Chapter 490 – City Maps Unlocked
The plain voice coming from the VIP room elicited a gasp from everyone in the auction hall.
“Five hundred?! Is this person crazy?!”
“That’s already enough money to buy one or two Legendary Weapons!”
“Could it be an apex power’s successor?”
Everyone in the audience looked up at the VIP room on the second floor, each guessing who could be inside and possess such terrifying wealth.
The Dark Star Auction House’s VIP rooms had a privacy function preventing others from seeing the situation inside. So long as a VIP room’s guest did not choose to let others see the state of their room, they would be shielded from the prying eyes of others. This was one of the safety measures taken by the Eternal Chamber of Commerce to protect its guests.
Dammit! Which apex power is standing in my way?!
The Vice Guild Leader of Flaming Bee’s face turned red with anger and frustration as he looked at the room where the latest bid came from.
Flaming Bee might be a pseudo-apex power, but the price of 500 Eternal Gold Coins was already way beyond its budget. At this stage of the Eternal Realm, only apex powers could possibly afford to spend 500 Eternal Gold on a single investment.
Meanwhile, the voice of the person who made the bid obviously came from a young man. However, there was no way any ordinary young man could have 500 Eternal Gold lying around. Even the average executive of an apex power would not have the authority to spend 500 Eternal Gold. So, the only logical conclusion was that the young man was the successor of an apex power.
Realizing this, Flaming Bee’s Vice Guild Leader had no choice but to swallow this defeat.
After a short surprise, the beautiful auctioneer on the stage couldn’t help but look at the VIP room on the second floor and softly ask, “Esteemed Guest, are you sure you want to bid 500 Gold?”
Even if the Eternal Chamber of Commerce had announced the sale of the Underground Palace Emblems ahead of time, it would have been highly unlikely for the emblems to sell for a fortune of 500 Eternal Gold. This was because there were far too few players in the Eternal Realm right now, making it difficult to earn Eternal Coins.
Although there was the option of purchasing Eternal Coins from other players using real-world resources, there were many powers frantically seeking to purchase Eternal Coins at a high price. As a result, even apex powers could only get their hands on a limited amount of Eternal Coins.
At this time, though, the audience and auctioneer weren’t the only ones surprised by this bid. Even Yan Hua and Xia Qingying, who sat in the VIP room where the bid came from, were greatly surprised.
G!
Five hundred Eternal Gold Coins!
Even if they sold all their possessions in the Eternal Realm, they couldn’t come up with such a fortune…
“Yes, I am bidding 500 Gold. Can you start the countdown now, Miss Auctioneer?” Shi Feng casually asked.
“Of course,” the beautiful host laughed awkwardly and immediately began the bidding process. “Five hundred Gold going once!
“Five hundred Gold going twice!
“Five hundred Gold going thrice!
“Congratulations to the guest in Room No. 5 for winning the partnership opportunity for the Crystal City of Secrets!”
As the auctioneer announced the end of the bidding, the whole auction hall was once again shocked. Not only because the five Epic Emblems were sold at a sky-high price but more so because of how Shi Feng had placed his bid.
“Is this the strength of an apex power?”
“Flaming Bee’s Vice Guild Leader really has bad luck coming across an apex power’s successor. I wonder which apex power that person comes from?”
“As expected of the Eternal Chamber of Commerce. Even the successors of other apex powers are drawn to do business with it. It’s a pity we cannot get to know this person.”
Many of the youths seated on the first floor’s audience seats were only attending this auction for the sake of experience. When these youths saw the conclusion of the auction lot, they couldn’t help but turn around to look at the second floor’s VIP Room No. 5, their eyes full of awe and admiration.
An apex power!
There were only a very small number of apex powers in the Greater God’s Domain, and these powers stood at the very pinnacle of the game. Even a pseudo-apex power like Flaming Bee could only keep its head down in front of these apex powers, as competing against any apex power would mean grave consequences.
…
However, while the auction hall’s first floor was in an uproar, the atmosphere in the second floor’s VIP Room No. 5 was somewhat strenuous.
“Guild Leader Black Flame!” Yan Hua’s face was livid as he looked at Shi Feng, his eyes full of disbelief. “That’s 500 Eternal Gold we are talking about! While placing such a bid might stop Flaming Bee from putting up a fight, we can’t come up with such an amount, even if we sell all four of your properties! How are we supposed to make up for the rest?!”
Xia Qingyue nodded in agreement. She felt that Shi Feng had gone overboard with his bidding. After all, this was the liquidity of two pseudo-apex powers they were talking about! Two!
Even if they pooled all of their manpower and resources together, they couldn’t even come close to matching one pseudo-apex power, let alone two…
“I admit that 500 Gold is a significant amount,” Shi Feng said, nodding as he turned to look at Yan Hua and Xia Qingying. Then, he calmly continued, “But if we proceed according to my plan, it should not be difficult for us to earn 500 Gold.”
“Not difficult?” Yan Hua was momentarily rendered speechless.
According to the auction house’s conditions, they had, at most, three days to complete the payment. In other words, they needed to earn 500 Eternal Gold Coins in three days. Not even apex powers could necessarily guarantee they could earn so many Eternal Coins in such a short period.
“Anyway, just follow my plan. If it’s not enough, you can use my properties as collateral.” Shi Feng didn’t bother to go into the details. Instead, he simply assigned Yan Hua and Xia Qingying the task of collecting as many Earthen Magic Flowers as they could.
The Earthen Magic Flower was not a rare herb. It could be found everywhere in the Eternal Realm. However, if Shi Feng had only himself to rely on, he would only be able to collect a very limited amount. After all, he had to travel from town to town by himself. He’d be fortunate if he could buy out the Earthen Magic Flowers of two or three towns before players discovered the herb’s importance.
However, it was a different story for Yan Hua and Xia Qingying. They had hired many experts across the Eternal Realm, so they could collect Earthen Magic Flowers from many more towns than Shi Feng could.
Meanwhile, the Holy Race players’ sphere of activity wasn’t limited to just one region in the Eternal Realm but everywhere in the Eternal Realm. So long as human players and Holy Race players started to fight out in the fields, the price of Earthen Magic Flowers would skyrocket.
There also wouldn’t be a need to worry about the herb’s falling. After all, while Earthen Magic Flowers might be ordinary herbs, they still needed time to regrow. Moreover, the Earthen Magic Flower was a herb unique to the Eternal Realm, so even after players outside the Eternal Realm arrived, there wouldn’t be a sudden influx of the herb.
Although Yan Hua and Xia Qingying were skeptical about Shi Feng’s plan, they followed his instructions nonetheless and began collecting Earthen Magic Flowers in bulk after leaving Dark Star. They bought the herb at a unified price of one Eternal Copper for every ten Earthen Magic Flowers. They also offered the option of exchanging real-world resources for Earthen Magic Flowers. This created an opportunity for resellers to make a small profit, which, in turn, encouraged more players to gather Earthen Magic Flowers for Yan Hua and Xia Qingying.
As for Shi Feng himself, he didn’t idle around either. After leaving Dark Star and returning to the Eternal Realm, he promptly rode the Mutated Frostflame Phantom Dragon to the three nearest towns. Then, he spent his two remaining Eternal Gold Coins to purchase Earthen Magic Flowers in large quantities.
While Shi Feng was stockpiling Earthen Magic Flowers, news that excited all players and powers in the Eternal Realm spread.
The maps for the various NPC Cities were finally unlocked!