Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Guild That Commands the Four Seas

The matter of the dungeon was currently irrelevant to Zhang Shan; with his current level, he could only access the second floor of the Demon Suppression Platform.

Forming a team capable of clearing the second-floor dungeon was almost impossible at present—not even on normal difficulty. The difficulty of clearing the Demon Suppression Platform dungeon was now widely known.

Even casual players who formed random parties struggled to clear the first-floor dungeon on normal difficulty. So far, only elite teams from major guilds had succeeded. Random groups could enter the dungeon to farm minor monsters, and if lucky, might challenge the Sentinel Captain.

As for the gatekeeping boss, the Priest, it remained a formidable, insurmountable mountain for random parties.

The second floor of the Demon Suppression Platform, Zhang Shan supposed, would be no easier than the first—perhaps even more challenging.

He planned to spare some time in a couple of days to enter the dungeon and farm monsters. If he encountered an orange boss, he’d see if he could attempt a takedown.

As for clearing the second floor, that was out of the question.

Farming monsters brought him joy.

Zhang Shan quietly farmed, occasionally browsing the forums—after all, playing games meant learning from others.

Shutting oneself off led only to dead ends.

Reading others’ ideas and insights might prove helpful; besides, there was plenty of free time while farming.

One post caught Zhang Shan’s eye—it was from the seller of the damaged ring he had purchased.

He had bought the ring outright for a million, snatching it up with a single bid.

Haha, a worthless item, and someone actually paid a million for it.

The poster even attached an image of the ring’s attributes.

Though Zhang Shan was certain it was a damaged artifact that could be restored by finding the right NPC, others did not know this.

The item’s description was so sparse: had Zhang Shan not previously restored an artifact, he wouldn’t have believed this ring was one.

Damaged Ring: A severely damaged ring, emanating a faint mysterious aura. Its origin and purpose are unknown.

Such a description would at most make one think it was a quest item.

But what quest would it trigger, and which NPC to approach? No one knew.

One could say the ring had some value, but without clues, its worth was purely as a collectible.

If the seller hadn’t set the buyout at a million, someone else might have bought it.

Every quest item was rare—who knew, perhaps one day it would trigger a quest.

But at a million, it wasn’t worth the risk for most people.

Thus, Zhang Shan got a bargain.

The seller was still posting on the forum, as if he’d struck gold.

Beneath the post, many players commented:

“Could this have been an accidental click? Did someone make a mistake?”

“How could that be? Who happens to have a million gold on hand when making mistakes?”

“Maybe some big shot took a fancy to the ring—perhaps they know how to trigger the quest.”

“No way. The item description gives no clues. How would anyone know how to trigger it?”

“Exactly, it’s impossible. You’d have to wander around with the ring, hoping to randomly encounter the right NPC.”

“It can’t be that simple. Surely the poster tried that already, couldn’t find the quest NPC, and decided to auction it. Otherwise, why sell it?”

“Maybe some big shot just wants it as a collectible?”

“Who would spend a million gold for a game collectible?”

“We don’t understand the world of the rich—who knows what goes on there.”

“Do you think this ring could be an artifact, just damaged—fix it and it’s usable?”

“Dreaming of artifacts, are you? That’s impossible.”

“Why impossible? Where did Six-Bar Bodhisattva get his artifact?”

“I heard he went to Eastern Capital to have an NPC forge it.”

“And where did he get the materials and blueprint? The game just started; maybe he got one, but both? I don’t buy it.”

“Maybe it was a quest reward.”

“Yeah, Six-Bar Bodhisattva is too selfish, not sharing how to obtain artifacts.”

“If you knew how to get artifacts, would you share?”

“Nope, haha.”

“Scoundrel.”

Seeing someone in the comments guess that the damaged ring might be related to an artifact, Zhang Shan couldn’t help but marvel—truly, great minds arise from the comment section.

How could they guess?

But guesswork was just guesswork. Few would risk a million gold on a mere conjecture, especially one with slim odds.

Now that the seller had posted about the sale on the forum, if someone else acquired a similar item in the future, they wouldn’t let it go so easily. They’d clutch it tightly, seeing that someone had spent a million to buy one.

Its value would become uncertain; unless they were desperate for gold, they wouldn’t put it up for auction.

That damned seller had cut off Zhang Shan’s avenue for bargains.

He doubted he’d ever get such a chance again; from now on, he’d have to focus on gathering divine materials.

Once he had enough, he’d practically monopolize half the path to obtaining artifacts.

Others might have quest items, but without divine materials, it would be futile.

Just as Zhang Shan was browsing the forum, a message in the world channel pulled him back into the game:

Dragon King of the East Sea: The Four Seas Guild is officially established. Strong players are welcome in Yunmeng City. Let us build a great enterprise together in the New World.

The world message caught everyone’s attention.

No one expected the second guild to be founded would not be one of the top ten, but a previously unheard-of new power.

The Four Seas Guild, it seemed, belonged to the wealthy player who bought the “Command of Heroes” offline this morning.

Quick action indeed—this put the other nine major guilds in an awkward position.

Especially the War God Guild, long ranked first; now, both first and second places had been snatched away.

A loss of status for the king of the game.

War God Li Jing: Congratulations.

King of Freedom: Dragon King of the East Sea, we share the same city—don’t stir trouble.

Dominant King: King of Freedom, you’re finished—a step behind, always behind, haha.

Rogue Hero: Congratulations.

Heaven and Earth Dragon Blade: Congratulations to Four Seas Guild on their founding. From today, the Heaven and Earth Guild joins Four Seas. Tremble, you riffraff, haha.

“What’s going on? Has Heaven and Earth Guild been absorbed?”

“The New World is about to get lively—the Four Seas Guild is a fierce newcomer.”

Dragon King of the East Sea: Storm World, from now on Heaven and Earth Guild is under my protection. Give me some face; don’t trouble them.

Storm Blade: Who do you think you are? Can you really protect them?

Before Storm World replied, his guildmate Storm Blade had already rebutted the Dragon King.

Dragon King of the East Sea: Excellent. I was just wondering how to make a splash—let’s start with your Storm Guild as a sacrifice.

Hmm? Picking a fight with us? What was the Four Seas Guild’s game? Surely they wouldn’t march from Yunmeng City all the way to Dangyang City, would they?