Lin Lei, Bei Bei, Rein, and Yeru were all accompanied by their families, making a group of nearly twenty people. The group set out to venture through Hell.
They went to the bottom of the mysterious Lake Punice...
To Firebird Mountain in the Takake Mountain Range...
Occasionally visiting some Purgatory Commanders and Hell Lords...
But Hell was simply too vast. After decades of adventuring, they had only traveled from the western part of the Blood Peak Continent to the east.
In the eastern part of the Blood Peak Continent, within the city of Misty Mountain in the Misty Mountain Prefecture.
The streets were bustling with crowds. Lin Lei and his companions walked along, looking around.
Bei Bei's wife, "Niss," suggested, "We've been wandering through Hell at random, but honestly, the place with the most peculiar items is that Black Sand Castle. Let's go check out Black Sand Castle. We're sure to see all sorts of strange things." Women, after all, loved shopping.
"Black Sand Castle is like a black market; it has even more items than Blood Peak Castle. Lin Lei, let's go take a look," Dilia added, her eyes lighting up.
Bei Bei nodded eagerly. "Let's go to Black Sand Castle. Boss, what do you think?"
Lin Lei smiled and nodded, leading the large group toward Black Sand Castle.
The structure of every Black Sand Castle throughout Hell was identical—the exterior was composed of flowing black sand. Although the entire castle's surface was covered in rolling black sand, the castle itself had stood there for countless ages. Lin Lei's group, amidst the bustling crowd, entered Black Sand Castle.
The counters in Black Sand Castle were noticeably more densely packed than those in Blood Peak Castle.
"The little things are quite numerous," the women said happily, browsing and purchasing various small items.
"This first floor is all ordinary merchandise. Let's go up. The rare and peculiar treasures are up there," Lin Lei suggested.
The first floor of Black Sand Castle had items priced below ten thousand inkstones, the second floor generally below a million inkstones, and the third floor had goods mostly exceeding a million inkstones. Of course, these were only rough ranges. The most famous part of Black Sand Castle, however, was the fourth floor!
The items on the fourth floor were of all kinds, with prices ranging high and low.
Places like "Blood Peak Castle" and "Wisteria Castle" were prestigious establishments where the items were guaranteed to be genuine, and the prices were clearly marked.
But Black Sand Castle was, after all, a "black market." For one, the prices were lower than in places like Blood Peak Castle, but there was a catch: many of the items in Black Sand Castle were sold by private merchants, and the castle did not guarantee their authenticity. It was up to the buyer's own discernment.
Lin Lei's group finally stepped onto the fourth floor.
"The items on this fourth floor are of all kinds, with prices varying widely. The key is to rely on your own judgment. You can also haggle," Niss said with a smile. "If you get duped and pay a high price for something worthless, you can only blame yourself. But if you have a good eye and pick up a precious item for a low price, then you've hit the jackpot."
Lin Lei felt his interest piqued by Niss's words.
"Come on, let's see if there are any treasures," Lin Lei said with a smile, heading toward the nearest counter.
"Interesting." Lin Lei looked at the many items and their price tags, chuckling to himself. With his soul power, he could sense the true nature of some items fairly accurately.
Bei Bei followed Lin Lei, looking around as well.
"Huh, boss, what kind of stone is this?" Bei Bei pointed to a black stone in the counter, stained with a trace of blood and faintly emitting fire energy. Lin Lei glanced at it; the stone was priced at five million inkstones—a staggering sum.
The person in charge of the counter was a short, thin, white-haired old man wearing a felt hat. The old man glanced at Bei Bei with his pale blue eyes and said coldly, "This stone is said to be stained with the blood of one of the Four Divine Beasts, the Fire Divine Beast Vermilion Bird."
"Vermilion Bird?" Lin Lei was startled, then laughed softly.
If it truly had the blood of the Divine Beast Vermilion Bird, forget five million inkstones—even five hundred million would be a low price! Moreover, Lin Lei could sense that although the faint aura emanating from the stone was strong, it was far from comparable to the drop of Azure Dragon blood he had obtained years ago. The Vermilion Bird and the Azure Dragon were both among the Four Divine Beasts; their blood auras should be on the same level.
"The Divine Beast Vermilion Bird? Do you know that the Divine Beast Vermilion Bird is a Chief God?" Bei Bei teased. "Forget about a Chief God who is a Divine Beast—even a drop of blood from an ordinary Chief God would have an astonishingly powerful aura. Your stone was probably stained by some ordinary fire-type divine beast." Bei Bei himself was a divine beast, so he had the authority to speak on the matter.
The old man merely glanced at Bei Bei and said indifferently, "The blood has long since seeped into the interior. The aura you feel is only an extremely faint part. If you don't believe me, fine. I'm not forcing you to buy." The old man was putting on airs.
If their strength had been weaker, they might have actually been intimidated.
"Let's go," Lin Lei and Bei Bei continued to browse other counters.
"Boss, it really is a mix of true and false," Bei Bei marveled as he looked around.
"Yes." Suddenly, Lin Lei's expression changed. His gaze fixed on an item displayed in the counter before him—it was a diamond-shaped red crystal, prominently placed and very eye-catching.
"A Red Rhombus Diamond? The last of the three Chief God artifacts, the Red Rhombus Diamond?" Lin Lei was startled and shook his head, looking more closely.
The three Chief God artifacts—Lin Lei had already obtained two: the "Iron Crown" and the "Nine Spirit Beads." He only lacked the Red Rhombus Diamond.
"Sir, are you interested in this Red Rhombus Diamond?" a bald young man with silver eyes inside the counter asked with a smile.
"I am," Lin Lei replied, glancing at the price tag—ten billion inkstones!
"Ten billion inkstones! You've really got some nerve setting that price," Bei Bei exclaimed immediately upon seeing it. A decent mansion in the city was only worth about a hundred million inkstones. Bei Bei sized up the bald, silver-eyed young man and scoffed, "Tell us, what exactly is this treasure that it's worth ten billion inkstones?"
Lin Lei had seen the document about the artifacts, but Bei Bei had not, so he didn't know about the Red Rhombus Diamond.
The bald, silver-eyed young man said in a low voice, "Have you two heard of the Chief God's mission? It involves collecting three artifacts: the Iron Crown, the Nine Spirit Beads, and this Red Rhombus Diamond. I can't be certain that mine is the legendary Red Rhombus Diamond, but look at its appearance—it matches the description that's been circulating exactly. I don't have complete confidence, but as you can see, this diamond is clearly not man-made. The possibility that it's the legendary Chief God artifact still exists."
"If it really is the Red Rhombus Diamond, wouldn't you have offered it to a Chief God yourself?" Bei Bei teased.