After Shi Feng gave his instructions, Liang Jing immediately released the news that private residences in Stone Forest City were up for rent.
The moment the news dropped, it sent shockwaves across the entire Star Moon Kingdom.
Everyone already knew all about Stone Forest City from Zero Wing's members — it was practically a paradise for farming levels and gathering resources. Before, people could only watch from the sidelines, but now they actually had a chance to set foot in Stone Forest City. How could they not be interested?
However, after reading the specifics Zero Wing had published, both major factions and independent players alike drew a sharp breath.
It was true that private residences in Stone Forest City were available for rent, but the terms were by the week, not by the month — and the starting bid for a single week was a staggering 30,000 Credit Points, practically matching what you'd pay for a full month's rental in the Bottomless Abyss.
"Zero Wing is ruthless. They won't open Stone Forest City to the public, so unless you rent a private residence, there's no way in."
"But this means we independent players actually have a shot. Since it's private residence rentals, we can bid. If we manage to snag a place, grinding levels and doing the Tier 3 class advancement will be a breeze."
"But the starting price is insane. Thirty thousand Credit Points for one week — how are ordinary players like us supposed to afford that?"
...
Everyone was buzzing about it, feeling that Zero Wing's asking price was way too steep. Many eager independent experts found it unacceptable, but the moment the news dropped, large numbers of adventure teams and guild factions started registering at the Candleflame Trading Company to participate in the private residence auction, nearly bursting its doors off the hinges.
"These people have lost their minds. Thirty thousand Credit Points for just one week — seven days! How much of an advantage could that possibly give you?" A female player in her forties who had only recently entered the Divine Realm watched the spectacle in complete bewilderment, feeling the world had gone mad.
"You're new to the Divine Realm, so you naturally don't understand the value of those Stone Forest City residences," a Level 93 Warlock on her team explained, eyeing the registration line with envy. "You have to realize — those are on a Level 100 neutral map. The leveling speed there is at least two or three times faster than on a Level 90-plus map, and you can get Level 100 equipment and resources. The major superpower teams spend over ten hours every day just traveling there. But with a private residence, you can teleport straight to it. Besides, I heard those private residences can store double experience points, further boosting recovery speed and leveling rate."
If he had the money, he would absolutely sign up for the auction too. That way, he wouldn't have to grind his way up through the Star Moon Adventurer Alliance to reach Silver-tier membership.
Meanwhile, at a high-end inn in White River City.
"Elder, Zero Wing has over twenty Tier 3 Class holders. On a Level 100 neutral map like the Cold Spring Great Forest, they can practically walk all over everyone. Even Star Ring won't be able to do anything about them." A cold-faced man clad in pitch-black armor asked Lin Xie with some urgency. "What do we do about what the Vice President tasked us with?"
Zero Wing's displayed strength in the Cold Spring Great Forest had far exceeded their expectations. With Tier 3 players operating freely on a Level 100 neutral map, forget the thousand-strong Hellfire Corps — even ten thousand soldiers would be meaningless.
"We miscalculated this time. Zero Wing truly has some depth, managing to get so many people through the Tier 3 advancement. If all else fails, we'll just buy some private residences in Stone Forest City first." Lin Xie studied the intelligence on Zero Wing in his hand, brow furrowed.
Over twenty Tier 3 Class holders — the Demon Emperor Palace barely had more people ready to advance to Tier 3 at this point.
"But even if we spend the resources to acquire some, the number is still too small..." the cold-faced young man worried.
The Demon Emperor Palace ruled over the entire Demon Prison World and commanded vast numbers of experts — not something a handful of private residences in Stone Forest City could satisfy.
"No need to rush. The number of people who can currently advance is still extremely small. If we can secure a few hundred private residences, that should be enough to handle things for now," Lin Xie said with a smile. "But Zero Wing won't be so lucky. 'The tallest tree in the forest catches the most wind' — first Star Ring launches a full-scale war, and now they refuse to fully open Stone Forest City. Even with over twenty Tier 3 powerhouses to back them, once the major superpowers' experts start advancing to Tier 3 one by one, they won't last long. And when that time comes, I'll be curious to see whether Zero Wing still has the nerve to think they can dominate the Cold Spring Great Forest!"
In his view, Zero Wing's strength on the Level 100 neutral map was nothing more than a fleeting moment. Compared to the deep reserves of the major superpowers, how many of Zero Wing's experts could advance to Tier 3 quickly? The future belonged to Tier 3 Class holders — whoever had more Tier 3 fighters had the bigger fist. Zero Wing was inherently deficient at the foundation level, and if they didn't hurry to latch onto the thighs of real giants like them while they still had the advantage, the end result would be nothing more than a flash in the pan.
While the various factions quietly discussed Zero Wing's moves, Shi Feng had already taken Ke Le and the others via teleportation to a border town of the Ten Saints Empire. From there, they boarded the Crimson Dragon Airship and flew straight toward the Level 100 neutral map — the Demon Wolf Mountain Range.
The Demon Wolf Mountain Range was a forbidden zone at the southernmost reaches of the Ten Saints Empire. Legend had it that an ancient ferocious beast — the Dark Battle Wolf — dwelled here. Even the Ten Saints Empire, one of the Divine Realm's four great empires, dared not provoke it, for the Dark Battle Wolf's strength was no less than that of an adult Dragon King at Tier 5, a terrifying existence that could even fight Tier 6 gods to a standstill.
Moreover, the entire mountain range was blanketed in an aura of destruction. Even Tier 2 players couldn't survive inside for more than three hours, to say nothing of the Dark Wolf Clan that lived within. Every member of the Dark Wolf Clan inherited the bloodline of the Dark Battle Wolf, and their strength was on par with other bloodline creatures of the same tier — a fact that deterred all the major superpowers from casually setting foot here.
"Guild Leader, why are we here? I feel like even with us at Tier 3, this environment would be hard to handle. We're not going to level here, are we?" Ke Le gazed down at the vast wolf packs below the airship, feeling a touch of nervousness.
Ever since advancing to Tier 3, he had felt that facing Level 100 Great Lords would be a walk in the park. But the Three-Eyed Demon Wolves below gave him a palpable sense of death — especially the ones that were also Great Lord-level.
It wasn't just Ke Le who felt this way. Yan Tianxing and the others on board were equally gripped by that deathly premonition, an uncomfortable sensation clinging to them like a second skin.
"Of course we're not here to level. The monsters here are all tightfisted misers that drop virtually nothing, and the experience they give is pitiful. The wolf clans travel in packs of five or six hundred — even a normal Tier 3 raid party of a hundred would struggle, let alone just us," Shi Feng said, shaking his head.
"Guild Leader, then why are we here?" Yan Tianxing asked, equally puzzled.
With so many Tier 3 Class holders now, this was the perfect time for Zero Wing to push into Level 100 team Dungeons and build an advantage. Coming here instead meant letting their hard-won edge slowly slip away.
"We're going to open the teleportation channel to the Western Continent," Shi Feng said with a smile.
For the major superpowers, having this many Tier 3 Class holders would mean immediately pushing into Level 100 team Dungeons or hunting field bosses to stockpile equipment advantages — allowing more guild members to advance to Tier 3.
But in Shi Feng's eyes, that kind of accumulation was far too slow. Zero Wing wasn't one of those superpowers with clouds of top-tier experts. To rise quickly, they had to pour in massive resources by brute force, and traveling between the two continents was undoubtedly the fastest shortcut to earning resources.
He hadn't had the ability to do so before, but now that Ke Le and the others had advanced to Tier 3, there was at least a chance of opening the teleportation channel to the Western Continent. Naturally, he had to try right away.