Second floor of Star Trace Trading Company's premium counter.
Due to the overwhelming popularity of the Advanced Whetstones and their daily limited sales, major guilds and players would line up to purchase them.
But today, the second floor was conspicuously empty. Nobody was queuing up—only a handful of casual free-roaming players browsing idly. Not a single guild player could be found in the entire spacious hall, and the Advanced Whetstones sat completely ignored. This situation sent Anna, who managed the trading company, into a panic. She immediately launched an investigation and promptly sent the results to Shi Feng, who was busy working, for him to make the call.
"I more or less expected this, but they're certainly fast about it. Dark Star is practically declaring war." Shi Feng smiled calmly after reading Anna's message.
The reason Star Trace's business had suddenly gone cold was simple: Dark Star now had blacksmiths and alchemists capable of crafting Advanced Whetstones and Intermediate Restoration Mana Potions. Through their extensive distribution network, they were aggressively promoting these items and selling them at considerably lower prices. A stack of Advanced Whetstones that cost 1 gold 40 silver at Star Trace was only 1 gold at Dark Star, and the Intermediate Restoration Mana Potions were correspondingly cheaper by 1 silver coin.
Though the price reduction was significant, Advanced Whetstones and Intermediate Restoration Mana Potions were items that netted massive profits to begin with. Even with lowered prices, they still earned several times over. To attract customers, Dark Star was naturally willing to do this.
As for the players, they would naturally go wherever things were cheaper—it was an immutable law, because nobody was foolish enough to buy the same quality product at a higher price.
But that wasn't even the worst part. Dark Star's real killer move was their exchange mechanism. The exchange rate for ordinary whetstones remained unchanged, but the Advanced Whetstone exchange had been slashed to 1:7—only slightly better than the success rate of a mid-level apprentice blacksmith. Compared to Star Trace's 1:9, it was an enormous difference, and it drove many players to Dark Star to exchange their materials.
Star Trace had no reliable source of Sturdy Stones. With only the reserves Shi Feng had accumulated on his own, they would run out before long. Once the raw materials were gone, how could they keep crafting?
Furthermore, Dark Star had one advantage Shi Feng lacked—the sheer number of people who could make Advanced Whetstones. Over time, Dark Star could obtain more Advanced Whetstone blueprints from Dungeons, continuously increasing their crafting workforce. Star Trace, on the other hand, had only Shi Feng. He had no team, nor the time to run low-level group Dungeons to farm blueprints. The inevitable result was that Dark Star would surpass Star Trace sooner or later.
Shi Feng promptly notified Anna: since Dark Star had cut prices, they would do the same and match Dark Star's pricing—but only in White River City. The other seven cities would remain unchanged. He also instructed her to roll out the Basic Magic Energy Armor Plates immediately.
Anna's execution was flawless. Shortly after receiving Shi Feng's orders, she had everything set up, including a dedicated counter on the second floor specifically for selling Basic Magic Energy Armor Plates.
As the new counter was unveiled, the players browsing the store quickly noticed.
"Huh? There's a new counter here. What are Magic Energy Armor Plates?"
"Let's go check it out and find out."
An Elite party had originally come to exchange for some ordinary whetstones to use in low-level Dungeons, but seeing the new products, they decided to take a look.
"Holy crap, this is insane. Are these made of silver? A single armor plate costs 20 silver coins—that's enough to buy a level 10 piece of Bronze Equipment! And they're limited to fifty per day?"
"They really are expensive. We're an Elite party, and a single run of a normal small Dungeon only nets us two or three pieces of Bronze Equipment—not counting experience losses, equipment repair costs, and potion expenses. One armor plate is worth an entire day's earnings for our whole party."
"Wait—look at the stats on this armor plate. They're incredibly high. And you can bind three of them. The combined stats of three plates actually exceed those of a single level 10 Iron Rank chest piece."
"See that? Every plate bears the Black Flame mark. Could these be made by that Black Flame blacksmith?"
At first, the party members were furiously cursing Star Trace for being gouging profiteers. But the moment they saw the Magic Energy Armor Plate's attributes and the Black Flame mark, a shudder ran through each of them. Who was Black Flame? Every veteran player in the entire Star Moon Kingdom knew.
The Gleaming Breastplate had once caused a massive sensation. Though it was now outdated, its stylish design led many players to treasure it as a keepsake. A Gleaming Breastplate bearing the Black Flame mark was considered the ultimate in coolness—it was hailed as the best-looking chest armor in the Divine Realm. Countless players who loved collecting good-looking equipment all wanted one, but the supply was far too scarce. On the black market, prices had already been driven up to 50 silver coins per piece, and even then nobody was selling.