Chapter 2557 – Astonishing Foundations

Gentle Snow’s request yanked Magic Flash and the others from their reverie, and they walked into the VIP reception room with awkward expressions.

As they entered the room, however, they were, once again, left speechless.

The refreshed sensation they had enjoyed in the hall had been amazing, but it was amplified several times the moment they set foot in the reception room. The strange energy in the room was clearly denser than in the hall.

If they could train inside this reception room for a few days, their combat standards would reach the next level.

Even the various powers would treat a room like this like a sacred training ground, barring entry to anyone other than core members, and yet, Zero Wing used it as a reception room...

Extravagance!

This was too extravagant!

A male Swordsman reclined on one of the sofas in the reception room, wearing a simple set of equipment and a Black Cloak across his back. Opposite of the Swordsman was a woman who had barely reached Level 100. The woman radiated no aura whatsoever and looked even weaker than ordinary players. However, the Advanced Master Forger’s Insignia the woman wore was extraordinarily eye-catching.

The woman was none other than Melancholic Smile, who had been busy managing the Candlelight Trading Firm. After long hours of crafting and frantic research, she had successfully become an Advanced Master Forger, as well.

“Guild Leader, this is our current limit. The forging techniques involved are simply too delicate and complex. Crafting a successful product in a short time is impossible, I’m afraid,” Melancholic Smile disappointedly insisted as she placed several pieces of equipment on the table between her and Shi Feng.

The moment she did, Magic Flash and the others’ eyes widened in shock. Not only were the several equipment pieces part of the same set, but they also carried the glow of Fine-Gold Equipment.

In other words, the equipment placed on the table was a Fine-Gold Set Equipment! Moreover, it was a Level 100-plus Fine-Gold Set Equipment!

Even Dark Rhapsody and Deity Society had only found a few sets, yet Zero Wing could craft it, and based on Melancholic Smile’s comment, that was a failed product!

Meanwhile, as Magic Flash’s party entered the reception room, Shi Feng’s gaze shifted to his guests.

“You must be Dark Rhapsody and Deity Society’s representatives. Please, have a seat,” Shi Feng said. When he noticed that Magic Flash’s group couldn’t pull their eyes from the failed items on the table, he chuckled and said, “It seems you are very interested in this Dark Demon Set.”

After returning to Stone Forest City, he had immediately instructed Gentle Snow to pass the Dark Demon Set Forging Design to Melancholic Smile for research and production. He had enough responsibilities at the moment and didn’t have the time to forge the set equipment himself.

In contrast, Melancholic Smile could and did devote her free time to forging. Hence, she improved her skills a lot faster than Shi Feng could. She had even become an Advanced Master Forger before he had.

The Candlelight Trading Firm also had Cream Cocoa, who focused all of her time on forging since she didn’t have any management duties as Melancholic Smile did. She improved even faster than Melancholic Smile and had become the first Advanced Master Forger in Candlelight. Now, the trading firm had two.

Unfortunately, the Dark Demon Set proved far more difficult to produce than Shi Feng had expected, and even after working together, Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile had barely managed to craft one Fine-Gold set. Moreover, their production success rate wasn’t particularly high. Even after involving all sorts of tools and rare materials, they had only managed to raise their success rate to 50%.

“I apologize for our earlier rude behavior,” the bearded middle-aged man from Deity Society hurriedly apologized. “It’s just that Level 100-plus Fine-Gold Set Equipment is a truly rare sight. I had never imagined that Zero Wing was capable of crafting such equipment. It surprised me, but rest assured; we won’t reveal this secret to anyone.”

“It’s fine. This doesn’t need to be a secret. Since Dark Rhapsody, Deity Society, and Zero Wing are allies, you don’t need to behave like outsiders. If you are interested, I can sell you a few sets,” Shi Feng nonchalantly offered.

Zero Wing’s possession of the Dark Demon Set Forging Design had already been exposed. Only, news of it hadn’t reached the eastern continent. Hence, there was no need to keep it a secret. Moreover, Shi Feng intended to store these Fine-Gold ranked Dark Demon Sets in the Guild Warehouse, making them available for purchase later. Once he did, there would be no containing the information. Besides, the sooner the public learned about the Dark Demon Set, the better. That way, Zero Wing could use the set to attract more experts to join the Guild.

“Are you serious, Guild Leader Black Flame?” Magic Flash could not help but ask.

That was a Level 100-plus Fine-Gold Set Equipment they were talking about!

If he could get his hands on such a set, his combat power would increase by at least 30%. He might even catch up to peak experts of the same level.

“Of course,” Shi Feng said, smiling when he saw the passionate light in Magic Flash’s gaze. “However, it won’t be cheap, and I won’t sell them for Coins.”

He did not mind selling the Fine-Gold ranked Dark Demon Set. This was only a failed product, after all, and at this point, most superpowers had at least a few sets of Fine-Gold Set Equipment. Selling some to Zero Wing’s partners wouldn’t harm his Guild in any way.

“What do you want for the set, then?” Magic Flash eagerly asked.

“Darkness Crystals,” Shi Feng said. “My price isn’t very high. What do you think of 15,000 crystals?”

The various powers still thought only Dark Players needed Darkness Crystals, but they didn’t realize that as God’s Domain’s Lifestyle players continued to develop, Attributed Magic Crystals would become more valuable.

Weapons and equipment crafted with Attributed Magic Crystals would gain additional properties related to the crystals. Such changes wouldn’t be visible in the item’s Attribute Panel, but in the hands of Tier 3 players and above, they’d perform considerably better, especially for players with fully unlocked Mana Bodies.

Fortunately, Darkness Crystals were relatively easy to acquire in the Dark World. Hence, Shi Feng had decided to collect some before the various powers realized their value.

“Fifteen thousand crystals per set?!” Magic Flash was shocked. “Isn’t that a little too much, Guild Leader Black Flame...”

Level 100-plus Fine-Gold Set Equipment was indeed very rare and some of the best equipment available in God’s Domain right now, but Darkness Crystals were similarly rare and valuable. In fact, they were worth even more than Magic Crystals to Dark Players.

“Guild Leader Black Flame, is what you say really true?” the bearded middle-aged man suddenly interrupted.

“Hah... Why would I lie? I want 15,000 Darkness Crystals per set. If you wish to buy them, you may do so whenever you wish,” Shi Feng said. He could not help but feel a little exasperated at the middle-aged man’s question.

Before Magic Flash could refuse the offer, the middle-aged man from Deity Society continued.

“Deity Society will buy them! We’ll buy as many sets as you’re willing to sell us!” the older man declared, determined.

“Have you gone insane, Old Forest?” Magic Flash was astonished.

What a joke!

The Dark Demon Set was just a Level 100-plus Fine-Gold Set Equipment. Fifteen thousand Darkness Crystals would be the maximum anyone would pay for such a set, yet his companion jumped at the chance to buy them. Magic Flash couldn’t think of any sane reason why he’d act like this.

Wait! Something’s not right!

Magic Flash realized something felt off when he saw the bearded man’s nonchalant reaction. He immediately activated his Identification Skill and turned to the Dark Demon Set on the table.

Both Dark Rhapsody and Deity Society had sent players with Advanced Identification Skills to lead their respective groups as insurance. While Magic Flash led Dark Rhapsody’s team, Deity Society’s leader for this party was Old Forest.

There had to be a problem for Old Forest to act like this.

“Don’t bother with an appraisal, Old Flash. The Fine-Gold Set Equipment on the table isn’t some Level 105 set. It’s a top-tier Fine-Gold Set Equipment that players can use until Level 120. No one had ever found anything like it in the Dark World,” Old Forest whispered as Magic Flash used his own Advanced Identification Skill.