Although Simon and Fanny said they were helping each other, Napote and Lona both knew full well that this was actually the two of them helping them for free. Only a rich second-generation heir like Fanny could casually give away something as valuable as a Soul Golden Bead.
But while Fanny was wealthy, she would not play the role of a generous benefactor for people she did not know well.
The journey continued. At first, they were still relatively close to the city, so it was fairly safe. They encountered no bandit harassment, and everyone happily chatted and got acquainted in the hall.
Those with compatible temperaments became friends over the next few days. As for those who did not get along, they did not deliberately make enemies either. After all, they would need to support one another on the road ahead. There were very few fools who offended others the moment they met.
During that time, Elno also came over to Simon's group, hoping to get acquainted with them. After all, Fanny was one of only two Highgods in the team.
At first, he had thought Fanny was the leader of Simon's group. But after observing them for several days, he discovered that it was actually Simon, the usually modest and courteous Midgod with an unusual aura, who called the shots.
This surprised him greatly, and he immediately became interested in befriending Simon.
Simon was also very interested in the Law of Death, so he did not reject him and naturally began exchanging cultivation insights with Elno.
"The Law of Death is difficult when it is difficult, but simple when it is simple. The key lies in whether the cultivator's soul is suited to it. We cultivators of the Law of Death all share one trait: our souls are exceptionally pure. This purity does not simply mean innocence. It means whether the soul itself is sensitive to the Law of Death. The purer the soul, the more clearly one can comprehend the Law of Death, and the more effective one's cultivation will be."
Elno did not hide anything, because such information was no secret to great families and true experts. Based on his experience dealing with many great families, Fanny was clearly from one.
Moreover, she was likely from the sort of super family where even ordinary people could not imitate the unique aura of ancient nobility she carried.
Sure enough, when Elno spoke of these things, Simon and the others listened intently, while Fanny acted as though she had known it all along.
"So that's how it is. No wonder there are so few experts who cultivate the Law of Death. It turns out it has to do with one's soul. Elno, quickly help me see whether I'm suited to cultivating the Law of Death."
Driven by curiosity, Napote hurriedly asked Elno to test him. He had long coveted the ability to refine Soul Golden Beads.
But unfortunately, Napote's soul was only ordinarily pure. If he forcibly cultivated the Law of Death, he might not even get started after hundreds of millions of years.
Simon and Lona also curiously asked Elno to test them, but without exception, neither of their souls was suited to cultivating the Law of Death.
The only pleasant surprise was that Fanny's soul was actually pure enough. In Elno's words, she had reached the minimum threshold for cultivating the Law of Death.
She could cultivate it, but her progress would be very slow, far slower than her progress in cultivating the Law of Fire.
Once-Regretted Matters
These words made Fanny view Elno in a new light, because when her talent had been tested back then, the friend her grandfather invited had said exactly the same thing.
Her grandfather's friend had been a Commander who cultivated the Law of Death, with exceptionally formidable strength.
She had not expected Elno, who was only a Midgod, to possess such accurate judgment.
Sure enough, Hell had many geniuses and many people with the potential to become experts, but whether they could grow smoothly was another matter entirely.
"Don't be discouraged just because you don't have the talent to cultivate the Law of Death. Your talents in your respective laws are very good. If you cultivate the laws you are skilled in to great depths, you will be no weaker than us rule-type cultivators. Our methods are merely stranger and more unusual."
Elno was very humble. Although his cultivation talent was not low, he still knew there were many people far more talented than him. Leaving aside those far away, among the four people before him alone, at least two had greater talent than he did.
One of them was naturally Simon.
The other was Napote, who looked a little slow-witted.
Although Napote often made little mistakes that left people laughing or crying, and his personality was somewhat soft, making him ill-suited to Hell's style, it had to be admitted that his talent in the Earth Element was truly strong.
He had already successfully fused the Earth Element and the Profundity of Strength, and had also made both Profound Mysteries compatible with the Pulse of the Earth. He was currently attempting to fuse both the Earth Element and the Profundity of Strength with the Pulse of the Earth, thereby completely fusing all three Profound Mysteries.
Once he succeeded, Napote would possess the strength of a Six-Star Fiend the moment he advanced to Highgod, and a relatively powerful Six-Star Fiend at that.
Even if he failed to complete the fusion by then, he would immediately possess the strength of a Five-Star Fiend as long as he became a Highgod.
Furthermore, he had already comprehended four Earth Element Profound Mysteries to the grand completion stage. He had only recently begun the Earth Walk Technique, and only Gravity Space remained untouched.
Even in Hell, where experts were countless, this cultivation speed was exceptionally fast.
Simon felt that the Napote before him was very likely the unlucky fellow from the Plane War later on. Though unlucky, he was unquestionably a Commander-level expert.
Naturally, his innate talent could not be poor.
This further strengthened Elno's resolve to befriend Simon's group.
After getting to know him better, Simon also felt that Elno was a friend worth making. His character, talent, and knowledge were all quite good.
Thus, after spending more time together, they became familiar with one another. The goofy Hamut also gradually joined their little circle, and his lively, amusing personality often brought everyone joy.
During that time, Simon also asked Elno whether it was possible to preserve the soul of a Saint Realm expert who had lost their body intact, and perhaps find a way to repair their body and restore their cultivation talent.
The moment Elno heard this, he immediately said it was a minor problem for him. As long as they used a Crystal Ball specially made by him, they could absorb a Saint Realm soul into it and preserve its spirituality, memories, and everything else intact.
As for repairing the body, he did not know much about that. Perhaps an expert who cultivated the Life Law could accomplish it with the aid of certain Heaven and Earth Wonders.
Simon was overjoyed upon hearing this. Whether the body could be restored was unimportant. As long as the soul could remain intact, that was enough.
If it was confirmed that the current timeline was before Linley's birth, then he would have a chance to make up for the regret he had felt while reading the novel in his previous life.
Now that he had learned that Elno's specially made Soul Crystal Ball alone could preserve a Saint Realm soul intact, countless thoughts sprang to his mind.
Perhaps he could make up for the greatest regret in the Coiling Dragon World from his previous life...
The Leopard-shaped Metal Lifeform continued flying toward its destination.
But as they moved farther away from the city, the number of disturbances the caravan encountered on the road sharply increased.
The Highgod Fiend Tara had no choice but to frequently step forward and intimidate the bandits.
Fortunately, the bandits they encountered so far were nothing impressive. When a group of Midgods saw a Highgod Fiend, they scattered like birds and beasts.
But everyone aboard the Metal Lifeform could still sense the change in atmosphere.
"Although this escort mission is relatively easy, that is only relative. The stretch between two cities is especially dangerous. We must remain vigilant at all times."
Elno spoke up to remind them. He was now a Two-Star Fiend and had experience carrying out several missions, having gone through similar situations before.
He also took the opportunity to teach them how to survive when encountering large bandit groups.
"Immediately widen the distance between yourselves. Do not get caught up in the group attacks of the first few waves of bandits. At the same time, look for opportunities to counterattack. You cannot blindly flee, or you will only attract more bandits to pursue and kill you. You must fight head-on and kill until the bandits fear you."
"Elno also suggested that everyone cooperate with one another when caught in a chaotic battle. Since his Soul Attacks were strong, he would handle that aspect. Since Lona's material attacks were strong, she would handle material attacks. As for Napote and Hamut, they would support the two of them while looking for opportunities to finish off enemies."
As for Simon and Fanny, he suggested that they act freely, because their strength made them better suited to assassinating enemy leaders.
Elno analyzed that the Law of Wind was exceptionally adept at material attacks. After fusing three Profound Mysteries, Simon's pure material attacks were already enough to rival those of an ordinary Six-Star Fiend.
But they did not yet know about Simon's Soul Mutation, so after considering everything, they believed that with his two divine avatars, Simon possessed Five-Star Fiend-level combat power just like Fanny. Ordinary Highgods would be unable to withstand Simon's attacks.
Everyone agreed wholeheartedly. Elno truly deserved to have spent tens of thousands of years surviving in Hell. His knowledge and analytical ability were even stronger than Fanny's.
Of course, this was also related to Fanny's limited experience with life-and-death battles. Her knowledge in this area truly could not compare to elite Fiends like Elno. After all, the Grayson Family had no need for her to fight personally.
Next, they further optimized their battle plan according to their individual strengths.
This greatly reassured Napote and the others, who were participating in the Fiend assessment for the first time. Their little team not only had experts like Fanny and Simon.
Their individual strengths were also considerable, and with everyone supporting one another in battle, they could easily weather most fights.
Elno also predicted that they would be highly likely to encounter bandit groups next, perhaps even large bandit groups with Highgods stationed among them. At that point, battle would be very likely.
Sure enough, over the next several days, the number of bandit groups they encountered increased once more, and Tara had to frequently emerge to drive them away.
But gradually, even Tara began to feel overwhelmed. Left with no other choice, the merchant Kenchi came to request that Fanny also step forward to intimidate them, promising to offer Inkstones in gratitude once they safely reached their destination.
Although Fanny was not interested in Inkstones, she was quite interested in displaying her strength before Simon and their companions and earning their admiration.
Only at times like these would the other Fiends in the hall remember that Fanny was still a Highgod.
Otherwise, they subconsciously overlooked the strength of this adorable girl who would nestle in Simon's arms whenever she had free time, seeing her only as a beautiful, clingy female Fiend.
Thus, the Metal Lifeform's travel speed was repeatedly affected, and gradually, Tara and Fanny's intimidation became less effective.
Finally, one month later, the caravan encountered its first bandit group that was not afraid of death.
Without saying a word, the bandits who had ambushed them from all directions attacked and destroyed Kenchi's Leopard-shaped Metal Lifeform.
Everyone was exposed in midair as a result.
"Everyone, stay alert. Bandits who attack without a word are difficult to scare off. Prepare to fight."
Elno immediately warned them.
Napote and the others hurriedly agreed with tense expressions. Divine power surged around them as they prepared to attack at any moment.
Battle Erupts
Fanny still had the leisure to observe the other side with her Divine Sense. When she discovered that they had only three Highgods and over a thousand Midgods, she casually teased them.
"Haha, finally it isn't my Metal Lifeform getting blown up. It's Kenchi's turn to be unlucky."
At this moment, Kenchi also looked angry, but he quietly retreated behind the Fiends. Everyone found this perfectly normal. Protecting the employer in the face of danger was their duty.
If the employer died, no one would pay them Inkstones, and the mission could be declared a failure.
Tara stepped forward at this moment, looking coldly at the purple-haired man standing at the head of the bandits before asking, "What do you mean by this? Are you trying to rob two Highgod Fiends?"
"What do I mean? Haha, two Highgod Fiends are so impressive, huh? Brothers, are you afraid?"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The more than one thousand Midgod bandits behind the purple-haired man shouted in unison.
Clearly, they were not afraid...
To be fair, ordinary people really could be intimidated by such a display.
The purple-haired man was very satisfied with the effect, because he had noticed several Fiends in the distance showing fear. He continued, "I can see you haven't had it easy. Give my brothers five million Inkstones for their trouble, and our Green Wolf Bandit Group will let you pass. How about it? Don't worry, I, Robson, always keep my word. Once I take your Inkstones, I will never go back on it."
Seeing that Kenchi's caravan did indeed have two Highgod Fiends, the purple-haired man did not want to fight immediately. Instead, he hoped to subdue them without fighting.
"Five million? You really have quite the appetite."
Tara's reward for this mission was only five hundred thousand Inkstones. He also knew that Kenchi would definitely not agree, since his gains from this trip might not even reach five million.
"Five million is absolutely impossible. Friends of the Green Wolf Bandit Group, how about five hundred thousand?"
Sure enough, Kenchi refused and offered what he considered a reasonable price.
"Hahaha, brothers, this fellow is treating us like beggars. Kill!"
The bandit leader Robson heard that Kenchi was only willing to spend five hundred thousand Inkstones to buy peace and immediately felt insulted. He did not even feel like haggling anymore and directly gave the order to attack.
Attacks of every color filled the sky as they flew toward the caravan.
Before you continue