Chapter 71: Investigating Blood Dragon Valley and the Dilemma of the Hunt

At the hotel on the outskirts of Netherdark Mountain, a metallic being approached cautiously, and when it was still several li away, the metallic being abruptly vanished, and Shawn and Parhaus appeared in the sky;

A wave of Death's power enveloped the two, then rose to a low altitude above the ground and flew toward the hotel.

"Why does the teacher seem so cautious?" Parhaus asked, a little puzzled;

Along the way, their metallic being was also beset by numerous bandit attacks, but each was finished with a single move, no matter how god‑level, never a second move;

Based on his understanding, his teacher must be at least Asura‑rank, the level of the 81 top lords of the Netherworld.

The two soon arrived at the Netherdark Hotel, and Parhaus curiously surveyed everything around; it seemed that even the janitors and pond‑cleaners here were high‑tier deities—something you wouldn't see even in a city.

Shawn approached a red‑haired girl who was fishing, sat down, and said, "Boss, may I try fishing too?"

After attaining Great Perfection, he had also lived on Netherdark Mountain for a while, and his relationship with the Death Sovereign had improved considerably; at least before many people he no longer needed to bow.

Moreover, as a Great Perfection high‑tier deity, many across the divine realms know him; if he bows to the Death Sovereign's water‑type divine avatar, others instantly infer that he is the principal deity.

The Death Sovereign had naturally already noticed Shawn approaching, and smiled, "Fine."

She then reached into her spatial ring, took out a set of fishing gear, and tossed it over.

"Thanks," Shawn replied, and immediately began fishing;

Fishing is the Death Sovereign's hobby; she lets Shawn accompany her, and according to her, she has also drawn several other principal deities to fish together;

Only because Shawn is a Great Perfection high‑tier deity does he have this privilege; any other envoy could only dream of it.

The Death Sovereign glanced again at Parhaus in the distance and asked Shawn, "Who is this mid‑tier deity beside you?"

"He's a disciple I just accepted," Shawn replied offhand.

A hint of surprise appeared on the Death Sovereign's face: "A disciple? What's special about this mid‑tier deity that you could take him as a disciple?"

Great Perfection can be called the pinnacle of the eleven divine realms; even principal deities show it three‑fold respect, yet Great Perfection often looks down on the principal deities. Those principal deities are aware of this, but since none of them say it outright, that's how it remains.

To have such an arrogant being accept a disciple likely requires a chance that even the offspring of principal deities never get.

Shawn laughed, "His talent is impressive; he's not even 700 years old yet he's close to Water Three Fusion. He might reach Water Four Fusion before ten thousand years, enough to become a Seven‑Star Demon, and eventually becoming an Asura shouldn't be a problem."

The Death Sovereign smiled, "That talent is indeed good, but he's just of an ordinary race; if he were a divine beast, Five Fusion would be quite strong."

Shawn replied, "Powerful divine beasts or special races are scarce between Heaven and Earth; there aren't that many beings with such strong talents."

Whether it's soul mutation or formidable divine beasts, their numbers are very few; among them, those who achieve Five Fusion are a minority. Basically, anyone who reaches that realm becomes a peak strength of the divine realms, far surpassing ordinary races and is valued by the principal deities;

But Heaven and Earth are also fair; these special races rarely attain Great Perfection. Across Heaven and Earth, Great Perfection, aside from the Destroyer Sovereign, is likely limited to ordinary races.

The Death Sovereign nodded and said, "So you intend to have him eat the Netherdark Fruit?"

Shawn shook his head, "No. Even if he wants the Netherdark Fruit later, he'll have to obtain it with his own ability. I brought him here hoping he can stay at the Netherdark Hotel for a while;

There are many experts here, including some water‑type masters, so let him train here."

Although the Netherdark Hotel has explicit rules prohibiting combat, in practice the punishments are lax; many Seven‑Star and Six‑Star demons come here and frequently get into conflicts;

Usually a few guards can handle it; if they can't, the Death Sovereign intervenes personally, but she never kills. It seems not out of benevolence but intentional, so there's plenty of entertainment to watch, and she has a reason to step in when appropriate.

"Mid‑tier deity? Fine, let him work here; I'll also pay him some Netherstone," the Death Sovereign said, clearly not too concerned;

She'll also save face for the Great Perfection high‑tier deity, after all it's just another worker; she even guessed Shawn's goal is to keep his disciple near him, perhaps to catch a chance to act herself and seek a breakthrough.

Shawn smiled, "Thanks."

In the original work, Lin Lei watched the Death Sovereign's water‑type divine avatar strike and then broke through; being able to stay beside such a peak powerhouse, whether guided or merely observing her moves, would be very useful for Parhaus;

Finding such an environment elsewhere is difficult; only Netherdark Mountain draws experts from the Netherworld and other realms, once a month, and even conflicts that occur once every few years become rare learning opportunities.

The Death Sovereign asked again, "And you? Planning to stay at the hotel for a while, or go up to Netherdark Mountain?"

"Either works," Shawn said, "but I'll leave soon; I still have some matters to attend to."

Facing the possible exposure of the supreme deity's relic, he must be cautious, removing any potential thunder quickly; otherwise, if the principal deity truly discovers it, he'll have no choice but to hand the relic to the Death Sovereign, which might be the best option;

Additionally, he needs to investigate the state of life and the Light Principal Deity across Heaven and Earth, to seek a suitable moment and opportunity to obtain the corresponding divine form; attaining a high‑tier might be difficult, but a mid‑tier is still possible.

The Death Sovereign glanced at Shawn, "So you just want him to look after your disciple, huh?"

"The Sovereign is joking," Shawn replied, "I just want him to find a chance to improve himself." At this moment the space around the two was sealed; outsiders could see the scene but could not hear any sound.

"As you wish," the Death Sovereign said indifferently; no employee of the Netherdark Hotel would be in mortal danger, a few more wouldn't matter, but she added, "Shawn, I might have another matter that needs your help."

"What is it?" Shawn asked back.

The Death Sovereign shook her head, "It's better you don't know about this for now; when the right time comes, I will tell you."

"Alright, as long as it's within my ability, I'll do my best," Shawn replied vaguely, facing the Death Sovereign's mysterious aura.

Great Perfection is still god‑level, but its rank is far below that of a principal deity.

The Death Sovereign sighed, "It's somewhat difficult; we'll see then."

Shawn frowned slightly, not knowing what the Death Sovereign wanted him to do, but since she wouldn't say, he didn't press further.

A hundred years passed quickly; Shawn also fished alongside the Death Sovereign for several years, occasionally returning to Netherdark Mountain to see how many high‑tier deities inside the mountain had lost their minds, either slain by small snakes or driven mad by gray mist, all over the Netherdark Fruit.

All these god‑level masters are merely the Death Sovereign's amusement; if one isn't a peak, they never catch her eye.

One day, the Death Sovereign happened to clash with a water‑affiliated high‑tier deity causing a disturbance at the Netherdark Hotel; their water‑law techniques turned half the sky a teal hue;

The Death Sovereign's fishing line was extremely resilient; the opponent, also a Seven‑Star Demon master, despite his rounded, subtle defenses, ultimately had his divine long sword sliced by the line, then his whole body was bound by the line and tossed into the water to feed the fish.

"Causing trouble in my hotel once is one thing; a second time I won't spare you," the Death Sovereign said coldly, laughing, "Now I sentence you to stay here for a thousand years, raise my fish properly, feed them daily."

The bound Seven‑Star Demon turned crimson, his body radiating teal divine power; the fishing line binding him was of unknown material, impossible to break. In the end, between life and death, he could only agree, "Fine, I will."

"That'll do," the Death Sovereign's mouth twitched into a smile, then she retracted her fingers, and the line vanished into her sleeve.

Shawn watched from afar and smiled; that fishing line is of primary artifact level—once bound, unless you're a Great Perfection, you basically can't escape.

At that moment, "Boom~", the Heaven‑and‑Earth Law descended.

Parhaus was lifted into the sky by the power of the Heaven‑and‑Earth Law; a black divine form erupted from his forehead, and under the law's influence it gradually upgraded into a high‑tier divine form, then the law vanished;

Parhaus fell from the sky, and at that moment his entire being radiated high‑tier deity aura.

The Death Sovereign saw the landed Parhaus, glanced at Shawn nearby, and exclaimed in surprise, "Indeed, the talent is high."

Shawn flew over, smiling, "Parhaus, congratulations, you've become a high‑tier deity."

"I still have to thank the teacher for the guidance," Par Haas bowed and said.

Over these years, in the Nether Hotel, he also learned his teacher's true identity: the sole Great Perfection of the netherworld, the strongest god‑level being between heaven and earth, the God‑Emperor Great Perfection Upper God.

Even though Shawn does not cultivate the Water Path, a little guidance still benefited him greatly.

"This is your opportunity," Shawn said again. "I'm about to leave; for the coming period, stay here, and when the mysterious Four Fusion is complete, go out on your own."

To become a true pinnacle, one must venture out oneself; otherwise, having the Great Perfection talent alone is useless.

Par Haas hurriedly asked, "Teacher, can't I go with you?"

"No need; when your strength grows a bit more, then serve me," Shawn said with a faint smile.

"Yes, teacher." Par Haas understood that his current strength was indeed insufficient before a Great Perfection.

Then Shawn bid farewell to the Death Sovereign, and alone rode his metallic life, leaving the Nether Mountain.

In the following several hundred years, Shawn's metallic life flew over the Nether Continent at such a speed that even ordinary Upper God bandits, upon seeing it, had no interest in disturbing it.

One day, Shawn's metallic life approached a valley, but was suddenly blocked by a multitude of Upper Gods: "Halt, this is the Blood Dragon Valley, the stronghold of the Four Beast Clan; outsiders may not approach."

"So it's the Four Beast Clan; then I'll go around," a calm voice came from within the metallic life.

The soldiers of the Four Beast Clan's army, after hearing this, also showed a disdainful gaze; having seen the metallic life speed past from afar, they guessed it might contain a super‑strong individual.

Yet they were not very worried—who would dare cause trouble in Blood Dragon Valley? And the other's reaction was the same; upon hearing the Four Beast Clan's name, they immediately turned away.

Seeing the metallic life skirt around from the side, they ceased pursuit; if the other side still infringed on the Four Beast Clan's territory, other clan soldiers would naturally deal with it.

Inside the metallic life, Shawn projected his Divine Perception to the utmost, combining two wills, might, and the Lord God's Power; his Divine Perception spanned over a million li, covering the entire Blood Dragon Valley.

He identified each person's soul aura one by one, then compared them with the soldiers he first fought alongside Buweit's team in his memory, quickly discovering many people within Blood Dragon Valley.

These people were his targets.

During the first encounter, only a few dozen of those people escaped his killing; those escapees are his targets, and many others also possess Divine Clones, also residing in Blood Dragon Valley.

The metallic life soon halted about 500,000 li from Blood Dragon Valley, and Shawn opened his eyes, pondering several questions.

First, how to lure all these people out; this is the Four Beast Clan's stronghold, and as a Great Perfection, he cannot simply charge in and kill.

Second, the initial encounter was brief; at that time he was surrounded by thousands of armies wielding the Lord God's Power, forcing him to be cautious and he did not record every soul aura—only some elites were noted; the ordinary Upper Gods who were wiped out by a single wave of soul attacks were of no concern to him.

Third, in this investigation, some people from his memory appear not to be in Blood Dragon Valley.

Fourth, it would be best not to kill only these people but to also eliminate many others; otherwise, the Four Beast Clan might, upon investigation, discover that the dead had once taken part in a siege against him, which would be disastrous for him—if those people discern a pattern and flee to the city, he would be helpless.

"We still need to obtain accurate information; this matter must be planned collectively, not acted on blindly."

Shawn thought for a long time but could not devise a discreet way to eliminate a batch of people from a powerful Lord God family.

"We must accurately locate the people who were with Buweit back then—a member of the Four Beast Clan who knows everyone's identities." If a precise plan cannot be made, then they can only proceed step by step.

My specialty is the Death Rule; when I was a peak Asura back then, I could try to locate the missed Upper Gods—those Upper Gods within the Four Beast Clan who lack Divine Clones, and I can do so now as well.

However, there is another issue: back then I was an Asura and did not attract the Lord God's attention; now I am a Great Perfection, and if I act near Blood Dragon Valley, a Lord God might detect it, inform the Four Beast Clan, or even the Four Beast Clan might detect it themselves, putting me in trouble.

The Lord God's Divine Perception can probe his own Upper God's Divine Clones, which he cannot detect; meanwhile, his Death Sovereign clone cannot enter the netherworld—if it does, other Lord Gods will notice, potentially forcing him to face Augustus and even a joint assault from the Four Beast Clan.

This risk seems even greater; it must be plotted slowly and carefully.

PS: Please give monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)