Chapter 1174: Finding the Netherworld King

A Machinery Race messenger had been waiting by the dimensional gate. Surprisingly, someone from the Heavenly Shell Race was waiting together with him.

The Machinery Race messenger presented a map illustrating general locations in the underground world, while the Heavenly Shell Race person walked up to Wang Zhong in a respectful manner.

“After learning that Master Wang Zhong has been tasked with a Celestial Honors Assignment in the underground world, the superintendent has specially asked me to pass this Demon Sedge Cape and Faceless Grimace Mask to you. This is one of the disguises that we Heavenly Shell Race people use when we execute missions in the underground world. I believe this will be of much help to you, Master Wang Zhong.” The Heavenly Shell Race person was holding a black cape and a painted face mask with a strong dimensional aura.

Everyone in the Land knew that the underground world was disorderly and chaotic. There were no standardized rules or restrictions, and it was bloody and cruel over there. They harbored deep hostility to people who were not from the underground world as they thought that the latter occupied the best resources and environment in the Land, forcing them to live in the dangerous underground world which never saw the light of day. All of them were members of the Star Alliance, yet they were treated so differently.

Unless you were doing business in the heavily guarded trading markets, your safety in the rest of the underground world wasn’t guaranteed. Bringing reinforcements would be safer, but that would attract attention too, and you wouldn’t be able to keep a low profile.

The Demon Sedge Cape and Faceless Grimace Mask were illusion weapons that were used for disguise. These types of items were either the low-level type that could be found anywhere on the streets or fine products that could be considered level-7 or level-8 artifacts. The two illusion weapons that the Heavenly Shell superintendent sent were clearly the latter.

Lao Wang didn’t stand on ceremony. The main reason why other people thought he was torn between the two races was because he didn’t kill Phumetheus. Frankly speaking, he did that because of Senior Lavel, and it was also a way to tell the Heavenly Shell Race that he was merely collaborating with them and not their lackey. Others thought that he was pushing his limits with the two races and trying to be a wallflower. However, this was completely different from the truth. Nonetheless, possessing power was the most important bargaining chip.

If you had value, the other party would respect your opinion. If you were of no value to them, you couldn’t escape the fate of being a pawn no matter how smart you were.

Wang Zhong wore the Demon Sedge Cape and Faceless Grimace Mask, and the two illusory artifacts clung onto his skin. After some adjusting, Wang Zhong was transformed into a well-built celestialoid who was around forty years old. He had suddenly grown a few centimeters taller and developed a muscular build. His aura was completely different. An overwhelming dark aura enveloped him, and he looked like a smaller version of a Black Titan. Wang Zhong couldn’t help but think of Simba. The clown mask had a similar effect too. Wang Zhong felt that the seamless transition function of the clown mask was much more superior than that of this Faceless Grimace Mask.

Titans existed in the underground world too. They were originally part of the Titan Race in the Land, but their ancestors had committed heinous crimes. To avoid being captured by the Machinery Race, they escaped to the underground world and started living there. They had been transformed by the Netherworld energy from the Netherworld River. After dozens of epochs of evolution and adaptation, they became the Black Titans of the underground world. They were slightly shorter than the average Titan, but they were born with great strength and had an affinity with Netherworld energy. They were a powerful race in the underground world.

The two illusion weapons were clearly imitating the appearance and aura of the Black Titans. This was mainly because, out of the various peculiar races in the underground world, the Black Titans had habits similar to the normal Titans in the Land. They were relatively normal and easier to disguise as. It appeared that this was a common disguise that the Heavenly Shell Race used when they went to the underground world.

“Thank you for your trouble. I would appreciate it if you could thank your superintendent for me too.” Wang Zhong smiled. The magical thing was that his voice became like that of a Black Titan, and he could speak their language through the Faceless Grimace Mask. Unlike the loud and high-pitched tone of normal Titans, the Black Titans seemed to speak in a lower and more gloomy tone.

The person from the Heavenly Shell Race was just an ordinary messenger who ran errands in the Heavenly Gates. He had come into contact with many big shots, but he hadn’t been treated so politely before and was flattered. “Master Wang Zhong, rest assured I will convey your message.”

After packing up, Wang Zhong walked towards the dimensional gate. His Faceless Grimace Mask did not manage to fool the mysterious great elder, who recognized Wang Zhong at first glance. This time, they didn’t exchange words. The great elder smiled and casually waved his hand, opening the dark door behind him. A huge vortex appeared. Wang Zhong thanked the great elder and entered it.

He felt more relaxed this time as compared to the previous time when he went to the Ocean Empire Planet. He had clearly become stronger since then. It only took dozens of seconds before Lao Wang was standing before a huge grotto[a].

The grotto was filled with huge jagged boulders. It was a thousand meters tall, and its width appeared to be neverending.

Many creatures from various races were hustling about, and it seemed that no one noticed Wang Zhong who suddenly appeared in this grotto. The wormhole transmission that was controlled by the great elder included power of the natural order. The great elder had reached the peak of controlling spatial laws, and it would be hard for even the most powerful Gold Cores to notice the abnormal spatial fluctuations in that moment.

Lao Wang observed his surroundings. The creatures from various races were fairly powerful, and most of them were in the Void Core Realm, while very few were still at the Foundational Stage. Some people in the Land were born as Void Cores but had little combat power and experience in reality. Unlike those rookies, the Void Core experts here had profound eyes and killer auras. It was obvious that they had reached their level of power through bloodshed in battles. They had powerful auras and combat power.

Wang Zhong could only see around four or five Solid Cores in the surroundings, and there were no Gold Cores. However, this was just a casual observation in the hall of the grotto, yet there were already a few Solid Cores and so many Void Cores. In the Land, there were only a very few of such places where experts congregated, such as the Machinery Palace and the Heavenly Shell Palace where high-level civilizations gathered.

Shouting could be heard in various peculiar languages in the surroundings. Wang Zhong could understand what they were talking about with the help of Khris Candies, but there was a distinct difference between their pronunciation and that of people in the Land. People in the Land had many strange pronunciations, but most of them were loud and high-pitched, and even a frog’s croaks could make you feel like you were bathing in a golden glow by the pond. However, the creatures here spoke in low-pitched and hoarse voices, with a gloomy tone. The sound resembled that of faint cries of babies at night, and sorrowful howls from ghosts and werewolves. Those who were unaccustomed to this sound would get goosebumps on their skin.

Other than their voices that were different, there was also an unpleasant fishy smell mixed with various sweat, stinky, and rotten odors that permeated this space.

The members here of various races had rather sloppy and disheveled appearances. Half of them looked dirty as if they hadn’t bathed in a hundred years. The other half was slightly better as they were a bit more neatly dressed and had no dirt on their bodies. There didn’t seem to be a mainstream beauty standard here, which was a stark contrast to how everyone was trying to imitate the elegant costumes of the aristocrats in the Land.

Nonetheless, the people here couldn’t be blamed for their lack of aesthetics. In the cruel underground world, survival was the common goal of all races, excluding the high and mighty Factions. Basic etiquette? Leading a life of luxury? These weren’t things that the creatures of the underground world pursued.

Lao Wang could tell from the environment that he had arrived at the so-called underground world.

“Yin and Yang Pills wholesale here! 60% pills going for 1,000 Silver Star Stones, 70% pills going for 3,000, and 80% pills going for 5,000!”

“I’m searching for water from the Netherworld River. One Silver Star Stone for one gram. I will accept it as long as it is of standard quality!”

It could be seen that this was a large-scale trading market. Everyone was clamoring for goods, and several creatures from the Land were here too. There was a huge elevator in the center of the grotto which led up to a massive cave that looked like an endless abyss. This was clearly a trading spot that was interconnected with the Land.

“One Karlo slave going for 1,000 Gold Star Stones! Only one available!”

A unique cry attracted the attention of a lot of people in the surroundings. Many people flocked there to see an extremely angry slave being sat on by a peculiar-looking Solid Core creature. The slave was restricted from using his spiritual power and had no way of resisting at all. “The Karlo civilization is a registered level-6 civilization of the Star Alliance. I have come to the underground world on behalf of my civilization to do business. If you let me go, I will reward you handsomely, far more than 1,000 Gold Star Stones!”

Pa!

The slave was immediately slapped by the Solid Core creature who seemed to belong to the Killer Demon Race. The latter’s appearance resembled that of a human, just that he had a pair of pointed horns and his body emitted a blue glow. After getting slapped, the Karlo slave was dizzy and unable to complete his sentence. “To hell with whatever level-6 or level-7 civilization you are talking about! Since you lost to me, you are my slave! I don’t need your permission to sell you. Do I look like I’m free enough to contact your Karlo Race or whatever? Contact them yourself if you are able to, and let them redeem you with money. Otherwise, I’ll just sell you off in a one-off deal,” the Killer Demon creature said condescendingly.

“Heh, another slave from a level-6 civilization in the Land? How is this slave worth 1,000 Gold Star Stones? Is this a scam?”

“I’ve interacted with Karlo people before. They are indeed a level-6 civilization and very rich. It seems that this slave is indeed from the Karlo Race, but he seems rather weak and doesn’t seem to be valued by his race. If I use 1,000 Gold Star Stones to purchase him, can I really sell him back for a higher price?”

“From his outfit, he doesn’t seem like an errand boy. But still, 1,000 Gold Star Stones seems to be too high a price.”

“His looks are not bad, and he looks a bit like a Black Titan. He seems rather muscular, and those few races will probably like him.” People in the surroundings were chattering and discussing about the slave.

The underground world was chaotic and disorderly. Many merchants who came from the Land had to face the danger of being caught and hunted by these underground world races around the clock. Thus, they only dared to move around in trading areas that were heavily guarded and slightly more orderly. Each of them would have a bunch of hired bodyguards surrounding them.

However, most of the people who were brave enough to walk out of these protected areas or stay overnight met with mishaps in the end. If guards didn’t stop any mishap from happening on the spot, no one would care about it at all. Other than high-level civilizations such as level-7 or level-8 civilizations, the other civilizations would either suffer in silence or pay up to save their own people. Most people didn’t dare to go against this unspoken rule. Otherwise, their race would definitely be targeted by all the underground world races, and they would no longer be able to do business here.

Buying this Karlo person who was only at the Void Core Realm was practically useless to the creatures of the underground world. However, they could make use of this Karlo person to trade with the Karlo Race and extort a high ransom. Nonetheless, they had to judge wisely whether this was a person from a high-level civilization in the Land, and whether he possessed a high status in his race. These were factors that decided the price of the ransom and whether you would profit from it. To the creatures of the underground world, this was a game and also a wager too.

There were trade market guards patrolling around, and they clearly saw this trade of the Karlo slave. However, they didn’t care, turning a blind eye to it instead and even walking further away. Merchants from the Land saw this scene too, but they appeared to be used to it. Other than casting a sympathetic look at the Karlo slave, they looked more alert and wanted to stay away from these “terrorists” who sold slaves from high-level civilizations. They didn’t want to ask for trouble.

Lao Wang was rather wistful upon seeing a person from a level-6 civilization being treated like a public commodity here. He could already sense how disorderly the underground world was upon setting foot here. It would be very difficult for ordinary people from the Land to survive in the underground world. Only extremely powerful individuals would dare to explore the underground world, and they should at least be a Peak Solid Core. That wasn’t to say that Peak Solid Cores could run amok in the underground world, but the Gold Cores of the underground world generally wouldn’t attack them. This was an unspoken rule too. If a Gold Core from the underground world attacked someone weaker than them, it was considered a violation against all the races in the Land. This went against the original intention of the various races letting their people accumulate training experience in the underground world, and the Star Alliance would definitely intervene.

“Selling Yin and Yang Pills at base price! Those who want to try their luck at Dragon’s Head Shore must stock up on Yin and Yang Pills! The Netherworld King has verified the authenticity of these pills! Exclusive and authentic Yin and Yang Pills for sale!”

Some preliminary information was given in the Celestial Honors Assignment material. The Dragon’s Head Shore was the main location where the entire Netherworld King incident occurred. It mentioned that the Netherworld King killed a Gold Core, but it was only a superficial description of the matter. Wang Zhong believed that the Heavenly Gates held more information than these, but some of it were not 100% certified to be true, so it did not appear in the material that was given to Wang Zhong. Also, due to the difficulty of information transmission between the two worlds, the material that Wang Zhong received might not be the most recent news, and he probably needed to search for more information himself.

Frankly speaking, Lao Wang didn’t really believe that Mu Zi had the power to instantly kill a Gold Core. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Mu Zi’s talent, but it was too far-fetched to claim that he was capable of this when he was just a Foundational Stage a while ago. When Lao Wang talked to Grai previously, Mu Zi was at most an ordinary Void Core.

Upon hearing the Yin and Yang Pill seller mention the Dragon’s Head Shore, Lao Wang’s heart skipped a beat. “Boss, can I look at two 80% Yin and Yang Pills to check the quality?” he walked over and said in his deep and hoarse Black Titan voice.

Those who dared to inquire about 80% pills were rich and powerful people. Upon seeing that it was a Black Titan who posed the question, the boss was all smiles. “Sure! Mister, your eyes are really sharp. The quality of my 80% pills is definitely assured! Even if you are standing in front of the Netherworld King, you won’t be attacked by the Netherworld energy!”

As he said that, he took out two Yin and Yang Pills which looked promising.

Wang Zhong had personally refined many Yin and Yang Pills. He knew that the quality of these two Yin and Yang Pills were not that good after all, but he didn’t expose the boss. “Why do you say that the authenticity of these pills has been verified by the Netherworld King? Are you related to him in some way?”

[a]may not be the correct word for whatever this is supposed to be. cavern?