THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 3 - Season 6 Episode 14

Inside Overwhelming Smile’s Guild Residence in White River City…

“What did you say?” Feng Xuanyang abruptly slammed his fist down on the table. Furious, he said, “Those bastards suddenly raised their price? Do they take us for fools?”

“Young Master, please calm down,” the slightly chubby, middle-aged man advised. “They have not raised their prices without reason, but because they have the capital to do so.”

“Capital? Advanced Forging Apprentices like them? Overwhelming Smile has no shortage of individuals of their caliber!” Feng Xuanyang’s brows furrowed, a hint of killing intent flashing in his eyes.

Although his family was successful, he wasn’t the only one competing to become the successor. He had joined Underworld precisely because he needed the organization’s help to achieve his goal. Meanwhile, upon discovering God’s Domain’s unique standing through Underworld’s inside information, he had immediately snatched the chance and invested in the virtual reality game. As long as he could create a legacy for himself, the matter of becoming his family’s successor would be set in stone.

He had spent such a large sum of money to poach these people only because he wished to wound the Candlelight Trading Firm. Due to the ongoing war with Zero Wing, Overwhelming Smile’s daily gold expenditure was massive. Hence, all of the money spent on dealing with the Candlelight Trading Firm right now was his. His liquid funds only amounted to several hundred millions of Credits, so he could not squander it.

Although Advanced Forging Apprentices were indeed rare, with the money he possessed, he could easily hire dozens of Advanced Forging Apprentice NPCs from the Forging Association. It was much easier and cheaper than poaching Advanced Forging Apprentices from the Candlelight Trading Firm. Not only did he have to offer these people high benefits, but he also had to pay an astronomical compensation fee. Moreover, even when these forgers joined him, they were useless with their Lifestyle Skills reset to zero.

“Young Master Feng, the two I mention are somewhat special.”

“Special?! Just because they are special, they dared to raise the price we have agreed upon by three times?! Do they really consider themselves true Forgers?!”

“Young Master Feng, although they are not forgers, they have recently learned a rare forging design; they can now produce Light Stones. A Light Stone is an item that enables players to grind and level even throughout the night. With it, players will not be limited by time. Moreover, it’s quite cheap to produce Light Stones, so it is a very lucrative product. Meanwhile, among the Advanced Forging Apprentices of the Candlelight Trading Firm, only three have learned it. So, naturally, they raised their prices.”

“Light Stone? There is actually such a thing? Have you confirmed how they managed to obtain its forging design?”

When he heard about the Light Stone’s function, Feng Xuanyang immediately realized how massive its value was. If he could obtain the forging designs for them, he would not need to spend money to poach the Candlelight Trading Firm’s members. He could simply rely on the Light Stones to defeat the Candlelight Trading Firm and dominate Star-Moon Kingdom’s market.

“The Candlelight Trading Firm is keeping that a secret, so low-ranking members like them have no access to that information. However, I have sent someone to investigate the Light Stones. Though, it would seem that the Candlelight Trading Firm only has a limited number of Light Stone Forging Designs. Otherwise, they would not only allow three Advanced Forging Apprentices to learn them.

“Moreover, I have also heard that the three Forgers of Candlelight are not producing the Light Stones, focusing on producing the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits. It is quite possible that the Trading Firm is too busy and has decided to allow its Advanced Forging Apprentices to produce the Light Stones instead. In other words, it is possible that Candlelight only has three Light Stone Forging Designs. If we can poach two of them, it would be a massive blow to the Trading Firm.”

“You’re right. If Candlelight is allowed to produce a large amount of Light Stones, they will become more difficult to deal with. Unfortunately, man’s schemes are inferior to those made in heaven! Melancholic Smile, that damnable woman! She actually dared toy with this young master! Now, I’ll show her what pain means! I don’t care what it takes, poach those two! We’ll be even better off if you can lure the last one as well!” When Feng Xuanyang recalled Melancholic Smile’s arrogance, he could not help but laugh.

“Young Master Feng, rest assured, we already have those two in the bag. Only, the last one is rather obstinate. His price might be a lot higher than the others’. In addition to Candlelight’s latest contract, our expenditure this time might exceed 50 million,” the middle-aged man said cautiously. After all, this was not a small sum of money. They had to spend 50 million Credits just to poach three people, with a majority consisting of the compensation fee. Based on his initial estimates, the Light Stone Forging Design should be worth nearly 100 Gold. If they poached all three forgers, they had to pay a compensation fee of 6,000 Gold.

“Just do it. It will be worth it if we can drag all three of those forgers to our side,” Feng Xuanyang said as he gnashed his teeth. If he could steal both man and forging design, he would have done so in a heartbeat. However, the Candlelight Trading Firm wouldn’t be so stupid. Even fools knew how precious one-of-a-kind products were. Such items could significantly increase a Shop’s competitive edge.

Following which, the middle-aged man left the meeting room to negotiate with the Advanced Forging Apprentices.

—

Meanwhile, at White River City’s Bank, Shi Feng had already rented a Private Warehouse for himself.

If a player wished to store a truly precious item in God’s Domain’s Banks and wanted no one else to know of it, they had the option of renting a Private Warehouse and private room. Without the owner’s permission, nobody was allowed inside the Private Warehouse. However, unlike the Public Warehouse where the daily fee was only several Copper Coins, renting a Private Warehouse was not cheap.

Inside a Small Private Warehouse, players had 30,000 item slots. Each day’s rent was 30 Silver, and there was a minimum rental period of one month, which would be a total of 9 Gold. There was a discount if players rented the Warehouse for three months, but even then, they would still have to spend 25 Gold.

A Medium Private Warehouse had to 100,000 item slots, and the daily fee was 1 Gold Coin. Renting for one month cost 30 Gold while renting for three months cost 85 Gold.

A Large Private Warehouse held up to 500,000 item slots, and the daily fee was 4 Gold Coins. Renting for one month cost 120 Gold while renting for three months cost 350 Gold.

Normally, ordinary players would not rent a Private Warehouse at all. However, as players reached higher levels, it would become much easier to earn Coins. Many players who conducted business would usually rent a Private Warehouse.

Shi Feng had rented two Large Private Warehouses without hesitation. Moreover, he had rented both for three months. One was for himself, while the other was for the Guild.

This way, Aqua Rose and the others would not have to worry about spies from other Guilds while retrieving items of great importance. Such incidents had not been uncommon in God’s Domain in the past. There were many Guilds that had not rented a Private Warehouse, and as a result, other Guilds had learned some of their secrets.

As a precaution, Shi Feng had to rent one for the Guild, no matter what.

Shi Feng then entered his Private Warehouse. Rows of cabinets lined the warehouse’s interior neat and orderly.

Shi Feng immediately moved all of the items from his Public Warehouse to his Private Warehouse. The Private Warehouse was very human-like, and immediately, it intelligently categorized all of the items, saving Shi Feng the trouble of arranging them himself.

Shi Feng then opened a cabinet. Inside the cabinet, there was a single dark blue crystal ball. This crystal ball was none other than the one Shi Feng had obtained from the Eternal Courtyard. However, this crystal ball was too powerful. Even with Shi Feng’s extremely high resistance, he lost 1,000 HP every second just by coming into contact with it. If ordinary players touched it, they would most likely die on the spot.

“Death upon touching?” Shi Feng recalled the situation when he had obtained the deep-blue crystal ball. Suddenly, he came to a realization. Wasn’t it the same situation when he had stolen the God Crystal from the Orc King?

Only, as the God Crystal had not been sealed yet, the Tier 4 Sky Knight had died instantly when he touched it.

“I wonder if it is possible?” Shi Feng was slightly nervous as he took out the God Crystal from his bag. Carefully, he placed it inside the cabinet, beside the dark-blue crystal ball. He wanted to see just how these two crystal balls would react when placed together.

The instant Shi Feng placed the God Crystal inside the cabinet, the two crystal balls suddenly released a blinding glow, illuminating the Private Warehouse. The powerful pressure the two orbs gave off had caused Shi Feng’s body to feel heavy.

“Divine Might!” Shi Feng could not help his shock.

Right at this moment, the sound of a system notification rang out by his ears.

System: Do you wish to remove the seal and merge the two Crystal Balls?