Black Dragon Empire, Black Dragon City.
The central boulevard, vibrant with blooming flowers, bustled with pedestrians coming and going. A mansion rising over sixty meters tall stood prominently to one side — a landmark of the area and a symbol of the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion's standing within the Black Dragon Empire.
Over ten thousand players streamed in and out of the mansion. Even those lining up at the entrance for assessment were at least Level 64, outfitted in gear of Level 60 Mythril quality or higher. Among them were no shortage of experts at Level 65 or above, wearing full sets of Level 65 Mythril equipment.
Any first-rate guild would have eagerly recruited such experts on the spot and made them core members. Yet at the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion, joining even as an Elite required a stroke of luck.
And yet, within this gathering place of formidable players — in the Guild Master's office on the very top floor — an oppressive, bone-chilling silence reigned.
"Damn it! Zero Wing actually has its own trading company now? Even Star Ring won't be able to squeeze them economically!" Nine Dragon Emperor, already at Level 68, stared at the freshly received news, his face turning an ashen shade of iron.
His rivalry with Feng Qianyu was approaching its critical juncture, and now this had happened.
Originally, he had planned to leverage Zero Wing as a means of pressuring Feng Qianyu — if Zero Wing were in danger, she would inevitably be distracted trying to help. But now Zero Wing had grown even stronger, and Feng Qianyu stood to gain substantially from it as well.
He knew perfectly well that the Candlelight Trading Company had a share belonging to Feng Qianyu.
A merchant alliance formed by over a hundred guilds — the distribution network alone already surpassed that of an ordinary superpower. Add to that the considerable number of Master-class players at Candlelight Trading Company, and it was easy to imagine that the future revenue from this venture would be enormous.
"Guild Master, both sides are frantically raising capital right now in the bid for the Dragonheart Island shipyard and land plots. If Feng Qianyu suddenly gains an additional revenue stream from Candlelight Trading Company, we could be in serious danger," Long Wu said, his expression grave.
"I'm well aware. I never imagined that what was once an insignificant ant would grow to this magnitude." Nine Dragon Emperor's brow furrowed deeply as he looked at the dossiers on Zero Wing, a twinge of regret stirring within him.
Had he known Zero Wing would develop to this point, he should have crushed it at any cost back when it was still in its cradle — rather than letting it become an obstacle in his struggle with Feng Qianyu for the position of Grand Master.
"At the moment, the Candlelight Trading Company has only signed contracts — nothing has been fully implemented yet. What if we make a move and show those small guilds what happens when they cooperate with Zero Wing?" A cold glint flashed in Long Wu's eyes as he made a slashing gesture.
"That won't work anymore. Even if we wipe out the main teams of those small guilds, the members can simply go develop in the Bottomless Abyss. And in the Bottomless Abyss, even Star Ring can't reach them. As for targeting their Elite and regular members — that would barely sting. Guilds like that barely shoulder any burden at all." Nine Dragon Emperor shook his head.
Small guilds were nothing like large ones — they had minimal overhead. Regular and Elite members, in particular, received almost nothing from the guild beyond basic conveniences. Even if those players were killed off, the compensation required was negligible, placing virtually no burden on the guild.
As long as the main teams and core members survived, the guild could continue to exist — and the same applied in reverse. This made small guilds both easy and difficult to deal with.
Now that Zero Wing could guarantee the development of these small guilds' main teams and core members through Stone Forest City, those guilds had become exceedingly hard to tackle.
The only approach left was a war of attrition — one that required both time and enormous sums of money, both of which they were currently sorely lacking.
"Is there really nothing we can do?" Long Wu asked.
"The tallest tree in the forest will always be felled by the wind. A new trading company suddenly appearing in the Divine Realm — the pie is only so large, and with one more person taking a slice, plenty of existing merchant alliances won't sit idle. And Star Ring certainly won't let this go, since it concerns their development in the Night Empire." Nine Dragon Emperor let out a cold laugh. "Star Ring was too arrogant before and refused to work with anyone. But now — slip away to Night City quietly and have a proper talk with Lu Xingluo. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Star Ring will more than happy to fund us."
Star Ring was renowned across the Divine Realm for its vast coffers. Originally, his odds against Feng Qianyu stood at roughly four to six. But with Star Ring's covert backing, his chances of victory would climb to seventy percent — perhaps even eighty.
"Guild Master, brilliant! This turns our certain defeat into a lifeline. If Feng Qianyu and Black Flame find out, they'll probably lose their minds," Long Wu said with a grin. "I'll head to Night City right away for the secret meeting."
With that, Long Wu quickly left the Guild Master's office and set off straight for Night City.
Meanwhile, over in Stone Forest City, Shi Feng had finally wrapped up all affairs pertaining to the city. He handed over day-to-day management to Gloomy Smile and simply waited for the flood of players pouring into Stone Forest City.
Having taken care of all that, Shi Feng didn't rest. He headed straight to the Candlelight Trading Company's Forging Room and began producing Azure Lights and advanced magic armor plates.
Both the Azure Light and the advanced magic armor plates were in high demand among Zero Wing and the major guilds. However, the Azure Light was far too difficult to craft — currently, only Shi Feng himself could make them. If players like Frosty Cocoa, early-stage Master Blacksmiths, were to attempt it, the material costs alone would exceed the profits.
Shi Feng spent a full four days and then some, ultimately producing twenty-six sets of Azure Lights and over thirteen hundred advanced magic armor plates. This not only granted him a massive amount of Forging proficiency but also raised his level by one, bringing him to Level 77 — a leveling speed that outstripped grinding mobs and running quests in the wild.
Over the course of those four days, Stone Forest City also settled into its proper rhythm. The player population surged to three million. After subtracting the city's operating costs, Zero Wing's net income reached roughly one hundred thousand gold — incomparably more than Zero Wing City or Silverwing Town had ever generated. It was enough to settle all outstanding debts with a handsome surplus remaining.
But compared to Zero Wing's growing income, the leveling speed of the guild's core members was even more remarkable.
Perhaps because of the God-level regional dungeons, most core members had reached Level 68, with some even hitting Level 70 — a level that even the top experts of the superpowers had barely achieved.
Of course, Zero Wing's core members weren't just advancing rapidly within the Divine Realm. Back in the real world, thanks to the introduction of a complete system of Subtle-control heritage training and continuous drilling, their improvement was equally swift. While only Viper had actually achieved Subtle-control, over a dozen internal members had reached the Half-step Subtle-control stage — a pace of growth that was nothing short of extraordinary.
It was while Shi Feng was in the training room, guiding the internal members through their exercises, that Liang Jing suddenly hurried over, her face clouded with worry.
"Head Coach Shi, the Beidou Training Academy just called. They said that effective immediately, they're terminating their cooperation with us — no more promising newcomers will be provided, and all of the academy's students will be leaving Zero Wing…"