Chapter 353: A Sword Shura (Part 2)

"Experience points are never enough, but right now there's nothing I can do about it. Even if I keep pushing, leveling all the way back down to zero wouldn't be enough." Shi Feng looked at his own level and let out a bitter laugh.

Level 21.

This was even lower than his level before returning to White River City, but his current combat power was far greater than when he had been level 34.

Turtledove and Jianying, standing beside Shi Feng, were both stunned.

A level 34 player had dropped to level 21 in the span of a few moments. Turtledove and Jianying even wondered if their eyes were playing tricks on them — how could a player lose levels on their own? They wanted to ask Shi Feng but couldn't bring themselves to speak up. After all, they hadn't joined Zero Wing yet, and the guild master's secrets were not something they had any right to know.

Shi Feng could tell they had questions, but he didn't bother explaining. This was his secret, and revealing the Ring of Seven Luminaries in the future would be irresponsible toward himself if he let the information leak now.

Just then, Shi Feng received another system message.

System: Guild Expedition Quest completed. Zero Wing guild reputation increased by 30,000 points.

System: Congratulations on completing the Guild Expedition Quest. Rewards: 70 reputation points with White River City, 5 million experience points.

Instantly, Shi Feng's level recovered to 22.

"Guild Master, we've collected all the treasures from Stream Town. Everyone's reputation is above 100, which meets the noble standard. Even red-named players won't be restricted by the guards when entering the city. Huo Wu and the others can all return to the city to do their class change quests." Shuise Qiangwei suddenly reported through the team channel.

"Good, come back right away. Also, summon all Zero Wing members to the teleport hall immediately." Shi Feng gazed at the battlefield below, a faint smile on his face.

Tonight was destined to be an extraordinary one — the night Zero Wing fully rose to prominence.

"Understood. We're heading back now." Shuise Qiangwei ended the communication without any hesitation. Shi Feng's performance had earned her complete trust.

After the call ended, Shi Feng continued to stand quietly atop the tall building, watching the battle below grow ever more fierce.

In less than an hour, the number of players had dropped from around five hundred thousand at the start to just a few tens of thousands. The carnage was far beyond imagination.

Anyone who dared approach the item drop point, regardless of who they were, would be killed by everyone else in an instant.

Even a few hundred players from the same guild rushing in together would meet the same fate.

It had devolved into a situation where neither side could collect the drops until the other was completely wiped out.

But as the number of players decreased, the advantages of organized guilds gradually became apparent. Of the tens of thousands remaining, guild players made up the vast majority, with solo players growing fewer and fewer. Some who saw no chance of success decided to withdraw from the contest entirely.

With no more solo players getting in the way, the major guilds sprang into action one after another, each charging toward locations where items had dropped.

However, none of the major guilds were willing to let others grab the loot, so some members held the line while others moved to seize the drops.

This caused the guilds to clash with one another.

"All these drops belong to the Dark Star Guild. A bunch of little guilds like you think you can compete with us?" Wei Wo Du Kuang swung his shield and sent a Swordsman from a small guild flying, then bellowed, "Assassins, move in! Everyone else, cover them and secure the drops!"

Immediately, dozens of Assassins rushed forward at top speed while the rest provided cover, carving a path for the assassins.

"You think you can just take them? Did you even ask me?" Chi Yu led his subordinates in a furious suppression while closing in on the drop points.

At the same time, Di Guang, the Assassin Alliance, and Xiong Ba Tianxia were all fiercely contesting the loot.

These powerful guilds were dominant, but the smaller guilds weren't foolish. The densely packed drop zones were where the major guilds fought each other most intensely, so the minor guilds abandoned those entirely, targeting the sparse drop locations where no one else would bother contesting them.

Watching the major guilds secure one drop after another filled the solo players with bitter envy.

But the faces of the guilds that had obtained items were far from happy.

They had fought tooth and nail, ignoring casualties, all to ensure they actually secured the dropped items. Once an item entered a player's inventory, it couldn't drop again — even killing them would be useless.

But now that they had the items in hand, the reality was far beyond what they had expected.

Any player holding a dropped item had to keep it in their inventory for two full hours before it wouldn't drop upon death...

"What the hell is going on?" Wei Wo Du Kuang stared at the dropped item in his inventory, his brow furrowed deeply.

To ensure they secured the drops, they had fought without holding anything back, even sacrificing their companions without hesitation — all because they believed that once they had the item in hand, it was truly theirs. That was why they had been willing to pay such a steep price. Of the over ten thousand Dark Star Guild members who had been dispatched, fewer than a thousand remained. And now he was being told this still wasn't over — the items could become someone else's at any moment.