Chapter 10: The Three Castles of Di Yi City
Linley did some quick mental calculations upon hearing those two numbers, and his heart trembled.
A circumference of a billion li—in terms of area, that was ten thousand times a trillion times the area of a thousand li! Even if you added up ten cities, their total area would only be one-thousandth of a billionth of Ye Mu Prefecture! One-thousandth of a billionth—that ratio was simply too absurd.
"Those who can establish themselves in Di Yi City should be considered elites of the Infernal Realm," Linley thought to himself.
The green-haired youth, Debra, sighed with emotion: "If I could, in this lifetime, manage to reach the point of becoming a resident of Di Yi City, I would be completely satisfied. Unfortunately, that's too difficult." Debra lacked sufficient confidence in himself.
Being able to become a city resident in the Infernal Realm was something to be very proud of.
Linley had just entered the Infernal Realm, and although he could grasp some of it from the ratio of one-thousandth of a billionth, without having lived there long enough, the feeling wasn't very deep.
On the journey from Black Dragon Tribe, this group encountered few bandits and robbers. This was because any bandit force that had long taken root in a certain area was familiar with some tribes... The metallic lifeforms of Black Dragon Tribe were all shaped like this.
Even so, they still encountered obstacles from some newly emerged bandits and robbers.
The head steward, Edmund, and the two demons disdained to lower themselves and personally deal with these bandits and robbers, merely stepping forward to intimidate them a bit.
On the morning of the sixteenth day after leaving Black Dragon Tribe, almost everyone in the rear cabin of the metallic lifeform became excited. Through the transparent metal, they could all see a massive city built from purple ore in the distance.
A purple city—this was a city exuding an aura of luxury and antiquity.
Di Yi City! One of the ten great cities within a billion li of Ye Mu Prefecture!
"This is Di Yi City?" Bebe's eyes lit up.
Linley and Delia were also somewhat excited as they looked at this large city, a city spanning a thousand li. Such a thing couldn't be seen on the Yulan Continent. Especially the ore used to build cities in the Infernal Realm—it was all on the same level of hardness as Black Yulei Stone.
"We've finally arrived," Linley said silently in his heart.
Immediately afterward, a large number of people from the metallic lifeform flew down one by one. The group from Black Dragon Tribe gathered together in midair. The head steward, Edmund, looked around at everyone and announced loudly, "Everyone remember, our tribe's metallic lifeform will depart back to Black Dragon Tribe when the Blood Sun sets and the Violet Moon rises. The gathering point is right here. If we're about to leave and someone hasn't arrived yet, we won't wait for you."
Everyone understood this principle.
"Alright, everyone, prepare to pay the entry fee in turn," Edmund said as he led his people and flew toward the city gate of Di Yi City.
Linley, Delia, and Bebe were seeing a large city in the Infernal Realm for the first time. They found it very novel. While following the tribe residents as they flew, they also gazed at this majestic, ancient purple city.
"So many people!" Bebe stared at the surroundings and exclaimed in amazement.
There were too many people wanting to enter Di Yi City, all coming from all directions. A long line had formed outside the city. No one dared to cause trouble at this time. Including the head steward, Edmund, everyone was very orderly, lining up one by one to pay the entry fee.
"Huh?" Bebe suddenly stared at the city gate in surprise. "Those two black-robed men went in without paying the entry fee."
"They're demons!" Linley also noticed.
The two demons who had come with their group hadn't lined up to pay the entry fee at all. They had simply walked straight into Di Yi City, and the city garrison soldiers at the gate hadn't stopped them.
"Purple Thorn Army soldiers, city garrison soldiers, and demons—these three types of people don't need to pay an entry fee to enter the city," the green-haired youth Debra, who was behind Linley, explained. "They all have some privileges. That's why many people want to become Purple Thorn Army soldiers, city garrison soldiers, or demons. Unfortunately, whether it's the Purple Thorn Army, city garrison soldiers, or demons, the screening and assessment systems are very strict."
Soon, it was Linley's group's turn.
After each paying one piece of Blackstone, Linley and his companions entered Di Yi City.
Half a year ago, during that great battle, Linley and the others had killed three Middle Gods. Each of those three Middle Gods' spatial rings contained nearly a thousand Blackstones, along with some other things. However, there was one type of item Linley and the others didn't recognize—a kind of azure-blue stone.
It was the same size as a Blackstone, but the special aura it contained was much richer than that of a Blackstone.
At the time, Linley had guessed... this azure-blue stone, the same size as a Blackstone, was probably also a currency. But it was just a guess. Linley and the others hadn't been in a hurry to ask anyone about it, after all, the three Middle Gods' rings combined only had a few dozen of these azure-blue stones.
Inside Di Yi City.
Stepping into Di Yi City, Debra walked together with Linley and his group. Strolling along the wide streets and looking around at the large buildings, an aura of antiquity and elegance washed over them. Every single building was constructed like a carving masterpiece.
"Although they're not quite at the level of a master's work, they're not far off," Linley said, having the authority to comment on this.
Now that his research into the laws of the elements was deeper, he had also reached a high level in the art of carving, specifically the Flat Blade Carving technique.
"These buildings are all so unique; they look comfortable," Bebe said, his eyes lighting up.
"Of course," Linley exclaimed. "I didn't expect that even constructing large buildings would be done with such care, as if carving. These buildings must be very expensive."
Debra sneered, "Hmph, expensive? They're extremely expensive! Every inch of land in Di Yi City is incredibly costly, so the prices of these buildings are naturally astonishing. When they're built, they hire professional God-level experts to do the work. The price of each building... I don't know how many years I'd have to work to earn enough Blackstones to buy one."
Glancing at Debra's expression beside him, Linley understood.
The terrifying price of these buildings had already reached a level that Debra couldn't bear, almost too high to even think about. He could only vent a few bitter words.
As they moved forward, Linley also witnessed the prosperity of Di Yi City.
"This Di Yi City has existed for who knows how many billions of years," Debra also introduced to Linley and the others. "Although these buildings have no damage, you can probably feel that ancient aura, as well as the small traces left by time."
Linley nodded slightly.
He could indeed feel it. The number of years Di Yi City had existed was definitely a heart-shaking figure.
"Perhaps only the ores of the Infernal Realm could allow a city to exist for so long," Linley thought to himself. The ore used to build the city was the same material used to forge divine artifacts! Naturally, it could last for an eternity.
But divine artifacts, especially newly forged ones, were quite cheap in the Infernal Realm.
"There's a clothing store here too?" Delia's eyes lit up as she looked at a beautiful shop entirely constructed from milky-white ore. Linley could tell at a glance that this shop was carved out of a single giant piece of milky-white ore.
Given the hardness of ores in the Infernal Realm, one could easily imagine the cost of such a building.
"What beautiful clothes!" Delia looked at some garments displayed inside the transparent glass and couldn't help but feel tempted. Women always had a special desire for clothing.
Debra chuckled: "The prices at places for consumption in Di Yi City are terrifying. We ordinary Gods living in tribes simply can't afford them. For example, that set of clothes—" Debra pointed to a purple outfit on display.
"It's very likely that the materials for this set of clothes come from other continents, like Blood Peak Continent! Or perhaps they come from the Divine Plane of Life, or maybe from the Underworld, or maybe from the Celestial Realm," Debra exclaimed.
Linley was dumbfounded.
A set of clothes, with materials taken from other planes?
"Depending on how precious the materials are, ordinary clothes cost hundreds of Blackstones. If the materials are slightly more valuable, they cost thousands of Blackstones. If the materials come from other planes and are extremely rare, then one piece of clothing could be worth millions of Blackstones!"
Delia was also taken aback!
Linley's heart trembled as well.
What kind of clothes were these? A single set of clothes could rival the price of a Highgod spark! It was indeed not something ordinary people could afford.
"Of course, the clothes themselves also have some special effects. For example, in terms of defense, they're definitely on par with ordinary divine artifacts," Debra then smiled. "Of course, I've only heard about clothes worth millions of Blackstones from others; I've never actually seen them."
A large group of people moved forward together. Most of them had the same goal—to sell things. After all, they were all from poor tribes. Did they come to Di Yi City to spend money? They didn't have the capital for that.
As they moved forward, with Debra's introductions, Linley and his group also saw various places of entertainment in the Infernal Realm.
For example, wine. Making fine wine might involve hiring masters who had studied winemaking for hundreds of millions of years, using secret recipes and precious materials to brew it. Perhaps some precious materials needed to be gathered from dangerous places.
In fact, the dragon saliva of the Black Dragon, Galleth, from Black Dragon Tribe, after being refined, could yield a precious ingredient used for making delicacies.
These delicacies and wines were far superior to those of the material planes in terms of taste and so on.
Eating the delicacies prepared by top masters in the Infernal Realm was a true enjoyment. However... the prices were also relatively high. Even ordinary meals cost hundreds of Blackstones. Keep in mind, selling a Lower God spark wouldn't even fetch a hundred Blackstones.
There were places for enjoyment, but the prices were enough to scare off the vast majority of people.
Linley and the others followed the tribe's group to the most bustling and lively area of Di Yi City.
"Those three castles!" Linley's eyes were filled with shock. In the distance to his left was a huge castle formed entirely from black sand. God-level experts naturally had excellent eyesight and could see that this castle was formed from countless black sand particles gathered together. The strangest thing was... a large amount of black sand was slowly flowing.
Yet the castle remained completely unharmed.
To Linley's right, in the distance, was an ancient castle built entirely from purple ore. At the top of the ancient castle was a beautifully carved flower. Linley was very familiar with that flower—it was the symbol of the Purple Thorn Army: the Purple Thorn Flower!
Directly in front of Linley—
There was an ancient purple castle about a hundred meters tall, but the purple had turned so dark it was almost black. This castle had a giant carving—a face! The features of the face were very blurry, but the demonic red single eye on that face was very striking.
"That's the Black Sand Castle!" Debra pointed to the ancient castle formed from black sand. "There, any transaction can be made, and most of them are large deals. But it's too dark there, with mixed forces, and for small fry like us, it's best not to go to that kind of place."
Debra pointed to the Purple Thorn Flower Castle: "That's the Purple Thorn Castle. It's the most valuable trading venue. They buy our items at seventy percent of their selling price. Selling things here might mean taking a small loss, but there won't be any trouble."
"And that castle?" Linley pointed to the building directly in front, which had a very eerie feel.
For some reason, the blurry face on that giant carving, with its demonic red single eye, even though it was just a carving, still made Linley's heart race.
"That's the Demon Castle!" Debra said. "If you want to become a demon, you can go there to pay the fee and take the assessment. Demons usually go to the Demon Castle too. Alright, Linley, let's go to the Purple Thorn Castle. It's best to sell things there. The Black Sand Castle is very complicated. Look, Head Steward Edmund is heading to the Purple Thorn Castle too."
Since it was his first time in Di Yi City, Linley naturally didn't want to go to the Black Sand Castle.
After all, even a Highgod like Edmund chose to go to the Purple Thorn Castle for safety.
"Let's go," Linley said, leading Bebe and Delia as they followed the others toward the Purple Thorn Castle.