âYoung manâ¦â¦â
One of the captains smiled and patted my shoulder, âYou are still too soft. A commonerâs life means nothing compared to the benefits of thousands of people. Youâll slowly understand. As for usâ¦hahaâ¦we can only give our best effortsâ¦â¦â
I nodded, âYea!â
â¦â¦
Although we stayed until dawn, we were still unable to figure anything out, as everything about Blood Scythes seemed so mysterious. Police intervention would be too susceptible, which restrained Wang Xin from being able to act. As for me, I couldnât help at all, and could only spend 24hrs waiting for orders.
After Shen Bing helped me change my bandages again, I returned to Liu Hua University at 2:00AM, and fell into a deep sleep.
It was already around 10:00am when I woke up. I got up and called Wan Er to arrange to have lunch together at 11:00AM. I then cooled myself with a cold shower to keep myself calm for the impending great challenge of the game. The God of Commerce Badge was carried by the final BOSS in the City of the Ancients, and it was desired not just by [Zhan Long], but all the guilds of Ba Huang City. Whoeverâs fists are harder will be the one who gets it!â
After breakfast, it was 11:45AM. I returned to the dorm, and went online!
â¦
âShua !â
I appeared in Ba Huang City and immediately received a message from Wolf saying, âBrother Xiao Yao, we have prepared. Weâre awaiting your commands outside the north gate of Ba Huang City. â
âAlright. Iâm on my way now! â
With a wave of my hand, the Flaming Tiger God emerged from a golden hexagram with a growl. It instantly snuggled around me like a kitten and purred contently, its behavior not quite matching its mighty physique.
Time was precious. After I rushed out of the city, I saw from afar, Yue Qing Qian, Wolf, Matcha, Li Mu and the others, standing there. I could also see the hundreds of [Zhan Long] âs elite players waiting there. Almost all the guildsâ players had set off together, just for the City of the Ancients!
I came forward and asked, âHave the coordinates refreshed yet?!â
Yue Qing Qian shook her head, âTheyâre still not confirmed!â
Wolf answered, âIt should be soon. Ba Huang Cityâs forum is in an uproar. Nobody knows the exact coordinates of the City of the Ancients, and many guilds have already dispatched people to search each map individually.â
Li Mu smiled, âNo worries. After the City of the Ancients refreshes, 10 waves of monsters will be out for slaughter. We will have plenty of chances. Even if someone else finds it first, that doesnât mean that they will be able to slay the final boss and obtain the God of Commerce Badgeâ¦â
I nodded and smiled, âYup, stay calm. â
Just then, the ground suddenly shook and shook, causing millions of birds to fly out from Ba Huang Forest. The north was entirely bathed in a golden glow; something had happened in the forest. Looking from afar, a towering shabby ancient city appeared in the heart of the forest, around 1000 meters away from us, just within our sight. Lucky! Just as we had suspected, the City of the Ancients was near Ba Huang City!
âDing! â
System Notice: âGreetings Player. You have appeared within 2000 meters of Ba Huang Cityâs [City of the Ancients]. Before the City of the Ancients is attacked, players in the surrounding area will not be able to revive. Please cherish your life, as you only have one!â
â¦â¦
âF*ck!â Li Mu looked around, âWhen the City of the Ancients appears, we canât revive, so does that meanâ¦â¦ that we canât use the human wave tactic on this map?â
Wang Jian laughed, âThis type of map is more fun, right?
Old K clenched his fist and laughed, âRight, itâs more exciting this way.â
âExciting my assâ¦â¦â I gave him a glance. âIâll be beyond thankful if you just manage to survive just a bit longer; donât go jumping into a group of mobs and getting killed. We still need your strength when it comes to the last BOSS!â
Holding his Haunted Twinblade Battleaxe, Old K laughed, âDonât worry Li brat, I wonât go down so easily. Look, Iâm already Lv 61â¦â¦â
âOkayâ¦â¦â
âBrother Xiao Yaoâ¦â¦â Yue Qing Qian whispered by my side.
âWhatâs wrong, Qing Qian?â I laughed
Yue Qing Qian blinked and then smiled, âThis is a chance for us to establish ourselvesâ¦â¦ the City of the Ancients is a large-scale event. The amount of experience obtained from these monsters is far superior than those gained from average monsters. We have to call all of our guild, since all the experience we earn here will turn into experience for the guild as well. Maybe this City of the Ancients will help us finally break through into becoming a Level 4 guild. Today, [Zhan Long] will rush to Level 4 and fill up all 3000 member slots. Then we will have enough confidence to back up our words!â
At ease, I patted her shoulders, âYeah. We have to work hard and break through to Level 4 today. Letâs move out!â
Li Mu raised his sword into the air, âBrothers, move out! Donât break the formation!â
A group of people rushed forwards. In less than 10 minutes, the 850+ members of [Zhan Long] were in front of the City of the Ancients!
â¦â¦
Lifting my head to look at the city, I could see why this was called the City of the Ancients. The city walls were full of battle scars. Due to weathering and eroding, the many catapults were full of damage as well. The gates were also full of sword marks. The majestic city walls were 50 meters high, with many elite archers on top. With superior armor and golden looking arrows, these archers gave off a frightening feeling.
In the city, there were some Ba Huang City players approaching us on the map. Because the gates hadnât opened yet, the first wave of monsters had not appeared.
Li Mu furrowed his brows, âXiao Yao, what do we do? Do we storm in, orâ¦?â
I looked at the elite archers on the city walls and said, âRight now, we canât clearly determine the NPCâs level, so we shouldnât act rashly. Weâll move to the northern part of the City of the Ancients. There, weâll position ourselves about 50-100 meters from the gate and wait for the monsters to come out. Right now, nobody has attempted to besiege the city yet, so we shouldnât eitherâ
âOkay!â
A large group detoured to the northern gates. There were not many players here. Since the southern gate was facing Ba Huang City, occupying this position would do us only good and no harm.
âKnights and Monks, go to the front line. Prepare a line of defense!â I commanded.
Including Matcha, the group went forward, and with their shields, they formed a defensive line. In the rear, we had Musketeers and Archers. This was the standard formation.
âBrother Xiao Yao, weâre not being too cautious, are we?â Wolf looked at the city and laughed.
I shook my head, âNo, I feel like those elite archers are very strong. We might even suffer heavy losses to them. Moreover, being a bit more cautious is not a bad thing. We only live once on this map; we should cherish our lives.â
âYeah, youâre right!â
â¦â¦
After a few minutes, a huge group of players arrived. Many guilds and individual players came to build up their defenses. The closest group of players were from [Flying Dragon], players like Soaring Dragon, Fierce Tiger, Black Tortoise, Drunken Spear and Mu Tian. [Flying Dragon] had over 5000 players, and they had vast amounts of fame and power behind them. The dense mass of players occupied over 300 meters of field, meaning that over 50% of the northern area had been filled up. It looked like each and every single one of them wanted to play an active role in the upcoming battle for City of the Ancients.
Besides those from [Flying Dragon], countless smaller guilds and teams that could not be differentiated from each other, were lined up. Fortunately, [Zhan Long] had a 3 meter gap on both sides, separating us from the others.
âFor us to end up going in the same direction as [Zhan Long]â¦â Fierce Tiger clenched his battleaxe with a look of disdain, âThey only have 800 people, who knows how long they can last? Hehe, I hope they donât die too quickly, otherwise theyâll become a joke.â
Drunken Spear whirled his spear and said, âDonât belittle them too much, Xiao Yao Zi Zai has always emerged victorious when he has taken command. [Vanguard] and [Heroâs Mound] both had their attacks thwarted by [Zhan Long]; a guild like that should have our respect, not our contempt. I proposeâ¦that we should get close to [Zhan Long], maybe even collaborate togetherâ¦â
Soaring Dragon waved his hand in anger, âNo need; as long as Drunken Spear protects us, we will be fine!â
Drunken Spear rubbed at his nose in exasperation, âAlright, relying on me isnât bad either. Letâs work hard and hope that we get the God of Commerce Badge. We cannot let [Vanguard] or [Prague] get their hands on it first!â
âYea, ok!â
Mu Tian lifted his own spear and looked at the city, âEh? Why hasnât the first wave of monsters come out yet; are they stuck or something? Did the city block them in? Itâs already 12:30, shouldnât they have technically come out by now? If not, then letâs have a group of players enter the city and investigate the monsters that are inside. Perhaps the activation conditions only occur when people enter the city?â
Soaring Dragonâs staff emitted dense rays of bright light. He anxiously nodded his head and said, âSounds good. Send some of the faster, but more tanky Knights to enter the city.â
âUnderstood!â
â¦â¦
After a few minutes, 7 Knights came forward with spears and swords in hand. [Flying Dragon] was the biggest force currently defending themselves around the City of the Ancients, as well as having the most say in things. So while countless players looked on, the 7 Knights entered the city with a prideful arrogance.
âShall we knock?â
âYes!â
One of the players charged forward and struck at the iron doors with his shield!
âKeng!â
The door reverberated with a loud gong similar to that of a grand clock as a Knight said, âIt looks likeâ¦like thereâs no response?â
âThatâs not right, I swear thereâs some movement insideâ¦â
âEh?â
The 7 players quickly raised their heads, only to discover an entire row of NPC archers with longbows in their hands. In the next second, the sounds of bows being drawn and arrows being fired filled the air continuously. The golden arrowheads quickly pierced through the Knightsâ battle armor, drawing blood. One by one, shocking damage numbers flew up from the Knights as they fell down in a spray of blood looking like porcupines. Not a single one managed to escape-
2837!
2981!
3004!
2785!
â¦â¦
âF*ck!â Soaring Dragon shook his fist in the air and roared, âWhat level are those NPC archers? How can they have such high damage?â
Drunken Spear stated, âThey have to be Lv 70 at the very leastâ¦â
Soaring Dragon was speechless.
â¦â¦
Seeing the 7 corpses, I laughed, âAiâ¦I canât even look at this sightâ¦â
Wolf and Li Mu laughed with me.
Right at that moment, a creaking sound was suddenly heard as the iron gates began to open. A dense mass of monsters began to pour out from within; at last, the City of Ancients had officially started its first wave!