Cold Spring Great Forest, Stone Forest City.
Word of the Dark Great World's teleportation gate opening had already spread throughout the Cold Spring Great Forest, and all of Stone Forest City had grown tense. One by one, players were leaving Stone Forest City to develop elsewhere, and the once-bustling metropolis had fallen eerily quiet.
Even the main street — normally packed shoulder to shoulder — was missing more than half its merchant players. Only Zero Wing's newly built Freedom Inn managed to maintain a steady flow of foot traffic, and even then, the visitors were overwhelmingly high-level experts from various major powers, with free-adventure-team players being few and far between.
In the Freedom Inn's ground-floor lobby, a group of nearly a hundred players draped in black cloaks had just stepped inside, and the entire hall erupted into exclamations and heated discussion.
Among those black-cloaked players, the group was actually being escorted by a team of experts from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. Leading them was none other than Yuan Tiexin, a well-known elder of the Pavilion, accompanied by a half-elf man who appeared to be in his thirties or forties.
"Incredible! Who are these people? A Heavenly Secrets Pavilion elder personally escorting them?"
"They must be big shots who don't want to reveal their identities. I remember the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion holds shares in Stone Forest City. Now that players from the Dark Great World have entered the Cold Spring Great Forest, the city's situation isn't looking good. Maybe the Pavilion called them in as reinforcements."
"Reinforcements? That's futile. We're talking about an entire great world — no single super power, or even an alliance of super powers, can hope to stand against that kind of force."
…
The high-level players from various major powers in the lobby were all buzzing with curiosity about the black-cloaked visitors.
Stone Forest City had become a holy land for cultivation, and with the Freedom Inn now in the mix, it was the place every top-tier player dreamed of reaching.
After all, no other guild city in existence boasted magical energy density anywhere near Stone Forest City's. On top of that, the Freedom Inn dramatically accelerated the rate at which stored double experience points were consumed. Rumor even had it that the top-floor guest rooms could significantly speed up the expulsion of foreign energy and enhance combat techniques.
In a Divine Realm where combat techniques were becoming increasingly widespread, that kind of advantage was a fatal draw for expert players.
If any power's experts could develop in a place like this long-term, the speed of that power's growth was easy to imagine. The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, as a shareholder in Stone Forest City, certainly wasn't about to give it up without a fight.
But the Dark Great World's gate had already opened. None of those present could realistically imagine any force capable of blocking players from that world.
"Please wait here for a moment. I'll go rent a premium meeting room." Yuan Tiexin addressed the black-cloaked players in the lobby.
With that, he produced a Freedom Inn Gold Member Card and headed to the front desk to secure a premium meeting room for their discussion. The major powers' leaders watching from the sidelines could barely conceal their envy.
A Gold Member Card!
Ever since the Freedom Inn's effects had become known, every major power was desperate to become a member — Silver tier or above, ideally. But that was far easier said than done. At present, most factions could only manage Bronze tier membership, and upgrading to Silver required a massive amount of Freedom Inn contribution points. Those points could only be earned through exchanging rare materials or completing specific tasks, and the exchange limits were applied on a per-player basis, with daily caps.
A Gold Member, however, could rent the Freedom Inn's top-floor rooms.
As Yuan Tiexin went through the rental paperwork, the black-cloaked players were carefully examining the Freedom Inn's interior.
"So this is Zero Wing's Freedom Inn? Impressive, indeed!" A young man among the black-cloaked group, his entire body emanating dense dark energy, marveled at the Inn's rich magical atmosphere and its effects. "No wonder they had the nerve to provoke us, the Heart of Demons."
"So what if they did? In the end, didn't they still lose to our Vice Guild Master Yanguang?" A level-109 Elementalist standing beside him, also radiating potent dark energy, scoffed dismissively.
The fact that the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had proactively reached out to them — secretly inviting all the major super powers that had been secretly allied against Zero Wing, the Heart of Demons included — spoke volumes about how dire Zero Wing's situation truly was. Or rather, it was a clear acknowledgment of what facing an entire great world meant.
But it was a shame, because even with the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion leading the charge, the outcome wasn't going to change. Every super power present had their sights set firmly on claiming Stone Forest City for themselves.
Meanwhile, Huan Yu, also cloaked in black, watched with her delicate brows furrowed as the Heart of Demons' two experts exchanged hushed words.