Colorful Mist Coast, Firefly Lake.

This is a lake located 833 kilometers away in a straight line from the space node entrance.

Under the night sky.

The Fluorescent Ferns on both sides of the lake sway in the wind, scattering light green particles into the air, intertwining with the dancing fireflies to form a flowing river of light.

A solitary figure sits quietly among the amber-colored Fluorescent Ferns, the hem of his cloak submerged in the water, holding a fishing rod with one hand.

The moonlight on the lake reflects his young face, with sharp, narrow features and downcast eyes.

The surface of the water gently ripples, making that face blur for a moment.

"It's just crazy."

In the depths of Cheng Shan's pupils, a glimmer of light flickers.

His originally dark eyes, reflected in the glow of the lake, now show another scene—a semi-transparent auction interface of the Evolution Store floats in his view, frozen at astronomical prices for four items at the moment the auction ends.

These prices are something ordinary players can't possibly accumulate at this stage.

Unless the players' combat power skyrockets in the future, causing sacrificial power production to increase explosively as well.

"It's like they're playing a different game altogether," Cheng Shan mused inwardly.

He had seen a wealth analysis thread posted by the Research Party Players on the forum.

If we talk about wealth ranking among player organizations, the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce would undoubtedly be at the top.

Profiting externally from price differences, internally from service fees, and from various income-generating channels, it's truly an empire of money printing as its scale grows.

The second would be the Divine Hall Guild and other top United Battle Groups.

Further down, most likely Little Mage.

However, some players replied to the thread, expressing disagreement, believing that the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce has infinite future potential, but currently, Little Mage is the wealthiest player.

He controls a clan with millions in scale.

He has also opened multiple resource output channels for the Spirit Breath Clan, so the current scale of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce may not necessarily be a match for Little Mage.

Furthermore, the Divine Hall Guild and other top guilds' daily income, although high.

Is generally converted into power immediately, without choosing to hoard sacrificial power, resulting in minimal reserves available for spending.

In a true competition of wealth, Little Mage is certainly unrivaled.

Regarding the assessment of player wealth, different players have their own opinions.

It's impossible to inquire about other players' information through Guidance, so the debate about who is truly wealthier has never reached a definitive answer.

But it is certain that these players in the wealth rankings hold sacrificial power reserves far exceeding those of ordinary players.

With their involvement in the Evolution Store's latest release, ordinary players don't stand a chance.

It's just something to watch in amusement.

Cheng Shan averts his gaze, quickly closing the official webpage scaled to the upper left of his view. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

His gaze refocuses on the lake.

This time he traveled thousands of miles to this lake for fishing because he found in library research that there is a rare spirit fish in this lake: Moon Concealed Silver Scale.

This area was also explored personally by him, clearing the map's mist.

However, he is not a Fishing Faction Player, but rather a professional Spirit Chef Party Player.

This journey is not an accident.

Three months ago, he decided to embark on a challenge to complete a top-tier Spirit Meal that no player has attempted before.

For more than three months, he has been tirelessly working towards this goal.

Three days ago, he found the record of "Moon Concealed Silver Scale" in the book "Colorful Mist Coast - Rare Water Ingredients Atlas" in the library.

To find this uncharted lake, he spent two whole days exploring the unknown area south of the Colorful Mist Coast.

Now, only two ingredients are left to complete the top-tier Spirit Meal titled "Heavenly Light Banquet."

The Moon Concealed Silver Scale is the key ingredient among them.

The meat of this fish contains a special Spiritual Essence and is already a premium ingredient for crafting High-level Spirit Cuisine, and it cannot be bought in the Trading House.

As a Spirit Chef Player, traveling across mountains and rivers is a norm for him.

The Spirit Chef Party Players sound like a very lucrative profession.

Many players associate the word "Spirit Chef" with earning abundant sacrificial power effortlessly and happily.

All they see are those high-priced dishes in the Trading House, but are unaware that behind each new Spirit Meal lies countless days and nights of toil.

In this field, they are regarded as Research Party Players specializing in one particular domain.

They need to remember the taste, effects, and quantity used for each ingredient, which requires diving deep into library studies.

To become a top-tier Spirit Chef, one must have an extensive knowledge reserve.

The ingredients in Monster World are so diverse that they must learn ceaselessly throughout their lives, with endless paths to explore.

If you talk about making money, it's not easy.

In the Spirit Chef field, having ingredients does not mean you can successfully craft a Spirit Meal; failures in making occur too.

Once painstakingly prepared Spirit Meals fail, all ingredients are wasted.

This is the daily life of actual Spirit Chef Players—dividing their time into three parts.

One third spent on traveling outside to find ingredients, another third spent learning in the library, and the remaining time preparing Spirit Meals.

Although ingredients can be bought at the Trading House, many rare ones are simply unavailable there.

This necessitates library research, seeking information on nearby areas, and personally setting off in search.

Last month, to find the "Frost Fire Pepper," he was besieged by Magma Lizards at the volcano's mouth, dying a total of 18 times back and forth to successfully obtain the ingredient.

Half a month ago, he chased a group of stealthy "Fog Concealing Mushrooms" across half a rainforest in the Colorful Mist Coast Region, finally capturing and processing them into ingredients for preservation.