Chapter 2115 - Realms of Refinement Legacy
“It’s Zero Wing’s doing?” Yan Tianxing was dazed for a long moment after hearing Yi Luofei’s reply. He couldn’t fathom what Zero Wing had done to push the Secret Pavilion to such a decision.
That was the Secret Chamber of Commerce’s advanced membership they were talking about!
Recovering from his daze, Yan Tianxing turned to Lotus. Smiling, he said, “Lotus, it seems you’ve guessed wrong. Zero Wing is far more powerful than you imagine.”
Although he did not know what Zero Wing had done, it had accomplished this feat, one which would even be difficult for a superpower.
Zero Wing’s Stamina Gemstones had only been enough to cause a small upset in its war with Starlink, but now, the Guild was responsible for a major setback.
“I’ve certainly underestimated Zero Wing,” Lotus said. Contrary to expectations, though, she maintained a tranquil expression despite hearing that Zero Wing was responsible for Starlink’s demotion. “However, Zero Wing’s actions will only incense Starlink further. It doesn’t fully understand what Starlink is. Zero Wing has only backed itself into a corner. It’s best if you don’t get too close to the Guild. Not even I can save you if you do.”
Lotus then vanished without a trace as if she had never existed.
“Commander, what should we do?” Yi Luofei asked as she turned to Yan Tianxing.
Zero Wing’s latest accomplishment was truly frightening, but as Lotus had said, Starlink wasn’t an ordinary superpower. Its background was extraordinary. If it were just some ordinary power, the Secret Pavilion would never have promoted it to advanced member in the Secret Chamber of Commerce.
Aside from wealth, one had to offer proof of strength to become an advanced member in Secret.
“I’m going to Zero Wing!” Yan Tianxing said, laughing. “I had already decided to give up on the Guild if it couldn’t restore its membership in the Secret Chamber of Commerce when the Secret Pavilion’s people had visited Zero Wing. I might have even chosen the same path as Lotus. However, if Zero Wing could restore its membership, I inwardly swore that I would join the Guild. Will you join with me?”
“I’ll follow you, commander,” Yi Luofei said. She could not help but sigh when she saw the determined look on Yan Tianxing’s face.
“Good! Let’s go and make the necessary preparations!” Yan Tianxing felt a little more confident about his decision when Yi Luofei agreed to follow him.
At the same time, God’s Domain’s various powers received news of Starlink’s demotion, and they could barely believe it. The various superpowers were particularly shocked; they knew how Starlink had become an advanced member in the first place.
News of Starlink’s demotion was even more shocking to these superpowers than hearing that one of their kind had fallen.
“Zero Wing is too awesome, Big Sis Rain! It actually took away Starlink’s advanced membership! This has definitely dealt a severe blow to Starlink’s financial development. Lu Xingluo is probably fuming right about now,” Blue Phoenix, who currently occupied Thunder Island, couldn’t help her joyful expression when she heard the news.
First, Zero Wing had caused an uproar in the Dark Night Empire. Then, not only had it restored its basic member status in the Secret Chamber of Commerce, but it was also responsible for revoking Starlink’s advanced membership. Not even the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion was capable of such a feat, yet Zero Wing had done it. It was unbelievable.
“I have persuaded Seventh Street to send Zero Wing another invitation to alleviate the pressure from Starlink, but it seems that effort was unnecessary.” Phoenix Rain revealed a bitter smile as she looked at the report in her hands.
After Zero Wing’s performance in White River City’s Auction Arena, the majority of the Guild’s Senior Elders now stood on her side. Not only had this significantly increased her authority within the Guild, but it had given her access to more resources, as well.
Only then had she qualified to persuade a major Chamber of Commerce like Seventh Street.
In the end, however, her efforts had been wasted…
She had watched Zero Wing closely since the Guild had begun to grow, yet the more she looked at it, the more mysterious it seemed.
“Now that Starlink has lost its advanced membership, Nine Dragons Emperor will likely shelf his plans of using Zero Wing’s financial issues to cause trouble,” Blue Phoenix said, smiling.
“Indeed. He will also have to rethink whether or not he wants to continue targeting Zero Wing. After all, Zero Wing has firmly secured the Secret Pavilion’s support; otherwise, it wouldn’t have demoted Starlink for the Guild,” Phoenix Rain said after giving the matter some thought. “Now, it’s just a matter of time before Zero Wing’s development skyrockets.”
She had had a headache over trying to figure out preventative measures against Nine Dragons Emperor’s little tricks against her and Zero Wing, but now, her fellow Pavilion Master would have to think twice before causing mischief for a future titan in God’s Domain. Regardless of the man’s personal feelings, the Guild’s Senior Elders wouldn’t agree to his tactics. Very few of those elders still stood with Nine Dragons Emperor. If he lost their support as well, he could kiss any chances of becoming the Great Pavilion Master good-bye.
While the various powers discussed the latest development, Shi Feng and his people had become quite busy.
Although Zero Wing’s financial troubles hadn’t been resolved yet, its success in taking Starlink down a notch had elevated the Guild’s overall morale. The Guild’s atmosphere had lightened, and Star-Moon Kingdom’s various powers had settled down.
Moreover, the well-known adventurer teams that hadn’t previously been interested in the Guild now swarmed to Zero Wing’s Residence to negotiate partnership deals or join the Guild altogether. This increased the amount of work Shi Feng, Zero Wing’s Guild Leader, had to do.
“Guild Leader, Unyielding Soul has contacted us, asking for an alliance. They want to confront Starlink by our side. They’re prepared to offer us a large number of Credits and a portion of their Realms of Refinement training resources. These assets should be enough to sustain our internal management and training for quite a while. In return, however, they want 150 Stamina Gemstones and 3,000 Exotic Stamina Potions,” Aqua Rose excitedly reported.
Zero Wing desperately needed Credits, not Coins or Magic Crystals. The Guild’s real-world headquarters required a lot of money to maintain, and Zero Wing had been supplying the necessary funds by selling items and equipment for Credits thus far. However, due to Starlink’s financial attacks, Zero Wing had lost as much as 80% of its daily Credit income.
Because of Zero Wing’s rapid development, the Guild continued to gain new members, including internal members.
Shi Feng could’ve resolved his Guild’s need for Credits by selling virtual stores in Zero Wing’s territories, but he refused to sell these stores or offer long-term leases. Almost no corporation was willing to spend so many Credits on a virtual store in Zero Wing’s territory as a result.
“Unyielding Soul is willing to share its Realms of Refinement training resources?” The news surprised Shi Feng. “Alright, tell them that we’ll agree to the alliance. However, we can only offer 60 Stamina Gemstones and 1,000 Exotic Stamina Potions upfront. If we give them any more than that, we won’t have enough for our own purposes.”
Training resources were extremely important to any power, and they happened to be what Zero Wing needed most right now.
Normally, a Guild would have a well-equipped training facility by the time it secured first-rate rank. However, while Guilds’ facilities might have the same quality, there was a massive difference in the data each facility accumulated. The various large Guilds relied on this data to nurture their internal experts.
This training information was a Guild’s lifeline. This was especially true for superpowers. Typically, no one would willingly sell this data. At most, they might trade some information with other superpowers.
Although Zero Wing had acquired Ouroboros’s training facilities and data, Ouroboros had only been a first-rate Guild.
Even after combining Ouroboros’s many years of research with God’s Domain’s resources, nurturing Refinement Realms was still extremely difficult for Zero Wing, not to mention experts with even greater combat standards.
If Zero Wing could gain access to a fraction of a super-first-rate Guild’s training data, nurturing Refinement Realm experts would become considerably easier.
“I’ll send a reply right away.” Aqua Rose understood how important this matter was, as well, so she was excited to hear Shi Feng’s agreement.
The Secret Pavilion’s training system was a large part of the reason that she had improved so quickly and reached her current standards. However, Zero Wing had a limited number of slots for the training system. Thus, just the thought of Zero Wing gaining its own Realms of Refinement legacy thrilled her.
The two Guilds settled their negotiations very quickly, forming an alliance. This outcome significantly alleviated the pressure on Zero Wing, and the smaller Guild received a portion of Unyielding Soul’s Realms of Refinement legacy.
Once this matter had been settled, Shi Feng accepted the Hero Crusade Quest and led Zero Wing’s main force toward the Falling Star Secret Land, the Lord of Fire’s home.
As far as the public was concerned, Zero Wing already qualified to contend with Starlink, but Shi Feng knew this was only temporary. Starlink controlled three NPC Auction Houses and had far more territory than Zero Wing. As players reached higher levels, Starlink’s advantages would only become more prominent.
Shi Feng had laid the foundation for his Guild, but because of the massive difference between the two Guilds’ starting points, Zero Wing had no hope of quickly catching up to Starlink. Furthermore, Starlink wasn’t Zero Wing’s only enemy; there were plenty of other powers eyeing Shi Feng’s Guild.
If he didn’t link White River City’s Auction House to Stone Forest Town’s quickly and allowed the two to transform, Zero Wing would never be able to contend with superpowers’ financial prowess.
Meanwhile, the moment Shi Feng’s team entered the Falling Star Secret Land, everyone on his team, excluding himself, gasped.
This secret land looked like an entirely different world. Craters of various sizes pocked the barren canyon before them, and meteors occasionally fell from the sky, decimating the ground. The resulting shockwaves were so powerful they could likely kill players in an instant.
Moreover, the monsters in the area ranged from Level 70 to 75, and the weakest were Lord ranked Laval Giants, while most of these monsters were High Lords or Grand Lords. These monsters also traveled in groups of ten or more. This place was even more frightening than a 100-man, Hell Mode Team Dungeon. An ordinary 100-man Tier 2 team would likely meet its end after venturing a few steps into the area.
Fortunately, Zero Wing’s main force was far stronger than any ordinary team. With his Fragmented Legendary Shield, Cola alone could easily tank four or five Level 70-plus Grand Lords at the same time. And with Turtledove, Ye Wumian, and the other MTs assistance, these monsters posed no threat to Zero Wing’s team. On the contrary, this was nothing but an EXP farm to Zero Wing’s members.
Although the Falling Star Secret Land had plenty of monsters, none of them could stop Shi Feng’s team, which carried a large number of Epic Weapons and Equipment pieces. After four hours or so of fighting, the team reached the secret land’s inner region.
“Guild Leader, I found a tattered altar guarded by monsters. There’s a treasure chest on it. It seems to be an Inferior Legendary Treasure Chest,” Flying Shadow, who had been tasked to scout the area, suddenly reported in the team chat.
“An Inferior Legendary Treasure Chest?” Shi Feng could not help but find the discovery odd. As far as he could remember, the Falling Star Secret Land shouldn’t even have an Epic Treasure Chest, much less an Inferior Legendary Treasure Chest. “We’ll head there immediately.”
Shi Feng led his team to the coordinates Flying Shadow had given him.
The altar had a total of three floors, each roughly ten meters high, and radiated an intense Divine Might. A magic barrier surrounded the altar, as well. If not for this barrier, Shi Feng had no doubt that the altar’s Divine Might would’ve even made movement impossible.
What?! It’s real?! Shock colored Shi Feng’s features as he stared at the treasure chest glowing on the altar.