Chapter 572 Hades's Jade Soul King
Chaos, Realm of Gehenna
Several hundred thousand kilometers away from the Illusory Demon Forest, where the dimensional crack to Pangea was hidden, a vast region of shattered earth and floating landmasses could be found.
Beneath was a seemingly bottomless abyss of pitch darkness. It was unknown what was hidden in its depths, but it wasn't the main point of interest in the region. Instead, it was the floating landmasses that had risen to the high heavens.
It appeared to be a zero-gravity or anti-gravity zone.
From a distance, the layers upon layers of floating landmasses looked like an enormous fractured pillar.
The floating region didn't look like a place that would accommodate any life.
However, on the contrary, it was home to some of the most powerful demons and demonic beasts within a 300,000-kilometer radius of the floating region.
Nevertheless, the floating region's main attraction was undoubtedly the very top in the starry sea of Chaos, where a far larger floating landmass could be found.
In fact, the floating landmass was vast enough to be called a small continent.
On this small continent, which floated in the space region above Gehenna, a magnificently grand black palace could be found at its center.
It was the Undying Devil Palace, the residence of the Great Devil Balmodan, ruler of Gehenna's Wolf God Domain.
Just by comparison, the total surface coverage of all the floating landmasses in the region put together was larger than the Pangea continent by several folds.
Based on this information, it was clear the realm of Gehenna, as a whole, was incomparably vast.
As such, ordinary demons would take countless years to cross the distance between the Illusory Demon Forest and Undying Devil Palace by foot—and that was only possible if they could make the journey without dying to unforeseen danger along the way.
Fortunately, there were over three dozen ancient portals on the edge of the land surrounding the Undying Devil Palace. Each ancient portal led to a different region – some within the Wolf God Domain and others outside of it.
At that moment, Great Devil Balmodan received a guest from outside of Gehenna.
Balmodan sat on a hard-bone throne covered in soft fur in the Great Hall. A short distance away from him, a large skeletal figure coated in green flames also sat on a bone throne.
However, this bone throne was much larger and completely comprised of whole skeletal figures. It also exuded a weak green glow, similar to the large skeletal figure's ghostly green flames.
The large skeletal figure was sitting on a self-made throne full of specters that it controlled.
None of it was physical.
"Tell me, what business does the Jade Soul King of Hades have to visit my humble Undying Devil Palace today?" Balmodan asked, seemingly calm but wary in his heart.
The Jade Soul King of Hades was another Peak Rank 6 divine existence and domain ruler like him. He wasn't the most preferable opponent nor the easiest one to face due to his spectral skills.
Furthermore, Hades and Gehenna were roughly equal in power.
Although their relationship wasn't good, it wasn't bad either. They were just neighbors who rarely interacted, which Balmodan wanted to maintain. It was better than a Realm War, which would weaken both sides and make their neighboring realms cast their greedy eyes in their direction.
Realm Wars were far too common in Chaos – most didn't even need a personal reason, just greed for resources.
"Oh please, Immortal Lycan King. Don't act like you don't know why I'm here," Jade Soul King grinned eerily as the green flames in his empty eye sockets flickered.
"If you don't say, how could I possibly know, Jade Soul King?" Balmodan coolly replied while secretly feeling alarmed in his heart.
It almost seemed like the Jade Soul King learned about Pangea.
"It is better to ask than to assume, lest unintentionally disrespect is given," Balmodan added.
"Kekeke, this is why I like doing business with you, Immortal Lycan King. At the very least, you are willing to negotiate with me," Jade Soul King chuckled sinisterly before saying, "However, it's nothing new."
"I need a new batch of souls to refine a new divine soul pill. I need ten million souls this time," the Jade Soul King stated the purpose of his visit before asking, "You'll give it to me, won't you, Immortal Lycan King?"
"Ten million souls is not a small number, Jade Soul King," Balmodan emphasized with a frown before asking solemnly, "Should I agree, what can you offer in return?"
Even if he was a Great Devil, ruling over billions of lives in his domain, ten million was still not a small number to freely squander. After all, it was hard to guess when the Jade Soul King would visit Gehenna and ask for more souls again.
The cumulative souls would add up to a sizeable sum over multiple deals – it could hurt his divinity.
"One of my divine soul pills if I succeed in the refinement," Jade Soul King stated.
"That's it? For ten million souls, all you have to offer is something I might not even get? Surely, you have something more tangible to offer for ten million souls, Jade Soul King," Balmodan replied with a deep frown.
Even if he was willing to do business with the Jade Soul King, it was based on an equivalent exchange. He wouldn't agree to suffer losses. If there were no profit to gain, then there would be no deal to make.
Gehenna not wanting a Realm War with Hades didn't mean it was afraid of one.
Balmodan wouldn't let Jade Soul King take advantage of him.
"Kekeke, divine soul pills are absolutely priceless in Chaos. I was giving you face by offering you the chance to receive one from me. But since you don't want it, that's also fine," Jade Soul King chuckled before asking, "How about a cart's worth of Rank 6 Starcore Iron for a hundred million souls?"
Tap, tap, tap…
Balmodan tapped the armrest of his throne with a finger, weighing the value of the deal.
The heavy iron of a star's core was indeed valuable to Rank 6 divine beings, as they could only harvest it from dead stars.
However, a hundred million souls was also not a small sum.
That said, it was still better than giving ten million souls for something that would most likely fail and give him nothing in return.
Balmodan was not stupid; he could see through Jade Soul King's sly intention.
A divine soul pill had an incredibly low success rate.
If the promise of a divine soul pill was all it took to get ten million souls, the Jade Soul King would keep coming back for the same deal every time.
In other words, Balmodan would only be giving free souls for nothing.
Nevertheless, before Balmodan could decide, he was suddenly notified of a subordinate requesting an audience. His subordinate, Thyrius of the Shadow Wolf Clan, came with urgent news.
Balmodan didn't doubt Thyrius brought urgent news related to Pangea. Thus, his expression couldn't help but turn grim and dark. The timing couldn't have been any worse.
"What's wrong, Immortal Lycan King? Your subordinate has something important to report. We should let him in and hear what he has to say," Jade Soul King said, seeming considerate, but he was, in fact, not.
The Jade Soul King's intention was clear – he wanted to listen in on Thyrius's report.
As such, Balmodan's expression darkened further.
"Let him in!"
Shortly after Balmodan gave the order, Thyrius was brought inside the Great Hall. Almost immediately, he noticed the tense atmosphere in the Great Hall.
His master's grim expression nearly frightened him to death.
"What is so urgent for you to come and report, Thyrius?" Balmodan asked with an oppressive and suffocating aura, threatening the Shadow Wolf Clan's leader to think carefully before he gave an answer.
Thyrius glanced at the Jade Soul King, and his body quickly trembled. He also understood he had come at a bad moment in that instant.
"Kekeke, out with it, wolf boy. What did you come to report to your master?" Jade Soul King urged with an eerily smile before adding threateningly, "You better speak the truth. If you lie in front of me, I will kill you."
Thyrius immediately shook with fear.
He had walked into a hall of death – if he reported fake news, the Jade Soul King would kill him. But if he reported the actual news, his master would definitely kill him. Either choice led to death. He was doomed the moment he entered the Great Hall.
Thyrius cursed his ill fate, but he still knew which choice to pick – He had to follow the will of his master.
"Master, there's an uprising in my region of jurisdiction, and my clan's power is not enough to suppress them. So I came to request urgent—"
Splat!
Thyrius did not finish his false report before a giant green-glowing bone feet slammed down and crushed his body into a meat paste.
"Didn't I say I will kill you if you lie? Kekeke, did you have a death wish?" Jade Soul King chuckled sinisterly to the corpse before saying, "Don't worry, Immortal Lycan King. I'll get the truth out of him for you."
Shortly after, Thyrius's soul was extracted from his bloodied corpse. An expression of fear was written all over his as he helplessly flew into the Jade Soul King's grasp.
Balmodan wasn't fazed when Jade Soul King killed his subordinate. But he quickly exploded with rage when he realized what Jade Soul King intended to do with Thyrius's soul.
"Jade Soul King, my Undying Devil Palace isn't a place for you to act as you please!"
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