Crimson Flame Beast

On the way, quite a few Saints who knew Aier sneaked glances at him while they worked, their eyes filled with longing.

A hundred years ago, Aier had been a lowly miner just like them.

But now, they didn't even have the courage to look him in the eye.

There was no helping it. Hell was simply this cruel.

Even though Aier had only become a Low-God by refining a Godhead, neither his status nor his strength could compare to theirs.

If they angered Aier, he could kill them outright without suffering any punishment.

The news that Aier had exchanged for a Godhead a hundred years ago was no secret in the Crimson Blood Tribe.

In fact, Olga made a big show of publicizing every Saint who exchanged for a Godhead, using them to motivate the Saint laborers to work harder.

It was precisely this hope that had made the Crimson Blood Tribe the largest tribe within a hundred miles.

"Lord Aier!"

A Saint at the peak of the Saint Realm came before Aier and bowed.

His name was Kero. He was in charge of assigning, supervising, and keeping track of the miners' work.

Back when Aier was still a miner, he had been one of the workers under Kero's supervision.

Of course, that didn't mean Kero had ever given him a hard time.

A supervisor trusted by the gods certainly wasn't a fool.

Since the Crimson Blood Tribe offered a path to advancement through exchanging for Godheads, who could say whether someone being bullied today might exchange for a Godhead tomorrow and end up above him?

"Do you have any new instructions?"

Where no one else could see, a Space Ring appeared in Aier's hand.

"Oh?"

Aier raised an eyebrow, surprised by this unexpected windfall.

Although he had become a god and could refine Space Rings, he didn't have any Void Nether Stone, so he couldn't do it even if he had the ability.

Besides, Aier didn't believe there was nothing inside the Space Ring.

For a Saint like Aier, the only way to change his fate was to buy a Godhead and refine it.

But geniuses like Kero aspired to become gods on their own!

As the miners' supervisor, Kero's hidden income might well exceed that of a god like Aier!

After all, Aier's current pay had only improved from one Inkstone every ten thousand years to one every thousand years.

"Everything stays as it is."

Aier clenched his fist and nodded to Kero. "Also, keep a close watch on the patrols around the mining area. If anything unusual happens, notify me immediately."

"Yes, Lord Aier!"

Kero answered solemnly.

He wouldn't dare let his guard down when it came to the mining area's defenses.

The Crimson Blood Tribe had occupied this mine for millions of years and had encountered several bands of raiders who came to plunder it.

Those who dared to raid the mine were at least gods.

The power of a god was far beyond what a Saint could match.

Although Kero was only a hair's breadth from becoming a god, that tiny gap was as vast as heaven and earth.

Before a god, even the weakest Low-God, one who had become divine by refining a Godhead, could easily kill Kero in an instant.

Fortunately, in Hell, a Low-God's divine sense couldn't reach as far as a Saint's eyes could see.

Moreover, Low-Gods couldn't fly faster than two thousand meters per second. If they were careful and spotted an enemy early enough, the Saints on patrol at the mine could still hold out for reinforcements from their own gods.

Kero led Aier to the room reserved for the mining area's guards, then took his leave.

With a thought, Aier sent the Space Ring in his palm straight into his Equipment Slot.

In an instant, Aier felt that he had gained a portable space. Inside it were ten Inkstones.

"Looks like Kero is even wealthier than I thought..."

At Aier's current pay, ten Inkstones would take ten thousand years to earn.

Kero had given him a Space Ring and ten Inkstones at a single stroke. His wealth was probably around a hundred Inkstones.

"If I took all of this, I might be able to buy a second Earth Element Godhead right away!"

In the end, Aier still shook his head and abandoned the idea.

Even if he robbed Kero now, he wouldn't be able to buy a Godhead without going to a city.

Looking at the Space Ring in his mind, Aier focused his thoughts.

"Thirteen hundred and twenty-eight years!"

"Gasp—"

When he sensed how long it would take to refine the Space Ring, Aier sucked in a sharp breath.

In Hell, a Space Ring cost around two or three Inkstones.

That price was mostly due to the value of Void Nether Stone.

After all, any god could use divine power to turn Void Nether Stone into a Space Ring, so to those above the Saint Realm, Space Rings weren't worth much.

A Godhead, however, was a "treasure" that could force a Saint to break through their own limits.

But for Aier, refining a Space Ring would take more than twenty times as long as refining a Godhead.

Clearly, a Space Ring's nature was far more profound than a Godhead's.

Aier quickly figured out why.

Ultimately, refining a Godhead allowed him to extract Laws and Profound Mysteries, along with divine essence.

But what Aier gained from refining a Space Ring was "spatial power"!

Of course, the spatial power he refined from the Space Ring might manifest in him as the ability he now had to store things in a "portable space."

But there was no denying that this might become Aier's opportunity to master spatial power in the future.

A spark of excitement flared in Aier's heart.

But after thinking it over, Aier ultimately decided against refining the Space Ring.

Aier only had one Equipment Slot.

Becoming a Low-God hadn't increased the number of Equipment Slots. At most, it had made him faster at refining items.

Back when he was a Saint, Aier wouldn't have thought a thousand years was very long.

But now, what mattered most was refining a second Earth Element Low-God Godhead to increase his strength and give him the ability to travel alone in Hell.

Using an Equipment Slot on a portable space that wouldn't improve his strength much for now would slow down his snowballing progress. It would be like keeping the sesame seed and losing the watermelon.

With that thought, Aier closed his eyes and began cultivating.

"Boom—"

One day, Aier was jolted out of seclusion by a loud rumble.

He spread out his divine sense and quickly sensed Kero's presence.

"Kero, what happened?"

"Lord Aier?"

Kero, who was rushing toward Aier, heard his divine sense transmission and was overjoyed.

"Lord Aier, a Crimson Flame Beast has appeared in the mine. More than ten people have already been killed!"

"Crimson Flame Beast?"

Aier was startled by the news.

Crimson Flame Beasts were special lifeforms born from Crimson Blood Mine.

Normally, though, gods inspected the mine every hundred thousand years and confirmed no Crimson Flame Beast would be born before allowing mining to continue.