The Infernal Plane: Book 5 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  How vast was the Infernal Realm?

  To describe it in detail, even ten books wouldn’t be enough, much less one.

  “A book of this thickness isn’t bad. Most likely, it won’t just be a simple map collection.” Linley laughed as he accepted the book.

  Flipping through it, it was indeed much the same as Linley had imagined.

  “This is pretty much it. Although the book doesn’t have many descriptions, at least it has a general introduction to general geography and environment of the five continents, two seas, and 108 prefectures of the Infernal Realm. It even describes each of the ten or so cities in each prefecture, as well as some dangerous areas and information about them.”

  The Infernal Realm was simply too vast.

  If it took two or three pages to discuss a prefecture, then the 108 prefectures combined would require nearly three hundred pages.

  In addition, the pages of this book were quite long. It was an unusual book; even if it was burned or drenched, it wouldn’t be damaged. After all, this wasn't that sort of frail material that existed in the material realm. However, every single page was only slightly thicker than the pages in the material realms.

  And so, a fairly simple introduction to the Infernal Realm required a book that was five or six centimeters thick.

  If it was the type that went into great detail, it would require several hundred books of the same thickness.

  “How much is this” Linley glanced at the nearby, violet-robed attendant.

  The attendant walked over and glanced at it, then laughed and said, “A hundred inkstones.”

  Linley immediately handed over a hundred inkstones. To Linley’s team, currently in possession of over a hundred million inkstones, this was nothing. Only, Linley’s team also understood… that their networth actually wasn’t that much.

  After all, a single Deathgod Golem was worth a hundred million.

  Some higher-level metallic lifeforms were also worth more than a hundred million, and it was normal for some of the nicer houses within the city to cost billions.

  A hundred million?

  Well, at least for an ordinary life, it was enough.

  “Hey, why haven’t I found any books regarding descriptions of the profound mysteries of the Laws?” Linley asked the attendant.

  “Those books are a bit more expensive. They are held within the second hall. Each of them cost several thousand inkstones, and the better ones cost more than ten thousand,” the attendant said. “And these types of basic, elementary books that only have common knowledge within are fairly cheap.”

  They left Redbud Castle. Linley’s team selected a nearby restaurant. This time, Linley’s team selected dishes worth roughly a thousand inkstones; this could be considered a slight extravagance.

  While they were in the restaurant, Linley continued to flip through the geography book.

  “Linley, have you made up your mind regarding our path?” Delia asked.

  Linley closed the book, then nodded slightly. “Bloodridge Continent. This is the easternmost continent of the entire Infernal Realm. Right now, we are in the Redbud Continent, which is in the north. To reach the Bloodridge Continent, we must first head to a port city in the Rainbow Prefecture. Of the ten cities of the Rainbow Prefecture, Bluemaple City is nearest to the Starmist Seas. We should head to Bluemaple City first!”

  “According to what the books describe, there are quite a few groups that will go from Bluemaple City to the Bloodridge Continent,” Linley said. “Only, the distance from our Royalwing City of the Nightblaze Prefecture to the Bluemaple City of the Rainbow Prefecture is roughly four billion kilometers!”

  It was common for prefectures to have a circumference of a billion kilometers.

  For the distance from Royalwing City of the Nightblaze Prefecture to the ports of Bluemaple City of the Rainbow Prefecture was within his expectations.

  “Four billion kilometers.” Bebe stared. “That’s way too far. It will take forever to get to Bluemaple City, and it will probably be very dangerous.”

  Linley laughed. “What are you worried about? We don’t have to go alone. After eating, let’s head to the Fiend Castle. We’ll take on an escort mission from Royalwing City to Bluemaple City. Wouldn’t we then easily reach Bluemaple City?”

  Generally speaking, escort missions would have quite a few Fiends.

  If Linley’s team joined one, their journey would naturally be much safer. Even if they encountered any dangers, with an entire group of Fiends present, the situation would be much easier to deal with.

  “Take on a mission? I haven’t ever taken on a formal mission before.” Bebe was somewhat excited.

  “Sirs, the ‘Goldscale Silkthin Fish’ you ordered is ready.” A waiter carried over a platter that was gleaming with a golden light. This beautiful, gaudy delicacy was placed upon the table.

  Linley laughed, “Bebe, stop thinking about the mission. First eat, then talk. You ordered this fish, and it cost three hundred inkstones. Let’s taste it. How is it?”

  After eating, Linley’s group headed to the Fiend Castle. The receptionist at the main hall of the first floor, their old friend Yuna, knew why they had come. Laughing, she pointed at Linley. “Mission acceptances are on the next floor up. One Star Fiends to Three Star Fiends take missions at the second floor, while Four Star Fiends to Six Star Fiends take on missions on the third floor.”

  The second floor of the Fiend Castle. The location for One Star Fiends to accept missions. A row of rooms. Linley’s group walked into one of them.

  “Speak. What sort of mission do you want?” a youth who was seated in the meditative stance on the ground said calmly.

  “Escort mission, from Royalwing City to Bluemaple City of the Rainbow Prefecture,” Linley said. “Ideally, a two star mission.” Linley’s group all consisted of One Star Fiends. They could at most take on two star missions. Upon completing a two star mission, they would naturally become Two Star Fiends.

  The youth nodded slightly. After closing his eyes for a moment, he then waved his hand. A scroll appeared in his hands, which he flipped open and began to read. “Escort missions from Royalwing City to Bluemaple City of the Rainbow Prefecture. There’s ten in total, three of which are two star. Take a look.”

  As he spoke, he handed the scroll to Linley.

  After taking a quick look, Linley came to a decision. “The two star mission that begins in twenty days.” The reason why Linley selected this one was because there were many people who had already signed up to participate in this escort mission, including the recruiting of a hundred Two Star Fiends!

  Part II

  Priceless Treasure

  32

  The Fiends Assemble

  Two-star mission. Escort from ‘Royalwing City’ of the Nightblaze Prefecture to ‘Bluemaple City’ of the Rainbow Prefecture, a trip of nearly four billion kilometers. Compensation, two hundred thousand inkstones!

  Although the distance was that of four billion kilometers, generally speaking, when riding on a metallic lifeform, a few decades was enough. An escort mission of a few decades that would result in a reward of 200,000 inkstones was quite a high compensation for a One Star Fiend or a Two Star Fiend.

  “You choose this one?” The youth raised his head in surprise, glancing at Linley’s team.

  The look on the youth’s face caused Linley to feel suspicious. “What? Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

  “Oh. Give me your Fiend medallion for a moment.” The youth didn’t say anything extra. Linley’s team immediately handed their Fiend medallions over. With a flip of his hand, the youth brought out a gemstone which radiated with violet light.

  He placed this gemstone next to the three Fiend medallions.

  Under the violet light, strange characters suddenly appeared in the air above the three Fiend medallions.

  “Uh?” Linley’s team was rather surprised.

  “What’s this? A line of numbers?” Bebe asked. An extremely long number was cur
rently hovering above the Fiend medallion.

  The youth said very casually, “That’s the serial number for your Fiend medallion. Every single Fiend has a different serial number, and we can verify your identity through it. The medallion also has your star rank as a Fiend.” As he spoke, he recorded down the serial numbers of the three Fiend medallions.

  And then, he handed the three medallions back to Linley’s team. “Alright. What the three of you need to do is go to the city gates twenty days from now at dawn. At that time, staff members of the Fiend castle as well as the escorted guests will be waiting for you there. They will verify your Fiend medallions, and thus they will naturally be able to verify your identity.”

  “Does it cost anything to accept missions?” Linley asked.

  Linley had heard that most Fiend Castle missions required a fee to be paid first before acceptance.

  The youth laughed. “That depends on the mission. Taking on escort missions doesn’t require a fee to be paid.”

  Linley’s group left the Fiend Castle, returning to their own residence.

  “Ah, so we have twenty more days. In twenty days, we’ll leave this place.” Bebe tossed his grass hat to the stone table, then sighed. “We’ve lived here for thirty years now. I’ll miss it.”

  Linley couldn’t help but let out a long breath.

  They had come to the Infernal Realm so long ago now. They had finally become Fiends. In twenty days, they would finally begin their journey enroute to the Indigo Prefecture.

  “Linley.” Delia’s face had a hint of a smile on it. “Tarosse, Dylin, and the others arrived here in the Infernal Realm long before we did. Where do you think they might be? This time, when we leave Royalwing City, will we meet them on the way?”

  “Tarosse? Dylin?” Linley couldn’t help but think back to the things which had happened in the past.

  “All of them are together. Tarosse and Dylin, in particular, aren’t just Gods, they are divine beasts. They should be able to have the ability to somewhat protect themselves.” Linley looked towards the distant horizons. “Only, this Infernal Realm is too vast. I don’t know where they were transported to.”

  The Infernal Realm had five great continents, as well as the Starmist Sea and the Chaotic Sea.

  From the material plane, one could be transported anywhere and appear within any of those seven areas. Any two places had an extremely vast distance from each other. If they weren’t sent to the same continent, meeting would really be difficult.

  Bebe hurriedly shook his head and said, “Right. It isn’t so bad for Tarosse and the others in the Infernal Realm, but Olivier came alone. Him, a Demigod all by himself, most likely will have a bit of a tougher time than we did when we first came.”

  “Without having come to the Infernal Realm, who would have known that it was like this?” Linley laughed calmly. “However, it makes sense. Countless experts from material planes have been transported here over countless years, and the Infernal Realm itself has many races… it is only natural for there to be so many experts here.”

  Linley’s group felt very relaxed. After all, they now had a wealth of over a hundred million inkstones and had become Fiends. In the Infernal Realm, they would have no problems establishing themselves somewhere.

  Linley’s group naturally also had more confidence with regards to heading to the Indigo Prefecture.

  Within the twenty remaining days, Linley’s group quietly trained. Delia naturally focused on absorbing that Highgod spark. However, absorbing a Highgod spark would require dozens of years. In the blink of an eye…

  The twenty days had passed.

  This morning, the cold, foggy dawn air still hovered about Royalwing City. In mid-air, the Violet Moon could still be seen. But of course, it was already past the ‘curfew’ time period. Linley’s group got up early and headed towards the gates of Royalwing City.

  “Royalwing City!” Bebe sighed emotionally while walking. “In the future, I probably won’t have a chance to come to Royalwing City again.”

  “Don’t overthink things.” Linley, seeing the emotional look on Bebe’s face, wanted to laugh. “Oh. The gates are up ahead.”

  “Uh, we’re here.” Bebe’s eyes lit up, and he immediately looked over. “Where’s the metallic lifeform? Why can’t I see it?” Bebe looked carefully in the air above the outside of the city, but couldn’t see any trace of a metallic castle.

  Linley felt a hint of puzzlement as well.

  Logically speaking, there should be a metallic lifeform outside.

  “Let’s head outside then discuss it,” Linley said. As they stepped past the gates, a white-robed silver-haired youth, upon seeing the Fiend medallions on their chests, immediately walked over and asked in a low voice, “Are you here for the escort mission to Bluemaple City of the Rainbow Prefecture?”

  “Right!” Linley’s group nodded.

  The silver-haired youth laughed and nodded. “Then please first go to the second floor of the restaurant next to the gates. The Fiends who are participating in this escort mission are all going there.”

  “Next to the gates?” Linley turned to look. “The restaurant at the south, or the one at the north.”

  “The one in the south. At the door, you’ll see someone like me, dressed in white. When you go, he will receive you,” the silver-haired youth said.

  Linley’s team was puzzled. The escort was supposed to gather together and head out at dawn, so why were they going to a restaurant?

  However, the restaurant was within Royalwing City, and violence was forbidden within Royalwing City. Linley’s group didn’t have to be afraid of being taken advantage of or bullied. Naturally, they casually returned to Royalwing City. At the same time, other Fiends who had accepted this mission were also guided to follow Linley and the others into the restaurant.

  “The three of you, please wait a moment.” The white-robed, blue-haired youth smiled at the entrance to the restaurant. He had seen his colleague outside the gates instruct these three to come over, so he knew the three were also here for the mission.

  Behind Linley’s group were two more Fiends.

  Linley glanced at them, and made his judgment. “All Gods.”

  “The five of you, please come with me.” The white-robed, blue-haired youth immediately guided Linley’s group of five to the second floor of the restaurant. Right now, the halls of the restaurant on the second floor were bustling. There were forty or fifty people gathered here now.

  At the stairway to the second floor, there was a black-robed man standing there.

  “A Fiend Castle staffer?” Linley could immediately tell, because this person held within his hand a gemstone that was shining with a violet light.

  “The five of you, please permit me to make an inspection.” The man smiled.

  He immediately used that gemstone that emitted that violet light, placing it close to the chests of Linley and the others. That violet light, upon shining down on the Fiend medallion, immediately caused the Fiend medallion to display a serial number and star rank. The black-robed man was holding a book in his hands. At the top of it, he wrote down the serial number of the Fiends who were taking part in this mission.

  Only after completing each verification was the black-robed man certain of every person’s status.

  “The five of you, welcome.” The black-robed man smiled and nodded. Only now did he permit Linley’s group of five to enter the center of the second floor.

  A silver-haired old man who, on his forehead, had three long black horns arranged in a circular manner came walking over. With a smile, he said, “Welcome, the three of you. Our expedition will occur not at dawn today, but at sundown. Please enjoy a repast here first. We will pay for all your expenditures here.”

  “Sundown?”

  Although Linley’s team was puzzled, they didn’t mind.

  One or two days, to Deities, was nothing.

  Linley, Delia, and Bebe found a corner for themselves in the dining halls of the second floor
, then sat down at the table and casually ordered some dishes.

  “Linley, I keep on having the feeling that this escort mission seems to be a bit unusual,” Delia said softly.

  Linley nodded slightly. “Right. Look. Although the vast majority of the Fiends here are Gods, there’s even around ten Highgods. Highgod Fiends are generally Four Star Fiends, or even more powerful. For them to have invited so many Fiends… the price isn’t going to be low.”

  The missions given out by the Fiend Castle didn’t have a randomly assigned remuneration; it was in accordance with a baseline which the Fiend Castle had come to.

  To invite a One Star Fiend or a Two Star Fiend, the price wouldn’t be too bad. But for Four Star Fiends or Five Star Fiends, the price would be astonishing.

  “Lord Learmonth!”

  “Lord Learmonth, you came as well.” Suddenly, several voices rang out in the center of the restaurant.

  Linley’s group couldn’t help but turn to look as well. A skinny, callous looking youth with blue hair was walking up. Immediately, quite a few Fiends stood up to welcome him, especially the Highgods, more than half of whom stood to greet him.

  The callous youth named Learmonth entered, then swept the restaurant with his gaze, which finally fell upon three handsome siblings that looked very much alike. A hint of a smile appeared on his face. “Edwards, you three brothers have taken on this mission as well? It seems I’ll have it easy, then.”

  The three laughed and stood up.

  “Mr. Learmonth, since you’ve taken on this mission as well, then this road will most likely have no more dangers for us,” one of the three exceedingly handsome brothers said.

  Right now, the silver-haired elder with the three black horns began to chortle as he walked over. “Mr. Learmonth, Mr. Edwards and his party, on this trip, we’ll be troubling you.” In the eyes of the silver-haired elder, there was no need to pay any attention to the other Fiends.