Guan Yu and Yue Fei had now been working on their duties for the community as an elder for the better part of the last month. They were slowly regaining their previous rank as they had been out of the game tending to the needs of the U1B faction for the past 2 decades. Currently, they were taking a break and having a little chat about their current situation. Something the two of them had not been able to do for quite some time now along with another one of their fellow elder, Xiao Cong.

(XC) "So, I hear that the two of you have joined forces and helped this newcomer Baron to establish a faction. How is that going for the two of you," Xiao Cong said as the three of them walked to a table at a nearby wine house.

(GY) "Oh, it's pretty nice. However, I still prefer helping out the community a bit more if I'm to be completely honest." Guan Yu responded.

(YF) "That is certainly a sentiment that I can get behind. However, I feel that if we are able to cultivate this new faction to a powerful enough position, then we will be able to help out so many more people with our deeds." Yue Fei added.

(XC) "Heh, you two sure never change. Hey, what rank are you guys now? I heard that you two spent so much time with the faction selection tournament, then the nurturing of the faction that you slipped down a few ranks."

(YF) "Well, I dropped about ten ranks down to 63. Hopefully, I will be able to do enough so that I will enter into the top 50 within a few years once more. But with my responsibilities to my new faction, this is wishful thinking."

(GY) "I dropped down to about 32, not as bad as Guan Yu, but now my hall of records privileges have been revoked until I step within the top 30 again. How about you, Xiao Cong. What rank are you after grinding for all these years we have been away?"

(XC) "Not to brag or anything, but I have reached into the top 25. I may not be as great in combat as the two of you, but my constant contributions to the community have finally come to fruition."

(YF) "What type of work do you usually do for the community? The last I heard you were doing mostly paperwork type inquiries. One of the slowest ways to ranking up as an elder."

(XC) "Indeed, I am still doing mostly paperwork, but I feel like I have become trapped in this world, but more importantly, in my mind. Even though I have sunk thousands of years into getting this high ranking position, I don't know how much longer I can take it. I feel like I have very well reached my bottleneck."

(GY) "For personal growth, or getting a higher rank?"

(XC) "I'd say both."

(GY) "Now that Yue Fei and I are in a faction, only you and two others within the top 100 elders have yet to join a faction. Do you think this is something that you would consider?"

(XC) "Hmm. I'm not sure, I would have to look at the different factions and that is a massive headache, and I don't think I would get paid enough for me to change my first priority in where I put my work and time into."

(GY) "How about you join our faction? With us there, you'd already have connections to some of the top brass."

(XC) "I don't know how I'd feel about joining a new faction, how many members do you all even have?"

(YF) "Nearing 100,000 members, and if you'd like to know, the benefits are better than a lot of other already developed factions. With your experience and our position, we would be able to put you into a role which would do wonders for your mental health, I see that you have started to get a little looney after doing the same thing for such a long period of time."

(XC) "I'll think about it, but don't expect anything from me. I have known you for a while now, Yue Fei, but I have known Guan Yu a lot longer. If both of you think this new faction is the place to be, then I will give you an answer in the next year. I thank both of you for thinking of my overall health. Not very many people here care about me to such an extent. Moving on, have you heard the news of the return of Sun Tzu?"

(GY) "Is there something you have been told that the public doesn't know?"

(XC) "Well, not the specific date of his return per se, but he did mention in a message that once he is back, he would make a lot of new changes to the community. He says it is a culmination of the different ways he has witnessed a community being run in other communities. One of them just so happens to be a change in the way that the elder system would work."

(YF) "Oh, does it go into any specifics? Like a change in rankings or anything of the sort?"

(XC) "No, but from the one glance that I got from our superior's message board, it is a list that is quite long. This leads me to believe that the changes that Sun Tzu will implement once he returns will have very long-lasting effects on the community. I am a firm believer that Sun Tzu is a good man, but who knows how much this several centuries-long pilgrimages to see other communities has affected his judgment."

(GY) "If that is so, then it is possible that the privilege system will be reworked as well. Perhaps the three of us will be higher up in the rankings, or maybe even lower than we are now."

(XC) "If that is seriously the case, then I will have no choice but to join you guys then."

(YF) "Oh, wow."