White River City, Candlelight Trading House.
The building towering over the main thoroughfare of the commercial district stood a good twenty-plus stories tall. Compared to the player-run shops and NPC storefronts flanking it on all sides, it looked like a giant among dwarves, leaving countless players who visited White River City awestruck — especially those whose development goals centered on their crafting professions. At this moment, every last one of them gazed at the Candlelight Trading House with eyes full of longing.
It wasn't just because the Candlelight Trading House was a four-star shop with premier meditation rooms that no rival force could match. It was also because of Stone Forest City — a place every player in the region envied.
Just recently, Zero Wing had announced that guild members could now use guild Contribution Points to directly purchase private residences in Stone Forest City.
This was especially relevant now that the Candlelight Trading House was preparing to auction off rental rights to Stone Forest City's private residences.
Both major powers and free players alike turned green with envy.
Anyone with half a brain understood that a guild city like Stone Forest City had limitless potential for the future. Not only was it situated on a Level 100 neutral map — a locale that, while dangerous, was undeniably a god-tier grinding paradise — its scenery was also unmatched by anything within any kingdom or empire.
Owning a private residence in Stone Forest City was the kind of bragging right that could last a lifetime.
But obtaining a permanent private residence was easier said than done.
Zero Wing didn't sell private residences to outsiders at all — only rentals, which meant that once the lease expired, you had to rejoin the auction queue. Whether you'd even win another bid was anyone's guess. How could that compare to having a private residence that was truly yours forever?
But now Zero Wing's own members could. How could anyone not be jealous?
Shi Feng made his way toward the Candlelight Trading House. Even beneath his black cloak, the Zero Wing core member emblem pinned to his chest drew envious stares from players up and down the street.
"That person is actually a Zero Wing core member — I'd love to get to know them," said a Level 96 female Elementalist, her eyes lighting up as she watched Shi Feng pass.
Zero Wing's reputation across the surrounding nations was at its absolute peak right now. Every major power showed them deference, and Zero Wing's core members were the kind of people countless adventurer teams were eager to befriend. Having connections like that could make life in Cold Spring Ravine far easier.
"It's just a Zero Wing core member — what's so impressive about that?" muttered a Level 97 Shield Warrior beside her, a note of jealousy in his voice. "If I weren't the free-spirited type, I could've joined Zero Wing and become a core member in no time."
"I doubt it's that easy," the Level 96 Elementalist replied, shaking her head at the somewhat indignant Shield Warrior. "I heard the flood of applicants to Zero Wing lately has been insane. The threshold just to become an Elite member already requires reaching the mid-section of the fifth floor of the Trial Tower. To become a core member now, you need at least the mid-section of the sixth floor."
Currently, in the Divine Realm, a player had to reach at least the late section of the Trial Tower's fifth floor to even be considered skilled. The gap between the fifth floor and the sixth floor was enormous — any expert who could reach the mid-section of the sixth floor was counted on one hand even among the most renowned adventurer teams.
The Level 97 Shield Warrior fell silent once he heard the baseline requirements for core membership.
In their renowned adventurer team from the Black Dragon Empire, the number of experts who had reached the mid-section of the sixth floor could be counted on two hands at best. As for himself, he had only cleared the late section of the fifth floor. The difference wasn't small.
"The requirements for core members are already that high?" Shi Feng murmured to himself, a flicker of surprise passing through his heart.
To safeguard resource distribution among its core members, Zero Wing imposed a cap on their numbers — resources were finite, after all, especially the rare ones, which couldn't be supplied without limit. That said, anyone who met the hard qualification threshold could be designated a core member beyond the established quota.
He recalled that just a few days ago, the baseline requirement for core members had been the early section of the sixth floor of the Trial Tower, with the hard threshold set at the late section of the sixth floor — meeting that meant exemption from the monthly elimination reviews.
Now, the baseline had climbed all the way to the mid-section of the sixth floor. The number of experts flocking to Zero Wing must have been staggering. Stone Forest City's influence was nothing short of remarkable.
And as time went on, the baseline for core membership would only climb higher — and the number of guild experts would continue to grow.
Yet alongside his satisfaction, Shi Feng also felt a considerable weight settle on his shoulders.