Boom! Dozens of spells exploded on Kuodao and the others. Five streaks of white light shot up into the sky, leaving only three survivors out of the original eight, all of them critically injured.
Among the fallen, two were red-named players, and their equipment dropped all over the ground.
Before the remaining three could escape, dozens of shield warriors and berserkers rushed forward, cutting off their retreat.
An inevitable encirclement and slaughter!
The disparity in numbers was simply too great. The members of Triumph didn’t even have the slightest chance to fight back.
“Thanks to all the brothers from the guild!” Kaidi’s Elegy said in the group chat. Without their help, they would surely have been killed by Triumph.
“We’ve all been holding a grudge against Triumph for a long time.”
“One day, we’ll wipe them out completely!”
“Word from the brothers on the east side: some members of Triumph are heading this way, about three to four hundred in total!”
The members of Niu Ren Tribe all changed expressions. They had just started taking action here, and Triumph was already coming. Their response was simply too fast.
“Our guild definitely has a mole; otherwise, they wouldn’t have arrived so quickly!”
“Let’s fight them head-on!”
“No, it’s too risky to fight them directly. Everyone, retreat first!” Kaidi’s Elegy said. He was relatively calm, as the executive leader had warned them before that this wasn’t the time to confront Triumph head-on.
“Pick up the equipment and retreat first!” A well-respected warrior shouted in the group chat.
Everyone activated recall scrolls. One after another, streaks of white light flashed, and they all returned to the city.
A few minutes later, a large force from Triumph arrived at the location, led by Mingyu Zhiluo.
“These guys ran too fast!” Mingyu Zhiluo muttered in frustration. Recently, these guys had been getting information too quickly. It was possible that Triumph had infiltrated a mole into their ranks as well.
“Boss Mingyu, what should we do now?”
“What else can we do? Go back and level up!”
This time they failed to catch the members of Niu Ren Tribe, but that didn’t mean they would let it go. The intense skirmishes on a small scale made everyone feel the tension between the two guilds. Niu Ren Tribe had been continuously suppressed, suffering more losses than Triumph, only gaining some local advantages. However, Niu Ren Tribe had been enduring patiently, accumulating strength, and waiting for the future to erupt.
The jungle was lush and green, filled with various wildflowers, beautiful like a fairyland. One or two giant golden-armored beetles, wielding steel forks, flew through the forest, their backs displaying dazzling colors. They wandered through the jungle, occasionally stopping to cling onto gray tree bark.
Nie Yan’s body was hidden within the jungle, dodging the flying golden-armored beetles, and stealthily approaching a tree. He discovered a locked silver chest and squatted down, beginning to pick the lock.
System: Opening the chest, 3%… 37%…
System: You have opened the silver chest. Your lockpicking skill gained 1 point of experience.
With a click, the chest opened. Nie Yan took out two items from it. Both were level 20 items: a Silver Warrior Armor and a Silver Paladin’s Mace. Their attributes were not bad. Nie Yan put them into his backpack.
Perhaps the sound of Nie Yan opening the chest had alerted the nearby golden-armored beetles. Immediately, dozens of them, wielding steel forks, charged toward Nie Yan.
These golden-armored beetles were level 21 monsters, and such a large number of them was quite troublesome.
Nie Yan activated Shadow Dance, quickly disappearing from the monsters’ sight and sprinting away.
These dozens of golden-armored beetles lost their target and resumed their wandering state.
Nie Yan weaved through the jungle, running for more than ten minutes until he reached the foot of a mountain. After searching for a long time among the rocks, he finally found another locked silver chest embedded among the boulders. He squatted down and continued picking the lock.
After a while, with a click, another chest was opened.
He reached into the chest and pulled out an item: a Paladin’s Cure Light Wounds. This was a good thing, a skill book that only players with very high guild contribution could access.
Nie Yan tossed Cure Light Wounds into his backpack.
“Nie Yan, are you there?” Guo Huai sent Nie Yan a message.
“What’s up? Is there anything wrong?” Nie Yan entered stealth mode and rushed toward the next target.
“We need to apply for several guild tasks. We’ve collected more than ten gold coins, but it’s still not enough.”
“How much more do you need?”
“About three gold coins.”
“Go to the Starry Sky Pharmacy and get ten gold coins.” Nie Yan said. Applying for guild tasks often required a lot of money. In the early stages of guild development, it was indeed a huge money-consuming machine. Because of this, the threshold for joining the guild would be raised. Without sufficient funds, the guild couldn’t develop at all.
“Has Triumph made any moves recently?”
“There have been constant minor conflicts.” Guo Huai recounted the events of the afternoon involving Kaidi’s Elegy, Gan Zhe, and others. “Too bad, four of us were killed. They were too impulsive.”
Nie Yan thought for a moment. Such guild brawls were common among various guilds. If a guild member was killed over a monster kill and no one in the guild chat responded after shouting for half a day, then the guild was basically finished. This mutual support and defense were actions that should be encouraged. After this incident, those players who participated would become more loyal to the guild.
“Four dead, eight of them killed, including three red names. Not a bad deal!” Nie Yan smiled. “Give each participating player ten guild contribution points as a reward!”
“Are you sure? More than a hundred players—that’s over a thousand guild contribution points!” Guo Huai exclaimed in surprise.
“I still think ten guild contribution points is too stingy. Tell them the guild is just starting to develop and ask them to understand!” Nie Yan said.
In fact, ten guild contribution points weren’t few for ordinary players. In Niu Ren Tribe, 200 guild contribution points could be exchanged for a decent Silver equipment. They had to donate a lot of herbs and materials to accumulate ten guild contribution points.
Niu Ren Tribe used the herbs donated by players to make potions at the pharmacy, sold the potions to earn money to purchase equipment to enrich the guild’s warehouse. The equipment in the guild’s warehouse could then be exchanged for more materials and items from guild members. It was a circular economy, and Niu Ren Tribe’s guild warehouse was rapidly growing stronger. Therefore, Nie Yan could afford to be generous and confident.
“I think they’ll be thrilled.” Guo Huai laughed.
“Then I’ll get back to work.” Nie Yan said. He was already close to the Hellfire Cavern.
The guild chat of Niu Ren Tribe was buzzing with discussions about today’s events.
“How should we handle the dropped equipment?” Gan Zhe asked.
“Of course, auction them in the guild for guild contribution points, and then distribute them equally.” Kaidi’s Elegy firmly said. Today, without these brothers, they would surely have died. One shouldn’t forget those who helped them.
Gan Zhe also nodded, saying, “But we should give a bit more to Dou Zi and the others. They lost a level and an item.”
“Right.”
“Thanks to everyone for today. Let’s start auctioning the equipment we obtained today. First, the Silver Warrior equipment dropped by the Boar Leader.”
The guild chat immediately became lively.
“I bid 79 guild contribution points!”
“I bid 120 guild contribution points!”
This Silver equipment didn’t have particularly good attributes, and it was finally sold for 130 guild contribution points. Then Kaidi’s Elegy started auctioning the other equipment. The items dropped by the red names were quite good, fetching about 1860 guild contribution points, which were then distributed equally among the participating members.
“Since there were quite a few of us, each person’s share of the contribution points was a bit small. Please don’t mind.”
“No problem, Kaidi, don’t take it too seriously. We were just there for fun. I didn’t even cast a single spell. I used a recall scroll and came back.”
“Haha.”
A wave of good-natured laughter spread through the guild chat.
“If there’s any action next time we encounter Triumph, don’t hide in the shadows. Shout in the guild chat, and we’ll crush them together!”
Kaidi’s heart felt warm. It was so satisfying to be in this guild.
“Have you finished laughing?” Guo Huai entered the chat with a stern face.
The atmosphere in the guild chat instantly became tense.
“Brother Wangfeng, the leader of the Snail.”
“Boss.”
“You guys were too impulsive today. For just one piece of equipment, four of our brothers died. They didn’t have to die at all!”
The guild members were silent. But in their opinion, dying was no big deal; the Silver equipment was worth more money. Seeing Guo Huai’s angry expression, they dared not argue with him.
“However, it’s right and should be commended for guild members to come to the rescue when other guild members are in trouble. Therefore, Boss Nie Yan has decided to reward each of you with ten guild contribution points. The guild has just started, so please don’t think it’s too little.” Guo Huai smiled slightly after seeing that he had intimidated the members.
“Long live Boss Nie Yan!”
“Long live the Executive Leader!”
A wave of cheers erupted in the guild chat. Ten guild contribution points were already a lot. More importantly, it was a recognition from Nie Yan and others.
After a rough calculation, there were more than a hundred players present. Nie Yan gave each of them ten guild contribution points, totaling over a thousand points. That was equivalent to five level 10 Silver equipment. Was that considered little? They were amazed.
Nie Yan’s move was very popular. In Nie Yan’s opinion, money was secondary. If he could win the hearts of the people, it was worth it. In the future, if there was a group of players who were absolutely loyal to Niu Ren Tribe, even if there were only ten thousand of them, they would be more valuable than a regular guild with over a hundred thousand members. Kuangzhan League was a clear example of this.
The discussions in the guild gradually subsided, and the players continued to immerse themselves in the intense monster hunting and leveling up.
System: You have discovered the Hellfire Cavern.
Nie Yan looked at the outside of the cavern. It had already been burned into a charred wasteland, with no life growing on it. Scorching hot air gushed out from inside the cavern, and occasionally flames could be seen flickering within.
Nie Yan drank a medium-grade fire resistance potion he had taken from the Starry Sky Pharmacy. He checked his fire resistance status, which had increased by nine points and would last for five minutes. That was sufficient. His body slowly faded away as he stealthily entered the cavern.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage