Assembling Our Own Faction

Suigetsu City was built around a huge outer wall. Inside the city, three separate castles stood in a ring.

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

Kermon walked ahead, continuing his explanation as their guide.

"Black Sand Castle is for black-market transactions. Bifu Castle is for normal trade, while Fiend Castle handles Fiend assessments and missions."

"Oh? Black-market transactions? Are they all out in the open here?"

Adkins licked his lips, showing some interest.

Of course, they weren't considering the black market for now. They had just arrived and weren't familiar with the place yet.

"Fiend assessment?"

Pusiluo wasn't interested in the other things, but those words caught his attention. He looked at Kermon.

"To pass the Fiend assessment, you have to complete the castle's Fiend Missions and become a One-Star Fiend. You can keep completing missions until you become a Seven-Star Fiend. The lord of the city is a Seven-Star Fiend, an immensely powerful Highgod."

Kermon immediately understood what Pusiluo was getting at and explained.

"Then, if I enter the arena challenge, win a hundred matches, and defeat the city lord, can I become a Seven-Star Fiend right away?"

Pusiluo thought it over, then asked bluntly.

"I... I don't know. I suppose you could?"

Kermon replied uncertainly. He was only a Midgod; how could he know about something like that?

In theory, killing a Seven-Star Fiend should prove that you were strong enough to be one, and Fiend Castle could issue you a Seven-Star Fiend medal.

But he really had never looked into how the process worked. Why would a Midgod like him need to know?

"Enough about that. Let's sell our goods first."

Huosi interrupted them, then led the group through the rear entrance of Bifu Castle. They soon reached the third floor.

"May I ask what you'd like to sell?"

A Bifu Castle employee hurried over to greet them.

Anyone wishing to sell goods on the third floor had to show them first, to prove they had the means to do business there.

After all, the third floor had relatively few customers, but they were all big spenders.

"We'd like to sell some Highgod Artifacts and Godheads."

Huosi took two spears and a Godhead from his interspatial ring to show him.

"Please come with me."

The employee immediately changed his attitude and led them to a special counter.

"Let me see what you're selling."

A black-robed old man sat behind the counter, raised his eyelids, and spoke casually.

He had worked at Bifu Castle for many years, and he was usually rather indifferent toward people who came to sell goods.

"Here."

Huosi didn't mind his attitude. He tossed an interspatial ring over.

"Hm? What's this?"

The black-robed old man briefly inspected the ring, and his expression changed dramatically. After a moment's silence, he said,

"Please wait. I need to check everything."

"Go ahead."

Huosi nodded, unbothered.

The black-robed old man grew much more serious and carefully examined the interspatial ring.

Inside were five hundred Highgod Artifacts, arranged neatly.

He had hardly ever seen anyone produce so many Highgod Artifacts at once.

At Hell's going rates, a High Godhead was worth ten million, while a Highgod Artifact usually went for around one million, depending on its quality.

The goods in this one interspatial ring were worth about five hundred million. Even at the castle's purchase rate of seventy percent, they were worth over three hundred million. To put that in perspective, a cheaper house in the city cost only sixty million.

Even an expensive one could be bought for three hundred million. With that kind of money, anyone could settle down in the city without worrying about danger.

After all, the bandits and tribes outside most wanted to own a home in the city.

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

The black-robed old man looked at Huosi with far more warmth now.

The commission he'd earn from this deal was worth more than what he'd made in the past hundred thousand years. That was more than enough reason to take it seriously.

Besides, someone who could produce so many Highgod Artifacts at once was probably a dedicated artifact refiner. It was best to show him some respect.

In Hell, magic-array masters and artifact refiners were rare, but they held high status.

And a master generally needed strength to back up his skills. No one could become a master without a certain level of power.

A few minutes later, the black-robed old man finished calculating and spoke to Huosi.

"These five hundred Highgod Artifacts consist of one hundred and fifty dark-element longswords at eight hundred thousand each, one hundred and fifty fire-element spears at one million two hundred thousand each, one hundred sets of Earth-element armor at one million five hundred thousand per set, and one hundred light-element armor sets at one million each. That comes to five hundred and fifty million in total. At Bifu Castle's purchase rate of seventy percent, the price is three hundred and eighty-five million."

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

Huosi took them and examined their contents. Inside were piles of azure stone slabs, three hundred and eighty-five in all.

"Put these away. We're going shopping."

Huosi didn't skimp. He took out four rings and handed one to each of Adkins, Pusiluo, Leilin, and Beirut, giving them twenty-five million each.

Kermon wasn't qualified to receive any of the money.

But Kermon didn't mind. He was already numb with shock. He'd never seen so much money in his life.

Hundreds of millions? He wouldn't have dared dream of it. He'd been a bandit for tens of thousands of years and robbed countless passersby, yet he only had a little over a million Inkstones to his name.

That was because, as the bandit leader, he could take a cut from some of his subordinates.

An ordinary bandit would be lucky to save up a hundred thousand Inkstones.

But today, Kermon had finally seen what it meant to be fabulously wealthy.

The Inkstones he had might not even be enough to buy a single Highgod Artifact.

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

Pusiluo saw Kermon dawdling behind them and smacked him on the forehead.

"Yes, my lord! Coming right away!" Kermon finally snapped out of it. Now wasn't the time to stand around in shock, so he hurried after them.

"My lord, this castle sure has a lot of goods!"

As they passed through the front entrance and entered the shopping hall, Adkins was dazzled by the sheer variety.

"Of course. It's a Chief Sovereign's castle, after all."

Leilin looked around and sighed in amazement.

[Potions, capable of instantly healing soul injuries, made by experts in the Life Law, one million Inkstones]

[Soul Golden Bead, easily absorbed to replenish soul power, one hundred thousand Inkstones]

[Amethyst, replenishes soul power just like a Soul Golden Bead, but is difficult to absorb, ten thousand Inkstones]

[Protective clothing, with defense comparable to a Defensive Divine Artifact, worn on the body...]

"This castle really does have everything."

Beirut stroked his little mustache, his small eyes darting about as he looked at the ring in his hand, tempted.

"These Soul Golden Beads—I'll take a hundred. And a hundred Amethysts."

"One hundred of these protective outfits, and thirty of those potions."

"And these Metal Lifeforms—I'll take a hundred small ones and ten large ones!"

Huosi swept his hand out, buying up all kinds of goods as the people around him stared in amazement. He spent more than half of the Inkstones he had on hand.

"Who's that guy? Why's he buying so much at once?"

"Probably some young master from a powerful family."

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

Even after Huosi and the others left, the people in the hall were still looking at them with admiration, mixed with plenty of confusion.

"What? Are you curious why we bought all those things?"

Even after they reached the hotel, Kermon was still puzzled. Huosi asked him with a faint smile.

"I trust my lord has his reasons. I wouldn't dare ask."

At those words, Kermon jolted and hastily professed his loyalty.

Naturally, he was full of questions. Many of the things Lord Huosi had bought seemed useless to him.

It made sense to buy a pile of Metal Lifeforms. They might be damaged while traveling, so stocking up was reasonable.

There was no harm in keeping extra potions and Soul Golden Beads, either. But Amethysts? Since they weren't short of money, there was no need to buy those at all.

As for all those Divine Artifacts, it seemed the lords wouldn't need them for battle.

Given the strength of these people, many of the Divine Artifacts they'd bought would be useless to them.

"I don't mind telling you. But first, I need to know where you stand."

Huosi shook his head slightly and looked at Kermon, confident he'd understand what he meant.

One look was enough for Kermon to realize this was the moment of choice. His lord was about to reveal a secret.

If he wanted to hear it, he had to become Lord Huosi's man completely. Otherwise, his lord could never trust him.

He also knew this was Lord Huosi giving him a chance. If he seized it, his fate would change.

"I, Kermon, swear by the Overgod of Fate that I will never tell anyone anything I hear from this point on without Lord Huosi's permission. I pledge my loyalty to Lord Huosi and will never betray him. If I do, may my soul be scattered!"

"That kid sure was quick to swear," Adkins remarked with a curl of his lip, his tone hard to read.

Adkins remembered that back on the Qingya Continent, the Lowgods who eventually joined Lord Huosi had all hesitated for a while.

When he, Adkins, had sworn his loyalty, he'd been much more decisive.

Kermon's reaction made Adkins feel as if he were seeing his past self.

It seemed Kermon was a very shrewd man.

"We bought these things so we could study them, reproduce them, and then sell them. After all, building our own faction requires businesses of our own to keep the funds flowing."

Huosi didn't keep anything from them. He simply smiled as he explained.

"Build... our own faction?"

Kermon first froze. Then he realized what Huosi meant and gasped.