Desperate Situation

This is Hell.

All the space rings naturally contained Ink Stones.

He didn't mind, as Ink Stones and Earth Crystals could be exchanged for each other anyway.

The exchange fee was very low.

Beside Hermes, several black armored corpses lay scattered.

Sitting next to several headless corpses, he nonchalantly counted the total number of Ink Stones from this haul.

"It's far from enough, this wealth is still far too little!"

Hermes originally didn't care about wealth in the form of Ink Stones or Earth Crystals.

But ever since he discovered that the Golden Space within him might have the potential to refine Sovereign Power.

Hermes's thoughts immediately became fervent.

Sovereign Power, that was the hard currency of the Four Supreme and the Seven Great Elements' God Planes.

Who wouldn't want it?

He had been hiding in the Chongxuan Mountain Range, and later even left the Great Earth God Realm, which led to him not becoming a Sovereign's Emissary as a mere Demigod, as in the original timeline.

However, Hermes didn't regret it.

Becoming a Sovereign's Emissary while weak was definitely not a good thing. Except for those at Grand Perfection, Sovereigns treated their emissaries like servants.

He might be different, but Hermes wasn't sure.

If he had to become an emissary for a Sovereign, he should at least choose one he found pleasing.

"Forget it~!"

Hermes put away his space ring, deciding not to think about it for now.

Although he wasn't sure how many Ink Stones were needed to refine a drop of Sovereign Power?

But inferring from the scattered words in the original work, the number should be enormous, likely in the tens of trillions of Ink Stones.

In light of this, he temporarily abandoned the idea of refining Sovereign Power.

Hermes had let it go, but the Gatekeeper of the Blocking Castle had not.

The Gatekeeper, Basim, clad in a black and gray robe, holding a Withered Wood Scepter, and wearing a bizarre mask.

He stared in disbelief, "Impossible, this is absolutely impossible! Is this still a Demigod?"

"How can he be so strong?"

"Attack!"

As if unable to accept reality, he controlled Saba to charge at Hermes. Conrad followed closely behind. As a result, Hermes smashed Saba's disgusting skull with a single punch and then killed Conrad with a sword.

"Pah, I've tolerated you for a long time!"

Hermes surged with Divine Power, annihilating the residue on his golden fist. He was a bit disgusted because his fist had been too convenient.

So he used a sword to kill Conrad.

"What trash!"

"Compared to this Hermes, what use are you two pieces of trash?"

Having lost all his Yellow Armored Persons and Black Armored Persons in succession, and now with Saba also killed by Hermes, Basim had only the Blocking Castle and himself to rely on.

"Why? Why is this Demigod not under my soul control?"

Basim, also known as the so-called Gatekeeper of the Blocking Castle, was a Five-star Demon who cultivated the Death Law.

He hid in the Blocking Castle to cultivate the Law. The Yellow Armored Persons and Black Heavy Armored Persons were the accumulation of his countless years.

"Right, and Salif!"

Basim suddenly remembered that he had soul-controlled a Five-star Demon.

What was there to fear about losing all the Black Armored Persons and Yellow Armored Persons? Only Salif could make up for it.

"No, those thirty Demigods can't be let go either!"

"Lord Salif, where are you?"

In the endless yellow sand, besides Hermes, only thirty of the thousand Demon Assessment candidates remained.

But now, they were completely deprived of Salif's protection.

And Basim was not at ease either. To soul-control Salif, he had lost almost all his strength.

"I didn't expect Salif to be so weak in terms of soul?"

"Hmph, Hermes, right? After I deal with that group of assessors, let's see how you cope?"

"Now, it's finally time for me to test my gains."

Beneath the ferocious mask, Basim's deep green eyes glinted with a faint light.

"Huh? Lord Salif?"

Hermes wandered aimlessly throughout Blocking Castle, but he couldn't find an exit.

Upon suddenly encountering an acquaintance, he naturally had to ask for directions.

No one answered. Only Salif, with heavy steps, charged directly at Hermes.

"Boom boom~!"

Before Hermes could ask again, a flaming long saber slashed down diagonally.

"Clang~!"

Hermes's battle sword snapped. A mid-level divine artifact combined with mid-level Divine Power against the full-power strike of a Five-star Demon. The weapon breaking was no surprise.

"Holy crap, this isn't right!"

At the critical moment, he casually punched away the continuing saber strike.

"Soul controlled?"

In the Coiling Dragon World, Death Law's soul control was extremely advanced, completely failing to destroy the controlled individual's soul will.

It merely left behind a soul seed, making the controlled person obey the controller's commands from the soul level.

But it was still different.

For example, Emperor Lin and Tarosa, who were soul-controlled by Mo Si, always had a vacant look in their eyes.

Now, Hermes saw the same vacancy in Salif's eyes.

"Bang~!"

But seeing it was one thing; seizing the opportunity, he still landed a punch square on the other's face.

Salif's body flew backward.

"Rumble~!"

Mist Shadow Heavy activated. Within a space of dozens of meters in diameter, Hermes's figure darted rapidly.

Wisps of mist generated, mist with the effect of obscuring Spiritual Sense, coupled with the ultimate move that fused Strength and the Mysteries of Gravity Space.

His combat was spontaneous.

"Bang bang bang~!"

Having just been soul-controlled, Salif's Divine Body and soul sea's coordination had decreased.

From the start of the battle, he was completely at a disadvantage.

"This Hermes must have a big secret on him!"

The previous frustration of repeatedly resisting his soul control vanished.

"Excellent~!"

Basim grew more and more excited.

"If I can obtain the secret hidden on this guy, why would I still hide in this godforsaken place?"

"Salif, use soul attacks to disrupt Hermes!"

A voice like torn rags directly entered Salif's soul.

Beneath his helmet, a flicker of struggle flashed in Salif's eyes.

But his soul sea churned, automatically taking over his actions.

"Boom~!"

Circles of fiery red light materialized out of thin air. A ball of flame, like Sun Wukong breaking through fiery hoops, shot out of his eyes and pounced directly at Hermes.

The soul attack arrived in an instant.

"Boom~!"

On Hermes, illusory crimson flames suddenly erupted.

The flames seemed substantial.

But he didn't feel any pain, and the illusory crimson flames caused no actual damage, yet they burned directly into his soul sea.

"Rumble rumble~!"

Hermes's soul sea was instantly engulfed in surging flames.

"Here I come~!"

Sensing Hermes stiffen, Basim lunged forward, his pale fingers reaching directly for Hermes's head.

"Hahaha!"

Pale hands, a grim smile.

"Let's see how you withstand this?"

For the Death Law, as long as the soul isn't perfected and flawless, a stagnant soul equals death.

Once controlled by the soul, unless the controller actively releases it, the controlled will forever be a slave unless they achieve Grand Perfection.

"Boom boom boom~!"

Basim's Death Law Divine Power surged, and terrifying soul power poured into his palm.

"If I can gain soul control over this Hermes, I won't hesitate to recuperate for hundreds of years for it."

At this moment, He cast the Soul Seed without regard for damaging his soul's foundation.

The opportunity was fleeting!

With the soul attack assistance from Salif, Basim didn't believe he could fail.