Dark Night Empire, Dark Night City.
Shi Feng walked out of the teleportation hall with nine experts handpicked by Shuisé Qiángwēi. The moment they stepped outside, they were greeted by a bustling main street packed with high-level players.
Many of these free players were level 55 or above, equipped with excellent gear — plenty wore Mythril-grade equipment from level 50. At this moment, they were streaming toward the commercial district of Dark Night City like pilgrims heading to a holy site, numbering well over five thousand.
In other words, there were already more than five thousand experts gathered on this single street…
"Why are there so many experts?" Shi Feng stared at the sea of high-level players, baffled.
It was true that an empire's capital would normally attract a large concentration of top players, but he had never seen density quite like this. Even the capitals of the four great empires couldn't compare.
Just as Shi Feng was marveling at the sheer number, shouts suddenly rang out not far away.
"Anyone who wants to advance to a second-order Bard, get to the Stargazer Ring Guild to register! Registration closes in half an hour!"
Hearing the call, the crowd quickened their pace, surging toward the registration point as if maddened.
"The Stargazer Ring Guild is being awfully stingy this time. They clearly control the passage to the Sea of Forests, yet they're only publicly accepting two hundred people."
"Tell me about it. Two hundred spots — how is that supposed to be enough? I heard players started signing up over ten hours ago. There must be over a hundred thousand applicants by now. What's really annoying is that the selection doesn't just look at a player's combat strength — they're also testing how well you've mastered magic formations. I'm a Berserker, for crying out loud! When would I ever bother learning magic formations? Even most magic-class players probably haven't studied that stuff. It doesn't boost your combat power at all and just wastes time researching."
"But I heard that if you successfully complete the class change, the Stargazer Ring Guild will give you main-force member treatment. It's basically a chance to leap over the dragon gate and ride straight to the top."
"If you don't want to compete at Stargazer Ring, you could try Unfalling War Soul. They started recruiting not long after Stargazer Ring did, but they only have a hundred slots. Same deal — pass the class change and you get main-force member status."
"Who would've thought that advancing to a second-order class would require knowledge of magic formations? If I'd known, I would've started learning them ages ago. I might have gotten selected by now. Even if I didn't pass the class change, at least I'd have a shot at becoming a core member."
…
Players scattered along both sides of the street watched the crowd rushing toward the Stargazer Ring and Unfalling War Soul recruitment zones, chatting amongst themselves. Everyone was abuzz over the two guilds' sudden recruitment conditions, and many cursed themselves for not having learned magic formations earlier — especially now that they didn't even have a chance to register.
"Stargazer Ring suddenly recruiting players who know magic formations?" Walking along the street, Shi Feng heard the players' discussions and his expression shifted slightly. "Could Unfalling War Soul's information have leaked?"
The method for advancing to the special second-order Bard class — at this point, aside from himself and Shuisé Qiángwēi, only Unfalling War Soul knew about it. For Stargazer Ring to suddenly make this move could only mean they had learned about the way to increase the success rate.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have used such an unusual recruitment condition. After all, magic formations were currently of use only to crafting professions. For combat classes, studying formations offered almost no benefit — and even for magic-class players, the advantage was negligible. For physical classes, it was entirely useless.
Just as Shi Feng led his group at a leisurely pace toward Purple Night Plaza — the meeting point arranged by Unfalling War Soul — the entire plaza was already packed beyond capacity. Three major guilds had surrounded the area with their members, the crowd exceeding ten thousand, every single person wearing at least a full set of level-50 Mythril equipment. Some even brandished level-50 Dark Gold weapons. It was practically a carnival of weaponry and gear, leaving the surrounding expert players green with envy.
Inside Purple Night Plaza, only members of the three major guilds were allowed to enter or leave. Outsiders could only stand and watch.
The moment Shi Feng appeared at the plaza, Mu Lingsha had been waiting for quite some time. She led Shi Feng and his group straight through the area guarded by Unfalling War Soul and into Purple Night Plaza, drawing considerable attention from the surrounding players.
"Who are they? I thought the three major guilds had claimed this area exclusively?"
"That guild emblem doesn't look like Unfalling War Soul's!"
"That guild emblem — I think I've seen it somewhere before. Right, it's Zero Wing's emblem from when they set up in the Orc Empire's Mithril Fort. But why are people from Zero Wing showing up here? Wasn't it said that even first-rate guilds affiliated with the three major powers didn't get spots for the Sea of Forests expedition?"
"Zero Wing is pretty resourceful, managing to cling to Unfalling War Soul's coattails and get some spots."
"Tch, what good are spots if they got them? Whether they can actually pass the class change is another question entirely!"
The players and guild members watching from outside were consumed with jealousy as they watched Shi Feng and his group enter the plaza. After all, these were spots to advance to second-order Bard — success in the class change would be an enormous boon against guild raid teams. Countless major guilds would kill for that opportunity.
Once Shi Feng and his group were inside, the nine Zero Wing members accompanying him were visibly tense. It was their first time witnessing a spectacle of this magnitude.
Three superpowers, tens of thousands of onlookers, and every player in the plaza was an expert hard to come by even within a kingdom. The atmosphere and oppressive pressure were beyond description — even the leadership of a first-rate guild would rarely experience something like this firsthand.
Moreover, at the center of the plaza, members of Unfalling War Soul and Stargazer Ring stood facing each other on opposite sides, the tension so thick that swords could be drawn at any moment. The standoff had driven the entire plaza's atmosphere to freezing point. The Crimson Emperor Guild's side was slightly more relaxed, but they were clearly sitting back and watching the tigers fight — given the chance, they would strike without hesitation…
"Chenhui, I never imagined that the vice guild master of Unfalling War Soul himself would betray the guild and join Stargazer Ring. What exactly did they offer you?" Unfalling War Heart glared at a cold-eyed man standing beside Lu Xingluo, the man carrying a massive white-bone greatsword on his back. Fury burned in his gaze.
When Shi Feng saw the cold man standing on Stargazer Ring's side, he froze.
The man before him was none other than the former third vice guild master of Unfalling War Soul — known as the Sword of the Fallen by the Heavenly Secret Pavilion — a second-order Undead Knight named Chenhui.
His strength within Unfalling War Soul was on par with Unfalling War Heart's, making him one of the guild's three pillars.
In the Shi Feng he knew, this Chenhui had never betrayed Unfalling War Soul. Yet here he was now, having turned traitor — completely different from the history he was familiar with.
"Everyone wants to climb higher, and water always flows downhill. War Heart, don't tell me you still don't grasp something so simple?" The cold man with the white-bone greatsword smiled faintly. "We both know the current state of Unfalling War Soul. Rather than follow a declining guild, wouldn't it be better to join a rising one like Stargazer Ring? Besides, the Stargazer Conglomerate is offering far more than Unfalling War Soul ever could. Why don't you come over too? With your reputation and strength, the price they'd offer you certainly wouldn't be less than mine. As for breach-of-contract penalties, the Stargazer Conglomerate will cover all of it."