The Lord of Crimson Island raised a hand, motioning for Wen Jie to stand behind him. His voice was as cold as ice that would never melt. "Who are you, and what are you doing on my Crimson Island?"
As he spoke, the island lord secretly used Soul Transmission to summon the Highgod elders still on the island.
In the fight just now, Nemo had suppressed Wen Jie from start to finish. If the island lord had not intervened, her last spear thrust would have taken Wen Jie's life.
Before long, six streaks of light flew in from the distance, landing beside the island lord one after another.
They were the other Highgod elders of Crimson Island.
At their arrival, not only did the island lord feel reassured, but even Wen Jie's back, which had hunched somewhat under Nemo's overwhelming force, straightened a little.
The island lord glanced at Redding and Nemo and chuckled. "You two are very powerful, but we have eight Highgods. No matter how strong you are, you can't possibly defeat eight experts of the same level!"
"But I, Luolie, am not unreasonable. As long as you two are willing to stay on my Crimson Island, I can give you positions as elders. Your treatment would be second only to mine."
In the island lord's view, Redding and Nemo were certainly no weaker than he was. If experts like them fought, even a victory would leave both sides badly hurt. It would be better to turn enemies into friends, avoiding casualties while increasing his own strength.
The island lord's calculations were plain to see, but he had forgotten that truly powerful experts disdained living under someone else's roof. He thought the terms he offered were extremely generous, but to a true expert, how were such half-threatening terms any different from an insult?
The island lord, Luolie, was still prattling on about the benefits of becoming an elder of Crimson Island.
A smile touched Redding's lips, and he said calmly, "You want me to join Crimson Island? No problem. You only need to agree to one condition."
"What condition?" the island lord asked immediately, the moment Redding finished speaking.
The Star Mist Sea was an inland sea surrounded by the five continents of the Infernal Realm. Its area far exceeded that of the continents, and correspondingly, considerably more God Level experts were born in the sea than on land.
Crimson Island was one of the few islands in the Star Mist Sea, and it also had iron ore that could be used to forge divine artifacts. Naturally, most God Level experts wanted to claim it.
As master of Crimson Island, the island lord was strong enough to keep all its elders in line. But he also knew that Crimson Island was a prize coveted by outsiders. Moreover, after his years of management, the island's prosperity had attracted the attention of quite a few Highgod experts.
Even so, Crimson Island had a fair number of Highgod elders, and the island lord Luolie himself was exceptionally powerful, so no Highgods had yet dared to set their sights on the island.
But Luolie knew that as he continued to develop Crimson Island, outside Highgods would eventually be unable to restrain themselves from going after this choice piece of meat.
That was why, when Nemo and Redding displayed their strength, Luolie had invited them without hesitation.
Redding swept his gaze over Luolie and said word by word, "As long as you're willing to submit to me and let me plant a Soul Seed in your soul..."
Before Redding could finish, a Highgod elder beside Luolie immediately interrupted him. "How dare you! Our island lord invited you in good faith, and you actually make such a demand!"
With that, the Highgod flicked his hand, and a Highgod Artifact staff instantly appeared in it. Gripping the staff backhanded, he brought it crashing down toward Redding with all his might, carrying Earth Elemental System divine power as heavy as a mountain.
Facing the Highgod elder's attack, Redding stood with his hands behind his back, showing no reaction at all. Beside him, Nemo gripped her spear and met the elder's attack.
Staff shadows and spear gleams crossed, and a fierce clash of weapons rang out in the air.
Nemo brought the full force of her violent Fire Element divine power to bear. The Earth Element Highgod elder, who specialized in defense, was soon struggling to fend off her attacks. Her spear nearly punched several holes in him.
Beside the island lord, two more Highgod elders saw that things were going badly and immediately drew their divine artifacts and joined the fight.
With a spear in her hands and crimson flames boiling along its shaft, Nemo, a mere Midgod, used the power of her Fusion Profound Mysteries to suppress three Highgod experts without falling at a disadvantage in the slightest.
Nemo's tremendous strength drew repeated cries of astonishment from the elders of Crimson Island.
The three Highgod elders fighting Nemo were the island lord's staunch supporters, and also the strongest of the island's Highgods.
With the three of them joining forces, even the island lord risked defeat. Yet now, far from suppressing Nemo, they could only rely on the understanding built up over many years to barely protect themselves against her spear's fiery onslaught. The slightest mistake would leave them with a hole punched through them by her divine artifact spear.
Spear in hand, Nemo was exhilarated as she suppressed the three Highgods.
Vast as the Star Mist Sea was, God Level experts did not grow on trees, especially powerful Highgods.
Normally, Nemo had a hard time finding a suitable opponent.
Among the Four Divine Beasts, White Tiger Laius's material attacks were considerably stronger than Nemo's. She did not dare face him head-on at all.
Black Tortoise Bowen, meanwhile, was an incredibly hard turtle shell. Even Laius's attacks had trouble injuring him, to say nothing of Nemo's.
As for Redding, even when the three siblings attacked him together, all they could do was take a beating. Naturally, Nemo would not invite disappointment by asking him to spar.
Of them all, the only one who looked easy to bully was Pash, who cultivated the Destruction Element Profound Mysteries, which were also suited to killing. Under Redding's instruction, his strength was no weaker than that of the Four Divine Beasts.
Thus, Nemo had always occupied an awkward position among them. She was not the weakest, but when it came to an actual fight, there was nothing she could do against any of them.
Not until today, on Crimson Island, did Nemo finally vent the pent-up frustration inside her completely.
The attacks of a Fire Element God Level expert were aggressive to begin with, and with the added force of the anger Nemo had suppressed for hundreds of years, the three God Level experts defending against her attacks were suffering terribly.
In just under a hundred exchanges, they were already struggling to hold her off.
The island lord frowned deeply and used Soul Transmission to order two more Highgod elders to join the fight. Only then did they barely close the gap between the two sides.
Even so, five against one only made it a little easier for them to withstand Nemo's attacks.
Seeing that the Highgod elders had managed to hold Nemo in check, the island lord, Luolie, turned his gaze to Redding. Together with the two remaining Highgod elders, he surrounded Redding in a triangular formation.
His voice carrying a touch of coldness, the island lord said to Redding, "I sincerely invited you to join my Crimson Island. Since you've insulted me like this, prepare to die here today!"
As he spoke, the aura around the island lord, Luolie, surged, and Light Element divine power radiated outward from him.
A nearly transparent divine artifact longsword appeared in the island lord's hand. His whole bearing turned stern, and empowered by Light Element divine power, he thrust toward Redding at tremendous speed.