The Frost Empire, Winter Speech City, Azure Commerce outpost.
The opulent conference room on the top floor of the estate was packed with the Pang family's elders and patriarchs, yet the atmosphere was eerily silent. Every face was cold and grave. Even a third-tier expert walking in here would likely feel a chill run down their spine.
"Arrogant! Zero Wing is absolutely outrageous!"
"Exactly. They've had a few small victories over on the Eastern Continent and now they think they can stand up to the great superpowers on the Western Continent? They even think they can put themselves on equal footing with the Violet Sword — what a joke!"
"They want to go negotiate with the Violet Sword? Do they really treat the Western Continent as Zero Wing's territory?"
Every elder and patriarch present was furious upon hearing Pang Wushang's report.
If Zero Wing had merely refused to let go, they could have understood. After all, they knew Zero Wing had poured considerable resources into training Miao Wuyin. According to Pang Wushang, she was now only half a step away from becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster.
The importance of a player on the verge of becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster to any faction was self-evident — it could even be the catalyst for a faction's meteoric rise. On the current market and across the major powers, the best potions available were Grandmaster-grade. Grandmaster-level potions were something people didn't even dare to dream about. A single bottle would be tremendously valuable, and the idea of mass-producing them was beyond imagination. So Zero Wing's reluctance to let go was perfectly understandable.
But when Shi Feng said Zero Wing would handle this matter on its own and Azure Commerce need not get involved, it felt like an insult to their capabilities.
"Since Zero Wing has made that clear, we'll stay out of it for now. Once they make fools of themselves, they'll know their place soon enough." The lean, middle-aged man seated at the center of the room, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "But Fifth Brother — what does Wuyin think about all this?"
"Big Brother, Wuyin is also torn. But if Zero Wing ends up humiliating itself, she won't just stand by and watch Zero Wing and the family both spiral into ruin. After that, she'll certainly move to develop her career with the Violet Sword." Pang Wushang thought for a moment before answering.
"Then this is simple. All we need to do is let nature take its course. Zero Wing might make some waves on the Eastern Continent with their strength, but over here on the Western Continent they can do absolutely nothing. As much as we'd prefer not to have our family's elites tied to the Zeus Financial Group's ship, Zeus specifically chose us — the strongest among their affiliates — as an example for all the other factions under their banner. We have no room to back out." The lean middle-aged man let out a sigh.
As he spoke, the elders and patriarchs in the room fell silent one by one.
On the surface, they were the leading family of Azure Commerce, basking in glory and prestige. But beneath that shine, the pressure only kept mounting. If they couldn't continue to advance, the abyss awaited them. After all, the Zeus Financial Group could throw its support behind anyone within Azure Commerce — it didn't have to be them.
As for Zero Wing, just as the middle-aged man had said, they were powerless to do anything on the Western Continent. All the family needed to do was sit back and watch the show.
However, while the Pang family was holding their meeting, far away in the inner region of the Demon Wolf Mountain Range on the Eastern Continent, Shi Feng and his party had finally arrived on a treacherous cliff overlooking a narrow canyon atop their flying mounts.
The rugged canyon below was swarming with Demon Wolves of level 120 and above. Resting on the cliff ledges were numerous Mutant Demon Wolves and high-grade Great Lord Three-Headed Demon Wolves. And on a flat clearing within the canyon, two enormous wolves lay sprawled out — each over twenty meters tall, their bodies radiating dense, frigid energy.
Ice and Snow Demon Wolf, Magical Beast, High-grade Lord, Level 123, HP: 63,000,000.
Three-Headed Demon Wolf, Magical Beast, High-grade Great Lord, Level 124, HP: 540,000,000.
Mutant Red Demon Wolf, Magical Beast, Primordial Species, High-grade Great Lord, Level 125, HP: 1,200,000,000.
Three-Eyed Ice Demon Wolf, Magical Beast, Legendary, Level 127, HP: 3,100,000,000.
Seeing this scene, everyone present drew a sharp breath.
They had already known from Huo Wu's report that the number of Demon Wolves here was staggering and that each one was formidable — their combat level generally placing them above the third floor of the Trial Tower. But witnessing it with their own eyes was a wholly different experience that made their hearts tremble.
This place might look like a simple canyon, but it was practically a fortress of Demon Wolves. Forget their twelve third-tier experts who had unlocked their Mana Bodies and the several dozen third-tier personal guards in their party — even a five-thousand-strong team of level-120 third-tier players would struggle to deal with these wolves.
Just the Three-Headed Demon Wolves and Mutant Red Demon Wolves they could see on the surface numbered over three hundred, guarding every entrance and passage through the canyon. And that was before counting the two Three-Eyed Ice Demon Wolves stationed right at the canyon's main mouth.