The sun blazed overhead, and the sea breeze was still.
The attacks and defenses on each island were growing weaker by the hour, because aside from wanting to seize more resource territories, what mattered even more was protecting the ones they already had. Every guild that held territory had fewer personnel to spare for offensive operations.
The balance between guilds was growing increasingly stable.
"The sixth seat in this contention should come down to Divine Miracle and Sacred Law Hall." Mu Lingsha studied the resource distribution data across all the islands, a trace of envy in her eyes.
The Twelve Provisional Guilds!
Even though they weren't the true Twelve Great Guilds and couldn't yet receive imperial patronage, the provisional seats still allowed them to establish a foothold in imperial cities. Not only could they receive offerings from several major imperial cities, but they could also establish themselves in powerful kingdoms as guilds receiving royal patronage, influencing a nation's entire development direction.
Provisional guilds established in kingdoms could even mobilize kingdom wars to seize other nations' resources, expanding their territory and kingdom assets.
The guild resources they'd gain would far surpass what other guilds could accumulate, making it nearly impossible for anyone else to catch up. Those other guilds could only watch as the provisional guilds grew bigger and stronger…
"But Frost Heaven's Sword is rather strange." Undying Warheart gazed at the gradually stabilizing situation, his mind full of confusion. "Earlier, Frost Heaven's Sword clearly had a shot at one of the seats. Given their circumstances, there was absolutely no reason not to fight tooth and nail. After all, those other guilds only might team up—there was no guarantee they actually would. As long as Frost Heaven's Sword didn't push too hard at the start, those guilds probably wouldn't have specifically allied against them. At most, they'd have reached some unspoken understanding to keep Frost Heaven's Sword in check, and things wouldn't have come to this."
"There's nothing to be done about it. A missed opportunity is a missed opportunity." Mu Lingsha shook her head, her tone very certain. "Even if Frost Heaven's Sword fights now, there's no chance left."
The major guilds' resource territories were growing more stable by the day. Even if Frost Heaven's Sword wanted to seize territory, it would be exceedingly difficult—and especially after a successful seizure, the other major guilds would absolutely band together to crush them.
Because every major guild understood one thing: that all the other major guilds would secretly cooperate in an unspoken alliance. And since every guild thought the same way, they would all actually follow through. Once they eliminated Frost Heaven's Sword, they would then compete among themselves for Frost Heaven's Sword's former territories.
So Frost Heaven's Sword truly had no chance whatsoever…
And just as the two were talking, the system suddenly issued a notification.
"Hm—Black Flame is making his move!"
Mu Lingsha watched as the system screen suddenly shifted its view to Large-Scale Island No. 3, focusing on the point of interest she had set up long ago—Shi Feng.
"He's making his move now? What is Black Flame thinking?" Undying Warheart also watched as Shi Feng and his group hid among the trees, his mind full of confusion.
Zero Wing jumping out to compete for resource territories at this point was, frankly, completely pointless.
Because among all eighteen islands, only on Island No. 17 had Frost Heaven's Sword seized a resource territory. The other islands had none. Even if Zero Wing actually captured two resource territories and became one of the top six guilds on Island No. 3 in points, it wouldn't change the fact that Frost Heaven's Sword was beyond saving.
"Wait!" Mu Lingsha watched as Shi Feng and his group charged toward a high-tier resource territory, her jaw nearly dropping open, her eyes full of bewilderment and shock. "His target seems to be Illusory Myth's high-tier resource territory!"
Undying Warheart was also stunned for a moment, his mind full of disbelief.
"How dare he?"
Illusory Myth!
One of the Five Great Super Guilds—a superpower that struck fear into every major force—and here was Shi Feng, charging straight at them to pick a fight…
But before Mu Lingsha and Undying Warheart could recover from their shock, the system screen issued another notification, and a smaller picture-in-picture appeared on the main screen.
"This… Zero Wing… are they really going to war with Illusory Myth?"
On the screen, Bai Qingxue could be seen leading a hundred-man squad toward another of Illusory Myth's mid-tier resource territories, showing absolutely no intention of stopping.