The Infernal Plane: Book 5 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  Linley’s heart shook. The majority of Fiends were Highgods? The weakest were Gods? It seemed that the quality of Fiends wasn’t lower than that of the Redbud Army at all.

  Bebe’s eyes were shining as well. “You say more than half of Fiends are Highgods. How powerful are those powerful Seven Star Fiends?”

  “Seven Star Fiends are amongst the most powerful experts of the Infernal Realm!” Buffett’s eyes had a hint of veneration in them. “Ordinary Highgods are unable to fight back against them at all. Once you reach the rank of Seven Star Fiend, you will have your own unique title. For example, in our Redbud Continent, based on what I know, we have produced figures like the ‘Silvermoon Fiend’ and the ‘Bloodviolet Fiend’, ultimate experts whose fame has spread throughout the entire Infernal Realm!”

  6

  Red-Eyed With Greed

  “That powerful?” In his heart, Linley was astonished and trembling at the might of these Seven Star Fiends. “Based on what he is saying, these Seven Star Fiends should be amongst the most powerful of Highgods. I wonder if Bluefire has the power of a Seven Star Fiend or not,” he mused.

  “Uh oh, I came to discuss something else. How’d we get sidetracked onto Fiends?” Buffett said hurriedly. “Linley, the reason I came here today was because I want to ask the three of you something.”

  “Oh, please ask away,” Linley said.

  “Ask all three of us?” Bebe rubbed his jaw, staring at Buffett.

  Smiling, Buffett said, “Precisely speaking, it’s the two of you.” He pointed at Bebe and Delia.

  “Oh?” Delia was somewhat puzzled as well.

  “What is it, old man? Speak, hurry,” Bebe urged.

  Buffett said, “In the Black Dragon Tribe, the vast majority of those at the rank of God will become a member of our guardian army. The two of you have already become Gods. I wonder if you’d be interested in joining the Black Dragon Tribe’s army? If you join the army, every ten thousand years the chief will bestow a salary upon you. This is a much better life than simply rearing Gerrard Black Dragons. If you rear those dragons, you always have to be by their side. It is quite tiring.”

  “This…?” Bebe hesitated, looking towards Linley.

  Delia laughed and spoke. “Mr. Buffett, we just arrived at the Black Dragon Tribe. There are many things we aren’t familiar with yet, so we aren’t in a rush to join the tribe’s army.”

  “You won’t be able to make money as fast through doing other things as through the army,” Buffett said hurriedly. “I urge you to reconsider.”

  “Mr. Buffett, let’s discuss this again in the future,” Linley said. He had planned long ago that when the chance arose, they would go to the Bloodridge Continent. How could they always stay here at the Black Dragon Tribe? Receive a salary every ten thousand years? To other Deities, ten thousand years truly wasn’t a long period of time, there was no way Linley could wait that long.

  “I just came to let you know of the offer.” Buffett didn’t mind.

  “Mr. Buffett,” Linley hurriedly asked, “I would like to ask, how often do people of the tribe go to Royalwing City?” Comparatively speaking, Royalwing City had to have more powerful forces present. He might be able to find a way to travel to the Bloodridge Continent there.

  “Go to Royalwing City?” Buffett was startled. “Oh, our tribe doesn’t go there on any set schedules. We have to ride metallic creatures to get there. It can range from a short wait of a few years, or perhaps thousands of years between trips.”

  Linley’s heart couldn’t help but lurch. Thousands of years? He had to wait that long? But Buffett suddenly laughed and said, “Wait, I just remembered. In half a year, it seems the tribe will make a trip to Royalwing City.”

  “However, the members of the tribe have to pay five inkstones each if they want to ride on that metallic creature,” Buffett warned Linley and the other two. He could tell that Linley’s group truly wanted to head to that Royalwing City. This wasn’t odd at all. Actually, every single person who had just arrived in the Infernal Realm would be very interested in visiting the large cities in the Infernal Realm.

  “Thank you, Mr. Buffett.” Linley felt a surge of joy in his heart. Just half a year.

  After Buffett left, Linley’s group began to drink and celebrate happily in their living room. In the Infernal Realm, wine was quite a luxury. Of course, Royalwing City had some extremely excellent wine, but the price was astoundingly high. The price of some fine wine could compare to that of a God spark.

  “Each of us have to pay five inkstones to ride on that metallic creature!” Bebe cursed softly. “How black-hearted.”

  “Three of us. That means fifteen inkstones.” Delia looked at Linley. “It seems we need to sell off some divine artifacts.”

  Linley was currently in possession of Highgod artifacts, God artifacts, and Demigod artifacts. Even more astonishingly, he had a Highgod spark. That Highgod spark alone would be enough to allow Linley become a rich man in the Infernal Realm. However… Linley’s group knew that they couldn’t reveal how much wealth they had.

  In the Black Dragon Tribe, if others learned that they had Highgod sparks, most likely they wouldn’t live to see the next day!

  “How about this? I still have four Demigod artifacts on me. I’ll go to the chief’s castle and sell off them off first.” Linley made his decision. “Although I’ll suffer a bit of a loss, there’s no other option.”

  Here in the tribe, a Demigod artifact would only sell for five inkstones, but if he went to Royalwing City he would be able to sell it for seven inkstones, while the shops of Royalwing City would in turn sell it for ten inkstones. Demigod artifacts were cheap, not worth much at all.

  His mind made up, he decided to leave right away. They finished their drinks, then headed directly for that black castle atop the tall mountain peak. On the walls of this black castle, there were over ten Gods standing guard. They stared down at Linley’s group but didn’t say anything. The entire Black Dragon Tribe only had twenty thousand people. Everyone knew each other.

  “Linley, you came?” Someone came out from the side door to the castle. It was Buffett.

  “Mr. Buffett, we came to sell a few Demigod artifacts,” Linley said. Buffett nodded in understanding. “Oh, then come with me.” As he spoke, Buffett led them forward into the castle through a side door.

  Within the castle, there was actually another small castle. “The inner castle is the place where his lordship lives. The outer castle is where the warriors of the tribe live,” Buffett explained. “In the future, if you want to sell something, just head in directly from the side door and go to that shop. Generally speaking, members of the tribe can come into the outer city whenever they want. The guards won’t stop you.” The warriors of the tribe could be seen everywhere within the black castle.

  “Indeed, all of them are Highgods.” Bebe sighed in praise.

  Linley swept those people with his gaze as well. He knew that these people were all warriors of the Black Dragon Tribe. If other tribes were to invade, they would have to rely on these warriors to counterattack and defend. Buffett pointed towards the shop in front of them. “Go on in.”

  Linley and the other two entered the tribe’s shop. Within the shop, there was just a single black-haired middle-aged man seated cross-legged on the floor. When Linley’s group entered, the black-haired man opened his eyes, sweeping them with an icy gaze. He said calmly, “What do you want?”

  Linley was startled. Was this the attitude a shopkeeper had towards his customers? Right at this moment, Buffett walked in from outside as well. “They came to sell artifacts.”

  “Oh. Take out the artifacts,” the black-haired middle-aged man said. With a flip of his hand, Linley produced four Demigod artifacts. These four Demigod artifacts were useless to him anyhow. The black-haired middle-aged man glanced at them, then said calmly, “Four Demigod artifacts, all weapons, nothing special. Five inkstones each, twenty inkstones total!”

  With a flip of his hand, t
he black-haired man retrieved two long inkstones that were ten centimeters long. “Take the inkstones, leave the artifacts.”

  “Huh?” Linley was somewhat surprised. There were actually long inkstones? However, in terms of size, it did indeed appear that a long inkstone was equivalent to ten inkstones. Although he was surprised, Linley still placed the four divine artifacts down while accepting the two long inkstones that the man tossed over.

  After trading for the twenty inkstones, Linley’s group continued living quietly within the Black Dragon Tribe. Usually, they spent their time training quietly, peacefully awaiting the trip in half a year to Royalwing City.

  The mountain ranges of the Black Dragon Tribe had a circumference of a thousand kilometers. Thousands of black dragons could be seen flying about at all times, heading in and out of the mountains. All of the members of the Black Dragon Tribe lived quietly here. However, over a thousand kilometers away from the mountains…

  A savage black tiger that was the size of a mountain, along with a similarly sized vicious golden wolf, was moving together towards the Black Dragon Tribe. Those two astonishingly vast creatures flew at a shockingly fast speed, creating terrifying sonic booms as they flew. Rumble… A thousand kilometers was quickly travelled.

  Halfway up their mountain, in Linley’s residence, Linley was seated in the meditative position, quietly training in the Throbbing Pulse of the World and the Essence of the Earth, working on fusing these profound mysteries. By now, both his original body as well as his divine earth clone were focusing on the Laws of the Earth, hoping to be able to reach the level of completely fusing these two profound elemental mysteries more quickly.

  “Enemies attacking!”

  “Enemies attacking!”

  An ear-piercing voice echoed throughout the Black Dragon Tribe. Even Linley, in the middle of his training, was frightened into wakefulness.

  “What’s going on?” Delia came out from her room, while Bebe flew in from outside, clearly very excited. “Wow, Boss, outside, two enormous aberrations came. Afterwards, I realized that behind those two monsters were a large number of Deities, at least thousands of people.”

  “Enemies attacking?” Linley frowned. “They should be enemies of the tribe.” He began to feel a bit worried. He didn’t know anything about the attackers. What he feared was the enemies defeating the Black Dragon Tribe army, then engaging in a massacre of the survivors. That would make things dangerous. This wasn’t impossible; after all, divine sparks were a form of wealth. It was possible that the enemy truly would massacre the entire Black Dragon Tribe!

  “Let’s go out and take a look!” Linley immediately said. “If the situation looks bad, we will immediately leave.” Linley knew the limits of his own ability.

  Linley and the other two immediately flew out. After flying out of their residence, they discovered that the skies above the mountains were filled with people. Virtually all of the members of the Black Dragon Tribe had flown out. Right now, the Black Dragon Army had also appeared, facing off with the enemy forces.

  Linley and the other two flew over, joining the masses. “Linley, you came.” Linley’s neighbor, Krate, greeted them when he saw them flying over.

  “So this is the army of our Black Dragon Tribe. They seem very formidable.” Linley let out a breath of praise. Up ahead of them, there were over a thousand warriors dressed in the same black battle outfit who were standing together. The murderous aura that a thousand Gods emitted simultaneously was enough to cause Linley’s heart to shudder.

  Krate said proudly, “Indeed. Look over there, that golden-haired person. That’s my big brother!”

  “Raschell, I didn’t expect that even you would join forces with that vicious wolf. I, Stirton, seem to recollect that I treated you quite well!” in the center of the Black Dragon Army, a powerful figure at least two meters tall roared out loudly. “Can it be that you don’t know what sort of person this vicious wolf is? If today you abandon your course, I am willing to gift you a million inkstones. What do you say?”

  Linley raised an eyebrow. “Chief Stirton?” Linley immediately looked over. Stirton was exceedingly powerfully built, and he wore a black robe on his body. He stood in mid-air as though he were a mountain, utterly unshakable.

  “Haha, what a joke! Klotman’s character is better than yours, at least. In addition, a million inkstones? Pagh! If you were willing to give me half of your Gerrard Black Dragons, that wouldn’t be bad.” In the opposing army, there was a person at least three meters tall whose face was covered with whiskers and a face that looked like a tiger’s. The tiger-headed man didn’t give the chief of the Black Dragon Tribe, Stirton, any face at all.

  The other person, a skinny man dressed in a long golden robe, laughed evilly. “Stirton, you’ve taken sole possession of those thousands of Gerrard Black Dragons for so long. Don’t you feel you are being a bit too black-hearted with greed? If you are willing to divide those thousands of Gerrard Black Dragons into three parts, allowing the three of us to split them equally, then today, the people that I brought will immediately leave along with Raschell. What do you say?”

  “Hmph!” A cold snort rang out. Stirton swept them with a cold gaze. “I risked my life years ago to acquirethese Gerrard Dragons. Why should I give them to you?”

  Linley, in the midst of the other members of the Black Dragon Tribe, felt his heart grow cold. “It seems the enemy is composed of an alliance of two other tribes. This will be troublesome.”

  “Haha…” The tiger-headed warrior, Raschell, laughed loudly. “Klotman, let’s not waste any more words with Stirton. Let’s just kill him. We’ll split those Gerrard Black Dragons evenly.”

  The skinny, golden-robed man laughed coldly as well. “Big Brother Raschell, well spoken!”

  “You motherfuckers!” Stirton’s face became ferocious. He immediately sent out his divine sense. “First regiment, launch a group spiritual attack!”

  Nearly eight hundred members of the Black Dragon Army suddenly and simultaneously brandished the weapons in their hands. Countless illusory images shot out from their weapons in a dense barrage.

  “Kill!” the two leaders of the enemy forces shouted as well, and one thousand of the three thousand members of the enemy forces also launched spiritual attacks in a very practiced manner.

  Large amounts of illusory images instantly clashed throughout the air in between the two armies, either dissipating after clashing into each other, or continuing to shoot towards the enemy forces.

  “Good heavens! If tens of thousands of people used a combination soul attack at the same time, most likely even a Highgod would be doomed.” Linley stared, slackjawed.

  7

  A Bloody Battle

  At a distance of several kilometers, the forces of the Black Dragon Tribe and the forces of the two combined enemy armies began to rain down attacks upon each other.

  A distance of several kilometers, given the speed of soul attacks, was instantly crossed. Linley and the other ordinary members of the Black Dragon Tribe could clearly see that in mid-air, a large number of semi-translucent illusions pierced through the sky, attacking the opponents.

  “Boom!” A portion of the soul attacks collided in mid-air, but the majority of the soul attacks passed through to attack the opponents.

  The warriors of the two sides wanted to dodge and avoid these soul attacks. However, the soul attacks covered the entire sky, and so quite a few unlucky God-level warriors were still struck by those soul attacks. Upon being struck… even if they didn’t die, their souls would still be affected.

  “Boom!” “Boom!”

  Corpses of the warriors of the two sides began to fall down from the skies.

  “Semih!”

  “Third Brother!”

  Those God-level warriors all began to feel grief and rage.

  “This battle fought by armies that are completely composed of Gods…” Linley and the other members of the tribe were behind the army. Watching this scene, he felt extrem
ely stunned. “Dozens of Gods perished in an instant. This sort of organized warfare is truly terrifying!”

  The nearby Bebe said quietly, “Uh, if an army of hundreds of thousands of Deities joined forces in an attack, even a Highgod would be finished.”

  Delia’s face changed as well. How could they possibly see a battle like this in the Yulan continent? And yet, here in the Infernal Realm this was nothing more than a skirmish between tribes.

  Linley couldn’t help but think back to what he had experienced in the Necropolis of the Gods. Back then, at the eleventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, he had encountered a million Abyssal Blade Demons. Those millions of Abyssal Blade Demons had dove down while brandishing their blades en masse, resulting in nearly a million energy blows raining down upon them. Linley’s group had nearly been done for.

  “Whoosh!” Suddenly, several rays of soul attacks shot out towards Linley’s group.

  “Quick, dodge!” Linley immediately shouted through his divine sense.

  Not just them. Many of the other members of the Black Dragon Tribe dodged as well.

  Many soul attacks, after being deflected by the God-level warriors of one side, actually flew towards Linley’s group. These were God-level soul attacks, while the majority of those below the army were Demigods. Generally speaking, if they got hit they would most likely die.

  “Let’s not stay behind the army.” Bebe’s face was sour. “It’s too easy to get hit by the remnant attacks.”

  Linley took a close glance at the unfolding battle between the tribes. “The battle is growing more and more vicious!”

  “Physical attacks!” Stirton howled angrily. He was utterly enraged that two tribes were joining forces against him. Under Stirton’s command, the Black Dragon Army’s warriors all began to unleash their physical attacks.