Stepping In

"Even if they weren't powerful demons, High Gods probably wouldn't come here to mine Purple Crystals."

Vinson muttered, but he still had to do his job.

He stepped forward and asked politely, "May I ask what you two have come to the Purple Crystal Mountain Range for?"

Who knew whether this High God demon had a good temper? Either way, there was no harm in being polite.

"To mine Purple Crystals, of course."

Before Bamer could speak, Hermes answered bluntly, "I know the rules of the Eighteen Families. Bamer, just give him an Azure Stone."

"Yes, sir!"

Bamer nodded in response, then immediately took out an Azure Stone and handed it to Vinson.

"They really came to mine Purple Crystals?" A Middle God from another family, standing behind Vinson, sent him a mental message.

"What's it to you?"

Vinson glared at him.

"Anse, I advise you not to meddle. Is your Lucio Family looking to challenge the Baldivi Family?"

The Eighteen Families jointly controlled the Purple Crystal Mountain Range and monopolized the production of Purple Crystals in the Hell Plane.

However, the Baldivi Family had always led the alliance.

After tasting the benefits of controlling Purple Crystal production, the families within the alliance were bound to get the wrong idea.

I could do that too!

"That's a matter for the family. You and I are only Middle Gods, parasites on our families. What gives us the right to make decisions for them?"

The Middle God named Anse was certainly not going to back down.

But he wasn't wrong!

What say did a mere Middle God have in family decisions?

"Hmph!"

Vinson snorted through a mental message.

While the two of them communicated mentally, Vinson had already handed two Emblem Tokens to Bamer and Hermes.

"These are your tokens. As long as you pay five thousand Ink Stones, you can get an Emblem Token.

"When you leave, just return the Emblem Token and you can leave safely. We won't ask how many Purple Crystals you mined."

After taking the tokens, Hermes and Bamer turned and left.

There was no point in saying more to two members of the Eighteen Families' lowest ranks. Besides, this was a one-time deal.

This time, he wasn't leaving until he'd let the Golden Space devour its fill of Purple Crystals.

As for the Mist Riots that broke out from time to time in the Purple Crystal Mountain Range—

Was Hermes afraid of them? He hadn't forgotten what his true form was.

The boundless mist covered hundreds of thousands of miles, but it didn't rise tens of thousands of meters high.

"Sir, based on what I learned at Demon Castle, a Purple Crystal is worth only about seven thousand Ink Stones. Did we really come here just to mine Purple Crystals?"

Followers weren't slaves.

Bamer often discussed and studied the Fire Element Law Mysteries with Hermes, too.

They both benefited from it, after all.

"Oh?"

Hermes nodded. "Since you've looked into it, you should know what Purple Crystals are really used for."

"Of course!"

Bamer said, "Purple Crystals can nourish the soul. One is worth about as much as a Soul Gold Bead."

"Right. The reason I still haven't become a Fire Element God is that I'm worried splitting my soul will lower my talent and potential."

That was the truth, at least as far as he believed now.

At first, Hermes had feared that splitting his soul would weaken it and put him in danger.

After obtaining Silver Moon, he no longer had any reason to worry.

Especially after Hermes killed Basim, he had enough money to buy Soul Gold Beads and restore his soul.

But Hermes hadn't done that.

He had exchanged all his Ink Stones for Earth Crystals, which were now stored in the Golden Space as Earth Sovereign God Power.

He was going to visit the Purple Crystal Mountain Range sooner or later anyway.

With a talent like the Golden Space, Hermes had no reason not to explore its limits.

Devouring Divine Sparks had always been his greatest goal.

"But refining Purple Crystals is far too slow. It can't compare to refining Soul Gold Beads."

Bamer said.

"Slow? Not at all."

Hermes smiled but didn't explain further.

He could trust his follower, but that didn't mean he needed to reveal everything. It was best to keep even his most basic secrets.

Besides, this involved upgrading the Golden Space.

What he still dreamed of was refining Divine Spark essence like Beirut.

Although Hermes's body was already absurdly powerful and refining Divine Spark essence wouldn't boost it by much, Divine Spark Weapons were irresistible.

As for Soul Gold Beads—

They were an extremely common commodity at Demon Castle.

Compared with slaughtering hundreds of millions of beings in a Material Plane to refine a Soul Gold Bead, raising life forms in captivity to make them in Hell was no secret.

It wasn't only tribes that raised Saint Domain Life for this purpose. Some big families with no head for business did it, too.

Why weren't Saint Domain beings considered people?

A major reason came from things like this.

The good news was that the Bifu Continent was home to a species of Soul Beasts with exceptionally strong souls.

Using them to refine Soul Gold Beads was the most cost-effective method.

The bad news was that raising Soul Beasts required an extremely specific environment. So far, they could only be raised in certain parts of the Bifu Continent.

In Hell, it was common to refine Soul Gold Beads from the souls of Saint Domain Magical Beasts and even Saint Domain humans.

No one condemned it. No one even thought it was cruel.

That was a failure of perspective.

To the countless God-level beings living in Hell, Saint Domain Life that couldn't break through to godhood were livestock.

Just like pigs, dogs, cattle, and sheep were to ordinary people in the Material Plane.

Don't think Soul Gold Beads were cruel. Divine Sparks, which had once served as a general equivalent in the Divine Realm, were still dug out of the heads of God-level Experts.

That was simply how the world worked. It wouldn't change because of one person's kindness.

"Let's go. We'll fly over slowly."

Metal Life couldn't be used in the Purple Crystal Mountain Range.

The Mist Sea could erupt at any time, and Metal Life flew too fast to dodge danger easily.

Hermes and Bamer flew together and soon reached the edge of the mist around the Purple Crystal Mountain Range.

The deeper they went, the thicker the mist grew around them.

Their Spiritual Senses were severely restricted, leaving them with almost no way to stay alert.

But Hermes showed no fear. His true form was enormous, and even a Mist Riot wouldn't frighten him.

As for getting trapped?

Then he'd get trapped!

Once he returned to his true form, Hermes was confident he could simply thrust the summit of his body out beyond the mist.

Then he could decide for himself whether to leave or stay.

Unless a Sovereign God personally intervened, Hermes—protected by the soul-defense treasure Silver Moon—

was practically invincible.

"Whoosh!"

As they neared the edge of the mist, Hermes flew ahead, ready to defend against Purple Crystals that might shoot toward them at any moment.

Bamer followed close behind.

He wasn't as powerful as Hermes, but as a High God, he was confident in his own strength.

They had a clear goal: to venture deep into the Mist Sea and search for the legendary Purple Crystal Demon Caves.

As they went farther in, the surroundings began to change.

The once-still mist started to surge, swirling around them as though it were alive.

Hermes could sense the power within the mist. Perhaps it was Soul Mist itself.

He could feel his Spiritual Sense being severely restricted.

"Be careful. This mist is definitely not ordinary!"

Hermes warned him.

Bamer nodded.