Chapter 26: Depart, Stay Behind?
Pulsiro's voice still echoed in their ears, yet he had already vanished.
"This Pulsiro is really quite strange," Bebe said, blinking a few times, still feeling dazed.
Linley looked down at the over a hundred spatial rings floating above his palm. Among these spatial rings, quite a few were from Deities of the Middle Plane, but there were also many from Deities of the Higher Plane. "So many spatial rings. And among them, there are even spatial rings from Deity-level demons. This is truly a windfall from the heavens."
Linley's heart was filled with joy.
"That Pulsiro actually gave us so many spatial rings," Delia exclaimed in amazement.
"So, I say, that guy's brain is fried. But, it's a good kind of fried," Bebe said with a mischievous grin.
Linley shook his head. "Bebe, you can't say that. Pulsiro's experiences are completely different from ours. To endure billions of years of suppression and forbearance, that's not something an ordinary person could handle. Once he was finally released, he just needed a good outlet to vent."
Delia nodded slightly in agreement.
Whether it was making a move against Reihomont or talking at length with Linley and the others, it was all a form of venting.
"Oh." Bebe nodded in sudden understanding, his eyes lighting up. "After venting, he casually tossed some stuff to us. This Pulsiro is stingy too. Why didn't he give us Aliquinn's spatial ring? That old guy's wealth must be astonishing."
Linley and Delia were left speechless.
"Just kidding," Bebe said with a grin. Then he looked at the over a hundred spatial rings floating above Linley's palm. "Boss, so many spatial rings. How many treasures do you think are inside? Let's take a look first." Bebe seemed very eager. "I love checking the treasures in spatial rings the most."
"What's the rush?" Linley flipped his hand and stored all the spatial rings away first.
"Let's first decide what to do next. We can check the spatial rings later," Linley said, looking around. The sudden disappearance of the volcanic group had restored the area to its original plains. In the night sky, the violet moon cast a dim, hazy light.
The land, bathed in the violet moonlight, exuded an ancient, vast aura.
Delia frowned slightly. "Linley, the Abyssal Realm is full of dangers everywhere. The three of us relying on our own abilities to reach Blue Maple City in Redbud Prefecture will be very difficult."
Linley agreed. The three of them were all Middle Plane Deities. Although their demon star ratings couldn't be seen on the surface, others could still roughly judge their strength and know whether they were Middle Plane Deities or Higher Plane Deities! Higher Plane Deity demons were not to be trifled with by bandits.
But Middle Plane Deity demons? The bandits weren't afraid of them.
"To take on missions, we have to get to a city. Every city in the Abyssal Realm is very far apart! We can't take on missions right now," Bebe said helplessly.
Linley looked around, recalling the geographical information about the Abyssal Realm he had read. After a moment, he judged, "We do have some trouble. The nearest city to us is nearly eighty million miles away. Eighty million miles—who knows how many dangers we'll encounter along the way."
"Eighty million miles?" Bebe and Delia both felt a headache coming on.
Linley looked at Delia, and his mind involuntarily recalled the scene of him and Delia trapped in that golden magma. At that moment, he really thought they were going to die.
"For Delia's sake, I can't take such risks anymore."
Linley said silently in his heart.
Delia and Bebe were now looking at Linley, waiting for him to make a decision. Linley gazed into the distance and said, "How about this: there seems to be a large mountain range ahead. Let's temporarily settle down there, cultivate in peace, and wait until Delia has refined that Higher Plane Deity's divine spark. Then we'll set out!"
"Settle there?" Bebe was a bit taken aback.
"What's wrong?" Linley looked at Bebe.
Bebe immediately shook his head and said, "Nothing, Boss. What you said makes sense. Once Delia reaches the Higher Plane Deity level, at least on the surface, everyone will know she's a Higher Plane Deity demon. That'll be enough to scare people off. When we set out again, it'll be much safer."
This was indeed Linley's plan. Although Delia was a one-star demon, who could tell just by looking at her?
People could only confirm that she was a Higher Plane Deity demon!
Bandits and robbers were least willing to mess with Higher Plane Deity demons—who knew how many stars they had? Maybe they were even seven-star!
"Hmm?" Linley noticed Delia tugging at his hand and turned to look at her. Delia gave Linley a meaningful glance, and only then did Linley notice that Bebe seemed a bit off. In an instant, Linley understood: "Bebe, he's probably thinking about Nisse."
"Bebe," Linley said.
"Huh?" Bebe looked up, confused.
Linley said directly, "Bebe, how about this: we either travel quickly now, first reach a city to take on a mission, or the three of us buy a metal lifeform on our own. In any case, let's find a way to get to Blue Maple City in Redbud Prefecture as fast as possible."
Bebe understood in his heart.
Salomon and Nisse, wanting to return to the Azure Floating Continent, would first go to Blue Maple City in Redbud Prefecture. Linley doing this was also to give Bebe a chance to catch up with Nisse.
But traveling in such a hurry would definitely mean encountering bandits and robbers along the way. Who knew how many dangers there would be? Although Linley and Bebe were both strong and could handle ordinary bandit groups, what if they ran into a group of thousands of Middle Plane Deity bandits?
Too dangerous!
"Boss, thank you," Bebe said gratefully, then shook his head and sighed. "But, no need."
Linley and Delia exchanged a glance.
Bebe continued, "Traveling in such a hurry is already very dangerous. It's better to follow Boss's original plan and settle down for now... As for Nisse, to be honest, I still hate that Salomon! But even though I hate him, I believe that Nisse will at least be safe with him. As for when Nisse and I will meet again... that's up to fate!"
Although Bebe wanted to be with Nisse,
he wouldn't put Linley and Delia in danger by rushing their journey.
Linley and the others only traveled a few hundred miles northeast before they discovered a vast mountain range. In this ancient mountain range, trees thousands of meters tall that required dozens of people to encircle were everywhere. Weeds grew rampant, and all kinds of strange plants were scattered throughout.
Everywhere showed its ancient history.
Even when Linley and the others crossed the plains for a few hundred miles, they had discovered small tribes. These small tribes were all composed of the weakest Saint-level beings in the Abyssal Realm. Generally, tribes formed by God-level beings could control areas thousands of miles around.
Linley, Delia, and Bebe casually chose an inconspicuous mountainside. On the mountainside, Linley used his 'Purple Blood Soft Sword' to hollow out a large area, forming a deep cave dwelling as their temporary residence.
As soon as the cave dwelling was built, Linley, Delia, and Bebe sat in a circle and began checking the spatial rings separately.
"So little. This one only has a few hundred thousand in wealth. It must be from a Middle Plane Deity demon," Bebe said, seeming to have put Nisse's matter behind him. He was checking excitedly. "Whoa, this one is impressive. It has several hundred million Mo Stones. It must be from a Higher Plane Deity demon!"
"I've checked seven spatial rings in a row, and none of them exceeded ten million," Delia said.
"Don't worry. You're probably checking the ones from Middle Plane Deity demons. Uh, this one is impressive. It has... twenty billion Mo Stones!" Linley was startled by the spatial ring in his hand. It was the largest amount he had found so far.
"Twenty billion Mo Stones?" Bebe and Delia both looked over.
Their total assets before had only been a little over a hundred million. Twenty billion was an astonishing number.
In fact, Pulsiro had only taken the spatial rings of Aliquinn and Inigo. As for the rest, the White-Horned Elder—the Black-Horned Elder's wealth had exceeded thirty billion. The White-Horned Elder wasn't much worse. As for the Edwards brothers, they were all five-star demons. Any one of them had very high wealth! In fact, several hundred billion was normal for a five-star demon.
After all, even a very ordinary Higher Plane Deity had over a hundred million.
And some seven-star demons probably had assets exceeding a trillion. Inigo, as the second young master of his family, also had terrifying assets. But the two largest ones had been taken away by Pulsiro himself.
"No rush. We've only checked less than thirty so far. There are many more. Let's take it slow," Linley said with a smile.
He had to admit that checking the wealth in each spatial ring was indeed full of anticipation and endlessly enjoyable.
"Oh, heavens. This one has over thirty billion," Bebe exclaimed. "What's going on with me? The largest one I've found so far only has a little over seven billion Mo Stones," Delia said with a smile.
"I've got another one close to thirty billion," Linley said with a smile, setting the spatial ring aside.
Soon, all over a hundred spatial rings were checked. The one with the most wealth contained over sixty billion, while the smallest had a pitifully low amount of just over a hundred thousand! The gap was truly enormous.
"Adding it all up... including these," Bebe said, his eyes shining. "Wow, the total is over two hundred billion!"
An astonishing number!
"Six of them had over ten billion! I think they belong to the Edwards brothers, the White-Horned Elder, and two of the Higher Plane Deity demons like Spriley," Linley said. Although there were over a hundred spatial rings,
the real wealth was concentrated in six of them, each with over ten billion. The total from these six alone was close to two hundred billion.
The other hundred or so spatial rings had a combined wealth that barely exceeded ten billion, not even reaching twenty billion.
"Quality over quantity!" Bebe sighed. "These are just five-star demons and four-star demons, and they're already this rich. What about six-star demons? And especially that Aliquinn, a seven-star demon? I wonder how much wealth he has."
Wealth increased exponentially in a pyramid structure.
The stronger one was, the more exaggerated their wealth became.
"I think all of our combined wealth is just a fraction of Aliquinn's," Linley said.
Just thinking about it made it clear. Who knew how many strong beings Aliquinn had killed and how much wealth he had accumulated?
Having over two hundred billion in assets, although insignificant compared to the truly powerful beings and great families, made them quite wealthy compared to ordinary Higher Plane Deities. Linley and the others settled down to cultivate in peace in this cave dwelling.
Delia focused on refining the divine spark.
The mountain range where Linley and the others were located was vast. In the Abyssal Realm, within a range of several thousand miles, there would usually be a tribe or a bandit group. This was their sphere of influence. The mountain range where Linley and the others lived was no exception; it also had a bandit group.
"Dammit, we haven't had a single job in a whole year," a man with green hair muttered as he flew in midair, looking into the distance. "There are too many bandits and robbers in the Abyssal Realm. The ones who dare to travel alone are getting fewer and fewer. And when they do come out, they always travel with Higher Plane Deities. Looks like today is another wasted trip. Forget it, I'm going back."
The green-haired man flew over the mountain range, heading straight for his lair.
"Huh? Someone's there?"
The green-haired man suddenly dissipated like a gust of wind, then reformed on a large tree below, stealthily looking toward a spot on the mountainside in the distance. "I saw someone fly in there just now. Could this cave be inhabited?"
"Has a newcomer arrived in this mountain range?"
A smile appeared on the green-haired man's face. "Whoever it is, I'll go back and report to the chief first. Hopefully, they're rich!" Without investigating further, the green-haired man immediately flew back to his lair.