The Reason

Andre's attitude grew even more respectful as he carefully explained, "Actually, Bensgodo came to Blood Nether City because of my Petrov Family as well."

Ailin was surprised. Was it really because of them?

Since Andre had already spoken, he naturally would not hide anything further. He continued, "And all of this is because of a secret my Petrov Family discovered long ago."

"A secret?"

Ailin looked at Andre and pondered inwardly. A secret capable of attracting a Four Divine Beast Family Elder was clearly no trivial matter.

"Yes."

Andre suddenly switched to voice transmission. "Countless years ago, Petrov, the ancestor of my Petrov Family, was also a powerful Seven-star Demon. Only after he died in an accident did the family decline. However, our ancestor left behind some information concerning Blood Nether City."

"According to the information left by our ancestor, Blood Ghost Mountain, where Blood Nether City stands, contains extremely precious mineral resources. Of course, since Blood Nether City was a city built by an Overgod, even if there were mineral veins, the family would not have dared act rashly. Thus, my Petrov Family never gave this matter much thought."

"But not long ago, through a coincidence and special methods, we discovered the nature of the mineral vein within Blood Ghost Mountain. It was a Blood Pattern Ice Mine!"

"Blood Pattern Ice?"

Ailin had never heard of this material.

Seeing Ailin's reaction, Andre was inwardly surprised. Lord Ailin did not know about Blood Pattern Ice? Still, he did not dare ask further and explained, "Blood Pattern Ice is an extremely special icy crystal material. Even an ordinary piece of Blood Pattern Ice is as hard as some High-level Divine Weapons. So long as a Divine Weapon is mixed with a little Blood Pattern Ice, its quality can be raised by an entire level. It is exceedingly precious."

"If an entire Divine Weapon were forged from Blood Pattern Ice, it could easily destroy other High-level Divine Weapons. In the Netherworld, whenever Blood Pattern Ice appears, many experts fight over it."

"So that was how it was."

Ailin was somewhat tempted as well.

If that was true, then Divine Weapons forged from Blood Pattern Ice would likely be just below the level of Godhead Weapons. Especially since it was still unknown whether Beirut had been born yet, or whether Godhead Weapons even existed.

Under such circumstances, the value of Blood Pattern Ice would only be even greater.

Forget an entire mine vein—even enough Blood Pattern Ice to forge a single Divine Weapon would probably draw the attention of Asura Experts.

Ordinary Divine Weapon experts might not care, but true experts would not pass up weapons or materials of this level.

"Not only that, once Blood Pattern Ice is forged into a weapon, it carries a special influence on the soul. It is very similar to baleful aura, but even stranger, like a bloody stench. Those whose souls are not strong enough can easily be affected."

Andre continued.

It even affected the soul? Ailin was genuinely surprised. In the Divine Planes, God-level experts skilled in the soul were relatively rare, which meant that compared to material attacks, techniques involving Soul Attacks were also relatively scarce.

A weapon made from Blood Pattern Ice having such an effect was practically a treasure that came with its own Soul Attack method.

Andre let out a soft breath. "It was precisely because Blood Pattern Ice was so precious that the family developed thoughts it should not have had."

Clearly, Andre regretted his family's choice now, at least after Bensgodo's death.

Andre raised his head to look at Ailin. He did not dare conceal their previous actions in the slightest. "For the sake of taking the family one step further, the family paid a great price to contact Bensgodo of the Four Divine Beast Family. We had originally intended to exchange this information for an opportunity to become affiliated with the Four Divine Beast Family."

Ailin nodded. Ordinary families did not dare do anything within a city built by an Overgod, but the Four Divine Beast Family had no such misgivings. The Overgod might not even care about such matters, and even if one did, the Four Divine Beast Family probably would not fear it.

It was only natural that the Four Divine Beast Family could not resist stepping in after obtaining such information.

"After that, Elder Bensgodo came to Blood Nether City. Bensgodo could originally have met the City Lord directly, but for some reason, he seemed unwilling to reveal his identity, so he went to the Blood Battle Stage."

"In the end..."

Andre's gaze grew cautious. He looked at Ailin, and only after seeing no change in Ailin's expression did he grit his teeth and continue, "Bensgodo died in Blood Nether City. But if the Four Divine Beast Family learns that Bensgodo came to Blood Nether City because of my Petrov Family and consequently died here, they will likely slaughter my Petrov Family."

He did not mention that Ailin had killed Bensgodo, but his meaning was clear. He was not placing this potential "crisis" upon Ailin; Bensgodo had simply been inferior in skill.

Even so, he feared that Ailin would misunderstand his meaning, which was why he was especially nervous now.

After all, whether it was the Four Divine Beast Family or Ailin, either could easily destroy them.

Although Andre had not finished saying everything, Ailin understood Andre's concerns.

Aside from Bensgodo, all his knowledge of the Four Divine Beast Family came from memories of the original work and bits of hearsay. Yet regardless of the source, one could infer the Four Divine Beast Family's habitual conduct.

They might truly wipe out the Petrov Family on a whim because of Bensgodo's death.

"The Four Divine Beast Family..."

Ailin was no fool and naturally understood Andre's implied meaning. He glanced at him and said directly, "If the Four Divine Beast Family comes after you, I will step in. Focus on refining the Soul Poison."

It was not that he was meddling in others' affairs. This matter had arisen because of him in the first place. More importantly, if someone from the Four Divine Beast Family came for revenge, they would certainly seek him out. The Petrov Family was merely an incidental concern.

As for the Four Divine Beast Family's revenge—

He had already considered it when he killed Bensgodo. Although the Four Divine Beast Family was powerful, he would not care about such things when facing those who wanted to kill him. Most importantly, he did not fear the Four Divine Beast Family.

At the very least, if he was determined to flee, it would not be so easy for the Four Divine Beast Family to do anything to him. Besides, to force him into that situation, Gaisreisen and the others would have to act personally, or they would need to dispatch enough Elders and use Sovereign's Might to stand even a sliver of a chance.

Thus, protecting the Petrov Family was merely a casual act for him.

As long as he did not die, the Petrov Family would naturally be safe. Since he had already clashed with the Four Divine Beast Family, there was no need to care about such a minor matter.

Upon hearing Ailin's words, Andre's face lit up with joy. He clearly had not expected things to go so smoothly and hurriedly said, "Thank you, Lord Ailin! The Petrov Family will never dare forget your kindness!"

Seeing Andre like this, Ailin could not help but sigh inwardly. This matter had begun because of him; it could even be said that the Petrov Family had suffered this "disaster" because of him. If not for him, the Petrov Family might even have risen to prominence through the Four Divine Beast Family.

Yet even so, Andre and the Petrov Family not only dared not complain, but had to be deeply grateful for his "protection."

That was the result brought by strength.

Still, Blood Pattern Ice...

Ailin now had some thoughts of his own. If this material was truly so valuable, he naturally wanted to obtain some as well. Yet although he was strong enough, he would not dig up ore by destroying a city built by an Overgod.

An Overgod might not care if one broke some city rules, but directly destroying an entire city would be slapping an Overgod in the face.

The Four Divine Beast Family had the confidence to do so, but he could not do that now.

Therefore, if he wanted to obtain Blood Pattern Ice, he might still have to rely on the Four Divine Beast Family.