Chapter 156: The Springtime of the Meat Shields

"Well, Warlord? Do you still want to kill me?" Ye Chen tossed the golden ore in his hand up and down, looking at the Tiger Overlord with a teasing gaze.

The Tiger Overlord was so frustrated he felt like vomiting blood, wishing he could devour Ye Chen alive. However, the awkward dilemma before him forced him to swallow his pride. Otherwise, not only would the elite members of the Tiger Guild present face total annihilation, but the Tiger Guild would also lose the upper hand in the Martial Soul Secret Realm. He could not afford to bear this consequence, nor could the Tiger Guild.

Gritting his teeth, the Tiger Overlord knew how to bend and stretch with circumstances. He said in a deep voice, "We were in the wrong regarding today's events, Brother Ye. Please show mercy and let the Tiger Guild off the hook this time."

As soon as the Tiger Overlord said these words, the surrounding large and small families burst into a wave of mocking laughter. They did not necessarily want to fight the Tiger Guild to the death, and getting to watch the Tiger Guild make a fool of themselves for free was the best outcome possible.

Ye Chen gave the Tiger Overlord a half-smile, mocking, "Wrong? Where were you wrong? Was it wrong because Tiger Roar was killed by me? Or was it wrong because that foul-mouthed rogue was finished off by me?"

Another slap to the face, a blatant slap to the face. When had the Tiger Overlord ever endured such petty humiliation? His face turned purple with rage, and he barked angrily, "You surnamed Ye, don't push your luck!"

The members of the Tiger Guild also glared and gritted their teeth, as if they wanted to pounce and tear Ye Chen to pieces. They had always dominated Fierce Mountain City; even when facing Dragon Soar, the top dog, they had never suffered such a loss. How could they not be furious? Unfortunately, all the major and minor families were now standing on Ye Chen's side, and this collective force was simply something the Tiger Guild—or any other single family—could not contend with alone.

"Pushing my luck? Am I pushing my luck? I'm afraid that if I didn't have this golden elemental stone in my hand, your Tiger Guild would have already hacked me into a thousand pieces," Ye Chen said with a cold smile. He did not care at all about completely offending the Tiger Guild. With a person like the Tiger Overlord, even if he didn't do this, the man would still find every possible means to kill him afterwards. Since that was the case, why not thoroughly toy with him for a good time?

"Cut the crap. We, the Tiger Guild, admit defeat. Exactly what do you want?" The Tiger Overlord was straightforward after all. Since he had already admitted defeat, he dropped the hesitation and generously opened negotiations.

Ye Chen laughed heartily. Putting the Tiger Overlord's character aside, just this ability to take both victory and defeat in stride made him quite a notable figure. Ye Chen raised his index and middle fingers, speaking loudly, "Two members of your Tiger Guild made me extremely unhappy. Even though they are already dead, it is still not enough to calm my anger; my fragile heart is deeply wounded. How about this? You pay me 2,000 gold coins as compensation for emotional distress, and I will magnanimously forgive you."

Puff!

The onlookers burst into laughter almost simultaneously. You killed their people, yet you claim your fragile heart is wounded and demand emotional distress compensation—damn it, could you be any more shameless? Thinking back on how this guy not only swept the golden elemental stone market but also acted as a madman in the mines for several hours, everyone instantly understood. He was truly obsessed with money. There is no most shameless, only more shameless.

In the distance, Drunken Yearning laughed so hard she swayed back and forth, covering her stomach and gasping for breath as she said, "I never expected... I never expected little Ye to have this kind of talent."

The rest of the girls also burst into laughter, while Sword Peerless only wore a faint smile, interjecting, "This really is an exceptional talent. 2,000 gold coins. You couldn't earn that even after working for a long time."

"2,000 gold coins? In your dreams!" The Tiger Overlord was truly enraged. This was pushing things too far, simply too far! A mediocre silver-grade equipment piece was worth around that much. This bastard was opening his lion's mouth entirely too wide!

"Don't be so quick to refuse. Hear me out before you consider it properly." Ye Chen smiled brightly, then continued, "2,000 gold coins will appease my anger, and then your Tiger Guild will be qualified to purchase the golden elemental stones in my hand. If it cannot appease my anger, then I'm very sorry—even if you manage to survive, you won't have the chance to be among the first batch entering the Martial Soul Secret Realm."

As soon as Ye Chen's voice trailed off, before the Tiger Overlord could reply, an uproar broke out among the other major and minor guilds. Although they had previously guessed that the mine madman would likely use this opportunity to amass wealth, hearing it confirmed with their own ears still made them unable to help discussing it amongst themselves. Ye Chen's private message channel was instantly flooded to the bursting point, with pink fonts rolling endlessly—it was impossible to see what anyone was even saying. Fortunately, Ye Chen had already disabled the voice reception for his private chat channel, otherwise he would have been truly carpet-bombed at this moment.

"Overlord, have you thought it over yet? If you don't agree, then we'll just buy your heads with a hundred golden elemental stones," Ye Chen shouted.

"Brother Ye, let us take care of the Tiger Guild for you, and we can just split those hundred golden elemental stones," the boss of Legend said, fearing the world wouldn't fall into chaos. They had always been hoping to wipe out their old rivals, the Tiger Guild.

"Not bad, not bad. Let's just wipe them out. The combination of Dragon Soar and Legend is more than enough," Dragon Soar Wanderer also chimed in loudly.

When the other families heard that Dragon Soar and Legend were about to snatch the opportunity, they all expressed that they wanted a piece of the action too and would help overthrow the Tiger Guild together.

"Bastards, a bunch of bastards! Fine, I'll pay! 2,000 gold coins, I'll give it to you! But my condition is that our Tiger Guild must be the first to get the golden elemental stones!" The Tiger Overlord could not withstand the pressure from all sides, and he was genuinely afraid that this anti-Tiger alliance might actually form, leaving him no choice but to compromise. As for his final sentence, it was merely to salvage some pride for himself; he never really thought Ye Chen would agree.

"No problem. I'm a very reasonable person. Since your Tiger Guild paid extra, naturally you have priority purchasing rights." Ye Chen agreed without the slightest hesitation, leaving everyone in the Tiger Guild stunned.

"Brother Night Chen, you..." Dragon Soar Wanderer's expression shifted slightly. In his view, Ye Chen should definitely be closest to Dragon Soar, and Dragon Soar Wanderer had gone all out to support Ye Chen in this matter. How could Ye Chen end up giving the priority purchasing rights to the Tiger Guild instead?

"Brother Wanderer, stay calm and don't be impatient. I naturally have my reasons and won't let you get the short end of the stick," Ye Chen sent a private message before stepping forward to take the gold coins from the Tiger Overlord's hands.

When the Tiger Overlord sullenly returned to the Tiger Guild's camp, Ye Chen stood in the center of the various family factions and said in a loud voice, "The golden elemental stones are the key to cracking the Gold-Swallowing Beast. I believe everyone already understands this point, but many people probably still don't know the specifics, so let me explain briefly." Pausing to catch his breath, he continued, "The greatest difficulty of the Gold-Swallowing Beast is that these special elite creatures will rapidly devour the metal equipment worn by players during combat. However, all tank classes wear heavy armor made of metal. During the clearance process, the heavy armor classes will quickly have their equipment devoured by the Gold-Swallowing Beast. A heavy armor class without equipment will naturally perish quickly, and once the tank dies, the party wipes. As for these golden elemental stones, as long as they are carried by the heavy armor classes, the Gold-Swallowing Beast will absorb the golden elemental stone instead of devouring the player's equipment. In this way, as long as the party is elite enough, they can naturally clear the stage successfully."

Except for the members of the Tiger Guild, all the other players listened very intently. Although they all knew the golden elemental stone was the key, they didn't know the exact method of use. Of course, it wasn't as if no one had guessed this, but only after Ye Chen explicitly stated it did they dare to be certain.

"According to Brother Ye's explanation, that means we only need to equip the heavy armor tanks holding aggro in the party with golden elemental stones, right? That's a relief; it doesn't need to be given to everyone," the boss of Legend breathed a sigh of relief. Then he pursued the question, "I wonder how many golden elemental stones Brother Night Chen has? And how many blocks of golden elemental stones do we need to equip the heavy armor classes with for each clearance?"

The boss of Legend's question was clearly the question on the minds of the high-level players from all the other families as well. Even the higher-ups of the Tiger Guild pricked up their ears, as this was also what they desperately wanted to know.

"How many golden elemental stones are needed to clear the stage depends entirely on the party's composition and strength. However, judging by the elite teams of various families, generally two blocks per heavy armor class will be enough."

As soon as Ye Chen finished speaking, the boss of Legend couldn't help asking, "In that case, melee classes other than tanks are basically useless, right?"

"You are welcome to equip them with golden elemental stones as well if you wish," Ye Chen said.

"Then how many golden elemental stones does Brother Night Chen have?" the boss of Legend pressed on.

"300 blocks in total. Only 300 blocks, and I still need to reserve some for the girls in our studio."

As soon as Ye Chen's voice fell, countless rogues and full-strength swordsmen were filled with disappointment. Looking at it this way, their guilds wouldn't let them enter the Martial Soul Secret Realm anytime soon. With only 300 blocks divided among so many people, there wouldn't even be enough just for the tanks.

"Haha, Wanderer, let's not bring Thieves Have No Empty Hands later; this guy is just a liability and a trap now. Having Battle Crazy is enough for me," Dragon Soar Battle Crazy swung his giant axe and laughed wildly.

A trap? Thief Has No Empty Hands turned dark in complexion, but he still forced a smile and said, "Brother Crazy, Brother Battle Crazy, count me in. I'll just watch from the back and won't step forward."

"Hmph hmph, depends on my mood," Dragon Soar Battle Crazy smiled triumphantly, feeling utterly elated inside. Thief Has No Empty Hands had always used his high output to put him down, and now he had finally turned the tables.

The situation in the other major guilds was much the same. Rogues and full-strength swordsmen were basically squeezed out, and high-level rogues and full-strength swordsmen had to lower their heads to the low-damage meatshields they usually looked down upon endlessly. For a moment, the meatshields ushered in their spring.

"Brother Night Chen, may I ask what the selling price of these golden elemental stones is?" The one asking was still the boss of the Legend family.

"50 gold. 50 gold per block," Ye Chen held up five fingers without a moment's hesitation.

50 gold coins for a single block of Tier 3 rare ore!

This was a full ten times higher than the previous market price. Players from various guilds burst into a clamor, and the boss of Legend also let out a bitter smile. "Is Brother Ye's price a bit too high? As far as I know, the previous market price of this golden elemental stone was only 5 gold. Presumably Brother Ye didn't spend a higher price when acquiring them either. Can you make it a bit cheaper?"

"5 gold was the price of the past. From now on, with the Martial Soul Secret Realm around, this golden elemental stone is an admission ticket. Try to see if you can still buy this ticket for 5 gold in the future? If I weren't short on money, I wouldn't even sell them; I'd just sit and wait for them to appreciate," Ye Chen shook his head flatly. Wake up, players—working yourself to death in the mines isn't for anything other than a bit of cash. If it weren't for the fact that no fool would buy them at 100 gold, he would have loved to sell them for 100 gold.

Everyone understood this logic as well. They only cursed themselves for not paying any attention to this material in the past and letting the blacksmiths ruin it all. Now they could only stare with wide eyes and grit their teeth; for the sake of their guild's future, they still had to play the role of the big spenders.

Since they had made up their minds, the high-ranking figures of the various guilds stopped dwelling on those heart-wrenching ticket fees and stepped forward one after another to express their desire to make bulk purchases. Golden elemental stones priced at 50 gold a block suddenly became scorching hot commodities. Some even threatened to buy them all out, which naturally drew collective resistance from the other guilds. Since none of the major guilds could overpower the others, they ultimately had to divide the quantity based on their respective strengths.

While the guild factions began arguing over their respective shares of admission tickets, the independent high-end teams and various elite studios in the background couldn't sit still either. Who wouldn't want to seize the first victory in the Martial Soul Secret Realm? However, trying to compete with those massive guilds independently would definitely bring no benefits. Thus, teams and studios familiar with one another began forming small alliances, dispatching representatives to grab a share of the pie.

As the center of this admission ticket storm, Ye Chen found every single chat channel of his completely flooded. Yet, he only wore a calm smile. Go on, argue and fight; once you enter the realm, you can just wait to cry. Progression always requires sacrifices to be made, doesn't it?