Bifu Continent

The Bifu Army guarding the teleportation array today were a little dumbfounded.

As the Chief Sovereign's army on the Bifu Continent, they had seen too many lives from the Material Planes—thousands upon thousands of all kinds, every day.

From Saint Realm beings to Midgods, from humans to beastmen and magical beasts, even some lifeforms made of metal and ore—they could be called very well-informed.

But Highgods? Even one in a billion years was no guarantee. After all, becoming a Highgod in a Material Plane took far too long.

In the past, Highgods had also come to Hell through the teleportation array.

But they had basically all come from other Divine Planes to travel.

It wasn't that Highgods from the Material Planes never came to the Divine Planes, but they were certainly a rare sight.

And yet this time, four had appeared at once, all of them Highgods. The Midgod behind them was practically overlooked.

A black-haired young man stepped out of the center of the magic array, sensing the density of the elemental forces around him.

Following close behind him were a young man with red eyebrows, an enchanting-looking man, and a burly red-haired man. And every one of them was a Highgod.

The one with the small-looking eyes was a Midgod, but anyone who could stay by the side of so many Highgods was clearly no ordinary person.

"Where is this?" Huosi was the first to step forward and ask.

"My lord, this is the Bifu Continent."

The Bifu Army soldier promptly replied with a respectful thought.

It seemed his earlier guess had been wrong. These people were probably Highgods who had visited other Divine Planes before returning to the Material Planes.

Generally speaking, a Highgod arriving from a Material Plane for the first time would have to wait alongside the other Midgods and Lowgods.

Anyone who could directly ask them where they were must already know something about the Chief Sovereign's army.

This was a Highgod who had been to a Divine Plane before. He'd better not offend him.

"What's the nearest city?" Huosi nodded and continued asking.

So he hadn't been to the Bifu Continent before. In that case...

The Bifu Army soldier had a thought and casually took a crystal ball and a book from his interspatial ring.

"My lord, this is a map of Liang'an Prefecture. You may have it."

"Oh? Is that so? Here, take this."

Huosi didn't refuse. He glanced at the soldier, then casually took out a dagger and tossed it to him.

"This is a Highgod Artifact?"

The Bifu Army soldier was overjoyed and hurriedly said with respect,

"Thank you for your generous gift, my lord!"

Huosi nodded, then waved his hand. A gigantic battleship appeared out of thin air.

Huosi and the others boarded the battleship and flew off into the distance.

"Third Brother, th-that's a Metal Lifeform, right? How come I feel like I've never seen one before?"

Only after Huosi had left did the soldier from earlier swallow nervously and ask.

"How would I know? Probably some special Metal Lifeform custom-made for an important figure. And, Fourth Brother, you really did it—you actually got a Highgod Artifact."

Third Brother slapped Fourth Brother on the shoulder, his face full of envy.

He truly hadn't expected Fourth Brother to give the map to that lord. If the lord hadn't given him anything in return, he would've been out a lot.

The map wasn't expensive, but for ordinary Midgods like them, it was still a considerable expense.

"Yeah. I thought this lord might toss me a few Inkstones at most. I didn't expect him to give me a Highgod Artifact outright."

Fourth Brother stroked the dagger in his hand, unable to put it down.

In Hell, the price of a Highgod Artifact varied depending on the circumstances, but it was generally between five hundred thousand and a million.

Based on his experience, this dagger was probably worth seven hundred thousand.

The map he'd given away was worth five thousand Inkstones at most. This time, he'd really struck it rich.

"Maybe that lord doesn't have any Inkstones at all. He could only give you an artifact," Third Brother joked, though he didn't believe it himself.

"Sure, sure. That lord looks like he's visiting Hell for the first time. Maybe he doesn't have any Inkstones, only Life Stones, underworld coins, Light Stones, and the like."

Fourth Brother rolled his eyes, ignoring Third Brother's joke. Come on, how could a Highgod who traveled between planes be broke?

Meanwhile, the penniless Huosi and the others were curiously looking out through the glass.

"My lord, the elemental forces in Hell are already about as dense as those in our cultivation chamber."

Adkins looked around and was the first to speak.

In the Federation, they had specially built cultivation chambers to cultivate outstanding talent for the future.

They had formed cultivation chambers by condensing bubble-like miniature planes within the Material Planes, just like the one Beirut had created in the original story.

But now, it seemed that the elemental forces in any part of a Divine Plane were no weaker than those in a cultivation chamber.

"Yeah, and this place is huge. We've been to many Material Planes, but none of them can compare."

Pusiluo spoke excitedly, too. Over the years, they had seen countless planes, but none so vast.

Though there were many Material Planes, each one was limited in size. Generally speaking, a single continent or prefecture in a Divine Plane was larger than who knew how many Material Planes.

"This area belongs to Liang'an Prefecture on the Bifu Continent. Liang'an Prefecture alone stretches ten billion li in every direction."

Leilin wasn't looking outside. He was studying the map they had just received.

The Yulan Plane was only twenty or thirty thousand li across, while a mere Liang'an Prefecture was already nearly ten thousand times its size.

"My lord, are we going straight to Suigetsu City? According to the map, it should be the nearest city."

Beside Leilin, Beirut carefully asked.

"Suigetsu City? Then let's go take a look."

Huosi nodded, then looked at the screen.

"Moss, head for this location."

[Understood, Mr. Huosi. Moss will now follow the map to the city. Have a pleasant journey.]

The battleship's intelligent system replied, imported the map into its system, and began piloting the ship automatically.

For a time, everyone looked forward to the journey.

However, the journey wasn't exactly pleasant. A month later, a large group of Midgods stopped them.

"What the hell? A bunch of Midgods dare to stop us? Moss, open the hatch!"

Pusiluo exploded at once, unable to stop himself from roaring.

[Understood. Please proceed, Mr. Pusiluo.]

"Pusiluo, bring back all their interspatial rings. They should have some currency on them. And bring their leader back alive."

Before Pusiluo went out, Huosi reminded him.

"Don't worry, Lord Huosi. I'll make sure none of the others survive!"

With that, Pusiluo charged straight down.

"Damn, there's a Highgod! Run!"

As soon as Pusiluo appeared, someone shouted, and the surrounding Midgods scattered in all directions.

As proper bandits, they lived by one principle: bully the weak and fear the strong.

When they encountered Midgods, they attacked at once, surrounding their targets in a group.

When they encountered Highgods, they retreated without hesitation. They would never pick a fight.

Usually, Highgods wouldn't bother with them either. After all, bandits were everywhere in Hell.

If they slaughtered every bandit they encountered, they'd only be wasting time for nothing.

"My, you think you can run?"

Pusiluo drew his battle-axe and shot forward at a speed no Midgod could imagine.

"My lord, we meant no offense!"

Seeing this, the bandit leader was instantly terrified and begged for mercy.

What the hell? Who acted like this? Didn't Highgods usually take one look at them and keep going? Why were they trying to kill them?

After years of being bandits in Hell, they had developed a set of rules for survival.

When they saw a flying Highgod, they pretended not to notice. When they saw a flying Midgod or someone weaker, they attacked at once.

When they encountered a Metal Lifeform, they probed it with their divine sense. If they couldn't sense anyone inside, then there was no need to think twice: a Highgod was on board, so they left immediately.

If there was a Midgod inside, they stopped the lifeform. There were cases where a Midgod and a Highgod traveled together and the bandits only sensed the Midgod.

But such cases were rare. After all, Midgods seldom traveled with Highgods.

Besides, even when they did run into one, Highgods usually had no time to bother with them.

There were plenty of bandits along the way. Killing them every time was laborious, boring, and a waste of time. They didn't even have much money on them. After all, anyone with money wouldn't become a bandit, and Highgods couldn't care less about what Midgod bandits had.

But Huosi and the others were an exception. Since this was their first time in Hell, Huosi had deliberately let them go out and have some fun with the bandits.

First, it would help them get used to Hell's ways and relieve the boredom of life on the road. Otherwise, traveling nonstop would be dull.

Second, they could snatch some basic Inkstones from the bandits. They had plenty of goods, but they would have to go into a city to sell them. They couldn't even afford the entrance fee otherwise.

So Huosi hadn't hidden their soul auras. Anyone outside could sense Beirut, the Midgod. If Huosi had wanted to, it wouldn't have been difficult to hide Beirut's aura.

"Hahaha, I haven't had a fight since coming to Hell. I'll use you lot to get my hand in!"

Pusiluo had no qualms about attacking Midgods. Some Highgods might feel that, as Highgods, it was beneath them to attack Midgods.

But Pusiluo clearly wasn't one of them. He shouted excitedly as he began his first slaughter in Hell.

A gigantic fireball appeared around Pusiluo, like a massive sun, instantly changing the temperature all around.

"Hahaha, die!"

With Pusiluo's shout, the sun transformed into countless points of light and flew toward the surrounding people.

In an instant, hundreds of divine crowns fell from the sky. Not even their corpses remained.

"Scatter and run!"

At their leader's words, the few survivors reacted at once. They ran in different directions, sprinting for their lives.

"Unlucky bastards. We ran into a madman!"

The bandit leader cursed as he ran for his life.

"None of you are getting away!"

Pusiluo roared, and hundreds of fire dragons emerged from his battle-axe, chasing after the fleeing bandits in every direction.

In an instant, everyone but the original leader was reduced to nothing, not even bones left behind.

"Go on, run! Why'd you stop?"

Pusiluo stopped in front of him, smiling like a villain.