Chapter 22: Truth and Falsehood
Linley, Bebe, Reynolds, and Yale each brought their families, the entire group numbering nearly twenty people. Linley and his companions thus began their adventures in the Infernal Realm.
They went to the mysterious depths of Lake Punis...
They visited the Firebird Mountain in the Tucker Mountain Range...
Occasionally, they called upon some Infernal Lords or Prefecture Lords of the Abyssal Realm...
However, the Infernal Realm was simply too vast. After decades of wandering, Linley and his group had only traveled from the western part of the Bloodridge Continent to its eastern side.
In the eastern part of the Bloodridge Continent, within Fog Mountain Prefecture, in Fog Mountain City.
The streets were bustling with crowds. Linley and the others walked along, looking around.
Bebe's wife, Nisse, suggested, "We've been wandering aimlessly through the Infernal Realm, but honestly, the place with the most peculiar items is the Black Sand Castle. Let's go browse the Black Sand Castle. We're sure to see all sorts of strange and wonderful things." Women, after all, love shopping.
"The Black Sand Castle is considered a black market. It has more items than Bloodridge Castle. Linley, let's go take a look." Delia's eyes lit up as well.
Bebe nodded eagerly. "Let's head to the Black Sand Castle. Boss, what do you say?"
Linley smiled and nodded, leading the large group toward the Black Sand Castle.
The structure of the Black Sand Castle was identical everywhere in the Infernal Realm, its exterior entirely composed of flowing black sand. Although the outer layer of sand constantly shifted, the castle itself had stood there for countless ages. Linley and his group followed the bustling crowd into the Black Sand Castle.
The counters inside the Black Sand Castle were noticeably more densely packed than those in Bloodridge Castle.
"There are quite a few little trinkets," the women remarked happily as they strolled along, purchasing small items here and there.
"The first floor is all ordinary goods. Let's go upstairs. Some rare and precious items are up there," Linley suggested.
On the first floor of the Black Sand Castle, items were priced under ten thousand inkstones. The second floor generally had items under a million inkstones. On the third floor, most goods exceeded a million inkstones. Of course, this was only a rough range. But the most famous part of the Black Sand Castle was the fourth floor!
The items on the fourth floor were incredibly diverse, with prices ranging from low to high.
In prestigious places like Bloodridge Castle or the Violet Thorn Castle, the items were guaranteed to be genuine, and the prices were clearly set.
But the Black Sand Castle was, after all, a black market. For one thing, the prices were lower than in places like Bloodridge Castle. However, there was a catch—many of the vendors in the Black Sand Castle were private merchants. The castle did not guarantee the authenticity of the items. It was up to the customers to judge for themselves.
They arrived at the fourth floor.
"The items on this floor are all sorts of strange things, with prices high and low. It all comes down to your own judgment. And you can also haggle," Nisse said with a smile. "If you get tricked and pay a high price for junk, you can only blame yourself. But if you have a good eye and pick up something valuable for cheap, you've made a profit."
Linley's interest was piqued by Nisse's words.
"Come on, let's see what treasures there are." Linley smiled and headed toward the nearest counter.
"Interesting." Linley looked at the many items and their price tags, secretly amused. With his soul power, he could fairly accurately assess the true nature of the items.
Bebe followed close behind Linley, also looking around.
"Hey, boss, what kind of stone is this?" Bebe pointed at a black stone in the counter that was stained with a trace of blood and faintly emitted fire-type energy. Linley glanced at it. The stone was priced at five million inkstones—an astonishingly high price.
The person in charge of the counter was a thin, white-haired old man wearing a felt hat. The old man's pale blue eyes glanced at Bebe, and he said coldly, "This stone is said to have been stained by the blood of the Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Divine Beasts of the fire element."
"The Vermilion Bird?" Linley was startled, then couldn't help but laugh.
If it were truly the blood of the Vermilion Bird, a Divine Beast, five million inkstones would be far too low—even five billion inkstones would be a bargain! And Linley could sense that the energy emanating from the stone, though strong, was nowhere near the level of the drop of Azure Dragon blood he had obtained back then. The Vermilion Bird and the Azure Dragon were both among the Four Divine Beasts. Their blood should have been on the same level.
"Vermilion Bird, a Divine Beast? Do you even know that the Vermilion Bird is a Sovereign?" Bebe said mockingly. "Let alone a Divine Beast Sovereign, even a drop of blood from an ordinary Sovereign would have terrifying power. Your stone is probably just stained by some ordinary fire-type Divine Beast." Bebe himself was a Divine Beast, so he had the authority to speak.
The old man glanced at Bebe and said indifferently, "The blood has long seeped into the stone. What you sense is only a tiny fraction of its power. If you don't believe me, that's your problem. I'm not forcing you to buy it." The old man was putting on airs.
If someone weaker had been there, they might have been intimidated.
"Let's go." Linley and Bebe continued to browse other counters.
"Boss, there really are both genuine and fake items here," Bebe remarked in amazement as he looked around.
"Right." Suddenly, Linley's expression changed. His gaze sharpened as he stared intently at an item displayed in a counter before him. It was a diamond-shaped red crystal, prominently placed.
"A Red Diamond Crystal? The third and final token? The Red Diamond Crystal?" Linley was startled. He shook his head and looked more carefully.
The Supreme Sovereign's tokens were three in number. Linley had already obtained two—the Crown of the Five Emperors and the Nine Soul Pearls. Only the Red Diamond Crystal remained.
"Sir, are you interested in this Red Diamond Crystal?" A bald young man with silver eyes behind the counter asked with a smile.
"I am interested." Linley glanced at the price tag—one billion inkstones!
"One billion inkstones? You've got some nerve asking that much," Bebe exclaimed immediately. A nice mansion in the city cost only about ten million inkstones. Bebe sized up the bald, silver-eyed young man and sneered, "Tell me, what makes this treasure worth one billion inkstones?"
Linley had seen the parchment, but Bebe hadn't and didn't know about the Red Diamond Crystal.
The bald, silver-eyed young man lowered his voice and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, have you heard of the Supreme Sovereign's mission? It requires collecting three tokens: the Crown of the Five Emperors, the Nine Soul Pearls, and this Red Diamond Crystal. While I can't be certain that this is the legendary Red Diamond Crystal, look at its shape—it matches the description that's been circulating. I'm not entirely sure, but as you can see, this crystal is definitely not man-made. There's a chance it's the real Supreme Sovereign token."
"If it really were the Red Diamond Crystal, why wouldn't you offer it to a Sovereign yourself?" Bebe mocked.
Linley also looked at the young man with a smile.
"I'm just an ordinary Highgod. How could I possibly get an audience with a Sovereign? Besides, I'm not completely certain whether it's real or fake," the bald, silver-eyed young man said. "If I were sure, would I be selling it for just one billion inkstones?"
Keep in mind that a single drop of Sovereign's power was worth hundreds of trillions of inkstones.
A Supreme Sovereign token was priceless. No amount of inkstones could compare to one.
"This Red Diamond Crystal of yours might indeed not be man-made," Linley said.
"Of course not," the silver-eyed young man replied confidently.
"Would you dare let me squeeze it? If it doesn't break, I'll buy it. If it does, I won't pay," Linley said teasingly, looking at the young man. In truth, Linley's powerful soul had already penetrated the surface of the crystal and sensed a faint trace of fire-type energy within.
Linley had obtained two of the three tokens issued by the Sovereign of Life.
The Crown of the Five Emperors originally contained energy that could heal physical injuries. The Nine Soul Pearls could protect the soul. Both had life-related properties.
Therefore, this Red Diamond Crystal in front of him was definitely fake.
More importantly—
Linley had the Crown of the Five Emperors and knew the exact size of the diamond-shaped groove on it. Based on that groove's dimensions, Linley had a clear idea of the Red Diamond Crystal's size. The one on the counter, though similar, was slightly larger.
Unfortunately...
Mold, the Prefecture Lord of Fog Mountain, had never seen the real Red Diamond Crystal either. He had only seen its image in the Sovereign's Guide and drawn it from memory. Some discrepancies in size were to be expected.
"That won't do," the silver-eyed young man snorted. "Buy it if you want, or don't."
"Hey, you two, forget about that Red Diamond Crystal. I've got a Crown of the Five Emperors here," came a voice from nearby.
Linley couldn't help but laugh at that. He turned to look. "You have a Crown of the Five Emperors?"
"Of course. Whether it's real or not is for you to judge," the blond young man who had spoken said confidently.
Linley glanced at it and was secretly startled.
This Crown of the Five Emperors was identical in shape and size to the one he had obtained, even the groove was exactly the same. Even the color and luster matched perfectly. At first glance, Linley thought he was looking at his own crown.
Keep in mind that the parchment only showed an image of the token. The size of the image differed from the actual object. The colors in the image couldn't be exactly the same as the real thing either.
"That's a fake," Linley said with a faint smile.
"Bull, stop trying to fool people," the silver-eyed young man selling the Red Diamond Crystal sneered. "This gentleman here is clearly an expert. His eye is sharp."
The blond young man snorted.
"A few years ago, your older brother was here bragging about how he once had a Crown of the Five Emperors. When I asked him where it went, he said his goods were robbed on the road, and his divine clone was killed. He claimed the spatial ring containing the Crown might have been crushed, and the Crown was lost," the silver-eyed young man said mockingly. "I could tell tall tales like that too. I could say I once had the token but lost it."
"Who asked you to believe him?" the blond young man sneered.
Linley's heart stirred. He smiled and said, "This Crown of the Five Emperors was made to match the one your brother obtained, wasn't it?"
The blond young man gave Linley a surprised look but said nothing more.
"Bebe, let's go." Linley could tell from the blond young man's expression that his brother had indeed once possessed a Crown of the Five Emperors. "Only someone who had the real Crown could make such an accurate replica. But then he said the spatial ring was crushed... How could the Crown have flown out of the spatial turbulence?"
Linley's heart trembled.
"Could it be... that when a spatial ring is crushed, the items inside don't simply vanish but are instead thrown into the spatial turbulence?" Linley wondered inwardly.
Linley's guess was correct.
Nothing can appear out of nowhere for no reason.
Nor can anything simply vanish without a trace.
No matter where in space you are, if you tear open space and fall into it, you'll be swept into the spatial turbulence. If a spatial ring is crushed, the items inside the shattered small space will also be swept into the turbulence. However, almost all items are instantly destroyed in the spatial turbulence.
Only a very few things can survive.
For example, Supreme Sovereign tokens, the Sovereign's Guide, Sovereign artifacts, divine sparks, and similar items. Even if a spatial ring is crushed, these items will at most fall into the spatial turbulence. They won't disappear.
If crushing a spatial ring made items vanish for no reason, then if a token were inside a crushed ring during the Supreme Sovereign's mission, wouldn't that mean the mission could never be completed?
"Boss, there really are a lot of fakes here," Bebe muttered.
"Quite a few. But news of the Supreme Sovereign's mission has spread too fast. Even these vendors are using it to make money," Linley said with a faint smile. Originally, Linley had planned to wander casually through the Infernal Realm, but after this experience, he had another thought.
"I should also investigate thoroughly in the Infernal Realm. Maybe the real Red Diamond Crystal has been found by someone and is being sold as a commodity," Linley thought to himself.
He understood that with so many fake Red Diamond Crystals flooding the market, even if the real one appeared, few would believe it.
But Linley already had two tokens in hand, making it easier for him to judge the authenticity of the third.