Chapter 1969 - Chamber of Commerce

Chapter 1969 – Chamber of Commerce
As the Jealous Witch finished speaking, the sound of a system notification reached Shi Feng’s ears.
System: Congratulations! You have accepted the Inferior Legendary Quest “Witch’s Sin.”
Quest content: Collect 100,000 Primordial Crystals in 30 days.
Quest reward: Divine Runic Armor Design.
After the system notification repeated three times, the Jealous Witch vanished without a trace. Now, only Shi Feng remained before the Otherworld Gate.
Collect 100,000 Primordial Crystals in 30 days? Shi Feng frowned as he fell deep into thought.
This Inferior Legendary Quest was simply ruthless!
Only Chieftain rank and above monsters dropped Primordial Crystal Fragments, and the drop rate for Chieftain monsters was only 3%. Furthermore, synthesizing a single Primordial Crystal required 10 fragments. He’d need 1,000,000 Primordial Crystal Fragments to complete the Jealous Witch’s latest quest…
Completing the question wouldn’t be that big of an issue if it didn’t have a time limit, but there was a time limit.
There weren’t even 100,000 Guild members operating in Zero Wing City right now. Trying to collect 100,000 Primordial Crystals in just 30 days would be a nightmare.
It seems I have no choice but to increase the Guild’s strength and give it a try, Shi Feng thought to himself as he decided to recruit more players.
Fortunately, there was no penalty indicated for failing the quest this time. Thus, the penalty wouldn’t be too severe if he failed. Even so, giving up now would be a waste.
Unlike standardized Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold equipment, standardized Epic Equipment was in no way inferior to ordinary Epic Equipment when it came to Basic Attributes. The only difference was the lack of additional Skills and effects, as standardized equipment didn’t have as many to offer players as ordinary Epic Equipment Even so, the various major powers would consider the equipment precious since Epic Equipment was still so rare in God’s Domain.
Had the Divine Runic Armor been ordinary Epic Equipment, though, he wouldn’t be able to mass-produce it due to the rarity of the required materials, and forging the equipment would’ve been far more difficult. Even an Intermediate Master Forger like himself would only have a small chance of success, and no first-rate Guild could afford the total production costs. Only a superpower would have any hope of mass-producing ordinary Epic Equipment at this stage of the game.
However, crafting standardized Epic Equipment was a different story. Standardized Epic Equipment had been designed with mass-production in mind, so it didn’t have high material requirements. Most importantly, it wouldn’t be as difficult to forge as ordinary Epic Equipment. Even an ordinary first-rate Guild could afford the production costs if it gave the design to an Intermediate Master Forger, not to mention Zero Wing.
Following which, Shi Feng took out a Guild Transfer Scroll and returned to Zero Wing City to prepare for his newest quest.
At this point, players from all over Star-Moon Kingdom had swarmed to Zero Wing City, skyrocketing the city’s player population. As players wandered the city streets, an excited energy crackled between them as they waited for the Primordial Heart’s descent. Many adventurer teams had even started to purchase useful Magic Scrolls and potions in bulk. As soon as the Witch’s Hill began to change, they’d rush to take advantage of the opportunity the new expansion pack presented.
For a time, Zero Wing City became extraordinarily lively.
“Guild Leader, good news! Due to the new expansion pack, Zero Wing City’s player population has finally exceeded 10,000,000!” Aqua Rose exclaimed when she noticed her Shi Feng’s return. “Moreover, the Seventh Street Chamber of Commerce has invited us to join their merchant alliance.”
Aside from Combat Guilds, God’s Domain had Lifestyle Guilds, and unlike their combat-focused brethren, Lifestyle Guilds focused on developing Lifestyle players and producing a wide variety of products. Some of the larger Lifestyle Guilds generally allied to form Chambers of Commerce.
These Chambers of Commerce were not to be underestimated. They were only unknown to the general public due to their refusal to interfere with Combat Guilds1 matters. However, they didn’t lack influence in God’s Domain. The Commerce’s influence reached across more than a dozen kingdoms and empires, and they had even more wealth than some superpowers. In fact, many up-and-coming superpowers received funds and resources from some of these top Chambers of Commerce.
Meanwhile, the Seventh Street Chamber of Commerce was one of the most powerful in God’s Domain.
Joining one of the top Chambers of Commerce was extremely difficult. Ordinary first-rate Guilds didn’t qualify in the least. Normally, these Chambers only accepted superpowers or large Guilds with bountiful resources.
“What are their conditions?” Shi Feng asked.
He was very familiar with God’s Domain’s Chambers of Commerce. To join one, a Guild had to meet certain conditions and pay a certain price.
“The membership cost requires that we supply the alliance with Shops and virtual stores in all of our Guild Towns and Cities.
We will have to supply at least five Shops and two virtual stores in each, all of which have to be in different locations in the town or city. In addition, they require that our Guild sell the alliance 30% of the unique resources we obtain from the Otherworld Gate at market price,” Aqua Rose said.
“That price a little high,” Shi Feng said, shaking his head. “Tell them that Zero Wing will only give them up to three Shops and one virtual store in every town and city. As for the Otherworld Gate’s unique resources, we’ll sell them 20% at most. Moreover, I require that they buy the resources at 30% above market price!”
If one wished to acquire the resources a Chamber of Commerce offered, they had to contribute to the alliance. However, Seventh Street’s asking price was simply too high. The potential benefits Zero Wing would gain weren’t worth the price.
The Otherworld Gate’s unique resources would become a massive source of income for Zero Wing in the future, and purchasing these resources on the market would become immensely difficult. Meanwhile, the fact that Zero Wing City was within the Witch’s Hill meant that Zero Wing would have a greater competitive edge than other Guilds when fighting for the Otherworld Gate’s resources. Hence, 30% of Zero Wing’s harvest was no trivial amount. Furthermore, Seventh Street wanted to purchase these resources at market value.
“This…” Shi Feng’s counteroffer clearly troubled Aqua Rose.
Joining Seventh Street wasn’t easy. It’s influence encompassed over a dozen kingdoms and three empires, after all. If Zero Wing joined Seventh Street, it would elevate the Candlelight Trading Firm’s income to a whole new level.
Yet, Shi Feng demanded far more than the Seventh Street’s offer…
However, seeing Shi Feng’s determination, Aqua Rose had no choice but to forward her Guild Leader’s reply to the Chamber of Commerce’s representative.
After dealing with the Seventh Street’s offer, Shi Feng instructed Aqua Rose to recruit players in Zero Wing City before he returned to his Special Forging Room in Candlelight, carefully retrieving the Void Field Design from his bag.
He then clicked on the design to learn it.