Chương 58: A New Form of Berserk
Point out any errors I made in the chapters, as I'm very lazy and sometimes can't be bothered to reread them. Also give your opinions on something I should change or add.
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"Since I've seen it, and want it, then it's mine," As Feng stated this fact that he decided was true, the faint smile on his face turned cold "And anyone who touches my things dies."
Orc King Tresik grew even more irked hearing Feng's bold declaration. A Tier 1 ant actually stated that it would kill him, the Orc King? Tresik could have even killed the Sky Knight if he had wanted to, so what chance did a little Tier 1 Swordsman stand at even surviving against him?
The Orc King began wondering whether to take his time in killing this arrogant human in the most brutal way possible or to just rid himself of the ant.
Of course, despite Feng acting leisurely, he was still cautious of the Orc King.
Although Tresik possessed less than a third of Anubis's HP, his strength was much greater as a Mythic monster, not to mention his Defense and Physique as well as being Level 60. The Orc King will also most likely have a much larger variety of Tier 4 skills a his disposal; not to mention that he was able to fend off the Sky Knight's Tier 4 Taboo skill and come out unscathed.
As there had never been a Tier 4 Mythic Orc King at the Towers of Death in neither of Feng's lives apart from when he stole the God Crystal from Tresik in the previous timeline, Feng knew nothing about the Mythic monster's skills or true capabilities, as what the Orc King had shown when trying to kill Feng had merely been casual attacks directed at a Tier 1 creature.
However, Feng didn't doubt the Orc King possessed incredible strength even among Mythic monsters from his aura, and Feng wasn't completely sure if he could defeat Tresik.
But that was exactly the reason Feng had to give it a try, as not only was he curious about his ability to kill Mythic monsters at the moment with his current standard, but also what kind of unknown loot he might obtain from a never-before slain, system-induced Mythic Orc King.
No longer wanting to bother with the ant, Terisk dashed forward, reaching Feng in the blink of an eye and slashing his blood-red greatsword at him.
Seeing the Orc King commence an attack, Feng showed no hesitation as he activated Heavenly Dragon's Power, causing golden scales to appear all over his body as he slashed his swords in retaliation.
A shockwave spread out when the three swords connected, while neither of the two moved from their spot, seemingly matched in strength. However, Feng could feel how much greater the Orc King's strength was than his own from the exchange even with Heavenly Dragon's Power's boost, and immediately knew he would be at a disadvantage in a frontal clash.
Meanwhile, Tresik looked at Feng with a dumbfounded expression upon seeing the human block his attack. Although he had not used his full strength in the attack, thinking that this will be more than enough to kill the Tier 1 ant, it still immensely shocked the Orc King that his opponent was capable of enduring his strength.
It also caused Tresik to grow serious as the Mythic monster observed the Swordsman in front of him with greater caution, wondering if all that time being cooped up in the tower had made his senses go bad. But even after carefully inspecting the human before him, the Orc King still concluded the same thing as before; that his opponent was indeed only at Tier 1.
Further caution appeared in the Orc King's eyes after his careful inspection, inwardly wondering if the human was somehow concealing its actual Tier or if it had used some other means to match his strength.
Nevertheless, since he had already attacked, the Orc King didn't plan on backing away now; not to mention Tresik could tell from the human's predatory gaze that it wasn't intending on letting him or his God Crystal go.
Thus, the Mythic monster attacked once more, now no longer holding back as the Orc King placed all of his strength into the attack and even used a skill to make sure he kills this weird human eyeing him as if he were just a pile of loot this time around.
Remaining fearless despite the Orc King's powerful attack that neared the Tier 4 Peak standard and even caused space to tremble in its wake as it cracked, Feng counter-attacked once more as he executed Chop, sending three full moons to counter the incoming greatsword, which converged into a single and shattered space as it collided with the blood-red greatsword.
System: Chop Completion Rate 120%, resulting in 1,500% of skill's effect. Skill Proficiency +1,250.
Ignoring the aftermath of their attacks, the orc and human continued trading blows, with Tresik growing even more serious after seeing the human's attack, taking the fight between them completely seriously from that point as he sent blood-red lights flying at Feng, who countered with Thunder Flame Explosion and followed up with Double Chop.
Of course, the Orc King was still advantageous by a large margin when it came to strength, so it could still push Feng back even without its skills, while Feng soon found himself running out of skills to use and unable to keep up a head-on battle with the Mythic monster.
Thankfully, his far superior Combat Standards and Techniques compensated for his lacking attributes, allowing Feng to avoid pretty much all of Tresik's attacks in one way or another while also getting in some hits.
However, even when utilizing his skills and Combat Techniques, Feng found it difficult to shave off much of the Orc King's HP due to his Mythic level Defense and Physique, sometimes barely keeping up with Tresik's natural recovery and sometimes not being able to keep his HP bars from refilling.
Thus, even after nearly a minute of battle, the Orc King's HP barely fell by 2%. Although Feng could technically kill Tresik in such a way with enough time, not only did he have only around a minute of Heavenly Dragon's Power left, his opponent would also never allow himself to just be killed like that; and the Orc King would switch up his way of battle very quickly.
In the meantime, Tresik had tried all sorts of ways and attempted multiple different tactics in order to defeat Feng, all failing and causing the Orc King to grow completely stupefied the longer this battle went on.
Throughout the fight, the Orc King had confirmed with certainty that the human was indeed only a Tier 1 Swordsman who simply possessed incredible strength, yet it still rendered him completely helpless.
Any of his attacks or means were either dodged and avoided or thwarted by the human, making any attempt to land an attack useless. Even when the Orc King summoned reinforcements of Hot-blooded Orcs, Feng just activated Nine Dragon Slash and Mysticsteel Dualbaldes to get rid of them.
Moreover, the more they fought, the faster the human's attacks seemed to get, causing him to receive even more hits and damage. This was the effect of the Mysticsteel Bracers' Unyielding Onslaught, increasing Feng's Attack Speed with each five consecutive attacks he lands without receiving any damage; greatly increasing the number of attacks he can execute. Of course, the boost is limited to a certain amount that adds up over time, so it wasn't like he could infinitely increase his Attack Speed.
Though, Tresik also realized that the human wasn't able to do any extensive damage to him during this time, causing him to not feel any sense of threat from the Swordsman. Regardless, it was infuriating to the Orc King that he was reduced to this state by a mere Tier 1 ant, and he decided to not hold back anymore.
After all, aside from it being humiliating that he was unable to defeat a Tier 1 Swordsman even until now, the previous aura released when the spatial portal opened as well as from the aftermath, along with the God Crystal's presence, could attract more powerhouses to come here; which would greatly hamper Tresik's plans. Thus, he needed to quickly finish this and grab the God Crystal.
Releasing an enraged roar, the Orc King's body expended to be even larger as a frightening aura surged from it. A bloody aura surrounded the Mythic monster as it slashed its greatsword which had similarly grown in size, while harrowing screams could be heard coming from the blood-red weapon. Tresik could even block the Sky Knight's Firmament Flash with its current attack and state, as it reached the Tier 5 threshold.
However, the Orc King wasn't the only one who decided to quickly end this fight...
Blade Liberation!
Divine Providence!
Emperor's Haki!
Dragon's Authority!
Abyssal Curse!
Abyssal Bind!
Moonchaser!
While his two aura skills weren't able to largely affect Tresik, especially not in his Berserk state, they still stopped the Orc King for a moment as he resisted the mental suppression. The Tier 0 Abyssal Blade's skills also weren't of much help, as the Mythic monster didn't even seem to notice them as it moved on and continued with its attack, but all four were enough to slow the Orc King down for a split second and allow Feng to instantly reach him with his enhanced speed due to Blade Liberation; as the Pandemonium Lashblade lit up with a silver glow.
The silver glow caused by Moonchaser converged into a single point and exploded out on Tresik's chest, leaving a bloody wound as the Orc King got sent flying backwards by the force of the Tier 4 skill coupled with Feng's own great strength and the Bronze Combat Technique he had used.
Not giving his opponent any chance to recover, Feng immediately chased after in order to follow up on his previous attack, but the Orc King was more powerful and resilient than he had thought, enduring the damage he had sustained and retaliating by sending out bloody lights as well as summoning five blood-red, flying swords; that shot towards Feng.
Each of these flying swords contained 80% of the Orc King's Strength, which would be troublesome for even the liberated Feng to deal with if he wanted to quickly reach the Mythic monster and end the fight.
Unable to respond with his own flying swords due to them being on cooldown, Feng activated Wind Blade and Windwalk, zooming past the bloody lights and swords with his enhanced speed while reaching Tresik in a split second.
The Orc King responded to Feng's head-on challenge with a slash from his blood-red greatsword while controlling the flying swords to turn around and stab Feng in the back with an even faster speed than before.
Disregarding the flying swords coming at him, Feng activated Mysticsteel Body and Guardian's Bulwark, increasing his total HP by 1,000% and creating a platinum-blue shield behind him with over thirty times of his original HP to block the flying threats along with using Defensive Blade to stop any stray attacks, as he continued his slash.
The five swords pelted on the see through, platinum-blue barrier as Feng and the Orc King exchange clashes once more, but the shield wasn't able to last for long as cracks formed under the bloody swords' continuous barrage.
When Guardian's Bulwark was about to break, Tresik distanced himself from Feng and slashed madly with his greatsword, causing numerous bloody lights to fly out and fly towards Feng from all sides, while the flying swords also broke through at that moment, all attacks shooting towards Feng from all sides. There was also the Orc King who stood a bit further back and prepared a larger attack as soon as Feng blocked or dodged these ones.
Noticing the incoming attacks from all sides, Feng activated Fortress, becoming invulnerable for ten seconds and causing all of the bloody lights to disappear upon making contact with him, while the flying swords simply bounced off. Tresik's follow up attack was also negated.
Glaring at the temporarily immune Feng, the Orc King's anger grew upon noticing none of his attacks worked and that he couldn't kill the ant, but as he realized Feng wasn't moving from his spot and appeared unable to, Tresik stopped paying attention to the Swordsman and dashed towards the God Crystal which still lay on the cold ground as it appeared completely unharmed and unaffected despite the powerful clashes happening around it.
Since he couldn't hurt his opponent at the moment, while the invulnerable ant wasn't going to move, he might as well take the chance to claim his God Crystal.
Seeing the Orc King ignore him and move towards the God Crystal, Feng was forced to deactivate Fortress and use Ethereal Blitz to appear next to the Mythic monster, slashing his swords which lit up like miniature suns while executing Lightning Flash.
Seemingly prepared for the attack, however, the Orc King instantly slashed his greatsword towards Feng's slashes that combined into one.
The force was much greater than Tresik had expected, though, and he was forced to retreat by two steps, shocking the Mythic monster.
But before the Orc King could completely recover, black flames spread across the Pandemonium Lashblade, causing Tresik to sense life-threatening danger. The pitch-black sword covered in Destruction Soul Fire slashed at an incredible speed towards the Orc King, who hurriedly attempted to block the attack.
Forced to retreat another step, although Tresik had blocked the Demon Sword, pitch-black fire now covered his greatsword and was spreading to his hand. However, a bloody mist suddenly came out of the Orc King and his greatsword, seemingly extinguishing the flames as Tresik waved the sword at high speeds a few dozen times.
After releasing the bloody mist, though, a hint of exhaustion appeared in Tresik's eyes. Nevertheless, even more mist suddenly came out of him and the blood-red greatsword as he desperately attempted to block Feng's incoming attacks covered with Soul Fire and threatening to swallow the Mythic monster whole.
Although the bloody mist seemed capable of fighting back and extinguishing some of the Destruction Soul Fire, it wasn't capable of completely enduring Feng's onslaught. The Orc King desperately defended against the numerous attacks with all types of techniques and rapidly used his defensive skills, trying to distance himself from Feng especially when his opponent used Sword's Orbit and creates a dome of black flames.
The fear towards the human and the desperation Tresik felt grew by manyfold when he sensed the damage being dealt to his soul and realized what the pitch-black flames are. He consumed any and all skills that he possessed like never before in his long life, trying to buy time and survive as much as possible while hoping the human wasn't able to keep this up for long.
Feng was also desperately attacking with all his might, utilizing any skills and Combat Techniques he could to do as much damage as possible during this time.
As the seconds passed, however, Feng realized it wasn't enough. Although the damage he was currently doing had greatly increased and was astounding for a Tier 1 player to do to a Mythic monster, with the short amount of time he had left of Blade Liberation's duration, even though he could get close, he wouldn't be able to drain the Orc King's remaining HP; not to mention Tresik might have some more tricks up his sleeve for when his HP gets to critical levels.
At the end of the day, although the Destruction Soul Fire was immensely powerful, how much of its prowess could be exhibited still depended largely on Feng. At his current tier and level of power, he was unable to show the Soul Fire's true potential, rendering his current strength not enough to kill the Mythic monster before him.
'Do I give up?' Feng hesitated as he glanced between Tresik's rapidly declining HP and Blade Liberation's duration, until an idea came to his mind 'Though, I still have that.'
There was still one of his most powerful trump cards which Feng hadn't used yet, and had been hesitant to use.
Before the battle had begun, and even now, Feng had been confident that even if he wasn't able to defeat and kill the Orc King, he would still be more than capable of stealing the God Crystal and getting away safely; however, if his current idea were to fail, he might no longer be capable of doing that, and may even lose his life as a result.
But Feng only remained indecisive for a second, before a grin appeared on his face as he used the skill he had been hesitant to until now.
Profound Inheritance, Soulharvest Synergy!
This time, Feng truly utilized the Pandemonium Lashblade's true capabilities.
Feng's aura suddenly spiked and transformed like never before, while silver fur seemingly started growing on his golden scales, causing the Orc King to stumble a step back in fear from the danger he currently felt from the human. As he realized the gravity of the situation and noticed his opponent has stopped moving, Tresik went all out and slashed powerfully at Feng as bloody mist covered nearly the Orc King's entire being.
It was at his moment, though, that Feng moved.
The Destruction Soul Fire grew even more as he slashed with the Pandemonium Lashblade at the Orc King's attack. This time, not only was all of the bloody mist instantly dispersed, but Tresik's blood-red sword was also cut in half along with his arm; decreasing his HP by around 10%.
Black flames burned on the Mythic's wound, but before it could do anything, Feng had at some point appeared in front of the Orc King without him noticing and stabbed the Pandemonium Lashblade into his stomach, causing the Soul Fire to eat away at his insides.
Though, Feng wasn't done yet, as he unlocked the chain mechanism on the Demon Sword and slashed upwards, the Chain Sword extending throughout the Orc King's entire body and cutting everything upwards in half.
Tresik's already low HP reached critical levels as over 25% disappeared, but whatever remained was quickly taken away as well by a few of Feng's slashes before the Mythic rank Orc King could do anything more.
A mountain of loot appeared as Feng became surrounded by a golden glow multiple times, receiving a huge amount of EXP for soloing a Mythic rank monster like the Orc King twenty levels higher than him while only at Tier 1.
Feng couldn't help but release a relieved sigh, incredibly glad his plan worked.
Soulharvest Synergy was a Berserk type skill that allowed him to temporarily absorb the souls of creatures he had previously slain, greatly boosting him in all aspects as well as inheriting some of the creatures' characteristics.
Meanwhile, the souls Feng had chosen to absorb were of the nine Great Lord rank Wolfstein Guards and of the Grand Lord rank Wolfstein Guard Captain which had guarded the Wolfstein Palace's Throne Room. The resulting boost from absorbing such powerful monsters' souls gave Feng a boost in attributes even greater than Heavenly Dragon's Power, being a bit inferior to Blade Liberation's.
With Heavenly Dragon's Power as an equipment Berserk skill which boosted his Strength, Blade Liberation as a Legacy Berserk skill that boosted him in all physical aspects, and Soulharvest Synergy as a Soul Berserk skill that boosted him in all aspects via empowering his soul, Feng had essentially achieved Threefold Berserk.
A moment later, though, the price to pay for such power showed as Feng's relieved expression turned into one of immense pain, as he coughed out a mouthful of blood while cracks started appearing across his entire body with fresh crimson blood flowing out.
Hurriedly, Feng deactivated all of his Berserk skills, causing his body to return to normal and deflate like a balloon. However, the cracks across his skin didn't disappear, and only stopped growing while the amount of blood pouring out of them slightly decreasing.
Currently, despite not losing any HP, Feng felt as if he was dying.
When all was said and done, Feng was still merely Tier 1 with his Physique being at the Basic Tier 3 standard, while the power he had just used to finish off the Orc King had been at the Tier 5 standard.
Naturally, his body was unable to endure the strain and nearly collapsed. If the fight had gone on for a second or two longer, Feng's body would have exploded even without Tresik doing anything.
Thankfully, Feng's gamble had paid off, and he had been able to take away the Orc King's remaining HP in that brief time period, resulting in him being the victor.
His Vitality was also thankfully very high with his current equipment even with him placing zero Free Attribution Points into it, so his body was rapidly healing at the moment. Still, it would take a decent amount of time to heal his physical wounds; not to mention his attributes had decreased by 80%.
No amount of Healing Spells would help him either, as his HP hadn't decreased by a single point during the entire fight, and even the Aura of Water's Life Bloom wouldn't be of any use.
Incredible pain spread throughout every cell in his body with the cracks worsening as he attempted to move, Feng's eyes turned bloodshot while his entire body trembled and ached, especially his legs that were about to give out.
Before Feng could collapse to his knees, though, he propped himself up on his two swords, refusing to fall as he straightened his back. Even if there was no one around to see it, Feng's pride absolutely refused to allow him to collapse.
Though, he did sit down after a bit to rest as he looked through his Spatial Bag, only finding a few Intermediate Regeneration Potions that he kept for emergencies. Although doubtful it would help, he still took one out and drank it while also choosing to use Life Bloom on himself, hoping something would relieve the current stress and pain his body was going through.
As expected, the cracks across Feng's body didn't mend, but he could faintly sense that he was slightly recovering, so Feng decided to rest for a bit and recover as much as possible, at least enough to stand, before returning to the city and seeing if Violet's powers of the True Saint could help him in some way.
In the meantime, Feng used Phantom Kill and had his doppelganger bring the God Crystal and all of the Orc King's drops to him in order to be appraised and stored.
The Mythic rank Orc King was a special monster who became Tier 4 for this event, and as Feng had previously thought, the items dropped by it were astounding; especially when coupled with Feng's extremely high Luck.
Feng obtained multiple Epic items and materials from Tresik, along with a few Inferior Legendary materials and a couple Light Stone Forging Designs as well as some other Designs and Recipes; but most of the items were subpar to the current Feng and didn't spike much interest from him, except for two items that caught his attention.
First was a Forging Design for creating Advanced Light Stones, which seemed to have a much larger range and duration than regular ones, along with increasing the damage players dealt to Dark-type creatures within their range. Moreover, the materials needed for creating an Advanced Light Stone were the same as a regular Light Stone's except for being in a larger quantity.
This got Feng the idea of using Blessing of Creation on the Light Stone Forging Designs to see if they'll turn into Advanced ones; as well as using it on this Design and seeing if there is a higher rank of Light Stones.
A purple-gold, diamond-shaped token, with a single word engraved on it was the second item that Feng noticed and valued the most. Promotion was the word engraved on the token, and it is a Shop Promotion Order. Moreover, it wasn't a 2-star Shop Promotion Order, but a 3-star Shop Promotion Order.
In God's Domain, even 2-star Shop Promotion Orders were extremely difficult to obtain.
Current players had no hopes of getting their hands on a 3-star Shop. To obtain one, players would need to kill a relatively high-leveled, high-tiered Field Boss, open a high-rank Treasure Chest, or complete the Challenge Quest.
Obtaining a 3-star Shop Promotion Order from a Field Boss was unrealistic, as only Level 50 or higher Tier 4 Field Bosses had a chance of dropping them.
As for Treasure Chests, the Promotion Order would only appear in Dark-Gold Treasure Chests found in Level 50 or above maps.
As for the Challenge Quest, its difficulty approached that of a Legendary Quest. The money required just to accept the quest would send cold shivers down the spine of any large Guild in God's Domain.
Although promoting a shop to 3-star status was exceedingly difficult, any Guild that could afford the fee would make an attempt.
After all, there was a qualitative difference between a 3-star Shop and a 2-star Shop.
The greatest difference was that, when a Shop reached 3-star status, its 1-star Shops could be promoted to 2-star status. This one aspect was more than enough to throw the various large Guilds into a frenzy.
Aside from this, a 3-star Shop offered far more functions than a 2-star Shop.
After reaching 2-star status, a Shop would gain access to the Special Workshops. At 3-star status, a Shop would gain access to the Basic Meditation Room.
As the name suggested, the Meditation Room was a space that allowed players to process their thoughts. Moreover, due to the dense Mana inside the Meditation Room, players could maintain a clear state of mind, allowing them to better-exert their abilities. The Special Workshop, on the other hand, only altered the environment to adjust one's mood.
Of course, the Meditation Room also offered every function a Special Workshop possessed, allowing a player to alter the room's environment.
This was the main reason why the various Lifestyle Masters in the past had surged towards high star-ranking Shops. A positive work environment was crucial to Lifestyle players.
However, there were two downsides to the Basic Meditation Room in 3-star Shops.
The first was the cost. To maintain the Mana density inside the room, one needed to spend a lot of Magic Crystals. Maintaining the Mana density for a day cost a total of 300 Magic Crystals.
The second drawback was its scarcity. At 3-star status, a Shop could only offer three Basic Meditation Rooms.
Until now, Feng hadn't been entirely sure what the Orc King was, since he was supposed to be the final Boss of the Towers of Death, but had come out to do the ritual. Now it seemed like the Mythic Orc King counted as a Field Boss, and had dropped the 3-star Shop Promotion Order due to Feng's high Luck.
It also reminded Feng of the fact that he was currently capable of killing Level 50 and higher, Tier 4 Field Bosses, and could farm these Shop Promotion Orders thanks to possessing the Godly Tool around his neck.
Although he had to go all out against Tresik and use Threefold Berserk in order to finish him off in time, the Orc King could be considered a very powerful monster even among Tier 4 creatures, and Feng could probably win the fight with only Twofold Berserk if he targeted some weaker Mythic monsters. Not to mention he could also have his guild members support him from the side.
If he were to farm a couple 3-star Shop Promotion Orders, then he would be capable of promoting all of his Shops to 2-star Shops as long s he also obtained one 2-star Shop Promotion Order due to a 3-star Shop being capable of promoting five branch Shops into 2-star Shops.
Setting another task for himself, Feng appraised the remaining loot, finding nothing particularly interesting even though the items were of decent quality.
After recovering enough, Feng used Echoport and teleported to his Private Warehouse in White River City where he had placed a Marker beforehand.
Upon appearing in his Warehouse, Feng stored his spoils of war before letting Violet, who he had called to come here after sitting down to rest, in.
A look of horror appeared on Violet's face as soon as she saw his current state, asking worriedly what had happened while casting healing spells on him. Although the spells did alleviate some of the pain and Feng could feel his body slightly recovering, the cracks on his skin and the true damage his body had sustained weren't improving much, causing the Cleric's shock to grow; especially when he told her how he had sustained such damage.
After expending nearly a third of her Mana and seeing that the cracks on her man's body had not repaired by much, a hint of resolution appeared in Violet's eyes as she called up the system panel.
Guessing what she was about to do, Feng grabbed Violet's thin wrist just before she managed to click on the confirm button, saying "Don't waste your Legacy Points on something like this. My condition is not that serious."
"But-" Violet bit her lips as she glanced at the red cracks all across Feng's body. Although she had seen Feng get hurt extensively and even his real body in a much worse condition than now many times, for some reason, the teen girl felt extreme distress after seeing him receive such damage now.
"Relax. I'm fine." Feng couldn't help but chuckle after seeing Violet's reaction, finding her current worried expression incredibly cute. Though, it only caused Violet to pout upon noticing his nonchalance to the current situation.
"Big Brother Feng, please be serious. You could have died!" Feng's words didn't seem to relive Violet's worry at all, and it only seemed to increase the more she realized there was nothing she was able to do or help Feng.
Feng narrowed his eyes slightly for a split second after hearing Violet's words, but a smile quickly appeared on his face as he pulled Violet by the hand towards his embrace and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Please, do you really think I can die so easily? I never knew you had such a low opinion of me, Violet."
Hearing Feng say so, Violet's expression changed a bit, as it wasn't her intention to undermine Feng or his abilities. Before she could say that's not what she meant, Feng leaned in and placed a kiss on her subtle lips. Responding, Violet wrapped her arms around him and indulged in the kiss which lasted for a couple seconds before the two separated; a string of saliva forming between their lips.
Looking at Feng's easygoing smile, Violet couldn't only sigh and leave it be "Fine, but please be careful from now on and don't use Threefold Berserk unless absolutely necessarily."
"Sure." Feng simply smiled, as that was what he was thinking as well.
After all, the consequences of using Threefold Berserk at his current standard were very dangerous, and he could very easily die in the process; with it not being a simple regular death.
Moreover, the penalty for using Threefold berserk was even larger than Twofold Berserk, as instead of being in a Heavily Weakened state for two hours like normal, the duration extended to two days. That meant that Feng would have his attributes decreased by 80% for 96 entire hours.
Thankfully, his current attributes were worlds beyond the current players, so there was no threat of them being able to even scratch him despite him only having 20% of his usual attributes; with his Strength and Agility still being in the thousands.
Violet soon departed and went on to continue with what she had previously been doing, while Feng went deeper into his Private Warehouse. Rows of cabinets lined the warehouse's interior neat and orderly.
Feng then opened a cabinet. Inside the cabinet, there was a single dark blue crystal ball. This crystal ball was none other than the one Feng had obtained from the Eternal Courtyard. Currently, the crystal ball was releasing a chilling cold, and the cabinets around it froze as its was opened.
Taking out the God Crystal he had slain the Orc King for, Feng placed it inside the cabinet, beside the dark-blue crystal ball.
The instant Feng placed the God Crystal inside the cabinet, the two crystal balls suddenly released a blinding glow, illuminating the Private Warehouse. The powerful pressure the two orbs gave off had caused Feng's body to feel slightly heavy.
Right at this moment, the sound of a system notification rang out by his ears.
System: Do you wish to remove the seal and merge the two Crystal Balls?
Without any hesitation, Feng agreed to the merger.
Suddenly, the two crystal balls transformed into two bubbles of liquid. The crystal ball Feng had obtained from the Eternal Courtyard transformed into a blue liquid, whereas the other crystal ball transformed into a golden liquid. The two liquids then merged, and as if they tried to devour one another, the newly formed liquid turned blue in one moment and gold in the next. Meanwhile, the Divine Might exuded by the both grew stronger as more time passed.
Feng causally resisted the Divine Might as he looked at the epic battle of liquids, noticing that the blue one, which he was cheering for, seemed far more powerful than in his previous life, and was quickly gaining the upper hand.
In less than half a minute of resisting each other, the two liquids finally became one.
The dark-blue crystal ball from the Eternal Courtyard had emerged victorious.
After merging, the shape of the crystal ball had also changed. Instead of a crystal ball, it was now a dark-blue metallic cup. Countless tiny blue runes were engraved around the cup's exterior. There was also a glowing purple ring of light flowing around the cup. At this moment, the cup's Divine Might was far stronger than the one Feng had felt before; and even stronger than when the two liquids first merged during the previous timeline.
If not for this place being a Private Warehouse, he would have definitely caused a commotion inside the Bank's hall. Meanwhile, any players caught within the blue cup's Divine Might would find it impossible to move.
Curious, Feng checked the cup's information.
However, just after Feng clicked to check the cup's Attributes, a piercing cold assaulted his hand as some frost appeared on it. Thankfully, Feng's backlash of using Threefold Berserk didn't affect his Resistances and only decreased his attributes, while the damage he had sustained weakened his Physique; so he was able to endure the cup's intense cold.
Feng then took a look at the cup's Attributes.
[Holy Grail] (Legendary Item)
Legend has it that the Holy Grail belongs to the Goddess of Life and that it holds the power to bestow eternal life. However, after Ragnarok, the God of War had destroyed the Holy Grail and placed it in the Eternal Courtyard. Only with an Eternal Heart can one truly hold the Holy Grail.
Passive Skill: Death Rejection
Once per day, the holder of the Holy Grail can escape death upon receiving fatal damage, granting the holder invincibility for three seconds while recovering holder's HP by 50% and decreasing the cooldown of all skills available to the holder by 60%.
Activatable Skill 1: Power of Evolution
Sacrifice one's own Life Force to evolve an item of the player's choice. However, there is a small possibility that the evolution process will fail. An evolved item's quality cannot exceed the Legendary rank. There is a minuscule chance the evolved item will receive Goddess's Grace, vastly improving it.
Cooldown: 10 days
Activatable Skill 2: Blessing of Life
Improves a creature's Life Rating and fixes all of the creature's flaws and damages.
Cooldown: 20 days
"Oh?" Feng grew slightly surprised. He wasn't surprised by the skills or their heavenly effects, but by their presence.
In his previous life, Feng had fed the damaged Holy Grail many God Crystals until it eventually recovered some of its power, the three skills it currently possessed being usable at that time, so Feng knew of their existence in the Holy Grail; but he didn't expect them to be available at the moment with only absorbing that one God Crystal.
After thinking for a bit, Feng concluded it was because he had defeated the Blade Saint's remaining Will himself without the crystal orb interfering, resulting in it not using up the power within it and not needing any restoration from him.
This was undoubtedly a great development, but Feng wasn't sure if the current Holy Grail had the same power as he remembered. Moreover, it would seem he'll still need to obtain an Eternal Heart again if he wished to use all of the Holy Grail's power once more.
Deciding to test out the Holy Grail's power, Feng used Blessing of Life on himself, wishing to see if it could help him recover from the backlash.
In the next moment, the Holy Grail released a purple light that gathered in its center, before shooting towards Feng. As the purple glow enveloped Feng, the cracks across his skin started mending at a speed visible to the naked eye, and disappeared completely in a few seconds.
The other damages Feng had sustained were also rapidly recovering, and Feng could feel himself returning to his peak.
A minute later, the purple glow surrounding Feng disappeared, while the one around the Holy Grail dimmed slightly. Apart from completely recovering from the backlash his body had endured, Feng was also no longer in a Heavily Weakened state; his attributes returning to 100%.
Moreover, Feng also sensed that, although his attributes had not rose, he had grown stronger, and the aura around him was much more dangerous than before. From his experience and the Blessing of Life's description, Feng guessed that his Life Rating had improved by a bit. Currently, Feng felt that even if he used Threefold Berserk, he'd be able to last a few more seconds than before.
Without a doubt, the Holy Grail was an incredible item even the Greater God's Domain's Apex Powers would kill to obtain.
Setting aside the ability to upgrade items to Legendary rank every ten days, increasing a player's Life Rating in God's Domain was incredibly difficult, and could usually only be done through upgrading one's tier, obtaining a Bloodline or Race Changing; along with a few extremely rare special means that couldn't be repeated.
Thus, an item that could artificially increase a player's Life Rating, and even more so any creature's, would be wanted by all powers no matter the cost. Not to mention Blessing of Life's other effects and short cooldown.
After making sure that the Holy Grail's capabilities were the same as he remembered, Feng stored it in his Private Warehouse and made a trip to the Candlelight Trading Firm.
On his way, though, the sound of Feng's communicator rang near his ears. The caller this time was none other than Gentle Snow, who had been busy consolidating her power as the new Guild Leader of Ouroboros.
Although Gentle Snow had chased away her biggest competitor, Cao Chenghua, the resulting internal struggles within Ouroboros had resulted in the first-rate Guild falling apart. If Gentle Snow wished to consolidate her power, she would need to spend a lot of time and effort to do so. In addition, a more powerful opponent, the first-rate Guild Star Alliance, lurked, waiting to strike.
"Guild Leader Black Flame, may I ask if you have the time to speak right now?"
In the video call, Gentle Snow still wore the calm and elegant smile she usually displayed. She looked like a goddess that was high above mortals. It felt as if she were in control of everything. However, though she appeared completely fine on the surface, her act did not deceive Feng.
He could feel that Gentle Snow had grown frailer than before. Seeing a superwoman like Gentle Snow so exhausted, one could just imagine how terrible Ouroboros's current situation was.
Gentle Snow had just taken control of Ouroboros. The number of people she could trust was limited. Meanwhile, after ruling Ouroboros for so many years, Cao Chenghua would not give up so easily after being kicked out of his position. In addition to a great enemy like the Star Alliance threatening the Guild, it would be very difficult for Gentle Snow to cope.
"Miss Snow, there is no need to mince words. Our Guilds are allies, so feel free to speak your mind." Feng spoke candidly.
Gentle Snow revealed a bitter smile on her pure and delicate face upon hearing Feng's words. "Guild Leader Black Flame's senses are as sharp as always. I'll speak openly, then. I'm calling about the Candlelight Trading Firm that suddenly appeared on one of Star-Moon City's golden Lands and the Candlelight Trading Firm in White River City. I can't think of anyone in the entire Star-Moon Kingdom other than you who is capable of launching such firms."
"That's right; I am indeed the founder." Feng did not try to hide it. To begin with, he had no need to do so. He had spoken with Gentle Snow about his plans to establish a Lifestyle Guild long ago.
"Excellent; this will make things easy. I want to invest into the Candlelight Trading Firm. I don't want a lot of shares; 20% will do. Naturally, I will compensate you appropriately. The compensation will include 30% of Ouroboros's shares, as well as funds, channels, and materials, which will allow the Trading Firm to develop quickly.
"What do you think of my offer?"
Even Zhao Yueru and the Elders of Ouroboros standing beside Gentle Snow were shocked by her offer.
After all was said and done, Ouroboros was a bona fide first-rate Guild and possessed a massive fortune. The Guild had only achieved its current status after striving for many years. Although the Guilds' internal struggles were serious, the Guild itself was still frighteningly strong; second-rate Guilds were still no match for it.
Yet, just for 20% of the shares of a Trading Firm, Gentle Snow actually intended to trade 30% of Ouroboros's shares for 20% of the Trading Firm, in addition to providing various funds and channels. This decision was simply insane.
"Snow, have you gone mad? You only hold 50% of Ouroboros's shares right now, yet, you're actually going to give Black Flame 30%? What will you do if Black Flame joins hands with Cao Chenghua?" Zhao Yueru persuaded her friend softly.
Although Zhao Yueru trusted Black Flame, 30% of Ouroboros's shares was simply too important. If utilized properly, Gentle Snow could easily persuade more of the Guild's Elders to her side. That way, Cao Chenghua would not be able to impact the Guild so easily. Utilizing the Guild's shares to boost Gentle Snow's strength and solidify the Guild was far more valuable than obtaining 20% of the Candlelight Trading Firm's shares.
"That's right, Young Madam Snow; you have to consider this carefully. Those shares are the last resort left by Young Master for you to keep Cao Chenghua in check. Although Cao Chenghua can no longer play God's Domain, in the real world, his authority in the company has not been affected in the slightest. If you give those shares to someone else and lose this protective talisman, he can easily join hands with the other shareholders of the company to oppose you." A man nearing his fifties in butler clothing similarly attempted to persuade Gentle Snow.
"You don't have to say anymore. I know what I am doing." Gentle Snow shook her head, waiting for Feng's reply.
She was no fool. She knew this was not a worthwhile transaction. Even so, she insisted on conducting such a trade to deepen the relationship between their two Guilds.
Although she was the Guild Leader of Ouroboros and one of the major shareholders of the company, neither her authority nor her words were of any use. Unfortunately, although she had tried to nurture plenty of people herself, there were too few capable personnel under her command. It was especially true for experts in God's Domain.
Cao Chenghua had managed Ouroboros for many years now, so he had previously had the time and resources to nurture plenty of experts.
Due to her premature victory over Cao Chenghua in God's Domain, he had decisively ordered all of the experts under him to abandon the Guild. In addition, Cao Chenghua had also roped in many of the Guild's Elders and had secretly been transferring personnel out of the Guild, gradually splitting Ouroboros in half.
If Ouroboros split in half, then the shares she had on hand would be meaningless. Hence, she might as well use it to pull Zero Wing to her side.
Although Zero Wing seemed only to occupy a single city right now and looked to be inferior to many second-rate Guilds, Zero Wing's city had the second highest population in Star-Moon Kingdom. That was far better than occupying three to five minor cities with a population of only several hundred thousand players.
In particular, after seeing Ye Feng's and Violet Cloud's performance...
Although Zero Wing was still a fledgling Guild right now, Gentle Snow had seen Zero Wing's true fangs and knew that it was capable of trampling over any first-rate Guild with its experts. When the time was right, Zero Wing would rip apart all enemies in its way and become Star-Moon Kingdom's overlord.
At this moment, just the fact that Black Flame had managed to establish a Candlelight Trading Firm on Star-Moon City's most valuable golden Land displayed the man's capabilities and power.
However, Feng shook his head in the next moment and said, "Miss Snow, your offer is indeed very tempting. However, please allow me to refuse."
"Refuse? Why?" Gentle Snow asked in disbelief, her beautiful eyes widening with shock.
Her proposal was no different than shoving money at Feng's face. If Zero Wing and Ouroboros joined forces, not only could they make up for each other's deficiencies, but it would also become more convenient for their two Guilds on their paths to becoming the overlords of Star-Moon Kingdom. She could not fathom why Feng would reject such a proposal.
"As I understand it, I know that you hope to deal with Ouroboros's internal problems quickly, but I do not want Zero Wing to get mixed up in the internal struggles of other Guilds." Feng explained. "However, I have another proposal that Miss Snow might be interested in."
"Another proposal?" Gentle Snow could not help but ask curiously.
"It's very simple. Miss Snow simply needs to bring Ouroboros's members into Zero Wing. I can give Miss Snow 15% of Zero Wing's shares." Although Feng's voice was utterly calm, his words were astoundingly shocking.
"Are you trying to annex Ouroboros?" Gentle Snow asked, slightly indignant.
Ouroboros did not belong to her entirely. Originally, it should have been her brother's. Only, due to her brother having an accident, Cao Chenghua had taken the opportunity to weasel his way to the top. And all this time, she had been thinking of a way to help Ouroboros recover its past glory, so how could she possibly agree to merge Ouroboros and Zero Wing right now?
"Is there a difference?" Feng countered. "Ouroboros exists only in name now. Although you have acquired the position of Ouroboros's Guild Leader, you do not possess the corresponding authority. Sooner or later, Ouroboros will split in half, so why not join Zero Wing instead?"
Feng had his own considerations regarding Ouroboros.
In reality, Ouroboros was not at all of any value to him. The only reason he had decided to offer 15% of Zero Wing's shares was solely due to the war goddess herself, Gentle Snow. Everything else meant nothing to him.
In the past, Cao Chenghua had defeated Gentle Snow. With the entire Guild pitted against her, it was only natural that she had lost. Aside from Gentle Snow's most trusted followers, not a single person had stood with Gentle Snow. How could she have won?
Even if her own abilities were amazing and her strength famed throughout God's Domain, the people's aspirations could not be easily swayed just by strength alone.
In the end, Ouroboros would disband.
What point was there for Gentle Snow to strive so hard? It would be much better for her to take the opportunity, while a small portion of the Guild still supported her, to join Zero Wing.
Time crawled by.
Both sides silently looked at each other.
At this moment, complex emotions filled Gentle Snow's heart.
She had won the competition, but lost the Guild.
This sentence fit her situation perfectly. Despite her desperate efforts to preserve the Guild, at the end of the day, she could not escape her fate.
"Fate makes fools of the people!"
Gentle Snow quietly exclaimed. She then looked at Zhao Yueru and the several Guild Elders beside her. They were all people whom she trusted the most. By the time Cao Chenghua extracted all of his underlings from Ouroboros, the Guild would only exist in name. At that time, it would be very difficult for the Guild to continue in Star-Moon Kingdom.
After all, Ouroboros and the Star Alliance were sworn enemies. Even if Ouroboros only existed in name, the Star Alliance would not let it off the hook. Only when the Guild had thoroughly erased Ouroboros from God's Domain would it rest.
After some time, Gentle Snow released a small sigh.
Feng could see the helplessness Gentle Snow struggled with through the screen. However, her reaction was only natural. After all, who would willingly merge the Guild they had spent an endless amount of effort to establish with another Guild?
However, Feng had his own considerations as well.
Even if Zero Wing and Ouroboros were allies, the Guilds resided in two different cities. Both Zero Wing's upper management and its Guild members had to keep up their guard constantly. In order to avoid adding to Zero Wing's worries, the best result would be to annex Ouroboros.
It was truly hilarious.
A little Guild like Zero Wing actually dared to annex a first-rate guild?
However, Feng possessed the strength and confidence to succeed.
Zero Wing currently possessed many experts. There was also a continuous supply of funds from the Candlelight Trading Firm, so Zero Wing could afford to annex an existence like Ouroboros. Moreover, after receiving Ouroboros's trade channels, the Candlelight Trading Firm could profit further.
In addition, after operating in the virtual gaming world for so many years, Ouroboros must have accumulated plenty of old customers, who were very rich and willing to spend lots of money in virtual reality games, as well as corporate sponsors. Otherwise, the Guild would not have such an impressive income.
"Guild Leader Black Flame, I need some time to consider this matter," Gentle Snow said after calming down. "Since Guild Leader Black Flame has no intentions of selling the Candlelight Trading Firm's shares, may I purchase some Coins from you?"
Although Snow knew it was most likely pointless to try to hold on to Ouroboros, she still chose to do so. She had long since given up on being the overlord of Star-Moon Kingdom after seeing the strength of Zero Wing's members, and knew it was only a matter of time before it took over the entire Kingdom without much trouble.
But it was also because she had witnessed Zero Wing's strength that she knew such a powerful Guild with so many experts would never settle for just one small Kingdom. Zero Wing would eventually expend further and take over more than just the Star-Moon Kingdom.
With its strength, Zero Wing wouldn't bother with Ouroboros, not to mention they were allies, so instead of moving to another Kingdom to develop, she might as well stay here where Ouroboros was the strongest and settle for Zero Wing's leftovers.
As for letting Zero Wing annex Ouroboros, although it would benefit her in the long run, Snow was unwilling to let that happen just yet. The Guild was something entrusted to her by her brother, thus, unless absolutely necessarily, she didn't wish to abandon it.
"Miss Snow, you should know how tight the various Guilds are for Coins right now. However, if you're only interested in purchasing a small sum, there should be no issues. May I know how much you are looking to buy?" Feng asked.
"I don't want much; 5,000 Gold will do," Gentle Snow stated after giving the matter some thought. "I can transfer 50 million Credits for them immediately."
With 5,000 Gold, she should barely be able to stabilize Ouroboros's current situation. If she established a Guild Residence and gave the Guild members some hope, it would make it more difficult for Cao Chenghua to lure players away.
"Five thousand? Miss Snow, you think too highly of me." Feng lied through his teeth. "How about this; I can sell you 2,000 Gold at market price. However, I will require Ouroboros's help to purchase some materials for the Candlelight Trading Firm."
Coin's market value constantly depreciated. Currently, 1 Gold Coin was worth about 6,000 Credits. One could roughly purchase a piece of Level 25 Mysterious-Iron Equipment or Level 20 Secret-Silver Equipment with that kind of money.
Gentle Snow's offer to purchase 5,000 Gold at 50 million Credits was far above market value. However, even if she had 50 million Credits, she couldn't even purchase 4,000 Gold, much less 5,000. Otherwise, those corporate giants would have long since bought up all the available Lands in major cities.
One could say that Coins were at their peak value right now. If one could purchase a good plot of Land now, they could earn back the money spent by ten, or even dozens, of times. These massive corporations naturally would not hold back from spending their Credits. Unfortunately, such a thing was simply not possible.
Of course, Feng was bullshitting when he said he didn't have five thousand Gold Coins. Let alone five thousand, he still currently possessed tens of thousands of Gold Coins. However, he also had plans for those Gold Coins, so he needed to save them. Not to mention, giving Snow too many Gold Coins could also lead to adverse effect for him.
"Two thousand Gold?" Gentle Snow was immediately stunned.
Before, she had only mentioned 5,000 Gold with the intention of probing Zero Wing's bottom line. Throughout God's Domain, there was not a single Guild that was capable of revealing 5,000 Gold, yet Feng had just casually mentioned that he would sell her 2,000 Gold.
Two thousand Gold!
In order to acquire so much money, she would have to spend several days relentlessly trying to purchase Coins and draft the Guild's money-farming teams and her confidants. On the other hand, even after purchasing the two golden Lands, Feng could still afford to sell 2,000 Gold.
His financial prowess was unmatched...
"Is it not enough?" Feng pretended to ponder for a moment before saying, "I can offer you 3,000 Gold at most. If it is still not enough, you will have to look for other avenues yourself."
"Thanks, I'll transfer the money to you right away," Gentle Snow said, inwardly feeling overjoyed. With 3,000 Gold in addition to the 2,000 Gold she currently had on hand, she would have enough to purchase a plot of Land and establish Ouroboros's Guild Residence, as well as maintain the Guild's daily expenses. This way, Cao Chenghua would find it far more difficult to tear the Guild.
After Feng sold 3,000 Gold to Gentle Snow through the virtual trade center and sent her a list of materials she needed to get for him, he arrived at the Candlelight Trading Firm.
---
While it was lively in White River City, the liveliest area, without a doubt, was the Candlelight Trading Firm.
As for the reason behind the Candlelight Trading Firm's popularity, that was due to the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits.
Although the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits were not as powerful as the Basic Mana Armor Kits, the latter was simply too scarce. It could not compete with the large number of Basic Strengthened Armor Kits available at the Candlelight Trading Firm every day.
Inside a high-class bar a short distance from the Candlelight Trading Firm...
Feng Xuanyang sat on the second floor open-air terrace, gazing at the Candlelight Trading Firm with a smile on his face.
"I want to see just how long you can hold out," Feng Xuanyang laughed, his expression clearly displaying his arrogance.
Initially, Feng Xuanyang had been slightly worried that the Candlelight Trading Firm's flourishing business would show no signs of ending. If that were so, it would not be easy to deal with the Firm in the future. However, during the process of poaching the Firm's workers, Feng Xuanyang had discovered a secret, a fatal weakness of the Trading Firm.
And that secret was that only three people in the Trading Firm knew how to produce the Basic Strengthened Armor Kit.
With just three people, it was simply impossible to satisfy the demands of the large number of players in White River City. Even if it were possible, a long time would be required to do so. By then, players would have outgrown their need for the kits.
Knowing this fatal secret, Feng Xuanyang began to spend large sums of money to purchase the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits, buying as many as he could.
First, he wanted to deplete the Candlelight Trading Firm's stockpile. As long as the Firm no longer had any Basic Strengthened Armor Kits remaining, the Firm's popularity would fall and limit its business. Although he had to invest a massive sum of Coins, the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits he bought were not completely useless. On the contrary, they were particularly helpful when raiding Team Dungeons.
Secondly, aside from striving to establish their own Guild Residences, the various Guilds in Star-Moon City also strived to accumulate sufficient money to purchase the city's golden Lands. Other than that, these Guilds were also continuously raiding large-scale Dungeons, improving their Guild's Popularity and equipment.
Meanwhile, other than giving the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits to his own teams, Feng Xuanyang also set aside a portion, selling them to other cities.
There was no Candlelight Trading Firm branch in other cities, so there were no Basic Strengthened Armor Kits available there. With Underworld's channels, Feng Xuanyang had sold these kits to the various Guilds of other cities. When these Guilds saw the kits, they fought tooth and nail to purchase them. As a result, he made a huge profit by reselling the kits.
It was truly killing two birds with one stone. Not only could he deplete the Candlelight Trading Firm's stockpile of armor kits, but he could also profit from reselling them. How could this possibly go wrong?
However, as he celebrated his plan, he had also gained a deep understanding of how fearsome the Candlelight Trading Firm was.
Fortunately, the Candlelight Trading Firm was only in White River City and Star-Moon City, and there were only three forgers capable of producing the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits. Should the Trading Firm ever resolve these two problems, it could definitely dominate Star-Moon Kingdom's market. At that time, who could possibly compete with the Candlelight Trading Firm?
Feng Xuanyang could not hold back his envy.
"Why isn't the Candlelight Trading Firm mine?" Feng Xuanyang held a deep hatred towards Melancholic Smile.
If the Candlelight Trading Firm had agreed to cooperate, it would have been his possession by now. With the money he could earn through the Trading Firm, his position within Underworld would also soar. At that time, those currently above him would be at his beck and call.
"Hmph. Did you think that, just because you refuse to sell the Trading Firm to me, I would be helpless against you? The Firm will fall into my hands!" Feng Xuanyang could already picture the moment he grasped the rights to the Candlelight Trading Firm, and it would only be a matter of time before all of Underworld's power in Star-Moon Kingdom would fall under his control. At that time, it would be child's play to deal with a Combat Guild like Zero Wing.
Just as Feng Xuanyang enjoyed the wine of victory, a slightly chubby middle-aged man in pompous clothing sat down beside him.
"Young Master Feng, may I know why you have called me here today?" Although the middle-aged man was only Level 10, barely reaching the minimum requirement to enter a city, his body radiated a distinct shrewdness. In particular, those beady little eyes of his greatly resembled that of a wily old fox.
"How is the progress of the task I assigned you?" Feng Xuanyang asked softly.
"Young Master Feng, rest assured, I have already discussed things with many members of the Candlelight Trading Firm. Although only over a dozen or so Advanced Forging Apprentices have officially defected to our side, many have expressed their intentions of doing so. I believe that in the near future, many more Advanced Forging Apprentices will willingly defect to our side. At that time, the Candlelight Trading Firm will show signs of supply shortages. When the Firm's popularity falls, it will become even easier for us to poach its members. If they run out of workers, even with a good Shop and the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits, expansion will be impossible." The middle-aged man chuckled.
"Good, you've done well. As long as you succeed, you will receive your fair share of benefits." Feng Xuanyang nodded with satisfaction.
---
Meanwhile, inside one of the forging rooms of the Candlelight Trading Firm, Melancholic Smile glanced through the reports, her face remaining indifferent.
Just moments ago, several more Advanced Forging Apprentices had requested to dissolve their contracts. Moreover, these few Advanced Forging Apprentices all held rare forging designs.
Yet despite knowing this as well as everything Feng Xuanyang was doing behind the scenes, she showed no care at all.
From the beginning, Melancholic didn't care about these traitors and all of the Forging Designs they had learnt were ones Candlelight either didn't truly care about or could easily obtain with Zero Wing's strength. Even if they were rare and valuable to the current players, they meant nothing to her.
Moreover, since she already knew who would eventually turn traitor, Melancholic had specifically given those players easily obtainable Designs that only seemed valuable. The same went for the rest of the unrestored members she didn't care about.
All of Candlelight's restored members and unrestored members that she valued were doing their production in the Starstreak Trading Firm.
After Feng stopped all of its sales, Starstreak underwent a renovation in all of its Shops, getting rid of any places for selling products and turning all of its rooms in every building into just production rooms and a few storerooms; maximizing their production capabilities.
Since Feng Xuanyang had no access or knowledge about the members of Candlelight using Starstreak as places for making Candlelight's products, he only knew of Cocoa, Roasted Ironheart and the third person making Basic Strengthened Armor Kits who were staying in Candlelight's Shop in White River City.
However, the production speed of those three was far greater than what that young master could imagine, and Melancholic only had a portion of them being sold in Candlelight's two Shops to build up fame and attract customers while saving the rest for when the time came.
Suddenly, Feng opened the door to the forging room and entered.
"Guild Leader?" Melancholic Smile called out in confusion. "Why are you here?"
Currently, everything happening in Candlelight was being handled by her just as planned without any problems, so there was no reason or need for Feng to waste his time making a trip over.
"Just wanted to check something while I was in the city. How are things going?" Feng replied, wanting to see if the Light Stone Forging Designs could indeed improve.
"Everything is going smoothly as we have planned." Melancholic replied while passing Feng a report on the current situation.
"Good, then you know what to do with these." Not caring for it, Feng merely placed the report back on the table without even glancing at it while taking out the Light Stone Forging Designs he had gathered.
Although Melancholic already possessed plenty of the Designs from the Zero Wing members who were grinding for them and had given them to the Candlelight members in Starstreak who were rapidly producing them, she was still waiting for the right time to allow Feng Xuanyang to know about them; and scam him of some money.
Though, it would seem Feng judged now is the right time, so Melancholic simply nodded, but a Forging Design in the middle of the pile caught her attention.
"Advanced Light Stone?" Glancing up at Feng, Melancholic asked for confirmation.
"Yep." At this moment, Cocoa walked in and passed Feng the Book of Creation. "Perfect timing."
Saying so, Feng selected the Advanced Light Stone Forging Design and used Blessing of Creation on it, causing the Design to float up and become surrounded with a holy glow.
As the three of them watched curiously, the holy glow disappeared after a few seconds and a Forging Design fell back into Feng's hands.
[Peak Light Stone Forging Design]
Confirming his thoughts, Feng passed the Book of Creation back to Cocoa and the Forging Design to Melancholic "Have some of the restored members try to replicate the Design or make a similar version of it and have one of the restored members learn it afterwards. Also, try using Blessing of Creation on regular Light Stone Forging Designs when the cooldown ends and do the same thing."
After passing down his orders, Feng left the Candlelight Trading Firm and teleported to Watch Cemetery.
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