Chapter 1 Black Dragon City

Black Dragon Empire, Black Dragon City.

On the bustling central street, teeming with people, stood a mansion over sixty meters high, a landmark in the area and a symbol of the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion's status in the Black Dragon Empire.

Over ten thousand players frequented the mansion. Even the lowest-level players queuing for the entrance test were level 64, equipped with level 60 Mithril gear or higher, with many level 65 or above experts wearing level 65 Mithril gear.

Such experts would be eagerly recruited into first-rate guilds as core members. However, at the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion, joining was a matter of luck, and becoming an elite member was even harder.

Within this Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion mansion, a hub for experts, the guild leader's office on the top floor was eerily silent and cold.

"Damn it! Zero Wing actually has its own merchant association. Even Starlink can't economically suppress Zero Wing now." Nine Dragons Emperor, already level 68, looked at the news he had just received, his face turning ashen.

His competition with Feng Qianyu was at a critical juncture, and this unexpected situation had arisen.

He had originally intended to target Feng Qianyu through Zero Wing. After all, if Zero Wing was in danger, Feng Qianyu would have to help. But now, Zero Wing was not only stronger, but Feng Qianyu would also benefit.

He knew very well that Feng Qianyu had a share in Zero Wing's Candlelight Trading Firm.

A merchant association consisting of hundreds of guilds had channels that exceeded those of ordinary super forces. With many master-level players in the Candlelight Trading Firm, the future profits would be considerable.

"Pavilion Master, we are both frantically raising funds to secure the shipyards and land on Dragonheart Island. If Feng Qianyu suddenly gains income from the Candlelight Trading Firm, we may be in danger," Dragon Martial said with a serious expression.

"I know that very well. I never expected that an ant could develop to this point." Nine Dragons Emperor frowned, looking at the information on Zero Wing, and felt a tinge of regret.

If he had known that Zero Wing would develop to this point, he should have nipped it in the bud at all costs, preventing it from becoming an obstacle in his competition with Feng Qianyu for the position of Great Pavilion Master.

"The Candlelight Trading Firm's situation is only a signed contract; it hasn't been fully implemented yet. Otherwise, we could forcefully intervene and let those small guilds know the consequences of cooperating with Zero Wing?" A cold glint flashed in Dragon Martial's eyes as he made a gesture of annihilation.

"That's useless. Even if we forcefully eliminate the main force of these small guilds, the members of these small guilds can just go to the Abyssal Hell to develop. Even Starlink can't reach the Abyssal Hell. As for eliminating the elite and ordinary members of these small guilds, it's not a big deal at all," Nine Dragons Emperor shook his head.

Small guilds differ from large guilds. They offer few guarantees, especially for ordinary and elite members. The guild essentially ignores them, only providing some guild conveniences. Even if they are eliminated, there won't be much compensation, minimizing the guild's burden.

It can be said that as long as the survival of the main force and core members can be guaranteed, they can survive. The opposite is also true. This is why small guilds are both easy and difficult to deal with.

Now, Zero Wing can rely on Stone Forest City to guarantee the development of the main force and core members of these small guilds, making them difficult to deal with.

The only way is to use a war of attrition, which takes time and costs a lot of money, which is what they lack most right now.

"Is there really nothing we can do?" Dragon Martial asked.

"A tree that stands out in the forest will be blown down by the wind. The sudden appearance of such a merchant association in God's Domain, with only so much cake to go around, means there's one more person to share it. Many merchant associations won't sit still, and Starlink won't give up either, as it concerns Starlink's development in the Dark Night Empire." Nine Dragons Emperor sneered, "Starlink was arrogant and unwilling to pay attention to anyone. Now, you secretly go to Dark Night City and have a good talk with Lu Xingluo. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and Starlink will definitely be willing to fund us."

Starlink was known throughout God's Domain for its wealth and influence. Originally, his chances of winning against Feng Qianyu were only forty to sixty, but with Starlink's secret help, he would have more than seventy or even eighty percent chance of winning.

"Pavilion Master is amazing. This move will bring us back from the dead. If Feng Qianyu and Hei Yan find out, they'll probably be furious," Dragon Martial laughed, "I'll go to Dark Night City for a secret meeting right away."

Dragon Martial quickly left the guild leader's office and headed straight for Dark Night City.

On the other side, in Stone Forest City, Shi Feng had finally finished all the matters in Stone Forest City. He handed over the management to Melancholy Smile, waiting for the influx of players into Stone Forest City.

After dealing with these matters, Shi Feng didn't idle. He went directly to the Candlelight Trading Firm's forging room to start making Azure Radiance Sets and Advanced Mana Armor Kits.

Both Azure Radiance Sets and Advanced Mana Armor Kits were needed by Zero Wing and the various guilds. However, the crafting difficulty of Azure Radiance Sets was too high. Currently, only he could make them. If he were to have Frost Cocoa and other beginner forging masters make them, they would likely lose money.

Then, Shi Feng spent more than four days making twenty-six Azure Radiance Sets and more than thirteen hundred Advanced Mana Armor Kits. This not only allowed Shi Feng to accumulate a large amount of forging proficiency but also allowed Shi Feng to level up, reaching level 77. The speed of leveling up was faster than grinding monsters and doing quests in the wild.

During these four days, the entire Stone Forest City was on the right track, and the number of players exploded to more than three million. Excluding the expenses of Stone Forest City itself, Zero Wing's net income was about ten thousand gold coins, which was much more than Zero Wing City and Silverwing Town, directly settling all debts and still having a lot of surplus.

However, compared to the increase in Zero Wing's income, the level of the core members of the entire Zero Wing Guild was increasing even faster.

Perhaps because of the Heavenly God-ranked Regional Dungeon, the levels of the core members had generally reached level 68, and some had even reached level 70. This level was comparable to even the top experts of super forces.

Of course, Zero Wing's core members were not only rapidly improving in God's Domain but also in reality. Because of the introduction of a complete set of Microscopic Realm inheritance, coupled with continuous training, the speed of improvement was also very fast. Although only Fierce Snake had reached the Microscopic Realm, there were more than a dozen internal members who had reached the Half-step Microscopic Realm. The improvement was undeniably fast.

Just as Shi Feng was guiding the internal members' training in the training room, Liang Jing suddenly walked over anxiously, her face full of worry.

"Chief Instructor Shi, the Beidou Training Center suddenly called, saying that they are terminating their cooperation with us from now on, no longer providing us with potential newcomers, and all the trainees of the Beidou Training Center will also leave Zero Wing..."