“It’s a relatively high drop rate during the initial clearing. If we clear out all the mechanical puppets nearby, we might be able to collect a complete set of Eternal gear,” Nie Yan said. Although the drop rate for the Silver-tier Eternal set was low, it wasn’t absurdly so. Combined with the fact that this was the initial clearing phase, there was still a good chance of completing the set.
“If the guild has an extremely powerful shield warrior, it can elevate the entire guild’s equipment level by a tier! The elites’ gear will also be taken care of.”
Knowing that Eternal gear dropped here, the team members worked even harder. Several warriors, together with Sun, advanced further into the area and began luring groups of mechanical puppets back.
Nie Yan continuously used area-damage magic bombs without pause. As soon as the corpses of the mechanical puppets were cleared from the ground, new ones piled up again.
The team members’ levels steadily increased.
Nie Yan glanced at the level leaderboard. The first, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh spots were all occupied by members of Bull Tribe, of course including Nie Yan himself, while the others had chosen to hide their names. The impact of so many Bull Tribe members appearing on the leaderboard was already significant enough. It would be too arrogant if they actually took all the top ten spots.
Outside players were nearly going crazy. Bull Tribe was too powerful, seemingly poised to completely dominate the leaderboard.
Countless players surged toward Bull Tribe, even more frantically than before. Many who wanted to join Bull Tribe harbored speculative hopes—if they could catch the leader in a good mood, maybe they’d be personally boosted up in levels, achieving instant success. Gu Huai timely raised the requirements for joining the guild to a stringent level. A series of tests were introduced, and only those who passed could join. Only about five or six out of a hundred applicants had the chance.
No guild in the entire server had ever been so exclusive in accepting players. However, these strict requirements still attracted a large number of skilled players.
As for those who couldn’t join Bull Tribe, Gu Huai didn’t let them go to waste either. He established two sub-guilds called Mage Tribe and Warrior Tribe to begin recruiting members, and all three guilds shared the same guild warehouse.
Bull Tribe’s membership grew extremely slowly, but all members were elite-level players, creating an astonishing concentration of skilled individuals.
Many Bull Tribe players secretly felt fortunate they had joined early, otherwise they might not meet the requirements now. However, Gu Huai’s words dashed their hopes: a week later, all Bull Tribe players would be tested, and those who failed would be demoted to the sub-guilds. They could only return after passing the sub-guilds’ tests. At the same time, a week later, players who passed the tests would enjoy more favorable treatment. With this dual system of rewards and penalties, Bull Tribe players all worked hard, not daring to slack off.
Regarding the silver donation initiative, it had already been successfully implemented. Many Bull Tribe players, eager to wear gear after reaching level 30, donated large amounts of silver coins—some donated just over ten silver coins, while wealthier players even donated one or two gold coins. Gu Huai only then realized how many wealthy players were in Bull Tribe. Those without much money instead pooled one or two silver coins to buy large amounts of guild contribution points, which they used to exchange for various equipment within the guild.
The guild quickly accumulated more than 1,200 gold coins, and this number was still skyrocketing.
“You guys made quite a stir. I thought something serious had happened when the guild headquarters suddenly flooded with players wanting to join. I checked the level leaderboard and realized all the top spots were ours. I’ve only just finished dealing with everything,” Gu Huai said excitedly, marveling at the impressive sight on the leaderboard.
“How much gold has the guild collected?” Nie Yan asked.
“The guild treasury already has more than 1,200 gold, and it’s still increasing. I estimate we’ll collect two to three thousand gold by tomorrow.”
Nie Yan thought for a moment. Even with 3,000 gold, they might still not be able to secure Carol City’s central auction house, so they needed to prepare more funds. Fortunately, the Star Pharmacy branch had also accumulated a significant amount of money.
“There’s another thing I need to tell you. Light Holy Flame and Holy Roman Empire have both recently upgraded to level 5 guilds, and they’ve already engaged in a war,” Gu Huai said. This was the latest news he had just received.
“They moved pretty fast. Faster than Triumph Empire,” Nie Yan said in surprise.
“Triumph Empire suffered a major defeat in Molten Forest, losing most of their elite members, so they’re pushing hard to reach level 5.”
“What’s the situation between Holy Roman Empire and Light Holy Flame?” Nie Yan asked. Bull Tribe had an alliance with Holy Roman Empire, while Light Holy Flame was allied with Triumph Empire. The outcome of this war directly affected Bull Tribe’s interests.
“Holy Roman Empire suffered a crushing defeat. Their 50,000-man legion lost over 30,000, while Light Holy Flame only lost around 10,000,” Gu Huai said somewhat grimly. If Holy Roman Empire collapsed, Bull Tribe would lose a reliable ally.
“How did Holy Roman Empire lose so badly?” Nie Yan asked in sudden alarm.
“We didn’t anticipate Light Holy Flame to be this formidable. They possess a thousand-man Berserker unit equipped with terrifyingly powerful gear, completely overpowering the Holy Roman Empire. I’ll forward you the battlefield footage,” Gu Huai stated as he transmitted the video recording of the clash between Light Holy Flame and the Holy Roman Empire.
The frontlines between Holy Roman Empire and Light Holy Flame had remained locked in a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. However, suddenly a thousand-man warrior unit from Light Holy Flame burst through like a sharp knife, breaking Holy Roman Empire’s defenses and causing their entire line to collapse. Although Holy Roman Empire managed to reduce that warrior unit to only two or three hundred survivors, they couldn’t reverse the overall decline.
Holy Roman Empire had suffered a severe blow, while Light Holy Flame was also significantly weakened and began to focus on recovery.
“Why are they fighting so desperately, like mortal enemies?” Nie Yan suddenly realized. Both Light Holy Flame and Holy Roman Empire had simultaneously upgraded to level 5 guilds, meaning two level 5 guilds had emerged. As a result, Carol City would open a small fortress, which both factions would now compete to control. It was normal for them to fight to the death over it.
He estimated that in two or three days, both Holy Roman Empire and Light Holy Flame would dispatch 2,000-player teams to fight for control of the fortress, leading to a major battle.
The two guilds would surely seek external help, Nie Yan speculated. Holy Roman Empire would definitely invite Bull Tribe to participate. Not just Bull Tribe, Holy Roman Empire would likely approach other major guilds like Cerulean Temple and War Alliance, even reaching out to various professional studios for reinforcements. Light Holy Flame would do the same.
The war between the two guilds was far from over. Before the fortress opened, both sides would continue to wear each other down. For now, Holy Roman Empire seemed slightly inferior. In the previous timeline, although Holy Roman Empire could maintain a defensive stance in Carol City, its strength had always lagged behind Light Holy Flame and Triumph Empire.
“Send a message to all team members in the guild, telling them to earn more guild honor in preparation for upgrading to level 4 guild,” Nie Yan said. Bull Tribe’s establishment had been too late, and they were far behind major guilds like Holy Roman Empire and Light Holy Flame in terms of progress. Bull Tribe needed to accelerate its development. The fortress would be the foundation for the guild’s future.
“I’m already organizing that. We’re not far from reaching level 4 guild. You need to quickly free up Cui Lan Dao Guang and Leader Brother Qi Zai,” Gu Huai said. Cui Lan Dao Guang and Leader Brother Qi Zai were the core members of the guild’s elite team.
“They’re almost level 30. They’ll be back soon,” Nie Yan replied. Those members who had reached level 30 had voluntarily left the team. Nie Yan’s supply of area-damage magic bombs was rapidly decreasing, and Cui Lan Dao Guang and Leader Brother Qi Zai were close to leveling up too.
“Another group wants to join the guild.”
“You go take care of it,” Nie Yan said. Guild matters were more important.
After defeating nearly 3,000 mechanical puppets, they had collected six pieces of the Eternal set so far, including a heavy shield, armor, gauntlets, cape, helmet, and greaves. There were also two duplicate pieces: another cape and helmet. The drop rate was quite decent. They only needed two more pieces to complete the set.
After farming a bit more, Cui Lan Dao Guang finally reached level 30. He added five points to agility and barely managed to equip the full Eternal set. The dark metallic armor gleamed ominously, the sturdy heavy armor covering him from head to toe, with mysterious runes etched across its surface, exuding a faint chill.
“We’re still missing boots and shoulder armor,” Nie Yan said. Once they completed these last two pieces, the set would be perfect. “What are your stats now?”
“1,653 defense, 35% avoidance rate, 43% magic resistance. Also, my HP has reached 1,200,” Cui Lan Dao Guang replied. Shield warriors naturally had high defense and thick HP pools, surpassing other classes. But reaching such extreme stats made Cui Lan Dao Guang truly monstrous.
Nie Yan frowned slightly and asked, “What about your attack power?”
“370,” Cui Lan Dao Guang replied. He also felt it was unbalanced. “My defense is too high, but my attack is insufficient. I can’t hold threat properly, which might cause threat transfer. This is a serious problem.”
“Add some threat-generating skills. Let Gu Huai figure something out. Also, during the next guild event, we’ll help you get a stronger one-handed sword,” Nie Yan said. Judging solely by defense, Cui Lan Dao Guang truly deserved the title of top shield warrior in the entire server. If his stats were revealed, other shield warriors would probably feel ashamed.
With such a powerful shield warrior, the guild could accomplish many things.
A thought flashed through Nie Yan’s mind. After this round of leveling, maybe he should find an ultra-mutated lord for the team to test their skills and obtain an epic-grade item.
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