Chapter 42 - Elemental Refinement
Forging Association, inside a Forging Room.
Shi Feng took out a stack of Stone, placing it on the table.
A stack of Stone had a hundred pieces in total. They immediately filled up the round table; some even fell to the ground.
“Time to see how good you actually are,” Shi Feng smiled as he retrieved the crimson red Philosopher's Stone.
If the Philosopher's Stone were seen by someone else, the consequences Shi Feng would face would be immense. Hence, Shi Feng rented a Forging Room. Without his permission, nobody could enter the room.
Shi Feng took a piece of Stone from the table and used the Philosopher's Stone on it.
System: Do you wish to use the Philosopher's Stone for Elemental Refinement?
Shi Feng immediately chose 'Yes.' Following which, the Philosopher's Stone started emitting a faint red glow; a mysterious power flowed into the Stone.
Peng!
The Stone the size of a fist suddenly turned into yellow sand, scattering to the ground. The result was a failure.
However, Shi Feng revealed a calm smile at the result. It did not perturb him in the slightest. Afterward, he picked up another Stone and tried again.
Ore was very precious. A normal Copper Ore sold for 2 Coppers; they were only worth 1 Copper Coin if sold to an NPC. A stack of 100 Copper Ore could be sold for 200 Copper Coins to Guilds, and they would still fight over them. Compared to a stack of Stone, which only sold for 10 Copper Coins, Copper Ore was just too expensive.
Elemental Refinement extracted the Metal Element out of the Stone. However, some Stones did not possess any Metal Element. So, it was only natural that they turn to sand. Such failures were just too common.
Peng… Peng… Peng…
There was still no ore after ten consecutive tries. Shi Feng started becoming depressed. The success rate was just too low.
Shi Feng even started to suspect that these Stones were picked from a desert to result in all the yellow sand.
“Relax, relax. There are still many Stones left.” Shi Feng sucked in a deep breath, reassuring himself.
He picked up another piece of Stone, trying Elemental Refinement once more.
Peng!
This time, the Stone still scattered into a pile of sand. However, in the middle of the yellow grains, there was a piece of metal that had a purplish-red luster. It was Copper Ore.
With the first piece of Copper Ore in his hands, Shi Feng let out a relaxed breath. His hands started moving at a faster pace.
All the Stones above the stone table turned into yellow sand within moments. The stack of Stones had yielded a total of 23 pieces of Copper Ore and 2 pieces of Bronze Ore. Compared to Copper Ore, the price of Bronze Ore was three times that of Copper Ore; they were worth 3 Copper Coins when sold to NPCs. Due to the rarity of Bronze Ore, players would buy them at 7 Copper Coins a piece.
Seeing the ores on the table, Shi Feng felt the Philosopher’s Stone was truly a gold mine. Even if the Philosopher’s Stone was currently damaged, it was still out of the ordinary. It was no wonder why many kingdoms were willing to muster up their armies and fight for the Philosopher’s Stone. Having the Philosopher’s Stone in hand was the equivalent of having a wealthy treasury. At that time, a kingdom would find it hard not to become prosperous.
Shi Feng kept the ores on the table and brought out another stack of Stones.
Stack after stack of Stones disappeared, whereas the amount of yellow sand had piled up into a small hill. Fortunately, the Forging Room could be cleaned of rubbish with just a click of a button. After pushing the Clean button, the small hill of yellow sand vanished from sight.
After spending an hour’s time, Shi Feng had refined 40 stacks of Stones. He had obtained a little over 7 stacks of Copper Ore and a little over 1 stack of Bronze Ore. They would be worth over 20 Silver Coins if Shi Feng sold them. Meanwhile, the cost of obtaining these ores were only four Silver Coins. The difference was five-times the price. It was an absolute profit.
Most importantly, ores dropped in very small numbers, so it was impossible to buy them in bulk.
Shi Feng received a System Notification the moment he had left the Forging Room.
System: The Violent Bear Armor you placed at the Auction House has been sold. After deducting the procedural fees, 31 Silvers 53 Coppers have been placed in your bag.
System: The Dark Star Boots you placed at the Auction House has been sold. After deducting the procedural fees, 3 Silvers 21 Coppers have been placed in your bag.
……
A series of notifications from the Auction House had caused Shi Feng’s lips into a smile.
“As expected, the greater the competition, the higher the price would go” Shi Feng was very satisfied with the amount the items sold for. He never imagined that a Mysterious-Iron Plate Armor for Shield Warriors could actually be sold for over 30 Silver Coins. It seems there were a lot of wealthy people within the area of influence of White River City.
After selling the equipment, Shi Feng had suddenly become a wealthy tycoon. With over 50 Silver Coins in his pockets, even his confidence was different now.
Currently, players would still be happy over having twenty to thirty Copper Coins on their person. Shi Feng already possessed more than 50 Silver Coins. Including the Silver Coins Gentle Snow owed him, if Shi Feng were to sell off the Copper Ore he had immediately, he would instantly become wealthy with gold.
However, he would not sell the ores. These ores were the foundation for Shi Feng to earn big money.
Following which, Shi Feng rented the Forging Room for another hour. He turned the remaining Stones into ores. His luck was better this time around. From 45 stacks of Stones, he obtained 10 stacks of Copper Ore and 2 stacks of Bronze Ore.
With this, Shi Feng had a total of 17 stacks of Copper Ore and 3 stacks of Bronze Ore. It would be quite some time before Shi Feng could use them all up.
With money in hand now, Shi Feng once more arrived at the central area of the Forging Association, at the administration area. Currently, there were quite a few Forger players, that were groomed by Guilds, renting Forging Rooms.
“This is just evil. It actually costs 5 Coppers for an hour. My Guild just gave me 30 Coppers. That’s not enough at all.”
“That’s considered good already. At least the equipment is all there. Look at the Forging equipment. Even the most common required a few Silvers. An entire set would cost over 30 Silver Coins! It’s just a blatant rip-off!”
“You still haven’t seen the Intermediate Forging Room. It costs one Silver an hour, but the room only increases your success rate by 3%. Even a first-rate Guild would not be able to handle such a price.”
A few Forgers continuously complained. They bitterly detested the prices set by the Forging Association. However, there was also a hint of bragging carried in their voices. After all, they had the support of their Guilds, whereas normal players wouldn’t even be able to rent a Forging Room, not to mention increasing their Forging Levels.
Shi Feng circled these players, walking towards the manager of the Association, saying, “I want to rent an Intermediate Forging Room.”
“May I know how long you wish to rent it for?” The ashen youth who was the Association’s manager excitedly asked.
Currently, a majority of the adventurers were poor blokes. Every one of them only rented the Basic Forging Rooms, and even then, they rented with unwillingness. So, a great change occurred to the manager’s servicing attitude when he was able to see a rich adventurer like Shi Feng.
Looking at the time, it was currently morning in the real world. When using the Virtual Gaming Helmet, a person could not stay within God’s Domain for too long.
“Two hours then.” Shi Feng said after some thought.
“Alright, here is your key. That will be a total of 2 Silver Coins.” The manager handed the key over to Shi Feng, smiling.
Shi Feng took out two shiny Silver Coins, placing them on the table and turning around to leave.
The players who had previously been discussing the deviousness of the Forging Association were all dumbstruck. They even thought they were hallucinating. However, they were indeed Silver Coins on the table, and not the scarlet-yellow Copper Coins.
“Crap, a tycoon!” A male Elementalist said in envy.
“Brother Tycoon, Little Sister knows how to warm beds.” Another pretty and flirtatious female player winked at Shi Feng, flattering him.
“Isn’t it just some dirty money? I will definitely become an Intermediate Forging Apprentice a step ahead of him,” a male Priest said in a sour tone, even though he knew it to be impossible. The facilities of the Intermediate Forging Room were much better than the Basic one. On the surface, the room itself only increased the success rate of forging by 3%. However, including the facilities that came with the room, the success rate was increased by at least 5%.
To a Forger, a difference of 5% success rate was like the difference between heaven and earth.