Book 14, Fiend – Chapter 2, Inkstone
Mirrormoon Cliff. The empty space in the center of the violet castle had hundreds of violet-robed men assembled here, causing the hundred-plus creatures who had just arrived in the Infernal Realm to feel fear and shock.
“Why are there so many experts here? All of them are Gods at the least, and that person who seems to be the leader is very possibly a Highgod!” Bebe rolled his eyes as he spoke to Linley mentally. Linley mentally spoke back, “Bebe, don’t worry about that. Keep waiting. It is daybreak, now. They should send us off.”
Linley knew for certain that these people were far too powerful.
In addition, the uniforms of those violet-robed men all contained a certain aura which caused Linley to feel an inexplicable dread.
“Silence!” A deep voice rang out, and the chattering violet-robed men immediately shut their mouths, no longer daring to speak. At the same time, the hundreds of violet-robed men stepped to one side together in an orderly fashion, causing the six other violet-robed men to stand out.
“These six should be the leaders.” Linley had seen Adkins, Sadista, and Bluefire. He could sense that six people gave him a similar feeling.
There were four men and two women in the six.
“This time, the quality of these newcomers from the material planes isn’t bad. There’s even a pair of Gods.” One of the six, a tall, slender woman with straight shoulders and short hair, glanced at Linley’s group, then turned to the other five and laughed, “This time, it should be my turn to send them off, right?”
“Amelia [A’mi’li’ya], nobody is fighting with you over it!” One of the six, a slightly fatter man, laughed loudly as he spoke.
Amelia laughed as well, then said loudly, “Second Mirrormoon Squad, prepare to move out!”
“Yes, Captain!” A number of those people within the hundreds of violet-robed persons called out loudly.
Amelia turned and glanced at the distant gate. A warrior dressed in golden clothes walked out from within the gate, quickly arriving in front of Amelia and coming down to one knee, saying with respect, “Master!”
“Prepare to head out.” Amelia said.
“Yes, Master!” The golden-clothed warrior rumbled.
And then, this golden clothed warrior flew into the air above the violet castle. A golden light shone, and the golden clothed warrior transformed into an enormous golden dragon, at least a hundred meters long. Under the blood-red glow of the sun, the golden dragon’s scales shone with a dazzling light as it coiled itself above the violet castle.
“Whooosh!”
An entrance that was ten meters long suddenly appeared on the flank of the golden dragon.
Everyone, including Linley, was shocked. Linley looked carefully. “Just now, that golden clothed warrior was clearly just a Saint. But now, he suddenly transformed into a golden dragon, and an entrance appeared on his flank?
Linley was filled with questions.
“Take all of these newcomers from the material planes inside.” Amelia said.
Immediately, forty nine violet-robed men walked out of the gathering towards Linley’s group. Their leader, a bearded warrior, called out, “All of you, obediently go inside. Otherwise, we’ll have to use force.” Right after these words were said...
Ten people in the group of experts Linley was in flew directly towards the flank of the golden dragon, including Linley’s group of three.
Upon flying into the flank of the golden dragon, Linley was shocked as well...so apparently, within the belly of this golden dragon, there was a setup like that of a manor. There weren’t just chairs and tables; there were even decorations like manmade mountains, metallic flowers, and the like.
It was incomparably marvelous.
“Wow!” Many experts who entered couldn’t help but sigh in shock. That seemingly simian creature also stared with wide eyes.
“Boss, this is a metallic creature.” Bebe spoke mentally with Linley. “Just like Grandpa Beirut’s metallic castle. Metallic creatures are capable of changing into all sorts of forms. However, the size of the changes is limited. Grandpa’s metallic castle is much more powerful than this one.”
Linley was secretly in awe of Lord Beirut.
Only today did he realize that the metallic castle which Beirut himself lived in was this incredible. In terms of size...this golden dragon’s body was less than a tenth of the size of the metallic castle.
“Don’t just stand there like idiots, sit.” Amelia shouted coldly.
Immediately, the violet-robed people in the squad began to bark, “You two, sit over there. And you three, over there. Hurry up. Motherf*cker, if you are too slow, I’ll send you flying with a kick.” Those violet-robed people had no concept of courtesy.
Soon, Linley and the other hundred-plus newcomers from the material planes were arranged into a seating pattern.
“Captain, where should we send this batch to?” A skinny, violet-robed youth asked.
Amelia glanced at him, then said calmly, “This time...we’ll send them to Nightblaze City!” Immediately, this flying metallic creature began to move, reaching an astonishing speed as it flew in the direction of the ocean.
“Crackle...”
Very strangely, within the belly of the golden dragon, a golden light was flowing everywhere, resulting in the two sides of the golden dragon’s belly becoming transparent. Linley and the other experts were able to see straight through the transparent sides of the and see what was outside. It was akin to the glass of the Yulan continent.
“How curious.” Linley said to himself in appreciation.
Having a metallic creature like this was quite comfortable. The nearby Bebe and Delia all stared through the translucent metal towards the outside.
“Huh?” Linley was somewhat astonished. He said mentally to the nearby Bebe and Delia, “This metal creature is traveling so fast.” Linley and the others were able to see the speed of movement by looking outside.
This was the Infernal Realm, not a material plane.
The gravity here was a hundred times that of the material plane. Even Linley, moving at full strength, wouldn’t be able to fly this fast. It must be understood...this was just a Saint-level metallic creature.
“Give these newcomers to the Infernal Realm a general understanding of the affairs of the Infernal Realm.” Amelia said to a nearby skinny, violet-robed youngster.
“Yes, Captain.”
The skinny violet-robed youngster immediately stood up and looked at Linley and the others. “You have all arrived in the Infernal Realm from the material realms. I will now give you a general understanding of the Infernal Realm. The Infernal Realm, as one of the Four Higher Planes, naturally has as many experts as there are clouds in the skies. Now that you are in the Infernal Realm, you should find a tribe or a clan to join.”
“In the Infernal Realm, there are primarily five large continents that are all but endless in size. These continents are the Redbud Continent, the Karol [Ka’luo] Continent, the Muja [Mu’ya] Continent, the Bloodridge Continent, and the Jadefloat Continent.”
Hearing this, Linley, Bebe, and Delia all had a thought.
Linley’s target on this trip was the Indigo Prefecture of the Bloodridge Continent!
“Five great continents. The Redbud Continent in the north and the Karol Continent of the west are already connected to the ends of the planes. In other words...the Redbud Continent’s northern edges is where the plane ends to the north, while the western side of the Karol Continent is where the plane ends to the west.”
“Aside from these five great continents, the rest is all ocean. The five continents are essentially connected into a circle. Inside the circle is the vast Starmist Sea, which is far greater than any single of the continents in size. The Starmist Sea is the ‘inner sea’, while the ‘outer sea’ is the sea which exists outside this circle of continents and is primarily located to the south and the east of the continents. This outer sea is known as the ‘Chaotic Sea’, and it is enormous!”
The skinny violet-robed youth chuckled when he said this. “But of course, this doesn’t mean much to you. The size of every single continent is shockingly large, and many experts will spend their entire lives in a single continent. The continent we are currently in is the Redbud Continent!”
Redbud Continent?
Linley’s heart sunk! All of the continents of the Infernal Realm were astonishingly vast, unlike the simpler Yulan continent.
“Boss, what should we do? How are we going to get to the Bloodridge Continent?” Bebe couldn’t help but reach out to him mentally.
“Our purpose in coming to the Infernal Realm, aside from going back to my ancestral clan, is primarily to adventure and explore this place. It’s fine if we have a good adventure before heading off to the ancestral clan.” Linley messaged back mentally. But although this was what Linley said and thought to himself, he still felt a hint of resignation.
The skinny violet-clothed youth continued, “In the Infernal Realm, there are five great continents and two oceans. These are each governed by the seven mighty monarchs! They are known here as the ‘Seven Rulers of Hell’!”
The Seven Rulers of Hell?
Linley’s group of people all began to secretly pay attention to this astonishing title.
“From what he says, these Seven Rulers are in charge of the five continents and the two seas. What sort of person would be able to be so incredible?” Linley secretly wondered.
The violet-robed youngster had a hint of veneration in his eyes. “The mighty Seven Rulers of Hell are the seven mighty Sovereigns who train in the Edicts of Destruction!”
“Seven Sovereigns?” Linley was secretly astonished.
This was the highest level of existence.
“But of course, the almighty Sovereigns disdain from interfering in worldly affairs. Generally speaking, most affairs are handled by each of the Lord Prefects. The area where you are headed is the Nightblaze Prefecture! Nightblaze Prefecture covers a circumference of over a billion kilometers, and is considered a middle-sized prefecture!”
As soon as he heard these words, Linley stared in astonishment.
A circumference of a billion kilometers?
His own homeland, the Yulan continent, was only thirty thousand kilometers in size. The difference was too vast. Even if he flew nonstop in his Yulan continent, in twenty four hours, he would only cover a few hundred thousand kilometers. But in the Infernal Realm, where the gravitational pull was so much stronger, his speed would definitely be much lessened.
Just flying through a single Nightblaze Prefecture would most likely take a very, very long period of time.
And what’s more, how could one possibly have the chance to fly about so freely in the Infernal Realm?
“The road ahead is truly difficult.” Linley said to himself.
“Boom!” A rumble erupted from afar.
Everyone stared curiously outside the translucent windows towards the outside. They saw from afar, two groups of people fighting in mid-air. Lightning flashed, the wind howled, the earth shattered...over a hundred Deities were engaging in battle and the sight truly was astonishing.
“F*ck off!” A cold, angry sound erupted forth from Amelia’s lips, transmitting through the metallic dragon and shaking the world.
Those hundred wildly battling Deities saw the golden dragon, and in particular that diagram on its head. It was a beautiful redbud flower!
“The Redbud Army!”
“Quick, flee!”
These hundred plus Deities were frightened. Forgetting about their mutual enmities, they immediately fled in every direction. In but the blink of an eye, they had all dispersed and could no longer be seen.
On the way over, Linley’s group encountered multiple battles involving hundreds of experts, but no matter how powerful they were, upon seeing the golden dragon fly over, they were so frightened that they immediately scurried and fled. This golden dragon flew for a very long time, spending roughly at least a full year.
Given the astonishing speed at which the golden dragon flew, and the fact that it had flown in a straight line, how vast a distance had they travelled!
“We are at the borders of Nightblaze Prefecture!” Amelia stood up, stretching and smiling. “Fortunately, Nightblaze Prefecture is fairly close to our Mirrormoon Cliff. Last time, when I went to the Snowlake Prefecture in the north, it took me ten full years to get there.”
The skinny, violet-clothed youth stood up as well and said, “The nine of you who are Deities, stand up.”
Linley and the rest of the nine all immediately stood up.
With a flip of his hand, the skinny violet-clothed produced a black rock that was the size of a fingernail. “One for each of you. This ‘inkstone’ is something nice. Keep it. Only those who are at the Deity level when they arrive in hell will receive it.” He gave each of the nine a piece.
“Inkstone?”
Linley stared in astonishment at this inkstone in his hands.
The inkstone was in a perfect square, roughly a centimeter on each side. It seemed to be a very unremarkable type of rock, but Linley could sense from within it a unique aura that made his heart tremble.
“Whoooosh.”
A giant hole suddenly appeared in the flank of the golden dragon. Ten or so experts who had arrived from the material plane were immediately tossed out. Linley, Delia, and Bebe remained within the belly of the golden dragon. They were quite astonished. Laughing, the skinny violet-clothed youth said, “Don’t be hasty. It’ll be your turn soon.”
The golden dragon constantly flew, and after a while, ten or so more were tossed out.
By the fourth batch, it finally came to Linley’s turn.
“Whoosh!” Their seats beneath them vanished, and a powerful energy stream tossed Linley and the other ten out. Linley, Delia, and Bebe quickly controlled their movements, then looked closely below.
“Good heavens, what is that!”
This was a mountain range, and within the mountain range, there were a large number of black dragons over a hundred meters long. At a glance, there were definitely thousands of these black dragons who were stretched out into a ‘web’ as far as Linley could see. At this time, someone flew over at high speed from amongst those black dragons.
This was a silver-haired old man. Laughing, he said, “The three of you just arrived in the Infernal Realm, right? Welcome to my Black Dragon Tribe! If you want to join our Black Dragon Tribe, each of you, please pay a single inkstone. We will be responsible for protecting you. If you are unwilling...then go ahead and roam the Infernal Realm by yourself!”
Linley, Delia, and Bebe couldn’t help but be amazed.