They only grew more envious of Napote and the others. If they had known, they would have built a good relationship with Simon earlier. Trying to cozy up to him now would only have the opposite effect and make things awkward.
Seeing that the others now looked at him with far more awe than before, their former equality and warmth gone, Simon had no choice either. He had wanted to continue getting along with everyone as an ordinary Midgod.
That way, everyone would have been more at ease.
At this moment, Tara also flew over, looked at Simon and Fanny, and said with a smile.
"With you two here, this mission will be much easier for me. Thank you for helping me deal with Robson afterward. When we reach the city, I'll treat you to drinks."
Simon smiled at Tara's words.
"We're all carrying out the mission. We should help each other, so don't take it to heart. We'll drink together then."
Tara smiled happily as well.
"Then we'll drink until we drop."
Afterward, seeing that everyone had finished cleaning up the battlefield, Kenchi released another leopard-shaped Metal Lifeform. Once everyone boarded it, they set off again.
Progress in the Laws (Part 1)
After taking stock, they found that ten One-Star Fiends and five Two-Star Fiends had died in this battle, leaving only thirty-four Fiends in total.
Most of the fallen Fiends had died under the bandits' first two concentrated volleys.
Very few Fiends had died in the later melee. After all, they were elites among Midgods, and their practical combat abilities were quite outstanding.
Everyone quickly recovered from their regret over their companions' deaths.
There was no helping it. Hell was simply like this, filled with danger at every moment. From the day they chose to become Fiends, they had already prepared themselves to die at any time.
Afterward, everyone began counting their own spoils. Fanny intended to give Robson's Spatial Ring to Tara.
However, Tara refused to accept it no matter what, taking only the Spatial Ring left behind by another Highgod who had fused a godhead.
The other two rings left behind by Highgods were given to Fanny and Simon.
Seeing that he could not refuse, Simon accepted it.
Everyone was currently opening Spatial Rings by dripping blood onto them, and cries of surprise could be heard from time to time. It seemed their gains were considerable.
Napote, Elno, and the others who were close to each other were opening their rings as well. They planned to count all their spoils and divide them evenly at the end.
This had been the rule agreed upon from the very beginning.
After all, many of the bandits had died through their cooperation, so this distribution was more reasonable.
Soon, Napote and the others finished counting. In this battle, they had obtained a total of one hundred and fifty-three Spatial Rings from Midgod bandits, but several of the rings could not be opened. Apparently, those bandits still had Divine Clones alive.
The Spatial Rings they could open contained a total of four million Inkstones, exactly one million for each of the four of them.
As for the two Highgod Spatial Rings, Napote and the others refused to participate in their distribution. Simon and Fanny had killed those Highgods independently, so they were too embarrassed to take a share. Even Hamut, who was usually such a joker, insisted on it.
Seeing this, Simon did not force them. Instead, he decisively dripped blood to claim ownership of the two Spatial Rings. Sweeping them with Divine Sense, he discovered that Robson's ring held nearly fifty million Inkstones, several dozen Soul Golden Beads, as well as various ores and miscellaneous items.
Considering Robson's strength as a Four-Star Fiend, it was normal for him to have accumulated such wealth. As for the Spatial Ring of the other Highgod who had fused a godhead, it contained far fewer Inkstones, only a few million or so.
As usual, Fanny could not be bothered with such small money, so Simon could only pocket it himself.
Napote was beyond delighted when he received one million Inkstones. Even after a long while, he still looked as though he could not believe it.
He had never seen so many Inkstones in his entire life!
The payment for this mission was only forty thousand Inkstones.
Now, in one go, he had earned the equivalent of completing twenty-five Two-Star missions.
"Sure enough, getting rich requires windfalls. When would doing missions ever let us save up this much money? No wonder there are so many bandits in Hell. This no-capital business really earns Inkstones fast."
Napote was filled with emotion. After working so hard raising chickens for so many years, he still had not earned as much as he had from this single battle.
But Napote did not get to celebrate for long before Lona came over and took away the one million Inkstones he had just received under the pretext of helping him keep them safe.
Poor Napote. He had bought the Thousand Illusion Fruit on credit for sixty thousand Inkstones back then. Now, he would probably have to hand over his entire self to repay it. This was even worse than doing illegal labor in the past.
At least that black-hearted steward had left him half. This time, he could not even keep half.
Simon and the others found it amusing to watch, but they could not say much. After all, this was their own business.
Still, they could all see that Napote and Lona had a very good relationship, and Lona truly was more suited to managing money.
"Being single is still better. You're so carefree and free on your own, and you can spend your Inkstones however you want. Isn't that right, Brother Elno?"
Watching the two couples act so affectionate and sweet along the way, Hamut forced himself to say.
However, he could not conceal the sourness in his tone at all.
"Haha, being single is good, but finding true love is even better. If I, Elno, ever meet someone I like, I wouldn't mind finding a partner either."
Hamut felt even worse after hearing that. He could only silently walk to the side and count his Inkstones for fun.
This was also the first time he had earned so many Inkstones. He felt that between love and Inkstones, he would definitely choose Inkstones.
"Beautiful women can't compare to the fragrance of Inkstones."
Hamut was currently imagining how, once they reached the next city, he would splurge without restraint!
He had been in Hell for tens of thousands of years, yet he had never truly spent much on anything.
He had never visited Dream Paradise, the legendary place in Hell best suited for men to relax. He had heard that spending there started at no less than one hundred thousand Inkstones.
In the past, he had only dared to dream about it. But now things were different. He could finally walk in with his head held high and experience it for himself.
Meanwhile, Simon and Fanny were being lovey-dovey in a small room formed within the Metal Lifeform.
After fooling around for a while, Simon began cultivating.
Although the battle they had just experienced had ended quickly, it had still given him considerable inspiration.
That blond-haired man had been a Highgod who fused a godhead, but his use of the Profound Mystery of Dimension had been quite good. Their close-range clash had given Simon great insight.
Tara also cultivated the Laws of Water. From his moves, Simon had seen traces of the Water Ripple.
Thus, Simon immersed himself and focused fully on comprehending the gains from this battle.
After a long time, inspiration regarding the Water Ripple finally flashed through Simon's mind.
Using that spark of inspiration and combining it with his previous understanding of Water Element Essence, Simon finally succeeded in gaining an initial grasp of Water Ripple five days later.
Of the six Profound Mysteries of Water, Simon had now gained an initial grasp of every one.
In terms of the number of Profound Mysteries he had grasped, Water Element had surpassed Wind Element. However, this was not particularly useful, since comprehending one additional Profound Mystery did not significantly increase his strength.
Simon's combat methods still mainly relied on Wind Element and Fused Profound Mysteries, while Water Element was mainly used for defense.
Next, Simon's Water Element Divine Clone continued focusing on advancing the fusion of Profound Mystery of Roundness and Softness, Water Element Essence, and Mist Illusion.
He had now fused Profound Mystery of Roundness and Softness with Water Element Essence to a bottleneck, while the fusion of Profound Mystery of Roundness and Softness with Mist Illusion was also nearing completion.
As long as the three Profound Mysteries were successfully fused pairwise, he could try fusing them as a whole, then incorporate Sharpness of Ice as well.
As for the newly grasped Water Body Technique and Water Ripple, Simon chose to set them aside for now and focus on fusing the Profound Mysteries that were already compatible with one another.
His Wind Element Divine Clone was currently focused on separately fusing Wind Space with Profound Mystery of Wind Element, Profound Mystery of Speed, and Profound Mystery of Slow. The fusion progress was steadily advancing.
Simon estimated that he would need at least another hundred years before Wind Space could be fused separately with the other three Profound Mysteries, after which he could fuse all four together.
Sure enough, fusing the Profound Mysteries of the Laws was an extremely lengthy process.
No wonder Magnus had been so certain in the original story that it was impossible for a god to reach Paragon in only three thousand years.
Simon understood now. No matter how fast one comprehended and fused Profound Mysteries, there had to be a limit.
He already felt that fusing six Wind Element Profound Mysteries and four Water Element Profound Mysteries in three thousand years would be extremely fast. As for reaching Paragon...
Based on his current progress, even if he never encountered any major bottlenecks, he should not even think about it without several hundred thousand years.
Progress in the Laws (Part 2)
As for Simon's main body, he did his best to attempt to comprehend the Profound Mystery of Dimension within the Law of Wind based on the battle he had just experienced.
This Profound Mystery, which specialized in material attacks among the Law of Wind, would definitely be very useful in future battles.
Furthermore, as his enemies grew stronger, Simon's material attacks would have to improve accordingly.
Time slowly passed like this. Simon's two Divine Clones remained in cultivation, while his main body kept Fanny company, occasionally chatted with Napote and the others, and spent most of his time trying to gain an initial grasp of the Profound Mystery of Dimension.
The next half month of travel was peaceful as well. The bandits they encountered during that time were all small groups and not worth mentioning.
On this day, Kenchi gathered everyone together.
"Everyone has worked hard along the way. In another two days, we'll reach Yanshan City in Fenluo Prefecture. I plan to enter the city and rest for a month. I'll sell some goods and purchase another batch. You can all move freely for a month. When the time comes, we'll meet outside the city gates and set off again."
"Whew! We're finally entering a city. When we get there, we have to properly sample Yanshan City's local food."
Fanny cheered.
"Definitely. Whenever you visit a place, its most distinctive feature is its local food. I've been to Yanshan City once before. The Rock-Foot Sheep there tastes wonderful after being specially roasted by a master chef."
Elno said this. He had often traveled between Timbu City and several nearby cities in the past, refining Soul Golden Beads for those great clans, so he was very familiar with the local food.
"Then we have to try it. The food Brother Elno recommends is definitely delicious. I'll treat everyone when the time comes!"
Hamut said excitedly. The Inkstones in his pocket had long been itching to be spent.
This time, he was definitely going to splurge. After all, he had one million Inkstones. He simply could not spend it all even if he tried.
Even Napote spoke up at this moment.
"Yanshan City definitely has Hell Fire Phoenixes too. When the time comes, I'll show everyone what I can do. After raising these things for so many years, I've developed pretty good barbecue skills."
"Haha, I didn't expect you to have that skill too. Fine, we'll watch you perform then."
Simon patted Napote on the shoulder and said with a smile.
Everyone was looking forward to Napote's cooking as well. After all, having raised them for tens of thousands of years, he should have some unique skills.
They did not encounter any bandits during the next two days either. Clearly, the areas around cities were forbidden zones for bandits.
Simon was happy to have the peace and quiet. After his main body's full efforts at comprehension over the past few days, he had finally succeeded in gaining an initial grasp of the Profound Mystery of Dimension.
This was also thanks to his previous realization of the importance of Wind Element within the Law of Wind.
This time, Simon had also conducted an in-depth study of the many possible arrangements of Wind Element and the various transformations of elemental forms.
Before you continue