Chapter 30: The Mist Sea
The metallic lifeform shot eastward like a stream of flowing light, swift and smooth.
Inside the metallic lifeform's hall, Linley and Delia sat facing each other, while Bebe and Jenkin sat opposite one another, chatting casually.
"My homeland is far more complicated than yours," Jenkin said with a beaming smile, no trace left of the fear he'd shown while fleeing for his life. "The continent there is quite large—from the southernmost point to the northernmost, it's over a hundred thousand miles."
Linley nodded slightly. The Yulan continent was only about twenty to thirty thousand miles from north to south. Jenkin's homeland was indeed much larger than Yulan.
"Our continent is mainly divided into three powers: human society, the beastmen race, and finally the sea race! There are countless religions. Haha, I'm not ashamed to say this—I, a human, even founded a religion among the beastmen!"
Jenkin chuckled. "Those beastmen have no idea that the god they worship was originally a human."
Linley, Delia, and Bebe had been bored along the journey and listened to Jenkin's tales of his material plane. They had to admit that while Jenkin's material plane wasn't as complex as the Yulan plane, its population was larger, there were more Saint-level experts, and religious and racial wars were frequent.
"Tsk, tsk, I never would have guessed," Bebe said with a grin. "You were quite something in your material plane."
Jenkin's story was indeed legendary.
"Sigh," Jenkin sighed. "When you stand at the peak of a continent, it gets lonely!"
Linley nodded slightly.
In truth, many experts who left their material planes for higher planes like the Infernal Realm did so largely out of loneliness.
"I knew the Infernal Realm was dangerous, but I still chose to come. Yet the danger here has exceeded my imagination," Jenkin said gratefully. "If it weren't for the three of you helping me, I couldn't even come up with five thousand inkstones."
Jenkin couldn't afford to pay five thousand inkstones, but to Linley's group, that amount was a drop in the bucket. During their conversations, Linley and the others found Jenkin to be a decent person. Bebe generously offered to cover the five thousand inkstones for him.
The journey of tens of millions of miles was uneventful. After about a month, Linley and his companions arrived at the legendary Amethyst Mountains.
"This is the Amethyst Mountains?" Linley stood at the front of the metallic lifeform, gazing through the transparent metal at the boundless Amethyst Mountains.
The Amethyst Mountains were vast, spanning hundreds of thousands of miles in area. While that wasn't an outrageous size in the Infernal Realm, it completely filled their field of vision—an endless expanse with no visible end.
At the same time, white mist floated over the Amethyst Mountains.
Strangely, only the mist was visible; the mountains themselves could not be seen.
"Just as the books said. Though called mountains, the Amethyst Mountains are also known as the Mist Sea. From the outside, not a single rock is visible—only an unbroken sea of white fog," Linley remarked. Beside him, Delia, Bebe, and Jenkin were also captivated by the breathtaking view.
The mist swirled over an area of hundreds of thousands of miles, and the blood-red sunlight refracted through it, creating a dazzling spectacle that lifted everyone's spirits.
"How eerie," Delia marveled. "A mountain range spanning hundreds of thousands of miles, completely shrouded in endless white fog, and the fog never disperses year-round. It's truly bizarre." She was puzzled.
Linley, Delia, and Bebe had at least read about the Amethyst Mountains in books.
Jenkin, however, was completely clueless.
"This is the Amethyst Mountains?" Jenkin couldn't believe that this sea of mist was the mountain range.
"Let's go. We're heading down," Linley said. With a thought, the massive metallic lifeform vanished into thin air. Linley, Delia, and Bebe flew downward. Jenkin was caught off guard but quickly steadied himself and followed.
From the surface, the Amethyst Mountains looked like a sea of mist.
Around the periphery of the Amethyst Mountains, a dense crowd of people flew like a torrent, their numbers staggering. Many divine-level experts lingered at the edge of the Mist Sea, hoping to collect amethysts by chance.
On the ground outside the Amethyst Mountains, at least within Linley's line of sight, stood three ancient castles.
As Linley's group approached, two middle-aged men in black uniforms flew over. They glanced at Delia with surprise, clearly recognizing her as an upper-level god demon. They wondered, "An upper-level god demon? They wouldn't be here to collect amethysts, would they?"
Upper-level god demons could earn far more as bodyguards than by collecting amethysts. Collecting amethysts was usually done by lower-level and mid-level gods.
Noticing Delia's status as an upper-level god demon, the two men became more courteous. The blond middle-aged man smiled and asked, "May I ask what brings you here?"
Bebe grinned and said, "We three are just here to look around. This guy is here to collect amethysts."
"Oh?" The blond man nodded. "The Amethyst Mountains are managed by our eighteen families. Of course, we don't stop outsiders from entering. Whether you're sightseeing or collecting amethysts, everyone must pay five thousand inkstones to enter."
Linley nodded slightly. The rule of paying five thousand inkstones had been in place for countless years, even recorded in the books.
"What if someone doesn't have inkstones?" Jenkin suddenly asked.
"Don't have any?" The blond man glanced at him and said flatly, "That's fine too. We'll let you in, but we won't give you a token. When you come out, you'll need to pay us three amethysts!"
"A token?" Linley raised an eyebrow.
The blond man nodded. "Yes, anyone who pays five thousand inkstones receives an emblem token. When you leave, you just return the token, and you can go freely."
Linley and the others understood.
"If you want to pay the five thousand inkstones, please go to the unified entrance," the blond man said, pointing to a lavishly built hall in the distance.
The Amethyst Mountains were vast, and one could theoretically enter from the sky or ground anywhere.
"Remember, you must return the token when you leave. If you try to escape," the blond man said with a faint smile, "you'll be attacked by experts from the eighteen families. Just a friendly reminder."
Linley smiled calmly. "Thanks."
He then led Bebe, Delia, and Jenkin toward the entrance.
"Boss, that guy seemed pretty cocky, always bringing up the eighteen families," Bebe muttered.
"Bebe, don't be careless," Linley said. He knew how terrifying the eighteen families were. "The Amethyst Mountains are the only source of amethysts in the Amethyst Continent—a massive treasure. You know the price of a single amethyst. Do you have any idea how many amethysts this mountain range produces?"
Bebe was taken aback.
Amethysts? Every Amethyst Castle and Black Sand Castle sold them in vast quantities, countless in number.
"A mountain range that endlessly supplies amethysts is a true treasure. Any one of the eighteen families has wealth far exceeding the Boe family," Linley marveled. "The eighteen families monopolize this treasure. I'm sure there are Sovereigns backing them, and probably more than one!"
The Amethyst Mountains were the only source of amethysts in the Amethyst Continent, which had nearly twenty prefectures and thus nearly twenty Sovereigns. Anyone with common sense could see that the eighteen families' power was immense. Not even an upper-level god demon, let alone a Seven-Star Demon like Alichan, would dare cause trouble here.
At the entrance to the Amethyst Mountains.
"Alright, twenty thousand inkstones!" Linley produced two long azurite bars.
The woman in the black uniform casually handed Linley four identical tokens. Linley, Delia, Bebe, and Jenkin each took one.
"Thank you, Lord Linley," Jenkin said gratefully. During their time on the metallic lifeform, he had noticed that Linley, not Delia, was the decision-maker among the three.
"Let's go."
Linley soared into the air, and together with Delia and Bebe, they approached the Mist Sea.
The blood-red sunlight shone on the gently churning mist, creating a kaleidoscope of colors and beautiful scenes.
"It's gorgeous," Delia said happily. "Linley, look over there!" She pointed to a distant part of the mist, where clusters of white fog, illuminated by the sun, seemed to gallop like a herd of flying horses.
"Vast and boundless—it's a joy to behold," Linley said with a smile. "Come on, let's go inside and take a look."
With that, Linley and the others flew inward. But just then—
"Stop, the four of you!" a voice called out.
Linley and his companions halted in confusion and turned around. A young man in black armor flew over. "Do you four not know the dangers of the Mist Sea? How can you recklessly charge in?"
"Dangers?" Linley pointed at others in the distance. "Aren't there people in the mist?"
To Linley, if others could enter, he should be fine too. The geography book he'd bought about the Infernal Realm had only briefly described the Amethyst Mountains. After all, the book wasn't thick, covering each prefecture in just a few pages.
"Let me warn you," the young man said seriously. "The Mist Sea of the Amethyst Mountains is very strange. Visibility is extremely limited. A mid-level god can only see about a hundred meters in the mist. So... no matter who you are, stay at the outermost edge of the Mist Sea. A mid-level god should never go deeper than a hundred meters!"
Linley and the others listened carefully. The young man continued gravely, "If you go too deep and can no longer see the outside, you won't be able to come back!"
Linley's group was startled.
"Can't come back?" Bebe exclaimed. "How is that possible? It's just white fog. Even if visibility is poor, can't I just fly straight out?"
"You can't!" the young man said sternly. "As long as you stay at the outermost edge and can still see the outside, you can fly back. But if you can't see the outside, you're done for. So be careful when collecting amethysts!"
"Even if there's an amethyst ten meters in front of you, never cross the danger zone! Once you go too deep, you won't return!"
The young man spoke with emphasis.
Linley frowned and looked at the many divine-level experts hovering at the edge of the Mist Sea. He began to understand: "Right, if the Mist Sea weren't dangerous, these divine-level experts would have rushed deep inside to find amethysts. Why would they wait outside?"
Linley was certain the Mist Sea was perilous.
"Remember, always make sure you don't exceed the warning boundary. Even if a pile of amethysts is floating right in front of you, don't go deeper," the young man said before leaving.
Linley, Delia, and Bebe exchanged glances, marveling at the wonders of nature.
"Delia, we're not here to collect amethysts—just sightseeing. Let's go somewhere else," Linley said casually. He led Delia and Bebe along the edge of the Mist Sea, with Jenkin still tagging along.
After they had walked for a while—
"Captain, you were lucky to find that amethyst earlier. I've been here over twenty years and haven't gotten a single one. Hey, Olivia, how's your luck?" A group of about a dozen people had gathered together.
With hair of mixed black and white and a gray robe, it was Olivia, also from the Yulan plane.
Olivia shook his head. "No luck."
"Don't get discouraged. Come on, let's all go grab a drink. My treat," the team leader said with a smile.
The group flew to the outer edge of the Mist Sea, near the entrance, where some eateries were located.