Reincarnation of The Strongest Sword God

521-540

Chapter 521 - a monster that evolves

As the closest thing to an Epic Set Equipment below Level 50, a Tier 1 Set Equipment was naturally extraordinary.

Initially, Shi Feng had not been very confident of wiping out War Wolf and the others. However, now that he had completed the Tier 1 Set Equipment for Swordsmen, his combat power would soar once he equipped it.

His chances of defeating War Wolf's group of eight top-tier experts would also significantly increase.

Shi Feng then replaced the Dragonclaw Set Equipment with the Hurricane Set Equipment.

Unlike the Dragonclaw Set, the Hurricane Set was specifically designed for Swordsmen. The silvery-blue streamlined armor did not hinder its user's body at all. Shi Feng now felt much lighter in the Hurricane Set Equipment.

As expected of a set exclusively for Swordsmen. Not only does it have strong Defense, but it also increases the player's dexterity. Ordinary equipment cannot compare. After testing his range of movement, Shi Feng's lips curled into a smile.

[Hurricane Set Equipment]

Level 20 - Level 50

Equipment Requirement: Tier 1 Swordsman

Set consists of five parts: head, chest, hands, legs, and feet.

Binds when equipped.

Set effect

Two-piece effect: Damage increased by 10%, Attack Speed increased by 20%, and all Swordsman Skill effects increased by 20%.

Four-piece effect: Strength increased by 15%, and Agility increased by 15%. Obtain Sword Aura Release Skill: Deals 300% weapon damage to all enemies within a radius of 5 yards, knocking back all enemies by 12 yards and stunning them for 1 second. Cooldown: 1 minute.

Five-piece effect: All Swordsman Skill Cooldowns reduced by 20%. Receive one stack of Hurricane Energy every time you deal damage to the target. Each stack increases Attack Speed by 2% and attack range by 1 yard for 20 seconds. Maximum of 10 stacks. Obtain Hurricane Skill: Deals 200% + (30%* Number of Hurricane Energy stacks) weapon damage in a cone to enemies within a range of 20 yards and lifts all targets struck into the air, preventing movement for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes.

With the set's Basic Attributes, Shi Feng's Strength finally broke past the 500-point threshold even without entering a Berserk state. His Agility also passed 600 points. Regarding Movement Speed and Attack Speed, Shi Feng was confident he would not lose to any player unless said player wore an Epic Set Equipment.

Moreover, even if they wore an Epic Set Equipment, it was not necessarily better than the Hurricane Set Equipment.

Once equipment reached Dark-Gold rank or above, it would undergo a unique transformation. This transformation was not reflected in the equipment's information. Rather, the set provided a hidden advantage.

This advantage came in the form of the equipment's compatibility with a player's movements. It was similar to how a person would find it uncomfortable wearing shoes and clothing that did not fit. Every class and player had different movement habits. Ordinary equipment was standardized, not adapting to a player's movement habits, and was somewhat inconvenient for a player. Although the inconvenience might seem negligible to ordinary players, to experts, this inconvenience was like having a nail in their shoe. It would cause their movements to become awkward and significantly affect their performances.

A Tier 1 Set Equipment's quality was higher than Dark-Gold. Hence, in the system's settings, the set equipment would adjust to fit the player's class movement habits.

Currently, Shi Feng felt as if the nail that had been inside his shoe was finally gone. He could now move unhindered.

Following which, Shi Feng resumed his wait in the shadows.

War Wolf and the others were already close to the heart of the Dragonmen's Nest. The terrain was narrow with mountains looming on each side. The team could only advance or retreat; there was no third option. This place was the best location to set up an ambush.

"Boss Wolf, I've already scouted ahead. Aside from some Elite Dragonmen, there aren't any traps or mechanisms throughout the path towards the heart of the Nest. However, the Boss guarding the treasure is a Level 30 Lord. Moreover, it leans towards magical-type, so it will be somewhat difficult to deal with," a Tier 1 Assassin in black named Shadowless Rat reported.

"A magical-type?" War Wolf, who had a sickly complexion, frowned slightly.

Magical-type Bosses usually possessed many AOE Skills and had a variety of attack patterns. However, the most frightening aspect of such Bosses was their ability to instant-kill players. They were different from physical-type Bosses that could be contained using a variety of methods.

The biggest difference between physical-type attacks and magical-type attacks was that physical-type attacks were normally very straightforward; they did not have any compound attack patterns. Although physical attacks were a lot faster, it would not be a problem if one reacted quickly and defended against the attack. On the other hand, magical attacks were usually compounded. Because of this, these attacks could easily instant-kill players.

In the past virtual reality games, monsters' attack patterns were monotonous, unlike the monsters in God's Domain whose attack patterns were very realistic. Moreover, with the increase in level, monsters' attack patterns would also evolve, transforming from the initial monotonous attack patterns to the current compound attack patterns. In other words, players had to guard more than one area, possibly up to five or six.

Most ordinary players already struggled to defend against single fold attacks, much less twofold attacks. The simplest example of a twofold attack was an attack that came in tandem. In a panic, there was a high chance that both attacks would strike ordinary players. They would have to train rigorously to avoid such tandem attacks.

Meanwhile, although the members of the various large Guilds had killed plenty of monsters, monsters with compound attack patterns only began appearing after Level 25. Hence, a majority of players would usually suffer the first time they encountered such monsters. Against a Boss, even team-wipes were common.

"Let's take a look at it first before coming up with a strategy," War Wolf said.

War Wolf then led his team and advanced towards the Lord ranked Boss quickly, killing everything in their path.

[Magic Eye Dragonman] (Lord Rank)

Level 30

HP 1,600,000/1,600,000

As an Area Boss, the Magic Eye Dragonman's HP changed according to the number of players in its area of influence. The minimum limit was 20 players, and if there were more than 20 players within range, its HP would increase accordingly. In other words, having more players wasn't necessarily an advantage.

The moment War Wolf's team of one hundred stepped into the Magic Eye Dragonman's area of influence, the Magic Eye Dragonman's HP instantly increased to 8,000,000.

"Shadowless Rat, the nineteen of you will stay with me. Everyone else, leave the Magic Eye Dragonman's area of influence," War Wolf immediately commanded upon seeing the Boss's HP increase.

Facing such a Boss, having more people would only increase the team's burden. Their team had eight experts who could easily deal with compound attacks, while the other twelve were veteran gamers who could deal with compound attacks relatively well. By forming a team of 20 players like this, they could deal with the Magic Eye Dragonman as easily as dealing with an ordinary Lord.

Very quickly, the others left the Magic Eye Dragonman's area of influence, hiding in a corner and watching quietly.

Once the 80 players left the area, the Magic Eye Dragonman's HP returned to 1,600,000.

"Okay, I'll go first. Everyone else, be careful of its aggro." Saying so, War Wolf dashed forward, charging at the Magic Eye Dragonman who had a pitch-black tail and was covered in scales.

When the Magic Eye Dragonman caught sight of the Shield Warrior charging at it, it activated Rapid Charge and arrived before War Wolf, swinging its hammer fiercely down on the intruder. As it swung down its war hammer, a massive black eyeball appeared above the Magic Eye Dragonman's head, silently firing multiple black rays at War Wolf.

Boom!

When the massive hammer the size of a small car landed, even the ground shook. However, after the dust settled, it appeared that the war hammer had not actually struck War Wolf. Instead, the weapon had landed right before the Shield Warrior, missing its target by a fraction. As for the black rays, they had also failed to damage War Wolf as they only brushed past his body. Immediately after, War Wolf swung his sword.

Second Acceleration!

Although War Wolf's sword seemed slow, while the weapon was in mid-swing, it suddenly vanished. Unknown as to when it happened, War Wolf's sword had struck the Magic Eye Dragonman, causing over -400 damage to the Lord.

Following which, War Wolf and the others began to bombard the Lord with attacks.

For a time, attacks flew back and forth, the extraordinarily intense battle shocking the Overwhelming Smile members who watched from a distance.

If they recorded this battle, they could enjoy it like watching a sci-fi movie.

"It's time." Shi Feng, who had waited for a long time, revealed a faint smile.

At this moment, Shi Feng downed a bottle of Haunted and activated the Ring of Nothingness. Upon entering a state of nothingness, he charged forward.

Chapter 522 - one hit

While War Wolf's team of twenty cautiously faced-off against the Magic Eye Dragonman, the other Overwhelming Smile members watched excitedly, hoping to learn War Wolf and his team's techniques. They yearned to become one of those twenty players on the team and were enchanted by the battle; they paid no attention whatsoever to their surroundings.

It was not because they were foolish, but because Overwhelming Smile's prestige in Maple City made them untouchable. No one would dare to provoke them. Furthermore, it was currently night-time, and there were fewer players out in the field grinding and leveling up. Even if someone were plotting against them, they had so many players on their team. There were even top-tier experts in their midst. They had no reason to fear anyone.

"Boss Wolf is really amazing. Despite facing so many magical attacks, he has not once received any magical damage from the Boss."

"I know, right? If I had just half of Boss Wolf's abilities, I could easily become the Chief MT of other first-rate Guilds."

"Half? In my opinion, one-third would be enough to become the Chief MT of Star-Moon Kingdom. Didn't you see how Boss War Wolf tanked the Final Boss of a 20-man Hell Mode Team Dungeon all by himself? Even when the previous two MTs had all of the healers on them, the Final Boss still took them out easily. Meanwhile, after Boss War Wolf arrived, he tanked the Boss all by himself and only required one healer to keep him alive. My jaw nearly hit the ground."

When the spectating crowd spoke about War Wolf, admiration for the Shield Warrior filled their hearts.

Due to War Wolf's appearance, the 20-man Hell Mode Team Dungeons that had previously given Overwhelming Smile a headache had become very easy to raid. If not for the 50-man large scale Team Dungeons having too high of a requirement, Overwhelming Smile would have long since obtained the First Clear.

"Huh? Why does it suddenly feel hot?"

"Hot? Now that you mention it, you're right. Isn't it night-time right now?"

Several players began to glance around, searching for the source of the sudden heat. However, they had not noticed anything in particular.

"Wait, above us!" a vigilant Assassin shouted as he pointed towards the sky.

Immediately, everyone shifted their gazes upward, only to find an endless stream of fire-type mana gathering above their heads, condensing into a fire that rained down on them. Meanwhile, a spinning wall of flames had appeared around them. The ground beneath their feet also began to boil.

This phenomenon was none other than Shi Feng's Firestorm.

After Shi Feng had upgraded the Seven Luminaries Ring, the Level 7 Firestorm now had an effective radius of 30 yards, and the Skill shrouded all 80 spectating players.

Before Overwhelming Smile's elites could react, a damage of over -10,000 points appeared above each of their heads...

War Wolf had the highest HP in Overwhelming Smile, yet, even he only had close to 7,000 HP. After a storm of flames swept through the crowd, silence permeated the area. All 80 members of Overwhelming Smile had been reduced to ash. Due to Haunted's effect, the drop-rate of all of the players Shi Feng had killed had multiplied. Moreover, due to Shi Feng absorbing their Immortal Souls...

Not only had these players lost their levels and equipment, but they were also barred from logging into God's Domain for a long period.

"Good. Only you guys are left."

Hiding a short distance away, Shi Feng revealed a satisfied smile. This was the fearsome aspect of large-scale destruction spells. In the past, there had been a saying in God's Domain: one would rather incur the ire of a God-tier Assassin rather than provoke a player with large-scale destruction spells.

God-tier Assassins were only powerful against individual players. However, a player who knew large-scale destruction spells could annihilate an entire army by themselves. If a God-tier Assassin was likened to a sniper rifle, then a player with large-scale destruction spells was like a strategic missile; they were a Guild's worst nightmare.

In the past, the Midnight Tea Party had stood on equal footing with Super Guilds because they had a Mage God and Curse God on their team. These two players had possessed an arsenal of large-scale destruction spells. To them, an army of thousands was no different than floating clouds. A single Tier 6 large-scale destruction spell could easily wipe out the entire army.

After killing the 80 Overwhelming Smile members, Shi Feng did not bother picking up the loot scattered across the ground. Instead, he charged towards War Wolf, who currently raged against the Magic Eye Dragonman.

Firestorm's commotion would not have escaped the notice of War Wolf's team. While both sides were engaged in an intense battle, Shi Feng could not waste this opportunity by picking up loot.

"Boss Wolf, the members on standby have been wiped out. What are we supposed to do now?" Shadowless Rat asked, a lingering fear in his eyes as he watched the raging inferno that faded gradually. At this moment, the names of their team members on stand-by had turned gray.

"Retreat for now. Otherwise, our chances of victory will be too low if we have to fight the Boss while dealing with this new enemy," War Wolf immediately shouted in the team chat. "I'll cover for you guys. Everyone, retreat!"

One had to admit that War Wolf's team was very skilled. Despite realizing that a new enemy had arrived, they still retreated in an orderly manner. War Wolf also retreated slowly as he held off the Boss.

"Only one person?" While Shadowless Rat pulled away from the Boss battle, he suddenly noticed a black figure dashing towards them. He sighed with relief at the sight. Licking the corner of his lips, he sneered and said, "Boss Wolf, leave this bastard to me. He actually thinks he can provoke us and plunder our treasures? I'll teach him a lesson."

Saying so, Shadowless Rat activated Wind Steps and dashed to meet the cloaked figure.

Initially, War Wolf had intended to stop the Assassin. However, after giving it some thought, he changed his mind.

Seeing the enemy's Movement Speed, War Wolf had already managed to judge the enemy's strength. Although the enemy was an expert and possessed good Attributes, he was still far from being a match for Shadowless Rat.

War Wolf was very familiar with Shadowless Rat's strength. Among the eight top-tier experts, the Assassin ranked third in one-on-one combat. He was more than enough to deal with an ordinary expert. Moreover, they had already destroyed 50% of the Boss's HP. It would be a huge waste if they had to start all over again.

Before, he had worried that the enemy was very powerful due to the fact that the latter possessed a large-scale destruction spell. Ordinary players could never possess such Skills. At the very least, the enemy should be an extremely powerful expert or someone with the backing of a large Guild. If it were someone targeting Overwhelming Smile as a whole, they would have no choice but to retreat. After all, with Overwhelming Smile's high prestige in Maple City, the enemy would have sent a team of several hundred players to deal with their 100-man team. However, since there was only one attacker, it should only be an expert trying to plunder their items. Shadowless Rat was more than enough to deal with such an expert. If Shadowless Rat was not enough, they could just send someone to help the Assassin.

With their combat techniques, it was very dangerous for them to fight against the Boss while fending off several hundred players. However, since the enemy was alone, one person should be enough to deal with the problem. The rest could focus on the Boss.

When Shadowless Rat was only 30 yards away from Shi Feng, he activated Stealth. He intended to finish off Shi Feng with a chain of attacks.

However, who was Shi Feng?

Under the gaze of Omniscient Eyes, no enemies could hide from Shi Feng. Up till now, Shi Feng had intentionally lowered his speed; he had not used his maximum.

Suddenly, Shi Feng's speed increased.

Xiu!

Only an afterimage remained in Shi Feng's original location.

"So fast!"

Shadowless Rat immediately panicked. He knew that he had encountered a tough opponent this time.

However, it was too late to retreat. The distance between him and Shi Feng was less than 20 yards. Activating Wind Blade, Shi Feng's speed soared, and in the blink of an eye, he had arrived before Shadowless Rate. He immediately swung his sword down towards the Assassin.

Shadowless Rat was greatly surprised. However, his instincts as an expert allowed him to react to the attack. After grasping the trajectory of Shi Feng's sword, he quickly moved his daggers to receive the attack.

In the next moment, however, a black streak of light cut across Shadowless Rat. The Assassin was then forced out of Stealth, a shocked expression on his face as he looked at the black hooded figure before him.

How could any attack possibly be so fast?! Shadowless Rat looked at his bloodied chest, his heart palpitating as his HP quickly bottomed out. He then crumbled to the ground, motionless.

Chapter 523 - cooperation

Shadowless Rat's instant death stunned War Wolf and the others, who watched the entire encounter.

As his teammates, they were very familiar with Shadowless Rat's strength and skill.

Moreover, Shadowless Rat was a Tier 1 Assassin who had grasped Omnivision. He could easily perceive his enemy's attack trajectory and respond appropriately. In addition, the majority of his equipment consisted of Level 25 Fine-Gold Equipment, his total HP being over 4,400. Even War Wolf would have to expend a significant amount of effort to defeat Shadowless Rat. If the Assassin focused on escaping, War Wolf would be helpless against him.

Yet, now, he had actually been killed with a single hit...

Meanwhile, they didn't even know what had happened exactly. They only saw the pitch-black sword in the enemy Swordsman's hand transform into a streak of light, and in the next moment, Shadowless Rat was dead.

How could they not be shocked?

After killing Shadowless Rat, Shi Feng did not stop. Turning, he dashed for War Wolf and the others.

This time, however, he did not hold back as he sprinted at full speed. In the dead of night, his cloaked figure looked like a ghost; he was extremely difficult to locate.

"He hid his strength! All those who aren't Tier 1 classes, fall back! I'll hold off the Boss. The rest of you, delay him. Maintain your distance! His sword his extremely fast, so do not approach him no matter what!" War Wolf shouted his orders in the team chat.

Although War Wolf's instructions had been appropriate, he still felt as if something were off about this situation.

Why had such an expert ambushed them?

Moreover, based on the enemy's behavior, it was clear that he had aimed for them from the very beginning.

This situation greatly confused War Wolf.

Among the various teams in Overwhelming Smile, their team had always strived to maintain a low-profile; they have never provoked anybody. They were an elite team that Overwhelming Smile had formed in secrecy to serve as the Guild's trump card, and even the normal members of the Guild did not know they existed.

However, the enemy had clearly chosen the best possible moment to launch his attack.

The ambusher's strength was the most usual aspect. He was definitely one of the rarely-seen top-tier experts.

Although the enemy had only attacked once, War Wolf could tell how powerful he was.

Comparing Basic Attributes alone, this enemy was far superior to Shadowless Rat. Even if both sides fought without any combat techniques, Shadowless Rat would not have an easy time blocking that person's sword. Not to mention, there was also the attack that contained no excess movement. Being caught unaware, it was only natural that Shadowless Rat had been defeated.

In fact, there was not the slightest bit of error with War Wolf's judgment. In front of absolute power, all tricks were futile.

Shi Feng currently wore the Tier 1 Hurricane Set Equipment. He also possessed the Epic ranked Seven Luminaries Ring and the Fragmented Legendary ranked Heavenly Dragon's Breath. With one hand, he wielded the top-tier Dark-Gold ranked Purgatory's Shadow, and with the other, he wielded the Magic Weapon, Abyssal Blade. He was a Tier 1 Blade Saint, and his One-handed Sword Mastery had reached the level of a Sword Master. In terms of Basic Attributes, he was leaps and bounds above Shadowless Rat.

Even though Shadowless Rat had already reached the threshold of the Refinement Realm, in the face of absolute power, all combat techniques were useless. Not to mention, as an assurance, Shi Feng had even used Flowing Water Acceleration in his attack. How could Shadowless Rat possibly block an attack with that kind of speed?

However, Shadowless Rat's bad luck was partially to blame for Shi Feng's ability to kill him with one hit. Even with Shi Feng's powerful Basic Attributes, it was still impossible for him to eliminate over 4,400 HP, killing the Assassin, with a single hit. At the very least, he needed two hits to finish off the Assassin. However, the attack that struck Shadowless Rat had triggered a triple critical hit. Even death would find it difficult to avoid the Assassin at that point...

In the span of a few breaths, the remaining six experts in War Wolf's team had already managed to block Shi Feng's advance. Among these six players, three were melee classes, with one being a Swordsman and two being Berserkers. The remaining three consisted of a Cleric, an Elementalist, and a Ranger. All six players were Tier 1 classes.

A party of ordinary Tier 1 players would be more than enough to deal with a 20-man elite team, not to mention that these six Tier 1 players were true experts. Their coordination was certainly something to behold.

"I refuse to believe that the six of us cannot defeat one of you," a Level 27 male Berserker in silver armor said irritably as he watched Shi Feng dash towards his team.

"It's better to be careful. This person's Attack Power is very high. Even plate armor classes like you will not survive more than a few hits. Focus on pinning him down. Leave the attacking to us ranged classes," the tall and slender Level 26 female Elementalist suggested.

"We know; relax." another Level 26 male Berserker in black armor laughed.

They were very confident that they could deal with Shi Feng.

Normally, they often held practice PvP matches against each other. As long as they, the three melee classes, worked together, even their Boss War Wolf would suffer defeat. They also had three ranged classes on their side. They refused to believe that the black-cloaked Swordsman before them could turn the tide of the battle by himself.

The Tier 1 Ranger then fired a series of Frost Arrows, sealing off Shi Feng's movements. Meanwhile, the Tier 1 Elementalist used a combination of Ice Spear and Ice Wall. Both the Ranger and the Elementalist had grasped Omnivision, so they could see through Shi Feng's actions and send their attacks ahead of time. Under the combination attack, Shi Feng was forced to stop his advance temporarily and evade the incoming attacks.

"Take this!" Seizing the opportunity, the silver-armor Berserker tightened his grip on his greatsword and used Flame Charge on Shi Feng.

Flame Charge could force the target into a Fainted state for a slightly more than one second. As long as they incapacitated Shi Feng for one second, under everyone's focused fire, even his 10,000-plus HP would not last. The black-armored Berserker had also used Charge on Shi Feng, though he purposely timed his Skill's activation so that he would reach Shi Feng a moment after the silver-armored Berserker. Even if Shi Feng activated a Skill to defend against the silver-armored Berserker's Charge, he could only defend against the first Charge and not the second one. Most importantly, both Berserkers attacked Shi Feng's sides, making it even more difficult for Shi Feng to force his way through the attacks. There were also the three ranged classes blocking off Shi Feng's paths of retreats. If Shi Feng tried to evade, the attacks would strike him...

"Die!"

The black-armored Berserker readied his battle axe as the silver-armored Berserker attacked Shi Feng, waiting for the moment when Shi Feng used a Skill to defend against the silver-armored Berserker's Charge. When that time arrived, it would then be his turn to finish Shi Feng off.

Shi Feng's only choice was to evade the Charge and in turn, sacrifice some of his HP by enduring the ranged classes' attacks. That way, he would at least keep his life. In the long run, however, he would only find death here. It was only a matter of time.

"Why isn't he dodging?" the Tier 1 female Elementalist muttered, confused, as she watched from afar.

Even when the silver-armored Berserker arrived before Shi Feng, the latter had not moved in the slightest. In the next moment, the silver-armored Berserker swung down his greatsword with all his might.

Dang!

Dazzling sparks scattered to the surroundings as Shi Feng blocked the silver-armored Berserker's full-powered slash with one of his swords.

"You're dead!" On the other side, the black-armored Berserker sneered. Shi Feng had actually decided not to evade the attack. He had not even used a Skill to defend himself. He was simply insane.

After being incapacitated by two Charges, not even a miracle could save him from death.

When the black-armored Berserker arrived before Shi Feng and swung his axe ...

Everyone heard the sound of clashing metal once again.

How? The black armored Berserker was shocked as he stared at Shi Feng blocking his axe with the Purgatory's Shadow. Does he possess a Skill that makes him immune to control effects for a short time?

The two robust Berserkers standing beside Shi Feng had failed to inflict any damage.

"Even an Immunity Skill won't save you!"

Shouting angrily, the silver-armored Berserker's body increased slightly in size. It was obvious that he had used a Berserk Skill, allowing his Strength to grow. He then used Cross Slash.

The other black-armored Berserker used Whirlwind Slash.

"It should be my turn now, right?" Shi Feng asked softly.

Chapter 524 - ganging up

Before the fight with War Wolf's team had even begun, Shi Feng had activated the Aura of Space on the Seven Luminaries Ring, becoming immune to all control effects.

Whether it was the Tier 1 Elementalist's Ice Wall or the Tier 1 Ranger's Frost Arrows, Shi Feng had intentionally dodged both the Tier 1 Elementalist's Ice Wall and the Tier 1 Ranger's Frost Arrows with the goal of tricking the two Tier 1 Berserkers into approaching him on their own accord, saving him the time of going after them himself.

Releasing a low shout, Shi Feng used the Skill unique to the Hurricane Set Equipment, Sword Aura Release, dealing 300% weapon damage to all enemies within a radius of five yards and knocking all enemies back by twelve yards, stunning them for one second.

"Crap!"

The silver- and black-armored Berserkers immediately realized something was amiss and hurriedly activated Block to defend themselves, swinging the greatsword and battle axe.

Boom!

Both Berserkers felt as if they had just been hit by a truck, their bodies flying backward and slamming heavily into the ground.

Before either of them could react, Shi Feng advanced. He could easily cross a distance of twelve yards with a single step.

In the blink of an eye, Shi Feng appeared before the silver-armored Berserker and sent a Chop down on the man.

Currently, both Berserkers were in a Fainted state. They could not defend against Shi Feng's attacks at all. However, the instant Shi Feng's sword descended, he immediately changed his weapon's trajectory, directing the Chop behind him.

Peng! Peng! Peng!

Before anyone noticed, a Tier 1 Swordsman had appeared behind Shi Feng and similarly used Chop. Hence, Shi Feng had abruptly changed his target.

When the swords of light collided, the impact sent the Tier 1 Swordsman flying, three damages of over -400 points appearing above his head.

How can someone possess such horrific Strength? Is he a human-shaped Lord? The Tier 1 Swordsman stared at Shi Feng in disbelief. He had flown over six yards and had only managed to stabilize himself after much difficulty. Even so, the hand he used to grip the sword that collided with Shi Feng's blade was completely numb.

During this brief exchange between Shi Feng and the Tier 1 Swordsman, the silver-armored Berserker recovered from his Fainted state. Shock filled his heart when he saw a single hit send his Swordsman companion flying. Immediately, he used Whirlwind Slash in an attempt to scare Shi Feng away.

When the silver-armored Berserker used Whirlwind Slash, the Elementalist and Ranger at a distance promptly begun to launch cover fire.

What a joke!

Shi Feng was capable of sending a Level 26 Tier 1 Swordsman flying with just one hit. If such an attack struck them directly, they would die instantly.

Facing the barrage of attacks, Shi Feng had no choice but to evade, opting to chase after the black-armored Berserker. After all, not only were these attacks overwhelming, but they were also experts' attacks. If he really tried to take the silver-armored Berserker's life, it was highly possible he would have to sacrifice his own.

Seeing Shi Feng retreat, the Level 27 silver-armored Berserker unconsciously released a sigh of relief. That was close... I nearly lost my life there.

If he had not instinctively used Block, allowing him to negate one instance of damage coming from his front, he would have lost his life during Shi Feng's first attack.

Not to mention that alarmingly dangerous second attack...

Despite being in a Fainted state, he could clearly feel the killing intent, which was intimidating enough to cause one to freeze during battle, contained within Shi Feng's attack. Even if he were not in a Fainted state, he was not confident he could block that lightning-quick attack.

Although he possessed high HP and Defense as a Berserker, his HP was just slightly more than 5,300. With Shi Feng's frightening Attack Power, even a plate armor class would die from a single hit.

Only a brief second had passed since they had begun fighting Shi Feng. However, this was the first time in his life the silver-armored Berserker had experienced such a long second. His life very nearly flashed before his eyes...

When the black-armored Berserker saw Shi Feng come for him, without hesitation, he turned and fled.

He had also experienced Shi Feng's power. Not only were Shi Feng's Basic Attributes leaps and bounds above theirs, but his combat techniques were also far beyond them. Facing such a person head-on was nothing short of suicide!

While the black-armored Berserker fled, the distant female Elementalist cast Ice Wall and Ice Spheres to hinder Shi Feng's movements. Although the spells could not reduce Shi Feng's Movement Speed, they still dealt damage. Hence, Shi Feng had no choice but to dodge the attacks. Besides that, the Ranger consistently fired accurate attacks at Shi Feng's movement trajectory, hindering the Blade Saint's chase of the black-armored Berserker. The Tier 1 Swordsman also trailed behind him, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.

This is really annoying. Although Shi Feng had expected such a situation, he could not help his slight irritation.

Top-tier experts were top-tier experts for a reason. They were not as easy to deal with as other players. Although he was very fast, he was not fast enough that his enemies could not react. With the six of them cooperating perfectly, attacking and retreating simultaneously, Shi Feng simply could not find any gaps to attack.

As for using long-distance attacks such as Thundering Flash, Earth Splitter, and so on, these Skills casting times were too long. With these people's skills, they could easily dodge Shi Feng's long-range attacks. Moreover, using such Skills would also slow his movement, allowing these people to widen the gap between them, placing him at a disadvantage.

However, these people's ranged attacks were also useless as Shi Feng dodged them easily. As for confronting him in melee combat, they did not have the courage. They would be gambling with their lives if they tried to take on Shi Feng's attacks.

For a time, both sides were locked in a stalemate.

At this moment, War Wolf had shaken off the Boss and dashed towards Shi Feng with astonishing speed.

"Hahaha! Brat, you're finished!" the silver-armored Berserker could not help but laugh when he saw War Wolf running over to help them.

War Wolf was a Shield Warrior. Not only did he possess a frightening Defense, but he also had a shield. Adding in War Wolf's techniques, if he coordinated with them in melee combat, they could easily finish off Shi Feng. Most importantly, while they had a healer, Shi Feng did not. This battle's result was clear for all to see.

"Encircle him; do not let him escape," War Wolf hurriedly shouted in the team chat.

"Boss, you can count on us!" Overwhelming Smile's twelve other elites suddenly emerged from their hiding spots, each of them holding a crimson bead. Once they circled Shi Feng, they immediately began chanting an incantation.

Suddenly, a massive flame barrier rose from the ground, creating a dome that trapped Shi Feng and the others inside.

"Brat, you're really not simple. We even have to use the Sealing Beads that we obtained from Hell Mode Team Dungeons after going through much difficulty to deal with you. Don't even dream of escaping now," the silver-armored Berserker laughed.

No one was allowed to leave the sealing barrier. Unless Shi Feng possessed a Skill with tremendous destructive power, he would have to wait until the barrier exhausted its power. Meanwhile, the barrier had a duration of 15 minutes. It was more than enough to deal with Shi Feng.

"Isn't he just one extra person? Do you guys really think you can handle me?" Shi Feng retorted with a laugh.

"You underestimate the effect one extra person can have. Even before this, you couldn't do anything to us. With Boss Wolf's help, we will break the balance and kill you. Don't blame us for ganging up on you. You're the one who ambushed us. Next time, make sure you think twice about who you attack," the silver-armored Berserker sneered confidently.

"If six of you are just barely a match for me, I wonder how the seven will cope with two?" Shi Feng could not help but ask.

Although Shi Feng's voice was soft, everyone's chests tightened.

Even with War Wolf's powerful aid, they felt that they would only have a 60% chance of taking down Shi Feng. If another expert popped up, then...

"Two? Do you think I'm a fool? Once this barrier is up, nobody is allowed to enter or leave!" the silver-armored Berserker refused to believe Shi Feng's claim.

However, the moment he finished speaking, another person suddenly appeared by Shi Feng's side. Moreover, this person was a twin of their enemy. The killing intent this person radiated could similarly make one's heart skip a beat.

Chapter 525 -  instant kill

Every member of War Wolf's elite team was stunned when they saw two Shi Fengs in front of them.

"What's going on here?"

One Shi Feng had already given them plenty of trouble, and they even required War Wolf's help if they wanted any hope of defeating him. Now that there were two, what were they supposed to do?

"A doppelganger, huh?" War Wolf remained calm despite the sudden appearance of another Shi Feng, and he immediately thought of a possibility.

In God's Domain, aside from the Skills of the various classes, there was also a large variety of General Skills. A Skill capable of producing a doppelganger was not entirely impossible. It was just like how Summoners could summon powerful monsters.

When the others on the team heard War Wolf's statement, they realized that this was actually quite possible. Otherwise, how would they explain the situation before them? Everyone instantly released a sigh of relief.

Although a doppelganger possessed some lethality, at the end of the day, a doppelganger was still a doppelganger.

However, they quickly realized that they were sorely mistaken.

They were outrageously wrong.

The instant Shi Feng's doppelganger showed itself, it dashed towards the Tier 1 Swordsman. Although the speed of the doppelganger's sword was not as frightening as the real Shi Feng's, every one of the doppelganger's attacks forced the Tier 1 Swordsman to take three to five steps back before he could stabilize himself. The Tier 1 Swordsman was even forced to activate Defensive Blade to hold off the doppelganger's assault.

"I'll help you!" the black-armored Berserker rushed towards Shi Feng's doppelganger, brandishing his battle axe.

However, even with the aid of a top-tier Berserker, the Tier 1 Swordsman's HP rapidly decreased. The team's Tier 1 Cleric had no choice but to heal the Tier 1 Swordsman constantly to stabilize the latter's HP.

The doppelganger's combat power flustered every one of its enemies.

"Leave the doppelganger to me. Since it is a Skill, there is definitely a duration. Once the duration ends, we will deal with the person himself," War Wolf snarled. He then used Charge and arrived before the doppelganger.

Shi Feng had to admit that War Wolf was indeed an expert who had already set foot into the Refinement Realm. Both his attacks and evasion were extremely accurate and meticulous. He always achieved the greatest of effects using the smallest of actions. In addition, that massive shield of his allowed him to guard the majority of his body from the doppelganger's attacks easily. Despite being forced into a constant retreat by the doppelganger's every move, his body remained as steady as a mountain.

Amazing. If Cola was as skilled as War Wolf right now, we could definitely try to raid a 50-man Hell Mode Team Dungeon. Shi Feng pitied his situation while he watched War Wolf.

With War Wolf pinning down the doppelganger, the remaining six experts kept Shi Feng in check while they bided their time.

However, before anyone could catch a breather, twelve swords suddenly appeared hovering around Shi Feng. Just looking at the gleaming edges of the blades made one's scalp tingle.

"Since you guys see nothing wrong with ganging up on others, there's nothing wrong with me using my doppelganger and these twelve swords to deal with the seven of you, right? Don't call me a bully, alright?" Shi Feng smiled faintly. He then controlled the twelve Abyssal Blade phantoms to attack the six experts.

Suddenly, the silver-armored Berserker and the other experts paled, their words sticking in their throats.

Although the twelve Abyssal Blade phantoms did not contain much power, their damage was still significant; they could cause up to 45% of Shi Feng's damage. In addition, the phantoms were small, fast, and nimble, making it extremely difficult to avoid their strikes. While the melee classes could cope, but barely, with the phantoms, the same did not hold true for the ranged classes. It was especially true for the Cleric. Preserving his own life had become an arduous task, much less doing so and healing his team.

After fighting for only a short moment, War Wolf and the other top-tier experts were miserable.

The Overwhelming Smile members watching from outside the barrier were utterly dumbfounded.

Even if everyone present was a fool, they could tell just how powerful Shi Feng was.

By now, it was obvious that Shi Feng had merely been toying with the six experts during their previous exchange.

At this moment, Shi Feng stood on the sidelines and watched the battle. By relying on the doppelganger and twelve swords, he had already beaten Overwhelming Smile's prided peak combat force into submission. If he joined the battle, couldn't he wipe them out anytime he wanted?

"Just who are you?" War Wolf demanded, his confusion evident on his face.

Such a powerful expert would not just coincidentally ambush them. He must have a purpose for doing so.

However, instead of replying to War Wolf's question, Shi Feng silently pointed the Abyssal Blade towards the sky.

Suddenly, countless swords of light appeared above the silver-armored Berserker and the others, completely enveloping the seven people. Then, like raindrops, the swords of light descended.

This Skill was none other than the Tier 1 Skill Shi Feng had learned when he became a Blade Saint—Skywheel Sword.

[Skywheel Sword]

Inflicts 1,000 base damage plus 200% weapon damage to all enemies within a radius of 20 yards. Also seals all enemies within range, preventing them from leaving the area for 4 seconds.

Previously, Nine Dragons Slash had forced everyone to use up almost all of their Lifesaving Skills. Among the experts, the Elementalist and Cleric had both exhausted theirs.

Faced with the rain of swords, the two ranged players could only quietly go to their deaths...

Meanwhile, the remaining two Tier 1 Berserkers, the Tier 1 Swordsman, and the Tier 1 Ranger had less than a third of their HPs remaining after the Skywheel Sword's descent. They were also trapped in a 20-yard radius area.

Using Silent Steps, Shi Feng appeared behind the Tier 1 Ranger. Although Rangers possessed melee combat capabilities, Shi Feng had caught him completely off-guard. A sword of light flashed across the Ranger's body, and without offering the slightest resistance, the Ranger, too, fell lifelessly to the ground, his equipment scattering around his body.

"Damn it!" War Wolf's eyes turned bloodshot with rage. Although he wanted to save his companions, he already had his hands full dealing with the doppelganger before him.

At this moment, he was overwhelmed with regret. Just why had he used a barrier to trap his own men with this kind of monster? Moreover, the barrier lasted 15 long minutes...

"Everyone outside, hurry up and escape!" War Wolf was helpless as he shouted this command.

"Boss Wolf!"

The Overwhelming Smile team members outside the barrier nodded and scattered. As they ran, they began to contact the other members of Overwhelming Smile, asking for reinforcements. However, they knew that no one could save War Wolf and the others; there was not enough time.

Inside the barrier, though the silver-armored Berserker and the other two experts tried to attack Shi Feng as a group, the gap between their Strength and speed and their enemy's was simply too massive. Without needing any Skills, Shi Feng easily finished off the three of players after brandishing his swords a dozen times or so.

As for War Wolf...

Shi Feng was done playing around. He immediately instructed his doppelganger to activate Blade Liberation.

Blade Liberation was a Skill that he had learned himself, not a Skill that he acquired with his equipment. Since the doppelganger could utilize all of the Skills he had learned, it was naturally capable of using the Tier 1 Berserker Skill, Blade Liberation, as well.

Instantly, both the doppelganger's Strength and Agility increased by 80%. At this moment, the doppelganger's Strength and Agility had even surpassed Shi Feng himself.

In the next moment, countless swords of light clashed with War Wolf's massive red shield, producing a continuous stream of rings. The barrage of powerful attacks sent War Wolf flying. As he tried to stabilize his body in midair, he suddenly discovered Shi Feng's doppelganger before him. Hurriedly, War Wolf raised his shield in an attempt to protect his body. Shockingly, however, the doppelganger's sword passed through his shield and struck his body, dealing over -1,000 damage.

This move was none other than the Skill specifically meant for targeting MTs, Illusory Shadow. Once this Skill was used, the doppelganger's attacks could only be dodged, and not blocked. At this moment, War Wolf's towering shield was practically non-existent. Moreover, he could not control his body while he flew through the air, making it impossible to dodge the doppelganger's attacks.

Attack after attack assaulted War Wolf. The doppelganger attacked the Shield Warrior six times in a row, and of them, three had triggered a critical hit, dealing close to -3,000 damage.

In the blink of an eye, War Wolf's body fell to the ground, his nearly 7,000 HP reaching zero.

Meanwhile, Shi Feng had activated Space Movement and instantly appeared before the twelve escaping Overwhelming Smile members. He then finished off each player with a single hit, letting none escape the Dragonmen's Nest.

Chapter 526 - deterring force

After annihilating everyone at the Dragonmen's Nest, Shi Feng began to collect the items his victims had dropped.

Due to Haunted's effect, War Wolf and the others' drop-rates had multiplied. Moreover, due to Shi Feng's Luck Attribute, some of Overwhelming Smile's elites had even dropped up to three pieces of equipment. Shi Feng had obtained more than 200 pieces of equipment, with the most inferior being Level 20 Secret-Silver Equipment, just by killing this team of 100 players. In total, Shi Feng had earned more than 1,000 Gold in equipment.

"No wonder so many players join the forces of darkness." An indescribable joy filled Shi Feng's heart when he looked at the assortment of advanced equipment in his bag. If Zero Wing had only itself to rely on to obtain all this equipment, a lot of time would be required. Meanwhile, Shi Feng had only needed five minutes.

However, equipment was not his greatest concern this time.

The key point had been killing War Wolf and the others.

After absorbing their Immortal Souls, War Wolf and the others could forget about logging into the game for at least two or three days. In addition to their lost equipment, they would have to waste at least four or five days to recover from this serious setback. With this one fight, Shi Feng had stomped Overwhelming Smile's trump card to the ground, severely slowing the Guild's development progress.

"If I put my back into it, I should be able to collect the 300 points of Life Force required before logging off." Shi Feng took a look at the Icarus's Heart's Attributes, licking his lips. He then departed from the Dragonmen's Nest in search of other Overwhelming Smile members.

Previously, when he had attacked War Wolf and the others, the latter had contacted the other nearby Overwhelming Smile members, hoping to attract a crowd. After all, Overwhelming Smile was the overlord of Maple City. Now that someone had dared to provoke the Guild, they wanted to openly display what the consequences were for such actions.

As this concerned the Guild's reputation, Overwhelming Smile would take action to serve as a deterrence for others.

Hence, this was the perfect time for Shi Feng to hunt Overwhelming Smile members.

Time gradually passed.

Just as Shi Feng had predicted, while he had killed War Wolf's team, the Overwhelming Smile members in Dragon Ridge began to rush towards his location.

There was actually someone who dared kill their allies while in their territory. Before this, nobody had dared to kill any members of Overwhelming Smile. Now that someone had emerged, naturally, they needed to retaliate. Filled with rage, the members of Overwhelming Smile rushed over to the Dragonmen's Nest where War Wolf's team had fought, hoping to teach Shi Feng a lesson.

Unfortunately, only an endless abyss awaited them.

The majority of the reinforcements that arrived consisted of 20-man teams, and very rarely would a 100-man team appear. Although all of these teams consisted of elite players, compared to War Wolf's team, they were significantly inferior.

Whenever Shi Feng discovered one of these teams, he would immediately use Firestorm. As for those that were fortunate enough to be outside the Skill's effective radius, Shi Feng would rush over and finish them off quickly. Each battle usually lasted around five or six seconds. These Overwhelming Smile members did not even have the time to contact the other teams. They could only watch as Shi Feng devoured them, one after another, becoming Life Force for the Icarus's Heart.

After slightly over half an hour, Shi Feng had collected a total of 300 points of Life Force, evolving the Icarus's Heart to Secret-Silver rank. The Luck Attribute the necklace provided increased from the original 7 points to 9 points. Although it was a minor increase, it had significantly increased items' drop-rates. Meanwhile, if Shi Feng wanted to upgrade the Icarus's Heart to Fine-Gold rank, he needed double the previous requirement, 600 points of Life Force.

Originally, Shi Feng had wanted to log out of the game to rest. However, thinking that this was a rare opportunity, he continued to massacre the endless stream of Overwhelming Smile members that stormed over to help their companions.

Currently, Overwhelming Smile's members still had no idea of what was occurring at the Dragonmen's Nest. They also did not know that many of their companions had already died. After all, players who had lost their Immortal Souls could not log into the game even if they wanted to, so it was not possible for them to notify their allies.

Even if there were a way to make contact, that would only happen after the upper managers of Overwhelming Smile discovered that the dead could not log back into the game. Who knew how long that would take?

If Shi Feng waited until everyone from Overwhelming Smile reacted to the situation, searching for Overwhelming Smile members would become far more difficult.

Since news of his slaughter would get out sooner or later, Shi Feng intended to go all-out and kill as many as he could.

Ignorantly, the members of Overwhelming Smile who wanted to teach Shi Feng a lesson continued to run to their deaths. Every team that came to the Dragonmen's Nest died; the 100-man teams were no exception.

\---

Meanwhile, inside Overwhelming Smile's Guild Residence in Maple City...

"Miss Youlan, what's going on with you? Why are you in such a hurry to see me?" a handsome middle-aged man seated on the Guild Leader's throne asked, laughing.

This middle-aged man was none other than Overwhelming Smile's true Guild Leader, Laughing Heaven. Laughing Heaven had tanned skin and a pair of deep black eyes. His entire person radiated a sense of majesty and gave others the impression that he was one who had experienced the vicissitudes of life.

Although Overwhelming Smile was only a second-rate Guild, it had only been established a short time ago. Meanwhile, Laughing Heaven was the person responsible for nurturing Overwhelming Smile from the ground up. During the initial stages of God's Domain, he had accurately chosen to develop Overwhelming Smile in Maple City, leading the Guild to become the city's overlord. Soon after, Underworld came with the offer of acquisition. Not only had Underworld supplied the Guild with significant funds, but it also supplied many experts, allowing Overwhelming Smile to become a Guild capable of rivaling first-rate Guilds.

However, what shocked Laughing Heaven the most were the experts Underworld had sent. Because of those few experts, Overwhelming Smile had managed to raid Team Dungeons smoothly and unimpeded, shocking Maple City. Overwhelming Smile had become a well-known Guild in Star-Moon Kingdom, and even showed signs of becoming the kingdom's number one Guild.

"Guild Leader Laughing Heaven, now is not the time for jokes. Recall all of our members from Dragon Ridge immediately. If they can't return, instruct them to keep their Guild Emblems hidden," Youlan said with a stern expression, her tone sounding like an absolute command rather than a request.

"Miss Youlan, did something big happen in Dragon Ridge?" Laughing Heaven was no fool. Hearing the sudden change in Youlan's tone, he could tell that the situation was not as simple as it seemed. However, he could not casually withdraw all those players who were out grinding without a good reason. Such an action would negatively impact the Guild's development.

"Are you really clueless about what is happening in Dragon Ridge?" Youlan asked quietly.

"Are you talking about the person who is attacking our teams?" When Laughing Heaven realized the reason for Youlan's distress, he could not help but laugh and said, "Miss Youlan, aren't you making a big fuss over nothing? Isn't it just someone ambushing us? Is there really a need to withdraw our members from Dragon Ridge? Many Guild members have already gone to deal with that arrogant bastard. I doubt it will be long before that player is found and killed."

"Making a big fuss over nothing? Found and killed?" Youlan could not help but laugh upon hearing Laughing Heaven's words, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes. "To actually speak such ridiculous words, do you even know what exactly is happening in Dragon Ridge right now?"

"Miss Youlan, there is one thing that you have to understand. While you might be Overwhelming Smile's Guild Leader in White River City, in Maple City, I, Laughing Heaven, am the true Guild Leader." Laughing Heaven was not impressed by Youlan's behavior. If not for the woman having the support of Underworld, he couldn't care less what the woman said.

"Since you don't know, I'll tell you! Zero Wing's Guild Leader, Black Flame, is currently in Dragon Ridge! The majority of the subordinates you've sent there to level up are most likely dead already! If you don't recall them right this instant, it won't be long before he wipes out every member we have there!" Youlan said sternly. "That is all I have to say. Guild Leader Laughing Heaven, whether you wish to act upon my advice or not is up to you."

Finished, Youlan turned and left the Guild Leader's Office. Her task in Maple City was only to develop Overwhelming Smile's trade. She was not allowed to intervene on any other matters relating to the Guild, not could she. Otherwise, she would not have run all the way here to meet with Laughing Heaven.

Meanwhile, Laughing Heaven was stunned into silence when he heard the name Black Flame...

Chapter 527 - commotion at maple city

Inside Overwhelming Smile's Guild Leader's Office...

Some time after Youlan's departure, Laughing Heaven still struggled with accepting the situation.

He could not understand why Black Flame, the Guild Leader of Zero Wing, would go all the way to Dragon Ridge to ambush Overwhelming Smile's members.

Who was Black Flame?

He was Star-Moon Kingdom's publicly acknowledged number one expert. He was someone capable of coming and going as he wished even when surrounded by tens of thousands of enemies. Laughing Heaven had even heard tell that two of Underworld's prided Seven Ghosts had died at the hands of Black Flame, leaving Underworld helpless against Zero Wing. In the end, even Underworld could do nothing but forbear from dealing with Zero Wing. This alone spoke of Black Flame's power.

"Shit!" Laughing Heaven suddenly recalled a situation.

There was a rumor going around saying that Black Flame was capable of preventing the players he killed from logging into God's Domain for a long period. However, Laughing Heaven knew that this rumor was true, as after Black Flame killed Underworld's Fifth Ghost and Sixth Ghost, the two were unable to log into the game for two full days. Laughing Heaven also knew that, back in the Watch Cemetery in the White River City Region, Black Flame had single-handedly forced Underworld to withdraw from that land of treasures.

If what Youlan said was true, then the Overwhelming Smile members in Dragon Ridge vying for revenge were no different than sheep to the slaughter. Moreover, it was currently night in God's Domain. Every Guild member capable of leveling up at night was an elite player. If these people were annihilated and barred from entering the game for two days...

Laughing Heaven immediately tried to contact War Wolf, hoping his team of experts could pin down Black Flame. With their strength, they should be able to deal with this matter without much difficulty. Afterward, he only needed to withdraw his Guild members from Dragon Ridge.

"Did he log off?" When Laughing Heaven opened his friends list, he suddenly discovered that War Wolf and the other experts were offline. "That shouldn't be right. I heard that War Wolf was planning to raid a Dragonmen's Nest today; why would they log off so soon?

"It can't be?!" Laughing Heaven abruptly thought of an extremely unlikely possibility. "How could this be? Did Black Flame kill all eight of those top-tier experts?!"

However, when he recalled Youlan's sudden appearance in his office, it was highly possible that War Wolf had contacted Youlan after he died.

"This won't do. I need to call back everyone immediately!" When Laughing Heaven thought about the massacre of Overwhelming Smile's members, rage and frustration filled his heart. However, who else could possibly win against this one-man army?

Shortly after, Laughing Heaven sent a command to all Overwhelming Smile members in Dragon Ridge, ordering them to either head to other locations to level up or return to the city to rest. In any case, the monsters at night were not easy to deal with. They could also accumulate Double EXP buff if they rested in the Guild Residence.

"What's going on? Why are we being told to leave Dragon Ridge? I'm only a short distance from the treasure chest!"

"That's right! Our team is still looking for that little thief that dared ambush us! If we withdraw like this, won't we let that bastard get away?"

"Who knows? However, this is a command from the Guild Leader, so we have no choice."

The members of Overwhelming Smile were somewhat dissatisfied with Laughing Heaven's command. However, as it was a command from the Guild Leader himself, they could not disobey.

\---

While Overwhelming Smile gradually withdrew from Dragon Ridge, a commotion occurred in Maple City.

Many players resting in the city passionately discussed these ambushes and Overwhelming Smile's withdraw. Bars were particularly lively with such conversations. After all, Overwhelming Smile was Maple City's overlord, and it constantly received attention from the city's players. Now that such a huge incident had occurred, how could it not attract attention?

"Did you hear? Overwhelming Smile suddenly withdrew all of its members from Dragon Ridge."

"Of course, I heard about it! It really makes you wonder what is going through their leaders' minds."

"Hehe! I have some insider information! I heard that someone is killing Overwhelming Smile players in Dragon Ridge. With no way to deal with this assailant, Overwhelming Smile was forced to withdraw from Dragon Ridge."

"Oh, blow it out your ass! Overwhelming Smile is our Maple City's absolute overlord! Whoever dares attack them is just looking to die!"

"Hey, don't deny it so quickly. That player that ambushed Overwhelming Smile is no simple character."

Suddenly, the players in the bar grew curious. Aside from the fact that Overwhelming Smile was the city's overlord, the Guild also had more than its fair share of experts. Otherwise, they would not have successfully raided Level 20, 20-man Hell Mode Team Dungeons one after another. Even until now, aside from Overwhelming Smile, no other Guild in Maple City had accomplished such a feat.

With these experts, what player had even a chance of challenging the Guild?

"I don't believe it. Who could possibly be so powerful?"

"That's right! Unless a first-rate Guild is trying to wage an all-out war against Overwhelming Smile in Maple City, who else would possess such strength?"

The bar's crowd expressed their doubts. They did not believe this any of this information. Moreover, they always had a sense of pride regarding the Guild known as Overwhelming Smile. After all, they were all players of the same city.

Moreover, Overwhelming Smile was indeed very powerful. Throughout the entire Star-Moon Kingdom, only a few Guilds could raid Level 20 Hell Mode Team Dungeons. Even if a first-rate Guild wished to take strike out at Overwhelming Smile, they would be beaten to death if they set foot in Maple City.

"Hehe! I knew none of you would believe me. However, once I say this name, you will definitely believe me!" the male Druid giggled.

"Continue boasting!"

"Who doesn't know how to boast?"

Suddenly, everyone inside the bar sent contemptuous looks at the independent player.

"Hahaha! Let me tell you guys, then! The player attacking Overwhelming Smile is Black Flame, Zero Wing's Guild Leader and Star-Moon Kingdom's number one expert!" the male Druid said very confidently.

When the Druid finished speaking, the entire bar fell silent.

Everyone felt that Black Flame was the only person capable of such a feat.

This was because such an incident had once occurred in White River City. Back then, hadn't Overwhelming Smile's many experts been forced to withdraw from the Watch Cemetery precisely because of Black Flame?

It could be said that practically everyone in Star-Moon Kingdom knew about Black Flame. One hit to deter the Guilds in White River City, one battle to be crowned as God...

Many players had tried to learn from Black Flame. If they could learn even a fraction of his skills, they could become experts.

Meanwhile, Black Flame's title as the One-hit Asura was something that excited countless players.

"He's the Leader of a Guild. Moreover, he is the overlord of White River City. Why would he come all the way to Maple City to cause trouble for Overwhelming Smile?" someone suddenly asked.

"How should I know? Maybe Black Flame plans to lay his hands on Maple City as well?" the male Druid joked.

Silence overtook the entire bar once more.

When they thought about it, there was indeed a small possibility of such a situation. After all, Zero Wing was already White River City's overlord. Why would such a powerful Guild be satisfied with ruling just a single city? It had to expand sooner or later.

Thinking up to this point, everyone could not help but grow excited.

Meanwhile, seated in a corner of the bar, a middle-aged man in his late thirties was greatly shocked when he heard this news. This man was none other than Liang Chen, the person who bought Land on behalf of Shi Feng.

"Sure enough, the winds of Maple City are going to change." Liang Chen sighed.

In all of Star-Moon Kingdom, most likely, only an expert like Black Flame was capable of deterring the overlord of an entire city by himself.

Chapter 528 - characteristic skill

The news regarding Black Flame quickly spread throughout Maple City.

Overwhelming Smile and Zero Wing had been waging an all-out war against each other. No one was surprised that Black Flame had taken his killing all the way to Maple City, considering it perfectly reasonable. Regarding this situation, everyone's opinion of Zero Wing was still quite optimistic.

Normally, Overwhelming Smile occupied all the high-resource areas located within the Maple City Region, and many players were not happy about that. However, these players would not dare voice their anger as Overwhelming Smile was Maple City's overlord. Now that someone capable of taking out Overwhelming Smile members had emerged, these players would cheer and support them.

However, as news of Shi Feng's hunt spread, another event had occurred that excited players in Maple City.

Another player-owned Shop had emerged in their city, and this Shop was the Candlelight Trading Firm.

The Candlelight Trading Firm sold a wide variety of goods, with the most precious item being the Basic Strengthened Armor Kit. Many players had never even seen the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits before. Hence, the moment Maple City's players laid their eyes on the kits, they rushed to purchase their own. As a result, business at the Candlelight Trading Firm was far better than what the Overwhelming Trading Firm enjoyed.

Naturally, while there were some who celebrated the Candlelight Trading Firm's new establishment in Maple City, there were others who grew worried.

Although the city's players were overjoyed by this situation, Youlan, who was currently inside the Overwhelming Trading Firm, was incensed.

"Candlelight Trading Firm!" Youlan ground her teeth.

She had truly not expected that the Candlelight Trading Firm had been preparing to set up a Shop in Maple City. Furthermore, Candlelight had managed to obtain a plot of Land in the central district of the city. However, this was still not the most infuriating aspect. The most detestable thing was that the Candlelight Trading Firm had actually set up its Shop relatively close to the Overwhelming Trading Firm.

Due to the Candlelight Trading Firm having the advantage regarding available products, many of the Overwhelming Trading Firm's original customers had shifted their attention towards the Candlelight Trading Firm.

"Boss, what are we supposed to do now? If this continues, Candlelight will snatch all of our remaining customers," a Shop manager asked, concern filling his voice.

"We don't have a choice. Our only option is to start a price war. Reduce the prices of all goods," Youlan said, sighing helplessly. She did not have any good ideas about how to deal with this situation. Unless they could get their hands on some exclusive items, there was simply no way to compete with the Candlelight Trading Firm. Fortunately, unlike in White River City, the Overwhelming Trading Firm possessed some capital in Maple City, and their two Trading Firms had started with the same benefits around the same time. In addition, Maple City was their home ground. The cost of harvesting materials was significantly lower here, resulting in a lower production cost. They definitely had a fighting chance against the Candlelight Trading Firm.

In God's Domain, Shops in different cities, but owned by the same player, shared products. However, while there was no city tax for consigning products to Shops in the player's home city, there was a small 8% city tax charged for items consigned to sell at Shops in other cities. This was a protection mechanism of sorts implemented to protect the player-owned Shops of each respective city.

In other words, since the Candlelight Trading Firm's main headquarters was in White River City, there was an invisible cost added to the items they sold in Maple City. To the Overwhelming Trading Firm, this was an advantage.

Sure enough, after the Overwhelming Trading Firm reduced its prices, other than players wanting to purchase products unique to the Candlelight Trading Firm, players quickly returned to shopping at the Overwhelming Trading Firm.

\---

Meanwhile, in the Dragon Ridge, Shi Feng was currently having the time of his life.

With wave after wave of Overwhelming Smile players marching towards their deaths, Shi Feng had finally managed to upgrade the Icarus's Heart to Dark-Gold rank. He was only a short distance away from upgrading the necklace to Epic rank now.

[Icarus's Heart] (Necklace, Dark-Gold Rank [Can be evolved])

Equipment Requirement: All Attributes 120

Level 20 - Level 80 (Currently Level 30)

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. (748/5,000)

The base Luck alone provided 14 points. That was significantly higher than the initial 5 points. However, that was not the improvement that excited Shi Feng the most. Rather, it was the change that had occurred to the Divine Providence Skill.

Divine Providence had evolved from an ordinary Skill to a Characteristic Skill.

Characteristic Skills were different from normal Skills in which the Skill's effects would undergo a transformation when certain conditions were met.

The Skill now allowed the sacrifice of Life Force to enhance its effects. Meanwhile, depending on the number of Life Force points sacrificed, the effects would also vary, with a maximum sacrifice of 100 Life Force points.

Currently, Shi Feng had 748 Life Force points stored in the Icarus's Heart. In other words, Shi Feng could enhance the Icarus's Heart's effects to its maximum seven times.

"Since the Cooldown has already completed, this is a good chance to test its effects." Shi Feng could not contain his excitement when he looked at the bright gemstone around his neck.

He could receive 46 points of Luck before he had even sacrificed any Life Force points. This was the highest amount of Luck Shi Feng had ever seen in either life.

If he sacrificed Life Force points as well, his Luck would reach frightening heights.

Soon, Shi Feng retrieved over a dozen Twilight Treasure Chests from his bag, laying the chests out neatly in front of him. He then activated Divine Providence and chose to sacrifice 100 Life Force points.

Instantly, his Luck rose to 66 points, with the duration of Divine Providence increasing to 40 seconds and Cooldown decreasing to 30 minutes.

Hurriedly, Shi Feng began opening the Twilight Treasure Chests.

With each chest requiring three seconds to open, Shi Feng just barely managed to open twelve treasure chests in 40 seconds. Losing a few seconds when switching to the next treasure chest was inevitable.

Although Shi Feng felt slightly disappointed about the time he had lost, when he thought about the additional effects gained from sacrificing Life Force, his mood instantly brightened again.

If he applied that 66 points of Luck when killing monsters, the drop-rate would be astounding. The rarely seen Jackpot might even occur, multiplying the number as well as increasing the quality of the items dropped.

Unfortunately, such a powerful effect came at the cost of 100 Life Force points.

He had only managed to kill so many players today due to catching Overwhelming Smile unprepared. However, after they set up certain precautions, it would not be as easy to harvest 100 Life Force points anymore. Of course, Shi Feng absolutely refused to commit random murder.

Although there were many people in this world who did not have a bottom line, and even more so inside a game, Shi Feng was not one of them. This was a fundamental principle of being a human being. If he crossed this line, he would be no different than an animal.

Shi Feng then began collecting the items inside the Twilight Treasure Chests.

"Awesome!" Shi Feng could not help but laugh. "Sure enough, the effects of 66 points of Luck are truly amazing!"

Among the twelve Twilight Treasure Chests, he had obtained four pieces of Tier 1 Set Equipment, one for Shield Warrior, Guardian Knight, Assassin, and Cleric. Among them, the Tier 1 Set Equipment for Shield Warriors and Guardian Knights were the most difficult to obtain, yet, Shi Feng had actually obtained one piece for both classes.

Up until now, Shi Feng had collected four of the five set pieces of the Yin-Yang Walker Set Equipment for Guardian Knights; he only lacked the boots now.

Currently, he had three pieces of the Mana Storm Set Equipment for Tier 1 Elementalists.

As for the Dark Melody Set Equipment for Tier 1 Assassins, like the Yin-Yang Walker, Shi Feng now had four pieces; he was only missing the head slot.

He had three set pieces of the Forest Guard Set Equipment for Tier 1 Rangers.

He now had three set pieces of the Brave Heart Set Equipment for Tier 1 Shield Warriors.

He had two set pieces of the Ghost Set Equipment for Tier 1 Cursemancers.

He also had three set pieces of the Angel Wings Set Equipment for Tier 1 Clerics.

By now, Shi Feng was close to completing the Tier 1 Set Equipment for the majority of the available classes. It would not be long before he completed them. At that time, if he led a team of players geared in Tier 1 Set Equipment into a large-scale Team Dungeon, who could possibly compete with Zero Wing to obtain First Clears?

Just the thought excited Shi Feng. With such equipment, they could steamroll through even a 100-man Team Dungeon, let alone a 50-man Team Dungeon.

Just as Shi Feng was arranging his new items, he suddenly discovered a glowing purple tablet inside his bag, his chest constricting upon this discovery.

Chapter 529 - shop promotion

Shi Feng quickly took the purple tablet from his bag.

The tablet displayed a single word:

Promotion!

However, this Promotion Order was not a Guild Residence Promotion Order.

In God's Domain, all Promotion Orders were extraordinarily valuable, and among them were Guild Residence Promotion Orders and Promotion Orders for other specific establishments. However, of these Promotion Orders, the rarest was the Shop Promotion Order.

The tablet in Shi Feng's hands right now was none other than the Shop Promotion Order.

All Shops set up by players in NPC cities began as 1-star Shops without exception, regardless of whether it was a 300 Gold Shop or a 1,000 Gold Shop. Only, a 1,000-Gold Shop was far more luxurious, and it had a few more available functions.

However, after a Shop was promoted to 2-star status, it would undergo a qualitative change. In particular, the benefits a Lifestyle player received would be significantly enhanced.

It was extremely difficult to obtain a Shop Promotion Order. Unlike a Guild Residence Promotion Order that could be obtained from Dungeons, a Shop Promotion Order could only be obtained through certain special quests. The only other option was to gain one from treasure chests. However, not just any ordinary treasure chest would drop the Promotion Order.

The treasure chest could not be below Level 40, and it must be Fine-Gold rank or above.

There was also a certain probability to obtain one from rank-less treasure chests such as the Twilight Treasure Chest.

However, the chances of obtaining a Shop Promotion Order were simply too minuscule. Normally, players would obtain it through a Challenge Quest. However, since it was a Challenge Quest relating to a Shop's promotion, it was not so easy to receive or complete it. Such Challenge Quests were no less difficult than Epic Quests. Hence, there were extremely few Shops capable of completing them.

Because of this, the Promotion Orders obtained through treasure chests were extremely valuable, and countless businessmen would offer astronomical prices for one.

Shi Feng had only obtained this item due to a stroke of luck.

"With this item, I can finally monopolize White River City's trade with the Candlelight Trading Firm." Shi Feng returned the Shop Promotion Order to his bag and took out a Return Scroll.

Since it was no longer easy to locate Overwhelming Smile players, he had no reason to remain here.

Meanwhile, now that he had obtained a Shop Promotion Order, he needed to go and promote his Shop.

In God's Domain's settings, unlike in other virtual reality games where using one Shop Promotion Order would promote every Shop that player owned, players in God's Domain required one Promotion Order for every Shop they owned should they wish to upgrade them all.

However, Shi Feng had long since made up his mind.

Zero Wing's roots lay in White River City, so the Shop Promotion Order must be used on one of the Shops there. As for the Shops in Star-Moon City and Maple City, unless he had excess, he would not waste any Promotion Orders on these two cities.

After using the Return Scroll, Shi Feng returned to Maple City.

However, Shi Feng was in no hurry to return to White River City. Instead, he first went to investigate the Overwhelming Trading Firm.

Now, he had already heavily damaged Overwhelming Smile's hidden trump card, which would severely impact its Dungeon-raiding process. He had also killed plenty of Overwhelming Smile's elite members, causing significant damages to the Guild. Not to mention, due to a lack of resources, the development of Overwhelming Smile's branch in White River City had also been wounded. If this situation continued, the gap between Overwhelming Smile and Zero Wing would only grow as more time went by.

The only fighting chance Overwhelming Smile had right now was the Overwhelming Trading Firm.

If the Overwhelming Trading Firm developed successfully, Overwhelming Smile would have the Coins required to fight a war of attrition against Zero Wing. In addition to its ample funds and enormous background, the Guild's development speed would soar. After all, a massive organization such as Underworld possessed the mechanisms required to nurture experts. Only, everyone had yet to adapt to God's Domain fully. Once they did, however, with sufficient Coins and funds, in addition to experts giving out pointers, it would be very easy for Overwhelming Smile to nurture a large number of experts.

Although Zero Wing seemed to prosper right now, in reality, it was still significantly inferior to other major Guilds, particularly in terms of training mechanics for experts.

God's Domain was mankind's second world. It was not a game with a short lifespan. A Guild's strength was not determined by wins and losses. Instead, it was determined by how long the Guild in question could remain in power.

In the past, there had been many Guilds that had prospered greatly for a period. However, after some time had passed, they still crumbled and eventually faded out of existence entirely. Based on this, one could easily tell the gap between Guilds. This was why Shadow had remained a second-rate Guild in the past. It was because the Guild had only been recently established and did not possess the necessary mechanisms to nurture experts. Although the Guild had succeeded in establishing such mechanisms during the middle stages of God's Domain, said mechanisms were far inferior to that of first-rate Guilds. In the end, the gap between Shadow and the first-rate Guilds of God's Domain only grew wider as time went on.

Hence, Shi Feng wanted to establish such training mechanisms as soon as possible and produce an endless stream of experts for Zero Wing. Only then could Zero Wing become a true powerhouse.

This was also one of the reasons why first-rate Guilds looked down on Zero Wing.

They all shared the same thought: "You are only strong right now. What about in a few months? Let's see how you fare in one or two years."

All Guilds that had achieved the status of a first-rate Guild possessed a history over a decade long; some had even survived several decades.

When Shi Feng arrived before the Overwhelming Trading Firm, he could see a constant stream of players enter and exit the Shop. As for the Candlelight Trading Firm, which was only a short distance away, although the Shop also had plenty of customers, there were significantly less than the Overwhelming Trading Firm.

"Overwhelming Trading Firm's items sure are cheap. I can buy another stack of Advanced Whetstones with the money I saved!"

"That's right. Not only are the items cheap, but I never expected that it would also push out a new product. Unfortunately, the Shop didn't have many for sale, and I didn't have the chance to buy one."

"Are you talking about the Magic Damage Potion?"

"Yeah, that's right; it's that item. I'm an Elementalist. If I drink that potion, it can increase my magic damage by 5% for half an hour. It would help significantly when I'm grinding monsters or raiding Dungeons."

Shi Feng had initially planned to enter the Shop to investigate. However, upon hearing the conversation of a few players who had just left the Overwhelming Trading Firm, he could not help but stop and listen.

Magic Damage Potion? Shi Feng was not a stranger to this item. The recipe for the potion only had a chance of dropping from Level 20 Hell Mode Team Dungeons. However, its production difficulty was very high. At the very least, one needed to be a Basic Alchemist. Even then, the success rate of crafting one hovered around 20% to 30%.

Sure enough, I cannot underestimate Underworld. I just established a Shop at Maple City, and already, there is someone capable of producing such a potion. Shi Feng was not particularly surprised at discovering this information. Overwhelming Smile was a massive Guild. Its members didn't consist of purely Combat players. The Guild nurtured a large number of Lifestyle players as well, so it was only natural for someone to be capable of producing the Magic Damage Potion.

However, this was not good news for the Candlelight Trading Firm.

The Magic Damage Potion was not unique to the Overwhelming Trading Firm. Zero Wing had also obtained a few Magic Damage Potion Recipes. However, even now, the Candlelight Trading Firm had yet to successfully nurture a single Basic Alchemist, so they could not produce it.

Shi Feng decided not to linger. Immediately, he headed to the Teleportation Hall and returned to White River City.

Upon arriving at White River City, the first thing Shi Feng did was head towards the City Hall and upgrade the Candlelight Trading Firm next to the Auction House to a 2-star Shop.

When a Shop was promoted to 2-star status, the building itself could also undergo an upgrade. However, a significant sum was required for the reconstruction.

Without hesitation, Shi Feng spent 1,000 Gold to reconstruct the Shop. The reconstruction did not take much time at all; it was done in just a dozen minutes or so. Suddenly, the three-story-tall Candlelight Trading Firm rose to five-stories. It became an extraordinarily eye-catching display beside the Auction House, attracting the attention and discussion of many players.

It was common knowledge that Shops could only possess a maximum of three floors. Throughout the entire God's Domain, there had yet to be a single player-owned Shop that had more than that. Yet, now, the Candlelight Trading Firm's Shop had five.

"Guild Leader, what did you do?

"Why has the Shop suddenly gone from being three-stories to five-stories tall?"

After the reconstruction of the Shop completed, Melancholic Smile contacted Shi Feng immediately, unable to help her curiosity.

Chapter 530 - special space

The Candlelight Trading Firm developed very quickly, and it constantly recruited Lifestyle players.

Despite the Candlelight Trading Firm having two high-end Shops in White River City, they simply did not have enough space to house over a thousand Lifestyle players. For each of the three-story-tall Shops, the first floors were used exclusively for selling products, the second floor housed the various workshops, and the third floor housed the warehouse, offices, and lounges. Hence, not many workshops in each Shop were available for the Firm's Lifestyle players' use.

As a result, Melancholic Smile had no choice but to send the Lifestyle players to the various Lifestyle Associations to produce items.

Although the matter of space could be resolved this way, it significantly increased the Firm's expenditures.

Renting the workshops in the Lifestyle Associations required money. A Basic Workshop's impact on a player's success rate was insignificant, so, Melancholic Smile mostly rented Intermediate Workshops for the Firm's Lifestyle players. Meanwhile, renting an Intermediate Workshop cost 1 Silver per hour. If she rented workshops for 100 people, that was 1 Gold per hour. If she rented enough workshops for 1,000 people, that was 10 Gold per hour.

Ten Gold Coins...that was almost a small Guild's total liquid funds.

Melancholic Smile even considered suggesting that Shi Feng purchase a few more plots of Land and establish more Shops. Unfortunately, in order to satisfy the current number of Lifestyle players they had in the Firm, they would require two or three plots of Land.

However, the situation had changed.

Now, the Candlelight Trading Firm next to the Auction House had been promoted to a five-story building. Although it seemed that it had only gained two more floors, it was equivalent to having two more Shops' worth of workshops. In fact, the space inside the Shop had also grown; it was now roughly a little more than twice the original size.

With so much space, the Candlelight Trading Firm could save a lot on rental fees.

Melancholic Smile only wished that Shi Feng would upgrade all of the Candlelight Trading Firm's Shops. That way, the Firm would not have to spend any money on renting workshops.

Shi Feng could not help but laugh at Melancholic Smile's reaction.

In the past, even after God's Domain had operated for over a year, countless players were unable to promote their 1-star Shops to 2-stars. It was purely due to luck that the Candlelight Trading Firm had obtained the Promotion Order so quickly.

It was practically impossible to obtain another Shop Promotion Order from the Twilight Treasure Chests.

Though, if he could upgrade the Icarus's Heart to Epic rank, there might be a small chance for Shi Feng to obtain a second one.

Shi Feng then had Melancholic Smile meet him in the meeting room on the fifth floor of the Firm with Cream Cocoa and Roasted Ironheart.

The benefits a 2-star Shop offered were not limited to an increase in space. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many players desperately trying to upgrade their 1-star Shops to 2-star Shops in the past, willingly spending tens of thousands of Gold to obtain a Shop Promotion Order.

\---

Meanwhile, the news of the Candlelight Trading Firm owning a 2-star Shop spread quickly. After all, all of White River City knew of the Candlelight Trading Firm. A majority of the players residing in the city had shopped at the Trading Firm at least once before. Now that one of the Shops had mysteriously grown, it would definitely attract a lot of attention.

"Young Master Feng, there is some movement over at the Candlelight Trading Firm. They have actually managed to establish a five-story Shop. When I went over to investigate, I found that the first floor has doubled in size. The number of items they can put on display has also significantly increased," a player specifically tasked to investigate the Candlelight Trading Firm reported.

"Five-stories? Larger than before?" Feng Xuanyang could not help but sneer. "The Candlelight Trading Firm is certainly ambitious. While producing Light Stones, they also expanded their Shop to prepare for the new sales. What a pity. Truly a pity. So what if they have a larger space? Now that I have stolen the three of the Advanced Forging Apprentices capable of producing the Light Stones, that Shop will only have empty shelves to show off."

He still felt the sting from the large amount of money he had spent to poach those three Advanced Forging Apprentices. However, the thought of how the Candlelight Trading Firm could no longer produce the Light Stones soothed the pain in his heart.

"Right, how are we developing in Maple City?" Feng Xuanyang asked the somewhat chubby man beside him. "I heard that the Candlelight Trading Firm has set up a Shop close to the Overwhelming Trading Firm. This should have significantly impacted the Overwhelming Trading Firm's business."

"Young Master Feng, please rest assured. Although the Candlelight Trading Firm is impressive, Maple City is our home ground. Moreover, Miss Youlan has succeeded in inviting that great personage to help us. The Magic Damage Potions they have produced have singlehandedly driven the Overwhelming Trading Firm's business. Candlelight has no chance against us. It won't be long before the Overwhelming Trading Firm stabilizes its status as Maple City's number one Trading Firm. Also, when that great personage's Alchemy Proficiency advances or when we obtain an item that increases success rate, he will be able to produce that item. At that time, not even the Candlelight Trading Firm in White River City will be a challenge," the chubby man said, giggling.

"Good. It's as expected of the woman who the higher-ups favor. As long as the Overwhelming Trading Firm conquers White River City, my status will rise along the tides. At that time, my succession of the household will be set in stone." Feng Xuanyang's eyes suddenly glowed.

He truly never expected that Youlan would successfully recruit that great personage from Underworld.

That great personage was only a Lifestyle player. However, by relying on his superb talents, he had profited Underworld in many virtual reality games, and gradually throughout the years, he had become a force to be reckoned with in the organization. Even Underworld's upper managers tread carefully when around him. Although Feng Xuanyang had thought of trying to invite that great personage before, he simply did not qualify to do so. Meanwhile, the fact that Youlan had recruited that great personage's help showed just how capable she was.

It seems that I'll have to rope that woman in in the future. Feng Xuanyang licked his lips as he pondered. Although he had only been interested in Gentle Snow in the past, Youlan's temperament, figure, and appearance were not one bit inferior to Gentle Snow's. In certain aspects, Youlan was even superior to the Snow Goddess. If he could make Youlan his woman, it would benefit him greatly in the future. His chances of becoming the master of his household would increase.

\---

In the meeting room on the fifth floor of the Candlelight Trading Firm, Shi Feng noticed Melancholic Smile and the others stand to greet him the moment he entered.

"Guild Leader, seeing as you were in such a hurry to look for us, do you have some sort of surprise for us?" Cream Cocoa revealed her anticipation as she gazed at Shi Feng with her large eyes. She knew that Shi Feng would never call for a meeting with them for no reason, and in every meeting, Shi Feng always had something prepared for the three of them. Hence, she very much loved meetings.

"You really are perceptive," Shi Feng laughed faintly. He then said, "Follow me, then. I'll show you guys something."

Shi Feng then led the three forgers out of the meeting room, arriving before a room a short distance away.

The Candlelight Trading Firm's reconstruction had only completed a short while ago. There were still many areas inside the Shop that Melancholic Smile and the others were unfamiliar with. In particular, there were some rooms that Shi Feng had locked; not even Melancholic Smile was allowed to enter.

The room he led the forgers to was one such location.

"Guild Leader, isn't this a workshop?" Cream Cocoa asked curiously.

"You'll understand once you enter," Shi Feng laughed as he slowly opened the door.

Once the door opened, the trio behind Shi Feng was stunned by what they saw.

A completely different world awaited them beyond the door. When the door opened, a fragrant smell and beautiful scenery greeted each of them. The room even contained a small creek. The most incredible part of the room was the ball of water floating in the middle of the room.

"That's a Simulation Device!" Melancholic Smile was immediately surprised when she saw that floating ball of water.

Originally, Simulation Devices could only be found in the Library of White River City. It was a tool that allowed players to learn or craft their own spells. Melancholic Smile had never imagined that this workshop would also contain one.

"Simulation Device?" Cream Cocoa asked, confused.

"White River City's Library also has a waterball. The Simulation Device there allows players to learn or create spells. However, the Simulation Device here is slightly different. It is meant to assist Lifestyle players with producing items. Through the simulation, you guys can discover the flaws you have when producing an item. At the same time, it can also aid you in creating a completely new item. With this, you won't have to waste a lot of materials and can freely try producing as many items as you want. This is a function that only Special Workshops possess," Shi Feng explained.

Chapter 531 - frightening talent

"I've already set this place as a Special Forging Room. You will have a higher success rate than even in the Advanced Forging Rooms with any items you forge in here. The effects are especially obvious when you forge complicated and high-quality items."

Hearing Shi Feng's explanation, Melancholic Smile and the others were so excited that they were speechless.

This surprise was simply too huge.

Players who had never produced a high-quality item before had no idea how difficult it was to produce one. It was an extremely delicate job. Not only was the success rate very low, but the slightest mistake would also result in the item's destruction.

Naturally, practicing the forging process for a long time would help significantly. However, high-quality materials were extremely rare. They had no opportunity to experiment and familiarize themselves with the forging procedures. They could rely on their experience and hope that, after repeatedly producing the item, they would become proficient with the design and reduce the amount of wasted materials.

With this Simulation Device, however, they could practice as much as they wanted to, constantly modifying and upgrading their techniques. This would be of immeasurable help to them.

Moreover, after players became Forgers in God's Domain, if they wished to become a Master Forger, they had to create their own items. Otherwise, it would not be possible for one to become a Master Forger at all. Hence, players normally began to accumulate experience of creating items when they became Basic Forgers. By the time they became Advanced Forgers, they would attempt to create new items constantly.

However, with this Simulation Device, they could save a significant amount of time and effort.

Of course, this did not come without a price. The Simulation Device needed energy to run, and Magic Crystals supplied that energy. Fortunately, it was relatively easy to obtain Magic Crystals. After all, they had a certain drop-rate from Dungeons.

"Guild Leader, you're too awesome!" Indescribable joy filled Cream Cocoa when she stepped into the room.

Although Melancholic Smile and Roasted Ironheart were not as simple-minded and pure as Cream Cocoa, not revealing their thoughts so easily, they still could not help but approach the magic waterball when they entered the room. They loved all of the tools in this room so much that they simply could not bear to part with them. They would not trade this forging room away even if someone offered them a luxury car.

The value of this Special Forging Room far surpassed those luxury cars. Moreover, one could not buy a Special Forging Room so easily.

In the Forging Association, the Advanced Forging Room was the best one could rent. Special Forging Rooms were only available in 2-star Shops or above.

This was also why so many players in the past had dreamed of upgrading their Shops to 2-star status.

The fragrant aroma inside the Special Forging Room relaxed anyone who came into contact with it. The environment inside the room could also be adjusted to suit the user. Just the impact the forging room provided to one's mental state was significant. Using this room was practically a luxury. Not to mention, the Flame and tools in an Advanced Forging Room could not compare to those in this room.

Although the Flame in the Special Forging Room could not match a Tier 2 Mysterious Flame, it was very close. However, Shi Feng had already switched the Flame here to the Ice-Blue Devil Flame, further increasing the forging success rate.

"The Special Forging Rooms are extremely limited in number. A 2-star Shop only has five rooms. Among them, I have reserved three for you guys. I've already given you the authority over these rooms, so you will only be able to enter your respective Special Forging Room. As for the remaining two, I've set one as an Alchemy Room and the other as a Forging Room. Melancholic, if you find anyone talented in alchemy or forging, you can let them use these two rooms. However, you must first have them sign another contract. The effects that Special Workshops provide are extraordinary. It improves a player's techniques; it is far more valuable than any mere forging design," Shi Feng said sternly.

"Guild Leader, you can rest assured; I won't allow any of those traitorous bastards near these Special Forging Rooms," Melancholic Smile assured.

While it was difficult to obtain forging designs in God's Domain, it was many times more difficult to train a highly skilled Lifestyle player.

This was precisely the function of these Special Training Rooms, so they would not use them to nurture traitors.

Afterward, Shi Feng let Melancholic Smile handle the remaining matters regarding the Candlelight Trading Firm and logged out of the game.

\---

It was already daytime in the real world, with the sun shining brightly in the sky.

I played for so long and never noticed. Shi Feng smiled bitterly when he looked at the time, discovering that it was already nearing 1 pm.

However, there was nothing Shi Feng could do about that. Not only had he come across such a priceless opportunity to evolve the Icarus's Heart, but he had also obtained a Shop Promotion Order. He could not log out of the game even if he wanted to.

After Shi Feng ate and was about to rest, his quantum watch rang.

"Hello, Master Shi Feng. I have completed the task you requested yesterday. You can have people visit the training area at any time," the female assistant, Liang Jing, reported respectfully through the video call.

Ever since the fight at Big Dipper, he had become popular in Jin Hai City. Many of Jin Hai City's powerful figures hoped to meet with Shi Feng. Unfortunately, Shi Feng had rejected all of these requests. He had not been trying to be arrogant by doing so; he just did not have the time to spare.

His future development was not aimed towards the world of fighting, but towards God's Domain. Naturally, he could not waste too much time and effort on physical competition.

Besides, these interpersonal relationships mattered little to Shi Feng.

If not for his victory over a top-tier master like Lei Bao, these people would not attempt to befriend him. If he had not defeated Lei Bao, these people would not even care if he existed.

In other words, a person's strength was the key to success.

As long as he continued to grow stronger, many more high-profile figures would seek his company.

Hence, Shi Feng had instructed Liang Jing to handle these affairs for him, and he had to admit that this female assistant was quite capable. Not only had she managed to dismiss all those who wanted to meet him, but she had also done it in a way that satisfied everyone.

However, all these were only small matters. What truly amazed Shi Feng was her integration of Big Dipper's inner training area and the training system's improvement.

Even Shi Feng admired Liang Jing's capabilities. She had actually accomplished all of this in such a short time.

No wonder Chairman Xiao had her as his Head Assistant. Shi Feng read through the information Liang Jing had sent, shocked by what he saw. This was the first time Shi Feng had seen such management abilities. She was leaps and bounds above a manager like Blackie.

Management talent?

Shi Feng suddenly thought of another matter.

The Guild's daily affairs have hampered Aqua's progress of her combat techniques lately. Moreover, I will also need someone to help integrate the Candlelight Trading Firm and Zero Wing. Melancholic Smile has been busy dealing with this so far, not giving her much time to improve her own forging techniques either. At this rate, the two of them will soon be buried in management work. What if I have Liang Jing handle these affairs? Shi Feng pondered as he gazed at Liang Jing's image on the screen.

If he had someone who could liberate Aqua Rose and Melancholic Smile from their management duties, allowing them to display their original talent fully, it would benefit both Zero Wing and the Candlelight Trading Firm's development. Liang Jing was a very good option for this position.

However, Liang Jing was Xiao Yu's subordinate. Meanwhile, both Zero Wing and the Candlelight Trading Firm possessed many secrets. It was an extreme risk to hand their management over to an outsider. There was also the fact that Shi Feng had little to no knowledge of this female assistant.

While Shi Feng focused on Liang Jing, the latter also noticed Shi Feng's odd gaze, and she could not help her discomfort.

He couldn't be...

Chapter 532 - the most powerful newbie

Shi Feng's current status in society was worlds apart from what it had been.

Although he did not exude any sort of aura, from Liang Jing's point of view, this silence weighed down on her.

Previously, she had belittled Shi Feng. Although she had not said anything, she had struggled to accept Xiao Yu's instruction to escort a youthful little brat like Shi Feng to the assembly hall. Hence, she had purposefully treated Shi Feng with a little disrespect.

Now, however, Liang Jing regretted her actions.

She really shouldn't have treated Shi Feng impertinently back then. After all, someone who could earn Chairman Xiao's respect wouldn't be an ordinary character, even if it were only a young man in his early twenties.

He can't be thinking of replacing me, right? Liang Jing worried.

There were countless people out there who dreamed of becoming the assistant to a character like Shi Feng. In the VIP room that day, many of Jin Hai City's influential figures had hoped to send Shi Feng assistants, taking the chance to deepen their relationship with the popular young man. Meanwhile, she had only received this job due to her advantage of being Xiao Yu's most valued assistant. If Shi Feng dismissed her, only tragedy would await her...

She had seen countless wealthy and well-stated princelings who were immeasurably arrogant. These people got rid of anything or anyone that irked them. Meanwhile, a successful young man such as Shi Feng, whose status in society was far superior to even Xiao Yu's, was even more likely to behave in such a way.

Watching Shi Feng's solemn gaze, Liang Jing's heartbeat accelerated.

Am I going to be fired, just like that? Liang Jing inwardly despaired.

Suddenly, Shi Feng spoke, "Miss Liang Jing, thank you for your trouble. I'll leave to inspect the training grounds you've arranged in a moment."

Although Shi Feng might appear to gaze at Liang Jing solemnly, in reality, he was simply pondering how he should go about making Liang Jing one of his people, liberating both Aqua Rose and Melancholic Smile's potentials. He had not paid any attention to Liang Jing herself. However, after considering the matter for some time, he had not come up with a proper solution. Hence, he could only set the matter aside for now.

After all, Liang Jing was someone Xiao Yu had sent.

If Liang Jing became the manager of Zero Wing and the Candlelight Trading Firm, she would wield the core secrets of both organizations. Hence, Shi Feng needed to be careful with his decision.

Although Liang Jing's management capabilities were extraordinary, he first needed to familiarize himself with her personality. He had time to make the decision after he got to know her a bit.

"Ah?" Liang Jing was surprised. Inadvertently, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had fully expected Shi Feng to dismiss her when he opened his mouth to speak. Hurriedly, she said, "Master Shi Feng, I'll have a car sent to receive you immediately."

\---

Meanwhile, at the Big Dipper Training Center, the situation had undergone a massive transformation.

The training center's employees were all in an extraordinarily good mood. Even the guests who frequented the training center were in a fiery mood.

The training center had regained its past popularity.

By now, everyone had heard the news that the Big Dipper Training Center had finally recruited a top-tier master to serve as an instructor.

In this age, where mankind focused on personal fitness, everyone placed great importance on their own physical condition. Only through proper training and the assistance of medicine could one significantly improve their lifespan.

In the past, people who had survived past the age of 100 were extremely rare. In today's society, however, many were easily capable of living past 120 years old. In addition, they could retain their youth for a long period. In the past, one would practically lose all semblance of youth past the age of 50. Now, however, even after reaching 70 years old, some still possessed their youthful vigor and appearances as if they were in their forties. However, they were mostly martial arts masters. Ordinary people had yet to reach that level of health.

In the past, Taichi Grandmasters had lifespans surpassing 150 years. In the ancient world, that had practically been a miracle.

Nowadays, with the support of technology, it was not impossible for humans to live that long.

Hence, many people wished to strengthen their own bodies.

"Master Shi Feng, this is the training ground the company has prepared for you. What do you think?" Liang Jing pointed towards an exotic and elegant three-story villa.

Originally, the company had planned to turn this into a resort Gold status members or above. However, when Shi Feng requested a training ground that was free of disturbances, the only place they could think of that fit Shi Feng's requirements was this villa. This villa was equipped with state-of-the-art training equipment, and the building's surroundings were the best Big Dipper Training Center had to offer. There was even a gravity training room in the villa that could fit up to several hundred people at a single time.

When Liang Jing heard that the company had assigned this area to Shi Feng, she was greatly shocked.

This Greenwater Villa was Big Dipper's treasure. Now, the company had actually given Shi Feng full authority over this place.

Liang Jing had only realized how important Shi Feng was to the company after this decision had been made.

"Not bad. This is an impressive location." Shi Feng nodded his head with satisfaction. In reality, he had both visited and lived in the Greenwater Villa before. It was certainly a valuable area.

Shi Feng had even considered moving the Guild's core members here, particularly the upper managers of the Workshop. Although the Workshop he had bought was quite good, the facilities available there were nothing compared to the Greenwater Villa.

"Miss Liang Jing, can I trouble you to ask Chairman Xiao to move all ten virtual gaming cabins we previously agreed upon here?" Shi Feng asked after giving it some thought.

Nurturing experts was easier said than done. Naturally, the more advanced the training and recovery facilities were, the more progress those experts could make. In particular, the gravity training room was immensely helpful to players. Hence, Shi Feng planned to move a portion of Zero Wing's core members to the Greenwater Villa. He also intended to move here.

By doing so, he could give pointers to others at any time.

He could also scour for talents at the Big Dipper Training Center.

God's Domain was unlike any other virtual reality game as it placed heavy emphasis on actual combat. The further one progressed in the game, the more realistic and difficult the battles would become. Producing experts would become much easier if he chose to nurture players who were already somewhat skilled in combat.

"Master Shi Feng, please rest assured. I will have the ten virtual gaming cabins installed in the Greenwater Villa by today. I will have the S-rank Nutrient Fluids sent over as well," Liang Jing said slowly.

The Big Dipper Training Center had already gone all out this time. Both the virtual gaming cabins and the S-rank Nutrient Fluids were extremely difficult to obtain. However, in order to rope in Shi Feng, they spared no expense or effort.

Following which, Shi Feng notified Blackie and the other upper managers, having them come to Big Dipper's Greenwater Villa.

"Brother Feng, am I dreaming? We can really live here?" Blackie asked with disbelief when he arrived before the Greenwater Villa.

For commoners like himself, the Big Dipper Training Center was a place he could not visit even if he wanted to. Only members were allowed here. As for the villa before him, normal members were probably not even allowed here. Yet, now, people like them had the chance to live in this villa.

They were merely professional gamers. To a massive existence like the Big Dipper Training Center, they were negligible.

Even Fire Dance, Violet Cloud, and the Five Demon Generals standing beside Blackie were stunned into silence. They were just commoners in real life. They did not dare consider entering such a high-class location. Even the Zero Wing Workshop Shi Feng had established had surprised them. They had never known that a gaming workshop could be so luxurious. Now, they were even more surprised. They were actually going to live in such a high-class villa.

Everyone had yet to learn about Shi Feng being a martial arts master, much less about the fight that made him famous overnight.

"Big Brother Shi Feng, I heard that the daily rental here is very expensive," Violet Cloud worriedly commented.

"That's right. Normally, each person has to pay several thousand Credits per day to stay here. However, from today onwards, this will be Zero Wing's training base!" Shi Feng nodded. "It is not as easy to mingle in God's Domain as you think it is. Hence, from today onwards, I will work with all of you frequently. However, I will only instruct you on your combat techniques in God's Domain. I'll leave your training in the real world to someone else."

"Someone else?" everyone was surprised.

"That's right. This is Master Lei Bao. He has only recently joined Zero Wing, and from today onwards, he will handle your daily training. This is a rare opportunity that many will never have no matter how much they wish for it, so you must cherish it," Shi Feng introduced the martial arts master.

Although he was skilled in God's Domain combat, he did not know how to train people in the real world. On the other hand, Lei Bao was a bona fide top-tier master, someone who was only a short distance away from reaching the realm of grandmaster. When it came to training people in the real world, Lei Bao was far more qualified than he was.

Chapter 533 - overwhelming force

When the group heard Shi Feng's introduction, they were dumbfounded.

Everyone present knew just how precious a martial arts master was.

Many professional fighters would do anything just to receive advice from a martial arts master, let alone personal tutorage.

Moreover, their instructor was a top-tier master. Never in their dreams would something like this happen. For a second, Blackie and the others even thought that they had heard wrong.

However, after spending time in God's Domain, everyone's senses had improved considerably. By now, they were already capable of making a rough estimate of another person's strength.

Lei Bao also made no attempt to hide his beastlike aura in the slightest. Just basking in his aura made their bodies feel heavier. If not for Shi Feng standing beside Lei Bao, they would've fled immediately as this oppressive feeling was truly unbearable.

Although none of them knew Lei Bao's exact strength, none of them doubted that Lei Bao could wipe the floor with all of them in less than ten seconds.

"Master Lei Bao, I'll have to trouble you, then." Shi Feng could see everyone's surprise and knew how incredulous of a situation was. However, this was all definitely real. Not even famous professional fighters would have access to these benefits. If Blackie and the others could not improve with Lei Bao's help, then he really had no other means of helping them.

In the past, under Shadow's arrangement, Shi Feng had sought out many masters to learn from. He had not been as lucky as Blackie and the others. Being stood up by a martial arts master after several weeks of waiting was a normal occurrence to Shi Feng. As for personal tutorage? That was just a dream.

"No problem. Since we agreed upon this beforehand, I will hold up my end of our bargain." Lei Bao nodded. He then shifted his gaze to Blackie and the others, faintly smiling, he said, "All of you, follow me. I'll have a look at your foundations before planning your training."

Under Lei Bao's watchful gaze, everyone felt their hair stand on end. They all had a bad premonition about what was to come. Unfortunately, with Lei Bao's personality, even if they did not want the training, he would not show any mercy.

"Guild Leader..." The group sent pitiful looks towards Shi Feng.

However, Shi Feng only waved them off.

With Lei Bao's training, Shi Feng hoped that they could learn how to control their bodies more efficiently. Once they learned that control, they could display frightening combat power in God's Domain.

When it came to control over one's body, Lei Bao had reached perfection. That he had reached the standard of Tiger Roaring showed that Lei Bao knew a unique method to train his physical control. Otherwise, he could never train his body to the degree of merging his internal and external power. Compared to a half-baked martial arts master like Shi Feng, Lei Bao was a powerhouse.

While Lei Bao trained Blackie and the others, Shi Feng did not remain idle as he headed towards the Greenwater Villa's gravity training room.

Now that Shi Feng's brain activity had significantly improved, if he wished to control the lock on his physical power completely, he needed to possess sufficient strength. Otherwise, his body would crumble, unable to withstand the sudden release in power. Lei Bao, on the other hand, was different. He was a true martial artist, someone who had trained in the arts since he was young. Even if he released the limiter his brain had placed on his body, his body could easily handle the additional power.

The gravity training room would help enhance physical toughness immensely. There were also various medicine and healing cabins available for one to recuperate as they needed. Since Shi Feng had access to these facilities, he had to train as much as he could.

After Shi Feng had spent half the day training, Liang Jing had finished with her tasks at the Greenwater Villa. Currently, every Zero Wing member had a virtual gaming cabin in their room, coupled with an unlimited supply of A-rank Nutrient Fluids. However, the most valuable item was still the S-rank Nutrient Fluids; each person had received one bottle. With it, everyone could fully replenish their brain's energy.

Such expenditure had left even Liang Jing, someone who had seen various aspects of high society before, stunned.

Not only was there a top-tier martial arts master serving as an instructor, but everyone had also been provided with a bottle of S-rank Nutrient Fluids.

How was this supposed to be training for professional gamers? Those who did not know better might even think that these youths trained to participate in the national fighting competition...

Was such extravagance necessary just to play a game?

Shi Feng could very much relate to Liang Jing. The chances of a single Guild currently spending so much to nurture their experts were nil. The same could be said even for Super Guilds. However, that was simply because no one had realized the importance of a top-tier expert yet.

Moreover, God's Domain had only recently become popular, so its influence over the real world was still very faint. However, with the passing of time, God's Domain's popularity would grow, and soon, it would become a part of everyone's daily life, becoming a true second world of mankind. People had the chance to live a different life in God's Domain. They could explore all the mysteries this new world had to offer and perform feats that were normally impossible. The wealth one could earn in the game was immeasurable, and various fighting competitions would come to God's Domain. These competitions were even more exciting than the fights in the real world.

After Shi Feng instructed everyone on their combat techniques in game, he retired to his room and logged in, beginning a new day in God's Domain.

The moment Shi Feng logged in, he began to open Twilight Treasure Chests.

Without hesitation, he activated Divine Providence and sacrificed 100 Life Force points.

Inside the quiet forging room, the twelve Twilight Treasure Chests on the floor released a dazzling aurora that filled the room.

"Huh? It can't be, right? It's possible to obtain this, too?" Shi Feng looked at the golden book in his hand.

Shi Feng was already relatively happy about being able to obtain several more pieces of Tier 1 Set Equipment from the twelve treasure chests. However, upon seeing this glowing golden book, his joy became utter shock.

The Book of Gold!

This was the best possible item a Lifestyle Guild could obtain from the Twilight Treasure Chest.

This book was not any ordinary item. It was a Consumable item that would vanish after use.

To an individual Lifestyle player, this book's effects were not particularly significant. To a Lifestyle Guild, however, it surpassed even that of an Epic item.

[Book of Gold] (Consumable)

Permanently increases the proficiency of a single player's Lifestyle Skill by one rank to a maximum of Master rank. Can also be used to increase the proficiency of 100 players' Lifestyle Skills by one rank to a maximum of Advanced Forger, for two days.

"With this item, I can temporarily promote those Advanced Forging Apprentices to Basic Forgers and promote Cream Cocoa and the others to Intermediate Forgers, significantly increasing their production speed and success rate." Shi Feng could already imagine just how frightening the Candlelight Trading Firm would become with a sudden influx of so many Basic Forgers.

Although there was only a gap of one rank between a Basic Forger and an Advanced Forging Apprentice, it was a massive gap.

Using the Light Stones as an example, while Advanced Forging Apprentices only had a success rate of 20% to 30%, Basic Forgers had a success rate of 60% or higher. Not to mention, many items required one to be at least a Basic Forger to craft them.

Until now, there were only three Basic Forgers in all of White River City: Melancholic Smile and the other two. Other cities might not even have one Basic Forger, let alone three.

If the Candlelight Trading Firm had 100 Forgers, its impact on the market would be astronomical. Most likely, even if one added together all the Forgers throughout Star-Moon Kingdom right now, that number would not even reach half of the Candlelight Trading Firm's.

"Melancholic, contact all trustworthy Advanced Forging Apprentices immediately and have them gather in the fifth-floor meeting room." Shi Feng did not wish to leave the Book of Gold unused.

Chapter 534 - fire dragon potion

Maple City, Overwhelming Trading Firm:

"Master Aspiration, may I know if you are satisfied with the Overwhelming Trading Firm's Advanced Alchemy Room?" Youlan asked softly as she watched the white-haired old man standing beside the workbench. Currently, this old man held a purple glass bottle and gently swirled it around.

Youlan was extra careful when dealing with this old man, Master Silent Aspiration, treating him with more respect than even Feng Xuanyang.

Although this white-haired old man was already past 70-years-old, even Underworld's upper management had to show this man great respect, much less a young woman like herself.

Before Youlan had even been born, this old man had explored virtual reality games for many years. And throughout all these years, he had focused fully on the art of alchemy.

In this day and age, nobody in the virtual gaming world's alchemy industry did not know the name Silent Aspiration.

Old Man Silent Aspiration was already a Basic Alchemist. Meanwhile, if Shi Feng could see the potion this old man was concocting right now, he would find it both shocking and familiar.

The potion in the glass bottle was a Fire Resistance Potion. However, it was not just any Fire Resistance Potion. It was a modified variation. In the past, this potion had been known as the Fire Dragon Potion, and it had been extremely famous throughout God's Domain. Not only did it provide more Fire Resistance than a Basic Fire Resistance Potion, but its duration was also much longer. Most importantly, the Fire Dragon Potion increased a player's Strength by 10 points during its duration. The Fire Dragon Potion's effects could also stack to a maximum of 50 Strength and 100 Fire Resistance.

To an ordinary player, 50 Strength was a significant increase, not to mention experts.

"Not bad. I never expected that you, little girl, could actually obtain such a good bottle. This has finally allowed me to complete my newly-developed potion," Silent Aspiration smiled at the red liquid inside the purple bottle. Satisfied, he said, "Sure enough, it is as I surmised. Not only will the Fire Resistance stack, but the Strength bonus will also stack. Seeing as the Basic version of the potion already possesses such wonderful effects, let's call this the Fire Dragon Potion. Little girl, consider yourself lucky."

"Master Aspiration, you truly are amazing. You are actually capable of producing such a powerful potion. May I know the success rate for this Fire Dragon Potion?" Youlan's eyes lit up with joy when she saw the Fire Dragon Potion's effects.

In order to convince Master Silent Aspiration to come to Maple City and help Overwhelming Smile, she had to go through much difficulty to obtain this set of Mysterious-Iron Alchemy Equipment.

However, compared to the value of this Fire Dragon Potion, a set of Mysterious-Iron Alchemy Equipment was nothing considerable.

"Relax. If this old man crafts the potions personally, my success rate is 50%, and though the success rate of other Alchemists might be below 30%, the materials I've used to concoct this potion are all common. It won't do much harm to waste some," Silent Aspiration laughed.

To develop the Fire Dragon Potion, he had invested a lot of time. Otherwise, he would have long since become an Intermediate Alchemist by now.

"Many thanks for Master Aspiration's help. Now that we have the Fire Dragon Potion, as long as we nurture a large number of Alchemists, the Candlelight Trading Firm will no longer be a problem," Youlan said confidently.

As the creator of the Fire Dragon Potion, Silent Aspiration could distribute its recipe to as many people as he wanted. It would be extremely easy for the Overwhelming Trading Firm to develop a small army of Alchemists.

Moreover, the Overwhelming Trading Firm would have exclusive rights to sell the Fire Dragon Potion. It was far more precious than any rare forging design or recipe. It was impossible for anyone outside the Trading Firm to produce it. With this potion, who could possibly challenge the Overwhelming Trading Firm?

"I've already produced what you requested. Little girl, if you wish to keep me here, you need to remember the Secret-Silver Equipment you promised me," Silent Aspiration reminded her.

To this old man, nothing was more valuable than refining his alchemy. In particular, the alchemy in God's Domain was unbelievable. If possible, he would've immersed himself in research every day. Unfortunately, his equipment was not good enough. Otherwise, he would not have bothered helping Youlan.

"Master Aspiration, please rest assured. I have already found some clues leading to the set. I believe that it won't be long before we obtain a set of Secret-Silver Alchemy Equipment for you," Youlan guaranteed. "In the meantime, however, I will have to trouble Master Aspiration to produce a few more Fire Dragon Potion Recipes. That way, I can earn the money required to buy the Alchemy Equipment quickly."

"This is a simple task," Silent Aspiration laughed.

\---

As time passed by, the various Guilds throughout God's Domain no longer competed over Dungeons. Instead, they had shifted their focus to competing in trade. This competition only grew fiercer as more time passed.

This shift had occurred because everyone had seen just how profitable the Candlelight Trading Firm was.

After just two short days, many Guilds had opened their own Shops. Even Ouroboros had opened a Shop in Star-Moon City, though the Shop was nowhere near the central district. However, Gentle Snow had not had much choice. She had seen just how much money the Candlelight Trading Firm raked in every day.

By the time Ouroboros collected enough Reputation points and Coins to purchase a golden Land, the Candlelight Trading Firm would have monopolized Star-Moon City's trade. So, she made the decision to set up a Shop in the city's outer district first. At the very least, the Guild could gain a small income of Coins this way.

Meanwhile, Overwhelming Smile was even more amazing. Not only had the Guild set up a Shop in Maple City, but it had also opened another Shop in White River City, challenging the Candlelight Trading Firm.

"Young Master Feng, everything has been prepared. At noon, we should have a sufficient stockpile of the Fire Dragon Potion. At that time, our men will announce the sales of the potion throughout White River City. Even if the Overwhelming Trading Firm is not situated in the golden areas, everyone will still swarm the Shop. Moreover, the Candlelight Trading Firm only has three people capable of producing the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits. When the time comes, it will fall to the Overwhelming Trading Firm."

"Excellent! Youlan, you've done splendidly this time! You were actually able to obtain something as valuable as the Fire Dragon Potion. With this potion, the Overwhelming Trading Firm will lure a large number of players. We'll reduce the prices for the other products as well. I want to see just how the Candlelight Trading Firm plans to compete!" Feng Xuanyang said gleefully.

Underworld had money and manpower. They could easily obtain a large stock of materials. In addition to Silent Aspiration's unlimited supply of Fire Dragon Potion Recipes, each additional Basic Alchemist they nurtured would be one more capable of producing the Fire Dragon Potion. Currently, the Overwhelming Trading Firm already possessed six Basic Alchemists. As more time passed, that number would only increase. On the other hand, the Candlelight Trading Firm had no way to increase the number of Forgers who could craft Basic Strengthening Armor Kits, no matter how many Basic Forgers they hired. Meanwhile, Candlelight's unsatisfied customers would naturally run to the Overwhelming Trading Firm.

After all, many Level 25 Dungeons required players to have Fire Resistance. One could say that the Fire Dragon Potion was more valuable to players than the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits. Moreover, every player only possessed limited funds. As the Fire Dragon Potion was cheaper than the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits, when comparing the benefits one could gain from the two, players would prioritize the Fire Dragon Potion.

\---

While Feng Xuanyang fantasized about monopolizing White River City's trade with the Overwhelming Trading Firm, Shi Feng's work was in full swing.

To maximize the benefits of the Book of Gold, Shi Feng allowed all trustworthy Advanced Forging Apprentices to become Basic Forgers and had them produce Light Stones ceaselessly for two days.

As for Shi Feng himself, after becoming a Forger, he had unlocked the forging design for the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit. Hence, throughout the duration of the Book of Gold, he focused on forging Intermediate Armor Kits without rest.

In addition, during this time, Shi Feng had secretly recruited Gentle Snow's help to establish a few Candlelight Trading Firms in several other major cities, particularly the major cities in Star-Moon Kingdom's Eastern Region. However, as Shi Feng's money was limited, he had only established Basic Shops in these cities' outer districts.

To establish these Shops, Shi Feng had invested all of the money he had earned during this time. He even spent the money the Guild had earned through Guild Quests.

"Guild Leader, we have met out intended goal. We can begin operations at any time," Melancholic Smile reported. Although she was somewhat tired, excitement filled her eyes.

Chapter 535 - difference in background 

"Begin selling them in the Shops, then." Shi Feng nodded.

During the past two days, Shi Feng had nearly a hundred Basic Forgers produce Light Stones constantly. Their stock of Light Stones was enough to supply multiple cities. In addition, the Proficiency gained during this period had allowed many Advanced Forging Apprentices to earn the promotion to Basic Forgers. With this, they could meet the public's demand even after their current stockpile ran out.

"Guild Leader, how much should we sell them for?" Melancholic Smile ask.

Previously, she had focused on her work fully, giving no thought as to how much they should sell the Light Stones for.

The materials used to produce the Light Stones were very common. A 20-piece stack of Light Stones cost less than 3 Silver to craft. Factoring in a Basic Forger's success rate, which was just slightly above 50%, the total cost would be around 6 Silver per stack.

"Simple. Sell each piece for 1 Silver and each stack for 19 Silver," Shi Feng stated directly.

Unlike the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits, which were considered luxury items to most ordinary players, Light Stones were commonly-used items. So, its price was also very low.

In the past, the starting price for Light Stones had also been roughly 1 Silver per piece. Any higher and players would begin to feel cheated. However, as the number of players who could produce the item increased, the Light Stone's price would eventually fall to 50 Copper per piece and 10 Silver per stack.

"What about the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits?" Melancholic Smile asked.

In reality, Melancholic Smile didn't believe that the Light Stones were Candlelight Trading Firm's trump card; rather, she believed that their success lay in the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits.

Only Shi Feng could produce the Intermediate Armor Kit as nobody else had the design. This was the Candlelight Trading Firm's greatest advantage. Others might not realize this, but the reason behind Starstreak Trading Firm's fierce competitive edge was the Basic Mana Armor Kit.

Even now, the Basic Mana Armor Kits were still highly sought after by elite players.

[Intermediate Mana Armor Kit]

Can be made into either Physical or Magical Intermediate Armor Kit.

Bound to character after equipping.

[Intermediate Physical Armor Kit]

Defense +200

Strength +10, Endurance +12, Agility +10

Maximum binding limit per character: 3

Can only be bound to Level 25 equipment or above.

[Intermediate Magical Armor Kit]

Defense +60

Intelligence +10, Endurance +12, Vitality +10

Maximum binding limit per character: 3

Can only be bound to Level 25 equipment or above.

If a player equipped three Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, the total Attributes they received would be the equivalent of wearing an additional piece of Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment.

One could not buy Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment through the market even if they had the money. Many people offered prices of 20 Gold or more for non-MT Dark-Gold Equipment, not to mention Dark-Gold Weapons and equipment for MTs.

Currently, God's Domain's elite players were around Level 25, so they could conveniently use the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits. Hence, now was the best time to sell them.

However, it was also this reason that made it difficult for Shi Feng to set the price for the kits.

He could neither sell it too cheap nor too expensive. Moreover, there was also the fact that he wouldn't have a lot of free time to produce the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits.

"Let's set them a 5 Gold for now," Shi Feng said after pondering for a long moment. Although the various Guilds currently busied themselves with commerce and had already spent a significant sum of money, they should still possess a small amount of Gold. To claim the First Clears of large-scale Team Dungeons, they would have no qualms about spending several hundred Gold to equip a team fully with Intermediate Mana Armor Kits.

Following which, Melancholic Smile began to prepare.

Meanwhile, the Overwhelming Trading Firm had also begun selling the Fire Dragon Potions.

"This Fire Dragon Potion is awesome! It can stack Attributes and Fire Resistance! With this potion, raiding Level 25 Team Dungeons will be a breeze!"

"The only downside is the price. Each bottle actually costs 10 Silver. The MT alone will require five bottles per run. Everyone else in the team will have to drink at least one bottle as well."

"What can you do about it? The Overwhelming Trading Firm is the only place that sells this potion. However, if we can successfully raid 10- and 20-man Hard Mode Team Dungeons, we will more than earn back the cost."

Overwhelming Smile's advertising had been very well-timed. As the Fire Dragon Potions went on sale, people began to promote the potion at the various lively locations throughout White River City. As a result, many teams, who had struggled with the Level 25 Dungeons that required high Fire Resistance, grew interested, and they had promptly run towards the Overwhelming Trading Firm to purchase the Fire Dragon Potion.

\---

Shortly after the Fire Dragon Promotion went up for sale, some of the players visiting the Candlelight Trading Firm to purchase daily necessities discovered that something had changed.

There were several new counters in the hall on the first floor. Initially, due to the recent increase to Candlelight's space, the first floor had felt relatively empty. Now, however, it was just right.

"What is this?" curious players quickly flocked around the new counters.

"Hello, sir, this is our Candlelight Trading Firm's newest product, the Light Stone. With this item, you won't have to worry about not being able to grind at night..." the NPC beauty slowly explained.

To ordinary players, nothing was more of a headache than grinding at night. At night, not only was monsters' vision unaffected, but there was also a certain increase to monsters' combat power. On the other hand, players' vision was considerably limited during night-time, significantly affecting their combat power. However, this was still not the biggest problem. At night, because of the vision problem, it was much easier for monsters to ambush parties. Hence, ordinary players were normally afraid of grinding monsters in the dark.

Meanwhile, the Light Stone just happened to brightly illuminate a large area, allowing players to see as if it were daylight. With this item, not only would monsters' strength remain unchanged, but it was also easier for players to avoid ambushes. Since players would be able to see as normal, they could also fight with their usual combat power, so grinding monsters would be as easy as it was during the day.

"Crap, there's actually such a good item available? How much is it?" a player asked.

"As this is a new product, we are selling each Light Stone at the low price of 1 Silver Coin. You can also buy a stack of 20 at a discounted price of 19 Silver Coins," the NPC beauty smiled brightly as she spoke.

"It's so cheap! I want one stack!"

"Wait, I want two stacks!"

...

Suddenly, the players inside the hall began to purchase Light Stones madly. Although ordinary players did not make a lot of money, they normally formed parties when grinding in the fields. If they split the cost of 19 Silver between each party member, they could easily afford the Light Stones. Moreover, each stack of Light Stones could last a party up to two nights.

As long as one casually tallied up the accounts, the majority of the independent players would not miss out on this opportunity.

An ordinary party could definitely earn more than 19 Silver Coins from two nights of grinding, not to mention an elite party.

Very quickly, news of the Light Stones spread. Players who received the news immediately disregarded whatever they were currently doing and hurried to the Candlelight Trading Firm.

For a time, the Light Stones became far more popular than the Fire Dragon Potion.

"What? You're saying that the Candlelight Trading Firm is selling Light Stones in large quantities?" Feng Xuanyang was baffled when he heard this latest report from his subordinate. "How is that possible?! We even have to limit the number of Fire Dragon Potions we sell each day! How could they possibly afford to sell Light Stones in large quantities?! Where are they finding so many people to produce them?!"

He had spent more than 50 million Credits just to poach the three people capable of producing the Light Stones from the Candlelight Trading Firm, yet, now, the Trading Firm was still able to offer so many Light Stones. How could he possibly believe such a ludicrous report?

Wasn't that item extremely rare and precious?

How could there be so many Light Stones suddenly popping up? Even if the three Forgers of Candlelight focused on producing Light Stones without rest, it would not be possible to produce so many!

"Young Master Feng, this information has been verified. It is real. Based on our initial estimates, more than 1,500 stacks of Light Stones have already sold. Even so, the Candlelight Trading Firm continues to sell them without limit. Now, many of the Overwhelming Trading Firm's customers have already run to the Candlelight Trading Firm to shop."

"Shit! Shit! They scammed me of more than 50 million Credits! They will pay for this!" At this moment, Feng Xuanyang finally came to a realization. The previous three Advanced Forging Apprentices had been a trap set by the Candlelight Trading Firm.

He had lost over 50 million Credits, just like that. Moreover, it had all been his own money.

"Instruct someone purchase Light Stones immediately! Buy as many as you can! I don't believe that they have an unlimited supply!" Feng Xuanyang commanded furiously.

Chapter 536 - unshakeable

Under Feng Xuanyang's command, Youlan, who was currently in Maple City, gave a new command.

Reduce their prices further!

"Miss Youlan, we won't earn much money if we reduce our prices any more than this," a female assistant cautioned.

"I don't want this, either." Youlan shook her head helplessly. "The Candlelight Trading Firm's new move is simply too effective. It actually obtained such a valuable product. Both ordinary players and elites require this Light Stone. Although our Fire Dragon Potions are also very useful, only elite teams and various Guilds can afford to buy them. Meanwhile, our stock of Fire Dragon Potions is very limited. As a competitive edge, it stands no chance against the Light Stone at all."

If they wanted to lure players to the Overwhelming Trading Firm, their only option was to do so with their common products.

"Right, from this moment onwards, halt all sales of the Fire Dragon Potion in White River City," Youlan said after giving it some more thought.

Their supply of Fire Dragon Potions had already been insufficient to meet the demands of Maple City. Now that they had opened a Shop in White River City as well, their stock had stretched even thinner, further reducing the Overwhelming Trading Firm's competitive edge. Moreover, there was a city tax imposed for selling the Fire Dragon Potions in White River City. This was also a considerable expenditure. So, now, their best option was to maintain the Overwhelming Trading Firm's competition in Maple City above all else.

"Understood," the female assistant then left the meeting room.

Overwhelming Trading Firm's price reduction on its common goods had indeed attracted more ordinary players.

Common items such as Whetstones and Advanced Whetstones, various food and beverages, Regeneration Potions and Mana Recovery Potions, basic scrolls and more were must-have items when grinding in the fields. Now that the Overwhelming Trading Firm offered a 40% discount on these items, many ordinary players ran to its Shops to purchase these items.

For a time, the weakened Overwhelming Trading Firm in Maple City suddenly stood on equal footing with the Candlelight Trading Firm.

The Candlelight Trading Firm had the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits and the Light Stones.

The Overwhelming Trading Firm possessed the Fire Dragon Potion and discounts on common goods.

This situation overjoyed Maple City's players.

While the Candlelight Trading Firm did not possess too large of an advantage in Maple City, in other cities, however, it was an entirely different story. The Trading Firm was like the sun at high noon in these cities. Because of the Light Stones, a large number of players swarmed the Candlelight Trading Firm's Shops. Most of these players might have initially arrived with the intention of only purchasing the Light Stones. However, upon seeing the wide array of products the Trading Firm offered, they fell prey to temptation and bought other items as well.

Suddenly, the Candlelight Trading Firm's income exploded.

Meanwhile, the Trading Firm's most exaggerated sources of income were still Star-Moon City and White River City. As the Candlelight Trading Firm had set up its Shops on these two cities' golden Lands, it had instantly become an unshakable player-owned trading firm there. The traffic other player-owned trading firms enjoyed was nothing compared to what the Candlelight Trading Firm saw.

Star-Moon City and White River City were Star-Moon Kingdom's first and second most populated cities, respectively. Naturally, the income they could offer was astonishing.

In a short few hours, the Candlelight Trading Firm had earned over a thousand Gold.

"Guild Leader, why don't we set up a few more Shops in other cities?" Melancholic Smile suggested when she saw the Trading Firm's profits.

This was only the income from seven cities. If they set up a Shop in every city throughout Star-Moon Kingdom...

"There is no rush. Right now, we are relying on the Light Stones produced by almost a hundred Basic Forgers to barely meet the demands of these seven cities. If we expand any further, it will do more harm than good. We should focus on nurturing a large number of Forgers and Alchemists," Shi Feng said with utter calm.

As for the income of over a thousand Gold in just a few hours, Shi Feng did not consider it odd in the least. However, players only purchased the Light Stones in large quantities at the moment due to their lack of the item. Once they had their own stock, they would only need to purchase them to resupply. Hence, the Candlelight Trading Firm's income would decrease gradually as more time went by. Regardless, it would still be a frightening amount of money.

"Guild Leader, what about the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits?" Melancholic Smile asked.

Previously, Shi Feng had told her to hold off on offering the kits for sale, confusing her.

"Have you not noticed that someone in White River City is buying Light Stones in absurd quantities?" Shi Feng laughed.

"There seems to be someone like that. When I examined the statistics, I discovered that someone had purchased 500 stacks in one go for a total of 95 Gold. Afterward, two others had purchased 300 stacks and 400 stacks, respectively. Even if these people bought the Light Stones for their own Guilds, they should not need to buy so many." Melancholic Smile nodded.

"Someone is intentionally trying to clean out our stock of Light Stones. If we push out the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits right now, what would we do if that person stops buying our Light Stones? Since someone is willingly purchasing our Light Stones in large quantities, who are we to stop them from giving us their money?" Shi Feng laughed.

The production of Light Stones was very fast. If a Basic Forger crafted them, the process for each Stone would typically take around six to eight seconds. After all, the materials only needed a little processing, and the finished product just needed a coating of magic runes. Though the process of adding the magic runes was somewhat troublesome initially, that would not be a problem once the Forgers were accustomed to it. After that, the only problem remaining was the success rate. Basic Forgers had a 60% success rate for forging the Light Stones. If they had good equipment and tools, their success rate could be increased to around 70% or so.

In other words, as there were 48 hours in each day in God's Domain, a single Basic Forger could produce roughly 20,000 Light Stones per day. If 100 people worked for two days continuously, they would have 4,000,000 Light Stones. Moreover, this was only with the condition that Basic Forgers produced the Light Stones. This time, Shi Feng had distributed all of the Light Stone Forging Designs, allowing many other Advanced Forging Apprentices to learn it as well. Only, their production speed was slightly slower.

Four million stones were the equivalent of 200,000 stacks. If they sold each stone at 1 Silver and each stack at 19 Silver, one would have to spend 38,000 Gold to purchase them all.

In all of God's Domain, Shi Feng did not believe that anyone possessed 38,000 Gold. And even if someone did, nobody would be so stupid as to spend it all on Light Stones. They would have long since invested it into buying Lands.

\---

Currently, Feng Xuanyang sat at one of the open-air tables in a high-class restaurant. He held a Light Stone in his hand, admiring it.

"This item's effects are truly impressive. If we buy out all the Candlelight Trading Firm's stockpile, they will have no choice but to limit the amount they sell. At that time, it will be the Overwhelming Trading Firm's time to shine," Feng Xuanyang laughed coldly.

It would be just like the Basic Mana Armor Kits. Back then, the supply of the Basic Mana Armor Kits had been too limited. As a result, the kit's price had risen from 20 Silver to 40 Silver when other players resold it. Even then, plenty of people still purchased them.

As soon as the Candlelight Trading Firm began limiting the amount of Light Stones it sold, he could turn around and sell the Light Stones he bought at an increased price. At that time, even if he sold them at 1.5 times the original price, a large number of players would still buy them. He would not have to fear a lack of customers.

"Young Master Feng, after using all the Coins we bought with Credits, as well as the Coins earned through the Overwhelming Trading Firm, we've purchased over 4,000 stacks of Light Stones. However, the Candlelight Trading Firm shows no signs of limiting its sales," the slightly chubby middle-aged man reported worriedly, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"What are you worried about? Now that we've purchased so many, they can't possibly have much left in their inventory. It won't be long before it is our time to shine," Feng Xuanyang comforted the man, utter confidence filling each word.

He had already asked the three Advanced Forging Apprentices he had previously poached, so he knew that Advanced Forging Apprentices had less than a 30% success rate for producing the Light Stones. Moreover, each stone required more than a dozen seconds to craft. Even if the Candlelight Trading Firm had over a dozen people forging Light Stones constantly, it could not accumulate a large stock over a few days. After they had purchased so many stacks, even if the Candlelight Trading Firm was not currently at its limit, it soon would be.

Now, all he had to do was wait.

Chapter 537 - legend resurface

Inside the Candlelight Trading Firm's serene and quiet Special Forging Room, after spending a long time planning for the Trading Firm's future, the sound of his communicator ringing suddenly entered Shi Feng's ears.

"He sure is fast." Shi Feng's lips curled up when he looked at the name of the caller.

The person contacting him this time was none other than Everlasting War, the person who had invited him to participate in the Dark Arena before.

Shi Feng promptly removed the Demon Mask's disguise, returning to his appearance as Ye Feng. He then accepted the call and said, "Brother Everlasting, long time no see! It seems that your strength has risen significantly once again!"

He could not see Everlasting War's current Level through the screen, but judging from the change in the other party's equipment, he could tell at a glance that Everlasting War had undergone quite an improvement.

The last time Shi Feng saw the Guardian Knight, Everlasting War was geared in a mix of Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold Equipment, with the latter numbering only three or four pieces. Now, however, the majority of his equipment was giving off the glow effect of Dark-Gold Equipment. One could easily imagine how much his combat power had increased.

"Everything I am wearing right now came from the corporation. As long as Brother Ye Feng officially joins the battle team, the corporation will naturally give you their full support as well," Everlasting War laughed.

He was delighted with the equipment he was wearing right now. Otherwise, he would not have purposefully revealed their special effects.

In reality, his objective in showing off his equipment was to display to Shi Feng the strength of the corporation sponsoring their battle team. Such strength was indeed not something the Guilds that one could find in the game could compare with. Take Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment for example. In the current God's Domain, such an item was scarce, and every piece could sell for an astronomical amount. Moreover, even if one could afford it, there was no guarantee that they would have a chance to buy one. Even first-rate Guilds only possessed several pieces. On the other hand, the majority of Everlasting War's equipment was Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment. The force backing him was evidently powerful.

"The time and venue for the test have already been set. It will be held four days from now in the Beast Empire's Capital City, Beast City. At that time, you only need to come to the Underground Arena of Beast City. I will be waiting for you there," Everlasting War said, his expression suddenly turning serious. "I hope that Brother Ye Feng treats this matter seriously. During these four days, try to improve your equipment's quality as much as possible. I've heard that the higher-ups of the corporation have also found quite a few experts to participate in the test this time around. Among them, a few even possess powerful backers themselves, and they are mostly apex experts of the virtual gaming world. The competition this time is sure to be very intense. However, as long as you manage to pass it, the treatment you will receive will surely exceed your imagination."

"Thank you for your reminder. I will make sure to arrive on time," Shi Feng laughed, not bothering to add anything else.

As for Everlasting War's advice for him to upgrade his equipment, Shi Feng had previously thought about doing so before. However, how could Epic Equipment possibly be that easy to obtain?

Epic Equipment? Shi Feng could not help but ponder.

At this point, he had already used up all the excess Life Force points he had saved up in the Icarus's Heart. If he wished to upgrade the necklace to Epic rank, he would have to collect the full 5,000 Life Force points required.

However, after using that many Life Force points to open Twilight Treasure Chests, he had also obtained quite a harvest.

Currently, he had also completed the Tier 1 Set Equipment for Shield Warriors and Guardian Knights. There were even a few extra set pieces for a second set. He had also completed the Tier 1 Set Equipment for Assassins, Elementalists, and Clerics. As for Berserkers, Rangers, and Druids, he was still missing one set piece for each class. He also obtained two extra set pieces for Swordsmen.

Other than these Tier 1 Set Equipment, he had also obtained plenty of Level 30 Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold Equipment. Overall, his harvest was quite bountiful.

"It's been some time since I last targeted Overwhelming Smile's members. If I go for them again right now, they should not be too on guard against me." Shi Feng licked his lips. There weren't many Twilight Treasure Chests remaining. If he could upgrade the Icarus's Heart to Epic rank and obtain another Shop Promotion Order, at that time, the Candlelight Trading Firm would truly become unstoppable.

Saying so, Shi Feng immediately went into action. After leaving the Special Forging Room, he immediately headed towards the Teleportation Hall.

Although it was somewhat inconvenient to take action during daytime, with his standards, he would have no problems ambushing a bunch of elite players.

Just as Shi Feng arrived at Maple City, Melancholic Smile called him.

"Guild Leader, that group of people has finally stopped buying Light Stones in bulk. Do we begin now?" Melancholic Smile asked with anticipation.

It had been quite some time since the Light Stones first went on sale. Now, the Candlelight Trading Firm's income was gradually decreasing as the enthusiasm of players began to cool down. If they added more fuel to the fire at this moment, they were bound to deal the other player-owned trading firms a significant blow, as well as solidify the Candlelight Trading Firm's position further.

"Okay. Since we've wrung them dry already, begin selling, then." Shi Feng nodded.

The reason why he chose not to sell the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits until now was his concern that some people would intentionally purchase them in bulk. Then, when the Candlelight Trading Firm's supply of the kits ran out, these people could take advantage of the situation to deal with the Candlelight Trading Firm, as well as earn a fortune while they were at it.

Hence, Shi Feng planned to utilize the Light Stones first, to deplete the funds of these people.

Soon, another new counter appeared simultaneously in the first-floor halls of the various Candlelight Trading Firms.

"Why was another counter added to the Candlelight Trading Firm?" a Berserker, who had come to purchase Light Stones, asked curiously.

"Hello, sir, this here is our Candlelight Trading Firm's latest product, the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit. This item will greatly increase your Attributes. Moreover, you can equip up to three kits at a time," the beautiful NPC saleswoman explained.

"What? This is the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit?!" The Berserker was stunned.

The Basic Mana Armor Kits had long since become a legend in the city. Currently, each kit sold for 50 Silver. Even so, many still wished to buy it. Unfortunately, there just was no supply for the item. Now that the Intermediate version of the kits had suddenly appeared, how could this not be surprising?

After the Berserker read the item description of the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit multiple times, he was finally sure that he was not hallucinating.

"Such powerful Attributes! Just a single Intermediate Mana Armor Kit is equal to three pieces of the Basic version!" The Berserker's eyes shone dazzlingly, his drool nearly leaking out of his mouth.

The Attributes of the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit were simply too shocking.

As long as one could equip three of these kits, it would be equivalent to wearing an additional piece of Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment!

Currently, despite the high demand for Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment, supply for it was practically nonexistent. Countless people could not buy one even if they wanted to. If he could equip three Intermediate Mana Armor Kits right now, it would be equivalent to having an additional piece of Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment. Just imagining it exhilarated the Berserker.

Battles in God's Domain relied on two things: the player's techniques and the player's Attributes.

At this stage of the game, even if one had passable techniques, they would still have to consider the Attributes of their equipment before they could try raiding a Dungeon.

To an ordinary player, even being fully geared in Mysterious-Iron Equipment was a dream, not to mention owning a piece of Dark-Gold Equipment. The Attributes of a single piece of Dark-Gold Equipment could easily rival that of multiple pieces of Mysterious-Iron Equipment. If an ordinary player could equip three Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, it would no doubt result in a massive increase in strength.

"Crap! I was only missing just that bit of Attribute to qualify for that 20-man Team Dungeon last time. If I can equip three of these Intermediate Mana Armor Kits right now, the team leader will definitely beg me to join them!" The Berserker could not help but fantasize.

However, when he laid his eyes on the price of the kits...

Each Intermediate Mana Armor Kit actually cost 5 Gold. Suddenly, the Berserker was dumbfounded...

Although ordinary players could not afford to buy the kit, news about it still spread like lightning. The kits became the headline news on the official forums right away.

Shocking Emergence of the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits!

Chapter 539 - moon kingdom

The appearance of the Intermediate Armor Kits immediately caused a commotion.

News about the Candlelight Trading Firm spread like a pandemic throughout the entire Star-Moon Kingdom. In just a dozen minutes or so, the initially fading hype over the Candlelight Trading Firm surged once more. Players throughout the kingdom were behaving even more wildly than before.

The Light Stone was merely common goods. Although it was of significant help to players, it did not provide any direct improvements towards a player's strength. It belonged to the category of support items. However, the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit was different; this was an item whose sole purpose was to increase a player's Attributes. Moreover, it provided a considerable increase.

Upon receiving news regarding this matter, many elite parties and teams that were out in the field immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed back to their respective cities. They made a straight dash to the Candlelight Trading Firm to purchase the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits. If they were even a little too slow, other players would no doubt buy out the kits. It would be just like the Basic Mana Armor Kit, which had already passed into legend.

According to the legend, many players who had managed to purchase the Basic Mana Armor Kits when they were initially released had already become experts by now. Some ordinary teams had also become top-tier teams capable of challenging Hard Mode, and even Hell Mode, Team Dungeons. However, Hell Mode was only limited to 10-man Dungeons.

To the majority of independent players, 20-man Team Dungeons were simply too difficult a challenge. The requirement of such Dungeons on a player's equipment foundation was just too high. The requisite level in combat techniques was also extremely high. Only a small number of Guild elite teams could clear such Dungeons.

"Team Leader, I've just received news that the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits are selling for a fraudulent price of 5 Gold per kit! We can't afford them even if we want to buy them!"

"They are indeed expensive. Even so, we still have to buy them. We must obtain them even if we have to borrow money to do so. I have deeply regretted not getting the Basic Mana Armor Kits. You should know our performance inside Team Dungeons as well. We are always short of just that small amount of damage and Defense. Unfortunately, no matter what we do, we aren't able to upgrade our equipment any further. In the end, those teams that had the luck to buy three Basic Mana Armor Kits managed to brute-force their way through the Bosses.

"Right now, a single Intermediate Mana Armor Kit could match up to three Basic Mana Armor Kits. As long as we get our team's MT three of these kits, we will be able to defeat the Bosses of the Team Dungeon. At that time, won't it be easy to earn back the money we spent?"

...

Many independent teams out in the field maps began taking action, using all means to collect money.

To elite teams, collecting 5 Gold was still relatively easy. However, it would be very difficult if they wished to obtain 15 Gold. Even so, they still endured the hardship as they tried to amass 15 Gold.

After all, the effects of having an additional piece of Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment on an MT was quite significant.

Normally, 20-man Normal Mode Team Dungeons dropped Mysterious-Iron rank; Secret-Silver Equipment only dropped if one possessed heaven-defying luck. Meanwhile, there were only three or four Bosses inside a Team Dungeon, and each Boss dropped just two or three pieces of equipment. On average, one could get roughly ten Mysterious-Iron Equipment with each Dungeon run. After factoring in the money and items obtained from the Dungeon monsters, a team earned around 4 Gold to 5 Gold each time they raided a 20-man Normal Mode Team Dungeon.

There was also the need to factor in the team's various expenses, loss of EXP, and such, which further reduced the team's profits.

Not to mention, the team's twenty members would split this profit. In the end, each member of the team would receive only a meager amount of money.

However, the income one could obtain from a Hard Mode Team Dungeon was significantly higher. The Bosses inside such a Dungeon would drop at least one Secret-Silver Equipment with nearly a 100% certainty. There was even the possibility of Bosses dropping two or three pieces of Secret-Silver Equipment at the same time. Even the monsters of the Dungeon had a fixed chance of dropping Mysterious-Iron Equipment. Another point was that only Hard Mode Team Dungeons dropped certain necessary raw materials. After adding up the various types of income, a team would typically earn at least 10 Gold from every Dungeon run—more than double that of Normal Mode Team Dungeons.

If a team managed to clear a Normal Mode Team Dungeon, they would be able to sate their hunger at most. However, if they succeeded in raiding a Hard Mode Team Dungeon, they would be able to dine like kings.

Every time inside bars, there was bound to be some amazing teams celebrating their successful raid over a Hard Mode Team Dungeon, earning the envy of the surrounding players.

Now that everyone received such an opportunity again, the players naturally had to make a desperate effort for it.

For a time, players swarmed the Candlelight Trading Firm. However, a majority of the players who came were only here to act as a placeholder for now.

That was right—a placeholder.

The teams backing these players were currently still in the midst of collecting money. As soon as they gathered enough, they would immediately purchase the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits from the Trading Firm, afraid that the kits would sell out.

Although few independent players could afford the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, it was an entirely different story for Guilds. Guilds were already willing to invest thousands of Gold in a single Shop, not to mention spending several hundred Gold to equip their core teams with Intermediate Armor Kits. If Guilds could fully outfit their core teams with Intermediate Armor Kits, the combat power of these teams would rise to a whole new level. There was no question that it was a worthwhile investment.

All the Guilds that had received news regarding the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits immediately hurried over to the Candlelight Trading Firm. Moreover, these Guilds were incredibly ambitious, each and every one of them asking to buy 100 or more kits without hesitation.

"What did you say? Why aren't you selling it to me?" a Guild representative shouted angrily. "Have a good look! I don't lack the money to pay for them!"

"Sir, my apologies, but since the supply for the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits is too limited, we are only selling it in limited quantities. Ordinary players are allowed to buy at most one kit each time. As you are representing a Guild, you will only be allowed to buy a maximum of nine kits. If you are from one of the Guilds partnered with the Candlelight Trading Firm, you will be allowed to purchase up to 21 kits at a single time." The beautiful NPC saleswoman smiled faintly, paying no heed to the actions of the angry player before her.

"Damn! Give me nine for now, then!" The Guild representative was helpless about the situation as the Guild he belonged to was not a partner of the Candlelight Trading Firm. He had no choice but to buy nine kits for now and have the Guild send more members to make additional purchases. Only, they would have to waste a lot of time using this method. There were just too many players coming to buy the kits, and even lining up was extremely troublesome and time-consuming.

Although the Candlelight Trading Firm had only set up Shops in a few cities, when players and Guilds of other cities heard of the news regarding the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, they had promptly made their way over to cities that housed the Candlelight Trading Firm.

Among them, the number of players running over to White River City was the highest.

The Candlelight Trading Firms based in White River City had the largest allocation of Intermediate Mana Armor Kits. That number was practically the total of all of the branch Shops. Hence, many players from the various major cities and Guild representatives all came over to White River City.

Moreover, this allocation was something Shi Feng had deliberately instructed Melancholic Smile to do. He had done so with the intention of increasing White River City's population. Once everyone realized the uniqueness of White River City, some players would surely consider developing themselves here instead, out of convenience. Meanwhile, this would indirectly increase Zero Wing's strength.

At this moment, the Guilds that had previously chosen to partner themselves with the Candlelight Trading Firm were celebrating in joy. Previously, most, if not all, of them felt that they had taken a huge loss by partnering with Candlelight. Now, however, they had become the envy of all the other Guilds. Being able to purchase 21 kits at a single time had saved them plenty of trouble.

Right now, the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits were priceless. Currently, people were offering to buy the kits for 8 Gold Coins, and this price was still rising. Even so, nobody was willing to sell their kits. Moreover, under the oversight of the system, independent players could purchase only one Intermediate Mana Armor Kit. Nobody wished to waste this precious opportunity, so they would not readily sell the kits they had obtained.

\---

Just as many Guilds were fighting to purchase the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, silence filled Overwhelming Smile's Guild Residence in White River City.

Inside the Guild Residence's meeting room, several veins were bulging on Feng Xuanyang's forehead. He was very nearly at the point of erupting.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Feng Xuanyang violently slammed his fists down on the wooden table, and after a few consecutive blows, even the wooden table shattered.

"Young Master Feng, you must calm down!"

"Calm down?! How do you want me to calm down?!"

Feng Xuanyang's eyes had already turned blood-red by now. If possible, he wished he could devour the Candlelight Trading Firm whole, right this instant.

In order to purchase the Light Stones in large quantities, he had invested another 100 million of his own money. Meanwhile, he had done so with the intention of earning back the 50 million he had previously lost. He had even thrown in all the earnings of the Overwhelming Trading Firm into the mix. But all he had accomplished was purchasing a bunch of goods that had a seemingly endless supply. The most infuriating part was that, upon receiving news regarding the Candlelight Trading Firm, his superiors had immediately ordered him to buy 300 Intermediate Mana Armor Kits.

However, where was he supposed to get so many Coins?

Three hundred kits would cost 1,500 Gold. Previously, he had indeed possessed this amount of money. Now, however, it was already gone.

Chapter 539 - dominant force

"Young Master Feng, if there really is no other way, then let's sell the Light Stones we bought cheaply. This way, we can get back most of the money we lost."

"Sell them cheaply?"

Feng Xuanyang pondered. He had indeed thought about this method before.

However...

Who would want to buy them?

Currently, everyone had their eyes on the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, throwing everything they had into accumulating money. Since the appearance of the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, even the exchange rate for Coins had risen significantly. How could anyone possibly bother to buy Light Stones?

Even if someone were to buy his Light Stones, just how many could he possibly sell?

He had a full 10,000 stacks piled up in his hands right now!

"Forget it. If I have to make a loss, so be it. I have to complete the task the higher-ups gave me. Sell the Light Stones at a 20% discount, then. Sell as many as you can. Even if we can't sell them all, we can at least make some trouble for the Candlelight Trading Firm," Feng Xuanyang sighed.

The management of Underworld was extremely strict. If he did not complete his assignment, the consequences would be very severe. He had only managed to reach this position in the organization after many difficulties. Naturally, he could not fall short after coming this far.

These 10,000 stacks of Light Stones had cost him 1,900 Gold, more than half of which came from Underworld and the Overwhelming Trading Firm. Although he would lose a significant sum of money by selling the Light Stones at a 20% discount, at least he could earn back Underworld's and Overwhelming Smile's shares of the money. He would also have the 1,500 Gold required to purchase the 300 Intermediate Mana Armor Kits.

Sometime later, the Overwhelming Trading Firm also began selling Light Stones. Moreover, due to Underworld's connections, Feng Xuanyang managed to quickly get in touch with the various Guilds around Star-Moon Kingdom. Light Stones were still not available in many cities around the kingdom, which left the demands of many players unsated. So, selling the Light Stones at a 20% discount prompted many players to fight to purchase them. Only, for every stack of Light Stones sold, Feng Xuanyang would feel a painful sting in his heart.

\---

Just as the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits were selling hotly in White River City, Star-Moon City had also gone into a frenzy. Currently, upper managers of the various large Guilds based in the capital stood in front of the counter inside the Candlelight Trading Firm, their eyes bloodshot.

"I am the Vice Leader of the Wind God Guild. Call out your boss for me. I have a big business proposal that I wish to discuss with him."

"I am an Elder of the Rainbow Guild. Why aren't you calling your upper management to come to greet me yet?"

Various Guilds in Star-Moon City were thinking of ways to contact the upper management of the Candlelight Trading Firm. Unfortunately, no matter what words they used, the NPCs hired by the Candlelight Trading Firm completely ignored them, leaving them restless.

Initially, the various large Guilds in Star-Moon City were only somewhat surprised when the Candlelight Trading Firm had set up a Shop in the city. They never expected that someone could actually afford to buy a plot of Land in the golden area of the city and even set up a Shop there. Now, however, they could not help but wish they could purchase the entire Candlelight Trading Firm. Using Credits, of course. If they had to buy using Coins, even if they added up the funds of every Guild in the city, they would not be able to afford to buy the Trading Firm.

\---

"Guild Leader, I've received information stating that the Candlelight Trading Firm's main branch is in White River City. Although the Firm has set up a Shop in the capital, its management seems to be based at White River City," a graceful and elegant female Elementalist reported to the strong and dignified-looking man beside her.

Meanwhile, inside a coffee shop a short distance away from the Candlelight Trading Firm, many male players had promptly shifted their gaze to this tall beauty upon noticing her.

In this day and age, with the popularity of nutrition and fitness, one could easily find handsome men and beautiful women. However, it was still extremely difficult if one wished to have a top-tier beauty accompany them inside the game. Not to mention, that beauty appeared to be that man's young secretary.

"Bro, when do you think we can live like that guy?" a Level 24 Guardian Knight muttered enviously.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" the Level 25 Ranger beside the Guardian Knight scoffed. "Do you know who that man is?"

"Isn't he just a little rich? What's there to be proud of? If I had that kind of money, beauties would surely throw themselves at me. I could also look for a group of little secretaries to play God's Domain with me," the Guardian Knight replied with disdain.

"Look at yourself. It's no wonder you've been in this pitiful state all your life." The Level 25 Ranger slowly explained, "Let me tell you, that man is not just some useless Prince Charming. He is someone who has achieved success due to his own efforts. Moreover, he's only 34 years old. I am also certain that you have heard of his name before."

"What's he called?" the Guardian Knight asked curiously.

"He's the Star Alliance's Guild Leader, Galaxy Past!" the Ranger laughed. He then looked towards the woman standing beside Galaxy Past, adding, "That beauty is also no ordinary person. She is Purple Eye. She was ranked 931st in the latest God's Domain Ranking List. Although her rank is lower than Red Feather's, her strength is even superior to his. Do you think you can hire such a beautiful expert as your secretary just because you have money?"

The Guardian Knight fell silent, no longer daring to speak another word.

Star Alliance was currently one of the two top Guilds in Star-Moon City. However, as Ouroboros recently had a change in leadership and was facing problems with internal strife, Star Alliance had more or less become Star-Moon City's number one Guild.

He would simply be seeking his own death if he dared to fool around with Galaxy Past's little secretary inside Star-Moon City. He might even end up returning to Level 0 in the very next day.

"Guild Leader, do you think they are talking about you?" Purple Eye laughed.

"How could it possibly be me? They are clearly talking about the great beauty at my side," Galaxy Past laughed. "Alright, ignore them. We have more important matters to address. Now that the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit has appeared, nobody in Star-Moon Kingdom can afford to sit still and do nothing. It seems that we'll have to make a trip to White River City."

"Star-Moon Kingdom's Eastern Region has always been secretly controlled by that mysterious organization named Underworld. We have always minded our own business. If we head over to their territory right now, I'm afraid that it would bring about negative effects," Purple Eye warned.

"I don't care. If we let Underworld monopolize the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, what will we do about our development, then?" A cold glint flashed across Galaxy Past's eyes as he said, "In reality, Underworld has long since been an eyesore. Unfortunately, the organization's strength is altogether too massive and extensive. It has spread its influence across multiple kingdoms, and even into the Black Dragon Empire. So, before this, I would only avoid looking for trouble with Underworld if possible. However, if Underworld thinks it can monopolize the Intermediate Mana Armor kits, they can think again!"

The impact of the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits was too massive.

Just being able to have every member of their core team receive the Attributes of an extra piece of Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment was already very frightening. Moreover, these kits would not drop upon death. If they could equip even their Guild's elite members with these kits, their Guild would practically be invincible.

\---

Meanwhile, inside Ouroboros's Guild Residence...

"Snow, are you really going to go?" Zhao Yueru asked, her brows knitted together. "We've just managed to stabilize the situation over here recently. If you head over to White River City, it would be troublesome if someone tries something in Star-Moon City while you are away."

"Yueru, you should know that I don't wish to leave at such a time, either. However, I must make a trip there personally for this matter." Gentle Snow shook her head. "I'll leave this place to you for now. I'll try to return as quickly as possible."

At the same time, the upper managers of the various large Guilds in Star-Moon City had also begun bringing along their men to White River City.

Chapter 540 - grand gathering

While Shi Feng hunted and harvested members of Overwhelming Smile...

White River City had become the focal point of Star-Moon Kingdom. Many upper managers from first-rate and second-rate Guilds had arrived in White River City.

"What's going on? Why are so many Guilds in White River City? I've never seen many of them before."

"I heard that they've come to partner with the Candlelight Trading Firm. There are even Guilds from the surrounding kingdoms, including the Black Dragon Empire who have shown up, let alone Star-Moon Kingdom's Guilds."

"Weren't others saying how empire players were much stronger than kingdom players? That doesn't seem to be the case to me. In the end, haven't they still come over to our White River City for some advantage?"

"They've only come here because of the Candlelight Trading Firm. Look at the other kingdoms. Which one of them possesses a Shop that sells Intermediate Mana Armor Kits? Right now, nobody has any Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment for sale at all. Meanwhile, the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits are even more powerful than Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment, and the Candlelight Trading Firm can produce it in large quantities. Having it and not can make a huge difference to Dungeon-raiding progress and PvP fights. Naturally, these Guilds realize how important such an item is."

The players filling White River City's streets and alleyways discussed the large number of Guilds gathering in White River City, and a sense of pride bloomed in their hearts. No one would have thought that a Lifestyle Guild could possess so much influence.

"Damn! Why have so many people come here?!" At this moment, Feng Xuanyang watched the growing number of Guild representatives enter the Candlelight Trading Firm, wrathful flames burning in his eyes.

To collect the required 1,500 Gold, he had gone through a lot of trouble to sell the Light Stones; he also had to add in a large sum of his own Credits. Meanwhile, it was obvious that the reason many Guilds had come here today was none other than to purchase the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits.

The Candlelight Trading Firm did not offer a large supply of Intermediate Mana Armor Kits. It had been a huge challenge for him to buy 300 kits for himself. Now that more competitors had appeared, his chances of fulfilling that quota had shrunk further.

Among the Guilds that had arrived, the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion from the Black Dragon Empire was the most powerful. It was the first-rate Guild that was the closest to becoming a Super Guild. Unfortunately, the Pavilion was younger than those true Super Guilds, having been established later. Otherwise, it would have joined the Super Guilds' ranks by now.

Meanwhile, the force and financial prowess backing the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion was no less than that of an organization like Underworld. Currently, the Pavilion was the Black Dragon Empire's number one Guild. Other first-rate Guilds stood no chance against it.

The Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion had sent one of its two Pavilion Masters, the Dragon Pavilion Master, as its representative. In the Guild, the Dragon Pavilion Master's status was only below that of the Great Pavilion Master.

The Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion's management style was different from other Guilds. Normally, a Guild's management personnel consisted of the Guild Leader, Vice Leaders, Elders, and so on. On the other hand, the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion could be split into two Pavilions: the Dragon Pavilion and the Phoenix Pavilion. Each Pavilion was the equivalent of a single Guild, and both Pavilions developed themselves independent of each other. Meanwhile, a Pavilion Master governed each Pavilion. One could say that the Pavilion Masters were the equivalents of the Guild Leader of a Guild. Moreover, the influence each Pavilion wielded equaled that of a top-tier first-rate Guild. With both Pavilions merged, one could just imagine how powerful the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion was.

The Great Pavilion Master managed the coordination between the two Pavilions. This Great Pavilion Master was extremely mysterious and secretive. Even until now, there had yet to be anyone who knew the Great Pavilion Master's identity. However, the fact that this person was capable of managing two first-rate Guilds at the same time showed how capable they were.

"Young Master Feng, we should be celebrating!" the slightly chubby man beside Feng Xuanyang said, smiling.

"Celebratory Alcohol, what are you trying to say?" Feng Xuanyang frowned, saying, "With so many competitors here right now, how will I possibly be able to buy 300 Intermediate Mana Armor Kits?"

"Young Master Feng, hasn't our initial goal been to defeat the Candlelight Trading Firm and establish our own trade empire in White River City?" Celebratory Alcohol slowly explained, "If only little fish and shrimp visit the firm, it would indeed be a good thing for the Candlelight Trading Firm. However, those who have arrived are all tigers and leopards; this is not good news for the Trading Firm.

"Think about it; the people that have shown up are either here to purchase the Candlelight Trading Firm or seek a partnership. However, who doesn't want to monopolize the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits for themselves? It is especially true for the people from the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion. In order to become a true Super Guild, the Pavilion has ignored all costs and recruited a large number of experts. They even managed to recruit five of last year's top ten newcomers to the virtual gaming world, not to mention experts who have already been famous for many years.

"Currently, the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit is the perfect item for the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion to advance itself. Naturally, the Guild will not let go of this chance to obtain the kit for itself. The other Guilds should feel the same.

"However, Young Master Feng, you have personally seen the personality of the Candlelight Trading Firm's manager. Even Miss Youlan was helpless against her. One can just imagine what kind of response these newly arrived Guilds will receive. At that time, things will definitely end on a sour note, and the Candlelight Trading Firm will make enemies of the various Guilds. At that time, not only will we have the opportunity to complete the task given by the higher-ups, but we can also take the opportunity to deal with the Candlelight Trading Firm."

When Celebratory Alcohol finished speaking, realization dawned upon Feng Xuanyang.

"You're right! We'll have a good show to watch this time!" Feng Xuanyang began laughing madly.

On the surface, although this seemed like a grand gathering, in reality, it was a festival of murder.

If the Candlelight Trading Firm offended the Guilds that had arrived, these Guilds would hold nothing back to suppress the Candlelight Trading Firm. If Underworld added fuel to the fire, who would dare to supply the Candlelight Trading Firm? Who would dare sell their materials to the Candlelight Trading Firm? Any Guild or Workshop that did would lose any hope of succeeding in God's Domain. Even if the Candlelight Trading Firm were only a Lifestyle Guild and could not be dealt with like a Combat Guild, it could not survive without materials, forging designs, recipes, and other such items. Sooner or later, the items that were highly sought after now would become obsolete. At that time, the Candlelight Trading Firm would be finished.

\---

"Big Sis Melancholic, there are so many Guilds in the first floor's hall today that I nearly lost count. There are over a hundred Guilds who registered to meet with us to discuss business. Among them, there are over a dozen first-rate Guilds. It also seems that they have come with bad intentions. What should we do?" one of Melancholic Smile's female assistants asked nervously.

No ordinary player would ever have dreamed such a scene.

Star-Moon Kingdom only had several first-rate Guilds. Now, not only had every one of these first-rate Guilds arrived, but there were even first-rate and second-rate Guilds from other kingdoms and empires as well.

"I understand. Have the NPCs welcome them for now. I'll try to think of a solution in the meantime."

Melancholic Smile also struggled with the situation. She had never expected that the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits would have such a huge influence. They had attracted a pack of hungry wolves and beasts to their doorstep.

If she had known something like this would happen, she never would have suggested that Shi Feng sell the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits. Even if they wanted to sell them, they should have only done so after the Candlelight Trading Firm had secured its position in Star-Moon Kingdom.

Now, however, they were surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Although Melancholic Smile really wished to solve this problem by herself, she could not come up with any ideas. This situation was different than the previous one she had handled with the Guilds. If she approached this forcefully, she would offend the major powers of several kingdoms and an empire. To put it simply, she would be seeking her own death.

Helpless, Melancholic Smile had no choice but to contact Shi Feng. She was truly out of options, and she could only hope that Shi Feng had something up his sleeve...