Chapter 29: The Violet Crystal Mountain Range
In the desolate, unending mountain range, few people ventured.
Those familiar with this place knew it was occupied by a band of bandits, and ordinary people dared not stop here. At the edge of the mountain range, halfway up the slope, a thick tangle of vines and weeds grew. Behind this vegetation lay the mountain wall.
Yet strangely—
The vines and weeds were pushed aside, and a head emerged from within. It belonged to a slightly plump young man with clear, pure eyes.
He looked up at the sky. It was deep night, and the heavens were thick with dark clouds, plunging the entire land into near-total blackness. Even a god-level expert could only vaguely see a few hundred meters. The young man nodded slightly. "The weather is good today. Time to move on."
"Whoosh!"
The young man transformed into a gust of wind, drifting lightly and swiftly eastward, silent and stealthy. In no time, he had traveled several thousand miles.
"Hm?" The wind stopped, and the young man reverted to his original form. He crouched low on the ground, staring intently into the distance. He had noticed a faint disturbance earlier. After watching for a moment, he spotted a beastman with a tail sprinting.
"Just a Saint Domain." The young man breathed a sigh of relief.
Once again, he turned into a gentle breeze and moved forward stealthily. Taking advantage of the dark night, he advanced cautiously, sometimes moving, sometimes pausing. Suddenly, he spotted a metallic lifeform speeding through the sky above. Joy lit up his face.
"Whoosh!"
The young man burst into full speed, shooting upward to chase the metallic lifeform. Over short distances, god-level experts could generally match the speed of a metallic lifeform. As he drew near, he immediately extended his divine sense, spreading it toward the lower-level gods inside.
"Everyone, I'm just a middle-level god. Please, give me a ride!" the young man transmitted telepathically.
But the metallic lifeform paid him no heed.
"Kind sirs, please help me out," the young man transmitted again.
"Get lost. Keep nagging, and I'll kill you." A telepathic reply came down, and the young man slowed his pace.
Shaking his head with a sigh, he turned back into a gust of wind and descended, continuing eastward. On this pitch-black night, he encountered three metallic lifeforms, all carrying many passengers. Yet all three of his requests were rejected.
Since he was refused, he had to rely on his own strength to travel. He pushed himself and managed to cover two hundred thousand miles before dawn. As the sky began to lighten, the young man stopped.
The place where he halted was a plain overgrown with weeds.
"Sss—" The young man channeled divine power within his body and quickly dug out a burrow. The entrance was concealed by the weeds, making it very hidden.
"Phew."
Inside the burrow, he sat down calmly, his brow deeply furrowed. "At this rate, it'll take decades to reach the Violet Crystal Mountain Range. I never thought I, Zhan Jin, would end up like this. This Hell… it's really not easy to navigate."
Recalling his time since arriving in Hell, Zhan Jin felt a pang of bitterness and lament in his heart.
But in an instant, his mind steadied.
"No matter what, my first goal now is to reach the Violet Crystal Mountain Range. That mountain range will be my true first step in Hell!" Zhan Jin's gaze was sharp. No matter how much hardship he endured, he would never give up.
Indomitable. Confident!
That was why Zhan Jin had become a god and survived until now.
"Thankfully, in Hell, the range of divine sense is very limited. If it could spread as far as in the material plane, bandits and robbers could easily find their targets." Zhan Jin smiled faintly. "Sigh, but finding a night with no light in the sky only happens once or twice a month."
Zhan Jin knew that if he traveled during the day, he would definitely be discovered.
Once found, with his strength as a newly advanced middle-level god, he would have no chance of escape.
He could only travel on those completely dark nights, but such total darkness occurred only once or twice a month, far too rare. And the pitch-black period lasted only about a third of the day. He could only travel during that brief window.
"I have to keep moving this cautiously. Or maybe I'll meet someone kind enough to give me a ride."
Zhan Jin also understood.
People traveling in metallic lifeforms generally couldn't be bothered with others. Even bandits and robbers wouldn't waste time chasing them—it was too much effort for too little gain. Even the bandits couldn't be bothered to act, so people like Zhan Jin, begging for a ride, were also ignored.
"I'll just have to wait patiently." Zhan Jin immediately used dirt to seal the burrow's entrance, leaving only a tiny gap to let in a sliver of sunlight.
This vast plain was mostly home to ordinary Saint Domains, and bandits wouldn't bother searching every inch of land unless they were incredibly bored.
Waiting.
About twenty-seven days later, another pitch-black night arrived.
Zhan Jin quietly pushed aside the weeds, looked around to confirm no one was nearby, then darted out of the burrow. He transformed into a gust of wind and continued eastward. About two hours into his journey, he spotted another metallic lifeform.
But when he sped over and telepathically requested a ride, he was again refused and cursed at.
Zhan Jin felt no discouragement, not even a ripple of emotion. In his view, every opportunity had to be seized. Failure was nothing; not trying meant certain failure. He continued moving stealthily.
About an hour later, another metallic lifeform flew eastward in the sky.
Zhan Jin immediately looked up, burst into speed, and chased after it. The metallic lifeform ahead was small, clearly carrying few people. When there were few passengers, they were usually close acquaintances who didn't want strangers intruding.
But Zhan Jin wouldn't give up without trying.
He extended his divine sense and sensed two middle-level gods inside. "Kind sirs, I'm just a middle-level god. Please help me out and give me a ride." If they scolded him or refused, he wouldn't mind at all, and his mood wouldn't be affected.
But—
The metallic lifeform suddenly stopped.
Zhan Jin halted too, nervously watching it. His biggest fear was that someone would come out to kill him. Still, he reassured himself: "No. People riding metallic lifeforms are used to shouting at bandits and robbers. They usually don't attack someone who poses no threat."
"Boss, this guy's funny—asking for a ride!" a voice rang out, and the metal hatch suddenly opened.
"Let him in."
A gentle, ordinary voice sounded, but it sent Zhan Jin's calm heart into turmoil. A flash of joy burst in his eyes. Zhan Jin was certain—he would never forget that voice for the rest of his life.
"My boss says you can come in. Hurry up!" A man wearing a straw hat appeared at the hatch.
"Thank you, sir." Zhan Jin flew over and entered the metallic lifeform.
Inside, it was cozy. Besides a few rooms in the back, the central hall held tables and chairs, with fine wine laid out. From the hall, one could enjoy the surrounding scenery. Zhan Jin thought to himself, "This is how the upper class lives in Hell!"
At the same time, he noticed a young couple.
The young man had brown hair, wore a sky-blue robe, and had a hint of amusement in his eyes, making him seem approachable. The woman beside him startled Zhan Jin. She was beautiful, but—he couldn't sense her aura at all.
"She's a high-level god, and a high-level god demon?" Zhan Jin immediately noticed the demon badge, and also saw the badges on the other two. He began to understand why this metallic lifeform dared to travel through Hell without danger.
Because it had a high-level god demon on board.
Linley looked with interest at this slightly plump young man, who seemed very friendly.
"Hey, sit over there," Bebe said casually.
Delia asked, "Why did you ask us for a ride midway?" Linley, Delia, and Bebe were all curious.
Zhan Jin quickly replied, "Three sirs, my name is Zhan Jin. As for why I asked for a ride, it goes back to when I first entered Hell. I was dropped off randomly by the Violet Thorn Army and joined a very ordinary tribe. As you probably know, sirs, earning wealth in a tribe is very slow—maybe just a few dozen mo stones in ten thousand years."
"A few dozen mo stones?" Linley frowned slightly.
The Black Dragon Tribe he had joined earned over a thousand mo stones in ten thousand years. But Linley quickly realized that was because of Garlan Black Dragon; otherwise, other tribes wouldn't have allied to attack it. Ordinary tribes could only earn money by refining artifacts or divine crystals, which indeed yielded only a few dozen mo stones in ten thousand years.
"Also, wars in Hell are frequent. An ordinary tribe might exist for a million years or more, but some are wiped out in a few thousand years." Zhan Jin said bitterly, "If you're a regular resident, you might join another tribe after defeat. But I'm a middle-level god, so I was forced to become a warrior. In every war, the most deaths are among the warriors!"
Linley nodded slightly.
The Black Dragon Tribe he had been in had strong backing, and warriors were volunteers, so they didn't care much. But many weak tribes forced middle-level gods to serve as soldiers.
"In over ten thousand years, I've been through two tribes." Zhan Jin shook his head. "I realized this couldn't go on. I survived the first war by luck, but would I be so lucky the second time? After much planning, I secretly left the tribe to head for the Violet Crystal Mountain Range. But my tribe was tens of millions of miles away, and the road was full of bandits. I could only travel cautiously on completely dark nights."
Linley understood somewhat.
He could also imagine the hardships Zhan Jin had endured along the way.
"What are you going to do at the Violet Crystal Mountain Range?" Bebe asked.
Zhan Jin quickly replied, "I heard about the Violet Crystal Mountain Range and knew there were violet crystals there. I planned to mine them. Violet crystals are very valuable—selling one can get you six or seven thousand mo stones. That's much better than staying in a tribe."
Linley laughed. "You heard about it? Do you know the conditions for mining there?"
Linley had read general geographical information about Hell and knew the famous Violet Crystal Mountain Range in the Violet Thorn Continent well. Because of this, Linley and his group had planned to stop there on their journey to visit it.
The Violet Crystal Mountain Range, spanning hundreds of thousands of miles, was the only source of violet crystals in the Violet Thorn Continent.
"Conditions?" Zhan Jin shook his head. How would the tribe people know?
"Such a treasure trove—do you think just anyone can mine it? It's been sealed off by several major families." Linley said with a faint smile.
Zhan Jin's face fell, but he insisted, "Impossible! The Violet Crystal Mountain Range is so vast and precious—how could a few families seal it off entirely?" In some treasure-rich places, people would risk their lives to sneak in.
"Of course, there's another way. Pay five thousand mo stones, and you can enter to mine." Linley said calmly.
Mining violet crystals was extremely difficult. Sometimes you might not get a single one in a thousand years. Of course, with luck, you might get several at once.
"Five thousand mo stones?" Zhan Jin's face turned pale. He had been in Hell for just over ten thousand years, and his total assets were barely over a hundred mo stones.