"That’s right, it’s Demon Armor. In fact, it’s something created by the Celestial of Longevity, and it’s just an auxiliary product of the experiment." Sha Chu’s words were becoming increasingly unbelievable.
Li Xiu didn’t know what to say, so he could only wait for Sha Chu to continue.
"What do you think the demonic spirits are?" Sha Chu didn’t continue but instead teased Li Xiu with a question.
"I don’t know, maybe creatures from a different civilized planet in the universe, or maybe beings from another dimension." Li Xiu shook his head.
"What if I told you that demonic spirits have long existed on Earth, for a very long time, would you believe it?" Sha Chu asked.
"That’s quite hard to believe." Li Xiu thought of the Jedi Knight Spinel, such a demonic spirit, could it be considered an ancient existence on Earth?
"Alright then, let me ask you, what do you think is the inherent value of a gemstone?" Sha Chu didn’t clarify but instead changed the subject.
"Of course, the value of gemstones is very high." Li Xiu replied.
"What about before the appearance of demonic spirits and the Trial Gate? Do you think the use of gemstones justifies their price?"
"Probably not." Li Xiu thought carefully, without demonic spirits and the Trial Gate, most gemstones are just ornaments, and their utility doesn’t quite match their price.
"Have you ever wondered why gemstones, which are mostly used as ornaments, are so valuable?"
"Because they’re rare?"
"Some gemstones are indeed rare, but most are not as rare as you think. Take diamonds, for example, their reserves are astonishing. For industrial use, synthetic diamonds can completely replace natural diamonds, yet their prices kept rising even before the demonic spirits appeared. Have you ever wondered why?"
"Why?" Li Xiu had always thought it was a capitalist ploy, but from Sha Chu’s tone, it seemed like it wasn’t the case.
"Thousands of years ago, someone obtained a gemstone, and due to an accident, discovered there was a strange creature inside it..."
Sha Chu told a story, vaguely, but it was clear this was the origin of the Celestial of Longevity organization.
Someone, thousands of years ago, obtained a demonic spirit from a gemstone, and by harnessing its power, became immortal, living on to this day.
This person continued to research the relationship between gemstones and demonic spirits, and to acquire more gemstones, founded the Celestial of Longevity organization.
With technological advances, gemstone mining became more efficient, yielding more gemstones and more research achievements for the Celestial of Longevity.
Yet they still couldn’t fully understand the relationship between gemstones and demonic spirits; most gemstones couldn’t nurture demonic spirits, only a few could.
There seemed to be no definitive pattern, but generally, gemstones harboring demonic spirits were top-grade, large, and pure.
But this wasn’t absolute, as sometimes smaller gemstones also contained demonic spirits.
And even for top-grade gemstones, the chance of a demonic spirit emerging was low, and they still had no method to discern which had demonic spirits.
Through thousands of years of research, they made numerous findings.
Until one day, a deep underground gemstone mine was discovered, unveiling an unimaginable gemstone.
Once touched, this gemstone ushered humanity into the era of demonic spirits.
Li Xiu was aware of what happened next: numerous demonic spirits descended upon Earth, and mysterious Trial Gates appeared globally.
Those who contacted that gemstone mostly died, and only a few survived. That gemstone mine was sealed by a gigantic Trial Gate, preventing anyone from entering again.
The Celestial of Longevity was the first to encounter and study demonic spirits, and they were the ones who developed Demon Armor.
Ximen Guan used to be a member of the Celestial of Longevity but stole Demon Armor’s research for personal gain, becoming the world’s recognized "Father of Demon Armor."
"At the Celestial of Longevity, you can get the best of everything, be it Demon Armor or demonic spirits. Their research on the Trial Gate is unmatched—someone like you should join them. Only there can your talents truly shine, not to mention the secrets to immortality." Sha Chu said.
"In the end, these are just stories." Li Xiu mused.
"Then I’ll skip the stories. Look at this." Sha Chu took out a small box and opened the lid, showing it to Li Xiu.
Inside the box was a gemstone, a sapphire, with a deep blue hue and velvety texture, its brilliance like a blooming daisy.
Even someone like Li Xiu, who wasn’t keen on gemstones, could recognize this as a top-grade Kashmir Chrysanthemum sapphire—Kashmir refers to its origin, and Chrysanthemum is the name given to the color by later generations.
The Kashmir mines had long been nearly depleted, and even before the demonic spirits descended, Kashmir Chrysanthemum was hard to find on the market.
Those blue sapphires named as Chrysanthemum color later weren’t true Kashmir Chrysanthemums.