After the stranger finished speaking, his gaze shifted to Bloodlust Fengqing, who stood off to the side.
"Bloodlust, you're with me. The rest of you, head back to the guild."
The stranger's commanding tone made Qilin and the others nod repeatedly, their eyes filled with nothing but deep reverence.
This surprised
He'd already gotten a fairly good sense of Qilin's strength from the entrance trial. Qilin had definitely reached the
Someone with Qilin's level of skill would be considered a top-tier expert in virtually any guild.
Yet from the stranger's tone, it was abundantly clear that wherever they were headed next, an expert of Qilin's caliber didn't qualify to go. Out of the whole group, only Bloodlust Fengqing was allowed to join.
"Brother Bloodlust, where exactly are we heading?" Shi Feng secretly messaged Bloodlust Fengqing, burning with curiosity about their destination.
"I don't know either. This is only the third time I've ever seen one of the guild master's Shadow Guards." Bloodlust Fengqing shook his head with a bitter smile. "Seeing a Shadow Guard today is all thanks to you, Brother Yefeng."
He might have been a high-ranking member of the Dark Crow guild, but he had no access to its innermost core.
On top of that, the Dark Crow guild's internal operations had always been shrouded in mystery. As a dark guild, it didn't operate like a normal adventurer's guild focused on slaying monsters and building cities. Dark guilds centered on killing players and plundering cities, and they placed paramount importance on secrecy — after all, they were targets that NPCs constantly sought to purge.
Even someone at his level of seniority knew precious little about many of the Dark Crow's affairs. He simply managed the bounty killing quests in his own assigned district.
As for the guild's core secrets, he was completely in the dark.
The legendary Shadow Guards were no exception — this was only the third time he'd ever laid eyes on one.
The Shadow Guards were the personal confidants of Guild Master
"Shadow Guards, huh?" Shi Feng couldn't help but glance at the man clad in a black cloak, his heart giving a jolt.
He had certainly heard of the Dark Crow guild's Shadow Guards before.
The fundamental reason the Dark Crow — this dark guild — had risen to become one of the six great dark guilds of the Divine Realm was its Shadow Guards. Their combat abilities were so terrifying they barely seemed human, and they were numerous to boot. No one on the outside knew their identities, as they always wore black cloaks.
Back in the day, many had speculated that the Dark Crow guild was secretly established by some super-guild.
However, reality had proven that the Dark Crow had no ties to any known super-guild — or rather, every super-guild in the Divine Realm had been targeted by the Dark Crow's Shadow Guards and had lost significant amounts of wealth to them. Yet the super-guilds could do precious little about it, because the Dark Crow's roster of top-tier experts was second to none.
It was for this reason that the Dark Crow guild was hailed as one of the six great dark guilds.
The Shadow Guard standing before him now radiated an unmistakable sense of danger — even more so than Bloodlust Fengqing.
Of course, this didn't mean superior combat technique. It was something else — a feeling the Shadow Guard gave off, like a machine, cold and utterly devoid of emotion.