The Hunt

"I think we should immediately ask Lord Baldivi for instructions."

A blue-haired middle-aged man said.

As soon as he finished speaking, the others in the castle hall began discussing it.

"A golden mountain has appeared deep in the Purple Crystal Mountain Range. This is definitely a major matter that concerns the future of the Eighteen Families."

"Exactly. For such an important matter, it's only right for Lord Baldivi to handle it personally."

"Ask Lord Baldivi!"

The Eighteen Families Alliance meeting, which should have been serious, instantly turned into a marketplace.

"Bang!"

An old man with short blue-black hair and a stern face suddenly slammed the table and shouted angrily:

"Do we need to ask Lord Baldivi about everything? What's the point of having us Alliance Elders, then?"

Lucio was heartsick.

"Lord Black Wind is right. Lord Baldivi is the Prefect Lord of Rainbow Sun Prefecture. He can't possibly handle everything personally."

"Exactly. The Alliance Elders were established to make decisions. It's clearly not appropriate to ask Lord Baldivi about everything now."

Lucio was a Seven-star Demon.

His title was Black Wind Demon!

Even now, that title was enough to strike fear into anyone who heard it.

In Hell, there were only two ways to earn the title of Asura: become a Prefect Lord or become a Purgatory Commander.

There was no other way.

Lucio's strength was absolutely no weaker than that of a Prefect Lord from one of Hell's less powerful prefectures.

However, challenging a Prefect Lord was a high-risk, high-reward endeavor.

If someone held the position of Prefect Lord for long enough, they often had a chance to receive Sovereign's Might as a reward from a Sovereign God.

Such rewards usually came shortly before a Plane War broke out.

The Sovereign Gods needed Prefect Lords to work for them. At the very least, they could help recruit legions to take part in a Plane War.

Prefect Lords with a particular talent for organization and coordination were especially valued by the Sovereign Gods.

Furthermore, Prefect Lords and Commanders had the right to organize elite squads to take part in Plane Wars.

This was a rule established by the Sovereign God Conference countless billions of years ago.

It had long since become a tradition.

A very small number of exceptionally powerful commanders were even taken along by Sovereign Gods to serve as legion commanders.

The Purple Thorn Legion, for example!

Its legion commander was sure to be a trusted confidant of the Purple Thorn Sovereign God.

Elite squads were one thing, but Prefect Lords who excelled at commanding large-scale wars—

They were highly sought after, whether in Hell or in the other God Planes.

"I support Lucio!"

Though the Eighteen Families Alliance stood united, that was only when facing outsiders.

Struggles and power plays had never stopped within the Eighteen Families.

Fortunately, Baldivi was not only the Prefect Lord of Rainbow Sun Prefecture but also an emissary of the Purple Thorn Sovereign God.

With a Material Attack Sovereign Artifact and his strength and status, he had managed to hold on to the position of Great Elder of the Eighteen Families Alliance for a long time.

For countless years, no one had ever been able to shake Baldivi from his position.

So what if they were Prefect Lords?

The Purple Thorn Continent had nineteen prefectures, each with at least ten cities.

Nineteen prefectures.

That meant there were nineteen Prefect Lord-level experts. Some members of the Eighteen Families also served as Prefect Lords, though not near the Purple Crystal Mountain Range.

At least five Alliance Elders were also known to possess Prefect Lord-level strength.

The so-called Alliance Elders!

In reality, they were the clan heads or strongest members of the Eighteen Families.

The Seven-star Demons within each family served as elders in the alliance, not as Alliance Elders.

With so many powerful experts gathered together, the Eighteen Families Alliance had more than two hundred Seven-star Demons in total.

That was how the Eighteen Families had managed to hold on to their fortune, despite all the forces coveting the Purple Crystal Mountain Range's riches.

Without strength?

They would probably have been devoured without even a bone left behind.

So many Seven-star Demons, such powerful families, and an alliance made up of eighteen formidable clans.

Yet this alliance had only one emissary of a Sovereign God:

Baldivi.

That showed just how high the status of a Sovereign God's emissary was.

Baldivi had also retained his position as Great Elder of the Eighteen Families Alliance.

He had veto power over any undecided family matter.

"The Mist Sea Riot is about to end. Even if we send for Lord Baldivi now, he won't make it in time. It would take him at least several decades to get here."

Hell was simply too vast!

With its boundless territory, the Purple Thorn Continent stood proudly as the largest of Hell's five continents, occupying nineteen of the 108 Prefectures of Hell.

Though this land bordered the wondrous Purple Crystal Mountain Range, it could not be crossed with ease overnight.

And yet,

even the vast Purple Thorn Continent could not compare to Hell's two great seas—the Star Mist Sea and the Sea of Chaos.

The Star Mist Sea was so vast that it dwarfed the other five continents of the Hell Plane.

The even more boundless Sea of Chaos was so immense that words could hardly describe it.

Across these two great seas,

there were no vast landmasses like the Purple Thorn Continent, but countless islands dotted the waters like stars, forming prefectures of their own unique character.

If these islands were in a Material Plane, they would not be called islands at all. They would be continents—and supercontinents at that.

Each island was a landmass far larger than the Magnolia Continent.

But by Hell's standards, they did not deserve to be called continents. They could not compare in size or importance.

They were pearls in the sea, the dreams of adventurers, and the birthplace of countless legends.

Of course, not every island scattered like stars across the two great seas had an official city recognized by a Sovereign God.

But almost every island was inhabited by living beings who made their homes there and multiplied.

Some were tribes.

Some were powerful, unusual life-forms.

Others were simply clans founded by super experts.

"Since you all support me, be careful to guard your respective territories from now on,"

said Lucio, his short blue-black hair framing his stern face.

"Don't worry. I guarantee not a single bird will get away."

"The Purple Crystal Mountain Range is vast, but it'll be easy to seal off the exits if all eighteen families send their forces!"

The Alliance Elders voiced their agreement.

Although they all supported Baldivi's authority, they didn't oppose Lucio's proposal.

In fact, quite a few Alliance Elders thought Lucio's more aggressive plan better served the interests of the Eighteen Families.

That was precisely why

Lucio had always had plenty of supporters within the Eighteen Families.

Self-interest was always the simplest, most practical way to win people over.

"Just wait!"

"In a few decades at most, the Mist Sea will contract again, and the location of the golden mountain will be exposed beyond the sea."

"Send a group of ordinary High Gods to investigate first. We absolutely can't let anyone who might leave the Purple Crystal Mountain Range get away."

As the alliance meeting continued, the elders kept proposing specific measures for the hunt.

Ordinary Seven-star Demon Elders couldn't take part in family decisions, but they did have a say in how those decisions were carried out.

"Hahaha, I've finally become a God through the Fire Element Law!"

With red hair that seemed to burn like flames, Hermes appeared right in front of Leis Jing.

"Tell me, Leis Jing, how bored do you have to be to wait here for me?"

His burning hair was simply the outward sign of his Fire Element Law, now that he had just become a Middle God. There was no need to worry about it; the phenomenon would disappear on its own after some time.