Chapter 1 The City of Clouds

The City of Clouds was now teeming with masked figures. They would stare intently at any black-robed mage they spotted, yet were too afraid to get close. But from afar, they couldn't accurately identify them, a truly conflicting dilemma. In the end, they could only steel themselves for death by a blade, and nervously act like ordinary passersby as they brushed shoulders with people.

Brush... nope. Brush... still nope. There weren't many mages who wore black robes in the City of Clouds, so many were repeatedly brushed past several times. A search by a thousand people was still quite effective. Every possible angle in the main city was scoured, but without any results. However, the exceedingly heaven-defying Six Districts left them perplexed. Each district granted a free house as a reward, a fact that winning guilds had already exposed. This meant that Very Heaven-defying had six safe havens where, if the owner didn't open the door, outsiders couldn't enter no matter what. Legend had it that a wily rabbit had three burrows, yet Very Heaven-defying actually had six residences, which was infuriating.

Even more vexing was that Very Heaven-defying had only just received their rewards. They had the houses, but hadn't even put up signs yet. The exact addresses were unknown, even to their own guild members, unless the guild leader revealed them.

What if they were hiding in their houses?

The player who asked this was glared at until they died. What could they do? There was nothing they could do. Without knowing the locations of the houses, it was impossible to guard all six districts. In the end, they could only leave two or three people on each street to report any suspicious activity. This drained a significant portion of their manpower. The main cities in Parallel World were vast. The streets crisscrossed, and even native Cloud players learned a thing or two about their own city's geography this time around, discovering many unheard-of streets and alleys in the Six Districts.

"Based on the current situation, they might be hiding in their houses, or they might not be in the main city at all."

"If they're not in the main city, that'll be easier. Outside the city, they'd probably be leveling up. Given their levels, a quick sweep of the leveling areas should reveal them."

"Send people out!"

"Go!"

The thousand-man search team received their orders and left the city. Although the area outside the city was larger, it was actually easier to search than inside. Inside the city, there was no direction. No one knew which corner they might be hiding in, or what they might be doing. Outside the city, they should be leveling, and leveling areas were fixed. A quick sweep should reveal them. If they weren't leveling outside the city, and were just hiding... then all that could be said was, 'bastards.' There was nothing else to say.

The level 50 leveling area outside the City of Clouds wasn't too lively. After all, not many people could level up ten levels above their own. Gu Fei and his group were a conspicuously large team. Usually, only guilds would clear a zone, and there wouldn't be hundreds of people leveling together. They also didn't avoid the gazes of the other players in the area. Qianli Zui, the all-female Rebirth Purple Crystals, and the all-lurking, perverted Flower Garden of Eternal Life were all well-known figures in the City of Clouds. Players who could level up ten levels above their own wouldn't fail to recognize them.

"Guild leader, we've spotted Qianli Zui and them in the Level 50 Cloud Maple Forest." Someone sent a private message.

"Oh? They seem to be enjoying themselves!" The person receiving the message was Ni Liu Er Shang of Duijiu Dangge. The experts of the City of Clouds were mostly gathered in the large guilds. Those who could level in the Level 50 leveling area were mostly people from these guilds. At this time, not only was Ni Liu Er Shang receiving messages, but someone from Wushi Zhi Jian was also gossiping. On the other hand, all of Black Fingertip's experts had joined the battle, and no one had come to the leveling area.

"The archer range battle was quite a clean victory. They wiped out the opponents with almost no losses," said Shan Zi Ling, who was next to Ni Liu Er Shang.

"A bunch of second-rate trash. I'm not surprised they were wiped out like that with experts helping," Ni Liu Er Shang said calmly.

"Those people might be from the Ten Guild Alliance of Moonnight City," Shan Zi Ling said.

"Hmm! Besides them, I can't think of any other strong allies that Qianli Zui and the others would have," Ni Liu Er Shang said.

"But doesn't the Ten Guild Alliance have over four thousand people?" Shan Zi Ling asked.

"This is a conflict in the City of Clouds. It has little to do with the interests of players from Moonnight City. They're helping purely to support their friends. Those who are friends will come, and those who aren't friends are right not to come," Ni Liu Er Shang said, living up to his reputation as a guild leader. He knew many of the difficulties faced by guild leaders in online games.

"But I think they only have about two hundred people at most. I'm afraid they won't be of much use, will they?" Shan Zi Ling said.

"That depends on how they're used. Why isn't Han Jia Gongzi online? Where did that guy run off to?" Ni Liu Er Shang had Han Jia Gongzi as a friend and was surprised to find that he wasn't online at this time.

"Oh, he's probably contacting those guys in jail offline. I think those guys are in for a rough time this time," Ni Liu Er Shang sneered.

"What about us?" Shan Zi Ling asked from the side. Their guild leader had been very concerned about this confrontation, and knowing Ni Liu Er Shang's character, he expected that their guild would definitely choose an opportunity to get involved.

"Let's see how they handle this first. Tell the people in the leveling area to pay close attention," Ni Liu Er Shang said.

In the leveling area outside the city, leveling continued, but as time passed, Yun Zhong Mu became increasingly alert. He was certain that the other side wouldn't want to remain passive and would definitely search for their whereabouts. Frankly speaking, he didn't think that leveling was a good idea. Having such a large group of people in the leveling area made them too easy to find. However, the efficiency of their leveling method was very tempting. Although it wasn't his home city, Yun Zhong Mu didn't want to miss out on learning it. Life was always full of contradictions.

"It's about time we left," Yun Zhong Mu said to Gu Fei, feeling that the others should have found them by now.

"Oh?"

"They should be searching for our whereabouts. Our group is too eye-catching. They might have already discovered us and gone to gather reinforcements," Yun Zhong Mu said.

"That makes sense," Gu Fei nodded. At this moment, a system notification sounded, and Han Jia Gongzi came back online. He immediately sent a message: "How is it? Have you been attacked yet?"

"Not yet."

"They're slow!" Han Jia Gongzi said.

"What should we do now? Change leveling spots?" Gu Fei asked.

"How about changing to another main city?" Han Jia Gongzi said.

"That's bold!" Gu Fei said.

"Yeah, we have to play them until they're crippled," Han Jia Gongzi said.

"How long before Jian Gui and the others come online?" Gu Fei said.

"They won't come online unless I give them the word..." Han Jia Gongzi said.

Ruthless! He was actually keeping them in the dark. Black Fingertip and the others were in for a rough time.

"Let's go to Moonnight City first!" Han Jia Gongzi said.

Gu Fei agreed with this decision and turned to Yun Zhong Mu: "How about we go to your side first?"

"Oh? Wait for them to come? Play these grandsons to death?" Yun Zhong Mu was quite familiar with these tactics and quickly understood.

"Yeah," Gu Fei nodded.

"Let's go," Yun Zhong Mu said decisively. He sent out a message, and nearly two hundred brothers set off. At the same time, they vigilantly watched their surroundings. If they saw anyone staring at them, they would pay attention.

"Do you want to kill them?" Yun Zhong Mu pointed at a group of guys who kept looking at them and asked Gu Fei, "Those grandsons keep staring at us. I don't think they have good intentions."

Gu Fei glanced at them and recognized the Duijiu Dangge guild emblem. He smiled and said, "No need, let's go our own way!"

Yun Zhong Mu's group had already set off. Gu Fei went to speak with Rebirth Purple Crystals and Yingzhong Yue Zai, and both parties agreed. Moreover, Gu Fei explicitly told the girls that it would be best if they didn't return to the City of Clouds before this matter was resolved. Everyone knew that they had a close relationship with Gu Fei and were so weak that they had become Gu Fei's weakness. It would be troublesome if they were attacked and used to threaten Gu Fei.

The girls had always faced their weakness squarely and understandingly agreed to temporarily leave the main city for a vacation to avoid risk. But the mention of vacation excited them. Earlier, when they followed Zongheng Si Hai on the expedition, many girls from Rebirth Purple Crystals had turned back in the Wulong Mountains because they were afraid to cross the single-plank bridge. Later, they heard the girls who went tell about the different scenery in other main cities such as Green Shade City and Lakeside City, and they all found it interesting. Later, they heard Gui Tong talk about the thick fog in Xiewu City and also felt it was worth a visit. As a result, they started discussing which city to make their final destination, and some even suggested visiting all the main cities. Gu Fei deeply felt that Rebirth Purple Crystals might never return to the City of Clouds.

"They're leaving!!!"

This news was being received by everyone involved, whether they were participating or not. Black Fingertip and the others were anxious and quickly asked for the direction. Ni Liu Er Shang and the others were enjoying the show and continued to drink tea calmly as they waited for what would happen next.

"Direction... check the direction, they seem to be leaving the City of Clouds!!" This message also arrived at the same time. Ni Liu Er Shang and the others were overjoyed when they heard it. Everyone knew the seriousness of the problem once these people left. Black Fingertip and the others were extremely anxious and had to have the speed team try to stall them.

"There are slow characters in their group, they can't move fast. Agile classes, go and harass them as much as possible. You must hold them back from advancing." The orders were passed down from one guild to another. The members had long been gathered, originally preparing to attack the leveling spot. Who knew that this change would occur? Relying on their normal speed to advance would mean that the distance would never change. Sending out agile classes was now a must.

The agile classes were none other than thieves and archers, as well as some who had randomly allocated their stats. At this time, they all had the expressions of suicide squads, and bravely rushed out.

"How many people are there?" Black Fingertip asked the statistician.

"About a thousand!" An accurate number couldn't be calculated in such a short time. But since they still had to leave people at various places like the resurrection point, the dungeon, and the wanted mission office, and after removing the short-legged classes, the statistician randomly calculated and added, "It should be less than two thousand."

Two thousand against three hundred... It should have been a certain victory, but everyone felt uncertain. They carefully instructed each other to stall, not even thinking about eliminating the opponents with their absolute numerical advantage.

The upper-level leaders didn't have confidence, let alone the ordinary players below. Along the way, everyone eagerly tried to move to the back of the group, trying not to be in the front. It made the team look like it was moving backwards, enraging the guild leaders. The guild leaders were always very active, eagerly hoping to take down Qianli Zui and Very Heaven-defying to obtain generous benefits. It was just that the players under them didn't have the same awareness. At this crucial moment, everyone wanted to be a shrinking turtle.

"Damn it, what are you afraid of? Follow me and charge. So what if it's Qianli Zui? At most, he can kill thirty people. Even if all of them kill thirty people each, three hundred people can only kill nine hundred. We still have a thousand people! If they have the guts, let them fight the system guards!" A guild leader roared angrily.

"Will the guards come if we're this far from the city?" Someone asked doubtfully.

This question was too profound. Apart from Qianli Zui, who had ever PKed with thirty people?

Moreover, the guild leader's speech didn't solve the problem at all. In fact, it wasn't that everyone didn't have confidence in victory. Everyone had thought that even if they won, there would inevitably be casualties. No one wanted to be the one injured or killed, so they all wanted to move to the back of the group, just like the guild leader's arithmetic problem. If nine hundred people were really going to die, then of course no one wanted to be one of the nine hundred. Everyone wanted to be one of the thousand who survived. To survive, they naturally had to work hard, such as shrinking to the back of the group.

If you shrink, I shrink too. The team advanced as slowly as a turtle. The guild leaders were anxious and jumped up and down, but only a small number of the nearly two thousand people belonged to their guilds. The others didn't listen to them at all. The guild leaders had no choice but to complain, so all the guild leaders roared together, scolding in the channels of each guild with the same words. This situation improved slightly. Those who ended up at the front could only admit their bad luck, planning in their hearts how to drift away when the battle started. At this time, they no longer dared to shrink backwards. The so-called agile team finally picked up speed.

"Where are they? Where are they!" The team that had picked up speed also used some shouts to boost their morale.

"Damn it, is there a second road to Moonnight City?" The captain knocked his head and shouted. The team rolled up dust and sprinted all the way to the Wulong Mountains.

"Do the scouts in front have any news?" The captain asked the players in charge of monitoring.

"Confirmed, they're heading towards Moonnight City," the scout reported.

"What position are they in now?" The captain asked.

"They've reached the Wulong Mountains," the scout said.

"Very good, we're almost there."

The team was not far from the Wulong Mountains at this time. After arriving in a hurry, they could vaguely see a team of people walking along the mountain road. Having chased to this point, no one was slacking off anymore. Everyone went up the road in one go. The archers in the front row were all ready, waiting to enter the range and attack immediately.

But the mountain road wasn't very wide after all. The team couldn't spread out completely. This was somewhat similar to street fighting in the city. Once the shooting started, no one could stand in the middle area. This made the thieves in the agile team feel like they had no use. So a fierce debate began in the team about whether the thieves should get close first and then the archers would provide fire cover after the close combat began.

But the thief comrades firmly opposed this tactic, believing that they had so many archers on their side that they could directly suppress them with firepower, and then they, the thieves, would provide close-quarters cover.

The final decision was to use the second tactic. The archers in the front row chased to within range and immediately fired arrows, but the archers behind were still shouting, "Closer, get closer!"

The archers in the front row were furious. Closer? Closer to where Qianli Zui's sword could reach? Damn it, they completely ignored it. At this time, the team was spread out on the left and right, with at most ten people side by side on the mountain road. The players in the front row refused to continue advancing, and the ones behind couldn't use their strength. The firepower was extremely weak. In order to attack, the people behind pushed forward. The people in the front row refused to advance and cursed back. The captain shouted from the side, "Manners, pay attention to manners," until suddenly someone screamed. It gradually faded away, and everyone broke out in a cold sweat. It turned out that someone was too close to the cliff edge in the crowd and accidentally fell down. But fortunately, they had only just climbed up the mountain slope, and it wasn't very deep. Soon, they heard a sound of landing. Everyone looked down and saw a corpse lying there, and they all felt relieved. There were no corpses in the game. The fact that they could still lie there meant that they hadn't died.

"Everyone, don't panic, take it slowly! Keep attacking, staggered formation! The distance can be closer, thirty or forty meters is no problem!!!" The captain took advantage of this time to calm everyone down and quickly gave instructions. Everyone also calmed down, because the other side hadn't counterattacked at all during the previous chaotic attack, and they had just continued to hurry on. It seemed that they didn't have much strength to fight back. They immediately regained some confidence and followed the captain's orders, staggering their positions to close the distance. Thus, in this second wave of attack, nearly a hundred archers fired arrows together, which was quite spectacular.

Looking at the opponents, they had a heavily armored warrior at the rear, with white light constantly flashing on his body. Obviously, a priest was constantly healing. The captain was overjoyed and continued to direct the attack: "Fire arrows, fire arrows, fire arrows, let's see how much mana their priest has!!!"

They chased and fired all the way, and the opponents just resisted like this. In fact, they could have caught up long ago if they had fully used their speed advantage. But with the current situation so safe and reliable, everyone was happy to maintain it. Seeing that nearly two thousand people had already climbed the mountain road, the opponents also stopped. The archers didn't know what they meant and also stopped to continue firing arrows. The captain was witty and roared, "They can't hold on anymore and are going to fight. Everyone, be careful, eliminate them!"

Everyone was alert when they heard this. The archers in the front row were all crying. If they fought, they would definitely be the ones to die. They wanted to flash backwards at this time, but there was no chance.

Suddenly, screams came from the very end of the team. In the team channel, they only heard a few people shout, "Ambush!"

These few captains had all happily rushed to the front, and they didn't know what was happening behind them. They quickly asked what was wrong, and the answer was four words: "Qianli Zui!"

Before everyone could react, they suddenly heard what seemed to be a booming sound above their heads. Everyone looked up in confusion and saw countless black shadows falling rapidly. In the blink of an eye, they were close enough to see that there were boulders and logs. Anything that could be found on this mountain to kill people with was coming.

"What the hell is this?" The players were shocked. The mountain road was narrow and there was no way to dodge. Everyone tried to stick to the mountain wall. The players who were on the inside from the beginning were lucky and quickly occupied a good position, which did avoid a lot of attacks. But most of the players were miserable. The things that fell carried an unknown amount of damage. Anyway, they died when they were hit. White light flashed all over the mountain road. The players ran back and forth, colliding with each other. Besides those who were directly killed, many were pushed off or knocked off the cliff. They were already in the middle of the mountains. The cliff was bottomless. The players who fell off died...

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A day of mourning. Everyone watches silently~