Nie Yan remained relatively calm, but Guo Huai had indeed been restless these past few days. He had been watching the market changes closely, and it seemed as if he could already see golden coins pouring into his hands in a few days.
The Mage Union invested over two million gold coins to aggressively purchase gems, becoming the final straw that broke the camel’s back. Players began noticing something was off in the gem market. The Mage Union’s willingness to invest such a large sum indicated some kind of trickery, prompting more and more players to buy gems, which quickly pushed prices upward, causing them to skyrocket.
The more prices soared, the more buyers entered the market—such was the nature of the market.
“Nie Yan, gem prices have started to skyrocket,” Guo Huai said excitedly through voice chat. His voice trembled slightly. After waiting anxiously for five days, how could he not be thrilled now that gem prices had finally surged?
“Stay calm, let’s wait a few more days,” Nie Yan replied with a smile. Gem prices would only rise further in the upcoming days, and they could simply sit back and collect the profits.
They needed to wait until gem prices peaked before selling to maximize their profits. At this moment, Nie Yan and others were like patient hunters waiting for their prey.
“I understand; gem prices will definitely continue to rise, but I still can’t help getting excited,” Guo Huai chuckled. He also had a keen business sense, but two million gold coins was a staggering sum—few could remain calm in the face of such a fortune.
Nie Yan, however, remained composed. Money was merely a means to an end, not the end itself. Having experienced life and death, what else could unsettle him? Two million gold coins were merely the beginning.
Players across the cities of the Saturn Empire and the Glinlan Empire were all watching the gem market closely. This turbulent, ever-changing market seemed shrouded in fog, leaving many puzzled about the true situation. Some still firmly believed in the existence of the secret shop, thinking all of this was just a trick by gem dealers to lure players into buying gems. They continued to wait, hoping gem prices would drop to their expected range before purchasing. Some perceptive players began buying gems, and their aggressive acquisitions further drove up prices. The majority of players chose to watch passively, helplessly watching gem prices rise steadily.
Under current circumstances, no one dared claim their judgment was definitely correct.
“Poison resistance gems dropped from 1,200 gold coins to 300 gold coins not long ago, and now they’ve already risen back to 1,000 gold coins and are still climbing. How can anyone live like this?” a warrior complained.
“Exactly. Prices of other gem types have also rebounded. Fire resistance gems, for example, are already twice the price of ordinary gems.”
“Luckily, I bought five or six gems when prices were at their lowest, spending over 600 gold coins. If I sold them now, they’d probably fetch around 3,000 gold coins.”
Indeed, in this world, there were some who rejoiced while others grieved.
Nie Yan casually glanced at the auction house. The quantity of various gems available there was significantly lower than before. He estimated that it wouldn’t be long before gems were completely sold out in the market. Passing through the central square of Carol City, Nie Yan noticed many groups heading out to hunt for gems. Many players dared not buy gems anymore, as the gem market had become too unpredictable. Consequently, many players resorted to self-reliance, attempting to farm gems themselves. However, the results were clearly limited. A team farming monsters in a specific map for five or six days would yield at most three or four gems, with uncertain attributes. When divided among team members, the value was negligible.
“Have you collected enough sets of magic rune stones yet?” Nie Yan suddenly asked Guo Huai.
“During this period, I’ve purchased over 10,000 magic rune stones in total. Approximately 500 sets consist of seven different magic rune stones each,” Guo Huai replied. With players’ attention focused on gems, fewer people were buying magic rune stones, and their prices were relatively low, allowing him to acquire so many.
“Over 500 sets?” Nie Yan was startled. He hadn’t expected Guo Huai to have collected so many. In his previous life, a set of magic rune stones had been driven to astronomical prices, yet he now had over 500 sets! How much experience could all these magic rune stones be exchanged for?
Nie Yan couldn’t estimate it for now. He planned to take advantage of his current low level to kill higher-level monsters like Troll Dylans and gain more levels. Once he couldn’t level up by killing Troll Dylans anymore, he would exchange the magic rune stones for more experience.
Nie Yan went to retrieve his javelin and continued grinding monsters, rushing to level up as quickly as possible.
During this period, the Bull Tribe remained relatively calm. Players like Cui Can Dao Guang and Shui Se Yan Tou led the way, organizing large teams of over a thousand players to clear some famous high-level monsters on the maps, such as the level 80 boss, Blazing Basilisk, and the level 85 boss, Manni Anaconda. Lower-level players organized into smaller teams to farm elites and bosses.
Across Carol City’s maps for levels 60-70 and 80-90, Bull Tribe players were everywhere. Occasionally, there were additional rewards when exploring new maps, such as jars of gunpowder, sulfur, and so on. These resources were transported back to the Bull Tribe’s headquarters.
Guo Huai managed the overall situation in Carol City. Once Carol City stabilized, Nie Yan and others began planning for expansion. The Bull Tribe established a branch in Elemental City, while Ji Lan Shen Dian, Shen Sheng Luo Ma, and Guang Ming Sheng Yan also opened branches in other cities. They generally chose cities without unified guild control, where they established branches to recruit members, preparing to seize city control once they grew stronger.
Just as Nie Yan was rushing to level up furiously, Guo Huai brought some bad news.
“Lately, some thieves have been assassinating our people,” Guo Huai said, frowning as he looked at the reports coming in from various places.
“Has anyone been killed?” Nie Yan asked. Assassin tactics like ambushes weren’t particularly new. Nie Yan himself had hired thieves to assassinate members of the Mage Union, Shen Sheng Shou Hu, and Tian Shi Ba Ye. Bull Tribe players should have been prepared for such things.
“There are about fifty or so of them. Usually working in teams of seven or eight, they rarely fail when ambushing. Their targets are our Bull Tribe’s elite members. Their intelligence is very accurate, so there must be someone from our side leaking information to them. Players like Bu Si De Huai Dan, Xia Chong Yu Bing, and Hei Bai were all killed, suffering heavy losses. Cui Can Dao Guang was also ambushed, killing two thieves before nearly being taken down himself. Fortunately, reinforcements arrived in time,” Guo Huai reported. The data showed that over twenty key members had been assassinated, a shocking loss.
Hearing the names Guo Huai listed, Nie Yan raised his eyebrows and asked gravely, “Do you know who’s behind this?” These members were the future backbone of the Bull Tribe. Their deaths were a significant blow to the guild.
“People below mentioned it might be Xie Sha, but we can’t confirm the identity of that group yet,” Guo Huai replied. “I think it’s probably the Mage Union, Shen Sheng Shou Hu, and Tian Shi Ba Ye. Only they would go to such lengths to target us.”
Xie Sha? Nie Yan recalled this organization. In his previous life, this group was renowned in the Saturn Empire and the Glinlan Empire. They were a group of thieves numbering about a hundred or so. These were professional players with no moral standards. They would take any job for money—assassinations, murders, thefts. Many among them were experts. In his previous life, five successfully advanced to Shadow Dancers, and the others were also formidable. Players generally dared not provoke them. Xie Sha was extremely secretive; every member had a unique code name and secret passwords for communication. Each member’s whereabouts were kept confidential, and the organization was tightly structured, never recruiting outsiders. Thus, other players couldn’t infiltrate them.
Such a group of over a hundred people once slaughtered three guilds with ten thousand members each in Nie Yan’s previous life. Countless players had died at their hands, but due to their secretive nature and swift, fleeting assassination tactics, players could never catch them, leaving them helpless.
Such an organization was indeed terrifying!
“It’s actually Xie Sha. This could be a bit of a problem,” Nie Yan frowned, guessing that some of his old rivals had hired Xie Sha.
“The Mage Union, Shen Sheng Shou Hu, and Tian Shi Ba Ye really won’t rest until we’re destroyed. Being targeted by Xie Sha isn’t exactly pleasant,” Guo Huai said. When seven or eight top thieves attacked a single player, unless the player had exceptional awareness and skill, it was rare to escape unscathed.
“Our top priority is to find those spies first, one by one. I don’t believe they can hide forever. Also, remind our players to be cautious when traveling. It’s better to travel in groups and avoid being alone, giving them opportunities,” Nie Yan instructed. The news of Xie Sha assassinating Bull Tribe players had not been disclosed, and no guild had claimed responsibility. In that case, they would keep the information completely under wraps.
Without confirming who was responsible, Nie Yan wouldn’t take any retaliatory action for now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t in the future.
“Regarding the spies, I’m already looking. There should be more than one,” Guo Huai said, sighing deeply. No guild could completely avoid spies, including the Bull Tribe. However, the Mage Union, Shen Sheng Shou Hu, and Tian Shi Lian Meng also had spies within the Bull Tribe. The wages for spies were dozens of times higher than a regular guild member’s salary. Under such a heavy reward, there would always be people taking risks.
“If you find the spies, don’t expose them or let them realize they’ve been discovered. I’ll have use for them next time,” Nie Yan specially instructed Guo Huai, already having some plans in mind.
Guo Huai was momentarily stunned but quickly understood, smiling slightly. “I understand. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they don’t find out.”
If they successfully identified the spies, these spies would become free informants for the Bull Tribe. Having such people around could prove extremely effective at critical moments.
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