Chapter 272 - Spirited Away

Based on Aqua Rose’s knowledge about the authority of Barons, aside from being able to purchase private territory within White River City, they could also hire their own guards. A Baron could hire a total of 10 NPCs to serve as guards for his own territory.

However, a Baron was the lowest rank of nobility.

Only when one was promoted to Viscount would one be counted as one of the true nobles of the city.

A Viscount could not only purchase private territory, one could recruit up to 40 NPCs as guards, as well as have two personal guards.

Having personal guards was a special privilege available only to true nobles.

The normal guards hired by players were not capable of growth, unlike personal guards. In other words, after recruitment, the Levels of normal guards would not change no matter how much time passed. On the other hand, personal guards could be leveled up. They would also receive bonus Attributes from leveling up, making them much stronger than normal guards. The difference between the two was like the difference between a Common monster and a Boss monster.

Meanwhile, if their Guild had these personal guards protecting their Guild Residence, at this stage of the game, the defense of their Guild Residence would definitely be foolproof. Furthermore, they could even have these personal guards participate in Boss battles. Although the levels of these NPCs would be suppressed, they would still be a lot stronger than the average player. With these personal guards, Zero Wing would have a greater advantage over other Guilds when contesting for Field Bosses.

Thinking up to this point, Aqua Rose couldn’t help but reevaluate her opinion of Shi Feng once again.

“Guild Leader, the more I get to know you, the less I actually understand about you. Not only have you managed to obtain such an excellent location for a Guild Residence, you are also a Viscount of White River City. If other Guilds were to find out about this matter, they would definitely go insane,” Aqua Rose giggled, blinking her shining large eyes.

“Indeed, they will definitely hunt me down like maniacs,” Shi Feng laughed.

The moment a Guild possessed their own Residence, they would be like a seedling that had finally set down roots; they would no longer be at the mercy of the winds and rain.

Only by growing roots could a plant thrive and have the possibility to grow into a towering tree.

In the past, a player had once joked that a Guild without their own Guild Residence was like a gang of mountain bandits, while a Guild that had their own Guild Residence was like the lord of a region.

The reason being, only with a Guild Residence could a Guild gradually perfect the many benefits they provided. It was especially true for Guild Quests. At this stage of the game, as nobody possessed their own Guild Residence yet, the NPCs within the city were unable to privately publish quests to the Guilds. Hence, players could only accept some daily quests from the Adventurer’s Association to earn Guild Reputation.

In comparison to the individual quests that players received from the Adventurer’s Association, the private Guild Quests published by NPCs rewarded much higher Guild Reputation. If a Guild was sufficiently powerful, there was even the possibility that a quest rewarding an Epic ranked item would appear. Moreover, unlike at the Adventurer’s Association, the number of quests available to Guild members was not just limited to two or three...

As long as a Guild was sufficiently powerful, there would be several hundreds, even thousands of Guild Quests being published in the Guild Residence every day.

With so many quests available, players would be able to level up and upgrade their equipment more efficiently than if they were limited to grinding monsters. Also, statistical analysis made by professionals in the past showed that Guilds with Guild Residences made at least double, or even triple, the amount of money of Guilds without Guild Residences.

Moreover, only with a Guild Residence would a Guild officially have a stable source of income. The reason being, whenever a Guild member completed a Guild Quest, the Guild would automatically collect 15% of the quest reward as processing fee. The fees collected would then be stored inside the Guild Bank to serve as funding for the Guild.

This was the reason why Guild Residences were so important.

The location of the Guild Residence was also very important as this correlated to the number of Guild Quests a Guild would receive. A newly established Guild Residence would be an unknown existence in White River City. To be precise, it would be unknown to the NPCs of White River City, and that anonymity would prevent many of these NPCs from commissioning quests with such newly established Guild Residences. If, however, a Guild Residence was established in a high-traffic location like the Trade Area, it would be easily noticed by NPCs. As a result, the number of quests the Guild Residence received would increase.

Meanwhile, as the number of quests resolved by the Guild increased, the fame of the Guild among NPCs would also rise. And the number of NPCs willing to commission quests would also increase in turn.

Such a snowball-like development speed would be unstoppable once it started.

Hence, if the Guilds in White River City were to find out about Zero Wing coming into possession of a Guild Residence, they would definitely hate Shi Feng down to the bone. Fortunately, Zero Wing had already grown past the stage of a fledgling Guild; unrated Guilds would not dare to make an enemy out of Zero Wing. Only third-rate Guilds or above would pose a threat.

However, once Zero Wing officially establishes its Guild Residence, not even third-rate Guilds would dare to become its enemies.

While Shi Feng and Aqua Rose were having their merry discussion, the three of them arrived inside the main building of the Purple Sun Mansion.

After remaining vacant for over a decade, the interior of the mansion was fully covered in a layer of dust. Weeds could even be seen growing in certain locations inside the mansion. The interior of the building looked extremely dilapidated, as if it could collapse at any moment. Not to mention people, even rats would not want to live in this place.

“It seems this place needs to be completely demolished and rebuilt,” Shi Feng said in heartache as he swept a glance at the interior of the mansion.

For privately owned territories, any expenditures spent on it had to come out from the owner’s own pockets. However, not to mention building a Guild Hall meant for an entire Guild, even the cost of building an ordinary house was insanely expensive; it was a price that no normal person could afford. Only a large Guild with immense wealth could afford such a price.

“Guild Leader, you are the wealthiest player in White River City, yet you’re actually crying about being poor?” Aqua Rose rolled her eyes at Shi Feng. She knew for a fact that Shi Feng had spent over 100 Gold Coins without even blinking when he bought the Arclight Shield Forging Design.

Shi Feng could only shake his head and bitterly smile in reply to Aqua Rose’s teasing.

What Aqua Rose did not know was that a fee of 200 Gold Coins was required in order to construct even the most common Guild Hall. Meanwhile, such a Guild Hall only had a capacity of 500 players. If it were a Guild Hall with a capacity of 1,000 players, the construction fee would be 500 Gold Coins.

With the area the Purple Sun Mansion occupied, Shi Feng could build an Advanced Guild Hall with a capacity of 3,000 players, at the very least. However, the price tag for an Advanced Guild Hall was 3,000 Gold Coins...

Three thousand Gold was an astronomical sum for any one Guild. Even though Shi Feng indeed had the ability to construct an Advanced Guild Hall, he still had the burden of 30,000 Gold from the Gospel Project quest bearing down on him; he dared not randomly spend his money. The only reason he had spent over 100 Gold for the Arclight Shield Forging Design was because he was confident of earning back the money through sales of the shields he produced. In the case of the Guild Hall, however, it was a one-way expenditure.

Just as Shi Feng’s group arrived at a flight of stairs, Shi Feng suddenly felt a gust of cold wind blowing over his face. He could also hear an indistinct voice whispering by his ears, as if calling him to descend the stairs.

Instantly, Shi Feng felt all the hairs on his body stand up. Without hesitation, Shi Feng immediately unsheathed the Abyssal Blade and the Demonbane, raising his five senses to their very limits. In this moment, he was fully prepared for any enemies that would show up.

Aqua Rose and Fire Dance, on the other hand, reacted a tad slower than Shi Feng. However, they too promptly readied their weapons as they fixed their gazes at the staircase.

Contrary to their expectations, however, nothing appeared from the staircase. Only a cold breeze blew up from below, causing the weeds within the mansion to quiver slightly.

“How can there be wind coming from inside the building?” Fire Dance asked, feeling there was something very strange about the situation. The virtual world of God’s Domain closely resembled reality. Meanwhile, their current location was the heart of the mansion. It was an enclosed space, so it should have been impossible for any wind to be present.

Likewise, Shi Feng also felt this matter was strange.

However, according to Shi Feng’s knowledge, there was indeed something very strange about this Purple Sun Mansion. After all, it was a fact that every previous owner of the mansion had disappeared without a trace while staying inside the building. It was due to these disappearances that the inhabitants of White River City had nicknamed the building the Ghost Mansion.

Even the Tier 4 Wizard Weissman could not find the reason for the past owners’ disappearances. The only solution he had was to send out a team of guards to prevent anyone from entering the mansion.

Shi Feng also had not learned anything about the Purple Sun Mansion in his past life. Hence, he could only rely on himself to resolve this matter.

Only, he never expected to feel such a great pressure just by standing at the entrance of the staircase. It felt as if he was standing in front of a ferocious beast.

Moreover, this kind of pressure had a sense of familiarity. However, Shi Feng could not recall where he had felt this pressure before.

“The cold wind seems to be coming from the basement. Let’s go have a look at it for now.” Shi Feng shook his head. He decided to first discover the source of this mysterious wind before making any further decisions.