The moment Shi Feng logged in, he was immediately greeted by a barrage of notification sounds.
"Quite a lot of people are trying to reach me." Shi Feng opened the system panel and slowly scrolled through the notifications. The vast majority were friend requests and messages, many from high-ranking members of first-rate guilds. The content was all the same—they wanted to buy Zero Wing, and the price was negotiable.
A few first-rate guilds, however, took a different approach. They weren't trying to buy Zero Wing—instead, they wanted Shi Feng himself to join. They promised that if he did, he would immediately be made an elder of the guild, with a substantial share of equity. This surprised Shi Feng. He had no idea when he'd become so valuable.
"Even Feng Xuanyang is sending me messages. How interesting." Shi Feng spotted a message from someone called Netherwind and felt a twinge of surprise. Although he and Underworld hadn't officially declared war on each other, their conflict was essentially to the death. With Feng Xuanyang's arrogant personality, it would already be something if he wasn't actively trying to kill him—contacting him was completely out of character for Feng Xuanyang.
Shi Feng opened the message and couldn't help but laugh.
"Feng Xuanyang sure changed his tune fast. No wonder he made it to Underworld's management."
In the message, Feng Xuanyang said he was willing to agree to Shi Feng's previous demands—spending one billion Credit Points to take a 10% stake in Zero Wing, with the specific details to be discussed further.
"What exactly happened in the Divine Realm while I was away?" The surprise had come so suddenly that Shi Feng was having trouble wrapping his head around it.
The battle for White River City alone shouldn't have caused Feng Xuanyang to make such a drastic change. There had to be something else going on.
Although Zero Wing had established dominance in White River City, the Star Moon Kingdom had over a hundred cities. The gain or loss of a single city meant little to a first-rate guild—let alone to Underworld, which had even greater resources and backing than any first-rate guild.
Moreover, several of the Divine Realm's other major guilds had explicitly invited him to join as an individual member, offering extremely generous terms. The whole situation just didn't feel right no matter how he looked at it.
Shi Feng thought about it for a long time but couldn't reach any conclusion, so he decided to log into the Divine Realm's official forum directly.
What he found there took him by surprise.
The Star Moon Kingdom's forum section was filled with threads about Black Flame and the Power Ranking.
"Black Flame—Number One in the Star Moon Kingdom!"
"Star Moon Kingdom's First Entry in the Top 500 of the Power Ranking!"
"A God-Mode Player Appears: Fights Ten Thousand Alone, Kills Thousands, and Walks Away Unscathed!"
"Analysis by Experts from Major Star Moon Kingdom Guilds: Zero Wing Ranks First in Overall Strength."
…
Among all these threads, the most popular was one titled "Asura of the Single Sword," which was pinned at the top and had received over ten million views. Shi Feng clicked on it out of curiosity.
Power Ranking, #481: Black Flame. Class: Swordsman. Title: Asura.
Black Flame fought multiple battles in White River City. He single-handedly killed the president of the Dark Star Guild, Insane Ego, while surrounded by over a thousand Dark Star members. He then faced hundreds of Elite players in White River City—one man, one sword—where no one could withstand a single strike, and he eliminated over a hundred with ease. Afterward, when pursued by tens of thousands of players from various major guilds, his presence alone was enough to freeze them in their tracks, too terrified to approach. He then killed thousands more and withdrew without a scratch…
Heavenly Secrets Bureau's assessment: One man, one sword—power that rivals gods and demons.