Chapter 904: How Would It Be Over If You Were Still Alive?

Hill and the patriarchs of the major family clans jolted from their seats in fright. They looked around in panic, as if expecting something to appear.

A cold wind blew, and the thin barrier protecting the meeting room shattered as the energy towers that powered it exploded. The glittering energy crystals scattered everywhere.

Every defence protecting the conference room crumbled in an instant. Immediately afterwards, a sinister, merciless energy flooded the room, displacing all elemental energy. The most influential and powerful people in Witherbone City, who were present in the conference room, felt a chill run down their spines. They were unable to gather elemental energy to effectively defend and attack.

Then, Han Shuo finally appeared. He calmly walked towards those people who belonged to the highest echelon of their society, as if he was talking to them in his own backyard.

"What?" Hill's heart sank. In a rather anxious voice, he asked, "Haven't you left Witherbone City? Why did you come back?"

Hill knew that Han Shuo's strength far exceeded his and everyone else's in the room combined. He was afraid that anyone who showed up by instantly destroying any defences certainly wasn't there to make friends.

"Good, excellent, everyone's here. That'll save me a few extra trips," Han Shuo laughed grimly after he looked at the faces of those gathered in the meeting room and saw that all those Dagassi had named as conspirators against the House of Han were present.

"Bryan, what the hell do you want? Hasn't the matter been settled? What more do you want?" Hill's eyes wavered. He had an ominous feeling he wouldn't be so lucky this time.

"How would it be settled if you were still alive?" remarked Han Shuo with a cold laugh. Then, as Hill's face jerked, Han Shuo calmly launched his attacks. The upgraded Cyano Demonblaze whooshed out and the fierce, ghostly flames began to engulf Hill's chest.

With a thought in his mind, hundreds of demon generals appeared and swarmed towards the family clan patriarchs. These ferocious disembodied creatures entered their bodies and began to tear and devour their flesh and bones.

Those demon generals that had been unleashed from the Cauldron of Myriad Demon were made of Midgod or Highgod souls. Fifty to sixty of them would attack a person simultaneously, gnawing away at their flesh, bones, and brain matter. They overpowered their targets in an instant.

A single demon general might not be able to harm these patriarchs. But if dozens of them attacked at the same time, especially if they were demon generals created with Highgod souls, those patriarchs would have no chance. In a matter of moments, all of the patriarchs of the major family clans in Witherbone City turned into shriveled, lifeless bodies.

Demon generals had the ability to evolve. They could increase their strength by devouring flesh, brain matter and bone marrow. If a spirit demon evolved beyond a certain level, it could be refined into an avatar.

Compared to flesh, brain matter, and bone marrow, the divine soul was the most nutritious food for demon generals. However, since the divine souls could be transformed into new demon generals, the Cauldron Spirit restrained the demon generals and prevented them from devouring these Highgod souls.

Under the Cauldron Spirit's control, several greyish clumps flew into Han Shuo's body. The demon generals then flew back into the Cauldron.

Meanwhile, in the conference room, the only victim Han Shuo had yet to kill was Hill, who was howling and moaning in pain. The upgraded Cyan Demonblaze now possessed even greater destructive power. Hill's skin, flesh and even his soul were slowly cooked by the ghostly green flames. Green flames could be seen raging in his eyes.

As Hill screamed and cried, Han Shuo stretched out his right hand, formed a claw, and raised it above Hill's head. Five blades suddenly shot out from Han Shuo's fingertips.

The five blades sliced through Hill's skull like a hot knife through butter. After penetrating deep into his brain, five strands of energy wrapped around Hill's burning divine soul. Not only could Hill not escape, but he lost all ability to transmit messages.

Strands of consciousness flowed through the five blades and into Hill's soul. Han Shuo soon found a brand in a corner of Hill's soul that emitted a powerful aura of death. It was incompatible with Hill's soul and constantly released tiny strands of energy that stimulated his soul.

Immediately, Han Shuo realised that this was the Divine Brand that the Overgod of Death had placed in Hill's soul. After sensing it carefully for a moment, Han Shuo could feel a bleak, ancient and powerful presence.

The function of this Divine Brand was obvious to Han Shuo. Han Shuo also knew that as soon as Hill was killed, the Overgod of Death would immediately be alerted and learn of everything that had happened.

Han Shuo carefully avoided the Overgod's brand and used the consciousness in the form of millions of strings to bore deep into Hill's soul. Then, similar to what he had done to Li Wei, he began to erase the memories from Hill's soul. But instead of selectively deleting some of the memories, Han Shuo went for a complete, thorough wipe. Once the divine soul was formatted, it no longer had any self-awareness or thoughts. Han Shuo then extracted the soul from Hill's body and stored it in a special container.

Having cultivated to such a high level in the demonic arts, Han Shuo's understanding of the soul had far surpassed that of any gods on Elysium, even those who cultivated the energies of life, death and fate. Perhaps even an Overgod could not perform such a complicated operation on the soul.

Han Shuo had killed Hill's self-awareness, but kept his soul alive to avoid the wrath of the Death Overlord. He came up with the idea while travelling back to Witherbone City.

With his self-awareness erased, Hill was unable to communicate with the Death Overgod through the Divine Brand. And since his soul was technically still alive, the Overgod wouldn't know that Hill was as good as dead.

But Han Shuo knew this was only a temporary solution. Sooner or later, news of Hill's death would spread, and by then the other City Lords in the Death Dominion would report to the Death Overlord what had happened. It was only a matter of time before the Overgod learned of the matter.

And the short delay was all the time Han Shuo needed. He would go to the Darkness Dominion, get rid of Wallace, Hofs and Larikson and leave. By then, even if the Overgods of Death and Darkness wanted to kill Han Shuo for murdering his enemies, he would be long gone from their territories.

As Han Shuo watched Hill's divine soul being stored in a special container, a light bulb suddenly lit up above his head. He had an idea on how to quickly increase the strength of his House of Han members.

He could kill Highgods, extract their divine souls, destroy their self-awareness, and erase every bit of their memories irrelevant to cultivation. After that, Emily and the others could merge with those divine souls without self-awareness and possess the highgod insight and knowledge of their energy, saving hundreds if not thousands of years that would otherwise be required.

You can increase your divine energy, and thus your strength, by the power of faith, divine essences, or by devouring another cultivator's divine energy, as the Godhunters do. But most of the time, the state of the cultivation realm was the real obstacle to breakthrough. Without sufficient insight and understanding, no amount of divine energy would allow one to ascend to the next level and gain greater strength.

On the other hand, if one had enough understanding and knowledge, breakthroughs were basically guaranteed, as divine energy could be slowly accumulated over time.

Han Shuo thought about the idea carefully, examining its feasibility and risks. Moments later, Han Shuo was elated as he was certain that the idea was absolutely feasible. He lifted his head, laughed merrily, and began to fantasise about the future. He could almost see every member of his Han family standing tall and proud as Highgods!

Han Shuo was perhaps the only person in the universe with such a deep understanding and mastery of the soul that would allow him to do such an unnatural thing.

The patriarchs of every major family clan in Witherbone City stood around Han Shuo as lifeless bodies. Hill, the City Lord, had his self-awareness wiped out and his mindless soul kept in a special container by Han Shuo like a living specimen.

Han Shuo did not stay at the city lord's mansion for too long. After committing the murders, Han Shuo calmly and stealthily left the scene of the crime.

After quietly leaving Witherbone City, Han Shuo set off at top speed towards the Darkness Dominion. Seven days later, Han Shuo appeared in the most powerful city of the Darkness Dominion - the City of Gorging Clouds.

Han Shuo's target was Larikson of the House of Broadhurst. He was a Late-stage Highgod of Destruction, and he had once launched a sneak attack on Han Shuo with his squares.

Han Shuo knew that Larikson would never let his House of Han go because Han Shuo had killed his son. This was evident in Larikson's attempt to wipe out the House of Han by laying siege to Lasberg Fortress. To save his House of Han from possible trouble in the future, Han Shuo was determined to eliminate Larikson.

At first, Han Shuo thought that with his strength, getting rid of Larikson would be a piece of cake. But when he arrived at the Broadhurst Residence, he realised that it wouldn't be as easy as it had been in Witherbone City.

The defences around the Broadhurst Residence were incredibly complex and strong. An eternal darkness made up of an intense element of darkness would always hover over the residence like a huge canopy.

With a single glance, Han Shuo could tell that the Shield of Darkness protecting the Broadhurst Residence could not be used by a Highgod. He also vaguely sensed the presence of an extremely powerful dark energy within the residence.

"So the rumours are true. Yarus, the City Lord of the City of Gorging Clouds, has indeed entered the realm of the Overgod," Han Shuo muttered to himself as he gazed at the Broadhurst Residence shrouded in darkness.