Chapter 318: A Wager to Prove Strength

A Lan paid no heed to Ye Ming's furious departure.

If one chooses to yield on matters of principle, the Mingwu Clan will inevitably push their advantage further.

In this world, devoid of moral constraints, strength has always been the ultimate arbiter.

In the eyes of foreign races, your concession is essentially an admission of weakness after weighing pros and cons, leading you to compromise.

Such behavior will not make foreign races restrain themselves; instead, it will convince them they hold the upper hand.

Under the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak, acts of compromise are like the scent of blood from a torn wound, only inviting more greedy suction.

Only by standing firm and unyielding can one secure more room for cooperation.

A display of fearlessness is far more substantial than any previous verbal alliance.

As for Ye Ming's anger, A Lan did not believe he was truly enraged.

From their first two encounters, he felt Ye Ming was an exceptional leader, whose every seemingly angry outburst was ultimately calculated to secure profit.

Even his previous acts of extreme pressure, including his anger, were merely chips he used to bargain for gain.

Even his furious rise just now, followed by a sweeping glare at the crowd, was nothing more than a performance to extract benefits.

How could this veteran, who had fought through a hundred battles and single-handedly turned the Black Tide for the Mingwu Clan when they should have exited the stage of history, be a rash fool easily swayed by emotion?

As for inviting the General to this auction without beforehand clarifying the existence of Rule Fragments,

this too was a scheme designed to extract greater profits from the Mingwu Clan.

Had they announced it in advance, the General could have prepared resources beforehand, allowing the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce to reap even more profit from this auction event.

But what he wanted was to ensure the Mingwu Clan would proactively attend every future auction.

He also wanted them to store vast quantities of resources in the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce in advance.

By not publicly disclosing the goods for each auction, it meant foreign races could not know whether Rule Fragments would appear in the next round.

To seize opportunities in advance, one must prepare resources ahead of time and store them here at the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce.

This would tightly bind the interests of all races to the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce.

Secondly, storing resources requires a handling fee, providing a continuous source of resource income.

After this ordeal, Ye Ming would surely plan ahead for every future auction, inevitably dispatching clansmen whenever an auction was held.

On the other side.

Ye Ming's figure shot forth like a bolt of black lightning, skimming rapidly across the sea.

As his body swept over the churning waves, the seawater silently parted in his wake, rising as a misty vapor.

Suddenly, his five fingers clenched toward the front, instantly tearing space apart like fragile brocade, revealing a twisted void rift.

The next second, he had passed through the spatial rift, appearing above Mingwu Island.

Faced with this sudden inter-spatial leap, the massive army of the Mingwu Clan below all looked up; upon discovering the arrival was their Grand General, their tense expressions instantly vanished.

"Prepare three Sky Soul Stones, three thousand Blood Crystal Ores, and two hundred plants of Nether Soul Grass for me."

His voice was cold and hard as iron, causing the Mingwu warriors below to kneel in unison.

Three Elders rose from beneath the island, rushing over hastily, but before they could speak, they were pinned in mid-air by Ye Ming's chilling gaze:

"I told you to prepare resources, not to come over and ask me what happened."

Hearing this, the three Elders decisively flew toward the resource storage zone to gather materials according to Ye Ming's instructions.

The auction on Dream Island had given Ye Ming a new understanding of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce's strength.

He realized he could not fathom the true depth of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce.

It was certain that the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce possessed an intelligence organization embedded in various regions across the seas, gathering information on all major sea areas like ghosts.

This was why their intelligence was so detailed, even knowing the history of the Mingwu Clan.

Furthermore, the fact that the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce could produce such a supreme treasure as a "Rule Fragment" proved that the power behind them cared little for the fragment's potential value.

The power behind this might be far stronger than he had previously imagined.

Even the act of engaging in trade with various races was likely supported by "Rule Logic" behind the scenes.

Otherwise, possessing strength far superior to the Mingwu Clan yet choosing cooperative mutual benefit would itself be a foolish display.

Even enslaving a weak race would align better with this world's law of survival than mutually beneficial trade.

Without dwelling on these questions, his current focus remained on that Rule Fragment.

Even if it could not be repaired, crafting it into a pseudo-rule item would bring strategic-level advantages to the Mingwu Clan.

This was a trump card on the gambling table of the Monster World that, regardless of how eras changed, would surely remain effective in the future.

Technologies might become obsolete, but Rules always occupied the supreme position within the power system.

Ordinary resources could be obtained through mining, farming, plundering, and a series of other means.

But Rules were different; this was an absolute authority transcending resources, the supreme power that dictated the chapters of war.

Their value could not be measured by ordinary resources at all; the two did not even exist on the same dimension.

This was precisely why he considered the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce's act of exchanging a Rule Fragment for resources to be utterly foolish.

It was akin to trading a sharp blade capable of severing fate for a few bundles of firewood—simply absurd.

Just then, the departed Elder returned, handing over a bracelet containing the stored resources.

Taking the bracelet, Ye Ming turned and tore through space once more.

After passing through the spatial tunnel, he appeared above Dream Island, then flew straight toward the island's dock.

He prepared to hand over the resources for registration and obtain the universal currency of Dream Island: Gold Coins.

From these few encounters, he knew that A Lan, the person in charge of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, had a distinct characteristic.

Regarding many issues, A Lan saw no room for negotiation or compromise.

For instance, just now when he explicitly stated he could supplement the funds later, A Lan had chosen to refuse.

This might be related to the logical chain of Rules; since his behavior did not conform to the output of Rule-based profits, she had chosen to refuse.

Or perhaps there were other reasons.

In any case, going directly to the dock for registration would avoid wasting time arguing with A Lan over this minor issue.

Ye Ming's figure, like a black meteor slicing through the sky of Dream Island and carrying the chaotic aura lingering from the spatial rift, crashed down onto the bluish-gray stone slabs of the dock.

The shockwave lifted the moored merchant ships, and players who were loading and unloading cargo were shaken by the sudden impact, stumbling backward.

After landing, Ye Ming reached out and pulled a player before him.

Before the player could react, he found himself staring into a pair of pupils burning with ethereal blue soul fire.

"Register."

Speaking thus, Ye Ming waved his hand at the ground, instantly causing ten metal crates to appear.

"Hey buddy, cutting in line like this isn't cool, can't you be a bit civilized?" The player was startled, then spoke with an displeased expression.

"I told you to register."

Just as this player was about to activate his Cultivation Mode of spewing profanities,

a voice sounded in his mind from the Warband channel, after which he said with a helpless expression:

"Fine, I'll register this for you... be more polite in the future; this is Dream Island, not your clan grounds where you can run wild..."

The soul fire within Ye Ming's skull surged violently as he barely suppressed the urge to slap the man to death, continuing to listen while the player kept chattering on as he tallied the resources.

What aroused his curiosity was the player's method of counting resources.

There was no need to take out a resource catalog for comparison; a mere glance, followed by touching the items and storing them in an imperceptible space, was enough to determine the attributes and value of the materials.

Even stranger was that there was no need to calculate weight at all.

For example, the pricing method for spiritual ore resources should normally be: first determine the category, then appraise the quality, and finally weigh it.

The mining of spiritual ores was inherently full of variables.

The raw stones chiseled from the vein varied in size and shape.

Even ores produced from the same vein could differ in quality due to varying distributions of internal impurities.

Logically speaking, the appraisal process ought to be tedious.

At the very least, one had to select samples to test their luster, then convert the weight based on indicators like energy content, before finally estimating the value of the entire batch.

Yet this chattering member of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce before him could determine the precise value of all goods with just a glance before storing them away.

Curious at heart, Ye Ming reached out, grabbed a piece of ore, scanned it repeatedly with his perception, and handed it to the player who was conducting the inspection.

The player took the ore, glanced at it, stored it in space, and then input a string of numbers into the counter.

"What is the value of this spiritual ore?"

"39,292 Gold Coins."

Ye Ming already knew the value of Gold Coins and calculated rapidly.

The final number fixed in his mind: 39,292.

It matched the value given by the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce member down to the last digit.

But compared to the Gold Coin member who could determine the price with a single glance, his calculation speed was far inferior; moreover, the Gold Coin Chamber was calculating in batches, not individually ore by ore. Although curious about the reason, he did not ask aloud.

The Monster World housed countless races; encountering any kind of racial talent was perfectly normal.

However, what Ye Ming did not know was that this method of rapid counting and valuation was precisely invented by A Lan: the Rapid Valuation Method.

The method of use was actually very simple.

Mere analytical scanning could not determine the specific value of this batch of resources.

But the players held a highly accurate value measurer in their hands: "Sacrifice Brother Di Zhao."

One only needed to open the Sacrifice panel, toss the items in, check the Sacrifice Value, and thus estimate the value of the entire batch of goods.

Taking a single Blood Crystal Ore as an example.

The Gold Coin Society only needs to calculate the market price of this spiritual ore in the trading market; next, it simply needs to bulk-load the Blood Crystal Ore into the Spatial Sack, then sacrifice it to Di Zhao to check the sacrifice price, thereby obtaining the accurate cargo value.

That is: Actual External Market Trading Price = Internal Sacrifice Price × Fixed Coefficient.

There are three steps in total.

Step one: Throw the goods into the Sacrifice Panel (Brother Di Zhao automatically identifies quality and weight to derive the value).

Step two: Record the sacrifice quote.

Step three: Multiply by the fixed coefficient (the ratio listed in the Gold Coin Society's resource category table; each commodity has a different proportional value).

The external price of Blood Crystal Ore is 3.3 times the sacrifice price offered by Brother Di Zhao; this is the fixed coefficient.

All resources can apply this formula to quickly obtain a clear price, completely skipping complex and tedious steps like quality appraisal and weight verification.

Brother Di Zhao is the authority.

Although Brother Di Zhao always slashes the purchase price down to the ankles, with the sacrifice price of some commodities differing from the external price by more than tenfold, the proportional price he gives is absolutely fair, with absolutely no possibility of shortchanging.

This makes "Sacrificing to Di Zhao" the most standard value measurer.

In the early days, the Gold Coin Society also used complex statistical methods, where tallying a single batch of goods consumed a massive amount of time.

With the development of the Gold Coin Society, the early appraisal methods were too inefficient and could no longer keep up with its growth.

Ultimately, after studying his own functional system, A Lan found this shortcut for rapid pricing.

Before long, all resources were tallied.

"Buddy, come collect the payment."

Ye Ming raised the bidding device in his hand with a cold expression; a beam of golden light shot from the statistical device in the player's hand, sweeping across the surface of the bidding device with a "ding."

Instantly, the gears inside the bidding device rotated automatically, and gold coins equivalent to the resource value arrived in the account.

But the numerical value inside the bidding device was, in essence, merely a carrier of value.

The first-generation version of the bidding device was too crude; after careful study, other races possessed the full capability to tamper with the displayed gold coin figures.

Therefore, A Lan adopted a plugin within the Gold Coin Society's Group Chat Realm for recording; players who finished each tally would record that resource transaction in the plugin, so even if the external bidding device's figures were altered, it would be useless, as every transaction had to pass through the players to be completed.

Other races might be able to tamper with the displayed figures on the bidding device, but they could never touch the data information within the Gold Coin Society's chat group.

Having received the gold coins, Ye Ming did not linger; his form soared from the ground into the sky.

Before long, he arrived above the auction hall, slowed down, and landed in his original seat.

At this moment, the bidding price for the Rule Fragment had reached 48 million gold coins, with 8 minutes remaining until the auction ended.

Noticing Ye Ming's return, A Lan knew he had made sufficient preparations to continue bidding.

As a Demigod, traversing the void with his physical body was completely trivial.

The distance between Wuyindao and Dream Island seemed long, but for a powerhouse at the Demigod Realm, as long as one possessed clear spatial coordinates, one could travel back and forth within a short time.

Seated, Ye Ming lifted his head at this moment and manipulated the bidding device in his hand.

The bidding device, which had previously stalled and could no longer rotate, began turning again after receiving new energy.

[Number 313, Bid: 50 million gold coins.]

The moment this offer was made, a new bid popped up the very next second.

[Number 89, Bid: 52 million gold coins.]

This time, Ye Ming did not fly into a rage nor display any excessive behavior; he simply manipulated the bidding device again.

[Number 313, Bid: 55 million gold coins.]

At this point, the price had reached 5.5 million Sacrificial Power, leaving the players in the livestream room dumbfounded.

Among them, the most painful were the squad players who had listed the Rule Fragment on the Trading Hall for 800,000 Sacrificial Power last time.

The concept that knowledge is wealth; they now had a new understanding of it.

As they watched the livestream, the pain in their hearts continued to worsen with the rising price of the Rule Fragment.

In fact, before consigning the Rule Fragment to the Trading Hall, the members of this squad had studied its value in detail.

At the time, they felt the price of 800,000 Sacrificial Power was already somewhat high, planning to lower it bit by bit if it didn't sell, yet the moment it was listed, it was snapped up instantly by another player.

At the time, they still thought that player must be an arms dealer, an alchemist, or a member of a research-type society.

They assumed the purchase was for research purposes, but ultimately it would still be sacrificed to Di Zhao.

They never expected it could fetch such a high price from the hands of the Gold Coin Society.

In stark contrast to the mood of this squad's members was that of the warband that had provided the Rule Fragment to the Gold Coin Society.

The entire warband consisted of 76 people.

While grinding the Adventurer Dungeon, they had been extremely lucky to drop a Rule Fragment; their first action was to search the forum for relevant information, whereupon they found A Lan's post seeking to purchase Rule Fragments.

Originally, they had planned to sell the Rule Fragment to the Gold Coin Society for a price of 1 million Sacrificial Power.

But A Lan gave them two choices in a private message.

First, the Gold Coin Society would purchase the Rule Fragment for 1.5 million.

Second, the Gold Coin Society would handle the consignment sales, taking only a 10% handling fee.

In the private message, A Lan explicitly explained that the price of the Rule Fragment was far more than 1.5 million Sacrificial Power, leaving the choice to them.

When normal players faced a huge sum of 1.5 million Sacrificial Power, they would inevitably choose the Sacrificial Power without hesitation.

This price was no longer just a matter of game currency.

In the real world, it could be used to travel to the Eclipse Clan to extend one's lifespan and resolve all diseases and hidden ailments within the body.

But the warband's leader trusted A Lan greatly; he was also one of the beneficiaries of the Gold Coin Society's past welfare projects.

Therefore, after discussing with the society members, the warband's leader chose the second condition: the consignment model.

In the better part of a month following this, the Gold Coin Society never sent word back.

During this period, members of the warband had also complained, asking why it hadn't sold after so long and suggesting they just sell it for 1.5 million Sacrificial Power.

But the warband's leader still chose to wait a little longer.

Now, the waiting of the earlier days had turned into the ecstasy of this moment.

Every time the numbers on the screen at the auction site jumped, all members of the full squad resting inside the Adventurer Dungeon would raise their hands and cheer together, smiles overflowing on every member's Iron Face.

And the exciting finale auction was still ongoing.

At this moment, watching the still-jumping gold coin figures, A Lan appeared extremely calm.

In fact, the value of the Rule Fragment was far more than a few million Sacrificial Power.

The only thing limiting the value of the Rule Fragment was the current scale of the Gold Coin Society.

If they could gather the Ascension Clan, Shu Yan, the Mingwu Clan, the Black Tide-Defying Legion, the Soul-Return Clan, A Le, and even more wealthy forces to Dream Island to participate in this auction, the price of the Rule Fragment could continue to climb.

Unfortunately, the Gold Coin Society was ultimately just an emerging platform, and the number of buyers it could connect with was still too small.

On-site, the resource volume of the Mingwu Clan was completely dominant; other races were simply no match.

In the end, the Rule Fragment for the finale auction was sold for a price of 87 million, which equated to 8.7 million Sacrificial Power.

"General Ye Ming, congratulations," A Lan said, standing up at this moment and offering his congratulations with a smile.

"Give me the Rule Fragment directly; no delivery is needed," Ye Ming said in a deep voice at this moment.

A Lan could completely understand this request.

Ye Ming, at the Demigod Realm, came and went freely across the Cang Star Sea; no one could stop him. Only he plundered other races; how would the various races of the Cang Star Sea dare to make a move against him?

But A Lan did not agree directly; a new idea formed in his heart:

"General Ye Ming, you have always held doubts about my clan's abilities; how about we play a game?"

"What game?" Ye Ming turned to stare straight at A Lan, the soul fire within his skull flickering.

"For the Rule Fragment you win in the upcoming bid, my Gold Coin Society will be responsible for free delivery. You may employ all means of the Mingwu Clan, including ambushes, tracking, or even your personal intervention... If the Gold Coin Society cannot deliver the Rule Fragment to Wuyindao within three days, I, the Gold Coin Society, will fully refund all resources you spent in this auction, and the Rule Fragment will be considered a free gift."

"You are very confident."

"Confidence is built upon strength."

"Then let us try it," Ye Ming agreed very decisively, then continued:

"I hope the strength of your Gold Coin Society matches this confidence."

Having spoken, he turned, transformed into a wisp of black mist, flew to the sky above Dream Island, and vanished beyond the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Today's update is served~

(End of Chapter)