Volunteering

"My physical strength is about the same as when I'm wearing the Crimson Blood Armor."

Aier had expected as much.

After all, both the Crimson Blood Armor and the Crimson Blood Sword had been made from materials taken from the Crimson Blood Beast King.

Then Aier tried the same thing again.

"Thwack—"

"Hiss—"

This time, Aier's index finger easily left a red mark on his arm, making him suck in a sharp breath.

"Ow!"

"Whew, whew, whew..."

After blowing on the red mark a few times, Aier understood.

Refining raw materials only gave him the properties of those materials.

Refining finished equipment gave him not only the properties of its raw materials, but also the finished item's abilities.

If he refined the Crimson Blood Armor and the Crimson Blood Sword, his physical strength would increase, and he would also gain an additional boost to his attack and defense.

"Then I'll refine the Crimson Blood Armor first!"

While refining, Aier couldn't benefit from the abilities of items in his Equipment Slot.

So Aier decided to refine the Crimson Blood Armor first.

After all, even without it, Aier's physical defense could rival that of a Low-God Material Defense Artifact.

Another Material Defense Artifact wouldn't make much difference to him.

By contrast, if he encountered a fight, Aier would deal more damage with the Crimson Blood Sword in hand.

Once he had refined the Crimson Blood Armor and his physical strength had increased, Aier's attack power might not match what it was when he wielded the Crimson Blood Sword, but it wouldn't be far off.

Besides, as Aier grew stronger, the rate at which he refined items in his Equipment Slot had also increased considerably.

Refining a single divine artifact now took only a little over forty years.

In other words, in perhaps less than a century, Aier's strength would receive an all-around boost!

"Greetings, Lord West."

"You're Aier?"

"Yes, Lord West."

Aier bowed to the haughty young man standing before him.

"If I remember right, you've been a god for less than two hundred years, haven't you?"

West frowned at Aier, making no effort to hide his disdain. "Someone like you wants to come with me to Caeles City?"

"When the time comes, will you protect me, or will I have to protect you?"

Every thousand years, the Crimson Blood Tribe brought the Crimson Blood Essence Ore it had produced to the city to sell. They also bought treasures that could aid cultivation for Lord Olga and Lord West.

As the Crimson Blood Tribe's chief, Olga only left the tribe when the goods being sold were especially valuable or when he needed to buy precious treasures.

After West became a Mid-God, he took over leading the merchant caravan to Caeles City.

Of course, they also brought along an Upper-God who had refined a Godhead.

Officially, all the god-level powerhouses traveling with West to Caeles City counted as his guards.

If they encountered an enemy they couldn't withstand, they would have to stay behind to hold off the bandits and buy West time to escape.

For that very reason, West personally selected every member of the caravan.

"Lord West, the Godhead I refined contained the Earth-Walking Profound Mystery."

"I may not be much in a fight."

"But when it comes to concealment and scouting, I'd say I have some ability."

"If we encounter enemies, I'm confident I can help you evade the divine sense of an Upper-God, Lord West!"

Aier spoke earnestly.

To get a place on the trip to Caeles City, he didn't mind revealing some of his abilities.

"Oh?"

At Aier's words, West raised an eyebrow. "Since you say so, prove it to me!"

"Morrison!"

"Lord West."

At West's call, one of the guards behind him stepped forward.

"Aier, don't say I never gave you a chance."

"Morrison is an Upper-God. If you can't hide from his divine sense, I'll make sure you learn what it costs to deceive me!"

"Now, let's see what you can do!"

"Yes, Lord West."

Aier bowed slightly to West. Then, right in front of everyone, he sank into the ground.

"Hm?"

Seeing this, the guards—including West—stopped sneering as if they were watching a joke. Their expressions grew more serious instead.

The divine sense of a god-level powerhouse was an extraordinary form of perception that surpassed the five senses.

Within the range of its spread, it sensed everything more clearly than the eyes could see or the ears could hear.

However, divine sense wasn't all-powerful.

It had great difficulty penetrating solid matter.

Certain special materials and magic arrays could block or disrupt it.

An Upper-God's divine sense could spread for around ten thousand meters in Hell, a hundred times farther than a Low-God's.

But even an Upper-God had difficulty extending divine sense more than ten meters below ground.

In other words, if Aier's ability to merge with the ground let him dive more than ten meters underground, even an Upper-God wouldn't be able to find him.

A few beads of cold sweat trickled down Morrison's forehead.

Since he had become an Upper-God by refining a Godhead, his soul had never been cleansed by the Laws of Heaven and Earth. His divine sense was considerably weaker than that of other Upper-Gods of the same level.

Using divine sense to search underground, he could only reach about seven meters down.

But within the range of his divine sense, he couldn't sense Aier's presence.

In fact, if he hadn't watched Aier sink underground with his own eyes, it would never have occurred to him that anyone could actually slip into the ground.

"Interesting!"

Unlike Morrison, West, who had witnessed the scene, looked surprised.

As the son of the Crimson Blood Tribe's chief, West had seen a lot and knew that this world contained special life-forms, divine beasts, and even super divine beasts.

They all possessed abilities beyond those of ordinary beings.

Perhaps Aier was a special life-form?

From what Aier had said, could he even bring others along?

"Lord West, have I passed your test?"

Aier didn't stay underground for long. After a dozen or so seconds, he surfaced again and asked West.

"Very good, Aier. You've earned my approval!"

"From now on, stay at my side!"

"Thank you for your approval, Lord West."

"One Upper-God, two Mid-Gods, and five Low-Gods..."

Flying in the middle of the formation, Aier swept his gaze over the group and judged their strength by the divine power emanating from them.

The Upper-God was Morrison.

He was also the strongest in the group.

A badge bearing a demon's face was pinned to Morrison's chest.

Aier had seen the same badge on Olga the last time he went to buy a Godhead.

If he wasn't mistaken, it was the symbol of the strong in Hell—the Demon Badge.

I've received a private message from the publisher confirming the contract. We expect to start the signing process tomorrow and update the book's status the day after. If you'd like to earn a few coins, you can stay a few minutes longer and invest in this book.