You Want Me to Run for My Life?

The moment Ailin saw the woman, he knew the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture had come in person. Within Blood Phantom Prefecture, no one dared impersonate its Prefect, much less when she carried the Prefect's token.

"You may leave first."

Ailin waved a hand at the beautiful waitress behind him.

"Yes."

The waitress secretly glanced at the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture and Ailin, then carefully withdrew and shut the courtyard gate behind her.

"I truly hadn't expected the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture to personally come to Blood Nether City."

Ailin's tone was easygoing.

He genuinely had not expected this. Even though he had previously killed Bensgodo, that should not have been enough to make the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture personally come to Blood Nether City to see him. Or perhaps the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture knew that he intended to challenge her?

It was not impossible. After all, Kengo was still her subordinate.

"Ailin."

The Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture looked at Ailin. She was not surprised that he had recognized her identity. Since this fellow intended to challenge her, he would certainly have bought information on her. Learning her appearance would not have been difficult.

"I also hadn't expected that someone as powerful as you would be within Blood Phantom Prefecture."

The Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture smiled as well, gesturing for Ailin to sit and talk.

Earlier, she had ordered her maidservants to search for information on Ailin, but they had found no corresponding records in the Divine Planes—at least, none in the Netherworld. This man had most likely come from another plane.

However, there was currently no life record for Ailin in the other planes either, which made her even more curious about him.

Ailin did not waste words and went straight to the point. "Did the Prefect come here for some matter?"

"Can't I come if there's no matter?"

The Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture giggled, her tone carrying a casual familiarity. "After all, Blood Nether City is also part of my Blood Phantom Prefecture. A powerful expert like you suddenly appeared. I was curious—shouldn't I come take a look?"

Looking at the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture, Ailin suddenly felt that she differed somewhat from the Prefects he knew. At the very least, her personality seemed rather... less than steady.

Thinking back to the Floating Shadows he had seen of this woman fighting, she seemed to have treated her opponents with a hint of playfulness as well.

In an instant, Ailin formed a basic judgment of the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture's personality.

Seeing that Ailin did not respond, the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture shook her head, finding it somewhat dull. "Fine. I did come here for something."

Then, the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture directly said, "Since you were able to kill Bensgodo with your bare hands even after he used Sovereign's Might, your strength is quite formidable. Do you have any intention of challenging a Prefect?"

When she spoke of Ailin challenging her, she sounded as though it had nothing to do with her.

It seemed this woman truly already knew that he intended to challenge a Prefect.

Ailin raised a brow. Still, he had not expected her to ask so directly. After all, if he challenged a Prefect, he could only challenge her. Yet from the way she acted, she did not seem to care whether he challenged her or not.

Was she confident in her own strength?

Still, she indeed had reason to be confident.

"Challenge a Prefect? Did you come to persuade me not to challenge you?"

Ailin looked at the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture and asked.

He did not know what the other Prefects thought, but from the memories of the original work, he knew that although most powerful experts did not fear challenges, when they encountered promising experts, their first choice was generally to recruit them as subordinates.

Perhaps the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture thought the same way.

The Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture smiled. "Not at all. If you can replace me and become the new Prefect, that might be quite interesting as well."

"Interesting?"

Ailin was somewhat puzzled. He had no idea what was going through this woman's mind. Replacing her as the new Prefect would be interesting?

"Forget it. We can discuss that later. I mainly came here to tell you that after you killed Bensgodo, the Four Divine Beast Family has decided to retaliate against you."

Without any warning, the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture abruptly changed the subject.

Ailin was somewhat speechless at her sudden shift in topic, but upon hearing her words, his thoughts turned to the matter as well. "The Four Divine Beast Family's retaliation."

He had long anticipated retaliation from the Four Divine Beast Family and was not especially concerned. To him, such battles might even accelerate the cultivation speed of his Death God Avatar.

Seeing that Ailin was not worried, the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture leaned closer. "I heard that the Four Divine Beast Family seems to have dispatched a Sovereign's Emissary to the Netherworld. There's a ninety-percent chance that they came for you."

She acknowledged that Ailin was quite powerful, but even so, he might not necessarily be a match for a Sovereign's Emissary.

"A Sovereign's Emissary?"

Ailin's gaze finally became somewhat serious.

Although he was confident that his strength was formidable enough, he was still lacking when facing someone qualified to become a Sovereign's Emissary. Setting everything else aside, a Sovereign Artifact alone was an enormous gap.

Moreover, those who could become Sovereign's Emissaries had almost all comprehended five Profound Mysteries, and most possessed some special ability as well. These people stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Divine Planes.

The Four Divine Beast Family was already sending out a Sovereign's Emissary?

Ailin was actually somewhat doubtful.

At least, from what he knew, although the Four Divine Beast Family always repaid grievances, would the death of a single elder really make them directly dispatch such an expert? That seemed like making a mountain out of a molehill. A Sovereign's Emissary's status within the Four Divine Beast Family was likely not much lower than Gaisreisen's and the others'. After all, they were all true super experts.

In truth, Ailin was taking things for granted.

His understanding of the Four Divine Beast Family came mainly from the memories of the original work. At that time, when the elders of the Four Divine Beast Family were killed, although there were no other Sovereign's Emissaries they could invite, Gaisreisen and the others were no weaker than Sovereign's Emissaries, yet they still did not take the initiative to seek revenge.

Ailin had overlooked one point: the Four Divine Beast Family during the original work was different from the current Four Divine Beast Family. The present Four Divine Beast Family had numerous powerful experts. There were nearly ten Sovereign's Emissaries alone who were on friendly terms with them.

Furthermore, the current Four Divine Beast Family had never lost an elder before. His direct killing of Bensgodo was indeed the greatest "hatred" they had suffered in countless years.

If the Four Divine Beast Family did not retaliate, it would also damage the family's reputation.

Since they had decided to retaliate, they would naturally arrange an overwhelmingly powerful expert according to their opponent's strength.

Though doubtful, Ailin could not think of any reason for the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture to deceive him with this information.

Could the Four Divine Beast Family truly be reacting so strongly?

Although he took the matter seriously inwardly, Ailin's expression did not change. "What do you want by telling me this?"

He had realized by now that there had to be a reason why the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture had suddenly sought him out to say these things. He simply could not yet figure out her true purpose, and he could not be bothered to make wild guesses.

The Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture smiled, then unexpectedly switched to spiritual communication. "The Four Divine Beast Family and I have some old grievances. Since you are their enemy, you are my friend. However, for certain special reasons, I cannot directly act against the Four Divine Beast Family."

"That is why, after learning of the Four Divine Beast Family's response, I came here personally to see you. I don't want to watch a friend get killed."

Ailin looked at the Prefect of Blood Phantom Prefecture, his gaze appraising, while his tone remained calm. "So... you want me to leave this place and run for my life?"