Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, the item "Dragonbone Whip" you consigned for sale has been sold for 8,000,000 RMB. After deducting the 5% intermediary fee, 7,600,000 RMB has been delivered to your bank account! Kindly confirm that the payment has been received!

……

I let out a sigh of relief, glad that the bidding for the Dragonbone Whip was over. Normally, the Lower Divine Armament would be sold for 3 million at most, but thanks to the generous efforts of Li Le, Roaming Dragon and most of all, Zhou Ping, it had fetched more than twice its expected value. It was worth it for Zhou Ping though. Zhou Ping had three Immortal Rank boss pets, and the Dragonbone Whip increased their stats by an insane amount. One Phantom Wolf King with its stats boosted by 70% was impressive enough. Three? She could give even me a run for my money, much less everyone else.

The Tamer class was very expensive. First, they needed powerful pets. Two, they needed powerful equipment. If they were lacking in either department, the main classes would slaughter them like they were nothing. They could go toe-to-toe against priests, bards and tacticians, but that comparison was unfair to say the least. Zhou Ping—or rather Chance Meeting in the game—couldn’t be lumped together with the vast majority of tamers though. She was already the highest-leveled tamer in China before this, and now the Lower Divine Armament was going to boost her to much greater heights.

Hugging Bears in Silence looked ecstatic on behalf of her sponsor. She grabbed Zhou Ping’s hands and beamed at her. "You did it! It’s too bad you have to pay so much though. If I knew this would happen, I would’ve set you up with Lu Chen for a private transaction instead. We would’ve saved you some money and Lu Chen the 5% intermediary fee. Heaven knows Eternal Moon doesn't deserve the 400k RMB fee."

Zhou Ping smiled back. "It’s fine. We have dozens of coffee chains throughout Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and 400k is worth about an hour of income. It’s nothing at all."

Hugging Bears in Silence asked, "So, what are we going to do next, big sis?"

Zhou Ping thought for a moment before replying, "Let’s head back to Crimson Flame Cave. Remember the Level 285 Immortal Rank boss that wiped us back then? The Dragonbone Whip will make up for the lack of power, and we’ll bring more priests to make up for the lack of sustain. It’s time to take our revenge!"

"Mn!"

……

You could literally feel the excitement in the venue waning after the Dragonbone Whip was sold. Roaming Dragon was sitting beneath a peach tree and caressing Coldmoon Rose’s smooth thighs when he suddenly paused his movement and frowned a bit. "Come. We’re leaving the city!"

Coldmoon Rose opened her eyes and asked, "What are you planning?"

"Contact Iron Pardon and Inconstant and tell them to scatter the assassins throughout Sky City. Inform me the second they discover Chance Meeting’s coordinates!"

"Dear, are you—" Coldmoon Rose exclaimed in surprise, "Are you plotting to PK Chance Meeting in the open world and steal the Dragonbone Whip?"

Roaming Dragon sneered. "Divine Armaments have a super high drop rate during the first three days they enter someone’s possession. If we manage to kill Chance Meeting, there is at least a 33% chance she will drop the Dragonbone Whip... That being said, we may not need to dirty our own hands. Just watch, someone will play the role of the cicada-stalking mantis for us. All we need to do is to be the oriole that stalks the mantis!"

"Okay!"

Coldmoon Rose clung to Roaming Dragon’s arm and sauntered out of the auction house while swaying her hips. Most of the players in the venue had dispersed as well. The greatest highlight of the day, the Lower Divine Armament had been sold, and the remaining items were a poor follow-up at best.

……

On the stage, a sad-looking uncle replaced the beautiful host and murdered the dying interest of the players even more. He raised a dagger and shouted, "This is the Blade of Singelan, a Level 210 Immortal-grade dagger with a reserve price of 5000 RMB! The item will go to the highest bidder! Begin!"

A mere Immortal-grade item couldn’t invigorate one’s spirits, so everyone looked like they were close to falling asleep. In the end, the Blade of Singelan was sold for 9200 RMB. It wasn’t a very impressive trade, and it certainly couldn’t compare to my Dragonbone Whip.

There weren’t many players in the venue at this point. Most of them were chatting to each other in quiet voices.

This time, the uncle produced a ring and said, "This here is a very special item. It is called the Master of Disguise Ring, and it enables a player to change their ID, appearance and outfit however they’d like. Of course, taking off the ring will cause the changes to revert. The reserve price is 50000 RMB, and the highest bidder will win the item! Begin!"

A commotion immediately broke out beneath the stage.

A berserk warrior carrying a battle axe chortled. "OMG, what a useless item. This Master of Disguise Ring alters one’s ID and appearance, but it doesn’t give any stats at all. Who the hell would waste an equipment slot on such a thing? This is Heavenblessed, not Audition Online! Get this shit out of my face already!"

Another mage echoed in agreement, "Yeah. So what if I can look like Andy Lau? Is it worth replacing a ring with a 100% Attack boost? Of course not!"

……

Not everyone shared their opinion, however. A middle-aged man who looked to be around 40 years old raised his arm and cried, "60k!"

I licked my lips and raised my own hand. "70k!"

Many people looked up at me. They were probably surprised that a VIP player would be interested in a "useless" item like this, and they were curious as to my identity. However, there were peach branches blocking their view, and I had hidden my ID and even sheathed my weapon behind my back beforehand. They shouldn’t be able to identify me.

Unfortunately, the auctioneer yelled, "Very well, player ‘Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand’ is offering 70k!"

"What the fuck!"

I clenched my fists and swore out loud. I was hoping to bid for the ring without revealing my identity, but that idiotic auctioneer ruined my efforts completely. He must have concrete instead of a brain in his skull instead...

The bidder before me immediately clenched his fists. I could even see veins popping on his forehead. I could tell he was a hardcore veteran because he figured out the strength of the ring right away, but unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the capital to bid against me. He raised his arm and called out graciously, "100k! Friend upstairs, feel free to respond if you really want the ring! This will be my last bid!"

"Thank you!" I smiled back before raising my hand. "110k!"

As promised, the uncle didn’t bid for the item. Seven seconds later, 110k RMB was deducted from my bank account, and the Master of Disguise Ring appeared in my bag with a ding. The first thing I noticed was that the berserk warrior’s claim that it didn’t add any stats at all was a lie. It was just a very, very, VERY miniscule amount—

Master of Disguise Ring (Special Item)

Strength: +1

Agility: +1

Intelligence: +1

Stamina: +1

Effect: Disguise. Enables the user to alter one’s ID and appearance. The changes will disappear if the ring is removed.

Level: Requirement: 230

Reputation Requirement: 1000000

Luck Requirement: 50

……

Now I understood why so few players were interested in it. Its requirements were stringent to say the least. There were less than four players in the entire China server who were Level 230 or higher right now, but the ring also required their user to have 1 million Reputation and 50 Luck. All things considered, I might be the only player in the entire China server who fit the bill. I bet that most of the bidders in the venue had checked the items’ stats beforehand and deemed it useless to them.

Ding!

I replaced my Apparition Ring with the Master of Disguise Ring. Usually, the Apparition Ring was the superior choice. However, the Master of Disguise Ring opened to me a fan of opportunities that I normally wouldn’t have if I was Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand.

I jumped down the window and activated the Master of Disguise Ring. An interface popped in front of me—

ID:

Level:

Class:

New Appearance:

……

I smiled to myself and entered—ID: Fruit Knife Guard Captain, Class: Magic Knight, Level: 211!

My beloved Fruit Knife Goddess was the most popular female player in the China server, and you had to be living under a rock to not know her name. That was why "Fruit Knife Guard Captain" was a very common and unassuming ID. I had chosen my level and my class for the same reason. Magic knight was the most common class, and Level 211 was the average level in the game right now.

I altered my appearance to look like a 30-year-old. Next, I dyed my hair fiery red so that I looked like a battle maniac who could go off his rockers at any moment. Finally, I reduced the lighting and dulled the metallic edges of my equipment so they looked like your shitty 50 RMB stall equipment. The only thing I couldn’t change was my gaze, but that was fine. How many people could identify someone through gaze alone?

After everything was finished, I saved the template and transformed into the Level 211 magic knight I designed. The disguise wasn’t yet complete, however. I purchased a Level 150 mount pet egg—a Wild Onager that cost me 5 gold—from the auction house. Then, I purchased a saddle with fixing straps and sat Xinran on the onager. Finally, I grabbed the reins of the onager and slowly led them out of the auction house. Now, most people would think that Xinran was the mistress, and I, the servant.

……

It was at this moment He Yi sent me a message and informed me that tonight’s dinner would be postponed until supper. I was perfectly okay with the delay because I was leaving the city to PvP. I wanted to take revenge for all the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players who had been killed by Blood Alliance and collect the power of rebirth for Xinran at the same time.

I walked into a deep alley where the walls were made of black and white bricks. An old tree stretched over half of its huge trunk out of a courtyard, and the wind blew off some of its peach blossom petals.

I carried the Chill of the Nine Provinces on my shoulder with one hand and held the reins of the onager with the other. Xinran caught a peach blossom petal from the sky and beamed. "It’s so pretty…"

I smiled. I will probably remember this scene forever, won't I?

We soon arrived at the house connected to the courtyard. According to the forums, this was the headquarters of the so-called intelligence agency. Did I mention that their guild name was also ‘Intelligence Agency’? Anyway, Intelligence Agency was a non-combat guild. They didn’t even participate in Nation Wars. Their only trade in the game was the collection and selling of all kinds of information.

Pa!

My boots rapped against limestone tiles as I entered the house. A couple of Intelligence Agency players were sitting on stone benches and accepting inquiries from their customers. I ignored the young ones until I found the person I was looking for; a 35-year-old man and the vice leader of Intelligence Agency, Outspoken.

……

I strolled up to the guy and took a seat before him. I said with a smile, "I have a request for you!"

"What is it, young man?" He smiled back politely.

"Blood Alliance!"

"Blood Alliance again?"

Outspoken looked at my onager and the young girl sitting on it before chuckling. "Forgive me for saying this, but I don’t think you’re a match for Blood Alliance. Everyone knows that Blood Alliance’s guild leader, Assassin’s Creed, is on the same level as Moonkiss or even Farewell Song. Are you sure you don’t want to amend your request?"