Chapter 261 - Magnificent Lineup

“What? You’re saying Starstreak is selling an Arclight Shield right now? Are you sure about this?” Lone Tyrant grew excited when he received this piece of news.

“Boss, how could I be mistaken? The Arclight Shield is being sold at a special counter on the second floor, but they’re selling it for 30 Gold Coins. Many people were stunned by the price, and they could only drool as they looked at it,” an Assassin that kept watch on the Starstreak Trading Firm affirmed.

“I understand. I’ll go purchase the Coins we need right now. You can stop lining up for the Mana Armor Kits for now. Go keep an eye on the Arclight Shield for me. You’re not allowed to take even a half step away from it! As soon as I gather enough money, I’ll send someone over to buy it,” Lone Tyrant said.

Although 30 Gold Coins was not a small sum for any Guild, Lone Tyrant did not hesitate as he made this decision.

The reason being, Lone Tyrant knew how vital the Arclight Shield was. If one wished to clear the Three Great Dungeons, one must first possess a sufficiently powerful MT. Meanwhile, the best shield available to players was currently the Arclight Shield. Hence, he needed to obtain it no matter what.

Just as Lone Tyrant received this piece of news, the other Guilds based in the eight cities where the Starstreak Trading Firm had shops also received this information, because all items sold by the Starstreak Trading Firm were interconnected. As long as an item was sold in one of the shops of the Starstreak Trading Firm, the item would also appear in the seven other shops.

As a result, the competition to purchase the Arclight Shield was made even more intense now.

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Just as the many Guilds were desperately raising Coins, Shi Feng had already arrived in front of the Demon’s Castle.

The Demon’s Castle was once a lord’s territory. However, the lord of this place had been bewitched by a demon and turned into a demon himself, gaining tremendous power in return. The lord had then turned this place into a demon’s lair. Now, the area surrounding the Demon’s Castle was filled with Level 15 or so Demonkins.

Compared to other monsters, demon-type monsters were born with very high magic resistance, and they also possessed very high magical perception. Hence, their magic attacks were very powerful. Even a normal Fireball from a Level 15 Demonkin could take away a quarter of a Level 15 Berserker’s total HP. If it was a skill that possessed great destructive force such as the Great Fireball or Flame Explosion, then a single attack could take away half of a Level 15 Berserker’s total HP.

To make matters worse, these Demonkins never acted alone; they normally moved around in groups of three or four. If a solo player met a group of these Demonkins, the result would be an instant kill. Hence, players normally only came to the Demon’s Castle after forming a party or a team. However, even though this was a dangerous location, many players still chose to come here.

As Demons were greedy by nature, they were very fond of money and Gemstones. In general, demon-type monsters had a much higher drop rate for money and Gemstones than normal monsters. Hence, plenty of players would grind here.

A Tier 1 Gemstone could sell for roughly 1 Silver Coin on the market; it was neither too cheap nor too expensive. However, many players were not willing to inlay their equipment with these Gemstones. After all, Gemstones were one-time use items; they would be gone once inlaid into equipment. Hence, it would be a huge waste to do so if the quality of their equipment was too poor. Generally, players would only choose to inlay Gemstones into their equipment if it was of Mysterious-Iron rank or above. However, how many players could actually get their hands on Mysterious-Iron Equipment? A majority of the players at this stage of the game were still using Bronze Equipment.

Who would be willing to inlay Gemstones into Bronze Equipment?

Normally, players would either sell the Gemstones they obtained or exchange them for items to further enhance their own strength. After all, grinding monsters would exhaust a significant amount of their resources with equipment repairs taking up the majority.

However, this situation was exactly what Shi Feng had been hoping for, hence why he had been secretly purchasing Gemstones all this time.

A Tier 1 Gemstone only increased Attributes by a trivial amount; they only increased one point in specific Basic Attributes. Even if a player inlaid every piece of equipment they wore with Gemstones, they would not see any significant improvement. However, in the case of Tier 2 Gemstones, it was an entirely different story.

Tier 2 Gemstones increased specific Attributes by two to three points. If players could fully inlay all their equipment with Tier 2 Gemstones, then they could obtain an additional 20 to 30 Attribute points. The difference between the benefits provided by a Tier 1 Gemstone and a Tier 2 Gemstone was as clear as day. Such an increase was the equivalent of possessing an additional piece of equipment, thus, the prices for Tier 2 Gemstones would naturally be high.

Although Tier 1 Gemstones could only sell for around 1 Silver, a Tier 2 Gemstone could sell for at least 10 Silvers.

Also, Shi Feng knew of a secret that nobody else knew right now: Tier 1 Gemstones could be used to synthesize Tier 2 Gemstones. Moreover, only three Tier 1 Gemstones were needed to do so.

In truth, this wasn’t any great secret at all. As long as someone managed to clear the Three Great Dungeons, the Alchemy Synthesis System would be unlocked for White River City. Players could then just head to an Alchemist to synthesize Tier 2 Gemstones.

At that time, the prices of Tier 1 Gemstones would abruptly soar. They would sell for at least 3 to 4 Silvers.

For now, however, nobody but Shi Feng knew of this secret.

Meanwhile, Shi Feng had been hoarding Tier 1 Gemstones nonstop as he waited for someone to activate the Alchemy Synthesis System. Once that happened, he could easily earn back double or triple the original cost. However, Shi Feng hoped that this time the activation of the Alchemy Synthesis System would come a little later. That way, he would have more time to hoard even more Tier 1 Gemstones.

Through the Starstreak Trading Firm, not only could Shi Feng obtain Tier 1 Gemstones from White River City, he could also purchase them from seven other cities. His current acquisition rate was much faster than before he became the manager of the Starstreak Trading Firm. Naturally, the longer it took for players to clear the Three Great Dungeons, the more money he could earn.

“Guild Leader, what did you call me here for all of a sudden?” Aqua Rose asked in a confused tone as she arrived at the entrance of the Demon’s Castle Dungeon.

As a 20-man Level 15 Team Dungeon, there were very few Guilds that possessed the strength to challenge this place right now. However, even if these Guilds did possess the strength to do so, they would not attempt to raid this Dungeon. The reason being, they were all held up by the Hell Mode of the Level 10 Team Dungeons, and also the Three Great Dungeons. Moreover, the level requirement for the Demon’s Castle was simply too high. Also, if they were unable to clear the Hard Mode of the Demon’s Castle, raiding it would bring little improvement to their team’s equipment, making it a waste of time. It would be much better for them to place their focus on the Hell Mode of Level 10 Team Dungeons.

Hence, Aqua Rose felt curious as to why Shi Feng would call her to this place.

“Of course, it is to raid the Demon’s Castle,” Shi Feng said, chuckling.

Aqua Rose was shocked by his words. Immediately, she said, “Guild Leader, isn’t it a little too early to raid the Demon’s Castle? It would be better for us to focus on raiding the Level 10 Hell Mode Team Dungeons. Although our Guild started slower than the others, we can still try to compete with the other Guilds over the Three Great Dungeons.”

“No. Aqua, our Guild will not be competing over the Three Great Dungeons. Our goal is the Level 20, 100-man Dungeon, the Thunder Palace. So, we need to start preparing for it now. Once we’re done with this raid, you should get everyone to level up as quick as possible. Don’t intentionally suppress their levels. It won’t be a worthwhile thing to do,” Shi Feng said, confidence filling his eyes as he shook his head.

Aqua Rose was rendered speechless by Shi Feng’s words. She couldn’t help but sigh as she felt pessimistic about Shi Feng’s whimsical thoughts. Let alone the 100-man Dungeon, Thunder Palace, it was not even possible for them to obtain the First Clear of the Demon’s Castle. Although she believed in Shi Feng’s strength, the equipment of their team was simply insufficient.

“They’re here.” Shi Feng looked towards a group of a dozen or so players walking over. They were none other than Fire Dance and her team.

“They?” Aqua Rose turned towards the direction Shi Feng was looking at and was immediately shocked by what she saw.

She discovered more than ten players walking over, each of them looking extremely dazzling. It was especially true for the sexy beauty walking in the lead. The two daggers by the woman’s waist were actually giving off the glow of a Fine-Gold ranked weapon. In addition, quite a few members of this team also possessed gorgeous-looking equipment; they all wore Secret-Silver Equipment. Although the Cursemancer of this team had hidden the special effects of his staff, judging by the delicate make of the weapon, it should be of Fine-Gold rank at the very least. As for the team’s Guardian Knight, the equipment he wore were mostly of Secret-Silver rank, with two pieces of Fine-Gold Equipment mixed in. Although the Guardian Knight had likewise hidden the special effects of his shield, based on looks alone, it shouldn’t be lower than Secret-Silver rank.

It was possible that not even the main force of Ouroboros could compare to this dazzling team.

When Aqua Rose took a closer look at this group of players, she was surprised to discover that each and every of them sported a six-winged emblem. They were actually members of their Zero Wing.

Aqua Rose’s delicate mouth suddenly parted in disbelief.

“Guild Leader, I’ve brought everyone here,” Fire Dance said, walking up to Shi Feng. She and the other core members of Zero Wing already knew about Shi Feng’s secret identity. Hence, they were not confused by his appearance as Black Flame.

“Good. Leave your teams and I’ll send an invite to all of you.” Shi Feng nodded in reply.