Chapter 491 – Flower Frenzy
“Brothers! Charge! The entrance tokens to Blood Hell City will be ours!”
“All teams, split up and report any Regional Bosses you find right away! We must not let players from other powers get to these Bosses!”
“The Guild Leader has promised a reward of 100,000 Star Coins to whoever gets an entrance token!”
With the unlocking of the various city maps, the various powers operating in the Eternal Realm frantically mobilized their teams to Level 150-plus maps housing NPC Cities. Even independent players couldn’t help but make their way to these city maps, hoping to get their hands on a city token.
NPC Cities were much rarer in the Eternal Realm than NPC Towns, with there being only one city for every ten or so towns. NPC Cities were also transportation hubs that connected various parts of the Eternal Realm, and players of all levels needed to enter NPC Cities regardless of their level to develop and live in the Eternal Realm. Therefore, the land and shops in NPC Cities were suitable for long-term holding, and players wouldn’t have trouble reselling them at high prices.
Not to mention that there were far more opportunities in NPC Cities than in NPC Towns. Meanwhile, the sooner a player entered an NPC City, the greater their chances of obtaining these opportunities.
Simply put, NPC Cities were crucial for players and powers to secure an advantage in the Eternal Realm. It was especially so for the various powers.
In the Greater God’s Domain, NPC Towns did not have the ability to let Guilds establish Guild Residences; only NPC Cities did. For a power to develop quickly, a Guild Residence was crucial.[1]
With a Guild Residence, a Guild’s members could enjoy various guild benefits and special treatment in the city the Residence was in. This, in turn, would make guild members more cohesive. If a Guild had a Guild Residence, expert players would also be more willing to join it and contribute to the Guild’s growth.
…
Silver Frost City, Green God Corporation’s branch headquarters:
“Aren’t we being a little too reckless, Vice President?” Lu Wen, dressed in work clothes, asked Xia Qingying in concern when she read the report on the latest batch of Earthen Magic Flowers they bought. “Not only have we spent all of our Eternal Coins purchasing Earthen Magic Flowers, but we have also traded away many resources. After this latest purchase, our forces in the Eternal Realm can’t even afford to replenish their consumables. If we can’t resell these Earthen Magic Flowers, our plans in the Eternal Realm will be ruined…”
Thus far, they have already collected 4.31 million Earthen Magic Flowers across 60-plus towns in the Eternal Realm. In order to collect this amount, they had to spend all of the Eternal Coins they had accumulated and even mortgage more than ten properties in a second-tier city.
If they couldn’t sell these Earthen Magic Flowers, all of the efforts they’ve made in the Eternal Realm would have been for naught. After all, Earthen Magic Flowers were common in the Eternal Realm, and it was normally difficult to even sell them in small quantities, let alone a whopping 4.31 million.
“We don’t have a choice. Five hundred Eternal Gold is no small amount. If we don’t have enough Earthen Magic Flowers, it could become a big problem later,” Xia Qingying said. However, even she couldn’t help but be dubious of Shi Feng’s plan. After all, even though the various city maps were now unlocked and the various powers and independent players were madly scrambling for entrance tokens, it remained to be seen that demand for Earthen Magic Flowers would increase.
…
At the same time, Yan Hua was also under great pressure.
Yan Hua had similarly amassed a massive stockpile of Earthen Magic Flowers. More specifically, he had collected a total of 31.6 Earthen Magic Flowers. He had basically utilized all of his connections and authority in the Blaze Conglomerate to collect this common herb from all over the Eternal Realm.
Currently, because of his massive acquisition, the prices of Earthen Magic Flowers have indeed increased. Initially, it was one Eternal Copper for 20 Earthen Magic Flowers. Now, it was one Eternal Copper for 12 Earthen Magic Flowers.
However, even then, he would still make a humongous loss if he sold his Earthen Magic Flowers at such a price.
…
Eternal Realm, Blood Hell Mountain Range:
Amidst the vast mountains covered in a faint blood-red mist, a team of several dozen players was resting beside the corpse of a Level 152 Legendary Boss. These players were all Tier 5 players, and their levels were all above 144. Many of these players were also fifth-floor experts, and they were led by Moro, the Seventh Vice Guild Leader of the Red Dragon Nation.
In addition to the Legendary Boss’s corpse, there were also hundreds of player corpses in the area. Among these player corpses, some belonged to human players, while the rest belonged to Holy Race players.
“Lord Moro, our scouts have found another batch of Holy Race teams rushing towards us. We must leave here quickly,” the Wind Saint Desert Web said as he approached Moro, who was in the middle of looting the Boss.
“Damn those lunatics! How many of them are there?!” Moro’s face turned gloomy when he heard the news. “Can’t those who have been resurrected fight normally yet?”
Competition in the city maps was far more intense than Moro expected. Not only did he have to compete against other powers, but he also had to face the troublesome Holy Race players. To make matters worse, anyone killed by a Holy Race player would be put in an Unstable Mana state after getting resurrected, making them unsuitable for combat.
In less than half a day, nearly half of the several thousand players he mobilized into the Blood Hell Mountain Range had been put out of commission. This situation would greatly impact his ability to compete for Blood Hell City’s entrance tokens.
“Not yet. Whether it is those resurrected using Resurrection Spells or those resurrected at the nearest town, nobody can get rid of the Unstable Mana status,” Desert Web said, shaking his head. “Based on the research of our Guild’s Grandmaster Alchemists, I’m afraid the only way to get rid of this status is by taking Mana Stabilizers.”
“In that case, why aren’t those alchemists making more Mana Stabilizers?” Frowning, Moro commanded, “If they’re lacking recipes, just buy them above market price. I want those out-of-commissions ready for combat as soon as possible!”
In response to Moro’s command, Desert Web revealed an awkward expression as he said, “The Alchemy Association sells the recipe for Mana Stabilizers, so we have no trouble getting it. But the main ingredient, Earthen Magic Flowers…is now out of stock in the market.”
“Out of stock?” Moro was surprised. “Isn’t the Earthen Magic Flower a basic herb? How can it be out of stock?”
“When those alchemists realized that Mana Stabilizers were our only solution, they promptly tried to buy more Earthen Magic Flowers. You can say that we bought out every Earthen Magic Flower that was within our reach. But for some reason, the flowers are in short supply right now, and we only managed to purchase a couple hundred. We can only make a little over 100 bottles with that amount,” Desert Web explained. “It might not sound like a lot, but we can already be considered lucky. I heard other powers are willing to pay one Eternal Copper Coin for one Earthen Magic Flower, yet they didn’t manage to buy even ten Earthen Magic Flowers…”
“Dammit! Someone is definitely hoarding the flowers!” Moro frowned. “But I won’t let these people rip us off so easily. Since we can’t get any from Scott Town, we’ll buy them in other towns. I refuse to believe we won’t be able to find any!”
“Then, I’ll have some people go to other towns immediately!” Desert Web nodded.
At the same time as Moro acted, the various powers operating in the Blood Hell Mountain Range similarly started trying to buy Earthen Magic Flowers from other towns.
However, the result they all got was surprisingly consistent.
Out of stock!
…
TL Notes:
[1]Guild Residence(公會駐地): I am not sure if this is supposed to be Guild Residence. The raws used “公會據點,” which translates to “Guild Stronghold/Base.”