"So that's how it works."
After reading the drop information, Shi Feng finally understood the gist of it.
Even if he made his way to the mountain peak, reaching the summit wouldn't count as passing the trial. He had to collect all fifty inheritance chapters from the Book of Heritage.
But now that he knew what was going on, his next steps were much easier.
Find the Bone Generals, kill the Bone Giants, and obtain the inheritance chapters.
Shi Feng began searching the mountain for Bone Generals.
The swords falling from the sky were certainly a nuisance, but having gradually grasped the dodge pattern, they were no longer a real problem. Even taking a few hits while fighting a group of Bone Generals was nothing to worry about.
After killing twelve Bone Giants in a row, Shi Feng discovered a problem.
Bone Giants didn't always drop inheritance chapters. Out of twelve kills, he'd only obtained two chapters. The drop rate was pitifully low, there was no experience to gain, and he had to constantly dodge the falling swords—it was mentally draining and incredibly tedious. If the Sacred Ten Great Inheritances weren't beckoning, Shi Feng would never have bothered with such a thankless task.
While Shi Feng was scouring the mountain for Bone Generals, something major happened back in White River City.
The Dark Star Guild, which everyone in White River City had all but forgotten, suddenly announced its disbandment. Everyone was stunned—a guild that massive, just like that, gone. Even some of the smaller guilds that had previously allied with Dark Star announced their dissolution at the same time.
People had assumed White River City would enter an era of four-power competition.
But what came next exceeded everyone's expectations.
Less than half a day after those guilds disbanded, a branch chapter of Yixiao Qingcheng suddenly appeared in White River City. What truly shocked everyone was that Wei Wo Du Kuang—the former guild master of Dark Star—had become the vice guild master of Yixiao Qingcheng's White River City branch. The benefits and compensation offered were outstanding, more than double what Dark Star had provided. The whole operation screamed "money is no object."
Members from the dissolved guilds flooded into Yixiao Qingcheng's White River City branch.
In less than half a day of its establishment, the branch had swelled to thirty thousand members, and the number was still climbing. Externally, they kept recruiting newcomers, pulling every trick in the book to steal talent from Zero Wing.
"Sister Shui Se, Yixiao Qingcheng isn't giving Zero Wing an ounce of respect. Instead of running their own Maple Leaf City, they come here to poach our people. The guild master is completely unreachable for some reason. If we let Yixiao Qingcheng steal people like this, all the promising players will be gone before our recruitment even starts tomorrow. Should we begin recruiting now?" Xue Yan looked visibly anxious.
After all, Zero Wing had worked hard to build its reputation and draw outer-city players over. Now Yixiao Qingcheng was swooping in to reap the rewards. It was infuriating.
"Yixiao Qingcheng's ambitions are certainly bold," Watercolor Rose said, her eyes flashing with anger. She wasn't worried about losing people—what grated on her was Yixiao Qingcheng's arrogant attitude. This was a clear provocation against Zero Wing. "They think they can waltz into White River City just because they scored one large-scale raid dungeon First Clear? Fine. We'll start our recruitment campaign right now. I want to see how a second-rate guild without a guild headquarters can compete with Zero Wing on benefits!"
Once Zero Wing launched its full-scale recruitment push, all of White River City buzzed with excitement.
On one side, Yixiao Qingcheng—fresh off a large-scale raid dungeon First Clear and having absorbed White River City's Dark Star Guild. On the other, Zero Wing—led by the number-one player in the Star Moon Kingdom and backed by its own guild headquarters.
The rivalry was compelling. Even on the official forums, countless players debated which guild they should join.
"Brother Jian Ying, this White River City is really something. It's only the fifth-largest city in the Star Moon Kingdom, yet it's become the battleground for the two hottest guilds right now. Which guild do you think these solo players will pick?" The female knight Ban Jiu glanced at the Berserker Jian Ying and grinned.
"I can't speak for anyone else, but from the very start, my goal has been to join Zero Wing." Jian Ying had zero interest in the two-guild rivalry. All he cared about was passing the trial and getting into Zero Wing, where he could spar with the top players and sharpen his skills. He also wanted to seek more guidance from Guild Master Hei Yan. Everything else, he couldn't care less about.