Chapter 1272 – Growth of the Guild

Just as everyone was feeling shocked at the wealth of the various superpowers, a new bid appeared once again.

“Seventy thousand crystals!”

“Are Magic Crystals rocks?!” The players in the first-floor hall felt their minds going numb when they heard this price.

The bids were actually rising in increments of 10,000 Magic Crystals.

In the past, they only knew that the superpowers of the virtual gaming world were existences that should not be provoked, as the disparity was simply too big. Now, however, it would seem that the gap between both sides was far larger than they imagined it to be.

“Eighty thousand crystals!” Sirius shouted without hesitation.

Too much profit was at stake on Thunder Island. At this crucial moment, the Battle Wolves naturally could not afford to fall behind. Hence, the Guild had mailed 300,000 Magic Crystals to Sirius in order to obtain the last three Thunder Passes.

In reality, though, obtaining the additional 30 slots was only secondary to the Battle Wolves Guild. The crucial point was that these 30 slots must not fall into the hands of another power.

Shortly after Sirius placed his bid, the representative from Miracle raised the price by another 10,000 crystals.

In less than a minute, the price for the three Thunder Passes had already reached an astronomical sum of 250,000 Magic Crystals.

They sure are desperate. Shi Feng was greatly surprised when he heard this figure.

Although he had long since known that the Thunder Passes would fetch a high price, he had never imagined that they would be this valuable. Just three Thunder Passes would already allow him to settle his debt with Phoenix Rain.

“Big Sis Rain, what should we do? We don’t have that many Magic Crystals left anymore,” Blue Phoenix said anxiously.

The person who placed the 250,000-crystal bid was Nine Dragons Emperor. If Nine Dragons Emperor obtained the three passes, he would definitely suppress their side during the contest on Thunder Island.

Phoenix Rain also frowned at this scene.

She never thought that the situation would develop in this manner.

If it were the other powers that obtained the passes, she wouldn’t have minded it that much. However, if Nine Dragons Emperor got the passes, she would lose her chance to become the Great Pavilion Master.

After a moment of silence, Phoenix Rain’s lips curled up into a bright smile. However, her smile also carried a hint of bitterness. She immediately contacted Shi Feng once again.

“Team Leader Ye Feng, I wish to borrow 300,000 Magic Crystals from Zero Wing,” Phoenix Rain said, smiling. “Of course, I won’t be borrowing it for nothing. I will use two golden Shops in two of the Apocalypse Empire’s top three NPC cities as collateral. If I cannot return 400,000 Magic Crystals in seven days, those two golden Shops will become the Candlelight Trading Firm’s possession.”

“Big Sis Rain!” Blue Phoenix jumped up in fright when she heard Phoenix Rain’s words. “Those two golden Shops are the foundations of the Phoenix Pavilion!”

Although the Apocalypse Empire was very large with a high player population, it had only eight NPC cities that had a player population of over five million. Meanwhile, the two golden Shops Phoenix Rain mentioned were located in two of the seven other major NPC cities, aside from the imperial capital.

Currently, the value of these two golden Shops was not one bit inferior to the Candlelight Trading Firm in White River City. How could they possibly use such important assets as collateral?

“I understand what I’m doing,” Phoenix Rain said determinedly.

Hearing this response, Blue Phoenix fell speechless. With the Phoenix Pavilion’s current state, how could they possibly collect 400,000 Magic Crystals in just seven days?

As expected of the Demon Queen. The actions she takes are truly flawless. Shi Feng was inwardly surprised by Phoenix Rain’s offer.

Although using the two golden Shops as collateral might seem greatly disadvantageous to Phoenix Rain, in reality, that wasn’t entirely the case. After all, whether Phoenix Rain managed to repay her debt or not, she would not make a loss.

If she succeeded in redeeming her debt, she could simply retrieve her Shops. Even if she failed, the Shops would become the Candlelight Trading Firm’s possessions, not Zero Wing’s. There was a huge difference between the Shops falling into the Candlelight Trading Firm’s hands and Zero Wing’s. After all, Phoenix Rain owned 20% of the Candlelight Trading Firm’s shares. If the Candlelight Trading Firm grew stronger through the addition of those two Shops, the profits Phoenix Rain received from her shares would increase as well.

Moreover, if converted to Coins, 300,000 Magic Crystals would be equivalent to 75,000 Gold, a sum that already exceeded the startup costs of those two Shops. While this might seem like a risky deal for Phoenix Rain, in reality, the loss she would make would be minimal.

“Team Leader Ye Feng, what is your decision?” Phoenix Rain asked, smiling.

When Shi Feng looked at Phoenix Rain in the screen, he suddenly felt as if he was the one borrowing money from her. From beginning to end, it was as if the initiative in this trade was in her hands, not his.

“Alright, you have a deal. However, the Magic Crystals will be left with the Candlelight Trading Firm for now. Once the auction is over, I’ll hand over the remainder to you.” Shi Feng nodded. Phoenix Rain’s conditions were indeed difficult to refuse.

If the Candlelight Trading Firm could branch out to two cities with populations rivaling that of White River City, the potential profits were simply frightening, particularly now that the various large Guilds were placing more focus towards exploring ancient ruins. He had even more need for the golden Shops of the Apocalypse Empire’s major NPC cities, to sell the Lunar Potion.

Following which, Shi Feng and Phoenix Rain signed a contract through the system.

When Blue Phoenix watched Phoenix Rain signing the contract, she suddenly realized an extremely important matter.

Despite its extreme importance, her mind had in fact automatically forgotten about this matter every time it occurred, treating it as if it was only natural.

Before coming into contact with Zero Wing, the latter had been only a small Guild that received help from them secretly. Yet, after some time, the Guild was now a source of significant income. Zero Wing had even become a Guild that could actually be of help to them.

When Blue Phoenix thought of Zero Wing’s growth speed, she could not help but have goosebumps. Even a Guild supported by a major corporation could not compete with Zero Wing in development speed.

Meanwhile, during this time, the price for the three Thunder Passes had already reached 280,000 Magic Crystals.

This price caused many superpowers to give up on bidding.

Of course, if powers like Miracle, Sacred Temple, King’s Return, and Battle Wolves wanted to, they could still compete for the Thunder Passes. However, letting Nine Dragons Emperor obtain the three Thunder Passes would not have any effect on their performance on Thunder Island.

Hence, rather than waste a ton of Magic Crystals, these superpowers came to a silent agreement not to increase the bid any further.

“Pavilion Master, with this, we will definitely have a huge lead over Phoenix Rain on Thunder Island. Not only will we be able to send more men to harass her group, but we can also dispatch more men to carry out our original plans.” Hearing Melancholic Smile’s gavel land for the second time, Martial Dragon sneered as he looked towards Phoenix Rain’s room.

“Although I’ve spent quite a lot this time, as long as I can surpass Phoenix Rain on Thunder Island, all of this will be worth it.” A smile appeared on Nine Dragons Emperor’s face.

Although he had prepared quite a lot, he only had a total of 330,000 Magic Crystals on hand. If the other powers continued contesting for the Thunder Passes, he would not be able to put up a struggle.

Just as the gavel was about to land for the third time, however, a new bid appeared in the auction venue.

“Three hundred thousand!”

“Didn’t she run out of Magic Crystals already?” Nine Dragons Emperor was confused as he looked at Phoenix Rain’s room. However, a possibility very quickly occurred to him. “Damn that Zero Wing! They actually lent Magic Crystals to her!”

“Three hundred and ten thousand!”

However, Nine Dragons Emperor was also helpless to do anything about this situation. He had no choice but to continue bidding. As for the other superpowers, they had already given up on fighting over this bottomless pit, because regardless if Phoenix Rain or Nine Dragons Emperor obtained these three Thunder Passes, the two of them would not be able to affect their results on Thunder Island at all.

“Three hundred and twenty thousand!”

“Three hundred and thirty thousand!”

“Three hundred and forty thousand!”

Phoenix Rain continued increasing her bid without hesitation. When the price reached 340,000 crystals, Nine Dragons Emperor was thoroughly defeated. He could only watch as the gavel in Melancholic Smile’s hand landed one time after another. In the end, the three Thunder Passes fell into Phoenix Rain’s hands.

Seeing this outcome, the various major powers grew exceedingly envious of Zero Wing.

Zero Wing had managed to earn 340,000 Magic Crystals just by selling three Thunder Passes. This was practically even more profitable than robbing a bank.

After the auction for the Thunder Passes came to an end, the remaining items that came up did not garner much interest from the various superpowers. Only the players seated in the first-floor hall bid for them. Although the prices of the items were not particularly high, the quantity was much higher.

Time passed quickly. As one item after another sold for a high price, one of the highly anticipated finale items finally appeared before everyone.

The personal houses of Stone Forest Town!