Arrival

Deep in the Chaotic Ocean of the Infernal Realm, there was a region known as Purgatory.

Purgatory consisted of 108 "prisons."

Though called prisons, they were actually 108 enormous islands. When the Overgod of Destruction created the Infernal Realm, he left this peculiar place called Purgatory deep in the Chaotic Sea. The 108 islands were all roughly the same size and lay adjacent to one another. On a map, they formed a regular polygon that was nearly circular, giving them an air of mystery.

"Purgatory, the gathering place of the Infernal Realm's experts!" Rog and his companions gazed at the distant islands from high in the air.

Whoosh!

A streak of purple light swept across the sky and soon landed on the nearest island. It was only an island when compared to the Infernal Realm's five continents. Compared to it, the Glais Continent was a mere speck! Every one of the 108 islands was several million li across.

As soon as they landed, Rog and his companions looked around.

It was a vast, desolate land, sparsely populated. Ancient-looking stone houses stood scattered here and there across the expanse.

"This should be the island at the very heart of Purgatory-Fiend Island." The most famous place on Fiend Island was the Fiend Castle. It was said to be the place where the Infernal Realm's many Fiend Castles originated, though no one knew whether that was true.

The Fiend Castle was not the residence of some supreme expert, but the location of spatial gates leading to many peculiar planes. Whenever an expedition began, large numbers of people passed through here to reach the peculiar plane they were invading.

"Let's go straight to the Fiend Castle." The three took a quick look at the island's various inhabitants, then flew straight toward its center.

A green castle occupying an enormous area stood at the center of Fiend Island. This green castle was the very source of the more than a thousand Fiend Castles scattered across the Infernal Realm. Its classic image of a giant-faced, single-horned monster looked especially ferocious.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

In moments, Rog and the others reached the front gate of the green castle. The castle was green overall, but its front gate was a dazzling, vivid red, like blood in its tragic splendor. Just looking at it, Rog felt an aura of slaughter wash over him.

Many black-armored soldiers were patrolling as they flew over.

"Halt!" shouted a soldier who looked like a captain. "This is a restricted area under a Sovereign's direct control. Unauthorized persons are not permitted to approach."

Rog frowned. "I'm the newly appointed Lord of Tianhua Prefecture. I wish to join the expedition to the Aoqi Plane. Take me to the teleportation array."

The guard captain looked at him in surprise. "So you are a Prefect of the Infernal Realm, my lord. If you wish to enter the Aoqi Plane, please follow me."

The captain led the way, with Rog and the others following behind.

"Lady Anpusha, this Prefect wishes to enter the Aoqi Plane and join the expedition." The captain brought the three before a gorgeous woman clad in red battle armor.

"So you are the new Lord of Tianhua Prefecture, Mr. Rog," the long-haired, black-haired beauty said with a smile. "I'm the emissary under the Sovereign who is responsible for guarding this place. My name is Anpusha."

A Sovereign's Emissary?

Rog was somewhat surprised. Every Sovereign's Emissary had a Sovereign Artifact to make up for their own weaknesses, and since they often carried out tasks for a Sovereign, they were rarely short of Sovereign's Might. Thus, in terms of strength and status, a Sovereign's Emissary was a notch above an ordinary Asura or Commander. Every one of them was undoubtedly a peak expert of the Infernal Realm.

"If you wish to go to the Aoqi Plane, please follow me."

They followed Anpusha into a great hall, where dozens of teleportation arrays were arranged across the floor.

Anpusha explained with a smile, "These lead to some of the peculiar planes that can be reached from the Higher Plane. The one you're going to this time is the Aoqi Plane. Rog, you should already have learned about it, right?"

"Yes." Rog nodded calmly.

He also knew that there were roughly dozens of peculiar planes. Besides the Aoqi Plane, there was the Abyss Plane, where the slaughter was said to surpass that of the Infernal Realm, and the Feila Plane, which consisted entirely of elemental energy and where only elemental life-forms could survive...

"In that case, I won't go into further detail. These are the badges identifying you during your visit. You must return them when you come out. Likewise, to record your military merits, you must obtain enemy badges." Anpusha took out a Golden Commander Badge and gave it to Rog, while Colin, Gu Rory, Haidisi, and the others each received a black Soldier Badge.

"The detailed rules for military merits are here." Anpusha pointed out a stone tablet on the wall for them to read. It bore the detailed rules for earning military merits during the expedition.

Colin and his companion's eyes lit up. They only knew that they could obtain Sovereign's Might through the expedition; they didn't know the details.

The two went over and studied it for a long time before they finally began to understand.

Military merits really weren't easy to accumulate!

They had to kill a hundred enemy soldiers and obtain a hundred enemy badges to exchange them for a single drop of Sovereign's Might!

For example, the Soldier Badges the two of them wore were black, so the enemy soldiers' badges would be white. Only by obtaining a hundred White Badges could they receive a drop of Sovereign's Might from the Sovereign.

These soldiers were experts brought in by Prefects and Commanders, so their strength certainly wouldn't be lacking. Among them were even Commanders who had entered as soldiers!

The two of them would have to kill a hundred opponents in succession and survive before they had a chance of obtaining a single drop of Sovereign's Might. It could be summed up in one word: difficult!

Killing a Commander, or perhaps obtaining a higher-level Commander Badge, naturally brought a far richer reward.

"Obtaining a Golden Badge lets you ask a Sovereign to do something for you?" Colin and his companion were astonished. Sovereigns were so far above them, yet the tablet actually listed things they could ask a Sovereign to do on their behalf-things that were difficult or impossible for a Highgod, but easy for a Sovereign.

"Hehe." Anpusha laughed beside them. "These rewards are actually nothing compared to those on the Planar Battlefield. Now those are generous. Obtain ten Commander Badges, and a Sovereign will grant you a Sovereign Artifact! This expedition is on a lower level, so no Sovereign Artifacts will be granted. The fighting is relatively less intense than on the Planar Battlefield, but the large rewards of Sovereign's Might are enough to drive the experts of the various planes mad."

Rog also understood that, because the rewards weren't especially generous, some of the most terrifying Commanders might not come.

Commanders joined expeditions partly to earn Sovereign's Might. After all, few of them had connections to a Sovereign, and there were only so many ways to obtain it. The other reason was that their lives were too dull, and they passed the time through battle.

There were Planar Wars, but those took place only once every trillion years, and the fighting was brutal. Expeditions to peculiar planes involved less intense conflict and took place at shorter intervals, making them a good choice for experts unwilling to take too great a risk.

After mentioning a few more things they needed to watch out for, Anpusha ordered the soldiers to activate the teleportation array. Rog and the others stepped inside, and with a flash, they vanished.

"The restrictive force of the Aoqi Plane really is much stronger than the Infernal Realm's." Rog couldn't help frowning after sensing it. As soon as he appeared at the other end of the teleportation array, he felt that his divine sense covered a smaller area.

In the Infernal Realm, he could use his soul force to cover an area several thousand meters across. Here, his divine sense could only reach a few hundred meters.

The group walked out of the teleportation array and found that they were still in a castle, though it was much smaller than the one at the Purgatory end.