The metallic lifeform shot eastward like a streak of flowing light.
Inside the main hall of the metallic lifeform, Lin Lei and Dilia sat facing each other, while Bei Bei and Zhanjin sat across from one another. The four of them chatted idly.
"My homeland is far more complicated than yours," Zhanjin said with a broad smile, a world away from the terror and desperation of his flight. "Besides, the continent back home is much larger—over a hundred thousand li from the southernmost to the northernmost tip."
Lin Lei nodded slightly. The Yulan Continent was only twenty to thirty thousand li from north to south. Zhanjin's homeland was indeed far more expansive.
"We had three major powers: human society, the Beastman tribes, and the Sea race! There were all sorts of religions, too. Ha ha, don't laugh, but I'm a human, and I actually went and founded a religion among the Beastmen!"
Zhanjin chuckled. "Those Beastmen had no idea that the god they worshipped had once been human."
Lin Lei, Dilia, and Bei Bei had been bored during the journey, so they listened with interest as Zhanjin told stories of his material plane. It had to be said, while Zhanjin's material plane wasn't as complex as the Yulan Plane, its population was far larger, it had more Saint-level powerhouses, and religious wars and racial conflicts were rampant.
"My, my, who would've guessed," Bei Bei said with a grin. "You were quite the big shot back in your material plane."
Zhanjin's story did have a legendary quality to it.
"Sigh." Zhanjin sighed. "When you stand at the very peak of a continent, you get lonely."
Lin Lei nodded faintly.
In truth, the vast majority of powerhouses who left their material planes for higher planes like the Infernal Realm did so because of loneliness!
"I knew the Infernal Realm was dangerous, yet I still chose to come. But the danger here exceeded even my imagination." Zhanjin's voice was filled with gratitude. "If not for the three of you helping me, I wouldn't have been able to scrape together five thousand inkstones."
Zhanjin had no money to pay the five thousand inkstones, but for Lin Lei and the others, that sum was a mere drop in the bucket. During their conversations, they had come to find Zhanjin a decent enough fellow. Bei Bei had generously agreed to cover the five thousand inkstones for him.
Tens of millions of li passed uneventfully. After roughly a month, Lin Lei and his companions arrived at the legendary Amethyst Mountain Range!
"So this is the Amethyst Mountain Range?" Lin Lei stood at the front of the metallic lifeform, gazing through the transparent metal at the vast, boundless mountain range before them.
The Amethyst Mountain Range was immense, stretching hundreds of thousands of li in every direction. While such a range might not sound extraordinary in the Infernal Realm, it was more than enough to fill one's entire field of vision—an endless expanse with no visible end.
White mist drifted across the mountain range.
The strange thing was, all one could see was the mist. The mountains themselves were completely hidden.
"Just as the books say—though it's called a mountain range, it's better known as the 'Mist Sea.' From the outside, you can't see a single peak or stone. It's nothing but unbroken white fog stretching into infinity," Lin Lei remarked with a sense of wonder. Beside him, Dilia, Bei Bei, and Zhanjin were all equally captivated by the sight.
Hundreds of thousands of li blanketed in swirling white mist, the blood-red sunlight filtering through the sky and refracting within the fog to create a spectacular vista. It was genuinely exhilarating to behold.
"How strange," Dilia marveled. "A mountain range this enormous, covered so thoroughly in endless white mist—and the fog never dissipates, year-round. It's truly bizarre." Even she couldn't make sense of it.
Lin Lei, Dilia, and Bei Bei had at least read about the Amethyst Mountain Range in books and knew something about it.
Zhanjin, however, was completely in the dark.
"This is the Amethyst Mountain Range?" He still couldn't believe that this sea of mist was it.
"Come on, let's go down." With a thought from Lin Lei, the enormous metallic lifeform vanished into thin air. Lin Lei, Dilia, and Bei Bei all descended toward the ground below. Zhanjin was caught slightly off guard but steadied himself in an instant and hurried to follow.
The surface of the Amethyst Mountain Range was the Mist Sea itself.
Around its perimeter, however, throngs of people flew about like a raging flood, so numerous it was staggering. Many divine-level experts simply lingered at the edge of the mist, trying their luck to collect amethysts.
On the ground outside the Amethyst Mountain Range—at least within Lin Lei's line of sight—stood three ancient castles.
As the four of them drew near, two middle-aged men in black uniforms flew over. They both glanced at Dilia with surprise, clearly recognizing her as a Highgod demon. They couldn't help but wonder: *A Highgod demon? She wouldn't be here to collect amethysts, surely?*
A Highgod demon could earn far more as a bodyguard than by gathering amethysts. Amethyst collection was typically the work of Lowgods and Midgods.
Noticing that Dilia was a Highgod demon, the two men became considerably more courteous. The golden-haired middle-aged man smiled and spoke. "Excuse me, what brings you here?"
Bei Bei grinned. "The three of us are here to have a look around. This kid here is the one who's come to collect amethysts."
"Oh?" The golden-haired middle-aged man nodded. "The Amethyst Mountain Range is jointly managed by our eighteen families. That said, we don't stop outsiders from entering—whether for sightseeing or amethyst collection. Anyone who wishes to enter must pay five thousand inkstones per person."
Lin Lei nodded slightly. The five-thousand-inkstone toll was a rule that had been passed down for who knew how many years; even the books had mentioned it.
"What if you don't have any inkstones?" Zhanjin asked abruptly.
"Don't have any?" The golden-haired middle-aged man cast him a glance and smiled thinly. "That's fine too. We can let you in, but we won't give you a token. So when you leave… you'll need to hand over three amethysts to us!"
"A token?" Lin Lei raised an eyebrow.
The golden-haired middle-aged man nodded. "That's right. Anyone who pays the five thousand inkstones receives a token insignia. When you leave, you simply return the token, and you're free to go."
Lin Lei and the others understood at once.
"If you'd like to pay the five thousand inkstones, please proceed to the main entrance." The golden-haired middle-aged man pointed toward an elaborately constructed gatehouse in the distance.
In truth, the Amethyst Mountain Range was so vast that one could enter from virtually any point along its perimeter, whether from the sky or from the ground.