CHAPTER 890: Splitting

While Tyre and Logue let their imaginations run wild, Han Shuo and Wasir continued to fight fiercely. They had morphed into two blurry figures that clashed repeatedly, making loud clanging sounds.

Wasir had wrapped himself in a thick layer of protective ice from head to toe. Using the energy of the ice, he formed a sword and stabbed Han Shuo with it. However, it was always deflected by Han Shuo's Omen Invincible Body and couldn't hurt him.

Han Shuo was also unable to harm Wasir. His Demonic Blades could only penetrate a few centimetres of the protective ice, not nearly enough to reach Wasir who was underneath the thick ice. His attacks would only leave white marks on the surface of the ice.

Both Han Shuo and Wasir understood that there was no such thing as an impregnable defence. Han Shuo's Omen Invincible Body and Wasir's protective ice required demonic yuan and divine energy. Every time they were attacked, they would expend a certain amount of demonic yuan or divine energy to neutralise the attacking power.

And once one of them ran out of energy, their defences would naturally collapse. At that point, their seemingly impregnable defence will crumble like a withered leaf.

The duel has become a battle of attrition. The one with more energy will eventually win.

But Han Shuo was not willing to expend too much energy on Wasir. If he spent too much energy fighting Wasir, Tyre and Logue, who were watching nearby, might jump into the fray and join forces with Wasir to kill him.

Although Ossora was also watching, Han Shuo would not risk his life on him. He did not believe that Ossora would help him against Tyre and Logue. Therefore, Han Shuo had to look for another way to break the stalemate.

While he was draining his energy with Wasir, an idea suddenly came to Han Shuo. He began to attack Wasir using a different method. Han Shuo's consciousness suddenly produced a wave that was barely visible to the naked eye. It had focused on Wasir's divine soul and was pouncing on it.

Wasir, who had been busy defending himself against Han Shuo's melee attacks, suddenly felt an intense stabbing pain in his mind. He sensed that a piercing soul energy had entered his mind and launched a ferocious attack against his divine soul.

The sudden soul attack made Wasir panic. Fear was visible in his eyes.

Of the Twelve Fundamental Forces, the cultivators of the energies of life, death and destiny had the greatest mastery over the soul. Cultivators of Water Energy were relatively poor in this regard. But Han Shuo's mastery of the soul was so immensely profound that it was beyond what the cultivators of the three energies could achieve.

After Han Shuo's consciousness entered Wasir's mind, it spread out and transformed into a large net that covered Wasir's divine soul. The disembodied web formed by hundreds of thousands of strands of consciousness gradually contracted, causing the unbearable stabbing pain in Wasir's divine soul.

As a cultivator of demonic arts, Han Shuo had not only forged his body to be incredibly tough, he had also formed an incredibly powerful consciousness that possessed abilities beyond the imagination of an ordinary being. Although Wasir's physical defence was indeed extraordinary, he wasn't nearly as good when it came to his divine soul. By attacking Wasir's divine soul with his consciousness, Han Shuo had gained a strong upper hand.

The defensive and offensive abilities of the body were strongly tied to the soul. The moment Han Shuo began to attack with his consciousness, Wasir's body movements became awkward and sluggish. Even his eyes no longer radiated confidence, but seemed somewhat frightened.

The face of the observant Logue suddenly jerked. As a cultivator of the energy of death, he had a deep level of mastery in his soul. He was the first to detect Han Shuo's consciousness attacking Wasir's mind.

After carefully sensing with his divine soul, Logue discovered that he had absolutely no idea what energy Han Shuo's consciousness belonged to. He was also startled to observe that Han Shuo's consciousness energy had transformed into thousands of strands to form a spider-like web. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, or even come close to imagining. His gaze towards Han Shuo became very cautious.

"It's a soul attack," Logue explained quietly under Tyre's inquisitive gaze, "He has an extremely deep level of soul mastery. It's beyond miraculous. This soul attack of his directly affects Wasir's strength."

Tyre also showed an astonished face, his eyes gleaming with an indecisive light.

With the soul attack, Han Shuo was gaining a stronger and stronger position over Wasir. The thick layer of ice that protected Wasir began to crack and lines of cracks spread rapidly. It seemed as if the ice would shatter at any moment. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before Wasir would crumble under Han Shuo's ferocious bombardment.

But at that moment, Han Shuo had suddenly retreated. Not only had he stopped the physical attack on Wasir, he had also withdrawn the energy of consciousness that had invaded Wasir's mind.

Wasir found it extremely difficult to defend himself against the attacks on his body and soul, and he became more and more frightened. He thought he was going to be severely injured by Han Shuo, but suddenly the intense pain in his divine soul vanished and he felt as if he had been set free.

After moving away from Wasir, Han Shuo smiled faintly and said calmly, "I don't think there's any need to continue this duel. Wasir's strength is indeed excellent."

Before the battle, Han Shuo was not polite. But after winning the duel, he became modest and polite.

Wasir first examined his divine body and soul. After making sure that Han Shuo hadn't done anything despicable to him in secret, he looked at Han Shuo with eyes that showed a complex mix of emotions and said, "I don't need you to save me face. I admit that I am not as strong as you!"

Han Shuo was astonished. He thought that of all the Sovereigns, Wasir was perhaps the easiest to get along with. Wasir's openness and willingness to admit defeat had made a good impression on Han Shuo. And maybe Wasir wasn't as annoying as he thought.

"Without a fight to the death, it is very difficult to say who would actually win or lose. There are simply too many variables in a fight. Even the slightest change in the slightest thing could change the outcome. Therefore, this duel can only be considered a draw. You have not lost," Han Shuo said with a calm smile.

Wasir was confused, he couldn't understand why Han Shuo would say such a thing or behave so politely. He looked at Han Shuo with suspicious eyes, as if trying to figure out what exactly Han Shuo was planning.

In the fringe, every sovereign would try to prove that he was the strongest at all costs. Only then would the ferocious gods that migrated from every corner of the Elysium prefer to submit to their sovereignty and increase the power under their command.

Back in the Pandemonium, when Ossora had seen that Salas had used up a good deal of divine energy on the demonic formations, he had immediately provoked Salas into battle. He wanted to use this opportunity to prove to everyone that he was stronger than Salas. Logue and Wasir entered the Pandemonium with similar intentions.

However, after overpowering Wasir in every way, Han Shuo not only did not mock him arrogantly, he even modestly claimed that the battle was a draw. Wasir could not understand Han Shuo's intention.

After looking closely into Han Shuo's eyes for a moment, Wasir found no trace of contempt or mockery. This made him even more confused.

"Eh? It's over? That's too soon!" Logue said smiling, "We haven't had a winner yet!"

Wasir was angry. He gave Logue a cold look and said, "I believe Bryan is fully capable of taking Salas' place in the Omphalos. If you disagree, you can test his strength for yourself."

Logue stared blankly for a moment, not expecting Wasir to side with Han Shuo. After looking at Wasir with puzzled eyes, he realised that Wasir must be angry with Tyre and himself for their actions earlier. He chuckled slightly and said, "I don't think that's appropriate. Bryan just fought you. It's not fair to duel with him now. Maybe we can do that sometime in the future."

"Hehe, since when do you care about what's appropriate?" Wasir sneered. He knew that taking advantage of others was Logue's favourite activity. The fact that Logue did not immediately attack Han Shuo could only mean one thing – he did not have the confidence to defeat Han Shuo!

Logue wasn't embarrassed by the comment at all and he still wore the same faint smile. He turned to Tyre and asked, "So, what do you think?"

With things having come to this, Tyre was uncertain of Wasir's intention. Without Wasir's assistance, Tyre and Logue did not have absolute confidence in killing Han Shuo. He was also worried about the scheming Ossora who was standing nearby.

Tyre understood that Han Shuo must have seen through their scheme. That was the reason he had withdrawn after gaining an upper hand in the duel. Leveraging on the fact that Wasir was angry at Tyre and Logue, Han Shuo took initiative to show goodwill to Wasir to make him hesitate, enlarging the rift between the three Sovereigns and breaking their fragile alliance.

<i >This youngster is anything but easy to deal with! thought Tyre. With Wasir now possibly not going to honor their original agreement, Tyre knew that the original plan was no longer feasible. He thought about it for a moment and immediately came up with another plan. He laughed out loud before saying, "Well done, brother! Youth indeed breeds heroism! You proved your strength in that fight just now. We have no doubt of your abilities, but..."

Han Shuo furrowed his brow and asked in a slightly deeper tone, "Oh, is there something else?"

Tyre smiled bitterly and nodded. He continued, "But Salas is not dead yet. He is only in hiding to regain his strength. If we allow you to take his place in the Omphalos, we could be in trouble when he returns." Tyre paused for a moment before saying, "But if you can get rid of Salas and eliminate that possibility, we would gladly accept you as one of the managers of Omphalos."

"You need not worry about that. If Salas ever returns to the Fringe, the first person he will look for is me. Then I will finish him myself. If I lose to Salas, it will all go back to Salas. You have nothing to do with it. So I don't understand what 'trouble' you mean," Han Shuo replied immediately. He had thought of this question a long time ago and would not be fooled by Tyre's flimsy excuse.

"That's right. The person Salas hates the most is Bryan. If he ever comes back, the first thing he will do is look for Bryan to get his revenge. Whoever wins will take over the ten Sovereign Shops and continue to run the Omphalos. We do not know when or if Salas will ever return to the Fringe. I don't see why it would be inappropriate for Bryan to take Salas' place when he's not in the Fringe.

Tyre knew Ossora was on Han Shuo's side. He nodded at Ossora and made no further comment. Then Tyre turned to Wasir and asked, "What do you think?"

Tyre wasn't sure of Wasir's position. He wanted to determine Wasir's position by asking him if he should take the riskier option.

Wasir hesitated. He looked at Han Shuo as he weighed his options. He knew that Tyre and Logue definitely did not want Han Shuo to join them as one of Omphalos' managers and that the final decision now rested with him. If Wasir disagreed, it would be three against two.

But Wasir was still angry at Tyre and Logue for their petty intrigues earlier. He had thought about how he could get back at them. Looking at the smiling Han Shuo, Wasir somehow got the feeling that Han Shuo was much more mannerly than Tyre and Logue. With that, he came to a decision. Wasir nodded and said, "I think Ossora's words make sense."

Tyre's face twitched slightly when he heard Wasir's answer. He nodded at Wasir, forced a smile and said, "Since Wasir and Ossora agree, then it is decided. All right, Bryan, I will talk to the mechants and sort things out."

"Oh! Thank you very much!" Han Shuo said smiling. He nodded at Wasir and showed his appreciation with his eyes.

"But before you move to the Omphalos, I hope you will do the Fringe a favour. It affects all of us," it seemed as if Tyre wasn't going to let Han Shuo move into the Omphalos without a hitch. He was throwing Han Shuo another problem.

Under Han Shuo's attentive gaze, Tyre said angrily, "The Godhunter Alliance has always wanted to invade the Fringe and make it their base. And lately, the Alliance has been getting more and more out of control. Many of the experts who have moved to the Fringe have been recruited by the Alliance before they were able to move here. The number of true experts migrating to the Fringe has been declining lately.

"Bryan, I know that Han Hao is closely related to you. I also know that Han Hao is connected to the Godhunter Alliance. I hope you understand that if the Godhunter Alliance manages to take control of the Fringe and make it their base, they will only destroy the Fringe.

"For eons we have been chaotic in the Fringe, but we would never go out and attack those in the Twelve Dominions. But the Godhunter Alliance is different. They have wreaked havoc in every Dominion, and everyone wants to destroy them. If they succeed in making the Fringe their base, the Fringe will be destroyed!"

"And what can I do about it?" Han Shuo began to get a headache. The problem Tyre had raised was not unfounded. If the Fringe became the headquarters of the Godhunter Alliance, the Twelve Dominions would unite and send their divine guards to reduce the Fringe to dust.

"Han Hao commands the largest Godhunter faction in the Fringe. Make Han Hao split from the Godhunter Alliance or let him leave the Fringe with his Godhunters. Otherwise, it will only be a matter of time before he brings disaster to the Fringe," Tyre said.