"What? You're saying the Star Mark Trading Company is selling the Arcane Shield right now? Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Weiwodukuang was ecstatic upon hearing the news.
"Boss, how could I be wrong? That Arcane Shield has a dedicated display stand on the second floor, but the price is 30 gold coins—it's left everyone completely dumbfounded, just drooling over it." An assassin who frequently camped near the Star Mark Trading Company confirmed.
"I got it. I'm going to go acquire gold coins right now. You stop waiting in line for those magic armor fragments. Keep your eyes glued to the Arcane Shield and don't move an inch. As soon as I have the money, I'll send someone over to buy it." Weiwodukuang didn't hesitate for a second, immediately deciding to purchase the Arcane Shield.
Thirty gold coins was no small sum for any guild, but Weiwodukuang showed no hesitation.
He knew the significance of the Arcane Shield. To be the first to clear the three major dungeons, they first needed a sufficiently powerful main tank. The best shield currently known was the Arcane Shield, so they absolutely had to get their hands on it.
Just as Weiwodukuang received this news, all eight cities where Star Mark Trading Company had branches also received it. Because what Star Mark Trading Company sold was interconnected—as soon as something was available in one of their shops, the remaining seven would have it too.
The competition across eight cities was far more intense than just one.
While various guilds were scrambling to gather gold coins, Shi Feng had already arrived before the Demon Castle.
The Demon Castle was once the territory of a feudal lord. Because this lord was corrupted by demons and gained immense power, he turned his domain into a nest of demons. The surroundings of the Demon Castle were filled with around level-15 demon imps.
Compared to other monsters, demon-type monsters naturally possessed extremely high magic resistance. Moreover, they had an incredibly strong perception of magic, making their magical attacks devastating. Even a level-15 demon imp could take away a quarter of a Berserker's health with a single small fireball. If it were a more destructive magic spell like a large fireball or a fire explosion, it could instantly reduce a Berserker's health by half.
The most troublesome part was that these demon imps never operated alone. They usually traveled in groups of three or four, which meant a solo player would be eliminated in an instant. Therefore, players coming to the Demon Castle only did so in small teams or raid groups, and quite a few showed up.
Demons were inherently greedy, with a particular fondness for money and gems. The drop rate for gems and money from demon-type monsters was generally much higher than from ordinary monsters. As a result, countless players came here to farm.
A first-tier gem on the market was worth over a silver coin—not exactly cheap, but not exorbitantly expensive either. Many players didn't have the heart to use them for inlaying because their equipment quality was too low to justify it. Furthermore, gems could only be used once; once consumed, they were gone. Typically, only Mythril Rank equipment or higher would have gems inlaid, but how many players actually possessed Mythril Rank gear? The vast majority still used Bronze Rank equipment.
Who would be willing to use gems for inlaying?
Generally, when gems were dropped, they were sold off to exchange for other things to enhance their strength. After all, the everyday cost of farming monsters was considerable, especially the expense of repairing equipment, which took up the majority of the costs.
However, this was exactly what Shi Feng had been anticipating. So he had been secretly acquiring gems all along.
First-tier gems increased stats very minimally, usually just a single point of a basic attribute. Even if you inlaid your entire gear set with them, the overall boost wasn't much. But once gems reached the second tier, it was a completely different story.
Second-tier gems provided increases of two to three points each. If your entire equipment set was inlaid with them, you could gain twenty to thirty attribute points. That difference became quite noticeable—equivalent to wearing an extra piece of equipment, and naturally, their price wouldn't be low.
Currently, first-tier gems sold for just over a silver coin, but second-tier gems were selling for over ten silver coins.
What most people didn't know was a secret: first-tier gems could be alchemically combined into second-tier gems, and it only required three of them.
Of course, this wasn't exactly a hidden secret. To unlock the combination system in White River City, one simply needed to achieve the first clear of the three major dungeons. Then they could go directly to an alchemist to perform the synthesis.
When that happened, the price of first-tier gems would suddenly skyrocket, likely to at least three or four silver coins.
But for now, this secret remained unknown to the public.
Shi Feng had been stockpiling first-tier gems, waiting for someone to unlock the alchemical synthesis so he could sell them off and make a profit of two or three times his investment. However, Shi Feng secretly hoped this moment would come even later. That way, he'd have more time to accumulate even more first-tier gems.
Thanks to the Star Mark Trading Company, Shi Feng could not only source first-tier gems from White River City but also acquire them from the other seven cities. The purchasing volume was far greater than before, so naturally, the later the better—he could earn even more that way.
"Guild Leader Black Flame, what's the sudden reason for summoning me here?" Shuise Qiangwei arrived at the dungeon entrance of the Demon Castle, looking puzzled.
As a level-15, 20-man raid dungeon, currently only a very few powerful guilds had the capability to challenge it. But even they wouldn't bother with this dungeon. Other guild members certainly wouldn't come either, as they were all busy tackling the Hell Difficulty level-10 raid dungeons and the three major dungeons. First, the required level for the dungeon was too high. Second, if they couldn't even clear the Demon Castle on Hard difficulty, the improvement to their team's gear would be minimal—a net loss. It was better to invest their efforts into clearing the Hell Difficulty level-10 raid dungeons.
That was why Shuise Qiangwei was puzzled. Why summon her here?
"Of course, it's to clear the Demon Castle," Shi Feng said with a smile.
But this statement startled Shuise Qiangwei, who immediately said, "Guild Leader Black Flame, isn't it a bit too early to clear the Demon Castle now? We should focus on clearing the Hell Difficulty level-10 raid dungeons. Although our guild started later than many others, we can still compete with other guilds for the three major dungeons."
"No, Qiangwei, our guild won't be competing for the three major dungeons. Our goal is the level-20, 100-man raid dungeon, the Temple of Divine Echo. So we need to start preparing now. After we finish this dungeon, have everyone focus on leveling up with all their effort. Don't deliberately suppress your levels; that's a net loss." Shi Feng shook his head and smiled, his eyes full of confidence.
Shuise Qiangwei was left speechless after hearing this, feeling that Shi Feng was being utterly fantastical. She sighed softly, holding little optimism. Setting aside the 100-man raid dungeon, the Temple of Divine Echo, even the current Demon Castle was impossible to secure the first clear on—not because she doubted Shi Feng's ability, but because the team's equipment wasn't up to the task.
"They're here." Shi Feng looked towards the dozen or so people walking over. It was Huo Wu and the others.
"They?" Shuise Qiangwei turned to look and was instantly shocked.
She saw that the dozen-plus individuals approaching were each dazzlingly impressive. Especially the hot beauty leading them—two daggers at her waist actually glowed with the distinctive halo of Gold-grade equipment. Additionally, several members in this team had gear that was dazzlingly superb, all equipped with Mythril Rank items. A Warlock even held a staff with hidden special effects, but judging by its exquisite and ornate design, it was at least a Gold-grade staff. The Guardian Knight wore a full set of Mythril Rank gear, mixed with one or two Gold-grade pieces. Although the shield on his back couldn't be fully assessed for quality, it was definitely at least Mythril Rank.
Such a dazzlingly equipped team probably even surpassed the main raid team of the Snake of the Body guild.
Then she glanced at the guild emblems on their chests—they bore the Six-Winged emblem. They were actually members of her own Zero Wings guild.
Shuise Qiangwei's mouth dropped open in disbelief.
"Guild Leader, I've brought everyone." Huo Wu and the other core members knew about Shi Feng's disguise secret, so they weren't surprised to see him as Black Flame and stepped forward to greet him proactively.
"Good. All drop from the raid group. I'll form the new party," Shi Feng nodded. (To be continued...)