Chapter 322 – Placing Bounties
Nie Yan had instilled a deep sense of dread into Liu Rui during their spar. He didn’t dare to show his face at school when Nie Yan was there.
As Nie Yan and Xie Yao chatted, the topic eventually drifted over to Conviction.
「Xie Yao, have you heard of Conviction?」Nie Yan asked.「We could play together some time.」It would be great if Xie Yao played Conviction. That way they could spend even more time together.
「Of course! But I’m busy with a quest right now. How about we play later?」Xie Yao really wanted to tell Nie Yan she was Yao Yao, but she still managed to keep her lips tightly sealed. She planned to delay the reveal for a little longer.
「Mhm… Just let me know when you want to meet up.」Nie Yan nodded.
「I need to go to the bathroom. Nie Yan, let’s chat again some other time,」Xie Yao said. With Nie Yan’s scorching hot gaze staring at her through the video screen, she could no longer endure that peculiar feeling in her heart.
「Alright.」
「Goodbye, Nie Yan.」
「Take care.」Nie Yan hung up the call with a hint of disappointment, wondering when he could see this seductive and bashful side of Xie Yao again.
Nie Yan realized his relationship with Xie Yao had progressed much further than it ever had in the previous timeline. Love couldn’t be rushed. It had to be nurtured one step at a time. Didn’t the fact that she was comfortable enough video calling him with such a risque appearance represent that he held a special place in her heart?
Xie Yao’s appearance in her nightgown was just as alluring as her mature businesswoman self in the previous timeline, but with added hints of youthful immaturity. Her flushed red cheeks which didn’t settle down even after a long time resembled an early morning rose, brimming with a captivating vitality.
Thinking to this point, Nie Yan’s mind turned chaotic.
Nie Yan finished dinner and jumped back into Conviction. Everyone had already cleared their red names. They used their Return Scrolls and teleported to Glory City.
Nie Yan and the others emerging from the Glory City transfer area immediately stirred up waves of commotion. The conflict between Asskickers United and Bloodlust Blades had long since been publicized. Everyone knew they were forced to retreat into the Crystal Caverns after being chased by the forces of Bloodlust Blades. Who would’ve expected all of them to make it out alive? These players from Asskickers United were truly a godly bunch.
Nie Yan’s group emerging from the Crystal Caverns without so much as a scratch was a fierce slap to the face of Bloodlust Blades. A group of players from a rival guild had run amok in their territory and still managed to escape safely. What face did Bloodlust Blades have left?
News of Nie Yan and the others’ return immediately spread out like wildfire, mostly thanks to the efforts of the smaller guilds which were repeatedly stepped on by Bloodlust Blades. They posted a thread with a provocative title on the Glory City section of the forums:「Bloodlust Blades can’t even guard their own territory! What right do they have to be called the top guild in Glory City?」
Of course they were only throwing a little bit of dirty water. None of them dared to actually oppose Bloodlust Blade which held an unshakeable position in Glory City.
Nie Yan and the others strolled around Glory City for a bit, just to rub it in the faces of Bloodlust Blades some more, before returning to the transfer area and teleporting back to Calore.
After a while, Ah Chen contacted Nie Yan.
「Where are you?」Ah Chen asked.
「I’m near the entrance of the Calore Central Auction House,」Nie Yan replied. He first had to deliver the gold to Ah Chen.
Nie Yan patiently waited at the Central Auction House. It had become several times more spacious since he upgraded it to Tier 7. It appeared quite magnificent with walls constructed out of white stone, 30 meter tall pillars supporting the ceiling, and a long flight of steps which led from the entrance to the square below. A player looking at it would be filled with a sense of grandeur.
The Central Auction House was bustling with activity. Numerous players walked up and down the steps every minute.
This entire place is mine! Nie Yan couldn’t help but well up with pride. His achievements in this life were nothing short of extraordinary!
Before long, Ah Chen arrived at the coordinates Nie Yan gave him.
Nie Yan recognized Ah Chen at a glance. His IGN was still Don’t Call Me Bro Chen like in the previous timeline.
Ah Chen stood in front of Nie Yan in a daze for what seemed like an eternity. Even though he knew the player before him was his cousin, he didn’t dare to speak up because he still found all this hard to believe.
“I brought the 60,000 gold with me. Let me trade you,” Nie Yan finally spoke up after noticing Ah Chen fidgeting around nervously for the longest time.
Nie Yan sent a trade request.
“Holy crap! It really is you, kiddo! I was afraid I made a mistake!” Ah Chen patted Nie Yan’s shoulder. He finally relaxed, returning to his usual carefree self. Nie Yan was a legendary figure in Conviction, an existence that all players revered. To be cousins with such a person, he worried he was dreaming.
Nie Yan smiled. Now this is the Ah Chen I know!
Nie Yan put 60,000 gold into the trade window.
“60,000 gold, a 6 followed by four 0’s! This is my first time seeing so much gold!” Ah Chen exclaimed. The War God Tribe had never gathered so much gold at once despite pouring in a fortune. The few thousand gold they did manage to acquire every now and then would be instantly spent developing the guild.
The reason the War God Tribe’s development had stalled wasn’t that they lacked funding, but rather a channel to purchase gold. They couldn’t find any gold farming groups that hadn’t already sold their services to others. As for establishing their own, that was still a work-in-progress.
The establishment of a gold farming group was different from that of a guild. Generally, only wealthy financial groups could establish gold farming groups. The players that worked in them were usually poor, receiving a daily wage of 50 credits on average. They were provided replaceable equipement and ordered to farm low-level mobs every day. They made the rest of their money by selling the gold and equipment they collected to their employers at market rate.
Gold farmers generally picked melee classes since they required fewer consumables. At most, they might eat the cheapest loaf of bread to recover their health faster, allowing them to get back to the endless grind. This was the life of a gold farmer. It was monotonous and tedious, with little to no variation. But many people still chose to this kind of work to make a living.
In the previous timeline, the War God Tribe had tens of thousands of gold farmers working under them. It took Father Nie an exuberant amount of time and resources to establish this gold farming group.
The War God Tribe would always be short on gold without their own gold farming group. Only after establishing one would they become self-sufficient. Nie Yan’s aid was only a temporary solution to their problem.
“I’ll send someone over to the auction house you own in Nisode City and have them connect it to the Super Trade Channel. You should see sales increase by quite a bit,” Nie Yan said. Like this, the Super Trade Channel would comprise eight auction houses and enjoy a monopoly in both Calore and Nisode City!
Nie Yan confirmed the trade with Ah Chen.
“About the auction house, send that person over to talk to me. One more thing, do you have any equipment to spare? Our treasury is basically empty.”
“No problem, I’ll immediately send some over,” Nie Yan said. He could probably spare around 30,000 pieces of equipment. Asskickers United’s treasury was practically bursting at the seams. Taking out 30,000 pieces of equipment wouldn’t be a problem. If he wanted to take out more, he would have to receive the permission of the Dragonsoar Financial Group.
“It seems things will be smooth sailing from now on,” Ah Chen happily said. All the conditions were met. The War God Tribe’s rise was imminent! Just as he finished speaking, he received a call from guild headquarters. “It seems like there’s business for me to take care of. We’re still a new guild, you know. I’ll be taking my leave. Come visit us in Nisode City some time!”
“Alright.” Nie Yan nodded.
Nie Yan ordered his subordinates to take care of some things related to the War God Tribe. Just at this moment, he received a piece of news from Guo Huai.
「Check the Calore section of the forums!」
He immediately opened the forums, where he found a post in the Calore boards that dampened his mood considerably.
Bloodlust Blades declares war on Asskickers United! You will be rewarded 2 gold for every member of Asskickers United killed.
Kill Count: 32
The kill count was rapidly rising.
A reward of 2 gold was already incredible, and that was just for killing an ordinary member. A top ranking member would give even more gold, with Nie Yan’s bounty at the very top. He was worth over 5,000 gold!
After doing some calculations, if Bloodlust Blades wished to kill all 60,000 members of Asskickers United, they would have to spend roughly 200,000 gold! What lavish spending!
Aside from investing a bit of gold, Bloodlust Blades suffered no losses. This announcement was made on the Calore forum boards in any case. They could simply sit back, relax, and enjoy the show all the way from Glory City.
Seeing this announcement, Nie Yan boiled with anger. Asskickers United wouldn’t take this lying down! For Bloodlust Blades to be willing to part with so much gold, who knew how much money the Century Financial Group had invested.
“Want to see who has deeper pockets? Let me show you!” Nie Yan snarled. He immediately thought of the Union of Assassins. It had currently developed to the point where they had over 30,000 professional players, including some of the best in the business.
Nie Yan wrote an announcement in the Union of Assassins.
You will be rewarded 2 gold for every member of Bloodlust Blades you kill. There is no upper limit.
This announcement was a golden opportunity for these professional players. It was the same reward, but the players of Bloodlust Blades were much easier to deal with than those in Asskickers United. They would naturally pick the easier of the two.