From the time Shi Feng listed the Gleaming Breastplates to when they sold out, in just twenty minutes all twenty Gleaming Breastplates were gone—far more popular than the Guardian Armor.
Quite a few players who managed to buy one even posted screenshots on the official website forum to show off.
Before, forming a party meant begging everyone for help. Now, one casual shout—and after seeing his impressive gear, over a dozen Elite teams sent invitations without a second word, letting him pick whichever team he wanted.
As more and more players took notice of the Gleaming Breastplates, those who hadn't bought one beat their chests in regret, cursing themselves for not borrowing money to grab one when they could. Now there were none left to buy.
Meanwhile, the Blacksmith's Association in Jinsha Town was packed to the rafters.
The entire spacious lobby was jammed with players. Every person present was a representative from various guilds, and they all had one purpose: to invite Yichui Maimai to join their guild.
Among the guilds represented, many were well-known—there was no shortage of representatives from third-rate major guilds. Under normal circumstances, these representatives would have been arrogant and haughty, treating lifestyle players with condescension. Even so, those lifestyle players would have rushed to greet them, fawning with respect, perhaps even moved to tears of joy, swearing eternal loyalty to the guild and eagerly signing contracts to become part of a major guild's ranks.
But times had changed. The higher-ups in every guild had repeatedly emphasized: you must recruit Yichui Maimai, or don't bother coming back. So these guild representatives stood meekly in the lobby like obedient grandchildren, waiting to be summoned by Yichui Maimai.
In the intermediate forging room on the second floor.
"Brother Hammer, you're so amazing—I'm absolutely in awe of you! Before, when we went to those third-rate guilds to recruit, they wouldn't even look at us. Now they're all waiting downstairs like submissive grandchildren, and you can't even shoo them away." A voluptuous female Priest in her twenties clung to Yichui Maimai's thick arm, pressing her not-so-prominent chest against it, giggling with admiration.
Yichui Maimai looked rough and uncouth—a big beard, small eyes, sallow skin. From his appearance, you'd guess he was in his mid-thirties. No one would have guessed that Yichui Maimai was actually just a college student, barely in his early twenties.
"Haha, this is nothing. Who asked some idiot to pave the way while hiding his name, letting all the major guilds know how important I am? I really should thank him." Yichui Maimai grinned broadly, silently congratulating his own cleverness for thinking to leverage that blacksmith's fame, which had given him his current comfortable life and made him an idol among the playerbase. "Once I get into a first-rate guild and work my way into the upper ranks, that's when things will really be sweet. Right now I'm just testing the waters—let those third-rate guilds wait outside. It'll boost my value and name recognition quite a bit."
"Big bro, what do we do about all the orders we've received?" an Assassin asked.
Yichui Maimai rolled his eyes at the Assassin and said dismissively, "Who cares about them? Each piece costs nearly two silver coins to make—I'm not running a charity! The goal's already been achieved. All we have to do is wait for the first-rate guilds to come. Everyone else—just tell them we're too busy."
To step on Shi Feng and climb, he had spent all of his classmates' silver coins and burned through a good chunk of Credit Points buying materials and silver, managing to craft just over ten Barbarian Chest Armors. He sold them at 4 silver coins apiece at most, which had him hemorrhaging losses. But now it was all worth it. Once a first-rate guild took him in, materials would be unlimited, he'd get a hefty monthly salary, and he'd have his pick of beautiful female players. Just thinking about it was enough to make him ecstatic.
Suddenly, a Berserker burst through the door, his expression one of extreme urgency.
"What's the matter, Qiangzi? You look frantic—is a first-rate guild's leadership here?" Yichui Maimai teased.
"Terrible news! A bunch of top-quality items have appeared in the Auction House. Players on the official forum are buzzing about them, and the view count is skyrocketing—it's already past five million. A lot of guilds have noticed, and these items are also being sold anonymously, with a minimum price of 4 silver coins. Everyone suspects it's some blacksmith's work, and they've stopped caring about you, boss."
"And several first-rate guilds have already posted statements on the forum, offering generous compensation to hire that blacksmith as their guild's chief blacksmith. Some of the big guild representatives downstairs have already left for the Auction House."
Hearing this, Yichui Maimai's expression froze solid.
He had worked so hard to attract the attention of first-rate guilds, and now that anonymous blacksmith had stolen his thunder. If he didn't snatch the spotlight back, those first-rate guilds would forget all about him.
"What nerve—stealing my spotlight and my position! Then don't blame me for being ruthless. Top-quality gear like that must have enormous costs and abysmal success rates. You sell at 4 silver coins? I'll sell at 3 silver coins. Let's see how much you can afford to lose!" Yichui Maimai shot to his feet, determined to put Shi Feng in his place. The chief blacksmith position and the "happy life" he'd almost had in his grasp—there was no way he was letting them go.
He lost nearly two silver coins selling each subpar Barbarian Chest Armor. Those top-quality items sold at 4 silver coins had to cost at least 4 or 5 silver coins in losses each, maybe even more. He refused to believe he couldn't outlast Shi Feng.
"But big bro, we don't have that many silver coins either. At most we can make fewer than ten more Barbarian Chest Armors," Qiangzi said worriedly.
"What's there to be afraid of? I still have some capital. Worst case, I'll spend a few more Credit Points on materials and silver. I refuse to believe I can't beat that kid. Remember, every piece he sells costs him two or three times more in losses than ours—what do we have to worry about?" Yichui Maimai declared with brimming confidence. He was convinced that Shi Feng was also trying to attract first-rate guild attention through these loss-leader sales, but the final victor would absolutely be him.
Sure enough, an hour later, several more Barbarian Chest Armors appeared in the White River City Auction House, with a minimum price of 3 silver coins.
At the same time, a new post appeared on the official forum: For the benefit of all players, I, Yichui Maimai, have decided to sell Barbarian Chest Armor at 3 silver coins. I will fight the exploitative blacksmith to the end! Please support me! Please encourage me!
Immediately, a flood of players replied, pushing the post to the top. Everyone praised Yichui Maimai's conscience-driven actions.
Because of this incident, the entire White River City region was abuzz. Everyone understood: two blacksmiths who could forge Bronze Equipment were going head-to-head. All the players of White River City were excited—in the end, they would be the ones to benefit. Before long, they'd be able to buy Bronze Equipment at rock-bottom prices.
Every guild sat back to watch the tigers fight, making no further moves, waiting to see who emerged victorious—and planning to swoop up the gear to bolster their guild's strength.
But Shi Feng himself had no idea. He had just finished collecting stone and Sturdy Stones, and upon entering the Auction House, he noticed even more players had gathered before learning what had happened.
"Want to have a go, do you?" Shi Feng smiled faintly. "Bring it on."
He pulled up the Auction House control panel and listed all of his Gleaming Breastplates, setting them to sell twenty per hour—a total of over a hundred and twenty Gleaming Breastplates. More than enough to keep Yichui Maimai busy for a while.
He then used the money from selling Gleaming Breastplates to buy Decks and Sturdy Stones. After purchasing everything, Shi Feng suddenly realized he still had over one gold coin left.
The system periodically chimed with notifications: another Gleaming Breastplate sold, so many silver coins deposited into his bag space.
It felt like the silver coins just kept multiplying, with no sign of decreasing...
Shi Feng considered whether he should sell some silver coins at the Trading Center first, exchange them for a bit of spending money—lest the silver coins pile up uselessly in his hands.
PS: College entrance exams are right around the corner—wishing all the test-takers outstanding results and beyond! Word has it that casting some recommendation tickets, tips, and bookmarks this book's way will boost your luck stat by 50 points that day.