Chapter 285 - Market Research

Imperial Thunder’s suggestion sent Lifeless Blade into a light contemplation. Soon after, Lifeless Blade replied with a nod.

As the saying went: another friend is another opportunity. If one wished to succeed in a game, an extensive network of friends was necessary. It was especially true when it came to friends who were experts.

“If we are going to hastily approach and interrupt him like this, we need to be careful with our words when we speak. After all, every expert has their own unique personality: some might be cheerful, some might be indifferent, and some might be arrogant. It would be counterproductive if we happened to accidentally provoke him,” Lifeless Blade whispered.

“Ah, of course I know about this point!” Imperial Thunder laughed.

“You do, huh?” Lifeless Blade rolled his eyes at Imperial Thunder. He then continued, “Do you still remember how you managed to provoke Yuan Fei, one of the top ten rookies of the gaming world, whom we met last time?”

“That was his fault for going overboard! He actually tried to Roll for every equipment we got from that Boss!” Imperial Thunder still held a grudge against the player called Yuan Fei.

When they had discovered a Lord ranked Field Boss before, they had kindly sent Yuan Fei an invite to raid the Boss together. After the Boss died, the loot the Boss dropped was distributed using the dice-rolling system, as more than a dozen players had participated in the raid. It was also logical that every team member would only Roll for the items they needed. Yet, contrary to custom, Yuan Fei had Rolled for every single item the Boss dropped.

Yuan Fei’s actions clearly stated that, if he could not use it, then he could still sell it.

“You could have just spoken up about the matter. At worst, we could have just stopped contacting him; there was no need for us to become enemies. Yet, you chose to pick a fight with him without even trying to talk things out. That’s not how you make friends; that’s how you make enemies. Yuan Fei is still holding a grudge against us even until now.” Lifeless Blade felt speechless when he recalled the incident back then.

Yuan Fei was one of this year’s top ten rookies of the virtual gaming world, and the Star Alliance had even offered him an annual salary of two million Credits in order to recruit him.

Meanwhile, just because their team had provoked that petty-minded Yuan Fei, they had received plenty of oppression from the Star Alliance, making it hard for them to mingle in Star-Moon City. If not for the fact that Lifeless Blade was acquainted with the Guild Leader of the Star Alliance, this matter would never have been settled, and their team would have been forced out of Star-Moon City long ago.

“I understand... I won’t repeat the same mistakes...” Imperial Thunder said in a soft tone. In fact, he, too, recognized the mistake he made in the past. However, it was not easy for him to fix his short temper.

As the two of them quietly conversed while they made their way towards Shi Feng...

Shi Feng had already grasped the general market trend in Star-Moon City.

Overall, the items sold here were cheaper than White River City.

In White River City, a stack of Hard Stones could be sold for 10 Silver Coins. At this place, however, each stack was being sold for only 9 Silver Coins. The same went for Whetstones. In White River City, each stack of Whetstones could be sold for 35 Silver Coins, while at this place, it was being sold for only 32 Silver Coins. Only Advanced Whetstones were sold at the same price in both cities, whereby each stack went for 1 Gold Coin.

On the other hand, Mysterious-Iron ranked weapons and equipment sold here were at least 10% to 20% more expensive than the ones sold at White River City. As for Secret-Silver ranked weapons and equipment, those were sold at prices 30% to 40% higher.

Sure enough, with more players around, the resources available is also greater in volume. Even though Mysterious-Iron Equipment is such a rare commodity in White River City, here in Star-Moon City, these items seem to be available in abundance. There is someone actually selling Secret-Silver Equipment as well. As expected of the capital city, the number of experts here is much higher than other cities. Just by looking at the items being sold at the Auction House, Shi Feng could clearly feel the intensity of the competition at Star-Moon City, with higher quality equipment in greater demand.

It was also precisely this fierce competition that resulted in more experts being produced here. In order to survive in this city, one had to rack their brains and constantly think of ways to improve themselves, gradually climbing up the ranks of this prosperous city.

Otherwise, what other explanation would there be for a precious Secret-Silver Equipment to appear at the Auction House?

It was simply impossible for Guilds to sell any weapons or equipment that were of Mysterious-Iron rank or better. After all, these items were strategic materiel for a Guild. At most, they would sell the equipment produced by their own forgers. However, where would they find a forger who was capable of producing Secret-Silver Equipment?

Even Shi Feng, who possessed plenty of support items, could not easily produce them. It went without saying that other forgers should only be able to produce Bronze Equipment, or at best, Mysterious-Iron Equipment at this stage of the game.

Hence, the Secret-Silver ranked weapons and equipment being sold at the Auction House were definitely the offerings of independent teams. Meanwhile, their purpose in selling was simply to bolster their team’s strength and obtain the funds necessary to cover their expenses.

The number of independent teams that could obtain Secret-Silver ranked weapons and equipment at White River City could definitely be counted using one’s fingers. As far as Shi Feng knew, the only team capable of such a feat was the Holy Grail Knights that he had met by coincidence last time. On the other hand, there were a number of such independent teams in Star-Moon City. One could just imagine the difference between the two cities.

If I am going to try to enter Star-Moon City’s market, it seems that selling high-end equipment would be the most effective way to do so. At this moment, the Fine-Gold ranked Dragonscale Set Equipment popped up in Shi Feng’s mind. He felt that it might not be a bad idea to rely on the Dragonscale Set Equipment to break into Star-Moon City’s market. However, his current forging standards were still too low. Cream Cocoa was also only an Advanced Forging Apprentice right now; she was still in the midst of striving to get promoted into a true Forger.

Moreover, another condition needed to be met if Shi Feng wished to enter Star-Moon City’s market. Currently, Shi Feng’s Guild was based only in White River City. If he were to establish a branch Guild at Star-Moon City at this period of time, that branch Guild would immediately be annihilated by the many large Guilds of Star-Moon City. Hence, what Shi Feng needed right now to enter Star-Moon City’s market was a shop to do business with.

However, not to mention a shop, even if Shi Feng wished to set up a stall, he first needed to become a minor noble of Star-Moon City. As for establishing a shop, at the very least, he needed to become a Baron before he could do so.

As expected, if I don’t deal with this shop issue, I won’t have any way of entering Star-Moon City’s market at all.

After all, the Auction House’s 15% processing fee was simply too expensive. More importantly, placing items at the Auction House was something only independent teams or players would do. If one wished to have any sort of development and earn large sums of money and fame, a shop of their own was essential.

“Hello there, friend. I am called Lifeless Blade. Seeing that you have come to the Auction House, I’m guessing that you are here to sell some equipment, right? I am somewhat well-known in Star-Moon City, and I have plenty of sales channels. If you wish to sell your equipment at a good price and its Attributes are good, I can lend you a hand with selling them,” Lifeless Blade said as he walked over, a smile on his face.

“Selling equipment?” Shi Feng took a look at his own get-up, discovering that the weapons and equipment he had on him were far better than what anyone else present inside the Auction House had. From an observer’s point of view, he definitely would not have any demands for the items sold at the Auction House. In which case, the possibility of him coming to the Auction House to sell some of his unwanted equipment was very high. After all, with so many good equipment on hand, there were bound to be some obsolete equipment that he needed to dispose of. Immediately, Shi Feng shook his head, saying, “No, you misunderstand. I’m just here to take a look.”

“Sorry, it’s my fault for misunderstanding,” Lifeless Blade quickly said in embarrassment when he realized that he had acted too rashly. “In truth, I’m not trying to earn some middleman’s fees. I’m just trying to make your acquaintance.

“This here is a brother of mine, Imperial Thunder.”

Imperial Thunder nodded in reply, his mind still slightly dazed, completely mesmerized by the elegant appearance of the Abyssal Blade and the Demonbane when seen at such a close distance.

Dark-Gold Weapons!

Even the Guild Leader of the Star Alliance, a first-rate Guild, did not possess such powerful weapons. Imperial Thunder wondered just what kind of Attributes such weapons could possess. Just how much did they surpass the Secret-Silver Weapon he wielded?

Seeing his companion constantly staring at the weapons hanging at Shi Feng’s waist, the drool in Imperial Thunder’s mouth nearly overflowing, Lifeless Blade immediately clapped Imperial Thunder’s back. He then let out an awkward laugh as he said to Shi Feng, “Please excuse him. He doesn’t normally act this way.”

Shi Feng had been playing God’s Domain for many years now, and his eye for people was still quite accurate. Naturally, he could tell that the two players before him did not harbor any evil intentions in their hearts; they were really just trying to get acquainted with him. Furthermore, from the stories he’d heard about Lifeless Blade and Imperial Thunder in the past, he had quite a good grasp on the two’s personalities. They were definitely not sinister, villainous people. Lifeless Blade was the calm and silent type. As for Imperial Thunder, although he was brash, he was a man of integrity.

“No problem. I can tell that Brother Imperial is a straightforward man.” Shi Feng waved his hand, laughing. “Since Brother Blade wishes to become friends, it would be my honor to oblige.”

Lifeless Blade’s eyes immediately glowed. He hadn’t expected Shi Feng to be so easy to get along with, having such an easygoing attitude.

Hence, the two quickly started a conversation between themselves. When they touched on the topic of combat techniques, Shi Feng thoroughly shocked Lifeless Blade with his words. Meanwhile, Lifeless Blade finally understood why the public would acclaim Shi Feng a god-ranked expert.

After conversing for more than half an hour, Shi Feng managed to obtain a more detailed understanding of the situation at Star-Moon City, thanks to Lifeless Blade.

“I’ve gained plenty from this discussion of ours. If not for Brother Ye Feng, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even know such a combat technique existed. This knowledge is simply priceless for Dungeon-raiding,” Lifeless Blade said earnestly. He then retrieved a special tool from his back and presented it to Shi Feng, saying, “This ring is the only item I can offer you as thanks. Brother Ye Feng, please accept it. Otherwise, my conscience won’t let me rest.”