Fluctuations in Prices

The players were excited at first, then fell silent, and finally began tentatively placing bids.

It was certain that this Epic Rank skeleton's Large Bone Club would be useless to most players. That didn't stop some from trying to bid, though. Even if they couldn't use it themselves, Epic Rank materials like this were rarely available for purchase with Spirit Coins.

These onlookers would drive up the price, and then the players who genuinely needed the Large Bone Club would start bidding.

Xiao Yang watched the price climb.

Five hundred thousand, one million, 1.8 million! Two million! At last, the price stopped at two million. That wasn't the limit. If Xiao Yang could stay in the trading area for another day or two and let the news spread further, the price would likely climb even higher.

But there was no need for that. The price would probably rise a little more by the afternoon, without him having to wait long. But Xiao Yang could only stay in the Myriad Worlds Trading Area for one day. He couldn't spend all his time running a stall.

He needed more Spirit Coins to improve himself, not to make money for its own sake.

Two million was enough for now. He could pay for a month of God Game access, and it should also be enough to buy a large batch of potions for body training.

"Sold!"

In the end, the Large Bone Club went to a gaunt necromancer clad in a black robe. He looked familiar to Xiao Yang, too: he was the poor necromancer who had been selling zombies. The man had practically trembled as he sent Xiao Yang a trade request. Once they confirmed the amount was correct, the two completed the transaction.

The trade complete, the necromancer took the purple Large Bone Club. A strange expression crossed his face—Xiao Yang couldn't tell whether he was crying or smiling. He couldn't help wondering: were players who followed the army or lord routes really that short on money? At the same time, he felt a little relieved. Fortunately, all he had to do was chug potions.

After the sale, Xiao Yang stopped running his stall and started shopping. That was when he realized that his potion-based build wasn't much better off than the army and lord builds, especially when something unexpected came up.

Potion prices had gone up—by at least two hundred percent.

"Hmm..."

The potions Xiao Yang needed were Agility Boost Potions, Featherlight Potions, Defense Boost Potions, Thick Hide Potions, Strength Boost Potions, and Mighty Bull Potions.

He could put the Mighty Bull Potions aside for now and buy them later. But Featherlight and Thick Hide Potions had always cost more than Health Potions. A regular Health Potion cost 1,500 Spirit Coins, while a regular Featherlight Potion went for 3,000. Thick Hide Potions were even more expensive, at 5,000 Spirit Coins.

The price gap wasn't hard to understand. Health Potions were practically a necessity, with steady demand. Mighty Bull, Featherlight, and Thick Hide Potions, on the other hand, were optional enhancements players could choose to use.

Rich or poor, players always carried a few Health Potions with them, but they didn't necessarily bring along these enhancement potions. That gap in demand meant enhancement potions were bound to cost more, not to mention differences in the ingredients and difficulty of making them.

Featherlight Potions now cost 9,000, while Thick Hide Potions had reached 15,000.

What a headache-inducing price. Still, thinking of the two million Spirit Coins he had left made Xiao Yang feel a little more at ease. It shouldn't be too little, right? He reassured himself.

Xiao Yang had invested three Attribute Points in Agility and none in Defense. His starting Agility and Defense had both been three, which meant he now needed a total investment of thirty-one points across those two attributes.

Xiao Yang spent 16,000 Spirit Coins at the Mushroom Person's stall where he'd bought potions last time, buying one of each kind. He uncorked them and downed them both, giving them a taste test.

Huh? The Featherlight Potion tasted strongly of fresh grass, while the Thick Hide Potion had a strange leather flavor.

Xiao Yang smacked his lips and assessed the two potions' flavors. Then he opened his status panel. Strangely, neither attribute had increased. His eyes widened.

Wait, what was going on?

Puzzled, Xiao Yang turned a suspicious gaze on the Mushroom Person running the stall. Under his stare, it fidgeted, its broad cap quivering.

"Could I have bought counterfeits?"

The thought crossed his mind, but that didn't seem right. Xiao Yang used Probe Skill on the Featherlight Potion in front of him. Everything seemed fine.

Confused, Xiao Yang thought it over for a moment, then bought some other potions from the Mushroom Person's stall.

He drank them one by one right there at the stall: a Minor Featherlight Potion, a regular Featherlight Potion, and finally, an Extreme Featherlight Potion. At last, his attributes increased. The Agility figure on his status panel finally changed.

Agility: 12 (7)

Xiao Yang thought he had found the reason. He hadn't bought fake medicine; he'd simply been drinking potions that weren't potent enough. The Pot of Greed seemed to turn every ten points of temporary enhancement into one point of permanent attribute. The same applied to Life Recovery: a Minor Health Potion provided ten points of Life Recovery, which the Pot of Greed converted into one permanent point of Health.

Extreme Featherlight Potion

Quality: Common

Effect: Increases the user's Agility by ten points for a short time.

Description: A potion that makes your steps light and quick.

The same applied to Featherlight Potions. When Xiao Yang reached the Extreme Featherlight Potion, one bottle granted ten points of temporary Agility, which became one permanent point of Agility.

Once he understood the pattern, everything became clear.

He hadn't bought counterfeit potions, and the Pot of Greed wasn't malfunctioning. His wallet was simply going to take a heavy hit.

Before, the potions had been expensive, but the two million he'd just earned should have been enough to max out his attributes, with plenty left over to pay for his game access. But with prices rising so outrageously, he could forget about that. What was more, he now had to buy the highest-grade potions.

A rough calculation gave Xiao Yang the number of potions he needed and the Spirit Coin shortfall. He'd need around 1.9 million—and that was only a theoretical estimate. In reality, he wouldn't necessarily find every potion at the exact same price.

After listening to the neighboring stallholder and some players chat, Xiao Yang finally figured out why prices had surged. A new super-large-scale campaign had opened not long ago, and almost every player was watching it. Naturally, all kinds of consumables had shot up in price.

By the way, their conversation also let Xiao Yang learn the name of the upcoming super-large-scale campaign.

The Destruction of the Arcane Empire.