In one territory, a little girl was checking her private messages, muttering as she replied, "Do these Novice Lords have underdeveloped cerebellums and defective brains? What do they mean, 'lend me some'? And 'my father is Zhang Erhe'? A bunch of idiots trying to get something for nothing."
"Not a single lord with potential, just a whole pile of freeloaders. Do they think I'm running a charity?"
"Ding!" A system notification sounded.
The little girl looked at her friend list. Someone had sent her a friend request, and she opened it for a look.
"Otherworld Traveler? That lord who already wants a dark seed." Her eyes lit up as she looked at the lord on her friend list.
Someone like that was either an idiot with his head in the clouds or a genuinely capable lord.
Please be a capable lord. Talking to those idiots is really setting off my idiot intolerance, Lin Xiaoxiao thought before sending Su Ye a message.
[Little Merchant: Boss, you finally added me! What do you need? Wood, stone? Gold coins? Origin Crystals? I have them all! Of course, if you want anything else, I can ask around and find it for you.]
On his end, Su Ye raised an eyebrow at Little Merchant's message and replied.
[Do you have a dark seed? A Barracks would work too.]
Lin Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up as she read Su Ye's message. A big shot! A real big shot! A major customer—a major customer! He's so much better than those idiots from before.
[If you need them, boss, I'll start looking right away. But about the price...]
Su Ye immediately replied after reading Lin Xiaoxiao's message.
[Don't worry, I won't shortchange you. The sooner, the better. I only need one dark seed. A Barracks from any faction will do, regardless of rank.]
Lin Xiaoxiao stared at Su Ye's message. "Wow, a real big shot. A seriously big shot. He even wants a Barracks."
[Got it, boss. A Barracks might be hard to find, but I should be able to find a dark seed today. Wait for my message, boss.] [All right.]
Su Ye sent those two words and closed the private chat panel.
Lin Xiaoxiao closed her chat with Su Ye and got to work. Her method was to cast a wide net, contacting her friends and asking them to help inquire. This took time, patience, and an extensive network of connections—something only Merchant Lords like her could manage.
If Su Ye simply spammed the chat channel himself, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, entirely dependent on luck.
Back on Su Ye's end.
"Little Merchant? Which trade association is she from?" Su Ye looked at his friend list.
The most important requirement for becoming a Merchant Lord was an extensive network of connections. Those connections were not something they acquired just by entering the Eternal World.
They were relationships that existed before entering the Eternal World. That was beyond the means of an ordinary family, so she was most likely someone from one of the great merchant guilds.
Only then could someone build such an extensive network in so little time as a Novice Lord. They had brought their connections in from the outside right from the start.
Barring any surprises, Little Merchant was probably one of the heirs to a great merchant guild. Only someone like that could amass the contacts a merchant needed most so quickly during the Novice Lord period.
An ordinary Merchant Lord could not do that.
"Forget it. Whatever, it has nothing to do with me." Su Ye looked out over his territory.
"Lilith," Su Ye called.
Lilith instantly appeared before him. "Lord God Emperor."
"Go notify the other original sin fallen angels. Today's Void Trial is about to begin. Prepare for battle," Su Ye said gravely.
"Yes, Lord God Emperor." A trace of crimson surfaced in Lilith's eyes. Her black-and-purple wings spread, and she streaked into the sky above the territory.
Black-and-red figures instantly assembled overhead.
All forty original sin fallen angels had assembled.
"System, begin the Void Trial," Su Ye said gravely.
[Ding: Please select the Void Trial difficulty: Normal, Hard, Nightmare, Purgatory, Abyss!]
"Abyss." Looking at Lilith and the others, Su Ye selected Abyss difficulty without hesitation.
[Ding: The Void Trial will begin in thirty seconds. Difficulty: Abyss. Lord, please prepare.]
As the notification sounded, countless dark-red lights surged along the borders of Su Ye's territory. Thirty seconds passed.
Towering demons entered Su Ye's territory, letting out terrifying roars.
Su Ye checked their attributes.
Name: Abyssal lesser demon Rank: Fourth Rank Level: Black Iron Nine-Star
"They're equivalent to Fourth Rank, Black Iron Nine-Star troops. Good thing I didn't level up, or I'd be facing Bronze Tier monsters today." Su Ye looked at the abyssal lesser demons, all of them Black Iron Nine-Star.
The highest-level unit under his command was Lilith, at Black Iron Four-Star, and even that was thanks to the Spirit Source Lake. Those he had just recruited today were only Black Iron One-Star.
If he really encountered Bronze Tier monsters, things might actually go wrong. Losing even a single unit was unacceptable to Su Ye.
After all, every one of Su Ye's troops—even an ordinary unit—had the potential to reach Main God Level. Losing even one would be a devastating loss.
High in the sky, Lilith looked down at the abyssal lesser demons with a cruel smile. A massive War Scythe appeared in her hands.
Lilith became a meteor, smashing straight into the mass of abyssal lesser demons with overwhelming brute force. Flesh and blood flew everywhere in an instant.
The other original sin fallen angels streaked down from every direction, and a massacre began.
Su Ye carefully watched the newly recruited original sin fallen angels. Their battles were just as one-sided.
"Just as I thought, original sin fallen angels crush anything in the same realm." Watching their performance, Su Ye felt a weight lift from his heart. He had worried that the newly recruited original sin fallen angels would be unable to handle these Black Iron Nine-Star monsters, but now he could finally relax.
As time passed, huge numbers of abyssal lesser demons were slaughtered.
Lilith's level soared at a visibly rapid pace. In just ten minutes, she rose one level from her original Black Iron Four-Star.
The newly recruited original sin fallen angels advanced even more. Within ten minutes, they had all caught up with the first batch of original sin fallen angels.
As time passed.
Su Ye's territory became a bloody slaughterhouse. The monsters appearing in this Abyss-difficulty Void Trial were both higher-level and more numerous.
The corpses of abyssal lesser demons piled into small hills, and blood stained Su Ye's territory red. Treasure chests floated throughout his territory, waiting for him to open them.
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