Spiritual Energy? Scrap Mine in the Blacksmith's Shop

Since coming to the Demon Realm, Chen Rui had spent most of his time in the laboratory. Having been a homebody in his past life, he didn't find it particularly unbearable, but now, due to the need for aura, he finally felt the urge to go out and hunt for treasures.

Aldas didn't care one way or the other; he waved his hand, signaling that Chen Rui could do as he pleased. In any case, the human was a special apprentice, and it was better than him staying behind and eating poison like it was a nutritional supplement.

Chen Rui thought for a moment and brought along Sli, who was familiar with the city's environment. He had only been out a couple of times before, acting as a follower for the little princess or Athena, so this was his first time shopping with his own subordinate. Walking down the street, the human, who made no attempt to disguise his appearance, instantly became the center of attention.

Many members of the Devil Race pointed and whispered along the way, mostly regarding his challenge at the arena last time. His performance in the Master Challenge had, to some extent, earned him the recognition of a small portion of the demons, though most still viewed the human with a certain degree of vigilance and hostility.

"Hey! Human, your meat looks quite delicious." Finally, an ugly-looking demon could no longer restrain himself, blocking the path to provoke him.

"Hmph! You blind thing," Chen Rui was no longer the weak human he once was. He cast a quick glance at the surrounding demons from the corner of his eye, showing no panic, and sneered calmly: "Let me tell you a fact. After the last challenge, my body underwent a mutation, and my flesh and blood are now full of toxins. If you want to be poisoned to death, feel free to try. But before that, why don't you taste the poison I have for you first?"

As he spoke, his fingers flicked from within his robe, and a pinch of medicinal powder shot out. His strength was no longer what it used to be; the force of that flick was like a bolt released from a mechanism. The demon was caught squarely by the powder and immediately felt an unbearable, maddening itch all over his body. He began to scratch frantically, and before long, he had clawed terrible bloody marks into his own skin. He rolled on the ground, unable to suppress the sensation of the maddening itch.

"Do you still want to eat my meat?" Chen Rui asked intentionally. The guy shook his head desperately.

"Do you want the antidote?"

The demon nodded hurriedly. Chen Rui waved his hand, and some liquid fell onto him. The guy felt the itch gradually fade and was just about to spring up for revenge when his body suddenly went limp, devoid of any strength. Immediately, the itching sensation was replaced by pain, as if every inch of his muscles were being torn apart, and he began to wail miserably.

"Those who dare to offend the people of Aldas's laboratory must pay the price!" Chen Rui deliberately put on an eerie smile and then said loudly: "The eldest princess recently issued an order that I am now a part of Darkmoon City. This guy came to provoke me on purpose, which is a sign of contempt for the eldest princess and Master Aldas! Compared to poisoning him to death, I prefer to listen to this beautiful wailing. Let him scream for two days and two nights. If he dares to provoke me again next time, I'll make sure not even his bones are left!"

Two days and two nights! The surrounding demons watched the miserable wretch wailing and felt a chill in their hearts. The few who had been eager to try their luck immediately abandoned the idea. It seemed this human was even more vicious than the average demon; he was truly worthy of being from Aldas's laboratory.

After the last Master Challenge, the heroic deed of Sandru being poisoned into ashes by the Dark Elf master's fart had already spread throughout the Darkmoon Territory. There were even more exaggerated claims, with some swearing that they had witnessed Master Aldas use a certain gas from his rear to poison a dragon to death.

Contrary to Aldas's own feeling of being unable to show his face, the level of awe the Dark Elf master inspired in the hearts of the people had actually reached a new level.

Chen Rui's method of applying poison and his choice of words had been prepared long in advance, and he had even deliberately obtained a few types of poison from Aldas. This tactic of killing the chicken to warn the monkeys was clearly effective. Under the promotion of this "living advertisement," the image of the human apprentice being full of poison and sinisterly ruthless spread rapidly. No more demons came to ask about the taste of human meat along the way, and Chen Rui became increasingly natural under the various gazes.

Seeing his master display his power and intimidate the demons, the Lesser Devil felt a sense of pride and began to introduce the situation of Darkmoon City as they walked.

There were once seven royal families in the Demon Realm, but after internal strife, only three remained: the Lucifer, Mammon, and Asmodeus royal families. The others had either vanished without a trace or submitted to the strong to preserve their bloodlines.

The Darkmoon Territory was originally one of the most prosperous territories in the Fallen Angel Empire. However, four hundred years ago, the Beelzebub royal family, which had disappeared for many years, suddenly made a comeback in Darkmoon City. The leader was a powerhouse named Ge Luofen Beelzebub. Possessing the Beelzebub clan's divine artifact, the God-Devouring Mask, and wielding immense power, Ge Luofen openly killed the Lord of Darkmoon and several other powerhouses, quickly seizing control of the entire Darkmoon Territory. He then began to annex the nearby Chiyou Territory, intending to overthrow the entire Fallen Angel Empire.

Emperor White Night Lucifer led a large army to personally conquer Darkmoon, fighting his way into the city. Wielding the Lucifer clan's divine artifact, the Sword of the Fallen Angel, he dueled Ge Luofen in the arena. The heavily wounded Ge Luofen used the power of his artifact to escape and subsequently disappeared, bringing the rebellion to an end.

After the ravages of war, the Darkmoon Territory never regained its former prosperity. After Emperor White Night died in battle, the regent Heiyao drove his nephew Green, who was supposed to inherit the throne, to Darkmoon to serve as the lord. He then employed various means to monitor and control the territory, causing Darkmoon to decline further. Although the eldest princess Shea had worked diligently to reform and reorganize the territory after inheriting the position of lord, she had been unable to fundamentally escape poverty and decay.

The financial officer of Darkmoon City, Joseph Alvin, was the eldest son of Lord Chiyou, Zhuo Qie. On the surface, the Alvin family provided much support to the Darkmoon Territory, but this support was merely superficial; in reality, it was to control the economic lifeline of Darkmoon. Currently, the only chamber of commerce and half of the shops in Darkmoon City were in Joseph's hands, and even the grain supply for Darkmoon largely came from the support of the Alvin family. It was clear that this was a sinister tactic used by Heiyao to control the Darkmoon Territory through the Alvin family.

In terms of military affairs, although Athena, the daughter of the first general George Wells, was in Darkmoon, the territorial garrison was in the hands of Allen of the Kalon Family. Originally, the Kalon Family supported the crown prince Green, but later they defected to the regent Heiyao. The only military force that truly belonged to Shea was the Royal Guard led by Kagulon.

This was the mess left behind by Crown Prince Green, though he had been forced by the situation at the time, resulting in the two most important aspects—economy and military—falling into the hands of others. Shea had been powerless to change this until now.

There were many things Athena hadn't explained clearly, and only now did Chen Rui understand that Shea's situation was even worse than he had imagined. He suddenly understood the reason for the eldest princess's cold and strong demeanor; perhaps only in this way could she bear the heavy burden left by her father.

Life has many burdens that one does not wish to carry, yet one has no choice but to bear them.

If Emperor White Night were still alive, if Green had been able to ascend the throne back then, the gentle sister in the little princess's eyes would not have needed to wear that cold, icy mask. But perhaps that mask had already become a part of her, and it was very likely that it could never be taken off again.

Chen Rui withdrew his thoughts and asked the Lesser Devil: "Sli, are there any shops in the city that sell strange things? Like some special materials or ores?"

"Shops for strange things..." Sli looked thoughtful, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "There seems to be one, but that shop... if Master just wants to look at ores, the blacksmith shop ahead should have some."

"Alright, let's go to the blacksmith shop first."

This was one of only two blacksmith shops in the city, and it had a rather terrifying name: "Guillotine," which was very characteristic of the Demon Race. The owner of the blacksmith shop was a sturdy Horned Demon, and the three assistants working at the forge were also Horned Demons, along with a Lesser Devil who served as a handyman.

The strength of the Horned Demon was famous among the Demon Race. In addition to exerting great power in battle, some Horned Demons could also become highly skilled blacksmiths.

Seeing customers arrive, the glib Lesser Devil immediately went up to greet them. After taking one look at Chen Rui, he hesitated for a moment and said: "Human... you are that human from the arena!"

The Master Challenge had always been a hot topic in the Darkmoon Territory, so Chen Rui was recognized immediately.

Seeing his fellow tribesman's surprise, Sli felt a bit proud and introduced: "This is my master, Lord Chen Rui, an apprentice of Master Aldas."

"You became a servant to a human?" The Lesser Devil was even more surprised, then showed a look of contempt. The Demon Race revered strength, and this human was rumored to have no power at all, being even weaker than a low-level Lesser Devil. He never expected that this fool of a tribesman would actually recognize a human as his master! If one could become a servant recognized by Master Aldas, that would be something to boast about.

"Kakan, what are you babbling about!" The Horned Demon boss walked out, sized Chen Rui up, and said contemptuously: "Weak human, what are you doing at Zack's blacksmith shop? There are no herbs here for you!"

The battle from last night had given Chen Rui strong confidence, so he naturally didn't take the contempt of these guys to heart. He said: "I have received instructions from Master Aldas that I need to select some special ores to refine poison, so I came here."

The reputation of the "Fart King" master was indeed very useful. Although Zack didn't understand what connection there could be between ores and poison, he didn't dare to be negligent and immediately led Chen Rui to the place where the ores were piled.

Since the Analytical Eye couldn't play a role in this kind of selection, Chen Rui activated the "Aura Conversion" skill and used the method of touch to select them one by one. Each use of Aura Conversion consumed 1 point of aura and lasted for half an hour.

Chen Rui had been choosing for a long time without any results. Just as Zack was becoming impatient, he suddenly saw a strange look on the human's face. He picked up an ore with pitted, crystalline substances on it and asked: "What kind of ore is this?"

As soon as Zack saw it, he showed a look of disapproval: "This is almost a piece of waste ore because those dark yellow crystals are very troublesome. It takes a lot of effort to remove them, and the remaining residue affects the purity of the iron during refining."

Waste ore? Chen Rui's heart stirred. Just now, when he touched the ore, the conversion skill had provided a corresponding prompt, though he didn't know how effective it would be.

He came up with an idea and said: "I'll do a small experiment first to determine if this strange crystal is what the master needs. If it is truly damaged, I can compensate you."

Zack nodded; in any case, this piece of ore was already a semi-waste product.

Chen Rui took out some powder and sprinkled it on the crystals, then placed his hand on them. Zack only saw the crystals slowly disappear, eventually turning into a pile of powder, while the ore remained completely undamaged. His eyes almost popped out: the stubborn crystals that were difficult to strip away even with powerful hammering were actually handled so easily by the human? And not a single trace was left!

In Zack's eyes, the abilities of pharmacists were becoming increasingly mysterious; even an apprentice had such strange skills!

The powder Chen Rui used was actually a smokescreen. The real effect came from the Aura Conversion skill. To his wild joy, what could actually be converted was not the ore, but these crystals that were regarded as waste, which provided 25 points of aura!