“Hah? What are you trying to say? Answer my quest—”

Before the grass-collecting group leader could finish speaking, the sudden appearance of a red sword pointing down on him from the sky silenced him.

The alarming threat posed by the red sword immediately filled the nether spirit with dread, causing him to freeze on the spot. 

He did not dare to move the slightest bit.

Even so, it didn’t last long before the weakness he felt in his knees made him buckle and kneel on the ground, lowering himself below Albion’s eye level.

“W-who are you? How can you wield such a fearsome killing intent? Just how many people have you killed?” the nether spirit questioned him. 

At the same time, the other grass-collecting group members noticed the situation was not good and subconsciously retreated a few steps, preparing to flee if Albion so much as to even glance at them. 

As his Murderous Sword Intent was not directed at them, they did not feel much of its pressure.

“Are you in a position to be asking questions?” Albion nonchalantly replied with another question of his own.

“W-well, no.” 

The grass-collecting group leader glanced up at the red sword dangling above his head from time to time nervously. 

“B-but I work for the L-lord of Netherglow City. A-are you not afraid of offending him?”

“Between my sword and your Lord of Netherglow City; which one do you think is stronger?” Albion asked with narrowed eyes. 

He could be too reckless in the Netherworld Realm; it was a place even the Dark Emperor knew little about. 

The vast Netherworld Realm was never properly explored because soul improvement was not part of the Dark Emperor’s objective. 

But considering the Earth Sector had beings like King Yama and the Death Goddess, Albion did not doubt there were other True Immortal-level beings and above in the Netherworld Realm. 

Nevertheless, anyone below the Golden Immortal Realm was not a match for his Murderous Sword Intent.

The grass-collecting group leader gulped at Albion’s question. 

Frankly speaking, he had never seen such a terrifying and murderous Sword Intent and felt that the Lord of Netherglow City might not necessarily be the person’s opponent. 

But as a loyal servant of the Lord of Netherglow City, he couldn’t say anything that would damage his lord’s prestige. 

“I-I don’t know…” he could only answer as such.

If he said the Lord of Netherglow City was stronger, the person would probably kill him on the spot.

“You don’t know, huh?” Albion muttered with a sharp glint before saying, “You don’t know, or you don’t want to say?”

“I-I… Please don’t force me to say it, Your Excellency,” the grass-collecting group leader pleaded. 

Feigning ignorance was the only choice he had; his honest or dishonest answers would get him killed.

Nevertheless, Albion already understood the answer without the Spirit Manifestation-level nether spirit saying it directly.

“After collecting the Nethersoul Grass here, you’ll be returning to Netherglow City, right?” 

“Y-yes, Your Excellency!” 

“Good!”

“Good?”

The grass-collecting group leader and the other members revealed their confused looks. 

“Exactly,” Albion nodded before saying, “You will finish your task and return to Netherglow City, and I will be following you.”

“You want to follow us back to Netherglow City, Your Excellency?” the grass-collecting group leader doubted his hearing. 

Isn’t this person way too confident?

No matter how strong he is, he can’t possibly take on an entire city by himself if the Lord of Netherglow City wanted his life, right? 

Nevertheless, Albion casually replied, “Did I not make myself clear?”

“N-no, Your Excellency! You made yourself very clear!” the grass-collecting group leader answered hurriedly. 

“Then get on it!”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

After being urged by Albion, the group of Spirit Manifestation-level nether spirits immediately scurried to their feet and went into the small village to fetch all the harvested Nethersoul Grass from the villagers. 

Not long after, Albion left the village with the grass-collecting group on their mode of transportation, a spiritual tool in the form of a flying airship, after the grass-collecting group leader summoned it. 

Albion felt a bit of nostalgia from the Dark Emperor’s memories when he was still the Ashura Emperor. 

The cultivators in the Nine Divine Heaven used many spiritual tools like the flying artifact.

‘The Dark Emperor was too fixated on returning to the energy-rich Nine Divine Heavens for his immortal cultivation and revenge; he never sought to explore more of this Netherworld Realm…’ 

Or rather, the Dark Emperor didn’t want to waste his time and energy on anything that diverged from his goal.

Nevertheless, he was different from the Dark Emperor, who ignored such a treasured land.

He did not have an Immortal Emperor-level soul like the Dark Emperor; thus, the Netherworld Realm was the perfect training ground for improving his soul. 

‘My gut feeling as a past avid reader of cultivation novels tells me there is more to the Netherworld Realm than what meets the eye; I don’t think it’s inferior to the Nine Divine Heavens…’ 

Albion silently mused to himself. 

Whether it was the Netherworld Realm’s denizens, landscapes, history, or even its origins, there was much to learn. 

‘If I recall the Dark Emperor’s memories correctly, the returning point will always be the same, but the entering point will always be different in the Netherworld Realm… Such a chaotic realm; the empress wife will never find me here if she ever descends on Earth.’

Albion mused. 

In his mind, the Netherworld Realm had already become his haven.

He was ready to flee to it permanently if the Nine Divine Heavens ever descended on Earth before he could possess the strength to stand his ground against Immortal Emperors.

While passing multiple black mountains and red rivers, Albion spotted multiple villages, big and small, along the way. 

They all had empty fields, much like the first village, for growing Nethersoul Grass. 

‘Such a large Nethersoul Grass cultivation business… What does the Lord of Netherglow City need so much Nethersoul Grass for, I wonder?’ Albion silently wondered.

Sometime later, the vague silhouette of an enormous black-walled city appeared in the distance.

“Your Excellency, we’ll be arriving at Netherglow City shortly,” the grass-collecting group leader informed.

“I see.”