Chapter 15 Advanced Forging Apprentice

In the silent and scorching forging room, deep blue flames burned brightly, tempering pieces of sturdy stone.

The usually low success rate of crafting high-grade whetstones was effortlessly overcome by Shi Feng, his movements fluid and commendable. Both his speed and quality were astonishing.

Although repeatedly performing the same task could easily become tedious, the thought of earning seven silver coins for each whetstone he crafted fueled an endless supply of motivation.

In just three short hours, Shi Feng had already produced 180 whetstones, a rate comparable to the efficiency of three or four ordinary forgers.

Unknowingly, Shi Feng's level had recovered from 14 to 15, an leveling speed far more efficient than grinding monsters.

Shi Feng rested briefly and checked his forging proficiency, which now stood at 1253 points.

Advancing from an Intermediate Forging Apprentice to an Advanced Forging Apprentice required 3000 proficiency points. With his previous accumulation and the current increase, he had already made significant progress.

With another two or three days of effort, he would soon be able to advance to Advanced Apprentice.

If ordinary lifestyle players knew Shi Feng's speed of advancement, they would be dumbfounded. So far, there wasn't even one Intermediate Forging Apprentice in the entire White River City, let alone someone who could become an Advanced Forging Apprentice in two or three days.

Shi Feng's forging skill advancement speed was simply monstrous.

"At this rate, if I focus entirely on leveling up, I can reach Advanced Apprentice in two days at most. That's just in time to learn the Advanced Mana Book before the trade day, and I can make another big profit from Water Rose," Shi Feng thought to himself, feeling a surge of excitement.

Each mutually beneficial exchange with Water Rose earned him a fortune. If he could make another big profit this time, the studio's problems would be mostly solved. The subsequent issue would be how to recruit a large number of core players and establish a solid framework.

To build a large guild of tens of thousands of people, it was impossible to manage without hundreds of mid-level members forming the backbone. Therefore, Shi Feng wanted to take a drastic step and specifically decided to buy an entire floor to establish the studio, saving himself the trouble of having to move later and allowing these issues to become limitations on the guild's development.

Didi Didi…

"Hmm, Bai Qingxue?" Shi Feng heard the communication prompt and realized it was Bai Qingxue calling, but she was looking for Black Flame instead of Ye Feng. Actually, he also had something he wanted to discuss with Bai Qingxue.

Previously, Shi Feng had considered using the Black Flame ID to establish a lifestyle guild called the Sky Alliance, but he never had the opportunity.

Now the opportunity had arrived.

He was temporarily in charge of the Star-Moon Trading Firm, owning golden shops in eight cities. Whether it was the materials needed by lifestyle players, workplaces, or sales points for items, everything was now ready. Recruiting lifestyle players through the Star-Moon Trading Firm was the perfect opportunity to establish the Sky Alliance. If Bai Qingxue added her promotion, establishing a lifestyle guild like the Sky Alliance would almost be a natural progression.

If he could develop the Sky Alliance, it would be like holding a super gold mine, providing funds and various resources for the guild's development.

The hegemony guild Shi Feng was building would have no worries about development.

"Black Flame, are you interested in making a deal?" The aloof Bai Qingxue didn't exchange any pleasantries and directly asked.

"A deal? I wonder what Miss Bai wants to trade?" Shi Feng asked, somewhat curious.

"I know the Star-Moon Trading Firm is related to you, so I want to buy whetstones from you, especially high-grade whetstones. Credit point payment. How much do you have? I'll buy it all now," Bai Qingxue said.

"So Miss Bai wants whetstones. That's simple, but I need gold coins more right now. If Miss Bai has a lot of gold coins, I can sell them all to you," Shi Feng didn't deny it, nor was he surprised that Bai Qingxue could guess his relationship with the Star-Moon Trading Firm.

Previously, he had been seen with Anna in the Star-Moon Trading Firm in his Black Flame appearance, and many players had recorded videos. Bai Qingxue had also seen Black Flame's appearance. Seeing the video, coupled with his title as the Star-Moon Kingdom's Chief Forger, it wasn't hard for her to associate him with the Star-Moon Trading Firm.

"I'll offer three times the credit points, is that alright?" Bai Qingxue didn't want other guilds to catch up, so she didn't mind spending more credit points.

"Miss Bai, you don't need to say anymore. You and I both know the importance of gold coins right now. If you're not sincere, then we can forget about this deal."

"Of course I have sincerity, but I recently purchased a large batch of sturdy stones, and I don't have any extra gold coins on hand. Otherwise, I would offer five times the credit points to purchase them."

Bai Qingxue was also helpless at this time. Black Flame must have a large force supporting him, and he probably didn't value credit points. But she really didn't have anything else to trade. The only thing she could do was increase the credit points.

"Credit points are out of the question, but don't you have sturdy stones on hand?" Shi Feng smiled wryly. If he didn't have to earn 30,000 gold coins within twenty days, he would definitely have agreed to five times the credit points. But now gold coins were more important, as it concerned his future development, so he couldn't compromise. Therefore, he suggested, "Why not exchange them for sturdy stones?"

"Exchange?" Bai Qingxue's beautiful face was momentarily stunned. "What's the exchange ratio?"

"That depends on you. For ordinary whetstones, it's one to four. For high-grade whetstones, it's one to nine," Shi Feng said indifferently.

"Alright, but I want all high-grade whetstones, and I want to trade immediately." After a moment of silence, Bai Qingxue felt that this was something she could do. However, in her heart, Bai Qingxue cursed Shi Feng for being too cunning, truly worthy of being the Star-Moon Kingdom's Chief Forger.

If the guild's forgers were to make them, it would take about four to five sturdy stones to make one ordinary whetstone. Four sturdy stones for one ordinary whetstone. Shi Feng's calculation was too precise, just slightly better than the guild's forgers. So she simply exchanged most of them for high-grade whetstones, leaving some for the guild's forgers to increase their proficiency.

"Alright, just go to the Star-Moon Trading Firm and find an NPC named Anna. She will directly exchange them for you," Shi Feng said with a smile. After that, Shi Feng hung up the communication and continued to craft high-grade whetstones.

The deal between Shi Feng and Bai Qingxue was just a small episode. After Bai Qingxue exchanged four stacks of high-grade whetstones, Anna opened the exchange service to the public under Shi Feng's instructions. The exchange ratio was the same as what Bai Qingxue said, which made many players who didn't have enough money start exchanging frantically, no longer needing to find those坑爹 (kēng diē, disappointing/scamming) apprentices.

In this way, the Star-Moon Trading Firm not only solved the material problem but also made a profit, making many lifestyle players envious.

Two days later.

System: Congratulations to the player for being the first to advance to Advanced Forging Apprentice in God's Domain. Reward: five pieces of Rune Gold, 200,000 experience points.

"Finally, it's done. The system is really generous, giving such a rare item like Rune Gold." Seeing the system reward, Shi Feng couldn't help but smile.

Rune Gold was a great item that could increase the forging success rate by 10% and also had a chance to improve the item's quality. Compared to upgrading Rune Steel to Fine Gold grade, Rune Gold could upgrade it to Dark Gold grade.

But what he was most happy about was becoming an Advanced Forging Apprentice.

Since his proficiency reached 2000 points, crafting high-grade whetstones was no longer a 100% guarantee of gaining one proficiency point. The probability was only about 70%, and after the proficiency reached 2500 points, it was only 40%. After the proficiency reached 2800 points, only about 20% was left. It took him two days to finally become an Advanced Forging Apprentice…

After becoming an Advanced Forging Apprentice, Shi Feng immediately took out the Advanced Mana Book from his backpack and clicked to learn it. A golden light shone on Shi Feng's body, and the crafting method for Mana Armor Plating appeared in Shi Feng's mind.

In the past two days, Shi Feng had been crafting high-grade whetstones in God's Domain to continuously increase his forging proficiency, while during the day, he still insisted on exercising and also bought the studio space in the city center.

A total of 60 million credit points were paid in installments, with a down payment of 20 million, and the remaining 40 million credit points would be paid off within three months.

Shi Feng still had more than 10 million credit points earned from the White River City guide. He spent more than 5 million to purchase various gaming equipment and other things to improve the studio. In this way, Shi Feng had more than 5 million credit points and a luxurious studio at the school's social event, making him almost as competitive as Youying.

If simply comparing the studio's equipment and environment, Shi Feng completely surpassed Youying.