Chiang chiang chiang!

Craggy blades covered in animal teeth clashed against Lian Xin’s scepter again and again, but she was able to parry the Bloodthirsty Beast Cavalrymen’s attacks and let the force behind the strikes carry her to the back. After drifting back around ten yards or so, her Dimensional Storm’s cooldown was over, and she used it to kill a group of half-health Bloodthirsty Beast Cavalrymen immediately. As she backed away from the enemy, she took out a Saint Spirit Potion from her bag, drank it to heal a large chunk of HP and continued the battle.

Rumble rumble rumble...

Fire, wind, ice and rocks kept erupting among the enemy riders. Somehow, Lian Xin was able to hold back tens of thousands of them all by herself. Like a small boat trying to survive the turmoiling storm around her, she consciously pulled the enemy’s attention away from Sky City’s players and covered their retreat.

Less than ten minutes later, all of the players of the four great guilds successfully withdrew into the city, and most of them crushed their return scrolls to teleport back to Sky City. The Nation War was over, and there was no point continuing the fight.

……

Bang!

Blaze exploded against Lian Xin’s scepter, and Barrier Break caught her completely by surprise and drastically distorted her Telekinetic Shield. No matter how in control Lian Xin was, there was only so much a single mage could do against an army of millions. She kept eating Barrier Breaks and losing her HP.

"Oh no…"

Beiming Xue bit her lips and said, "Sister Lian Xin can’t possibly hold on for much longer. What should we do? Let me help her, big bro!"

"No!" I said sternly, "You know what Lian Xin is planning, and from the moment she set foot outside the city, she had no intentions of returning alive, so don’t let her sacrifice be in vain, understand? Everyone, teleport back to the city right now! We have achieved complete victory at White Horse City, and there’s no need for us to stay any longer!"

While this was going on, Lian Xin was still stubbornly holding back the Northern Alliance’s advance with her magic. The Northern Alliance showed her no mercy because she recognized that she was a Chinese woman, not one of their own. Lian Xin was already hard-pressed to deal with the cavalry charges, but the archers tapping her Telekinetic Shield with Devil Piercing Arrows were an even bigger pain in the butt. It was only a matter of time before they killed her.

Eyes Like Water commented as she watched the battle, "What a powerful and stubborn mage…"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes murmured, "So this is the true form of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ mages... Well, a person who can call herself a friend of Lu Chen and From Water can’t be ordinary…"

"It’s time to go back!" I said to everyone.

High Fighting Spirits gripped his warhammer tightly as he asked me, "Are we really going to just leave, Lu Chen? The Star Elder, she… This is just too much for her…"

Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we can’t let Elder Lian Xin fight all by herself!"

Even Chaos Moon was watching Lian Xin with meaningful eyes. "Lian Xin, is it? Not bad, not bad…"

……

I couldn’t help but be gladdened by this sight. At the very least, Lian Xin had successfully achieved her goal of proving herself and making a favorable impression to the higher-level players of the guild. Her life for everyone’s retreat; this was the gift from Lian Xin to the guild before she returned!

"Come on, teleport back to the city now. We’ll meet again at Sky City!"

I took out my return scroll and added, "We need to leave now so that Lian Xin’s sacrifice won’t be for nothing. Don’t worry, it’s just a level. It’s a price she can absolutely afford. Now go!"

I crushed my return scroll and teleported away right after I said that. Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi, Beiming Xue and everyone else also followed suit and returned to Sky City.

……

Swhoosh!

A flash of light later, I had reappeared at Sky City.

After I sucked in a deep breath, I saved Lian Xin’s phone number in my phonebook. I had always wanted to get her phone number, and now I finally got it. The girl would be coming back to China in a couple of days, and this was big news for Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls because she was the second best or the best mage in the entire country. With a leader like her, building a first-rate mage party would no longer be a pipedream. In fact, I was certain that our new mage party would far surpass the time when Moonlight Stone was still with us!

I walked to the plaza while checking my bag. It looked like I had collected a ton of equipment during the Nation War. It was natural. I had killed a couple of bosses and many more enemy players throughout the war. None of the loot was particularly exceptional, but it was still worth a lot of money.

Next, I checked the time and noted that it was past 7 pm, so I sent Murong Mingyue a message to ask, "When is Eve coming back, sis? Why isn’t she back yet?"

Murong Mingyue replied, "She just called and told me that she’s on the highway right now. She’ll be returning to Suzhou in two hours, so let’s wait for her to eat dinner together. Lil Beiming should eat some bread though. Even if she isn’t growing, she must be starving right now."

An unconscious smile crossed my lips as I replied, "In that case, I’ll set up a stall at the plaza until He Yi comes back. In the meantime, why don’t you contact Lian Xin and check the exact time she’s coming home?"

"Sure. I’m logging off now!"

"See you!"

Murong Mingyue and Beiming Xue’s ID turned dim at the same time. After that, I set up a stall near a corner of the walls, placed some Purple Gold–grade and Spirit-grade equipment on the floor, and priced them accordingly. Then, it was business as usual.

Today must be a good day because customers kept appearing to look at my wear. Most of the equipment I put up for sale was for Level 150, the level of equipment the majority of the player base was looking for right now. Also, of all my wares, the Outstanding Spirit-grade equipment was the most popular of them all. In their eyes, Spirit-grade equipment with Outstanding quality was top-tier, and to have one or two such items on their person would let them join the ranks of the experts.

I finalized two transactions—one Spirit-grade item and one Purple Gold–grade—and earned a total of 1700 RMB in no time at all. I welcomed even such a sum, it would come in handy when I had to pay for the girls’ meal later, not to mention that it was pure profit. These days, my wares were purely from donations of my Northern Alliance friends. If they gave me a bag full of equipment every time we met in the Nation War, I would really have to think of a way to thank them for their “kindness”.

It was at this moment I heard a beep. It was a message from Hot and Sour Noodles, Zhang Chun. "Turn on your communicator, will you?"

"Okay!"

After I connected to Hot and Sour Noodles via video chat, the uncle let out a hearty laugh and said, "Congratulations and well done, Lu Chen! No one thought that White Horse City would be destroyed in a single war, and I’m sure that the Americans are crying over it right now. They were going to use it as their front base to launch their invasion, and now their entire plan was disrupted because of your surprise attack. This battle might not compare to the likes of the War of Dawn City in terms of scale, but it’s a meaningful one for sure. In fact, the CGL committee just called me a few minutes ago to deliver you their congratulations!"

I replied, "Is that all they have to offer? This surprise attack was a success only because we had the help of Snowy Cathaya, The Monarch Descends and Blazing Hot Lips. Not only that, we had to spend a considerable amount of manpower and resources to take down that city. The ammo of the Black Tortoise Catapults alone is something we’re going to be crying over for a very long time. If the CGL committee is truly sincere in their congratulations, they could show it with something more tangible, you know, like money…"

"Heh, already ahead of you. I had already asked them to come up with an appropriate reward."

"And?"

"Well, the CGL committee made an application to the China VR department, and they responded that they’ll give you a monetary reward of 8 million RMB as a praise for your efforts. So, congratulations! Not bad, right? The money will be split into four portions, meaning that each guild will be getting 2 million each. Is that okay with you?"

I pouted. "8 million only? It’s not really a lot, you know…"

"Come on!" Hot and Sour Noodles snorted. "It’s not like you don’t know the CGL committee are a bunch of cheapskates! These people won’t even organize a tournament with a prize money that’s over 100k RMB, let alone give away 8 million RMB as a reward, so be satisfied with what you got, man. Plus, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls has a Rank 9 Undead Castle, and heaven knows how much money you earn per day. Do you really mind this bit of prize money?"

I laughed. "Well, that’s true. 2 million is better than nothing. Alright, I’ll distribute it to the guild members as labor pay or something. Even with our numbers, that’s 1000 RMB per person at least!"

Suddenly, Hot and Sour Noodles shot me a playful smile. "There is one more thing that I want to tell you…"

"What is it?"

"It’s about Lian Xin."

"Oh. How did it go?"

Hot and Sour Noodles replied, "It went well, of course. The committee promised me that they’d use the International VR Gaming Agreement to challenge Eternal Moon Corporation’s actions and force them to allow Lian Xin to transfer her account back to China. Don’t worry, Lian Xin is a Chinese citizen, and the New York headquarters had no right to deny her transfer application. Since we have all the moral and legal high ground, the transfer will go through for sure!"

"That’s great, hehe!"

"Mm. And that’s all I have to say. I’m going to fetch my daughter now. It’s weekend, and it’s almost time for her to return home from her student gathering."

"Yeah. See you, uncle!"

"Bye!"

……

Some time later, I received a message from my phone saying that He Yi had come home. I immediately logged out of the game.

My stomach let out a growl after I took off my helmet. When I left my room, He Yi was just stepping through the front door. She was wearing a woman’s jacket that was covered in snow. It had to be snowing really hard out there.

Beiming opened the window and enjoyed the scenery outside for a moment. She commented, "I didn’t think it would snow this hard while we were online."

"Yeah!"

He Yi set down her handbag with a smile, "It was such a heavy snow that the rain wiper almost stopped working."

I asked, "You didn’t run into any trouble on the road, did you?"

"Nope. Everything was well. I drove back at a speed of 90 km/h." He Yi shot me a smile before continuing, "I checked my phone while I was stuck in a traffic jam, so color me surprised when I read that our guild took out White Horse City. Well done, you all!"

"It was okay. By the way, is that all you’ve heard? Did you not know about the other thing?"

"I don’t understand? What other thing are you talking about?" He Yi asked in puzzlement while blinking her long eyelashes.

I replied, "Lian Xin is coming back!"

"Really?" Hope and anticipation immediately entered He Yi’s eyes. "Is she finally coming home?"

"Yeah. In fact, we ran into her during the battle at Poplar Valley. She’s really strong right now, you know?" Murong Mingyue explained. "Not only did she repel Warsky, Blue Sky Scar and Tempest Shadow together with ease, she even fought Lin Yixin to a stalemate! Ah, they fought each other because they got jealous over Lu Chen, by the way."

"Really?" This time, He Yi’s mouth fell open in real astonishment. Her eyes were filled with pleasant surprise. "Our Little Lian Xin has grown this powerful? That’s great! That’s seriously great!"

Beiming Xue nodded and said, "We just talked to Sister Lian Xin on the phone, and she said that she’ll be flying back to the country tomorrow. She’ll reach Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport around afternoon."

He Yi smiled. "Good. We’ll travel to the airport tomorrow and welcome her together!"

"Yeah!"