Night Empire, Silent Canyon.
Along a narrow mountain trail, a thousand-strong team rode the guild-specific black panther mounts of Hundred Flowers Palace at full gallop. Dust billowed in their wake, and the thunder of panther hooves echoed throughout the entire canyon. Players along the road instinctively stepped aside to let them pass.
At the head of the formation, Feixin rode a jet-black swift dragon draped in silver-white armor. In one hand she gripped a deep-purple long spear radiating waves of bone-chilling cold, and with the other she held the reins. Her valiant figure cut such an imposing figure — like a Valkyrie — that the independent players running alongside couldn't help stealing glances, unable to forget the sight. Some among them even wished they could fall in behind the black panther army.
"Who is she in Hundred Flowers Palace? She feels so powerful — I only glanced at her, but I already have this overwhelming urge to submit!"
"Of course you do. You're new to the Night Empire, so you probably don't know her. She's the first vice guild master of Hundred Flowers Palace. Single-handedly, she elevated the guild into one of the two dominant powers of Holy Hill Kingdom. Because she herself adamantly refuses to appear on the Experts Ranking, the Heavenly Secret Pavilion gave her the title 'Thousand Shadows Lance.' She's even more formidable than Hundred Flowers Palace's Ice and Fire Goddess, Mu Yun."
"A title from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion? That's insane!"
"And that's not even all of it. The Black Cloud Legion she personally trained is terrifying in combat power — they once routed a ten-thousand-strong army made up of Elite and top-ranked players in Holy Hill Kingdom without breaking a sweat. They're every bit the equal of the ace legions belonging to any of the major superpowers. Word is Star Ring has already blocked the road from Silent Canyon to Crescent Moon Town and is preparing to attack. She's probably heading there to reinforce."
"A big battle? I've only ever watched siege warfare in videos before. Why don't we go check it out? Star Ring versus Hundred Flowers Palace should be incredible!"
"Good idea! This kind of chance to watch a major clash firsthand doesn't come often. We might even pick up some scraps."
The independent players lining both sides of the road whispered among themselves as the Black Cloud Legion thundered past.
Although Star Ring's assault on Crescent Moon Town was meant to be covert, a mobilization of this scale was impossible to keep under wraps once it got moving.
Some of the more accomplished players, after gauging the Black Cloud Legion's formation, grew even more eager to see the battle for themselves. One by one, they summoned their own mounts and rode off in pursuit of Feixin and her group.
"Sister Feixin, a lot of players are tailing us. Should we deal with them?" A bewitching female assassin clad in pitch-black leather armor glanced behind them and turned to ask Feixin.
"Forget it. A operation this grand — there was never any chance of keeping it hidden. Let the stragglers tag along." Feixin turned her head, glanced back, and shook her head. "Have we gotten the intelligence on Star Ring's forces blocking the roads?"
"It just came in. Based on our intel, the forces Star Ring has posted on both routes are extremely strong. It seems they anticipated we'd favor these two paths, so they've stationed two of their vice guild masters at the head of fifteen thousand Elite players each, holding the roads." The assassin's expression darkened as she relayed the information.
Star Ring was a newly established guild, founded only after the launch of the Divine Realm. The reason it had managed to rise to superpower status in such a short time — even overshadowing the former top-tier guild War Spirit Unfallen — was that it had absorbed a vast number of guilds and adventurer teams, along with a massive roster of elite, well-known experts.
To qualify as a vice guild master of Star Ring, one had to be at minimum the leader of a first-rate guild or a top-tier adventurer team — figures who had once been renowned powerhouses in their own right across the virtual gaming world.
Not only were these people personally formidable in the extreme, each commanded a large contingent of expert players. Without both assets, there would be no way to earn the vice guild master seat.
The fact that Star Ring had dispatched two vice guild masters to seal off the roads spoke volumes about the difficulty ahead.
Feixin furrowed her brow. She had already anticipated that Star Ring's blockade would be tight, but she hadn't expected it to be this troublesome. "Did you find out which two vice guild masters they are?"
"The one we'll have to break through is Star Ring's seventh vice guild master — the one they call the Tiger of Hundred Rends, the Desert Mad Tiger. The other is Star Ring's newly appointed fourth vice guild master, Xuanyuan Sansha!" The assassin took a deep breath, her voice dropping low.
"Xuanyuan Sansha? He joined Star Ring? How did they manage that? Didn't he announce his retirement long ago?" Feixin's expression turned grave.
This was not something she could afford to take lightly.