Dark Night Empire, Dark Night City.
The central plaza outside the God-Demon Arena was packed with players. If you looked closely, you'd notice that every single one of them was level 75 or above — either core members of renowned Dark Night Empire adventure teams or experts from major guilds.
"Wow! So many top players gathered here — is there some kind of event at the God-Demon Arena?" A level-72 Ranger who had just arrived in Dark Night City looked around, puzzled.
"Haven't you heard? Star Ring and Zero Wing — two of the biggest guilds — are about to fight a ten-thousand-player battle at the God-Demon Arena. One's the overlord of Dark Night, the other's the overlord of Stone Forest City. This is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle for the entire Dark Night Empire. Of course all these experts came to watch." A level-74 Berserker nearby glanced at the Ranger and replied.
"That sounds amazing! We should go check it out too, and then swap gear afterward." The Ranger's teammates perked up with interest.
You almost never got to see the superpowers clash in person. And even when you did, you only ever glimpsed a fraction of the action. Nothing compared to two overlords going head-to-head — especially in a ten-thousand-player battle. It would be far more thrilling than watching any epic war movie.
The Ranger thought about it and had to admit it sounded like a great plan. Setting aside the sheer visual spectacle, just watching the top experts trade blows would teach them a thing or two. After all, in the Divine Realm, one-on-one fights were rare — most of the time you were facing one against many.
"Want to watch?" The level-74 Berserker looked at the Ranger and his group and chuckled. "See all these experts in the plaza?"
"What about them?" the Ranger asked.
"They want to watch too, but they can't. They can't even get through the gates of the God-Demon Arena, so they're stuck standing outside." The Berserker explained, "Right now the entire God-Demon Arena has been reserved by Star Ring. To get in and watch the battle, you need proof that you've cleared the sixth floor of the Trial Tower — or you can pay a hundred gold."
The Ranger and his group froze, then sucked in a sharp breath.
"That's brutal! They basically don't want anyone watching!" the Ranger exclaimed.
Reaching the mid-stages of the fifth floor of the Trial Tower already put you at expert level. Anyone who had cleared the sixth floor was an expert among experts — even in a major guild, there were hardly any. He'd privately thought he might have a slim shot at making it, since he'd already reached the late stages of the fifth floor, just one step away from the sixth.
Clearing the sixth floor and reaching the seventh? He didn't even dare imagine that.
As for a hundred gold — that was enough to make anyone choke. An ordinary expert only carried around a dozen gold coins or so. Daily expenses like equipment repair and teleportation fees ate up plenty of money, and when you factored in occasional gear swaps, there was never much left over. A hundred gold was an extravagant sum even for someone at his level.
Now he understood why the plaza was so crowded. It made perfect sense.
But just as the Ranger finished speaking, a team of twenty to thirty people walked toward the gates of the God-Demon Arena. None of them wore guild emblems — clearly they were free agents. Yet the packed plaza parted to make way for them.
Without a single obstacle, they walked straight through the gates of the God-Demon Arena and vanished from sight.
"Who are those people?" The Ranger stared, dumbstruck.
Every person in this plaza was a verified expert, many of them stronger than him. Yet all of them had willingly stepped aside for these free agents. It was unbelievable.
And that wasn't even the wildest part — they hadn't paid a single coin. All twenty or thirty of them had simply walked in, which meant every last one of them had reached at least the seventh floor of the Trial Tower…
"That's the Stormwave Adventure Team. They're one of the top adventure teams in the entire Dark Night Empire. That bald guy leading them is the captain, Feng Yibei. I can't believe even someone as reclusive as him showed up. Too bad I don't have a hundred gold — if I did, I'd be in there in a heartbeat." The level-74 Berserker gazed longingly at the God-Demon Arena.
A hundred gold was a lot of money, but compared to a ten-thousand-player clash between two superpowers, it was nothing. After all, watching a battle inside the God-Demon Arena was practically like being there yourself — no recorded video could ever come close.