Chapter 37: The Evil God and the Peeper

Under such circumstances, what could one do but accept it as bad luck? In truth, given enough patience and time, one could simply wait until the other players figured out the newly opened super-large-scale campaign, at which point the prices of consumables would gradually return to normal.

However, Xiao Yang, who could barely manage to log in for one day out of every seven, was precisely the one who lacked both time and patience. What else could he do but grit his teeth and accept it?

Time became tight. Xiao Yang had to act quickly; otherwise, even a slight delay might cause the prices of these enhancement potions to climb another tier.

Without hesitation, Xiao Yang first swept clean all the Featherlight and Hard-Hide potions from the mushroom man's stall, then began pacing back and forth through the All-Heavens Trading District without a moment's rest.

The spirit coins in his possession vanished like snowflakes. While the All-Heavens Trading District certainly had enough stock to cover the sixty-five Featherlight potions and eighty-five Hard-Hide potions Xiao Yang needed—not a massive amount by any means—Xiao Yang’s wallet could not afford it. His plan to "top up" the Godly Game to allow Little Bone to leave the dungeon with him fell through. Things had transpired exactly as Xiao Yang feared.

In this trading district, various potions, weapons, skills, and defensive equipment had begun to rise sharply in price. Simultaneously, the costs of various raw materials and useless little curiosities were trending downward.

After spending two million, Xiao Yang had gathered enough Featherlight potions to push his agility to the limit, but he was still short on the Hard-Hide ones. Adhering to the principle that it is better to specialize than to be a jack-of-all-trades, Xiao Yang realized he could not max out both agility and defense. He chose to prioritize agility.

Mainly, high agility could partially compensate for the lack of defense. Moreover, when facing the unknown monsters he had accidentally stirred up and the new dungeon floor, having maxed-out agility meant he could run away faster. After all, he lacked resurrection scrolls; running away when things went sideways was far more cost-effective than standing still like a sitting duck.

The potions in his hand were enough to max out his agility points and bring his defense to fourteen without equipment bonuses. And with that, this session of trading in the All-Heavens Trading District came to an end.

With his spirit coins exhausted, there was nothing left to do. Rather than choosing to return immediately, Xiao Yang found a corner in the trading district and crouched down.

It was obvious that the opening of the new super-large-scale campaign had made the trading district suddenly bustling. Of course, none of this had anything to do with him. If other Godly Game players were like online gamers, Xiao Yang was more akin to a LAN or single-player gamer; he simply had no way to participate in those chaotic campaigns. He was destined to be a loyal dungeon grinder.

Amidst the busy scene, Little Bone suddenly emerged from his shadow. The little guy didn't understand much, but it had developed a habit: whenever Xiao Yang set up his stall, it would sit quietly by his side, clutching a piece of Xiao Yang’s robe. It was, in essence, the mascot skeleton of Xiao Yang’s business plan.

But Xiao Yang wasn't running a stall now. He let his palm fall onto the little creature's head, sighing with inexplicable emotion.

"Little Bone! We are still too poor!"

At the same time, while Xiao Yang squatted in the corner of the trading district watching the other players bustle about, various buildings of distinct styles stood in the center of the district.

Of course, the All-Heavens Trading District was far more than just a scattered bazaar for players. In reality, that was merely a secondary function. It existed primarily as a super-consumption hub where various Plane Lords and large player factions sold special local products and commodities.

Xiao Yang had never ventured into that core area for a very practical reason: it cost money! The Godly Game’s obsession with extorting money was no joke. Furthermore, he had no reason to wander into that central zone; it was either filled with prohibitively expensive, indescribably decadent pleasure spots, or it served as a hub for super-shops where Plane Lords sold bulk goods, with transactions easily reaching tens of millions of spirit coins, or offered various customized services.

In short, if you don't have spirit coins, don't come here.

In a gloomy shop on the edge of the central district, a Taoist in black robes was reporting to the shopkeeper who presided over the establishment.

Xiao Yang had sold the large purple bone to accelerate his own growth, but it was clear that this move had brought him some risks. The allure of the word "Epic" was far greater than Xiao Yang had imagined.

After listening to the report from the black-robed Taoist, the shopkeeper—the long-faced Taoist named Ming Xuanzi who had once attempted to recruit Xiao Yang—began to mutter to himself in the shop.

"Epic-tier skeletal materials, a constant supply of skeletal materials, zombie viscera, and recently, vampire bat fangs?"

As he muttered, with every word he uttered, the greed on Ming Xuanzi's face grew more intense. Finally, he reached a conclusion.

"At the very least, a medium-sized or larger skeletal-type instance or dungeon?"

A flicker of greed deepened in Ming Xuanzi’s eyes.

A dungeon that continuously spawned monsters and produced various materials and weapons was truly a precious commodity, especially for large player factions.

Clearly, Xuan Mingzi was completely tempted. But how could he bypass the Godly Game's protections for players and the planes behind them?

He dismissed the black-robed Taoist and ordered him to keep watching Xiao Yang. The shop fell silent. After only a short while, Xuan Mingzi grew restless. He stood up, paced back and forth for a time, and then walked into the depths of the shop.

Soon, Xuan Mingzi arrived in a blood-colored secret chamber. He knelt before a bizarre, twisted statue made of a chaotic pile of many eyes.

"Great Multi-Eyed Immortal! Your gaze can span the barriers of time and space!..."

Not long after, Xuan Mingzi left the secret chamber. When he returned, he held a pair of fresh eyeballs in his hand.

"One more month. Just one more month will be enough!"

After washing his hands and finishing his preparations, Xuan Mingzi said this to himself, as if he could do something after a month had passed. However, it would be best to hurry.

A month might be a little too long.