When he heard the system notification, Shi Feng chose to open the Peddler Shop right away.
Although the Peddler Shop could hire better NPCs to manage it and renovate its interior after being promoted to two-star — all of which would attract more players and NPCs — Shi Feng simply didn't have the money for any of that right now.
Just purchasing the Peddler Shop had cost him nine thousand ancient gold coins, leaving only one thousand in hand.
And throughout all of Dragon Heart City, every expense required ancient gold coins. The gold coins earned in kingdoms and empires were completely useless here. Even attempting to exchange gold coins for ancient gold coins at a premium didn't work, because the players who came to develop in Dragon Heart City were generally experts who weren't short on gold coins. They far preferred to use ancient gold coins to purchase items that could strengthen themselves, so none of them were willing to part with their ancient gold coins.
On top of that, entering and leaving places like the Tower of Worlds also cost money.
Going to the first floor's Geocentric Mountain Range wasn't too bad — each entry required only five ancient silver coins. But heading to the higher-level second floor cost a full ancient gold coin.
And then there was the food and drink in Dragon Heart City, which was expensive but absolutely essential. Unlike anything in the outside world, the food and drink here could accelerate a player's recovery of both stamina and mental energy. Most importantly, it could purge the corrosive otherworldly energy from a player's body, allowing them to enter the Tower of Worlds more quickly.
This was one of the reasons why smaller factions simply couldn't survive in Dragon Heart City. Otherwise, a place this good for leveling up and obtaining resources would have been packed with players long ago. Who would bother going to maps where travel took ages and strange energy corroded your body?
Shi Feng planned to have Zero Wing's members come develop in Dragon Heart City as well, and for that, he absolutely needed money.
More pressing still, the Peddler Shop required a payment of three thousand ancient gold coins every ten days, so the sooner it opened, the better.
Once the Peddler Shop was up and running, it didn't take long before NPCs came in to sell their wares. Among the items was a Tier 2 Skill Book, though the asking price was steep — sixty ancient gold coins.
Shortly after the NPCs arrived, players began filing in.
The players who had been idling nearby caught sight of the items displayed in the glass case and couldn't tear their eyes away.
"Holy crap! Isn't that a Resurrection Scroll? That's the good stuff — you can revive without needing a healer, and the death penalty is halved! I never even saw one at the Empire's Auction House. I only spotted one at an auction event once, and it sold for two hundred gold coins. And here they're selling it for only fifty!"
"Fifty? You call that cheap? They want ancient gold coins here."
The players' eyes gleamed as they stared at the Peddler Shop's merchandise, but upon seeing the prices, their enthusiasm utterly deflated. For the top members of these well-known adventuring parties, scraping together fifty gold coins was still feasible — but fifty ancient gold coins? They couldn't afford that even if they sold themselves.
And inside the Peddler Shop, every single item was priced in ancient gold coins…
Shi Feng watched this batch of players loudly declaring the Peddler Shop a racket, all of them reduced to nothing but gawking. He could only shake his head and chuckle. He'd been the same way in his past life. Even as the leader of a major guild, he'd thought the prices at the Peddler Shop were outrageous, let alone these adventuring party members.
After that, Shi Feng left the shop and hurried to rendezvous with Qin Yin and the others.
Now that the Peddler Shop was open, and with so many players in Dragon Heart City, it was only a matter of time before the major factions took notice. He had no doubt the black market slots would sell. In the meantime, Shi Feng had left five hundred ancient gold coins in the shop specifically to purchase epic-grade materials. As for everything else, he'd have to put it on hold — without money, there was no way to stock up. For now, he would use the Peddler Shop to slowly accumulate ancient gold coins.
At a bar called the Blue Rose in Dragon Heart City's inner district, Shi Feng arrived to find Qin Yin and the others already chatting happily with a Level 79 Halfkin Tiger Berserker.
The Halfkin Tiger Berserker not only had a high level but also boasted impressive equipment. He wore the Level 75 Gold-grade Punisher set and carried a massive battle axe radiating an epic-grade glow. His wild, untamed aura was enough to keep even the top experts of first-rate guildes from casually approaching.
And judging by the way this Halfkin moved, he was a consummate master — absolutely not weaker than Qin Yin.