A clearing in the forest within the secret realm map.
A group of core players from Sheng Shi Mu Dan gathered. Ghost King recounted how he had agreed to Shen Xingchen's tacit alliance with the Crimson Moon Knights, immediately causing everyone present to look horrified.
"Oh, no!"
Van Wang Zhi Xue put on an annoyed expression, stamping his feet and beating his chest. "My King has fallen for Shen Xingchen's scheme!"
"What?!"
Ghost King was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
"It's simple!"
Van Wang Zhi Xue said, "Currently, there are three major powers in Yunshang County. Among them, the Crimson Moon Knights are the strongest, almost capable of crushing the Azure Knights on the open battlefield. Our Sheng Shi Mu Dan ranks third, the weakest among the top three. My King must have read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, right? The Crimson Moon Knights are now Cao Cao, the Azure Knights are Sun Quan, and we are Liu Bei. Now that Cao Cao wants to attack Sun Quan, why should we, as Liu Bei, help Cao Cao attack Sun Quan?"
"Exactly..."
Bi Yi Jian Zhong frowned and said, "Liu Bei only attacked Sun Quan once, and as a result, was burned by Lu Xun's fire that destroyed eight hundred miles of interconnected camps, losing seven hundred thousand elites from Shu. A complete defeat. Why did my King agree to an alliance like this with Shen Xingchen?"
"Yeah!"
Someone egged them on, "Our King is foolish, bound to lose! Bound to lose!"
"Alas, our King, who was wise his whole life, is about to be defeated here!"
"Damn it!"
Ghost King listened to everyone's advice, frowning. "All of you shut up! Don't I understand such a simple logic? I didn't want to either, but Shen Xingchen is too beautiful. I agreed before she even acted cute."
"Alas..."
Van Wang Zhi Xue turned to face the north and sighed, looking up at the sky. "My King is ignorant! Our great Han dynasty, which has spanned over four hundred years, is about to be lost in my King's hands. How can one not feel heartbroken and devastated!!!"
...
Evening, seven o'clock.
Li Canghai and Xi He Da Guo Kui led over 2000 people from the Azure Knights back into the secret realm map from the Southeast Que. They did not dare to enter the Crimson Moon Knights' occupied territory, nor did they encroach upon Sheng Shi Mu Dan's occupied areas. They only seized some leveling grounds from small and medium-sized guilds, proceeding with extreme caution.
However, at seven twenty, Lu Han, leading the Youth Team, and Shao Nian Xu Du, leading the White Clad Team, attacked the left flank of the Azure Knights from the west.
What was even more critical was that at seven thirty, Sheng Shi Mu Dan suddenly made their move. Ghost King personally led Van Wang Zhi Xue, Bi Yi Jian Zhong, Fei Long Zai Tian, and others to attack the Azure Knights' core from the south to the north. Under this pincer attack, the Azure Knights began to collapse rapidly. Li Canghai was furious.
He drew his sword, spurred his horse to the front of the formation, and pointed at the people from Sheng Shi Mu Dan, roaring, "Ghost King, are you out of your mind? Helping the Crimson Moon Knights fight us? Have you forgotten the camaraderie we shared over mutton skewers?"
"Times have changed."
Ghost King's brows were tightly knit. "President Li, I'm just doing this to ensure Sheng Shi Mu Dan can go further."
"You're spouting nonsense!"
Li Canghai cursed, but he couldn't out-argue them. For some reason, Van Wang Zhi Xue, Bi Yi Jian Zhong, and the others behind Ghost King not only charged ferociously but also cursed at the Azure Knights, "You rats of Eastern Wu, you dark-bearded brat, avenge my second brother Guan Yu! Avenge my third brother Zhang Fei! I, Liu Bei, swear to the heavens that I will dig up your Sun family's ancestral graves for three generations to quell the hatred in my heart!"
Li Canghai was bewildered. What did Guan Yu have to do with him? What did Zhang Fei have to do with him? Why were these idiots from Sheng Shi Mu Dan trying to dig up his ancestral graves for no reason? Could it be that these people's brains were all squeezed by a door?
In the end, the Azure Knights were defeated with resentment. Li Canghai led over a thousand people out of the secret realm map, no longer daring to mention entering it. This time, they were truly scared and needed to focus on development to make a comeback.
...
In the secret realm map, in conjunction with Sheng Shi Mu Dan, Lu Han and Shao Nian Xu Du could basically handle everything. Sheng Shi Mu Dan took 10% of the secret realm resources, while the Crimson Moon Knights took about 25%. They were well-fed and satisfied. At this pace, within a week, the Crimson Moon Knights would be able to significantly widen the gap between themselves and other guilds.
Lin Zhao and Chen Xue were responsible for organizing personnel to tackle bosses and scour the entire Yunshang County map. Throughout the night, they defeated 2 Gold-tier and 5 Dark Gold-tier bosses. Some equipment was obtained, but the item to establish a guild was still nowhere to be seen. However, there was no rush; what was meant to come would come. Meanwhile, Shen Xingchen diligently led people to recruit for the Crimson Moon Logistics Group, signing up over a thousand people in one night. Shen Xingchen was meticulous and managed to acquire all the high-level gathering and production specialists in Yunshang County.
During this process, Shen Xingchen's personal charm played the most significant role. The title of the number one beauty in the national server and one of the founders of Xinghe was enough to make many people join the Crimson Moon Knights with great admiration. This was also why Lin Zhao had risked a one-on-one duel with Shen Xingchen back then. With Shen Xingchen's arrival, many things naturally fell into place.
...
After a busy night, they had a late-night snack and retired to rest.
The next morning, they woke up early.
Wang Ju prepared breakfast for seven people and sat down calmly to eat with everyone. She had originally wanted to eat alone in the kitchen, but Lin Zhao felt that was not right. Women were considered lowly and not allowed at the table, which was a bad custom that should have been abolished long ago. Furthermore, Wang Ju's reluctance to eat with them stemmed from her own low self-esteem, but in the end, Lin Zhao called her to the table, with the reason being that eating together made food taste better.
Shen Xingchen was not picky. She ate meat buns and drank white rice porridge, not finding the breakfast meager at all. On the contrary, as she drank her porridge, she observed the situation in the studio. From Ding Chi, she learned about the past experiences of Sister Ju and Xiao Ju Zi, and finally understood why Lin Zhao had been acting this way. In fact, she agreed with him; if everyone in the world could look at the world with the same softness and goodwill as Lin Zhao, the entire world would be much better. Unfortunately, such people were rare, like phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Wang Ju was still very reserved, sipping her porridge in small sips. She secretly glanced at Shen Xingchen, who was sitting next to Lin Zhao, and immediately felt a pang of nervousness. She had initially thought girls like Chen Xue and Luo Man were already great beauties, but now there was another one. This Shen Xingchen was even more outrageously beautiful, like a fairy descended from heaven. Moreover, from the outside appearance, she could see that Shen Xingchen's family background and resources were far beyond comparison to a woman like herself who had unpleasant memories. They were from completely different worlds.
Therefore, Wang Ju maintained her distance; she could not get too close.
"Tsk tsk..."
Ding Chi looked at his phone and said, "Shen Xingchen, the news of you joining the Crimson Moon Knights has finally spread on the national server forum. It's common knowledge now."
"Oh, really?"
Shen Xingchen was indifferent and smiled, "If it has spread, let it spread. I don't care."
"By the way."
Ding Chi said, "Recently, there's been a poll on the forum to select the beauties of the national server. The top four beauties of the national server have already been chosen. Do you care about this?"
"Ah?"
Shen Xingchen's small mouth opened slightly. This... she really couldn't help but care. She asked with a smile, "Who are they?"
"Here, look for yourself."
Ding Chi waved his hand, and a series of data and images were holographically projected above his phone—
No. 1: Bu Jian Xing Kong, National Server's Top Mage, former Vice Leader of Xinghe, later joined the Crimson Moon Knights. Overall rating of looks, figure, and voice is first.
No. 2: Leng Yan, Leader of Sheng Tian Alliance, National Server's Leg Goddess, beautiful face, unmatched figure.
No. 3: Xue Qian Cheng, former Vice Leader of Cang Long Guild, later joined the Crimson Moon Knights. Looks, figure, and voice are not to be underestimated.
No. 4: Mo Chen Xue, Sheng Shi Mu Dan Guild's number one beauty, delicate and soft, with a sweet voice.
...
"Not bad."
Chen Xue glanced at it and smiled, "You made the list, and even in the top three!"
"Ah?"
Luo Man widened her beautiful eyes. "What about me... why am I not there? Am I not good-looking?"
"You're further down."
Ding Chi waved his hand, and the top four beauties list transformed into the national server's top ten beauties list. Luo Man appeared in ninth place.
Lin Zhao smiled slightly and teased, "Perhaps it's because your chest is a little small, deducting a lot of points."
"I..."
Luo Man pouted her little lips. "All beauties have flat chests..."
Ding Chi silently pointed at Shen Xingchen.
"..."
Luo Man didn't want to speak for a moment. Who would have thought that there was a monster like Shen Xingchen in the world? Exquisite and perfect facial features, a curvy figure, a pair of fair and slender jade legs. Even these were not enough, her chest was also very large, and she was intelligent and from a wealthy family. She occupied 2900 out of the 3000 favors in the world. One couldn't reason with someone like her.
...
In the early morning, Yunshang County was filled with a peaceful atmosphere.
Lin Zhao repaired his equipment, replenished his potions, and left the city shoulder-to-shoulder with Shen Xingchen and Chen Xue. The numerous affairs of the Crimson Moon Logistics Group had been mostly arranged. Shen Xingchen had set the rules, and now others would execute them. Therefore, she was free and would accompany Lin Zhao to tackle bosses starting today. After all, the title of the National Server's Top Mage had to be maintained, and it would be a golden signboard for the Crimson Moon Knights in the future.
In Lin Zhao's heart, ever since Shen Xingchen arrived, he had been planning. He would strive to win the title of National Server's Top Sword Immortal. Shen Xingchen would surely secure the title of National Server's Top Mage. Chen Xue was intelligent and had strong game comprehension. If the guild cultivated her well, she could become the National Server's Top Knight. With three National Server's Top titles, the Crimson Moon Knights would rise day by day in the Huaxia region until they reached their zenith!
In the early morning, the sunlight was gentle.
The three of them walked together on the East Gate Bridge.
"Finally, this day has arrived..."
Chen Xue, holding her long spear, smiled, "No more worrying about being blocked at the bridgehead and not daring to leave the city~~~"
Lin Zhao smiled and nodded. "After enduring the hardships, the moon is finally visible."
"..."
Shen Xingchen frowned and said, "I truly cannot relate. After all, I have never been blocked inside the city. Thinking about it makes me feel quite sorry for you."
Lin Zhao raised his hand, drew his Qing Lu sword, and smiled, "Let's go, it's time to fight a boss."
"Mm."
Shen Xingchen followed behind Lin Zhao out of the city, stepping into the Butterfly Forest, bathed in the morning light.