Chapter 353: Place of extreme metal
The caverns of the mines were dark and humid. Yet Han Shuo, someone who shouldâve been unfamiliar with the mine, was rushing forward as if very familiar with the area.
At first, Delia had even expected him to take the rearmost position. Who wouldâve thought that Han Shuo would just advance without even taking one step backward from beginning to end? What was even more surprising that Han Shuo led the way like he was the guide. There was no mistakes made as he went straight into the depths of the mine.
After a while, Delia couldnât hold in her curiosity, as the miners began to doubt their guide. She quickly walked up to Han Shuo, bright eyes staring at him as she inquired, âMy Lord, youâve been to Mount Silk before, havenât you?â
Shaking his head, Han Shuo replied, âNo, I havenât. This is the my first time at Mount Silk. Why?â
âReally? Then how come you are so familiar with the terrain inside the mine? You havenât stopped to consider any path but one and yet you havenât taken a single incorrect turn. If you havenât been to Mount Silk before, how are you so familiar with the twists and turns here?â Delia was becoming more and more doubtful and chased after the leisurely striding Han Shuo with a bunch of questions.
In Han Shuoâs eyes, this group of people, including Delia, wasnât very strong at all. Since the stone men deep inside the cave had no fear of magic and possessed rock solid bodies, Han Shuo had released the yin demon to scout ahead so that they wouldnât be suddenly slaughtered. This, coupled with some of the minersâ description, let him proceed with naturally no hesitation at all. But who knew that it would rouse Deliaâs doubts?
Han Shuo laughed softly and said, âDidnât I already hear you guys describe the situation before we entered? My intuition towards cave terrain is highly sensitive. From your description, I can instantly and accurately determine the terrain of this area. Do you believe me or not?â
Hearing Han Shuoâs explanation, Delia was stunned before asking with a half doubtful expression, âReally?â
âOf course!â Han Shuo laughed out loud, âIâve never been to Mount Silk before, let alone have the chance to explore this mine. How would I be this familiar with the way if I donât have a keen sense for cave terrain?â
Delia thought carefully about it. With Han Shuoâs identity as the Brettel city lord and also a count, he really wouldnât have the free time to come explore the mine. Faced with this logic, she was mostly convinced upon hearing Han Shuoâs explanation. Subconsciously, her gaze towards him held a bit more admiration as she told herself that the city lord was really as incredible as the legends said. He was a true man indeed!
Seeing that Delia didnât ask any other questions, Han Shuo continued to hurry onward. He had turned from guest to the guide thanks to the yin demon. The miners and Delia had become his attendants.
The only remaining yin demon slowly went deep into the belly of Mount Silk. It soon reached a narrow and dry area based on the miners and Deliaâs description. This area connected the entrances of three deep tunnels to the passage they were coming in through. Rocks pressed down on the tunnelâsâ ceiling. If they wanted to continue ahead, they would need to be crawling on their bellies.
According to the miners, this was the place theyâd encountered some stone men last time theyâd been here mining. There were even some traces left behind from last timeâs mining. However, the yin demon was invisible. They wouldnât be able to discover its existence even if the stone men were hiding in the surroundings.
Han Shuo instantly sped up when he found the right place. Delia and the miners behind was greatly surprised as they watched his body shuffle quickly through the caves with extreme sensitivity. At this point, Delia truly believed that Han Shuo had a natural intuition for caves like heâd just said. He could still determine the accurate direction from the complex crossroads.
âBe careful, My Lord! Up ahead is the area where the stone men appeared last time!â The miners were panting heavily as they tried to keep up with Han Shuo, who was almost flying as he hurtled forward. He slowly decreased his speed so as to allow them to catch up when he heard their raised voices. At this moment, Delia finally caught up. She walked up, taking a few deep breaths to calm her heaving breasts. Her voice was filled with worry as she said, âMy Lord, please be careful. These stone men arenât easy to deal with. We should just advance calmly and cautiously.â
It turned out Delia wasnât as casual and careless as she appeared to be. She was very careful and meticulous when it came to critical moments. Han Shuo couldnât help but glance at her in surprise. Right now, Delia was trying her best to regain her breath and calm her racing heart. Her twin peaks rose and fell in rhythm, attracting his attention. Han Shuoâs heart skipped a beat, and he couldnât help but sneak a few more glances at her chest.
People said any woman could tell from the menâs eyes which part of her body was the focal point of attention. No matter what kind of concealing method a man did use, the woman being observed could still sense if that man had snuck a peek at her breasts or not.
These words indeed had some truth to them. Although they were currently in the middle of a dark cave, Delia might just have discovered Han Shuoâs eyes on her chest. She was somewhat shy under his lingering gaze on her towering peaks. Instinctively, Delia slightly bent down, as if wanting to cover some parts of her full chest through the bending of her waist.
âAlright, I think weâve reached the place. You guys stay close so I can take care of you in case thereâs any danger.â Han Shuo slowed to a stop and turned to tell the people behind him.
The miners quickly caught up, but still lagged behind Han Shuo and Delia. Fortunately, the light in the tunnel was dim, and they didnât have Han Shuoâs eyesight. Being a distance behind, they didnât see the flush on Deliaâs face.
The three tunnels converged midway. As the group walked a few hundred meters more, the ceiling above their heads gradually became lower. The path also narrowed, allowing only two people walk side by side. Everyone had to bend down at this point to prevent their heads from hitting the rocks.
After passing through the narrow path, the group reached the area where the yin demon had stopped at. This place was actually very wide, however, the rocks above their head extended quite a ways down. There were three flattened tunnels around, ones where one had to crawl on their belly if they wanted to pass.
This place was precisely where the stone men had suddenly appeared and attacked last time, resulting in many casualties for the miners.
Han Shuo was 190 centimeters tall. He couldnât walked upright even if he bent down, so he had to squat down to inspect the situation. The miners whoâd been here before all revealed nervous expressions as they looked around carefully. They raised the crude mining tools in their hand, as if getting ready to deal with any stone men that emerged.
Even Delia looked a little nervous. She pulled out the dagger tied to her left leg, looking around with vigilance. Han Shuo and Delia were now leaning close to each other. In this area where they could face attacks at any moment, her bashfulness had long since been thrown far out of mind.
It was due to Han Shuoâs notoriety outside that Delia and the miners now felt a reassuring feeling of being able to rely on someone. If itâd just been them, they wouldâve been on the verge of panic, not just nervous.
Han Shuo squatted down to take a look around once before asking the miners, âHow tall are these stone men and what do they look like?â
âTheyâre only 150 centimeters tall, but are wide horizontally so they can move very flexibly without being restrained by the low ceiling.â One of the miners replied.
Hearing his words, Han Shuo looked at the three tunnels and took an estimation. The tunnels were only around a meter tall, so a human had to crawl on their belly to enter. According to the miners, the stone men were 150 centimeters tall and very wide horizontally. They couldnât have come out from those three tunnels.
Except for the three tunnels in this area, there was only the passage that they had just come through. If the stone men didnât come from the three tunnels, could it be that they came from the passage as well?
Han Shuoâs heart was full of doubts. He didnât continue observing the surrounding anymore, and sat still to think instead. He suddenly whistled in a low tone. The whistle started out faint and low, gradually became louder and high pitched, then ending in an echo like a dragon roar.
âAlright, if the stone men are close by, they will definitely hear it and come over. We only have to wait and see.â Han Shuo turned to tell the nervous looking miners.
End of part one of the chapter.
To Han Shuoâs left, Delia was bending down to survey the surroundings, revealing her breathtaking curves of her waist. She only wore a soft leather miniskirt on her lower body, accentuating the curve of her hips and her tantalizing bare legs. When Han Shuo caught sight of her when he turned to give orders to the miners, he couldnât help but spend a little time savoring her round buttocks.
Most of the nervous miners didnât notice, except for the three who accidentally saw this beautiful scene as well. The three young men all swallowed hard, and suddenly developed a slight hunch to their posture, trying to conceal a newly rising bulge..
Looking around, Delia abruptly turned around quickly, her bright eyes looking straight at Han Shuo, whose stare was fixed on her hips. Caught red handed, Han Shuo awkwardly coughed dryly and conscientiously turned his head away.
Delia was flushing red. She glared ferociously at the awkward Han Shuo and snorted lightly. She then angrily turned to the three miners and shouted, âWhat are you rascals looking at? Could it be you guys already want to seek death after I leave Mount SIlk for a few days?â
Finishing speaking, Delia lowered her voice to mutter, âMen really are no good!â It was unknown whether or not this sentence was deliberately said only for Han Shuoâs ears, but heâd heard it indeed. He secretly thought, âArenât women meant to be looked at by men? How did you know we were peeping at you? You bent over to expose that wonderfully beautiful curved butt. Wasnât that intentional?â
As Han Shuo mused, several almost intangible wisps floated in from the three narrow tunnels. Han Shuo looked around but didnât find anything that wouldâve provoked them. However, as a necromancer and a demonic cultivator, he could immediately sense that these breaths was similar to the existence of the wraiths.
He quietly cast a soul exploration magic, observing the eight murky mists, which were hidden from human eyes, slowly moving to a few dark corners. They slowly spread out, each coiling on top of a large block of rock. They then imbued each rock with a strange power.
The originally solid rocks slowly became malleable after being suffused with these pulses of power. Afterwards, it was like someone was molding these rocks, as they split into eight stone men that the miners had faced before. Han Shuo, who was adept at both demonic magic and necromancy magic, saw this stone shaping process clearly.
After the eight stone men slowly emerged from the corners, Han Shuo finally understood how theyâd suddenly appeared in this place last time. So itâs actually like this, hmm! Evidently, only the souls came out of those three narrow passages, which then used the rocks here to reform their bodies.
âEight of them, with fully formed bodies. Are they getting ready to attack?â Han Shuo took out the skeletal staff to summon dozens of skeletal warriors as well as zombie warriors. Some of them surrounded Delia and the miners as Han Shuo looked at the eight stone men slowly coming out of the dark corners.
The rock ceiling of this area was too low, higher rank undead creatures like the hate warriors and evil knights would be hard pressed to display their full power. Only the short and small skeletal and zombie warriors could easily move about in this place.
Delia was scared out of her wits at suddenly being surrounded by a crowd of skeletal and zombie warriors. These undead creatures naturally didnât look very pleasing to the eye, and the morass of deathly aura that enveloped them sent a shiver of fear through her.
However, upon hearing Han Shuoâs words and seeing that they only surrounded her without any intention to attack, Delia knew that these were the guards that Han Shuo had summoned for her. She then immediately felt reassured in her heart.
âMy Lord, have the stone men appeared?â Delia calmed down and finally reacted to Han Shuoâs words, raising her dagger.
The light here was too dim. The eight stone men were also forming in the shadows, so Deliaâs group simply couldnât see their movement. Nodding his head, Han Shuo smiled and said, âThatâs right, eight stone men.â
The eight scattered stone men suddenly began to attack Han Shuo as they spoke, charging in from the eight dark corners. Their bodies were formed from the iron ore of this mine, and thus ordinary magic attacks wouldnât be very effective. Even standard weapons werenât much of a threat to these stone men. No wonder so many miners had died here last time.
However, Han Shuoâs current body was much more solid than iron and rocks. He didnât even need to take out the Demonslayer Edge to deal with these stone men; he just crouched and smashed directly into them.
âInteresting, just what kind of creature are you guys?â Han Shuo still had the leisure to ask questions even when wrestling with eight stone men.
Surrounded by the undead creatures, Delia watched Han Shuo face the attacks from the stone men without fear. Even though some fists and kicks connected, he didnât respond at all. It was as if Han Shuoâs body was even more solid than the stone men made of iron ore.
Han Shuo slammed his bare fists on the eight stone menâs bodies. This time, it was them who was forced to retreat. Sounds of metal rang out as Han Shuoâs fists connected with their iron bodies, rendering Deliaâs group speechless as they watched with eyes and mouths wide open.
In the Profound Continent, the only ones who counted as experts at close combat were swordsmen and knights. But they too had to use fighting aura to enhance the defensive abilities of their physical bodies. No one had ever heard of a physical body strong enough to not require the supplementation of fighting aura.
And indeed, Han Shuo wasnât using the defensive power of magical yuan. He was simply using the durability of his body to forcefully block the stone menâs attacks. When his magical cultivation reached the separate demon realm, Han Shuoâs body was far sturdier than iron. Ordinary swords wouldnât even leave a mark on him anymore
After fighting for a while and discovering that these eight stone men didnât show any signs of communicating amongst themselves, Han Shuo became impatient. He began to gather a bit of magical yuan on his hands as he attacked. The stone men were already reeling from the physical blows, they couldnât withstand these newly reinforced blows. Han Shuo grabbed their necks in his hand, ignoring the blows they were raining on his chests and beheading them with one crush.
The speed of Han Shuoâs movements suddenly increased. His fists, now packed with magical yuan, smashed the stone menâs bodies into fragments. In the blink of an eye, the eight stone men were completely pulverized into stone chips. Not a single whole block of stone remained.
âHis Lordship is truly so strong!â A miner couldnât stop mumbling, a look of worship on his face.
Deliaâs pretty eyes glinted with a strange light as she stared at Han Shuo. Sheâd just watched him smash the stone men to shards using nothing but his bare hands. In the eyes of a woman who worshipped wild and strong men, this was far too irresistible. Delia couldnât stop her heart from pounding.
âWant to run? Heh heh, wonât be that easy!â After Han Shuo destroyed the bodies of the eight stone men, the eight murky wisps from the three tunnels seemed to know that Han Shuo wasnât someone they could deal with. They began to slowly gather, planning to return the way theyâd come.
Be it his identity as a demonic cultivator or a necromancer, Han Shuo had methods aplenty to deal with this kind of weird soul. His left hand stretching out, a surge of murderous intent flooded out from his palm like a miniature vortex. This murderous intent was harmless to physical bodies, but those eight wisps were unable to resist its suction.
Not only were the eight souls unable to take a single step away from Han Shuo, they were slowly absorbed by the force of the small vortex on his palm. When the eight of them fell into his palm, they were tightly held down by the murderous intent, unable to break free.
âSpeak! What kind of thing are you?â This time, Han Shuo didnât speak audibly, but used his consciousness to transmit the message.
The murkiness of the eight souls whirling in the high speed of the vortex on his palm slowly dispersed, and they became eight sparkling green light dots. Just like eight beautiful shining stars, the tiny tornado in Han Shuoâs hand had become a facsimile of the deep and profound Milky Way.
What should have been a dark and scary scene had turned into an intoxicatingly beautiful picture in Deliaâs eyes. It was as if Han Shuoâs hand was an endless starry sky, sparkling with the twinkling of the night stars. If, at this moment, someone asked her which man could pluck the stars from the night sky for her, sheâd instantly answer without hesitation: it was definitely the man right in front of her. There was a sky full of stars in his grasp.
After using his consciousness to transmit the message, Han Shuo felt a weak response. The consciousness of these eight souls was too small compared to his powerful consciousness. Therefore, the message they transmitted was also very faint, âMercy please. We are the miners who died to the mine collapse before. Our souls didnât disperse, but drifted to a strange place and absorbed a strange energy, becoming what you see here.â
Han Shuo stilled his mind to listen carefully. When he gradually understood the message, he was stunned, âWhat was that strange place?â
âWe donât know either. Strange energy filled that area. We donât know why our souls slowly became powerful when we absorbed some of that energy. We can even have the power to manipulate stone and form bodies of stone for ourselves. We couldnât let the miners harvest that area and destroy that place of miraculous energy, so we attacked the miners. We beg you, please let us go. We wonât dare to do that from now on.â The eight souls on Han Shuoâs palm had joined together, clearing up the message they transmitted.
Han Shuo first frowned in doubt when he started listening, before inspiration struck. He suddenly yelled out in delight, âHaha, I know now. So thatâs how it is!â
This joyous loud scream wasnât a silent communication, but a loud cheer that broke through the air. This made Deliaâs group jump in shock. They stared inexplicably at him, not knowing why heâd suddenly became so high spirited.
âMy Lord, what is it?â When she looked at Han Shuo this time, Delia didnât know why she suddenly felt that he was the most tempting of men. Her voice had unknowingly turned soft and tender.
âNothing much.â Han Shuo took out the skeletal staff to send all of the undead creatures around Deliaâs group back to the strange dimension. He then thought for a bit before responding, âYou guys should stop mining from this area from now, or youâll meet with danger. You can just come pick up harvested ore once a month. Mm, rest assured the stone men wonât attack you anymore. Alright, you guys leave first, leave this matter for me to handle.â
Deliaâs crew was full of doubt at Han Shuoâs words. They only saw him easily annihilate the stone men, but didnât know why he would say what he had.
âMy Lord, can you tell us whatâs going on here?â Delia thought for a moment before asking Han Shuo.
âOh, the stone men have submitted to me. From now on, they will have to mine a portion of ore every month, at rates surely more productive than you. You only need to come here once a month to collect it. I have agreed to let them have the area around these three tunnels as their living place in return for helping you with the mining.â Han Shuo smiled and explained to Delia.
âBut, didnât the stone men die already?â Delia asked, puzzled.
âThey didnât. Their souls are still in my hand. You guys can be at ease and leave. From now on, you only have to come here once a month to collect the ore. This is the best of both worlds.â Han Shuo explained to Delia.
Delia had originally come looking for the stone men to settle their debt. Now that Han Shuo had destroyed their bodies, captured their souls, and offered such favorable conditions, she readily agreed to Han Shuoâs words without asking too much about it.
âAlright. Iâll leave with them first. Iâll wait for you at the entrance.â Delia didnât ask why Han Shuo wanted to remain here. She spoke a few words to the miners before leading them back the way theyâd come.
After Deliaâs group left, Han Shuo followed the guidance of the stone menâs souls to crawl into a narrow tunnel on his belly. Proceeding forward for seven, eight hundred meters, he suddenly emerged into a vast area.
Every part of this area was covered by stones of various colors. The rock wall over his head was a light silver color, sparkling with a silvery sheen. A variety red, purple and white ores were present, some of which Han Shuo knew and some heâd never heard of before. They were scattered everywhere in this wondrous area.
A dense sense of metal element filled the area. There was an enormous rock pillar in the center exuding a concentrated force of metal.
The place of extreme metal â the last of the five places of extreme elements, had finally revealed itself in front of Han Shuo!
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