The Heat is Too High

If he had a hard crowd-control ability, Hermes would never have let that Nick escape back in the Great Earth God Realm.

His attack power was dozens of times greater than the enemy's, yet he still let the guy slip away. No wonder he hadn't gathered all the Sovereign Artifacts after countless eons.

Served him right for being kited.

The gravity of the Mist Shadow Space, empowered by the Yellow Sand Domain, was no ordinary thing.

It multiplied the already terrifying gravity of the Mist Shadow Space countless times over.

With that gravity and restrictive force, anyone who stepped into the Mist Shadow Heavy range—unless they were a Seven-star Demon—could forget about escaping!

"Hahaha, good! This old Black's luck is finally turning. At least it's not all misery anymore."

Obtaining this 'Blocking Bead' made Hermes happier than if he had fused another type of profound mystery.

Having this hard crowd-control ability was incredibly important to him.

Think about it—Hermes only needed to fuse four types of profound mysteries to rival the material attack power of a Grand Perfection water-system expert.

Yet because he had short legs and no hard crowd-control moves, he was constantly kited on the Plane Battlefield.

Just thinking about it was infuriating.

"Now it's fine. Who dares come within a thousand meters of me?"

If his strength weren't insufficient, if it weren't not yet time for the Plane War, Hermes would really want to stand in the Star River Channel and roar—

Who else?

Hmph!

He only thought about it in his mind.

If he actually did that, he would definitely be bombarded into a fool by the concentrated attacks swarming through the Star River Channel.

No help for it—the power of the Plane War was just that terrifying!

Even the foot soldiers were Six-star Demons, Prefect Lords and commanders were everywhere, and even Grand Perfection experts had to tread carefully.

Though with a Grand Perfection expert's speed, they probably wouldn't get hit by a commander's attack.

But what if?

Even a Grand Perfection expert falling into Spatial Turbulence would be helpless. Without a Sovereign's rescue, they wouldn't get out either.

Looking at this Blocking Bead, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion:

"Such a treasure is safer kept in the Golden Space."

Although Hermes suspected that swallowing this Blocking Bead might even enhance his Earth Talent, he wasn't willing to part with it for now.

"Can't experiment. The Blocking Bead probably isn't as hard as Silver Moon either. If I swallow it in one go, there's no regret medicine in this world."

If not for 'Silver Moon,' with the Golden Space's devouring power, it would swallow everything except divine sparks.

"Why hasn't Bamer woken up yet?"

For now, his research on the 'Blocking Bead' came to a temporary halt. Hermes looked up at Bamer and found the other still hadn't emerged from his cultivation state.

"Ah, I'd better go to the Demon Castle first."

After killing Basim, Hermes had harvested tens of trillions of Ink Stones.

This was probably Basim's accumulation over endless ages. After all, he was a Five-star Demon, and one who could soul-control a large number of High Gods at that.

He didn't know that Basim had built his lair in the desert precisely to plunder passing merchants.

Thus gathering Ink Stone wealth.

He never imagined that the accumulation of endless time would benefit Hermes in one fell swoop.

Additionally, Basim had intended to use this Demon Assessment to soul-control several future powerhouses with exceptional talent.

To expand his subordinate ranks.

To strengthen the Blocking Castle's forces, thereby gaining even more wealth.

But the result was annihilation.

It could only be said that human calculations ultimately couldn't match heaven's.

If Hermes hadn't appeared, Basim would have almost succeeded.

Though he had lost almost all his subordinates, he had soul-controlled Bamer, a Five-star Demon.

He himself was only a Five-star Demon in strength, yet he had successfully controlled another Five-star Demon.

The Blocking Castle's power had greatly increased.

If only Basim had been given a little more time, he could definitely have forged an even stronger Blocking Sand Bandit force.

Timing and fate!

Demon Castle, first-floor hall.

"Look, isn't that Hermes, who vanished for thousands of years?"

The moment Hermes stepped into the Demon Castle, countless eyes locked onto him.

Even if thousands of years had passed.

The Star Demons present weren't exactly super experts, and their range of activity was relatively fixed.

Even when they took missions, they would return to Yilan City once the task was complete.

Many Demon experts chose to invest and buy property in the city.

If their birth tribe was also near Yilan City, their need to invest and buy property here was even stronger.

"It's him, no doubt."

A Star Demon confirmed.

They were close enough to each other to communicate via Spiritual Sense on a small scale.

This was a compromise between respecting the Demon Castle's rules and making things convenient for themselves.

"What's he here for? Disappearing for thousands of years at a time—did he go to other cities for Demon Missions?"

"Impossible!"

"Do you know how far the nearest city is from Yilan City?"

"Abandoning the near for the far is unwise."

The Star Demons buzzed with discussion. Hearing the commotion, even the Demon Castle staff curiously peered over.

What could they do?

Hermes was too famous.

He had earned the allegiance of the Five-star Demon expert 'Salif,' and right after finishing his Demon Assessment, he completed a Five-star Purge Mission.

The terrifying number of points directly elevated Hermes from a One-star Demon to a Five-star Demon.

Setting a record in Yilan City's recorded history.

Aside from the City Lord, at least in the Demon Castle's official records, no one was more heaven-defying than Hermes.

A Five-star Demon like him became a hot topic in Yilan City the moment his fame spread.

Even a random God-level Expert pulled off the street might have heard of it.

Even if they didn't know Hermes's specific name or deeds, they at least knew such a thing happened.

They knew Yilan City had produced a Five-star Demon with Mid-level God Strength.

And that he had also taken a Five-star Demon as his follower.

The Follower Ritual had been carried out, witnessed by the Demon Castle staff.

The buzz factor?

It was practically maxed out!

Ignoring the Star Demons' telepathic chatter in the hall, Hermes walked into the Demon Castle's first-floor lobby.

He continued forward.

The first-floor lobby was vast, divided into multiple functional zones.

No matter where he went, he instantly became the center of everyone's attention.

Talk about him quickly swept through the entire Demon Castle.

The hype was too high!

His disappearance for thousands of years hadn't made the Demon experts forget him; instead, it added a layer of mystery.

Some said he was in seclusion training, others said he was hiding from challengers.

Still others claimed he had bought property in Yilan City and was planning to open a shop and do business.

All sorts of rumors circulated, and the more they spread, the more absurd they became.

What started as fairly serious content quickly veered into the gutter.

Back then, because Susimita had taken a liking to Hermes, it sparked the Skeleton Man Saba's hostility toward him.

That news had been relayed countless times.

And had spawned dozens of versions.

Yes, the gossip-loving souls of God-level beings were just that unpretentious.

"What's he here for?"

Hermes walked toward the front desk.

A powerful demon asked his companion in a low voice, curiosity flickering in his eyes.

"Who knows? Maybe this time he's back, he's got some big move brewing!"

Another powerful demon replied, a hint of reverence in his tone.

Setting everything else aside, the fact that Hermes survived the Five-star Demon Mission from Explosive Thunder was undeniable.

Later, someone verified this with the other sixteen lucky stars who had passed the Demon Assessment besides Hermes.

The conclusion they reached was exactly the same as what Bamer had said.

"Just watch—who's to say Hermes won't stir up some huge news again!"