The waiting hall, vast enough to accommodate a sports stadium, erupted into a frenzy at the arrival of Shi Feng and his group.
"You've got to be kidding me! The worst equipment any of them have is Gold-grade?"
"Why is Zero Wing here too?"
"Holy crap! Over ten people at level 56? How did they even grind that high?"
...
The crowd in the hall stared with their eyes nearly popping out as more than eighty Zero Wing members walked in.
Currently, most major guilds were making decent progress in raid dungeons, but the vast majority of gear they could obtain was Mythril Rank at level 50. Gold-grade equipment at level 50 was exceedingly rare — even senior members of the major guilds probably didn't have more than a handful of pieces.
Yet here was an entire raid of over eighty people, every single one of them equipped with at least Gold-grade gear at level 50. It was practically inhuman.
That wasn't even counting their levels. Right now, top-tier players were generally around level 53, with the fastest grinders hitting 54. Anyone who reached 55 could rank among the top few in the Kingdom and easily break into the top twenty or thirty in the Empire. While every major guild had experts who kept their levels hidden to avoid the rankings, the actual level differences wouldn't be that significant. But Zero Wing had over ten members at level 56 — that hidden strength was downright terrifying.
In other words, whenever Zero Wing wanted to, they could effortlessly lock down ten spots in the Empire's level rankings.
After Shi Feng and the others arrived, the members of Dragon Phoenix Pavilion and Undying War Spirit, who had been waiting for some time, stared in mild astonishment.
"How does Zero Wing have so many second-class professionals?" Feng Qianyu and Bumie Zhanxin exchanged a look at Zero Wing's headcount, genuinely taken aback.
This was even more shocking than the equipment on Zero Wing's members.
After all, a first-rate guild managing to field twenty or more second-class professionals was already impressive. The second-class job change wasn't easy, and one also had to account for future job changes — at minimum, you needed to pass the Hard difficulty second-class job change quest, which placed significant demands on a player's equipment and strength. At current player levels and gear, that was extremely difficult.
Their own super-first-rate guilds had managed to cultivate so many second-class professionals thanks to two factors: a large pool of top-tier experts and priority resource allocation. It had taken considerable effort.
But Zero Wing had produced over eighty in one go — nearly on par with their super-first-rate guilds.
"My apologies. We needed to make some preparations, so we kept you waiting." Shi Feng glanced at the guilds on either side and smiled.
"The timing is perfect. Though I have to say, it's quite surprising that Guild Master Black Flame is personally leading the team dungeon this time." Feng Qianyu looked at Shi Feng, her gaze tinged with curiosity and surprise.
Her curiosity stemmed from the fact that Black Flame rarely showed himself — most matters were delegated to Night Edge, Aqua Rose, and Bai Qingxue. Her surprise came from the feeling Black Flame gave her at this moment: a powerful sense of deadly crisis, far more intense than anything she had sensed before.
"I am Bumie Zhanxin, Vice Master of Undying War Spirit. Guild Master Black Flame truly lives up to his reputation — no, he's even more impressive than the rumors suggest." Bumie Zhanxin also studied Shi Feng while glancing at Huo Wu and the others standing beside him, his heart filled with indescribable shock.
In his eyes, a guild master who could grow Zero Wing into a major guild rivaling first-rate guilds must be someone skilled at managing organizations. Even if his personal strength matched the rumors, Bumie Zhanxin had figured he could at best contend with their top experts. But from Shi Feng, he sensed the threat of death — something he had rarely experienced since entering the Divine Realm.
Moreover, beyond Shi Feng alone, he sensed several more sources of danger among Zero Wing's members.