Conflict

"Even though I can kind of understand it, aren't there way too many water sorcery spectacles here?" After stowing away the tenth spectacle, Yaxiu finally couldn't help but say, "We haven't seen a single spectacle of any other faction along the way—every single one belongs to the water sorcery faction! Even if the water sorcery environment in Deep Blue Hell is exceptionally superior, it shouldn't be to the point where there isn't a single spectacle of any other faction, right?" Yaxiu had placed all the spectacles collected in Deep Blue Hell into the ocean at the bottom layer of his Soul Kingdom of Heaven, as only that place was best suited for preserving water sorcery spectacles. Although the harvest was decent, none of them specialized in water sorcery, so collecting so many was useless for them, and they could only sit in his storage as ornaments. Of course, if they had enough time, they could also study the ideas behind spectacle construction by studying these spectacles. Spectacle construction was perhaps the most arcane knowledge in this world; it could neither be handed down nor recorded. Only sorcerers who had set foot in the divine realm could comprehend the beauty of construction from a spectacle. Sword Princess and the others were also beginning to construct spectacles suited for themselves, but natural talent alone still left vast room for improvement. Aside from trial and error step by step, referencing other spectacles was the best shortcut. Just like writing, a genius would naturally produce brilliant prose, but reading a vast number of classic works would broaden one's thinking even further. The problem was that time was precisely what they lacked most. What Yaxiu needed were spectacles of swordsmanship, time, truth, soul, and other arts that could immediately bolster their combat strength, yet they had encountered practically none on this journey. Dead Frenzy countered with a question, "The second layer, Deep Blue Hell, is harder to survive in than the first layer, Barren Hell. Why are there actually more demigods in Deep Blue Hell?" "Because there are more resources?" "To be precise, more sorcery spirit resources and knowledge essences," Dead Frenzy said. "Unlike Barren Hell, water sorcery resources are everywhere in Deep Blue Hell, so abundant that no single faction can monopolize them. Even a solitary, unsupported demigod can condense water sorcery hell wings within a few years. "If you can survive the annual tribulations, you could theoretically keep condensing up to five tiers of hell wings here, and definitely at no slow pace. However, the low-intensity competitive environment of Deep Blue Hell means the combat standard of the demigods here is even lower than in Barren Hell. To reduce the intensity of tribulations, they often deliberately keep their hell wings at the three-winged level." Yaxiu was somewhat confused. "But wouldn't the wings they condense be water sorcery hell wings? Surely there aren't that many demigods who specialize in water sorcery?" Dead Frenzy shook her head. "You're looking at this from a mortal's perspective... So what if they don't specialize in water sorcery? They can change. "At worst, they scatter their hell wings. Although they'd fall to the bottom rung of Hell, they'd gain infinite time and be free from the tribulations. Then, spending decades or a century delving into water sorcery until reaching the divine realm, completely converting into a water sorcery demigod, is entirely viable. "In fact, it isn't even that extreme. They don't need to scatter their wings, nor do they need decades. In an environment like Deep Blue Hell, a demigod sorcerer often only needs ten years to push water sorcery to the legendary rank, which is basically enough for their needs." Yaxiu blinked. "Changing their primary sorcery arts just to adapt to the environment?" "What else?" Dead Frenzy patted the back of his head. "Did you think other demigods live lives of licentious indulgence like you? Don't forget, in the eyes of the Void Realm, demigods are a pack of shameless thieves. Every annual tribulation is an attempt by the Void Realm to purge the vermin in Hell. Although demigods gain eternal life, the price is spending every single year trembling in fear, surviving on borrowed breath for the rest of their days." Yaxiu was shocked. "Seriously?" "Of course—" "Does the way I'm living right now already count as licentious indulgence!?" Yaxiu had a troubled look on his face. "But everyone wants to pursue higher thrills. I've been thinking up new interactive activities these past few days—" Seeing Dead Frenzy raise her hand, he quickly scurried away. "Next is the Silence Palace, one of the four great palaces of Deep Blue, and beyond that lies the Sea Return Palace," Dead Frenzy said. "There should be a 'Raging Waves' spectacle in the Silence Palace. Paired with 'Water Moon,' it won't just drastically boost Sonia's combat strength, but will also help her break through the bottlenecks in her realm. If you conduct Divine Might training with her regularly, her swordsmanship will advance even faster." "Understood," Yaxiu said. "That way, Sword Princess is guaranteed to come in first in daily training... Huh? Is that why you've been showing special favor to Sword Princess?" Dead Frenzy cast him a cold sidelong glance. "Yeah. I hope she improves faster so she can draw her sword sooner and hack you, you little blabbermouth, to death. That way, the Observer won't be resurrected, and you'll die a miserable death. Venting two grudges in one go—there's no better bargain than that." Yaxiu smiled sheepishly and lowered his head in thought. "I'll have to think of a way to make it up to the others..." "Make it up to them?" Dead Frenzy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Although I don't expect absolute fairness, being able to bring back two 'Dead Frenzy-recommended' spectacles for Sword Princess this time clearly tilts the cultivation resources heavily in her favor." Yaxiu shrugged. "I can't change what spectacles we find, but I should at least show where I stand. Since cultivation resources tilted toward Sword Princess this time, I'll compensate the others in different ways to keep them from harboring hard feelings as much as possible—" "Completely unnecessary," Dead Frenzy said calmly. "Isn't it only natural for you to favor Sonia?" Yaxiu nodded. "Yes, but that doesn't mean I can ignore the feelings of the others." "Then have you considered Sonia's feelings?" Dead Frenzy said. "Her vanity hasn't disappeared; it's merely shifted onto you. Nothing makes her heart race faster than receiving special treatment from you. This time, you could clearly have made Sonia happy, so why must you insist on telling her that she won't receive more favoritism than the other girls?" Yaxiu replied, "Not all happiness has to rely on hurting others—" Dead Frenzy pressed aggressively, "So you hurt her instead?" Yaxiu took a deep breath and waved his hand. "We don't need to discuss this topic." The rest of the journey was quiet and brief. They quickly arrived at the Silence Palace, erected atop an underwater volcano. Dead Frenzy circled the palace once, her expression turning exceedingly ugly. "Where is the 'Raging Waves' spectacle?" she said. "I seized that spectacle right here in the Silence Palace. It can't not be here." "Maybe it was moved away," Yaxiu guessed. "Or maybe 'Raging Waves' hasn't even been constructed in this time period yet. You entered Hell a few years later than our timeline, so perhaps it was during those few years that the Silence Palace built the 'Raging Waves' spectacle. "It's a bit of a pity, but nothing can be done about it." Yaxiu's tone was calm, but to Dead Frenzy's ears, it sounded grating in the extreme. Especially after having just argued, Dead Frenzy felt as though every single syllable out of his mouth was mocking her. There were two other spectacles in the Silence Palace: 'Continuous Showers' and 'Silent Drizzle.' The former was an area-of-effect water sorcery damage spectacle, but the latter made Yaxiu's eyes light up—'Silent Drizzle' was a support spectacle that granted concealed attacks the effect of penetrating laws. In other words, the harder an attack was to detect, the further it could bypass an enemy's defensive barriers under the enhancement of 'Silent Drizzle,' silently permeating the enemy's soul body! Sword Princess and the Witch were one dazzlingly ferocious and the other carpet-bombing; 'Silent Drizzle' wouldn't provide much boost for them. Instead, it was far better suited to Vichy's insidious, uncanny style of combat! Leaning against the crystal palace wall nearby, Dead Frenzy glanced at Yaxiu, whose eyes showed delight. She suddenly raised a finger, pointing toward the ceiling. "That bright spot in the raincloud." Yaxiu looked up and saw a faint white glimmer looming within the lead-gray raincloud. "What about it?" "Use any method you like—tap that bright spot." Suspecting nothing, Yaxiu flicked a beam of sword light from his finger, which struck the bright spot in the raincloud in an instant. *Snap.* With a muffled, thunderous crack, the raincloud collapsed and disintegrated into hundreds of falling sorcery spirits, and the drizzle ceased at once. Yaxiu stared blankly at the scene, taking a moment to realize what had just happened—the 'Silent Drizzle' spectacle had collapsed. He slowly turned his head to look at Dead Frenzy. She was still flicking away cigarette ash with utter composure, her pride and callousness laid completely bare in every gesture. She lifted her gaze to meet Yaxiu's eyes. Her blood-red eyes held not the slightest hint of remorse, only a malice so sharp it was almost blinding. Yaxiu kept forgetting that the person exploring Hell with him was not a companion he could entrust his back to, but the Dead Frenzy Sword Demon, whose actions were guided entirely by whim and malice. Without a word, he gathered the sorcery spirits of 'Silent Drizzle' and scoured the Silence Palace thoroughly for its hidden supplies. And he did not speak to Dead Frenzy again.