Meanwhile, the gravestone that emerged from his chest kept on gathering the elements of death, as though it wouldn’t stop until every element of death in the Fringe was sucked dry. But this time, the gravestone did not enlarge after accumulating the element of death but brightly radiated a ghastly white light.

The gravestone was densely packed with inscriptions and only a portion of them had separated from the gravestone and entered Han Hao’s brain. The inscriptions that remained began wriggling on the gravestone when it was illuminated by the ghastly white light, absorbing the element of death pouring from every direction.

Scarlett, who was blasted off, was horrified. Not knowing what was happening to Han Hao, she stared at him in panic for a moment before trying to approach Han Hao to get a clearer picture. But before she could get close, another burst of energy erupted from the gravestone and again blasted her away.

The burst of energy was intertwined with a strand of Han Hao’s awareness. He had reduced the power that erupted from the gravestone. Otherwise, given Scarlett’s strength, the energy would have instantly disintegrated her soul instead of just safely throwing her into the distance.

After several more failed attempts, Scarlett gave up on getting closer to Han Hao. She stood in the distance and gazed at him anxiously, hoping that he would not be injured by this gravestone that appeared out of nowhere.

The ghastly white radiances began flowing away from the gravestone and towards Han Hao like a most bizarre liquid...

The motionless Han Hao was slowly enveloped by the liquid made of white light before every piece of clothing on him was suddenly shredded and expelled, laying his body bare before Scarlett. His pale white skin gradually turned transparent as though it had been transformed into a clear crystal. Scarlett could even see his veins, organs, and skeleton.

Through the pores on his skin, the ghastly white light then started seeping into Han Hao’s body and dispersed in his every bone and organ. He began emanating a death energy aura of extreme purity.

Scarlett was relieved after seeing that the white light on the gravestone was not harming Han Hao but was nourishing him and transforming his body. She stared at the transformation in amazement while guessing what the divine weapon on Han Hao’s chest was and pondering how something so marvelous and powerful was forged.

After a long, long while, all the white radiances had fused with Han Hao’s body and the gravestone abruptly shrank and vanished into his chest.

Simultaneously, the element of death stopped gushing into the region and the environment immediately returned to normal.

A moment later, Han Hao took a gentle breath and slowly opened his eyes. The volumes of scriptures rapidly faded away from his pupils and he returned to normal.

Han Hao gently bunched his brows and mumbled to himself, “So this thing is called a Quintessence Shard...”

“Han Hao, are you alright?” exclaimed Scarlett as she rushed to Han Hao immediately after sensing that the boundary protecting Han Hao had vanished. She reached out with a hand to touch Han Hao’s chest where the gravestone had disappeared to examine him.

Han Hao shook his head. His hazy eyes returned to their usual cold calmness. He looked at Scarlett who was still panicking a little and softly replied, “Don’t worry, I’m alright. My body and soul have just transformed for the better and I’ve learned a few things.”

“What exactly just happened?” Scarlett was surprised to hear that even his soul was transformed.

“Nothing...” Han Hao did not explain. He lowered his head and looked at his naked body before withdrawing a black warrior’s gown from his space ring and casually putting it on.

It seemed as though it was only now that Scarlett realized that Han Hao was still unclothed. She covertly took a quick glance at Han Hao’s bare body before bashfully turning away from Han Hao with her blushing cheeks.

After putting his new clothes on, as though nothing had happened, Han Hao instructed, “Come, let’s get moving.”

***

Nestor, the Overgod of Death, was still searching for trails of the Quintessence Shard near the border of the Space Dominion. Suddenly, he turned and gazed in the direction of the Fringe. From the towering mountain, he murmured to himself, “It is in the Fringe... Who could it be? Is it one of those Sovereigns? With the general location known, it’ll be much easier to find the bearer...”

The Overgod of Death, who had concealed his almighty power, stopped wandering around in the region aimlessly and headed for the Fringe.

***

Over at the Fringe, the Osteoburg.

Logue, a cultivator of the energy of death, was receiving the leaders of various factions intending to submit to his rule. Without any warning, Logue turned aghast and he gazed in the direction of Han Hao with horror on his face.

“My Lord, what is the matter?” asked one of Logue’s henchmen after seeing Logue suddenly pause his speech and revealing the bizarre reaction.

Logue did not respond. He got up from his seat and stared fixedly in Han Hao’s direction. There was an unconcealable fear on his face. After staring for a while, he mumbled to himself, “Impossible, absolutely impossible! The Overgod of Death would never come to the Fringe. But besides the Overgod, who else could possess such formidable and pure power?”

“My Lord, is everything alright?” asked the henchman of Logue again.

“That will be all for today. The plan remains the same. I must go,” said Logue before immediately leaving his Osteoburg and a group of confused and puzzled guests.

***

Over at the Pandemonium.

During the half year, the House of Han members had fully assimilated the divine souls in the crystal balls that Han Shuo had given to them. And during that time, the Pandemonium had been consuming a ton of divine essences of various energies. The large stockpile of divine essences that Metal Elite Zombie and the House of Han had accumulated over the years were almost completely used up during the six months.

With their realm states improved, they started raising their divine energy levels by absorbing divine essences. This allowed them to make rapid breakthroughs. But as divine essences were rare and expensive, even the filthy rich House of Han and Metal Elite Zombie were unable to acquire enough of them. With that, the Pandemonians began facing a shortage.

To make matters worse, there was a greater demand for certain types of divine essences as most of the House of Han members cultivated the same Fundamental Forces. Divine essences of death and darkness elements had already been exhausted two months prior.

With that, the Pandemonians found themselves in a frustrating situation. Progressing to the next realm required one to possess the relevant profound insight and divine energy. These House of Han members had the former but lacked the latter. They felt stuck and gradually, they started to get somewhat desperate.

While gaining divine energy was easier than gaining the profound understanding and insight of a Fundamental Energy, it was still a process that took time. Although the concentration of elemental energy in the Pandemonium was much greater than elsewhere and their cultivation was accelerated, these House of Han members still felt that it would be too slow. They would need at least several decades to accumulate sufficient divine energy for each breakthrough, if they were to do so only through cultivating in the Pandemonium.

Although several decades wasn’t that long of a time given their ridiculously long lifespans, to these House of Han members, it felt unbearably long when there was a much quicker alternative.

None of these core members of the House of Han were godhunters. However, some of their henchmen, like Goron and the others, were. The House of Han members who were thirsting for more power started inquiring them about a certain subject. It seemed as though they were tempted to commit the act.

One day, Han Shuo, who was cultivating in his underground gymnasium in the Pandemonium, finally made a major breakthrough. By assimilating two late-stage highgod souls and devouring divine energies, his two avatars reached the late-stage highgod realm.

With the help of his miraculous and powerful consciousness, his two avatars managed to quickly digest the sea of memories contained inside the late-stage highgod souls. And as one with complete control over his mind, Han Shuo was immune to the addiction that came from devouring another person’s divine energy. Therefore, occasionally, he would venture outside the Pandemonium to nab unsuspecting Fringedwellers and devour their divine energy.

With that, Han Shuo’s avatars were able to reach the realm of late-stage highgod in just six months. He was progressing at a much faster rate than his family clan members.

“Stratholme, gather every core member of my House. I have something to say.” Han Shuo did not immediately proceed with stabilizing the new realm states nor did he experiment with the power of his hybrid divinity domain. As soon as his avatars had reached new realms, he emerged from his gymnasium and gave Stratholme the instruction.

Soon enough, every core member of the House of Han was gathered before Han Shuo.

“I know that you all are getting impatient, and some of you are even thinking of becoming godhunters,” said Han Shuo as he scanned the party, his glaring gaze moved a little slower when it swept across Gilbert, Ayermike, and a few others. Han Shuo’s consciousness covered the entirety of the Pandemonium and he knew every slightest movement and sound they made.

Han Shuo continued in a grave voice, “But this is not something that you can simply stop once you start. Yes, your strength will rapidly improve, but you will also descend into madness at an even faster rate. You will lose self-control; Your minds will be corrupted, your intellect will be perverted, and you cannot stop doing it for the rest of your life! The long term costs of doing so heavily outweighs the gains. I’m commanding you all right now – don’t even think about doing it! Never!”

Han Shuo knew just how addictive devouring another person’s divine energy was. Only a few in the universe could overcome the addiction. He and Han Hao had only managed to overcome it with their extraordinary circumstances and abilities.

“Master, then, then what should we do? I can immediately make breakthroughs, I just need more divine energy!” asked Gilbert who seemed rather desperate.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” replied Han Shuo confidently.