Storm Empire, the Nethermine Mountains.
The Storm Empire sat in a highland region, its entire territory dotted with mountain ranges, renowned across the Divine Realm continent for its ore production. The Nethermine Mountains lay along the empire's border, perpetually shrouded in nether qi that drained player stamina several times faster than normal. On top of that, the magical beasts within the range were no ordinary creatures — every one of them above Level 70 — making it a place few players dared visit to level up.
Yet at this moment, in front of a stream deep in the mountains, several thousand players had gathered together, every one of them at least Level 62, which in the current Divine Realm made them absolute elites.
These thousands of elite players were split into two sides. One side had fewer than three to four hundred people; the other side — several thousand strong — had those three to four hundred completely surrounded.
If any Storm Empire player had been present, they would have been stunned, because these encircled three to four hundred were core members of Dusk Echo, a first-rate guild. Every single one of them was a pillar of the guild, and among them were twenty or thirty who ranked among the empire's top experts — figures the average player regarded as utterly unattainable. Clinging to the thigh of even one of them would make countless players green with envy. And the strongest among them was none other than Cangming, a top-ten Class expert in the entire Storm Empire.
The Storm Empire was rife with competing factions, its player population staggering, its experts thick on the ground. To rank in the top ten for one's Class here meant being among the top twenty to thirty on the total combat power rankings of any kingdom.
A group like this could face a ten-thousand-man elite army without flinching. But now, staring down a force of fewer than three thousand, every face was grim — and in their eyes flickered a trace of fear.
"The Senluo Pavilion truly does us Dusk Echo a great honor, sending Vice Pavilion Master Xiao himself on this little errand." The current Dusk Echo guild master, Cangming, stared fixedly at the burly, bear-like man before him — the one carrying two epic-grade great axes on his back — his gaze filled with wariness.
Xiao Ming had once been an ordinary expert, but after entering the Divine Realm, he had ceaselessly challenged the realm's strongest fighters, his power growing at a furious pace. From an unknown nobody, he had risen to become a renowned name in the Storm Empire. After catching the Senluo Pavilion's eye and joining them, his growth had only accelerated further. He quickly became one of the Pavilion's most formidable lieutenants, waging campaigns on all fronts and defeating top experts from the ultra-first-rate guild Nine Star Domain on multiple occasions, ultimately earning the vice pavilion master position — a man built entirely on raw strength.
His most famous battle had been when he single-handedly killed five of Nine Star Domain's top experts, then led a five-thousand-man squad to raze an entire town, sending shockwaves across the entire Storm Empire.
Cangming might rank in the top ten for his Class in the Storm Empire, but Xiao Ming ranked in the top ten on the total combat power board. On the surface, top ten and top ten didn't seem so different, but the gap in actual strength was that of a firefly and the full moon.
If Xiao Ming wanted to, he could kill every last Dusk Echo expert present by himself.
"Guild Master Cangming, since I'm here, you already know the Senluo Pavilion's stance. Don't do anything foolish," Xiao Ming said with a smile, his tone sounding less like a warning and more like a command.
"We Dusk Echo have already surrendered all our resource sites. We've even come to this remote wasteland, ready to give up on developing in the Storm Empire entirely. What more do you want?" Cangming gripped the war saber in his hand, his expression darkening.
"That's why the pavilion master sent me to give you a little nudge," Xiao Ming said lightly. "Either you submit to us, or you disappear from the Divine Realm for good. Don't think you can hide in some godforsaken backwater and develop in peace. You don't have a third option."
Xiao Ming's words fell like a final judgment, and the weight on Cangming's face only grew heavier.
No one could have imagined that the opening of the Auction Arena would intensify competition among the Divine Realm's major powers to this degree. And the Senluo Pavilion, in its bid to tighten its grip on the Storm Empire, had not hesitated to escalate to all-out war — a struggle now reduced to one side's death or the other's.
"Guild Master, let's fight them to the death!"
"Yes! At worst, we'll take them down with us!"
Facing the Senluo Pavilion's ruthless purge, the Dusk Echo experts all surged with the resolve to fight to their last breath.
"Take us down with you? You think you're even worthy?" Xiao Ming couldn't help but laugh at their words.
Every Dusk Echo member bristled with indignation. Only Cangming stood silent, unable even to muster a rebuttal — not because he lacked the courage, but because everything Xiao Ming said was the truth.
No one in the entire guild understood better than he did how terrifying the top ten on the total combat power board truly were. Each one could justly be called a human-shaped monster. That was precisely why every major guild was willing to pour everything into nurturing top-tier experts.
"There's no choice. Once the fight starts, I'll try to hold Xiao Ming off. Everyone scatter and run — whoever gets away, gets away!" Cangming then turned to Shuisè Qiangwei at his side. "Shuise, you've seen the situation. This isn't something you coming back to help can solve. When the time comes, try to escape too. There's no need to throw away your own future for Dusk Echo."
He was grateful and moved that Shuisè Qiangwei had returned to help — after all, he was her fourth uncle — but it changed nothing. Judging by the Senluo Pavilion's attitude, even if another superpower intervened, they wouldn't let Dusk Echo go. And no superpower would dare provoke the Senluo Pavilion while it was at the height of its power — not when even the ultra-first-rate guild Nine Star Domain had been completely crushed by them.
Cangming knew that Shuisè Qiangwei's guild, Zero Wing, had been developing quite well lately — even better than Dusk Echo. Trading that opportunity for the sake of Dusk Echo was simply not worth it.
Shuisè Qiangwei hung her head low, silver teeth clenched tight. She hadn't expected the Senluo Pavilion to be this crazed. If she hadn't returned most of her weapons and equipment to the guild vault when she left, she might have been able to fight Xiao Ming and buy more people time to escape.
"Think you can run? You think you have a chance?" Xiao Ming looked at the Dusk Echo forces arrayed before him, his tone dripping with disdain.
Just as the two sides were about to clash, a group of players suddenly came rushing through the canyon — over a thousand strong. Leading them was a young woman in a dazzlingly ornate mage's robe, her bearing elegant and her presence pure, like a fairy descending to the mortal world. She drew the involuntary gaze of countless players on both sides.
And every one of these newcomers was at least Level 63, with most at Level 64 — in any guild, these would be absolute top-tier levels. Moreover, the worst equipment any of them wore was Level 60 Mythril Rank gear, and some even sported Level 60 Gold-grade and Dark-Gold-grade items, drawing envious stares from both the Senluo Pavilion and Dusk Echo.
But what truly caught everyone's attention was the sharp, intimidating aura each of these players exuded. They were no ordinary experts.
"Who are you people? Don't you know the Senluo Pavilion is handling business here? If you don't want trouble, leave — now!" Xiao Ming warned as the thousand-man force approached.
Under normal circumstances, he would have ordered them all wiped out already. But this group that had appeared out of nowhere was clearly no ordinary force. A battle with them would be far from simple.
"Us? We're the Zero Wing guild," Ziyan Liuyun said with a faint smile.
"Zero Wing? Isn't that the guild from way out in the Star Moon Kingdom?" Xiao Ming searched his memory and vaguely recalled such a guild — one that had been developing fairly well. "What are you doing here instead of focusing on your own territory in the Star Moon Kingdom?"
"We came on our guild master's orders to deliver a message to the Senluo Pavilion," Ziyan Liuyun said calmly. "Dusk Echo is under Zero Wing's protection."