Chapter 0290: Conquering Black Iron Peak

“Brother, it turns out to be just a mid-tier god,” said Devitt, the third leader of Black Iron Peak, after a moment of surprise, followed by laughter.
The chubby man Rupert and the others also felt relieved.
Only Heber’s serious expression remained unchanged.
Although this dark-haired young man appeared to be just a mid-tier god, if he had no strength, would he have appeared out of thin air to block our path? Moreover, judging from those magic restrictions, if they really were his doing, then he was no ordinary person.
“I am Heber of Black Iron Peak. Who are you?” Heber asked politely.
“Yellow Dragon,” replied Yellow Dragon, looking at him with a calm expression.
“Yellow Dragon?” Heber faintly felt that name was familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere, but since the other party was just a mid-tier god, where could he have heard it?
Seeing Heber’s expression, Devitt and the others lost their relaxed demeanor and watched Yellow Dragon and the others warily.
“Brother, I seem to have heard this name Yellow Dragon somewhere before,” Rupert whispered from behind Heber.
Devitt nodded as well.
“You’ve heard of him too?” Heber was surprised.
“Brother Yellow Dragon, we apologize for the disturbance. We’ll leave now. Since we’re neighbors from now on, let’s keep in touch. Goodbye!” Heber looked at Yellow Dragon and decided to retreat, planning to find out more about him later.
“Keep in touch?” Yellow Dragon said calmly, “Since you’re here, why leave in such a hurry? Black Iron Peak? Well, we’ll visit eventually.”
Since he intended to settle in the Dragon Mountain Range, Yellow Dragon naturally wouldn’t ignore the various forces there. Conquering them all would make him the most powerful force in the Netherworld.
Hearing Yellow Dragon’s words, Heber’s expression darkened. “What? Do you intend to keep us here?”
“Brother, whatever his background, forget it. Just a mid-tier god and a dozen or so lower-tier gods—can’t we handle them?” Devitt snapped angrily.
“Yes, brother. If we deal with this guy, we can always find another place to hide later. What’s there to fear? Even if he’s from the BeKalver family, so what?” Rupert added.
Heber’s eyes flashed, and finally, with a cold glint, he waved his hand. “Kill them!”
But as soon as he gave the order, Bog and the others moved.
“So fast!” Heber was shocked. Soon after, screams were heard around him.
Seeing that Bog and the others dared to act first, Rupert snapped in anger. He raised his mid-tier divine weapon and prepared to attack Bog. Suddenly, a giant handprint appeared.

“What is this?!” Rupert was shocked. In panic, he summoned his Fire Deity power, unleashing a surge of fiery energy to counterattack.
Boom!
With a loud noise, Heber and Nedvet looked over and saw Rupert knocked back by the impact, plummeting from the air to the ground and sinking deep into it, unconscious for a moment.
“Second brother!”
“Elder brother!”
Heber cried out in alarm. Turning around, he saw Rupert’s Fire Deity power somehow in the hands of the black-haired youth. Before he could react, a figure flashed forward, delivering a punch.
Heber quickly swung his mid-tier divine weapon, the wolf-tusk staff, to block it. With a clanging sound, an immense force struck back, hitting the youth in the chest and sending him flying.
Nedvet’s situation wasn’t much better—he was hit by a sword aura and also fell to the ground.
The god-tier warriors from Black Iron Peak, who had been fighting against Bog and the others, froze in place, their movements slowing down.
Seeing this, Bog and the others retreated.
The Yellow Dragon stood high in the sky, emitting a soul pressure. An invisible current swept over, causing the more than 200 lower-tier gods from Black Iron Peak to feel their minds thundering, as if raindrops were falling from above.
Muffled sounds continued to come from the ground.
Watching those god-tier warriors lying unconscious on the ground, the Yellow Dragon descended and joined Bog and the others above them.
The Yellow Dragon’s gaze fell on the only three still conscious—Heber, Nedvet, and Rupert.
The three of them stared at the Yellow Dragon in terror. “Are you a Soul Master?!”
A Soul Master—a Soul Master of a mid-tier god!
And it seemed that the Yellow Dragon’s soul power had reached the later stages or even the peak of a mid-tier god!
No wonder they dared to keep them alive.
Despair filled the three’s faces.
In the Netherworld, the strong ruled, and the weak were destined to die. Though they had known this rule since they became bandits, fear still gripped them when death approached.
“Black Iron Peak, Heber? It seems you’re their leader?” The Yellow Dragon’s indifferent voice rang out.
Heber swallowed hard and nodded in awe at the Yellow Dragon.
“I give you two choices,” the Yellow Dragon said, raising two fingers. “One: join me. Two: die!”
A glimmer of hope appeared on the once-desperate faces of the three. They exchanged glances before finally nodding in submission.
They knew that without submission, death was inevitable.
Compared to death, they chose submission.

And they were robbers, unstable by nature. If they could find a strong backing, it might not be a bad thing. Huang Long was a mid-tier Soul Master with considerable strength, so joining him would be fine as well.
In fact, Huang Long could also directly break through the defenses of their Soul Seas and control them by imprinting his consciousness, not fearing that they wouldn’t submit. However, this method would consume a lot of soul energy. If he could make them submit willingly and lift their Soul Sea defenses, he wouldn’t have to exert so much effort to break through them.
After the three submitted, Huang Long ordered them to open their Soul Seas.
The three hesitated for a moment before opening their Soul Seas as instructed. After a while, Huang Long implanted his consciousness imprint and said indifferently, “I’ve already planted Soul Worms in your Soul Seas. If you ever harbor rebellious thoughts, you know what will happen!”
“What, Soul Worms!” The three Heber brothers’ faces turned deathly pale.
These Soul Worms were terrifying in the Netherworld. If planted in one’s soul, a single thought from the worm could make life unbearable.
Physical torment wasn’t the worst; the worst was the suffering of the soul. When these Soul Worms attacked, biting and tearing at the soul, even the most powerful beings couldn’t endure such pain.
Yet, few in the Netherworld dared to use these Soul Worms, not even some high-ranking Soul Masters, because it required immense soul power and specialized secret techniques.
At first hearing this, the three Heber brothers’ faces turned pale, then they stared at Huang Long in disbelief.
After all, on the surface, Huang Long was just a mid-tier god. No matter how strong his soul power was, it couldn’t compare to that of a high-ranking Soul Master.
Seeing the doubt in their eyes, Huang Long sneered inwardly. With a thought, three shrill screams echoed from space, as the three Heber brothers writhed on the ground, clutching their heads.
By then, several powerful god-tier warriors from Black Iron Peak had regained some consciousness. Hearing the screams and seeing the miserable state of the three Heber brothers, they shuddered in terror.
After a while, Huang Long withdrew his soul attack.
Although what was in the three Heber brothers’ Soul Seas wasn’t Soul Worms, it was something even more terrifying—known as Prison Worms in Pangu’s world. Huang Long called it Soul Worms just to make the three believe it.
Since they refused to believe, Huang Long decided to let them “experience” it.
The three Heber brothers gasped for breath, trembling as they stared at Huang Long, their eyes filled with terror.
“Do you still want to try?” Huang Long asked slowly.
The three Heber brothers’ faces turned pale as they shook their heads frantically: “No, no, enough, master!”

It was at this moment that they truly submitted.
Huang Long nodded and did not imprint his divine consciousness on any other godly strongmen of Black Iron Peak. With the three Xibes subdued, it no longer mattered whether the others had such imprints or not.
Moreover, seeing the fearful expressions on the faces of those lower gods at Black Iron Peak who were quite powerful, Huang Long knew that what had just happened had been deeply etched in their minds.
Looking at the lower gods still unconscious on the ground, Huang Long pointed upward, and a mass of green mist appeared. Streams of green spiritual energy descended, and in the blink of an eye, everyone recovered. The injured three Xibes were surprised to find their wounds healed as well.
“Is this the Law of Life?!” The three Xibes looked at Huang Long with awe, then stood up and respectfully thanked their master.
The lower gods at Black Iron Peak who had woken up stood there in shock. The three Xibes shouted at them, and eventually, they all bowed in reverence to Huang Long, submitting to him.
“Get up,” Huang Long said calmly. With a single gesture, he made everyone rise. Then, with another finger movement, a beam of golden light flashed, dispersing the mist covering Mount Taiyi and revealing its true appearance.
Seeing the green mountains, lush vegetation, blooming flowers, and the gentle glow of the sunset, along with the spiritual energy wafting toward them, the people of Black Iron Peak were stunned. Was this still the desolate mountain they knew before?
If it weren’t for what they saw with their own eyes, Xibe could not have believed it.
“Follow me in,” Huang Long said, leading Bogu and the others toward Mount Taiyi. The Xibes quickly followed closely behind.
When they reached the peak of Mount Taiyi, the Xibes saw hundreds of palaces in the distance and felt the liquid-like spiritual energy surrounding them. They were still unable to process what they were seeing after a long time.
How could such a group of palaces exist in this barren and harsh place of the Giant Dragon Mountains? There definitely hadn’t been any before—so, had they appeared in these past two months?!
Xibe’s mind couldn’t keep up.
With the Xibes subdued, Huang Long simply used the Green Rainbow Sword to flatten the peaks between Mount Taiyi and Black Iron Peak, creating a flat surface that connected the two mountains. He also set up several spirit-concentrating arrays at Black Iron Peak, allowing the Xibes to reshape the mountain according to his plans. At the same time, Huang Long expanded the range of the Twelve Dark Kings’ Flags, covering Black Iron Peak as well.
A few months passed, and Black Iron Peak became rich in spiritual energy, with lush vegetation and completed palaces. Though it couldn’t compare to Mount Taiyi, it had transformed greatly.
Thus, Huang Long’s first faction in the Netherworld was finally established!