Chapter 853 - Entrance Trial
Youlan took a deep breath. In a very determined tone, Youlan said, "I'll offer five more slots at most."
Based on her investigations, Titan City was an excellent location to nurture Lifestyle players.
Nowadays, the impact Lifestyle players had on the game was increasing.
The various large Guilds were all investing heavily in Lifestyle players in the hopes of nurturing many more powerful Lifestyle players. It was especially true for forging and alchemy Lifestyle players.
In addition, enchanting, tailoring, engineering, and other fields were also becoming increasingly important in the game.
If she could nurture a group of high-ranking Lifestyle players, she could use them to earn large sums of money in the future. Hence, every slot to Titan City was of utmost importance, as these slots would become the capital for stabilizing and elevating her position in Underworld.
"I believe that Miss Youlan should've challenged the entrance trial once already. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come looking for me. So, I'm sure you are very clear about how difficult the trial is. It is not a problem that can be resolved easily with just a few more experts. If you fail all three challenges, then the pass will automatically become invalid. At that time, not to mention 50 slots, you won't even get a single slot." Shi Feng had no intention of changing his mind.
The slots to enter the Holy City of Titan were equally important to the Candlelight Trading Firm. Moreover, the trading firm had many more members to nurture. A meager 35 slots were far from enough. Even if he missed out on this chance, at most, he would just have the Dark Gods Legion and the main force raid more 100-man Team dungeons.
In the various NPC cities in God's Domain, even in imperial capitals, the only locations that could improve a Lifestyle player's production success rate were Workshops. However, Titan City was different. Aside from Workshops, there were also Research Rooms meant for various Lifestyle classes. Not only could these Research Rooms increase a player's improvement rate, but the production success rate increases were much higher than even in Special Workshops.
As long as the Candlelight Trading Firm nurtured a large number of Advanced Forgers and Alchemists, it would be able to produce many more rare products, particularly Strengthening Devices and various items that increased Fire and Ice Resistance.
Since the time Shi Feng left Blackwing City, the selling price of the Strengthening Device at the Blackwing Auction House only increased and never decreased. As long as the item appeared in the Auction House, someone would immediately purchase it.
Previously, he thought that 2,000 pieces would be around the amount the market could stomach. Now, however, it seemed that even the additional 3,000 pieces he had scheduled to sell would not be enough to satisfy the market's appetite. Even before these 3,000 Strengthening Devices sold out, he had already accumulated over 30,000 Gold. He was earning far more than his initial projections.
At this moment, Shi Feng could not help but wish he could make more Strengthening Devices. Obtaining the design for the item was not much of a problem. After all, he only needed to raid Level 50 or above Great Lords to get them. With a godly Skill like Divine Providence, one out of every handful of Great Lords he killed would definitely drop the design. The problem was that, even if he managed to obtain a large number of designs, the Candlelight Trading Firm did not have that many Advanced Forgers to learn them.
"Are you absolutely confident of clearing the entrance trial?" Youlan frowned. She had never imagined that Shi Feng would have such a deep understanding of the entrance trial.
The difficulty of Titan City's entrance trial was greater than even that of a 100-man Team Dungeon. Otherwise, she would not have come looking for Shi Feng. She would have long since monopolized the entry slots herself.
"I won't say absolutely, but I'm at least over 70% certain," Shi Feng laughed.
He had visited the Holy City of Titan multiple times in his previous life, so he was very familiar with the Holy City's entrance trial. The system set the difficulty of the trial based on the Levels of the players undertaking it, so players would always feel that the trial's difficulty was the same, regardless of when they challenged it. Getting into Titan City depended on the overall strength of the team.
With Zero Wing's current strength and his understanding of the trial, he was far more than just 70% certain of making it to Titan City.
Youlan fell silent upon hearing Shi Feng's words.
Even with Underworld going all-out, its chances of getting through the entrance trial was far from reaching 70%. Worse, if she were to attempt it with just her own team, her success rate would be 20% at most. Moreover, the pass gave only three chances to challenge the trial. She had already failed once. If she relied on her own team, it was simply impossible for them to get through it.
Indeed, just as Shi Feng had said, if she could not clear the trial, then this pass of hers would be worth nothing.
Moreover, looking at Shi Feng's calm and confident behavior, he did not seem to be boasting.
Demand for Advanced Lifestyle players was continuously increasing nowadays. The sooner she could nurture more Advanced Lifestyle players, the greater the advantage she would hold in the future. She could not afford to sit still and wait for her team to grow stronger.
In the end, Youlan could not help but sigh as she conceded, "Alright. As long as you manage to clear the entrance trial, I'll give you 50 slots. However, I also have a condition. You need to clear the trial within three days."
"Deal. I'll have to make some preparations first. I'll contact you when the time comes." Shi Feng's thoughts paralleled Youlan's. The sooner they entered Titan City, the better.
Moreover, many rare designs were obtainable only at the Holy City of Titan and nowhere else.
Following which, the two of them established a contract between themselves.
Shortly after Shi Feng left, an Assassin youth entered the VIP room.
Fully garbed in silvery-gray leather armor, this Assassin should be roughly 18 or 19 years old, based on his appearance. However, his Level was extremely high. He was actually Level 38—far beyond the reach of ordinary experts right now.
"Big Sis Youlan, aren't we giving Zero Wing a little too much? That's 50 Advanced Lifestyle players we're talking about. Who knows how much money we'll have to spend to nurture that many Advanced Lifestyle players? Won't it be fine if we look to Heaven's Burial or the Star Alliance for help, instead? These two Guilds aren't beneath Zero Wing in terms of strength. Moreover, we also wouldn't have to pay such a huge price if we employ their help." The Assassin youth was very furious about the conditions Shi Feng proposed.
"The Star Alliance and Heaven's Burial more or less possess a connection with Underworld. If we get them to help us, the possibility of the others from Underworld finding out about Titan City is very high. However, we won't have such a problem with Zero Wing," Youlan said, shaking her head. "Besides, Zero Wing is filled with experts. They'll have a much higher possibility of clearing the entrance trial. Being able to enter Titan City securely is much more important than saving a few more slots for ourselves."
Although the Assassin youth did not make any further retort to Youlan's words, he inwardly still felt very dissatisfied.
Back when they had entered the entrance trial, they had all been brimming with confidence.
They had all thought that the trial was just a small matter.
However, once the battle began, they found out that their thoughts had been too optimistic.
The entrance trial was not something a 100-man Team Dungeon could compare to. The two were on entirely different levels. Even if Zero Wing's experts challenged the entrance trial, the outcome would be the same.
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White River City's Library:
After Shi Feng entered the Library, he immediately made his way to the top floor of the building.
Compared to the last time he had come here, the security in front of Star-Moon Hall was much stricter. Tier 3 Knights filled the place. Even his identity as a Demon Hunter would not have gotten him entry into the hall. If not for his identity as a Count of White River City, the most he would have been able to do now was stand at the entrance of the hall.
Walking inside, Shi Feng was immediately greeted by the sight of the white-robed Sharlyn sitting before a table and quietly observing a floating crystal ball. Magic arrays encircled her as she radiated an incredibly powerful aura. Even Shi Feng found himself paralyzed when bathed in this aura.
A fourfold magic array?! An expression of disbelief appeared on Shi Feng's face. It would be understandable if this pressure he was feeling was due to a Domain released by an NPC. However, Sharlyn did not have her Domain out right now. This pressure he was currently experiencing was only a side effect of the Mana gathered at the magic array. Just what kind of Spell is this? It is actually this strong!
At this moment, there was an image displayed inside the crystal ball. Meanwhile, this image was none other than the scene of the Blackwing Auction House under the effects of Space Freeze.
The crystal ball had completely locked on to the appearance and aura of the mysterious youth back then. His every action was clearly replicated in the crystal ball.
However, when the mysterious youth vanished from Blackwing City, the crystal ball suddenly cracked and shattered into countless tiny pieces. In the end, the broken fragments of the crystal ball ignited into silver flames before disappearing into nothingness.