Fiend Castle, the very heart of White Mastiff City.
In the vast White Mastiff City, a black building stands tall in the center. On the exterior of the building is a giant face, which appears very blurry, yet it is deeply imprinted in people's hearts, very eerie. In particular, the single red eye on the giant face seems to be alive, very sinister.
"Is this the symbol of the Infernal Realm —the demon?"
Andrew stared at the statue for a long time, a huge question rising in his mind. Even though he was familiar with the original book, he couldn't figure out the origin of this demon statue.
Shaking his head, Andrew walked along the street into the Fiend Castle. Along the way, people dressed in black robes passed by, each wearing a Devil's Medal.
"Demon... should I participate in the demon assessment?"
Demons possess numerous privileges and hold a lofty status in the Infernal Realm. Andrew doesn't value these things. What he values is the Fiend Castle organization, which has stood in the Infernal Realm for countless years. The power behind the Fiend Castle is absolutely terrifying beyond imagination.
"Joining the demonic organization might not be a bad choice."
Andrew smiled and walked into the main hall on the first floor of the Fiend Castle, deciding to sign up for the Demon Trial. In his view, the Fiend Castle was more like a circle where strong individuals gathered, and entering this circle would be very useful to him.
Andrew successfully registered for the Demon Trial by signing up with a teenager, paying 10,000 Inkstone, and receiving a stamp with a strange one-eyed pattern.
"That's really simple..." Andrew muttered to himself before leaving. The Fiend Castle wasn't just one floor, but to go up, one had to be a demon, and Andrew wasn't qualified yet.
Like most cities in the Infernal Realm, White Mastiff City also has designated trading locations, two of which are the largest: one is Kalosha Castle, representing the Sovereign Kalosha, symbolized by a piece of black armor; the other is Kunsha Castle, representing Kunsha Prefecture, symbolized by a blurry human figure. Kalosha Castle is closer to the Fiend Castle, so Andrew went there first.
"There are so many people..."
"Just as we approached Kalosha Castle, "Andrew exclaimed.
Kalosha Castle represents the Sovereign Kalosha, so the scale of the place is naturally impressive. The main gate alone is over a hundred meters wide, but even so, it still feels very crowded with people coming and going...
Following the flowing crowd, Andrew slowly entered the castle. He saw that many Black Armor Army were patrolling back and forth inside the castle. Their movements were orderly and their imposing manner strongly intimidated the outsiders.
Andrew didn't look around much and headed towards the back door. He already knew that, like Kalosha Castle, Kalosha Zijing Castle sold things at the front door and collected things at the back door.
"I still have over fifty Highgod Divine Spark and quite a few Midgod artifacts. If I sell them, I should get a lot of Inkstone."
Andrew calculated that his current total wealth was about 110 million Inkstone. After disposing of these Divine Spark and artifacts, he could obtain another 100 million Inkstone.
As he had expected, according to the acquisition price of Kalosha Castle, the divine Divine Spark of Highgod ranged from five million to one million, while the Midgod Artifact were much cheaper, worth only a few thousand Inkstone.
After getting rid of the things he didn't need, Andrew went to the front door again.
"The first level only contains items for Lowgod, the second level is for Midgod, and those are useless to me. The third level, however, has quite a few good things..."
Andrew walked up to the third-floor hall. At the entrance, two men in black glanced at him but made no move. Andrew smiled slightly. He knew that this third floor wasn't something one could just climb up on a whim; one needed corresponding strength. Just now, he had deliberately revealed a trace of his soul aura, making the two mistakenly believe he was Highgod.
The lobby was crowded, with numerous display counters showcasing merchandise. Andrew slowly looked forward from the entrance, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of people he could see...
"Weapons... medicines... materials... magic arrays... cultivation insights of powerful demons... auxiliary items..."
We walked for over ten miles, and none of the goods were the same!
"Call..."
Andrew let out a soft breath and gave a wry smile. Before, he thought he had some wealth now, but after seeing these goods, he realized that his Inkstone were still far from enough.
"Forget it, let's focus on cultivation first, we can ignore everything else for now!"
Fearing he wouldn't be able to control his urge to buy, Andrew stopped looking around and headed straight for a purple counter.
On the counter are displayed Amethyst.
Amethyst, a specialty of the Amethyst Mountains, can enhance soul power after being refined, and each crystal is worth 10,000 Inkstone.
" The Azure Dragon Ring can instantly refine Amethyst. My soul is far from reaching its limit, so I can refine even more Amethyst."
Andrew had already made his decision; he bought ten thousand Amethyst in one go, drawing stares from those around him. One person even kindly reminded him, " Amethyst can enhance the soul, but they are extremely difficult to refine, far inferior to Soul Gold Bead..."
Andrew just smiled at this. Seeing his reaction, the man wisely left.
Having spent half his fortune, Andrew stopped shopping and returned to his rented courtyard. Sitting in the center of the courtyard, he took out an Amethyst and put it into his Azure Dragon Ring. Soon, the Amethyst was refined, and a wisp of golden mist appeared in the Azure Dragon Ring.
"Indeed, this golden mist is the very essence of Amethyst!"
Andrew used his Divine Power to envelop the golden mist and merge it into his soul. Above the Elemental Sea, the Golden Dragon soul happily swallowed the mist, seemingly wanting more.
Seeing this effect, Andrew was finally relieved and began refining the Amethyst ten at a time. The ten thousand Amethyst were quickly consumed, and Andrew's Golden Dragon soul also grew slightly.
"Ten thousand Amethyst have this effect; if I had enough Amethyst, to what extent could my soul power increase!"
Andrew stood up in surprise. His soul power had now reached the Highgod; to improve it further, he would need to reach the Highgod himself. The Amethyst's effect, however, gave him hope for soul strengthening...
"After the Demon Trial, head straight to the Amethyst Mountains!"
The timing of the Demon Trial is uncertain; it will begin as soon as enough participants are gathered. However, the exact time is unpredictable. Andrew's luck was neither particularly good nor bad this time; he waited thirteen years before receiving notification of the Demon Trial.
"It's finally begun." Andrew walked out of the courtyard with a confident smile. No wonder, with his strength as Seven-Star Fiend, it would be strange if he were afraid of the assessment of One-Star Fiend.
Moreover, Andrew has made considerable progress in these thirteen years.
"I've mastered the basics of Fire Element -Mysteries Fire Traveling Technique, and my understanding of Lightning Element Mysteries Lightning Traveling Technique as well. If I can fuse these two Mysteries separately, I believe my strength will be considered quite formidable among the Seven-Star Fiend."
Having refined 20,000 Amethyst, Andrew's soul power increased by one ten-thousandth, a result he was already very satisfied with. With his soul power comparable to that of Highgod, his speed in deducing Laws was more than a hundred times faster than that of an ordinary Midgod. Moreover, Andrew's original comprehension was strong, so it was normal for him to have mastered the basics of Fire Traveling Technique in just over ten years.
This is merely the beginning of the Laws; true mastery is still a long way off.
Upon arriving White Mastiff City, over two hundred participants in the Demon Trial had already gathered. Andrew glanced at them; most were Highgod, with only about twenty Midgod. However, aside from a dozen or so who had comprehended the Laws and become gods, the remaining Highgod had all Refine Divine Spark.
In the middle of the group, five Highgod dressed in black robes stood silently.
"Time's up, let's go!"
As noon approached, a tall, thin demon roared, and a massive Metallic Lifeform appeared in mid-air. Five demons were the first to enter the Metallic Lifeform, followed by the others.
Once everyone was inside, the tall, thin demon controlled the Metallic Lifeform and soared into the sky. Inside the Metallic Lifeform, no one made a sound; it was clear that everyone was somewhat tense... except for Andrew.
"Everyone..." A fat demon stood up next to the tall, thin demon and announced loudly, "The task for this demon assessment is to eliminate a band of bandits fifty million miles away. This band of bandits is very strong, so everyone must be careful!"
"As for the assessment criteria, those participating in the Demon Assessment for the first time only need to obtain a Golden Badge. Ordinary bandits already possess these Golden Badge; how you obtain them is up to you. The stronger bandits will be dealt with by us..."
"I hope to see you all again when I come back!" The fat man's voice was a little low as he said the last sentence.
Andrew glanced around; everyone's faces were grim. In fact, the demon assessment tasks also had different levels; generally speaking, eliminating bandits was the most dangerous type.
The bandits who can get the Fiend Castle to take action are all quite powerful. These bandits live in constant battle and are very strong, especially when they fight to the death. Even if you manage to kill them, you're bound to get injured... In the chaos of battle, being injured is extremely dangerous!
Because of this, everyone was in low spirits. The death rate in the Demon Trial was already high, and now that they had been assigned such a task, no one could be happy.
Unlike the others, Andrew had other ideas.
"Powerful bandits, excellent... With the strength to make the Fiend Castle intervene, these bandits must have amassed a considerable fortune. Hehe, this is practically a windfall delivered to our doorstep."
Thinking of the countless treasures in Kalosha Castle, Andrew's desire for the Inkstone was stronger than ever before, and even the bandits seemed to gleam with golden light in his eyes.