Chapter 0289: Claiming the Mountain as One’s Kingdom

Four months later, Huang Long, along with Bog and the others, finally arrived at the Dragon Mountain Range. Gazing at the vast range stretching for hundreds of thousands of miles, shrouded in a faint dark mist year-round, Huang Long extended his divine sense and landed on a mountain peak thousands of feet high.

It was said that this Dragon Mountain Range had formed when an ancient dragon god perished and his body turned to stone. In the divine realm, time was divided into several stages: one “Era” spanned sixty trillion years, representing the present era; from one Era to ten Eras was the Ancient Era; from ten to thirty Eras was the Primordial Era; from thirty to a hundred Eras was the Age of Desolation; and before a hundred Eras was the Chaos Era. In other words, before the Ancient Era was the Primordial Era, before that was the Age of Desolation, and before that was Chaos.

The Age of Desolation’s desolate forests in the Netherworld had formed during that era. After setting Bog and the others free, Bog stared at the rolling mountains that formed the Dragon Mountain Range and exclaimed, “So this Dragon Mountain Range was truly created by an ancient dragon god from the Primordial Era?!”

Yet, it stretched for hundreds of thousands of miles—wasn’t that too vast? The orcs like Nat also nodded in agreement.

“Beneath this peak lie spiritual veins with abundant spiritual energy. We’ll settle here from now on. This is a blueprint—let’s work together to develop it!” Huang Long used his divine sense to imprint the blueprint onto jade talismans, giving one to each of them.

“Yes, young master!”
“Yes, master!”

Bog and the others replied respectfully, taking the jade talismans and beginning to divide the work according to the blueprint. Huang Long nodded in approval.

The mountains in the Netherworld contained many metal ores, making them more than ten times harder than those in the mortal realm. However, Bog and the others had already condensed their divine essences and transformed their bodies into gods. Though they were only lower-tier gods, their understanding of the laws was deeper than that of ordinary lower-tier gods, so developing the area wasn’t difficult.

The mountain peak chosen by Huang Long covered an area of thousands of square miles and stood over three thousand feet high. Though it wasn’t the largest peak in the Dragon Mountain Range, it fortunately had spiritual veins underground. Once Huang Long arranged everything and stimulated those veins, their spiritual energy would rival that of the cities.

Of course, the cities in the Netherworld were built using various spirit-gathering stones and powered by large magic arrays, resulting in the richest spiritual energy, which was ideal for cultivation. This was also one of the reasons why the villas in those cities were so expensive.

While Bog and the others got to work, Huang Long wasn’t idle either. He brought out the Five Prison Divine Cauldron to begin crafting weapons. During his time in Holy Scripture City, he had purchased a large amount of rare metal ore materials, so he didn’t have to worry about supplies.

Soon, the twelve Heavenly King Flags of the Netherworld were successfully crafted.

Compared to the Twelve Dark Kings’ Flags forged in the Eternal Realm, these twelve flags were countless times more powerful. Above each flag floated a bizarre figure—these twelve figures were none other than the twelve ancestral witches of Pangu. Each one emitted an aura of primordial antiquity. These were the spiritual entities of the Twelve Dark Kings’ Flags! After successfully forging the flags, Huang Long waved his hands, and the flags disappeared into the mountain. Instantly, all the dark mist within thousands of miles of the mountain was dispersed by the energy of the Twelve Heavenly Demonic Arrays. Every stone and tree on the mountain became clearly visible. Then, Huang Long drew out the Green Rainbow Sword and cut off hundreds of feet from the summit of the mountain, placing it inside the Five Hells Divine Cauldron. He added various ores and metals to it for refining. Buzz, buzz, buzz! After a while, liquid masses emerged from the mouth of the cauldron. Under Huang Long’s magic spells, they writhed and transformed into palaces that appeared on the mountain’s surface, forming a palace complex spanning hundreds of miles. At this point, Bog and the others had also completed the construction in every corner of the mountain according to Huang Long’s jade talismans. Seeing the palace complex, their eyes burned with enthusiasm. Ignoring their eager gazes, Huang Long arranged the Heavenly Stars Array atop the mountain. Once set up, the ethereal power of the stars permeated the area, enveloping the palaces. The spiritual energy in the mountain’s underground veins was fully awakened and surged forth, creating a dense atmosphere filled with white mist, creating a dreamlike scene. “Good, now everyone can choose a palace,” Huang Long said with a smile, observing their ecstatic expressions. Upon hearing his words, Bog and the others cheered and rushed into the palace complex like children competing for toys, each selecting their own palace. Seeing this, Huang Long shook his head and smiled before flying down to the central palace. Unlike the other palaces, this one floated in mid-air, a hundred feet above the ground. Thus, Huang Long and the others finally had a place to settle in the netherworld! To rule a mountain was, in Huang Long’s eyes, far better than buying some villa in a city! Although cities were safe, they were full of rules and regulations, leaving little freedom. Moreover, living in a city meant being surrounded by safety, which could stifle one’s desire to progress. After establishing control over the mountain, Huang Long did not take Bog and the others to the ancient forest. After all, although two major arrays were in place, they weren’t strong enough to defend against higher-ranking deities without proper defenses. Huang Long needed more time to strengthen the mountain’s defenses and arrange defenses around it as well.

Moreover, Bog and the others, having just formed their divine essences and become godly warriors, needed to fully integrate their divine essences with their divine bodies, comprehend the laws of the universe, and stabilize their realm. Bog and the others were not like the Yellow Dragon; the Yellow Dragon only needed to absorb the energy of the natural world, already possessing a certain realm. Once enough energy had accumulated, it could reach the level of Great Luo Golden Immortal, or even break through to quasi-saint status as before its reincarnation. The mountain chosen by the Yellow Dragon was named Taiyi Mountain. As for the palace, it remained the same as before—the Four Seas Palace, with the Four Seas Dragon Palace floating in the air, the palace where the Yellow Dragon, the Pangu Dragon God, lived and practiced. A month passed. The Yellow Dragon and his companions claimed the mountain as their domain. Though their arrangements were concealed, they still attracted the attention of some forces in the Giant Dragon Mountains. In the Netherworld, various mountain ranges generally had forces spread throughout them. The Giant Dragon Mountains were no exception. Although it was located in a remote area and some major families would not settle there, it was ideal for bandit dens. There were over twenty bandit factions here. The bandit faction closest to Taiyi Mountain chosen by the Yellow Dragon had three leaders and over a thousand members. All three leaders were mid-tier gods. “Are you saying that there’s something strange about that desolate peak over two thousand miles away?” Inside the cave palace, Heber asked one of his subordinates below. “Yes, my lord! It’s absolutely true!” the lower-tier god replied hurriedly. “A few days ago, when Xiao Feng and I passed by that desolate peak, we saw waves of rosy light. What’s more terrifying is that as we approached, we sensed the presence of wild beasts.” At these words, the lower-tier god shuddered, seemingly recalling the terrifying aura. “What happened after that?” Heber frowned. “We had no choice but to retreat,” the lower-tier god answered. “Brother, could it be that some rare treasure appeared on that desolate peak?” asked a short-haired youth sitting to Heber’s right. This young man was Dewitt, the third leader of Black Iron Peak. Sitting to Heber’s left was a short, fat middle-aged man, Rupert, the second leader of Black Iron Peak. “A rare treasure?” Heber fell into deep thought. “I think my third brother is right. The rosy light is a sign of a rare treasure emerging, and the presence of wild beasts must be the original beasts guarding it,” Rupert added, his voice shrill and somewhat grating. “If there were a rare treasure on that desolate peak, we would have discovered it long ago. That’s impossible,” Heber shook his head. They had been hiding in the Giant Dragon Mountains for millions of years and knew every corner and stone of it, so he concluded it couldn’t be some rare treasure. Dewitt and Rupert exchanged a glance and asked, “If it’s not a rare treasure, then what could it be?”

“That’s just my guess. Whatever it is, we need to go and take a look. Give the orders and gather our men,” ordered Heber.
The Barren Peak wasn’t far from the Black Iron Peak. Given such an unusual situation, he wanted to go and see it in person.
“Yes, Great Leader,” replied one of the lower-ranking gods quickly before leaving to pass on the orders.
It wasn’t long before two or three hundred god-tier warriors from the Black Iron Peak were gathered. Heber and his two companions led them toward the Barren Peak.
Soon after arriving, they halted mid-air. Heber looked down at the peak, frowning. The Barren Peak was shrouded in clouds and mist, making it impossible to see clearly. His divine senses couldn’t penetrate it either, as if blocked by some mysterious force.
“What’s going on?” Devid and the others also noticed the situation at the Barren Peak and were puzzled.
“Could someone have placed a restriction here?” Heber thought to himself. After pondering for a moment, he ordered one of his subordinates to attack the peak with all his might.
To their shock, however, that subordinate’s full-force attack was reflected back, sending him flying dozens of miles away. That lower-ranking god possessed two primal powers and was at the peak of his rank, nearly reaching that of a mid-tier god. He was one of Heber’s most trusted allies.
“What a powerful magical restriction!” Heber exclaimed in astonishment.
“Brother, what should we do now? Could it be that some family has set their eyes on this mountain and placed a magical restriction here?” Devid asked anxiously.
But was that possible? In the Dragon Mountain Range, with its harsh environment, which family would bother placing such a powerful magical restriction here?
“Let’s leave!” Heber looked at the Barren Peak, feeling uneasy, and finally decided to retreat.
Just as Heber and his men were about to return to the Black Iron Peak, suddenly, figures appeared, and more than twenty people stepped forward.
“Gentlemen, since you’re here, why not come in and sit for a while?” The one who spoke was Bogge, with Gusta and others behind him.
Heber and his men were surprised. When they saw that Bogge and the others were merely lower-ranking gods, they felt relieved.
“Were you the ones who placed the restriction here?” Heber asked skeptically.
“Us?” Bogge shook his head. “It wasn’t us. It was our young master.”
“Young master!” Heber and the others were shocked, thinking, “As I thought!”
From the magical restriction, Heber had guessed that it couldn’t have been these twenty or so lower-ranking gods. Someone capable of placing such a powerful restriction over thousands of miles must be a high-tier god who understood magic arrays.
“Young master!” At that moment, Bogge and the others respectfully called out into the void. Then, under the astonished gazes of Heber and the others, a young man with black hair appeared in mid-air.

A young man with black hair who seemed to possess only the strength of a mid-tier god.
“Young master?! Just a mid-tier god, not a high-tier god warrior?!” Heber and the others were stunned.