After the Martial Alliance was wiped out, the news spread across Red Leaf Town in no time.
Some players even uploaded battle footage to the official forums, where it instantly went viral.
Snake of the Body had already cleared the Hell Difficulty Dark Moon Cemetery, and now they'd wiped out over a hundred members of the Martial Alliance. The Ice Goddess's stunning presence had won over every male player, and Snake of the Body's status and influence in the White River City region skyrocketed overnight. Countless newcomers were itching to join.
Thanks to this video, quite a few guild higher-ups had also taken notice of Shi Feng.
The fight had started because the Martial Alliance sought revenge against Shi Feng, but not only had Shi Feng received help from the Ice Goddess — he'd also killed the Iron Sword Mad Lion head-on. That was proof enough of his formidable strength and his good relationship with the Ice Goddess. They needed to tell their people to be careful around him.
When Shi Feng and his group returned to Red Leaf Town, quite a few players on the main street turned their eyes toward him.
"Hey, isn't that Ye Feng — the one who ran the dungeon with the Ice Goddess?" said a male warrior.
"If I asked Brother Ye Feng nicely, do you think he'd help me level up?" a girl playing an elemental mage whispered shyly to her companion.
The whole way, Shi Feng had become a bona fide celebrity. Wherever he went, people stared and whispered.
"Brother Feng, you're famous now. All you'd have to do is crook your finger and a flood of pretty female players would come running. Don't forget to set me up with a few, all right?" Hei Zi said with a grin.
"Quit fooling around. Right now our top priority is leveling up. The sooner we hit level ten, the sooner we can get to White River City and grab more advantages," Shi Feng replied with a smile. "Everyone's tired — let's rest for an hour, repair our gear, stock up on supplies, and then regroup."
At Shi Feng's instructions, Hei Zi and the others headed straight for the blacksmith to repair their equipment.
For some reason, grinding level-five Forest Wolves for dozens of hours had barely put a dent in their gear durability, but after a single team dungeon run, their equipment durability had dropped by nearly half. If they ran another dungeon, the gear would probably hit one durability — or break entirely — in three or four hours at most.
When they arrived at the blacksmith shop, they discovered something horrifying.
Because they'd been swapping out gear so frequently before, they'd never had to repair anything. Now, with Ke Le's equipment still at just over half durability, the repair cost came to 1 silver and 63 copper — enough to buy a level-one piece of Bronze Equipment.
The more durability lost, the steeper the repair bill. If an entire set of gear dropped to one durability, it would cost at least four silver coins to fix — two full days of Ke Le's earnings.
Of course, Ke Le earned faster than most elite players because he followed Shi Feng around. But if ordinary elite players had to pay these repair costs, it would mean several days' worth of income gone in one go.
"Boss, you're robbing people blind!" Ke Le reluctantly paid over a silver for repairs, grumbling the whole time. If not for the mysterious treasure chest earned from clearing the Hell Difficulty dungeon — which had yielded over three silver and five mid-grade recovery potions — the repair bill alone would have left him penniless.
"Adventurer, I already gave you a ten percent discount. That's as cheap as it gets," the blacksmith shot back irritably.
Hearing this, Hei Zi and the others realized with a start that their reputation in Red Leaf Town had reached thirty points, entitling them to a ten percent discount there. Repairs were even more expensive than they'd imagined, but letting gear break meant losing it entirely and slowing their leveling to a crawl. They had no choice but to pay up.
Trade District — Auction House.
Shi Feng was on a buying spree. The Gleaming designs he'd sold earlier had netted him a hefty sum, and his inventory now held a full 73 gold coins. Nobody in all of White River City had more money than him.
He bought anything likely to appreciate in value. As player levels rose, gold would become easier to come by and its purchasing power would drop — better to invest in assets that would grow than sit on coins that would only depreciate.
It had been a while since his last visit, and the Auction House had filled up with more Sturdy Stones, Decks, and other items destined to climb in price. He spent over eight gold in total, filling even six newly purchased forty-slot bags to the brim. He made several trips back and forth to his bank vault to deposit everything. In the near future, these items would multiply in value several times over — even ten times or more. Just thinking about it put a smile on his face.
As for the Gleaming designs that had earned him so much, their prices had already started to slide — down to around two gold apiece. Before long, they'd be worthless.
Seeing fewer and fewer guilds buying Gleaming designs, Shi Feng decided to hold off on selling for a while and look for other ways to make money. His main goal now was earning credit points. The tiny amount he'd accumulated so far wasn't even enough to cover the studio's operating costs.
With over sixty gold remaining, he placed another thirty coins on the virtual trading exchange. Every major guild and studio was buying up gold in bulk — it wouldn't take long to sell, earning him a nice batch of credit points in the process.
After that, Shi Feng sorted through the day's haul at his bank vault. Just the Bronze Equipment dropped by the Martial Alliance members amounted to over a dozen pieces. He'd initially planned to sell them, but the studio would be recruiting new players in the future, so he stashed them away — they might come in handy. It wasn't as if he needed the money.
As for the most important item from the Dark Moon Cemetery — the Ashen Blade — Shi Feng tucked it into his vault for now. It was useless at this stage; only in Star Moon Kingdom might he find leads on it. After all, the Ashen Blade's previous owner was no ordinary figure. Revered as the God-Slayer in the Divine Realm, a being who made even gods tremble — only the Star Moon royal capital might hold any clues connected to it.
"Hm? What's this?"
Shi Feng fished another item from his bag — a crystal the size of a palm.
"Wait — didn't the Iron Sword Mad Lion drop this?" He recognized it. It was one of two items from the boss kill.
Seven-Luminaries Crystal. Special item. Can be used to teleport to Black Wing City. (Uses remaining: 4/5). Guaranteed drop upon death.
"Iron Sword Mad Lion was no pushover, after all. No wonder he was so powerful in my last life — he had this thing." Shi Feng looked at the crystal in his hand and chuckled.
Black Wing City was no ordinary place, and you couldn't just waltz in whenever you felt like it. A teleportation crystal was required, and the Seven-Luminaries Crystal was one such pass.
In his previous life, Black Wing City's reputation had shaken the entire Divine Realm, and every major power had been willing to pay top dollar for access. For ordinary players, though, even visiting Black Wing City was pointless — at best, it was a sightseeing trip. But for the higher-ups of major factions, it was nothing short of paradise. Go once, and you'd be desperate to return.
Shi Feng checked the time and realized today was a major day for Black Wing City. He had to go. He sent Hei Zi a message: "Hei Zi, I've got something else to take care of, so I can't stick around to level with you guys. After you rest, head to the Roaring Hills in the level-eight area — this location on the map. As long as you're careful, the leveling speed there is pretty fast."
ps: Thanks to reader 1506292 for the 100-point tip!