Although Fengyun Wuhui wasn't exactly the most famous person out there, he was a core executive of the Martial Alliance. On top of that, he'd dropped several bombshells over time and had made it clear he and Shi Feng were locked in an irreconcilable feud — so he'd built up a fair bit of name recognition.
But nobody had expected Fengyun Wuhui to actually apologize in public.
When word got out, it must have blinded quite a few people.
The Martial Alliance was, after all, a major guild. For them to bow to a single free player — it wasn't entirely unprecedented in virtual gaming history, but it happened about as often as unicorns. Especially in a game like Divine Realm that had only been open for a short time.
Right now, the gap between players was mainly one of skill, and numbers could make up for it. But Fengyun Wuhui had folded. It was almost impossible to believe.
"Can someone tell me what the hell happened?!"
"Whoa, is this the dawn of free players rising up?!"
"Night Edge really is my idol. A major guild with that kind of reputation, and they still caved."
The official White River City regional forum exploded instantly, like a small pebble tossed into a perfectly still pond. Ripples spread outward as everyone started weighing in, especially the free players.
Guild players and free players butted heads in every virtual reality game — there was no avoiding it. After all, to get ahead, you needed more resources, and guilds naturally hoarded those resources. Free players, lacking the strength to compete, had no choice but to yield. That was how the friction started.
Now, with a free player like Shi Feng forcing a major guild to back down, it struck a chord with countless free players.
But for the little alliance that had set out to crusade against Shi Feng, this was a bomb — one that reeked of danger.
Fengyun Wuhui, the very person who'd led the charge to eliminate Shi Feng, had withdrawn. And without a word of explanation. What kind of power could have made him do that? The other guilds in the alliance were growing nervous.
"Brother Zhang, what do we do?" Yan Hu asked in a low voice.
Because of Fengyun Wuhui's shocking move, every guild in the alliance was on edge now.
Zhang Luowei was lost in thought for a long while before speaking slowly. "Let's leave it for now. We'll discuss it once we've all entered White River City. But to think someone like Fengyun Wuhui could be made to submit — I really underestimated this Night Edge. Have Lin Feilong find a chance to reach out to Night Edge and see if we can get him to join our Shadow guild. We may have only just started growing, but our funding is solid. Tell Lin Feilong that if Night Edge agrees, we can offer him an honorary Elder position — an annual salary of a million plus ten percent equity, no problem."
Yan Hu was stunned. He'd already conceded that he wasn't Shi Feng's match — the man was simply a cut above. But was a promise this extravagant really necessary?
An honorary Elder position wasn't just an easy gig — it came with enormous authority. Within Shadow, only Brother Lan and Zhang Luowei themselves held more power. And that was before mentioning the million-annual salary plus ten percent equity. Meanwhile, Yan Hu himself had only been offered a base monthly salary of twenty thousand.
Yan Hu couldn't fathom why Shi Feng was worth such an extravagant offer.
But he couldn't say anything about it. All he could do was follow orders.
White River City — Trade District.
After returning, Shi Feng headed straight for the bank vault and withdrew five hundred stacks of Sturdy Stones, planning to dump a portion on the market first.
The current price for Sturdy Stones had climbed again, reaching his estimated ten silver coins per stack. It would keep rising after this, but the rate of increase had pretty much hit the ceiling of what players could bear.