Chapter 1264 – Number One at Sea

Inside the House of Seas’ meeting room...

Tyrant Serpent’s orders shocked the Guild’s upper echelons in the room.

This was the first time they had seen their Guild Leader so enraged, angry enough to make rash decisions.

“Guild Leader, isn’t that a little too far? We’re already spending 1 Gold for each Sea God’s Blessing we obtain. If we sell the potion for 1 Gold, won’t we be working for nothing? Moreover, our stock is limited. If we don’t sell enough potions, that player will continue to make a profit, yet if we sell too many, we might not have enough for our members. It could hurt our exploration of Death’s Waterfall.”

The House of Seas had stumbled upon the secret land, Death’s Waterfall, by coincidence. The area’s resources were beyond abundant. It was even home to quite a few ancient ruins. The small corner of Death’s Waterfall they had explored thus far had already boosted the Guild’s strength significantly. Among their initial harvest, they had obtained over a dozen Bronze Speedboats. They had also obtained a Mysterious-Iron Speedboat. There was even less need to mention the number of top-tier weapons and equipment they had found.

The areas of Death’s Waterfall they had explored thus far were only the tip of the iceberg. The farther they ventured, the more frightening the treasures they encountered.

However, the secret land’s environment was severe. If players did not possess sufficiently high Magic Resistance, survival was out of the question.

Hence, the House of Seas had purchased the Sea God’s Blessing in bulk. Fortunately, the House of Seas had met an NPC Grandmaster Alchemist, which allowed them to synthesize Runic Crystals at a much higher success rate. However, while the cost of synthesizing the Runic Crystals had decreased significantly, it still wasn’t cheap.

To explore Death’s Waterfall, the House of Seas invested tons of Coins and resources each day. Moreover, the Guild increased its investments by the day. The more players they could send into the secret land, the faster they could explore the area. Naturally, they would send as many players as they could. This was also why their Guild was in short supply of Coins.

However, after seeing the popularity of the Sea God’s Blessing in the various empires, they had found a solution to their money problem; they could sell some of their stock to fund the exploration. But selling the Sea God’s Blessing at cost would gain them nothing.

“Don’t worry. Previously, we only purchased Runic Fragments for 6 Silver per stack to prevent others from synthesizing Runic Crystals. If we purchase the fragments in bulk for 4 Silver per stack, that brat won’t have any hope against us,” Tyrant Serpent said, chuckling. “You just need to focus on finding an opportunity to kill that player.”

Hearing this, realization dawned on the upper echelons.

After all was said and done, Stormwind Town was only a town. The teleportation fees to get there weren’t cheap. Meanwhile, the House of Seas had Shops in all of the twelve major NPC cities as well as numerous NPC towns in Sea’s End. If players only planned to sell a small number of fragments, they could earn far more by selling them for 4 Silver per stack rather than traveling to Stormwind Town to sell them for 5 Silver per stack.

By doing this, not only could they hinder Shi Feng’s financial progress, but they could also lower their cost of obtaining the Sea God’s Blessing, killing two birds with one stone.

They doubted that Shi Feng had the assistance of a Grandmaster Alchemist. If this competition persisted long-term, Shi Feng would eventually fail to make any money with the Sea God’s Blessing, suffering losses instead.

“Guild Leader is the best. If that brat had agreed to cooperate from the very beginning, he could have kept 20% of his profits. Now, he’ll be kicked out of the competition and hunted endlessly.”

Following which, the House of Seas upper echelons left to fulfill Tyrant Serpent’s orders.

...

As the House of Seas had discussed Shi Feng’s situation, players also discussed the matter on Sea’s End’s official forums.

Someone had long since uploaded Shi Feng’s declaration video against the House of Seas. No one had ever expected this outcome.

Despite the House of Seas sending hundreds of experts at Shi Feng, the Guild suffered a miserable defeat, its experts either dying or running away with their tails between their legs.

Shi Feng’s battle video had also mesmerized many independent players. Whether it was his positioning, dodges, or attacks, compared to the other expert battle videos they had seen, this video was worlds apart.

In prior battle videos, they had seen experts take on twenty opponents at most. Moreover, those crowds usually consisted of ordinary players with poor equipment and low levels.

The higher quality videos usually only recorded a single expert taking on three or four elite players. Even so, the videos were educational and helped them to learn many combat techniques.

However, Shi Feng’s battle video showcased a fight against the House of Seas’s 200-man expert team. Even if some were not true experts, they were not that far off from it, either. Just one of these players could easily overwhelm multiple independent players like themselves, yet Shi Feng had suppressed all 200.

If these players were distracted in the slightest while watching the battle video, they’d miss how the House of Seas members had died. Some of them had even opted to play the video in slow motion. Their eyes couldn’t keep up with Shi Feng’s speed, after all.

Such a mythical battle completely redefined their definition of “expert.”.

Compared to Shi Feng, the usual experts were nothing than a joke.

“The boss of this grocery store is invincible! He actually killed close to half of the House of Seas’ 200 experts by himself! I wonder if he’d accept an apprentice? I have to ask him to teach me his ways!”

“I wonder if that shopkeeper plans to establish an adventurer team or Guild? If he does, I have to join even if I go bankrupt!”

“How can he move so fast? Is he even human?”

“He’s a monster! There isn’t a single player in Sea’s End that’s a match for him. Even those famous experts can’t block one of his attacks.”

“Hahaha! The House of Seas is in trouble this time. They’ve provoked such an expert. If this expert wants revenge, the House of Seas members will have to be careful.”

“The House of Seas has indeed knocked on the wrong door this time. However, it won’t be easy for this expert to cause trouble for the House of Seas. After all, the Guild has nearly a million members. Even if he can kill a player each second, it would take him days to annihilate the Guild. Even if he goes out of his way to hunt them down, what about his level and equipment? At the end of the day, one man’s power is limited. At most, this player can annoy the House of Seas and damage its reputation.”

“Even so, he’s still pretty impressive. The House of Seas is one of Sea’s End’s overlords. Have you ever seen the House of Seas suffer such a miserable defeat before?”

...

The forums buzzed with conversation regarding Shi Feng. The most debated topic was about who would emerge victorious. Would it be Shi Feng? Or would the House of Seas triumph? Although the outcome was unknown, everyone agreed on one thing: the grocery store’s proprietor was undoubtedly the number one expert in Sea’s End.

For a time, many players dreamed of being Shi Feng’s students.

Because of this, the grocery store’s popularity skyrocketed. By now, practically everyone in Sea’s End knew about it.

In just half an hour after Shi Feng’s battle with the House of Seas experts, Stormwind Town was packed with players, the town’s player population increasing by several times. Many had come out of admiration, while some had come to convince Shi Feng to teach them. There was also a portion that had come to sell their Runic Fragments.

Players swarmed the Shop. Even getting through the entrance was now a problem.

“Guild Leader, too many players are trying to sell their Runic Fragments. The grocery store’s warehouse is nearly at full capacity. Why don’t we start renovating the Shop? We can bring in some of Candlelight’s products,” Fire Dance excitedly suggested after entering the second-floor room.

While she had been out purchasing Sea God’s Blessings, she had gained a general understanding of Sea’s End.

She had to admit that the business standards here were significantly inferior to the Star-Moon Kingdom’s. The area’s Lifestyle players were also low-quality.

If they sold the Candlelight Trading Firm’s merchandise here, the items would definitely be in high demand.