo walked towards the centre of the cemetery as he looked like Gilbert. As he passed the Yin Demon Cave, he noticed that there were only five wraiths left. It seemed that the three Yin Demons would soon be formed as well.

"What about that zombie, why is he so strong?" Gilbert couldn't hold back the questions in his heart as they left the Earth Elite Zombie and arrived at the transportation matrix.

"You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you. He's not like any other zombie warrior you've ever met. His existence began to change the moment he began to absorb Earth Qi. Remember, you should try not to provoke him in the Cemetery of Death. He's much stronger than you can imagine in here!" Han Shuo smiled faintly and instructed Gilbert.

As he spoke, Han Shuo pushed Gilbert into the middle of the transportation matrix and then activated it to return to the Dark Mantle's stronghold in the Valley of Sunshine.

Han Shuo put down the six magic staffs as he left the secret room and lifted a piece of wooden floor above him. A hallway leading upstairs appeared and the two of them walked up.

"Bryan, you're back!" Emily called out suddenly as she saw them emerge.

"Hello beautiful, we meet again!" Gilbert smiled at Emily in greeting as he walked up and was greeted with a huge eyeroll from Emily.

"What's wrong?" " After receiving all of Chu Yang Lan's memories, Han Shuo was now full of confidence for the future. He believed that if he worked hard enough and advanced his magical cultivation, he would be able to gain a power that would make everyone respect him. Because of this, he didn't care too much about some of the difficulties and setbacks he encountered and asked Emily rather carelessly.

"The mercenary gang in Cairo just sent word that Florida has woken up and that he called for a meeting as soon as he woke up. He plans to move against us without a thought and wants us to be on our guard. Also, Edwin and Belinda seem to have made a trip to the mercenary band in Cairo these days. This is information we have gathered ourselves. No one from the Cairo Mercenary Band told us about it. Emily replied quickly.

Nodding his head in understanding, Han Shuo thought with a furrowed brow and then smiled slightly, "We will deal with things as they come. If Florida dares to die, then I'll make sure he doesn't get away with it. Don't worry about Edwin for now. I don't think Laureton will be foolish enough to make trouble for us now. We're something he can use now. He'll wait until Florida is dead before he makes trouble for us.

"In my estimation, Edwin went to meet the Cairo mercenaries, possibly to get some information about Florida, but Laureton may not necessarily have agreed to help him against us. He won't choose to work with Edwin against us either. Don't worry too much about that. What we need to do now is defend our current stronghold.

Emily was momentarily stunned by Han Shuo's words and then looked at him strangely. It was then that she discovered that Han Shuo had been wearing a distant expression on his face all along, as if no danger could shake his confidence. His eyes were even deeper and more mysterious, and his whole demeanour had changed. He was full of an unexplainable feeling that left Emily a little surprised.

"What, why are you looking at me so strangely?" Han Shuo rubbed his nose and laughed as he saw Emily staring at him with her beautiful eyes.

"Bryan, has something happened to you in the last two days? Why do I feel like you're different than before?" Emily didn't hide her thoughts and asked directly.

"Indeed, Master is a bit different than usual. I've noticed it too!" Gilbert couldn't help but mutter loudly at this point. His eyes kept looking over at Han Shuo, trying to figure out what was different about him.

"Heh heh, nothing much, just that I've received a large amount of memories over the past few days. They've helped me understand a lot of things." Han Shuo wore a mysterious expression on his face as he explained to Emily.

Emily still felt that Han Shuo was mysterious beyond belief and that the things that happened to him were wonderful and illogical. He had a small skeleton that wasn't afraid of dark magic, He could fly without the use of magic, he had an aura and an amazing weapon that moved with his thoughts. All this was beyond Emily's comprehension.

"Forget it, I wouldn't understand even if you explained it to me. I just need to know that you're OK!" Emily shook her head and decided not to ask any more questions. She suddenly remembered what Han SHuo had said last and asked, "Oh right, you said you wanted to defend our current location. How are you going to do that?"

Han Shuo paused for a moment with a mysterious expression on his face, then uttered a word that was completely unfamiliar to Emily, "Formation!"