Refining Blood Crystal

Linley understood very well that in Hell and other God Planes, women were a scarce resource fought over by all.

Even in the original story, when Linley first arrived in Hell, he was warned that people would pursue his wife, Dilia, causing trouble. Later in the plot, there were countless instances of hatred directly or indirectly sparked by women.

Xisai, Olivia, the Eight Great Clans.

Linley had once wondered—couldn't they just have more women born among the Saint Domains and Low-level Gods?

Now, living in Hell himself, Linley truly understood: it wasn't that they didn't want to, but that they couldn't.

Hell's environment differed from the Material Plane. The pressure was greater, making pregnancy far less likely. Moreover, among the Saint Domains and Gods who came from the Material Plane, the male-to-female ratio was always severely imbalanced. On top of that, a single powerful figure could possess a dozen or even hundreds of beauties. Spread across all of Hell, women naturally became a scarce resource.

"There really are too few women in the tribe. After we pick and choose, we still have to leave some behind, or else it's hard to lead the team."

Donald, one arm wrapped around the woman at his side, raised his wine glass with the other and took a sip, speaking with some helplessness.

Linley's mind was sharp; he grasped the deeper meaning behind those words.

Though Saint Domains were mere ants, once they became Gods, they underwent a world-shaking transformation. The tribe truly needed fresh blood.

It was a simple truth: the more powerful figures a tribe had, the more it could expand outward, conquering more resources—including women. Otherwise, no matter how many resources they held, women were only being temporarily kept for other forces.

This was the logic of "neighbors hoard grain, I hoard guns; my neighbor is my granary." In Hell, God-level powerhouses were the guns, and the stronger they were, the more powerful the gun.

Just then, Dennis also walked over, arm around a tall, black-haired woman. He had overheard their conversation and said with a smile, "Now that our three tribes have merged, our strength has greatly increased. We can definitely consider expanding our sphere of influence. About twenty thousand miles west, there's a tribe called the Red Demon. Their Blood Crystal Mine resources are said to be richer."

Linley nodded lightly, took a sip of wine, and asked cautiously, "What's the Red Demon's strength?"

Dennis replied, "Three Mid-level Gods, six Low-level Gods."

He didn't mention the number of Saint Domain cannon fodder, and Linley naturally didn't care. Below God-level were all ants—no matter how many came, they would die.

Even a Saint Domain Limit, just a hair's breadth away from a Low-level God, was a helpless, insignificant ant before the weakest God, even one who had merely refined a Godhead. The so-called advantage of numbers, the idea of ants overwhelming an elephant, simply didn't exist.

"Good. We'll find a chance to make a move!"

Linley nodded without hesitation. Having stepped out of the reader's omniscient mindset in this life, he now truly understood through real experience: there weren't that many abnormally talented Mid-level Gods beyond the norm.

Even a High-level God who had refined a Godhead surpassed ninety-nine percent of all God-level powerhouses. As long as they didn't court death, they could live a comfortable, worry-free life above the masses.

Linley estimated that with the Tianlan Tribe's strength, absorbing the Red Demon Tribe wouldn't be a problem. Whether it was saving money to buy property in an Official City under the Main God's Protection or developing power outside, they needed manpower. Fighting alone in Hell's brutal environment was a disadvantage. Even the original protagonist, Linley, had the God-devouring Rat, Beibei, and his wife, Dilia, by his side!

"Let's make preparations for this first..."

When Linley and the other God-level leaders talked and planned, involving the distribution of spoils and resources, they all grinned mischievously, eager to act. Throughout the process, they didn't bother to hide anything from the women beside them. Some of those women weren't even Saint Domains yet, and they had no Divine Avatars elsewhere, so there was no need to worry.

After a while...

"Let's stop here for tonight."

With beauties by his side, a faint orchid fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose, and a bit of wine in his system, Linley, who had been single for centuries, felt a surge of restless heat.

Donald and Dennis were even more drunk, their faces breaking into knowing smiles that any man would understand. "Then we won't disturb you." With that, they each staggered off, arms around their women, into their rooms.

Surrounded by four beauties, Linley returned to his room. After a session of open honesty and generous giving, he finally fell into a comfortable sleep.

The next day, Linley woke up and said to the four women, "You don't have to go back. From now on, you'll be my maidservants."

"Thank you, milord!"

The four women were overjoyed, their spirits lifted.

Though they were young and inexperienced, they had grown up hearing about Hell's cruelty. Within the tribe, Saint Domains held a lowly status, forced to do the hard work of tending and mining ores, while still finding time to cultivate. Fortunately, women had a natural physical advantage: as long as they caught the eye of a God-level powerhouse, all those dirty, exhausting tasks could be avoided.

Time flew by, and three years passed in an instant.

Around the pitted and scarred mine pits of Red Stone Mountain, people stood in crowds.

"Bleed!"

At the command of a Saint Domain Limit supervisor, these people all slit their wrists. A great flow of warm blood spilled out, seeping deep into the mine pits, soaking and nourishing the Blood Crystals buried underground. This was called "tending the mine," the daily work of the tribe's Saint Domains.

When the blood pools were completely drained, a faint red glow rose from the bottom of one medium-sized mine pit.

The supervisor was overjoyed. "A Blood Crystal has matured!"

He immediately reported it to the God-level powerhouses. The news passed through several hands and quickly reached the tribe leader, Linley.

"Lucky break."

Linley smiled in satisfaction. He personally went to the Blood Crystal mine pit. His Spiritual Sense, imbued with magnetic fields, probed downward and indeed detected scattered fragments of blood-red ore. Their magnetic fields differed slightly from ordinary dead objects like stone, mixed with a certain aura of active life energy.

"Rise!"

Linley reached out with one hand. The earth trembled, and soil dragons churned. Then, from deep within the mine pit, Blood Crystals of various sizes flew out, which he swept into his Space Ring all at once.

Linley returned to his residence, took out a Blood Crystal, and examined it closely, quite curious.

All the Blood Crystals the tribe had previously accumulated had been sold off by Thomas, Donald, and Dennis in Red Stone City. In exchange, they obtained resources like Soul Gold Granules and Floating Shadow Crystals to aid cultivation and enlightenment. Some Ink Stone was also saved, set aside for the future purchase of a High-level Godhead or High-level God Artifact.

The faster the Blood Crystal mine was mined, the more it would lose its sustaining power, making long-term use difficult. Thus, over the long years, an effective method had been developed: bleeding to tend the mine.

Even with such careful maintenance, the frantic mining before this had greatly reduced the Blood Crystal reserves. Over the past ten thousand years, fewer and fewer suitable mining spots remained; they could only rely on luck.

Linley recalled a passage Thomas had said about Blood Crystals: "The darker and redder the color, the better the quality. The first refinement yields the best effect. You can swallow and refine it directly—that's the fastest method, but impurities must be removed, or it will affect body coordination and subsequent physique strengthening. You can also hold it in your palm and refine it bit by bit. It can also be used as alchemy material. It has many uses, but its main purpose is physique strengthening."

Eat it?

The thought crossed Linley's mind, but he shook his head. This thing was a special combination of countless blood and minerals—it didn't fit his diet. Plus, it had side effects. He wasn't short on time, so there was no need.

"Better do it the normal way."

Linley clenched the Blood Crystal tightly in his palm...