Black Dragon Empire, Lake Heart City.
As an NPC city controlled by Zero Wing's branch, the moment Shi Feng stepped out of the teleportation hall, he found the main streets packed with players. A sea of bodies, no less impressive than White River City—and possibly even more crowded.
He had barely taken a few steps before shouts and calls reached his ears from every direction.
"Looking for a group for the Underground Labyrinth's inner zone! I'm a level 51 Shield Warrior, defense over thirty thousand, defense rate 34%, reached the late stages of the fifth floor of the Trial Tower—just a hair away from breaking into the sixth floor! Need a strong team!"
"Outer zone exploration party for the Underground Labyrinth! Looking for strong MTs and DPS above level 50. 32 out of 40 slots filled—no beginners!"
"Bulk-buying Ice Jade Stones, 30 silver coins per piece! Will take as many as you've got!"
……
Both sides of the main street were lined with players hawking goods and forming groups, the bustle actually exceeding that of White River City.
Moreover, the players filling the streets were all high-level—at least 49, with the majority sitting at 50 and 51. He could even spot a few experts who had reached level 52. This kind of sight could normally only be seen in places like the Ice Crystal World, where levels ran slightly higher than on the Divine Realm's continent, but right now the player levels here were no less impressive than Cold Wind City.
Looking at this scene, Shi Feng almost thought he was still back in Cold Wind City.
In addition to the large number of free experts, guild elite teams and expert squads were periodically pouring out of the teleportation hall as well, one after another, sprinting toward the city gates as if Lake Heart City had suddenly become the center of the entire Black Dragon Empire.
"So the guilds have finally taken notice?" Shi Feng watched the various guild teams galloping off on horseback, but felt no surprise. If anything, this was all within his expectations.
He had originally chosen Lake Heart City in the Black Dragon Empire precisely because of the resources in this area.
In the early stages, the major guilds and players had paid little attention to a remote backwater like Lake Heart City. But once players hit level 50, the dungeon environments they faced grew increasingly harsh, demanding all sorts of elemental resistances. And the region around Lake Heart City was most famous for producing Ice Jade Stones.
Ice Jade Stones could be processed into ice resistance gems and socketed into equipment to boost ice resistance, offering tremendous flexibility. This was far superior to weapons or armor that provided resistance bonuses at the cost of sacrificing base stats. Moreover, most equipment of that type only added a single type of resistance, came with level restrictions, and required players to prepare entirely different sets of gear for each dungeon environment.
For any guild or expert player, maintaining such a collection was simply too extravagant.
Resistance gems, on the other hand, had no such drawback. The gems could be freely swapped between pieces of gear—though it cost a small fee—and facing dungeons in different environments merely required socketing the appropriate resistance gems into your existing equipment, without the hassle of switching out entire gear sets.
It was precisely for this reason that Lake Heart City, riding the wave of Ice Jade Stone resources, had suddenly exploded in popularity within the Black Dragon Empire. At its peak, it had become the sixth most populous city in the entire empire.
It was worth remembering that an empire's player population far exceeded that of a kingdom. Even a city ranked sixth in an empire boasted a population that surpassed a kingdom's capital city.
His earlier groundwork was finally bearing fruit.
The flood of players converging on Lake Heart City would undoubtedly allow Zero Wing's branch to recruit a significant number of elite experts, bolstering the branch's strength enough to genuinely rival the first-rate guilds of the Black Dragon Empire—rather than simply sitting tight on its current modest territory.
Gazing at the booming Lake Heart City, Shi Feng hailed a high-grade carriage and headed for the Baroness's manor.