Chapter 508 - Successive Promotion
After defeating the first batch of Hot-blooded Orc Warriors, s.h.i.+ Feng had a preliminary understanding of his current strength.
He was now confident about what he should do and how far he should go.
Previously, he had chosen to lure the group with the least number of Orcs as a precaution. Later, so long as he did not lure two groups at once, he should be able to defeat an army of two or three hundred Orcs. With this, his chances of obtaining the Light Stone Forging Design should be significantly higher.
“There sure are a lot of dropped items,” s.h.i.+ Feng muttered as he arranged the loot from the Orc Warriors.
He had picked up a total of 6 Silver. That was more than half a day’s earnings for an elite player. The Orc Warriors had also dropped plenty of sc.r.a.p items and materials. In total, he had earned nearly 12 Silver from killing a single batch. If a piece of Level 40 Bronze Equipment dropped, he could instantly earn another 80 Silver or more.
However, this result was only due to s.h.i.+ Feng’s 5 points of Luck. Otherwise, it was impossible for a group of Orc Warriors to drop so much money and so many items.
Following which, s.h.i.+ Feng continued searching for patrol teams that he could take on while he waited for his Skills to Cooldown. Firestorm, in particular, had a long Cooldown of five minutes.
As soon as the five minutes were up, s.h.i.+ Feng would immediately lure another wave of monsters.
s.h.i.+ Feng required less than thirty seconds to take care of a wave of Hot-blooded Orc Warriors. In other words, he could clear one wave every six minutes, and ten waves in an hour.
As the Orcs were Level 47 monsters, they already gave abundant EXP. In addition, as s.h.i.+ Feng was challenging monsters of a higher level, he could obtain bonus EXP of up to 20 times. Despite s.h.i.+ Feng’s cla.s.s doubling the amount of EXP he required to level up, in little more than an hour, he reached Level 27. To reach Level 28, he just needed to continue grinding for another hour or so.
Although the amount of EXP he received was indeed frightening, s.h.i.+ Feng was more excited over the fact that he had obtained two Light Stone Forging Designs.
With two forging designs, he could nurture two gold mines.
Also, when Divine Providence’s Cooldown completed, s.h.i.+ Feng stopped to open Twilight Treasure Chests, acquiring plenty of good items. Among them were some recipes for potions such as the Intermediate Strength Potion, Basic Protection Potion, and Basic Magic Damage Potion. These were all potions that players around Level 40 would commonly use. Only, the recipes for these potions were impossible for current players to obtain.
In addition, s.h.i.+ Feng had also obtained some Level 30 Secret-Silver and Fine-Gold Equipment, which he intended to use to replenish the Guild’s Warehouse.
While s.h.i.+ Feng enjoyed his grind, Melancholic Smile suddenly contacted him. Through the screen, s.h.i.+ Feng could tell that, though Melancholic Smile seemed somewhat tensed, there was a hint of pride and excitement in her eyes.
“Guild Leader, just as you predicted, Overwhelming Smile paid us a visit, though I’ve already chased them away. The other Guilds have also agreed to cooperate with us,” Melancholic Smile said slowly. “Also, just as you expected, after we chased them away, they immediately began contacting our Guild’s Forgers and Forging Apprentices. Although Uncle Ironheart and Cocoa rejected their offers, many of the Forging Apprentices in the Guild were unable to resist the tempting offers and have already applied to dissolve their contract with us to join Overwhelming Smile.
“From what I learned from those Forging Apprentices, it seems that they are heading to Maple City to develop themselves.”
Although Melancholic Smile had tried to dissuade those who intended to leave, there were bound to be some who could not resist Overwhelming Smile’s astronomical offer. Melancholic Smile could not force these people to stay.
Fortunately, s.h.i.+ Feng had long since prepared for such a situation. All Lifestyle players who joined the Horizon Alliance were required to sign a contract. Under this contract, the Horizon Alliance would provide all materials, forging designs, forging rooms, and other necessities for the Lifestyle player. The Lifestyle player could also obtain a certain amount of commission from the items they made. This commission would be determined according to the Lifestyle player’s skill level. The more skilled they were, the higher their commission would be, with the highest possible being 20% of profit.
However, these generous benefits came with a condition. Any Lifestyle player wis.h.i.+ng to dissolve their contracts was required to erase all the Lifestyle cla.s.ses they had taken on. In other words, upon leaving the Horizon Alliance, these Lifestyle players would have to start all over again. That way, it would be impossible for these poached players to benefit other Guilds in a short amount of time. Only, due to their past experiences, it would cost less for other Guilds to nurture these players.
It was not easy for a Lifestyle Guild to nurture a Lifestyle player. The initial investment included materials and forging designs, particularly those rare forging designs. These items required immense effort to obtain. So, how could they possibly let others take advantage of them?
Any Lifestyle player who had learned rare forging designs was also required to compensate the Horizon Alliance for this loss.
Normally, few Lifestyle players would willingly choose to develop themselves elsewhere. However, with Overwhelming Smile’s reckless poaching, there were bound to be some who could not resist the temptation.
“Heading to Maple City, huh?” s.h.i.+ Feng pondered for a moment before saying, “It seems that they plan to develop trade in Maple City before joining the compet.i.tion in White River City.”
Although Overwhelming Smile had been nurturing their own Lifestyle players all this time as well, without their own Shop, it was not only very inconvenient to sell their products, but the cost of the items would also increase. In particular, by selling their items through the Auction House, they would incur a ma.s.sive processing fee. For small items, they might not even recover the cost, let alone make a profit.
Maple City was Overwhelming Smile’s domain. It was very easy for the Guild to develop its trade there, and the same went for acquiring Land and Reputation. By the time Overwhelming Smile possessed sufficient capital, it would be a lot easier for it to deal with the Candlelight Trading Firm. At the very least, both sides would be on equal footing. Afterward, Overwhelming Smile could just use the simplest way to deal with the Candlelight Trading Firm: wage a price war.
“They want another war of attrition?” s.h.i.+ Feng could not help but laugh. Unfortunately, Overwhelming Smile no longer possessed such an opportunity. s.h.i.+ Feng then said, “Smile, instruct someone to begin purchasing Advanced Stones and Magic Essences in bulk, and don’t just buy from White River City; buy from other cities as well. Buy as many as you can. However, this must be done secretly; do not let other Guilds discover our actions.”
Although the Candlelight Trading Firm held a significant advantage due to the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits, the production volume for the kits was simply too low; it lacked compet.i.tiveness. However, it was a different story for Light Stones.
“Okay, I’ll head out and buy them myself right now,” Melancholic Smile said.
After s.h.i.+ Feng gave his instructions, he resumed grinding for more forging designs.
For the next several dozen hours, s.h.i.+ Feng grinded the Hot-blooded Orc Warriors like a madman. During this time, his experience bar rose rapidly, his level increasing from Level 27 to Level 30. His leveling speed was simply unmatched.
However, compared to the EXP spent on increasing his own level, s.h.i.+ Feng had expended even more EXP on the Seven Luminaries Ring. He had leveled up the Seven Luminaries Ring twice, upgrading it to Level 7.
Just as s.h.i.+ Feng was about to investigate the Level 7 Luminaries Ring’s new power…
Suddenly, the gates of the Towers of Death opened. In the next moment, a roar that shook even the heavens emerged from behind the gates. As the roar grew louder, s.h.i.+ Feng saw a ma.s.sive Orc walk out. This Orc wore exquisite armor and had a black cape draped over his back. Upon the appearance of this ma.s.sive Orc, the Orcs outside the Towers of Death went into a frenzy. It was as if they were welcoming the arrival of their king.
“Why has the Orc King appeared here?” s.h.i.+ Feng could not help his surprise.