The entire Ancient Rock City was enclosed by walls over twenty meters tall, and with the magic runes carved into them, even the most powerful players couldn't scale them. Beyond the protection of the walls, a defensive magic array enveloped the city at all times. Even if a player managed to cross the walls, they would be stopped by the array.
Under normal circumstances, the only way in or out of the city was through its entrances and exits.
If players wanted to do anything to a city and couldn't get past these two layers of defense, it was all pointless — to say nothing of the NPCs guarding the city.
Due to the unique environment of the Beastman Empire, players consumed far more stamina and mental energy here than on other maps. To fully recover, they had to enter a town enclosed by a magic array.
Right now, players who wanted to enter Ancient Rock City were quietly waiting outside the city gates, forming a long queue. Only after passing the NPC guards' inspection could they enter.
"This inspection is such a hassle. Heaven's Burial won't even let us wear black cloaks to hide our identities. They demand we make ourselves completely public — no information allowed to be hidden before we can enter."
"Probably worried about enemy guilds sneaking players in. A lot of superpowers have their eyes on Ancient Rock City. If another faction staged some big operation from inside, the losses for Heaven's Burial wouldn't be a joke."
"They're overthinking it. How could players even cause trouble inside Ancient Rock City? Between the patrolling NPC guards and the players already in there, who knows how many there are. The slightest suspicious movement and you'd be taken out before you could do any damage."
"True. Heaven's Burial is being way too cautious. With these defenses, even super guilds would be helpless. Other factions destroying Ancient Rock City? Even less likely."
…
The players queued up to enter Ancient Rock City chattered among themselves, feeling that Heaven's Burial's behavior was overly paranoid. After all, Ancient Rock City wasn't a purely player-controlled city — it was normally garrisoned by heavy NPC forces. Even if players wanted to do something, now wasn't the time. They'd have to wait a long while before any such opportunity arose.
"Hm — look, over there! Someone's up there!"
"Holy crap! What kind of person is that? He can fly!"
"What is he doing?"
"Don't tell me he's trying to siege the city?"
"Siege the city? That's a joke. Ancient Rock City's defensive magic array isn't for show — current players stand no chance against it. He probably just wants to get a look at what's inside."
"Who even is this guy? He's got some serious nerve! Isn't he afraid Heaven's Burial will take him out?"
The crowd waiting in line watched as a player suddenly appeared in the sky above Ancient Rock City, and curiosity swept through them.
At that moment, it wasn't just the players outside the city who noticed Shi Feng hovering in midair — players inside the city spotted him too, and an immediate stir broke out.
Meanwhile, inside Heaven's Burial's headquarters.
"Guild Master, a figure just appeared in the sky above the city. It appears to be a player," a level-49 Ranger said as he strode into the guild master's office. "Should I have a patrol squad take a squad out to eliminate him?"
Generally speaking, as long as players didn't cause trouble inside the city, they couldn't be bothered to interfere.
But someone daring to hover above the city and survey all of Ancient Rock City from the air was a direct provocation. If they didn't deal with it decisively, the guild's prestige would be in serious trouble.
"Someone appeared in the sky above Ancient Rock City, looking down on the whole city?" Yi Xiao Du Zang was taken aback. "Do we know who it is?"
In all the time they — Heaven's Burial — had held Ancient Rock City, this was the first time they'd encountered such an audacious player. The fool clearly didn't know what the word "death" meant.
"We tried to investigate, but the player is wearing a black cloak. We don't know who it is." The Ranger shook his head.
"How interesting. Daring to run wild on Heaven's Burial's turf — he must have a death wish. Send the order immediately. I don't know what he's planning, but I want him to have no way back. Let everyone see what happens when you mess with Heaven's Burial." Yi Xiao Du Zang looked at the image of the black-cloaked Shi Feng on the screen and let out a cold laugh.