"Not speaking?"
Li Canghai taunted, "Silence means you admit you're in the wrong? Does the White-Clad Alliance Leader know, there's one thing I particularly regret right now."
"Regret what?"
Lin Zhao asked.
"Regretting agreeing to Chen Xue's proposal to ally with your Scarlet Moon Knights."
He sneered, "I never imagined that the Scarlet Moon Knights would be such a trash guild, hoarding resources for themselves while their allies were fighting enemies. Even less did I expect you to be so shameless. Initially, I believed in Chen Xue's character, but now, it seems her character, Xue Qiancheng's, is not much to speak of."
Instantly, Lin Zhao's anger flared, "Scolding me is one thing, but is it necessary to scold Chen Xue? You, Li Canghai, speak so nicely, but it's all because you didn't get the resources you wanted. Did you not see me killing so many of the Prosperous Peony's main forces on the first floor? If I hadn't suppressed Prosperous Peony for a while, would your Azure Knights have gained the upper hand?"
"So, there's nothing more to discuss?"
"What is there to discuss? It's still up to you," Lin Zhao frowned. "I never said the Azure Knights couldn't take resources. You could have sent people to the higher levels to get them long ago. Did I stop you from taking action? If you don't take the initiative, are you waiting for us, the Scarlet Moon Knights, to yield resources? Aren't we also here to develop?"
"Good, very good!"
Li Canghai nodded and sneered, "Since you've said that, it's enough. The Azure Knights' strategy team will be heading up soon, directly to the ninth floor. I hope you, the White-Clad Alliance Leader, will keep your promise and absolutely not attack our Azure Knights."
"Don't worry."
"Hmph!"
Li Canghai ended the call.
...
Lin Zhao frowned and shared the recording of the conversation with Chen Xue. After watching it, Chen Xue gritted her teeth, her whole body trembling with anger.
"Truly shameless! Compared to Ghost King, that outright scoundrel, you, Li Canghai, are a hypocrite. You speak so harshly, do you really consider us, the Scarlet Moon Knights, as allies?"
"I doubt it ever was."
Lin Zhao said calmly, "Li Canghai is a gluttonous wolf, desperate to bite wherever there's meat. The reason he's so furious is that the resources on the upper levels, which he believed belonged to the Azure Knights, were taken by us. Ah Xue, our situation in Yunshang County is truly dire, with wolves in front and tigers behind..."
"It's only because we are too few."
Chen Xue furrowed her brows. "Ghost King has vast funds and doesn't worry about guild numbers at all. Prosperous Peony offers high salaries, and many of their players treat playing the game like clocking in for work, with Ghost King supporting them. Li Canghai is said to be the owner of an air transportation company in Xicheng and is also very wealthy. Compared to these two, the money our studio earns is a drop in the bucket; we can't confront them head-on."
"It's alright, we'll take it slow,"
Lin Zhao comforted Chen Xue. "Tell everyone to put leveling aside for now and look for bosses. Let's take down one of the Dark Gold bosses on the seventh floor first, and we won't lose out."
"Mm-hmm!"
Shortly after, Mo Yin posted a coordinate in the team channel, marking the location of one of the bosses on the seventh floor. Everyone immediately began to assemble. As they all arrived, Lin Zhao's gaze swept forward to a man standing amidst a dense swirling vortex. He was a boss wielding two broken swords, clad in armor, with blood-red eyes. The next moment, his stats were shared in the team channel:
【Broken Sword Chen Ye】 (Dark Gold Boss)
Level: 57
Attack: ???
Defense: ???
HP: ???
Skills: ???
Description: Chen Ye, once one of the great generals under Sword Dust, the Chaos Sword God. Chen Ye was a sword master who awakened an Immortal-grade Sword Heart. However, in a great battle, he was defeated by a thirteenth-realm demon realm sword cultivator. From then on, Chen Ye broke his two swords and lived in reclusion among the mountains until Sword Dust was annihilated. Only then did he finally arrive at the Chaos Temple, vowing to guard it until death, unmoving.
...
"His attack power is likely formidable."
Lin Zhao, holding the Qing Lu Sword, slowly stepped forward. "We can't see his stats or skills, so there's nothing more to say. Let's fight first. As usual, Chen Xue, record the boss's skill cooldowns and mechanics, you'll be in charge of commanding. I'll maintain aggro, and Qing Ning, remember to heal me. Don't let me fall."
"Got it."
Chen Xue and Qing Ning nodded.
The next moment, Lin Zhao raised his long sword and unleashed sword energy, crashing into the Broken Sword Chen Ye, turning into an afterimage. A series of damage skills followed, and then he was repelled over ten meters by a sweeping sword strike from the boss. But just as Broken Sword Chen Ye was about to pursue, with a "chiss," the flying sword Ming Yue pierced the boss's shoulder, coating him with frost and making his movements sluggish.
"Hmm?!"
Broken Sword Chen Ye frowned slightly. "A celestial-grade flying sword? Though its grade is laughably low, its foundation is profound... Who are you, the direct disciple of some renowned orthodox sect?"
"Sigh..."
Lin Zhao was speechless, unsure how to answer. He could only continue to hack away and say, "If I tell you my sect, I fear you'd be scared to death!"
"Insolence!"
Broken Sword Chen Ye's broken sword descended from the air, delivering a heavy blow to Lin Zhao, and then he laughed heartily, "In my eyes, there is only Lord Sword Dust! All others are outside my vision!"
"Serves you right for being crippled by a thirteenth-realm demon realm sword cultivator!"
Lin Zhao fiercely struck the boss's chest with his Qian Kun Yi Zhi sword. I've personally killed a thirteenth-realm demon realm sword cultivator, and you, Chen Ye, dare to be so arrogant!?
Not far away, Ding Chi, Luo Man, Zhang Jun, and others stood quietly, listening to the dialogue between Lin Zhao and the boss. Their expressions were blank, all thinking their boss was too chuunibyo. Only Chen Xue smiled without a word. She had done her homework later, understanding the final evolution of the beta test story through various channels, and knew why the saying "Lin Baiyi of Xueyu Tianchi, who in the world doesn't know you" circulated. It was because that white-clad Lin Shuai truly deserved it, and everything he had done for the world was so inspiring.
And now, the one holding the Qing Lu Sword, constantly maneuvering against the boss and trying to gain an advantage, was indeed that Lin Baiyi. This made Chen Xue somewhat dazed. This Lin Zhao, that Lin Zhao, they gradually merged in her mind, and Chen Xue developed a different feeling towards Lin Zhao. This person... might actually not be bad?
...
"Ah Xue!"
Lin Zhao said while fighting the boss, "Have you recorded the skill cooldowns? Let everyone join in. I can't hold on alone. I don't have the skill to solo it..."
"Ah?!"
Chen Xue snapped out of her reverie, her pretty face flushing, "I'm recording, I'm recording. I'll start commanding soon..."
Lin Zhao groaned. He was being battered by the boss's two broken swords, looking bruised and battered. What was happening now? Even Chen Xue had become so unreliable? As expected, the entire Scarlet Moon Knights still had to be managed by me!
Shortly after, Ding Chi, Zhang Jun, Rong Xing, Luo Man, and others joined the battle one by one. The two high-damage dealers also began to output from a distance, while Lin Zhao held the front line with strong aggro. For a time, the Broken Sword Chen Ye, who should have been able to fight a hundred or even a thousand enemies, was actually held in check by the ten-person team of the Scarlet Moon Knights. They couldn't help it; the Broken Sword Chen Ye's enraged strike could instantly kill anyone in Yunshang County, but it couldn't kill this Lin Zhao. If his moves couldn't be broken, he could only wait for death.
In less than ten minutes, Broken Sword Chen Ye let out a mournful cry and his body slowly fell to the ground, dropping a pile of gold coins, equipment, and other items.
"Rustle..."
Just then, figures moved behind them. Some people from the Azure Knights arrived, Li Canghai among them. He glided forward with his long sword, his gaze falling on the loot dropped by the recently defeated boss, filled with greed.
"They've arrived..."
Lin Zhao calmly waved his hand, gathering all the boss's loot into his inventory, and turned to face the group from the Azure Knights, smiling. "We've finally been waiting for you. If the Azure Knights hadn't come, we would have been constantly worried about the Prosperous Peony people showing up. We always felt a chill down our backs. It's good that you're here now."
Li Canghai's expression was complicated. He secretly cursed, "Damn it, how shameless! To completely turn the tables and push back all the criticism with a single sentence. In front of so many of his subordinates, Li Canghai still had to maintain his image as alliance leader. Moreover, in the hearts of the Azure Knights, Li Canghai had always been portrayed as chivalrous and virtuous. If he were to openly contend for someone else's spoils, wouldn't he lose face entirely?"
Thus, Li Canghai's lips twitched, and he said, "You guys fight a bit slower, okay? At least leave us from the Azure Knights a morsel, otherwise... my brothers might complain about me."
"It's alright, boss!"
Unexpectedly, among the crowd, a level 47 Sword Master named "Bu Su Li Ren," whom Li Canghai had brought, chuckled carelessly. "Since we're allies, let's not quibble over such things. Alliance Leader Baiyi indeed has the ability to take down a Dark Gold boss with so few people. We are all genuinely impressed by this."
"Mm."
The others smiled slightly, their expressions somewhat awkward. In fact, among the people Li Canghai had brought, only Bu Su Li Ren had recently signed a contract with the Azure Knights. The rest were his trusted confidants. But at this moment, Li Canghai couldn't scold him. Bu Su Li Ren was a talented individual, strong in maneuvering and combat awareness. After joining the Azure Knights, he had quickly become a core member of the team and got along well with the others. For the sake of guild unity, Li Canghai could not bring himself to fall out with him.
"Thank you!"
Lin Zhao clasped his hands from a distance towards Bu Su Li Ren, smiling. "This young brother has praised me so much that I feel a bit embarrassed."
Chen Xue rolled her eyes. Lin Zhao's earlier move to turn the tables had actually made Chen Xue cheer inwardly. One had to deal with shameless people like Li Canghai in a similarly shameless manner. But as for Lin Zhao becoming embarrassed just because he was praised, Chen Xue absolutely did not believe it.
Bu Su Li Ren also clasped his hands in return with a polite smile, "We are all brothers in the martial world, no need to be so polite!"
Chen Xue sighed, feeling as though each guild had a fool.
...
"There's still one more Dark Gold boss on this floor."
Lin Zhao, holding the Qing Lu Sword, smiled slightly. "Alliance Leader Li Canghai, please hurry and find and defeat it. I'll take my people up to the eighth floor and clear the way for you."