"Those who came with me are still figuring out the game. I can be considered to be among those who have quite good learning abilities, and I managed to live through it. But I think that even if they're behind in terms of qi realm, in at most two months, many of the names on the Dragon Rank will change!"
Silver Wolf's words left Happy fearful.
He did not really care about the Dragon Rank in his previous life. He was also not very clear about the changes in it. However, based on Silver Wolf's words, if the people who were trained in reality had such a great advantage when they entered the game, then he might have quite a number of powerful enemies appearing in the near future.
"I'm telling you all this now because I hope that you can get prepared and develop quickly. Don't be blinded by the glory you have right now, or else, it will be very difficult for you to have a repeat of the glorious battle at Common Reed Bank."
While Silver Wolf spoke, he frowned and looked in the direction from which they came from. There was noise coming from there.
Embroidered Uniform Guards!
Happy turned around and looked at them.
"They sure are persistent." He paused for a moment before he quickly said to Silver Wolf, "Let's talk about this later. I'll keep my promise. Tell me your bank account number, and I'll transfer five million to you before tomorrow. I also hope that you'll keep your promise and be under my employment for the next five years."
"Alright!" Silver Wolf's expression under the incomplete silver mask was firm, and he spoke with great resolve. "My life is yours for the next five years."
Once he received Silver Wolf's answer, Happy jumped on his horse resolutely.
"Go to Baokang and look for Thunderous Battle. Stay in Baokang for the time being."
*****
While Happy and Silver Wolf were busy fighting, Red Dust and Lix Xiao of Chivalry Sect arrived in Baokang County Town. They came together to the first floor of Shennong Restaurant.
Thunderous Battle and Little North were close to Red Dust and Lin Xiao, so they naturally chatted with each other in a lively manner for some time. Soon, the conversation shifted to the alliance between the five sects and their plan to exploit Shennongjia's resources together.
When they talked about the details of the plan, they placed an emphasis on the second level of the crystal mines, metal mines, and the various medicinal spots in Shennongjia. The mines had very harsh requirements to enter, and they had not explored the mines sufficiently at all as of then. Soon, the five sects came to a decision. Each sect would send a certain number of miners, and each sect could take up one-fifth of the second level at most!
As for the medicinal spots, they signed a contract that they would not intrude upon each other's territory. Like that, they formed an alliance to attack and defend together…
Because of it, the other large sects in Baokang could not interfere with the matters in the second level of the crystal and metal mines anymore. When they wanted to snatch the resources from Shennongjia, they had to be careful in their actions when they saw the people from the five sects.
The only condition in the alliance was that in the future, when they saw the members of Class One Hall, Towering Palace, and Cold Moon Palace appear near Baokang, they would immediately share their resources and information and mobilize their forces to surround and attack them!
This meant that the area around Baokang County Town turned into a forbidden ground for the three great sects!
There was no way Lin Xiao would object to such a great matter. He immediately agreed to the alliance on the spot, and it allowed everyone to see Chivalry Duke Lin Xiao's bold and forthright attitude dictating him to take action swiftly.
However, during the period of time the alliance was formed, something unexpected happened.
A female player called Red Coral appeared at Shennong Restaurant. She had somehow obtained the information that Happy wanted to build his sect, and she declared that she and Happy were old acquaintances. She then led a group of female players from Black Rose Clan and entered Mu Clan in a group, which made Thunderous Battle and those already in Mu Clan incredibly happy.
The addition of the disciples from Wudang Sect and Shaolin Temple had made Mu Clan have a lot of boys and few girls. So when group of petite and refined ladies joined, even Strength Star and hs group of monks became worldly. They wiggled their eyebrows at each other.
"Where's your boss?"
Red Coral stared at Little North and Thunderous Battle.
One of the reasons she had come over twas because she wanted to join Mu Clan. But the system from her family was still around, and there were plenty of things she wanted to tell Happy frankly.
There was also another very important matter that needed to be settled immediately, but the people at the table looked at each other at a loss.
"Clan Master Thunder is the one currently in charge of everything in Mu Clan. Miss Coral, if you tell him, it's the same," one person said.
Thunderous Battle quickly shook his head to avoid trouble."Be responsible of your words, will you? I'm not in charge of things related to leading women."
Red Coral exchanged a glance with her clan leader, Black Rose, and Black Rose said, "Clan Master Thunder, this is what is happening. My sisters are used to being free, and they will need some time before they can get used to being in another clan. Hence, for the time being, we wish to have our own circle of operations as well as the right to organize our own activities freely. We will also not give up on our title as Black Rose Clan."
"What's the meaning of this? You only want to be parasites in Mu Clan?" The people in the restaurant scowled.
Red Coral did not bat an eyelid. She explained it earnestly and seriously. "I suppose you can say that, but we can contribute to your clan in another way. We have three groups of sisters who are ironsmiths and tailors at Skilled Level. We also have grade six herbalists. They should fulfill the requirement for Mu Clan's development needs."
When Red Coral came over, she had gathered quite a lot of information and performed some analysis. She knew very clearly about Mu Clan's plans for growing stronger quickly. Hence, she presented an offer that Thunderous Battle could not refuse.
Chapter 340 - Divine Sword, Clear Abyss
Happy took a big circle in the depths of Shennonjia and led the Embroidered Uniform Guards into the territory of a few Blood Gibbon. Then, he immediately activated his lightness skill and fled.
He ran from Shennongjia back to Baokang. Considering their abilities, the Embroidered Uniform Guards would not be able to catch up to him for at least two hours.
When he returned to Baokang County Town, Happy did not immediately return to Baokang Restaurant. Instead, he went to the commission shop to put a request to buy information.
The treaty of the alliance between the five sects had been formed. Next, the second level of the mines in Shennongjia would definitely face a stable period of mining that would last for a very long time. The drop rate for supreme grade ores in the second level was very high, and if they managed to extract them quickly, it would be very beneficial for the future development and strengthening of Mu Clan.
However, berthierite was required to enter the second level, and the more people there were, the more berthierite was required.
During the early stages of the game, the sects would not dare to sell berthierite because they wanted to get eight in a go. During the middle stages of the game, they were worried that they would be targeted by the three great sects if they pushed the price of berthierite up to the millions. They were fearful and full of misgivings, but now that the five sects had monopolized the resources to the second level, they should lose hope in entering the second level and begin to sell their berthierite.
So it was about time for berthierite to drop to the normal market price. Under the tacit agreement formed by the five sects, there was no possibility for berthierite to experience an inflation.
Happy released the news that he wanted to buy a large n
umber of berthierite, and for the time being, he set the price for one berthierite at one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver.
His price was still slightly higher than the normal market price. During normal times, the price for berthierite was below one hundred thousand taels of silver.
"Bought one berthierite!"
"Bought three berthierite!"
"Bought four berthierite!"
"Bought seven berthierite!"
Happy had just released the news and was browsing through the other useful information in the commission shop when a row of system notifications telling him that the trade was successful rose in his ears.
In less than ten minutes, the three million taels of silver crumbs he put in the commission shop was gone. The commission shop automatically took down Happy's message of buying berthierite and transferred twenty berthierite into his inventory.
Soon after, a few lines of information quickly appeared on the first page of the commission shop in a very eye-catching manner.
[Selling berthierite for one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver each. Those who require a large amount, please contact me. A discount will be given. I am Kind Tycoon.]
Happy was rendered speechless for a long time.
Then, he quickly realized that he had done something stupid.
'Merchants!'
Even though the price for berthierite was very expensive in Baokang County Town, that did not mean that the other areas would sell them at such an expensive price. There would only be a market for these products if there was a need for them. During the early stages of the game, everyone competed for berthierite, and someone would have definitely seized the chance to store up on it. However, not even Beautiful Robes Faction had thought about buying the precious berthierite through the commission shop.
But merchants could determine the real value of berthierite through the output of the ore and the need for it.
One hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver was clearly a very good price. Hence, a few notifications shot up in the commission shop to compete against each other, and it made Happy smile wryly.
He contacted a few people.
[Happy?]
A messenger pigeon returned to him, and there was a very uncertain tone to the letter.
Happy felt speechless.
The second messenger pigeon quickly arrived then.
[Boss Happy, if you're buying, how does one hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver per piece sound? How many do you want?]
When Happy saw that message, he did not reply to it.
When he sent the messages to those people, he made it very clear that he would buy berthierite at the lowest price. The seller was to set the price, and if the price was not low enough, he would not reply to the message.
*****
"Happy! It's actually Happy! What the heck?!"
Strange cackles came from within a shop in a city. Soon though, they turned into upset murmurs. "Damn it, I didn't receive any reply for another price. Am I blacklisted? Argh, I cannot let this happen. One hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver… Oh well, he's an idol, s, let's lower the price a bit… One hundred thousand taels of silver?"
"One hundred thousand taels of silver? Boss, that's the purchasing price," a shop assistant beside him reminded him.
The person glared at him with a strange look. "What would you know?"
He sent another messenger pigeon, but even after a long time, there was no reply.
The young merchant was instantly dumbfounded.
He pulled up the notification log from the commission shop in his shop, and he quickly noticed that there were plenty of notifications that had been changed to something like:
[Selling berthierite in bulk for one hundred thousand taels of silver each. Only for Happy!]
[Boss Happy, I'll sell my berthierite for ninety thousand taels of silver each. I have thirty of them with me. I hope that we can have a chance to work together!]
[Boss Happy, I'll sell mine for seventy thousand taels of silver each. I hope that we can work together. I have as many berthierite as you want…]
The notifications on the commission shop were each more domineering than the last.
'Seventy thousand taels of silver…'
That had to be a merchant who had his own mining team. Otherwise, the purchasing price for berthierite alone was enough to make a middle-level merchant go bankrupt. Everyone was clearly okay with losing money in their business just so that they could form a business relationship with Happy.
The shop assistant's eyes glazed over for a long time. He gulped laboriously after some time.
"I really don't understand it."
*****
Happy also noticed the incredibly domineering notification in the commission shop that had drowned out countless other merchants.
'Seventy thousand taels of silver… Berthierite was never sold at this price even when it was sold at the lowest price in my previous life.'
But Happy did not choose that person because of the price. Instead, he was intrigued by the merchant mentioning that he had as many berthierite as Happy wanted.
The drop rate for berthierite was very low. Even when someone monopolized berthierite, they would need to acc.u.mulate it for a long time before they could have a ton of it. He doubted whether that person truly had as many berthierite as he needed.
The messenger disappeared into the horizon after it flew out of the commission shop.
Kind Tycoon replied very quickly. [I currently have more than two hundred of them. Boss Happy, how many do you want?]
Happy was shocked.
However, if the merchant had decided to give him such a huge discount when the market price for berthierite was at one hundred thousand taels of silver, it was clear that he wanted to form a business relationship with him. Happy pondered it for a moment before he replied.
[I'll buy them for seventy thousand taels of silver each, and I'll buy however many you decide to sell to me. What do you want from me?]
[You sure are straightforward! I hope that you can sell me all your goods from the royal mausoleum. We can sign a business deal in which you provide me with at least fifty masterpieces a month. What do you think?]
Happy smiled. [Fifty masterpieces? Your figures are pretty accurate. But you should know that there aren't many who dare to challenge the second level of the royal mausoleum right now, and there are practically none who can survive it. Yet there are very few places with as high of a drop rate as the royal mausoleum.]
Kind Tycoon was quick to reply. [I'm confident in you, Boss Happy. Besides, you're the only person who has been chased by Ninja King in the second level and survived it.]
[Can we switch to another term?]
[Sure, but I'd like you to take a look at something I have. I've already put it on the commission shop.]
'What?'
Happy frowned and cast a glance at the notification list on the commission shop. It suddenly changed, and an astonishing red notification jumped into his field of vision.
[Three-echelon high-grade masterpiece! Not for sale!]
When he saw the first three words, Happy's heart clenched tightly. He swept a glance over the attributes of the sword, and the shock in his eyes became even greater.
A sword that had purple, red, and blue halos surrounding it lay quietly on the information bar in the commission shop. Light flowed around it, and the presence it exuded was so great that even some of the divine weapons would lose to it!
[Clear Abyss: Grade two masterpiece. Refined three times!
[Increases 1,000 damage.]
Chapter 341 - Shock Brought by the Refinement!
World of Martial Arts was in shock!
The competition in the commision shop Happy triggered because of his d.e.s.i.r.e to buy berthierite was actually something many merchants paid attention to. However, they were unable to join because of various reasons.
The rarity of berthierite made it sure that it was not
something that every merchant could come into contact with immediately.
However, while thousands of merchants paid attention to it quietly, they noticed something that caused their souls to tremble.
A high-grade masterpiece with three colors!
Once it reached the third echelon, it's presence and appearance was much greater than of divine weapons and demon vessels. It also had a domineering attribute of increasing damage by 1,000. A four digit increase in damage caused all the people in the game to feel suffocated.
Even Happy s.u.c.k.e.d in a sharp breath.
He knew more than anyone else about the conditions for refinement of a weapon or armor which had reached a high echelon, along with the difficulty to fulfill them.
Refining a first-echelon weapon would increase the weapon's attribute by 50%. The success rate was 50%, and the player would require a weapon along with a middle-grade metal ore, crystal ore, and a bottle of Beauty Melting Liquid made by an herbalist.
Refining a second-echelon weapon would increase the weapon's attribute by 100%. The success rate was 40%, and the player would require a first-echelon weapon along with a medium-high grade metal ore, one Stone with Water, and one Golden Jade Liquid. Those three materials were items that the players right then could not obtain, and Happy was among them. He could only buy them at a high price.
Refining a third-echelon weapon would increase the weapon's attribute by 150%. The success rate was 30%, and the player would require a second-echelon weapon along with a high grade metal ore, one unakite, and one unit of Jade Coagulating Powder that can only be created by a grade four herbalist and the materials for which would require at least six hundred thousand taels of silver. One unakite cost more than two million taels of silver, and the metal ore was also very expensive.
The most critical part, however, was the low success rate and the low refining levels that the ironsmiths possessed for the time being. It made it practically impossible to create a third-echelon weapon!
Happy's request to buy berthierite had caused the third-echelon weapon to appear in the commission like a legend!
Sword Among Us c1-1268 Page 174