First Arrival in the Infernal Realm
One of the four Higher Planes, the Infernal Realm!
A cold, purple, sickle-shaped moon hung in the night sky, casting a hazy, eerie purple light over the boundless world below.
Beneath the cold purple moon stood an ancient castle built entirely of silver ore. It seemed to have existed since time immemorial, and a dreamlike glow constantly shone faintly from within.
At the center of the silver castle, the open ground was paved with an ancient silver-white stone, forming an exceptionally smooth surface.
Seen from the outside, the silver-white castle resembled a crescent moon, which was how it had earned the name Silver Moon Castle. It was a planar teleportation point on the Mua Continent.
In the open space at the castle's center were two enormous magic formations side by side, each spanning a hundred meters. Their intricate lines were countless times more complex than those of the eleven teleportation formations in Starlight Forest. Two burly men stood beside the formations.
Both wore close-fitting silver garments beneath long silver robes embroidered with gold trim. Their robes also bore a distinctive silver moon insignia, showing that they were members of the Mua Army.
"Hum..." One of the enormous magic formations in the open space once again emitted a hazy glow. Light radiated from the huge teleportation formation, and figures appeared within it from time to time. They looked around in confusion. Some were Saint-level, while others were Lowgods. Midgods appeared only rarely.
At that moment, another two figures suddenly appeared at the center of the distorted magic formation. When the hazy light faded, they came clearly into view. One was a cold-looking young man in a long purple robe: Rog. The other was a huge man in a black robe whose face bore a strong resemblance to the cold-looking youth's: Rog's trusted subordinate, Dimont.
"Oh!" One of the burly men in silver robes laughed. "That's rare. Two more Midgods have come to the Infernal Realm today. These two are fairly smart. They actually waited until they reached the Midgod level before coming to the Infernal Realm. A wise choice."
"These people have such powerful auras." Although Dimont hadn't used his divine sense to scan the people around them in standard-issue equipment, it was clear that even the weakest among them were Midgods.
When the two Midgods appeared, a man among the Mua Army guards watching the teleportation formation rose from his cross-legged cultivation. He appeared to be a captain and had a pair of icy silver eyes. He walked straight over and addressed everyone impassively. "Welcome to the world of the strong-the Infernal Realm!" His hoarse voice rang out across the open space.
Rog stood silently to one side, making no unnecessary moves. Before long, these soldiers of the Sovereign's army would probably escort them to the various tribes of the Infernal Realm.
Besides the soldiers responsible for receiving newcomers to the Infernal Realm, there were dozens of creatures of varying appearances at the edge of the open space. Nearly half looked human, while most of the others had all sorts of strange forms, many of which even Rog had never seen before.
"Is this the Infernal Realm?" a foolish Saint-level expert asked.
The captain replied coldly, "That's none of your concern. All you need to do is stay there obediently. You're not allowed to make a sound or run around. You must obey all our orders. If you disobey, your lives will end here."
Rog surveyed his surroundings, but his knowledge of the Infernal Realm was extremely limited, and he couldn't tell where they were. Every teleportation from a Material Plane to a Higher Plane sent people to a random location, so Rog didn't know where they had ended up.
He glanced over the members of the Sovereign's army. Although most of them were only moderately strong, generally speaking, anyone below the level of a Seven-Star Fiend wouldn't casually provoke them. After all, they worked for a great Sovereign.
As time passed, more beings were teleported to the Infernal Realm one after another: humans, beastmen, magical beasts... or even other unknown species.
By the time a sun tinged with red leaped above the sea's horizon and shone down on Silver Moon Castle, more than a hundred creatures had arrived in the Infernal Realm from Material Planes. Suddenly, footsteps sounded, and silver-robed figures emerged one after another from a nearby courtyard gate, chatting and laughing among themselves. "Fifth Brother, thanks for keeping watch through the night." Some of the silver-robed people greeted the guards with smiles. Before long, several hundred had appeared, every one of them at least a Midgod.
A few in particular, judging from their bearing alone, were no ordinary Highgods. They were at least Five-Star Fiends.
Several hundred silver-robed people had gathered in the open space at the center of Silver Moon Castle, alarming the hundred-odd creatures who had just arrived in the Infernal Realm.
"Why are there so many experts?" some of the Saints and Lowgods lamented. This Higher Plane didn't seem quite so wonderful.
"Quiet!" A deep voice rang out, and all the silver-robed people who had been talking fell silent, not daring to make a sound. At the same time, the several hundred silver-robed people gathered together in an orderly fashion, making five other robed figures stand out.
"Those five look like leaders. They must be strong." Rog guessed that all five were at least as strong as Five-Star Fiends. After all, a planar teleportation formation was a fairly important thing, and those entrusted with guarding it couldn't be too weak.
Four of the five silver-robed leaders were men, and only one was a woman. "The people from the Material Planes are decent this time. There are even two Midgods among them." A tall woman with long black hair glanced at Rog's group, then looked at the five companions beside her and smiled. "It should be my turn to escort them this time, right?" "Sylvia, no one's going to fight you for the job!" several of the silver-robed people said with a laugh.
Sylvia seemed to be in a good mood. She broke into a smile and called out, "Azure Moon First Squad, prepare to depart!" It looked as though this woman was a bit stronger than the other four. Rog was secretly surprised.
"Yes, Captain!" some of the several hundred people shouted in response. Sivia turned and looked toward the distant courtyard gate. A burly man dressed in gold emerged from it and quickly came before her. He immediately dropped to one knee and said respectfully, "Master!" "Prepare to depart," Sivia said.
"Yes, Master!" the burly man in gold replied in a booming voice. He then rose into the air and flew above the silver castle.
A golden light flashed, and the burly man in gold transformed into an enormous golden wolf a full hundred meters long. In the blood-red sunlight, a moon-shaped mark on the wolf's forehead shone brilliantly as it hovered above the silver castle.
"Whoosh!"
A huge opening ten meters wide abruptly appeared in the golden wolf's belly.
That must be a Metallic Lifeform. Although Rog knew about them, this was his first time seeing one.
"Get everyone from the Material Planes inside," Sivia told her subordinates. Several silver-robed soldiers immediately left the ranks and walked toward Rog's group. The burly red-haired man at their head shouted, "You'd all better get in one at a time, or we'll have to use force."
As soon as he finished speaking, more than ten people in Rog's group flew straight toward the wolf's belly. Although Rog was somewhat uncomfortable with the red-haired man's tone, he didn't take issue with it. He and Dimont followed the others into the Metallic Lifeform.
Unless necessary, Rog didn't want to come into conflict with the Sovereign's army.
Everyone was astonished as soon as they flew into the wolf's belly. The interior of the golden dragon's belly was furnished like a residence. There were not only chairs and tables, but even decorative rockeries, metal flowers, and so on.
"Don't just stand there, any of you. Sit down," Sivia barked coldly. The silver-robed squad members immediately began shouting, "You two, sit over here. And you three, sit over there. Hurry up and sit down. Don't waste our boss's time."
"Captain, where are we taking this batch?" a tall young man in silver robes asked. Sivia glanced at him and replied calmly, "This time... we'll go to Yuanqing Prefecture!" The flying Metallic Lifeform immediately set off, speeding away from the ocean at an astonishing pace.
"Hiss..." Strangely, golden light flowed across both sides of the wolf's belly, making them appear transparent from within. Rog and the others sitting inside could see the outside through the transparent metal, just like on an airplane on Earth in his previous life.
How extraordinary, Rog thought in admiration. Having a Metallic Lifeform like this was truly comfortable. The others also looked out through the transparent metal.
The tall young man in silver robes walked to the middle of the Metallic Lifeform and looked at Rog and the others. "You've all come to the Infernal Realm from Material Planes, so I'll give you a general account of the Infernal Realm. As one of the four Higher Planes, the Infernal Realm naturally has experts as numerous as clouds. You're new here, so you'd best find a tribe or a clan to join.
"The Infernal Realm mainly consists of five vast, nearly boundless continents: the Zijing Continent, the Kalosha Continent, the Mua Continent, the Blood Peak Continent, and the Bifu Continent."
"Of the five, the Zijing Continent in the north and the Kalosha Continent in the west are both connected to the edge of the plane. In other words... the northern end of the Zijing Continent is the edge of the plane, and the western end of the Kalosha Continent is also the edge of the plane."
"Apart from those five continents, the remaining regions are seas. The five continents form an almost complete ring, and within it lies the vast Star Mist Sea. The Star Mist Sea covers an immense area, far larger than any one of the five continents. It is considered the Inner Sea, while the Outer Sea-the region beyond the five continents-lies mainly to the south and east of the ring they form. This Outer Sea is called the Chaotic Sea.
"The Chaotic Sea is the largest of them all!" The tall young man in silver robes smiled calmly. "Of course, none of this means much to you. Every continent is astonishingly vast, and many experts spend their entire lives on a single one. The continent we're on is called the Mua Continent!"
"Boom!" The young man in silver robes was still explaining basic facts about the Infernal Realm when a rumble suddenly came from far away. Everyone looked outside through the transparent windows in puzzlement. In the distance, two groups were fighting in midair, lightning flashing and fierce winds howling as the earth split apart. The battle between more than a hundred god-level experts was truly shocking, especially to the newcomers to the Higher Plane. In their Material Planes, they might never have been able to imagine such a sight.
"Out of the way!" Sivia's cold, furious shout rang out from inside the wolf and echoed between heaven and earth. When the hundred god-level experts fighting frantically saw the golden wolf, and especially the design on its head, their faces changed! That design represented the great Sovereign Mua.
"It's the Mua Army!"
"Run for your lives!"
The hundred-odd god-level experts were so frightened that they forgot all about their grudges and fled in every direction. In the blink of an eye, every one of them had vanished.