Chapter 228 - Meteoric Rise  

As the level of technique Shi Feng demonstrated was slightly high, in addition to his strict requirement, Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile immediately grew serious.

Shi Feng’s forging techniques had clearly undergone refinement hundreds and thousands of times. It was not something inexperienced forgers like them could hope to compare to. However, they had, more or less, noticed the key points in Shi Feng’s demonstration.

Soon after, the two girls stepped up to their separate forging tables. As if they had received some enlightenment, they held up the forging materials and fell into deep thought.

As expected of future Master Forgers. Shi Feng revealed a faint smile when he noticed their actions.

At this point, it was impossible for the average player to possess sufficient materials to practice their forging with, not to mention the precious materials to produce items.

However, Shi Feng was different from these inexperienced forgers. During his ten years of playing God’s Domain, he had encountered plenty of Master Forgers. In their free time, these players would usually discuss forging. For players with their skill level, their conversations were no longer about simply “playing a game” but instead, counted as true research. Shi Feng had experienced many such conversations. Coupling that knowledge with an endless supply of materials to use as practice, he had naturally learned the craft fairly quickly. However, in terms of talent, Shi Feng was far from being a match of the girls currently before him. After all, at the end of the day, Shi Feng was still a player more suited to battle and adventure.

The only thing he could do was combine the knowledge he had gained from listening to those masters with his own understanding of forging techniques and display it.

Although it would not be of great help, it would be enough as long as they could realize their own deficiencies.

At this stage of the game, a majority of the players had a relatively high success rate when producing Whetstones. They should have at least a 40% success rate; they should be able to produce two Whetstones out of five sets of materials. If they had passable techniques, it wouldn’t be unusual if they could even produce three. However, a majority of the players at this stage could only produce one Whetstone out of five attempts.

Although the Forging Rooms in the Starstreak Trading Firm were not comparable to the Intermediate Forging Rooms in the Forging Association, they should still be much better than the Basic Forging Rooms. When making a common item like the Whetstone, the Forging Room should increase a player’s success rate by at least 5%.

Due to this, Shi Feng required the both of them to produce two Whetstones out of five sets of materials.

After a period of silence, the two girls finally started their first attempt at producing the Whetstone.

Three minutes later, both had produced their first Whetstones. They wore joyful expressions as they handed their products to Shi Feng for evaluation.

“A failure. The same goes for this one,” Shi Feng shook his head after he checked the information on the two items. Both Whetstones were of poor quality, and they yielded zero effects when used.

Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile were both disappointed by these results. They knew they did not have many chances remaining. If they did not produce two Whetstones out of the remaining four sets of materials, without a doubt, they would be chased out of the trading firm.

After experiencing failure on their first try, the two girls spent more time reflecting before their second attempt. After reflecting for more than ten minutes...

The next action the two girls took astonished Shi Feng.

Within a single breath, the two had used up all four sets of materials. Moreover, their production speed was much faster than before. After producing all four Whetstones, the two smiled at each other. They then placed their completed Whetstones on the table, awaiting Shi Feng’s evaluation.

“You two have really surprised me. Out of four pieces, both of you actually managed three successes,” Shi Feng couldn’t help his shock when he looked at the information displayed before him. “Very good. From today onwards, you two are officially members of the Horizon Alliance. Here is the contract. If there aren’t any problems, just sign it.”

“Horizon Alliance?”

“It isn’t the Starstreak Trading Firm?”

Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile were confused when they took a look at the contract. After all, their goal in coming here had been to join the wealthy and powerful Starstreak Trading Firm.

However, after they read the contract, they discovered that the benefits stated were abnormally good. Even Cream Cocoa, who had come from the Assassin’s Alliance, found the offer quite attractive. After all, not only would they be provided with limitless materials and Forging Designs, but they would also obtain 15% of the profits once the item sold. They would also earn a minimum monthly salary of 2,000 Credits. On the other hand, the other Guilds only provided their forgers with 5% of the profits and a low monthly salary. The materials these Guilds provided were also very limited. Under normal circumstances, the best materials would be given to the forgers with better techniques, leaving remaining forgers wanting.

“I can’t reveal what kind of relationship the Horizon Alliance has with the Starstreak Trading Firm. However, I can tell you one thing; the Horizon Alliance is a Lifestyle Guild. It is not like your usual adventure and battle Guild, and Lifestyle players will be the core of this Guild. Moreover, in the future, the Horizon Alliance will expand its market much further than the Starstreak Trading Firm. We won’t only sell our products in eight cities, but in every city throughout the entire Star-Moon Kingdom. Moreover, you guys will not have to worry about materials. As long as you can produce items of sufficient quality, you won’t need to worry about failing to sell the item.” Shi Feng calmly smiled as he continued, “Of course, if you don’t want to, you can choose to join the Starstreak Trading Firm instead. It all depends on you.”

Cream Cocoa and Melancholic Smile considered their options carefully. At present, the Starstreak Trading Firm was undeniably the better choice if they wished to develop themselves further. Moreover, they had never even heard of the Horizon Alliance, not to mention a Guild run by Lifestyle players.

“I am willing to join the Horizon Alliance.” However, Cream Cocoa signed the contract without hesitation.

Melancholic Smile simply shook her head at this sight, thinking that Cream Cocoa was simply too naive. However, although she thought in such a way, she had similarly signed her name on the contract she received from Shi Feng.

The reason she had chosen was the man currently before her. Not only was he the Chief Forger of Star-Moon Kingdom, but he also had deep ties with the Starstreak Trading Firm. One could also say that, without the Advanced Whetstone, the Starstreak Trading Firm would not be enjoying its current popularity.

Most importantly, it was the Horizon Alliance’s future potential.

“Good. Since you two have signed the contract, you are now official members of the Horizon Alliance. From this moment onwards, you two can use the Forging Rooms in the Starstreak Trading Firm any time you want. If you lack materials, just notify Anna, and she will provide them for you. You two only need to focus on advancing into a true Forger,” Shi Feng said, smiling.

With two potential Master Forgers joining, Shi Feng felt much more optimistic about Horizon Alliance’s future.

Shi Feng also made Melancholic Smile the Horizon Alliance’s temporary manager. While she managed the Horizon Alliance, she was also tasked with poaching some of the Forgers and Potionmakers with potential from the Starstreak Trading Firm. After all, Shi Feng was only an acting president of the trading firm. Starstreak Trading Firm’s Forgers and Potionmakers belonged to Starstreak only, not the Horizon Alliance.

When Shi Feng completed the second phase of the Epic Quest, he would no longer have any relation to the Starstreak Trading Firm. He would not be able to sell items through the Starstreak Trading Firm any longer. In other words, he and the Starstreak Trading Firm would draw a line between each other. So, he naturally had to recruit players with potential to his side.

Soon after, Shi Feng placed the Basic Mana Armor Kit for sale on the second floor of the Starstreak Trading Firm.

He priced each Basic Mana Armor Kit at 20 Silver Coins. Although this price could rival that of a piece of Level 10 Bronze Equipment, Shi Feng did not mind. After all, he had no fear that this item would not sell. He only feared that it would sell too quickly; thus, he had set such a high price.

Shi Feng then returned to his Forging Room and resumed forging Basic Mana Armor Kits. The 600 Basic Mana Armor Kits were just a drop in the bucket. He still needed to produce a lot more to meet demand.

Not to mention, Shi Feng still had a mountain in the form of 30,000 Gold Coins weighing down on him.

Moreover, plenty of Guilds had started growing greedy after seeing Shi Feng make so much money from selling the Advanced Whetstones. They all started thinking up of plans to obtain the recipe for themselves. Hence, during the past few days, many Guilds had started investigating the origins of the Advanced Whetstone. Shi Feng couldn’t help but admit that a Guild was indeed far more powerful than an individual. Within a short amount of time, these Guilds had discovered the origins of the Advanced Whetstone. They had even managed to obtain its recipe.

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The Moonlight Forest.

Treasures filled this place. Aside from having plenty of Treasure Chests and Field Bosses, the drop rate for Gemstones here was much higher than other maps. The various large Guilds in White River City had long since regarded the Moonlight Forest as a cash machine. On the other hand, independent players had no share of these bountiful resources.

“Guild Leader, the Intermediate Forging Apprentices in our Guild have successfully produced Advanced Whetstones. The Intermediate Apprentice Potionmakers have also managed to produce Intermediate Recovery Potions and Intermediate Mana Regeneration Potions,” a Ranger reported.

“Very good. It just so happens that White River City’s bazaar will be held tonight. We can use this chance to show off Dark Star’s strength,” Lone Tyrant smiled satisfactorily. He had long since grown impatient after witnessing the Starstreak Trading Firm rake in an ocean of wealth. Now that their Guild could similarly produce and sell Advanced Whetstones and Intermediate Potions, he was one step closer to becoming the true tyrant of White River City.