NOVEL WEB Chapter 301: The Entire Human Race Falls into Madness!
"Oh my, this thing..." the master, holding a magnifying glass, scrutinized carefully.
Other Rat Artisans also stood up and gathered around to observe.
Only at this moment did they regain a bit of enthusiasm from their zombie-like state.
One must admit, having a pure heart is likely when one has reached peak expertise in a certain domain.
"What a pity, what a pity... it's too badly damaged."
"Damaged by high heat..."
"Can that repair engraving be used?"
"No... a repair engraving can only fix a bit of the physical structure."
Everyone sighed, some Ratmen even offered numerous repair suggestions.
However, repairing is actually even harder than creating.
Only a more genius creator might be able to repair...
But for a genius creator, rather than using inspiration to repair this thing, it would be better to create something even more incredible.
Therefore, after a comprehensive evaluation, the Ratmen believed that the added Spirit Essence of this object was only around 800.
Taking into account functionality, materials, and artistic skill, a thousand could be added—around 1800–1900 Spirit Essence was its true value.
"Legendary items... are really valuable." Many Human scientists were once again disheartened as the combined soul of humanity was only about 300 Spirit Essence, not even amounting to the Donkey Head Mask's fraction.
The total value of all items in this trade was just 800 Spirit Essence!
It was indeed a significant blow!
However, after this round of research, the atmosphere between both parties relaxed.
Shu Huangfeng aptly voiced an idea he had been brewing.
"Considering Brother Lu's side has craftspeople with full enthusiasm and thick Civilization Fortune, how about this... we buy equipment! Even if it's slightly inferior, we will still purchase it."
"Some small gadgets produced by humans, Shu Mi Dam Civilization will not refuse!"
Even the purchasing price was about 10% higher than the humans' own estimates.
This was actually quite odd.
People were managing to get a little advantage over these shrewd Ratmen, which made Lu Yuan quite uneasy—could it be that Shu Mi Dam Civilization urgently needed equipment? Impossible.
Shu Huangfeng explained, "Don't take it the wrong way, Brother Lu. We only have just over two thousand normal individuals here, and indeed, we are already fully equipped."
"Normally, for work and daily life, wearing one or two pieces of assistive equipment is generally enough."
"Wearing too many can interfere with each other and may backfire."
"So, those slightly inferior pieces of equipment are just used for business..."
"But, doing business is the biggest use! Think about it, this is the Early Epoch. Civilizations lacking equipment are everywhere!"
"Not every civilization has disciplines like forging, engraving, sewing and they find it hard to make their own equipment. So, even these worn-out items can fetch a good price."
That made sense too, Engraving knowledge was still quite expensive and the training period for a talent was very long.
Thus, in the Early Epoch, finished equipment was highly sought after.
"As for our artisans here, sigh, each of them has ambitions higher than the sky. They wouldn't spend all day doing these patience-wearing jobs."
"Mention it to them, and they'll flare up at you."
He seemed helpless, and as he spoke, those masters were glaring over!
"Human Civilization is a very fortunate one, its craftsmen are enthusiastic, producing equipment much faster than us... the spirit state is really important; a thriving civilization filled with energetic individuals makes everything run smoothly."
"So, we can offer an over-purchase price, around 10%."
"But not too much, we can't lose too much, can we?"
Lu Yuan sighed softly; this indeed sounded like a win-win proposal.
But it was also how Shu Mi Dam Civilization had its way of investing in humans.
The method of investment was simple: trade raw material to humans; the human craftsmen create items, which are then exchanged for more raw materials.
Effectively, this transaction round gave human craftsmen a chance to practice!
Don't underestimate practice sessions; they are quite valuable.
Beside metals that can be recycled by melting down, other extraordinary resources like stone, wood, bones are consumables that can only be used once!
If the craftsmanship isn't up to the mark, and they botch things up, it's actual Spirit Essence that's lost!
But practice isn't frequent; therefore, skill levels naturally couldn't rise.
So nurturing a skilled craftsman costs a great deal.
Right now, Shu Mi Dam Civilization was willing to buy nearly all of the equipment, even the inferior ones and they also gave a 10% premium, essentially taking on a bit of humans' losses.
It was indeed a great favor.
Lu Yuan… couldn't refuse!
He sighed softly. "The great kindness of Shu Mi Dam Civilization... will never be forgotten..."
"Ha ha, it's just a mutual benefit," the other side laughed openly, "May human richness never forget Shu Mi Dam Civilization."
Lu Yuan gritted his teeth. "How about this, I'll sell you my Donkey Head Mask; how's that?"
Among his many riches, the only thing Lu Yuan could offer for sale was the Donkey Head Mask, which, for the time being, had lost much of its usefulness.
His forging technique had also completely penetrated the basics.
However, trading Legendary items was akin to trading "Civilization Fortune."
But this item was found, not emerging from Human Civilization.
And in any case, Luck was always a human creation.
Humans were the main agents, not Luck controlling humans.
Lu Yuan himself was confident in creating "Immortal"—a Legendary item, and once sold, it was sold.
"What would Mr. Lu like to exchange for?" Shu Huangfeng was immensely excited, as this was a significant business deal, even saying that it involved Fortune wasn't an exaggeration.
It was like injecting fresh water into their faltering civilization!
Of course, he also understood that this was a repayment from Lu Yuan, the leader… Opponent indeed had a grateful nature, making him very worth investing in.
"Exchange for some Legendary materials, especially weapon materials."
"The other part, exchange for some low-grade materials for the craftsmen to practice with."
"No problem, we'll slightly overprice this mask, a final deal of 2000 Spirit Rhymes, how about that?"
Lu Yuan looked at the list of supplies provided by Shu Huangfeng.
There were six kinds of Legendary materials!
Items like Void Gold Stone, Innate Gun Steel, and Wanxiang Round Steel, all suitable for making weapons.
But, as for the price… expensive, yet reasonably so.
Lu Yuan estimated that the materials for a single longsword alone would cost over a thousand Spirit Rhymes…
As for other miscellaneous supplies, there were even more.
Superior Level, Rare Level materials, the prices dropped exponentially, the unit prices were around one hundred and ten Spirit Rhymes respectively.
Whereas the decline for Ordinary Level and Inferior Level was slightly less.
The unit price for Ordinary Level was generally around 2 Spirit Rhymes.
Inferior Level was at 0.4 Spirit Rhymes.
Because considering the mass demand, Ordinary and Inferior Levels had a huge demand, following the mass line, thus there was a certain degree of overpricing.
He pulled Lu Tiantian aside to a corner and said in a low voice, "I am allocating five hundred Spirit Rhymes of low-grade materials to you."
"Since the Shu Mi Dam Civilization is aggressively purchasing equipment, then we should also accept this favor."
"Let those craftsmen who are gifted and engravers prepare accordingly."
"Mutual benefit is the normal trade relation. Being able to increase proficiency level to cultivate masters means we are already very profitable. If we let the other side keep giving advantages, they will soon be overwhelmed and simply bail."
"I naturally understand… Don't worry about it," Lu Tiantian said, "So I continue trading here? And while at it… I learn something, yes, I'm secretly studying plant cultivation, and the Rat People won't mind too much."
"You've rather settled in here!" Lu Yuan couldn't help but laugh, "Taking advantage wherever it's possible, you've got a bit of my early flair." Enjoy new stories from My Virtual Library Empire
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Thus, the tremendous success of the first wave of trade made Human and Shu Mi Dam Civilization reach a deeper cooperative intention.
The influx of raw materials virtually ignited an unprecedented passion among human craftsmen!
"How come there's so much?"
"Don't waste, but don't be stingy!"
Among 120,000 people, there were actually only 8 legitimate craftsmanship talents; this ratio was actually not small and showcased the profound depth of Luck of the Human 18th Civilization.
However, the engravers, who were also a kind of craftsman, simply couldn't burst with inspiration, yet they could still learn through steady progress—forging, sewing, carving—they were still capable of learning.
Even in the field of engraving, they were a notch stronger than those with "Craftsmanship."
Considering this, the number reached a hundred-plus.
These hundred-odd people were addicted to creation, unable to extricate themselves.
Even after a month, when Rat Artisans visited the human workplaces, they too were immersed in such a pure atmosphere; they would exuberantly share experiences and even demonstrate their skills to humans.
"This Lightning Five-Hammer technique, watch carefully… it was my signature skill back in the day, effectively fusing two materials without losing the essence."
This progress could only be described as "miraculous."
Within a month, Master Guo among humans managed to create an Ordinary Level item using Inferior Level materials.
He was the second human capable of upgrading materials without being in an Inspiration state following Lu Yuan!
Within three months, Jingong Tie, a holder of "Craftsmanship," burst into inspiration.
Although his skill level was quite ordinary, he only managed to create a Rare Level forging hammer, but as it was a production tool, after evaluation, it reached an 82 Spirit Rhymes value, making it a standout among Rare Level items.
In the fourth month… the Rune Reader, Guo Weiqiang progressed further, understanding and creating more complex engravings!
In the fifth month…
Humanity fell into frenzy!
And Lu Yuan, with his high talent, along with controlling the "Fortune" of the civilization, worked tirelessly for six months.
He actually managed to create Superior Level items using Rare Level materials!
A weapon—a longsword!
Instantly earning two to three hundred Spirit Rhymes!
This also deeply impressed the Shu Mi Dam Civilization with the strength of Human Civilization's "Luck"; with just a slight investment, and without needing too much, they immediately realized their potential.