The Night Empire, Night City.
The central streets teemed with traffic, and the shops lining both sides overflowed with customers. Players from other cities and kingdoms streamed in at all hours to make purchases.
Compared to the surrounding kingdoms, the Night Empire's commercial sophistication was clearly a cut above. Mythril Rank equipment at Level 50, which was seldom sold in the kingdoms, was commonplace here—even Gold-grade equipment at Level 50 could be found, though the exorbitant prices made most people think twice.
Thanks to Night City's prosperity, players from the surrounding regions eagerly brought their treasures here to sell, creating a snowball effect that swelled the city's stockpile of rare goods. Even major guilds from neighboring kingdoms stationed permanent buyers in Night City to procure supplies—the bustle here was far beyond what any royal capital could match.
Towering over the central street was a magnificent guild headquarters, its grounds sprawling across an area the size of a ten-thousand-seat stadium. Simply acquiring this plot of land required not only considerable status but also a staggering price of fifty thousand gold—one of the few spacious plots available in Night City's central district.
"This guild headquarters is so lavish! They actually built a five-story restaurant!"
"Right? I heard building a restaurant inside a guild headquarters wasn't cheap to begin with. A place this big must've cost at least ten thousand gold."
"Ten thousand gold? You're seriously underestimating the Star Ring Guild. It was established by the Star Voyage Consortium—just constructing this restaurant, with all the furnishings and equipment, set them back a full twenty thousand gold. And beyond the restaurant, they built dedicated training rooms too. I heard the rooms have magic array enhancements—the mana density inside is way higher than outside. Training in there is so much more effective. Too bad those perks are only for Star Ring members."
"Can we join the Star Ring Guild?"
"Join? You newcomers? Star Ring is one of the three up-and-coming powers in the Night Empire now. Their strength is on par with the top-tier guilds Scarlet Emperor and Indomitable War Soul. Even with their current recruitment push, it's not something newcomers can just waltz into."
...
While players on the main street discussed the Star Ring Guild, a hundred-strong team rode in on leopards, wearing matching luxurious attire, and entered the Star Ring headquarters. Their imposing presence drew envious stares from the high-level players nearby, many of whom yearned to join their ranks.
This was the Star Ring Guild's main squad. Not long ago, they had defeated the fourth boss of a Level 50 hundred-player team dungeon—just the final boss away from a complete clear. In the current landscape, this put them on par with the other two top-tier guilds.
In the president's office atop the guild hall, three people stood watching the main squad's triumphant return.
"Guild Master, our progress has now caught up with Indomitable War Soul. It's only a matter of time before we surpass both them and Scarlet Emperor." A second-tier Shield Warrior carrying a silver cross shield, Level 55, addressed the black-robed Lu Xingluo with a grin.
Their Star Ring Guild had secured the mining vein, which yielded a massive daily supply of Magic Crystals—enough to keep the magic arrays in the guild's training rooms running nonstop. The guild's experts could train and advance without interruption.
More and more experts would soon meet the requirements for second-tier advancement. As long as they accumulated enough second-tier professionals and their combat skills all hit the standard, claiming the First Clear of the Level 50 hundred-player dungeon was simply a matter of time.
With no shortage of Magic Crystals, the guild's cultivation pace was incomparably faster than before. Within a month or two, Star Ring's expert count could very well surpass both Scarlet Emperor and Indomitable War Soul, making them the top guild in the Night Empire.
"Not bad. The Battle for the Thorn Fortress is about to begin. From now on, pour all the Magic Crystals we've gathered into cultivating second-tier classes—produce as many second-tier professionals as possible. Once we take control of the Thorn Fortress, let's see how Scarlet Emperor and Indomitable War Soul try to compete with our Star Ring." Lu Xingluo smiled.
"Understood. Rest assured, Guild Master—before the battle begins, our Star Ring's second-tier expert count will definitely surpass both Scarlet Emperor and Indomitable War Soul." The silver-cross-shielded Shield Warrior vowed.
Just as Lu Xingluo discussed the Thorn Fortress with his subordinates, a message notification chimed in his ear.
"From Soul of Darkness?" Lu Xingluo glanced at the sender's name and opened the message. His expression darkened instantly. "Has Soul of Darkness gone completely mad with greed?! They want to triple the price just to deal with some measly Zero Wing Guild?!"
"Guild Master, we've just received news as well. It seems Soul of Darkness ambushed Zero Wing Guild's main squad at the Gate of Eclipse—but they suffered a crushing defeat, with over half their forces wiped out. This probably has something to do with it." The stunning, Level 55 second-tier female Elementalist, Su Luo, explained to the fuming Lu Xingluo.
"You're saying Soul of Darkness ambushed Zero Wing's main squad and got slaughtered in return?" Lu Xingluo couldn't believe it. "How is that possible?"
"It's true. Someone uploaded the battle footage to the Gate of Eclipse's official forum. Right now, the entire player base there is talking about it." Su Luo forwarded the video to Lu Xingluo.
"So that's it." Lu Xingluo watched the footage, his brow furrowing slightly. "No wonder they dared to oppose me before."
"Guild Master, should we still deal with this Zero Wing Guild?" Su Luo asked.
"Of course!" Lu Xingluo confirmed without hesitation. "All they did was repel around two thousand of Soul of Darkness's forces. That's barely a scratch for Soul of Darkness, and yet they want triple the price. Besides, this level of strength means nothing against our Star Ring. But before we deal with Zero Wing, we need to secure the Thorn Fortress first. Go tell Soul of Darkness—forget about triple resources. I'll change the terms: if they can destroy Zero Wing Guild, I'll increase their share in the Thorn Fortress by five percent."
"And tell Duan Tianhu that Zero Wing is nothing but a guild built from scratch with zero backing. The fact that they've grown this powerful means they must have some significant secret. If he doesn't want it, our Star Ring will go take it ourselves—tell him not to get jealous!"
He knew exactly where the Dark Hunters and Shadow Claw ranked within Soul of Darkness—only the fourth and fifth adventure parties. This defeat was largely due to faulty intelligence and inadequate preparation, and Duan Tianhu was simply trying to exploit the situation to jack up the price.
"Understood." Su Luo nodded and reached out to contact Soul of Darkness.
While the Star Ring Guild discussed the matter, the major superpowers also learned of the battle at the Gate of Eclipse. Zero Wing Guild's reputation surged once more, but it also attracted the attention of certain keen-eyed observers. The fact was that Zero Wing's combat strength was abnormal—especially the number of second-tier professionals they fielded. There had to be a significant secret hidden within.
In an instant, the major powers' attitude toward Zero Wing shifted. They were no longer looking at ants—they were eyeing a choice piece of meat.
"Pass down the order—find out the secret behind Zero Wing Guild's rise!"
Nearly every major power issued this command the moment they reviewed the battle footage.
Meanwhile, Shi Feng had only just finished resting and arrived at Silver Wing Town.
"Guild Master, the fifty advanced architects you asked me to find have all been brought here." Gloomy Smile reported to Shi Feng, who stood on an empty lot.
The fifty advanced architects looked at the silently standing Shi Feng with nervous expressions, wondering why the guild master had suddenly summoned so many of them. With this many advanced architects, you could build an entire town.
"Good. Build according to this blueprint, right here." Shi Feng pulled a stack of aged design blueprints from his inventory—the blueprint for an Advanced Blacksmith Workshop.