Chapter 57: Anubis's Heirloom
Point out any errors I made in the chapters, as I'm very lazy and sometimes can't be bothered to reread them. Also give your opinions on something I should change or add.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teleporting to Wolfstein Empire's Treasure Room with Echoport, Feng gazed at the second gate which still remained locked.
He had previously guessed that the main treasure left behind by the Wolfstein Empire was hidden behind that gate, and that it required the golden tablet guarded by Anubis's Gatekeeper in order to be opened.
Meanwhile, the golden tablet was in reality an Imperial Heirloom.
God's Domain was very large, and there were many kingdoms and empires within it. Naturally, these realms would go through growth and decline.
Countless kingdoms and empires had disappeared into the long river of history by now.
Although they had already been forgotten by people, some of these kingdoms and empires had left behind shocking treasures that were unknown to others.
In God's Domain, these shocking treasures were called Heirlooms.
Heirlooms could be categorized into four different ranks.
The first would be Kingdom Heirlooms. Just as its name implied, it was a treasure once owned by a kingdom of God's Domain. First-rate Guilds would fight tooth and nail for just one Kingdom Heirloom.
Meanwhile, one rank above Kingdom Heirlooms were Imperial Heirlooms.
An Imperial Heirloom was an Heirloom left behind by a fallen empire of God's Domain. Normally, the wealth of an empire was at least three to five times greater than that of a kingdom. The value of an Imperial Heirloom, naturally, was proportional.
In addition to Imperial Heirlooms, there were Continental Heirlooms, which were one rank higher, as well as World Heirlooms, which were the highest-ranking Heirlooms in God's Domain. However, the last two Heirlooms were only mentioned in the libraries of God's Domain.
Continental Heirlooms were very rare even in the Greater God's Domain, but not so much they were non-existent, and the top-tier powers of the Greater God's Domain like Apex Powers wouldn't place incredible value on them, merely being things that could provide a decent amount of help to their development; with only the weaker powers greatly valuing them.
World Heirlooms, on the other hand, were different, and even Apex Powers would try to obtain them at high costs due to World Heirlooms being treasures of a much grater magnitude that remained from powers that ruled over an entire God's Domain. Such treasures would usually be Divine Artifacts at the very least or have the same amount of value, while more powerful worlds would leave behind treasures of much greater worth.
In fact, if Feng's God's Domain were to be destroyed, the Stargazing Tower would be considered one such World Heirloom, and it was a treasure which many powers from the Greater God's Domain had sought to obtain in his previous life; causing him plenty of trouble.
During his previous life, aside from the same Imperial Heirloom as the one currently in his bag, the only other Heirloom Feng had encountered was a World Heirloom which had brought him many benefits and allowed Zero Wing to prosper even more and greatly increased its survivability.
Above World Heirlooms, however, there were also Realm Heirlooms, which were treasures usually resulting from the destruction of an entire Realm in the Greater God's Domain. Realm Heirlooms would be fought over by even Apex Power, and many such Heirlooms had resulted in the rise and fall of multiple Apex Powers.
Of course, the power and value of a Realm Heirloom largely depended on the power of the Realm it originated from, the Realm's resources as well as the creatures within it; which could both increase the Realm Heirloom's value to one of the valuable treasures in the Great God's Domain, or to the same value of a top-tier World Heirloom.
There were also rumors in the Universal God's Domain ancient libraries of Heirlooms with a rank above the Realm Heirlooms, being treasures left behind by an entire Greater God's Domain; but those were mostly just rumors no one really believed, as there were no records of a Greater God's Domain ever being destroyed or disappearing.
Meanwhile, considering that the Wolfstein Empire was an incredibly powerful Empire during the ancient times, so much so that if it existed in the modern God's Domain it would surpass even the Four Great Empires' combined might, Feng wagered that the treasure left behind by it will be of great value even to him.
In his previous life, due to lacking the required strength to explore further into the Final Cave which disappeared later on after Feng got rid of the roaming Anubis's Gatekeeper and searched every inch of the White Fog Canyon for it, he had never been able to find out what treasure was left behind by the Empire which this golden tablet lead to; eventually trading it with the Star-Moon Kingdom for one of its Heirlooms.
Now, he finally had the chance to find out what kind of treasure this Imperial Heirloom, which he had confirmed was a key using the Eyes of Truth, led to.
Placing the golden tablet into the empty slot on the gate, the stone tablet fit in perfectly, and the sound of the gate unlocking echoed throughout the empty treasury a moment later.
Pushing open the golden gate, Feng gazed at what lay behind those doors. A quiet room the size of a small cabin was revealed beyond the golden gate. The room possessed no special features or decorations, with only a small golden pedestal in the middle.
However, a powerful Divine Might assaulted Feng as soon as the gate opened, while the small room was filled with a Primordial aura.
Taking a moment to resist and shake off the Divine Might that nearly threw him back, Feng soon adjusted himself to the feeling and stepped into the small room. Scanning the room with the Eyes of Truth, the only thing Feng noticed was a statue of a silver wolf sitting quietly on the golden pedestal.
Unlike the Sacred Beast Statue Feng had previously found in the Treasure Room, though, this silver statue radiated a powerful Divine Might along with a Primordial feeling that forced Feng to give the small statue a careful look, while the silver wolf's eyes seemed to gaze at him despite having no signs of life behind them.
Curious, Feng approached the golden pedestal and tried identifying the silver statue.
After nearly ten seconds passed, the appraisal bar was finally filled as the statue's information became visible to Feng.
[Lunar Packheart] (Legendary Item)
A statue containing the remnants of a Moon-Howling Silver Wolf Alpha, capable of bestowing powers of the Moon-Howling Silver Wolf. Originally having been obtained by Anubis, the Wolfstein Emperor, it was lost during the Great Destruction after the Wolfstein Empire's disappearance.
Additional Active Skill 1: Howlforge Transformation
Turn any Bloodline into the Bloodline of the Moon-Howling Silver Wolf. Power and density of the Moon-Howling Silver Wolf's Bloodline depends on the original Bloodline's rank.
Cooldown: 3 days
Additional Active Skill 2: Primal Infusion
Increases the density of any creature's bloodline and can unlock its hidden potential. There is a small possibility of the bloodline going Berserk if the creature is unable to control its power.
Cooldown: 5 days
Additional Active Skill 3: Packbond Covenant
Grants any non-humanoid creature a fragment of the Moon-Howling Silver Wolf's blood at the cost of a fragment of the creature's soul.
Cooldown: 15 days
(Cooldown can be decreased by allowing the Lunar Packheart to absorb the blood of Primordial Creatures.)
The Lunar Packheart has lost a large portion of its power after Anubis absorbed it and became a Moon-Howling Golden Wolf, but its power could be restored by absorbing the blood of more Moon-Howling Silver Wolves. The Lunar Packheart's increase in power will be greater the denser the Moon-Howling Silver Wolf's blood is. [1]
'No wonder Anubis could create so many soldiers who possessed the Moon-Howling Silver Wolf's blood.' Realization dawned on Feng upon seeing the Lunar Packheart's information.
He had been wondering how there could be such a huge number of wolfmen in the Wolfstein Empire's forces with a Primordial Beast's blood in them, even if most of them only possessed a very small amount. Now he finally understood. It also gave him a hint on why and how Anubis seemed much different than the rest of the wolfmen and not give off the feeling of Moon-Howling Silver Wolves despite his strength.
Afterwards, Feng endured the Lunar Packheart's powerful Divine Might and stored it, before leaving the Wolfstein Empire's Treasury forever.
Zero Wing's members quickly gathered at the site of the massacred Overwhelming Smile members and started collecting the drops. With Feng's current Luck and the Lucky Charm's effects, each of the lambs for slaughter had dropped at least three items, while some had dropped six to seven.
Overall, along with the items from the red names who had all dropped most, if not all, of their equipment and weapons, Zero Wing had gained around 10,000 items from the two slaughters.
However, what Feng valued the most were the gathered Immortal Souls and Life Force. Although Feng wasn't able to absorb the Immortal Souls of the Overwhelming Smile members who had been at the Land of the Fallen Star's entrance as well as the red names due to the level difference between them, he had still managed to collect the Immortal Souls of the 2,000+ members who had tried to ambush them, including Youlan's; making sure none of them would be able to log in for at least two days.
Unlike the Immortal Souls, though, Life Force didn't have any special requirements to be collected as long as he killed players personally, thus he had gained well over two thousand Life Force, allowing him to upgrade Icarus's Heart from Iron rank all the way to Dark-Gold rank.
[Icarus's Heart] (Necklace, Dark-Gold Rank [Can be evolved])
Equipment Requirement: All Attributes 120
Level 20 - Level 80 (Currently Level 40)
All Attributes +27
Luck +14
Additional Characteristic Skill -
Divine Providence: Temporarily increases player's Luck by 32 points for 30 seconds.
Cooldown: 40 minutes
Luck, Duration, and Cooldown can be increased, prolonged, and reduced by sacrificing Life Force. Maximum of 100 points of Life Force per sacrifice.
Evolution Condition: Absorb the Life Force of 5,000 players to evolve to Epic Rank. (87/5,000)
At this point, Feng only needed to kill some more players in order to upgrade Icarus's Heart to Epic rank and let it reach the highest it could naturally be upgraded, before using the Holy Grail once he acquired it to turn it into a Fragmented Legendary item.
After all of the loot was collected, Feng had some of the players bring it back to Zero Wing's Warehouse while he led the rest to kill the Level 25 Great Lord in the White Fog Canyon. The excursion didn't take long, as the Zero Wing members easily slaughtered their way to the shrine with their advanced equipment and combat standards, before finishing off the Great Lord.
Having the rest of the Zero Wing members return to White River City and letting the news spread, Feng teleported out of the White Fog Canyon and went to the Starstreak Trading Firm.
By now, most of the Dragonclaw Sets Melancholic had put up for auction at Blackwing City had been sold along with the Level 20 Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold items, earning Feng over 800,000 Gold Coins.
Melancholic had also managed to purchase some more of the necessary materials needed for the Dragonclaw Set's production, allowing Cocoa to forge a little less than two hundred more Sets, which Melancholic immediately placed in the Blackwing City's Auction House.
Though, although each Set had been sold at over 800 Gold Coins in the beginning, as time passed and more Dragonclaw Sets appeared, the price players were willing to bid for also decreased. Nevertheless, the Dragonclaw Set was still the only Dark-Gold Set which appeared across the entire God's Domain, so Feng wasn't concerned about the Set not being able to sell, and each Set still sold for around 700 Gold Coins.
After arriving at Starstreak, Feng left behind all of the Starfire Ore they had gathered and the Philosopher's Stone to Melancholic to deal with and picked up the 800,000 or so Gold Coins.
Currently, Zero Wing had gathered nearly 60,000 pieces of Starfire Ore. If sold at a price of 1 Silver per piece, the total value of all this Starfire Ore would be over 200 Gold Coins. However, Feng wasn't going to waste the Ore for such a small amount of money and was instead planning to have them all converted into Starfire Essence.
Of course, there was no way Feng would waste his own time sitting there and converting the Starfire Ore himself like a loser. That's what he had subordinates for, so that he could leave the tedious jobs to them while he took care of the real stuff.
Though, considering that this would reveal the Philosopher's Stone, it could possibly be a risk, since the person Melancholic leaves it to for converting the Ore into Starfire Essence could steal the items or notify other Guilds of Zero Wing possessing the Alchemical Treasure known as the Philosopher's Stone, which would definitely place Zero Wing in danger of being besieged by God's Domain's various powers; which would mess up many of Feng's plans.
However, Feng was unconcerned. After restoring their memories and showing his ability to reincarnate, without the Zero Wing members knowing he didn't have any control over it, no one with a bit of intelligence would chose to betray him.
After all, for all they knew, he could time hop at will, and he might have been doing it for who knows how long. And if that was true, then he could very easily go back in time and kill their past self or just not restore their memories again.
With a lack of information about the truth, no one would want to take that risk when what they would gain could be nullified. Not to mention they had already seen what Feng was capable of accomplishing during the previous timeline, so they'd only be making a loss in this situation where they had memories of the future and could use it to their advantage.
Another reason for why no Zero Wing member would dare to ever betray Feng, however, was that their current world wasn't connected to the Greater World, and was very small, with nowhere to run.
The way Feng deals with traitors, especially the ones that cause him trouble and put Zero Wing in danger, has long since been deeply integrated into the mind of every member of Zero Wing.
No living creature wished to experience that for themselves.
Afterwards, Feng teleported to Star-Moon City before teleporting out of the Kingdom. He then bought the best plot of land in the imperial capitals of another thirty Empires where he planned to open a branch of the Candlelight Trading Firm, before using the remaining money to purchase some other lands which will be of use to him in the future.
Like a place in Lake Heart City which he had previously bought from Phoenix Rain as well as some small and less costly plots of land in Towns and Cities near places of some importance for gathering specialized materials; most of which he had acquired from the Secret Pavilion in his previous life.
All of the over 800,000 Gold Coins ended up being spent in the process even with Feng's discount as a Marquise as a result. Though, the trade off was very worth it considering the value of these lands and how much their value would rise to in the future.
In the meantime while Feng was purchasing land, a few more of the Dragonclaw Sets had been bought by players in Blackwing City's Auction House, gaining Feng a few more thousand Gold Coins, 2,000 of which he immediately spent to build Shops in White River City and Star-Moon City, choosing two relatively good building models in the City Hall, with both being three-story buildings. He could use the first floor to sell products and use the second to establish a warehouse, Forging Rooms, and other necessities. Finally, the third floor could be an office area.
After which, he hired over 20 Advanced NPCs to conduct daily management and sales in each Shop while giving the authority over them to Melancholic and having her start managing the Shops.
After spending all this money, little remained of Feng's funds. Fortunately, the Dragonclaw Set Equipment sold consistently in the Blackwing Auction House, and a large sum of Gold Coins would be transferred to Feng's pockets from Melancholic every now and then.
Finished with setting up the Candlelight Trading Firm, Feng logged out, knowing he'd soon receive a call from Xiao Yu about the upcoming competition.
Getting out of his Virtual Gaming Cabin, Feng drank a bottle of Nutrient Fluid and heated himself something to eat after exercising for a bit. He didn't bother Fire, as he had ordered her and most of the other restored members to either massacre the Overwhelming Smile members during this "war", which was just Feng wiping out Overwhelming Smile from God's Domain, or farm Light Stone Forging Designs.
Feng was planning to sell them on masse without limit across over forty locations, so he'll naturally need an army of Forgers to make the necessary amount of Light Stones to meet the demand. Thus, he'll also need plenty of the Forging Designs.
Thankfully, Feng had ordered some of the restored members to farm the Designs while he was in the White Fog Canyon, so they already had a bunch to start the production and only needed to gather a bunch more for later once Candlelight expanded.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Suddenly, Feng's quantum watch started ringing. Meanwhile, the person calling him was none other than Big Dipper Training Center's Chairman, Xiao Yu.
"Master Shi Feng, our side has already completed the preparations for the fighting competition. As for the exact time of the event, it will be set at two days from now, at 10 o'clock in the morning. May I know your opinion on this? If you are not free, I can still delay the event by two or three days." Xiao Yu said.
"Let's go with two days from now, then." Feng wanted to do the competition as soon as possible so that he could acquire the Greenwater Villa, which would allow his plans to move forward and also resolve his current problem of privacy concerning Violet.
As long as he won the competition, he would also obtain not only ten virtual gaming cabins but also 15 bottles of S-rank Nutrient Fluid, allowing more of the restored members to restore some of their prowess.
"I have already sent the information regarding your opponent to your quantum space. However, that person is very mysterious, and the information we have collected on him is very limited. We only have the records for a few of his matches. He had ended a majority of his matches in just a single move." Xiao Yu had not expected Feng to remain so calm. He knew that Zhao Ruoxi had long since told Feng every little detail about his opponent's strength, so Feng should know how amazing his opponent was. Yet, now, not only was Feng not anxious, but he was even showing a hint of anticipation.
"I understand. I still have other matters to attend to, so I'll be hanging up first."
After saying so, Feng disconnected the call.
Since this matter had been settled, after refilling the Nutrient Solution inside the virtual gaming cabin, Feng lay down inside the cabin and entered God's Domain once more.
Although he had considered going over to the Workshop to have a chat with Aqua, after thinking it over for a while, he decided it was best to let her be for a bit...
Let her process the situation first...
Not to mention he was really busy...
He definitely wasn't chickening out of going there because he didn't know what to say...
That definitely wasn't the case!
...Well maybe just a little bit.
After all, emotions and feelings really weren't Feng's strong suit. Not to mention the situation with Aqua was very complicated due to everything that happened and the kind of relationship he had with her in the previous timeline; even if it wasn't exactly completely romantic.
Or at least, Feng didn't know if it wasn't, and didn't want to admit there really was something.
Thus, after much deliberation, Feng opted to leave it for later to be dealt with and focus on the things he needed to do for now.
---
While Feng had been purchasing Shops and was logged out, things in White River City and God's Domain had taken on a change.
News of Zero Wing easily raiding the Great Lord which had appeared in the White Fog Canyon while the rest of the Guilds had not even managed to approach it, only suffering heavy loses during their attempts, spread like wildfire across White River City.
Moreover, after the Great Lord's death, the monsters in White Fog Canyon seemed to have fallen into a frenzy as their ferocity grew while they fought the players and each other for dominance now that the reginal boss was gone, causing the guilds and players farming for the Warfire Set in the Canyon to end up in a predicament as the danger around them increased.
However, the matter regarding White Fog Canyon was still insignificant because after the second system upgrade, it became somewhat easier to increase one's Reputation in cities. Hence, the various Guilds promptly started grinding for Reputation. At the same time, they also began to secretly amass Coins. As soon as they possessed sufficient Reputation, they could go into high gear, purchasing real estate in the city and paving a path for their own development in the future.
The various Guilds throughout God's Domain started waging a covert war as they all tried to earn Coins.
There was only a limited number of ways to earn Coins in God's Domain: obtaining it from the drops of monsters; quest rewards; trading with players; and selling junk to NPCs.
A Guild's main method of earning Coins would be through monster drops and quest rewards. However, for Guilds without their own Guild Residences, the amount of Coins they could earn through quest rewards was minimal, so monster drops became the fastest source of income for such Guilds. As a result, areas with abundant resources became the competition grounds of Guilds, leaving independent players with no opportunity to grind for Coins at those locations.
However, at this critical juncture, a jaw-dropping incident occurred in White River City. Two of the major Guilds in White River City, Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile, actually started an all-out war with each other. They even declared each other as Hostile Guilds through the system. As long as their members met out in the fields, a battle was bound to occur. Since the two Guilds were Hostile Guilds, members of both Guilds would not become Red Names when killing each other. Hence, the members of both Guilds had zero hesitation over starting a battle with members of the opposing Guild.
While other Guilds were silently developing themselves and grinding for Coins, Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile had suddenly launched an all-or-nothing war against each other.
Of course, the other Guilds in White River City could not be more joyful over this development. They all simply chose to sit back and watch from the sidelines, taking advantage of the situation at appropriate times. They could not help but hope that these two Guilds would suffer a mutual demise.
After all, an all-out war like this would greatly affect both Guilds involved.
In just the first day since Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile declared war on each other, thousands of members of both Guilds had already died to each other out in the fields.
Since these players were fighting for their respective Guilds, both Guilds had established a reward system. As long as their members killed a player from the opposing Guild, the system would automatically record the achievement. Through these kills, members could receive Contribution Points. Moreover, the number of Contribution Points awarded would vary, depending on the position of the Hostile Guild's member killed; the higher the enemy's position was, the more Contribution Points awarded. Killing an enemy player who had killed many fellow members would also reward more Contribution Points.
Contribution Points could then be exchanged for Guild Points, and these Guild Points could be exchanged for items available inside the Guild's Warehouse.
This was undeniably a competition between both Guilds' background and financial prowess.
---
Inside a bar in White River City, close to a hundred players were drinking and chatting merrily. They discussed their personal harvests, matters regarding the Secret Pavilion's God's Domain Experts List, and such topics.
At this stage of the game, the bars throughout God's Domain had long since become the place for independent players to exchange information.
"Do you guys want to know why Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile, two of the most powerful Guilds in White River City, suddenly started an all-out war with each other?" A Level 20 Ranger asked the female Cleric seated beside him while drinking his beer.
"Do you know the reason?" The Cleric girl blinked her eyes, slightly skeptical about the Ranger's words.
"Of course! I have a brother who is an elite member of Overwhelming Smile. He even personally witnessed the reason why both Guilds started the war," The Ranger youth said proudly. "I got a shock when I first heard about this incident from that brother of mine."
"Can you tell me about it?" The female Cleric asked with great curiosity.
The Ranger's voice was quite loud when he spoke, so the players inside the bar heard his words very clearly. At this moment, all of them perked up their ears as well.
Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile were the tyrants of White River City. With the two Guilds warring with each other, the hostilities would greatly affect White River City as a whole. As inhabitants of White River City, the players were naturally curious about why these two major Guilds would wage an all-out war against each other.
Proudly, that Ranger youth said, "In reality, it was because Overwhelming Smile's members had come into conflict with Zero Wing's members. In the end, Black Flame had slaughtered Overwhelming Smile's hundred-man team. In a fit of rage, the higher-ups of Overwhelming Smile secretly set out to kill the Guild Leader of Zero Wing, Black Flame. Back then, Overwhelming Smile had sent a total of 2,000 elite members.
"Overwhelming Smile had even invited the help of an extremely powerful expert. However, Black Flame ended up killing all of the members gathered by Overwhelming Smile in a fit of rage. Even though he came out unscathed, having their Guild Leader encircled was a great humiliation for Zero Wing. Naturally, they would not let matters rest. In the end, they declared an all-out war with Overwhelming Smile."
The players inside the bar felt that the Ranger's words sounded logical.
This was a matter of the Guild's reputation. How could Zero Wing possibly concede this matter? Moreover, the hostility present between the two Guilds was something long-standing. Obviously, after the encirclement this time, Zero Wing could finally endure Overwhelming Smile's antics no longer.
"I wonder which Guild will come out victorious in this all-our war?"
"I think that it should be Overwhelming Smile. The Guild's main headquarters is based in Maple City. It also possesses massive financial support. Haven't you seen how excellent the benefits offered by Overwhelming Smile are? Just the monthly salary of the elite members is enough to make one drool. How could Zero Wing possibly compare?"
"It should be Zero Wing. After all, this place is White River City. Zero Wing possesses a Guild Residence here. Moreover, there are plenty of experts in the Guild. You can't imagine just how excellent the benefits provided by their Guild Hall are. Among them, the most welcomed is the private rooms. One can accumulate Double EXP buffs by resting inside these private rooms. Moreover, Zero Wing's Guild Warehouse is the envy of every Guild in White River City. There is plenty of Level 25 equipment stored inside. Right now, many of the players who had defected to Overwhelming Smile regret leaving in the first place."
For a time, everyone in the bar discussed the war between the two major Guilds.
However, a party of six, seated at a corner of the bar, smiled contemptuously over this matter.
"It seems that Black Flame is indeed impressive. Leader, are we going to continue searching for him?" A Level 26 Swordsman murmured.
"Search. Only after testing him would we know whether or not he qualifies."
---
The sound of two system notifications rang in Feng's ears the moment he logged in.
These two notifications informed him of the Candlelight Trading Firms' completion in White River City and Star-Moon City.
The construction of the two Firms had finished during the day outside of God's Domain. Moreover, both Shops had attracted quite a bit of attention.
Both Shops were exquisite three-story-tall buildings. Moreover, as both buildings had suddenly appeared beside each of the Cities' Auction House, they had no difficulty attracting notice.
In the end, many players had entered the buildings out of curiosity.
Before they had investigated these new buildings, they had been ignorant. The moment they did, however, they were immediately startled.
Not only were the Shops equipped with a full range of items that players required, but the furnishing inside was also luxurious and magnificent. Both Candlelight Trading Firms were far more glamorous than the Starstreak Trading Firm. There were even lounges available in the two Shops that allowed visiting players to enjoy beverages while they shopped.
Most importantly was the appearance of an item that everyone in White River City thirsted for.
That item was the Basic Strengthened Armor Kit.
Although the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits were inferior to the Basic Mana Armor Kits, the latter was simply too scarce. Despite many people having heard of the item before, they had never personally seen it. Now that the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits had appeared in the two Candlelight Trading Firms, the first batch of players to enter the Shops fought desperately to purchase them, afraid that the Armor Kits would sell out in a heartbeat.
Feng had given Melancholic Smile the authority to determine the goods' prices in the Shops, so it was up to her to decide at what price she wanted to sell the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits for. Yet, despite having set the initial price of the Armor Kits at 11 Silver Coins, it had taken only an instant for more than a hundred to sell. As a result, Melancholic Smile had no choice but to raise the price once more.
In the end, the price of the Basic Strengthened Armor Kit rose gradually from the initial 11 Silver to its current price of 16 Silver per kit. Even so, in a short dozen or so hours, the two Shops in White River City and Star-Moon City sold more than 6,000 kits.
Moreover, due to the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits, every player in White River City and Star-Moon City now knew about the newly established Candlelight Trading Firms. As a result, more players began to visit the Trading Firms, allowing business at the two Shops to flourish.
By the time Feng logged into the game, the two Candlelight Trading Firms were already packed full of people. Everyone rushed to purchase the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits.
However, Feng didn't spend any of the earned money this time except for having Melancholic use some of it for purchasing more materials needed for the various items' production. He had already purchased locations in most of God's Domain's Empires, and any more branches that needed to be supplied would put a strain on Candlelight when it first opens; so Feng decided it was enough for now and he'd just get more land later if needed.
As Feng headed to White River City's Teleportation hall, though, he discovered that the number of players here were much more numerous than before. The players were all recruiting team members.
"Money-farming team, 17 waiting for 3! DDs are welcomed! Must be Level 20 or above!"
"Frozen Waterfall independent party recruiting, 12 waiting for 8! We welcome all sorts of pros! Must be Level 21 or above! Equipment must be at least Bronze rank!"
"Twilight Lighthouse independent party recruiting! Party is being carried by an expert! Noobs, do not disturb! Equipment must be at least Bronze rank! Drops will be auctioned among team members!"
Many players were recruiting for Level 20 Team Dungeons out in the streets. Aside from the shouts of recruitment by independent players, Feng also heard news regarding the all-out war between Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile.
Up to now, the losses suffered by both Guilds had already exceeded 1,000 players. Moreover, the battles between both Guilds were intensifying as time passed. In the beginning, the skirmishes that occurred only involved dozens of players, before slowly growing into the hundreds. At this point in time, both Guilds were already waging wars involving over a thousand players.
"Zero Wing really is amazing. Their total kill count right now has already exceeded 10,000 players. Meanwhile, Overwhelming Smile has only managed to kill around 1,000 Zero Wing members."
"I know, right? I heard that Zero Wing's Assassin Fire Dance alone has killed more than 1,000 Overwhelming Smile members. Many players were done in by her, giving Overwhelming Smile a huge headache."
"Other than Fire Dance, there is also Flying Shadow, another Assassin of Zero Wing. His kill count is just slightly below Fire Dance's. Right now, he has already killed more than 700 members of Overwhelming Smile. In addition, there are also Aqua Rose, Violet Cloud, Cola, Blackie, and so on. Every one of them has killed over 500 players already. Other than the core members of Zero Wing, there are also many rising experts in Zero Wing."
"Say, even though Overwhelming Smile also has a large number of experts, why aren't they able to fight against multiple enemies by themselves like Zero Wing's experts? Just why are Zero Wing's experts so strong?"
"You don't know? I hear that Zero Wing's core members have completed their Class Change and have become Tier 1 classes already. In terms of Attributes and Skills, they are much more powerful than us players who have yet to complete our Class Change. Even when facing a player with the same Attributes and equipment, a Tier 1 player can still easily defeat half a dozen Tier 0 players. Moreover, I hear that Zero Wing has over 200 Tier 1 players. Overwhelming Smile is naturally unable to contend against Zero Wing."
"It can't be, right?! I hear that the Class Change Quest is absurdly difficult. It is practically impossible to complete it without reaching Level 27 or 28. Many have tried before, but all of them had failed. Moreover, if one fails their Class Change Quest, they will have to wait a very long time before they can challenge the quest again. Just how have so many players from Zero Wing completed their Class Change?!"
The players holding discussions on the street marveled at Zero Wing's strength. At the same time, they had also received a glimpse of how powerful a Tier 1 class was. It was not something a Tier 0 class could compare to at all.
Feng stopped listening to these conversations after a bit and continued on his way.
---
"Young Master Feng, I've finished my investigation of the Candlelight Trading Firm." A chubby middle-aged man reported upon entering Overwhelming Smile's meeting room.
"Who started it?" Feng Xuanyang asked in a hurry.
Currently, Overwhelming Smile suffered in the field battles against Zero wing. Their daily Coin expenditures were also quite significant.
In the beginning, Feng Xuanyang had not expected that repairing equipment would cost so much.
However, his thoughts changed as the Guild's death toll continued to increase. Dying once might not cost much, but after two or three deaths, the Guild members had spent practically all of their remaining Coins. Afterward, in order to repair their equipment, these Guild members had no choice but to choose Coins as compensation.
This situation had immediately given Feng Xuanyang, who had initially been quite confident, a huge headache.
They had already paid out more than 1,000 Gold as compensation, not to mention the amount of Credits they had compensated.
Moreover, the Guild even had to start to pay compensation solely in Coins. After all, if players did not repair their equipment, they could not go out and level up. If their equipment became scrap, they would have to purchase new equipment to serve as a replacement. However, good equipment was not easy to obtain. Every piece of a player's equipment had been earned through blood and sweat; losing even a single piece was a painful loss. If they lost every piece of equipment they had on them...
Hence, before the Durability of their equipment reached a critical point, even if players had to purchase Coins with Credits, spending their entire fortune, they had to repair their equipment.
Thus, Overwhelming Smile had been struggling to pay compensations, especially when the people at Zero Wing continuously increased the rewards they offered Zero Wing's members like madmen, causing Feng Xuanyang to have to increase Overwhelming Smile's as well.
Not to mention there was also the matter of Youlan suddenly disappearing and not logging in. From what he had heard, she had been barred from logging into God's Domain for two days, giving him and Overwhelming Smile, which she was supposed to be managing, a huge headache.
Thankfully, Underworld had given him its support in time, sending in a large amount of funding in Gold Coins and Credits for the war's purpose along with 120 Underworld Guards, preventing Overwhelming Smile from going bankrupt.
Still, even with Underworld's investments due to their optimistic view of White River City, the money proved to be insufficient for enduring Zero Wing's onslaught, as the death toll of Overwhelming Smile nearly surpassed 15,000 by now and was rapidly climbing.
Feng Xuanyang truly could not understand how a small and up-and-coming guild like Zero Wing could possibly possess so many experts, even rendering the Underworld Guards' helpless.
As having to withdraw from White River City would seem to be the only option soon, Feng Xuanyang had to quickly figure out a way to earn large sums of Gold Coins.
If one wanted to earn a large sum of Coins in God's Domain, the only way to do so was through trade.
Although the Guild Quests published in the Guild Residence were a large source of income, that potential was nothing compared to the money one could earn through trade.
Although the various large Guilds of God's Domain possessed a lot of Gold, compared to the countless players in God's Domain, this sum was insignificant. Even if Overwhelming Smile only earned 1 Silver from each of the millions of players in White River City, the total would be several tens of thousands of Gold.
At that time, they could easily afford a war with several other large Guilds simultaneously, much less afford to deal with a single Zero Wing.
In White River City, the most powerful trading firm was currently the Starstreak Trading Firm. Not only did the Firm occupy a strategic location, but it also possessed Land in the seven cities surrounding White River City, allowing it to sell items to players in eight cities.
Unfortunately, the Starstreak Trading Firm was an NPC's property, not a player's. Despite exhausting all of their means, the various large Guilds in White River City were unable to form a cooperative relationship with the Starstreak Trading Firm.
Not to mention, Starstreak had stopped all sales, preventing it from earning any income at all.
In the end, they could only give up on their endeavors and try to open up their own Shops.
However, White River City's ordinary Lands were not particularly valuable. Currently, the various Guilds had all set their sights on the golden Lands of the city and were consistently accumulating money and raising their Reputation to achieve that goal.
Now, however, the Candlelight Trading Firm had appeared and purchased a golden Land ahead of the other Guilds. Although the Candlelight Trading Firm was not a match for the Starstreak Trading Firm, with the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits and the full range of products, it, too, stood among White River City's top trading firms. Over time, if the Candlelight Trading Firm introduced several other items that players direly needed, it would definitely surpass the Starstreak Trading Firm and become the number one trading firm in White River City.
Moreover, unlike the Starstreak Trading Firm, a player had established and owned the Candlelight Trading Firm. That signified the possibility of cooperation.
Thus, Xuanyang had sent his subordinate to investigate the firm.
"I heard that the manager there is a young woman named Melancholic Smile. Moreover, she is a forger, and was once a forger employed by the Starstreak Trading Firm." The chubby man said slowly. "In addition, aside from that woman, two other Starstreak forgers seemed to have defected to Candlelight as well. The three of them produced the Basic Strengthening Armor Kits."
"Good." Xuanyang smiled. "Melancholic Smile. This is my first time hearing this name. There really are a lot of capable people in White River City. It seems that I'll need to make a personal visit to the Candlelight Trading Firm to have a chat."
Overwhelming Smile wasn't the only Guild with such thoughts. Several other large Guilds also began to eye the Candlelight Trading Firm.
Such a thriving trading firm was no different from a large gold mine that could provide their Guilds with various resources. If they could obtain the trading firm, they could instantly raise their Guild's strength by leaps and bounds.
---
The lights shone brightly outside of Star-Moon City's Palace. At this moment, the street adjacent to the Palace looked as if it held a large-scale celebration; a crowd of players exploded with excitement. Players filled both sides of the street, shouting and selling their wares.
Star-Moon City was different from the other ordinary cities in Star-Moon Kingdom. The traffic here was constant, with players coming and going from other kingdoms and empires. Hence, unlike in other cities where players could only set up their Stalls once every three or four days in specified areas, players could set up their Stalls in Star-Moon City every day. Only, a fee was required to set up a Stall; it was not free.
Even with the fee, a large number of players were still willing to set up their Stalls to sell items rather than using the Auction House and paying a heavier fee. Even if they sold their items at a lower price here, they could still make a higher profit.
Normally, players would only choose to sell their items through the Auction House if they were in a hurry for money or they wished to obtain a better price for rare and precious items.
As the items sold at Stalls were much cheaper, many independent players and large Guilds would come here to purchase the materials and items they needed.
Feng had come to this place precisely to purchase some supplies.
After making a round through the bazaar and investigating the general prices of Herbs, Feng began shouting through the trade channel, "Buying Ordinary Herbs, 40 Copper per stack; Rare Herbs, three Silver per stack! Will buy as many as you have!"
The trade channel was a unique channel only available in bazaars. Any players in the bazaar could receive the messages sent through this channel. However, players who wished to shout their messages needed to pay a fee of 1 Silver per message. Though the length of each message was limited to 100 words, it was a valuable promotion tool.
With this, Feng could save himself a lot of trouble.
Meanwhile, the reason why Feng was purchasing so many Herbs was for a Special Quest in Star-Moon City commissioned by Grand Duke Heartfield to collect Herbs for his ill daughter. By trading in the Herbs, players would at first receive some Copper Coins and EXP, before the Grand Duke would switch to just giving Thank You Gifts.
Players could obtain Reputation Books that would increase their Reputation in Star-Moon City upon opening these Thank You Gifts, as well as there being a slim chance for Mastery Books to appear.
However, Feng didn't care much about what he could get for opening the Thank You Gifts, but what he could trade them for.
Shortly after Feng's announcement, a large number of players rushed towards him.
"Boss, how many Herbs do you want to buy?"
"Big Brother Swordsman, look! I have excellent quality Herbs! I can even lower the price if you buy them in bulk!"
The players that had hurried over all looked at Feng like hungry wolves. They crowded around him, rushing to sell their Herbs.
"Alright, alright, no need to rush. All of you, line up and trade with me." Feng kept a cold expression as he motioned for the crowd to calm down.
Sure enough, players' enthusiasm in the capital city is a lot more intense.
However, after giving it some thought, their enthusiasm was only natural. Players were currently busy with leveling and were not particularly enthusiastic about Lifestyle classes. Although Guilds nurtured their own alchemists, the Guilds could easily supply the amount of Herbs their alchemists needed. They didn't need to purchase any.
More importantly, the crowd was so excited because the demand for Herbs was usually quite low. As useful potion recipes were extremely rare, demand for Herbs had dropped even further. In addition, Star-Moon Kingdom was not a Herb-poor kingdom, resulting in the prices of Herbs remaining relatively low.
Despite there being 20 Herbs in each stack, Ordinary Herbs only sold for 40 Copper per stack. Even Rare Herbs only sold for three Silver per stack. One could imagine just how worthless Herbs were.
Yet, even with such low prices, few people were willing to purchase Herbs, which explained why everyone was so excited to see Feng.
Players would frequently encounter Herbs while adventuring, and they would usually collect these Herbs to sell in bulk at a later time.
Now, these players' actions benefited Feng.
In a short moment, Feng had purchased 12,000 stacks of Ordinary Herbs and 1,850[2] stacks of Rare Herbs, spending more than 100 Gold in the process. To other players, this might be an astronomical sum, but to Feng, this was only a drop in the bucket.
"Sorry, but my bag's full. Everyone, please wait here for a while. I'll come back to purchase more in just a moment." Feng hurriedly turned and ran towards the Grand Duke's mansion.
Reluctance filled the crowd's eyes as they watched Feng's departing figure. However, when they heard that he would return to purchase more later, they all chose to remain there, quietly awaiting his return.
At this time of year, there were simply too few players willing to purchase Herbs. Now that one such player had emerged, how could they easily give up on this opportunity? They would wait a few hours if they had to, not to mention a few minutes.
The Grand Duke's mansion was only a short distance from the Palace; with Feng's speed, the journey there only took a few seconds.
After entering the Grand Duke's mansion, and the Level 150 Great Steward's introduction, Feng arrived before the Level 200 Grand Duke Hartfield. After a brief conversation, Grand Duke Hartfield began telling Feng the problem burdening his daughter.
After which, Feng received the Special Quest to acquire Herbs. He then retrieved the Herbs from his bag, one stack after another.
For every stack of Herbs Feng turned in, he received 20 Copper and 2,000 EXP in return. Though Feng took a loss of 20 Copper with each exchange, he did not pay it any mind.
Compared to forging, his leveling speed from handing in the Herbs was several times faster. As soon as he gave the Grand Duke the Herbs, he immediately received EXP. The process was very fast and convenient.
In mere moments, Feng had turned in 1,500 stacks of Ordinary Herbs, earning a total of 3 Gold Coins and 3,000,000 EXP. Though, that amount of EXP didn't mean a lot to him at this point.
Earning 3,000,000 EXP in half an hour was an incredibly efficient way to level up normally, however, after turning in the 1,500th stack of Herbs, he only received a Thank You Gift for every subsequent stack of Herbs he turned in.
As there were still a large number of players waiting for him to purchase their goods, Feng wasted no time as he turned in all of the Herbs in his possession. Unlike Ordinary Herbs, he would receive ten Thank You Gifts for each stack of Rare Herbs. In terms of money, it was much more worthwhile to trade Rare herbs for the Gifts instead. Unfortunately, Rare Herbs were too scarce.
Feng traded all of his Ordinary Herbs and Rare Herbs for Thank You Gifts in one fell swoop.
Suddenly, Feng noticed that Grand Duke Hartfield's gaze had changed slightly.
The Grand Duke's originally stern expression seemed to have softened significantly.
Advanced NPCs of God's Domain possessed very high intelligence; it was even higher than ordinary players'. It was especially true for a Level 200, Tier 3 NPC like Grand Duke Hartfield. Although Hartfield might not be as strong as Magistrate Weissman, not even Weissman dared to offend the Grand Duke.
Hartfield was the only Grand Duke throughout Star-Moon Kingdom, while the others were just Dukes. In Star-Moon Kingdom, his position was only below that of the King and equal to that of the kingdom's Grand Marshall, Adolf Cerret. Working with the Grand Marshall, they protected the kingdom from both inside and outside threats.
Feng then departed from the Grand Duke's mansion and returned to purchasing Herbs.
The Thank You Gifts did not take up a lot of space, with each stack holding up to 1,000 Gifts. Feng had received a total of 29,000 Gifts, which took up only twenty nine bag slots.
Upon arriving at the bazaar in front of the Palace...
Sure enough, the Herb-selling players had not moved. The moment these players noticed Feng's return, they immediately rushed over to welcome him.
In moments, Feng's bag was filled to the brim once more. He then returned to the Grand Duke's mansion and began to trade the Herbs for more Thank You Gifts.
Unlike in his previous life, though, the endeavor didn't take several hours, but only an hour or so of ferrying Herbs from the bazaar to the Grand Duke's mansion, getting it done in five trips with most of the time spent on purchasing the herbs and trading them to the grand Duke. Feng had purchased close to half of all the available Herbs in Star-Moon Kingdom, his total expenditure exceeding 400 Gold.
Inside the Grand Duke's abode, Feng habitually walked up to the Grand Duke and took out the final 1,000 stacks of Ordinary Herbs and 1,000 stacks of Rare Herbs from his bag, trading them all for Thank You Gifts.
Suddenly, the familiar sound of a system notification reached his ears.
System: Grand Duke Hartfield's Favorability increased by 30 points.
The higher ranked an NPC was, the more difficult it was to raise their Favorability. The fact that he had increased the Grand Duke's Favorability just by spending around 400 Gold was completely worth it.
However, this result was quite reasonable. After all, he had already earned close to 120,000 Thank You Gifts. If each stack could hold 1,000 Gifts, that was close to 120 stacks. Currently, the prices of Herbs were only this cheap due to the fact that players of God's Domain were still low-leveled and did not have much use for them. If Feng waited two more weeks or so, the money he would have to spend to earn 120,000 Thank You Gifts would most likely increase by several folds...
If the Grand Duke had nothing to say even after such a huge contribution, his heart was definitely made of stone.
"Young Adventurer, thank you for your enthusiastic contributions. With this many Herbs, I can extract a sufficient amount of Herbal Essence to cure my daughter. To show my gratitude, you may use those Thank You Gifts to trade for the treasures I usually store inside my treasury," Grand Duke Hartfield said happily.
"Sure, thanks." Feng replied nonchalantly.
"Steward, take this adventurer to have a look." Grand Duke Hartfield said.
"Yes." the Grand Steward answered before leading Feng to the treasury on the third floor.
The Grand Duke's treasury was heavily guarded. The six white-robed knights guarding the entrance were Level 200 Tier 3 Judgement Knights. Not to mention, there was even a Tier 5 magic array protecting the vault. Even a Tier 4 class would require a significant amount of time to break through such a powerful magic array.
Upon entering the treasury, one would discover that the place looked very much like a museum, with many treasures on display.
"This is the list of treasures. You are allowed to redeem the Gifts for any of the items inside." The Grand Steward passed a list to Feng.
There were not many items available for exchange on the list. However, Feng was not surprised.
Grand Duke Hartfield's Favorability towards him was only 30 points. The fact that the Grand Duke was willing to let him trade his Thank You Gifts for treasures was already a considerable outcome. If he wished to trade for every item in this treasury, he would need to raise the Grand Duke's Favorability towards him to at least 300 points.
Feng glanced through the list, noting that everything was the same as in the previous timeline, before going to the bottom of the list, where the option to trade for Twilight Chests was.
The Twilight Treasure Chest had been very famous in God's Domain. It was also referred to as both the Treasure Chest of Luck and the Indiscriminate Treasure Chest. Only Elite monsters that were Level 30 and above had a very low chance to drop the Twilight Treasure Chest.
As for why it was called the Indiscriminate Treasure Chest, the items one could obtain from it were extremely random. One might only receive two or three Copper and some trash items. One might also receive Epic or even Fragmented Legendary items. In general, the items one could get from the Twilight Treasure Chest relied heavily on luck.
In the past, the majority of the players who had obtained this item would promptly toss it onto the Auction House, selling it for around one Gold rather than opening it themselves.
On the other hand, each Twilight Treasure Chest only required 100 Thank You Gifts to redeem. In other words, each Twilight Treasure Chest would cost Feng 40 Silver, which was significantly cheaper than its price in his past life.
Without hesitation Feng traded in all of his 120,000 Thank You Gifts for 1,200 Twilight Treasure Chest, before leaving the Grand Duke's estate. As for opening the Treasure Chests of Luck? Feng decided to first upgrade Icarus's Heart as much as he can before squeezing out every ounce of potential from theses chests; as well as the ones in his Warehouse.
He then teleported to the Twin Tower Highlands, a Level 45 map with the highest drop-rate for Light Stone Forging Designs.
Previously, when ordering his guildmates to grind for Light Stone Forging Designs, this was the one map Feng told them not to go to due to there being something a bit special about it.
---
White River City, inside one of Candlelight Trading Firm's forging rooms:
Melancholic Smile was currently managing the Candlelight Trading Firm and taking care of the tasks Feng entrusted her with, like getting some special materials purchased and recruiting more Lifestyle Players along with ordering the rest of the restored and unrestored members for their tasks, both involving and not involving Candlelight and Zero Wing; all the while squeezing in some time for Forging when she could.
Thankfully, she still had not learned the Basic Armor Kit Forging Design Feng had given her by the time her memories were restored, so she had been able to leave it for someone else to take over; otherwise there would be none of that type of Armor Kits being sold at the firm.
"Sister Smile, there are two people on the first floor looking to discuss business with you."
"I understand. Like the others, have them wait in the reception room for now. I'll head over once I finish my work."
"But, one of them is claiming to be Overwhelming Smile's Guild Leader."
"He's here?"
Melancholic Smile paused upon hearing this.
As one of the tyrannical Guilds in White River City, it was far ahead of other Guilds. Their funds and member count were also plain for all to see.
A Lifestyle Guild's direction of development was completely different than Combat Guilds'. In other words, there should not be any conflicts of interest between the two.
However, a Lifestyle Guild did not possess any combat capabilities. When producing certain items, plenty of rare materials were required. Meanwhile, many of these materials dropped from Dungeons. Hence, Lifestyle Guilds would usually cooperate with some Combat Guilds.
In such a relationship, the Combat Guild in question would be responsible for supplying the rare materials, while the Lifestyle Guild would offer some discounts and give priority on sales of certain items to said Combat Guild.
"I'll head over there now." Saying so, Melancholic Smile tidied up what she was doing and headed downstairs.
---
In the reception room on the first floor, many of White River City's Guilds had sent representatives to the Candlelight Trading Firm to discuss potential cooperation. However, when a man entered, the entire reception room's atmosphere sank.
Everyone in the room immediately focused their attention on this new arrival. Practically every Guild in White River City knew who he was.
This man was none other than the Guild Leader of Overwhelming Smile's White River City branch, Feng Xuanyang.
"The Candlelight Trading Firm sure knows how to treat its guests, to actually make us wait here with other Guilds." Feng Xuanyang swept a glance at the reception room, frowning slightly with discontent at the Firm's arrangements.
Although Overwhelming Smile was a powerful Guild with ample funds, the Candlelight Trading Firm was no ordinary existence, either. The fact that it had been able to purchase a golden land in both White River City and Star-Moon City in such a short time displayed the Firm's powerful backing.
A short moment later, Melancholic Smile entered the reception room. Immediately, the atmosphere in the room relaxed significantly as the occupants promptly stood to welcome her, smiling.
"Everyone, sit." Melancholic Smile said after glancing around the room.
Before her were the upper managers of the various large Guilds in White River City. Among them, there was even the Guild Leader of Overwhelming Smile. One could just imagine how much pressure one would feel from having to discuss business with these people. Yet, Melancholic Smile, spoke as naturally as if she were sipping tea while enjoying light conversation.
"Seeing as everyone present wishes to cooperate with us, I will make things simple. We at Candlelight Trading Firm only have one requirement," Melancholic Smile calmly said. "You must sell all of the materials your Guilds have collected to us. Everything. We will purchase these materials at 60% market value. In return, the Candlelight Trading Firm will give your Guilds a discount on your purchases here. The discounts available range from 5% up to, but not limited to, 15%. In addition, we will reserve some of the rarer items for you, giving you priority to purchase them.
"If you accept these terms, you may sign the agreement that has just been given out. If not, then you may leave."
Melancholic Smile's statement was firm and confident, not giving any room for negotiation.
The managers of the various Guilds immediately sucked in a breath of cold air, every one of them falling silent upon hearing the woman's conditions.
This was fraud!
If they sold all of the materials they had obtained to the Candlelight Trading Firm, what would be left for their own Guilds?
Moreover, the purchase price was only 60% of market value. Wouldn't they be better off selling their excess materials to the public?
Most importantly, they could only receive meager discounts of 5% to 15%. Their Guilds wouldn't gain much benefit from such a small discount. In the end, wasn't the Candlelight Trading Firm getting the better end of this deal?
"I've already said my piece. You can take your time to think it over. However, note that I will take back the contracts in thirty minutes." Although Melancholic Smile could feel everyone's murderous gazes, she paid them no heed. Instead, she simply turned to leave.
It was as if her actions had said, "If you want to sign, go ahead. If not, get lost."
Suddenly, the various representatives, who had been so confident, fell mute.
"Wait a minute!" Feng Xuanyang suddenly stood with a cold expression on his face. He glared at Melancholic Smile, sneering, "Don't you think you are going too far with your demands?
"You should know that there are many materials that only Guilds like ours can obtain;, independent teams are simply not strong enough to provide a supply. If our Guilds join hands to cut off Candlelight's supply, do you really think you can continue doing business?"
Everyone in the reception room nodded in agreement.
If every Guild refused to sell their materials, how could Candlelight Trading Firm hope to continue its success in White River City?
At the end of the day, a Lifestyle Guild was still a Lifestyle Guild; they were born to lower their heads to Combat Guilds.
"Hahaha! Your statement is indeed reasonable!" After thinking it over for a moment, Melancholic Smile nodded as she looked towards Feng Xuanyang. Smiling sweetly, she said, "Although what you've said is logical, I stand by my decision! Moreover, from this point onward, I retract Overwhelming Smile's contract! You may leave now!"
"You?!" Feng Xuanyang's eyes immediately became bloodshot as he nearly spat blood in rage. If not for the fact that they were still in the Candlelight Trading Firm, with the owner of the Firm having absolute control over and being an invincible existence inside this place, he definitely would have killed Melancholic Smile by now.
Meanwhile, the upper managers of the various large Guilds were also stupefied by this situation...
In White River City, Overwhelming Smile was on par with Zero Wing. Yet, Melancholic Smile had dismissed them with just a few words, showing no pretenses at all.
This was simply too domineering!
After Melancholic Smile finished speaking...
After a few moments, everyone in the reception room came back to their senses. However, they still stared at Melancholic Smile with surprise.
Meanwhile, Xuanyang grew even more enraged facing such a rejection, but before he could escalate the situation any further, the upper managers of the other Guilds began signing their contracts, having already thrown their cooperation conditions out the window.
Watching this, Xuanyang suddenly came to a realization.
Melancholic Smile had displayed her might, killing the chicken to scare the monkeys. He just so happened to be that "chicken."
This had all been due to him voicing his rejection, becoming Melancholic Smile's target as a result. Despite this revelation angering him greatly, regret filled his heart. Just why had he been so eager to shoot off his mouth?
As for encouraging Overwhelming Smile to face off against the Candlelight Trading Firm, that was simply impossible. Lifestyle players did not leave the city at all. If they remained in the city, who could do anything to them?
Lifestyle players were unlike Combat players, who relied heavily on their Levels and equipment. Even if Lifestyle players were killed until they fell back to Level 0, so long as their Lifestyle Skills remained, they would feel no effect whatsoever.
At this moment, murderous intent filled Feng Xuanyang's eyes. Watching Melancholic Smile's departing figure, he revealed a sinister smile as he said, "Though the trading firm itself is unwilling to cooperate, I refuse to believe that every worker is of the same opinion. I'll poach every single one of Candlelight's forgers. We'll see how long Candlelight lasts, then."
If a trading firm did not have a supply of goods, customers naturally would not visit it. It would be useless even if the trading firm occupied one of the city's golden Lands. The fact that the Candlelight Trading Firm had become White River City's number one trading firm so quickly was completely due to the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits. Otherwise, how could it possibly surpass the Starstreak Trading Firm?
---
While Feng Xuanyang plotted ways to poach Lifestyle players from the Candlelight Trading Firm, Feng had arrived at the Twin Tower Highlands.
The Twin Tower Highlands was a Level 45 to Level 50 map. It could be considered a country within a country. Unlike the monsters in low-level maps, the monsters here were mostly intelligent Orcs that fought and lived in tribes. If players were not careful, rather than hunting their prey, they very well might become prey themselves. To God's Domain's current players, the Twin Tower Highlands was definitely a forbidden land. Aside from the level suppression, the difference in Attributes was already quite vast.
However, Feng did not care about any of that. His own Attributes had long since surpassed the standards of the current players by leaps and bounds.
Fortunately, Feng was very familiar with the Twin Tower Highlands, so he didn't need to waste any time figuring out how to get around. He had arrived at the core area of the Twin Tower Highlands, the Towers of Death, without so much as encountering a single monster.
Dark clouds hid the tops of the two tall towers, preventing one from seeing them with a single glance. A thick layer of death also surrounded the towers as cold wind billowed around them.
Tall ramparts surrounded the massive Towers of Death. An army of Orcs patrolled the walls. Overall, the Towers of Death look like an impregnable fortress.
This was the best location for Feng to grind for the Light Stone Forging Designs.
"This should be it."
Feng unequipped the Blood Emperor's Armor, spreading his wings and flying high up to the tall walls.
Not only did the Towers of Death resemble a fortress, but there were also tens of thousands of monsters wandering inside their walls. It was simply impossible to infiltrate without a large team of more than a hundred players.
However, it was also why the Towers of Death were a good grinding spot.
Although the Common Monsters, the Hot-blooded Orc Warriors, behind the wall seemed to be covered in steel-like muscles, in reality, their strength was only an illusion; they were actually quite weak. Moreover, they were all melee monsters. As long as a team had several powerful AOE classes, the Towers of Death would become a leveling heaven.
[Hot-blooded Orc Warrior] (Orc, Common Monster)
Level 47
HP 30,000/30,000
[Hot-blooded Orc Captain] (Orc, Elite Rank)
Level 48
HP 200,000/200,000
"Intruder!" An Orc Warrior bellowed angrily as he turned towards Feng above the tall wall.
Immediately, the entire company of Hot-blooded Orcs also discovered Feng. However, as the wall was too large, they could only frantically dash towards one of the distant staircases.
However, Feng didn't stay hovering above the wall but flew above the Orcs instead, before continuing to fly further into the map, causing them, along with the Orc Captain, to turn around and chase after him.
Continuing his flight, Feng attracted the attention of a few more groups of Orcs, which immediately chased after him. Normally, his speed would be more than enough to shake off these Orcs, but that wasn't Feng's goal, so he slowed his speed enough that the Orcs could keep up with him while he tried to gather as many groups as he could at once.
Feng only stopped flying around when he noticed a group had stopped chasing and was returning to their original post, activating Divine Providence and casting Firestorm as he landed.
Pillars of flames rose, enveloping around half of the gathered Orcs, who desperately ran for their lives in order to get out of Firestorm's range, only for all of their HP to disappear in less than a second, including the Hot-blooded Orc Captains'.
Though, the rest of the Orcs had enough intelligence to not run directly into the flames but avoid them and rush towards Feng who was now on the ground. After waiting for the orcs to get a bit more grouped up again, Feng simply punched out, using Shockwave and blasting all of the incoming pigs into bits.
Only a few dozen Orcs remained after that, but they were quickly taken care of as well.
Now came the most troublesome part, picking up the mountains of loot which had gathered due to the large number of monsters killed along with Feng's high Luck, which was around 130 by now with Divine Providence's boost.
It took Feng much longer to pick up all of the items than to actually kill his opponents. It was at times like these that he misses having labore- friends... his trusted guild members whom he could entrust with these things while he rested.
When he was finally done collecting all of the items, Feng decided to upgrade the Abyssal Blade while waiting for the cooldowns of his skills to end.
Taking out eleven Level 25 Dark-Gold Weapons, Feng selected them for devouring, causing the silvery-gray Abyssal Blade to suddenly release a black fog. Compared to the previous level-ups, the black fog was denser this time.
The eleven sacrificial weapons instantly transformed into ash when they came into contact with this black fog. In the next moment, the power within these weapons flowed into the Abyssal Blade.
Immediately, Feng felt the Abyssal Blade release a massive pulse.
Rather than a pulse, it was more like a heartbeat.
Thump... Thump...
Each consecutive heartbeat grew clearer and more intense.
In the next moment, the Abyssal Blade attempted to struggle free from Feng's hands, its power being insufficient however, at which point Feng chose to let it go on his own.
As the pulses grew more intense, the ground began to tremble. Suddenly, a large boom resounded as the Abyssal Blade fragmented and transformed into a massive pitch-black heart.
Along with the heartbeat, the phantom of a massive black dragon emerged. The black dragon was over a dozen meters tall, and its bone-chilling eyes focused on Feng. Suddenly, it spread its maw and released a thundering roar!
The black dragon's roar shook the sky, loud enough that anyone nearby would notice it.
Though, the black dragon's phantom only pinned Feng with its crimson eyes. It did not attack.
The black dragon's phantom suddenly revealed a human-like sneer, deep disdain filling its eyes as it glared at Feng. Following which, the phantom vanished, leaving behind only the cracked ground and the Abyssal Blade, which buried its blade in the ground.
At this moment, the Abyssal Blade had recovered its original black color and was now thoroughly pitch-black. There was a faint layer of black smoke surrounding it, and no one could see the weapon during the dead of night.
Feng didn't bother checking the Abyssal Blade's information, but immediately took out eleven Level 30 Dark-Gold Weapons and chose to upgrade the Abyssal Blade once again.
The moment Feng's finger made contact with the system window, the pitch-black Abyssal Blade released a dragon's roar.
The deafening roar sounded as if an actual dragon stood before Feng right now.
With such a ferocious roar, even the birds in flight were petrified, falling out of the sky one after another.
Immediately after letting out the dragon's roar, the Abyssal Blade struggled free from Feng's hand and flew into the air.
In the blink of an eye, the pitch-black Abyssal Blade transformed into a cloud of black mist that devoured the eleven sacrificial weapons.
As it consumed the weapons, Feng could also hear a strong heartbeat coming from the black mist. It was as if an ancient creature was awakening. A terrifying aura washed over Feng and his surroundings; the nearby greenery even withered.
After a while, the magnitude of the heartbeats gradually increased. The black mist in the sky also took the shape of a black heart. Meanwhile, with this black heart as the core, a vaporous phantom of a black dragon appeared.
The black dragon silently looked down on Feng, a human-like playful expression contained within its blood-red eyes. In the next moment, the phantom dissipated into nothing, this time transforming into a silver sword that landed at Feng's feet.
This time, Feng took a look at the Abyssal Blade's new attributes.
[Abyssal Blade] (One-handed Sword, Magic Weapon)
Attack Power +3,411
All Attributes +241
Attack Speed +37
Ignore Levels +20
Attacks have:
75% chance to cause 200% damage.
50% chance to cause 300% damage.
Every attack increases Attack Speed by 2%, up to a maximum of 20%.
If wielder belongs to any Swordsman-related class, all Skill Levels +4.
Increase Free Ability Points received for every increase in Level by 2 points.
Equipment Level 30. Can be upgraded. (Devour twenty Level 35 Fine-Gold Weapons and three Level 35 Dark-Gold Weapons to upgrade to Level 35).
Can be evolved (Unknown).
Additional Skill 1: Phantom Kill. Instantly creates a doppelganger. You can control this doppelganger. Doppelganger will have 80% of original body's Attributes and all Skills. At the same time, doppelganger and the original body can be swapped.
Duration: 1 minute, 15 seconds
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Additional Skill 2: Abyssal Bind. Binds enemies and prevents movement, reducing Defense by 100%.
Duration: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 50 seconds
Additional Skill 3: Nine Dragons Slash. Instantly creates twelve phantoms of the Abyssal Blade for wielder to use; each phantom sword is capable of dealing up to 60% damage.
Duration: 35 seconds
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Additional Skill 4: Abyssal Curse. Prevents all targets within a radius of 30 yards from moving or attacking for 7 seconds, as well as reducing all their Attributes by 30% for 10 minutes.
Cooldown: 40 minutes
Additional Profound Inheritance: Black Emperor. When activated, every critical hit will accumulate one layer of Death Aura. Each layer of death aura can be used to increase all Attributes of wielder by 2.5% and Attack Speed and Movement Speed by 1.5% for 10 seconds, or be used to reduce the Cooldown of a skill by 4 seconds. Maximum of 50 layers of Death Aura.
Duration: 10 minutes
Cooldown: 10 hours
The Abyssal Blade was personally created by master smith Olysses using the Black Dragon King's fangs as material. It is one of thirty-six famed swords, and it is ranked 31st. However, this sword has been cursed by the Black Dragon King. Aside from providing the wielder with immense strength, there will be a Backlash every period of time. However, after being remodeled by Jack using a Star Crystal, the strength of the Backlash has been greatly reduced. If the wielder is unable to suppress the Backlash, the wielder will receive the curse of the Black Dragon King, permanently reducing all Attributes by 50%.
Unable to be dropped.
Unable to be traded.
Feng nodded in satisfaction after seeing the improved Abyssal Blade, before going on to lure more groups of Orcs and slaughtering them when enough gather; spending a dozen or so hours grinding for Light Stone Forging Designs when he suddenly received a call from Aqua.
"Guild Leader, most of Overwhelming Smile's members have retreated off the other maps to Watch Cemetery, you can make your move now." Aqua notified with an emotionless voice.
Previously when the war started, Feng had Aqua instruct all of the Zero Wing members to retreat out of Watch Cemetery and go to other maps with more resources, while the restored members easily slaughtered all of the Overwhelming Smile members everywhere, causing the guild to send its members to the Cemetery upon noticing no activity from Zero Wing there.
This was naturally part of Feng's plan to gather all of Overwhelming Smile's powerful members and killing them all in one go while also absorbing their Immortal Souls, completely crippling all of Overwhelming Smile's forces in White River City along with any reinforcements Underworld sends.
"Good. Continue as you have until now and have the members focus more on grinding for Light Stone Forging Designs." Feng nodded. Now he could easily evict the nuisance from White River City before he moves on to Maple City.
Just as Feng was about to use a Return Scroll to teleport to White River City...
Suddenly, the gates of the Towers of Death opened. In the next moment, a roar that shook even the heavens emerged from behind the gates. As the roar grew louder, Feng saw a massive Orc walk out. This Orc wore exquisite armor and had a black cape draped over his back. Upon the appearance of this massive Orc, the Orcs outside the Towers of Death went into a frenzy. It was as if they were welcoming the arrival of their king.
"It's happening now?" Feng mumbled as he jumped up to a high wall and observed, knowing that this had happened when he was grinding here for Light Stone Forging Designs during his previous life as well, but that would only be several days from now.
After thinking for a moment, Feng guessed that this event had nothing to do with the timing, but that it happened when a player arrives at the Towers of Death and kills enough Orcs or spends enough time grinding here.
Though, this was convenient for him anyway, as he wouldn't have to come back here according to the timeline to obtain the God Crystal. He was also immensely glad that he hadn't allowed any of the Zero Wing members to come here out of precaution that something like this might happen, or else he might have made a huge loss.
The valiant and extraordinary Orc King slowly walked up to an altar before the Towers of Death, constantly muttering incantations as he approached the pitch-black altar. Suddenly, countless blood-red runes emerged from the altar. The sky also dimmed as strong winds blew.
Countless Hot-blooded Orcs gathered beneath the altar. If one looked down from the ramparts, they would discover a black mass of tens of thousands of Orcs within the fortress walls...
After these Orcs gathered around the black altar, they fell to their knees and prayed.
The Towers of Death of the Twin Tower Highlands were, in reality, a Level 50, 100-man Team Dungeon. When challenging the Hell Mode difficulty of the Dungeon, Orc King Tresik was a Level 54 Grand Lord.
Meanwhile, the Orc King Tresik standing on the altar right now was a Level 60 Mythic Monster.
[Orc King Tresik] (Mythic Monster)
Level 60
HP 90,000,000/90,000,000
The Final Boss of the Towers of Death had actually left the Dungeon to pray. Moreover, the Boss's rank had risen to Mythic.
However, the Orcs' prayer was relatively long.
Even after over half an hour, these Orcs continued to pray.
Out of boredom, Feng began arranging the contents of his bag.
After grinding for dozens of hours, Feng had lost count of how many Hot-blooded Orc Warriors he had killed, and it was weird there were even any left to pray at the moment. The items they had dropped had nearly filled his bag.
Feng had to admit that the Towers of Death were indeed an efficient place to farm Light Stone Forging Designs, as he had gathered over 1,000 of them by now, along with hundreds of Gold Coins.
Suddenly....
While Feng had been busy organizing his bag, he suddenly realized the light had dimmed, visibility becoming even poorer than during night-time. Taking a look below the ramparts, he noticed that a change had finally occurred at the black altar.
At this moment, the black altar radiated a blood-red glow. In the darkness, it was an extraordinarily eye-catching.
The ground surrounding the altar also began emitting plumes of bright red mist. A small cyclone that had appeared above the alter tugged the mist towards its core. Gradually, the space in the storm's center gradually began to crack.
A moment later, this spatial crack formed a portal.
The instant the spatial portal was complete, the area around the Towers of Death froze. It was as if a separate, miniature world had formed around the Towers of Death, and no object from the outside world could affect anything that occurred inside this place.
A moment later, the hundreds of thousands of Orcs surrounding the pitch-black altar suddenly turned into blood mist.
Moreover, the transformation had been completely silent.
The originally crowded fortress around the Towers of Death had suddenly become a ghost town.
The abrupt change was enough to instill utter terror.
For a time, the blood-red runes around the alter forcefully sucked in the blood mist, intensifying the runes' glow. Simultaneously, the portal above the altar grew, the pressure it emitted increasing as well.
The Orc King Tresik finally finished chanting his incantation. Suddenly, the area around the Towers of Death fell eerily silent; while hints of excitement and longing appeared on Tresik's ferocious face.
At this moment, the spatial portal blotted out the area above the black altar.
However, the black portal did not descend. Instead, the portal released a loud sound resembling the cracking of glass.
It was as if something inside the portal were trying to smash its way through the mysterious power surrounding it.
In the blink of an eye, a gigantic hand that blotted out the sky suddenly emerged from the portal. In the face of this hand, even the massive altar seemed like a small toy.
Fortunately, the instant this hand descended, countless golden chains suddenly emerged from the sky. These golden chains immediately bound the hand, preventing it from moving.
Although the golden chains were thin, they contained an immeasurable amount of power. Even Gods could not fight these chains.
Yet, this massive hand abruptly twitched, and a single item fell from its palm. This item released a dazzling golden glow that illuminated the entire fortress around the Towers of Death.
The moment this item landed in front of the Orc King, the gigantic hand in the sky retreated through the spatial portal.
Peace returned to the Towers of Death.
A figure suddenly came flying towards the Towers of Death from a distance. In just a few seconds, the originally seed-sized figure grew to the size of an ordinary human.
The new arrival was a human NPC. Moreover, it was the Tier 4 hidden class, Sky Knight.
His body exuding a multicolored brilliance, the Sky Knight immediately charged towards the Orc King.
Meanwhile, as if receiving the arrival of a great enemy, the Orc King Tresik immediately tried to collect the flashing golden treasure.
However, the Sky Knight had obviously prepared for this situation. With a shout, he pointed his sword towards the heavens.
Suddenly, a titanic golden sword appeared above the Orc King. This golden sword then transformed into a streak of light as it descended towards the Mythic Tresik.
Tier 4 Taboo Skill, Firmament Flash!
The Tier 4 Firmament Flash could rival even a Tier 5 skill. Even though the Orc King Tresik was a Mythic Monster, an existence slightly above Tier 4 classes, when facing an attack with the might of a Tier 5 skill, it had no choice but to protect its life first.
The Orc King Tresik immediately unsheathed his blood-red greatsword. Releasing an angry roar, a frightening aura suddenly surged forth from his body. It seemed as if the Orc King had activated a berserk skill that boosted his strength to an astonishing degree. He swung his greatsword, sending a streak of blood-red light slashing at the descending holy sword.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, the land around the Towers of Death shook. It was as if the end of the world had arrived.
The Orc King Tresik had actually defended against the Sky Knight's Firmament Flash.
At this moment, however, the Sky Knight already stood before the golden treasure, his hand stretching out to snatch the item.
Just as the Sky Knight was about to grasp the golden treasure, a mocking grin appeared on the Orc King's face.
"Ah!"
The instant the Sky Knight touched the golden treasure, he suddenly released a tragic scream. Suddenly, his body transformed into countless particles of light...
A Tier 4 Sky Knight had been a tyrant qualified to rule over a large city, yet such a dominant existence had died without offering even the slightest of resistance.
After the Sky Knight died, Tresik kept his blood-red greatsword and slowly walked towards the treasure. Looking at the treasure with its golden divine glow, a grin on the Orc King's ferocious face.
Tresik then began chanting his incantation once again. Suddenly, golden runes formed around the treasure, wrapping around the item, as if sealing it.
The number of golden runes surrounding the treasure had gradually increased, and the time remaining for the completion of the treasure's seal grew shorter and shorter.
Above the black altar, Orc King Tresik focused on chanting his incantation. Line after line of golden runes hovered around the treasure.
After the Orc King chanted the final verse of his incantation...
Suddenly, the countless runes wrapped around this treasure. In the next instant, the golden divine glow that had originally surrounded this treasure disappeared, revealing a simple and unadorned crystal ball.
When Orc King Tresik's eyes landed on this crystal ball, the excited smile on his face became even more prominent. Stepping forward, the Orc King extended his hand towards the crystal ball, when a fiery light suddenly flew at him from afar.
Tresik hurriedly retracted his hand, while the light passed his retracted hand less than half a second later, punching a hole in the ground while a small explosion of fire resounded.
"Oi, pig, don't touch my things." Leisurely walking over, the Blazing Meteor reappeared in Feng's hand, before he stored it and placed the hand on the hilt of his sword.
The Orc King cautiously observed the approaching figure, thinking that a powerful enemy had appeared out of nowhere, but upon seeing Feng and identifying his tier, Tresik couldn't help but laugh in anger "A mere Tier 1 ant wishes to lay claim on my God Crystal?"
A faint smile appeared on Feng's face that made the Orc King feel uncomfortable for some reason, causing him to pause his attack for a moment.
"Since I've seen it, and want it, then it's mine," As Feng stated this fact that he decided was true, the faint smile on his face turned cold "And anyone who touches my things dies."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. If you have better skill names for the Lunar Packheart, please speak your mind and I'll consider using them.
2. At some point in the OG, Feng must have gotten better bags than the original six he bought that only had 25 slots, since here in the OG he bought a total of 2,200 stacks of rare and normal herbs. Don't know exactly how much his other bags hold, but should be around 350 along with his main one that has 100 slots. Though, he also needs slots for the other items he carries so idk, just settled for this with five that hold 350, the main one and the Epic Spatial bag. He mentioned in a later chapter that he had something called Super Large Bag, but nothing on its capacity. If someone has more info, please comment.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone