Chapter 43: Rebirth and Transformation

When Han Shuo came rushing back to the camp where the students were stationed, he suddenly noticed that Gene was not asleep. Instead, Gene was sitting outside the tent, looking rather bored.

“Oh, Bryan, have you seen Fanny and Lisa?” Gene immediately stood up to ask as soon as he heard Han Shuo’s footsteps.

Han Shuo nodded calmly and replied, “Yes, I have. Teacher Fanny and Lisa will be back soon. Teacher Gene, why aren’t you sleeping yet?”

“Oh, that’s because Clark had to leave suddenly and asked me to apologize to Fanny on his behalf. Ha, Clark really is something, leaving just like that without any explanation. It’s a bit baffling.”

Hearing this, Han Shuo realized at once that it must have been because of Clark’s reckless behavior at the pool earlier, which had angered both Fanny and Lisa. Knowing he couldn’t explain himself, Clark had left abruptly.

“I see. Teacher Gene, I need to go collect some things nearby. When Teacher Fanny and Lisa return, just tell them I’ll be back before dawn.” Without waiting for Gene’s reply, Han Shuo turned and quickly headed south, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Though Han Shuo’s body wasn’t stiff or powerless, the strike from the Deepwater Python’s tail earlier had indeed left him injured. He knew that once Fanny and Lisa returned, they would certainly pester him, which would prevent him from using his demonic arts to heal. It was better, then, to avoid them for now. By morning, their anger would have subsided, and things would be less troublesome.

To the south, Han Shuo sat cross-legged on a sturdy, leafy bough more than ten meters above the ground, high up in a towering tree. Holding his breath, he quietly focused on refining his body with his demonic energy.

Time slipped by unnoticed. The pain that had lingered in Han Shuo’s body gradually faded as the demonic energy circulated within him. Every muscle, tendon, and bone felt as if they were surging with power.

While Han Shuo was deep in his trance, a faint pain suddenly emerged in his mind and quickly spread throughout his body. Then, a wave of agony erupted, ten times more intense than before, forcing Han Shuo to cry out in pain.

A crackling sound echoed from within him, accompanying his anguished shouts. Wisps of turbid air seeped out from his pores, and his skin rippled like water disturbed by a stone. When his pores had expelled all the impurities and harmful substances, a faint shroud of black light began to coil around him.

It was unclear how long this state lasted, but eventually, the pain vanished without a trace. With a soft thud, Han Shuo leapt from the ten-meter-high branch to the ground, his movements astonishingly agile and supple.

He had succeeded—he had finally broken through to the first stage of his demonic arts, the “Solid Body.” From now on, Han Shuo’s body had been completely transformed; his strength, flexibility, and resilience far surpassed those of ordinary people. With the foundation of the “Solid Body” laid, his future cultivation would progress much more smoothly.

With a thought, Han Shuo sent his demonic energy coursing freely, not only through his limbs and torso but even into his head with ease. He glanced at his exposed skin and saw that all the old scars had disappeared, leaving his flesh smooth and robust. He moved his body and noticed he seemed to have grown another centimeter or two taller.

Looking up at the sky, Han Shuo realized it was still deep into the night. Immersed in a sense of rebirth, he continued to circulate his demonic energy throughout his body, excitedly feeling every change.

Suddenly, Han Shuo remembered the pouch and jade box he always carried with him. The last time he had used the mysterious item inside the jade box to meditate, his spiritual energy had almost been completely drained. Only by guiding his demonic energy into his mind had he turned danger into a great opportunity.

Now, after breaking through the “Solid Body” stage, Han Shuo could channel demonic energy anywhere in his body, including his mind. Remembering the tremendous benefits from last time, his curiosity could no longer be contained. He sat down cross-legged and retrieved the pouch he kept close.

Opening the box, he found the orb inside as strange and unfathomable as ever. As Han Shuo focused his spiritual energy and began channeling it into the orb, the events of last time repeated themselves. The orb instantly emitted a misty blue-green glow, with a drop of blood-red at its core that radiated a stifling sense of oppression.

His spiritual energy was sucked into the orb as if by a whale drawing in water. The more spiritual energy he lost, the more intense the pain in his mind became.

Finally, when it felt as if his head would explode, Han Shuo instinctively guided the demonic energy from his abdomen into his mind. With a thunderous roar in his head, the pain intensified, and Han Shuo cried out. At the same time, a surge of spiritual power rebounded like a tidal wave, instantly flooding his consciousness.

He collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, his mind in a daze. After a while, Han Shuo slowly recovered, realizing with delight that his spiritual power had greatly increased once again. Grinning, he gazed at the orb.

Suddenly, he noticed threads of green light swirling within the orb, intertwining like brushstrokes painting a picture. Before long, an image emerged—a grayish-brown, peculiar castle.

After flashing for a moment, the green lines vanished, but the drop of blood-red light in the middle began to shine, forming a red arrow that pointed unwaveringly southward.

What did this mean? The direction of the red arrow clearly indicated something.

For a moment, Han Shuo stared blankly at the red spot inside the orb, his mind racing. At last, he understood—the red arrow within the orb was pointing toward a destination, as if leading him to a target.

Hesitating briefly, Han Shuo glanced at the sky. His curiosity thoroughly piqued, he clutched the jade box and, following the direction indicated by the orb, hurried south.

As he traveled, Han Shuo became increasingly aware of the sounds of large magical beasts moving around him. The path was filled with dangers and thorns, making him tense and cautious. He often glanced at the orb in his hand, noting how the arrow within it constantly shifted, guiding him along the correct route.

After a long while, the red arrow inside the orb disappeared. The drop of crimson reappeared, and the orb’s green glow grew ever more intense, radiating powerful magical energy.

Han Shuo stopped and looked around. He found himself in an ordinary area overgrown with weeds and tall shrubs. In the distance, huge, tangled branches of unknown trees cast grotesque, monstrous shadows on the ground under the moonlight.

Focusing his attention, Han Shuo sensed something odd. Elsewhere in the shadowy forest, there was always the sound of insects, but here, the silence was absolute. Not a single insect called, and he could sense no sign of life at all.

It was uncanny. Beneath the ordinary surface, the entire area exuded a strange, familiar aura, one that felt both welcoming and deeply unsettling—as if it were something Han Shuo had always known, yet could not quite recall.

While he stood lost in thought, the orb in his jade box suddenly floated into the air. Lines of magical energy, etched in green light, appeared on the orb’s surface. Instantly, Han Shuo sensed a surge of magic in the air, growing stronger as the orb’s green glow spread.

Wherever the green light touched, the landscape transformed before Han Shuo’s astonished eyes. Grass and shrubs vanished, replaced by gray-brown, desiccated earth littered with piles of bones.

Nearby, some of the lush, towering trees transformed into the skeletal remains of massive undead creatures. If Han Shuo remembered correctly, those enormous bones belonged to the legendary bone dragons, the most terrifying of all dark creatures.

Death—desolation and emptiness. Under the orb’s green light, the entire area became an unchanging realm of death.

At the center stood a massive, gray-brown castle, half suspended in midair and half buried underground. Sharp, strange spikes encircled the castle, and carvings of dark creatures adorned every wall.

Han Shuo stared in shock for a long time before finally muttering in terror, “This… could this be the legendary Graveyard of Death?”