Chapter 224 - Runic Gold

In the quiet and steamy Forging Room, a deep blue flame burned brilliantly as it refined one Hard Stone after the next.

Originally, forging Advanced Whetstones had a low success rate. Yet, when Shi Feng made them, the process was as smooth as flowing water. Whether regarding production speed or quality, both were equally amazing, and one couldn’t help but give praise when witnessing this scene.

Although the repetitive task was slightly cumbersome, when Shi Feng’s thoughts wandered to the fact that each Advanced Whetstone could sell for 7 Silver Coins, endless motivation flowed into him.

After three hours had passed since Shi Feng started this laborious work, he had made 180 Advanced Whetstones. His speed could practically rival the efficiency of three or four Forgers combined.

Also, without noticing it, Shi Feng had also recovered his previously lost level, returning from Level 14 to Level 15. His current leveling speed was far more efficient than grinding normal monsters.

Having decided to take a short rest, Shi Feng examined his current Forging Proficiency. It was already at 1,253 points right now.

He needed 3,000 Proficiency Points to be promoted from an Intermediate Forging Apprentice to an Advanced Forging Apprentice.

As long as he continued to work hard for two or three more days, he could become an Advanced Forging Apprentice.

If other players knew of Shi Feng’s promotion speed, they might become stupefied. After all, throughout the entire White River City region, aside from Shi Feng, there was not a single Intermediate Forging Apprentice to be found.

Shi Feng’s forging promotion speed was monstrously fast.

Based on this speed, if I focus solely on forging, I can become an Advanced Forging Apprentice in two days, just in time for the next transaction with Aqua Rose. I can rake in another large sum of money from Aqua Rose. Shi Feng made a rough estimation, growing excited.

He greatly profited every time he met with Aqua Rose. If he could make another large sum this time, he would have mostly dealt with the matter of setting up his Workshop. Later on, he only needed to think of a way to recruit a large number of players that could serve as the backbone of the Guild in the future.

If he wished to establish a Guild with tens of thousands of members, he needed at least several hundred players to serve as the backbone of the Guild. Otherwise, he could not manage so many players properly. Hence, Shi Feng had decisively bought the office building to establish his Workshop. It would save him the trouble of having to move to a new Workshop in the future, limiting such issues related to the Guild’s development.

Di… Di… Di…

“Hm? Gentle Snow?” When Shi Feng heard the ringtone for his communicator, he discovered the caller was Gentle Snow. However, she was not looking for Ye Feng, but Black Flame instead. It just so happened that Shi Feng had reasons to look for Gentle Snow as well.

Previously, he had intended to use the ID of Black Flame to establish the Lifestyle Guild, the Horizon Alliance. However, he never found the chance to do so.

Now, a chance had arrived.

Currently, he was temporarily in charge of the Starstreak Trading Firm, which possessed shops in eight different cities. Moreover, these shops were all located in the heart of each city. Regarding materials, workplace, or a place to sell items, Shi Feng now had everything a Lifestyle player would need in his possession. If he factored in Gentle Snow’s advertising, establishing the Horizon Alliance was practically a done deal.

If Horizon Alliance successfully developed, it would be worth a gold mine. He could obtain both funding and materials through this Lifestyle Guild.

At that time, Shi Feng would not have to worry about Zero Wing’s development.

“Black Flame, are you interested in making a deal?” Gentle Snow immediately asked without any greeting.

“A deal? I wonder what sort of deal Miss Snow wishes to make?” Shi Feng asked, curious.

“I know that you are related to the matter of the Starstreak Trading Firm, so I wish to purchase some Whetstones from you, especially the Advanced Whetstones. I’ll pay Credits, and I’ll buy as many as you have right now,” Gentle Snow said.

“So, you desire the Whetstones. This should be simple. However, I need Gold Coins far more than Credits right now. If Miss Snow has a lot of them, I can definitely sell you my entire stock.” Shi Feng did not refute Gentle Snow’s claim. After all, it was not strange that she had discovered his relation to the Starstreak Trading Firm.

Previously, he had used the appearance of Black Flame to stroll through the trading firm with Anna openly. Moreover, many players had recorded a video of that scene. Since Gentle Snow had seen Black Flame before, she could easily figure out the relationship between him and the Starstreak Trading Firm as long as she saw one of those videos.

“I’ll pay you three times of the market price via Credits.” Gentle Snow did not want the other Guilds to catch up to them. Hence, she did not mind spending some extra Credits.

“Miss Snow, there is no need to continue. You and I both know how important Gold Coins are right now. If you do not have the sincerity to conduct this trade, let us just forget it altogether.”

“I am sincere about this deal. However, I’ve recently purchased a large batch of Hard Stones, so I don’t have any excess Gold Coins at the moment. How about five times the market price?”

Gentle Snow felt helpless right now. Black Flame certainly had a powerful backer supporting him, so he might not value Credits as much as Gold Coins. However, she truly had nothing she could use to trade. She only had Credits.

“Let’s just forget about the Credits. Don’t you have a lot of Hard Stones right now?” Shi Feng revealed a faint, bitter smile. If he were not required to earn 30,000 Gold Coins within 20 days, he would have definitely agreed to five times the market price. However, Gold Coins were much more important to him right now. This matter affected his own future development, so he could not compromise. Hence, he suggested, “Let’s exchange using Hard Stones, then.”

“Exchange?” Gentle Snow’s beautiful face froze. Stunned, she asked, “What will the ratio of exchange be?”

“That will depend on you. For the normal Whetstones, it will be a 1-to-4 ratio. As for the Advanced Whetstones, I require a 1-to-9 ratio,” Shi Feng stated calmly.

“Fine. However, I want only Advanced Whetstones. Moreover, I want to conduct the trade immediately.” After giving the matter some thought, Gentle Snow felt that this exchange seemed reasonable. However, Gentle Snow inwardly cursed at Shi Feng for being too hateful. It is as expected of the Chief Forger of Star-Moon Kingdom.

If she allowed the forgers in her Guild to make Whetstones right now, they could produce one Whetstone with every four or five Hard Stones. Meanwhile, Shi Feng had accurately suggested trading one Whetstone for four Hard Stones. The result of this exchange was just slightly better than the result the forgers in her Guild could produce. So, Gentle Snow agreed to trade the majority of their stock of Hard Stones for Advanced Whetstones, leaving the remainder for the forgers in her Guild to increase their Forging Proficiency.

“Alright, then. Look for an NPC named Anna once you arrive at the Starstreak Trading Firm. She will conduct the exchange immediately,” Shi Feng instructed, chuckling. Soon after, Shi Feng disconnected the call, resuming his production of Advanced Whetstones.

Shi Feng’s trade with Gentle Snow was only a small interlude. After Gentle Snow had exchanged four stacks of Advanced Whetstones with Anna, under Shi Feng’s instructions, Anna made the exchange mechanism open to the public. The exchange ratio was the same as he previously mentioned to Gentle Snow. As a result, many players who lacked the money to purchase Whetstones started frantically exchanging their Hard Stones. They no longer needed Forging Apprentices to rip them off.

With this, not only could the Starstreak Trading Firm deal with its material supply issue, but it could also make a profit from this exchange. This scene caused many Lifestyle players to have second thoughts about applying to work at the trading firm.

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Two days later…

System: Congratulations! You are the first player to be promoted to an Advanced Forging Apprentice! Obtained 200,000 EXP. Rewarding 5 Runic Gold.

“Finally! Still, the system is really generous this time, to think it would even give me a rare item like Runic Gold.” Shi Feng involuntarily smiled when he saw the system rewards.

Runic Gold could increase the forging success rate of an item by 10%. Simultaneously, it would have a chance to upgrade the rank of the forged item by one. Unlike Runic Steel, which could only upgrade an item’s quality to a maximum of Fine-Gold rank, Runic Gold could increase an item’s quality up to Dark-Gold rank.

However, Shi Feng’s joy focused on the promotion to an Advanced Forging Apprentice.

Ever since his Forging Proficiency had reached 2,000 points, the Advance Whetstones no longer rewarded 1 Proficiency Point 100% of the time. They only had a 70% chance to reward a Proficiency Point. Meanwhile, after he reached 2,500 points, there was only a 40% chance of obtaining 1 Proficiency Point, while at 2,800 points, that chance further decreased to 20%. After spending two days forging away, he finally managed to earn the promotion to an Advanced Forging Apprentice.

After becoming an Advanced Forging Apprentice, Shi Feng immediately retrieved the Advanced Book of Magic from his bag, choosing to learn it without hesitation. Suddenly, a golden glow surrounded Shi Feng’s body, and within Shi Feng’s mind, the knowledge of producing the Magic Armor Kit appeared.

During these two days, aside from continuously producing Advanced Whetstones and raising his Forging Proficiency, Shi Feng had also made sure to train his body during the day. Incidentally, he also bought that office building in the city center for his Workshop.

Shi Feng had to pay a total of 60 million Credits in installments. He first paid 20 million Credits, while he would pay the remaining 40 million in full within 3 months.

Shi Feng had also earned over 10 million Credits from selling the White River City Guidebooks. He used 5 million or so to purchase various gaming facilities and other items to complete his Workshop. That way, when it was time to attend the university’s Fellowship Party, he would have 5 million Credits and a luxurious Workshop to back him up. He was no weaker than Shadow right now.

Comparing Workshop facilities and environments, Shi Feng’s Workshop utterly destroyed Shadow’s.