The Infernal Plane: Book 5 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Read online

  “Hey, that chief steward named Edmond. Why are they going to the back?” Bebe’s eyes were quite sharp. He discovered that Edmond’s group of people had headed towards the back of Redbud Castle, and didn’t go to the main gates.

  Linley had noticed this as well.

  Actually, although many people entered the main gates of Redbud Castle, there were quite a few people who were entering Redbud Castle through the rear gates as well. The number was not any lower than those going through the main gates, in fact.

  “Linley, Redbud Castle is divided into the main gate and the rear gate. Those who go in through the main gates are all going to Redbud Castle for shopping, while those who enter through the rear gates do so because they are going to sell their own items to Redbud Castle!” the jade-haired youth, Daebra, explained with a chuckle.

  Linley understood.

  So Redbud Castle didn’t just sell items; it also purchased them.

  “Let’s hurry,” Daebra urged.

  Holding Delia by the hand, Linley headed forward with Bebe by his side, following the flow of people through to the rear of Redbud Castle. After walking for several kilometers, Linley’s group finally reached the rear gates of Redbud Castle.

  Indeed…

  The rear gates were over a hundred meters wide as well, and a dense mass of people passed through them.

  Delia laughed, “Most of those who are coming to sell items belong to the tribes and clans located outside Royalwing City. There really are quite a few people here. Redbud Castle buys at 70% while sells at 100%. They earn a profit of 30%… this Redbud Castle is a place which devours gold.”

  “There isn’t a chance for others to engage in this business.” Linley chuckled. Behind the Redbud Castle was an almighty Sovereign!

  And then, Linley’s group followed the other members of the Black Dragon Tribe into Redbud Castle. Although there were nearly two hundred people in the Black Dragon Tribe’s group, upon entering Redbud Castle, they only made up an extremely small number of the total guests.

  “This place is huge!” Linley exhaled in shock.

  Linley’s group, upon entering the first floor of Redbud Castle, discovered that the main hall of this first floor was one or two thousand meters wide. This sort of width was an extremely extravagant sum. More than ten thousand people could pass through it without feeling cramped.

  “There are quite a few Deities who have come to sell their items.” Bebe was clearly quite excited.

  “The main hall of the first floor is for those who have come to sell Demigod sparks, Demigod artifacts, and other items worth a hundred inkstones or less,” Daebra said in a very practiced manner as he explained to Linley’s group. “For example, I’ve come to sell a God spark this time, so I will go to the second floor. In the main hall of the second floor, items like God sparks or God artifacts that are worth around ten thousand inkstones or less can be sold. As for the third floor, that’s the floor for selling Highgod artifacts, Highgod sparks, and other precious items that can be worth up to a million inkstones, or even more.”

  Linley’s group followed the Black Dragon Tribe’s men up to the main hall of the second floor.

  But of course, more than half of the Black Dragon Tribe’s people stayed at the first floor’s main hall. Clearly, these people had all come to sell fairly cheap items.

  “Linley, look. There are many sales counters over there in the main hall, with many people seated there. Those people are the purchasers for Redbud Castle. Haha, have a good look. I’ll go sell some things first.” Daebra waved towards Linley’s group, then headed directly to one of the sales counters in the main hall of the second floor.”

  After Daebra left, Linley and the other two exchanged glances.

  “Let’s go to the third floor!” Linley said.

  Linley’s group had quite a few treasures on them. Two Highgod artifacts, and a Highgod spark. These were all exceedingly valuable items.

  The stairs going from the main hall of the first to second floor were all exceedingly large, but the stairs from the main hall of the second floor to the main hall of the third floor was much narrower. Even the gateway into the hall was a full size smaller, and the number of people was much lower as well.

  Obviously, the number of people who were selling precious items was much lower than those selling items in the first and second floors.

  “Edmond!” Linley saw that up above, Edmond had led his three subordinates directly into the gateway to the third floor. At the gateway to the third floor, an employee wearing a long violet robe seemed to chat with Edmond about something, and then Edmond took out a divine spark.

  “Why did Edmond take out the divine spark?” Linley was somewhat puzzled.

  And then, the violet-robed man let them through. Edmond led his three subordinates into the third floor.

  When Linley’s group reached the doorway to the third floor…

  The violet-robed man stretched his hand out, stopping Linley’s group from going through.

  “Huh?” Linley’s group looked curiously at the man.

  “What have you come to sell? Let me take a look,” the violet-robed man said. Seeing the puzzled look on the faces of Linley’s group, he laughed calmly, “Is this your first time? This third floor is different from the lower floors. Every person who enters has to present an item for inspection. Otherwise, no entry is permitted.”

  Linley now understood. Thinking back to what Edmond had just done, he now knew what that was all about.

  But right at that moment, two youngsters walked past Linley, ignoring the violet-robed men as they headed directly into the third floor.

  “Hey, how come they didn’t have to show any items?” Bebe said in confusion.

  The violet-robed man was fairly patient and good-tempered. With a calm laugh, he said, “Didn’t you notice? They all had Fiend medallions on their chests. They are Fiends! As Fiends, we have faith in their reputation. When they come, they will definitely have brought quite a few valuable items. There’s no need for them to be inspected.”

  Linley sighed to himself, “Fiends. They don’t have to pay any fees when entering the city, and they don’t have to be inspected when entering the third floor of Redbud Castle. Their status really is different.”

  While thinking this to himself, Linley retrieved the black dagger with a flip of his hands. This black dagger was the Highgod artifact that Adkins had left behind after his divine darkness clone had been slain.

  “Go in.” The violet-robed man nodded.

  They entered the third floor of Redbud Castle. This main hall was clearly a size smaller, but it was still hundreds of meters wide. Only, the people here were clearly much sparser in number.

  “That’s the place where they buy items!” Bebe ran up ahead as the three of them headed towards a sales counter.

  But right at this moment…

  “Lord Edmond, look!” The chief steward of the Black Dragon Tribe, Edmond, and his three subordinates had noticed Linley’s group. “Lord Edmond, aren’t they members of our tribe? Those three who were amongst the five who were making their first trips to Royalwing City? They actually came to the third floor!”

  Edmonds looked at the distant Linley and the other two.

  There were only five people for whom this trip to Royalwing City with the Black Dragon Tribe truly was their first trip. Edmond had seen all of them. Naturally, he recognized and remembered Linley’s group.

  “I didn’t expect that these three had a fortune on them.” Edmond’s eyes narrowed, and a cold light flashed through them. “It seems our tribe’s internal supervisory abilities are insufficient.”

  In the Infernal Realm, when one’s wealth reached a certain level, there would be others who would desire it.

  If you wanted to peacefully enjoy your fortune of a million inkstones that you had spent hundreds of millions of years accumulating, you might just find that some other experts would take it all from you.

  This wouldn’t have been the first
or second time for Edmond’s group to have done such a thing.

  “Don’t worry, milord. Since we already know now, the three of them won’t be able to escape you. When we leave Royalwing City, we can make our move then,” the nearby God said insidiously.

  Edmond nodded.

  Everyone allowed to enter the third floor had items that were worth at least a million inkstones. Even a Highgod such as Edmond would be desirous of such a fortune.

  At a row of sales counter on the side of the third floor’s main hall, there were violet-robed employees seated at every counter. Linley’s group walked towards one of them, a silver-haired old man.

  “Hrm?” The violet-robed, silver-haired old man raised his head and smiled calmly. “What are you selling? Take it out.”

  Linley and the other two glanced at each other, and then with a flip of his hand, Linley withdrew that black dagger and gave it to the silver-haired old man. “This Highgod artifact.”

  Although Linley’s group was still in possession of the Spear of Cortez and that Highgod spark, this was Linley’s group’s first trip into Royalwing City. There were many things they didn’t know about yet. Linley’s group wasn’t in a hurry either. After all… if they truly needed money desperately, they could come again.

  In addition…

  Redbud Castle wasn’t the only place that purchased goods. There was also that Blacksand Castle. Only, there was a great deal of intrigue and competitive forces within Blacksand Castle. It was rather disorderly and chaotic. Without gaining a good understanding of the situation, Linley wouldn’t be in a hurry to go there.

  “This dagger really is quite fine,” the violet-robed elder nodded in praise. “It is indeed a Highgod artifact, and its previous owner should have been a Highgod who trained in the Laws of Darkness who had used this dagger to kill quite a few experts. It has a very thick murderous aura. Not bad. We will buy this dagger for a price of 750,000 inkstones Are you willing to sell?” The violet-robed elder made his decision.

  Linley nodded. “Fine.”

  Based on his calculations, Linley had been planning to sell this item for a price of 700,000 inkstones, which would have been a fine price. Thus, this price of 750,000 inkstones made Linley quite satisfied. Linley understood… that perhaps this dagger was an excellent Highgod artifact and that perhaps he had been taken slight advantage of.

  But Linley didn’t care too much about such a small sum.

  “This is a hundred azurites, equivalent to a hundred thousand inkstones. Two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand…” As he spoke, the violet-robed elder brought out large pieces of azure stones out.

  Linley immediately understood.

  “As I thought!” When Linley’s group had killed those Gods, they had acquired a few azure colored stones. At that time, Linley had hypothesized that those azure stones were a form of currency, because their aura was identical to the aura of the inkstones. Only, the aura was far stronger.

  A single azurite was shaped in a square that was one centimeter long.

  The ones that this violet-robed elder brought out, however, were square slabs that were ten centimeters long and one centimeter wide. Indeed, this larger azurite slab was equivalent to a hundred smaller azurite stones. In other words, it was worth a hundred thousand inkstones!

  Seven azurite slabs and five long azurite stones.

  “Seven hundred and fifty thousand. Collect them.” The violet-robed elder handed them to Linley.

  “Dare I ask, aside from using them to purchase items, do these inkstones and azurites have any other purpose?” Linley still had the feeling that the unique aura of these azurites and inkstones should have some special purpose.

  The violet-robed elder’s eyes lit up. Glancing sideways at Linley, he laughed calmly, “It’s useless for you to know this information, so there’s no need for you to ask.”

  Linley was curious, but since this person wasn’t willing to tell, Linley didn’t pursue this line of questioning.

  “If you go through that gate in the main hall, you will arrive at the main hall on the other side. If you want to buy something, you can go to that main hall,” the violet-robed elder said.

  Linley had guessed this long ago.

  This was because Redbud Castle’s main gate was reserved for people buying things, while the rear gate was reserved for people selling things to the castle employees.

  It was one structure with two sides.

  “Let’s go take a look.” Delia was very curious.

  “I wonder what the Infernal Realm has.” Bebe was excited as well. Linley laughed and nodded, then followed through the third floor’s corridor to the other main hall on the third floor.

  From afar…

  “Hrm? They are going to the main hall on the other side?” Edmond, noticing this, couldn’t help but frown.

  He immediately instructed his subordinates, “Go wait at the main gates. And you, you go to the rear gates. Keep watch on those three.”

  “Yes, milord.”

  The two Gods immediately left.

  12

  Instant Refining

  After passing through the corridor, Linley’s group arrived at the main hall on the other side of the third floor of Redbud Castle, where a large number of wares were on display. On this hall, there were clearly far more people present, most in groups of three to five people who walked along each of the sales counters, carefully inspecting each item.

  “Boss, look.” Bebe pointed at the stairway. “There’s nobody at the stairway standing guard. Anyone who wants to come here can. It isn’t like the other side, where those violet-robed men stand guard.”

  Delia laughed. “Bebe, they have their goods on display here. Naturally, they have to show them off to people. But as I see it… although there are many people here looking at the goods, there probably aren’t many who are truly buying.”

  There were signs with words hanging off the walls behind all of the sales counters throughout the third floor.

  Linley was very surprised. “Offensive artifacts, defensive artifacts, medicines, materials, training support items, divine sparks…” Clearly, the many different sales counters here in the third floor all had different products for sale.

  “Linley, look. That one over there is selling houses.” Delia pointed towards a corner of the main hall.

  “I’ve always heard that establishing one’s self in Royalwing City is very expensive. Let’s take a look and see how expensive the houses here are.” Linley was curious. He led Bebe and Delia over.

  There were many Deities over here, watching.

  “Everyone, you are very lucky. In Royalwing City, there are currently three houses left which have no owners! Everyone, seize your chance. If you miss this opportunity, there won’t be another one,” within the sales counter, a violet-robed youth said calmly.

  “The entire Royalwing City only has three empty houses?” Linley didn’t dare believe it.

  A nearby onlooker glanced at Linley. “My friend, the houses of Royalwing City were all snatched up and purchased hundreds of millions of years ago. The houses that can be bought now are all houses where the owners have died, resulting in Redbud Castle then selling the houses off again. That’s why we don’t need to be in a rush to buy. You must understand that Royalwing City has perhaps tens of millions of citizens. In a short period of time, perhaps others will die. Their houses would then be available for purchase, right? But alas, the prices are too expensive. I’ll wait for a cheaper house first.”

  Hearing these words, Linley now understood.

  The available houses in Royalwing City were only made available for sale after their original owner died. Houses without owners would return to the ownership of Redbud Castle, who would then continue to sell them!

  “That makes sense. Royalwing City, despite banning fighting, has tens of millions of citizens who can’t always be within the city. For example, some Fiends… they have to go out to take missions. If they die, then the houses would return t
o Redbud City.” Linley only felt puzzled about one thing.

  How did Redbud Castle know if a house’s owner was deceased?

  “Perhaps they have some techniques akin to binding by blood,” Linley guessed to himself.

  While considering this question, Linley, Delia, and Bebe drew near the sales counter to look at the price of these three houses. Upon seeing the listed price, the three of them were terrified!

  “What a man-eating price!” Bebe breathed in shock. “Even the cheapest house requires sixty million inkstones!”

  Linley was shocked as well. Of the three houses, the most expensive one was nearly three hundred million inkstones, while the second one was around 120 million inkstones. The cheapest one still cost sixty million inkstones.

  “Indeed, it is too expensive. Why can’t some more of the original owners of the cheaper houses die?” a nearby Deity also grumbled angrily.

  “The cheapest houses in Royalwing City can be bought for just eight million inkstones. However, as soon as those cheap houses appear, they will immediately be snatched up.” A nearby God sighed. “How long will it take before I am able to afford a sixty million inkstone house?”

  Linley nodded to himself.

  Not all houses were the same. Some were ridiculously expensive, but from the sound of it, the cheaper ones were only eight million or so. It was a matter of luck. After all, everyone wanted those cheap houses. As soon as one appeared, it might be instantly taken.

  “Becoming a citizen of Royalwing City truly is difficult.” Linley let out a sigh.

  He had thought that he was now fairly wealthy, but upon seeing the housing prices, he realized that the Highgod spark he had which was worth seven million inkstones really was nothing at all.

  Linley’s group of three left the sales counter. After all, they didn’t actually want to buy houses. Linley was planning to travel to the distant Bloodridge Continent. How could he settle down in this city?