Great Demon King

GDK 678: Overcoming Oneself

“Hello, my friends. Where do you come from?” a hunchbacked old man with grizzled hair greeted Han Shuo and Akley enthusiastically. Many of the villagers standing behind the old man too were looking at them with amiable smiles.

Their worship of the three Overgods of the Calamity Church was still going on not far in the distance. The ceremony did not seem particularly grave nor did the villagers behave solemnly. In fact, they appeared very much at ease.

“We came from the interplanar transportation facility on that valley. We actually originated from another material plane. There is a place that we want to go but we don’t know the direction or where exactly we are. We were hoping you could help us find our way,” Han Shuo replied smilingly and relaxedly as though he was conversing with an old friend.

“Ah, so that’s the case. That’s no problem at all. We have interplanar travelers pass by this village quite frequently. Haha, I could tell from first glance that both of you are followers of the Calamity Overgods. We are most willing to provide you assistance,” that old man said smilingly. He did not appear shocked at all and seemed to come across such a matter frequently.

“Akley, why don’t you describe the place where we are going?” Han Shuo turned around and said to Akley.

Akley, who had been walking behind Han Shuo, stepped forward and started describing to the elderly man their destination. As all the information about the divine essence mine recorded on the ancient scroll was archaic, so was Akley’s knowledge about their destination. Perhaps some variations had taken place to the destination recorded on the scroll, the elderly man appeared rather puzzled and had to keep on asking Akley for more details.

After exchanging words back and forth for some time, the elderly man pondered in silence for a long while before he suddenly came to himself and said, “Head south from this place. The journey will take around half a month. There you will find an isolated mountain range. There is a small mountain among the mountain range called the Demon Mountain. I’m not exactly sure that that is the place you are looking for, but your words seem to be describing that place.”

“Thanks!” Akley’s voice was stifled. He immediately turned to Han Shuo and said, “Let’s go, that should be the place!”

“Hold on!” the elderly man suddenly cried out. When Han Shuo turned around and looked at him with a puzzled gaze, the elderly man explained, “You lot are new to Elysium. Maybe you have yet to understand how things work around here. Besides the human race, this Plane of Gods also hosts all sorts of intelligent species. That mountain range I just mentioned is considered off-limits. A group of non-humans is living there and the mountain range is partitioned to them. If you trespass upon their territory without their approval, this could invite a lot of unnecessary trouble.”

“Alright then. Let’s find a place and do so.” All this while, thinking that their relationship was merely one of mutual exploitation, Akley was always on the guard against Han Shuo. It was only after this point that Akley began to look at Han Shuo with some amount of trust.

The intention behind Han Shuo giving Akley time to recover actually wasn’t all out of his benevolence. In fact, he needed this more than Akley, to overcome the greed and compulsion in his heart and stabilize his mental state.

After locating a quiet cave, Han Shuo sealed Akley in and opened up a separate cave for himself.

He calmed his mind and immediately, following the Cauldron Spirit’s instructions, started his attempt to conquer that insatiable addiction at the bottom of his heart that was slowly growing more and more intense.

Han Shuo had learned from Donna that the godhunters were a bunch of perverted lunatics. Once a person had the experience of absorbing another’s divine energy, they would no longer be able to exercise control over their craving. Just as the Cauldron Spirit had said, those people were pretty much drug addicts. They would constantly hunt and kill to satisfy the unquenchable greed in their heart. There was rarely anyone who could overcome such an addiction.

The reason why godhunters would immediately be killed without trial in every single Overgod Dominion was that they knew the godhunters would never recover. They would hunt for others cultivating in the same energy for the rest of their lives. They were beyond redemption and the only cure seemed to be death.

After having absorbed that old woman’s divine energy, Han Shuo too had experienced that wonderful feeling. The thrilling sensation of everything that another person gained by arduously cultivating for hundreds or even thousands of years gushing into one’s body within a short few minutes, fueling one’s rapid advancement in strength, for these gods serving the Calamity Church who were evil to begin with, this was indeed a very profound temptation that could not be overcome.

Inside the cave, Han Shuo opened up his soul with only his tenacious willpower left. He emptied his mind and exerted himself in resisting those corrupting thoughts that swam through his mind incessantly.

The whole process of demonic arts cultivation had always been a struggle against oneself. Since the day that Han Shuo started cultivating in demonic arts, he had constantly challenged the limits of his endurance to bear all kinds of inhuman pain. The tenacity of his willpower was beyond anything that an average person could imagine. Every time a demonic arts cultivator went through metamorphosis, they would have to endure a lengthy period of inhuman pain. Having withstood the transformative processes over and over again, Han Shuo had amply demonstrated his strength of will.

Inside the cave, Han Shuo held back the waves of warped desires that surged through his mind over and over again by using his extraordinary willpower. He would tremble from head to toe or perhaps beat against his chest every now and then. However, over time, he managed to gradually calm down.

After five days, Han Shuo’s mind was like the surface of a quiet lake, tranquil and still without the slightest ripple. He had successfully conquered that abnormal desire.

“Congratulations, master! I sense that you have also made some breakthroughs in the Omen realm! On another note, you can continue to engulf other’s energy using demonic arts in the future. Because you have completely controlled and contained that perverted desire, it will no longer tempt you at the depths of your soul. You have prevailed over yourself once again!”

“Understood!” Han Shuo stood up cheerfully. He was relaxed and at ease.