Of course, it was just as the group owner, ’Supreme Benevolent Savior,’ had warned—there are thousands of paths in the demonic world, but safety comes first. With undercover agents in the group, trading required caution. Although demon cultivators could ’mutually benefit and reduce slaughter’ to a great extent by sharing resources, there was no stopping the annoying Righteous Sects from constantly causing trouble.
For instance, there had been many occasions where the Righteous Sects turned demon cultivators, had them post fake trading missions in the group, and lured ’innocent’ demon cultivators into offline trades. As a result, those who agreed to meet offline walked headfirst into an ambush set by the Righteous Path and were blasted to ash.
Furthermore, the group was full of demon cultivators who lived by licking blood from their blades, subscribing to the principle of ’leave nothing behind, just as a horse fattens on untended grass.’ They had no concept of following rules. If your cultivation level was weak, even trading with another Golden Core Stage demon cultivator could easily arouse their greed. It wasn’t impossible to end up as prey, killed for your goods. To put it bluntly, of the hundreds of grayed-out avatars in this group, at least thirty to forty percent belonged to members who had gone missing after rashly agreeing to meet offline.
In response to this, if anyone was confirmed to be a ’Righteous Sect mole,’ the group owner, ’Supreme Benevolent Savior,’ would kick them out of the chat directly. The person who invited them would also be punished, sometimes even kicked out as well. However, if there was no concrete evidence, or if it was simply a case of a dog-eat-dog situation where demon cultivators betrayed each other during an offline trade, the group owner generally wouldn’t intervene.
After all, once you enter the Demonic Path, it’s a bottomless ocean; from then on, safety is a stranger. Betrayal among their own kind was far too common. The group owner, ’Supreme Benevolent Savior,’ couldn’t manage it all, and more importantly, he had no intention of trying. This was because the more accidents that occurred during offline trades, the more people would use the group’s official trading channels.
Indeed, the Traditional Craftsmen Exchange Group had a dedicated ’middleman channel.’ By paying an extra twenty percent intermediary fee, members could conduct transactions safely through the group. For example, if Demon Cultivator A needed 3,000 portions of human essence blood, they only needed to kill 1,200 people and hand over 1,200 human spirits and 1,200 human bones to the group administrators. The administrators would then contact Demon Cultivators B and C to complete the trade on behalf of A, acquiring 2,400 portions of human essence blood from them. Demon Cultivator A would receive 2,000 portions.
This way, parties A, B, and C all saved the workload of killing a combined 1,800 people, significantly reducing the risk of being discovered, ambushed by the Righteous Sects, or betrayed by their own. Meanwhile, the group owner and administrators would gain a clear profit of 400 human spirits, 400 human bones, and 400 portions of human essence blood. By selling these materials to the corresponding Demonic Path sects, they could fetch a handsome price.
Of course, bartering was ultimately the most primitive form of trade. After hundreds of years of refinement, the group owner, ’Supreme Benevolent Savior,’ had also improved the group rules. All members could sell their ’surplus’ materials to the administrators in exchange for a virtual currency usable within the group. This virtual currency was named ’Construction Currency,’ symbolizing a currency used to build channels of communication.
Using Construction Currency, one could not only have the group admins handle trades but also directly exchange it for various cultivation resources from the official group channel, though the official prices were slightly higher than those in private trades. Additionally, if someone in the group obtained top-secret information, they could post it as ’paid intelligence,’ viewable only after a payment in Construction Currency. The earned currency was split fifty-fifty between the group officials and the information provider, a fair deal for all. If someone wanted to acquire certain information, they could also post a ’paid bounty.’ Once the provided information was verified, the officials would ensure the responder received the corresponding reward.
In summary, after thousands of years of development, the communication tools in the Cultivation World had undergone countless optimizations. Both the Righteous Path and the Demonic Path had experimented and learned from each other in communication management, eventually achieving a near-perfect system. In fact, many of the rules in the Traditional Craftsmen Exchange Group were similar to those found in the subgroups of the Sanqing Immortal Sect’s various branches, though the latter were relatively less cautious. After all, compared to the Demonic Path, where one was constantly ’treading on thin ice, where one wrong step means ruin,’ communication among the Righteous Sects was relatively safer. The risk of being deceived, ambushed, or betrayed during a transaction was low, and the sect elders were generally reliable. Therefore, there was no need to waste money on having someone notarize transactions.
As a veteran Golden Core Stage demon cultivator, backed by an established sect like the Ghost King Sect, and having had the Red Enchanting Snake Princess vouch for him multiple times, Daimon Qianmian’s credibility in the "Traditional Craftsmen Exchange Group" was quite high. At least for now, no one suspected him of being an undercover agent.
After taking over the man’s identity, Wang Xiu logged into the "Traditional Craftsmen Exchange Group" with ease. In the group, his avatar changed from an offline gray to the normal color of an online user. Of course, the face in the avatar wasn’t Daimon Qianmian’s true appearance but a disguised one. In fact, the other avatars in the group were also fake; no one who walked the Demonic Path was foolish enough to use their real face online.
At this moment, a fair number of demon cultivators were online, three to five hundred of them, but most were simply lurking and observing. After all, anyone in the Demonic Path understood that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Without sufficient strength or backing, rashly trying to show off in a chaotic group swarming with demons could easily attract fatal trouble. Only a few tough nuts—those with formidable methods who feared no schemes, or those with solid backgrounds who were confident no one would dare touch them—dared to speak freely.
For instance, the one speaking at that moment was a Golden Core Sixth-Heaven steward from the Hehuan Sect. Backed by her sect, her background was incredibly solid, and basically no one dared to provoke her.
Cough cough. As for why Daimon Qianmian knew her true identity? They were old acquaintances. In fact, one could even call them old flames. Among female demon cultivators, there were many who enjoyed playing with face-changing ’cosplay,’ and they were very much in demand. As an old patron, Daimon Qianmian was quite familiar with her. They were *very* close~
Resting Today, Listening to Songs at the Brothel: "Fresh batch has arrived!"
Resting Today, Listening to Songs at the Brothel: "69 virgins, each as beautiful as a flower, rivaling Heavenly Immortals, all in the prime of their youth."
[Detected someone bragging. Congratulations to the Host for gaining +88 Mana.]
Resting Today, Listening to Songs at the Brothel: "Free if they aren’t fair-skinned, free if they aren’t tender, free if their attitude is bad, free if their service isn’t up to snuff! First come, first served, fellow Daoists!"
[Detected someone bragging. Congratulations to the Host for gaining +88 Mana.]
Seemingly noticing that ’Daimon Qianmian’ had logged on, ’Resting Today, Listening to Songs at the Brothel’ even sent Wang Xiu a private message.
"Baby, I’ve missed you~"
"I’ve saved the best girls from this batch for you, twin sisters, oh!"
"If you come early, I’ll serve you alongside them."
"Ultimate triple delight, 20% off!"
Seeing the private message from the Blissful Demoness pop up, Wang Xiu couldn’t help but swallow hard, as if the gates to a new world had just opened.
How exciting... Was this an unexpected perk of taking over Daimon Qianmian’s identity? It’s actually quite embarrassing.
No, that’s not right! Wang Xiu, calm down! You are a young hero of the Righteous Sects! How can you stoop to such depravity? Have you already forgotten the cultivation and demon-slaying plans you made? As Confucius said: ’I reflect on myself three times a day.’ You cannot continue down this path! Even if she is a Charming Demon, even if they are twins, you must not be tempted by her and allow your Dao heart to be clouded!~ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ N(o)vᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt
Mmm~! Some other day! I must find a way to infiltrate the Hehuan Sect, uncover the true depths of these enchantresses, and then take them all out in one night! I, Wang Xiu, cannot share the same sky as the Demonic Path!