Mysterious Woman

Challenge the Prefect?

Hearing Ailin's question, Kengo froze for a moment. Then his heartbeat involuntarily quickened. Could Lord Ailin's purpose from the very beginning have been to challenge the Prefect?

Even as the City Lord, he had only witnessed challenges against the Prefect a few times over countless years.

After all, there were not many God-level experts with the strength to challenge the Prefect. The threshold alone required the power of a Seven-star Demon. Even when such challenges occurred, they were mostly nothing more than one-sided slaughter by the Prefect.

"The rules for challenging the Prefect are naturally similar to those for challenging the City Lord."

Kengo suppressed the shock in his heart and spoke as calmly as possible.

"Oh?"

Ailin's eyes brightened slightly at Kengo's words. This would save him quite a bit of trouble.

"Do you know where the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture resides?"

Ailin asked directly.

Kengo's heart stirred. Although Ailin had not directly stated that he intended to challenge the Prefect, the situation was already quite clear. Of course. How could such a supreme expert possibly be after his position as City Lord?

"I know where the Prefect resides. Mister Ailin, are you planning to challenge the Prefect?"

Kengo still asked cautiously.

"And if I am?"

Ailin merely glanced at Kengo with a smile.

Kengo's heart stirred. Whether it was the Prefect or Ailin, neither was someone he could afford to offend. Moreover, he was still the Prefect's subordinate, so he naturally did not dare comment too much. He could only say, "If Mister Ailin wishes to challenge the Prefect, there is naturally no issue. As for the Prefect's residence, it is in the Abyssal Sea. You can purchase this information in the Sovereign's Castle."

If the information was not something available for purchase in the Sovereign's Castle, then even if he knew it, he would not dare spread it carelessly.

"The Abyssal Sea."

Ailin nodded, silently considering that once he was fully prepared, he would make a trip to the Abyssal Sea.

"Right, what Law does the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture cultivate?"

Ailin suddenly asked.

"The Prefect is an expert in the Fire Law."

Kengo's tone grew more respectful. "There were powerful experts who challenged the Prefect before, but all of them were easily defeated by the Prefect."

"The Fire Law."

Ailin let out a helpless breath. He had not expected that even the Prefect of a Netherworld prefecture did not cultivate the Death Law.

"There is one more thing."

Kengo suddenly spoke. With a movement of divine power, a peculiar Long Whip appeared before them. "This is Bensgodo's Dragon Subduing Whip. Since you killed Bensgodo, this whip naturally belongs to you as spoils of war."

Although the Blood Battle Stage would generally claim the wealth of the defeated challenger, that depended on the circumstances.

"Dragon Subduing Whip."

Ailin directly took the Long Whip. Although Bensgodo's Space Ring contained quite a few High-level Divine Weapons, not one could compare to the Dragon Subduing Whip. Those Divine Weapons had likely all been obtained by killing opponents.

His own Divine Weapons were probably only this Dragon Subduing Whip and the long blade Ailin had shattered.

Not long after handing the Dragon Subduing Whip to Ailin, Kengo left.

Ailin also gave up on continuing to challenge the Blood Battle Stage.

With his strength fully revealed, if he went to challenge the Blood Battle Stage again, no one would likely dare take the stage. Even though Ailin had not always killed his opponents before, no one wished to take that risk.

Moreover, now that his strength was completely exposed, continuing to challenge the stage would be somewhat like bullying others.

Most importantly, having learned from Kengo that killing Bensgodo, who was listed in the Demon Castle's records, would be enough, once the news spread, he would not need any other proof whether he challenged the City Lord or the Prefect.

Ailin looked at the Dragon Subduing Whip in his hand. With a movement of divine power, he easily erased every trace of Bensgodo's remaining aura.

"From now on, follow me."

Ailin murmured to himself, then directly dripped blood onto the Dragon Subduing Whip to claim it as his master.

After all, he cultivated the Water Law. No matter how skilled he was in attacking, he would still use weapons like Long Whips. Moreover, whip-type weapons were generally not easy to forge, mainly because suitable materials were too scarce.

Buzz~

As Ailin claimed the Dragon Subduing Whip as his master, the entire whip emitted a faint hum. Then a phantom golden dragon appeared, circling along the whip before returning to it.

After leaving Ailin's small courtyard, Kengo had just arrived at the Kakri Restaurant's main hall when he saw Moke waiting nearby.

"City Lord."

The moment Moke saw Kengo, he hurried forward and bowed.

Kengo glanced at Moke and casually nodded. "You're fortunate. Take good care of Mister Ailin."

"Yes."

Moke answered respectfully.

Although the Karik Family was considered a major family in Blood Nether City, it still relied on Kengo for survival.

After leaving the restaurant, Kengo looked back at it and let out a soft breath. Mister Ailin wants to challenge the Prefect. This is major news. I should notify the Prefect in advance.

Kengo no longer hesitated. He transformed into a streak of light and flew directly toward the outskirts of Blood Nether City.

Just as Kengo departed, in a window-side corner of the Kakri Restaurant's main hall, a delicate-looking woman sat slowly drinking wine.

She wore a grayish-white long dress, her dark red hair loosely draped over her shoulders. On her forehead was a peculiar golden flame mark. Her slender, jade-white fingers traced the wine cup, while a faint curve touched her lips.

Beside the woman stood a High-God maidservant with utmost respect.

"My lady, shall I bring Kengo here?"

Seeing the woman look at Kengo a few times, the maidservant cautiously asked from beside her.

"No need."

The woman gently shook her head, clearly not particularly interested in Kengo.

"Go to the Demon Castle and investigate Ailin's background for me."

The woman seemed to recall something and quietly instructed, "The more detailed, the better."

"Yes."

After receiving her orders, the maidservant answered respectfully and immediately left the Kakri Restaurant.

After the maidservant left, the woman looked toward the rear courtyard. Her gaze seemed capable of seeing through everything, and she smiled faintly. "I never expected to encounter someone in the Netherworld who dared kill a Four Divine Beast Family Elder. But he wants to challenge me? Interesting."

Clearly, the woman knew every detail of the conversation between Ailin and Kengo.

"Killing Bensgodo has saved me the trouble of dealing with him myself. Since you dare openly stand against the Four Divine Beast Family, perhaps letting you take the position of Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture would not be impossible. It has truly been a long time since Blood Phantom Prefecture last had such an amusing event as a change of Prefect."

The woman's eyes shifted slightly as she chuckled. Her figure then vanished directly.

Strangely, no one in the restaurant noticed how the woman had disappeared. In fact, no one had noticed her at all.

At this moment, Ailin met an old acquaintance again: Ek, the one who had previously placed Nether Stone bets for him.