Chapter 1 The Wide Plaza Outside the City of Gold

The wide plaza outside the City of Gold wouldn't spawn monsters, but it wasn't a safe zone either, so PK battles often occurred. Thousand-man or even several thousand-man scale battles often happened here. Usually, it started with a small skirmish, which then escalated into a major battle as people called for reinforcements.

Today was relatively calm, and everyone was focused on finding a team to run dungeons.

On a small path in the woods west of the City of Gold, a team of more than twenty players was heading towards the plaza. These people were all around level sixty, the highest being sixty-three and the lowest being sixty. They were from the Niuren (Amazing People) Tribe.

The leader of this team was a Holy Knight named Dunkeng Si Meinv. He wasn't among the top players in the Niuren Tribe, but he was at least in the top hundred. He had decent skills and good leadership abilities, so Guo Huai had appointed him as the leader of this small team.

"Kengnan, Guo Huai told me to bring two bottles of High-Grade Fire Resistance Potions. He'll send someone over immediately," a Thief named Kuaile Yinshi said to Dunkeng Si Meinv. He was the vice-captain of this team and was generally responsible for gathering information.

Kengnan was a nickname that the team had given to Dunkeng Si Meinv because the guy had chosen such a perverted name.

"High-Grade Fire Resistance Potions? What are they for?" Dunkeng Si Meinv asked, somewhat surprised. He had checked the information on the official website, and this dungeon shouldn't require High-Grade Fire Resistance Potions.

"Guo Huai said that although the final boss, Furnace Blacksmith, in the Underground Mine uses a dark corrosion skill, its attacks contain fire damage. Bringing two bottles of Fire Resistance Potions can reduce the user's damage by about 30%," Kuaile Yinshi explained. When he first received Guo Huai's instructions, he was also puzzled, but after hearing Guo Huai's explanation, he suddenly understood.

"Guo Huai even knows this?" Dunkeng Si Meinv was stunned. After all, the City of Gold had only been open for a short time, and his team was the second batch of Niuren Tribe players to come here to run dungeons. Usually, players would have to explore things hundreds or thousands of times before they knew such detailed information.

"It was probably Daoguang and Shuise who figured it out," a beauty in white priest robes interjected. Her name was Wu Yue Xianzi, a level sixty-two Priest who ranked eighth among all the Priests in the Niuren Tribe.

"Maybe," the others replied, showing a few respectful expressions when they mentioned Cui Can Daoguang, Shui Se Yantou, and the others. Cui Can Daoguang and Shui Se Yantou were legends in the entire Niuren Tribe, and their status in the Niuren Tribe was second only to Nie Yan. Nie Yan was usually elusive, while Cui Can Daoguang and Shui Se Yantou often formed teams and led lower-level players to run dungeons, producing batch after batch of experts. They were highly respected. They sighed, thinking that only people like Cui Can Daoguang and Shui Se Yantou could notice such extremely small details, which ordinary players couldn't even imagine. They had no idea that this detail wasn't discovered by Cui Can Daoguang and the others, but was told to Guo Huai by Nie Yan, who then passed it on to the various teams. Two bottles of High-Grade Fire Resistance Potions could greatly increase a team's success rate when running the Underground Mine.

The team entered the plaza outside the City of Gold and headed towards the City of Gold. Three teams appeared in their line of sight.

Dunkeng Si Meinv's expression changed, and he said in a low voice, "It's people from the Mage Alliance." He recognized a few faces.

Since players were becoming wealthier, a gold coin for teleportation fees was nothing to some expert players. Teams from various guilds began to travel to the dungeons in major cities. Like Dunkeng Si Meinv and the others, the Mage Alliance also had several teams that had come to run the Underground Mine in the City of Gold.

The Niuren Tribe and the Mage Alliance were hostile guilds and hated each other, so conflicts in the wild were very common.

"Everyone, wait a moment," Kuaile Yinshi said. The other side had three teams, totaling nearly sixty people, while they only had twenty people, which was a clear disadvantage. If they were surrounded, it would be dangerous.

The Niuren Tribe players stopped.

The group from the Mage Alliance was gathered around the teleportation stone at the entrance to the City of Gold. Once they activated the teleportation stone, they could enter the Underground Mine dungeon.

A tall warrior in golden armor was leading the team, dividing everyone into three teams and explaining the meeting point, preparing to let them enter the Underground Mine. A short, thin Thief next to him whispered in his ear, "Shura, a team from the Niuren Tribe is coming over."

Shura's expression froze, and he asked, "Where?" He followed the direction pointed by the Thief and looked over at Dunkeng Si Meinv and the others. His eyes narrowed sharply. He noticed that only twenty people from the Niuren Tribe had come, giving them an absolute advantage. Should he make a move?

Shura didn't dare to make a decision on his own and reported the situation to an executive officer of the Mage Alliance. Soon, he received a message from the executive officer: Kill them all!

After receiving the message, Shura immediately stopped activating the dungeon.

"Everyone, follow me," Shura said, leading the group of players aggressively towards the Niuren Tribe team.

"They're coming. Get ready to fight," Dunkeng Si Meinv said, seeing the person leading the Mage Alliance team. His heart sank. "It's Shura!"

Shura was quite famous and had encountered Niuren Tribe players several times. At least twenty Niuren Tribe players had died at Shura's hands.

Shura might not be much in the eyes of Cui Can Daoguang, Shui Se Yantou, and the others, but in the eyes of Dunkeng Si Meinv and his team, he was a formidable opponent.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Under Dunkeng Si Meinv's command, the Niuren Tribe team quickly adjusted. The Warriors moved to the perimeter, while the Mages occupied a few advantageous positions, preparing to fight.

Dunkeng Si Meinv glanced over the Mage Alliance players and saw six or seven Thieves entering stealth, disappearing from their sight. He immediately reminded, "Mages and Priests, be careful!"

The air felt particularly heavy. The other players around noticed that the atmosphere was a bit off and quickly retreated, watching from a distance.

"What should we do? There's too much of a difference in numbers," Kuaile Yinshi frowned.

"I've already sent a message to Guo Huai. The brothers nearby will be here in a few minutes!" Dunkeng Si Meinv said. A melee battle was inevitable, and they could only try their best to cope.

Wu Yue Xianzi smiled and said, "Yinshi-dage, Kengnan-dage, a few of my friends from the Galan Temple are running the Underground Mine next door. They'll be out soon."

"People from the Galan Temple are here? That makes things much easier. By the way, can you not call me Kengnan?" Dunkeng Si Meinv showed an innocent and helpless expression.

Wu Yue Xianzi gave a playful smile.

Shura scanned Dunkeng Si Meinv, Kuaile Yinshi, Wu Yue Xianzi, and the others, finally stopping on Kuaile Yinshi.

"Long time no see," Shura said with a faint smile.

Seeing Shura greet Kuaile Yinshi, Dunkeng Si Meinv looked at Kuaile Yinshi in surprise and asked, "You know him?"

"We used to team up in another game, were brothers. That was a long time ago, not anymore," Kuaile Yinshi explained. He seemed to have some unspeakable secrets, but that didn't matter anymore.

Those who come with good intentions don't come, and those who come aren't well-intentioned. Since Shura had brought people here, he definitely had bad intentions.

The players on both sides glared at each other, and a great battle was about to break out.

The Mage Alliance, relying on their numbers, surrounded the Niuren Tribe players in a semicircle.

The Niuren Tribe players couldn't run. If they did, their formation would be disrupted, and they would be chased and beaten, resulting in even greater losses. It was better to fight it out.

"Trash from the Niuren Tribe, you can't escape today," a Mage Alliance Thief shouted.

"Who's trash is not certain. In the Battle of Cripps Fortress, so many elites from the Mage Alliance came, didn't they still run away with their tails between their legs?" Dunkeng Si Meinv said with a smile, his words filled with an indescribable sense of mockery.

"Damn, don't be smug, you just got lucky."

The players on both sides were red-eyed, engaging in a war of words, spewing out all sorts of nasty things.

Shura looked at the Mage Alliance players. The encirclement had been formed, and the Thieves had already cut off the Niuren Tribe's retreat. Time was of the essence. To avoid the Niuren Tribe calling for reinforcements, he didn't waste any more words and said coldly in the team chat, "Attack, kill them!"

As soon as Shura finished speaking, a dozen Mage Alliance Warriors activated Charge and rushed towards the Niuren Tribe. The Mages also had dazzling rays of light in their hands, and spells flew out one after another, instantly turning the scene into chaos.

"Warriors, hold the line! Priests and Holy Knights, pay attention to healing!" Dunkeng Si Meinv said, looking at Kuaile Yinshi next to him.

Kuaile Yinshi nodded and said, "Understood." After speaking, he entered stealth. He and Dunkeng Si Meinv had been cooperating for so long that they already had a tacit understanding. He understood what the other party intended without Dunkeng Si Meinv saying anything.

"Brothers, we have reinforcements nearby who will arrive soon. Damn it, let's fight them! Those who die, run back here!" Dunkeng Si Meinv said. By issuing this order, he was essentially saying that they would fight to the death with the Mage Alliance and see who could last the longest.

Spells roared down, exploding on a Niuren Tribe Warrior, instantly blasting the Warrior away and onto the ground.

Kuaile Yinshi snuck behind the Mage Alliance's formation and used a stun on the back of a Priest's head, then launched several attacks, knocking the Priest to the ground.

Dense spells crackled and exploded on Kuaile Yinshi's body. Seeing that he was about to die, he quickly drank a Mid-Grade Instant Recovery Potion and disappeared from these people's sight with a Gale Step.