Book 14, Fiend – Chapter 3, Black Dragon Tribe
“Can, can you speak a bit more clearly?” Linley was utterly confused.
As soon as he had come out of the metallic creature, he had run into this silver haired old man, who immediately asked him for his inkstone. Although he didn’t yet have an idea as to what an inkstone was, he could sense the peculiar aura within it.
It definitely wasn’t an ordinary item. How could he so casually give it to others?
“Haha...” The silver-haired old man’s face was all smiles. “The three of you just arrived, so I’m afraid there are quite a few things you don’t know yet. Fine, then. I’ll speak a bit more clearly!”
The silver haired old man glanced around, then said, “This Infernal Realm is one of the Four Higher Planes. As the plane created by the ‘Overgod of Destruction’, the Infernal Realm is filled with boundless cruelty and savagery. Massacres are commonly seen in the Infernal Realm!” As he spoke, the old man’s eyes dimly glowed red.
Linley and the others were secretly startled.
The silver-haired old man swept Linley’s group with his gaze, then said with absolute certainty, “Although the three of you are Deities, in the Infernal Realm, you are in unfamiliar territory. I dare say that if you rashly wander about the Infernal Realm, you definitely won’t live for more than three days!”
Linley, Delia, and Bebe all were slightly shocked.
“Old man, are you trying to trick us?” Bebe stared.
Although Bebe stared at him, he did so in a very adorable way. The silver-haired old man didn’t grow angry either. He said, “Although you have just recently arrived in the Infernal Realm, on that metallic airship of the Redbud Army, the various lords of the Redbud Army should have told you a few things. Fortunately, you are at the Deity level. If you were Saints, even if you had inkstones, I couldn’t care less about taking you in.
Within Linley’s mind, a scene suddenly appeared.
When they were in that metallic creature, that skinny violet-robed youngster had said, “The Infernal Realm, as one of the Four Higher Planes, naturally has experts as common as the clouds. Since you are in the Infernal Realm, you had best find a tribe or a clan to join!” At that time, Linley hadn’t paid too much attention to these words.
But now, he somewhat understood.
Joining a tribe or a clan!
“Linley, the Infernal Realm is actually this dangerous?” Delia looked towards Linley, who immediately sent back a consoling message via divine sense, “No matter what, we are already here in the Infernal Realm. It’s best to be cautious. Let me ask him about a few things first.”
Linley looked towards that silver-haired elder and laughed. “My name is Linley. Might I ask who you are?”
“Buffett [Bo’fei’te]!” The silver-haired old man smiled.
Linley nodded and laughed. “Mr. Buffett, I would like to ask, what is this inkstone? We just arrived in the Infernal Realm, so we don’t know anything at all about these things.”
“Haha...” The silver-haired elder laughed. “That’s understandable. This inkstone, to be precise, is the currency for the Infernal Realm!”
“Currency?” Linley, Bebe, and Delia were all surprised.
Having lived in the Yulan continent, Linley and the other two understand what a currency meant. The ‘currency’ of the Infernal Realm was actually this unusual inkstone.
“On what basis is this thing considered currency?” Linley asked, not understanding.
Something that could be used as currency should at least have a certain innate value.
Buffett shook his head. “I’m not too sure either as to what exactly is so special about the inkstones themselves. But I do know one thing. There is no place in the Infernal Realm where inkstones can be mined. Only the Seven Rulers of Hell are able to create them. Based on this alone, inkstones are qualified to be used as currency.”
Linley nodded slightly.
So inkstones were actually created by the Seven Rulers. Only, what special uses did inkstones have? Could it be that they were just made for people to look at? Linley still felt that inkstones had some sort of innate, unique value.
“What can this currency purchase?” Linley asked.
Buffett chuckled, “This currency can buy quite a few things. For example, divine artifacts. Divine sparks. Divine gemstones. Many more things. Also, some unique items such as amethysts, large golems, and more. But of course, there are some even more miraculous things...in short, this currency is good for many things. Even legendary Sovereign artifacts can be purchased using them. Only, the sum required is simply astronomical.
Linley began to understand the value of these inkstones.
“Can you tell me what the price of a Demigod spark is?” Linley asked.
“A Demigod spark is around a hundred inkstones. A Demigod artifact is generally only worth around ten inkstones.” Buffett said in a very experienced manner. “In the Infernal Realm, there are Deities everywhere, so a Demigod spark isn’t that valuable.”
“However, God sparks are worth ten thousand inkstones, while Highgod sparks are worth ten million inkstones!” Buffett sighed. “Ten million inkstones. If I had a Highgod spark, I would become an upper-class figure in the Infernal Realm.”
Linley, Bebe, and Delia glanced at each other. They all laughed.
“Boss, you actually thought that this inkstone was some sort of treasure.” Bebe messaged him through divine sense.
“I just had the feeling that the inkstone itself seemed very unusual. I didn’t expect that this inkstone actually isn’t worth much at all.” Linley’s group naturally wouldn’t care too much about this inkstone any longer. After all, Linley was carrying Demigod artifacts, and even quite a few God artifacts. He even had those two Highgod artifacts which he hadn’t used yet.
He had a single Highgod spark as well.
By now, Linley, Delia, and Bebe didn’t have any further objections to joining the Black Dragon Tribe. It was just a single inkstone each, right?
“If we join your tribe, what if we want to leave in the future?” Linley asked.
“Leave? You can leave whenever you want, of course.” Buffett laughed. “However, only idiots would leave by themselves. Without the ability to protect yourself, roaming these lands, where danger is omnipresent, is as good as throwing one’s life away. In the Infernal Realm, killing people to steal their valuables is extremely common. Even most Gods don’t dare to run about wildly.”
Linley’s group glanced at each other.
“Fine. We accept.” With a flip of his hand, Linley brought out his inkstone, while Bebe and Delia brought out theirs as well. Buffett reached out with his hand, but Linley suddenly pulled his arm back. “No rush. I’ll give it to you after we enter your Black Dragon Tribe.”
Buffett was startled, and then he began to laugh loudly. “You are afraid that I’m trying to cheat you?”
“Fine, come with me then.” Buffett immediately flew downwards, while Linley, Delia, and Bebe all followed him down.
The Infernal Realm’s gravity was nearly a hundred times that of the Yulan continent’s. Linley could clearly sense that his flying speed was quite a bit lower than in the material plane as well. While flying downwards, Bebe asked curiously, “Hey, old guy, just now you were talking about the Redbud Army. Those Redbud soldiers who escorted us here, who are they? Why is it that on our way over, we encountered many experts battling each other, but as soon as they saw the Redbud soldiers, they immediately were terrified and fled.”
“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about this.”
Buffett sighed. “The Infernal Realm has five great continents. The lord of our Redbud Continent is a mighty Sovereign of Destruction, one of the Seven Rulers of Hell, whom we refer to as the ‘Redbud Ruler’.”
Linley and the others knew this.
The Infernal Realm had five great continents and two oceans, which were controlled by the seven Rulers. The Seven Rulers were Sovereigns who trained in the Edicts of Destruction!
“And this Redbud Army is the army under the control of this mighty Sovereign of Destruction! This is the most powerful army in the entire Redbud Continent, and they are completely devoted to the commands of the Sovereign, ‘Redbud Ruler’! The Redbud Continent has no one who dares offend the Redbud Army!” Buffett’s eyes were filled with eagerness.
Linley and the others were shocked.
So it was an army under the authority of a Sovereign! No wonder none of the experts they encountered on the way over dared to antagonize the Redbud Army.
“Perhaps a single small unit of the Redbud Army isn’t that frightening. But if you dare offend a single unit of the Redbud Army, then most likely an entire regiment of the Redbud Army will come for revenge! Even someone as powerful as our Lord Prefect of the Nightblaze Prefecture, who might be able to deal with a regiment, would most likely then face the entire Redbud Army which would come for revenge. In the entire Redbud Continent, there is virtually no one who dares offend the Redbud Army!”
Buffett looked at Linley and the others. “You have to remember this. In the Redbud Continent of the Infernal Realm, no matter what, do not offend this Redbud Army. Offending them is disastrous!”
“They are so powerful, and no one dares offend them. Then why haven’t you joined the Redbud Army, Mr. Buffett? I saw that many members of the Redbud Army were Gods. Aren’t you a God as well?” Linley joked.
“Don’t you think I want to?”
Buffett shook his head and sighed. “The requirements for joining the Redbud Army are very strict. First of all, you had to have become a Deity on your own! Anyone who became a Deity through fusing with a divine spark is immediately eliminated from consideration. This has caused more than 90% of the people in the Infernal Realm to have no hope of joining. And the second requirement is...you have to at least be a God, and have to go through a competition. Each time, they only recruit a very low number of people. Those capable of obtaining victory in the competition all have at least some sort of unique ability.”
Linley couldn’t help but sigh in astonishment at the quality of this Redbud Army.
The weakest of them were Gods, and Gods who had become Deities through their own power. In addition, they then were selected through a tournament...over the countless years, the number of truly powerful experts who had been recruited into the Redbud Army was unimaginably high. No wonder nobody in the Redbud Continent dared to offend the Redbud Army.
Linley and the others landed on the ground.
“Roaaaar.” “Roaaaaar.” A series of roars rang out from the massive mountains in front of them.
Countless enormous black dragons that were over a hundred meters long lay coiled throughout the mountain ranges. If one took a careful look, one would discover that every single enormous black dragon had a human standing or sitting atop of them.
“This is our Black Dragon Tribe!” Buffett clearly was very proud. “Come, follow me inside.” As he spoke, Buffett strode forward. The mountain paths were winding, but Linley and the others were able to move forward easily.
“Hey?” Bebe suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “Boss, that seems to be adamantite!”
Linley turned. From not too far away, he did indeed see a small hill formed from adamantite. Such an enormous amount of adamantite caused Linley to feel astonished as well.
Seeing Linley stare in astonishment at the distant adamantite, Buffett couldn’t help but laugh. “That is adamantite. This is a very common type of ore in the Infernal Realm. You’ll see it everywhere. Look, over there, that blue ore? That’s blue nightmare ore. In terms of toughness, it is comparable to adamantite, but in terms of elasticity, it is actually even a level superior. However...these things can be seen everywhere. In the Infernal Realm, divine artifacts are quite worthless. If you want a divine artifact, you can just have a Demigod spend ten thousand years cultivating it, and then you’ll have a Demigod artifact. But this will only be worth ten or so inkstones.”
Linley, Delia, and Bebe maintained their silence.
Indeed...
Only after cultivation and nourishing would a divine artifact’s power increase. A newly forged divine artifact couldn’t even be considered a Demigod artifact, just an un-graded weapon.
“Buffett, you brought three more people. Haha, our tribe’s population has increased yet again!” From afar, a voice rang out. An enormous black dragon flew over, and someone flew down from the black dragon’s back. He wore a blue turban atop his head, and he appeared quite robust.
Buffett laughed, “They just arrived in the Infernal Realm.”
“Hey.” Bebe blinked his eyes. “It looks like everyone here is a Deity. Why do you raise these black dragons? These are all just Saints.”
The robust man who had flown down laughed, “Don’t underestimate them. This type of black dragon is a very unique race of black dragons. It is known as the ‘Gerrard [Jia’le’de] Black Dragon’ race. The saliva of Gerrard Black Dragons is quite valuable. If you raise a Gerrard Black Dragon, after ten thousand years, you’ll have earned thousands of inkstones. You fellows are quite lucky to be able to join our Black Dragon Tribe. If you joined the other tribes, you wouldn’t be as well off as you are with us.”
Buffett said as well, “Indeed. If other Deities wanted to join our tribe, we wouldn’t even be willing to accept them. You were sent over by the Redbud Army, however, so clearly you came from the material planes. You aren’t a spy from the enemy tribes!”
Linley’s group began to laugh helplessly.
So the reason why the tribe accepted them was because the three of them were very ‘innocent’.
“Haha, we have new brothers, eh?” Many of the dragonriders let out loud laughs. “Since you’ve arrived at our Black Dragon Tribe, in the future, we will all be brothers. Haha, Buffett, hurry up and pick a place for them to live.”
Linley glanced at those distant black dragonriders, and in his heart, he felt a surge of warmth.
It seemed that the people of the Black Dragon Tribe were all quite good.