"Heaven and Earth Wonder, called the Five-Colored Blood Crystal. It's a fist-sized, blood-red crystal, with beams of light in five colors inside..."
Cromwell didn't hide anything and briefly explained what he knew.
The news about the Five-Colored Blood Crystal had first come from the Black Dragon Tribe. The tribe was an old one in Diyi City's territory. Because the black dragons they raised were rather unusual, the tribe itself had endured despite frequent changes in leadership. Strictly speaking, it was also a force under Yemu Prefecture.
Not long ago, a Middle God had somehow obtained the crystal and killed one of the tribe's High Gods during a conflict, drawing the attention of the tribe's upper ranks.
The tribe's third chief had launched a surprise attack and stolen the Five-Colored Blood Crystal. With its power, he had successfully killed a Five-Star Fiend, but his unusual abilities had also been noticed. Later, some covetous people had surrounded and attacked him, and he was now fleeing with the crystal.
"I see..."
Dili immediately looked interested. It wasn't that she particularly liked Heaven and Earth Wonders; rather, Sovereign Palhouse had given her an order to collect them, and completing the task would earn her a reward.
Countless years ago, Dili had presented Palhouse with a Heaven and Earth Wonder that enhanced the soul's ability to recover, earning a large reward of Sovereign's Might. Another envoy, Barbary, had also been rewarded with the right to live on Water God Island.
Over the years, among the many families in the divine realms that had made enemies of the Four Divine Beasts Clan, only the Augusta Clan had fared better than the Barbary family. That was because Barbary had completed many of Sovereign Palhouse's assignments and earned the right to live on Water God Island.
Water God Island was a dazzling little island in the Water Elemental Plane and the residence of Sovereign Palhouse. Some people lived there, most of them natives who had never left. Outsiders were generally not allowed to live there.
When Palhouse gave assignments to his Sovereign Envoys, the rewards included the right for outsiders to live on Water God Island. Barbary had completed many assignments and earned a certain number of places. Half of the family's core disciples lived there permanently, while members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan couldn't get in.
During the last Plane War, before Bayer made his move, it had also been Barbary who desperately led the Water Starers of the Water Elemental Plane at the forefront, fighting the Twelve-Winged Angels of the Radiant Divine Realm.
"Miss Dili, if you're interested, you can go take a look."
Cromwell chuckled. He had no intention of competing for it. After all, an unknown Heaven and Earth Wonder meant little to him, and he'd rather earn Dili's goodwill with a verbal offer.
"If you're interested, we can go take a look together later. We'll get the Five-Colored Blood Crystal before we leave."
Ninisha set down her teacup and spoke softly. Dili had helped her a little during this time, so she didn't mind making an extra trip.
"Then thank you."
Dili nodded slightly. She didn't think it would be difficult to seize a Five-Colored Blood Crystal, and she could manage it alone, but she didn't mind Ninisha coming along.
While Dili and Ninisha were traveling around Zijing Continent, a red-haired man sat at a stone table in the Lianyun Mountain Range of Bloodridge Continent, polishing a chess piece with a piece of silk.
He could have cleaned it instantly with divine power, but Bloodridge Sovereign Pashi simply enjoyed the feeling of polishing chess pieces. It was a habit he'd kept for countless years.
"Hm? Lord Hope?"
Pashi put down the chess piece at once, looking surprised. He quickly stood and saluted the young man who had suddenly appeared.
"Long time no see, Pashi."
Hope didn't stand on ceremony. He sat directly across from Pashi and flicked his right hand, instantly returning the chess pieces to their proper positions.
"Please, my lord!"
Pashi wasn't surprised. As a renowned chess player among the Sovereigns, Bloodridge Sovereign Pashi built his social life around chess. When he met other Sovereigns, he usually played a game with them before discussing business. Quite a few Sovereigns had played against him.
Hope didn't stand on ceremony either. He used divine power to move a chess piece, and time passed as they played. Hope thought for only a short time, as if he had already simulated the game in his mind long ago. Pashi's responses were also sharp, and for a while the two were evenly matched.
"I have to say, Pashi, you're still as good as ever."
Years later, Hope looked at the last chess piece each of them had left and sighed softly.
"Your skill has improved a lot too, my lord. I nearly lost."
Bloodridge Sovereign Pashi wiped the sweat from his forehead. He wasn't flattering Hope; he meant it.
Chess depended mainly on one's ability to calculate. The stronger one's soul, the better one's play. Pashi had encountered a rare opportunity in the early days of the world and refined a special Heaven and Earth Wonder, giving him an exceptionally powerful soul. Even Teresia, the Paragon Wind Sovereign, and the Sovereign of Destruction had played against him, and none had ever beaten him.
Lord Hope, the Water Sovereign, was his strongest opponent. He was someone Pashi couldn't defeat without giving it everything he had. Pashi had also suspected that Hope was hiding his true strength, but he'd never told anyone.
"My lord, did you come here for something?"
The game ended, and Pashi smiled as he asked. Knowing Hope, he wouldn't have come just to play chess.
"I came to travel around Hell for a while and stopped by to see you. I also wanted to ask you what Reding and the other three are up to."
Hope chuckled and didn't hide anything. Although he had come because of his envoy Ninisha, the Four Divine Beasts' actions had genuinely made him curious.
"About that, I'm sorry, my lord. Pashi truly doesn't know. Reding and the others gave no warning at all. It seems they made the decision quite suddenly."
Pashi shook his head with a rueful smile and answered helplessly. In fact, the Sovereign of Destruction had also asked him about it, but he truly knew nothing.
"Is that so? Those four certainly know how to stir things up."
Hope didn't ask anything further. Pashi might have noticed nothing, but that in itself was a discovery.
If Reding and the others had truly been researching some new move, they should have started many years ago. If they'd suddenly made a big move, then they had to be hiding something.
A few blue glimmers flashed in Hope's eyes. Then he put the matter aside and began a new game with Pashi.
Ten years later, in the Siyasila Mountain Range, an area under Diyi City in Yemu Prefecture.
The mountain range stretched on and on, its golden veins crisscrossing the landscape. From a distance, it seemed that people from many tribes were active there. But at that moment, high above the center of the range, more than a dozen figures radiating powerful auras faced off.
At their head was a man in a gray robe, holding a crystal that shone with five different colors. Disdain glittered in his eyes.
More than a dozen figures surrounded the gray-robed man. They were all brimming with murderous intent, yet none dared to strike first.
Had Diyi City's intelligence agents been there, they would have immediately recognized that the more than a dozen figures surrounding him were all Five-Star Fiends from Diyi City. There were over a dozen of them, and one had only recently become a Six-Star Fiend.
"You lot, leave now. I, Wurnisen, can't be bothered to kill you."
Wurnisen held the Five-Colored Blood Crystal, an excited smile appearing on his face as he spoke slowly.
As a veteran Seven-Star Fiend of Yemu Prefecture, Wurnisen had lived in seclusion for a long time. In his daily life, he left his Dark Divine Clone to enjoy itself at Moonlake Castle while his Death Divine Clone cultivated in seclusion.
This time, he'd happened to hear that a treasure called the Five-Colored Blood Crystal had surfaced among the Black Dragon Tribe of Diyi City. It could strengthen the body and let a Middle God kill a High God. Although Wurnisen thought this was an exaggerated rumor, he was still intrigued.
Just moments ago, while a group of people were fighting over the Five-Colored Blood Crystal, Wurnisen had suddenly appeared. With a single move, he'd instantly killed the person holding the crystal and taken it, intimidating everyone around him.
Wurnisen was so fast that the others couldn't make out what had happened. They fell silent. But when he told them to leave, their faces all darkened. Six-Star Fiend Fast frowned and spoke up:
"Mr. Wurnisen, aren't you being a little too overbearing? I'm with the Fiend Castle and serve Lord Stuart of Diyi City. You'd better hand the item over."
Fast figured Wurnisen was probably a Six-Star Fiend too. He wasn't confident he could beat him, but he wasn't willing to give up the item after pursuing it for so long. He could try invoking the Diyi City Lord's name to intimidate his opponent.
"You say the Diyi City Lord? Hah. It seems I've been in seclusion too long."
The gray-robed Wurnisen floated in midair, his two long eyebrows trailing down to his chest and fluttering in the wind. Disdain showed in his blood-red eyes as he sighed.
Whoosh!
The next moment, a flash of blood-red appeared in Wurnisen's eyes. Two translucent streaks of light instantly pierced Fast's body. Fast stiffened, then his eyes dimmed as he fell.
"A Six-Star Fiend trying to use Stuart to intimidate me? Even Stuart himself would have to show me, Wurnisen, some respect."
Wurnisen spoke coldly, then glanced around.
The dozen or so people around him were stunned. Fast was the strongest among them, the only Six-Star Fiend, yet he'd been killed with a single move. They all realized the terrifying truth: Wurnisen was definitely a Seven-Star Fiend!
"Lord Wurnisen, if you want it, then the Five-Colored Blood Crystal is yours."
A few seconds later, one of them forced a smile and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Hmph!"
Wurnisen glanced at the people around him and snorted. He said nothing more and turned to leave.
But in the next instant, something unexpected happened—
Whoosh!
A streak of pale-blue lightning curved through the air. A powerful force pulled the Five-Colored Blood Crystal toward it, and the multicolored, blood-red stone instantly landed in the hand of a purple-haired girl.
"You? Are you... Miss Ninisha?"
Wurnisen's pupils contracted at once. He stared at the scene in utter bewilderment, his tone turning much more respectful.
Though Wurnisen claimed to live in seclusion, he never missed any news from the Fiend Castle. A million years ago, a Battle Arena fight had shocked all of Snowlake Prefecture. Wurnisen had been fortunate enough to see its Floating Shadow.
Both combatants had Asura-level strength: the purple-haired woman Ninisha and the bald youth Leisijing. Wurnisen naturally remembered what they looked like.
"I'll take this Five-Colored Blood Crystal!"
Ninisha wore a light purple robe, and a fine layer of lightning armor covered her body. Holding the Five-Colored Blood Crystal, she glanced at Wurnisen and spoke coolly.
After leaving Diyi City, Ninisha and Dili had gone their separate ways to search for the Five-Colored Blood Crystal based on the clues they had. Dili had helped Ninisha quite a bit during this time, and Ninisha had promised that if one of them found it, she would give the crystal to Dili.
Without waiting for Wurnisen to respond, Ninisha put the Five-Colored Blood Crystal into her Spatial Ring, transformed into a streak of purple lightning, and left.
Wurnisen's face turned red, then white. In the end, he still didn't dare stop her. He could only feel his face burning with humiliation.
"Wait!"
Just as Ninisha was about to leave, a voice filled with haughty authority rang out. Blue light flashed, and a bald man in a red robe slowly appeared, with a blue-haired young man behind him.
Emmanuel, clad in a red robe, glanced coolly at Ninisha and spoke:
"The Four Divine Beasts Clan wants this Five-Colored Blood Crystal. Leave it behind and go."
Emmanuel merely glanced at Ninisha, speaking as if it were only natural that she hand the item over to him.
"Elder Emmanuel of the Four Divine Beasts Clan?"
Wurnisen cried out, his face growing even darker. For a moment, he felt absurdly regretful that he'd gone out to compete for the Five-Colored Blood Crystal.
"An elder of the Four Divine Beasts Clan? Emmanuel?"
Ninisha paused and looked at Emmanuel, her eyes narrowing slightly.