Chapter 29: Scouring the Market

Lin Mu was now wealthy and began searching for the items he desired. First, he checked the construction blueprints.

In the trading market panel, Lin Mu entered: "Territory Building Blueprint."

The panel immediately displayed the sales interface.

The number of players in Dongye County was likely quite high, perhaps reaching hundreds of thousands; however, the number of building blueprints for sale was quite low. Lin Mu took a look; there were only three pages of listings, with 20 items per page. This indicated there were only 60 blueprints available, far below Lin Mu's expectations.

In the past, the number of building blueprints in Dongye County had reached thousands of pages. Of course, that was during the peak period. Now, with a mere three pages, he felt a bit dejected. However, only a little over half a month had passed in game time. Most players were still at low levels, and their exploration was limited to the areas around official territories. The remote, treacherous mountains and regions infested with demonic beasts remained undeveloped, and those were precisely the places where abundant resources could be found.

Lin Mu, acting like a wealthy tycoon, didn't even bother looking closely and swept up all three pages of blueprints. His inventory instantly gained 60 blueprints across more than a dozen types, mostly basic structures.

After clearing out the blueprints, Lin Mu input a new search: "Prop."

In an instant, a consignment interface appeared before him. This time, it was even more pathetic—only a single page containing useless items like torches and silk ropes. Lin Mu glanced through them, saw nothing rare, and skipped them.

In truth, Lin Mu was hoping for special items like Military Command Tokens or General Promotion Orders so he could purchase them to bolster his territory’s military strength, but unfortunately, there were none.

He typed: "Illustrated Handbook."

This time, Lin Mu was just browsing with no real expectations. Illustrated handbooks were far more expensive and rare than blueprints.

Blueprints were one-time items; for example, once a building blueprint was used to upgrade or construct a facility, it vanished. If it were a crafting blueprint for a prop, it could only be learned by one person, making its utility quite narrow. However, they did have the advantage of efficiency: use a skill blueprint, and you learn it immediately; use a forging blueprint, and you instantly acquire the technique; use a building blueprint, and as long as there were sufficient resources, the structure was completed instantly.

An Illustrated Handbook, however, could be studied by many individuals who met the criteria. For instance, with an equipment handbook, any blacksmith in the workshop who met the required skill level could study it. Once they successfully grasped the contents, they could participate in production. This was the beginning of large-scale manufacturing. Therefore, many players referred to handbooks as "Seed" blueprints. They were exceptionally precious, with prices dozens or even hundreds of times higher than regular blueprints.

To Lin Mu's surprise, the handbook consignment interface actually contained one listing:

[Gray Wolf Iron Shield] Production Handbook, Price: 100,000 copper coins.

This was a handbook that could be used by craftsmen in a blacksmith shop. When Lin Mu saw it, he knew that his biggest gain today wasn't just the copper coins, but this very handbook!

Hehehe, needless to say, the overjoyed Lin Mu clicked without hesitation and bought it. His pocket immediately lightened by 100,000 copper coins.

***

Meanwhile, in a mountain forest north of Dongye County, Zhen Lin, the leader of the Zhenlin Studio, was busy surrounding a wild mountain tiger monster. He received a system notification:

"System Prompt: Player Zhen Lin, the [Gray Wolf Iron Shield] Production Handbook you consigned in Dongye County has been successfully purchased by player **. After tax deductions, you have received 90,000 copper coins."

The trading market taxed both sides of the transaction—what vampires!

But even if they were vampires, Lin Mu was willing to be bled dry.

The tax rate of the trading market was high, but players were clever and had invented many ways to trade, such as lowering prices for direct transactions. However, these were generally unreliable because throughout the China region, many hustlers specialized in camping the market. They were diligent, and if one wasn't careful, the goods would be sniped by others, leading to a huge loss! Such things had happened many times in his previous life.

"Ah!" Zhen Lin exclaimed. The [Gray Wolf Iron Shield] Production Handbook, which his brothers had spent so much manpower and resources to obtain by taking down a powerful mountain bandit, had actually been bought. What a tycoon!

It seemed the person who bought this handbook was that "World’s Second."

"Brothers, push hard! Kill the mountain tiger! We’ll have a major announcement later!" Zhen Lin shouted to boost morale.

"Alright, boss!" The brothers erupted with effort, and shortly after, the mountain tiger collapsed into a pool of blood.

A small, grayish-white cloth bag emerged from beside the tiger. This was the sign of a monster dropping treasure! Zhen Lin felt a rush of excitement—a double blessing!

"Boss, see what it dropped?" a brother asked urgently.

"Yeah, boss, loot the corpse!" The brothers loved seeing monster drops.

Zhen Lin walked over, picked up the bag, and opened it. "Nice! Oh, it’s a piece of armor, [Pig Iron Armor]! Haha, +20 defense—not bad at all!" Zhen Lin said, pleasantly surprised.

"Boss, you're treating us! Such a good item is a must-have for a tank; only you can wear it!" Everyone in the studio was like family, and the brotherhood was harmonious.

"Haha, of course I'll treat you! Once we log off, let’s all go to the Longwan Food Stall and eat our fill! Wahahaha..." Zhen Lin boasted.

"Boss, you're getting rich! The Longwan Food Stall is pretty expensive! Are you paying? Is this your secret stash? Aren't you afraid your wife will find out?"

"Haha... Boss, aren't you afraid your wife will make you kneel on a washboard?"

"Haha..."

"No, no, don't talk nonsense! If you make your sister-in-law misunderstand, that'll be another 'tragedy' for me." Zhen Lin waved his hands and shook his head. "It's because that handbook dropped by the mountain bandit we killed last time was sold. We got 90,000 copper coins. Later, I’ll consign the coins to the black market, and that’ll be 180,000 yuan! Haha, it’s the studio's biggest glorious income lately, we should celebrate!"

"What? Which tycoon sniped that handbook? They’re truly loaded. Right now, even with yuan, you can't buy copper coins! The copper coins on the black market are priceless but marketless."

"Could it be that 'World’s Second'?"

"It must be. That mysterious god has been selling top-tier weapons on the market and earning countless copper coins. I bet he’s scooped up fifty percent of the copper coins in the market!"

"Hehe, tycoon or idiot, we're rich now! Everyone, hurry up, wash your faces, and tidy up. There are plenty of girls at the Longwan Food Stall—be careful, don't embarrass our studio!"

"Haha, okay! I’ll go harvest this monster’s corpse; it should have tiger blood and tiger bone. In the eyes of NPCs, these things are quite popular!"

"No need to tell me! Hurry up, boss, wait for us, we'll be ready in a second!"

A scene of chaos and joyful celebration ensued. It was a win-win, and everyone was happy!

Players constantly monitoring the Dongye County trading market were all aware of these transactions. It ignited a wave of passion among them. A single handbook could sell for 180,000 yuan—*Mythic Three Kingdoms* was indeed filled with money everywhere. Comrades, work hard! Bread will be had, and milk will be had too!

Many players ventured out of the safe zones governed by the authorities, diving into wild villages and forests, hoping to find bosses to kill and loot blueprints or handbooks so they could jump on this bandwagon of sudden wealth.