Star Moon Kingdom, Stone Forest Town.
After the battle between Zero Wing and Heavenly Burial came to an end, the entire Star Moon Kingdom was shaken. No one had expected such an outcome — Heavenly Burial had retreated in defeat, their main force practically crippled, and many of their members still couldn't log into Divine Realm. The Black Water Guild, which had taken part in the battle, had also suffered tremendous losses.
This astonishing result pushed Zero Wing's reputation and prestige in the Star Moon Kingdom to its absolute peak. Every major power in the kingdom, whether operating in the open or in the shadows, felt nothing but intense reverence and wariness toward Zero Wing.
Setting aside the three Baphomets, the hundreds of small crossbow carts combined with mobile defensive magic arrays were no laughing matter. On that basis alone, Zero Wing's war arsenal already ranked at the very top of the Star Moon Kingdom — no other guild could even compare.
If not for the emergence of a guild like Heavenly Burial, which could manipulate Abyssal demons and had the backing of a major conglomerate, there really wasn't a single guild in the Star Moon Kingdom that could pose a threat to Zero Wing.
Inside Zero Wing's guild hall, a flash of light flickered, and Shi Feng appeared at the guild teleportation point marked by the guild scroll.
The guild hall was bustling with activity. Quite a few of the guild's new elite reserve candidates could be seen excitedly waiting in the quest area to pick up guild missions.
These new elite reserves were players who had recently left the beginner towns and passed the guild's assessment. Although their levels weren't high — averaging around level twenty — they all possessed considerable talent, and among them were several exceptionally gifted young players.
At a single glance, Shi Feng even spotted a few who had become renowned top-tier experts in the Star Moon Kingdom in his previous life.
Among them were Trace Shadow, who ranked in the top ten on the kingdom's assassin combat power leaderboard, Bloody Rain Remains, a top-twenty Oracle, and Luo Yiyi, a Druid who would go on to advance to the fourth class advancement.
These were talents that every major guild would kill for, yet in this life, they had all joined Zero Wing.
"This battle was absolutely insane! Too bad my level's too low — I never even had a chance to participate in a peak battle like that. If I were a few levels higher, maybe I could've joined this legendary fight!" A young man in a silver-grey mage robe stared at the battle footage playing in the guild hall, his face filled with longing.
"Participating in a battle like that? Not that easy. You'd at least need to be promoted to a guild elite before you'd even have a chance. We're only elite reserves right now — we're still a long way from becoming real guild elites. Just the guild contribution points alone, who knows how far behind we are, let alone the strength assessment for elite promotion." A brawny young man in armor shook his head.
The elite reserves were only accepted because the guild saw potential in them, but potential didn't equal strength. If they failed to meet the guild's requirements within a set period, they'd be kicked out of the reserve just the same, reduced to regular members working their way up from the bottom.
And as Zero Wing's influence continued to grow and more players joined, the standards for elite membership only climbed higher. After all, guild resources were finite — not everyone could enjoy generous allocations. Only elites and top players had that kind of privilege.
"So what? The current guild elites just happened to join Zero Wing a little earlier than us. Give me time, and becoming a main-force member won't be a problem." A petite young woman dressed in sleek black leather, with a graceful figure and a lovely oval face, pursed her lips dismissively. Then she turned her gaze to the video of Shi Feng fighting and declared with unwavering confidence, "Just watch! Before long, you'll see me by the guild master's side!"
"You're really overthinking it. Have you even looked at who's around the guild master? Commander Fire Dance and Vice Commander Water Color are both capable of going toe-to-toe with the top experts from a super guild." Everyone threw her a look of speechless exasperation.
And for that remark, the young woman shot them a fierce glare…
The reserves' voices carried well — even regular players dozens of yards away could hear them clearly, let alone someone like Shi Feng with his extraordinary physical constitution.
Shi Feng could only shake his head with an amused smile.
He hadn't expected that his role as guild master could have such a motivating effect within the guild.
Still, looking at these elite reserve members reinforced a thought — it really was time to expand. Before, with the guild's thin foundation and its constant struggles for funding and resources, the number of elite reserve slots had been severely limited.
Now, after the decisive battle against Heavenly Burial, their main force had been almost entirely wiped out, and the guild had fallen into complete paralysis. Forget about fighting Zero Wing — whether Heavenly Burial could even continue to exist in Divine Realm was now an open question.
With that threat and worry removed, and given that Zero Wing's earnings from this battle were staggering — never mind the items dropped by the Abyssal demons, the weapons and equipment dropped by the slain players alone constituted a massive fortune — the guild now had more than enough resources to conduct several more rounds of recruitment.