Chapter 2348 – 4-star Shop

Mainstream players haven’t even reached Level 100, yet Zero Wing is about to own a 4-star Shop. If the various superpowers in the past knew about this, they’d die from envy.

Shi Feng couldn’t help his growing excitement as he gazed at the shining, black token in his hand.

A 4-star Shop Promotion Order was roughly worth as much as a Fragmented Legendary item, but it was far more difficult to obtain. Even of the many superpowers in God’s Domain, only a minority could obtain a 4-star Shop Promotion Order.

No power would trade a 4-star Shop Promotion Order, even if offered a Legendary item.

Similar to the qualitative transformation players undergone when they rose from Tier 2 to Tier 3, Shops would transform when they were upgraded from 3-star to 4-star status. Shops in God’s Domain were considered Basic rank from 1- to 3-star status, but once they reached 4-star status, they’d become an Advanced Shop.

Not only would all of the Shop’s existing functions improve, but it would also gain new major functions.

The first was the Research Workshop!

The Research Workshop would be tremendously helpful to Lifestyle players as they worked to rise through the ranks. Not even the Philosopher’s Hand or Moon God’s Secret Journal could compete.

The Research Workshop could examine data on existing items and identify their deficiencies. Players could then modify and improve these items, thereby creating a new item. It was easy to imagine how helpful this would be to Lifestyle players.

The Research Workshops were a large part of the reason the various superpowers had been able to nurture Master, even Grandmaster, Lifestyle players during Shi Feng’s previous life. Without these workshops, the various superpowers would’ve, at most, been able to nurture Master Lifestyle players, even if they relied on all sorts of rare materials. None of them would’ve had enough super-rare materials to nurture a Grandmaster.

Now that Zero Wing had access to a Research Workshop, the Guild could have a large batch of Master Lifestyle players in no time with how many talented Lifestyle players it already had.

God’s Domain’s designs for high-ranked weapons and equipment were incredibly rare already, but after Level 100, ’rare’ would be an understatement. Trying to obtain a high-quality design would be like trying to win the lottery.Hence, the various major powers would have to rely on Lifestyle players for such items.

Of course, creating a high-ranked Level 100-plus weapon or equipment piece was easier said than done.

Because of this, the cost for high-ranked Level 100-plus weapons and equipment would skyrocket as mainstream players reached Level 100. Not even ordinary expert players would be able to afford such items. In fact, some ordinary experts would be stuck using Level 100 equipment even after they reached Level 110.

Meanwhile, this scarcity would only begin to subside as 4-star Shops began to emerge.

The various major powers’ experts would still need some time to reach Level 100, not to mention the time they’d need to obtain high-quality level appropriate weapons and equipment. Zero Wing’s experts were no exception. If Zero Wing could secure a source of weapons and equipment early on, these items would be immensely helpful to the Guild’s experts as they gained more combat power and cleared their Tier 3 Promotion Quests.

The second ability the Shop would gain with its 4-star status would help a power dominate the market.

The Shared Warehouse!

At 4-star status, a Shop would gain a Shared Warehouse and the ability to create similar warehouses in five 3-star Shops. These Shared Warehouses would be connected.

The function might not seem glamorous, but countless powers dreamed of having such an ability.

With a Shared Warehouse, a power could transfer items across long distances at no cost, including non-bag space items.

Transporting non-bag space items had always been a huge problem in God’s Domain, and the Shared Warehouse was one of the few methods that could solve this problem. Because of this, the various powers of Shi Feng’s previous life had fought to promote their Shops to 4-star status, with some even trading Legendary items for the Promotion Order.

There was a catch, of course. Once items had been placed in the Shared Warehouse, they’d be frozen for 24 hours, locked in the warehouse. Moreover, there was an extremely limited amount of space for non-bag space items. At the 4-star status, the Shared Warehouse could only hold up to 200 non-bag space items at a time.

Even so, the function would save a lot of money and transportation time. Most importantly, this method of relocating items was safe.

Had Shadow possessed a 4-star Shop during Shi Feng’s previous life, the Guild wouldn’t have taken so many risks to move highly-valuable non-bag space items, getting robbed by powerful NPCs. Unfortunately, 4-star Shop Promotion Orders were painfully rare in God’s Domain. Only a small number of superpowers could enjoy the luxury of owning a 4- star Shop.

Due to these two functions, not even powers with 100 3-star Shops could complete with those that had a 4-star and a few 3-star Shops for dominance over the market.

Thinking up to this point, Shi Feng stored collected the Sunset King’s loot in his bag and stored the Seven Luminaries Crystals and God Crystals in his Private Warehouse. He then made his way to the City Hall to upgrade the Candlelight Trading Firm to a 4-star Shop. He also notified Melancholic Smile and had her mass-recruit players for Candlelight’s internal membership, pausing normal recruitment for now.

Previously, Candlelight hadn’t met the conditions for expansion. The trading firm only had a limited number of Special Workshops and Meditation Rooms, after all. Moreover, competition between the various trading firms hadn’t been particularly intense as designs for high-quality weapons and equipment below Level 100 were relatively easy to obtain. However, that was about to change.

Any design or recipe a player found in a Level 100-plus neutral map would be incredibly valuable. Now that Candlelight was about to have a 4-star Shop, Shi Feng couldn’t allow the trading firm to operate as liberally as it had been.

Moreover, Otherworld players were flooding to the main continent, and they would have a massive impact on the status quo, especially those from Otherworlds like the Moon God’s Realm, who focused on Lifestyle development. Otherworlds like these would have a huge impact on the main continent’s economy.

To compete against these Otherworlds, Candlelight would need to nurture its Lifestyle players to a higher standard. However, Candlelight had many secrets it had to protect. Thus, it would need more internal members, not normal members.

“Guild Leader, our recruitment requirements are already quite demanding. If we start recruiting with these standards, I’m afraid that other powers will use the opportunity to poach some of our members,” Melancholic Smile cautioned after listening to Shi Feng’s new requirements.

Few of God’s Domain’s Lifestyle players enjoyed being bound by strict contracts. Hence, the various major powers typically offered relaxed conditions. If Candlelight increased its requirements, they’d be lucky not to lose normal members, much less recruit new, internal members.

Furthermore, Starlink was still trying to steal Candlelight’s members. If they increased the trading firm’s strict conditions, Candlelight would suffer for it.

“Relax. That is only true if they can steal our members,” Shi Feng said, chuckling. He then held up the 4-star Shop Promotion Order to the display and continued, “What do you think this is?”

“Is that a 4-star Shop Promotion Order?!” Melancholic Smile’s eyes went wide with shock when she saw the black token. “Guild Leader, is that real?”

Many superpowers had upgraded their own Shops to 3-star status by now, and as a result, Candlelight’s advantages became less prominent by the day. As a result, Candlelight’s advantages were continuously shrinking by the day. Now, the trading firm could only rely on its secret techniques to attract new members.

If Candlelight had a 4-star Shop, however, it would reclaim its lead over its competition.

“Of course, it’s real,” Shi Feng said, chuckling. “I’ll leave the recruitment to you. We need to get this done as quickly as possible.”

“Alright! I’ll make the announcement immediately!” Melancholic Smile nodded.

Melancholic Smile did as she promised, and news quickly spread that Candlelight was mass-recruiting for internal members in the various kingdoms and empires.

“What’s Candlelight trying to do? It’s only recruiting internal members?”

“Candlelight has become too arrogant after being named a sacred land for Lifestyle players. Not only are its recruitment requirements so high, but all applicants must become internal members, as well? Lifestyle players would be better off joining a different Guild. They’d have more freedom than in Candlelight.”

Candlelight’s latest recruitment announcement enraged many Lifestyle players, and quite a few of them, who had intended to apply, promptly abandoned the idea.

Meanwhile, two players radiating powerful life auras lounged in one of White River City’s Advanced Restaurants. They were none other than the female Druid and male Guardian Knight from the Moon God’s Realm who had come to investigate Star-Moon Kingdom’s alchemical standards. Across from them sat a woman that fit the idea of a ‘cool beauty’ to a T. She wore an Intermediate Master Alchemist’s Insignia pinned to her chest.

“I didn’t expect to find you here, Silent, but you won’t have a future if you choose to continue developing in this kingdom. Zero Wing can’t help you. Why don’t you just join Dark Pursuit? With your standards, you’re guaranteed to earn a high position in the Guild, and you’ll have access to plenty of resources, including resources Candlelight can’t ever hope to offer,” the female Druid suggested, trying to persuade Silent Wonder.

“Memory is right. The main continent’s alchemical resources are too scarce. Not even the superpowers here can compare to Dark Pursuit’s alchemical resources, much less Zero Wing. Yan Xiaoqian has already received a lot of support and resources from Dark Pursuit. Do you really want to lose the family competition to her?” the male Guardian Knight asked. “You know that you don’t have much time left.”

“I understand, but I need a little more time to think about it,” Silent Wonder said hesitantly.

“Silent, you can’t keep putting this off. If you can’t decide, I might as well have a talk with your Guild Leader. I don’t mind showing him the difference between our strengths if he refuses to let you go,” the female Druid, Cold Memory, declared, raising a fist.

“I’ll go with you. I doubt he’d dare waste more of Silent’s time once he hears Dark Pursuit’s name,” the male Guardian Knight nodded.

Elsewhere, Shi Feng had arrived at White River City’s City Hall.

Hello, sir. How may I be of service?” the NPC beauty behind the VIP counter amicably asked Shi Feng.

“I wish to upgrade the Candlelight Trading Firm to 4-star status. Here is the Promotion Order,” Shi Feng said as he handed the Promotion Order to the NPC.