Great Demon King

“Get that kid outta here. I must straighten things out with him today! He does not know how to respect his elders. I must teach him a lesson!” Gu Li was infamous in Mirage City for her bad temper. However, everyone, including powerful members of the society, had always tolerated her for her excellent skills in refining medicine. This was the very first time that she had been so brutally insulted by a person.

“My apologies, Mister Bryan is currently having a discussion with our owner. If you wish to speak to him, please wait until he comes out of the room,” explained the servant smilingly.

“Alright, I will wait for him right here until he steps out of that door!” Gu Li said stubbornly. She stood as still as a mountain in front of that door with an angry face, silently waiting. She completely ignored whatever was happening in the banquet hall.

The servant, seeing that she was no longer causing trouble, did not do anything to her. He stood face to face with Gu Li, wearing a smile.

Some of the pharmacists in the hall were secretly delighted to see Gu Li humiliated. There were also some who disapproved of Han Shuo’s attitude, thinking that Han Shuo did not know how to respect elders at all. All those pharmacists stopped exchanging their knowledge about medicines and instead, started discussing Han Shuo softly.

The room that Steiss and Han Shuo had entered was a drawing room of about thirty square meters in size, much smaller compared to the banquet hall outside the door. However, the decorations in the room were much more magnificent and gorgeous. Glasswares containing rare medicines highlighted the owner’s identity as a pharmacist.

Steiss the dwarf personally served Han Shuo a cup of fine wine after they entered the room. The conversation started with talks about the weather and some recent happenings in the City of Shadows. Then, when Steiss noticed that Han Shuo appeared somewhat impatient, he finally started talking about the main point. He said with a faint smile, “The Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, under your leadership, has really been in the limelight these days. Basically every rich and powerful in the City of Shadows has been talking about your pharmacy. They are proud to be in possession of the medicines you produced. Haha, it is really impressive that you could bring about such accomplishment at such a young age...”

“Haha... You flatter me...” Han Shuo replied with a slight smile.

“But...” After a round of praise, Steiss suddenly turned the topic of discussion. “The Celestial Pearl Pharmacy has started out a little too late. If you want the entire Darkness Dominion or even the Death and Destruction Dominions to know about your medicines, it will take tens, if not hundreds of years. However, if you are willing to partner up with us, we can guarantee that people will learn about your medicines at the fastest rate possible. Subsequently, your profits will be even ampler,” Steiss said earnestly.

“Is that so?” Han Shuo put on a bright smile. He took a sip of the fine wine and asked, “How exactly will this partnership work?”

“You will share the formula of your medicines with our Godswamp. Then, we will sell the medicines produced using your formula in every branch we have throughout the entire Darkness Dominion. We will divide the profits in the ratio of twenty-eighty. What do you think?” Steiss proposed with a warm smile on his face.

“Twenty-eighty? You take twenty and I get eighty?” Han Shuo thought to himself that this allotment method was rather generous. However, Han Shuo still wouldn’t be willing to share his formulas. The most he would do was to provide the medicines to Godswamp for them to resell.

“No no no, you have misunderstood!” the expression on Steiss’ face changed slightly. He hastily said, “You get twenty and we take eighty!”

The smile on Han Shuo’s face immediately turned stiff. Right away, he stood up from his seat, nodded at Steiss and said, “Sorry, there is something that I need to attend to. I’ll be on my way!”

The profit allocation proposed was unacceptable, if not sufficiently ludicrous to Han Shuo. He was disinclined to talk to someone who was not even sincere in forming a partnership.

“Hold on! It’s negotiable...” Steiss forced a smile and shouted when Han Shuo immediately got up and headed for the exit.

“There is nothing to negotiate. I have no interest whatsoever in cooperating with your Godswamp Pharmacy. Goodbye!” Han Shuo replied without even turning around, and left the room.

“Unruly fella, I must debate you right here right now! I want to see what is so outstanding about your knowledge in medicine-refinement!” Gu Li who had been guarding at the door immediately and belligerently stepped into Han Shuo’s path after seeing that he had exited the room.

“I have no time for your nonsense!” Han Shuo wasn’t in no mood for further discussion, feeling as though he had been fooled by the Godswamp Pharmacy. He coldly shouted at her and pushed her aside. Then, ignoring the stumbling Gu Li, Han Shuo walked through the hall in large strides and headed straight for the exit.

Gu Li had never been treated so coarsely. With great difficulty, after she managed to save herself from falling, she discovered that Han Shuo was gone and people around her were looking at her as though deriving pleasure from her pitiful state. She could not be more infuriated and shrieked loudly, “It’s not over, you damned brat!”

After Han Shuo left the room, the door was yet again shut. Right after that, a side door in the room suddenly opened. An elderly man with white hair and translucent skin walked inside with a calm face. He looked at Steiss the dwarf and said indifferently, “This young one is extremely ambitious. He will not share his formula for a small speck of gain. It seems that this method isn’t going to work.”

“Master, how about if we eliminate him directly and capture the memory in his soul?” Steiss proposed with a dark face. He was furious that Han Shuo had walked out on him.

The elderly man shook his head and replied calmly, “Although I don’t know how he managed to escape from Avery, this youngster is obviously nothing simple. We should not use brute strength against him except as a last resort. The Godswamp Pharmacy has been operating in the City of Shadows for so many years. Surely we can take care of this small character who’s popped out of nowhere. Since he failed to appreciate our kindness, we shall show him who’s boss.”

“Master, you mean...”

“Just like how we took care of Hannah Pharmacy. First, we tarnish the reputation of his medicines. When people lose confidence in his drugs, he won’t be able to continue doing business in the City of Shadows. Hmph, those large family clans have been so supportive of him only for the medicines he produced. But if they were to learn that there are issues with those medicines, he will surely be driven away from the city,” the elderly man explained.

“Right, you are...” Steiss laughed sinisterly.

***

“What did you guys talk about? What did he say to make you so angry?!” Andrina immediately inquired Han Shuo after he came out from the Godswamp Pharmacy.

Andrina had tactfully withdrawn somewhere secluded before Han Shuo entered the room for discussion. As Andrina was just a little girl, basically no one paid attention to her. Then, after Han Shuo got out from the room, she emerged out of nowhere and went back to following Han Shuo.

“This Godswamp Pharmacy wants to rob my pharmacy. Twenty-eighty? And I even have to share my medicine formula? Ha. They are either daydreaming or they think they can take advantage of me!” Han Shuo said furiously. After storming out from the compound, Han Shuo turned around to gaze at the tall buildings and inwardly thought, One day, your Godswamp Pharmacy is going to be driven out from the City of Shadows! Fuck you!

“Bryan!” Anito hurried over anxiously.

“What’s the matter?” Han Shuo asked hastily. Seeing how hurried Anito was, he knew that something bad must have happened.

Anito gasped for breath and replied, “Carmelita has returned to the city but is severely injured! She is unconscious even until now and she might not make it. Lord Andre knows that your medicines are miraculous and wants your help!”

Han Shuo’s face froze when he heard that Carmelita was injured. He knew that Carmelita had been traveling through various forts around the City of Shadows to look for him. He immediately held himself accountable for Carmelita getting injured.

“Let’s go!” Han Shuo immediately rushed in the direction of the House of Sainte with Anito. He had a gloomy expression.

Although Han Shuo did not have romantic feelings for Carmelita, the two had gone through enough trials and tribulations together. He also knew that Carmelita had truly taken him as his friend. Now that Carmelita was critically injured, Han Shuo immediately took the attacker, whoever it was, as his own enemy.

Carmelita is immensely powerful. The House of Sainte has an overwhelming hold on the City of Shadows. Who would attack her? Godhunters? Han Shuo pondered while traveling to the Sainte Residence.

Han Shuo’s mind was in a mess as he was worrying about Carmelita’s condition and his speed had increased unknowingly, outpacing Anito. Anito looked at Han Shuo and Andrina’s backs befuddled, unable to understand how they could travel at such speeds!

When they were about to reach the Sainte Residence, Andrina suddenly said: “I’ll wait for you outside!” and disappeared.

Upon arrival, Han Shuo saw that Andre was personally waiting for him at the front door. The Andre at this moment had a dark purple pupil in his left eye. He gave off an intense eerie and gloomy aura; completely different from his mild demeanor in the usual days.

Andre clearly had something on his mind. His expression loosened up when he saw Han Shuo arrive and he said hastily, “Come with me!”

They entered a room filled with an intense scent of medicines. There were several medics whose hands were glowing with radiances which would fall on Carmelita’s terrifying injured body. She had cuts from head to toe. Her skin was torn and her flesh was split. She appeared almost inhuman.

Inside the small room, other than Carmelita and the medics, there were City Lord Wallace and a few of the most important members of the Sainte Family. Han Shuo took just one took at Carmelita who was lying inside a treatment vessel and knew just how badly injured she was.

“Elder Brother, I have brought him here!” Andre quietly told City Lord Wallace after showing Han Shuo into the room.

Wallace nodded and then said to Han Shuo, “She is severely injured and has yet to gain consciousness. We don’t know if she will make it.”

“I need everyone to leave the room!” Han Shuo suddenly said in a deep voice.

“Young- youngster, who do you think you are? You are merely a pharmacist; not a medical expert. What exactly can you do in this situation?” The few who were attending to Carmelita’s injuries were the best medics in the City of Shadows. They stared at Han Shuo with wrath when he tried to chase them away as soon as he arrived.

Andre, the person who escorted Han Shuo here, was also shocked. He did not expect that Han Shuo would be so daring. Usually, injuries as critical as this would be treated by professional medics. Pharmacists would usually be there to provide special medicines. Andre brought Han Shuo here merely for him to play a supporting role. He never expected that Han Shuo would want to handle the whole thing by himself.

“Let me do it. I have confidence in making Carmelita fully recover. I have no intention of talking bullshit or fooling around at a moment as critical as this,” Han Shuo looked at City Lord Wallace fixedly and said solemnly.

Wallace had been wearing a dark face but his eyes suddenly lit up after hearing Han Shuo’s words. He raised a hand to stop the medics’ protest and said in a deep voice, “All of you, leave!”

He was the most powerful man in the City of Shadows. The prestige he accumulated over so many years definitely wasn’t anything that these medics would dare defy. Obeying his command, they put down the medical equipment in their hands and left the small medical room.

“And you too, leave!” Wallace glanced at the few members of Sainte Family in the room and instructed.

Those people too lowered their heads and left. But when they were walking out, they each looked at Han Shuo with dismissive glances as though telling him, “Youngster, if something bad happens to Carmelita, you won’t be leaving here alive!”

“Do your best. We’re counting on you!” Wallace softly encouraged as he patted on Han Shuo’s back before he turned to Andre and said, “Brother, let’s leave the room as well.” Upon finishing those words, both Wallace and Andre walked out from the medical room.

“Elder Brother, you trust Bryan?” Andre hesitated for a moment and asked after they exited the medical room.

“I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot. Those medics have spent half the day but Carmelita has shown no signs of improving. I don’t think they can be counted on. This young man, however, has a very bright glimmer in his eyes – something that I couldn’t find in any of the dispirited medics. That’s why I think it’s worth giving him a shot,” Wallace said in a deep voice.

“You mean... confidence!” Andre stared blankly for a moment and replied.

“That’s right, it’s confidence. That confidence in his eyes made me feel that Carmelita could still be saved! But those medics, they were all flustered and frightened, and constantly transmitting us the powerlessness they felt. How am I going to count on them?” said Wallace.

Andre thought for a while and nodded in agreement. But soon after, he sighed and said softly, “Hopefully she will make it through.”

“Have you discovered any clues or evidence?” Wallace asked after taking in a deep breath. His face appeared frighteningly malevolent. He looked like a savage beast that could tear apart any human that entered its sight.

“We are still investigating. It will take time,” Andre replied. He felt a chilling sensation down to his toes.

“When you find the attacker, no matter who the person is, kill him! This is a direct provocation against our House of Sainte. Perhaps we have been too silent for too many years that people have started to forget what our family name implies!” Sainte said as his right hand trembled subconsciously.

Andre did not reply in words but nodded his head heavily.

Inside the medical room, both Carmelita and Han Shuo sat cross-legged with Han Shuo’s two hands pressed against Carmelita’s back. There was faint dark smoke lingering around their bodies. Strands of thick black smoke were wriggling around inside the room. The scene appeared wicked and sinister. One who didn’t know better might even think that some sort of dark ceremony was being conducted.

Carmelita’s body contained the divine energies of death, darkness, and destruction which didn’t belong to her. Those energies had permeated deep into even the cells and bones in her body, nearly destroying her vitality completely. It was obvious that several people had joined forces in an attempt to end her life!

The destruction divine energy that belonged to Carmelita had been mostly exhausted. What was left in her body was not enough to resist the onslaught of those foreign energies. As she was in a coma, her divine soul could not understand or react to the dire condition of her body.

Han Shuo’s daring claim that he could save Carmelita was not unfounded. His confidence was based on the miraculousness of demonic arts. Demonic yuan could be said as one of the most miraculous energies in the universe. By using demonic yuan, Han Shuo managed to get a clear and complete understanding of Carmelita’s condition. He immediately realized that the most threatening power in her body was a large amount of darkness divine energy. Han Shuo had no way of eliminating this powerful darkness energy using demonic yuan and could only remove the destruction and death divine energies.

The energies of destruction and death that were constantly dealing injuries to her body didn’t belong to Carmelita. The characteristics of these divine energy had been altered and they could only cause harm. After Han Shuo sucked them out using demonic arts, he immediately purged them into the ground. These kinds of divine energies could not be absorbed by his avatars – they would only cause them harm.

After exhausting some of his demonic yuan, Han Shuo managed to remove the foreign divine energies of destruction and death from her body. As for the darkness divine energy which was the most powerful energy inside her, even Han Shuo was powerless against it.

After boosting the power of his consciousness by ten folds using Cauldron Spirit’s energy, Han Shuo carefully infiltrated Carmelita’s divine soul. Then, inside her half-conscious soul, he left an adamant thought – to resist that darkness energy in her body with all her might.

Carmelita was after all, a highgod. Although she had yet to awaken, thanks to that resolute thought Han Shuo left in her divine soul, she started reassembling the destruction divine energy in her body. After that, Han Shuo fed Carmelita a few pellets of medicine. When Han Shuo discovered that the destruction divine energy in her body had started re-accumulating bit by bit, Han Shuo finally heaved a sigh a relief.

After resting for a while, Han Shuo erased all traces of demonic arts he employed, and opened the door with a weary face.

Wallace and the others had been waiting outside. As soon as Han Shuo came out from the door, Wallace asked hastily, “How is she doing?”

“She is out of danger. But she will need a very long time to fully recover.” Han Shuo wiped off the sweat on his forehead and continued, “There were quite a number of divine energies in her body. The most powerful of which was a darkness divine energy. The attacker must be a highgod. Also, that divine energy somehow feels familiar.”

Andre’s left eye suddenly turned dark purple. His face turned murderous.