As Shi Feng departed, the Black Water Guild members weren't the only ones breathing a sigh of relief — every major guild representative present felt a weight lift from their shoulders.
"Just like that? He's not going to go after the Black Water people?"
"My guess is Black Flame just doesn't think these Black Water grunts are worth his time. I was there during the battle at the Ancient Ruins — Black Flame single-handedly went toe-to-toe with Legendary monsters and tore through both the Black Water army and the Demonic Beast army. A thousand-man elite squad probably isn't even worth him raising a finger."
"Incredible! Just a single person, and every guild member here was suffocating under the pressure. No wonder everyone agrees Black Flame is the number-one player in the Star Moon Kingdom — he's on a completely different level from those other top players."
...
Not far away, the members of various adventure teams watched the guild players — none of whom dared to move a muscle — and were utterly shaken. Never had they imagined that a single person's presence could be so terrifying.
Before, they had heard plenty of stories about Black Flame, but had dismissed them all as tall tales, rumors that grew more exaggerated with each retelling.
But now, having seen it with their own eyes, they finally understood — the rumors weren't exaggerated. If anything, the truth was even more terrifying.
This planted a seed in the minds of certain free agents who had previously shown little interest in joining a guild — the idea of joining Zero Wing, particularly among swordsmen who wanted to hone their craft.
Shi Feng himself had no idea that a casual, offhand display had made even more free agents within the Orc Empire eager to join Zero Wing.
At the same time, the stir caused by Shi Feng's appearance had set the dark players lurking in the shadows into motion.
"Captain, we've spotted Black Flame."
"Where?"
"Right here at the Orc Empire's border. But he's got quite a few NPCs with him — won't be easy to take him on."
"Shadow him for now. I'll rally the troops immediately. If our Arrow of Wind adventure team can take down Black Flame even once, we'll be able to join Soul of Darkness. We absolutely cannot let this chance slip — stay on him."
"Yes, sir!"
With Shi Feng's appearance, one dark adventure team after another across the Orc Empire began mobilizing.
Not long ago, the Soul of Darkness from the Dark Night Empire had placed a bounty on Zero Wing. Take out any of Zero Wing's high-ranking members, and you'd receive one Dark Corruption slot. Take out Zero Wing's Guild Master, and whether you were a team or an individual, you could join Soul of Darkness and become the leader of a brand-new adventure team established by the Soul of Black Flame.
For players who operated in the shadows, the name "Soul of Darkness" carried the same weight as the super-guilds and ultra-guilds that regular players revered. Being able to join and lead an adventure team there was practically the equivalent of becoming a vice guild master — and who wouldn't be tempted by that?
And so, one dark adventure team after another — and even some dark guilds — sprang into action, all trying to track down Black Flame's whereabouts.
Black Flame might be formidable, but enough ants could bring down an elephant. And in the Divine Realm, there were plenty of special means to kill a player — it wasn't all about raw power.
On the rocky dirt path, the Thunderhorn Earth Dragon charged forward at full speed.
The deeper he ventured into the Orc Empire, the stronger the monsters and orcs blocking his path became — starting from Leader-rank, gradually escalating to Lord-rank, and eventually High Lords.
If the Thunderhorn Earth Dragon hadn't been a Level 80 Great Lord, it would have been stopped long ago.
"Opening a trade route through the dark factions' territory really is no joke," Shi Feng murmured from his seat, watching Lord-rank orcs get sent flying one after another, feeling quite fortunate.
Fortunately, he was the first player in the Star Moon Kingdom to undertake opening a trade route, which granted him permission to use the Thunderhorn Earth Dragon. Under normal circumstances, trade routes were opened with Iron-rank transport carriages and Lord-rank mounts at best. Advancing through neutral maps controlled by the dark factions was excruciatingly difficult — you either relied on NPCs to fight your way through, or had your guild send a massive player force to clear the path.
Now, with the Thunderhorn Earth Dragon, things were considerably easier — though progress was much slower, only slightly faster than a player's running speed.
And this was only the beginning in the neutral maps controlled by the dark factions. As Shi Feng pushed deeper, the monsters and orcs only grew stronger, and even with Tier-3 NPCs accompanying him, handling them was becoming increasingly difficult.
After seven or eight hours of travel, Shi Feng arrived before an orc fortress — the last node along the trade route where a magic array still needed to be constructed.