The White Sand Ruins, as a critical zone for players advancing to Level 10, attracted Level 9 players from several surrounding towns. Not only did the monsters here yield more experience due to being Level 10, but the area was also packed with quests—many of which offered generous experience rewards—and high-level quests that rewarded Bronze-grade or better equipment.
The newly discovered Hammerstone Town, in particular, was practically a paradise for players. As long as your reputation in Hammerstone Town reached a certain level, you could purchase Level 10 Bronze and Black Iron equipment there at absurdly low prices. No other town could compete with those kinds of benefits.
As a result, the White Sand Ruins had become the go-to leveling zone for Level 9 players, and guilds like the Martial Alliance were not about to miss out.
After Shi Feng had killed Fengyun Wuhui once in Red Leaf Town, Fengyun Wuhui had immediately rushed to the ruins to grind. After putting in the effort over this stretch of time, he had clawed his way back to Level 9 and wasn't too far from Level 10.
"Just you wait, Night Edge. The moment the guilds from our little alliance enter White River City, you're dead," Fengyun Wuhui cursed inwardly as he shot down a Level 10 Three-Tailed Venom Scorpion.
Though he had exposed Shi Feng's secret and Shi Feng had provoked those guilds into a fury, nobody had managed to do a single thing about him. Not only was Shi Feng alive and well, he was raking in piles of money. The thought made Fengyun Wuhui green with envy—why couldn't that have been him?
The Martial Alliance had originally been a guild imported from another virtual reality game. It had no corporate backing—just a handful of wealthy young masters bankrolling it. But in that previous game, those rich kids had been absolute whales, casually dropping hundreds of thousands of Credit Points to let the Martial Alliance dominate the server. It had felt fantastic, which was why they'd gone on to establish the Martial Alliance in the Divine Realm, aiming to conquer it all over again.
As a high-ranking member, Fengyun Wuhui pulled in over ten thousand Credit Points a month—an impressive income by any standard. He'd grown smug about it, never missing a chance to brag to his friends about being a top-tier player. When he treated people to dinner at ordinary restaurants, he'd wave his hand and settle the bill with imposing flair, turning heads with envy.
But then he saw the sales rankings for the White River City Guide.
Fengyun Wuhui's world shattered.
He did a rough calculation. Shi Feng was earning tens of millions of Credit Points a day. Factor in the ongoing stream of revenue, and Shi Feng's assets had probably already blown past those wealthy young masters. And if Shi Feng decided to sell his fast-Level-10 walkthrough at a low price, his future would be set for life—luxury cars, beautiful women, the works. He'd be living better than any of those rich kids.
Bitter resentment and jealousy churned inside Fengyun Wuhui.
The only silver lining was that Shi Feng hadn't sold the walkthrough at a bargain price yet. If Fengyun Wuhui could snatch it up and be the first to resell it on the official forums, why bother being a professional player? He could just live large in the real world.
"Boss Fengyun, I found a spot where monsters are packed thick and respawn really fast. Our leveling efficiency could jump by over sixty percent," an Assassin said in the party chat.
"Give me the coordinates. We're heading there now." Fengyun Wuhui perked up immediately.
The White Sand Ruins were getting overcrowded—there weren't enough monsters to go around. If a spot like that existed, they might just push into White River City today and settle the score with Shi Feng.
"Here are the coordinates." The Assassin dropped them right into the chat.
"Good. We'll move out after we finish these few mobs." Fengyun Wuhui grinned. It was about time his luck turned around.
Before long, Fengyun Wuhui led his elite squad to the location.
Just as the Assassin had reported, the spot was well hidden and absolutely crawling with monsters. Every spawn cycle produced over fifty Three-Tailed Venom Scorpions—a dream farming zone for their elite force of over a hundred.
The only problem was that quite a few players were already there.
"Brother Fengyun, what do we do?" a Shield Warrior asked, eyeing the sixty or seventy players farming ahead of them.
"Tch, can't you see they're all free agents?" Fengyun Wuhui scoffed. "Just a bunch of loose squads grinding together. A spot this good—no way we let them hog it. Clear them out. From now on, this is our Martial Alliance's farming ground."
Just as Fengyun Wuhui had said, these players were unaffiliated—no guild, just a random gathering that had formed to grind here. An ordinary guild might have backed off upon seeing their numbers, but Fengyun Wuhui's Martial Alliance was different. It had pooled elites from five towns—more than even the elite squad under Ci Xin.
"Clear the area! Anyone who isn't in the Martial Alliance, get out—or face the consequences!" Fengyun Wuhui announced to the crowd, his voice dripping with contempt.
Over a hundred Martial Alliance elites spread out and encircled the zone, sneering coldly. The moment anyone resisted, they'd charge in and wipe them out without a second thought.
Free agents never had good equipment. Even though all of these players were Level 9, their gear was leagues behind the Martial Alliance's. And the numbers weren't even close—sixty or seventy on their side versus 132 on the Martial Alliance's. That was a twofold gap in manpower, not to mention the free agents had no cohesion. Fighting back was out of the question.
One of the free agents stepped forward as a spokesperson. "Brothers of the Martial Alliance, there's a first-come, first-served principle to these things. Grinding isn't easy for any of us. How about we split the monsters fifty-fifty?"
"Scram. I'm counting to ten. If you're still here, I won't hesitate to make sure you stay here forever," Fengyun Wuhui snapped.
"You people are being way too domineering! We were the ones who found this spot—why should we be kicked out?"
"Everyone, listen to me. Let's band together and fight the Martial Alliance head-on. Worst case, we all take heavy losses. I don't believe the Martial Alliance has nothing to lose—they wouldn't really dare go to war with us."
Just as one squad was trying to rally everyone against the Martial Alliance, dozens of fireballs slammed into those players, killing them instantly. The remaining free agents were too terrified to protest, glaring daggers at Fengyun Wuhui but saying nothing.
"What, you got a problem with that?" Fengyun Wuhui sneered and waved his hand.
Another barrage of spells rained down, and a few more of the players who had been glaring dropped dead.
"We're out of here," one squad finally broke and headed for the exit.
The other squads exchanged looks and shook their heads, filing out one after another. As for the two squads that had been killed, nobody gave them another thought.
"Hahaha! A bunch of cowards trying to challenge our Martial Alliance!" Fengyun Wuhui taunted the retreating free agents, laughing uproariously.
The rest of the Martial Alliance members joined in the laughter, reveling in the moment.
At that same time, Shi Feng had arrived at the White Sand Ruins without missing a beat.
"The Martial Alliance should be just up ahead." Shi Feng checked the map coordinates and broke into a run.
(To be continued...)
ps: Part three is here! Please vote and recommend!