Chapter 0272: Is This Really the Netherworld?

“Let’s first check if there are any tribes in the vicinity,” Huang Long said after some thought.
From conversations with Uley, it was clear that to survive in this brutal Netherworld, the safest approach for those from the mortal realms who were powerful enough to enter the divine realm was to find a tribe, live there temporarily, and then gradually find a way to obtain a divine stone to refine their divine essence and transform their bodies.
However, to Huang Long’s surprise, after flying for a day, they still hadn’t encountered any tribes—only desolate land everywhere.
“One day… we’re already three or four hundred thousand miles away from the magic teleportation array. Still no tribes in sight!” Huang Long frowned.
The next day passed in the same way—no tribes, not even a single person. All there were were mountains, land, wilderness, and vast forests.
“Young master, is this really the Netherworld?!” Ork Nat asked anxiously.
After two days of flying, not a single person had been seen! Not even a ghost, which made everyone doubt whether this place was indeed the Netherworld.
The Netherworld was filled with powerful beings. Not only those born there but also those who entered from the mortal realms over trillions of years amounted to hundreds of trillions.
“Hundreds of trillions” was just a rough estimate—there might even be more.
After all, there were trillions of mortal realms. Even if on average, only one powerful being emerged from each realm every thousand years, the cumulative number over trillions of years would be staggering.
So where were all these powerful beings?!
Hearing Ork Nat’s complaints, Huang Long was about to speak when suddenly, he sensed something and stared ahead. Noticing his reaction, Bog and the others also stopped talking and followed his gaze.
“Hahaha! Run? Where do you think you can run?!”
“Kid, you can’t escape. Hand over your divine stone now. If you do, we might spare your life. Otherwise, you won’t even be able to save your own divine essence!”
A few shouts came from ahead, followed by several figures rushing toward them.
Bog and the others exchanged glances. Though they didn’t know exactly what was going on, it was clear they had encountered robbers. They looked nervously at Huang Long.
Although there were over twenty of them, they were outnumbered. If the robbers were powerful lower-tier gods, they would be easily defeated.
Even among lower-tier gods, there were differences in strength. Some powerful lower-tier gods could be even more terrifying than some average mid-tier gods.

However, seeing Huang Long’s calm expression and his lack of intention to avoid them, everyone felt much more at ease. Gradually, those several figures became clearer in front of everyone. There were seven in total, one in front and six behind. The person in front was clearly the one being chased. “So fast!” Upon seeing the seven people appear at such high speed, Bog and the others were shocked. The fleeing person also obviously saw Huang Long and his group. After hesitating for a moment, he rushed toward them while shouting, “Friends, I’m being chased by bandits. I earnestly ask for your help. I will surely reward you generously!” By then, he had already reached a distance outside Huang Long and his group. In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of them, his face pale and his chest heaving—clearly exhausted from being chased at full speed, leaving him without any divine energy left. The six people behind hesitated for a moment before stopping outside Huang Long and his group. “Friends,” said the man, a young man in his twenties wearing a purple robe. He was about to bow and ask for help again when he was surprised and then disappointed. That’s because he noticed no signs of divine energy around Huang Long and his group. Since they were not far from a magic teleportation array, what did that mean? Huang Long and his group must have just come from the mortal realm and had not yet formed a divine essence or transformed their bodies. “You guys just came from the mortal realm?!” asked the young man in purple. “That’s right,” replied Huang Long calmly, looking at the six people who had stopped a few miles away. Hearing Huang Long’s words, the young man’s disappointment grew even more. Initially, he thought that if Huang Long helped them, they would be saved. But he never expected that Huang Long was actually someone who had just arrived from the mortal realm. In the Netherworld, such a person was considered the lowest rank! “Hahaha, so you just came from the mortal realm!” The six bandits laughed loudly, flying forward to surround Huang Long and his group. Since the young man in purple could detect no divine energy around them, the six bandits could certainly do the same. As soon as Huang Long finished speaking, they noticed it and surrounded them, leaving the young man in purple with no time to escape. “Just now, you really gave us a scare!” said one of the bandits standing in front of Huang Long. He had one eye and was clearly the leader of the six. He laughed viciously. “Boss, although these people just came from the mortal realm, they seem to have some valuable things on them. We’re in for a fortune!” another bandit laughed.

The divine realms that came from the mortal plane, though weak in strength, still had some individuals possessing many valuable items. In the mortal plane, these beings were among the strongest, and the treasures they carried could fetch good prices even in the Netherworld.
“Not bad!” the one-eyed bandit laughed loudly.
The young man in purple regretted it deeply. If he had kept running earlier, he might still have had a chance. Now, escaping seemed hopeless.
“Xiao Liuzi and Da Dao, you two go up and take care of these people first!” the one-eyed bandit pointed at Huang Long and the others.
Xiao Liuzi and Da Dao were quite strong, and eliminating those minor divine realm beings was easily within their capabilities.
“Yes, boss!” Two of the six bandits replied loudly before flying at Huang Long and the others with fierce smiles. They then took out their inferior divine artifacts—an axe and an axe—and prepared to kill them.
Suddenly, a figure flashed by, followed by two sword glows. The intense sword energy shocked the young man in purple and the bandits, who let out two screams.
Silence ensued.
When the young man in green and the bandits looked again, they saw the two bandits who were about to kill Huang Long and the others suddenly falling straight down from mid-air. Their eyes were wide open, and halfway down, their bodies shattered into pieces.
Huang Long held two divine essences in his hands, with an axe and an axe floating in front of him—those were Xiao Liuzi’s and Da Dao’s divine artifacts. As for those two divine essences, everyone guessed what they were without needing to say anything.
Time seemed to stand still.
The young man in purple stared at Huang Long in disbelief, his mouth agape.
Instant kill!
It was actually an instant kill!
Killing two lower-tier gods in an instant—what kind of strength was that?! The young man in purple swallowed hard, his gaze toward Huang Long changing completely.
“Run!” Seeing Huang Long kill two of his men in an instant, the one-eyed bandit shouted and fled without hesitation. Even he couldn’t do that.
Was Huang Long really just from the mortal plane?!
Now, he doubted that Huang Long had said those words to dispel their doubts and lure them here.
“Run?” Huang Long sneered at the four fleeing bandits. After putting the two divine essences and the two divine artifacts into the Five Prison Divine Cauldron, he used the power of the immortal spirit within him to vanish instantly from the young man in purple’s sight.
Teleportation!
With Huang Long’s current immortal strength, he could teleport within a hundred miles.
More screams echoed. Almost simultaneously, the three remaining bandits, aside from the one-eyed bandit, fell from mid-air, their bodies exploding apart.

“You, you?!” The one-eyed bandit was filled with terror as he stared at Yellow Dragon, struggling to speak.
“Elder, please spare my life! I was blind and foolish—please forgive me. I’m willing to give you all the divine stones I have. Please save my life!” Realizing his situation, the one-eyed bandit knelt down in despair, pleading for mercy with cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
“Oh, divine stones?” Yellow Dragon’s voice showed interest.
The one-eyed bandit hurriedly replied, “Yes, Elder. Though I don’t have many, I do have some.” With that, a space ring appeared in his hand.
Without further action, Yellow Dragon reached out and took the space ring. After probing it with his spiritual sense, he found a small pile of divine stones inside—quite a number. Besides the divine stones, there were also dozens of stones emitting a faint green light. It seemed many people had died at the hands of this one-eyed bandit, Yellow Dragon thought.
“Elder, what about me?” the one-eyed bandit asked anxiously.
But before he could finish speaking, a sword beam pierced through his body. His body stiffened before exploding.
After killing the one-eyed bandit, Yellow Dragon put the weapons and space ring in the Five Hells Divine Cauldron. Of course, he wouldn’t let him go—otherwise, it would cause trouble later.
However, making this small deal right after arriving in the Netherworld put Yellow Dragon in a good mood. The divine stones in the one-eyed bandit’s space ring were worth about five or six thousand, and together with the six divine souls and weapons, it should be worth around eight thousand divine stones.
At that moment, Bog and the others, along with the purple-robed youth, flew over.
“Thank you, Elder, for saving us!” the purple-robed youth said respectfully, filled with awe.
Wherever one goes, the strong are always respected—even more so in the bloody and cruel Netherworld.
“What’s your name?” Yellow Dragon nodded and didn’t leave with Bog and the others. Instead, he asked the purple-robed youth.
“Answering your question, Elder, my name is Ming Yu!” the purple-robed youth replied respectfully.
“Ming Yu? So you were born in the Netherworld?” Yellow Dragon was surprised.
Generally, those born in the Netherworld take “Ming” as their surname.
Ming Yu was momentarily stunned before responding respectfully, “Yes, Elder.” Since Yellow Dragon knew this, it meant he couldn’t possibly have just entered the Netherworld from the mortal realm.
But then, Yellow Dragon said, “We’ve just arrived in the Netherworld. Do you know if there are any tribes in the vicinity?”