Using demon qi to summon the Nine Void nether fire, he worked on softening and shaping the Shadow Soul Stone, a process fraught with repeated failures and constant problems.
Issues arose one after another, such as controlling the heat, joining the pieces of Shadow Soul Stone, and filling the gaps.
Fortunately, Xu Xian was a quasi-eighth-rank spirit forger and possessed the Pupil of Insight, a divine-grade auxiliary skill that allowed him to solve these problems step by step.
A humanoid mecha gradually took shape. For ease of control and forging, the mecha wasn't built very large; the interior space was just enough to accommodate Xu Xian himself, barely allowing him to turn around.
By this time, two months had already passed.
During those two months, everything in the Nether Capital remained as usual. The rainy season continued, and the demon gods had finally obtained their results.
The primordial demon art was feasible and correct; at the very least, there were no side effects during cultivation.
Some demon gods played it safe and remained on the sidelines, wanting to wait a bit longer, while others were impatient and had already begun practicing with great haste.
The High Priest remained unmoved. She was waiting for the day Bai Mang would condense the nether fire.
She was silently calculating the time, planning to find an opportunity to test him.
After all, based on her understanding of Bai Mang, he would certainly not expose it voluntarily unless he was pushed to the limit, at which point he might use the nether fire to save himself.
However, before testing him, she needed a meticulous plan to prevent Bai Mang from seeing through it and ruining everything.
During the period he spent forging the mecha, Xu Xian didn't stay idle. He took time every day to mingle with the descendants of the demon gods, using this to numb their senses and lower their guard.
After all, condensing nether fire required a massive amount of demon qi, and he truly needed rest to store that demon qi within his dantian.
During his interactions with the divine sons, Xu Xian didn't stay busy for nothing. Wanting to be "friends" with him came with a price and a threshold.
First, you had to give a gift. If it was too cheap, he would refuse it to maintain his air of refinement. If it was heavy enough, he would accept it and treat you like a brother. If you didn't give anything at all, he would gossip about you and be passive-aggressive.
If you gave a gift, then you were good friends.
In response to this, the divine sons felt nothing but contempt, yet they could only pretend not to notice and do as he wished. To them, money was merely a worldly possession, and his greed played right into their hands.
But slowly, they discovered that Bai Mang was far too greedy.
They had never seen someone so insatiable.
Furthermore, he looked down on almost everything; in his eyes, there were only Shadow Soul Stones. In just two months, he had extorted and blackmailed no less than a million Shadow Soul Stones from them.
This figure was not a small amount, even for the ten great demon god palaces.
Even so, he was still not satisfied. He even partnered with the divine sons to do business in the name of friendship.
No one knew where he got them, but he produced a pile of strange gadgets and asked them to help sell them in the Demon Abyss.
Yet, he was only willing to give them ten percent of the profits as a handling fee.
Although the divine sons were reluctant, they feared the instructions of the demon gods and could only endure it.
Thus, they not only suffered Bai Mang's exploitation but also had to use their own names to guarantee his goods, harvesting a round of wealth from the heavenly demon race.
During those two months, the divine sons took turns organizing high-society gatherings, using those events to promote Bai Mang's products.
Strangely enough, the odd gadgets Bai Mang produced were actually quite good. Combined with the personal promotion from the divine sons, the wealthy heavenly demon race members were more than happy to pay and bought everything up.
Sales were excellent.
But no matter how good or rare the items were, and no matter how wealthy or generous the heavenly demon race was, they couldn't handle being sold things fifty times a month.
The heavenly demon race members weren't stupid. Once they saw through the scheme, they were no longer willing to buy.
The gatherings organized by the divine sons, which people once scrambled to join, were now avoided like the plague.
The events became deserted, and sales plummeted.
Because of this, Xu Xian had a private heart-to-heart talk with the divine sons. They could only answer truthfully that they couldn't sell anything more because everyone's wallets had been emptied.
Xu Xian then suggested that they could organize sales to the earthly demon race. The earthly demon race had a massive population and were all middle-class; their collective wealth was enormous.
Furthermore, the earthly demon race normally had no right to purchase these items.
Now, as long as the divine sons were willing to sell, the earthly demon race would surely be happy to pay, whether out of a desire to compete with others, out of love for the items, or simply to curry favor. The prospects were bright.
The divine sons understood the logic, but they would rather die than stoop to serving the earthly demon race.
Xu Xian tried everything, saying all the right things, but they simply wouldn't do it. Even Chi Ji refused.
This left Xu Xian quite frustrated. They had money they wouldn't earn just to save face; wasn't that purely insane?
He even stated bluntly that these divine sons had too small a vision to ever amount to much.
However, as the saying goes, when the mountains and rivers end and there seems to be no way out, another village appears amidst the willows and flowers. To Xu Xian's surprise, Huang Xiao actually volunteered to do this for Bai Mang.
It was truly outside of Xu Xian's expectations.
Xu Xian couldn't figure out how Huang Xiao, the one who got along with him the least, could be so kind-hearted.
He expressed his doubts.
Huang Xiao's answer was clear: for no other reason than to make a friend of Bai Mang.
What else was there to say? Xu Xian immediately declared that from now on, Huang Xiao was his absolute best friend in the Demon Abyss.
Huang Xiao was delighted to hear this.
What else was there to say? Huang Xiao immediately stated that he didn't want a single cent of the profit and would give it all to Bai Mang, saying that since they were best friends, helping out was only natural.
Huang Xiao also said that he didn't have many virtues, but he was loyal.
Xu Xian was also delighted to hear this.
What else was there to say? Xu Xian immediately declared that starting today, Huang Xiao was his brother. He said that brotherhood was kept in the heart, and if Huang Xiao ever faced trouble in the future, he would certainly go to any lengths to help.
With the deal struck, Xu Xian was happy because he could earn money again.
Huang Xiao was also happy and ran off to claim credit from his demon god father.
However, the collusion between the two inevitably drew the silent contempt and gossip of the others.
The High Priest, upon learning that Bai Mang was single-mindedly focused on making money, came to visit him once. She tested him repeatedly with indirect questions, which Xu Xian handled calmly.
She asked Bai Mang, "Are you that short on money?"
Xu Xian responded, "Who isn't short on money?"
She asked again, "In these two months, you've earned at least several hundred thousand Shadow Soul Stones, haven't you?"
Xu Xian gave a cheerful laugh. "Oh, it's not that little."
"Is that still not enough? Can you even spend it all?"
Xu Xian said wistfully, "You don't understand. I'm scared of being poor. The more money I have, the more secure I feel."
The High Priest didn't say anything, but she felt as if Bai Mang intended to make a fortune and then abscond with the funds.
She warned him, "You'd better not have any other ideas."
Xu Xian played dumb. "What ideas?"
Jin Qing said bluntly, "Like running away."
Xu Xian smiled. Run? He was definitely going to run!
But with his mouth, he gave a solemn guarantee. "That's impossible. This place is so great, why would I run? I'm not crazy."
Jin Qing put on an expression that said she'd be a fool to believe him and left.
Turning around, she immediately instructed Qingmu to keep a closer watch on him.
Rate on N.U.
