“Oh, Dominating Heaven Blade is here too?” An unconscious chuckle passed through my lips.

Li Chengfeng chuckled as well. “Interesting, it’s almost like we all agreed to show up at the same time. Who would’ve thought that a mere Rank 3 territory at Vanished God City would draw out this many top-tier guilds? Even Candle Dragon is apparently on their way right now. This is basically a war between all the guilds in the China servers, hehe!”

Xu Yang said, “It’s been a while since Gods of Destruction showed their faces. Dominating Heaven Blade has been focusing on running his guild and purging lazy members who didn’t take the game seriously. I even heard that he reorganized at least 30 small to middle-sized guilds in Sky City, so they are far larger and stronger than Mad Dragon or Flower Room.”

He Yi nodded in agreement. “Dominating Heaven Blade is cunning, bold, and powerful. His guild is a lot stronger than the likes of Mad Dragon and Flower Room. Considering that we’ve been fighting them almost since the beginning of the game, I suggest that we hold our ground for the moment. I don’t want to be stabbed in the back later.”

I rode up next to He Yi before voicing my agreement. “Eve is right. Dominating Heaven Blade is no stranger to backstabbing. It’s better to be safe than sorry. The siege has officially begun, and no player within five kilometers of the city is allowed to revive on the spot or return to the siege area after death. There’s no second chance if we die here.”

“Right!” Xu Yang, Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi and the others nodded in unison.

Surprisingly. Dominating Heaven Blade, Dominating Knight God, Dominating Arrow God, Dominating Mage God, and the other core players of Gods of Destruction walked up to us upon arrival. Dominating Heaven Blade wielded a sword that was crawling with lightning as he smiled at us from afar. “Looks like you got here before us, friends! I heard you just wiped out Flower Room, and I’m here to congratulate you on your success!”

He Yi stepped out into the open and returned a polite smile. “Oh? Do you have a problem with Flower Room’s terrible behavior too?”

“Kinda.” Dominating Heaven Blade grinned. “I dislike seeing the likes of Li Le running around and bullying people just because he’s rich. By the way, I heard that the main reason you attacked Flower Room is because Li Le insulted the Fruit Knife Goddess. Is that true?”

Li Chengfeng was the one who spoke up this time. “Yes. What’s it to you?”

Dominating Heaven Blade raised his chin slightly. “Nothing. I just thought it was interesting, that’s all!”

Behind him, the temperature in Dominating Warrior God’s eyes dropped as he uttered, “For Wind Fantasy? Hmph. I… could do the same for Wind Fantasy too!”

Dominating Warrior God had fallen for Lin Yixin’s beauty way back when we were still at Floating Ice City. Unfortunately for him, everyone knew that Lin Yixin thought nothing of him because he was weak and his character was pretty bad.

I urged my Armored Ice Qilin Horse forward and brandished the Cyan Netherworld Sword beside me. I then gave Dominating Warrior God a smile before saying, “Oh really? You’d better not lag behind next time then!”

“Hmph!” Dominating Warrior God sneered. “I won’t!”

Dominating Heaven Blade glanced at his general before chiding him sternly, “Warrior God, control yourself!”

“Boss, I…” Dominating Warrior God looked like he didn’t know what to say.

Dominating Knight God, Dominating Mage God, and Dominating Arrow God were also looking at us Famous Generals with helpless expressions as well. Their IDs were Knight God, Mage God and Arrow God, but Gui Guzi was the one who learned the Famous General Skill Knight God, Beiming Xue Bow God, and Luo River God of the Capital, the Mage God equivalent. Right now, their IDs were nothing but the symbol of their failure.

“Alright, time to go. We are moving away from Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls so that we won’t get in each other’s way later.”

Dominating Heaven Blade then clasped his fist and gave us one last smile. “See you later!”

Gods of Destruction marched past us after that, the hooves of their mounts thundering against the ground. I noticed that their cavalry looked surprisingly powerful, and their number was probably equal or higher than Mad Dragon or Flower Room’s.

……

Suddenly, Murong Mingyue pointed to the east and said, “Guys, look! We have a guest!”

We turned around and saw a beautiful female knight wielding a spear galloping toward us. She was also accompanied by dozens of mounted players. When they reached our battle line, the female knight got off her mount and smiled at us. “Hello, everyone! Sorry I couldn’t come sooner to meet you all!”

The polite woman was none other than the guild leader of Baidicheng and the main attacker of this siege battle, Come See The Snow Tonight. She was the 27th ranker on the CGL Hall of Fame, a legendary player and one of the few noteworthy magic knights in China. Her armor looked exquisite, and her spear looked to be Outstanding Earth-grade. The flaming warhorse with a horn on its head she rode looked pretty high-rank as well.

He Yi replied with a smile, “It’s no problem.”

Caught off-guard by He Yi’s beauty, Come See The Snow Tonight stared at her for a moment before recovering herself and smiling sweetly. “Sister From Water, you are as beautiful as the rumors say!”

Slightly embarrassed, He Yi bowed her head before looking up again. “Sister Snow, do you have a battle plan you would like to share with us? How would you like to conquer this city?”

Come See The Snow Tonight looked at the Rank 3 city and wiped the saliva from her mouth. “Hehe, I’ve been eyeing this city for a very long time, and the chance to make it mine is finally here. However, I wasn’t expecting to find this many competitors, and I even heard that Candle Dragon is coming. Uuuu, it won’t be easy to conquer this city~~”

I said reassuringly, “Don’t worry. It’s true that a ton of super guilds are fighting for the city, but the pressure is equal for all sides. As long as we keep a cool head and consolidate at every step, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to conquer this territory.”

“Mn!”

Come See The Snow Tonight gave me a smile. “Well, you are here, so I can’t deny that my guild’s chances of seizing the territory are much higher than normal.”

I pointed at the comrades behind me. “It’s not just me, my brothers and sisters are here to help you as well. Worry not! With our help, the territory is as good as yours! Hahaha!”

Come See The Snow Tonight hummed, but before she could say anything else, a new group of people had appeared from the forest and walked up to us. It was Blazing Hot Lips, and the person leading the group was none other than Stranger of Three Lifetimes, a legendary mage. Currently, there were only three mages who had the prowess to challenge for the title of best mage in China, and they were Luo River God of the Capital of Purple Lily, God’s Dance of Candle Dragon, and Stranger of Three Lifetimes of Blazing Hot Lips. Even Shadow Chanel with her secret class was slightly inferior to those three, let alone our Moonlight Stone.

“Hi, Momo! You came?” I greeted her.

Stranger of Three Lifetimes answered with a smile, “Yep. Good morning, Lu Chen!”

“Good morning to you too…”

It wasn’t long before Ling Xueshang joined us as well. Each of us was a super guild in our own right, and we had come together to conquer Immortality City. Frankly, the only real alliance here that could really still pose a threat to us was Candle Dragon’s.

We spent some time discussing battle plans before deciding that we would siege the east gate together. It didn’t really matter from which direction we breached the city because we would always end up at the territory hall, the place where the final battle would take place. In that case, we might as well focus all our energy on breaching one gate and occupy the territory hall as soon as possible.

……

We agreed to siege the city 5 hours before the countdown was up, but we were still less than 3 hours into the siege. Therefore, we simply loitered around and watched the other guilds do their thing. Right now, an army made up of 7 small or middle-sized guilds from Vanished God City was starting to siege the east side of the city. They were slowly pushing toward the walls with a long line of magic knights with shields, ladders and catapults like tidewater.

On the wall, Rose Thorn unsheathed her sword in one smooth motion and declared, “Attack!”

Arrows rained from the sky, and magic ravaged the ground immediately. The defenders utilized their range advantage to the max and made the attackers’ lives absolutely hellish.

The magic knights eventually got close to the walls, but the defenders’ fierce resistance wasn’t their only trouble anymore. Thick steel arrows at least one meter long and three centimeters wide started flying out of arrow towers and penetrating their metal armor like lightning!

Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch was way too rich for his own good. All the arrow towers he built were high-rank structures that cost a ton of gold. That being said, his investment was definitely worth it. A volley of concentrated fire later, at least a thousand magic knights had been killed where they stood. The united army fought methodically and properly, but their magic knights were far too fragile. The defenders were just too powerful for them to overcome.

……

While the battle was raging, a group of players suddenly rode up to us. They were magic knights riding armored warhorses. A man who looked to be around 40 years old got off his mount after he got close and walked up to us while laughing. “Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, The Monarch Descends, Baidicheng, and Blazing Hot Lips? Haha, it looks like today is a meeting of heroes!”

“Who are you, uncle?” Beiming Xue asked warily while gripping her bow.

The 40-year old uncle didn’t answer because the question caught him completely off guard. I saw his hidden ID and title though—

Hot and Sour Noodles LV-140 Platinum Magic Knight

City: Wind City

Guild: Righteousness

Position: Guild Leader

……

“Righteousness?” I walked up to him with a smile. “Not a bad guild name. You definitely look like you’ve been through some stuff…”

Hot and Sour Noodles smiled back. “You’re Lu Chen, right? We’ve met offline before.”

“Oh? I... don’t remember you though.”

“It was a summer day at year 2022. You were participating in a WSL offline tournament at Shanghai. I was the CGL Shanghai publicity director who gave a speech back then. Remember now?” Hot and Sour Noodles looked at me expectantly.

Unfortunately, I had to disappoint him. “Sorry, I think… I was asleep when you were making the speech…”

Hot and Sour Noodles was surprised, but he turned out to be a man with a big heart. “It’s fine, I’m no longer working for the VR department anyway. It’s way better to be a professional player instead!”

“Does that mean you’ve turned pro now?” He Yi smiled.

“Yeah.” Hot and Sour Noodles nodded. “I built ‘Righteousness’ right after I quit. Although the guild was hardly impressive back at Spirit of Grief, we have built quite a bit of a reputation today. In Wind City, Righteousness comes after Candle Dragon, Purple Lily, and Peach Garden.”

I took a moment to check the official database. Righteousness and Hot and Sour Noodles quickly appeared at the search results—

Hot and Sour Noodles: Zhang Chun, Shanghai VR Development Publicity Director. He founded the guild “Righteousness” after quitting his post, but still maintains a close relationship with China’s VR department. He’s also a CGL administrator and the strategic commander of China’s VR gaming alliance. He’s a kind, honest, intelligent, and capable player who was trusted by many players all over China.

……

“Sorry, sorry…” I hurriedly got off my high horse and shook hands and Hot and Sour Noodles.

He smiled. “I’m the one who should be saying that. Who would’ve thought that I would get the chance to shake hands with the Little Heavenly King, the 7th CGL Hall of Famer as a professional player one day? Hehe, it’s an honor!”

He Yi also seemed to have checked Hot and Sour Noodles’ data, because she was smiling sweetly and him and asking, “Uncle, why did you come to us?”

Hot and Sour Noodles nodded. “Yes. I came here to tell you something, and get on your friend list, I suppose.”

He Yi and I asked in surprise, “What did you come to tell us?”

Hot and Sour Noodles smiled mysteriously. “Do you know why Candle Dragon, Gods of Destruction, Warsky Alliance, Peach Garden, and other powerful guilds are participating in this particular territory war?”

“Why?”

“It’s because this is a war that will decide the Guild Ranking. That’s right, CGL is about to refresh the Guild Ranking, and how well you perform in this territory war will greatly affect the new rankings!”