During the two days Shi Feng spent working in the Forging Room, many players who had just arrived in the city were utterly amazed.
They hadn't expected the city to offer such benefits.
Whetstones were no longer exclusive to guilds, and rare intermediate Recovery Potions and intermediate Mana Recovery Potions could all be purchased at the Star Trace Trading House—its stock more comprehensive than any other trading company.
The biggest draw was the Advanced Whetstone, sold in limited daily quantities, which had become the Star Trace Trading House's signature product. Combined with the exchange mechanism, a steady stream of Sturdy Stones kept supply roughly in line with demand.
Thanks to this advantage, the Star Trace Trading House swiftly dominated all eight cities, overshadowing every other trading company.
Over those two days, players essentially stopped going anywhere else to shop. They could get everything they needed in one stop at the Star Trace Trading House, and business there grew more and more bustling.
Meanwhile, a major event had shaken White River City.
Even the immersion-obsessed Shi Feng was stunned.
More than ten guilds had suddenly banded together, merging into a single organization. The news sent shockwaves through the entire city.
Numerous second- and third-tier guilds in White River City grew nervous. They began boosting their guild benefits to poach members, while simultaneously accelerating the absorption of smaller guilds. As for the no-name guilds struggling to survive, they formed alliances one after another to stand against the second- and third-tier guilds.
The formerly vibrant landscape of competing factions in White River City had overnight transformed into an entirely new power structure.
In truth, merging ten-plus no-name guilds wouldn't have much impact on the second- and third-tier guilds on its own. But the core driving force behind the consolidation was a top-tier third-rank guild called Dark Star.
What shocked everyone most was that Dark Star's guild master had changed. Wei Wo Du Kuang had somehow become the guild's leader, and the previous master had been expelled—stripped of everything and cast out.
Dark Star had always had Wei Wo Du Kuang sitting at the top of the Glory Rankings, and he had already captured several Dungeon first clears. The guild had previously clashed with the Assassin Alliance but lacked sufficient depth. Now, with Wei Wo Du Kuang at the helm, it had swallowed up a flood of guilds in one gulp. Several mysterious experts had also joined their ranks, and they had claimed two hard-difficulty raid Dungeon first clears in rapid succession—one of which was a 20-man raid.
Dark Star's reputation soared once again. It no longer stood beneath the Assassin Alliance—it had surpassed them.
In terms of influence and power within White River City, Dark Star was now on par with a first-rate guild. It had become one of the city's dominant powers.
None of this had anything to do with Shi Feng. But Dark Star had apparently gone completely berserk—the very first thing Wei Wo Du Kuang did after consolidating those guilds was place a bounty on Shi Feng.
And the reward was anything but modest. Whoever could kill Shi Feng back to level zero would receive five million Credit Points and an Elder position within Dark Star. Even a single kill would net twenty thousand Credit Points.
For a virtual game, that price was absolutely staggering.
The top financial groups were only offering around five million Credit Points per year to recruit the most famous experts in the virtual gaming world, and Shi Feng was hardly some big shot in a first-rate guild. This bounty had completely shattered every bounty record in the history of virtual gaming.
Many people felt sympathetic toward Shi Feng. Though no one knew what grudge Wei Wo Du Kuang held against him, such a domineering bounty undeniably drew more free players toward Dark Star.
From Shi Feng's perspective, though, Wei Wo Du Kuang was simply insane. He had only snatched a single Dungeon first clear—was that really worth going this far?
What Shi Feng couldn't fathom was how Dark Star had grown so powerful so quickly, able to absorb more than ten large no-name guilds in such a short span. Those guilds ranged from one or two thousand members to five or six thousand each, yet Dark Star had consumed them all in a single breath. Not only that, it had digested them immediately, as if those guilds had been part of the same organization from the very beginning. Their hidden depth was utterly terrifying—even the Assassin Alliance fell far short.
But despite Dark Star's current might, placing a bounty on Shi Feng's head was, in his view, nothing short of a joke.
If Shi Feng were an ordinary expert, he probably would have been trembling already, with zero chance of remaining in White River City. But Shi Feng was no ordinary expert. In this Divine Realm that everyone else was still struggling to understand, he was a Swordsman with ten years of combat experience.
The current number one on White River City's Glory Rankings—Wei Wo Du Kuang—was only level 14. But during the time Shi Feng had spent forging Advanced Whetstones, he had already recovered to level 16. The experience gap between them was no small margin.
With his level and equipment, Shi Feng would even dare to fight the peerless powerhouses from his previous life. How could he possibly fear Dark Star?
However, this time he couldn't replicate what he had done before in Red Leaf Town by placing a bounty on the Martial Alliance. In White River City, no one dared to poke Dark Star in the eye. Moreover, Dark Star's membership was simply too vast—even if Shi Feng wagered everything he owned, it wouldn't be enough. And he was already short on money, whether gold coins or Credit Points.
So Shi Feng chose to ignore Dark Star entirely and focus on his own work.
And so, while Dark Star's astronomical bounty hung over his head, Shi Feng calmly remained in the Forging Room, crafting Mana Armor Plating.
Mana Armor Plating was far superior to ordinary armor plating. Ordinary plating offered only a minimal stat boost in addition to improved defense, whereas Mana Armor Plating could significantly enhance multiple stats. It worked on both plate and cloth armor, and the crafting materials were common—no expensive rare ingredients required.
Beginner Mana Armor Plating required 10 Copper Ore, 3 Bronze Ore, and a Beginner Recovery Potion or a Beginner Mana Recovery Potion to produce physical or magical plating respectively. Once bound to a piece of equipment, physical plating granted +80 Defense, +3 Strength, +4 Stamina, +3 Agility, with a maximum of 3 bindings. Magical plating granted +30 Defense, +3 Intellect, +4 Stamina, +3 Spirit, also with a maximum of 3 bindings. Beginner Mana Armor Plating could only be bound to equipment of level 10 or above; equipment below level 10 could not accept it.
Intermediate Mana Armor Plating required 15 Iron Ore, 5 Refined Iron Ore, and an intermediate Recovery Potion or intermediate Mana Recovery Potion. Physical plating granted +200 Defense, +10 Strength, +12 Stamina, +10 Agility, max 3 bindings. Magical plating granted +60 Defense, +10 Intellect, +12 Stamina, +10 Spirit, max 3 bindings. Intermediate Mana Armor Plating could only be bound to equipment of level 25 or above.
Advanced Mana Armor Plating required 20 Silver Ore, 8 Mythril Ore, and two Advanced Recovery Potions or two Advanced Mana Recovery Potions. Physical plating granted +400 Defense, +30 Strength, +40 Stamina, +30 Agility, and up to 50 points of damage reduction, max 3 bindings. Magical plating granted +150 Defense, +30 Intellect, +40 Stamina, +30 Spirit, and +100 Spell Damage, max 3 bindings. Advanced Mana Armor Plating could only be bound to equipment of level 50 or above.
With three pieces of Mana Armor Plating bound, it was practically like gaining an extra piece of top-tier equipment. Whether in combat or clearing Dungeons, the boost was enormous. What player could resist such a temptation?