The Almighty Ring

That night, Jiang Fei grabbed a quick bite outside. His parents had gone to attend an evening party, and they would not be back anytime soon. After surfing the internet beneath some heavy eyelids, Jiang Fei returned to his room, ready to log in once again.

At 10 p.m. sharp, Jiang Fei entered his dream world.

Jiang Fei had a goal now. And it was unlike any other player’s. He was no longer as willing to spend time Leveling up. Unwilling as he was, he had enough sense to not let the opportunities go to waste. After soloing the Normal Mode dungeon, he brought the girls along to clear the Elite Mode dungeon once.

This time, things were much simpler as the girls had undergone major equipment upgrades. The two Practice Swords were now wielded by Rosette Phantom and Rosette Dazzledance. Whenever Rosette Phantom swung at the Boss, its Health Points lost several chunks at once. Afterall, se was dual-wielding a nasty pair. A Blue grade Excellent Dagger as her main weapon, and a Purple grade Epic One-handed Sword as her secondary weapon! Rosette Dazzledance had the Legendary grade Practice Sword and was able to give just as much as she could take. Currently, she could handle three to five Elite monsters without breaking a sweat! On top of that all, not even the 3rd Boss could harm the current Jiang Fei. The two Clerics were able to keep him afloat without any additional aid casually.

The drop rate during Jiang Fei’s second attempt of the Elite mode dungeon was nowhere as good as the previous run. Even his ridiculously high Luck had only yielded 1 Blue and 1 Green from each boss.

However, Jiang Fei got what he came for. Those two rounds got him to Level 20. The girls happily sat on an average bracket of 20-21.

Jiang Fei took a look at the Level ranking of the players within Dawn Break City. Happy-Drunk was still leading at Level 23. The repeated team wipes in their desperate bid for the first clear in the dungeon had not toppled him off his throne.

Billy Boy was tied at 23, but he must have gotten that level later for he was in the 2nd place. His wife Lady Casanova took the third place, just one level behind. Southern Azuresword, Daemon’s Grimace and five other players filled the remaining spaces for the Top 10. Not one of them was beneath Level 21!

Upon returning to the city, Rosette Rose had the remainder of the guild form several parties and concurrently swept across the Normal Mode like a typhoon. A few of them were fortunate enough to easily crush the Elite Mode dungeon under Jiang Fei’s lead, but not others were not so lucky. Even the Normal Mode dungeon proved to be a difficult task for them!

“Guys, let’s make a deal! Anyone interested on the intel on all Bosses within the Elite Mode dungeon?” Jiang Fei sent a group message to the four major guild masters.

“Yes!” All four guild masters replied almost instantly.

Although all four major guilds had taken down the 1st Boss on their ends, they were still stuck at the 2nd Bearmen’s Boss. On one hand, their Tanks simply could not hold on. On the other hand, much of their time was wasted making up for their constantly diminishing levels. If they blatantly ignored the loss of levels from their repeated deaths, their stats would take a nosedive!

If only they knew every little detail about the boss… They would not have to pay the heavy price of 20% of Experience Points as tuition fees! After all, their Tanks were not as tough as Jiang Fei; there was very little room for error. One mistake could mean a team wipe. Each skill that the bosses dished out became a death sentence!

It was not like they had not asked Jiang Fei before, but Jiang Fei never saw the need for money, and had thus ignored them. Him speaking was akin to the opening of the floodgates.

“Guys, name your offers! I’m talking about real life green notes!” said Jiang Fei, not knowing what number to put on the tag, having never made such dark dealings before.

“Hmm?!” All four guild masters came upon the same conclusion. The real-life Jiang Fei must be in a rather tight position! Ohhh, what more reason than to grab the opportunity?!

Previously, whenever the major guilds were busy purchasing equipment, they would pay via materials and in-game currency. But Jiang Fei only brought hammer to anvil whenever he wanted an upgrade to his personal gear. He did not process his thoughts like other crafters. He wanted to venture out like his combatant counterparts, not lock himself in the workshop and have nothing but a blasted furnace as a companion! He rarely sold his wares, and whenever he did, it was only to dispose of the trash. This man clearly never gave a thought about profit!

Therefore, Jiang Fei had often declined the four major guilds’ request to increase the number of orders. Blacksmiths were just like any other player. While it was true that many of them licked your boots and shat out bricks if you told them to, Jiang Fei was no such person, and it was their misfortune that he simply had to be the game’s leading Blacksmith.

Now that Jiang Fei had unintentionally disclosed his need of real-life cash, the four major guilds now had something on him. Money easily led to loose lips. These were the leading players of the game. Money was not an issue for them if they could finance their guilds to such an extent. Gold Coins might not be so easily farmed — real cash was something else entirely. Piece of cake for tycoons!

“If such intel is kept only between the two of us, 100,000 RMB! If it’s shared, I’ll offer 30,000 RMB!” said Southern Azuresword.

“150,000 RMB for exclusive, 30,000 RMB for shared!” Lady Casanova snarled.

“LOL, 500,000 RMB if exclusive!” said Happy-Drunk, his characteristic grin on his face as usual.

“F*ck you, tycoon! You’re destroying the rules of the game!” Lady Casanova snapped.

They were all filthy-rich folks, but they were working in the best interests of their guilds. For a Dungeon this early, 100,000 RMB was already stretching it. But when someone throws those rules out the window, there’s no point playing his game

any further!

Obviously, Happy-Drunk wanted the glory of being the second to clear, more than anyone else. After all, Jiang Fei and the Rosette Knighthood may have the First Clear, but most players were still convinced that these nobodies had exploited some bug in the game. On the other hand, a well-known face like Happy-Drunk and his guild The Aristocrats was a symbol of true strength. The Aristocrats would stand over all the other guilds!

For a dungeon’s intel, 500,000 RMB was ridiculous. For the glory, it was not too bad. It would not even weigh much on the other three major Guildmasters — they simply did not want to get involved in this ridiculous bid. Besides, this was Happy-Drunk. No price was too steep for him. Screw this low-level dungeon!

“That’s unnecessary! 50,000 RMB each! Exclusive rights to only the four of you!” At that point, Jiang Fei cut in. In the short run, Happy-Drunk could yield him a huge lump sum, but it was better to retain his neutrality for the long run. After all, he was just by himself. Even with the Rosette Knighthood at his back, these were the big four. He would be no match to their backalley warfare. Embargoes, assassinations, you name it!

“My good man, surely you wouldn’t reconsider?” Happy-Drunk’s grin faded, just a little.

“No need. If you guys agree, it’s a deal!” said Jiang Fei.

“No problem!” Lady Casanova and the other two guild masters nodded. After all, not only would they offend the other guild masters, they would never once outbit this drunk tycoon. It was best to take a step back and share the information among all four.

“Fine! Fine! Fine!” It was four-to-one. Happy-Drunk had no choice but to nod as well.