GDK 1006: The Power Between Life and Death

Translator: Ryogawa
TLC: Hedonist

A figure descended into Windhowl Valley and unleashed his sinister aura, shocking the godhunters of the Dominion of the Wind. The next moment, a rustling sound could be heard as more and more figures swarmed into the valley. Amidst the blowing sand and dust emerged Han Hao. He scanned the group and said, “Are you the leaders of the godhunters in the Dominion of Wind?”

His gigantic bone throne floated in the air, allowing him to emanate a terrifying power. All of a sudden, the whole valley seemed to be subject to a mystical force that somehow stopped the winds within from blowing.

The godhunter leaders had just been talking about him. Taking a deep breath, Naga asked, “Are you Han Hao?”

Han Hao nodded slightly. “You said you wouldn’t let me off scot-free if I came here, did you?”

Naga felt a chill down his spine and didn’t dare to meet Han Hao’s terrifying gaze. However, he stubbornly said, “The Hegemon of Wind can only be chosen from among us cultivators of the wind energy! Outsiders shan’t be allowed to interfere!” Even as he said so, he didn’t feel confident about being able to deal with the terrifying energy coming from Han Hao.

Furrowing his brow, Han Hao suddenly struck from his bone throne, sending a bone spike descending from the sky towards Naga, who wasn’t able to resist at all and had his life force sucked out entirely by the bone spike.

The most arrogant Naga had been killed in an instant. The bone spike returned to the throne and disappeared among the many other spikes on it. The other godhunters that had wanted to work together to deal with Han Hao and his godhunters were all dumbstruck and didn’t know what they should do.

“I didn’t come here planning to become your Hegemon,” Han Hao said, “But I will appoint one for you. From now on, the Hegemon of the Dominion of the Wind has to do my bidding!”

He casually pointed at someone and said, “You shall be the new Hegemon. Your first task is to reassemble every godhunters in the Dominion. Are there any questions?”

Everyone kept silent.

“Go ahead and do your work!” Han Hao said with annoyance.

The godhunters there didn’t dare to defy him. They silently watched as Han Hao left with his godhutners, feeling a chill down their spine.

Han Hao turned to Polo and said, “Watch them close, Polo.”

“I will. I’ll make sure they work obediently,” Polo said with a bow before leaving.

Within a short half month, Han Hao managed to unite the godhunters in the whole Dominion of Wind under his banner. The whole time, he only had to rely on his subordinates for everything without needing to lift a finger. Anyone that didn’t abide by his orders would be wiped out by Polo.

He spent most of his time in a cave within Windhowl Valley to comprehend the power of his Quintessence. Just as he was about to head towards his next destination, Han Shuo and Donna easily found him and came to him.

“Father, why did you come?” He seemed really happy to see Han Shuo.

“How’s comprehending the Quintessence going?” Han Shuo asked.

“I’ve been spending the past few years using it, but I’m still not that familiar with it. I am definitely not as proficient as Nestor and the others when it comes to it.”

“I’ve come here to talk to you about the Quintessence. Before I came, I met Nestor, Cratos and Amon at the Dominion of Darkness and learned something out about it.”

After briefing Han Hao on the conversation, he said, “I’m worried that your Quintessence will lose control once you use its energy up, so it’s best you start gathering the power of faith now.”

According to Nestor and the rest, there were many other rituals that had to be conducted for the Quintessence, including cleansing it in the sea of faith. While Han Hao might not need it back when it was just a shard, his Quintessence would annihilate his soul and seek a new master once it ran out of faith to draw from.

Han Shuo had immediately set out after hearing about it so that he could explain it to Han Hao. Even though Han Hao wasn’t at the Fringe, he would send Han Shuo a message from time to time about his whereabouts. Even so, Han Shuo chose to contact him in person to make sure his words wouldn’t be intercepted by anybody else.

“Father, I don’t really think that applies to my situation,” Han Hao said after a long pause of thought.

“Doesn’t apply? How so?”

“My Quintessence is formed from the death Quintessence Shard and my own demonic arts. Now that the shard is gone, I still don’t feel any need for power of faith. Not only that, the Quintessence is still infusing energy into my body and soul. I feel like I’m growing stronger and stronger as time passes.”

“What?” Han Shuo gave Han Hao a good look. After a good moment, he said, “Then I really have no idea what’s going on. This is weird. Don’t tell me that your Quintessence is different from the others’ and doesn’t require faith?”

“I’m not sure myself. I don’t feel any pull or obligation from it. Instead, it seems to be helping to strengthen me even further. Even if I encountered Nestor now, he wouldn’t be able to kill me even if I can’t defeat him yet.”

Han Shuo was still a little at loss after hearing it, but he knew Han Hao wouldn’t lie to him. Han Hao was confident enough to face off against Nestor now and survive, yet Han Shuo couldn’t even deal with Amon. Was Han Hao stronger than him now?

“Show me how powerful you are,” he finally said with a smile. Turning to Donna, he gently said, “Go take a rest over there. You might get caught up here.”

She nodded and gave them some space. From that conversation alone, she knew that the father-and-son were now far from average in Elysium and their powers were on the level of the Twelve Overgods. She was aware that even the smallest shockwaves from a battle between two Quintessence Overgods could easily shatter her body and annihilate her soul.

After she left, the two sealed off the cave. Han Hao then struck with exceeding care, infusing his bone spear with negative energies like violence, despair, death and endless hate. A slight wave of the spear seemed to cause space itself to sparkle and tear.

Han Shou could feel the power coming from the spear and closed his eyes. After a long time, he nodded and said, “Your energy is really unique. It’s a fusion with your understanding of the edict of death as a base coupled with your insight into the soul from demonic arts. You are able to use the negative energies unleashed at the instant life is extinguished to explosive effect.”

Han Hao had always lacked a fundamental understanding of his own energy. “Father,, do you mean that this power stems from the last burst of a life on its last embers? The power between life and death?”

Nodding, Han Shuo opened his eyes. “It is an energy without an element. Before all life vanishes, they will leave some remnants of energy in the surrounding environment. For those who died from old age or sickness, the deaths are usually peaceful because they can see their fates coming and won’t generate much energy like that. However, your energy comes from the people who died under exceptional circumstances. All the hate, despair, violence, killing intent and savagery and perhaps even evil itself is the essence of your true power. You were really lucky to use those energies to form a Quintessence.”

After some hesitation, he continued, “Only you would’ve been able to perform such a feat. Perhaps it was thanks to your unique lifeform that you could incorporate all that negative energy into your soul. Had it been any other god, their soul would have crumbled long ago.”

“Father, what should I do?” Han Hao asked. He seemed a little stunned.

“I’m not sure. I have a feeling that your Quintessence formed almost too easily.” According to Nestor and the rest, the Allmother only left twelve types of Quintessence behind, yet Han Hao had formed his own. Even Nestor and the rest had never seen something like that occur in their aeons of life. He wondered if it had something to do with demonic arts.