After Shi Feng and the others departed, the entire Magic Silver Mine fell silent, everyone filled with curiosity about the group that had just left.
"To think the Grand Elder of the Divine Intent Tribe would personally come and invite them — this person is truly extraordinary. It seems in the upcoming Azure Commerce Association family competition, the Pang family is going to rise."
The Tier 3 Battle King elder of the Azure Commerce Association watched Shi Feng and the others leave, immediately feeling that he needed to go back and cultivate closer ties with the Pang family.
In the Divine Realm, resources were absolutely essential for rapid growth.
Weapons and equipment, Skill Books, combat techniques — relying on individual effort alone would take far too much time. Add to that the need to level up and keep one's level at the forefront, and even working oneself to death wouldn't be enough. That was why all top players needed the support of major powers, so they wouldn't have to divide their attention and could focus entirely on leveling up and honing their combat skills.
Because of this, free experts found it nearly impossible to compete with those backed by major powers.
The vast majority of the Azure Commerce Association's resources were controlled by several major families. While elders like himself did hold some resources, they couldn't compare to those families at all — after all, those families were the founders of the Azure Commerce Association, holding absolute equity, and naturally the resources obtained from the Association would heavily favor them.
The competition among the young generation of the major families was essentially a redistribution of resources. This year in particular, the major families were going all out, because the influence of Divine Realm — this virtual reality game — on the real world was growing ever greater, and the profits that could be obtained in the future were incomparable to those from previous virtual games.
Now that Miaowuyin had the backing of a monster like Shi Feng, it was already foreseeable that the Pang family would put up an impressive showing in the family competition, and the resources they obtained afterward would far exceed what they had now.
"So what if he came to the Western Continent? In the upcoming family competition, there's no way Miaowuyin can win this time!" Yuan Xiaoqian watched the Tier 3 Battle King elder who was trying to ingratiate himself, her heart filled with disdain.
The fact that Shi Feng could make it to the Western Continent and possessed such incredible personal strength was indeed beyond her expectations. But even if Shi Feng had come to the Western Continent, he wouldn't be able to help Miaowuyin going forward.
Not for any other reason, but because this Commerce Association family competition wasn't a comparison of alchemy skills, nor was it about who had better personal weapons and equipment — it was about personal combat ability. After all, in the Divine Realm, strength was everything, and the acquisition of weapons, equipment, and other resources was closely tied to one's combat level.
Moreover, the inheritance and combat on the Western Continent were far more intense than on the Eastern Continent, and the resources for improving combat ability were even more potent here. Especially the life-and-death battles against those demon armies — they were tremendously beneficial for enhancing combat skills. Even if Zero Wing went all out to support Miaowuyin, even coming all the way to the Western Continent to gather resources, they couldn't possibly compete with her, who had been waging campaigns across the Western Continent.
This was precisely why Pang Xianglong had sent Miaowuyin to the Western Continent in the first place. How laughable that Shi Feng thought his help to Miaowuyin could surpass what the Azure Commerce Association — which operated across both continents — could provide.
After Shi Feng departed, neither the Azure Commerce Association nor the Divine Intent Tribe resumed fighting. The deputy commander leading the battle, MacAfray, was full of doubts about the Grand Elder's decision but had no choice but to comply. With no heart left to command the now somewhat chaotic Divine Intent Tribe army, he ordered everyone to withdraw, while he himself returned directly to headquarters — Silver Lion City — with the Crimson Witch and the others.
He wanted to get a proper explanation of what was going on.
Although Shi Feng was a monster of extraordinary caliber, the Divine Intent Tribe was no ordinary superpower. Losing such face would invite ridicule from the major powers of the Western Continent.
Silver Moon Empire, Silver Lion City.
As streams of light descended within the teleportation hall, Shi Feng was led by the Divine Intent Tribe Grand Elder Adolf to Silver Lion City — the Silver Moon Empire's second-largest capital.
The moment Shi Feng and the others stepped out of the teleportation hall, they could feel just how different this NPC city was from those on the Eastern Continent. The very atmosphere of the entire city was utterly unlike anything they had known.
"Is this what a city on the Western Continent looks like?"
Water Rose and the others gazed at the scene before them, astonished.
The NPC cities on the Eastern Continent all had an air of tranquility, but here in Silver Lion City — the Empire's second-ranked NPC city — the atmosphere was remarkably tense, as if everyone, including the NPCs, was perpetually in a state of combat readiness.
What surprised Water Rose and the others even more was that Silver Lion City had almost no NPC guard patrols. Instead, Divine Intent Tribe members and Adventurer's Association NPCs were everywhere, maintaining the city's order.
Even the collection of entry fees was handled by Adventurer's Association players, as if the entire NPC city were managed by the Association's players — the degree of freedom far exceeded that of NPC cities on the Eastern Continent.
Walking along the main streets, Shi Feng and the others could clearly sense that the players in the city generally possessed much higher combat levels, particularly in their control of magical power, which was leagues ahead of the Eastern Continent. This was evident just from the magic scrolls sold in the shops lining the streets.
On the Eastern Continent, while shops in major cities also sold magic scrolls, the quality was generally mediocre — typically first-tier at best, with second-tier scrolls being quite rare, let alone third-tier ones.