Half an hour later.
Lin Zhao's Lixian Sword was already stained with blood, countless monsters lay at his feet. The monsters spawned so quickly that in just half an hour, his experience bar had surged by a remarkable 18%. This was an astounding rate; if the monster density were sufficient, he could level up in three hours. This was unimaginable compared to the current mainstream player pace of leveling up once every 1.5 to 3 days.
However, while the monsters on the first floor of the Ancient Dragon Marsh were plentiful, so were the players. There were countless players in the national server who were level 145 or higher, and a large number of them were pouring in. As Lin Zhao glanced back, he could already see small leveling teams of 30-50 people appearing within his field of vision, and they would soon sweep through the area he was currently in.
"Beep!"
A message arrived from Chen Xue: "The Scarlet Moon Knights, Azure Dragons, and Sheng Tian guilds have decided to encircle and annihilate the Cold Night Long guild. Want to come? Most of the Cold Night Long guild members have already joined the demon faction, with a total number of around 30,000. If you were here, you could probably gain a substantial amount of experience from them."
"Coming!"
Lin Zhao directly joined the party of Chen Xue, Shen Xingchen, and others. He opened the world map, leaped onto his flying sword, and then transformed into a streak of fiery light, charging towards the east. Approximately two minutes later, after passing over a lush forest, he arrived at a grassland area bordering a small river. The river was shallow, and the bottom was clearly visible. All the Scarlet Moon Knights players were on the west side of the river, and the Cold Night Long guild members were on the opposite bank. The Sheng Tian and Azure Dragon guilds were positioned on the north and south flanks of the Cold Night Long guild, forming a pincer movement.
"Swish!"
Lin Zhao descended from the sky and landed beside Chen Xue. He looked at the Cold Night Long guild members ahead, his brows furrowed. They had already had a confrontation when he had ridden through Ningzhou, and the members of the Cold Night Long guild had been extremely arrogant, even saying to Lin Zhao, "Are you giving me face?" This statement was still fresh in Lin Zhao's memory, so he was quite interested in this guild.
On the opposite bank of the river, in front of the Cold Night Long guild's formation, a top-tier Swordsman in full armor, holding a long sword, stepped out. This was Chang Ye Yu Huo, the leader of the Cold Night Long guild. Chang Ye Yu Huo had long since become a disciple of Long Zheng, a Sword Cultivator of the Twelve Realms, and was a notable figure among the demon faction. His position on Ancestral Mountain was even higher than that of Guo Ke Wu Ming. While Guo Ke Wu Ming was a lone wolf, Chang Ye Yu Huo had a massive, quasi-first-rate guild behind him, giving him a completely different standing among the demon faction on Ancestral Mountain.
"What do you mean?"
Chang Ye Yu Huo raised an eyebrow and said coldly, "This map of the Ancient Dragon Marsh is only for the Scarlet Moon Knights to level up on, and we, the Cold Night Long guild, are not qualified to be here, is that it? Are you saying that players like us who have taken demons as masters have lost the right to be human? Since the system has opened a master-disciple system, why can't we take demons as masters?"
Ding Chi said, "Chang Ye Yu Huo, why waste so many words? Your joining the demon faction is a fact, a nailed-down matter. Are you still trying to argue? "
Zhang Jun grinned and said, "Arguing is good. Our lawyer Ding is very good at sophistry. Come on, before the battle, let's have a debate first?"
"Damn it!"
A deputy leader of the Cold Night Long guild drew his sword and frowned, "If you want to fight, then fight. It's no big deal. You people stand on the moral high ground and speak with such arrogance that it's unbearable. We can only solve problems with our fists. Do you really think we, the Cold Night Long guild, are afraid of you so-called righteous guilds?"
"Right!"
A high-ranking archer of the demon faction sneered, "Let's settle this with our skills. Stop with the nonsense!"
Chen Xue's delicate eyebrows knitted slightly. She glanced at Lin Zhao beside her and said, "It seems that after joining the demon faction, the Cold Night Long guild members have gained advantages in magic treasures, levels, and equipment, making them a bit overconfident. They really think their 30,000 members can withstand the encirclement and annihilation of our three guilds with 100,000 people. This is interesting."
"Then let's shatter their confidence!"
Lin Zhao drew his Lixian Sword and pointed its blade forward, then shouted, "Scarlet Moon Knights, attack with me! Let's crush them in one go!"
"Kill!"
Ding Chi, Luo Man, Lu Han, Bu Su Li Ren, and Shen Lan Zhi Ren at the front all drew their swords. In terms of peak melee combat power, the Scarlet Moon Knights were definitely top-tier in the national server. Even with the Cold Night Long guild's numerous improvements after joining the demon faction, the Scarlet Moon Knights were absolutely on par in the frontline, not to mention Lin Zhao's presence today.
"Attack!"
Chen Xue lightly swung her Human Emperor's Battle Spear and charged out first. The rest of them followed, rushing into the shallow river ahead and attacking the Cold Night Long guild's formation. In the distance, the Sheng Tian and Azure Dragon guilds, having received the news, simultaneously raised their weapons. Leng Yan and Yi Shi Cang Liang led their respective main forces, charging towards the Cold Night Long guild's formation.
Lin Zhao, suspended in the air, lowered his sword. He was not in a hurry to rush in and reap kills immediately. He wanted to assess the strength of the Cold Night Long guild first. For a moment, the core melee players of the Scarlet Moon Knights, led by Ding Chi, Chen Xue, and Luo Man, clashed against the opposing shield formation. The Cold Night Long guild's formation was filled with surging demonic energy, and for a time, weapons imbued with demonic energy stabbed out from behind the shield formation, engaging with the Scarlet Moon Knights. Within half a minute, the two sides had reached a stalemate, with neither able to gain the upper hand. The opponent had higher levels and stronger skill counter-abilities, which was the Cold Night Long guild's advantage. On the other hand, the Scarlet Moon Knights' advantage lay in their superior overall combat power and high team coordination. Thus, the two sides were merely trading blows on the frontline, with neither able to break through the other in a short period.
"Little Xue, let's go!"
Shen Xingchen rushed forward with Mo Chenxue. Their AoE skills landed almost simultaneously, and with the concentrated fire from other ranged players, they created a vacuum zone on the Cold Night Long guild's frontline. Nearly a hundred melee players on the opposing side fell, and Shen Xingchen instantly leveled up. Top-tier ranged players gained a significant advantage in harvesting kills in such large-scale battles.
Lin Zhao could no longer stand by and watch. He flew down from the sky on his sword. The stopper of his orange gourd opened on its own, and fine, mosquito-like flying swords flew out of the immortal gourd, sweeping through the crowd like a gentle rain. Immediately after, his first natal flying sword, Ming Yue, shot out from the Sword-Containing Lake, activating the Moonfall skill. After a beam of moonlight, a torrent of sword light poured down, stacking with the thirty-six forms of horizontal and vertical attacks to deal damage. In an instant, the enemy's ranged team was wiped out in large numbers.
"Damn!"
On the frontline, a group of melee players from the Cold Night Long guild turned to look at the Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator in the sky, gritting their teeth in hatred. He wasn't attacking the frontline but directly targeting the ranged players. Moreover, he was flying on his sword, possessing an aerial advantage. For most players stuck at the sixth or seventh realm, this was an unattainable existence—they couldn't hit him, nor could they reach him.
Lin Zhao did not land, maintaining an extreme distance of 40 yards from the ground with his flying sword Hong Ye, ensuring that the enemy's ranged attackers could not reach him. His flying swords Hao Ran, Xin Huo, and the five immortal swords along with the twelve ancient desolate swords were constantly deployed, "point-killing" one by one, slaughtering the enemy's rear ranged and support players in batches. He even swung his Lixian Sword, unleashing a "Sword Break" attack from a vantage point above the earth, raining down flying swords like a storm, making the Cold Night Long players suffer terribly.
...
"Son of a bitch!"
Chang Ye Yu Huo's eyes were red with rage. How could they possibly fight like this? The Scarlet Moon Knights had Lin Zhao, Shen Xingchen, and Mo Chenxue, those great killing weapons, while they had no counter-strategy. Especially Lin Zhao, his entire playstyle was asymmetrical warfare. His own side was only on the receiving end. In an instant, Chang Ye Yu Huo raised his sword and said, "Golden Core realm squads, prepare to ascend and intercept Lin Zhao!"
In a flash, dozens of figures surged out from the Cold Night Long guild's ranks. All of them were Golden Core realm cultivators who had refined flying artifacts. They charged towards Lin Zhao with murderous intent, and from afar, various skills locked onto them.
Lin Zhao frowned, raised his hand, and sheathed his Lixian Sword. He then controlled twenty flying swords and thirty-six ephemeral flying swords to attack the figures in the sky. Immediately, with a "swish," he ignited a Speed Talisman. The moment the enemy players' countless attacks converged, Lin Zhao had already disappeared into the wind, causing a large number of attacks to miss. The so-called skill misses between players were essentially dodged due to speed. For example, charging evasion, drawing a sword to dodge an incoming thrust, and so on. When a player's movement speed exceeded the speed of the skill's projectile, they could most likely miss. At this moment, Lin Zhao ignited a Speed Talisman, and his movement speed, empowered by the formation, increased to an unimaginable level.
In the next moment, punches exploded in the air. Lin Zhao, amidst the crowd, punched like lightning, capable of turning a ranged player into a shower of blood with just two punches. Moreover, his aerial movements flickered with extreme speed, evading the attacks of the heavy-armored Golden Core cultivators, leaving those to be dealt with by the ephemeral flying swords and Xin Huo. He himself used his fists to finish off the lightly armored players who had ascended.
In the blink of an eye, a golden rain of light descended. After continuously punching more than ten ranged players, Lin Zhao had already leveled up to 155, leveling up rapidly in the Ancient Dragon Marsh.
"Is this person human or ghost?!"
A level 162 demon faction mage's face turned ashen. He directly controlled his artifact and wanted to flee. Since joining the demon faction, he had always been a super firepower in various PKs, bullying human faction players every day, and hard-grinding his level to 160+. However, upon encountering Lin Zhao, he had finally met a formidable opponent.
He wanted to run, but he couldn't escape. The flying sword Xin Huo directly launched a basic attack, trailing a long flame, piercing through the mage's chest and dealing over 50,000 normal damage. He was still instantly killed! It was impossible; the attack power of the flying sword Xin Huo was simply too strong. Killing a mage didn't even require using skills.
...
"Everyone, fall back, avoid their sharp edge!"
Chang Ye Yu Huo was filled with regret. The Cold Night Long guild had lost dozens of elites in an instant. He had underestimated the combat power of Lin Zhao, the master of the Mountain Peak Villa. But regret was useless now. The western defense line of the Cold Night Long guild was collapsing under the fierce assault of the Scarlet Moon Knights, and it was not far from a complete rout. On the north and south flanks, they were being harassed by the Sheng Tian and Azure Dragon guilds. According to the intelligence, the Star River guild's 40,000+ players were attacking from the east. Once they arrived, it would form a complete encirclement, and the Cold Night Long guild would be finished.
He looked at a team leader named Li Yuanba not far away and said earnestly, "Yuanba, you will take command of the overall situation here. I will lead all the eighth realm players to break through the encirclement and call for reinforcements. You must hold on under pressure and lead everyone to carve out a path of blood!"
"???"
Li Yuanba's head buzzed. He felt as if he looked very foolish and easily deceived.