After Abel pulled Vorris out of the bar, the two found a quiet place to discuss their next steps.
Vorris was a businessman who wanted to buy more goods from the Demon Shop to build his reputation.
This coincided perfectly with Abel’s goal: to help the Demon Lord gain more followers, not only within Vista City but throughout the entire Lingxi Continent.
Both were shrewd individuals. Abel refused to budge, insisting on the Demon Lord’s due benefits and the conditions that required payment.
“I won’t say much else, but the goods must bear the Demon Lord’s name, and you must all join the Floating Life Church and strive to spread the Lord’s teachings.”
The Floating Life Church was a recently rising religion, mainly based in Vista City. Its members were mostly people who had received help from the Floating Life General Store and had spontaneously founded it. Abel was one of its organizers.
Abel was now a devoted follower of the Demon, and wholeheartedly serving him without any selfish motives.
Vorris knew that if the shop truly lived up to its legendary reputation, there would be no shortage of merchants eager to buy from it.
Besides… if that being was indeed a god, joining the religion would definitely be worthwhile. A religion with a god possessed limitless potential.
He had already made up his mind, but still frowned, somewhat reluctant, and argued with Abel for a few moments before finally giving up.
Just then, a short young man entered, bending down. He leaned close to Abel’s ear and whispered a few words.
Abel’s expression shifted slightly. He looked up at Voris, a smile playing on his lips. “Looks like you’re quite lucky, the shop has new arrivals.”
*
Vorris and his men quickly packed their things and prepared to depart.
Abel went along this time as well. He was still worried about his brother with the missing arm. With these new goods, perhaps one could save him.
His men had told him that the new goods were quite unusual. He had been busy with his missionary work these past few days and sent others to buy them, so he wanted to see for himself.
This time, they traveled the familiar route, avoiding the monsters along the way, heading straight for the abyss.
The moment they stepped into the abyss, everyone experienced weightlessness and plummeted. Abel was already familiar with this feeling, but the merchants were experiencing it for the first time, and they were all terrified, their faces pale.
Soon they reached the bottom of the abyss where the strange building came into view.
Abel went in first, bowing his head respectfully the moment he saw the demon lord.
“My lord, a merchant said he wanted to discuss some business with you about the shop so I brought him along.”
Lu Sinian had a very strong impression of this man. He felt he should thank him for the publicity the man had given him, so he nodded to him, indicating that he understood.
Vorris, standing to the side, found it all incredibly strange. There were clearly no magical fluctuations at the place where they had fallen yet they had undeniably arrived at the Abyss.
The legendary Abyss, a place where monsters roamed, and a place where no one survived.
Truly astonishing! He had initially dismissed it as mere rumor or perhaps an exaggeration, but now it seemed utterly unbelievable.
When he looked at the demon shopkeeper, Vorris’s flippancy vanished, and his tone became much more serious.
He gave a slight bow and said, “Greetings, Shopkeeper. I am a traveling merchant from the main city of Caldera. I’ve heard of your shop’s reputation and have come specifically to seek cooperation. What do you say?”
“Please explain in detail.”
“It’s like this: I will purchase some goods from you and take them to Caldera to sell. We can then split the profits.”
Worris paused, lowered his voice, and implied, “Don’t worry, what you can get is definitely more than this. Whatever you want… we will give you.”
A demon, or even more likely a god, certainly wouldn’t care about such material possessions. The other party’s purpose in opening a shop was definitely not pure, and was very likely to compete with other gods for the power of faith.
Vorris felt he had been clear and straightforward. As a merchant, he had extensive connections and naturally had his own ways to give the demon what he wanted.
Lu Sinian pondered for a moment. Indeed, what he needed most right now was more customers. After all, Vista City was sparsely populated and lacked purchasing power.
The Abyss was located in a very remote area, making it difficult for those from far away to travel there, thus the market outside remained closed.
The arrival of this merchant seemed to solve the problem, but there was another crucial point: everything in the shop was clearly priced, making it impossible to offer Vorris a lower price.
The merchant suddenly had a good idea. He narrowed his eyes, smiled gently, and patted Vorris’s shoulder lightly: “Of course, come in, let’s talk.”
Vorris shuddered, feeling a chill run down his spine.
A few incense sticks’ worth of time later, Vorris emerged from the shop with a constipated expression.
Who could tell him which demon was more cunning in business than him, a genuine merchant?!
He haggled ruthlessly, refusing to budge, ultimately only taking a 10% cut, leaving Vorris no room for negotiation. The selling price could only be higher than 10%, precisely his own profit margin.
“Hey, leaving already? Come back often after you sell out, and introduce me to lots of customers.”
Having just made a fortune, Lu Sinian’s eyes crinkled into a sly smile, and he waved to Worris, feigning innocence after getting a good deal.
“I will, just you wait.”
Worris replied irritably, tossing the heavy package in his hands, and finally managing a smile.
These were all good stuff, and guaranteed to sell well. They would bring him more than just profit, and there were many hidden benefits.
He bought fifty of each item, even the newly arrived ones.
Unfortunately, because those weren’t selling well, Lu Sinian hadn’t stocked much. He kept a few for himself and gave the rest to Vorris.
It’s worth mentioning that Abel also bought two or three of the new items. He decided to try them out when he got back, maybe they could save his brother?
With a stable sales channel now in place, the energy coins he earns will only increase.
Lu Sinian glanced at the system panel. He had spent 20,000 energy coins, but he had already earned it back, accumulating over 50,000.
He considered what else to buy. For the long-term development of the shop, he needed to be willing to invest in improving it.
He looked up and saw the dilapidated elevator. He remembered that it had been mentioned when he first arrived that it could be upgraded.
With the increasing number of customers, the elevator with its limited capacity was struggling to keep up. Clearly, he needed to expand its capacity.
He found the “Abyss Passage Device” option in the system panel and spent 10,000 gold coins to upgrade it by one level.
Instantly, a white light flashed, and the worn-out iron shell seemed to brighten, appearing more high-end.
The most noticeable change was its significant increase in size. Previously, it occupied about five square meters, now it had more than doubled in size.
Inside, a luminous pearl had been added. It hung on the wall, emitting a soft glow, and making it much more radiant than before.
Lu Sinian was quite satisfied that the money hadn’t been wasted.
Meanwhile, Vorris and Abel were preparing to part ways.
Having achieved his goal, Vorris was eager to return to the main city to sell his goods, so he bid farewell without a word.
Watching Vorris’s caravan depart, Abel glanced at the few cups of milk tea and biscuits in his bag, then turned and headed to the mercenary group.
He didn’t yet know the effects of these items, so he decided to test them on a few people first.
Upon arriving at the Star Mercenary Group, he instructed them to bring several individuals with different abilities to test the products.
First was the milk tea. At such an exorbitant price, Abel found cola and band-aids incredibly miraculous, yet they cost only a tenth of the milk tea’s price.
He had no idea what its effects were.
There were three cups of milk tea in total. He first gave one to his brother, who had lost an arm.
Alan looked at it and drank it without hesitation.
The instant his tongue touched the liquid, his face froze, turning ashen.
Forcing himself to swallow, Alan said with a tearful face, “This is way too sweet!”
Abel, who had been tense, couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing this and gave him a light tap on the head.
He drank it for a long time but there was no effect. Forget about healing his severed arm, it was like drinking sugar water—no change whatsoever.
Abel hesitated for a while, then continued his research, and gave it to an ordinary person in the same order as before.
That person was Alan’s younger brother. He had no magic core, couldn’t absorb magic energy, and was someone without combat talent.
Previously, to test it out, they had also given him cola, but unfortunately, there was no reaction.
Therefore, they concluded that these things would only work if consumed by warriors.
After giving him a cup of milk tea, Abel didn’t pay much attention to his reaction and turned to examine another item, the so-called steel biscuit.
The biscuit was hard and indeed difficult to bite, but upon closer inspection, it was discovered that it didn’t actually have the hardness of steel, and at least a low-level warrior could crush it.
Just as he picked up the biscuit, and was ready to take a bite, a muffled groan came from in front of him.
Abel’s hand trembled, nearly dropping the biscuit. He looked up and saw the person who had just drunk the milk tea slumped to the ground, groaning in pain.
He rushed forward, frowning as he examined the man, channeling his magical energy to carefully search for the cause of the problem.
When the magical energy reached the heart area, he suddenly stopped, examining it repeatedly.
No, this couldn’t be…
He looked up sharply at the man’s face. It was indeed the ordinary person without a magic core.
But… a vast power existed within him, supporting his magic core, which was transforming and beginning to crystallize. Perhaps soon he would transform his magic core and officially become a warrior.
Never before in this world had anything allowed an ordinary person to possess a magic core, and become a warrior or a mage.
Abel cut off the flow of magical energy, frozen in place. He knew this would be world-shaking news.
Alan anxiously grasped her brother’s hand, asking Abel, “Captain, what happened to my brother? Is he alright?!”
“No, this is a good thing,” Abel murmured.
He suddenly remembered something, abruptly stood up, and in a few strides grabbed the steel biscuit, shoving it into Alan’s hand.
“Eat it.”
Shortly after swallowing the biscuit, Alan’s severed arm began to itch faintly as if a new arm had grown out of nowhere.
Abel finally couldn’t contain his laughter, bursting into laughter. He punched Alan’s chest hard, murmuring,
“You should thank that man, He brought hope to the world.”