Book 16, Starmist Sea – Chapter 31, Purgatory Commander
Linley remembered the name ‘Reisgem’ very, very clearly.
Back in the Amethyst Mountains when Linley had been testing out ‘Worldwalking’, he had fallen into the hands of that juvenile amethyst beast, who had announced his name and that he was a Purgatory Commander, wanting to overawe Linley. Unfortunately, Linley had no idea what Purgatory was and thus had no idea what it meant for a person to be a Purgatory Commander.
“Crackle.” Countless black energy strands surrounded Linley, and they were incomparably stiff, causing Linley to be completely unable to move. Even though Linley’s strength was massive and inexhaustible, the speed at which he destroyed the black energy bindings was slower than the speed by which they increased.
“Kid, don’t use your Sovereign’s Might. You’d be wasting it if you did.” The low, gentle voice continued.
Linley turned his head in astonishment. Fortunately, the black energy strands didn’t cover Linley’s head as well. Linley could clearly see that ancient armor, and that red-haired man standing in mid-air, holding that massive sledgehammer.
“What do you want to do?” Linley chuckled. “What, you want to dominate my soul?”
“You even know about this?” The master of Castle Hendsey was quite surprised.
While the two were chatting, the master of the castle had set up his Godrealm, completely blocking out their conversation, while those who were watching from afar couldn’t see a single thing.
“Come with me. Let’s have a nice chat.” The master of the castle actually flew downwards.
“Follow him?” Linley was stunned.
The master of the castle, seeing that Linley wasn’t moving, turned and glanced at him, then laughed calmly, “Given your soul strength as a God, you are far from being my match. Controlling you would be utterly effortless. There’s no need for me to play any tricks.”
“If there’s something you want to say, you can say it here.” Linley said.
The master of the castle glanced at him, amazed, then began to laugh and nod. “Fine. I’ll do as you say.” For so many years, nobody had ever dared to speak to him in such a way. And so, the master of the castle began to chat with Linley in the air above Castle Hendsey.
“First, let me introduce myself. I am Mosi [Mo’si] Bagshaw! The master of this Castle Hendsey.” The master of the castle had a hint of a smile on his face.
The master of the castle was of the Bagshaw clan as well!
Linley had noticed that the ‘master of the castle’, so valiant in battle, actually spoke in a very soft, gentle voice, and his smile was quite friendly as well. He didn’t give off any aura of being a rude boor at all. Linley replied, “I am Linley.”
“Can you tell me what your relationship is with Reisgem, for you to actually convince him to make a soul-protecting divine artifact for you?” The master of the castle, Mosi, laughed calmly.
“Reisgem...made me a soul-protecting divine artifact?” Linley was astonished.
“Isn’t that the case?” Mosi laughed calmly. “I’ve heard of your combat prowess. You were able to kill so many Highgods, and also defeat ‘Boslo’. Your soul protection must be very strong. However, you were only a God. How powerful could your soul possibly be? The soul of a God, in terms of ‘quality’, is simply far too inferior compared to Highgod souls!”
“It is true that I have a soul-protecting artifact, but what of it?” No matter what, Linley wouldn’t dare say that he had a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact.
Otherwise, most likely this ‘Mosi’ in front of him would be unable to resist being greedy.
“There we go.” Mosi laughed. “It is exceedingly hard to create a soul-protecting artifact. You must understand, first of all, a person who wants to make this must have an exceedingly high level of accomplishment with regards to the soul. In the entire Infernal Realm, there are very few people capable of making a soul-protecting artifact. Reisgem, however, is one of them.”
“You are able to utilize his trademark special skill, the ‘Amethyst Space’; you definitely were taught by him. Thus, I said that your soul-protecting artifact must have come from him helping you make it as well.” Mosi said very confidently.
Linley shook his head. “My Gravitational Space did indeed originate from him, this is true. But the soul-protecting artifact wasn’t made by him.”
“Oh?” Mosi glanced at Linley in surprise, then laughed. “I must say, you are quite mysterious, kid. Your body is so incomparably tough; even amongst the Four Divine Beasts clan, this is exceedingly rare. And you also have a soul-protecting artifact, and have some sort of a relationship with Reisgem...”
Linley frowned.
This Mosi had talked with him for so long. Why? But it seemed as though the man didn’t have the intention to kill him.
Mosi, seeing the look on Linley’s face, couldn’t help but laugh, then said comfortingly, “Kid, don’t worry. Even if it were just for the sake of giving Reisgem face, I won’t kill you. Only, I feel you are quite the curiosity, kid, so I want to chat with you a bit.”
Linley let out a sigh of relief.
“I didn’t expect that because of that juvenile amethyst beast, I dodged a catastrophe today.” Linley had great faith in this castle master Mosi, as the man’s power far outstripped his own. There was no need for Mosi to lie to him if he wanted to kill him.
“Why are you so certain that I am a God?” Linley asked.
“Haha...” Mosi immediately began to laugh. “Kid. Forget about the Infernal Realm; even if you were to search the entire Four Higher Planes and the Seven Divine Planes, you would at most find ten who are superior to me in terms of the soul! However, although they are slightly superior to me, there’s no way they could possibly completely conceal their strength in front of me.”
Linley was secretly shocked.
Four Higher Planes and Seven Divine Planes...in all those combined planes, there were no more than ten people who were superior to Mosi in terms of the ‘soul’?
Then that meant...
In the Infernal Realm, Mosi’s soul power should rank in the top three! The Infernal Realm had existed for countless years, and it contained experts beyond number, while many of the ‘Asuras’ had received their position after many of the original Asuras had retired and gone into seclusion.
Experts were as common as the clouds!
But this Mosi was actually able to rank in the top three as far as souls went? Terrifying!
“But of course, there’s another possibility.” Mosi laughed. “You might be a Sovereign! That’s the only way you could possibly deceive even me.” As he spoke, Mosi had a sudden thought, and the black energy strands retracted.
His freedom returned to him, Linley felt more kindly disposed towards Mosi. “Castle Master Mosi, dare I ask, what’s your relationship with Reisgem?”
“Him?” A hazy look flashed through Mosi’s eyes, as though he were thinking back to many things that had happened in the past. And then, his gaze firmed once more, and he sighed, “Reisgem and I are both Commanders of Purgatory.”
“As I thought!” Linley was now completely certain. The ‘Lord Commander’ which Ganmontin had spoken of was this Mosi!
“What is Purgatory? What does being a Purgatory Commander mean?” Linley asked, puzzled.
“What is Purgatory?” Mosi glanced at Linley in surprise. “You don’t even know this?” As Mosi saw it, given how many secrets Linley seemed to have, he should know about what Purgatory was.
But Mosi still answered. “Purgatory is a very special place in the Infernal Realm. In that place, experts are as common as the clouds. Many retired Asuras, reclusive experts, and others will enter Purgatory...in that place, there are simply too many experts!”
“And a Purgatory Commander?” Linley continued to ask.
“Purgatory has a total of 108 Commanders!” Mosi laughed.
“108 yet again?” Linley was astonished.
“Right. The Infernal Realm has 108 Asuras, and Purgatory also has 108 Commanders. The Asuras in the Infernal Realm all control a prefecture, while the Purgatory Commanders command an army!” Mosi explained.
“Oh. Then...which is more powerful? Asuras, or Purgatory Commanders?” Linley continued to ask.
Mosi glanced at Linley. “The Asuras of the Infernal Realm and the Commanders of Purgatory...you can’t quantify one as being superior to the other. This is because every person capable of becoming an Asura or a Purgatory Commander is close to the very peak of power possible for a Highgod, and all have their own special, ultimate attacks. There are quite a few Seven Star Fiends in the Infernal Realm, but the number of Asuras and Commanders is forever limited. In addition, they often engage in challenges, and upon losing, retire. The stronger will take the position!”
Linley couldn’t help but nod.
“However, comparatively speaking, the 108 Asuras of the Infernal Realm have it easier. They control an entire prefecture, and don’t face too many challenges. But Purgatory Commanders are different. Battles and slaughters are commonplace.” Mosi sighed.
Linley had to admit that having been in the Infernal Realm for so long, he had seen quite a few Seven Star Fiends, and here at Miluo Island had seen quite a few Seven Star Fiends.
Generally speaking, Highgods capable of fusing four profound mysteries could become Seven Star Fiends.
But in truth, there were some who had fused five or even nearly fused all six types.
But of course, there were those experts who had fused six types of profound mysteries and become Paragons.
There were some who were Soul Mutates, while others were divine beasts who had innate divine abilities. Some were of strange races that also had innate abilities, while other experts were in possession of Sovereign artifacts or Sovereign’s Might...
Only the most extraordinary of people were capable of becoming ‘Asuras of the Infernal Realm’ or ‘Commanders of Purgatory’.
“My Gravitational Space is already so powerful, but if utilized by the juvenile amethyst beast? In addition, that’s his innate ability. When using it, it’s definitely ten times or a hundred times more powerful than mine.” Linley still remembered how the entire Amethyst Mountains had an enormous ‘Gravitational Space’ that was hundreds of thousands of kilometers in circumference.
Over the course of this conversation, the relationship between Linley and Mosi grew significantly friendlier.
“Castle Master Mosi, there’s something I wish to beg of you.” Linley said sincerely.
Tarosse and Dylin were definitely under soul control. This sort of life, where they had lost their own will, was a life worse than death. Linley naturally wanted to be able to free Tarosse and Dylin and allow them to regain their own will.
“Oh, speak.” Mosi said.
“I have two friends who were both Arena victors. I believe they are under soul control. I hope you, Castle Master Mosi, can let them regain their freedom.”
Mosi paused for just a moment.
Linley was rather nervous. Soul control was one of the techniques this person specialized in. Linley could only hope that this person would give him face and release the two of them.
“Fine, then. Tell me their names.” In the end, Mosi nodded.
“One is a Highgod named Tarosse. The other is a God named Dylin.” Linley said hurriedly.
Mosi sighed. “Tarosse. I personally controlled him. He has quite some potential. As for Dylin, one of my subordinates should have controlled him.” Mosi paused momentarily. “Don’t worry. By the time you return to Miluo Island, you will have discovered that the two of them have regained their free will.”
“Castle Master Mosi, I’m incomparably grateful.” Linley truly was rather grateful. If this person didn’t want to give him face, there was nothing he could’ve done.
Mosi just laughed calmly. He controlled quite a few Seven Star Fiends. Naturally, he wouldn’t care too much about minor figures such as Tarosse and Dylin.
“Let’s go. Now, you can go down with me, right?” Mosi said.
Linley laughed as well, then followed Castle Master Mosi down, back towards the castle. At this moment, those damaged parts of the castle were currently under repair by a large number of black armored warriors, who had brought black stones over and were working at high speed.
“Teacher (Master)!” Uriah and the others drew nearer respectfully.
Castle Master Mosi nodded in acknowledgment, then flew downwards with Linley.
“Who is this Linley?” Uriah and the others were puzzled. As they saw it, their teacher was one of the truly peak figures of the entire Infernal Realm, and yet he was actually so friendly towards Linley. This was truly inconceivable.
Linley and Castle Master Mosi flew downwards, but suddenly...
“Milord, milord!” A frantic voice rang out.
Linley turned to look. He couldn’t help but frown, as he saw Ganmontin flying over frantically while calling out, ‘Milord!’
“Oh, Ganmontin.” Castle Master Mosi immediately recognized Ganmontin, then was puzzled. “Ganmontin, your divine wind clone?” Ganmontin was one of his more senior subordinates.
Ganmontin immediately bowed respectfully, then said angrily, “Milord, he destroyed my divine wind clone!” As he spoke, he pointed at Linley.
“Eh?” Castle Master Mosi frowned.
“How did you and Linley end up in a fight?” Castle Master Mosi said.
Ganmontin said hurriedly, “Milord, I discovered a God-level Soul Mutate, so I immediately went to capture him to offer him to you, but who would have imagined that this person was Linley’s friend. Linley thus attacked and destroyed my divine wind clone.”
“A God-level Soul Mutate?” Castle Master Mosi’s eyes lit up.
The potential of a Soul Mutate was higher than that of even a divine beast.
“Castle Master Mosi, that God-level Soul Mutate is my brother.” This was all that Linley could say.
“Milord, you must get revenge for your subordinate.” Ganmontin said hurriedly.
Castle Master Mosi frowned and was momentarily silent. For a moment, neither Linley nor Ganmontin knew what Mosi was thinking.
“You can go now!” Castle Master Mosi said calmly.
Ganmontin was stunned. His face couldn’t help but turn ashen. He knew Castle Master Mosi’s temper very well, however, and so he immediately bowed respectfully. “Yes, milord.” Ganmontin didn’t dare to say a single word more. He immediately left.
Linley let out a secret sigh of relief.
Castle Master Mosi turned to look towards Linley. Laughing, he said, “Linley, want to go to my first secret room and take a look at the scryer recordings of experts doing battle? That place even has recordings of Sovereigns showing their might!”