C.3481 - 555 – Drastic Changes

Chapter 555 – Drastic Changes

Thank you readers!

“I’m sure!” Shi Feng answered without hesitation.

Although nobody in his previous life had ever succeeded in acquiring a Goddess Armament Set, so long as he had a Goddess Armament on hand, he could continuously have the Guild’s core female members challenge it. Even if the hope of someone completing all twelve trials was small, it was a much more reliable method to obtain a full Divine Artifact Set than other alternatives.

If someone in the Guild successfully obtained the Goddess Armament Set, it would instantly propel Zero Wing to the top of the Greater God’s Domain.

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“Very well.” After the puppet confirmed Shi Feng’s decision, a parchment exuding a primordial presence appeared before Shi Feng. “This is the Goddess Armament you have exchanged. This item will drop on death, so please keep it safe.”

…

System: It is detected that you are not a female player. You are unable to start the Goddess Trial.

…

Sure enough, only female players are qualified to challenge the trial. Regardless, this will add more to the Guild’s foundation.

When Shi Feng saw the system notification, he decided to mimic the four powers in his previous life and keep the Goddess Armor tucked away in the deepest part of Zero Wing’s Guild Residence, never letting it see the light of day. Then, he would take his time selecting trustworthy female guild members to challenge the Goddess Trial.

While he didn’t have high hopes for anyone completing the Goddess Trial, so long as someone succeeded, Zero Wing would flourish.

After putting the Goddess Armament away, Shi Feng called up his system interface and chose to exit the Golden Spire.

…

Crystal City of Secrets, Secret Crystal Plaza:

“Six-man party recruiting a Level 156, Tier 5 tank or above. Must be fully equipped with Fragmented Legendary items at the very least. You will get three Eternal Gold Coins for every Common Secret Treasure that drops!”

“Twenty-man team recruiting members to explore the Underground Crystal Palace! Must have experience raiding the secret land! We have an employer already! Every team member will receive two Eternal Gold for every Common Secret Treasure dropped!”

“Level 158, Tier 5 Cleric with one Common Secret Treasure looking for a group! Only asking for four Eternal Gold per Common Secret Treasure dropped!”

The city’s central plaza had become something akin to a marketplace as players could be seen shouting everywhere, and many were independent players seeking riches. The state of the plaza was completely different from when Shi Feng first entered the city.

Shortly after Shi Feng, a Level 159, Tier 5 Swordsman, appeared in the plaza, a beautiful woman quickly approached him.

“Hey, handsome guy, do you want to join my team?” the woman, a Level 155 Elementalist, asked Shi Feng in a gentle voice. “My team is filled with beauties. If you join us, you will get to know many beautiful women and stand to make three Eternal Gold for every Common Secret Treasure dropped!”

As soon as the Elementalist finished speaking, a muscular man came over and interjected.

“Hey pal, don’t be fooled by this chick. If you want to explore the Underground Crystal Palace, join my team instead. I’ll guarantee you a minimum payout of four Eternal Gold,” the muscular man, Level 157 Guardian Knight, said. “If a Combat Secret Treasure drops, I will give you ten Eternal Gold!”

“So what if you are offering ten Eternal Gold?” The Elementalist looked at the Guardian Knight in disdain. “My team leader is a member of the Secret Crystal Trading Firm. Our pay might be lower, but we have a proxy to buy Secret Treasures from the Secret Treasure Market. So long as this handsome guy here collects enough money, we can guarantee he will get to buy the Secret Treasure he desires. Can your team offer him that?”

“What’s so great about that? I have a friend who’s an advanced member of the Secret Crystal Trading Firm. So long as I give him the word, he can even buy a Combat Secret Treasure for me!” the Guardian Knight said, showing no weaknesses. “I’m sure your team is just grinding for Common Secret Treasures to sell and make money to buy suitable Combat Secret Treasures from the trading firm’s eighth floor, right?”

“So what if we are?” When the Elementalist heard the Guardian Knight’s words, she looked at the other party contemptuously and said, “Also, my team leader is a bona fide member. As for that friend of yours, who knows if he’s really an advanced member? There are only 1,000 advanced members in total, and the various powers are paying upwards of ten Eternal Gold to buy out the proxy qualifications of each advanced member. Do you expect me to believe an independent player like yourself can secure the proxy qualifications to buy a Combat Secret Treasure?”

The Guardian Knight fell silent when he heard the Elementalist’s words.

Contrary to the Elementalist’s doubts, he did have a friend who was an advanced member of the Secret Crystal Trading Firm. But as the Elementalist mentioned, there was no way his friend would give up the opportunity to make ten Eternal Gold or more to buy a Combat Secret Treasure for him. After all, it wouldn’t be as easy to secure advanced membership at the Secret Crystal Trading Firm in the future. So, this could be his friend’s only opportunity to make a quick buck.

People are paying ten Eternal Gold for proxies??Shi Feng was greatly surprised by the information he just heard.

Not counting his earnings from commissions, he only made a profit of 800 Eternal Gold from selling out the Secret Crystal Trading Firm’s memberships.[1] Yet, each advanced member made upwards of ten Eternal Gold from working as proxies. This meant that the trading firm’s 1,000 advanced members were making a total of 10,000 Eternal Gold at the very least. Combined, they were making even more money than he was…

“Listen to me, pal.” Ignoring the Elementalist’s question, the Guardian Knight turned to Shi Feng and said, “If you join our team, you only need to pay a proxy fee of ten Eternal Gold, and I guarantee you will get a suitable Combat Secret Treasure.”

“Stop spouting nonsense!” the Elementalist scoffed. “Right now, even the commander of one of the city’s top 20 adventurer teams is offering to join any power and slave away for several years if he can get a proxy slot to purchase a Combat Secret Treasure! Only a fool would believe you can get one!”

The commander of one of the city’s top 20 adventurer teams is selling himself just for a Combat Secret Treasure??Shi Feng was astonished by this revelation.

While Secret Treasures were indeed precious in his previous life, especially those at the Combat rank or above, they weren’t so precious that the commanders of any of the Crystal City’s top 20 adventurer teams were willing to sacrifice so much to obtain them.

It should be known that the Crystal City of Secrets was a gathering place of experts. Even the commanders of the city’s top 50 adventurer teams would be at the fifth-floor standard at the very least, let alone the commanders of the top 20 adventurer teams.

Outside the Eternal Realm, such experts would be the overlords of a region, and even the various upper-ranking hegemonic powers would be willing to treat them as equals.

“Don’t think that I’m exaggerating,” the Elementalist said to Shi Feng when she saw the astonished look on his face. Then, she sighed and continued, “One of my team leader’s close friends is a top expert among independent players, with great looks to boot. But even she has offered herself to work as an Outer Elder for several years for any upper-ranking hegemonic power that could provide her with a couple of Combat Secret Treasures. Even then, none of the various upper-ranking hegemonic powers were willing to accept her offer.”

“A top expert?” Out of curiosity, Shi Feng asked, “How strong is she?”

“She is a Saint who has mastered her control over the magic elements and is an Upper God Realm Adventurer certified by the World Tower. She is also currently equipped with a full Fragmented Legendary Set and a top-tier Fragmented Legendary Weapon,” the Elementalist said in a serious tone.

An Upper God Realm Adventurer??Shi Feng could no longer stay calm after hearing this. After all, even if an expert of such caliber wasn’t at Ink Qilin’s standard, she was probably close to matching Ink Qilin already. “Can I ask you two to spread a message to the various adventurer teams for me? In return, I can promise each of you a basic membership in the Secret Crystal Trading Firm in the future. If you do well, you may even become an advanced member.”

TL Notes:

[1]profit of 800 Eternal Gold:

Just a recap:

In Chapter 513, it was mentioned that Shi Feng stood to make 2,000 Eternal Gold if he sold out all 5,000 basic memberships and 1,000 advanced memberships. However, he also had to pay a weekly management fee of 1,200 Eternal Gold for the Secret Crystal Trading Firm. So, if we ignore the revenue generated from commissions completed by players, Shi Feng would only generate a profit of 800 Eternal Gold per week.

[2]Upper God Realm Adventurer:

I assume it is the ranking for adventurers who have climbed to the World Tower’s fifth floor or above?

Recap of Chapter 244:

These are the adventurer ranks that correspond to the World Tower’s first four floors:

1)Basic Adventurer – first floor

2)Advanced Adventurer – second floor

3)Superior Adventurer – third floor

4)Top Adventurer – fourth floor

I’m not sure if Upper God Realm(神之领域高等冒险者) corresponds to the fifth-floor standard as there is the “Upper(高等)” prefix. There have been no hints of a sixth floor, either. But since the independent player in question is a Saint-ranked player… I’m not gonna jump to conclusions here, but I’ll leave the Upper prefix in for now.