Chapter 2: Inkstone
On Mirror Moon Cliff, in the central open space of the violet castle, several hundred violet-robed figures suddenly gathered, causing the hundred-plus creatures who had just arrived in Hell to feel a surge of fear.
"How can there be so many experts? Every single one is at least a mid-level god, and those few who seem to be leaders are very likely high-level gods!" Bebe's eyes darted around rapidly as he communicated with Linley via soul transmission. Linley sent back through soul voice, "Bebe, don't worry about that. Just wait patiently. It's already daylight now; they should be sending us off soon."
Linley understood clearly that the opposing force was far too powerful. In particular, the unique aura emanating from each violet robe filled Linley with an inexplicable sense of dread.
"Silence!" A deep, resonant voice rang out. The violet-robed figures who had been murmuring among themselves immediately fell silent, not daring to utter a sound. At the same time, the several hundred violet-robed individuals arranged themselves in an orderly formation, leaving the other six violet-robed figures standing conspicuously apart.
"These six must be the leaders," Linley thought. He had met Adkins, Sadista, and Qinghuo before. He could sense that these six violet-robed figures gave him the same feeling. Among them were four men and two women.
"The quality of those coming from the material plane this time isn't bad. There are even two mid-level gods," said a tall woman with shoulder-length hair, glancing at Linley's group before turning to her five companions with a smile. "This time, it should be my turn to escort them."
"Amelia, no one's competing with you!" one of the slightly plumper violet-robed men said with a loud laugh.
Amelia beamed in response, then called out loudly, "Mirror Moon Second Squad, prepare to depart!"
"Yes, Captain!" a portion of the several hundred people responded loudly.
Amelia turned her head and looked toward the distant courtyard gate. A burly man in golden robes walked out from the gate, quickly approached Amelia, and knelt on one knee before her, saying respectfully, "Master!"
"Prepare to set out," Amelia said.
"Yes, Master!" the golden-robed man rumbled in a deep voice.
Immediately, the golden-robed man soared into the air, flying above the violet castle. A flash of golden light burst forth, and the man transformed into a massive golden dragon, fully a hundred meters long. Under the blood-red sunlight, the golden dragon scales shimmered with dazzling brilliance. The golden dragon coiled and spiraled above the violet castle.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, a large hole, a full ten meters wide, appeared in the golden dragon's belly.
The group of experts, including Linley, were all startled. Linley looked closely and thought, "That golden-robed man was clearly only at the Saint-level just now. Now he's turned into a golden dragon, and he's even opened a hole in its belly?"
Linley was filled with confusion.
"Put all those from the material plane inside," Amelia ordered.
Immediately, forty-nine violet-robed figures stepped out from the group and walked toward Linley and the others. The leader, a burly violet-robed man with a thick beard, said, "All of you, go inside obediently, one by one. Otherwise, we'll have to use force." As soon as he finished speaking, more than ten of the experts in Linley's group flew directly toward the golden dragon's belly, including Linley and his two companions.
As soon as they flew inside the golden dragon's belly, Linley and the others were astonished... Inside, it was arranged like a mansion. Not only were there chairs and tables, but also decorative rockeries and metal flowers.
Truly wondrous.
"Wow!" Many of the experts who entered were amazed. The ape-like monster even widened its eyes in shock.
"Boss, this is a metallic lifeform," Bebe communicated with Linley via soul transmission. "Just like Grandpa Beirut's metallic castle. Metallic lifeforms can change into all kinds of shapes. But the size they can transform into is limited. Grandpa's metallic castle is way more powerful than this one."
Linley silently admired Lord Beirut. Only now did he realize that the metallic castle Beirut lived in was incredibly impressive. In terms of volume, this golden dragon was at least ten times smaller than that castle.
"Don't just stand there like idiots. Sit down," Amelia snapped coldly.
Immediately, the violet-robed squad members began barking orders: "You two, sit over there. And you three, go sit over there. Hurry up! Damn it, if you're slow, I'll kick you flying!" These violet-robed individuals had no sense of courtesy.
Soon, the hundred-plus people from the material plane, including Linley, were all seated according to the arrangement.
"Captain, where are we sending this batch?" a lean violet-robed youth asked.
Amelia glanced at him and said indifferently, "This time... we'll go to Yemu Prefecture!" The flying metallic lifeform immediately began to move, speeding away from the direction of the ocean at an astonishing pace.
"Sssss..."
Strangely, golden light flowed along both sides of the golden dragon's belly, making the inner walls transparent. Linley and his group, sitting inside, could see the outside world through this transparent metal, just like glass in the Yulan continent.
"How peculiar," Linley praised inwardly.
Having such a metallic lifeform was truly comfortable. Beside him, Bebe and Delia were also looking outside through the transparent metal.
"Hmm?" Linley was a bit surprised. He transmitted to Bebe and Delia via divine sense, "This metallic lifeform is incredibly fast." By observing the speed at which the scenery below moved, Linley could gauge the golden dragon's velocity.
This was Hell, not a material plane. The gravity here was a hundred times stronger than in a material plane. Even at full speed, Linley couldn't fly this fast. And this was only a Saint-level metallic lifeform!
"You, tell these newcomers about the general situation in Hell," Amelia said to the lean violet-robed youth beside her.
"Yes, Captain."
The lean violet-robed youth immediately stood up and looked at Linley and the others. "All of you have come from material planes to Hell. I'll give you a brief overview of things here. Hell is one of the four highest planes, so naturally, experts are as numerous as clouds. As newcomers, you'd best find a tribe or family to join."
"Hell mainly consists of five vast, nearly boundless continents: the Violet Thorn Continent, the Karosa Continent, the Muya Continent, the Blood Peak Continent, and the Bifrost Continent."
Hearing this, Linley, Bebe, and Delia all felt a stir in their hearts.
Linley's goal this time was the Azure Blue Prefecture of the Blood Peak Continent!
"Among the five continents, the Violet Thorn Continent in the north and the Karosa Continent in the west are both connected to the plane's edge. That is to say... the northern end of the Violet Thorn Continent is the plane's edge, and the western end of the Karosa Continent is also the plane's edge."
"Aside from these five continents, the remaining areas are oceans. The five continents are almost arranged in a ring. Inside the ring is the vast Star Mist Sea, which is extremely wide—far larger than any single continent. The Star Mist Sea is considered an inner sea. The outer sea, located mainly to the south and east of the ring formed by the five continents, is called the Chaos Sea. The Chaos Sea is the most expansive of all!"
The lean violet-robed youth paused, then smiled faintly. "Of course, this information is of little use to you. Any single continent is terrifyingly vast. Many experts spend their entire lives on just one continent. The continent we're on is called the Violet Thorn Continent!"
The Violet Thorn Continent?
Linley's heart sank. Any continent in Hell was unimaginably huge—nothing like the simple Yulan plane.
"Boss, what do we do? How do we get to the Blood Peak Continent?" Bebe couldn't help but communicate via soul transmission.
"Coming to Hell, aside from visiting the clan, the most important thing is to explore and experience this place. We'll have a good adventure first, then go to the clan later," Linley transmitted back. Though he thought this way, he still felt a hint of helplessness.
The lean violet-robed youth continued, "In Hell, there are five continents and two oceans. These are respectively controlled by seven great sovereigns! They are what the people of Hell call the Seven Hell Sovereigns."
The Seven Hell Sovereigns?
Linley and his group silently memorized this awe-inspiring title.
"From what he's saying, those seven sovereigns each govern one of the five continents and two oceans. What kind of beings are they, to be so formidable?" Linley wondered inwardly.
The lean violet-robed youth's eyes held a trace of reverence. "The great Seven Hell Sovereigns are also seven great Overgods who cultivate the Edict of Destruction!"
"Seven Overgods?" Linley was secretly shocked. Those were the pinnacle of existence.
"Of course, the great Overgods disdain meddling in mundane affairs. Day-to-day matters are handled by the various Prefecture Lords. The area you're going to this time is Yemu Prefecture! Yemu Prefecture spans over a billion miles in radius and is considered a medium-sized prefecture."
Hearing this, Linley was dumbfounded.
A billion miles in radius?
His homeland, the Yulan continent, was only about twenty to thirty thousand miles across at its longest point. The difference was staggering. Even if he flew nonstop in the Yulan continent for twenty-four hours a day, he could only cover a few hundred thousand miles. But here in Hell, with gravity over a hundred times stronger, his speed would be greatly reduced.
Just Yemu Prefecture alone would take an extremely long time to cross by flight.
And this was Hell—would they let him fly in peace?
"This journey is going to be perilous," Linley thought to himself.
"Boom!" A rumbling sound came from afar.
Everyone looked out through the transparent windows in confusion. In the distance, two groups of people were locked in battle midair. Lightning flashed, gales howled, and the earth split apart... Over a hundred god-level experts were fighting, and the scene was truly astonishing.
"Get out of the way!" A cold, angry shout came from Amelia, transmitted directly from inside the golden dragon and echoing through the heavens and earth.
The hundred-plus god-level experts locked in battle looked at the golden dragon, especially the pattern on its head—a seductive violet thorn flower.
"It's the Violet Thorn Army!"
"Run for your lives!" The hundred-plus god-level experts were terrified. Forgetting all their grudges, they fled in all directions. In the blink of an eye, every figure had vanished.
During this journey, Linley and his group encountered hundreds of battle scenes. But no matter how powerful the experts were, upon seeing the golden dragon approach, they all fled in terror. The golden dragon flew for a long time—roughly a full year.
At the golden dragon's astonishing speed, flying straight for a year covered an unimaginable distance.
"We've entered Yemu Prefecture!" Amelia stood up, stretched lazily, and said with a smile, "Fortunately, Yemu Prefecture is relatively close to our Mirror Moon Cliff. Last time I went to Snow Lake Prefecture in the north, it took over ten years of flying."
The lean violet-robed youth stood up and said, "Those who have reached the god level, stand up."
Linley and eight others immediately stood up.
The lean violet-robed youth flipped his hand, and nine finger-sized black stones appeared in his palm. "One for each of you. This Inkstone is a good thing—keep it safe. Only those who reach the god level and come to Hell receive one." He then distributed one to each of the nine.
"Inkstone?"
Linley looked at the black stone in his hand with surprise.
The Inkstone was a cube, one centimeter on each side. It looked like an ordinary piece of ore, but Linley could sense a special, heart-shaking aura from it.
"Whoosh!"
A large hole suddenly appeared in the golden dragon's belly, and over ten experts from the material plane were thrown out. Linley, Delia, and Bebe were still inside the golden dragon, all somewhat startled. The lean violet-robed youth laughed and said, "Don't worry, it'll be your turn soon."
The golden dragon continued flying, and after a while, it threw out another dozen or so people.
By the fourth batch, it was finally Linley's group's turn.
"Whoosh!" The seats beneath them vanished, and a strong current of air from above pressed Linley and the others down, throwing them out. Linley, Delia, and Bebe quickly stabilized themselves and then looked down carefully.
"Good heavens, what is that?"
It was a mountain range, and within it were countless black dragons, each over a hundred meters long. At a rough glance, there were definitely several thousand black dragons. They spread out densely, almost filling Linley's entire field of vision. At that moment, a figure flew up rapidly from among the black dragons.
It was an old man with silver hair. He smiled and said, "You three, you've just arrived in Hell, haven't you? Welcome to the Black Dragon Tribe! If you want to join our Black Dragon Tribe, each of you must hand over one Inkstone. We'll be responsible for protecting you. If you're not willing, then you'll have to brave Hell on your own!"
Linley, Delia, and Bebe were all stunned.