This is your Nether Stone

Originally, the soldier's attitude toward Ailin had already shocked the others from the Material Planes.

They knew that before this, even making the slightest sound would earn them a rebuke from the soldiers.

Even Low Gods were treated that way. Yet when this High-God appeared, the soldiers' attitudes made a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

They could even be called respectful.

Now, the captain of those soldiers had personally appeared to speak with that High-God and had even taken the initiative to reveal such "secret matters."

Sure enough, compared to the Material Planes, the Divine Planes were places that valued "strength" even more completely.

For a time, quite a few people regretted coming to the Divine Planes so soon.

But even if they regretted it, it was already too late. At that moment, they did their best to remember as much of the captain's words as possible. They felt that after leaving this place, hearing such information again would not be so easy.

"So, no matter how powerful someone is, they would not dare provoke the Sovereign's Army at will."

The captain looked at Ailin with a smile. He felt that he had made his meaning very clear.

Yet Ailin showed no reaction.

Seeing that Ailin had remained silent, the captain's brow furrowed slightly. Was this fellow's response really so slow?

He then stated his intentions directly. "Since you managed to become a High-God in a Material Plane, your talent must be quite good. I can put in a word for you, and you may have a chance to join the Sovereign's Army. Would you like to join the Sovereign's Army?"

The reason he wanted to recruit Ailin was not only because the Sovereign's Army recruited powerful experts, but also because Ailin met the requirements.

Furthermore, he had stepped forward first because he hoped to recruit Ailin into his own squad.

There was competition within the Sovereign's Army as well. He had only recently broken through to become a High-God and had just formed his own squad. Compared to the other squads, his squad was naturally much weaker.

If he could recruit a member who had become a High-God in a Material Plane, that person might one day fuse Profound Mysteries. When that time came, his squad would naturally be different when facing other squads.

At that moment, the other lives from the Material Planes also understood the captain's intentions. Each of them was inwardly astonished. This captain was actually trying to recruit that High-God.

This fellow was truly lucky. He had only just arrived in a Divine Plane and already had the chance to join an Overgod's ranks!

Although they had no real concept of what an Overgod was, they could understand from the captain's words that seven Overgods controlled the entire Netherworld. What terrifying existences those must be! Becoming a member of such an existence's army was practically ascending to the heavens in a single step.

Unbidden, everyone felt a surge of envy.

Since the captain had already asked directly, Ailin did not beat around the bush. Smiling, he said, "I came to the Netherworld to explore. For now, I have no intention of relying on any faction."

To be honest, if he had merely been an ordinary High-God and had not obtained a Sovereign Spark, he definitely would not have missed the chance to join the Sovereign's Army. Even if he had fused three Profound Mysteries, he might not have refused outright if given the opportunity to join the Sovereign's Army.

Seeing that Ailin had actually refused, the captain did not immediately give up. Instead, he continued, "Joining the Sovereign's Army does not mean you can never leave. Once you become stronger and learn more about the Netherworld, it will not be too late to explore then. It will also be much safer."

This was not nonsense. Quite a few people in the Sovereign's Army had thought the same way. Even the previous captain of the squad he had taken over had relied on the Sovereign's Army's protection to successfully fuse three Profound Mysteries before setting out to explore the Netherworld.

"Haha, I appreciate the offer."

Ailin's tone held no room for reconsideration. "But exploring the Divine Planes is inherently dangerous. If I feared such things, I would not have come to the Netherworld."

He had not come to explore the Divine Planes immediately after becoming a god, and one reason was indeed that the Divine Planes were too dangerous. But the main reason was that he had encountered no major bottlenecks in his cultivation. It could be said that everything had gone smoothly, and as he immersed himself in cultivation, a million years passed without him even noticing.

Seeing Ailin answer this way, the captain put away his smile. He studied Ailin carefully, then said nothing more and turned to leave.

Clearly, the captain had given up on saying anything more to Ailin. After all, he was also a High-God and had already begun fusing Profound Mysteries. He was now the captain of a Sovereign's Army squad and had his own dignity to maintain.

A High-God who had just arrived from a Material Plane had rejected him twice in front of his subordinates. Naturally, he would not ask a third time.

However, Ailin was still a High-God, so he would not do anything excessive. Although guards at the Teleportation Array could kill some disobedient people, they were not free to do so without limits. Nor could they cause chaos.

Otherwise, they might provoke the dissatisfaction of a commander, or even an Overgod.

As a mere squad captain, he could not bear such consequences.

"Wait."

Seeing that the captain intended to leave, Ailin suddenly thought of something and called out to stop him.

"What? Have you changed your mind?"

Hearing Ailin's words, the captain stopped. If Ailin had changed his mind, he would not mind Ailin's earlier refusal. After all, Ailin was a High-God, and he was willing to give him that respect.

Ailin smiled. "I heard that God-level beings who come from the Material Planes to the Divine Planes receive a piece of Nether Stone?"

Originally, if there had been no matter of recruitment, he might have left together with the transport personnel. With his strength, he could easily have left midway and headed directly to the nearest Blood Nether City.

But now, he did not intend to wait any longer. He planned to head straight for Blood Nether City.

And regardless of who it was, as long as they were not fiends of the Netherworld, they had to pay a fee to enter or leave a city.

Ailin did not have any Nether Stones at the moment. Naturally, he needed this piece of Nether Stone. Otherwise, he would have to rob some along the way, assuming he encountered suitable targets to rob. Under normal circumstances, if no one provoked him, he would not rob others without reason.

"What?"

The captain's expression froze slightly. Clearly, he had not expected Ailin to speak up for the sake of a Nether Stone.

But in the next moment, as the captain looked at Ailin, his gaze became more scrutinizing, and his tone inexplicably grew steadier than before. "You actually know about that."

Originally, he had thought Ailin was a simple High-God from a Material Plane. But if he were that sort of High-God, how could he know that God-level lives visiting the Netherworld for the first time received Nether Stones?

That left only one possibility: this fellow came from a Material Plane, but he likely had some connection to powerful figures in the Divine Planes. For example, he might be the blood descendant of some expert in a Material Plane and had been given basic information about the Divine Planes.

Such things were not uncommon in the Divine Planes.

That had to be it. How could Material Planes produce so many High-Gods who became gods entirely on their own? The captain felt that he had finally figured everything out. He had been too eager to strengthen his squad before and had overlooked this point.

Only that could explain why this fellow had been unmoved by his earlier recruitment. Because he actually understood the situation in the Divine Planes very well.

Thinking of this possibility, the captain's expression turned somewhat ugly. He felt that his earlier actions had made him look like a clown before Ailin. However, perhaps because he accepted his own guess about Ailin's circumstances and was wary of Ailin's possible hidden "background," the captain did not become angry and turn hostile.

After giving Ailin a deep look, the captain directly flicked out a piece of Nether Stone. "This is your Nether Stone!"

As soon as he spoke, the captain flew directly toward the tower, entering it in the blink of an eye.

Ailin did not care about the captain's reaction. After catching the Nether Stone and casually putting it away, he did not intend to linger. Following the human soldier's earlier directions, he quickly flew south.