The price…
Was one trillion inkstones!
This price, to the Fiend Castles, wasn’t worth mentioning. But a fairly wealthy Seven Star Fiend’s entire net worth might be only around a trillion inkstones or so. And what’s more, it was uncertain as to whether or not the ‘Overgod mission’ was even real. If he set a price which was too high, the Fiend Castle could simply send its own people to investigate independently.
The deal was made!
The Fiend Castle spent a trillion inkstones and purchased this intelligence report.
The Fiend Castle’s staff members verified the report, and then were convinced that the red caltrop diamond which emanated that green light was definitely a unique treasure. All of the Fiend Castles of the Infernal Realm thus received a copy of this report.
The Redbud Continent. The third floor of a city’s Fiend Castle.
“What sort of intelligence report do you need?”
The staff member behind the counter said calmly.
“Information regarding the Overgod mission. Ten million inkstones, right?” a silver-haired, cyclopean youth said coldly while handing over ten million inkstones and his Fiend emblem.
The intelligence agent behind the counter verified the Fiend emblem. His attitude instantly became more respectful, and he immediately brought out a scroll and scryer recordings.
After viewing the scryer recordings and the scroll, the silver-haired cyclopean youth turned and prepared to leave. But the staff member suddenly said, “Mr. Sigu, our Fiend Castle just received some information regarding the Overgod talisman, the ‘red caltrop diamond’. This information is absolutely real. The diamond mentioned by the report, even if not an Overgod talisman, is definitely a spiritual treasure comparable to a Sovereign artifact.”
“Oh?” The silver-haired cyclopean youth turned his head suddenly. “Either an Overgod talisman or a treasure comparable to a Sovereign artifact?”
“Right.” The staff member nodded with complete confidence. “This is absolutely true.”
“What is the price of this report?” the silver-haired cyclopean youth said coldly.
“To someone like you, Lord Sigu, the price isn’t that high. Only ninety billion inkstones!” the staff member said with a smile.
This price… caused the silver-haired cyclopean youth to frown as well.
The Fiend Castle was quite clever in setting prices. Ninety billion inkstones meant that the price was within the tens of billions. If they set the price at a hundred billion, that would be on a different level and give people a different type of feeling. The report that they had purchased for a trillion inkstones would thus only have to be sold at ninety billion inkstones for eleven or twelve times in order for them to recoup their investment.
“Fine.” The silver-haired cyclopean youth waved his hand and removed an interspatial ring, then tossed it over. “There are ninety billion inkstones within this.”
“Lord Sigu, please wait a moment. This sort of important report is being carried by the governor himself, who carries it with him. I will ask him to provide it. Please wait.” The staff member was very courteous. Sigu was a Seven Star Fiend.
Generally speaking, the intelligence agents would only recommend this sort of information to someone who reached the Six Star Fiend or Seven Star Fiend level. Those who were too weak didn’t have the money to buy information of this level.
Moments later, the silver-haired cyclopean youth received the intelligence report.
He flipped through the contents of it while also viewing the dozens of scryer recordings.
“Something that allows a Highgod who fused with divine sparks to defeat a Six Star Fiend?” The silver-haired cyclopean youth was shocked. He didn’t hesitate at all, immediately flying out of the Fiend Castle at high speed.
As a Seven Star Fiend, the silver-haired cyclopean youth instantly raised his speed to the highest limit as he flew towards the Muja Continent!
The Fiend Castles were spread throughout the Infernal Realm. The Infernal Realm had many experts, and quite a few of them were able to purchase this sort of information. Many of them, upon seeing the detailed contents of this report, began to converge towards the Muja Continent. Unfortunately… the Infernal Realm was simply too vast!
It would take too long for people from other continents to hurry to the Muja Continent.
But fortunately, the experts also travelled quite quickly.
JADEFLOAT CONTINENT. Graceseal City.
Linley’s group was leisurely wandering about the city. Afterwards, they habitually arrived at the third floor of the local Fiend Castle, and Linley once more purchased information regarding the Overgod talisman.
Linley flipped through the intelligence report, then turned to leave.
“Lord Linley, I have another set of valuable information regarding the red caltrop diamond in specific,” the intelligence agent said hurriedly. After having inspected Linley’s Fiend emblem, he already knew that Linley was a Seven Star Fiend.
“Oh, valuable information? Regarding the red caltrop diamond? Why did you separate it from the other related reports?” Linley laughed as he looked at the intelligence agent.
“Boss, the Fiend Castle really knows how to make money.” Bebe sighed.
“All businessmen are evil, you know.” Yale chortled merrily. Yale had been the manager of the Dawson Conglomerate; he knew quite a bit about business.
The intelligence agent laughed awkwardly, “Lord Linley, ordinary people aren’t qualified to view this intelligence report, and the price we paid to acquire it was astronomical as well. We can’t operate at a loss, you know. Our Fiend Castle has already verified the information in this report, and we are able to vouch… that this red caltrop diamond, even if it isn’t an Overgod talisman, is something comparable to a Sovereign artifact.”
“Oh?” Linley’s eyes lit up.
“Lord Linley, are you willing to buy it? The price isn’t high, just ninety billion inkstones,” the intelligence agent said hurriedly.
Ninety billion inkstones, to the current Linley, truly was nothing.
It must be understood that even an ancient clan like Salomon and Nisse’s had hundreds of trillions of inkstones. And the price of a single drop of Sovereign’s Might far surpassed a hundred trillion inkstones.
In addition, although the Four Divine Beasts clan that had previously spread its power throughout the greater planes had retreated from those planes, the wealth that they had acquired over the years hadn’t declined. Their wealth was truly astronomical. As the number one expert of the current Four Divine Beasts clan, Linley naturally wasn’t treated stingily by the Four Divine Beasts clan. They gave him an interspatial ring filled with wealth. As to how much it held, Linley didn’t even try to calculate it.
To the current Linley, wealth didn’t mean anything any longer.
“Alright. I will buy this intelligence report.” Linley nodded.
“Lord Linley, please wait momentarily. I will immediately go make the request of the Lord Governor.” The intelligence agent was overjoyed, and he hurriedly left while speaking.
Linley’s group waited momentarily, and as they did, Bebe mentally spoke to Linley, “Boss, the price the Fiend Castle requested is so high, and they hid the report in such a secretive manner. Do you think that the red caltrop diamond they found might really be the Overgod talisman?” Bebe also knew that Linley was in possession of two of them.
“Possibly.” Linley nodded.
Although on the surface, he looked calm, in his heart, Linley was unable to repress his excitement and anticipation!
“I already have two of them and only lack a single one. Once the three come together, I can offer them to the Overgod of Life and make a request.” Linley knew that he could request an Overgod artifact, and that his request would definitely be granted. But Linley didn’t want it. He just wanted Grandpa Doehring to once more appear before him!
Footstep
s rang out once more.
Several figures suddenly walked out, with the leader, a handsome, black-robed youth, hurriedly striding forward and bowing upon seeing Linley. “Greetings, Mr. Linley!”
“Governor…” His subordinates, including the intelligence agent, were all stunned.
The power level of the governors of the Fiend Castles were not all the same, but generally speaking, they were at least at the Six Star Fiend or Seven Star Fiend level.
“I heard that you wanted to take a look at this report, Mr. Linley. Lord Linley, please feel free. As for the fee? No need to mention it.” The black-robed youth behaved very modestly. Those ordinary staff members of the Fiend Castle, upon inspecting the Fiend emblem, would only take Linley to be a Seven Star Fiend. The governors of the Fiend Castles, however, all knew of Linley’s famous name.
Which of them would dare charge a Paragon-level expert ninety billion inkstones?
“Thank you, then.” Linley laughed calmly as he accepted the intelligence report. He understood that since they insisted on letting him view it for free, if he insisted on paying for it, it would actually make them feel awkward.
“These are scryer recordings pertaining to this intelligence report.” The governor, seeing that they hadn’t been laid out yet, couldn’t help but feel quite excited as he personally placed down one crystal ball after another.
Linley carefully read through the intelligence report, then viewed the scryer recordings.
After gaining a deeper level of understanding… Linley’s heart began to tremble!
“Nine out of ten says this is real! In addition, the size is completely identical.” Linley was incomparably excited, because the information he just saw from Barriman and the Lotte tribe had come from quite a few people using their divine senses to inspect the red caltrop diamond. These people knew how large the diamond was, and so naturally they had described it. “The size perfectly fits that caltrop-shaped indentation. And the power of it…”
When Linley thought about how he was going to acquire the third talisman and complete his task, he felt incomparably excited.
“Not good.” Linley’s heart trembled. “If I manage to acquire all three Overgod artifacts and the Overgod shows himself, the Sovereigns will definitely know the truth. Perhaps, in their rage, they might come to deal with me!” Linley began to worry.
“Bebe,” Linley sent mentally.
“Yes, Boss?” Bebe was startled.
“Hurry up and lead everyone out from the Jadefloat Continent’s teleportation array. Return to the Yulan continent for now. Afterwards, ask Lord Beirut to help out and arrange for those family and friends of ours who are living in the Skyrite Mountains to immediately return to the Yulan continent,” Linley instructed solemnly.
“Boss, what are you…?” Bebe was shocked.
“I’m just preparing against all possibilities. Given the status Sovereigns have, they probably wouldn’t be so shameless as to vent their anger against my family and friends, but I’m not willing to take that risk. Thus, it’s best to plan things out early.” Linley made his decision quite firmly. “After rescuing Grandpa Doehring, I will immediately return to the Yulan continent! At worst, in the future, I’ll just remain in the Yulan plane and never go to any of the Higher Planes or Divine Planes again.”
26
THE STRUGGLE
“Sovereigns, vent their anger?” Bebe, hearing Linley’s words, understood how grave this was.
“Boss, you are a Soul Mutate. There is no need for you to bring all of your divine clones to this battle,” Bebe sent mentally.
Linley, hearing this, immediately felt these words made sense. “That’s true. I’ll just bring my original body and divine wind clone. As for the other three divine clones, they will return to the Yulan Plane.” After becoming a Soul Mutate, each of Linley’s clones were roughly on par with each other. Aside from his original body, which had a stronger Will, his water, earth, and wind souls were on par, with his fire clone being weaker.
In addition, since he was a Soul Mutate, his divine wind clone could also, for example, use earth-type divine power to attack.
Linley only needed to bring his original body and one divine clone, and he would thus still be able to unleash his maximum power.
“Bebe, give me that godspark weapon you forged,” Linley sent mentally.
It must be understood that the other two talismans were hidden within that godspark weapon.
“Boss, it is best if I stay with you here,” Bebe sent. “If you were to take this godspark longstaff and leave, others would find it suspicious. After all, Boss, you aren’t skilled in using staff-type weapons. But if I hold the weapon, others won’t be suspicious.”
Linley hesitated momentarily, then agreed.
Prior to this, the plan was to have Bebe lead everyone away, but now his divine clones would naturally play that role. Whether or not Bebe led everyone away no longer matter.
“Fine, that’s what we’ll do! I’ll head out right now.”
Linley’s divine fire, divine water, and divine earth clones merged into one, leading Delia’s group towards the Jadefloat Continent’s teleportation array and returning to the Yulan continent.
As for Linley’s original body, divine wind clone, and Bebe, they departed from the Jadefloat Continent and made haste towards the Muja Continent!
The Jadefloat Continent was located in the eastern part of the Infernal Realm, while the Muja Continent was in the southern part! The distance between the two was far closer than the distance between the Redbud Continent and the Muja Continent.
Given Linley’s current level of power, the speed at which he closed in on the Muja Continent was extremely fast.
“Whoosh!”
A metallic lifeform pressed against the surface of the Starmist Sea, advancing at high speed. Two years had passed since leaving the Fiend Castle.
“Based on the intelligence report we received, eight years have passed since Brodie killed the Lotte tribe’s chief.” Linley frowned. “Eight years… where has Brodie fled to?”
“Boss, do you think Brodie is like you? He’s just a Highgod who fused a divine spark. He won’t be able to make it that far.” Bebe was extremely confident. “The Muja Continent is so vast. Based on the location of that tribe, Brodie definitely hadn’t flown from the Muja Continent yet.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. It’s… the teleportation arrays!” Linley said, worried. “The Lotte clan was roughly a billion kilometers away from one of the teleportation arrays of the Muja Continent. A billion kilometers, for a Highgod, even one traveling with his wife… eight years is more than enough to get there.”
“Boss, are you saying…?” Bebe was startled.
“Right. If he paid money to teleport to another plane, then things will be difficult.” Linley was worried about precisely this.
If he teleported away through the transportation arrays, especially to another one of the Divine Planes or Higher Planes, such as the Netherworld, he would be randomly assigned to one of the two teleportation arrays of the Netherworld.
“Uh…” Bebe frowned. “Boss, we heard this news a bit late. Without question, quite a few people learned of this before we did. The Muja Continent has quite a few experts as well, and their movements will have definitely been faster than ours. I imagine that they would have surrounded his region. Brodie wouldn’t be able to flee as easily as he wishes to.”
Linley nodded slightly.
“But Boss,” Bebe suddenly said with a frown. “I’ve discovered a problem. Although I saw Brodie in the scryer recording, I don’t know anything about his aura. However, if Brodie changes his appearance, even if he stands before us, we wouldn’t be able to recognize him.”
Linley let out a resigned laugh.
“I thought of this issue long ago. Indeed, this is the case; we’ve never seen him before! Thus, if he changes his appearance, we wouldn’t recognize him even if he stood rig
ht in front of us! But we can do a few things. First, we can go to the Lotte tribe and invite someone who lived there to accompany us. The Lotte tribesmen definitely should recognize Brodie and know his aura. Upon seeing Brodie himself, the tribesmen will definitely know who he is. Secondly, we can wait for others to catch Brodie first. After all, quite a few people are in pursuit of him, and all of them are quite cunning. They will surely have many methods by which they can spread out their web of influence to catch him.”
“That’s all we can do.” Bebe nodded.
By now, the metallic lifeform had already entered the Muja Continent region. Only, the Lotte tribe was in the center of the Muja Continent.
On the way over, Linley and Bebe travelled for a total of three years. They were now finally nearing one of the cities close to the Lotte tribe. The governor of the Fiend Castle of this city knew who Linley was, and began to immediately and warmly assist him.
“Mr. Linley, during this recent period of time, many experts have come in search of that Brodie. More than a hundred Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends have come to visit our Fiend Castle alone. All of them went to invite members of the Lotte clan to assist, and they also set up their influence webs to search for him on a large scale.”
“Have they tracked down Brodie?” Linley asked.
“Three years ago, Brodie made a return trip to the Lotte tribe before departing once more,” the bald, silver-robed man said hurriedly.
“Three years ago?” Linley couldn’t help but feel a surge of delight.
A Highgod who had fused with a divine spark wouldn’t be able to travel too far in three years.
“Aside from that visit three years ago, did no one else find any trace of Brodie during these past three years?” Linley asked.
“Some have. It was just two months ago. A Six Star Fiend found him, but that Brodie was too sly; he managed to escape.” The governor laughed while speaking.
Lord of the Mists Page 21