Chapter 54: Stable
Black-Eyed Rui Ge mentioned two things that were worth paying attention to.
The first was that Lone Boat had actually sold off the Skeletal Wild Bull Set.
The second was that players had obtained detailed information about the Day of Ultimate Darkness.
Ye Li Meng had lavishly spent 300,000 to buy Lone Boat’s white-grade set; one could only say that the rich were indeed capricious, treating money like dirt!
Although the Skeletal Wild Bull Set was top-tier at the current stage, it was, after all, just a white-grade set, and the Forging Workshop would surely mass-produce better ones later, so it would soon be phased out by the top elites.
Ye Li Meng surely understood that the "Wild Bull Set" would only retain its advantage for a very short time, yet he was still willing to decisively spend a fortune on it, which showed that he was a bold and decisive person.
Hang Yu took notice.
Lone Boat did not only receive 300,000.
Among the dropped loot this time, the highest-valued and best-attribute item was Xu Feng’s Bloodstain Sword.
Although Xu Feng had been personally killed by Lone Boat, the contributions of others were also significant; Ye Li Meng ceded part of his merit to help Lone Boat secure the Bloodstain Sword.
It was mutually beneficial!
Warriors, with their strong physique and Iron Armor Skill for protection, could better utilize the defensive advantage provided by the Wild Bull Set.
As for top-tier rangers like Lone Boat, whose skills were outstanding, high stats and high defense were not the best strategy; the Bloodstain Sword, with its +5 Agility and high attack power, was no worse than the Wild Bull Set for him.
After such a resource exchange.
Both Lone Boat and Ye Li Meng experienced a huge surge in overall strength.
Together with Black-Eyed Rui Ge, who had fully maxed out his Swift Wind Step skill and gained a permanent +10 Agility, they pulled far ahead of other players, now standing at the forefront of the Fourth Calamity Corps!
Other players also improved significantly.
Everyone gained greatly from the battles.
Chimera Wraith and Little Bell had both upgraded Flame Arrow Curse to at least level 8!
Mad Blade Old Wang, Street Slayer, Midnight Pig Slayer, Salted Fish Thrust, and other players had also upgraded their skills to level 7 or 8 respectively.
The newly obtained Little Wild Bull Set and various Yellow Turban Army equipment had been worn by players, and after gaining some wealth, long queues started forming in front of the Forging Workshop.
Yan Ling was so busy she was practically smoking.
Due to Hang Yu’s restrictions on Contribution Point circulation.
Players had to spend most of their earned Contribution Points on themselves.
Ye Li Meng spent 1,800 Contribution Points to enhance the entire Wild Bull Set to +3, then used three gemstones to upgrade his battle saber’s quality to mid-grade white, and subsequently enhanced it to +7, spending over 2,000 Contribution Points in total.
His skills and awareness weren’t the very top tier.
But with a full +3 Wild Bull Set, stacked with a level 9 Iron Armor Skill, and a white mid-grade saber enhanced to level 7, his combat power was already close to that of an elite monster of the same level!
The massive Contribution Points issued by Hang Yu were being consumed at an extremely fast rate, rapidly transforming into the combat strength of the Fourth Calamity Corps!
Excellent, excellent!
The crop field was flourishing vigorously.
This made Hang Yu smile genuinely from the heart!
According to intelligence gathered by the players themselves, the Day of Ultimate Darkness would arrive in about five days, and it would be the most critical and dangerous large-scale battle during the territory’s development.
If successful.
A new map could be unlocked in just ten days or so.
Such a record would be extremely rare not only among lower races like humans but even among the higher races with powerful starting stats and strength; they might even accidentally set a new record in the Starsea.
Suddenly, Xiao Ba gave a reminder.
"Master, the food you put up for sale has already sold out!"
"Eh, so fast? It's only been half an hour!"
When Hang Yu quickly opened the Trading Hall, he immediately saw numerous transaction records.
【Ding, Lord 4216 purchased 200 portions of food, you received 40 Magic Crystals!】
【Ding, Lord 3222 purchased 300 portions of food, you received 60 Magic Crystals!】
【Ding, Lord 1700 purchased 100 portions of food, you received 20 Magic Crystals!】
【……】
All 2,000 portions of food were completely sold out.
After deducting a 10 Magic Crystal handling fee.
A total of 390 Magic Crystals were credited.
This income was truly a timely rain for the territory, whose financial reserves were almost depleted!
Right now, Hang Yu only wanted to hurry up and recruit more players, then open up more regions, letting them grind monsters and seize territories, so he could quickly earn it back, expand recruitment, expand the territory, and eventually form a virtuous cycle.
"Should I build another canteen?"
"And then hire one or two professional chefs?"
"This way players wouldn’t waste time cooking for themselves, leaving more time for territory expansion, and I could even profit from food services — wouldn't that be fantastic?"
In this game, players had to eat!
The food players cooked themselves was too rough.
Although the ingredients were currently low-level, it was not a big deal for now.
In the future, as players' levels rose and energy demands grew, ingredients would have increasingly higher supernatural attributes and energy densities, so it would be better to have specialized chefs prepare food.
Such food, full of energy essence and supernatural properties, would not only restore stamina faster but also taste far superior to ordinary real-world ingredients — those scenes of food dazzling with light and making one's soul fly upon tasting wouldn’t even be considered exaggerations.
Food was the top priority of the people.
Who didn’t love delicious food?
Especially food that didn’t make you fat!
Even with just a bit of thought, Hang Yu knew that this could definitely become a huge killer feature to enhance the game experience, while also acting as a huge sickle to harvest players!
Thinking thus.
He was about to close the Trading Hall.
Suddenly, a private message popped up in the information bar.
Lord 1994: "Boss, do you still have food? I urgently need 1,000 portions of fresh meat!"
Hang Yu was slightly stunned when he saw the message.
Currently, the territory had a reserve of 1,255 portions of food.
Humans generally needed to consume one portion of food per person per day to maintain full stamina and energy.
Although the territory’s population was less than sixty people, with the addition of River West Village’s affiliated citizens, it totaled nearly four hundred people, hence the reserve.
But thinking carefully.
Players were largely self-sufficient.
River West Village also had some food reserves.
Selling another 1,000 portions wasn’t a big problem, especially given the tenfold drop rate; material production was quite fast... but he definitely had to raise the price!
Hang Yu thought for a moment and replied: "400 Magic Crystals, non-negotiable!"
Lord 1994: "Huh, wasn’t 1,000 portions just 200 Magic Crystals? Doubling the price is too outrageous!"
Hang Yu explained: "This batch of food is higher-quality strategic reserves, originally not intended for sale to avoid endangering territory survival; if you insist on buying, you must show some sincerity."
Lord 1994: "But it’s way above market price, and I’m a bit strapped for cash right now; can you lower it slightly?"
Hang Yu: "No. Firm price, 400 Magic Crystals. If you can’t accept it, feel free to find another Lord... but you should know that the past two months were peak graduation season for Lords, with a massive influx into the Abyss, and food prices are generally high now!"
The other party fell silent for four or five minutes.
Had he scared him off by quoting too high? Actually, selling for two or three hundred would’ve been good too!
Suddenly, Lord 1994 sent another message: "Although I’m short on cash, I do have some good items; maybe we can barter — you definitely won’t lose out."
Hang Yu became interested.
If it was truly a very rare item, like a Skill Stone or Construction Blueprint, it wouldn’t be unacceptable.
After all, there were relatively many ways to earn Magic Crystals, but such rare items were hard to come by, and most Lords wouldn’t sell them easily.
He immediately asked: "What do you have?"
Lord 1994 promptly sent an item description.
The moment Hang Yu saw the item details, he revealed a look of surprise.
【Construction Blueprint: Stable of Spirit Horses】, Tier-One Blueprint, can consume 300 Magic Crystals and 300 portions of Tier-One Material Essence to build a small stable capable of recruiting Spirit Horses within the territory.
It really was a blueprint!