The newcomer was none other than the dragon warrior, Li Chengfeng himself. Following right behind him were Gui Guzi, High Fighting Spirits, Chaos Moon and more. The core of the Dragonlight Cavalry had all lost 30 levels when they rushed out of the Life Barrier to help me, so our Divine General personally led the grinding trip to grind them back up to par. It was a complete coincidence that we ran into each other here.

……

Gui Guzi said with a loud laugh, "Are they attacking you because your level is low, Boss Broken Halberd? These pathetic bullies are seriously despicable."

I looked above their heads. Gui Guzi and Chaos Moon had already passed the Level 130 mark. With the power of the Dragonlight Cavalry and their Famous General Skills, they too needed less than a week to grind back to Level 150.

Smiling, I raised the Cyan Netherworld Sword and pointed at Thunderbolt. "Is there anyone who will kill Thunderbolt with me? Let this be the guild’s wipeout event of the day. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, leave no Thunder player alive in Ghastly Wail Cemetery!"

"This one’s mine!"

Li Chengfeng answered my summon with a laugh, activated Great Earth Transformation and surrounded himself with three cyan swords just like I was, and charged toward Thunderbolt right away. The moment he engaged the guild leader, he zigzagged out of harm’s way and landed a four-hit combo right at the center of Thunderbolt’s chest. The skills easily tore apart his armor and killed him where he stood!

"Fuck…"

Thunderbolt was swearing on top of his lungs as he fell off his horse and died. He probably never imagined that his guild would meet such an outcome. Although Thunder’s Greedy Wolf Cavalry was an elite cavalry, they were nothing but nothing but vegetables before the honed blades that was the Dragonlight Cavalry. Our cavalry was a king of cavalries that could destroy even the Bloodthirsty Beast Cavalry, to say nothing of the weaker Greedy Wolf Cavalry.

……

"Kill them! Leave no one alive as the vice leader commands! Beauty Chaos Moon, take some men with you and surround them before they escape!" Gui Guzi shouted.

The cavalry split up and pincered Thunder from the top and the bottom. Despite having less than 10% of their opponent’s numbers, the Dragonlight Cavalry was able to crush the 10000-strong army in less than 20 minutes.

……

Lin Yixin pursed her lips and commented, "OMG, now I understand why the Dragonlight Cavalry was able to play a major role in the Nation War. This level of strength is positively terrifying…"

I smiled. "Yeah, they’re pretty good!"

It was at this moment Li Chengfeng rode up to us. "Long time no see, Beauty Wind Fantasy! Are you satisfied with our vice leader’s carrying skills?"

Lin Yixin giggled. "It’s not bad…"

Li Chengfeng laughed knowingly before continuing, "Thunder must have woken up crazy today or something. I wonder who gave them the guts to cause trouble at Sky City."

Lin Yixin replied, "Isn’t it obvious? The mastermind is Candle Dragon. It’s already been spread all over the forums that Candlelight Shadow is planning to recruit Thunder, Wings of Awakening and Silver Soul as their subguilds or form an alliance with them as equals. Whatever the case, it’s clear that Candlelight Shadow is plotting something big again, and that he intends to transform the Avengers into his sword."

I curled my lips distastefully and said, "Can we not talk about that disgusting Avengers alliance anymore? Ugh…"

In fact, the Avengers were wholly at fault for our current predicaments. If they had reinforced Dawn City as initially promised, we wouldn’t have lost so many levels, and Lin Yixin wouldn’t have been forced to use God’s Tear and lose her account.

……

Li Chengfeng said, "Candlelight Shadow is plotting something alright. According to an unconfirmed rumor I heard, Candle Dragon had been sweeping through the leveling maps and collecting all kinds of health-boosting, defense-boosting cards like crazy in preparation for future Nation Wars in the past two days. If I’m not mistaken, Wind City will be launching a regional-level Nation War with Candlelight Shadow’s Avengers at the helm. Their plan is to march an army of ten million across the Eternal Ice Snow Region and tackle the three tier 2 major cities surrounding Eternal Love City. Candlelight Shadow wants to destroy all the cities around Eternal Love City first before launching an all-out assault on France’s one and only major city."

Surprised by the boldness of the plan, I said, "Candlelight Shadow sure has a big appetite."

Li Chengfeng nodded. "Yeah. Back in Spirit of Grief, this was how Candlelight Shadow took down most major cities during the latter stages of the game; cracking the weaker cities first before sweeping an entire region. Now he’s planning to use the same strategy again, and whether the French are ready for it remains to be seen."

A pondering smile appeared on my face. "Interesting…"

……

Suddenly, I received a message from Hot and Sour Noodles: "Are you there, Lu Chen?"

"Yep. What is it, uncle?"

"You’re Level 124 already? Not bad, not bad. I need you for something. Are you with Lin Yixin right now?"

"Yep. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all! I want the both of you to come to Dawn City right now. He Yi, Stranger of Three Lifetimes, Warsky and October Rain are already here."

"Oh, okay. We’ll come over right away!"

It looked like something big was coming up. Almost all of the guild leaders of the super guilds had arrived at Dawn City.

I told Lin Yixin what happened, and she agreed to attend the meeting without hesitation. Now that she was back to being the guild leader of Snowy Cathaya, she must shoulder the responsibility that came with it.

Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi and the rest of the gang didn’t accompany us. The two of us were the only ones who teleported back to Dawn City!

……

Swhoosh!

Dawn City had gotten a whole new look since the last time I saw it. The city looked a lot more fortified, its defense towers got a lot more variety—I spotted Fire Arrow Towers, Frost Arrow Towers, Magic Arrow Towers and more—and its walls were covered in thick layers of anti-magic armor. The city’s defense was a lot stronger than before, and it was clear that the Northern Alliance wouldn’t have nearly as easy of a time breaching it even if they managed to make it here a second time.

Hot and Sour Noodles rode up to us before greeting us with a smile, "Come, I’ll add you to my party. We’ll be heading to Dragonbone Mountain Range right away."

"What are we doing there?" I asked.

"Welcome some VIPs."

"Oh?"

Instead of pressing him further, I simply walked into the city with Lin Yixin. The Fruit Knife Goddess now met the Level Requirement of her mount and was able to ride her Frostscythe Warhorse once more. She also purchased several high-level equipment from the auction house in one go and equipped them. She was starting to look like the high-level war goddess she was once more.

Warsky, October Rain, He Yi, Stranger of Three Lifetimes, Luo River God of the Capital, Candlelight Shadow, Dominating Heaven Blade, Little Piglet and more were already waiting at the city gate. It definitely looked like something big was going on.

After everyone was ready, we departed toward Dragonbone Mountain Range under Hot and Sour Noodles’ lead.

A lot of players were grinding outside Dawn City, and they noticed our 37-man party almost immediately. Every single one of us was a guild leader that could shake the China server with a stomp of our foot, and together we could literally guide the general direction of our server in whatever way we wanted.

……

Our party ran, no, slaughtered, our way up to the peak of Dragonbone Mountain Range without slowing down even once throughout the journey. In fact, the ones doing the slaughtering were my Phantom Wolf King, Stranger of Three Lifetimes’ Tiger King, Warsky’s Ice Wolf and Lin Yixin’s Ice Dragon only. At our level, our pets were enough to take any mobs who might stumble upon our way.

However, when we reached the peak of the mountain, we immediately saw a party with red IDs waiting for us on a flat plain. In fact, almost everyone there was a familiar face: Vienna’s Sorrow, Blade of Kings, Titan God, Frosty Night and Eye of the Storm were all present!

Chiang!

Warsky and I pulled out our weapons at the same time. Both of us got ready to engage our opponents.

"Stop!"

But Hot and Sour Noodles stopped us in a hurry and said, "We’re not here to fight this time."

Both Warsky and I were confused by his words.

October Rain asked, "Is this a negotiation of sorts?"

Hot and Sour Noodles nodded. "That’s right. It’s about time we speak terms with the Northern Alliance."

"But why don’t I see the French representative?" He Yi hit the nail in the head immediately.

Hot and Sour Noodles replied with a smile, "That is exactly why we’re having this negotiation."

Candlelight Shadow let out a hmph, but didn’t add anything to the conversation.

……

We got off our mounts before walking up to the Northern Alliance party. It was a sign of respect toward our opponents.

Vienna’s Sorrow did the same before looking at us one by one. His gaze landed on me in the end before he said with a smile, "We must fight again in the future, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand!"

I replied with a nod, "Anytime!"

Blade of Kings wore a frigid expression as well.

It was at this moment a female mage from Sunset City called "Dark Night’s Rose" stepped forward and said, "Let’s talk business, shall we?"

"Mn." Hot and Sour Noodles nodded.

Dark Night’s Rose shrugged before she began, "The Northern Alliance is made up of six countries and eight cities. After the previous assault, some… conflicts broke out between members of our group, which I’m sure that you all, the elites of Heavenblessed, have already noticed. For example, we discovered that France’s Eternal Love City has had close contacts with the Chaotic 27 recently, and there were even two incidents where their players attacked Titan City. For that reason, Vienna’s Sorrow had decided to attack Eternal Love City. The French can join the Chaotic 27 since they love them so much. The plan is to occupy Eternal Love City and send them packing into the Barren Lands."

Lin Yixin commented, "Is this how you treat your allies?"

Dark Night’s Rose replied calmly, "There are no eternal friends, only eternal profit."

Candlelight Shadow spoke up. "If I hear you correctly, you want us to attack the French and force them to split their attention between two fronts, am I right?"

Vienna’s Sorrow nodded. "Correct!"

I spoke up next. "If Eternal Love City is brought down, how should we split the cities?"

Dark Night’s Rose smiled at me. "I see that you’re a straightforward person, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand. It is simple. Eternal Love City possesses one major city and five tier-two cities. We’ll give you Eternal Love City and split the five tier-two cities between ourselves."

He Yi chuckled. "It can’t be that simple. Is there another reason you’re giving us such a big share of the pie?"

Dark Night’s Rose shot He Yi a surprised look, but recovered herself instantly. "You are correct. We wish for the China server to sign an agreement with us. We can give you Eternal Love City, but we demand that you don’t attack us or reinforce the Chaotic 27 while we invade them."

Hot and Sour Noodles exclaimed in surprise, "You’ve laid pawns in the Barren Lands already?"

Vienna’s Sorrow said with a smile, "Of course! Anyway, if you agree to this, then we can sign the agreement right away and launch the attack on Eternal Love City in two days. What do you think?"

……

There was no reason to object, so the agreement was signed very quickly and confirmed by the system itself. Of course, the agreement was really just a useless piece of paper with no restrictive power whatsoever. The system might confirm it, but it wasn’t a witness.

"Do you trust them?" Lin Yixin asked me.

I whispered back as I went down the mountain, "Ever heard of the saying ‘plotting a hunt with a tiger’? Only an idiot would believe the Northern Alliance’s promise…"