As the convoy reached a fork in the road, Fatty Liang, already seated in the lead carriage, waved his hand towards the right path, and the procession resumed its journey down the lesser track.

“Why take the small road?” Aibijia pouted, frowning unhappily. “We could have taken the comfortable main road, but you insist on the dirt track! Fatty Liang, don't you know how uncomfortable your carriage is? It’s even bumpier now.”

Qian Jin’s gaze swept over the cargo in the carriages, confirming once more that Fatty Liang was definitely not engaged in any legitimate business. According to the map’s markings, the main road was the only route to the nearest trading town, whereas the side path led to what used to be a Demon tribe village!

It was called a "former" village because the demons there had long since migrated to the small town of Wazi, which is why the side road was overgrown with weeds.

Carriages laden with goods were heading not towards the main Demon settlement, but towards a place supposedly empty of demons—a clear indication they intended to evade the Zhence Dynasty scouts lurking in the former Demon village. What kind of trade requires avoiding the Zhence Dynasty's spies? Contraband goods, naturally!

Duan Fengbuer and Fen Tu Kuangge exchanged faint smiles. Previously, they had planned to find a way to slip away from the merchant caravan and the Demon surveillance after entering the town to reach their objective. Now, it seemed much simpler. Boss Liang, due to secrets he couldn't reveal, was leading the convoy directly toward an area known for Dark Unit activity.

The caravan arrived at the village well past midnight. Thick clouds obscured the half-moon and the stars, plunging the world into profound darkness.

Standing at the village entrance, everyone felt an icy chill rise up their backs, as if a legion of the undead might charge out at any moment. Only the crackling sound of torches burning pine oil provided faint light, casting dancing shadows around them. Boss Liang took a deep breath, a hint of excitement coloring his voice: “Come on! Into the village!”

On the silent village streets, the sound of carriage wheels grinding against the ground echoed incessantly, lending an especially grim atmosphere to the night.

As the convoy neared the center of the village, three distinct barks—or rather, three sounds imitating dog barks—drifted from the distance. The mercenaries tensed, each drawing a weapon and scanning their surroundings to pinpoint the exact location.

“No need to worry; those demons haven't drawn their weapons,” Qian Jin’s low voice carried, drawing curious glances from the mercenaries. In this pitch-black night where one couldn't see one's hand before one's face, how could someone possibly see into the depths of the dark curtain far away?

Zeng Chuandong stared at Qian Jin dumbfounded. What had become of this kid? This Demon-Subduing Warrior hadn't even spotted a shadow of a demon, yet he was already engaging in reconnaissance?

Boss Liang returned the three barks. Suddenly, over a dozen torches flared to life on the dark street ahead, revealing the shadowy forms of over thirty Belial Demons. Leading them was a Mammon Demon!

Compared to the towering Belial Demons, the Mammon Demon was slightly smaller, standing just over six feet tall. Its distinguishing feature was its sapphire-blue skin, and its fiery red hair was equally conspicuous.

“Trading with a Mammon Demon?” Qian Jin felt a flicker of admiration for Boss Liang’s audacity for the first time. Among the Seven Great Demon Tribes, the Mammon Demons were famous not for their combat prowess, but for their insatiable greed!

In the Zhence Dynasty, when describing someone as greedy, no one would directly say, "You are truly greedy." Instead, they would say: "Are you perhaps a Mammon Demon?"

The Mammon Demon had long become synonymous with avarice. They were cunning, they were powerful, and simultaneously, they were the most untrustworthy tribe. Once, during a great war between the Zhence Dynasty and the Demon race, the Emperor of the Zhence Dynasty even bribed a high-ranking Mammon general, nearly causing the Demon forces to lose the entire battle.

In the end, the Demon Emperor of that generation personally executed three Mammon generals. Even to this day, instances of Mammon Demons suddenly defecting to aid the Zhence Dynasty during a fight still occasionally occurred. [“If the price is high enough, even the Demon Emperor’s head can be traded!”]

This was a well-known Mammon proverb, though no Mammon Demon had ever actually tried to test the notion by attacking the Demon Emperor. The Lucifer bloodline warriors represented the Demon race's ultimate latent power; unless they wished for their entire tribe to be wiped out, no one would seek the trouble of attempting to decapitate the Demon Emperor for sport.

“Mr. Bosk—it is a pleasure to meet you here.” Boss Liang opened his arms wide and strode forward excitedly.

Bosk? Qian Jin focused his attention on the Mammon Demon who was also opening his arms to embrace Boss Liang. In the Mammon Demon tribe, the surname Bosk was equivalent to the Lucifer surname in the Demon Empire—it signified the royal lineage of the Mammon Demons.

While not every individual with the surname Bosk was royalty among the Mammon Demons, the name carried immense prestige within their society.

“Boss Liang, the pleasure is mine to see you as well,” Bosk replied, smiling as he spread his arms. His hooked nose lent him a distinctly sinister air. Their embrace was warm, making the scene look as if the Zhence Dynasty and the Demon race had just ratified a permanent peace treaty.

Following a brief, enthusiastic, yet clearly hollow exchange of pleasantries, Bosk flashed a smile, revealing two canine teeth resembling fangs, and asked in his somewhat raspy voice, “Do you have what I require?”

“Naturally!” Boss Liang declared, slapping his chest with a hearty laugh. “This is the first shipment I’ve personally escorted. I trust the next batch will be ready by the time I return to the Zhence Dynasty. Tell me, Mr. Bosk, have you brought what I need?”

Bosk raised his arm and snapped his long, slender blue fingers. A wooden crate on the carriage behind him, illuminated by the torches, was swiftly opened. Gold bars, each half a foot long and an inch wide, glittered intensely under the firelight. Whether due to the sheer quantity or the metal's own brilliance, the light forced onlookers to squint.

Boss Liang stared rapturously at the box of gold bars. He quickly hurried over, scooped up a bar with both hands, bit down hard, leaving two shining yellow tooth marks.

The greed of the Mammon Demons was infamous worldwide, so Boss Liang felt compelled to be cautious. He continuously picked up bars, biting them to test their authenticity, while murmuring a count: “One bar, two bars, three bars… five bars… ten bars… fifteen bars…”

When the second crate was opened to reveal it, too, was packed solid with gold bars, Qian Jin began to seriously question what kind of contraband Boss Liang was dealing. For either the Demons, the Zhence Dynasty, or the Barbarians, a single bar like this was worth a hundred gold coins!

This single box held at least a hundred bars! That amounted to over ten thousand gold coins! Five wooden boxes meant five hundred bars!

What could it possibly be? Everyone’s mind raced, wondering what item was worth such an operation.

“How is it, Boss Liang?” Bosk inquired, his smile retaining a veneer of gentlemanly courtesy, though his hooked nose utterly destroyed the effect.

“Excellent! Excellent! All real!” Boss Liang turned back to his convoy, excitement radiating from him. He pulled a long wooden crate from Zeng Chuandong’s carriage, his hands trembling slightly as he used a key to unlock it, revealing several coconuts, each about the size of a human head.

“This…” Bosk’s smile froze, and a cold glint flashed repeatedly in his triangular eyes. “Boss Liang, are you playing games with me?”

“Wait a moment.” Fatty Liang then produced a large sledgehammer from the carriage and forcefully smashed the coconut husks. As the liquid flowed out and the flesh separated, a golden, fist-sized, circular piece of metal appeared before everyone’s eyes.

“What is that?” The mercenaries exchanged confused glances, curious what metal was worth such elaborate concealment and such a high price.

Star-Silver-Gold! Qian Jin’s pupils contracted sharply. He moved a slight step forward, reconfirming the metallic piece on the ground. It was indeed the magical metal, Star-Silver-Gold!

Having studied under Uncle Black in the Endless World for over two years, Qian Jin had dedicated himself not only to smithing but also to reading countless tomes. After once exploring the mineral deposits in the Four Seasons Valley, he had paid particular attention to books on ores and metals.

Star-Silver-Gold held special utility for warriors. Even after seeing it only once, Qian Jin could never forget its description.

Star-Silver-Gold was a passive magical metal possessing a strange purification attribute. If a Rune Master and a Blacksmith collaborated to carve specific runes onto armor or defensive gear, and then melted the Star-Silver-Gold to coat the runes and armor, it could grant resistance to curse-type magic. Low-level spells like Weakness or Slow might even be completely negated.

If a Master Runesmith, Master Blacksmith, and Master Enchanter worked together, or if a Master Magusmith crafted the armor using Star-Silver-Gold, the resistance to curse magic would be astonishing!

On the Human-Demon battlefields, encounters were never one-on-one. Attacks could spring from anywhere. If a warrior engaged a Demon Warrior of equal strength, and a Slow spell suddenly struck the Demon Warrior from the side, the Demon Warrior would often meet a tragic end. Conversely, if a Weakness, Blindness, or even Slow spell hit the warrior, the Demon Warrior would undoubtedly send them back to the embrace of the stars.

“Buying a piece of Star-Silver-Gold for fifty thousand gold coins is still a bit expensive…” Qian Jin calculated internally. Although the material was rare, and considering it was contraband, it was worth at most twenty thousand gold coins, right?

Crack! Another coconut shattered. Qian Jin finally understood why Bosk had offered fifty thousand gold coins. It turned out that besides a piece of Star-Silver-Gold, there was also a piece of Earth’s Child’s Celestial Stone!