When I returned to the workshop, it was already 1 pm. Gui Guzi, Beiming Xue, Du Thirteen, and Yamete were all waiting for me in the hall.

"Lu Chen, you're finally back!" Du Thirteen said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Register to attend Who Will Fight Me!" Du Thirteen glared and said. "Damn, don't tell me you forgot. Whenever you see a beauty, you lose your soul...”

"No way, I never forgot...” I glanced over everyone and said, "Let's go online. Meet up at the eastern gate plaza of Floating Ice City. Then we’ll go to the city arena to register!"

"Mn, mn!" Beiming Xue nodded and laughed softly.

……

We all went online.

Swhoosh!

I still appeared in Floating Ice City's inn and sprinted out. I found Du Thirteen and the others were already in the city.

Gui Guzi was dressed in refined armor. He had a shield on his left arm, a spear in his right hand. He wore a majestic crimson cape.

Beiming Xue was still dressed like a standard beautiful archer, a black leather chest armor with beautiful lines that drew out her just-grown curves. Her chest armor was very short, and her flat stomach was like a white plain. The armor tightly wrapped around her hips. It was extremely seductive. Her black cape gave her a hint of coldness. Beiming Xue's longbow shone with a murderous sheen, a sign of its extraordinary Attack. One glance was enough for all to see that this archer was amazing.

Compared to Gui Guzi and Beiming Xue, Du Thirteen and Mamate were much less impressive, but still looked good. At least, they could be considered average. They could definitely join us in the tournament if they fought alongside me, Gui Guzi and Beiming Xue. Mamate would only be responsible for healing and Du Thirteen… would do whatever he wished!!

Beiming Xue turned to Gui Guzi and said, "Add boss to the party and give him leader.” Gui Guzi had always been quick on the uptake, so he quickly added me to the party and made me its leader.

I nodded and said, "Let's go, brothers, to the arena. After registering, we will have three days until the tournament proper. Try to level up as much as possible in the meantime. Our goal is clear—nothing except defeating all enemies and becoming champions of Floating Ice City will appease us!"

Gui Guzi smiled and nodded. "Yes, we’re going to claim the throne and dominate the seas!"

Beiming Xue added, "Then the brothers will form a convent! Oh, no, sisters form a convent...”

Everyone laughed and walked together toward the city square of Floating Ice City.

Floating Ice City was a tier 2 city that was home to a variety of species. While the king was human, elves, dwarves, barbarians and other races all lived in the city. They had achieved peace between the races.

The main road of Floating Ice City had the majestic royal palace on the left, and the murderous arena on the right. In the game information, this was a standard player fighting place. In the arena, PvP deaths would not inflict any penalties or increase or affect player karma.

"Woah, so many people...”

The arena was already filled with people. Countless players had come together to register. The arena was filled, and even the street outside was crowded.

I relied on my strength, grabbed Mamate's arm with my left hand, and Beiming Xue with my right as I squeezed in. I had high-level and great strength so I managed to make my way through. Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen both had melee fighter classes so they followed me without issues. Having high Strength was pretty handy in such situations. All the mages and archers could only be pushed around. No wonder fighter classes would become gods in the late game. A strong melee player would be able to single-handedly dominate the entire enemy camp!

I finally managed to make it to the NPC manager of the arena. There were about twenty NPCs that could register. The hall about two miles long was filled with players.

I moved forward and said to the NPC, "My team will attend Who Will Fight Me!"

The NPC immediately nodded. "One gold per person to participate!"

"Alright!"

Five gold in total, that was nothing!

Ding~!

System Notice: Player “Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand”'s team successfully registered for the Who Will Fight Me tournament. The tournament will be held in three days. Please be online in time. Lateness will result in disqualification!

……

"Success!"

Beiming Xue pulled my cape and smiled prettily. I glanced at her. "This is only registration, not getting the championship. What are you happy about? Beiming Xue, be calm. We, Bloody Mercenaries, are destined to write entire chapters of the continent’s history...”

Beiming Xue pouted. She looked around at the crowds and said with a smile, "Boss, you don't know. Look at all these people. Is it very easy to squeeze in? A young girl squeezing onto a bus, the subway, you understand...”

Mamate looked pervertedly at Beiming Xue. "Lil Beiming, are there always strange uncles pressing at your chest accidentally?"

Beiming Xue looked with wide eyes at Mamate and then hugged my arm. She pointed at Mamate and said, "Boss, see, this kind of gaze. The strange uncles on the subway always have this kind of gaze when they purposefully brush on me...”

I grinned. "Does Mamate frequently do this?"

Yamete immediately cried, turning into an uncle.

I took out a return scroll and quickly left this crowded place. The next moment, we appeared at the eastern gate. That’s where we had bought them, so the destination was set as such.

Gui Guzi and Beiming Xue, the two dark players, went to a high-level map to level up. They needed a healer so Mamate volunteered. Du Thirteen stubbornly wanted to chase skirts and went to find a party outside the city.

“Level 53 Divine General looking for a high-level party. Silver-grade weapon, 3 Dark Steel–grade items, one Steel-grade. 450 Attack, 1350 HP, 285 Defense. Anyone?"

Immediately, several beautiful female players came and surrounded Du Thirteen, each of them seemingly parched. "Brother General, come to our team. We are missing a high DPS MT, come join us, we offer all kinds of benefits!"

I felt a toothache watching the women twist around. Were people so desperate for experts in these trying times that even Du Thirteen was so popular?

450 Attack, 1350 HP and 285 Defense was high? Then me, with 620 Attack, 1900 HP and 400 Defense, would probably get kidnapped by this group of women to level up.

When I thought of this, I shuddered all over. Looking at Du Thirteen’s happy face, I knew he was enamoured.

However, these beautiful women had no reason to be happy. Never mind. When they see Thirteen’s peerless battle sense and mechanics, they would die before the smile could leave their faces. Amen!

……

Thirteen chased his happiness, Gui Guzi, Beiming Xue, and Mamate went to fight. I would step on my own unique path.

I had defeated Trainer Suren. For me, the most important thing was not to level up, but to find my place. Which faction did I belong to? Come Level 100 and my fourth promotion, I would need a new trainer. Level 100 was a major power spike. It was a dividing line between players. The difference would be like heaven and hell. I had to tread carefully.

I opened the map and searched for a leveling ground. Soon, I made my decision—Eternal Song Forest!

The official data said: Eternal Song Forest, east of Floating Ice City and west of Sky City. A forest that was the old site of the Violet Empire.

Any player who had read some of the game information knew that Heavenblessed Continent had originally been called Spirit of Grief Continent. A calamity had come, and the main cities of the humans, elves, and beastmen were destroyed. Only the glacier lands of the eastern continents had survived. It was said to have been protected by a goddess. The beings that remained on the continent reproduced, and finally returned to the continent, creating the strongest allied empire in history—the Violet Empire!

But the Violet Empire only lasted for a thousand years when it was invaded by the devils. Under the surge of unknown power, countless Night Creatures spread, and turned the powerful Violet Empire into dust. The Night Creature armies consumed almost 80% of the continent. Later, the human hero, Dante, and the elven queen, Wil, entered an alliance to fight the Dark Faction, an agreement that would be known as “Treaty of Elves”.

In the end, the Heavenblessed Continent finally saw light. Humans, elves, succubi, barbarians, and other races took up their weapons, and fought for their survival by forming the Silver Moon Alliance. The name of the alliance had existed for tens of thousands of years. It seemed to become the immortal symbol of the union of humans and elves.

Looking at the official data, I took a deep breath. According to my judgement, Blood Dance Alliance was the only place I could join. Silver Moon Alliance would never accept an undead into their ranks, and the Night Creatures have labeled me a traitor. In this vast world of Heavenblessed, I could only find peace at the neutral Blood Dance Alliance!

On the large map, there was an orange dot in the middle of Eternal Song Forest. That was not a color for the Night Creatures. It should be the base of the Blood Dance Alliance. I had to go and see.

……

I opened my bag and looked. Health potions, food and tents I had could last me for 3 days without returning to the city.

Food vendors of Floating Ice City sold all kinds of items, of varying quality. I bought some Buckwheat Bread that restored 50 Satiety and would last me for an entire day. The system imposed a limit on Satiety-filling food. Only three such items could be in the bag at the same time. This limit didn’t apply to Magic Consumables. In other words, a player leveling outside could only stay outside for about three days. If they didn’t, they would starve to death. Alternatively, they could hunt for food.