Ever since that time in Black Sand Castle, when he had seen the counterfeit Red Rhombus Crystal and the Iron Crown of Wu, Lin Lei had developed a habit. During his years of wandering through Hell, every few years, whenever he traveled to a city, he would make a visit to the "Devil's Castle" to look up intelligence on the Divine Artifacts.
Every inquiry cost ten million blackstones.
The price seemed steep, but most people interested in this kind of information were either true powerhouses or formidable highgod merchants. Ten million blackstones was hardly an exorbitant sum for them.
On the Bifrost Continent, in Jiliang City of the Liang'an Prefecture.
Lin Lei and his group strolled along the streets of Jiliang City. Lin Lei glanced at Bei Bei with a smile. "Bei Bei, the Liang'an Prefecture is Nisa's old home, you know. Her brother Salomon is said to be here in Jiliang City right now, managing the city's order. Nisa's gone to see Salomon with Ina — why didn't you go?"
"Hmph, that Salomon — I can't be bothered to see him," Bei Bei said with disdain.
"Still holding a grudge over what happened in the volcano's belly all those years ago?" Dilia teased with a smile.
Salomon's behavior back then had indeed caused Lin Lei, Dilia, and the rest to stop regarding him as a friend. After Bei Bei and Nisa married, they had once accompanied Nisa to visit Salomon.
"The only reason I went to see Salomon last time was because I was afraid Nisa would feel bad. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have bothered. I despise that kind of person," Bei Bei said.
"That Salomon certainly doesn't deserve to be called a friend," Yeru added. He, Rein, and the others all knew about what had happened back then.
"Come on, the Devil's Castle is just up ahead," Rein said cheerfully.
Everyone knew that whenever Lin Lei entered a city, he would invariably visit the Devil's Castle.
The Devil's Castle was sparsely populated, with very few people in the main hall on the ground floor. Lin Lei, all too familiar with the place, headed straight for the stairs leading to the third floor.
"Help me look up information on the Divine Artifacts," Lin Lei said, walking up to the counter on the third floor and handing over his Devil's Medal. In the Devil's Castle, whether accepting missions or querying intelligence, these were privileges reserved for Devils. Ordinary people, even if they had money, had no right to make inquiries.
"Information on the Divine Artifacts?" The gaunt, short-haired elder behind the counter glanced up at Lin Lei and sneered. "One-star Devil 'Lin Lei' — are you a merchant?"
The short-haired elder had used his detection to identify Lin Lei as a one-star Devil, and naturally drew that conclusion.
"That's none of your concern," Lin Lei replied with a faint smile.
"Kid, making fake Divine Artifacts to scam people — it's not that easy," the short-haired elder scoffed, pulling out a dossier. "This is a compilation of all intelligence on Divine Artifacts across the entirety of Hell, up to the present day. One read-through — ten million blackstones."
Lin Lei casually tossed over ten fist-sized zanstones.
A single zanstone of that size was worth a million blackstones.
"When you're reading through the dossier, just let me know which projection you want to view," the short-haired elder said lazily. He hadn't bothered to take out any of the projection crystals.
Lin Lei ignored him and began flipping through the dossier.
The records were divided into four sections: "Iron Crown of Wu," "Nine Spirit Pearls," "Red Rhombus Crystal," and "Divine Artifact Registry," arranged in chronological order. Lin Lei flipped straight to the section on the "Red Rhombus Crystal" and leafed toward the end — he had already seen most of the earlier entries.
"Holding the Red Rhombus Crystal allows instant recovery from injuries? With projection footage to prove it?"
"The Red Rhombus Crystal enables comprehension of the Laws of Life, directly reaching highgod level? Also with projection evidence?"
As Lin Lei read entry after entry, he couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile.
There were so many fakes.
For instance, someone would hold a counterfeit Red Rhombus Crystal while secretly swallowing a pill refined by a life-law powerhouse. They'd let others attack them physically, and while they were injured, the pill would take effect and heal them naturally. But through the projection, it would appear that the fake crystal had done the work.
"This one's even more amusing — wielding the Red Rhombus Crystal grants invincibility. But there's no projection to back it up."
Lin Lei glanced at another entry further down and couldn't help but laugh. "Now this one is truly absurd. Holding the Red Rhombus Crystal not only makes you invincible but also causes anyone who touches the bearer to die instantly." In Lin Lei's mind, the Life Crown should be a healing artifact. After all, the Iron Crown of Wu had once contained that kind of energy.
The Nine Spirit Pearls were also meant for saving people. Subconsciously, Lin Lei believed the Red Rhombus Crystal was the same.
But he had forgotten…
A powerhouse of the Laws of Life could save lives — or take them. The Life Crown could heal and protect, but of course it could also harm.
"Oh, this one has no projection either. Claims it came from the Muya Continent — a midgod used the Red Rhombus Crystal to kill a group of midgods and a single highgod? Not even a projection, just fabricated claims. No way to verify, completely untrustworthy." Lin Lei's eyes swept past it and moved on to the next entry.
He would only bother watching the projections for entries he considered possibly credible.
"Hey, are you done yet or what?" the short-haired elder said with a frown.
"What's the rush?" Yeru, who had been sitting nearby waiting for Lin Lei, glared at the short-haired elder and barked.
"Just telling you to hurry up," the short-haired elder said, glancing sideways at Yeru. "And another thing — no loud voices in the Devil's Castle." The short-haired elder was also a highgod, and since fighting was prohibited within the city walls, he tended to have a poor temper when dealing with customers.
Lin Lei being a one-star Devil only made the elder look down on him even more.
"Be patient, give me a moment," Lin Lei said coolly, casting a brief glance at the short-haired elder before continuing to read the intelligence.
Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the stairs — descending from the floor above.
"Oh, quite a few people buying intelligence today," a gentle voice called from a distance. Lin Lei turned to look. Three people were approaching. Leading them was a golden-haired, blue-eyed middle-aged man, followed by two women in green robes.
The short-haired elder at the counter, upon seeing the newcomer, jumped to his feet and bowed respectfully. "Castle Lord!"
"Sit down," the golden-haired, blue-eyed man said with a mild smile. "Oh, and bring me the latest intelligence and projections on Prefect challenges from across Hell." In Hell, the sight of seven-star Devils challenging Prefects was a common occurrence.
"Yes, Castle Lord," the short-haired elder said submissively.
The golden-haired man glanced at Bei Bei, his brow furrowing slightly in puzzlement. Then he walked to the counter, took the dossier the short-haired elder handed him, and noted the many projection crystals scattered across the counter.
At this moment, Lin Lei and the Castle Lord stood side by side, reading through the materials.
The golden-haired, blue-eyed man's gaze drifted to Lin Lei beside him, and his expression suddenly changed. A look of delighted surprise spread across his face. "Could this be Lord Lin Lei?"
"Hm?" Lin Lei turned to look at him. "Who are you?" He didn't recognize the man at all.
"Castle Lord..." The gaunt, short-haired elder, seeing the Castle Lord treat Lin Lei with such respect, blurted out, "His name is Lin Lei, but he's only a one-star Devil."
"Silence," the golden-haired man said coldly, casting a sharp glance at the short-haired elder.
"One-star Devil?" The golden-haired man looked at the Devil's Medal still in the short-haired elder's hand with astonishment. "Shaya, go immediately and change the star rating on that Devil's Medal. Upgrade it to seven-star Devil rank!"
The short-haired elder stood frozen in shock.
A one-star Devil, promoted to a seven-star Devil?
According to Devil's Castle rules, that required completing a vast number of missions. How could it just be changed on a whim?