Chapter 1 Hall of the Guild Headquarters at Clementine Fortress

The hall in the center of the Clementine Fortress guild headquarters, about 10 by 10 yards, was where the internal members of Angel Corps gathered.

The layout here was very simple. Angyi Tianshi, clad in a tight-fitting, azure leather armor and holding a longbow, walked in and asked Lieyan, who was standing to the side, "How familiar are you with the skills of top-tier classes?"

"We've just gained a little understanding. Recently, I've been watching combat videos of Lei Su, Cuiduan Daoguang, and others, but there's still a gap," Lieyan said with some shame. In terms of understanding top-tier classes, the players of Niu Ren Tribe were far ahead of them.

"Can't we get more information about top-tier classes from Niu Ren Tribe?" Angyi Tianshi frowned. Skill information for top-tier classes and the locations of some Sub Legendary and Legendary-grade equipment were all secrets of Niu Ren Tribe. Niu Ren Tribe controlled these things very strictly, and it was basically impossible for Angel Corps to obtain them, unless someone from the top ranks of Niu Ren Tribe defected. However, no matter how Angel Corps' intelligence organization operated, they couldn't poach top-tier experts from Niu Ren Tribe. They had poached quite a few second-tier members, but how could truly confidential information fall into the hands of second-tier members?

Lieyan shook his head.

"Is Sha Ke back yet?" Angyi Tianshi asked.

"He's already back and on his way here," Lieyan said.

After a while, a player walked into the hall. He was about 1.7 meters tall and slender, a bit different from the handsome appearance of ordinary elves. The skin on his face was already loose and full of wrinkles, making him look somewhat old.

This somewhat aged player was the famous Butcher Sha Ke!

The reason he was called Butcher Sha Ke was because when he was fighting monsters or leveling up, he would absolutely not allow others to touch the monsters or items he had set his sights on, and he would often slaughter all the players nearby.

He was already over fifty years old, but he walked steadily and vigorously. As an elf, his skin had improved a lot, but it was still covered with wrinkles. His hands were very thin, without an ounce of flesh, but they gave a feeling of great strength, like an eagle's claws. A pair of eyes were deeply sunken in his sockets, the corners filled with wrinkles, but the black pupils were not as turbid as those of ordinary old people. On the contrary, they were very bright, and his gaze was very sharp.

"Sha Ke, you're back. How did the mission go?" Angyi Tianshi said with a cordial smile.

"It's done." Sha Ke glanced at Angyi Tianshi and nodded slightly. He didn't care for Angyi Tianshi's hypocrisy. If it weren't for the generous reward Angyi Tianshi paid him, he wouldn't have stayed in Angel Corps at all. Sha Ke himself preferred to go solo, but he had to admit that joining a guild could make his path to advancement much smoother. After all, sometimes, no matter how strong a person was, they couldn't compare to a large guild like Angel Corps.

"I heard it was a Legendary quest? The rewards should be good."

"Mm, Demon Shadow Dance," Sha Ke said.

Hearing Sha Ke's words, Angyi Tianshi's heart skipped a beat. He was very unhappy with Sha Ke's cold attitude, but now, he had to win over these expert-level figures. Therefore, he still smiled and said, "Demon Shadow Dance, is that an advanced Shadow Dance?"

"No, it's just a high-level title. I heard that Niu Ren Tribe's Kuangzei Nieyan is a Holy Shadow Dance, and Xiao Bu Shi Wei Wo Shi Zhan Ying Wu is a War Shadow Dance, roughly the same."

Angyi Tianshi raised an eyebrow and asked, "Where did you hear the news that Kuangzei Nieyan is a Holy Shadow Dance and Xiao Bu Shi Wei Wo Shi Zhan Ying Wu is a War Shadow Dance?" Niu Ren Tribe hadn't leaked any information.

"I accidentally overheard an NPC say it," Sha Ke said. Angyi Tianshi didn't even know this news. Angel Corps' intelligence work was terrible.

Angyi Tianshi's heart sank. He didn't know how to deal with Niu Ren Tribe's Shadow Dancers. Having just Sha Ke alone was not enough. He sent people to search for experts in the Satrin Empire, offering high salaries, but the effect was very limited. Although people like Sha Ke had joined, it was still very difficult to compete with Niu Ren Tribe in terms of top-tier players.

"Boss, Piao Lai Piao Qu and Can Ren have arrived."

Just as the three of them were talking, two players walked into the guild hall.

Can Ren was a Tauren Shaman whose strength was no less than Angyi Tianshi's or Sha Ke's. His strength was definitely among the top three in Angel Corps. When fighting Angyi Tianshi himself, he could maintain a win rate of over 80%. When fighting Sha Ke, he could maintain a win rate of about 30%. The reason he lost to Sha Ke was due to class counters.

Can Ren had a very high status in Angel Corps. Angyi Tianshi had even thought about letting Can Ren be the vice-chairman of Angel Corps, but Can Ren had refused, because he didn't want to be too involved in guild affairs. He was the fourth to advance to a top-tier class in Angel Corps, but the Shaman's advancement quest was much more difficult than other classes' quests. They had their own unique system.

"The five of us top-tier classes are finally all here," Lieyan said excitedly.

"We're far behind Niu Ren Tribe. The latest news from Niu Ren Tribe is that Shili Huasha and Yi Chui Dingqing have just completed their class advancement quests and have also advanced to top-tier classes. That makes twenty already, four times as many as us," Can Ren said.

Angyi Tianshi felt a headache coming on. It was extremely difficult for Angel Corps to add even one top-tier class. They had been working hard for so long and had only added two. There were many people lined up waiting to advance to top-tier classes, but the failure rate was as high as 99%. It was like a difficult labor, they couldn't squeeze them out no matter how hard they tried. On the other hand, news kept coming from Niu Ren Tribe about who had successfully advanced to a top-tier class. The gap was widening.

It was so difficult to catch up with Niu Ren Tribe. Angyi Tianshi couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.

"Although they have so many top-tier classes, it won't be that easy for them to come to Clementine. I already have a way to deal with them. Defending the city is definitely not a problem," Angyi Tianshi said.

"You've got the giant cannons sorted out?" Can Ren was stunned for a moment and asked.

"It's already in the late stages. I'm not talking about the giant cannons," Angyi Tianshi shook his head.

Can Ren and the others were a little curious. What method would Angyi Tianshi use to deal with the top-tier classes? The more they came into contact with top-tier classes, the more they felt their power. Niu Ren Tribe had so many Magisters. Clementine Fortress might not be able to defend against them.

"Now that the five of us are here, I plan to gather the brothers below and go to Fingeroth to explore. Get ready."

The other four nodded.

Angyi Tianshi sent a message to the players below Angel Corps. Soon, the elites of Angel Corps quickly gathered towards Clementine Fortress.

Nieyan was flying through the sky on the Darkwing Dragon. He checked the Darkwing Dragon's injuries. Most of the wounds on the Darkwing Dragon's body had healed, and dense scales had grown out. He was surprised to find that these scales had undergone a significant change compared to before. They were darker and more crystal clear than before.

The Darkwing Dragon's size was also slightly larger than before, and its muscles were stronger.

Although it still exuded a burst of dark aura, there seemed to be some death aura in the dark aura, a corrosive power. This power was very subtle and was covered by the dark aura, but as the Darkwing Dragon's master, Nieyan could clearly feel the difference.

He didn't expect that after suffering an injury, the Darkwing Dragon would undergo such a change.

It was possible that the death energy of the Necromancer Bodman and the dark aura emitted by the Darkwing Dragon were from the same source, so the Necromancer's death energy had not directly killed it. Now, it had instead had a stimulating effect on the Darkwing Dragon.

Although the Darkwing Dragon was still in a lightly injured state, it was much stronger than before and had faint signs of advancing. If it successfully advanced, then the Darkwing Dragon would become an eighth-tier flying mount, which made Nieyan very excited. In his previous life, the flying mount with the highest rank seemed to be just a ninth-tier Griffin, which was held by Po Tian at the time. There was also an insurmountable gap between Griffins and Dragons. Dragons were higher creatures, while Griffins were just ordinary low-level creatures.

Only two or three minutes away from Clementine, in order not to be discovered by the people of Angel Corps, he put away the Darkwing Dragon and jumped down from the sky.

He didn't dare to land directly on the ground like Cuiduan Daoguang and others. A few seconds before landing, he used a Feather Fall skill to slow down his speed.

After reaching the ground, Nieyan immediately activated Gale Steps and flew towards Clementine Fortress.

"Nieyan, are you alright? I just received news that Angyi Tianshi is gathering all the elites of the guild and gathering towards Clementine Fortress," Guo Huai sent a message to Nieyan anxiously. He thought that Nieyan had been discovered after entering Clementine Fortress.

"I haven't entered Clementine Fortress yet. What is Angyi Tianshi gathering the players for?" Nieyan frowned. His timing was really bad.

"Ji Feng hasn't sent back any news yet. Angyi Tianshi didn't tell them. Maybe they're going to run a dungeon or explore a new map." Hearing Nieyan say that he hadn't entered Clementine Fortress yet, Guo Huai breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Angel Corps has already gathered so many experts. You shouldn't enter Clementine Fortress for the time being."

Nieyan thought for a while and said, "Now that I'm here, how can I go back? It wouldn't hurt to meet them."

Guo Huai understood that he couldn't stop Nieyan's decision. He could only let Ji Feng closely monitor the situation in Clementine and report any abnormalities immediately. For some reason, he had a sense of unease in his heart.

Nieyan ran across the wilderness and entered a canyon area. In the center of the distant canyon, the towering walls of Clementine Fortress were already vaguely visible.