The Sea of Death, Garuna Island.
"So the mental assistance system is finally activated." Shi Feng stood on the death-tinged beach and couldn't help stretching his body. The sensation was completely different from when he had logged into the Divine Realm before.
In the past, logging into the Divine Realm always gave him the feeling that the body wasn't his own, but now it was just like being in reality—a completely immersive experience.
The rest of the Zero Wing members who had also logged into the Divine Realm were equally immersed in this sensation, practically buzzing with excitement.
Compared to using magic skills from a third-person perspective, using them firsthand was on an entirely different level—it was as though they had gained superhuman powers in the real world.
One after another, they charged toward the level 60-plus magical beasts on Garuna Island, eager to try things out.
Although the mana on Garuna Island was extremely scarce and the corrosive power of shadow loomed everywhere, with the help of their Omni Magic Equipment and Dark Resistance Potions, they felt no discomfort at all.
Over a hundred Leader-rank or higher magical beasts were dealt with in less than seven or eight minutes.
"Guild Master, I just received word—because of this system update, a lot of players are now learning advanced combat techniques from the ancient remnants at NPC cities. The number of players willing to join our Zero Wing Guild has dropped considerably." Water Rose suddenly walked up to Shi Feng and reported in a hushed voice. "On top of that, every major guild has started recruiting like crazy, lowering their requirements significantly. The Black Water Guild in particular raised their Elite member compensation by a huge margin—it's now thirty to forty percent higher than what we offer our Elite members. A lot of Elite players who were coming to sign up at Silver Wing Town and Secret Stone Fortress have switched over to the Black Water Guild."
"The Black Water Guild is ruthless, raising Elite member compensation by that much!" Shi Feng clicked his tongue after hearing Water Rose's report, though he wasn't all that surprised.
The launch of the Return of the Remnants expansion meant that the era of every guild scrambling for Elite players had arrived.
Currently, the Divine Realm gauged a player's skill level primarily by their progress in the Tower of Trials. The higher one climbed, the greater the skill requirement, and mastering combat techniques was undoubtedly the fastest way to improve. As long as a player mastered a single combat technique, breaking through from the fourth floor to the fifth floor of the Tower of Trials was entirely feasible.
Reaching the fifth floor of the Tower of Trials—that was the realm of true experts.
The Return of the Remnants allowed ordinary players to learn advanced combat techniques for a mere pittance. While these class-specific advanced techniques might not rival the benefits of proper combat techniques, they were close enough.
This meant that ordinary Elite players, after learning these advanced techniques, had a very real chance of reaching the fifth floor of the Tower of Trials. After all, most Elite members of major guilds were already at the fourth floor—whether in the early, middle, or late stages—hardly far from the fifth.
A guild's strength was typically judged by the number of experts it housed, since high-difficulty dungeons and quests demanded exceptional player skill. Expert players were the backbone of any guild's development.
So the moment Return of the Remnants launched, the entire Divine Realm descended into a frenzy.
Guilds like Black Water, flush with capital, saw this as the perfect time to make their move. After all, recruiting an Elite-level player cost far less than poaching an expert, and Elite free agents could now easily reach the fifth floor of the Tower of Trials. They naturally went all out.
"Guild Master, shouldn't we lower our recruitment standards too? If all those free Elite players in the Beastman Empire get snatched up by the Black Water Guild, it'll be trouble for us if we want to compete with them there later," Water Rose said worriedly.
The Beastman Empire was nothing like the Star Moon Kingdom. It was a crossroads where players from surrounding kingdoms and empires converged, attracting huge numbers of Elite players and experts. The recruitment results there were several times better than in any other kingdom.
"If the Black Water Guild wants to compete, let them. They have deep pockets, but we don't have the resources to play that game. We'll keep our recruitment standards as they are and focus our efforts on players with potential. No point fighting over established free Elite players with them." Shi Feng shook his head with a smile.