Chapter 135
Chapter 135.
When Lee Ganghan went to the Goblin's black market.
"Ugh…… Ugh……."
Goblins whose skin had turned grayish were forcibly dragging their bodies while carrying loads.
'Why are they like that?'
At first, Lee Ganghan was puzzled seeing the Goblins in such a state.
'Ah. Is it because of what happened when they died last time?'
When choosing the Seven Deadly Sins roulette at the First Tower, the Goblin Chief threw a Goblin, and the entire Goblin horde got burned up.
At that time, it definitely said revival would take 24 hours. Maybe it's like that because 24 hours haven't passed yet.
'When I saw them last time, they were lying down in the Goblin Territory, but now they seem capable of market operations at least.'
Lee Ganghan thought so as he arrived at the center of the black market. Then.
"Heavenly Demon Eternal……! Ten Thousand Demons Prostrate……!"
The Goblin Chief bowed with movements slower than usual.
"Cough. I apologize, Heavenly Demon Lord. I haven't fully recovered from being burned to death last time."
The Goblin Chief coughed while saying this.
"Then why don't you rest a bit more?"
"Still, I must operate the market……! Now is the peak time for rowing!"
Though his physical condition looked poor, his will to work seemed abundant.
"I actually came to upgrade the market."
"Oh……! That's wonderful news! Ah. Come to think of it…… I heard you also broke the Bronze Tower record! Congratulations!"
"How did you know that?"
"A Goblin merchant dispatched from Golden Fragrance told me."
Information travels fast indeed. Previously, after Lee Ganghan achieved the Iron record, FIPA tried to find out who achieved the record in the higher stages, but ultimately failed to obtain this information. Golden Fragrance seemed to have a way of knowing this.
"Well, I was lucky. Then let me upgrade the market first."
"Ohh……!"
The Goblin Chief's eyes sparkled with anticipation at those words. Lee Ganghan opened the Ten Thousand Demon Battle function and clicked on the black market.
['Goblin's Black Market' will be upgraded to Lv.3. Do you wish to proceed?]
[600,000TP will be used.]
The Goblin's Black Market costs almost 1/10th of Five Elements Mountain despite being a Lv.3 upgrade. Goblin-related stuff is definitely all cheap. Lee Ganghan smiled satisfactorily and proceeded with the upgrade. Then.
Clunk, Clunk……!
The black market's territory expanded while new buildings appeared one by one. The market's exterior, which had been shabby and worn, also transformed to become much cleaner and more refined.
"Oh. It's definitely improved……! Now I think we can expand the warehouse too!"
While the Goblin Chief was delighted seeing the changed market, ding.
[To upgrade 'Goblin's Black Market' to Lv.4, the following conditions must be met.]
Conditions for upgrading the market to Lv.4 appeared.
'Isn't this achievable?'
Just selling the Orc items last time was a considerable amount. As Lee Ganghan thought this.
[Upgrade conditions have been met.]
['Goblin's Black Market' will be upgraded to Lv.4. Do you wish to proceed?]
[1,200,000TP will be used.]
A message immediately appeared saying the upgrade was possible. Of course I should do it right away.
When Lee Ganghan clicked yes, Clunk, Clunk……!
The black market's territory expanded once more, single-story buildings evolved into multi-story ones, and the market roads became wider and more convenient to navigate.
"Oh. Ohh…… Did it get upgraded again?"
"Yeah. It was immediately possible."
He hoped he could aim for Lv.5 right away, but.
[To upgrade 'Goblin's Black Market' to Lv.5, the following conditions must be met.]
The Lv.5 conditions weren't easy.
'Most importantly, the Gold grade is the problem.'
Reaching Gold definitely takes at least 10 days. Looking at conditions 1 and 2 being cumulative, maybe they can be achieved during those 10 days?
Lee Ganghan judged so and decided to proceed with Lv.5 after becoming Gold.
"This gives me energy to work!"
Meanwhile, the Goblin Chief who was excited seeing the enlarged market.
"You lot! Can't you move more quickly!"
Urged his subordinates who had turned grayish. Pressuring Goblins to work. This must be the 'work' of the Goblin Chief as manager.
'But with the Goblins in this state, they probably couldn't purchase much human equipment. Would it be better to stay one more day and collect them?'
Reselling human-exclusive equipment isn't that urgent anyway. Then.
[The Goblin's Black Market's level has risen to 4.]
[The system interface is in an evolved state.]
[You can link 'Black Market's Warehouse No.1' with the player's inventory.]
'Warehouse linking?'
A message appeared saying the inventory and warehouse could be linked.
'Is this a function that appeared because the market upgraded to Lv.4 and interface evolution proceeded?'
I should check immediately.
"Inventory."
When Lee Ganghan opened his inventory, a warehouse-shaped icon was floating in the bottom right corner of the inventory. Is this Warehouse No.1? Let me try clicking it.
[Opening Black Market's Warehouse No.1.]
Above the inventory window, another inventory opened, and human race exclusive equipment appeared packed inside.
'These must be the items in the warehouse.'
This would be incredibly convenient if I could use it in reality too. I wouldn't need to go back and forth to the black market carrying goods.
"Chief, are you storing human race exclusive equipment in Warehouse No.1?"
"Yes, Heavenly Demon Lord! To follow your commands as top priority, I've been storing human race equipment in the largest Warehouse No.1."
"Now Warehouse No.1 is linked with my inventory, you know? Focus on putting human race equipment there."
"Aha…… There's such a function too? Then I'll focus on filling No.1, and if items run low, I'll fill them up right away."
The Goblin Chief, who was amazed hearing Lee Ganghan's words, said he would take care of filling the items.
"Good. Then keep up the good work."
"Yes! Understood!"
After finishing instructions at the black market, Lee Ganghan opened Ten Thousand Demon Battle again.
'Karana still seems focused on Orc evolution.'
The Spirit of Heavenly Sword was sleeping, and the Lowest Grade Disciples challenging towers still hadn't cleared the tutorial. Then is my business in Ten Thousand Demon Battle finished?
'Ah. I need to ask the Sacred Fire about Demon-Conquering God.'
The Divine Maiden ghost said that to use the energy of Extreme Demon, one must perform a ritual dancing before the Sacred Fire, vowing to live as a Divine Maiden for life.
Of course, Lee Ganghan had no intention of living as a Divine Maiden for life, nor dancing before the Sacred Fire, so he planned to just ask how to use this.
Lee Ganghan opened a portal to the center of Ten Thousand Demon Battle, moving back to the Sacred Fire area.
***
'It seems stronger than when I saw it last time.'
Approaching the Sacred Fire closely, it had grown noticeably larger than before. Is it because Divine Power increased in the meantime?
When Lee Ganghan looked toward the Sacred Fire, ding.
[The Sacred Fire is evolving from 'Dim Flame' state to 'Clear Blaze'…….]
[It will take 70 hours to complete the upgrade.]
A message window appeared before his eyes. Though firepower increased with Divine Power, the upgrade time doesn't seem to shorten. Lee Ganghan spoke before the Sacred Fire.
"I heard the Sacred Fire's permission is needed to handle the energy of Extreme Demon. How should I do it?"
At Lee Ganghan's question, ding. A new message window appeared.
[The energy of Extreme Demon fundamentally cannot coexist with demonic energy. It's impossible for Heavenly Demon Lord to handle the energy of Extreme Demon.]
The energy of Extreme Demon is light, while demonic energy feels like darkness, so they clash with each other? Actually, their names were opposing from the start. But.
"I possess both though? And when the energy of Extreme Demon was used, I've used Heavenly Demon Divine Art too."
[That is a phenomenon I cannot comprehend at my current level.]
So it's ultimately impossible? Lee Ganghan was disappointed as he thought asking the Sacred Fire directly would give him some clue, but.
[Based on your current special situation, Heavenly Demon Lord, it's possible to forcibly convert to Extreme Demon state.]
"Oh. Really?"
When Lee Ganghan showed interest, ding. A new skill appeared before Lee Ganghan's eyes.
[Extreme Demon Conversion]
Grade: C~SSS
Temporarily explodes the Sacred Fire's firepower to forcibly draw up the energy of Extreme Demon.
When used, the Sacred Fire's firepower is greatly consumed, and demonic energy weakens while converted to Extreme Demon state.
Extreme Demon Conversion with the same skill grade as Demon-Conquering God. The two seemed to be linked. But temporarily exploding the Sacred Fire's firepower.
"If I use this, how much will the Sacred Fire decrease?"
[In the current state, using it would decrease enough to cancel the upgrade.]
"That much?"
It's currently upgrading to Clear Blaze, but using Extreme Demon Conversion once would cancel this?
'I shouldn't use it for at least 70 hours.'
Lee Ganghan decided to try Extreme Demon Conversion after the Sacred Fire finished upgrading, and changed the topic.
"But I met the Lowest Grade Disciples earlier and they seemed strange?"
[Since they still harbor rebellious feelings toward Heavenly Demon Lord, I forcibly instilled loyalty in them.]
"Really……?"
[Yes. All believers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect must follow the Heavenly Demon. Even members of the Cheon clan cannot be exceptions.]
The Sacred Fire showed a hardline attitude, saying it cannot tolerate believers rebelling.
"But for that, Cheon Gahyeon was rebelling just fine?"
[She has strong mental resistance. However, she won't be able to endure forever.]
Cheon Gahyeon. She's not a descendant of the Heavenly Demon for nothing.
'Though the Sacred Fire's method is rough…… they were the ones who came charging in with guns originally.'
Rather than the Lowest Grade Disciples causing trouble inside Ten Thousand Demon Battle, it would be better to have them controlled like this. Still.
"Don't do that to anyone other than the Lowest Grade Disciples."
There was no need to instill 'loyalty' in friends like Kim Juyeong who entered as Outer Disciples.
[Understood, Heavenly Demon Lord.]
"Then keep up the good work."
Lee Ganghan, having finished his business with the Sacred Fire, left the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect and returned to his house in reality.
Checking the time, it was 8:40 AM. He had installed 2 installations in Ten Thousand Demon Battle and handled various tasks including training with Son Ojeong, but didn't even use up the full 2-hour stay time.
'There's definitely more leisure since the stay time is long.'
If the stay time increases more later, I might stay in Ten Thousand Demon Battle even longer. Lee Ganghan thought so and picked up his phone to call Shin Yuri.
[Heavenly Demon Lord! I was just about to contact you. Regarding this Transcendent vote, the government is preparing a massive promotional plan! Of course, if the Transcendent vote proceeds, Heavenly Demon Lord would naturally win, but just in case…….]
Shin Yuri began rapidly reciting election promotion plans, her excited mood clearly felt even through the phone. But.
"Ah. About that."
Lee Ganghan scratched his cheek and.
"I'm thinking of withdrawing from the vote."
[What……?! You're withdrawing?]
Poured cold water on the excited Shin Yuri.