Emperor Wang should be neck deep in battle lust right now, but amazingly, that soft voice was able to pierce through that veil, cause a shudder and make him lower his sword. Everyone looked to the direction where the voice had come from. She was a beautiful warrioress wearing the S2 set and wielding an Immortal-grade sword. The text above her head stated—

Tear Stain LV-210 (Master Swordsman)

Main City: Burning City

Guild: Throne of the Wild

Position: Leader

……

The newcomer was none other than Candlelight Shadow’s junior sister and the number one player of the Korea server, Tear Stain. I would never have thought that she would come to these dead lands. Chaos Moon was right after all. I was the god of war, and wars broke out around me no matter where I traveled to.

"Guild leader…" Emperor Wang sounded a bit deflated for some reason.

Tear Stain stared at his less-than-15% HP and pressed her lips tightly. "Seriously, what do you even want me to say? Criticize you for letting an unaffiliated player from Iron Skull Wilderness push you this far? Also, I told you to look for a new leveling map in Ice River Canton Ruins, not start a battle with an entire group, did I?"

Emperor Wang: "..."

After that, she slowly walked toward us while smiling, "Long time no see, Lu Chen. You’ve done and experienced many things since the WEL, haven’t you? Everyone in the Northern Alliance was looking forward to you turning the southeast region of the continent upside down…"

Chiang!

I sheathed my sword and replied calmly, "Is that a praise or a criticism, Beauty Tear Stain?"

Tear Stain smiled. "Praise, of course. Do you think the average person has the ability to turn three servers and six main cities upside down?"

I shrugged. "You heard of my abilities, and you still come to quarrel with me?"

"Hehe…"

Tear Stain giggled so hard that her shoulders were shaking. "I had no idea that there was an NPC army at Ice River Canton Ruins, much less a player group before I came."

"And now you know."

"Yep. Now I know."

Tear Stain turned serious. "But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up my plans entirely. Ice River Canton Ruins is an abandoned territory, and no one is developing it right now. So why can Iron Skull Wilderness’ unaffiliated players help, and we, Throne of the Wild, cannot? How about we both make a compromise and develop this place together?"

Lin Yixin walked up to my side and planted the Seven Star Veluriyam Sword on the ground as well. She then said, "Compromise? Forget it. For starters, we are the ones who came here first. Two, Ice River Canton Ruins was conquered by us Chinese, so why should we share it with you? Finally, do you really think the NPCs here will accept you Koreans? Seriously, just try it…"

Behind us, the fiend-rank NPCs on the shabby arrow towers had already drawn their bows and were aiming at Tear Stain’s group. It was obvious that they would be attacked if they entered into range. These were Sky City NPCs, and Sky City and Burning City were currently hostile toward each other. Their merciless reaction was completely within expectations.

"You…"

Tear Stain gritted her teeth, but she couldn’t say anything against the Fruit Knife Goddess. She gave them many good reasons why the Koreans couldn’t and shouldn’t entrench themselves at Ice River Canton Ruins.

"Are we really going to head back to Burning City like this?" Emperor Wang shot Tear Stain a reluctant look. "We can just fight it out if you want, guild leader. I’ve heard from the scouts that there are only 5000 NPCs at this place. Sure, they are all really high-level, but we’ve also brought nearly 400k players with us. We should be able to wipe out this NPC camp at the cost of 100k players at most and claim Ice River Canton Ruins by force!"

Hesitation flashed across Tear Stain’s eyes. She was clearly trying to decide what to do.

It was at this moment a cacophony of thundering hooves appeared from one section of the forest. A moment later, Gui Guzi and his troop of elite Dragonlight Cavalry appeared with a shout, "Is someone trying to pick a quarrel with us? Wonderful! You’ve kept us waiting, you sons of bitches! All units, prepare to cut down all the uglies in front of you!"

Ten thousand Dragonlight Cavalrymen and the thirty thousand Zephyr Cavalrymen Xu Yang had given to Gui Guzi earlier emerged from the forest. Godkiller itself had 20000 Berserk Zephyr Cavalrymen who were ready to go at a moment’s notice. This was why I wasn’t afraid of Tear Stain’s forces in the slightest. The Dragonlight Cavalry had made themselves famous all the way back in the War of Dawn City, not to mention the War of Purple Grape City. No matter how confident Tear Stain was, she had to give the godlike cavalry a good measure of respect. Moreover, the Divine Generals of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and even Lin Yixin were here. She would be a fool to attack us without weighing all these factors first.

I hugged my sword and leaned lazily against the Ancient Divine Dragon’s head, smiling. I patiently waited for her to come to a decision.

Obviously, Tear Stain hadn’t come all the way to Purple Grape City for tourism. In fact, I bet that she had a most heinous objective in her mind. The Japanese players of Purple Grape City were demoralized right now, and it was entirely possible that Tear Stain was plotting to exploit that low morale to build an iron fortress that would keep Sky City in check. Sky City was the great King of Cities that every foreign player was afraid of, and Burning City wasn’t an exception to the rule. Previously, the Chaotic 27 had kept the Northern Alliance out of the War of Purple Grape City, but it would seem that the alliance had gotten strong enough to fish for some advantage elsewhere.

……

"What do we do, guild leader?" Emperor Wang asked again in an urgent tone. He was obviously in favor of fighting us, and I could tell that this guy was born with a natural thirst for battle. Personally, I was hoping that Tear Stain would give in and choose the aggressive option myself. Our chance of winning this battle was high, and defeating the number one Korean guild here would be a good warning to the local guilds like God’s Domain and Era of Strife.

These days, tactics weren’t the only factor in play in a war. Those who couldn’t keep up appearance would be thought as weak and preyed upon as well.

Tear Stain remained like this for at least half a minute before a smile suddenly sprung to her lips. She then said, "Although the Northern Alliance and the China server don’t share a harmonious relationship with one another, it doesn’t mean that we must fight every time we meet. You came here first, so you should have Ice River Canton Ruins just as the Fruit Knife Goddess says. But I have a condition I hope you’ll accept, Lu Chen!"

"What is it?"

"I have brought 400k players with me, and I can’t just go back empty-handed. So…" She smiled wider. "I won’t ask for permission to roam in Purple Grape City, but I do want to grind at Dragonbone Mountain Range for a week or so. Surely you’ll agree to this condition, Lu Chen? Remember that Dragonbone Mountain Range is a neutral territory that belongs to no one."

I thought for a couple of seconds and decided she was correct. Plus, it wasn’t a good idea to drive them into a corner too much. Who knows what they would do then? So I nodded and replied, "Very well, I have no reason to stop you from grinding at Dragonbone Mountain Range. I will warn you not to approach the submaps that are close to the China server though. Don’t come crying to me if someone attacks your party there. It won’t be my fault."

"I understand…"

Dragonbone Mountain Range was several thousand kilometers long, and spanned the entire continent. So big it was that even the China server only bordered a third of it. I really had no reason or the ability to stop Tear Stain from grinding at a part of Dragonbone Mountain Range that wasn’t close to the China server.

Just in case though, I still sent Gui Guzi a message: "Little Gui, increase the number of troops we have around Sky Ridge, and don’t let even a single fly pass through the area. Tear Stain doesn’t do pointless things, and I’m sure she came to the Purple Grape City domain for a reason."

Gui Guzi responded positively, "Don’t worry, Boss Broken Halberd! My offensive strategies may not be up to snuff, but my defensive ones are at least above average!"

"Good!"

……

And so, Tear Stain and her couple hundred thousand Throne of the Wild players slowly shuffled their way out of Ice River Canton Ruins. As promised, they didn’t attack any of us, not that they had any chance with the Dragonlight Cavalry and Zephyr Cavalry around.

"So, what do we do now?" He Yi asked me.

I suggested, "I’m almost done with the glory points, so why don’t we go clear the S3 instance now? Hehe, the first-ever S3 Immortal-grade set is waiting for us inside…"

"Sure! Who do you think should join your party?" Lin Yixin asked smilingly.

I checked out my equipment before saying, "I don’t need the S3 equipment since my Fire God Helmet is a Sacred Armament, the Nine Heavens Li Fire Bracelet is a Cambrian Divine Armament, and the Sunchaser Cloak is a Hadean Immortal-grade item. There’s no way I’m switching them out even for the S7 set. Yiyi, Eve, who between you two wants the S3 set first?"

Lin Yixin replied immediately, "I already have an Ancient Immortal-grade item on me, and a Divine Armament. Sister Eve should have the first S3 set!"

He Yi nodded. "I have no reason to turn this offer down. Thank you very much, everyone."

"Well, we obviously need a healer, so sis is in the group for sure. We also need someone with CC, so come here, Beiming. Well of the Abyss is very good against bosses too…"

Lian Xin immediately pouted. "Hmph, my Origin Force Field is also pretty good, okay? You’re just biased toward Beiming, hmph hmph…"

I rolled my eyes. "I’ll bring you with me next time, okay? You know that these instances are made for 5-man parties. If you’re bored, take three Dragonlight Cavalrymen and a priest with you and grind the A4 instance. The War Song set is an Earth-grade set that increases physical Attack and Defense, and it’s very suited for Dragonlight and Zephyr Cavalrymen."

After that, I beckoned Gui Guzi to my side. "Come here, Little Gui!"

"Yeah?" Gui Guzi walked over.

I shot him a smile and said, "I’ve researched all the instances from A1 to S2 in detail, and I’ve come to the conclusion that everything after A4 is too difficult for the average player to beat, but the equipment set between A1 to A3 is too lousy to use for long. The A4 instance is the only instance that’s moderately easy while still providing a powerful equipment set. Starting now, I want you to mobilize our main force and have them carry our Dragonlight and Zephyr Cavalrymen through the A4 instance in pairs or threes. I want at least 40% of our elite cavalrymen to be wearing a full A4 set in a week’s time!"

However, Gui Guzi complained, "Boss, that’s almost impossible. Not everyone has your Luck, you know…"

"Well, okay. But they have to have between 1 to 3 A4 set pieces at least."

"That, I can guarantee!" Gui Guzi nodded before leaving to carry out his orders.

……

If every Dragonlight and Zephyr Cavalryman could have the Level 180 Earth-grade War Song set, our battle prowess would increase by more than just leaps and bounds. We could practically conquer any city as long as we set our minds to it!

After I turned in the quest, I looked at the girls and suddenly recalled something, "Holy shit, now that I thought about it, we haven’t logged out for… 12 hours, have we?"

Lin Yixin rolled her eyes at me. "You just realized? Let’s grind the S3 instance tomorrow morning. Oh, we should send Chaos Moon a message and tell her to log out as well."

"Yeah. Eve, Beiming, sis, are you all okay with grinding the S3 instance tomorrow morning?"

"Yes. 9 am?"

"Sounds good!"

After setting an alarm, I logged out.