Gui Guzi stood with his spear and asked, “Boss Broken Halberd. Are you saying that b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries are Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls' academy?"

I immediately shook my head. "That would be a grave mistake!"

"Why so?" Du Thirteen was shocked.

I smiled. "Because b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries is not an academy branch of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, but their essential, core organization. Let's put it this way. If Ancient Dreaming Souls are the sword, then we, b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries, are the edge of the blade. It's what they rely on to tear through the enemy's armor and defenses!"

Du Thirteen was relieved and said, "Brother Xu Yang told me to gradually move the strong players of b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries into Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. Should we do that?"

I smiled. "No way!"

Gui Guzi laughed. "Yes, if we give the elites of b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, who will be the main force of the guild?"

I nodded. "This is not a question of fighting for power. One guild cannot conquer the world alone. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls is low on strength, they need the help of a protector like b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries. Just like I said in the past, our principles will not change: we will crush the world beneath our feet and stay true to our oath!”

Then I paused and continued, "Now, we have kept our oath, but it doesn't mean we will do whatever higher-ups of Ancient Sword will tell us to. Why should we give our strongest people to Xu Yang? Ha! How about I get him drunk and convince some strong tacticians to join b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries instead!"

"...”

Beiming Xue smiled, her dimples showing. "Boss, boss, we are all in Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. In reality, b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries really need a top-cla.s.s expert!"

"Yes, let's take it slowly. Thirteen, Mamate, you have to be focused and not miss any of the talents you can recruit. Of course, the requirement is that this person will be useful and loyal to us.”

"Understood!"

……

Beep!

Murong Mingyue sent a message: "Are you leveling up?"

"No, what is it?"

"A fight broke out in the wild, you coming?"

"Yes, add me to the party!"

"Alright!"

Soon, He Yi sent a party invitation. With a beep, I joined the party. The nine-person party was full with my addition. I opened the large map and the locations of those people were in an area near Wild Pheasant Ridge.

I had wanted to party up with Gui Guzi, and Beiming Xue, but they had gone to level up with Mamate and Du Thirteen. In the end, I could only go off on my own.

In the party channel, some players said excitedly, "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand is coming?"

"Yes,” I replied simply. "Why are you guys fighting?"

He Yi answered, "Someone managed to find a 5.5-star boss pet in the area nearby. It refreshes daily, and there's a 50% chance of it sp.a.w.ning as Level 1, so we have been waiting here. But then, Flower Room also came and the things escalated into open conflict.”

I frowned. "Is Flower Room purposefully looking for conflict with Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls? Eve, didn't you identify yourself?"

He Yi said exasperatedly, “I said I am the leader of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls… and got hit two more times…”

"f.u.c.k, they dare? Wait for me!"

"Mn!"

……

I sprinted and reached Wild Pheasant Ridge in less than fifteen minutes. He Yi and Murong Mingyue were standing on top of a small hill in the distance. Right now, He Yi was dressed in new armor and a milky white cape flapped behind her as she held the Abyssal Sword in her hand. Adding on her beautiful face and amazing figure, she would rank in the Top 3 beauties of Floating Ice City...

He Yi did not have many people with her, at most a dozen. It seemed like she didn't want to call too many people over.

In reality, this decision was very wise. In these early stages of the game, leveling up was priority. A wise leader wouldn't pull their members from grinding and would rather persevere and deal a fatal blow when ready. Only idiots like Li Le and Roaming Dragon would go around with hundreds and thousands of people each day to steal grinding zones like bandits.

There was a group of 40 players from Flower Room at the bottom of the hill, including Li Le and Life of Luxury. On top of that, the three heads of the Ego workshop—Spring Mud, Moon Shadow, and Night Sorrow—were among them. These three had become three of the most important five figures of Flower Room. With their important decisions, they didn't hesitate to challenge their old master. Could they get any more shameless?

I sprinted up the hill. The Dark Wasp flew out as I opened my hand, already in a combat mode.

"Lu Chen, you came!" He Yi said with a smile.

I nodded. "Yes, boss, you worked hard. Leave the rest to me!"

"No, I need to kill a few. Just now, this group mounted a strong attack and almost killed me. Fortunately, Mingyue's heals are strong.”

"Oh...”

I looked at He Yi. Her shoulder armor showed traces of war and there were numerous holes in her cloak. She had clearly endured a hard battle, and her items' durability had dropped by a lot. Once her items worn out like her cloak, they would no longer provide any stats.

Murong Mingyue glared at me. "Brat, where is my car?"

"Oh, in the parking lot. But it received a fine at the university. Mingyue, you have to go on time to pay it, otherwise, there will be further penalties...”

"d.a.m.n...”

He Yi smiled faintly. "Lu Chen, does the company need to give you a car?"

I shook my head.

"Why, even Xu Yang has a Buick...” Murong Mingyue was surprised.

I smiled. "No need. I plan to buy it with my own money. That way, it will feel more fulfilling, no?"

He Yi gave a praising glance. "Yes, alright!"

……

At this time, Li Le was looking up from the bottom of the hill. He suddenly pointed and shouted, "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, you're the b.a.s.t.a.r.d that was with Lin Yixin!"

Murong Mingyue looked at me and then at He Yi. She pressed her chest. "You are about to be exposed...”

He Yi smiled silently as though she didn't care.

I walked forward, and pointed with my sword, saying, "So what if it was me? If you have b.a.l.l.s, come kill me. Otherwise, stop talking from down there!" Li Le's face twisted in fury as he snarled. "Lin Yixin is fated to be my girlfriend, no one can steal her away! Brothers of Flower Room, listen! Attack, and hack Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand's corpse into pieces!"

Li Le erupted in fury after just a few words. His boiling point was too low. Lin Yixin was the sore point in his heart. According to Clear Perfume, Li Le was a famed bachelor of the school, handsome and wealthy. He never lost to people in terms of his background and parents. He managed to get the beauty of the language department, the beauty of the electrical department and so on. Only the most beautiful girl of the university, Lin Yixin, made him feel defeated time and time again. She never spared him a glance, and even her father seemed to overshadow his.

Therefore, Li Le wanted to vent his anger on me.

However, he seemed to have chosen the wrong target. In the game, I did not fear people like him. In reality, I also did not fear him. b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries had a thousand brothers. Why would I fear him? In terms of power, He Yi was the vice president of GGS Asia Region. She had many connections in Shanghai, and Beijing. I had nothing to fear from his father either!

Hmph hmph, right now, I had a strong army, and also people higher up, no, people behind me. I had no reason to fear Li Le!

Moonlight Stone spoke, "Two of our warriors just charged down and didn't come back. Lu Chen, be careful! Flower Room's members are very strong and managed to kill our warriors in a single strike. This is why we have been at a standstill with them until now.”

I laughed. "Don't worry. These people, in my view, have price tags stuck to their heads...”

He Yi was speechless. She chuckled. "Alright, go quickly!"

I shouted, and sprinted down, locking onto the enemy leader—Young Master Le!

Whoos.h.!.+

The powerful skills immediately sliced into the enemy camp. Li Le was stunned. His snarling face was no longer handsome but terrified.

Life of Luxury was shocked. "Priests, all healing on the leader!"

I sneered. "Heal? Dream on!"

I swung my sword for two blows—Pardon + Desperate Gambit!

MISS!

3219!

Li Le's equipment was very good but still unable to stop my powerful attack. There was no way around it. A powerhouse with three Dark Gold–grade items was not someone he could afford to offend!

I was very pleased seeing Li Le slowly slump to the ground.

Murong Mingyue's voice comms sounded in my ear. “Lu Chen, come back after securing the kill, don't linger there for too long!"

I ignored her. I swung my sword and cut through the neck of an archer, dealing 1754 damage. The archer's eyes widened, not expecting to be killed instantly by a basic attack.

Arrows descended upon me like rain. Several high-level melee fighters swung their swords at me. Five Blazes almost hit my body at the same time. Blaze was the ultimate single-target burst attack, not inferior to Desperate Gambit in the slightest. If I faced them head-on, I would be seriously injured, or even killed!

I suddenly held the Ghost Ice Soul in front of me, and then let my robe flutter behind me—Guard!

Boom boom boom...

Tongues of flame hit my body, creating a huge cloak of fire behind me. An intangible blue light blocked much damage though. The damage numbers jumped up—

75!

43!

39!

17!

……

Everyone was stunned at the resulting numbers. The defensive skill alone would reduce damage taken by 50–90%! They could die from shame now! Of course, I also had three Dark Gold–grade items and my Defense was at staggering 780 points. Adding my Rank 6 Ghost Deity Armor's subsequent 18% boost, Enhanced Bones, 10% Defense from Purgatory War Armor and Purgatory Helmet, my actual Defense was way above 1000. They couldn't do anything to me!

Currently, there were only a few people in the entire Floating Ice City that could break through my Defense!