Building My Own Faction

Suigetsu City is surrounded by a massive outer wall, and within the city, three distinct castles stand separately, forming a ring-like layout.

"My lords, the three castles are Black Sand Castle, Bifu Castle, and Fiend Castle."

Kermon walked in front, continuing to provide information as their guide:

"Black Sand Castle is for black market trading, Bifu Castle is for standard buying and selling, and Fiend Castle is for Fiend assessments and completing missions."

"Oh? Black market trading? Is black market trading done openly here?"

Adkins licked his lips, showing a hint of interest.

Of course, they would not consider the black market for now; after all, they had just arrived and were not yet familiar with the various aspects of the city.

"Fiend assessment?"

Pusiluo did not have much interest in the others, but upon hearing these words, he perked up and looked at Kermon.

"To undergo a Fiend assessment, you must complete a Fiend mission from the castle to become a One-Star Fiend. You continue completing missions, and eventually, you can become a Seven-Star Fiend. The City Lord is a Seven-Star Fiend, an extremely powerful Highgod."

Kermon immediately understood what Pusiluo meant and spoke up.

"Then, if I participate in the arena challenge, win a hundred battles, and directly defeat the City Lord, can I become a Seven-Star Fiend immediately?"

Pusiluo thought for a moment, then continued to ask in his usual boisterous manner.

"This... I don't know about that. I suppose it might be possible?"

Kermon replied uncertainly; he was only a Midgod, so how would he know about such things?

Although in theory, killing a Seven-Star Fiend should be enough to prove one's strength as a Seven-Star Fiend, allowing Fiend Castle to issue a Seven-Star Fiend medal.

However, he had never really looked into this process; why would a Midgod like him care about that?

"Alright, let's stop talking about that for now. Let's go sell our goods first."

Huosi interrupted their conversation, then led the group toward the back door of Bifu Castle, quickly heading up to the third floor.

"My lords, I wonder what you are looking to sell?"

A staff member of Bifu Castle immediately stepped forward to greet them and asked.

Every person who went to the third floor to sell items had to display their goods, if only to prove that they possessed the necessary strength.

After all, while the clientele on the third floor was relatively small, they were all major clients.

"We intend to sell some Highgod artifacts and godheads."

Huosi took two long spears and a godhead out of his interspatial ring to demonstrate.

"Please follow me, my lords."

The staff member immediately adjusted his attitude, leading the group toward a specialized counter.

"Show me what you intend to sell."

An old man in a black robe sat in his chair, lifting his eyelids to speak casually.

He had worked at Bifu Castle for many years, and his attitude toward those who came to sell goods was usually quite indifferent.

"Take it."

Huosi did not care about the other party's attitude and directly tossed an interspatial ring over.

"Hm? What is this?"

After taking a brief look inside the interspatial ring, the black-robed old man's expression changed drastically. He was silent for a moment before saying:

"Wait a moment, I need to verify this."

"Please, go ahead!"

Huosi nodded, indicating it was of no concern.

At this moment, the black-robed old man's face had become much more serious as he carefully examined the interspatial ring.

Inside the ring, there were exactly five hundred Highgod artifacts placed neatly.

He had truly never seen anyone take out so many Highgod artifacts at once.

According to the market prices in Hell, a Highgod godhead was worth ten million, and a Highgod artifact, depending on the circumstances, was generally worth around one million.

This single interspatial ring was worth nearly five hundred million. Even at the castle's seventy-percent acquisition rate, it was still over three hundred million. One had to know that buying a house in the city could cost as little as sixty million for a cheaper one.

Even for an expensive one, three hundred million was more than enough. This money was enough to establish a foothold in the city directly without having to worry about danger.

One must know that out in the wild, those bandits and tribesmen hoped for nothing more than to buy a house of their own in the city.

Unfortunately, ninety-nine percent of them struggled and fought their whole lives, only to end up as a godhead sold by someone else.

The way the black-robed old man looked at Huosi had become exceptionally friendly.

The commission he would earn from this single transaction was comparable to what he had made in the last hundred thousand years, which was enough to make him treat the matter with great importance.

Moreover, the person before him, capable of producing so many Highgod artifacts at once, must be a specialized artisan, so it was better to show some respect.

In Hell, while masters of magic arrays and artisans were rare, their status was not low.

Furthermore, masters usually required strength to back them up; it was impossible to become a master without some level of power.

A few minutes later, the black-robed elder finished his calculations and spoke to Huosi:

"For these five hundred Highgod artifacts: one hundred and fifty dark-attribute longswords at 800,000 each; one hundred and fifty fire-attribute spears at 1,200,000 each; one hundred sets of earth-attribute armor at 1,500,000 per set; and one hundred sets of light-attribute armor at 1,000,000 per set. The total comes to 550,000,000. According to the Bifu Castle acquisition rate, seventy percent is 385,000,000."

As the black-robed elder spoke, he took out two interspatial rings and handed them directly to Huosi.

After taking them, Huosi carefully inspected the contents: a massive pile of deep blue stone slabs, totaling exactly 3,850 pieces.

"Keep these safe; we're going shopping."

Huosi was not stingy. He casually took out four rings, divided 25,000,000 into each, and gave one to Adkins, Pusiluo, Leilin, and Beirut respectively.

As for Kermon, he did not yet have the qualifications to receive a share of this money.

However, Kermon did not mind, because at this moment, he was numb; he had never seen so much money in his entire life.

Over three hundred million? He wouldn't have dared to dream of it. He had been a bandit for tens of thousands of years, robbing countless passersby, yet he only had a little over a million Inkstones in his possession.

And that was only because, as a bandit leader, he could take a cut from his subordinates.

If it were an ordinary bandit, being able to save up one hundred thousand Inkstones would already be considered impressive.

Yet today, Kermon truly witnessed what it meant to be wealthy and imposing.

The few Inkstones in his own hands probably couldn't even buy a single Highgod artifact from these people.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go!"

Pusiluo noticed Kermon dazed in the back and slapped him directly on the forehead.

"Yes, my lord, coming right away, coming right away!" Kermon finally snapped back to reality; now was not the time to be shocked, and he quickly followed after them.

"My lord, there really are quite a lot of things in this castle!"

Passing through the front desk and entering the shopping hall, Adkins was instantly dazzled.

"That goes without saying; after all, this is the castle of a Sovereign."

Leilin also sighed with emotion, scanning his surroundings as he spoke.

[Medicine: Can instantly heal soul injuries, created by experts of the Life Law, 1,000,000 Inkstones]

[Soul Golden Bead: Can be easily absorbed to replenish soul power, 100,000 Inkstones]

[Amethyst: Replenishes soul power, same as the Soul Golden Bead, but difficult to absorb, 10,000 Inkstones]

[Defensive clothing: Defense comparable to defensive artifacts, worn on the body...]

"This castle really has everything."

Beirut stroked his small mustache, his little eyes darting around. He touched the ring in his hand, feeling somewhat tempted.

"Give me one hundred Soul Golden Beads and one hundred Amethysts."

"Give me one hundred of these defensive clothes, and thirty of this medicine."

"As for these Metal Lifeforms, give me one hundred small ones and ten large ones!"

Huosi waved his hand, and under the stunned gazes of the people around him, he swept through the various items, incidentally spending more than half of the Inkstones he had on hand.

"Who is that guy? Buying so much at once?"

"Probably a young master from some clan."

"Why would a young master buy Amethysts? Isn't it better to just buy Soul Golden Beads?"

Even when Huosi and his group left, the people in the hall still wore expressions of admiration, mixed with a great deal of confusion.

"What? Are you curious why we bought these things?"

It wasn't until they reached the hotel that Huosi asked with a hint of amusement, seeing that Kermon was still deeply puzzled.

"I believe my lord has his own plans; this subordinate dares not ask."

Hearing this, Kermon gave a start and hurriedly expressed his loyalty.

Kermon was naturally filled with doubt; after all, many of the things Huosi had purchased seemed useless to him.

Buying a pile of Metal Lifeforms was understandable; after all, they might get destroyed while traveling, so preparing more didn't matter.

It was also fine to have extra medicine and Soul Golden Beads, but Amethysts—since they weren't short on money, there was absolutely no need for them.

As for those various artifacts, the lords didn't seem to need them for combat.

Judging by the strength of the few people before him, many of the artifacts bought were just useless trinkets.

"It doesn't matter if I tell you, but it depends on your attitude."

Huosi shook his head slightly and looked at Kermon, trusting that he could understand what he meant.

With a single look, Kermon realized instantly that this was the moment of decision; the lord was about to reveal some secret.

If he wanted to hear it, he had to become the lord's person completely; otherwise, the lord could not be at ease.

At the same time, he knew this was an opportunity Huosi was giving him. As long as he grasped it, his fate would change.

"I, Kermon, swear to the Supreme God of Fate that everything I hear next will never be revealed to anyone without Lord Huosi's permission. I am willing to pledge my loyalty to Lord Huosi, never to betray him, or may my soul scatter and perish!"

"This kid swears really fast," Adkins couldn't help but curl his lip, his tone sounding somewhat inexplicable.

Adkins still remembered that back in the day, those Lowgods on the Qingya Continent had all hesitated for a moment before finally submitting to Lord Huosi.

He, Adkins himself, had been much more resolute when he took the initiative to swear his allegiance back then.

Kermon's performance gave Adkins the illusion that he was seeing his younger self.

It seemed that this Kermon was a person who knew how to read the situation quite well.

"The reason we bought these is, of course, to replicate and study them, and then sell them off. After all, building one's own faction requires one's own industries to keep the funds flowing."

Huosi did not continue to hide anything, but instead spoke with a smile.

"Build, your own faction?"

Kermon was stunned for a moment, then, as if realizing something, he instantly gasped.