In a desolate stretch of continuous mountains, people were scarce.
Those familiar with the area knew it had been claimed by a band of brigands, and ordinary folk dared not linger here. Along the edges of the mountain range, at the midpoint of the slopes, thick clusters of vines and wild grass grew, and behind that tangle lay the sheer cliff face.
Yet strangely enough—
The vines and grass parted, and a head emerged from within. It belonged to a slightly plump young man with clear, innocent eyes.
He tilted his head up to look at the sky. It was already deep into the night, and heavy clouds blanketed the heavens, plunging the entire land into near-total darkness. Even a divine-level powerhouse could only make out shapes within a few hundred meters. The young man gave a slight nod. "Good weather tonight. Time to keep moving."
Whoosh!
The young man transformed into a gust of wind, drifting swiftly eastward, silent as a whisper. In moments he had covered thousands of miles.
"Hmm?" The wind stopped, and the young man reverted to his original form. He lay flat against the ground, watching the distance intently. He had noticed a faint disturbance out there. After observing for a moment, he spotted a beastman with a tail sprinting at full speed.
"Just a Saint-realm creature." The young man let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He turned himself into a gentle breeze once more and crept forward, using the cover of darkness. At times he advanced, at times he froze. Moving with extreme caution, he suddenly detected a metal life-form flying overhead at tremendous speed, and his face lit up with delight.
Whoosh!
He unleashed his full speed and shot skyward in pursuit of the metal life-form. In terms of short-range velocity, divine-level powerhouses could generally keep up with metal life-forms. As the young man drew close, he immediately sent out his divine sense, probing the mid-tier gods inside.
"Everyone, I'm only a mid-tier god—please, give me a lift!" He transmitted his voice via divine sense into the vessel.
But the metal life-form ignored him completely.
"My lords, please, just this once," he tried again.
"Get lost. One more word, and I'll kill you." A divine sense transmission shot back down, and the young man immediately slowed.
He shook his head and sighed, then transformed back into a gust of wind and descended to the ground, continuing eastward through the pitch-black night. Along the way he encountered three metal life-forms, each carrying a large number of passengers, but all three times his pleas for help were refused.
Since no one would help, he could only rely on himself. He pushed hard and covered two hundred thousand miles before dawn. As the first gray light of morning crept across the horizon, the young man stopped.
He had come to rest on a vast plain overgrown with wild grass.
Ssssss— The young man channeled his divine power, instantly boring a hole into the earth. The entrance to the burrow was concealed by the surrounding grass, making it quite隐蔽—quite well hidden.
"Phew."
Inside the burrow, the young man sat down calmly, his brow furrowed. "At this pace, it'll probably take decades to reach the Amethyst Mountain Range. I never imagined that I, Zhanjin, would be reduced to this. This hell... truly is no place to trifle with."
As memories of his time in Hell flooded back, Zhanjin felt a wave of bitterness and lament wash over him.
But his composure returned almost instantly.
"No matter what, my first goal is to reach the Amethyst Mountain Range. That range will mark my true first step in Hell!" Zhanjin's gaze sharpened. No matter how much suffering he endured, he would never give up.
Unyielding. Confident.
This was why Zhanjin had been able to become a god, and why he was still alive today.
"Fortunately, divine sense can only cover a very limited range in Hell. If it worked like it does in material planes, where divine sense could sweep across vast distances, brigands and bandits would find their targets with ease." Zhanjin smiled faintly. "Ah, but completely dark, moonless nights like tonight only occur once or twice a month at best."
He knew that if he traveled during the day, he would certainly be spotted. And once discovered, with his strength as a newly advanced mid-tier god, he would never escape.
He could only move on those pitch-black nights. But truly lightless nights happened only about a third of the time in a single night, and they occurred only once or twice a month. The window was far too small.
"I have to keep being this cautious... or hope to run into someone kind-hearted enough to give me a ride."
Zhanjin understood. Generally, people traveling inside a metal life-form couldn't be bothered with others. Even bandits didn't bother chasing them relentlessly—it was a waste of time and energy, and the payoff wasn't worth it. If even bandits couldn't be bothered, then someone like Zhanjin, begging for a ride, stood even less chance.
"All I can do is wait." Zhanjin immediately got to work, plugging the burrow's entrance with packed earth, leaving only a tiny crack to let in a sliver of light.
On such vast plains, most of the inhabitants were ordinary Saint-realm creatures, and bandits certainly weren't going to search the land inch by inch—unless they had nothing better to do.
He waited.
Roughly twenty-seven days passed before another pitch-black night arrived.
Zhanjin quietly parted the grass, looked around to confirm no one was nearby, then slipped out of the burrow and transformed into a wisp of wind, continuing eastward. This time he traveled for about two hours before spotting another metal life-form.
But when he flew toward it at top speed and sent a transmission requesting a ride, he was once again refused and berated.