Chapter 7

Originally, in virtual martial arts games, most players wielded swords and spears. Even the seemingly gentle and delicate beauties or refined scholars might suddenly unleash a Heart-Crushing Palm or Black Tiger Fist. Because leveling up was already difficult and players were under pressure from superior force and numbers, they didn’t want to get into direct fights over a few herbs or petty thieves.

Amid the shouts and impatient urging, the players swallowed their anger and grudgingly retreated en masse. Xie Mengyun quickly changed into a plain canary-yellow top and a dark-blue skirt that had dropped from a thief, then followed the crowd’s lead and moved away.  

As one of the major cities, Luoyang was now almost entirely under the control of Great River Eastward. Rumor had it that this place was once home to many small and mid-sized guilds, until the guild leader of Great River Eastward paid each of them a visit. Those who could not be persuaded with words were convinced with fists. In the end, some guilds disbanded, others relocated, and the city became a one-guild stronghold.

Xie Mengyun switched her communicator’s interface from the forum back to the game and sent a private message to Yangfan Ji Canghai—

【PM】 You to Yangfan Jicanghai: “Did Great River Eastward really clear out Luoyang back then? ” 

【PM】 Yangfan Jicanghai to you: “Yep.”  

【PM】You to Yangfan Jicanghai: “Then how did our guild manage to survive?” [Puzzled🤔]

【PM】Yangfan Jicanghai to you: “That “our” you just used is perfect!”

【PM】Yangfan Jicanghai to you: “As expected of the backbone I handpicked for the guild! ” 

【PM】 You say to Yang Fanji Canghai: “Guild leader, you’re getting off-topic…”

【PM】Yangfan Jicanghai to you: “Didn’t I tell you before? Guild signboard fees are charged by size.” 

【PM】Yangfan Jicanghai to you: “After all, we’re still a developing guild, our financial situation can’t compare to those top-tier guilds. “

【PM】 Yangfan Jicanghai to you: “Good steel should be used on the blade’s edge, and the same goes for money. ” 

【PM】 Yangfan Jicanghai to you: “Even the smallest system-provided signboard was over budget, so I just carved one myself and hung it up. “

Xie Mengyun recalled the small wooden sign she saw earlier and finally understood why Great River Eastward had driven Ten Not One out of Luoyang City.  

If no one pointed it out, she wouldn’t have even noticed that rough, uneven little signboard either. ==  

【PM】Yangfan Jicanghai to you: “Seems like no one ever realized our place was actually a guild too.  “

【PM】Yangfan Jicanghai to you: “Whenever things get tense, I just take the sign down. ” 

No wonder Wu Yue Shan Qing reacted so quickly, turns out they had plenty of practice with this kind of thing.  

【PM】 You to Yangfan Jicanghai: Guild Leader, brilliant move~ [Cheering] 

【PM】 Yangfan Jicanghai to you: [Shy]

Reassured that her guild’s base was temporarily safe, Xie Mengyun found a spot to continue grinding mobs. However, the crowd that had just settled down soon grew restless again.  

A swordsman grumbled to his companion, “Why do we have to move again?”  

Beside him, a female player wielding a short sword looked equally puzzled. “Isn’t Great River Eastward’s minimum recruitment level 35? These mobs are all level 10-20, what do they even want with this area?”  

Many hands make light work. As a result of the people’s persistent gossip, a player who had friends and relatives inside The River Goes East finally discovered the truth.

Qitun Huanyu’s real-life cousin just joined the game today. The guild pulled some members to clear time specifically to power-level her.”  

“How many cousins does Qitun Huanyu have?”  

“Just one.”  

“…Then why the hell are they occupying this entire area?”  

“It’s just their way of being A-holes.”

Xie Mengyun frowned slightly as she listened, there was a limit to party sizes. Normally, a party could hold up to ten people, though this could expand to twenty-five for leveling quests. Even if Qitun Huanyu had gathered twenty-four people to power-level his cousin, there was no need to keep pushing other players out of the way.  

“Great River Eastward still has Invincible Guild to worry about. They’re not at the point where they can be so reckless, right?”  

“Haven’t you heard the rumors? Invincible Alliance’s strategist deleted his account, and recently a bunch of members have quit. Seems like Great River Eastward might overtake them soon.”  

“Wait, seriously? If I apply to join Invincible Alliance now, would the entry requirements be lower?”  

“That… is actually worth considering…”  

The second grinding spot was also taken over by the ever-retreating crowd of players. Although Xie Mengyun had a map, she wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Instead, she slowly poked a low-health thief with her dagger while watching the situation with Great River Eastward out of the corner of her eye.

Although Black Swan Knight lost one level and some martial arts proficiency after being killed by Yun Feiyang. Fortunately, none of his equipped items had dropped, so the loss wasn’t too severe. His sect, the Tianshan Sect, wasn’t quite on par with top-tier factions like Medicine King Valley, Shaolin, or Wudang, but it was still respectable. Thanks to the fifth-tier ‘Towering Peak Swordplay’ he learned from his sect, he’d secured a minor officer position ‘Flag Leader’ in Great River Eastward.  

Today, after respawning, he’d received orders to join three other Flag Leaders: Tuantuan Yuanyuan(The Origin of the Turbulence), White Sunflower(Bái kuí), and Pink Jelly in leading their subordinates to serve as a show of force for Qitun Huanyu’s cousin.  

The cousin’s in-game ID was Yānlóng Xīshā(Mist Veiling the Creek), a name that rivaled Qīngluó Yǐngwǔ(Gauze-Draped Shadow Dancer) from the Sanren Alliance in poetic flair. But Black Swan Knight would bet his entire fortune that the gaming level and awareness of these two people are completely on a different level.

Yānlóng Xīshā blinked innocently and asked, “Why are there still so many people? Didn’t my cousin said we could have the whole area to ourselves.”

Black Swan Knight didn’t know how to respond. He wasn’t a good person in the game and was happy to use the guild’s influence to gain some benefits for himself, but the nearest players had already been pushed back 300 meters. Even if Qitun Huanyu dragged every aunt, uncle, and distant relative into the game, the NPCs here would still be more than enough for them to level up.

Pink Jelly, a swordswoman from the Snow Mountain Sect, was both skilled in martial arts and strikingly beautiful, making her quite popular within the guild. This time, she’d only agreed to participate because Qitun Huanyu had promised double contribution points for escorting the “young miss.” Hearing Yānlóng Xīshā’s question, she replied bluntly:  

“There are too many players to drive them all away. But if there still aren’t enough NPCs for you to level up, we’ll just clear the area again.”

Yānlóng Xīshā’s brows furrowed.

Tuantuan Yuanyuan grinned and smoothed things over: “Let’s just clear it one more time then. It’s not like we’ve got anything to worry about outside Luoyang City, right?”  

Pink Jelly rolled her eyes at Tuantuan Yuanyuan when he wasn’t looking but reluctantly agreed. White Sunflower went along with the flow, and with the decision already made, Black Swan Knight certainly wasn’t about to voice any objections.  

And that was why Xie Mengyun and the other players found themselves driven out—twice.

White Sunflower, who had remained silent until now, sent Black Swan Knight a private message:  

“Old Black, don’t you think more people are watching us now?”

Black Swan Knight could only sigh in resignation.  

When players were driven out just once, their fear of Great River Eastward’s influence kept them in line. But being forced out twice and all for the sake of one person—was bound to stir up curiosity. Even if they didn’t dare openly oppose the guild, what was stopping them from lingering at the edges and staring? 

Tuantuan Yuanyuan also noticed the growing number of onlookers. Without waiting for Yānlóng Xīshā to complain, he ordered the guild members to randomly kill a few bystanders as a show of force.  

PK-ing was commonplace in the game. In this virtual world, so-called “heroes” acted with a hundred times more audacity than in real life, even the pettiest squabbles could escalate into bloodshed. For a major faction like Great River Eastward, which rivaled Invincible Alliance for dominance, casually ganking^[1]“Ganking”(gang” + “killing) is a gaming term (originally from MMORPGs and MOBAs) that refers to the act of ambushing or unfairly overwhelming another player, a few players was nothing out of the ordinary

But Pink Jelly still felt vaguely irritated. If they were killing players for no reason at all, she might not have minded, but doing it for Yānlóng Xīshā somehow felt even more pointless. =_=  

The outskirts of the herb garden were a low-level monster area, so the players grinding there weren’t very high-leveled either. They were at least ten levels below Great River Eastward’s recruitment threshold of 35. Against the guild’s assault, they stood no chance. 

Under normal circumstances, Tuantuan Yuanyuan’s intimidation tactic would’ve worked flawlessly—

“Does Great River Eastward ever run out of trouble to stir up?”  

As the guild members attacked, their unluckily-chosen target—a man wearing a cloth hat—responded with a silent smile and a flash of his blade.  

The sword’s edge swept through the air, leaving behind the telltale white glow of a level drop.  

Black Swan Knight, who recognized the man instantly, turned ashen-faced and nearly bolted on the spot. Not long ago, he had launched hidden weapons at this person, thinking that even if they couldn’t inflict damage, they might at least cause some nuisance. Instead, the projectiles had been sent flying straight back at him, sending him straight to the respawn point, where he found himself face to face with the very guild members he had called in for backup, all equally dumbfounded.  

Black Swan Knight waited at the resurrection point. In his original plan, even if he couldn’t injure Yun Feiyang, he should at least have been able to capture the novice female player beside him for interrogation. While the Tianshan Sect primarily focused on sword techniques, it also taught hidden weapon skills. With the help of his guildmates, he had completed an advanced sect mission and been rewarded with the throwing technique “Two Birds in the Woods”a move that allowed him to launch two projectiles in different directions simultaneously. The higher his martial arts level, the more lethal and precise the attack became.  

What he didn’t know was that Xie Mengyun had already learned a ‘third-tier movement skill’ back in the Novice village and dodged the projectiles on her own. He thought Yun Feiyang had helped her, which made him even more wary of the Sanren Alliance guild leader who was fond of wearing all kinds of hats.

Yun Feiyang pressed a hand to his hat’s brim and sheathed his blade with practiced flair. Noticing that his opponent showed no intention of continuing the fight, Tuantuan Yuanyuan exhaled in relief and stepped forward to smooth things over.  

Yānlóng Xīshā pouted in displeasure: “Who is this guy? Why haven’t you killed him yet?”  

Tuantuan Yuanyuan: “…”  

Black Swan Knight: “…”  

White Sunflower: “…”  

Pink Jelly forced out through gritted teeth: “He’s… a top-tier master…”

Yānlóng Xīshā grew even more indignant: “Luoyang is Great River Eastward’s territory! How can we just stand by when someone slaps us in the face like this? It doesn’t matter if he’s a Master—we can’t just pretend nothing happened!”

This cousin had perfectly voiced the sentiments of the onlooking crowd—who were all too happy to watch the drama unfold.  

Originally, after a few players were killed by Great River Eastward, the players grinding in the herb fields had been ready to scatter. But now? Their eyes burned with anticipation as they stared at the standoff between Yun Feiyang and Yānlóng Xīshā, determined to stick around and witness this rare confrontation to the end.  

When no one responded to her, Yānlóng Xīshā pointedly asked the one who had treated her the most kindly in the group:  

“Tuantuan Yuanyuan, what do you think?”

Tuantuan Yuanyuan: “…” I’d rather face a god-tier opponent than a pig-tier teammate. I absolutely do not want to answer this question.