Chapter 20: Auction Market
After restructuring his mindset and to not be pressured by something intangible, Xu Feng's emotions soon became tranquil. Despite continuous failure in synthesizing, there was barely any reaction or changes in his expression.
The entire time, Xu Feng was patient and continued with his process until all the herbs were used up.
In total, Xu Feng successfully synthesized 48 potions and 94 inferior potions. As for how many failed, he didn't even bother counting since he simply moved on right away.
The 48 potions are the precious ones, with Cinderbloom added, meaning the duration of the potion's effect lasts longer.
Meanwhile, the inferior potions are the ones that Xu Feng cheaped out on, having neglected the Cinderbloom. Thus, the potion's effects duration was short, but it was the perfect potion in Xu Feng's mind.
After all, the shorter the duration of the potion's effect, the more the players must purchase to continuously consume for their adventure, dungeon, or whatever they are trying to do that requires it.
'Oh, I can just smell the money raining down from the sky already.' Xu Feng flashed a sinister smile.
As evil as his conduct may be, it was the reality of the world. Even in the real world, people love to cut corners to lower production costs while increasing their prices.
It was a common practice, so he shouldn't be condemned for doing this. In fact, he should be commended for being the first to slap the players with a reality check that whether it was real life or in-game, they would be extorted.
"Ahh~, I'm really a saint. I seriously need to stop being so generous." Xu Feng gushed, having zero shame whatsoever.
"Anyway, I should check out the Auction Market and leave this room already. I can't believe how much time I wasted in synthesizing. Hopefully, I can get the auto-function skill soon."
Sometime later, Xu Feng retrieved all the newly synthesized potions from his inventory. He cleaned up some of the mess and proceeded to take the secret passage.
The secret passage was designed to allow the people upstairs to exit the area without being seen or bothered by the people in the lobby. After all, the Town Hall could be said to be the most important area for influential and powerful people.
Naturally, this secret passage is not known information, and only a few people are allowed to learn of this. The same applied to Xu Feng, but that didn't mean he didn't have the knowledge already.
Hence, without alerting Receptionist Sandy and the group of players that were camping by the lobby, Xu Feng had already left the Town Hall.
To those still waiting in the lobby, they continued to believe the mysterious player to still be upstairs or had logged out of the game temporarily.
'I might as well let them immerse in the illusion that I'm still upstairs.' Gleefully looking at the bunch of lost lambs in the lobby, Xu Feng calmly walked around the street, finding a bench to sit on.
The process of unlocking the Auction Market was fairly easy.
One needed to reach level 2 and pay a fixed amount of coins corresponding to one level to unlock. This meant that the higher one's level was, the more they needed to pay to unlock the function.
Therefore, it was best to unlock it as soon as one reached the level 2 requirement.
As for why he felt the need to come outside, Xu Feng didn't like the feeling of being trapped in a room.
Though the truth was that being in the room would constantly remind him of the number of failures and the loss of precious herbs.
Although he wouldn't rage about it anymore, it still pained him nonetheless.
The feeling was akin to having seen your money being dumped into an ocean, forever gone.
Opening the Auction Market tab that was still grayed out in the prompt, Xu Feng quickly searched for the option to pay.
System: Are you sure about paying 10 copper coins to unlock the Auction Market?
10 copper coins might not seem a lot to the current him, but it was a massive amount to most players. However, that was the main aspect of the Auction Market in requiring such a fee.
The Auction Market was not open for the mediocre players, and only those who could earn big bucks in a short span of time would be qualified to be here.
After paying the 10 copper coins without a blink of an eye, Xu Feng was soon greeted by the unlocked interface of the Auction Market.
There might not be many items being auctioned in the current listing, but he was indeed surprised to see there were at least thousands of players online in the Auction Market.
Online Players: 2,358
Current Listings:
[Iron Sword] (Level 2)
Seller: DragonKnight69
Starting Bid: 10 copper coins
Buyout Price: 30 copper coins
Time Left: 12 hours
[Enchanted Robes] (Level 3)
Seller: MysticalMageZ
Starting Bid: 8 copper coins
Buyout Price: 25 copper coins
Time Left: 8 hours
[Hunting Bow] (Level 2)
Seller: ShadowArcher
Starting Bid: 15 copper coins
Buyout Price: 2 silver coins
Time Left: 10 hours
[Iron Plate Armor] (Level 3)
Seller: Anonymous User
Starting Bid: 20 copper coins
Buyout Price: 3 silver coins
Time Left: 6 hours
'Most of the items being auctioned are level 2 gears, with some being level 3. These people sure know how to grind.' Xu Feng was amused, especially by some of the usernames and a player who wished to remain anonymous.
To reach such a level without any advanced knowledge could be considered an achievement in itself. It meant that these players were already ahead of the majority and could call themselves "rankers".
Of course, when compared to him, they were no different than a bunch of clowns, clamoring around.
"Gears are indeed a wonderful increase of strength, but it's very limited and can be used by one person only. How could they compare to the universal potions that everyone could benefit from?" He snickered, ready to make a killing with his inferior potions stock.