The entire hall fell silent for a moment. Everyone had been stunned by the red-haired girl's move just now. The fishing line had danced through the air and seemed to control the surrounding space, as though countless whirlpools were constantly converging to form a dense net of spatial threads. The scene was far too bizarre!
"So powerful!" Every Highgod in the hall understood why the hotel dared to declare that fighting was forbidden on its premises.
"Hmph!" The purple-haired youth snorted in fury, lightning crackling and surging throughout his body. At times his entire form dissolved into bolts of lightning as he tried to break free from the fishing line. But the line that bound him glowed with a green radiance, sealing him completely. No matter how the purple-haired youth struggled, he could not escape!
"Causing trouble in my hotel — you've got some nerve," the red-haired girl said with a cold snort. "You won't have to pay for the damage, but you can serve as my bait."
With that, the pretty red-haired girl hoisted the fishing rod onto her shoulder. The fishing line was still wound tight around the purple-haired youth, and just like that she walked out of the hotel and headed for the grass outside. When she reached the edge of the lake, she flicked the rod, and with a splash the purple-haired youth plunged into the water.
"She actually used him as bait," Bei Bei said in astonishment. "Boss, this woman is—" He froze. "Boss!"
Bei Bei was shocked to discover that Lin Lei had closed his eyes and was sitting perfectly still.
At that moment, a scene of overwhelming awe was flashing through Lin Lei's mind — the image of the fishing line spiraling and twisting, like countless whirlpools churning within crashing waves, ceaseless and unending. Lin Lei had cultivated the Laws of the Water Element for years, and the only piece that still eluded him was the sixth profound mystery, the Profound Mystery of Supreme Softness, which remained at a bottleneck.
Within the Laws of the Water Element, the Profound Mystery of Supreme Softness was relatively easy to grasp at the入门 level, yet it was the hardest to bring to perfection.
Water — the ultimate softness!
A single, delicate fishing line that could make space itself flow like water, forming countless intertwined spatial threads, a spatial net that bound and包裹ed its target. This level of skill meant the red-haired girl had cultivated the Laws of the Water Element to a truly terrifying degree. Seeing this scene ignited a spark in Lin Lei's mind.
Enlightenment struck!
Hummm~~~ A wave of the Laws of the World suddenly descended upon the hotel hall. Masses of water-elemental energy gathered, forming a misty cloud above Lin Lei's head. A terrifying pressure radiated outward — a pressure that stood above all else, a pressure before which every living being would instinctively submit.
From Lin Lei's body, a water-element divine clone abruptly split away — a green-haired Lin Lei.
"Boss, you broke through?" Bei Bei's face lit up with delight.
Outside the hotel, beside the lake, the red-haired girl — who had been using a person as bait to fish — suddenly frowned and glanced back at the hall in surprise. "Hm? He broke through just by watching me use that move? This man's comprehension ability is truly astonishing." At the same time, she flicked her fishing rod and tossed the "bait" aside.
The purple-haired youth rolled across the ground, then immediately sprang to his feet.
"All right, I'm not in the mood to punish you anymore," the red-haired girl said coldly. "Remember — no more trouble in my hotel. I'll let you off easy this once. If there's a next time… I'll kill you outright!"
The black-robed, purple-haired youth stared at her silently for a moment, then walked to a nearby spot, sat cross-legged on the grass, and closed his eyes.
The red-haired girl set down her fishing rod, stood up, and turned back toward the hall.
Inside, staff were tidying up, and many Highgods in the restaurant were buzzing with discussion — mostly about the red-haired girl, Lin Lei, and the purple-haired youth.
"This time it looks hopeless. Even if we're lucky and the Netherworld Fruit shows up, we can't compete with those people."
"Those two who came from the Infernal Realm are genuinely powerful."
"Don't give up so easily. Inside the Netherworld Mountain, it's all fog and mist, and everyone spreads out to search. It's not like the strongest fighter is guaranteed to get the Netherworld Fruit! Maybe one of us will get lucky and find it."
Having witnessed the strength of the purple-haired youth, Lin Lei, and the others, they knew they couldn't match them — but they still refused to give up. Finding the Netherworld Fruit wasn't just about power. Luck mattered too. Over countless ages, only three Netherworld Fruits had ever appeared. The odds were astronomically low, but they wanted to try anyway.
If they didn't try, they would remain ordinary Highgods in the vast Netherworld for eternity.
But if they tried — maybe their power would leap forward, and they would become messengers of a Sovereign, standing at the very pinnacle of the Netherworld.
"Boss, congratulations!" Bei Bei happily raised his cup and simultaneously activated his divine realm to keep their conversation private.
"Looks like my luck is pretty good right now," Lin Lei said with a smile. "My water-element divine clone has actually reached the Highgod level. I think when we head to the Netherworld Mountain tonight, we might actually succeed!"
"Yeah, we'll definitely succeed!" Bei Bei agreed.
Entering the Netherworld Mountain to meet a Sovereign — the difficulty was immense. Even Lin Lei and Bei Bei couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Oh?" Lin Lei turned to look.
The red-haired girl was walking straight toward their table. She pulled out a chair and sat down right with Lin Lei and Bei Bei, as a matter of course. She grabbed a wine glass, poured herself some of their wine, and without a word downed it in one gulp.
Lin Lei and Bei Bei exchanged puzzled looks at the red-haired girl.
"Kid," the red-haired girl said, looking at Lin Lei with the corner of her lips curling upward. "Your water element just reached the Highgod level — shouldn't you be thanking me?"
"That's right." Lin Lei raised his cup with a smile. "Thank you, truly. Otherwise I don't know when I would have broken through."
"Boss, what does she mean?" Bei Bei asked via divine sense, confused. Lin Lei, equally puzzled, replied through divine sense: "Bei Bei, I also find this girl very strange. A powerhouse whose strength is practically at the level of a 'Serpent of the Infernal Realm' running a hotel here? She's impossible to figure out."
The red-haired girl tipped her head back and drank several more cups.
"You two came here for the Netherworld Fruit as well?" she said with a faint smile. "Judging from the strength you've both shown, you're at least at the Seven-Star Demon level, or maybe stronger. It seems to me you two don't need to come here and gamble on luck for the Netherworld Fruit. With your own power, whether in the Infernal Realm or the Netherworld, you could each be a lord in your own right."
"No one ever thinks they're too strong," Lin Lei replied with a light smile.
As for the matter of meeting a Sovereign, Lin Lei had no intention of casually mentioning it to outsiders.