Huo Ling flew down from the sky, while the devils around the deep pit watched it all with envious eyes.
The deep pit leading to the ninth layer of the Nine Hells was just as unsafe as the stairways in the towering buildings of Dis, the second layer of Purgatory.
From time to time, some unlucky soul would slip from the icy stairs along its sides.
The rate of such falls was even higher than the number of devils who fell to their deaths from the stairs of Dis.
The ice itself was far slicker. Sometimes, when one devil stumbled, it could drag a whole string of devils down with it.
Thus, as Huo Ling flew downward, he often heard the terrified screams of devils by his ears.
Nor were these falling devils simply dashed to death.
Rising air currents from Nessus surged through the deep pit, forming vortex-like whirlwinds within it.
If they were lucky enough, the devils who fell would ride those whirlwinds and land safely on the ground of Nessus.
Of course, most unlucky wretches had no such fortune. The whirlwinds would sweep them up and smash them straight against the icy walls of the pit, turning them into pools of bloody pulp.
Sometimes they were hurled onto the stairs, where they could knock a whole swath of devils off the steps with them.
As Huo Ling flew downward, he saw many such unfortunate souls. At times, screaming devils were even blown directly in front of him.
However, a repulsive force field surrounded Huo Ling. Those devils could not get close to him and simply flew on past him from either side.
After flying for a long time, the view before Huo Ling suddenly opened up.
At last, he had passed through the deep prison, crossed this