Chapter 412: The Guild of the Famished

Seeing that Yang Ling was interested, Xu Peng immediately perked up and lowered his voice:

"Rank One Yang, according to our guild master's estimates, there may already be thirty to forty thousand players in the Capital, spread across all walks of life."

"Among them, the Water Transport Guild needs the most manpower and has the lowest threshold, so Canal Worker players are the most numerous."

"And within the Water Transport Guild, four player-built guilds have emerged, but none of us dare to publicize them, especially for fear of the Ironclad Department finding out."

"Yeah, the Ironclad Department keeps an extremely tight watch on this. Only with Ironclad Department approval can a guild be considered legal and legitimate."

Yang Ling said casually, "If your guild's purpose is to help us players help ourselves, feel free to come find me at the First Division, Public Security Department of the Ironclad Department. I'll help you get approved."

"Hiss-"

Xu Peng and the other players all gasped sharply, disbelief flickering in their eyes.

This task that seemed as difficult as reaching the heavens for them... could it actually be completed today, purely by stumbling into the right person!?

Xu Peng said cautiously, "Rank One Yang, we don't have much silver..."

"No need for money."

Yang Ling frowned slightly. "Keep talking about the guilds."

A ripple stirred in Xu Peng's heart. Perhaps their understanding of Rank One Yang had been wrong from the very beginning.

Xu Peng sat up straight and said in a low voice:

"Right now, there are four guilds created by players in the Water Transport Guild: [The Guild of the Famished], [This Game Has No Paid Actors], [Don't Hit Me, I Have Welfare], and [Raising a Toast to the Blue Skies]."

"Of course, the Divine Realm hasn't updated a version that allows guild creation yet. These are all self-organized. We don't have the Divine Realm's endorsement, nor the official endorsement of Zhao State."

"The Guild of the Famished? With names like these, I'm afraid they won't pass review at the Ironclad Department."

Yang Ling said helplessly, "If you want Zhao State's endorsement, you'll have to change the names."

"Rank One Yang, it's not 'famished' as in vicious, it's 'famished' as in hungry."

Xu Peng explained, "We're all members of the Guild of the Famished, because when we first arrived, we really did go hungry for a long time..."

Yang Ling was momentarily stunned, then said seriously:

"Then it's even less likely to pass review. This Divine Realm isn't just any game. Taking a name like that is practically challenging the local natives. Who knows if one day they'll suddenly start caring about us players?"

He paused briefly. "Tell your guild master to make the arrangements. Once everything's set up, private message me, and I'll come meet them."

Xu Peng quickly nodded, then led his guild members out of the Gathering Spring Tower in a hurry.

Not long after they left, Yang Ling also walked out of the Gathering Spring Tower. His Ironclad uniform and Official Saber were gone, and through muscle manipulation, his facial features had shifted into an entirely different face.

He strolled over to the Divine Armaments Pavilion branch in his jurisdiction.

He had already asked the shopkeeper of this branch - in the Capital, there was one such shop on every street.

At the very least, there were over a hundred of them.

The shop was currently buzzing with activity, and most of the customers were Martial Artists about to reach Ranked Level or already at Ninth-Rank.

With a casual glance, Yang Ling could also spot some Eighth-Rank or Seventh-Rank experts.

"Esteemed guest, what weapons would you like to purchase?"

A shop assistant stepped forward and asked respectfully.

A player.

Yang Ling glanced at him and said with a faint smile:

"Is Old Gu here? I'm looking for him to discuss a business deal."

The player assistant was slightly startled - this man was asking for the shopkeeper outright?

He had heard people say the shopkeeper was an Upper Seventh-Rank expert!

Managing an entire shop for the Divine Armaments Pavilion, he was unquestionably a top-tier NPC boss in the Divine Realm!

"Right this way, please."

The player assistant steadied his nerves and led Yang Ling to find Old Gu, the shopkeeper here.

This Old Gu had just returned from the Gathering Spring Tower not long ago, but this time when he saw Yang Ling, he naturally couldn't recognize that this was Chief Constable Yang, whom he had met not long ago.

Yang Ling casually tossed the player assistant a ingot of silver, about ten taels.

This player gasped sharply, his face flushed red with excitement. He didn't know what to say, and blurted out instinctively:

"N-no, there's no need..."

Yang Ling placed the silver into his hand, then patted him on the shoulder:

"Go on, get back to work."

Seeing this, Old Gu smiled: "If the guest tips you, just accept it. This means the guest is satisfied with your service."

"Yes, yes, thank you, guest! Thank you, Old Gu!"

The player assistant's eyes suddenly turned a bit red. He bowed repeatedly in thanks, then withdrew.

"May I ask how I should address you, guest?"

Old Gu looked Yang Ling up and down, feeling that the man seemed somewhat familiar, yet unable to remember where he had seen him before.

"Great Yan Sword Sect, Xu Zegang."

Yang Ling clasped his fists and smiled: "I know your Divine Armaments Pavilion's young master, Luo Jinchui."

"Recently, I hosted an auction at the Great Yan Sword Sect, as well as the exhibition jointly organized by your Divine Armaments Pavilion and the Pharmacy Guild."

Old Gu suddenly realized - he had indeed seen this Xu Zegang before, once from a distance back when the Great Yan Sword Sect was in Suyang Prefectural Capital.

His attitude immediately warmed up, and he invited Yang Ling to take a seat.

The man before him was a Mid Sixth-Rank expert - unquestionably a big shot.

Yang Ling got straight to the point: "I have a batch of Centenary Refined Blazing Gold I'd like to sell to your Divine Armaments Pavilion. Are you interested?"

"Centenary Refined Blazing Gold?"

Old Gu gasped sharply, then was overcome with pleasant surprise.

Centenary Refined Blazing Gold was an excellent material for forging weapons!

With just a bit of Centenary Refined Blazing Gold added, some weapons could easily reach Eighth-Rank or even Seventh-Rank quality!

If there was enough Centenary Refined Blazing Gold, paired with a skilled blacksmith, it might even be possible to forge a Sixth-Rank Divine Armament!

"Senior Xu, how much Centenary Refined Blazing Gold do you have? If it's only three to five taels... I'll buy it personally."

Old Gu said.

Yang Ling smiled: "It's definitely more than three to five taels. I have about ten jin of Centenary Refined Blazing Gold here."

"Ten jin!?"

Old Gu's expression shifted slightly, but it was still within his acceptable range.

He pondered for a moment: "On the market, one tael of Centenary Refined Blazing Gold has been driven up to nearly five thousand taels of Fine Silver."

"Ten jin would be five hundred thousand taels."

At that point, he changed his tone:

"But the Divine Armaments Pavilion also needs to maintain sufficient profit margins. If we're the ones purchasing, I can probably only offer forty thousand taels per jin."

He looked at Yang Ling with a somewhat awkward expression:

"I wonder if Senior Xu can accept this. This is already the top market rate."

Perhaps afraid Yang Ling would misunderstand, he added: "If Senior Xu doesn't mind the trouble, you could sell it one tael at a time. That should fetch five thousand taels per tael."

"Four hundred thousand taels, huh."

Yang Ling nodded thoughtfully:

"What if my quantity is even larger? How much can you take in here, and at what price?"

More than ten jin? Old Gu's expression suddenly became extremely serious - not because he doubted the origins of the Centenary Refined Blazing Gold.

Such materials would only arouse suspicion if sold outside Zhao State.

Within Zhao State, no establishment would refuse Centenary Refined Blazing Gold, and even fewer would bother investigating where it came from.

"Senior Xu, I have the authority to approve a two million tael deal."

"If you have fifty jin of Centenary Refined Blazing Gold, I can authorize raising the price to forty-one thousand taels per jin."

Two million fifty thousand taels?

Yang Ling did some mental calculations. He planned to purchase Spirit Nurturing Pills, and this sum would be more than enough for him to splurge when he entered the dungeon.

The only thing to watch out for was that he needed ready silver! And it couldn't bear any Zhao State markings.

"Old Gu, let's keep it at forty thousand taels per jin. Keep the difference as tea money for yourself. My only requirement is that one million taels be converted into gold."

Yang Ling smiled.

Old Gu was somewhat taken aback, but after thinking it over, he still nodded: "I can manage that, but I'll need three days to prepare the cash. However, the Divine Armaments Pavilion has some rules here - Senior Xu might need to leave a bit of the Centenary Refined Blazing Gold as a deposit..."

"Three days won't do. This transaction must be completed today."

Yang Ling smiled. "Or I could come back next time I happen to pass through the Capital. That works too."

Old Gu's face turned solemn. If he mobilized cash from other branches, he could scrape together two million taels within half a day.

He gritted his teeth: "Senior Xu, let me see the Centenary Refined Blazing Gold."

Yang Ling took out one jin of Centenary Refined Blazing Gold fragments.

After Old Gu verified the goods, he didn't waste a single word and immediately rushed off to gather the funds.