Chapter 1552: Candlelight’s Foundations

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Chapter 1552 – Candlelight’s Foundations

After arriving at the Candlelight Trading Firm, Shi Feng led Youlan and the others into the building.

Entering the trading firm’s first-floor hall was like entering a supermarket. All kinds of products had been set up for sale in the hall.

When players from other cities and kingdoms saw the trading firm’s interior, they felt as if they had just set foot in another world.

Unlike the other Guilds, Shi Feng had placed heavy importance on Lifestyle classes since the beginning of the game. As a result, the Candlelight Trading Firm had plenty of Lifestyle players. This, in turn, allowed the Candlelight Trading Firm to produce a variety of items in large quantities.

Currently, the Candlelight Trading Firm sold over a hundred different kinds of crafted items. Although most of these items weren’t particularly high-quality and they didn’t have much practical use, they still attracted customers to visit the firm.

Unlike other trading firms, Candlelight also sold high-ranked weapons and equipment. Aside from the Level 45 Dark-Gold Equipment, which was clearly a display and had astronomical price tags, there was plenty of pieces of Level 5 to 40 crafted equipment up for sale. The quality of these pieces ranged from Bronze to Fine-Gold rank. This even allowed the trading firm to satisfy players that had only joined God’s Domain recently.

Meanwhile, players constantly crowded the counter selling crafted Level 40 weapons and equipment.

Although there was quite a bit of Level 40 weapons and equipment on the market, items of Secret-Silver and Fine-Gold rank were still fairly rare. Guilds and teams usually kept these items for their own use. Even when they chose to sell these items, they usually set the price far above market value.

However, the Candlelight Trading Firm was different. It consistently produced Level 40 equipment ranging from Bronze to Fine-Gold rank, most of which was Secret-Silver and Fine-Gold rank. Moreover, the trading firm sold the equipment it produced at fair prices. Although the prices were slightly higher than market value, they weren’t ridiculous. As a result, players usually bought out any Level 40 Secret-Silver and Fine-Gold Equipment very quickly.

“As expected of the publicly-acknowledged, number one trading firm in Star-Moon Kingdom. Its foundations are really something.” Silent Aspiration nodded in satisfaction as he looked through the various products on display.

Youlan’s other Lifestyle players were shocked.

Shi Feng’s group quickly reached one of the Special Alchemy Rooms on the Candlelight Trading Firm’s top floor. A large crowd had already gathered in the room, and when Shi Feng’s group entered, everyone turned towards them.

“Huh? The Guild Leader is here to watch the ranking competition?”

“The Guild Leader is visiting us personally? Could he have some good news?”

“There should be. Didn’t you hear that Zero Wing City’s construction has completed? He might be looking for people to manage the Candlelight Trading Firm there. After all, Manager Melancholic can’t handle so many locations by herself.”

…

Upon seeing Shi Feng enter the room, the crowd launched into a quiet discussion about his visit. Their excitement about the competition also grew.

“Guild Leader, you’re here. I’ve arranged everything to your specifications. There are a total of 323 alchemists participating in the test this time. Among them, 244 are Intermediate Alchemists, and 79 are Advanced Alchemists. We can start the competition once you’re ready,” Melancholic Smile reported after approaching Shi Feng.

Youlan and her companions, who stood behind Shi Feng, gasped.

The Candlelight Trading Firm has so many Advanced Alchemists? Youlan was astonished as she surveyed the crowd before her.

When she had first entered the room and saw this crowd, she had assumed that every one of Candlelight’s alchemists was present, the firm housing roughly the same number of alchemists as Underworld.

However, the difference was far larger than she had thought. This firm already had over 300 Intermediate Alchemists. If they included Basic Alchemists and Apprentice Alchemists, shouldn’t Candlelight have nearly 1,000 alchemists under its command?

The number of Advanced Alchemists Candlelight possessed was simply horrifying.

Underworld currently had nearly 20 Advanced Alchemists, yet the Candlelight Trading Firm had over four times that…

Hearing this, Silent Aspiration’s fighting spirit welled within him.

“Alright. I have another alchemist here who wishes to participate in the ranking competition. With this, we’ll have 80 Advanced Alchemists form a group, while the Intermediate Alchemists will form their own.” Shi Feng nodded. He wasn’t surprised in the least by the number of Advanced Alchemists current in the Candlelight Trading Firm.

With Zero Wing’s current popularity and the benefits Candlelight offered, it was natural that the trading firm attracted so many Advanced Alchemists.

In reality, the trading firm could’ve had even more Advanced Alchemists, but due to God’s Domain’s evolution changing the subclasses, it had become significantly harder for players to upgrade their subclasses. In the past, Lifestyle players had simply needed to fulfill the Proficiency requirement to be promoted. Now, however, not only did Lifestyle players had to have enough Proficiency, but they also had to pass a test at their respective Lifestyle Associations. Once they could create a specified item with a certain success rate would their rank rise.

Otherwise, with how many alchemists the Candlelight Trading Firm nurtured, they would’ve had far more Advanced Alchemists.

Following which, Silent Aspiration joined the competition group for Advanced Alchemists.

“Right, for this ranking competition, aside from the aforementioned benefits, the top three players will have the opportunity to learn this Mana Enhancing Potion Recipe,” Shi Feng said as he took a large booklet from his bag and placed it on the stone table before him. He then shared the details of the Mana Enhancing Potion to everyone in the room.

When the crowd finished reading the potion’s effects, they went into an uproar.

“What?! This is a berserk potion!?”

“An Advanced Berserk Potion? And there’s a special alchemy technique included with the recipe! If I could learn that technique, I might have an easier time trying for Master rank. I have to fight for one of the top three positions this time, no matter what!”

Every alchemist’s eyes shown with excitement. Even Silent Aspiration, who didn’t seem overly excited about the competition, showed great interest after seeing the Mana Enhancing Potion.

Advanced Alchemy Recipes weren’t like ordinary alchemy recipes. Advanced Alchemy Recipes required the application of unique alchemy techniques. If one could learn these techniques, they’d have better luck when creating their own unique potions in the future. For alchemists who dedicated themselves to researching berserk potions, learning the alchemy technique for the Mana Enhancing Potion was necessary.

“Wonder, this is your chance. Haven’t you been trying to create an Advanced Berserk Potion for your Master rank promotion for a while? If you can get your hands on this recipe, you’ll definitely get promoted,” a female alchemist beside Silent Wonder said.

“Mhm. This recipe will be of great help. If I secure first place and get the Green Jade Set as well, I’m confident that it won’t be long before I become a Master Alchemist.” Silent Wonder nodded. When she looked at the Mana Enhancing Potion Recipe on the table, she knew that she had to obtain it. Moreover, she had the confidence and qualifications to do so. After all, she had constantly improved her techniques for a while now.

Seeing fighting spirit fill both Silent Aspiration and Silent Wonder, Shi Feng chuckled.

“Now that I’ve said everything that needs to be said, you may head to your designated Alchemy Rooms. The results will be determined based on overall success rate and production speed,” Shi Feng said. “No outside items may be used during this competition. You may only use the materials and tools provided by the Guild.”

None of the alchemists were surprised by Shi Feng’s requirements.

A few of the Intermediate Alchemists might have better technical skills than the Advanced Alchemists, but due to their late start in the game, they might not have reached the necessary Proficiency to become Advanced Alchemists yet. Hence, by having Intermediate Alchemists produce Intermediate items and Advanced Alchemists produce Advanced items, calculating the results based on overall success rate and production speed, the firm could assess the players’ technical skills, creating a fair competition between the two ranks.

Following which, Melancholic directed everyone to their designated Alchemy Rooms.

“Guild Leader, is this really alright?” Melancholic Smile worriedly asked after seeing watching the alchemists enter their assigned rooms.

To attract alchemists to join the Candlelight Trading Firm, they had advertised that even the firm’s official members would have the right to compete for the Dark-Gold alchemy tools. Although their advertisement had succeeded, letting these non-internal members use such valuable tools was a huge waste. If they only gave internal members access to these tools, they might nurture Master Alchemists far more quickly.

Instead of answering Melancholic Smile’s question, Shi Feng asked, “How are the internal members doing? What’s their progress on learning the Basic Secret Alchemy Technique?”

“One-third of them have learned the designated Basic Alchemy Technique. According to the rules you’ve set, each technique they learn will grant them one chance to read the Moon God’s Secret Record. So far, the best alchemist has read the Moon God’s Secret Record four times, while everyone else has read it twice on average,” Melancholic Smile answered, unsure as to why Shi Feng had asked such a question.

Although the Basic Alchemy Techniques were beneficial, they were only basic techniques at the end of the day. Meanwhile, there was no lack of experts among the alchemists participating in this competition. This was especially true for Silent Wonder. Had the woman chosen to become one of Candlelight’s internal members, she might’ve become a Master Alchemist by now.

“That’s enough, then.” Shi Feng chuckled without explaining further. “Now, all we need to do is examine their performance.”

The benefits he had offered were astounding, but that didn’t mean that outsiders could easily gain access to them.

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