Chapter 647 - Realm of Experts
Currently, the highest-tiered Gemstone one could obtain from monsters in God’s Domain was a Tier 2.
As for Tier 3 Gemstones, they only dropped from Level 30 and above large-scale Dungeons.
Meanwhile, NPC Alchemists only had a 20% success rate to synthesize Tier 3 Gemstones. The cost involved was massive. Currently, Tier 2 Gemstones sold for 1 Gold. Ignoring the labor fees and with average luck, one would require at least 20 Tier 2 Gemstones to synthesize a Tier 3 Gemstone.
The cost alone was 20 Gold. It was simply not realistic for a Guild to supply its main force with Tier 3 Gemstones.
However, the Attributes Tier 3 Gemstones provided were significantly higher than Tier 2 Gemstones.
Tier 1 Gemstones only increased a single Attribute by 3 points.
Tier 2 Gemstones increased a single Attribute by 6 points.
As for Tier 3 Gemstones, they increased a single Attribute by 12 points. If one embedded every piece of equipment they had with Tier 3 Gemstones, it would be the equivalent of wearing an additional piece of top-tier equipment. This would significantly increase a player’s combat power.
To the large Guilds’ main forces, upgrading Attributes was limited because their equipment had already reached a certain level.
If an ordinary player swapped out their full set of Bronze Equipment for a full set of Mysterious-Iron Equipment, their strength would rise by a single level. However, a large Guild’s main force usually wore the highest quality equipment they could get their hands on. If it were not Dark-Gold rank, then, at the very minimum, they would wear Fine-Gold rank. Hence, it was extremely difficult to upgrade their equipment. If they could receive a bonus to their Attributes that had as large of an impact as another piece of Dark-Gold Equipment, it would make a huge difference.
Without rest, Shi Feng spent half the day synthesizing Tier 2 Gemstones. In the end, he transformed the 30,000 Tier 1 Gemstones into 7,500 Tier 2 Gemstones.
“The success rate for synthesizing Tier 3 Gemstones is actually as high as 80%?” Shi Feng could not help but grin when he saw the message that the Philosopher’s Stone displayed.
Initially, Shi Feng would have been satisfied with a 60% success rate. After all, NPC Alchemists’ success rate was only 20%.
Furthermore, Shi Feng’s Luck Attribute was also relatively high. That would most likely lower his expenditure even further.
Four hours later, Shi Feng had a total of 1,674 Tier 3 Gemstones, 174 more than his initial estimation.
“If I sold all these Tier 3 Gemstones, just how many more plots of Land could I buy for the Candlelight Trading Firm?” Shi Feng sighed as he stared at the Tier 3 Gemstones cluttering the table.
It was no wonder why the Philosopher’s Stone was a treasure that could incite war between kingdoms and empires.
Moreover, it was currently incomplete. Shi Feng could not even begin to fathom just how powerful the complete Philosopher’s Stone would be.
In the past, during God’s Domain’s initial stages, a Tier 3 Gemstone could sell for 25 Gold. Its price was more than ten times higher than Tier 2 Gemstones. If Shi Feng sold all 1,674 Tier 3 Gemstones, he could earn over 40,000 Gold. That was enough money to purchase three or four golden Lands. Meanwhile, he had only spent 900 Gold on the Gemstones.
However, Shi Feng had no intentions of selling the Tier 3 Gemstones.
What Zero Wing lacked right now was a large group of experts. With these Tier 3 Gemstones, he could elevate Zero Wing’s strength to a whole new level. That way, the Guild would have the power to support and stabilize the Candlelight Trading Firm’s development.
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Just as Shi Feng was excitedly contacting Aqua Rose and preparing to replace the main force’s Tier 2 Gemstones with Tier 3 Gemstones, the situation at White River City’s Divine Colosseum had reached a boiling point.
More experts from Heaven’s Burial suddenly broke through the fourth floor of the Trial Tower. Currently, the Guild had a total of 42 members who had reached the fifth floor, double that of their previous record and surpassing Zero Wing’s previous record of 36 people.
“Although three more people from Zero Wing have passed through the fourth floor, Heaven’s Burial is superior. Another 22 of their people have passed the fourth floor within the same timespan. It really makes you wonder just how they have nurtured so many experts.”
“It seems that Heaven’s Burial has a chance of replacing Zero Wing as White River City’s overlord.”
“Overwhelming Smile isn’t doing too bad, either. Today, another eight people have reached the fifth floor, pushing their total to 37. Right now, Overwhelming Smile is only behind Zero Wing by two people. In another one or two days, Overwhelming Smile’s number of experts will probably surpass Zero Wing as well.”
Due to the increase of each Guild’s number of experts in the Divine Colosseum, many players had begun changing their opinions of Heaven’s Burial and Overwhelming Smile.
Although one could not tell much by the number of experts, it could indicate a Guild’s potential.
In the God’s Domain of today, due to Shi Feng repeatedly shattering the concept of strength by numbers, the public no longer evaluated a Guild based on how many members it possessed.
Then, how could one judge a Guild’s strength?
The first method was by examining the Guild’s raid progression of large-scale Team Dungeons. This was the best way to judge the comprehensive strength of a Guild.
The second method was by reviewing the number of experts a Guild possessed. At present, passing the fourth floor was the commonly accepted standard for an expert.
Very quickly, this matter attracted the attention of the various large Guilds in White River City.
Originally, Zero Wing had been White River City’s sole ruler. Now, however, it would seem that three rulers would sit on the city’s throne. Heaven’s Burial, in particular, was very mysterious. The Guild developed as fast as Zero Wing had in the past. Even the famous Ghost Shadow Workshop had joined Heaven’s Burial. One could just imagine how powerful the Guild’s backing was.
Previously, Zero Wing had relied on Shi Feng to shoulder its success. Now, however, Heaven’s Burial’s potential was even greater than Zero Wing’s. Not only did it possess well-known, top-tier experts, but it also had the financial strength to rival Overwhelming Smile. Heaven’s Burial was definitely a powerful competitor.
For a time, many players were tempted to take part in Heaven’s Burial’s entrance examination.
Heaven’s Burial was constantly recruiting Guild members. Moreover, its entry requirements were a lot lower than Zero Wing’s. If they joined Heaven’s Burial now, by the time the Guild grew into its power and became White River City’s overlord, their statuses would rise with the tide. It was just like the Zero Wing of today. Currently, even a normal member of Zero Wing was enviable.
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Zero Wing’s Guild Residence:
The members of the main force had gathered in the conference hall after receiving Shi Feng’s summons. At this moment, they discussed events among themselves.
“Did Guild Leader summon us because of the Divine Colosseum?”
“Probably. After all, this is a matter concerning the Guild’s reputation. Zero Wing is the number one Guild in White River City, yet right now, we have fewer experts who have passed the fourth floor than the newly established Heaven’s Burial. We have to do something to restore our reputation.”
“How could the Trial Tower’s fourth floor be so easy to break through? I am still stuck in the fourth floor’s middle sector, not to mention the end.”
“Indeed. Based on what I heard from Guild Leader, if one cannot display 50% of their actual combat power, they will not be able to overcome the fourth floor.”
Everyone felt disheartened when they spoke about the Divine Colosseum’s Trial Tower. They all were members of Zero Wing’s main force and were the envy of ordinary players. In reality, however, they knew that, without breaking through the Trial Tower’s fourth floor, they could not be considered as true experts.
Despite Zero Wing providing far better resources than Heaven’s Burial or Overwhelming Smile, for some reason, only a small number of people had managed to reach the realm of experts.
As everyone chatted, Shi Feng entered the conference hall, leading Aqua Rose and Fire Dance.
The conference hall suddenly fell silent, everyone in the room shifting their gazes towards the black-cloaked Shi Feng.