A Flutter of the Heart

Aier wasn't surprised by this.

There were countless beings in Hell, but High-Gods still ranked among its powerful elite.

Many tribes' chiefs were only Mid-Gods.

Even in cities, High-Gods who had Refined Divine Sparks could hold positions such as City Guard captain.

At Fiend Castle, a High-God's badge meant at least a Three-Star Fiend.

As for Olga, chief of the Crimson Blood Tribe, he was a High-God who had become one independently. His strength was at least that of a Four-Star Fiend.

There were two Mid-Gods, one of whom was West.

Without a doubt, though they were both Mid-Gods, the divine power aura West gave off was two or three times stronger than the other Mid-God's.

The other Mid-God had also become one by Refining a Godhead. His divine power was at the most basic Mid-God level.

Aier guessed that West had probably comprehended three Laws and Profound Mysteries, which was why he could raise his divine power to three times the strength of basic Mid-God power.

There was a considerable gap in strength between Mid-Gods, too.

Generally speaking, each additional Law and Profound Mystery fully comprehended brought a significant boost in the power of one's soul, allowing one to double the strength of one's divine power.

A Mid-God who had fully comprehended all five Laws and Profound Mysteries of a single element would have divine power six times stronger than that of an ordinary Mid-God.

The divine power of the other four Low-Gods was about the same strength as the power Aier had condensed by absorbing elemental energy while equipped with a Godhead.

Clearly, all four of them had become Low-Gods by Refining Godheads.

Over the past million years, the Crimson Blood Tribe had produced a Saint Realm expert with enough Inkstones to exchange for a Godhead nearly every hundred thousand years.

Aier had heard of thirteen such cases just from what he remembered.

Their mission in this group wasn't to protect West, but to buy Morrison time to escape with West if they encountered a powerful enemy.

If Aier hadn't demonstrated his Earth Escape ability, even if West had eventually agreed to let him join the group, he would have had the same duties as the four Low-Gods.

Now, he had become the second most important person in the group, after West.

Even Morrison would have to buy Aier time to leave with West in an emergency.

In a moment of crisis, as long as West wasn't stupid, he would even fight personally to buy Aier time.

After all, only if Aier survived could he take West away.

Fiends were even more intimidating than Aier had imagined.

On the way, Aier's group did encounter bandits, but as soon as they approached and spotted the Demon Badge on Morrison's chest, they immediately turned and fled.

Bandits had to be cautious if they wanted to survive.

They would rather carry out dozens or even hundreds of robberies with a guaranteed payoff than take a chance on one with uncertain odds.

They might succeed thousands of times, but they would probably only need to fail once.

So ordinary bandits generally didn't dare attack a group protected by a Fiend.

Anyone bold enough to ambush a group guarded by a Fiend was no ordinary foe.

Of course, if someone repeatedly hunted Fiends and the Fiend Castle discovered their hideout, they would be pursued by high-ranking Fiends who had taken on missions from the castle.

The Crimson Blood Tribe was about seven million kilometers from Caeles City.

It took Aier and the others nearly two months to reach the city.

Only when Aier first saw the nearly hundred-meter-high walls and the countless divine-level experts lined up outside the gates did he get a real sense of just how many powerful beings lived in Hell.

There were also countless Saint Realm experts gathered timidly around the city gates.

Some might have been servants of divine-level experts who had left them outside rather than pay a single Inkstone as an entrance fee.

Thanks to the Demon Badge on Morrison's chest, Aier's group didn't have to wait in line and could enter Caeles City directly.

Of course, only Morrison had a Demon Badge, so the others still had to pay the entrance fee.

Once they were inside, the whole group breathed a sigh of relief.

In Hell, fighting was forbidden within cities.

It was a decree laid down by the Overgod.

Divine-level experts even dared not release their divine senses carelessly, for fear of offending someone powerful.

"Come on. Let's head to Bauhinia Castle first."

West had been to Caeles City before, so he knew exactly where to go. He headed straight to Bauhinia Castle to sell the Crimson Blood Essence Ore the tribe had mined over the past ten thousand years and buy some supplies.

Aier's eyebrows twitched as he looked at the Amethysts for sale in Bauhinia Castle.

His soul was still in a weakened state.

Even after more than a hundred years, and despite having equipped the Blood-Red Source Crystal, Aier still hadn't fully recovered.

By his estimate, he needed at least four or five more Soul Gold Beads to recover completely.

But for Aier, Amethysts were just as good a deal as Soul Gold Beads.

The soul power contained in the two wasn't much different. The difference was that a Soul Gold Bead could be Refined instantly, and divine-level experts could absorb all the soul power it contained.

Amethysts had to be Refined, and most of their soul power usually dissipated, leaving only twenty percent to be absorbed.

That was why an Amethyst cost only a tenth as much as a Soul Gold Bead.

Even so, one Amethyst still cost ten thousand Inkstones.

"Looks like the Blood-Red Source Crystal is worth even more than I thought!"

After seeing Bauhinia Castle's prices, Aier realized his estimate of the Blood-Red Source Crystal's value had been off.

In the Bauhinia Castle in Caeles City, an ordinary Soul Defense Artifact cost at least seventy million Inkstones.

That meant the materials for crafting a Soul Defense Artifact were worth at least ten million Inkstones!

That was enough to buy a High-God Spark!

Should he sell it?

Aier glanced at West, feeling tempted.

They were in the city now. As long as he didn't leave, the treasures he could buy with ten million Inkstones would be enough to raise his strength to the High-God level!

With that thought, Aier no longer hesitated and walked toward the place in Bauhinia Castle where they bought treasures.

"Hello. Could you take a look and tell me how much this is worth?"

Aier placed the Blood-Red Source Crystal he had taken off on the table and asked.

"A Blood-Red Source Crystal?"

The Bauhinia Castle employee's eyes lit up when he saw the red crystal.

As a buyer for Bauhinia Castle, his strength didn't have to be great, but his eye for valuable goods did!

Otherwise, he would bring shame upon the Overgod Bauhinia.

"Excellent quality..."

After picking up the Blood-Red Source Crystal and examining it for a while, the employee told Aier, "Sir, we can offer you seventeen million three hundred thousand Inkstones for this Blood-Red Source Crystal."