If not for Qingcheng's considerable assets, the employees of her studio might not even be able to receive their salaries.
After a period of internal struggle, she had to bow to reality.
After all, the more than two thousand employees in her studio were still relying on her for a living.
If these brothers and sisters, who had fought alongside her for seven or eight years, were to find other jobs,
they might fall to the very bottom of society.
Recently, she had been considering disbanding the guild and seeking refuge with a powerful faction.
Her only requirement was to have an independent rogue team within that guild, a rogue team solely under her command.
Originally, she had seen meeting "De Shen" as an opportunity.
It was rumored that the Ni Shen Alliance was currently organizing teams based on professions.
Furthermore, in the Northern War Zone, the Ni Shen Alliance seemed to be the only one she could consider.
Also, Chu Tian's solo venture into a siege of tens of thousands of people and his safe escape,
had made her see him in a new light. At the time, when Bing Yan had ordered everyone to unleash area-of-effect magic,
she had thought Chu Tian was finished.
She had even spoken up to stop Bing Yan.
When melee fighters were surrounding Chu Tian, she had deliberately kept the rogues on the outer perimeter, feigning inactivity.
When Bing Yan questioned her, she had replied: Rogues in stealth mode are too slow to maneuver and cannot penetrate the battle formation.
Her response did not arouse Bing Yan's suspicion; it was indeed chaotic at the time, with even shield warriors unable to get close.
At this moment, Chu Tian's sharp words had identified the most crucial and lacking element in her guild.
It sent a chill through her heart. As expected of "De Shen"...
He had immediately recognized the shortcomings of the Qingcheng Guild. It seemed that gaining more benefits was out of the question.
After Chu Tian finished speaking, he kept staring at her, unable to discern any change in her expression.
He thought to himself: This woman is not simple, still putting up a brave front.
Seeing that Qingcheng remained silent, Chu Tian slowly continued, "I can deploy ten mature teams to secretly settle into Qingcheng.
They will help Qingcheng Guild accumulate enough points to upgrade their level six stronghold. This is my gratitude for your help today."
As he said this, Qingcheng slammed her palm on the table, her eyes wide with astonishment as she looked at Chu Tian.
"Really?"
"Yes, but..." Chu Tian smacked his lips, a look of difficulty appearing on his face.
"But what?" Qingcheng pressed.
He spread his hands and then, with an insincere smile, said, "However, I'm quite poor. You'll have to bear the salary and consumable expenses for these people."
Qingcheng looked up at Chu Tian and then chided, "The prestigious Northern War Zone, and even the number one guild in the Dragon Kingdom, is actually so stingy? It seems your wealth was earned through stinginess!"
She was very happy now. Her original intention in coming here was to align herself with the Ni Shen Alliance and become an affiliated guild.
However, she wanted the Ni Shen Alliance to publicly announce an equal partnership with the Qingcheng Guild.
Because she could no longer hold on, she had to lower her status for the sake of her subordinates' survival.
This way, she could preserve Qingcheng's reputation and also receive help from the Ni Shen Alliance.
Of course, she was also confident that her all-rogue guild would provide significant contributions to the Ni Shen Alliance's future development and intelligence gathering.
In the end, this woman was still concerned about matters of face, even if it meant compromising herself behind the scenes, she still wouldn't bow publicly.
It was just that she hadn't expected Chu Tian to directly offer ten mature teams before she could even state her request, and his mention of "secretly" joining Qingcheng.
This way, it would both preserve Qingcheng's fame and help her solve her urgent problem.
She let out a sigh of relief in her heart, thinking: Finally, I can hold on without being forced to accept investment.
Originally, her studio was preparing for a round of financing, but she didn't want to.
She was only forced to do so; if she didn't secure financing, those brothers and sisters who had worked hard with her would be unemployed.
This time, she had come to see Chu Tian to prepare for both eventualities. If Chu Tian remembered their encounter today
and could help her, then she would absolutely refuse any investment from others into her studio.
At this moment, Chu Tian directly offered to repay her, indicating she could reject the other party.
Before she could fully exhale, Chu Tian's next words sent a cold sweat down her back.
"However, there is one condition," Chu Tian said with a raised eyebrow, his attitude stern. "Your studio or guild must not accept any investment from someone named Huang Xueyi."
As he said this, he saw Qingcheng freeze. Chu Tian's heart skipped a beat. Could it be... he had already made a move?
In his previous life, he hadn't started acting this early!
Thinking this, he said with a grim expression, "Otherwise, I wouldn't mind obliterating Qingcheng."
"On what grounds?" Qingcheng slammed the table and stood up, her eyes wide with indignation. "You're taking Qingcheng too lightly, do you think you can just obliterate it?"
Seeing this "older sister" type character yelling at him in a "loli" voice, Chu Tian's expression shifted.
He didn't know whether to laugh, or to laugh, or to laugh...
"Uh... cough cough..." Chu Tian feigned a cough, trying to calm himself down.
However, seeing her expression, Chu Tian struggled to contain himself and slowly said:
"On what grounds? My feud with him is irreconcilable, and that's why! As for Qingcheng, I don't deny it's quite powerful!
However, I'll give you some information. In four to five months, 'Tian Dao' will launch a stronghold claiming battle. How many strongholds do you think your single-profession guild can capture?
Guilds without strongholds will only be absorbed. By cooperating with the Ni Shen Alliance, I can at least allocate one stronghold to you as your base.
Oh, speaking of bases, when the strongholds are opened, the bases within the main city will have a deadline to relocate to the strongholds, or they will be directly disbanded by the system.
Perhaps you might say that cooperating with Huang Xueyi can also secure stronghold ownership.
Then let me tell you, for every stronghold he captures, I will destroy one. When a guild base within a stronghold is destroyed, the guild automatically disbands.
After destroying a stronghold, I won't occupy it, I'll just move on to destroy the next one. Alas... I..."
"Stop..." Qingcheng raised her hand, making a pushing gesture forward, and asked with confusion, "Is this stronghold claiming battle you mentioned real? Where did you get this information? What are the benefits of capturing a stronghold?"
As Chu Tian spoke, Qingcheng was already breaking into a cold sweat. It turned out this "De Shen" was just a thug!
If what he said was true, that the stronghold conquest was related to the guild's survival,
she truly believed that someone like Chu Tian would do whatever it takes against his enemy.
As the saying goes, a gentleman's revenge may take ten years.
However, Chu Tian didn't seem like a gentleman at all.
She feared he wouldn't even wait overnight to get his revenge!