Chapter 16: Nether Mountain
The crimson demon moon hung in the sky.
A metallic life form flew through the air, its surface faintly glowing red. Linley gazed out the window. In the distant mountains, a few castles were barely visible. Around the castles, some soaring dragons or undying phoenixes and other Saint-level magical beasts could be seen. These massive magical beasts were all kept captive.
Inside the metallic life form.
"Boss." Bebe held a wine glass, sipping fruit wine, frowning. "Are we really going to that Nether Mountain? The book Grandpa gave also said that Nether Mountain is the most dangerous place in the entire Infernal Realm. Although I want to go on an adventure, I still feel that Seynt's words are unreliable."
"Whether it's reliable or not, we can't be sure for now."
Linley set down his glass and smiled faintly. "We've only just questioned one prefect. There are many prefects in the Infernal Realm, not just Seynt. When we reach the next prefecture, we'll go ask around. We'll combine the opinions of several prefects before making a decision!"
Questioning a few prefects would only waste a day or two, while the journey to Nether Mountain itself would take decades.
Holding his wine glass, Linley walked to the front of the metallic life form, gazing through the transparent metal at the vast night of the Infernal Realm. He sighed, "What I hope for most right now is that Father, Yale, George, and Dixie can hold on in the Netherworld."
From the North Bones Prefecture to Nether Mountain, the route passed through six prefectures. Since the residences of two prefects were in remote corners, Linley would have to deviate from the path and travel hundreds of millions of miles to see them. Linley gave up on those and didn't visit.
He went to visit the prefects of the other four prefectures.
Of those four, two prefects were not at their residences, possibly out adventuring. Linley returned empty-handed. Of the two prefects who received him, one lived in his residence and hosted Linley, but this prefect had no idea where the Sovereigns lived.
The other prefect who received him, however, had some knowledge of the Sovereigns' whereabouts.
He said to Linley, "Linley, as far as I know, deep in the Nether Sea, on 'Canglan Island,' is where a Sovereign of the Infernal Realm resides. Of course, the 'Nether Mountain' that Seynt mentioned—I know about that too. It is indeed where a Sovereign lives. But Nether Mountain is far too dangerous. It would be better for you to go to Canglan Island!"
Linley received this information, expressed his gratitude, and took his leave.
The land of the entire Infernal Realm forms a single continent, larger than the five continents of Hell combined. At the edge of the Infernal Realm's landmass lies the endless ocean, called the 'Nether Sea,' which is also vast and boundless. Canglan Island is deep within the Nether Sea.
"Go to Canglan Island?"
Linley shook his head inwardly. "Just crossing the entire Infernal Realm continent takes nearly two hundred years. Entering the Nether Sea and reaching Canglan Island would probably take another one to two hundred years. Going to Canglan Island alone would take three to four hundred years!" Linley sighed to himself. "And even if I get there, I don't know if I'll be able to see the Sovereign. If I can't even meet the Sovereign, I'll have to turn around and head to Nether Mountain, which would take another three to four hundred years. That round trip would be nearly seven to eight hundred years. Not worth it, not worth it!"
Canglan Island was less dangerous, but too far.
What he couldn't afford to waste was time. The sooner he could save his father and the others, the better. If he delayed too long, Father, Yale, and the others might die.
"Boss, have you decided? We're going to Nether Mountain?" Bebe asked.
"Yeah, Nether Mountain. What's a little danger? At least I can confirm that Nether Mountain is indeed a Sovereign's residence. If we fail at Nether Mountain, we can go to Canglan Island later. No matter what, we can't waste time by taking detours!" Linley declared.
"Hey, Boss, look outside." Bebe said in surprise.
Linley also looked through the transparent metal. In the distance, atop a high mountain peak, above an ancient castle, two men were facing off in the sky. Both wore black robes—one with silver hair, the other with purple hair. The purple-haired man's body flickered with lightning.
The two moved like lightning in the air, their forms crossing once.
"Boom!"
A massive crack split the sky.
"These two are quite strong. They should have the strength of a Seven-Star Demon." Linley commented.
"The journey has been so boring. Most of what we've seen are mid-level gods or weaker high-level gods fighting. Rarely do we see top-tier experts clashing. Boss, stop for a bit. Let's see who wins!" Bebe's eyes lit up. He was very interested in watching such super experts fight.
Linley was helpless.
"Just for a little while." Linley still stopped the metallic life form.
In the distant sky, the two peerless experts clashed several times, each strike carrying earth-shattering power. But soon, the silver-haired man turned into a blur and fled at top speed into the distance. The purple-haired man immediately gave chase.
"Tch, so boring. I didn't even get to see who died, and one ran away." Bebe said helplessly.
"Alright, don't worry about who lives or dies. We're not far from Nether Mountain now. Just a few more months. Let's focus on traveling." Linley resumed control of the metallic life form and set off again.
"A few months? Ugh, I can't wait. They say Nether Mountain is dangerous. I wonder how dangerous it really is." Bebe's eyes sparkled.
"We'll know when we get there." Linley smiled, and in his mind, he recalled the description of Nether Mountain from the book—
Nether Mountain, the tallest mountain in the Infernal Realm, a million meters high and over ten thousand miles in circumference. The mountain body is shrouded in three-colored mist, and on the surface of the mist, natural heavenly chains coil around the mountain. These heavenly chains must not be touched. Those who touch them face nine deaths out of ten. Danger abounds within Nether Mountain—do not enter recklessly!
"Three-colored mist? Heavenly chains?"
Linley's mind was full of confusion. The book's description of Nether Mountain was too sparse. It only emphasized not to enter, that it was dangerous, but it didn't elaborate on the three-colored mist, heavenly chains, or anything else.
The months passed quickly during Linley's meditation. Over the thirty-plus years of the journey, Linley's divine clone had been in constant training, while his main body assisted the Earth divine clone in cultivating the Laws of the Earth. However, progress over these thirty years was minimal. For instance, his Water divine clone had long reached a bottleneck with the sixth profound mystery, but after all this time, it still hadn't broken through to the high-level god realm.
"Boss! Boss!" Bebe's cheerful voice rang out. "Come look! Come look! Nether Mountain! Nether Mountain!!!"
Linley, who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation inside the metallic life form, suddenly opened his eyes.
"Swoosh!"
Linley dashed to the transparent metal at the front and looked outside. In the distance, a towering mountain peak shone brilliantly. The mountain body was suffused with a faint blue light, making it look like a blue mountain at first glance. Upon closer inspection, Linley realized the blue light was flickering constantly.
"Truly worthy of being the tallest mountain in the Infernal Realm." Linley smiled.
Bebe smacked his lips in admiration. "This Nether Mountain is really tall. The book said it's a million meters high. I doubted it at first!"
Seeing this towering mountain, Linley couldn't help but smile.
Back home on the Yulan continent, the tallest mountain was only tens of thousands of meters. In Hell, the tallest peaks he'd seen were a few hundred thousand meters. He'd never seen one reaching a million meters.
"Nether Mountain, we've finally arrived!" Linley sighed.
"Oh, we're here!" Bebe cheered excitedly. "Damn, these thirty-plus years have been so boring. Finally here! They say Nether Mountain is dangerous. Let's see just how dangerous it is. Let's see what it can do to me, Bebe."
Linley glanced at Bebe and couldn't help but laugh or cry.
Getting Bebe to feel danger was truly hard!
Bebe's body hardness even surpassed divine artifact weapons. His physical defense was practically invincible. As for soul defense—though Linley wasn't entirely sure—since he could use the innate divine ability 'God Devouring,' Bebe's soul was definitely no slouch. Plus, he had a soul defense divine artifact.
"Don't be careless! Nether Mountain is where a Sovereign lives. No matter how strong you are, can you be stronger than a Sovereign? Stay low-key, stay low-key!" Linley said with a smile.
"A Sovereign wouldn't lower themselves to attack us, would they? If the Sovereign doesn't act, what's there to fear?" Bebe laughed.
Although they could see Nether Mountain from far away, they were actually still over a hundred thousand miles away. Because Nether Mountain was so tall, it was visible even from that distance. But a hundred thousand miles... at the speed of a metallic life form, it would take less than an hour to reach.
As they got closer, Linley and Bebe held their breath.
"Heavens, this is really over the top!" Bebe was stunned.
"Heavenly chains, three-colored mist. So that's what they are!" Linley couldn't help but tremble in awe.
The entire Nether Mountain, when viewed up close, seemed to pierce the sky.
Height wasn't the most astonishing thing about Nether Mountain.
The mountain body was shrouded in mist. The lower half was covered in white mist, the upper half in gray mist, and the very peak was enveloped in purple mist. Because of this three-colored mist, it was impossible to see inside Nether Mountain.
The most peculiar thing was the heavenly chains!
From the very top of Nether Mountain's peak, countless lightning chains hung down like waterfalls, all the way to the mountain's base. Billions of lightning chains, each as thick as a person's waist, hung down, covering the surface of the mist. Between adjacent chains, there was a gap of about one to two meters.
"Heavens. Each of these lightning chains must be a million meters long." Bebe praised.
Linley also sighed, "No wonder they're called heavenly chains. These countless chains covering the entire mountain—where did they come from? Only heaven and earth could create such a thing. Truly wondrous."
"Come on, let's go out."
Linley and Bebe flew out of the metallic life form. After putting it away, they flew straight toward the base of Nether Mountain at top speed. Even though they were close, it still took them a while to reach the foot of the mountain.
"Boss, let's go in." Bebe said, about to fly inside.
"Hey, you two, stop! Stop!" A shout came from nearby.
Bebe stopped, and Linley turned to look. A young man in a blue robe flew over, his face full of tension. He quickly said, "You two, this place is covered by heavenly chains. Don't just barge in like that. If you recklessly charge in and touch the heavenly chains, you're dead for sure."
"We know not to touch the heavenly chains. We'll go through the gaps." Bebe smiled.
Linley nodded.
The billions of lightning chains hung down, with gaps of one to two meters between adjacent chains. That gap was enough for someone to fly through.
"It seems you don't know anything at all." The young man picked up a stone from the ground and casually threw it into the gap between the chains. The moment the stone entered the gap between the two chains—
"Crackle—"
A translucent film formed between the two lightning chains, completely blocking the gap. Countless electric serpents slithered across the film and the chains, instantly reducing the stone to nothing.
Linley and Bebe stared, dumbfounded.
"Normally, the transparent film between the lightning chains is invisible, but it exists. So... if you try to barge in, you'll be hit by countless lightning strikes. This lightning isn't ordinary lightning... even a powerful high-level god would be instantly electrocuted into fragments and die!" The blue-robed young man quickly warned.