In the quiet reception room, Shi Feng stared in disbelief at the last line on the shop listing.
A two-star shop!
Thunder Axe City did have some two-star shops, but they weren't something players could simply buy. A baron in Thunder Axe City wouldn't be able to purchase one — even a viscount might not manage it, depending on luck and accumulated standing.
"Could this be the reward for being the first to purchase a high-grade shop?" Shi Feng considered the possibility, but he didn't think the Bronze Inheritor title granted enough status to directly buy a two-star shop. The first-person reward was a far more likely explanation.
For other large neutral cities, the distinction between one-star and two-star shops didn't matter much. But in Thunder Axe City, it was an entirely different story — the gap between a one-star and a two-star shop was like the difference between a small town and a proper city.
The reason for this lay entirely in how differently they attracted NPCs. A two-star shop held greater value and credibility in the eyes of NPCs, who would always choose the higher-rated shop when conducting transactions.
There was also the matter of scale. Scale didn't just refer to the shop's physical size — it also represented the maximum transaction amount per deal with NPCs, which was yet another reason NPCs preferred higher-rated shops.
A one-star shop could only conduct transactions under fifty gold coins at a time, but a two-star shop could handle up to three hundred gold — a sixfold increase. Combined with the fact that more NPCs were willing to deal with higher-rated shops, the resulting gap was enormous.
This was why two-star high-grade shops in Thunder Axe City were so precious. In his previous life, countless guilds had dreamed of buying one, but very few ever managed it. Most had no choice but to invest vast amounts of resources and time to slowly upgrade a one-star shop to two stars.
But falling behind one step meant falling behind every step...
And for the major guilds, the primary reason they wanted to purchase a two-star shop directly was to eventually reach a three-star shop. In NPC cities, high-grade shops rated three stars and above were limited in number.
Once a two-star shop met the upgrade requirements for three stars, it had to surpass the existing three-star shops to become a true three-star shop in Thunder Axe City. The three-star shops that were overtaken would then be demoted to two stars...
The difference between three-star and two-star shops was practically a qualitative leap. The per-transaction limit jumped all the way to one thousand gold coins. While the multiplier wasn't as dramatic as the jump from one star to two, it represented a critical threshold.
Once that financial level was reached, the nobles of Thunder Axe City would begin conducting business with the shops. The items in the hands of nobles were nothing like those of ordinary NPCs — they were all rare and valuable goods.
Upgrading a one-star shop to two stars in Thunder Axe City required a tremendous amount of time and resources. By the time a one-star shop finally reached two stars, the shops that had been purchased as two-star shops early on would likely have already become three-star shops. Snatching one of the limited three-star slots from Thunder Axe City's existing three-star shops at that point would be next to impossible.
This was exactly why, in his previous life, the Shadow Guild only had a two-star shop in Thunder Axe City. Three-star shops were simply out of reach. As far as Shi Feng knew, only superpowers and a handful of first-rate guilds had managed it. Ordinary first-rate guilds didn't have the capability to compete.
Now, being able to purchase a two-star shop right from the start — how could Shi Feng not be surprised?
And this two-star shop was a blacksmith workshop, which among all shop types was one of the most valuable for a guild. It far surpassed general stores and restaurants.
The reason was straightforward: NPCs conducted different types of business with different shops. NPCs who visited a blacksmith workshop were typically there for custom weapon and equipment commissions, and they brought their own materials. This allowed the shop to directly obtain rare forging ingredients. Additionally, both ordinary NPCs and NPC merchants frequently sold their ores to the blacksmith workshop, making it an excellent source for acquiring rare minerals.
"Esteemed Lord Bronze Inheritor, is there any land plot or shop here that catches your eye?" The beautiful elf noticed that Shi Feng had been silent for a while and asked curiously. "If nothing here appeals to you, you can come back next week. There should be a new batch of sellers by then."
"No, I'm satisfied. I'll take these five land plots and these two shops." Shi Feng pointed to the inner district land plots and the outer district shops on the listing.
Since he currently only held the rank of baron, the land he was permitted to purchase was limited to the outer and inner districts. The inner district had very few plots available — the fact that he could buy any at all was already a stroke of luck. As for high-grade shops in the inner district, only those of viscount rank had the qualification to purchase them.
But that was exactly why Shi Feng felt relieved. If it had been a high-grade shop in the inner district, the money he had on hand would probably only be enough to buy a single two-star blacksmith workshop.
Even so, a two-star blacksmith workshop in the outer district cost a staggering ninety thousand gold coins. The one-star magic potion shop he was purchasing came to forty-seven thousand gold.
"Very well. Five land plots and two shops come to a total of 206,000 gold coins!" The beautiful elf quickly calculated the total and said, visibly pleased.
If the executives of any first-rate guild saw that Shi Feng had spent over two hundred thousand gold coins in a neutral city on two outer district shops and five inner district land plots, they would probably think he had gone mad. That much money could easily buy more than ten plots in the central district of any royal capital.
But Shi Feng paid the full amount without hesitation — or rather, as a matter of course. The benefits of this kind of investment weren't obvious in the early stages, but they would become increasingly apparent as time went on.
Shi Feng had only brought 170,000 gold coins with him, and he had already spent over 20,000 at Glory Stone Fortress. Fortunately, during the time he had been completing quests, even as the guild continued to expand, they had still managed to accumulate over 70,000 gold coins. It was barely enough to cover the payment, leaving him with almost no surplus.
Before long, the beautiful elf produced seven property deeds and handed them to Shi Feng. After confirming everything was in order, he headed directly to the two high-grade shops in the outer district and deposited 5,000 gold coins in each to use for transactions with NPCs in exchange for various resources. He then left Thunder Axe City without lingering and used a Return Scroll to head back to White River City.
By the time Shi Feng returned to White River City, the city hadn't fallen into decline the way he had feared. Zero Wing had temporarily withdrawn from the contest for Witch's Hill and lost considerable prestige in the Star Moon Kingdom, but walking down the streets, he actually found that more players than ever were flooding into the city.
Among the crowds, there were far more players from various guilds than before, all bustling about the city with great urgency, and their numbers were quite staggering — accounting for roughly ten percent of the players on the streets.
White River City was already a metropolis with a population in the millions. Ten percent of that meant over a million players.
"Melancholic, has something happened in White River City recently? Why are there so many players from other guilds here?" Shi Feng returned to the Candlelight Trading Firm and, while storing the Titan Ore he had obtained, asked Melancholic Smile.
"Nothing has happened in White River City recently," Melancholic Smile said with a bitter smile. "The reason so many guild players have shown up is entirely because our guild suffered heavy losses in the battle against the Starlight Alliance at Witch's Hill, and then withdrew from the contest altogether. The Starlight Alliance has publicly declared that they'll wage an all-out war against our Zero Wing Guild at Witch's Hill — and that if any of our members dare show up, they won't let a single player who leaves Zero Wing City go unchallenged. Right now, our entire membership is fighting the Starlight Alliance across the Star Moon Kingdom, but the results haven't been great. So the major guilds in the kingdom all see this as an opportunity to seize White River City and have been sending people here to prepare in advance."
"These guilds... they really won't let even the slightest opportunity slip by," Shi Feng couldn't help but shake his head. "Since this Starlight Alliance wants a fight to the death at Witch's Hill, I'll give them one! Notify Aqua Rose immediately — have her assemble one thousand Tier 2 Shield Warriors and Berserkers at the White River City headquarters right away!"
"I'll go notify her now." Melancholic Smile nodded.