Chapter 88 – Famous
After s.h.i.+ Feng and his team left the cavern, Stalwart Bear couldn’t help but turn to Crimson Heart and asked, “What do you think of that G.o.d-ranked expert?”
“If even you don’t know him, do you think I would?” Crimson Heart said, rolling her eyes.
“Out of the G.o.d-ranked experts and Tier 5 experts capable of reaching Tier 6, none of them resemble him,” Stalwart Bear said with a pondering look. “I suspect that he doesn’t belong to our G.o.d’s Domain.”
“Indeed, the possibility is high,” Crimson Heart said, agreeing with Stalwart Bear’s opinion. There were only so many Tier 6 G.o.d-ranked experts and Tier 5 experts with the potential to reach Tier 6 in the game, and everyone belonging to the upper echelons of G.o.d’s Domain more or less knew of these people. So, it didn’t make sense that an unknown Tier 6 G.o.d-ranked expert had suddenly appeared out of thin air. “If that’s the case, it might be worth befriending this person.”
A Tier 6 G.o.d-ranked expert not belonging to any local power could become a weapon of ma.s.s destruction in the Miniature Ancient World. If they could befriend s.h.i.+ Feng, once it came time for the various powers to compete with each other, their two Guilds could hold a ma.s.sive advantage in the compet.i.tion. After all, there was no way any Tier 6 G.o.d-ranked expert from the main continent would enter the Miniature Ancient World. They had much more important things to do than retrain their accounts from Tier 3.
“I’m afraid it won’t be convenient for Nature Hall to approach that guy,” Stalwart Bear said. Then, he turned toward Cleansed Rue and smiled, saying, “I heard that you have tried to invite Su Qianliu to Hundred Flower Palace several times before, Miss Rue. In that case, you should have a good relations.h.i.+p with Su Qianliu, right? That Su Qianliu looks like she shares a close relations.h.i.+p with that person, so we will have to rely on you for this matter.”
“Me?” Cleansed Rue was a little stunned when she heard Stalwart Bear’s words.
“We can only rely on you now, Rue,” Crimson Heart said, seconding Stalwart Bear’s words. “Not only did we lose the Ancient Demon Court, but we have also suffered heavy casualties today. If we want to compete with the other first-rate powers, our only hope is to rely on that G.o.d-ranked expert. Don’t you know Su Qianliu in the real world? Try to learn more about that person through her. If we can tie him to our boat, you’ll be making a big contribution to the Guild.”
“Alright, then. I’ll try my best,” Su Qianliu said, sighing.
…
Meanwhile, shortly after Nature Hall and Hundred Flower Palace removed their Guild War Order, the various powers investigating the two Guilds came to learn of an astonis.h.i.+ng piece of news.
It turned out that the reason the two top-tier first-rate Guilds had locked down a map was because of a newly-established Guild called Zero Wing. However, after the two sides finished clas.h.i.+ng, the two first-rate Guilds had kept their mouths shut about Zero Wing and even behaved fearfully when talking about the new Guild.
“Investigate! Find out Zero Wing’s origins no matter the cost!”
“It seems Zero Wing isn’t some ordinary Guild. Notify everyone in the Guild to be careful around Zero Wing’s members.”
The various powers based in Rock Devil City had varying reactions toward Zero Wing. Some grew curious, some grew fearful, and some thought of befriending Zero Wing. For a time, Zero Wing’s name gradually spread throughout Rock Devil City.
…
While Zero Wing’s name was spreading, s.h.i.+ Feng had already returned to Hundred Flow City with Su Qianliu and the others.
“Guild Leader, there are currently three first-rate Guilds, eight second-rate Guilds, and many third-rate Guilds and adventurer teams operating in Hundred Flow City. These powers are all fervently recruiting members, and the benefits they offer are very high. With our current lack of funds, I’m afraid it’ll be tough for us to attract any new members in Hundred Flow City,” Su Qianliu explained, growing a little worried after learning about Hundred Flow City’s situation. “My suggestion is that we lower our entry requirement and gradually train the newcomers from the ground up. We can even fill our Guild Warehouse while doing so. What do you think?”
The Guild benefits s.h.i.+ Feng had set for Zero Wing were indeed astonis.h.i.+ng, and true experts of G.o.d’s Domain would find it hard to refuse these benefits. Normally, if a Guild were to offer such benefits, experts would flood to join the Guild.
However, the problem now was that s.h.i.+ Feng had set too high an entry requirement for Zero Wing. Most experts with the strength necessary to meet Zero Wing’s entry requirement would either be an expert belonging to the various large Guilds or an expert used to the lax management of adventurer teams.
Most importantly, the price to exchange the Holy Annihilation Mana Technique was astronomically high. While it was indeed generous of s.h.i.+ Feng to offer such a powerful Mana Technique up for exchange, the exchange price simply wasn’t something the average player could afford. Hence, the Mana Technique’s existence was akin to a display item to most players rather than something they could strive for.
In comparison, Credits, weapons, and equipment, things that players could use to improve their strength, were much more practical. Unfortunately, Zero Wing just so happened to lack all three of these things.
“What you say does make sense.” s.h.i.+ Feng nodded. “However, I don’t plan to develop Zero Wing into a bloated Guild with no substance. It is especially so during the Guild’s initial development phase. We simply do not have the resources to train a large number of people.”
“But we won’t be able to recruit anyone if we don’t do that…” Su Qianliu said in exasperation.
While Zero Wing’s recruitment standards could be considered on par with the various superpowers, Zero Wing wasn’t a superpower. It was merely a small Guild established recently, and it didn’t even possess an ounce of fame in Hundred Flow City.
Meanwhile, the development of a Guild required a large number of players. After all, one of a Guild’s main sources of income was the completion of Guild Quests. The more players a Guild possessed, the greater the income the Guild could generate from Guild Quests. Then, with the money earned from Guild Quests, the Guild could better itself and attract more players, thereby forming a positive development cycle.
After pondering for a moment, s.h.i.+ Feng suddenly asked, “How many Gold Coins can you ama.s.s right now?”
“Around 150,000 Gold,” Su Qianliu answered after giving the matter some thought.
“You’re a really rich woman…” s.h.i.+ Feng was a little surprised when he heard Su Qianliu’s answer. He didn’t think Su Qianliu’s adventurer team would be so wealthy.
“That’s the money my adventurer team saved up over the years. If not for the Land we rented in the Thousand Stars Tower, we could’ve had 300,000 Gold right now,” Su Qianliu said, sighing ruefully.
A wealth of 150,000 Gold Coins might seem like a lot, but in a large NPC City like Hundred Flow City, that money was chump change. This was because even the smallest Guild Residence here would cost 100,000 Gold to purchase.
In the case of medium and large Guild Residences, their prices started from 500,000 and 1,000,000 Gold respectively.
This was also why she had sought the capital investment of those several corporations.
“One hundred and fifty thousand Gold is already enough,” s.h.i.+ Feng said, chuckling. “What I need you to do now is to convert all these Coins into Magic Crystals. Try to convert as many as you can.”
“Magic Crystals? Didn’t we get over 10,000 Magic Crystals in the Ancient Demon Court just now?” Su Qianliu asked in confusion.
For a small Guild, a sum of 10,000 Magic Crystals was already a significant amount. It was absolutely more than enough to sustain a small Guild of several thousand members for some time.
“That amount is far from enough,” s.h.i.+ Feng said, shaking his head. However, he didn’t bother explaining his goals. Instead, he said, “Anyway, just try to exchange as many Magic Crystals as you can. I’ll pay you back twofold afterward.”
If it was before clearing the Ancient Demon Court, s.h.i.+ Feng might have followed Su Qianliu’s suggestion for the sake of keeping Zero Wing operating normally.
However, the situation was different now.
The most profitable way of earning money in G.o.d’s Domain would definitely have to be operating a settlement. It was also why the various Guilds sought to operate their own towns and cities, with some even going as far as to attack and take over NPC Cities.
Now that he had obtained a Town Rune Crystal from the Ancient Demon Court, he naturally didn’t have to follow the standard development path for Guilds anymore.
While a town might not be as profitable as a Guild City, the amount of money a town could generate still far surpa.s.sed that of an ordinary large Guild.