Book 15, Priceless Treasure – Chapter 1, The Fiends Assemble
Two star mission. Escort from ‘Royalwing City’ of the Nightblaze Prefecture to ‘Bluemaple City’ of the Rainbow Prefecture, a trip of nearly four billion kilometers. Compensation, two hundred thousand inkstones!
Although the distance was that of four billion kilometers, generally speaking, when riding on a metallic lifeform, a few decades was enough. An escort mission of a few decades which would result in a reward of 200,000 inkstones was quite a high compensation for a One Star Fiend or a Two Star Fiend.
“You choose this one?” The youth raised his head in surprise, glancing at Linley’s team.
The look on the youth’s face caused Linley to feel suspicious. “What? Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”
“Oh. Give me your Fiend medallion for a moment.” The youth didn’t say anything extra. Linley’s team immediately handed their Fiend medallions over. With a flip of his hand, the youth brought out gemstone which radiated with violet light.
He placed this gemstone next to the three Fiend medallions.
Under the violet light, strange characters suddenly appeared in the air above the three Fiend medallions.
“Uh?” Linley’s team was rather surprised.
“What’s this? A line of numbers?” Bebe asked. An extremely long number was currently hovering above the Fiend medallion.
The youth said very casually. “That’s the serial number for your Fiend medallion. Every single Fiend has a different serial number, and we can verify your identity through it. The medallion also has your star rank as a Fiend.” As he spoke, he recorded down the serial numbers of the three Fiend medallions.
And then, he handed the three medallions back to Linley’s team. “Alright. What the three of you need to do is go to the city gates twenty days from now at dawn. At that time, staff members of the Fiend castle as well as the escorted guests will be waiting for you there. They will verify your Fiend medallions, and thus they naturally will be able to verify your identity.”
“Does it cost anything to accept missions?” Linley asked.
Linley had heard that most Fiend Castle missions required a fee to be paid first before acceptance.
The youth laughed. “That depends on the mission. Taking on escort missions doesn’t require a fee to be paid.”
Linley’s group left the Fiend Castle, returning to their own residence.
“Ah, so we have twenty more days. In twenty days, we’ll leave this place.” Bebe tossed his grass hat to the stone table, then sighed. “We’ve lived here for thirty years now. I’ll miss it.”
Linley couldn’t help but let out a long breath.
They had come to the Infernal Realm so long ago now. They had finally become Fiends. In twenty days, they would finally begin their journey enroute to the Indigo Prefecture.
“Linley.” Delia’s face had a hint of a smile on it. “Tarosse, Dylin, and the others arrived here in the Infernal Realm long before we did. Where do you think they might be? This time, when we leave Royalwing City, will we meet them on the way?”
“Tarosse, Dylin?” Linley couldn’t help but think back to the things which had happened in the past.
“All of them are together. Tarosse and Dylin, in particular, aren’t just Gods, they are divine beasts. They should be able to have the ability to somewhat protect themselves.” Linley looked towards the distant horizons. “Only, this Infernal Realm is too vast. I don’t know where they were transported to.”
The Infernal Realm had five great continents, as well as the Starmist Sea and the Chaotic Sea.
From the material plane, one could be transported anywhere and appear within any of those seven areas. Any two places had an extremely vast distance from each other. If they weren’t sent to the same continent, meeting would really be difficult.
Bebe hurriedly shook his head and said, “Right. It isn’t so bad for Tarosse and the others in the Infernal Realm, but Olivier came alone. Him, a Demigod all by himself, most likely will have a bit of a tougher time than we did when we first came.”
“Without having come to the Infernal Realm, who would have known that it was like this?” Linley laughed calmly. “However, it makes sense. Countless experts from material planes have been transported here over countless years, and the Infernal Realm itself has many races...it is only natural for there to be so many experts here.”
Linley’s group felt very relaxed. After all, they now had a wealth of over a hundred million inkstones and had become Fiends. In the Infernal Realm, they would have no problems establishing themselves somewhere.
Linley’s group naturally also had more confidence with regards to heading to the Indigo Prefecture.
Within the twenty remaining days, Linley’s group quietly trained. Delia naturally focused on absorbing that Highgod spark. However, absorbing a Highgod spark would require dozens of years. In the blink of an eye...
The twenty days had passed.
This dawn, the cold, foggy dawn air still hovered about Royalwing City. In mid-air, the Violet Moon could still be seen. But of course, it was already past the ‘curfew’ time period. Linley’s group got up early and headed towards the gates of Royalwing City.
“Royalwing City!” Bebe sighed emotionally while walking. “In the future, I probably won’t have a chance to come to Royalwing City again.”
“Don’t overthink things.” Linley, seeing the emotional look on Bebe’s face, wanted to laugh. “Oh. The gates are up ahead.”
“Uh, we’re here.” Bebe’s eyes lit up, and he immediately looked over. “Where’s the metallic lifeform? Why can’t I see it?” Bebe looked carefully in the air above the outside of the city, but couldn’t see any trace of a metallic castle.
Linley felt a hint of puzzlement as well.
Logically speaking, there should be a metallic lifeform outside.
“Let’s head outside then discuss it.” Linley said. As they stepped past the gates, a white-robed silver-haired youth, upon seeing the Fiend medallions on their chests, immediately walked over and asked in a low voice, “Are you here for the escort mission to Bluemaple City of the Rainbow Prefecture?”
“Right!” Linley’s group nodded.
The silver-haired youth laughed and nodded. “Then please first go to the second floor of the restaurant next to the gates. The Fiends who are participating in this escort mission are all going there.”
“Next to the gates?” Linley turned to look. “The restaurant at the south, or the one at the north.”
“The one in the south. At the door, you’ll see someone like me, dressed in white. When you go, he will receive you.” The silver-haired youth said.
Linley’s team was puzzled. The escort was supposed to gather together and head out at dawn, so why were they going to a restaurant?
However, the restaurant was within Royalwing City, and violence was forbidden within Royalwing City. Linley’s group didn’t have to be afraid of taken advantage of or bullied. Naturally, they casually returned to Royalwing City again. At the same time, other Fiends who had accepted this mission were also guided to follow Linley and the others into the restaurant.
“The three of you, please wait a moment.” The white-robed, blue-haired youth smiled at the entrance to the restaurant. He had seen his colleague outside the gates instruct these three to come over, so he knew the three were also here for the mission.
Behind Linley’s group were two more Fiends.
Linley glanced at them, and made his judgment. “All Gods.”
“The five of you, please come with me.” The white-robed blue-haired youth immediately guided Linley’s group of five to the second floor of the restaurant. Right now, the halls of the restaurant on the second floor were bustling. There were forty or fifty people gathered here now.
At the stairway to the second floor, there was a black-robed man standing there.
“A Fiend Castle staffer?” Linley could immediately tell, because this person held within his hand a gemstone that was shining with a violet light.
“The five of you, please permit me to make an inspection.” The man smiled.
He immediately used that gemstone which emitted that violet light, placing it close to the chests of Linley and the others. That violet light, upon shining down on the Fiend medallion, immediately caused the Fiend medallion to display a serial number and star rank. The black-robed man was holding a book in his hands. At the top of it, he wrote down the serial number of the Fiends who were taking part in this mission.
Only after completing each verification was the black-robed man certain of every person’s status.
“The five of you, welcome.” The black-robed man smiled and nodded. Only now did he permit Linley’s group of five to enter the center of the second floor.
A silver-haired old man who on his forehead had three long black horns arranged in a circular manner came walking over. With a smile, he said, “Welcome, the three of you. Our expedition will occur not at dawn today, but at sundown. Please enjoy a repast here first. We will pay for all your expenditures here.”
“Sundown?”
Although Linley’s team was puzzled, they didn’t mind.
One or two days, to Deities, was nothing.
Linley, Delia, and Bebe found a corner for themselves in the dining halls of the second floor, then sat down at the table and casually ordered some dishes.
“Linley, I keep on having the feeling that this escort mission seems to be a bit unusual.” Delia said softly.
Linley nodded slightly. “Right. Look. Although the vast majority of the Fiends here are Gods, there’s even around ten Highgods. Highgod Fiends are generally Four Star Fiends, or even more powerful. For them to have invited so many Fiends...the price isn’t going to be low.”
The missions given out by the Fiend Castle didn’t have a randomly assigned remuneration; it was in accordance with a baseline which the Fiend Castle had come to.
To invite a One Star Fiend or a Two Star Fiend, the price wouldn’t be too bad. But for Four Star Fiends or Five Star Fiends, the price would be astonishing.
“Lord Learmonth [Li’er’meng’si]!”
“Lord Learmonth, you came as well.” Suddenly, several voices rang out in the center of the restaurant.
Linley’s group couldn’t help but turn to look as well. A skinny, callous looking youth with blue hair was walking up. Immediately, quite a few Fiends stood up to welcome him, especially the Highgods, more than half of whom stood to greet him.
The callous youth named Learmonth entered, then swept the restaurant with his gaze, which finally fell upon three handsome siblings that looked very much alike. A hint of a smile appeared on his face. “Edwards [Ai’de’hua’si], you three brothers have taken on this mission as well? It seems I’ll have it easy, then.”
The three laughed and stood up.
“Mr. Learmonth, since you’ve taken on this mission as well, then this road will most likely have no more dangers for us.” One of the three exceedingly handsome brothers said.”
Right now, the silver-haired elder with the three black horns began to chortle as he walked over. “Mr. Learmonth, Edwards and co., on this trip, we’ll be troubling you.” In the eyes of the silver-haired elder, there was no need to pay any attention to the other Fiends.
Anyone who knew Learmonth or the Edwards brothers wouldn’t be angered by this.
Learmonth was a mighty Six Star Fiend.
The Edwards brothers were all Five Star Fiends!
Generally speaking, the most powerful Fiends, the Seven Star Fiends, would be scattered everywhere in reclusion. Asking them to take on missions was very difficult. However, generally speaking, Six Star Fiends were already extremely powerful. When one of them joined a mission, there would virtually be no problems on a mission.
“Who is this Lord Learmonth?” Not too far away from Linley, someone began discussing in a low voice.
It seemed that it wasn’t just Linley who was puzzled.
“Lord Learmonth is a Six Star Fiend, one of the ranked experts of our Royalwing City.”
Linley’s team couldn’t help but feel startled.
Last time, when they were heading to Moon Lake Castle, the strongest figure had been Loysius and the other two. Loysius was only a Five Star Fiend, but he was still able to kill the master of the Moon Lake Castle without giving him a chance to fight back at all. Five Star Fiends were already so powerful; what, then, of Six Star Fiends?
In addition, a Six Star Fiend attending an escort mission? This caused Linley to feel astonished as well.
The large group continued to eat delicacies until sundown. During this period of time, Linley’s group learned that there were nearly twenty Highgod-level Fiends who had accepted this mission, and nearly a hundred God-level Fiends.
So many Fiends, and the leader was a Six Star Fiend.
To have a Six Star Fiend take part in an escort mission of four billion kilometers...the remuneration would be astonishing. Tens of times or hundreds of times greater than that for a God-level Fiend.
“This escort mission is definitely not ordinary.” Linley was rather nervous.
At sundown. Outside Royalwing City.
Linley’s group, under the guidance of the silver-haired elder, quietly entered a metallic lifeform en masse. Almost as soon as they entered the metallic lifeform, without even having a chance to decide where to sit, the metallic lifeform began to move.
With a ‘swish’, the metallic lifeform disappeared into the horizons, leaving Royalwing City and heading towards Bluemaple City.