Silverwing City, City Lord's Mansion.
Guided by Youlan, Mu Xin and the other members of Frost Sword made their way to the main gate of the City Lord's Mansion at a leisurely pace.
The City Lord's Mansion, completely enclosed by high walls, had not only gathered a large number of NPCs in front of it, but also many player merchants bearing merchant emblems were lined up waiting. The bustling scene was in no way inferior to that at Silverwing City's main gate.
"This Silverwing City is really something. It was only promoted not long ago, yet so many player merchants and NPC merchants have already come to rent shops and stalls. Even the headquarters of those superpowers probably can't match this number," the female Warlock wearing a Frost Sword emblem muttered in astonishment as she looked at the players and NPCs queuing outside the City Lord's Mansion.
The City Lord's Mansion served as the core that controlled the entire town, and it also managed all the land and shop transactions for the town. Whether a player or an NPC wanted to purchase or rent land and shops within the guild city, they had to come to the City Lord's Mansion to carry out the transaction.
However, for a newly rising guild city, no faction would be willing to sell off its land and shops — they were generally leased out to others instead.
As for player merchants, they typically wouldn't rush to rent shops in a new city. They would first do their research before making a decision, to say nothing of NPC merchants.
Yet the number of players and NPCs currently queuing up had already reached nearly a thousand — a figure that was practically unimaginable for a newly promoted guild city. After all, the more player and NPC merchants that opened shops in a guild city, the more players it would attract to come and shop, creating a healthy virtuous cycle.
"That's fairly normal, I suppose. After all, Silverwing City is currently the only guild city in the Beastman Empire. And with that Transport Trade House, it's already certain that a massive number of players will pour in. These shrewd player merchants and NPC merchants certainly won't miss the opportunity — I'm just wondering how many shops and plots of land Zero Wing is willing to lease out," Mu Xin glanced at the crowd of people queuing, not the least bit surprised by the situation.
Because one of her purposes in coming here now was to lease some land and shops in Silverwing City — to prepare a foothold for her guild members to develop there — she was, of course, no slower in her actions than the player merchants and NPC merchants who traversed the major cities and kingdoms on a regular basis, their noses sharper than any hound's when it came to sniffing out opportunity.
And as Mu Xin and the others appeared, the player merchants queuing at the main gate of the City Lord's Mansion turned to look, one after another, their eyes filled with disbelief.
"No way — is Frost Sword actually planning to cooperate with Zero Wing?"
"If that's really the case, then Zero Wing is truly going to rise in the Eastern Continent. After all, behind Frost Sword stand three world-class financial conglomerates. Even a sliver of their support would be enough for Zero Wing to never have to worry about funding or resources again."
"If that's really how it is, then in the future all the major superpowers will probably have to tread carefully around Zero Wing. After all, the only thing Zero Wing was lacking before was a slight edge in terms of expert numbers and foundation compared to the other superpowers. With Frost Sword's resources behind them, Zero Wing wouldn't be one bit inferior to any of those superpowers."
……
As for Frost Sword, this superpower that had previously been developing in the Frozen Tundra World, ordinary players were thoroughly unfamiliar with it. In fact, had Frost Sword not suddenly come to dominate several kingdoms and stake out a corner of the Apocalypse Empire, it likely wouldn't have been known to the public at all.
But for these well-informed player merchants whose intelligence networks were razor-sharp, Frost Sword's name was thunderous. After all, with three world-class financial conglomerates backing them, even the once-dominant Star Ring Guild and the various other major super guilds in the Eastern Continent had to show them a measure of respect.
In no time at all, Mu Xin and the others slowly walked into the City Lord's Mansion, their passage accompanied by the hushed murmuring of the crowd.
At this moment, throughout the entire City Lord's Mansion, there were not only the NPC guards stationed for protection but also quite a few of Zero Wing's expert players hard at their training inside. The bustle of foot traffic within was no less than outside.
"As expected, there's still quite a gap compared to the major superpowers in both the quantity and quality of experts." The Level 116 female Warlock surveyed the room and couldn't help but shake her head slightly. "With this level of guild member strength, even if Vice President Mu Xin agreed, I'm afraid the allied guilds wouldn't go along with it."
The Zero Wing members present were by no means lacking in Third Tier experts—some had reached Level 115, even Level 116 or higher—and their equipment was quite impressive. The weakest gear on any Third Tier expert was Gold-grade equipment at Level 110, not at all inferior to what those superpowers sported.
But there was a fatal flaw: the combat proficiency of these Zero Wing experts was generally mediocre. Setting aside experts who had reached the Realm of Flowing Water, there were barely any who had even entered the Realm of Exactitude. On this point, they simply couldn't compare with the major superpowers.
Even Zero Wing's formidable NPC direct guards couldn't change the equation. Those NPC guards could only be powerful for a time—advancing in rank was far more difficult for them than for players. A guild needed to possess a large pool of top-tier experts; that was the true path to dominance.
While rumors suggested Zero Wing had a few experts of considerable strength, that number was nowhere near enough to sustain a guild's growth, let alone convince Mu Xin to approve Zero Wing's entry into the alliance.
Just as the female Warlock was quietly mulling this over, You Lan brought Mu Xin and her group to the reception room on the first floor of the City Lord's Mansion.
"Please, go in." You Lan pushed open the door and spoke softly to Mu Xin and the others.
Once You Lan finished, Mu Xin nodded and led several companions into the reception room.
The instant Mu Xin and her group stepped inside, they felt a heavy weight settle over their entire bodies. The ambient mana around them began slipping beyond their control, as though they had been transported to an entirely different world.
"A Magic Domain?" The Level 116 female Warlock stared in disbelief at Shi Feng seated in the hall, her jaw nearly dropping open. "How is this… possible!"
At that moment, forget about the female Warlock—even the other members of Frost Heaven's Sword stood frozen on the spot, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
When it came to Magic Domains, there were few things third-tier experts understood more clearly.
After all, they had come into contact with them to varying degrees while fighting all manner of fourth-tier monsters, not to mention that quite a few third-tier magic skills could generate Magic Domains.
Magic Domains were divided into two types: active and passive. Active Magic Domains were formed by channeling various magic skills, while passive Magic Domains could manifest without the use of any magic skills whatsoever. The latter was generally an ability only fourth-tier NPCs could master.
The Magic Domain before them was clearly not forcibly conjured through magic skills, but rather passively guided by one's own mana—a so-called passive Magic Domain.
One had to understand that the very reason fourth-tier NPCs stood above third-tier NPCs was entirely due to passive Magic Domains. Once a Magic Domain appeared, no number of third-tier NPCs could pose any real threat.
And yet, this ability that only fourth-tier NPCs were supposed to possess was now being demonstrated by a third-tier player. How could anyone believe their eyes?
"You must be the ones from Frost Heaven's Sword. I am Hei Yan, the Guild Master of Zero Wing," Shi Feng said, glancing at Mu Xin and the others as they entered the hall, getting straight to the point. "You Lan mentioned that you came to Silverwing City to discuss a potential cooperation with Zero Wing. May I ask what kind of collaboration you had in mind?"