After saying that, Shi Feng plunged into the dense forest.
"Sis Huo Wu, what do we do now? Should we leave?" Shui Niu asked.
Huo Wu rolled her eyes at Shui Niu, then looked in the direction Shi Feng had gone and said, "Of course we have to help him. Brother Ye Feng saved our lives."
Although Huo Wu trusted Shi Feng's ability, she had also seen how formidable those people were. If he were surrounded, Shi Feng would definitely be in grave danger. If something went wrong, her help might give him a chance to escape.
Thus, the two of them also entered the forest.
Deep within the forest, the undergrowth was thick, and Level 8 Shadow Panthers lurked everywhere in the shadows.
At that moment, a fifty-man team from the Martial Alliance was clearing the Shadow Panthers while advancing toward the outer area.
"Brother Fengyun, aren't we wasting time chasing that girl Huo Wu instead of continuing to search for Ye Feng's teammates?" Tie Jian Kuang Shi furrowed his brows and looked at the handsome young man walking in the middle of the team, humming a tune cheerfully. He felt somewhat displeased.
The handsome young man humming the tune was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He was the "Brother Fengyun" that Tie Jian Kuang Shi had referred to, and also the Vice President of the Martial Alliance, Fengyun Wuhui. His status, strength, and position all surpassed Tie Jian Kuang Shi's, so even Tie Jian Kuang Shi had to respectfully call him "Big Brother."
"Tiejian, you're still so naive. No wonder that kid Ye Feng toyed with you and turned our fine guild into a mess, leaving only a handful of members. You've completely disgraced the Martial Alliance—do you even realize that?" Fengyun Wuhui suddenly stopped and looked at Tie Jian Kuang Shi with slight anger. "If I hadn't discovered it early, there wouldn't even be a Martial Alliance branch in Red Leaf Town by now."
Tie Jian Kuang Shi bowed his head and remained silent.
"It was because of your mismanagement that the Martial Alliance in Red Leaf Town was destroyed. Now I have to clean up this mess and transfer all the elites from the other three towns here to help salvage our reputation—and you still have the nerve to speak?" Fengyun Wuhui scolded loudly in front of everyone, not sparing Tie Jian Kuang Shi's face at all. Tie Jian Kuang Shi's face flushed red with anger, but he didn't dare utter a single word in reply; he could only endure it.
The leaders of the other three towns sneered at this scene.
Every new game represented a reshuffling of power within the guild. In the past, Tie Jian Kuang Shi had been incredibly arrogant, but now he was nothing. His level was only 8, while they were all level 9. Moreover, they had developed their guild branches quite well in their respective towns, recruiting many promising newcomers that far surpassed Red Leaf Town's pitiful few members.
"Tiejian, do you seriously think I went through all the trouble to hunt down Ye Feng's teammates just to let two of them escape?"
"You need to understand, our only target is Ye Feng. His teammates are just bait. If they all die here, do you think he'll still come?"
"We've already trapped his teammates in Windstorm Canyon. The initial objective has been achieved. Now we need to retaliate. Let everyone in town see what happens when they go against the Martial Alliance. That little girl is the perfect choice; she has killed many of our people and is bound to be noticed. If we kill her back to Level 0, the Martial Alliance's reputation will surely recover. And if we kill Ye Feng, we might even elevate the Martial Alliance to the threshold of a third-rate guild. It's not impossible."
Fengyun Wuhui had long planned this out. Tie Jian Kuang Shi had always been the guild leader's confidant, and many elders supported the leader. If he wanted to take the guild leader's seat, he needed to build his fame.
In White River City, Shi Feng was relatively well-known, a recognized sword expert—even more famous than the Martial Alliance's leader, Aotian Wuming. So Shi Feng was his best choice.
If he could kill Shi Feng and upload the video, he would instantly become a top expert in White River City.
Moreover, the destroyed Red Leaf Town branch would rise again.
Then, the elders would surely side with him, and his ascension to guild leader would be within reach.
"Ye Feng, become my stepping stone," Fengyun Wuhui sneered to himself.
He didn't believe a solo player could survive such an encirclement. However, Shi Feng's delay in arriving was beginning to irritate him.
Just as the Martial Alliance slowly advanced,
Shi Feng, moving among the large trees, also spotted Fengyun Wuhui and his group. After quietly observing for a while, he saw that these players were all elites, with the lowest being Level 7, many at Level 8, and four at Level 9. They wore a full set of Iron Rank equipment, with weapons at least Iron Rank as well. The handsome young man leading them carried a Mythril Rank longbow on his back.
"Isn't that Fengyun Wuhui?" Shi Feng immediately recognized the handsome young man with the bow.
In his previous life, Shi Feng had dealt with Fengyun Wuhui quite a bit.
Fengyun Wuhui was cunning and ruthless, and his strength was considerable; he ranked within the top five in the Martial Alliance, far stronger than Tie Jian Kuang Shi.
Shi Feng also recognized the other three Level 9 players. They were all experts no weaker than Tie Jian Kuang Shi, each being the leader of a town's branch.
"No wonder the Martial Alliance has so many elites now. They moved all the elites from the three towns near Red Leaf Town here," Shi Feng suddenly realized.
These three Level 9 town leaders were very strong, but Tie Jian Kuang Shi had obtained a pass to Black Wing City in his previous life, which allowed him to get ahead of them and gradually pull away, eventually becoming the branch leader of the Martial Alliance.