A huge thanks to GreenKiTea in Kofi for the kofis. Enjoy these bonus chapters!

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In the end, following the advice of others in the group, Qiyu set the price of the brocade flame feather three-piece set at 50 emerald crystal coins. 

Qiyu originally thought that was a bit high.

That is, until he compared it to other items.

50 emerald crystals—the price of a single Level 2 Magic Crystal.

Qiyu：！

Mages, we really are a money pit! 

He gave the entire brocade flame feather set to Civil Engineering Brother and picked up the scattered crystals in his inventory.

During the four days he was unconscious, the screaming lily of the valley failed to wake him. There were several attacks over that time—and, unsurprisingly, they were all Swifts. 

Qiyu picked up a lot more Swift meat and feathers, along with over 30 Level 1 Beast Crystals.

Swift meat has its uses, but what could all these feathers possibly be good for? There happened to be an artifact forger in the group chat, so he asked Tranquility Yields Transcendence.

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: I haven’t found any special uses for these swift feathers yet. Unless other properties are discovered,  they can only be used to make insulated down products.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Things like down jackets or down comforters. In terms of warmth, they’d definitely be on par with the brocade flame feather set.】

There are only 100 sets of Qiyu’s brocade flame feather set in total, so some players have to figure out their own solutions. If you have enough feathers, making a down jacket for warmth isn’t a bad idea either.

Qiyu looked pensive.

As for the swift meat, he had originally intended to discuss it with God Has No Form on his own.

After his earlier conversation with the 01 Survival Squad, he fully realized that he was probably just too good at this sort of thing. If he’s good at it, he’ll find someone who’s good at it too.

【I Love Survival Game: If I wanted to buy some swift meat, what would be a good price?】 

Others in the group: ???

【Civil Engineering Brother: Boss, what are you planning to do with this?】

He must have been so surprised that he even addressed the gamer as “Boss” instead of just “Gaming Expert.”

After all, the main use of swift meat is as a substitute for water.

Although a single small piece can count as 500m of water—which sounds pretty impressive—water is exactly what Zone 01 is not short on right now. Players usually just check it out for the novelty, then toss it into their backpacks to gather dust.

Some people are even too lazy to pick them up—their backpacks are full, and with the continuous rain, Swallow meat is an endless supply; they simply have no room for the excess.

【Dare to Open Your Eyes: Check out the latest hydration potion I’ve concocted—water infused with Swift meat. Wow, it works exactly the same as water with any other ingredient.】 

A few people didn’t actually believe Qiyu was kind-hearted enough to do charity work, but they did figure out why he was buying this stuff.

【I Love Survival Game: I have a channel to sell swift meat.】

The other three members of the group racked their brains and finally realized that their top-ranked player had actually managed to get in touch with players from other servers.

Hearing Qiyu say this, they assumed at most that, as the first player to trade with the “wandering merchant,” he might have received some kind of special advantage—perhaps a trading platform or something similar that ordinary players didn’t have. 

Qiyu did indeed have a trading platform—though it belonged to the Mages’ Guild. He had also searched for swift meat in the Mages’ Guild store.

And he did indeed find a result.

【Swift Meat: A worthless byproduct of a strange beast, not worth selling.】

Qiyu: …The Mages’ Guild store’s item descriptions seem to have, um, a lot more personality than those in the survival game.

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: If there really were a stable channel for selling, players in our region would be truly lucky.】

【Dare to Open Your Eyes: Yeah, these swifts are a real pain—they’re everywhere, and their drops are disgusting.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: That’s exactly right—here’s a high-five to all the players.】

Judging from their reactions to the last disaster, the people in the group, though not exactly saintly figures of universal love, are still quite willing to lend a helping hand to their fellow countrymen within their limited means.

【I Love Survival Game: So if I want to buy some, what’s a good price?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: From a shrewd businessman’s perspective, I think they’d accept any price.】 He joked offhandedly.

Unexpectedly, the very next second, he saw a reply:

【I Love Survival Game: You’re not a swindler; you’re a good man. @Civil Engineering Brother.】

Civil Engineering Brother: Listen up! Listen up! Who exactly is calling their No. 1 player cold-hearted? If you got to know him even a little, you’d realize just how sweet this kid is when he’s being straightforward. 

Oh well, too bad the players out there aren’t that perceptive. He was secretly delighted. 

【Civil Engineering Brother: Now there’s a question: if we’re going to make an acquisition, what currency should we use?】

Currently, the most widely accepted resource for transactions among players is wood. When Qiyu sold mutated plants before, he also used wood as the base currency for his transactions.

Civil Engineering Brother knows that the amount of wood the Big Shot has on hand has likely reached an astonishing figure.

But when it comes to buying up an item that’s extremely common—one that every player in the region possesses in large quantities—from tens of thousands of players, that amount of wood might be insufficient.

Moreover, the sheer volume is a major issue.

As a merchant, Civil Engineering Brother had only just entered the survival game. In the future, as players survived longer, resources would become more abundant, and “high-end” items would increase—so wood could always be used as currency.

However, the drop rate for emerald crystal coins is simply too low. You might get one by chance when opening a treasure chest, or one or two when killing mutated creatures. Its volume is currently insufficient to support such large-scale trading.

Qiyu nudged God Has No Form.

【God Has No Form：？】

【I Love Survival Game: In Zone 88, what currency is used for trading?】

【God Has No Form: At first, it was ore, but now more people are using Beast Crystals.】

【God Has No Form: Is that how it is in your zone?】

Beast Crystals?

Qiyu remembered that he had obtained some Beast Crystals after killing the Swallow. A thought struck him, and he opened the in-game store to search for “Beast Crystals.”

【Beast Crystals: Dropped by mutated creatures; contain energy. High-grade Beast Crystals can be used as substitutes for magic crystals.】

Beast Crystals were also for sale in the Mages’ Guild Shop.

Level 1 Beast Crystals cost 1 gold coin. Level 2 Beast Crystals cost 10 gold coins.

Starting at Level 3, the price of Beast Crystals begins to rise. A Level 3 Beast Crystal is worth 100 gold coins, and a Level 4 Beast Crystal is worth 500 gold coins.

Beast Crystals of Level 5 and above have no fixed price; their value is determined by their effects.

The highest-level mutated creature Qiyu had ever encountered was a Level 3 Swift Leader. The Swift Leader dropped a Level 3 Beast Crystal. Earlier, while following a flock of swifts, he had picked up two Level 2 Beast Crystals from two Level 2 mutated lizard dragons.

If there were corresponding levels for Beast Crystals and Mutant Creatures, it would make perfect sense for prices to start rising at Level 3. Ordinary people simply have no way of dealing with a Swift Leader-level mutant creature.

How did “God Has No Form”, a level three swordsman, with his divine ability, manage to kill a Level 5 Sky-Ripper?

Beast Crystals.

Qiyu looked at the dozens of Level 1 Beast Crystals in his backpack.

【I Love Survival Game: Lately, when killing mutated creatures, have you been getting a lot of Beast Crystals in addition to materials and treasure chests?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Actually, treasure chests aren’t dropping at all. But without other mutated creatures to compare it to, we can only assume this is a unique trait of the Swift—or that the Survival Game is reducing treasure chest drops.】 

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Killing Swifts does indeed drop Beast Crystals. Are you thinking of using Beast Crystals as a trade currency?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: But compared to wood, we have even fewer Beast Crystals in stock.】

Mutant creatures have only started dropping Beast Crystals in the last few days.

From what we can tell so far, emerald crystals are likely a specialty of the Star Forest, and they drop rarely. Just as Sean said, they can be viewed as “works of art.”

Gold, silver, and copper coins are likely the standard currency used by the indigenous people outside, but players don’t have a stable source of them.

If Beast Crystals can be reliably obtained through drops in future updates, this would actually be a poor choice.

After all, the fact that the Mages’ Guild shop carries them suggests that Beast Crystals have a certain degree of universality in the outside world.

【I Love Survival Game: I’ll think about it some more.】

After discussing this matter, Qiyu began to meditate, slowly restoring his magic and mental energy.

Around noon, he opened his eyes.

His magical energy had recovered significantly, and the feeling of weakness and exhaustion had finally vanished.

With his mental energy restored, his mind began to work again.

He carefully observed the flow of his magic, silently resolving to be more careful in whatever he did next. Exhausting his magic and mental energy to the point of passing out was far too much.  

Fortunately, he was in the sanctuary this time; even if he lost consciousness, the sanctuary would still keep him safe. If he had been anywhere else, those four days would have been enough for him to die hundreds of times.

That said, if he were in the sanctuary, he wouldn’t dare to let himself become so absorbed and relaxed while engraving magic scrolls.

【Your friend God Has No Form has sent you a gift.】

It was the familiar pork chop rice, with the familiar soup and a side of bright green vegetables. Qiyu sensed an abundance of energy emanating from it.

【I Love Survival Game: Is this food made from Sky-Ripper meat?】

【God Has No Form: Yeah, this guy will keep us fed for a long time.】

【I Love Survival Game: You’re a swordsman—the meat from these high-level mutated creatures should be really good for you, right?】

Earlier in Gold Hole City, when Leslie mentioned that his father was a Level 5 swordsman, he casually added that his father’s daily intake of mutant meat was to replenish his qi and blood.

Martial artists need to temper their bodies, so their energy requirements are very high.

【God Has No Form: You know that? They say I am the Survival Game’s “favorite child”!】

【I Love Survival Game: I heard it from someone else—Survival Games told me.】

God Has No Form’s remark sent his thoughts on a strange tangent. If he really had a father as great as “Survival Game,” he’d be very lucky, wouldn’t he? 

【I Love Survival Game: What I mean is, eating this high-tier exotic beast meat doesn’t really give me much besides a slight energy boost. It’s a bit of a waste.】

【I Love Survival Game: The meals you made for me earlier—I was unconscious these past few days and didn’t eat them, so there’s a lot left over. You could send me some of that good food over the next few days.】

【God Has No Form: What are you babbling about? With a mage’s frail little frame, how much could you possibly eat?】 

【God Has No Form: It does help build up your strength—just don’t go falling over and giving yourself a bump on the head every time.】