All the guilds at the Black Wing Auction had already given up, just waiting to see how far things would go.
The reserve price was 30 gold, and not a single guild had that much liquid capital on hand.
But the moment they saw the final item brought out, they instantly changed their minds.
Because what lay before them was far too important for any guild. It wasn't a weapon or a piece of equipment — it was a forging design. If it had been just an ordinary weapon or armor piece, nobody would have paid much attention.
But this was the design for a Level 15 Gold-grade shield called Shield of the Arc. Once forged, it would massively boost any guild's main tank, especially during this critical period.
With more and more first clears of ten- and twenty-man dungeons being claimed, the major guilds had already begun challenging the fifty-man dungeon first clears. But one problem had been plaguing them: their main tank couldn't even survive the first boss.
If they couldn't tank the boss, how were they supposed to take it down?
If four or five tanks each equipped a Shield of the Arc, clearing dungeons would become infinitely easier.
"No way — we have to get our hands on this. I need to contact the guild leader right now."
"This shield is incredible. I'm definitely bidding on it."
Every top-tier guild in the venue immediately began reaching out to their respective leaders, relaying the news. The answer was the same across the board: buy it, no matter what. They were also instructed to contact the second- and third-tier guilds at once, making promises — for example, once the Shield of the Arc was crafted, the number each guild received would depend on how much gold they contributed.
The second- and third-tier guilds had long since given up any hope of competing on their own. Now, with a lifeline thrown to them, they were more than willing to join in.
One… two… three… More and more second- and third-tier guilds threw in their lot with the top-tier guilds. Their pooled funds, combined with gold wired in from each guild's treasury, quickly pushed several major guilds past forty or fifty gold. They began placing bids in rapid succession.
The price of the Shield of the Arc design climbed higher and higher.
From the original reserve of 30 gold, it had already soared to 51 gold.
Every guild was giving it everything they had. The moment they secured additional funds from an allied guild, they immediately shouted the highest price they could, terrified of giving competitors time to gather more gold.
Just as the bidding war between these guilds was reaching a fever pitch— "60 gold." Shi Feng instantly raised the bid by 9 gold.
He didn't want to waste any more time. He was determined to walk away with the Shield of the Arc design.
"How does he have that much money?"
"Who the hell is this guy?"
They had already been stunned by his wealth before, but now it had turned to outright dread.
He'd spent 59 gold purchasing three weapons, and now he was casually throwing out 60 gold. If they didn't know for certain that the auction house would never allow a bid without sufficient funds, they would have been 100% convinced he was joking.
Facing the pressure of 60 gold, two top-tier guilds immediately joined forces. Leading the charge was the guild Xiong Ba Tian Xia, which put out a bid of 61 gold.
"70 gold." Shi Feng had no intention of dragging things out — otherwise he'd just end up wasting more gold than necessary.
"71 gold!"
"80 gold."
"81 gold!"
"90 gold."