Not long after Shi Feng entered White River City.
The entire White River City region had gone into a frenzy. Every major guild was the same — they were actively forming parties to grind mobs and level up, all trying to get into White River City as quickly as possible.
However, the higher-level the monster zone they grinded in, the more problems they ran into. Setting aside the growing number of players in high-level zones and the constant fighting between major guilds over resources, the sheer issue of weapon and equipment durability alone was driving these guilds to their wit's end.
"Hasn't the whetstone shipment arrived yet? The elite team's weapons are already close to their durability limit," Ci Xin asked in the party channel.
"The blacksmiths have been working around the clock and managed to produce a batch. They're on their way here now," a Ranger reported.
"How many did they send?" Ci Xin asked.
"One hundred whetstones — five stacks," the Ranger said, his voice low and awkward.
"How can it only be a hundred? Didn't we buy over five hundred Sturdy Stones?" Ci Xin's face darkened. Their elite team currently had over sixty people grinding in the level ten monster zone. Each whetstone could restore three to seven durability points, and a hundred whetstones would run out in just over an hour at most.
"All five hundred Sturdy Stones have been used up. We've been trying to buy more in bulk, but there's nothing to be found. A lot of players who farm them themselves trade them to blacksmiths for whetstones instead. We've sent a bunch of rookies to Dark Moon Valley to farm stones, but after the Divine Realm system update, the Sturdy Stone drop rate has dropped significantly."
"Besides, the dozen-plus blacksmiths we've trained are all Junior Apprentices. Their success rate for crafting whetstones isn't great. If they were Intermediate Apprentices, making whetstones would be a lot easier and wouldn't waste so many Sturdy Stones. But leveling up the Blacksmithing skill is way too slow — they're still far from the proficiency needed to advance to Intermediate Apprentice."
The Ranger's expression was embarrassed as he explained. Their guild had been investing heavily in training blacksmiths and alchemists for a long time now, but despite pouring so much money and resources in, there was still nothing to show for it.
"Ugh..." Ci Xin grew more worried the more he listened, and let out a deep sigh.
Only now did he truly realize the importance of blacksmiths. Even though the guild had prioritized blacksmith training early on and invested considerable resources and funds, he'd never expected Blacksmithing to be so difficult to level up. If only their guild had an Intermediate Apprentice right now — they wouldn't be so desperately short on whetstones.
"Understood. Tell the elite team to conserve their usage. Try to minimize weapon contact with monsters as much as possible to slow down durability loss. But have our peripheral members ramp up their efforts to collect Sturdy Stones," Ci Xin said helplessly.
And here was the Assassin Alliance — a top-tier second-rate guild — brought to such wretchedness by nothing more than a whetstone. Of course, it wasn't that they lacked money. The problem was they couldn't buy the Sturdy Stones, let alone the whetstones themselves. Even if a stack of whetstones was selling for ten silver coins, he wouldn't hesitate to buy them — but there simply wasn't anything for sale.
It wasn't just the Assassin Alliance. Every guild in the entire Star Moon Kingdom was desperate for whetstones. It just wasn't as critical as it was in White River City, where the guilds were pulling their hair out. Weapon durability was dropping too fast. They couldn't sustain prolonged combat, but without weapons, how could they fight monsters at all? For such large guilds, it was absurd that they simply couldn't find blacksmiths who could produce whetstones in bulk.
A typical small guild in a town might have over thirty elite players in high-level monster zones. In White River City, even a third-rate guild could field five to six hundred elites in high-level zones. Second-rate guilds had over a thousand, and first-rate guilds boasted three to four thousand or more — to say nothing of the vast number of free-roaming players. The demand for whetstones in the entire White River City region was enormous.
Yet now every guild was frantically rushing to hit level ten, driving the price of Sturdy Stones ever higher — already reaching the astronomical price of one silver and twenty copper per stack. And even at that price, nothing could be found...
White River City, City Hall.
Without realizing it, Shi Feng had already been waiting for over half an hour.
During that time, he'd finally finished organizing his intelligence on White River City. For guilds that knew nothing about the city, this information held considerable value.
The data came in two versions — a simplified edition and a premium edition. The simplified version gave only a general overview of White River City, like the fact that a large bazaar was held every three days, but it offered no information on resource distribution. The premium version included some of that, though only in broad strokes — which areas were suitable for which classes to level in, which locations had abundant resources and what kinds, and so on. This was exactly what the major guilds needed most.
Originally, Shi Feng had considered selling to each guild individually to earn gold coins, but that was far too cumbersome. What he lacked most right now wasn't gold — it was Credit Points. After much deliberation, he decided to sell on the official website's forum for Credit Points. The simplified edition was targeted at free-roaming players, and the premium edition at guilds.
The simplified edition was priced at three hundred Credit Points. With it, you'd basically have a city guidebook — you wouldn't wander into White River City completely lost with nothing to do.
The premium edition was priced at twenty thousand Credit Points. It wasn't that Shi Feng was being ruthless. These guilds would eventually learn this information on their own, but it would take them a lot of time to figure it out. By Shi Feng's estimate, it would take at least two or three days — and even then, their information wouldn't be as accurate as his. Two or three days was invaluable to a major guild, so twenty thousand Credit Points was nothing to them.
"Demon Hunter, Administrator Wiseman is waiting for you in the reception room. Please follow me," a beautiful staff member suddenly approached Shi Feng and said softly.
"Sure, lead the way."
Shi Feng stood and gave a slight nod, then followed the staff member upstairs to the reception room on the second floor.
The spacious, elegantly furnished reception room was occupied by a man in a silver-gray robe, immaculately dressed, holding a dark blue gemstone staff. He appeared to be in his fifties, standing quietly by the window, gazing at the scenery outside.
This was White River City's Administrator Wiseman — a Fourth Tier Arcane Mage, level 200, and unquestionably one of the most powerful beings in the city. Even with Wiseman simply standing there, Shi Feng could clearly sense the magic elements in the room frantically converging around him, forming a faint magical domain that made the pressure in the room spike dramatically.
This wasn't something Wiseman did intentionally — it was unconscious. That was the terrifying nature of a Fourth Tier powerhouse. If Wiseman were to actively deploy this magical domain, Shi Feng would likely be annihilated in an instant.
On the surface, Wiseman appeared to be in his fifties, but his actual age was well over a hundred. A true old monster.
"Young man, I hear you have an introduction letter from Blackbeard?" Wiseman looked at Shi Feng with a smile.
A Demon Hunter title carried considerable weight among ordinary NPCs, but for a powerhouse like Wiseman, the title meant nothing. The status of a Fourth Tier class far exceeded that of a Demon Hunter.
"Yes. Mayor Blackbeard asked me to deliver this to you." Shi Feng produced the introduction letter and handed it to Wiseman.
Wiseman took the envelope but didn't open it. He simply let out a long sigh and looked at Shi Feng. "What was destined to come has finally arrived. I've waited thirty years for this letter. I just never expected it would be a young man like you who brought it. Now it's time for me to fulfill the contract I made all those years ago." (To be continued...)
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