Reincarnation Of The Strongest Sword God - Chapter 184

Chapter 184: Absolute Suppression

At this moment, Brilliant Wargod’s Giant Bear Waraxe left a deep red streak across Shi Feng’s arm.

In God’s Domain, although players would not receive high damages when their limbs were attacked, they would feel a faint numbing feeling in their limbs. Moreover, the numbing effect lasted for quite some time. During this time, players’ reactions would slow down, affecting their battle conditions and slightly reducing their battle prowess.

However, players would rarely attack limbs when they PKed others, as there was no meaning to such an action. Compared to attacking the limbs, the body was a much easier target. After all, it was much easier to defend against an attack aimed at the limbs. Moreover, the limbs were much more nimble than the body, making them harder to hit. Most importantly, however, attacking vital points on the body would cause much more damage.

Normally, only when experts PKed new players, would experts use such an attack method to toy with the new players.

Right now, Brilliant Wargod clearly intended to toy with Shi Feng.

However, although Shi Feng had been hurt, he did not scream in pain as expected. This utterly surprised Aqua Rose.

Shi Feng was, after all, only a forger. In God’s Domain, he would be the equivalent of a civilian worker, and his pain tolerance would be very low. Even if he were a battle veteran of God’s Domain, his face would at least twitch, and he would suck in a light breath when he received an attack.

No matter how she looked at it, with Shi Feng’s subclass as a forger, he should at least make a sound as he was hit.

Was it possible that Shi Feng had turned off his pain perception completely? Normally, experts would maintain their pain perception at 30%, and only the newcomers and noobs would turn it off as they could not endure the pain. However, a majority of the players in God’s Domain would maintain it around 20%. No matter how one looked at Shi Feng, he was by no means a newcomer or a noob, so it was impossible that he would turn off his pain perception completely. Yet, his arm sustained the hit just now, but not the slightest hint of pain showed on his face. On the contrary, a smile filled his face right now; this was simply too abnormal.

However, Brilliant Wargod paid no mind to these matters. Although he felt that something was missing, such as the screams of pain, that would not deter his continued attacks on Shi Feng. Axe swing after axe swing landed on Shi Feng’s four limbs, and after a full five seconds, Brilliant Wargod nearly roared with excitement from his ceaseless attacking.

Meanwhile, Aqua Rose’s shock grew as she stood a distance away and watched the scene before her.

“Black Flame, which location’s god are you?!”

However, she was not shocked due to how precise Brilliant Wargod’s crazy attacks were. Instead, she was shocked by the HP bar above Shi Feng.

Brilliant Wargod’s frantic attacks barely reduced Shi Feng’s HP. As of this moment, Shi Feng had only lost 10% of his total HP. On the contrary, after five seconds passed, Shi Feng’s HP once again rose to 95%.

The most shocking thing to Aqua Rose was how little damage Brilliant Wargod inflicted on Shi Feng.

Although Brilliant Wargod was a Shield Warrior, and his damage was much less than a Berserker with the same standards, at the end of the day, Brilliant Wargod still wore a set of Level 9 Mysterious-Iron Set Equipment. He also wielded the Secret-Silver rank Giant Bear Waraxe, so his Attack Power was no less than a normal Level 9 Berserker.

Even though Brilliant Wargod did not use any skills, his normal attacks failed to cause over -15 damage with each strike. Wasn’t Shi Feng’s Defense a little too frightening?

“Why do you still have so much HP?” Brilliant Wargod, who had attacked all this time, suddenly stilled his hands. He had wanted to see Shi Feng’s suffering expression, yet, he was immediately shocked to discover that Shi Feng did not lose much HP at all. He then looked at his damage log, discovering a series of damages that was only around -10…

“You have keen reactions, precise attacks, good battle techniques, above average standards, and you’re capable of activating Extraordinary Condition. It’s as expected of Twilight Echo’s fifth ranking Shield Warrior,” Shi Feng made a general deduction of Brilliant Wargod’s standards. He then said with a smile, “Since you’re done attacking, it should be my turn now.”

Shi Feng was currently Level 14 while Brilliant Wargod was only Level 9. In God’s Domain, if players and monsters had a level gap of 3 Levels, then due to the level suppression, players would have their damage reduced by around 50%. Meanwhile, in a situation where both sides consisted of players, the party with the lower level would have their damage reduced by 65%. If the gap grew to 5 Levels, then there would be an 80% damage reduction; for 10 Levels and above, the damage reduction was 95% and above.

In addition, Shi Feng currently wore the Silvermoon Set Equipment, so his Defense was very high, to begin with. After he had risen to Level 14, his Endurance Attribute increased just beyond 80 points, activating the Hidden Passive Skill for Endurance, Basic Body Strengthening. With this passive skill, all attacks causing less than 50 damage were greatly weakened, his battle recovery rate would slightly increase, and his Stamina recovery would slightly improve as well.

Due to the damage Brilliant Wargod caused him being extremely low, his battle recovery could replenish most of his lost HP in one-shot.

This was the specialty of virtual reality games. Due to the gap in levels and Attributes, the disparity in strength was worlds apart. Brilliant Wargod was obviously unaware of this.

“Stop bluffing. You’re merely a blockhead with high Defense. Watch how I’ll get rid of you and send you back to Level 0! Regret becoming my enemy!” Brilliant Wargod did not and would not believe that Shi Feng could retaliate. He raised his Giant Bear Waraxe, sending a fierce slash towards Shi Feng’s chest.

Brilliant Wargod no longer fooled around. He wanted to get rid of Shi Feng instantly like a fierce gale, so he coupled his attack with a skill.

However, standing at a distance, Aqua Rose did not think that Shi Feng bluffed at all. Since the start of the battle, Shi Feng had waved his sword only once, then stood without moving, allowing Brilliant Wargod to attack him for an entire five seconds continuously.

Five seconds… Even the weakest players could attack or defend many times within this amount of time. Yet, Shi Feng chose to do nothing at all…

The moment Brilliant Wargod’s Giant Bear Axe passed through Shi Feng’s body, Brilliant Wargod involuntarily revealed a cold smile. His belief that Shi Feng only bluffed was reaffirmed.

“Afterimage!” Brilliant Wargod immediately noticed that sensation of his axe passing through Shi Feng felt odd. At this moment, he realized that the Shi Feng before him was simply an afterimage. He then spun, searching for Shi Feng’s position.

At this moment, Shi Feng had already arrived at Brilliant Wargod’s back. His movements were silent as if he did not exist at all. Shi Feng’s right hand twitched, and the Abyssal Blade lightly pierced through Brilliant Wargod’s back. A hole appeared in the hard armor that Brilliant Wargod wore, and the Shield Warrior instantly felt his heart cool to freezing temperatures.

Brilliant Wargod felt an immense pain in his chest. Since when had a young master like himself experienced such a degree of pain? Immediately, he released an agonizing scream as a damage of over -300 appeared above his head. With a single hit, Brilliant Wargod lost over a fifth of his total HP.

“Such speed and Attack Power!” Aqua Rose had distinctly witnessed it from a distance, and her shock-filled eyes involuntarily blinked as a result. She did not think that Shi Feng, as a forger, would actually be so amazing in battle. His Attack Power was simply inhumane. Because of the equipment he possessed, Brilliant Wargod’s Defense was frightening. Yet, Shi Feng’s normal attack dealt over -300 damage to the Warrior…

Between the two of them, be it Defense or Attack Power, Brilliant Wargod was far from Shi Feng’s equal. The disparity in strength was clear for all to behold. The two of them were on completely different levels.

It was simply unbelievable. Even with Brilliant Wargod’s standards, there was still an evident gap in strength between him and Shi Feng. This fight had completely renewed Aqua Rose’s recognition of God’s Domain.

After stabbing Brilliant Wargod once, Shi Feng did not give Brilliant Wargod any chances. He once again waved the Abyssal Blade, sending a Chop at Brilliant Wargod’s body. Shi Feng landed a triple damage critical attack, causing over -2,400 damage and instantly killing Brilliant Wargod.

Chapter 185: Ruined Mountain Range

Shi Feng pulled back his sword, sliding it back into its scabbard.

Immediately after, an agonizing wail resounded throughout the streets.

Brilliant Wargod stared Shi Feng with eyes filled with poisonous hatred. However, there was also a thread of fear hidden within that hatred. After all, Shi Feng had only used a single Swordsman skill, Chop, to kill him instantly. Brilliant Wargod’s past confidence and arrogance had, at this moment, shattered.

He quietly watched as his HP frantically decreased, and in the blink of an eye, he only had 1 HP remaining. Brilliant Wargod fell to his knees, his eyes filled with shock and fear.

As this was only a duel, Brilliant Wargod could escape death this time.

However, as Brilliant Wargod regained some of his spirit, he finally understood Shi Feng’s comment of this would be a boring battle. At that time, Brilliant Wargod had still thought that it was Shi Feng’s arrogance, not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth. In reality, however…

“No!”

Brilliant Wargod exclaimed as he noticed his levels swiftly decreasing. In the blink of an eye, he had already fallen to Level 0.

Although duels would not allow players to die, the punishment the losing party received would not be altered in the slightest.

The sinister punishment Brilliant Wargod had previously set for Shi Feng had all come biting back at him. The system also transferred the map he gambled into Shi Feng’s inventory.

This time, not only had he dug his own grave, but he also bought his own coffin, suffering twice the loss.

“Miss Aqua, I’m done. Let’s continue our talks,” Shi Feng looked towards Aqua Rose with a smile as he spoke.

Brilliant Wargod glared at Shi Feng with a malicious expression, his teeth gnashing. Immediately after Shi Feng turned his back on Brilliant Wargod, the Shield Warrior took out a Tier 1 Magic Scroll, using it on Shi Feng.

“Black Flame, die!” the Tier 1 Magic Scroll that Brilliant Wargod used was a flame-type spell called Flame Spear. The scroll contained a relatively strong, single-target, destructive spell. In any case, Brilliant Wargod had already fallen to Level 0. He would not suffer a loss if the guards captured and jailed him. At worst, he would just have to delete his account and start all over again. It would be acceptable if he could kill Shi Feng and appease his hatred.

“Careful…!” Aqua Rose warned.

Shi Feng did not expect Brilliant Wargod to be insane enough to dare attack him in the middle of Blackwing City. However, due to the short distance between them, it was too late by the time Shi Feng realized Brilliant Wargod’s actions.

The Flame Spear instantly struck Shi Feng’s back, and Brilliant Wargod revealed a sinister smile as his attack landed.

This Flame Spear was Brilliant Wargod’s trump card. It was capable of causing up to 2,000 flame damage to a single target. Even if Shi Feng were amazing, he was a single Swordsman. How high could his HP be? It would already be heaven-defying if he had 1,200 HP. With this 2,000 damage, Shi Feng would unquestionably die.

After the raging flames dissipated, Shi Feng’s HP madly fell.

“Hahaha! So what if you are amazing? Since you dared provoke this young master, only death awaits you!” Brilliant Wargod laughed loudly as he watched Shi Feng’s full HP trickle to zero.

“Brilliant Wargod, you are too despicable!” With this action, Aqua Rose finally saw through to Brilliant Wargod’s true self. She did not think that he would be such despicable filth without even the most basic self-respect.

“Despicable? The victor becomes king, whereas the loser becomes a bandit! He can only blame himself for his own lack of skills!” Brilliant Wargod sneered as he spoke.

However, Brilliant Wargod’s smile quickly faded the moment he discovered that Shi Feng’s HP had stopped decreasing after reaching 20%.

“Why? Why aren’t you dead?” Looking at Shi Feng standing there, Brilliant Wargod retreated several steps; his trembling finger pointed at Shi Feng as he panicked.

“This, you don’t need to know. However, since you’ve dared take action here, I’m guessing that you’re prepared to receive your punishment,” Shi Feng softly said. He chuckled as he clapped at the flames remaining on his body, extinguishing them.

The damage caused by the Flame Spear could indeed kill a Level 14 player with one hit. However, Shi Feng was different. He possessed 20 points of Fire Resistance. He also had the Basic Body Strengthening passive skill activated, which would somewhat increase some of the hidden magic resistance. In addition, Shi Feng currently had a maximum HP of 1,840 points, so a single Flame Spear was not enough to kill him. To put it another way, Tier 1 Magic had no possibility of killing him with a single hit. At most, it would gravely injure him.

“Im… Impossible…!” Brilliant Wargod was completely dumbfounded by this scene. After all, that was the most powerful Tier 1 Magic Scroll he had in his possession.

“It can’t be, right?” Aqua Rose was similarly shocked. Fire-type magic possessed the highest destructive force of all elemental magic. Yet, Shi Feng had survived after taking a direct hit from a Tier 1 fire-type spell. Just what kind of Defense did he possess? Aqua Rose even started to suspect that Shi Feng was a Shield Warrior or a Guardian Knight in disguise. However, even Guardian Knights possessing the highest magic resistance could not forcefully survive this move.

While the two suffered their shock, the Black Knights of Blackwing City had arrived.

Compared to other towns and normal cities, Blackwing City’s management was far more strict. The penalties it administered were even more unbearable. Hence, in Shi Feng’s previous life, no players dared cause a scene while in Blackwing City. Any who did simply sought their own deaths. Not to mention, Brilliant Wargod had actually dared attack Shi Feng, who possessed the status of a Demon Hunter.

Hence, Shi Feng did not immediately take action against Brilliant Wargod. In reality, he simply waited for the punishment Blackwing City would provide to Brilliant Wargod.

“Brilliant Wargod, you have committed an offense against Blackwing City’s laws. Moreover, you attacked the Lord Demon Hunter. From now on, you will remain in jail in Blackwing City for 15 days. After your release, all your Attributes would be decreased by 10% for a duration of ten days, and the EXP you gain will decrease by 20%,” the Black Knight Captain walked up to Brilliant Wargod, stating his verdict.

Hearing such a penalty, Aqua Rose sucked in a cold breath. This penalty was simply too heavy. Even if they locked Brilliant Wargod up for 15 days, as an elder of Twilight Echo, there were other people available to help him level back up. However, now that he was Level 0, with the 15-day gap and 20% EXP gain reduction, Brilliant Wargod would need to grind ceaselessly for over a month to catch up with the level of the majority of the players, not to mention catching up to the top-ranking players.

“Hahaha! Black Flame, I admit that you are amazing! However, from the moment I took action, I had already decided to delete my account and start all over again! Did you really think I would fear the system punishment?” Although Brilliant Wargod trembled slightly when he heard the penalty he was to receive, giving it another thought, he planned to delete and rebuild his account. What should he be afraid of?

“Is that so? Then, I look forward to you deleting and rebuilding your account,” Shi Feng smiled faintly, not bothering to explain.

Seeing Brilliant Wargod’s confident smile, Shi Feng could not bear to shatter his fantasies. Brilliant Wargod thought too lightly of God’s Domain. If a pig-brained person like Brilliant Wargod could think of such a method to escape punishment, the Main God System would certainly have a solution.

In Shi Feng’s previous life, plenty of players had thought of God’s Domain as only a virtual reality game; they thought they could do whatever they wanted. There were even some players who had done unscrupulous and condemnable things towards female NPCs. After all, these players all thought they could simply avoid punishment by deleting and rebuilding their accounts from scratch. However, the outcome spoke differently. Unless one no longer wanted to play God’s Domain, any and all punishments would be meted out. No matter how many times one deleted their accounts or changed their gaming helmets, the consequences were inescapable.

Although God’s Domain was a virtual reality game, it had its own bottom line as well; the rules of God’s Domain were the final bottom line. Any and all who dared go past this bottom line would do well to prepare themselves for their punishments, no exceptions.

When Brilliant Wargod saw Shi Feng’s smile, he suddenly felt uncertain about his decision. However, when he gave it more thought, it was possible that Shi Feng just tried to frighten him. Immediately, Brilliant Wargod logged out of God’s Domain, preparing to delete and rebuild his account.

Meanwhile, Shi Feng no longer cared to pay any attention to this brainless princeling. He then opened his bag, examining the clue to the God Slayer that he had just obtained.

There was no marked location on this map. There were also no written words to give an explanation. If any other players were to obtain this map, they would have no clue of what to do with it. After all, they would not know the location displayed on the map, nor would they know how to look for it. Moreover, the official site did not publish a world map for God’s Domain. That explained Brilliant Wargod’s ignorant generosity of wagering this map.

Fortunately, Shi Feng was extremely familiar with God’s Domain.

In Shi Feng’s previous life, the various major Guilds in God’s Domain made their own maps of God’s Domain, and Shadow was no exception. Ten years after God’s Domain started its operation, the world map that Shadow possessed was very thorough. Meanwhile, familiarizing oneself with the world map was one of the basic requirements of a Guild Leader, including Shi Feng.

However, the map currently in Shi Feng’s hands displayed very complicated terrain. Only after racking his brain for some time did Shi Feng manage to recall a place with a similar terrain as shown on this map.

It was the forbidden territory for humans, the Ruined Mountain Range.

Chapter 186: State A Price

Just as Shi Feng recognized the location shown on the map…

Four Level 200 Black Guards appeared on Light Street, each wielding a black spear in their hands and walking towards Brilliant Wargod; they intended to take him away.

“Don’t even think of catching me.”

Brilliant Wargod immediately logged out of the game. However, an unbelievable situation occurred. One could describe this as an out-of-body experience. Like an empty shell, Brilliant Wargod’s body suddenly fell to the ground, motionless.

However, the four Black Guards did not care much about this.

Two of the knights grabbed ahold of Brilliant Wargod’s body from each side, dragging him away from Light Street. Soon after, the Black Knights also dispersed from the scene.

“Master Black Flame, what is going on here? Didn’t Brilliant Wargod log off? Logically, his body should also have disappeared!” Aqua Rose looked at Shi Feng, her shining eyes blinking as she asked. Although Aqua Rose did not know why she would ask Shi Feng, her instincts told her that Shi Feng might know the answer.

If Shi Feng knew that Aqua Rose had asked him about this matter out of instinct, the fearsomeness of a woman’s intuition would certainly surprise him.

Hearing Aqua Rose’s question, Shi Feng simply smiled and said, “It should be that the system doesn’t allow players avoid punishment.”

Blackwing City’s judgment was, without a doubt, the system’s judgment. If Brilliant Wargod had properly received his punishment, he would only have to pay the smallest price. However, if Brilliant Wargod deleted and rebuilt his account, not to mention losing the money and equipment that he originally had, he would also lose all the reputation he had earned in God’s Domain. Reputation was not easy to gain. After all, many of the quests that rewarded players with reputation points were Unique Quests.

“So, it is like that.”

Aqua Rose understood the truth of the matter. Otherwise, if everyone simply deleted and rebuilt their accounts the moment they did something nefarious, wouldn’t that turn God’s Domain into a heaping mess? However, along with the passing of time, player levels would become higher, while the chances of such matters occurring would decrease as well. After all, players had dedicated a great amount of time and energy onto cultivating their God’s Domain accounts; there would be few people with the courage to start all over again. However, if players encountered a situation like Brilliant Wargod’s, a majority of them would choose to delete and rebuild. After all, it would be much faster to start all over again, and it could be a way to take advantage of the system. Naturally, the Main God System would not make such a mistake.

Regarding the calamity that had befallen Brilliant Wargod, Aqua Rose did not display a hint of sympathy. On the contrary, she was very grateful for Shi Feng’s significant help. Her and Brilliant Wargod’s families had always been friendly with each other, and both families intended to increase and widen their wealth and influence through marriage. On the other hand, Aqua Rose had, from the very beginning, opposed this notion. She intended to create a legacy for herself, increasing her right of speech within her family to oppose this marriage.

God’s Domain just so happened to have given her this very good chance. As long as she could further herself in God’s Domain, and adding in Brilliant Wargod’s actions, she could easily vanquish the notion of marriage between the two families.

After dealing with the matter of Brilliant Wargod, Shi Feng and Aqua Rose returned to the restaurant and resumed their business talks.

Originally, Shi Feng wanted to investigate the God Slayer’s whereabouts. However, he set it aside for now. In God’s Domain, the Ruined Mountain Range was an absolutely forbidden place for humans. In Shi Feng’s previous life, many players did not believe this fact. In the end, all who went there found only death. From then on, nobody dared casually enter the Ruined Mountain Range. With Shi Feng’s current strength, not to mention entering the Ruined Mountain Range, even the path leading to the Ruined Mountain Range presented an impossible challenge for Shi Feng. How would he reach the location marked on the map?

The only choice he had right now was to increase his strength. When he had sufficient strength, he could then think of a way to go there.

“Master Black Flame, these are the various forging materials that you’ve requested. Due to limited bag space, I’ve only brought the rare and precious materials. This time, Master Black Flame has helped me a great deal, so I’ll sell these to you at a lower price. You just need to pay me 43 Gold Coins for them,” Aqua Rose displayed the transaction list, smiling as she spoke. The cost of purchasing all these materials came to a total of just over 37 Gold. Originally, Aqua Rose intended to sell all these materials to Shi Feng for 50 Gold. However, since Shi Feng had helped her out, she chose to earn a little less in this transaction.

Initially, Aqua Rose had not possessed enough Gold Coins to purchase all these materials. However, she made a big profit from the Glimmer Chestplate Forging Designs, which she bought from Shi Feng last time. Not only had she earned over a hundred Gold Coins, but she also earned back all the Credits she used to purchase the forging designs. She still had quite a few Glimmer Chestplate Forging Designs remaining. If she sold all of them, she could still earn tens of Gold Coins and hundreds of thousands of Credits.

Even for an apex first-rate Guild like Twilight Echo, the entire Guild’s currently available fluid funds only amounted to twenty to thirty Gold. Meanwhile, Aqua Rose had over a hundred Gold in her possession, provoking the Guild’s elders’ jealousy.

After having the first tastes of profit, Aqua Rose greatly anticipated the surprise Shi Feng was about to create.

“43 Gold?” When Shi Feng looked at the transaction list, his heart skipped a beat.

He had not expected Aqua Rose to be so capable. She had actually gathered so many materials. Taking a quick glance at the transaction list, the materials listed were all rare, required for forging Mysterious-Iron and Secret-Silver ranked items. There were even some extremely rare Fine-Gold ranked materials. At this stage of the game, it was absolutely impossible for players to find any of these materials in Star-Moon Kingdom. Aqua Rose had also bought a large quantity of Hard Stones, as Shi Feng had specially requested a lot of them. Now, Aqua Rose had close to a thousand stacks of Hard Stones for Shi Feng, completely filling up her ore bags. Shi Feng could not help but admit that the Ore Country was aptly named.

Ore bags were different from normal bags. They were specifically made for storing forging materials. Hence, these bags had extremely large storage spaces, and each one was several times, some even several tens of times, larger than a normal bag. In Aqua Rose’s case, aside from her main bag having 100 slots, her remaining six bags were all ore bags. Every one of her ore bags had 350 slots for items, and all six ore bags were currently filled to the brim.

The country Aqua Rose came from did not lack ores. Hence, Aqua Rose only sold each stack of Hard Stones to Shi Feng at a price of 80 Copper Coins. Aqua Rose had probably purchased all of these Hard Stones at an even lower price. Compared to these sold in Star-Moon Kingdom, the price of these Hard Stones was simply too cheap. Right now, each stack of Hard Stones sold for 3 Silver Coins. Just by selling these Hard Stones to other players, Shi Feng could make a profit of several times his cost. Moreover, those players would fight over these Hard Stones.

However, even Shi Feng could not afford 43 gold in a single transaction.

Fortunately, Shi Feng came prepared. He removed a pile of Level 8 and Level 9 Bronze Equipment and quite a lot of Mysterious-Iron Equipment from his bag. He had personally forged a majority of the equipment, while he had obtained the remainder from the Moonlight Forest. However, the most eye-catching equipment among was the Level 10 Secret-Silver ranked one-handed swords, the Silver Dawns, that Shi Feng had crafted.

Secret-Silver Weapons, even to a first-rate Guild, they were extremely rare. Normally, only the core upper-echelons of the Guild would possess two to three Secret-Silver ranked items, while the elites of the Guild could not even dream of possessing one.

In the blink of an eye, Shi Feng had filled the private room with equipment, dazzling the sight of all beholders. Making a general count, Shi Feng had over 500 pieces of equipment. Aqua Rose was instantly dumbfounded by this sight. Only after tens of seconds had passed did she gradually recover her spirit, and shock filled her eyes as she looked at Shi Feng.

One could easily outfit a large elite team with this much equipment. Moreover, Shi Feng had forged the majority. Aqua Rose was greatly confused at how Shi Feng could forge so much equipment all by himself. After all, she had personally witnessed forgers create equipment before. The process could be summed up in one word – slow. These were all Bronze and Mysterious-Iron ranked Equipment. If one were not careful while forging them, the result would easily fail. So, the process of forging equipment of such quality was definitely much slower than that of Common Equipment. Since the last time Aqua Rose met with Shi Feng, only a little more than three days had passed. Even if Shi Feng continuously forged equipment without sleep or food during this period, it should still be impossible for him to forge this much equipment.

“Miss Aqua, I already brought the equipment. State a price,” Shi Feng smiled.

Aqua Rose immediately felt as if she had been cheated. Originally, she intended to make a big profit off of Shi Feng. However, with 500 plus pieces of high-level equipment placed before her, even if she sold herself to Shi Feng, it still might not be enough…

Chapter 187: Frightening Forger

The private room of the restaurant was very large. However, it was insufficient to contain all of the weapons and equipment that Shi Feng had taken out. The entire room was cramped with items right now. After counting for a long while, Aqua Rose finally had a firm grasp on the number of weapons and equipment that Shi Feng had brought.

Among them, there were over 200 Level 8 and above Bronze Weapons, over 300 pieces of Level 8 and above Bronze Equipment, 70 Level 9 and above Mysterious-Iron Weapons, 80 pieces of Level 9 and above Mysterious-Iron Equipment, and 20 Level 10 Silver Dawns.

There was close to a total of 700 weapons and pieces of equipment. With this much equipment, Aqua Rose would have no problems gearing up even a 100-man team.

The Attributes of the Silver Dawns were especially frightening. Compared to the Giant Bear Waraxe that Brilliant Wargod had, the Silver Dawn’s Attributes were much stronger.

Twilight Echo had sacrificed many of their elite members to obtain Brilliant Wargod’s Level 9 Giant Bear Waraxe. After all, it was only a normal occurrence to lose over twenty elite players when dealing with a Chieftain ranked field Boss.

Chieftain ranked field Bosses were extremely rare in God’s Domain and meeting one all depended on luck. Moreover, after meeting one, sacrifices were necessary to bring it down. This was the exchange of the lives of the Guild’s elites for equipment, and it was a huge loss to the Guild.

Yet, Shi Feng casually displayed twenty Secret-Silver Weapons.

Aqua Rose no longer knew how to describe Shi Feng. Despite having an immeasurably high strength, his standards as a forger were also at their apex, as Aqua Rose had yet to hear news of any player forging a Secret-Silver ranked item. Shi Feng’s existence simply caused others despair.

At the same time, Aqua Rose had finally come to an understanding of just how frightening a forger could be.

If any Guild could have a forger like Shi Feng, that Guild would not have to worry about trying to obtain equipment. As long as they had the forging designs, they could have whatever equipment they wanted, and at any time they wanted it. There would be no need for them to waste tremendous effort to kill Bosses. Moreover, killing an extremely powerful Boss would only yield several pieces of equipment. On the other hand, as long as a forger had the materials, they could create as many pieces of equipment as they wanted; it was much faster and more convenient.

“Miss Aqua, you look a little pale. Are you alright?” Shi Feng looked at the dazed Aqua Rose, asking with concern.

“Me?” As Aqua Rose regained her senses, she involuntarily wiped the sweat from her forehead, “I’m fine. Why would I have any problems?”

“Is it possible that Miss Aqua can’t afford this many weapons and equipment? If this is so, just pick as many as you can,” Shi Feng could sympathize with Aqua Rose’s situation. After all, even a first-rate Guild could not buy up all this equipment in one go, not to mention Aqua Rose by herself.

“Master Black Flame, I want all of these items. However, can we carry out the transaction with Credits? Otherwise, if I give Master Black Flame all of my Gold Coins, I would starve,” Aqua Rose smiled bitterly.

There were so many good items before her eyes, and it would be a sin not to gobble all of them up right now.

What did the various large Guilds lack the most? The answer was obvious: high-level weapons and equipment. Level 8 and above weapons and equipment just so happened to be what Guilds lacked the most.

Just a single piece of Level 8 Bronze Equipment was worth well over 20 Silvers on the market right now. Level 8 Bronze Weapons even sold for 30 Silvers or more, while Level 9 Mysterious-Iron Equipment was worth 50 Silvers or more, and Level 9 Mysterious-Iron Weapons sold for 80 Silvers or more. As for the Level 10 Secret-Silver Weapons, the Silver Dawns, they were priceless treasures, and not a single person out there would willingly sell one.

If a price were truly to be set, with the Silver Dawn’s Attributes, at the very least, it would sell for 2 Gold Coins or more. Twenty Silver Dawns would then equate 40 Gold Coins. That was nearly half of all the game currency Aqua Rose owned. Moreover, this was the lowest price for the Silver Dawn.

“That’s fine as well. I’ll just take these forging materials, in addition to 50 Gold, to cover for a portion of the bill. You can pay the remainder using Credits,” Shi Feng spoke after giving it some thought.

“This…” Aqua Rose hesitated for a long time. In the end, however, she gnashed her teeth as she agreed, saying, “Alright; I understand.”

Hearing Shi Feng’s words, Aqua Rose really wished that she could recruit Shi Feng. In just a few moments, Shi Feng had taken away a greater half of the Gold Coins she had earned after much effort. Aqua Rose felt extreme frustration in her heart.

However, Aqua Rose suddenly discovered that she truly did not possess anything that could attract Shi Feng to her side. Regarding weapons and equipment, as a forger, Shi Feng did not lack any of these, to begin with. His money-earning capabilities were obvious. As for status, although he was simply a nobody right now, the moment the name of the Black Flame Forger spread, his status would become undeniably grand, earning the respect of others.

The only thing remaining was a girlfriend. If Shi Feng did not have one right now, there were plenty of great beauties in Aqua Rose’s elite team. Every one of them possessed beauty that could easily move one’s heart, and their bodies were all curved in the right places. Plenty of men often tried to court these women. Aqua Rose would be rich if she could get one of her team’s beauties to hook up Shi Feng.

However, it would be unquestionably foolish if she asked Shi Feng this question right now. She could only wait until their relationship grew before digging for some hints.

If Shi Feng knew the thoughts Aqua Rose had in her head right now, she would probably frighten him away. After all, who would have thought that the elegant and cheerful Aqua Rose could be so cunning?

Very quickly, the two of them completed their transaction.

Aside from obtaining the 43 Gold’s worth of materials from selling the equipment, Shi Feng also obtained an additional 50 Gold Coins and over 2 million Credits.

Just by striving for three short days, Shi Feng had instantly multiplied the ten plus Gold he had initially spent by more than ten folds. Shi Feng had made a huge profit from this trade. This time, regarding Gold Coins, Shi Feng had once again become the richest person in White River City.

Meanwhile, Aqua Rose was also greatly pleased. With this many weapons and equipment, she could greatly strengthen her own legion and very quickly turn it into the number one legion in Twilight Echo. At that time, her right to speak would also grow, while those elders would no longer dare speak nonsense in front of her.

“Master Black Flame, let’s schedule next trade for four days from now? It just so happens to coincide with the day the Blackwing Auction will be held. What do you think?” Without realizing it, Aqua Rose treated Shi Feng as a good friend now.

“Alright. I can also save the number of uses left on the pass,” Shi Feng nodded in agreement. He had earned simply too much this time. He also needed quite some time to forge new weapons and equipment. Now that Aqua Rose had yet to obtain additional Blackwing City passes, it was also beneficial to have a time extension.

Soon after, the two parted ways. Shi Feng then went to purchase more Frost Grenades. This time, he bought a full stack of 200 Intermediate Frost Grenades for 18 Gold. He also bought five stacks of 1,000 Basic Frost Grenades for 13 Gold, 50 Silver. In just a short moment, he had spent 31 Gold, 50 Silver. However, Shi Feng did not feel any heartache over it as the money he obtained from Aqua Rose just now was simply the tip of the iceberg.

The true iceberg was still within his grasp with the incomparably popular Hard Stone. To Aqua Rose, Whetstones were neither rare nor special. After all, being from the Ore Country, such items were available in abundance. The number of forgers there was as plentiful as the hairs on an ox, so they were not particularly desperate for such items. However, it was a different story for the Star-Moon Kingdom with the various Guilds in the White River City region who were desperately trying to level up.

These Guilds were in desperate need of Hard Stones. Yet, it was just too difficult to obtain any. They might even go bald from over-worrying right now.

As for after these Guilds entered White River City, Shi Feng did not need to worry that these Guilds would suddenly halt their need for Whetstones.

Even after everyone entered White River City, the issue of durability would still plague them. It might even become a much more serious issue. Hence, Shi Feng did not worry in the slightest that he could not sell his Hard Stones. He merely had to decide at what price he would sell them for.

Just as Shi Feng was about to return to White River City, Blackie suddenly sent news.

“Brother Feng, this is not good! Right now, all of the Guilds within the White River City region are looking for you. They say that if you do not give an explanation on the official forums, all the Guilds within the White River City region will add us to the wanted list!”

Chapter 188: You Are Digging Your Own Grave!

After reading Blackie’s message, Shi Feng was confused.

Why would the Guilds within the White River City region suddenly look for trouble with them for no reason? Moreover, they even wanted an explanation.

What did they want him to explain?

However, Shi Feng did not pay further attention to this matter. It would be better for him to get the details after he returned to White River City. Hence, he took out the Seven Luminaries Crystal, teleporting to White River City.

—

Level 10 monster area, White Sand Ruins.

A 40-man elite team was currently clearing Level 10 Desert Twin-headed Snakes. Every member of the team took action in an organized fashion, and very quickly, the team dispatched all of the tens of Desert Twin-headed Snakes, turning them into an abundance of EXP.

This elite team belonged to the Guild, Martial Union, chased out of Red Leaf Town by Shi Feng. Meanwhile, the leader of this team none other than Unstable Devastation.

“Boss Unstable, the deed is done. I’ve already told them the conditions, pros, and cons. At that time, we’ll share the secret Shi Feng used to reach Level 10 quickly. Currently, there are a total of eight unrated Guilds that have agreed to enter our little alliance,” an Assassin came running, reporting.

“Good; you’ve done well!” Unstable Devastation laughed with a smirk on his face. He then said confidently, “Ye Feng, you are the one courting death! You actually dared ignore my words! Now, the entire White River City region has discovered the leveling secret you used to reach Level 10! I’ve also established my own alliance. Whether you reveal that leveling secret or not, you will be finished!”

When Shi Feng had utterly rejected him, Unstable Devastation had been sent into a daze for a long time. He did not think that Shi Feng would act so decisively.

However, since Unstable Devastation could not control Shi Feng through threats, he could only use a more strenuous method to deal with Shi Feng, publicizing the matter about this secret to all of the other Guilds. Now that the competition between the various large Guilds was so intense, every one of these Guilds worked towards swiftly raising their members’ levels to Level 10. Meanwhile, Shi Feng possessed a leveling secret that could allow these Guilds to achieve such a feat, so these various large Guilds would naturally want it.

After all, while the other Guilds still worried over the matter of reaching Level 10, Shi Feng’s entire team was already Level 10 and currently developed themselves further in White River City. Their situations were worlds apart. Currently, Shi Feng’s team occupied all of the resources available in White River City. With that access, they could increase the gap even further. By the time the majority of the players in the White River City region entered White River City, Shi Feng’s team may already occupy all the high-level resource areas available in the city. How were other players supposed to mingle in White River City then?

That was to say, if any Guild could obtain Shi Feng’s leveling secret, they would become a tyrant in White River City in the future.

With such a temptation in sight, who could resist?

Not to mention, Shi Feng was merely an independent player. He did not have the protection of any major power. God’s Domain was still not kind enough to allow a weakling exclusive monopoly on treasures. With treasures up for grabs, how could any of these Guilds let go of this chance? They would do whatever they could to snatch it.

As for obtaining the leveling secret through fair trade, it was an impossible notion. After all, the initial criterion for a fair trade was that both parties had to be of equal power. How could a single independent player possibly equal a large Guild?

If Shi Feng did not obediently hand the leveling secret over, there would only be a single ending for him – Death!

However, even if he handed it over, death would still be the only thing awaiting him. This was the sorrow of weaklings.

At this moment, even Unstable Devastation pitied Shi Feng. However, who told this fool to refuse his ‘kind’ suggestion?

—

White River City, Trade Area, Bank.

The moment Shi Feng returned to White River City, he immediately emptied all of the forging materials he had on him into the bank. Seeing over ten thousand slots of his warehouse full to the brim, Shi Feng could not help but grow emotional. After all, in his previous life, he did not possess such a rich and spectacular warehouse. He wondered just how much money he could make if he sold all of these items. At the very least, it should be enough to serve as his Guild’s reserve funds.

In actuality, Shi Feng’s current fame could allow him to establish a Guild easily. However, Shi Feng chose to do it surely, but steadily. He should first deal with the welfare of the Guild. After finishing that, the Guild he established would shock the world, and no power out there would be able to touch them. Even if those third-rate and second-rate Guilds wished to suppress his Guild, they could not stop his Guild’s swift development. After all, his Guild would already possess a sturdy foundation and huge funding at that time; a small skirmish would not easily destroy it.

After he finished tidying up his warehouse, Shi Feng opened his system message log, taking a look at what was actually going on.

Previously, to prevent Unstable Devastation from disturbing his trade, Shi Feng had set his system communication and messages to prevent strangers from disturbing him. However, he did not think that so much would occur during the time he did so.

Compared to when he entered White River City, the messages he now received exceeded 10,000. Independent players had sent a majority of them, while various Guilds had sent the minority.

After reading a few of these messages, Shi Feng managed to grasp the general gist of what these players wanted.

A majority of these players wanted to privately purchase his strategy of quickly reaching to Level 10, while a minority of them directly demanded that Shi Feng hand the strategy over. Naturally, this minority consisted of Guild representatives. Every one of the words in their messages contained force. Although they did not use threatening words, their intent was unmistakable. They told Shi Feng to do whatever he saw fit, but he would have to take responsibility for the consequences.

Meanwhile, the demand for an explanation posted on the forums was also the doing of these Guilds. They were clearly trying to force him into a corner.

Fortunately, however, the Guilds that had directly suggested that Shi Feng hand over the leveling strategy were all unrated, without a single rated Guild among them.

“Unstable Devastation,” Shi Feng’s brows wrinkled, a chilling battle intent shone in his eyes.

This was a scheme concocted by Unstable Devastation in order to push him down to a hell beyond salvation.

From the experiences in his past life, Shi Feng clearly understood a single matter.

A hungry ghost could never devour enough[1].

“Hmm? Even Shadow is trying to have a part in this?” Shi Feng found a new post on the forums. It was a declaration of alliance made by Unstable Devastation and several other Guilds. They requested Shi Feng to hand over his leveling strategy to satisfy everyone. Otherwise, they would impose a sanction on him. Meanwhile, Shadow was among the several Guilds that had joined this alliance.

Immediately, plenty of people showed their support for Unstable Devastation. They all wanted Shi Feng to hand over his leveling strategy, benefiting everyone.

Shi Feng simply smiled.

Did they really take him for someone who could be easily bullied, someone they could mold in the palm of their hands? If Gentle Snow possessed this leveling secret, these Guilds and players would have long since shut their mouths. Rather, they would cheer and sing her praises.

Immediately after, Shi Feng created a post on the forums.

Selling the leveling strategy to reach Level 10 quickly for 10 billion Credits! All insincere buyers will be ignored!

Shi Feng then set aside the official forums, looking at the time. It was nearing dawn in the real world, so Shi Feng promptly logged off to rest.

However, Shi Feng’s post had instantly become popular. Almost everybody paid attention to it when they saw Shi Feng’s asking price of 10 billion. Those who had previously wanted Shi Feng to publicly disclose the strategy for free now cursed even more fervently.

Ten billion Credits? Why don’t you die instead!

Unstable Devastation and other unknown Guilds had all involuntarily cursed the moment they saw Ye Feng’s post. This Ye Feng had simply gone insane for money. Which fool out there would spend 10 billion Credits to buy a garbage strategy?

However, anyone smart enough could easily discern Shi Feng’s true intentions.

Naturally, these Guilds also understood what Shi Feng tried to say. This was Shi Feng’s way of indirectly sending them a message, saying, “Want this secret for free?”

“Dream on!”

Without a doubt, Shi Feng declared war with these Guilds.

“Ye Feng, you are digging your own grave!” Unstable Devastation spoke in rage, though his tone carried with it a hint of gloating.

He was furious due to Shi Feng ridiculing him for being poor, while he was happy as there were over 30 Guilds who would deal with Shi Feng. Even if Shi Feng were amazing, he would still be finished the moment these Guilds entered White River City.

Unless, of course, Shi Feng could repeat the scene from last time, banishing all of these Guilds from White River City.

However, was that possible?

---

TL Notes:

[1]A hungry ghost could never devour enough: signifying that greed is endless.

Chapter 189: Berserked Market

Shortly after Shi Feng logged off…

The post Shi Feng had left on the forums became instantly popular.

One view became ten; ten became a hundred. Players had strong gossiping hearts, so they would not miss out on this good show.

Within a short twenty minutes, almost all players within the White River City region had discovered this matter.

The Guilds that had demanded the leveling strategy from Shi Feng were all enraged.

“Crap! Find all of the information about that little bastard for me! Not only am I going to kill him back to Level 0, but I’m also going to kill all his friends back to Level 0! Since he dares humiliate Ghost Wheel, he can forget thinking of mingling in God’s Domain any longer!” Sleeping Bones, the Guild Leader of Ghost Wheel, was furious after listening to his subordinate’s report. Although Ghost Wheel was an unrated Guild, they were still a large Guild with over five thousand members. Yet, a lone, independent player looked down on them. How were they supposed to show their faces in public in the future if they took this lying down?

“Leader, I’ve already investigated him,” an Elementalist said.

“Speak! Since he dares look down on Ghost Wheel, I can’t retain the name ‘Sleeping Bones’ if I don’t kill all of his friends back to Level 0!” Sleeping Bones bellowed.

“That Ye Feng is an independent player, and I’ve confirmed that he has eight team members. Aside from them, Ye Feng also has a good relationship with Stabbing Heart, the Vice-Leader of the Assassin’s Alliance. Rumor also has it that he has a very close relationship with the Snow Goddess, Gentle Snow, as well” that Elementalist answered.

“……” Sleeping Bones suddenly fell silent.

Was this a joke? If they dared to actually kill Stabbing Heart of Assassin’s Alliance and Gentle Snow of Ouroboros, then the day they entered White River City would be the day Ghost Wheel disbanded.

“Forget it! I, Sleeping Bones, am a magnanimous person! We’ll just stick to killing Ye Feng and his teammates, lest we want other people to start gossiping about us!”

“Roger! Guild Leader is the wisest!”

At the same time, the other Guilds that did not have a clear understanding of Shi Feng began their investigations about him. They were prepared to properly deal with him the moment they entered White River City.

—

Meanwhile, on the forums, players were currently discussing this incident. They all felt that White River City’s battle of the century was about to begin.

“This fellow brother Ye Feng simply too awesome! Isn’t he trying to oppose those various Guilds?”

“He is just overestimating himself. Who does he think he is? When these Guilds enter White River City, it will take no effort for them to destroy him.”

“What do you know? Ye Feng is a god-ranked expert! Previously, he turned Martial Union upside down, while Martial Union could do nothing against him. They were even chased out of Red Leaf Town. Now, Ye Feng is even facing off against so many strong powers. He is truly my generation’s role model!”

“What’s so amazing about that? I could do it as well! Don’t forget, that incident happened in a town. The various large Guilds’ strength scattered; how many members could they possibly have in a single town? It was only natural that they were defeated!”

There were many players browsing the forums. However, a majority of them did not feel optimistic about Shi Feng’s chances. They were especially confused about Shi Feng’s actions.

Just how stupid could Shi Feng be, to actually dare taunt the Guilds? Was he not afraid of these Guilds taking revenge and killing him back to Level 0?

Along with the growing intensity of the discussions, the so-called god-ranked expert had also become a courageous fool.

Many started ridiculing Shi Feng.

Just when the forums reached their zenith, Shi Feng’s White River City Guidebook post revealed itself the moment the preset time arrived. The post’s appearance caused a massive ripple effect.

The White River City Guidebook was undeniably what various large Guilds needed the most right now. A few Level 9 independent players also urgently needed it. If these players had the White River City Guidebook, they would not have to spend a large amount of time exploring the city. They only needed to refer to the guidebook to learn what they needed to know.

Compared to the heavenly price of ten billion for a single leveling strategy, using 20,000 Credits to purchase a luxury version of the White River City Guidebook was unquestionably a lot cheaper; it was practically the price of cabbage. Also, the cheaper, simplified version only sold for 300 Credits. These various Guilds and players could easily accept that price.

However, afraid of Shi Feng’s trickery, a large majority of the Guilds chose to purchase the simplified guidebook, taking a look at it before making further decisions.

After all, they could afford a loss of 300 Credits.

As for the players that wished to develop themselves in God’s Domain, they all grew extremely curious about White River City, a fascinating city. They wished to experience it in advance, so many players had gnashed their teeth as they bought the simplified guidebook.

Within half an hour, the simplified version of the White River City Guidebook was like a best-selling novel. Sales of the guidebook continuously increased, and before anyone knew it, over 5,000 copies had already sold.

In other words, Shi Feng had earned 1.5 million Credits within this short time. Many players had discovered business opportunities from this.

Players who originally worried about whether or not they could make money in God’s Domain relaxed at this sight. After all, Shi Feng was their best example. As long as they could grasp ahold of the opportunity, becoming rich in a single night was not just a dream; it was just like how Shi Feng became the first person to enter White River City.

Immediately, plenty of players outside of the White River City region grew excited. If they too could be the first to enter their own respective cities and write a city guidebook, couldn’t they also become rich?

This thought inspired desperation in all of the players in God’s Domain. As if possessed by the devil, they all started rushing to level up. They all wished to become the first person to enter their respective cities, making a huge profit and becoming rich overnight.

—

Meanwhile, in the trade market of the entire Star-Moon Kingdom, the popularity of Whetstones had instantly soared. As long as a forger had at least a 30% success rate of crafting Whetstones, the various large guilds would instantly target them. The Guilds used all sorts of methods to recruit these forgers, continuously raising the standard of treatment. As a result, these forgers earned salaries comparable to the white-collar workers in the big cities.

Such a result inspired other players to become forgers. However, forging materials were utterly necessary if one wanted to hone their forging skill. Like adding fuel to a fire, this new situation instantly ignited a blazing inferno that raged through all of the Star Moon Kingdom.

The prices of forging materials soared, again and again, madly increasing the price of Hard Stones as well.

By the time Shi Feng entered God’s Domain that night, a stack of 20 Hard Stones already sold for a sky-high price of 8 Silver Coins. However, the supply could not keep up with the demand. Furthermore, even the most common Bronze Ore sold for 15 Silver Coins per stack, with 200 per stack.

“Hahaha! Luck can’t be stopped once it comes! I would never have thought that the White River City Guidebook would so fiercely drive the materials market!” Shi Feng rejoiced the moment he logged in.

During the day, aside from training his body, Shi Feng had gone to the city center to look for suitable locations to start up his Workshop. His requirements were very simple; he wanted a good environment surrounding the office building.

After surveying over ten locations, Shi Feng finally found a relatively pleasing office building. It was located in the city center. Moreover, it was an entire floor being sold. The office floor had a wide space of 5,000 square-meters, so it was extremely spacious. There would be no problems turning it into an office for several hundred people. Moreover, the surrounding environment and traffic were convenient. However, the most important factor was that the office was relatively close to Big Dipper, the best gym in Jin Hai City.

The owner of the office floor only sold it to make up for issues surfacing with his business. Otherwise, he would not bear parting with such an amazing location.

However, that person had set a price of 60 million Credits for the place, with each square meter priced at 12,000 Credits. Although such a price was not considered expensive in the city center, it was not cheap either. Shi Feng only had somewhere over 20 million Credits stored in his bank right now. He still needed that money for the Fellowship Party hosted by his school. In the end, Shi Feng could only ask the owner for fifteen days to think it over.

Shi Feng never imagined that he would be given a fright the moment he returned to God’s Domain. When he saw the sales of the White River City Guidebook, he even thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Chapter 190: Taking Precautions

Shi Feng had already received attention since the problem of the leveling strategy cropped up.

Now that he had priced the leveling strategy at a shockingly high price of ten billion Credits, he was once more pushed into the spotlight. Hence, it was only natural for the White River City Guidebook to receive everyone’s attention the moment it appeared.

These sales had far exceeded Shi Feng’s expectations.

Shi Feng quietly called up the half-transparent display screen. When he examined the sales records displayed on the official forums, Shi Feng involuntarily revealed a knowing smile.

The simplified version of the White River City Guidebook sold 25,364 copies.

The luxury version of the White River City Guidebook sold 367 copies.

In only half a day’s time, the sales had already reached such numbers. Even a best-selling book could achieve such a feat.

The simplified version, which was the cheapest version of the guidebook, already cost 300 Credits. This was much more expensive than any ordinary book. However, over 25,000 copies still sold. Moreover, 367 copies of the 20,000 Credit version of the guidebook also sold. It was obvious just how great the business opportunities were in God’s Domain.

Just the Credits Shi Feng earned within a day exceeded ten million. It was practically faster than robbing a bank.

Of course, the main contributor to such success was Shi Feng becoming too eye-catching and famous, even if most of it was infamy. Moreover, along with the passing of time, the sales of the White River City Guidebook would still increase. Although Shi Feng won’t be earning as much as he was now, his daily earnings would still be considerable.

Originally, Shi Feng estimated his earnings from the guidebooks would be around several million Credits. Moreover, he reached this conclusion after taking into consideration that every Guild within the White River City region would purchase a copy of the luxury version. However, the conversation records on the forums made it clear that it wasn’t just players within the White River City region paying attention to the guidebook. Players and Guilds from other cities also purchased the guidebooks, which, in turn, led to such a high selling rate.

Although it was a strange situation, Shi Feng could guess the intentions of the players and Guilds of other cities.

The difference between cities was not particularly large. Mostly, only the quests available, leveling spots, and amount of NPCs were different. However, the main rules in a city and the ways to develop a Guild in a city were the same. As long as they bought the White River City Guidebook, they would understand the basic rules of their respective cities. They could also quickly adapt to the playstyle in the cities. So, naturally, they would purchase a copy of the guidebook to get a general understanding of their respective cities.

Now that Shi Feng had gained over ten million Credits for no good reason, confidence regarding his future filled his heart. He might even be able to suppress Shadow at the Fellowship Party in a few days, becoming the center of attention during the party. However, before he could become the focal point, he needed to make plenty of preparations. After all, his background was simply too weak compared to Shadow’s right now.

Hard Stones will soar in price from now on. It should reach its peak by the time the first corporation enter White River City. That time would be the best opportunity for me to sell my stock and make a killing. Shi Feng closed the official forums as he thought. Right now, aside from Credits, he needed a lot of Gold Coins to increase his Workshop’s background. However, he could not just hold on to a ton of Gold Coins. After all, the true way of earning money in a virtual reality game was by spending money in the first place.

He currently had far too few Coins to carry out such a feat. Hence, he needed to earn many more Gold Coins.

Right now, becoming enemies with that many unrated Guilds had placed quite a pressure on Shi Feng. Although these Guilds were not much of a threat to him as a lone player, he still wanted to establish his own Guild in the future. Such a situation would be detrimental to his Guild.

As the saying went, the barefooted did not fear those with shoes[1]. Establishing your own Guild was the equivalent of putting on shoes. Having a Guild was the equivalent of having a house, supplying your enemies with an easy target; they could deal with you with greater ease. Hence, in Shi Feng’s previous life, plenty of small Guilds were forced to disperse due to being targeted by a large Guild. On the other hand, the fixed teams formed by independent players got by rather peacefully, and it went without saying that lone players could do so as well.

However, there was a limit to the strength of a single individual in God’s Domain. It was the same in the case of a large team. If Shi Feng wanted to establish his own virtual empire, he, even more, was in need of the strength of a Guild. Hence, establishing a Guild was his only available option.

To reduce the pressure on himself, Shi Feng needed to increase the pressure on these unrated Guilds. That way, they couldn’t spare any time to deal with him. Although there was still a long time until these Guilds would search him out, it was wise to take precautions.

Immediately, Shi Feng contacted Stabbing Heart.

“Brother Ye Feng, I am truly grateful for your help the last time! Because of your guidebook, the elite teams of our Guild could prepare far more than other Guilds. After we enter White River City, I believe it won’t be long before our Assassin’s Alliance reigns supreme over the other Guilds in White River City!” Stabbing Heart excitedly said, “However, after not meeting for some time, I never imagined that Brother Ye Feng would grow even more famous! I am truly envious! If I become as famous as Brother Ye Feng, I might even be promoted to an elder position during the next Guild meeting!”

“I’d rather be more ordinary,” Shi Feng smiled bitterly as he shook his head.

The nail that stuck out would be hammered down. Although Shi Feng had long since been prepared for this in his heart, he did not think that the actual situation would be so intense.

“Brother Ye Feng, since you are looking for me, do you need help for something?” Stabbing Heart asked. Normally, Shi Feng would not take the initiative to contact him unless there was something going on.

“Of course. Moreover, it is good news for you,” Shi Feng laughed.

“Good news?” Stabbing Heart grew slightly excited. He had received plenty of praises from the Guild Leader due to the help he received from Shi Feng the past several times. As a result, his position in Assassin’s Alliance had risen by quite a bit. Meanwhile, the matter of the White River City Guidebook even earned him the good graces of the Guild elders; they had already labeled him as one of the reserve elders of the Guild. Such a promotion was rare in the Assassin’s Alliance, and it displayed how highly the Guild Leader and elders thought of him.

“Do you lack Hard Stones right now?” Shi Feng asked.

“Lack?! My subordinates and I have a headache over this matter right now! Even though I’d sent many people out to grind, the amount of Hard Stones we obtained is merely a drop in the bucket! Does Brother Ye Feng need some Hard Stones right now?” Stabbing Heart breathed out a tired sigh when he heard the words ‘Hard Stone.’ He then immediately said, “If Brother Ye Feng needs them, I should be able to gather three to four stacks for you. I truly can’t spare any more than that.”

Stabbing Heart only spoke the truth. After all, he had prepared these Hard Stones for the forgers in his Guild to craft Whetstones.

“Brother Stabbing Heart, you’re overthinking things. I’m not calling to buy, but to sell,” Shi Feng laughed.

“Sell?” Stabbing Heart was awe-stricken. Hard Stones were extremely rare right now, and it was insanely difficult for average players to obtain them. Not to mention selling them, players would normally choose to keep them for their own use. After all, if one wanted to level up quickly, Whetstones were a must. “How many do you have? Be it two or three stacks, I want all of them! I’ll even buy them at above market price! What do you think about 9 Silver Coins per stack?”

In Stabbing Heart’s mind, Shi Feng was only an independent player. It was already heaven-defying for him to have two to three stacks. After all, Stabbing Heart’s own team, which consisted of hundreds of players, had only managed to obtain three to four stacks after a long time.

“No; I have fifty stacks. However, I’m only taking Coins for them,” Shi Feng casually responded, extended five fingers.

---

TL Notes:

[1]the barefooted did not fear those with shoes: this is a Chinese saying that refers to a person that has no scruples of doing something, as that person was already not allowed to do so.

Chapter 191: Moon’s Big Ten

Stabbing Heart immediately froze in shock when he heard that Shi Feng had fifty stacks of Hard Stones.

The entire Assassin’s Alliance could not even manage to gather up five full stacks. Yet, Shi Feng said he had fifty.

If fifty stacks of Hard Stones were used to craft Whetstones, even if the forgers crafting them had slightly lower success rates, it could allow all the elite players in the Assassin’s Alliance to reach Level 10, entering White River City.

“Brother Ye Feng, you’re not tricking me, right? Do you really have fifty stacks?” Stabbing Heart asked doubtfully. It was not that he did not trust Shi Feng, but this number was simply too huge. Even a first-rate Guild in a town could not offer up that many. It would be impressive if they could even gather six to seven stacks.

“Naturally. Since when have I joked around before?” Shi Feng shook his head, laughing.

The reason Shi Feng offered Stabbing Heart this many Hard Stones was not purely to earn Coins. A large part of the reason was to assist the Assassin’s Alliance in entering White River City and starting their development at an earlier date. After all, the Assassin’s Alliance’s main forces were all stationed around the few cities near White River City. As long as the Assassin’s Alliance grew stronger, with his relationship with Stabbing Heart, Stabbing Heart could help him suppress and stamp out those unrated Guilds. That way, these Guilds would be too busy dealing with the Assassin’s Alliance to pay any attention to him.

Originally, Shi Feng had wanted to sell some Hard Stones to Gentle Snow as well. However, Gentle Snow’s team was simply developing too quickly. They had managed to reach Level 10 in only half a day’s time, and at this time, all the elite members of Ouroboros had already arrived at White River City. Naturally, they would not need his help anymore.

The most important point was that Gentle Snow possessed the super-luxury version of the White River City Guidebook that Shi Feng had sold to her. With it, she could easily widen the gap between herself and the other Guilds, standing out from the crowd.

Now that Shi Feng had protective umbrellas like Gentle Snow and Stabbing Heart, would those unrated Guilds possibly dare do anything to him? He could progress with his own development with a peace of mind.

“Brother Ye Feng, I don’t know how to thank you for this…! If you have anything you need help with in the future, just mention it! If it is something that I can help with, I will give it my all!” Stabbing Heart was extremely touched right now. In his heart, he had already taken Shi Feng as his good brother.

However, 4 Gold, 50 Silver was not easy to obtain. He needed some time to gather the liquid funds from the other towns and collect some from the money-farming team.

Although it was a large expenditure, with fifty stacks of Hard Stones, Stabbing Heart could allow the team in Red Leaf Town to be the first team, out of all the other team in the Assassin’s Alliance, to enter White River City. At that time, he would receive a promotion in the Guild once more. He might even become an elder of the Assassin’s Alliance. Meanwhile, such an achievement was only possible due to Shi Feng’s help. Although Stabbing Heart felt slightly ashamed of himself for to not being of great help to Shi Feng, he had already decided that, once he entered White River City, he would fully support Shi Feng. Whoever dared to go against Shi Feng would go against him as well!

“When will you can send someone over to Red Leaf Town to conduct the trade?” Shi Feng asked.

“As long as you are free, any time is good!” Stabbing Heart answered.

“Oh, right. I have something I need to ask you. Do you know the current whereabouts of the team from Martial Union led by Unstable Devastation?” Shi Feng felt that, since he was going to make a trip back to Red Leaf Town, he might as well look for Unstable Devastation to extract his revenge.

“This, I know. They’re currently at the White Sand Ruins. Are you planning on taking revenge on them? I’ll call some men over to go with you. They have quite a few of players on their side, so it would be dangerous for you hunt them by yourself,” Stabbing Heart was slightly surprised. He did not think that Shi Feng would take revenge so quickly. Moreover, he was even going to deal with the elite team led by Unstable Devastation directly. After all, that elite team formed after Unstable Devastation merged the elite teams from five different towns. The number of elites in that team even far exceeded that of Stabbing Heart’s own elite team, so it would not be easy to deal with them.

“Thanks, but I wish to deal with my own matters by myself. Let’s meet up in front of Red Leaf Town’s Bank in twenty minutes,” Shi Feng thanked him.

“Alright. I’ll send some men to investigate Martial Union’s exact location. At that time, I’ll pass on their exact whereabouts to you along with the 4 Gold, 50 Silver.” Stabbing Heart naturally knew of the arrogance of an expert, so he did not pursue the matter. Otherwise, if he were to find trouble with Martial Union without Shi Feng’s agreement, he might even incur Shi Feng’s ire.

—

Twenty minutes later…

Shi Feng arrived in front of the Bank in Red Leaf Town.

“Hello, Big Brother Ye Feng. I am Cocoa, from the Assassin’s Alliance, Big Brother Stabbing Heart sent me here. Here is the grinding location of Martial Union’s elite team.”

A pure and pleasant looking female Elementalist walked over, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Shi Feng. After all, the Shi Feng before her was the god-ranked expert of Red Leaf Town that everybody knew about. He was a person that even team leader Stabbing Heart of Red Leaf Town treated with respect. Most importantly, Shi Feng was good friends with the Snow Goddess that she admired greatly. There was absolutely no chance for a normal lifestyle player like herself to come into contact with such a legendary figure. She was only here today to conduct a trade because the other forgers in the Guild were too busy, while she was a newly recruited forger in the Guild. Only, she did not think that she could meet such a great character.

Shi Feng glanced at this girl, and his expression immediately froze.

Cream Cocoa, wasn’t she that famous Master Forger of Star-Moon Kingdom?

As one of the Ten Great Master Forgers in Star-Moon Kingdom, Cream Cocoa was a forging genius who was the closest to becoming a Grandmaster Forger. Her talent was almost comparable to that of Seliora of White River City. She was both a beauty and a forging genius; plenty of first-rate Guilds had willingly offered her an annual salary of hundreds of millions to recruit her. Unfortunately, she rejected them all, one after another, as she wanted to stay in the third-rate Guild, Prayer Temple. Rumor had it that she had done so to repay a debt of gratitude, as Cream Cocoa was relatively clumsy during her early days, causing her success rate to be abysmally low. Due to her clumsiness, plenty of Guilds had refused to accept her. In the end, Prayer Temple was the only Guild that had accepted and nurtured her, so she did not wish to leave them.

Unfortunately, even with such a genius Master Forger in their Guild, Ouroboros still destroyed Prayer Temple in the end. As a result, Cream Cocoa chose to join World Dominators, a first-rate Guild in direct opposition of Ouroboros, to take revenge on the first-rate Guild.

However, why was Cream Cocoa in the Assassin’s Alliance right now?

Shi Feng was slightly confused, as Prayer Temple’s main force was not located in White River City, but in the capital city, Star-Moon City. It was also the reason why Ouroboros destroyed them.

Could it be that, after being ignored by the Assassin’s Alliance, she chose to head to Star-Moon City to develop herself after she reached a higher Level, which then led her to Prayer Temple? Shi Feng could only make guesses. If the Assassin’s Alliance found out that they had chased away a Master Forger during their early days in God’s Domain, they might even kill themselves in regret.

“Big Brother Ye Feng?” When Cream Cocoa discovered that Shi Feng stared at her sternly, she couldn’t help but panic.

Only now did Shi Feng regain his senses. His actions could not be considered overreacting, as a top-tier Master Forger was simply too important to a Guild. However, he couldn’t just try to recruit Cream Cocoa to his group. After all, Cream Cocoa was still a member of the Assassin’s Alliance right now. His only option at the moment was to wait for Cream Cocoa to leave the Assassin’s Alliance before trying to recruit her.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Here are the fifty stacks of Hard Stones,” Shi Feng immediately traded the fifty stacks of Hard Stones to Cream Cocoa.

When Cream Cocoa saw the fifty stacks of Hard Stones in her trade window, her eyes widened in shock. She did not even dare believe her own eyes. Right now, it was hard to even purchase one or two Hard Stones. Yet, Shi Feng had easily managed to bring out fifty stacks. It was no wonder why team leader Stabbing Heart was so respectful to Ye Feng! As expected, he was a figure that average players like her could only look up to!

Soon after the trade completed, Shi Feng departed from Red Leaf Town, heading towards the White Sand Ruins. However, he did not add Cream Cocoa as a friend, as such an action might cause a change to the track of history, causing Cream Cocoa to instead stay with the Assassin’s Alliance. If that happened, he would definitely cry with regret. Hence, he would let history repeat itself without his interference.

Now that he knew Martial Union’s precise location, he would immediately teach Unstable Devastation the consequences of becoming his enemy.

Chapter 192: Wild and Domineering

White Sand Ruins, as a key location for players to reach Level 10, the Level 9 players from the surrounding towns would naturally come here to level up. Not only did this place possess Level 10 monsters, which were a better source of EXP, there were also plenty of quests in this region. Moreover, a majority of them rewarded high amounts of EXP, and some high-level quests even gave out Bronze ranked or above equipment.

It was especially true for the newly discovered Stonehammer Town. It was practically a heaven for players. As long as one’s reputation in Stonehammer Town reached a certain degree, they could purchase Level 10 Bronze and Mysterious-Iron Equipment at extremely low prices. It was impossible to find such treatment in other towns.

Thus, White Sand Ruins became the mainstream leveling location for Level 9 players. Naturally, Guilds like Martial Union would not miss out on such a great location.

Ever since Shi Feng had killed Unstable Devastation in Red Leaf Town, Unstable Devastation had immediately escaped to this place to level up. After a period of hard work, Unstable Devastation had finally managed to get back to Level 9; he was also not far from reaching Level 10.

“Ye Feng, just you wait. The day our alliance of Guilds enter White River City will be the day of your funeral!” Unstable Devastation silently cursed as he killed a Level 10 Three-tailed Scorpion.

Although he had exposed Shi Feng’s secret, and Shi Feng provoked and angered the other Guilds, there had yet to be a person that could do a thing to Shi Feng. Moreover, not only was Shi Feng living comfortably, he was even earning a large sum of money right now! This envious situation of Shi Feng’s had driven Unstable Devastation to near insanity, and he silently questioned why he couldn’t enjoy such fortune.

Martial Union was originally a Guild that had migrated to God’s Domain from another virtual reality game, so they did not possess the investment of any large corporation. There were only a few wealthy young masters spending money to support the Guild. While Martial Union still played that other virtual reality game, these wealthy young masters were considered rich tycoons. They could casually spend up to several hundred thousand Credits, allowing the Martial Union of those days to take the gaming world by storm easily. Such a situation had allowed these wealthy young masters great pleasure; hence they went on to establish Martial Union in God’s Domain. They wanted to continue taking the world by storm.

As Unstable Devastation was one of the upper echelons of Martial Union, his monthly salary was over ten thousand Credits. It was a relatively high salary even within the big city. He was even extremely elated about this matter, often bragging in front of his friends about how he was a god-ranked player. When he treated his friends to a normal restaurant, he would always foot the bill with a casual wave of his hand, appearing domineering and earning the envy of others.

However, after Unstable Devastation witnessed the sales of the White River City Guidebook, his mind turned into a complete mess.

With a rough calculation, Unstable Devastation guessed that Shi Feng’s earnings in a single day had exceeded ten million Credits. Considering the follow-up earnings, Shi Feng’s assets might have surpassed even that of the wealthy young masters in Martial Union. If Shi Feng took a step further and sold his leveling strategy at a low price, he might truly be able to live his remaining years without worry. Wealth and beauties would be within Shi Feng grasp; his life might become even more comfortable than those young masters.

Thinking up to this point, bitterness and envy filled Unstable Devastation’s heart.

However, the only fortunate thing was that Shi Feng had not offered the leveling strategy at a low price. As long as he could snatch it, becoming the first one to sell it on the official forums, he wouldn’t need to remain a professional player any longer. He could immediately live a rich life in the real world.

“Boss Unstable, I discovered a location with an extraordinarily high amount of monsters. The respawn rate is also quite fast. Our leveling efficiency could probably rise by 60% or more there,” an Assassin said in the team chat.

“Report the location. We’ll head there right away,” Unstable Devastation grew excited upon hearing this.

Right now, there were simply too many players in the White Sand Ruins, while the number of monsters was far from enough for them to grind. If there were such a valuable location available, they might make it to White River City today.

“These are the coordinates,” that Assassin immediately transmitted the coordinates into the team chat.

“Good. We’ll head over there after we get rid of these monsters,” Unstable Devastation laughed. His luck had finally arrived.

In a moment, Unstable Devastation led his team of elite players to that location.

Just like that Assassin had reported, this place was extremely secluded. There were plenty of monsters here as well. There were almost more than fifty Three-tailed Scorpions respawning every interval. To a large elite team like theirs with over a hundred players, this place was certainly a worthwhile grinding spot.

The only problem was that there were already quite a few players grinding here as well.

“Boss Unstable, what are we going to do?” a Shield Warrior looked towards the 60 to 70 players grinding ahead, his eyebrows scrunching as he spoke.

“Duh! Can’t you see that they’re all independent players?” Unstable Devastation said disdainfully, “They’re merely temporary parties grinding here. How can we let them occupy such a good location? Go, get rid of them. From now on, this place will be Martial Union’s grinding spot.”

Indeed, just as Unstable Devastation said, the players here were all independent players that did not belong to any Guilds. They had simply teamed up temporarily to grind. If a normal Guild were to see this many players, they would not dare attempt to steal this territory. However, it was a different story for Unstable Devastation and the bunch from Martial Union. Unstable Devastation’s team consisted of the elite players of five different towns, and even the elite team Stabbing Heart led could not outnumber them.

“Clear out the place! All those not from Martial Union, leave! Otherwise, deal with the consequences at your own risk!” Unstable Devastation glared at the group of independent players with contempt as he yelled his warning.

Meanwhile, the hundred-plus elite players from Martial Union all wore sneers as they surrounded the location. As long as anybody dared resist, they would extinguish them without hesitation.

The equipment of independent players had always been of poor quality. Even if these players had reached Level 9, their equipment was still far from comparing with Martial Union’s. Martial Union even had the advantage of numbers, up to 132 players, while these independent players only numbered around 60 to 70. Not to mention, these independent players were not unified in heart, so they were even less of a challenge to Martial Union.

At this moment, the representative sent out by these independent players said, “Brothers from Martial Union, shouldn’t we do things properly? It isn’t easy for everyone to level up. Why don’t we do this; we’ll each take half of these monsters.”

“Scram! I’ll count to ten. If all of you don’t get lost by then, I don’t mind letting you stay here forever!” Unstable Devastation bellowed.

“You guys are too arrogant! We’ve only managed to discover this place after much difficulty, so what right do you have to chase us away?”

“Listen to me, everyone. Why don’t we team up and fight it out against Martial Union? At most, both sides will suffer losses. I don’t believe that these players from Martial Union are really so fearless as fight it out with us!”

Just as one of the parties tried to organize everyone else into a team to go against Martial Union, tens of Fireballs blasted on the players of said party, instantly killing them all. This situation had frightened these independent players. However, they did not dare utter a word, only silently glare at Unstable Devastation.

“What? Do you have something to say?” Unstable Devastation laughed coldly, waving his hand once again.

Suddenly, another dozen spells fell upon them, and several more players glaring at Unstable Devastation perished.

“Let’s go,” unable to endure the pressure, one of the parties took the lead.

Soon after, the several remaining parties looked at each other. They all shook their heads as they departed. As for the two parties that died, nobody cared about them any longer.

“Hahaha! They are merely a bunch of trash, yet they dare compete with us, Martial Union?” Unstable Devastation watched the departing independent players, jeering.

Meanwhile, the other members of Martial Union also started laughing, exhilarated.

At this moment, Shi Feng arrived at the White Sand Ruins after running without rest.

“Martial Union should not be far ahead,” Shi Feng compared his current location to the marked location on the map, increasing his pace as he headed onward.