Chapter 9: Perfect Clearance!

“Thirty percent is fine, but you must pay me back—otherwise we’ll both die together!”
The creditor’s face darkened as he took several deep breaths, wishing he could swallow Xu Gu whole.

“Deal.”
Xu Gu’s expression remained calm and indifferent, as if everything was firmly within his grasp.
“Come on.”

“…Go where?” the creditor asked cautiously.

“To eat the first meal,” Xu Gu said lightly.

Before the creditor could react, Xu Gu’s figure had already vanished, flying toward the first demonic faction.

“Demon Lord Xu, what are you doing here? Don’t even think about it. Our Bliss Demon Sect doesn’t lack money—we absolutely won’t go mad just to help you rob a spirit stone mine. That’s a guaranteed prison sentence!”

The moment Xu Gu arrived, the sect master of the Bliss Demon Sect came out and scolded him coldly.

“Rob?” Xu Gu snorted. “And you call yourself a demon sect master? The demonic path fell to this state because of people like you.”

“We’re not going to rob.
We’re going to make them voluntarily hand over the spirit stone mine.”

“Hmm?”
The Bliss Demon Sect master was stunned and confused. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Xu Gu didn’t bother explaining. Instead, he pointed toward the creditor who was silently eating luxurious dishes on his flying boat.

“Do you know who he is?”

“Daddy Sponsor?”
The sect master gasped, shocked that Xu Gu actually had connections this deep. No wonder he was the Demon Lord—he could even dine with the Sponsor Daddy.

Xu Gu said coldly:

“The creditor says this: the three of your factions will take turns pretending to rob the spirit stone mine.
Don’t actually rob anything—just cause chaos.

“When chaos breaks out, the mine’s value will plummet.
At that point, the creditor will step in with raw spending power and buy the entire mine.”

“After he earns the price difference, he’ll give you dividends.”

“If we don’t actually rob and only cause chaos, the risk is way lower. How much dividend?”
The sect master was tempted.

“Fifty million spirit stones.”

“Deal!”
He agreed instantly. Low risk, high reward—what reason was there to refuse?

Xu Gu smiled faintly.

For a cultivator at early Combined Body stage, fifty million spirit stones was their entire savings. How could a half-step Combined Body sect master refuse?

After that, Xu Gu visited the other two demonic factions as well.

With the creditor acting as backing, all three forces agreed without hesitation.

…

The next day.

Xu Gu appeared before the spirit stone mine and summoned the mine’s steward:

“Tsk tsk tsk. Daoist friend, to dare mine spirit stones in such an ominous land… Your courage is truly boundless.”

“What nonsense are you spouting!”
The steward was furious. If Xu Gu did not look like an immortal expert with Combined Body-level cultivation, he would have already struck him.

Xu Gu replied calmly:

“This mine is built upon an ancient demonic corpse.
Right now there’s no problem because the corpse hasn’t awakened.
But once it does, the spirit stones will begin transforming into demonic stones.

“When that happens, countless demonic cultivators will come swarming to seize the demonic stones.
This mine will become worthless.

“You must understand—destiny favors the demonic path.
The demonic path is destined to rise.
And demonic stones are key to that rise.”

“Ancient demonic corpse? Destiny favors demons? You are…”
The steward’s expression changed repeatedly in shock.
“You’re a… fraud, right?”

Though he felt the words made sense, he still thought Xu Gu was a conman.

“No, I was once an inheritor of the Heaven’s Secrets Sect.
Now I am a risk asset broker.”

Xu Gu shook his head, then pointed to the creditor eating on the flying boat.

“That man is my friend.
You can choose not to believe me—but you shouldn’t dare not believe him.

“This is my flying sword address.
If you want to sell, contact me.
I’ll offer a high price.
Just remember: the longer you wait, the lower the mine’s value will fall.”

The steward, originally full of anger, immediately calmed down when he saw the creditor. His expression turned uncertain, but he accepted the flying sword address.

…

Over the next three months—

The three demonic factions launched repeated “robbery attempts” on the spirit stone mine.

Not only that—

The entire demonic world spread rumors about demonic stones.
Many discussions arose about storming the mine.

Three months later—
“I’m selling! Sixty percent price—no lower!”

The steward’s face was pale. Constant disturbances had driven production into the ground, miners were being injured, and compensation costs had soared.

The mine had become a hot potato.

Of course, there were other businessmen trying to buy it, but they were opportunists offering one-tenth or one-twentieth of the market price.

“Forty percent,” Xu Gu bargained.

“Deal!”

After buying the mine, Xu Gu used his Demon Lord identity to order all demonic cultivators to stop creating trouble.
He publicly debunked the demonic stone rumors.

The mine quickly returned to normal.

Then Xu Gu sold the mine to the creditor at its full market price.

Because he had negotiated the debt down to 30% earlier, the creditor owed him 700 million spirit stones after clearing the debt.

Xu Gu took 400 million of that and paid for the mine, clearing the purchase cost.

Thus—

Xu Gu, with zero investment, not only paid off the entire debt—
He earned an extra 300 million spirit stones.

As for the three demonic factions—

They were reported anonymously (by Xu Gu’s alternate account) for “attempted robbery of a government-protected mine” and were sentenced to 1,800 years in prison.

During their imprisonment, Xu Gu kindly visited them, shared a large feast, and promised:

“When you get out, all dividends will be transferred to your accounts.”

The three demonic factions wept with gratitude.

“He’s a real brother!”

…

“Didn’t they say this trial had no solution?
How did Senior Brother Xu Gu clear it?”

“And how is he so righteous!?”

“Even after entering the illusion, losing his memories, and being assigned the identity of a Demon Lord chased by debt collectors, he still refused to harm anyone, nor broke a single law!”

“In the end, he even reported all the demonic cultivators and eliminated evil for the people!”

“Senior Brother Xu Gu is simply too righteous!”

Illusion Colored Clothes and the other righteous spies had long finished the first trial.
Watching Xu Gu’s methods inside the illusion, they were all stunned speechless and deeply moved.

To think one could clear the trial like that!

Compared to him, they were like heaven and earth apart.

Especially Illusion Colored Clothes—
She was practically becoming Xu Gu’s devoted fangirl.

Where else could you find someone so righteous, so capable, and so handsome?

But immediately after—

They began to worry.

Xu Gu’s actions were too righteous, completely inconsistent with demonic sect behavior.

Would the demon heads discover he was a righteous spy and purge him?

(End of this chapter)