Avici Hell was incredibly far from this star domain.
At Billy’s current travel speed, it took nearly ten days to reach the star domain where Avici Hell was located.
Following the route map, the two continued to fly for hundreds of thousands of miles before stopping. In the void not far ahead, a range of undulating mountains floated. At the foot of the mountains was a moderately sized city, and the entire void was filled with a faintly eerie atmosphere.
“Boss, is this city Avici Hell?” Stout asked Billy after they landed in an open space outside the city.
“No,” Billy shook his head. “Avici Hell is beneath this city.”
“Underground?” Stout was taken aback.
“Yes,” Billy nodded and added, “Let’s find a place in the city to eat first.”
With that, he led Stout into the city. Once inside, they found the streets almost deserted with hardly any pedestrians in sight.
Most of the shops along the streets were closed, with only a few still open.
“What’s going on? Is this a ghost town?” Stout looked around and couldn’t help but comment.
“Let’s ask up ahead,” Billy said, leading Stout into a moderately sized tavern on their right.
Inside, they saw that the large hall was empty except for one waiter.
“What would you like to eat?” The waiter approached them upon seeing them enter.
“How much for the best meal for two in your tavern?” Stout asked cautiously, still bitter about their experience at the teahouse in the Realm of the Void.
“One Obsidian Gem per person,” the waiter replied.
“Are you sure?” Stout confirmed.
“Of course,” the waiter nodded.
“Then go ahead and prepare it!” Stout waved his hand generously. “We don’t mind spending Obsidian Gems!”
Billy: “…”
“Please wait a moment, it will be ready soon,” the waiter said before turning to leave.
In no time, a sumptuous meal was served.
“Waiter, has something happened in the city? Why are there no people on the streets?” Billy asked while eating.
“You two must be new here,” the waiter responded.
“If you take my advice, unless you have something important to do, it’s better to leave early.”
“Why?” Stout asked.
“If I’m not mistaken, you two are here for that world below, right?” The waiter continued.
“Recently, that world has been very unstable. Various forces have been constantly at war, and it has affected this city.”
“Two months ago, this city was bustling with people. The streets were crowded, and the taverns and restaurants were often full.”
“But due to the wars below, many forces in the city have been implicated. The top two or three forces have almost been wiped out.”
“In total, including ordinary citizens, twenty to thirty thousand people have died in this city. Most of the remaining people have moved away with their families.”
“The world below you’re talking about is Avici Hell, right?” Billy continued to ask. “What has happened recently?”
“Have you heard of the Fountain of Eternal Life?” The waiter asked in return.
“The Fountain of Eternal Life?” Billy and Stout shook their heads simultaneously.
“Do you know why that world below is called Avici Hell?” The waiter asked again.
“Is there a story behind it?” Billy asked.
“You really don’t know?” The waiter paused before giving them a brief introduction.
After listening to him, Billy and Stout finally understood the gist of it.
Many years ago, that world below wasn’t called Avici Hell and wasn’t a place of evil. It was just an ordinary underground city.
Later, news spread that the Fountain of Eternal Life had been discovered in that world!
The so-called Fountain of Eternal Life, as the name suggests, is something that can grant eternal life.
Of course, eternal life is relative and doesn’t mean true immortality. But even relatively speaking, it was enough to make people flock to it.
According to legend, if one could obtain even a drop of the Fountain of Eternal Life, it could extend a person’s life by ten years.
For those who had lived for nearly ten thousand years, ten years might seem like a fleeting moment.
But one drop extending life by ten years meant ten drops would grant a hundred years, a hundred drops would grant a thousand years, and a thousand drops would grant ten thousand more years!
Of course, the Fountain of Eternal Life wasn’t like river water that could be obtained endlessly. No one knew exactly how much there was.
But regardless, once the news spread, various forces from the ninth-tier star domain sent people to this underground city.
What followed was no surprise-various forces fought fiercely. Even before anyone figured out what the Fountain of Eternal Life looked like or where it was located, millions had already perished.
The wars lasted nearly a hundred years. By then, the entire underground city was littered with corpses and rivers of blood flowed freely. That’s how it came to be known as Avici Hell.
In fact, no one ever saw the Fountain of Eternal Life during that time.
Eventually, things calmed down, but many souls in Avici Hell were exploited by someone with ill intentions.
A man known as Demonsmith settled in Avici Hell and quickly gained power by devouring millions of souls there.
It didn’t take long for him to grow from an unknown figure to a demon on par with Devouring Path Demon Lord.
After his strength increased significantly, Demonsmith emerged. To continue gaining power, he needed more souls. When there weren’t enough souls in Avici Hell for him to devour, he started creating them himself.
Countless people died at his hands back then; his cruelty was no less than that of Devouring Path Demon Lord.
Later on, like Devouring Path Demon Lord, he was suppressed by powerful members of Heaven Alliance. Whether he died or not remains unknown; he hasn’t been seen since then.
After Demonsmith was suppressed, his disciples scattered like birds and beasts, leaving Avici Hell behind.
However, one faction chose to stay-the Phoenix Clan!
With Demonsmith’s fate as a warning, they no longer dared act recklessly. Although still restless, they were much better behaved than before.
Over the years, many forces came and went in Avici Hell; only Phoenix Clan remained unshaken.
In recent months, Avici Hell has been unstable again due to renewed rumors about the Fountain of Eternal Life.
This time, the rumors seemed more credible; even its exact location was mentioned-supposedly beneath an Obsidian Gem mine in Avici Hell.
Unsurprisingly, wars broke out again immediately afterward.
First came conflicts among forces within Avici Hell itself; then external forces joined in too.
To this day, fighting continues!
“Apart from Phoenix Clan, are there any other strong forces in Avici Hell?” Stout asked another question.