A Gathering of Ten Thousand, Everyone's Thoughts

He paused, then continued, "A member encountered a special NPC while doing guild daily quests."

"The man said he originally belonged to a native guild, which was one of the few large guilds at the time."

"Unfortunately, their guild headquarters was later attacked by Warcraft, and their guild crystal was shattered."

"Without the crystals, the guild cannot supply its members with cultivation energy, so it has no choice but to disband."

"Our investigation revealed that those guild crystals are actually another form of 'guild upgrade tokens'."

Even if the crystal breaks, it won't disappear completely; instead, it will break into several fragments.

"It's said that collecting all the fragments might allow you to exchange them for a complete upgrade token."

"If we can get the fragments, even if we can't collect the whole piece, we might be able to reduce the points required for the exchange."

"At that time, our guild will have the opportunity to surpass Century Imperial City and become the first guild in the entire server to advance to level two!"

"Dragon Diagram Jinghe" became more and more excited as he spoke, his eyes shining.

"So, what does this have to do with me?" Zhang Mingzhen interrupted his long-winded explanation, inwardly impatient—could he be asking him to help find the fragments?

"Following the clues given by that special NPC, we finally located the ruins of the destroyed indigenous guild, not far outside Shuangyue Town."

"But after on-site investigation, it was discovered that the area is now a gathering place for high-level Warcraft, and they are all level 38 monsters."

"Oh, is that so?" Zhang Mingzhen became somewhat interested.

"Dragon Diagram Jinghe" looked at him and advised, "We suspect that this place might be just what you, Great God, need."

"I heard you've been grinding monsters in the wild lately."

Zhang Mingzhen never expected this to become a topic of conversation.

No one talks about others grinding levels, but you become the center of attention when you kill a few monsters.

However, the monsters in the level 38 wilderness area are indeed of a higher level than those in his current leveling spot.

Even if it's used as a tool to clear monsters, it's a win-win situation.

"I can go with you."

"But let me make this clear first: I'm just going there to gain experience. What you do is none of my business. Don't drag me into your affairs, and I won't help you with this quest."

"Dragon Diagram Jinghe" was overjoyed upon hearing this. "Of course! We would be very grateful if you were just willing to help clear out the monsters on the way!"

On this day, a group of players headed towards a valley.

Most people on the road were riding wildebeest rented from the Shuangyue Town post station.

These people were players from the Dragon Diagram Guild, and they were very excited.

Zhang Mingzhen was unaware of the rental price; he simply sat comfortably on the back of the Azure-Scaled Dragon Python.

He didn't let the dragon-python take flight because he wanted to hear the guild leader, "Dragon Diagram Frenzy," explain the details of the destination.

Even so, its speed on the ground was still much faster than that of a wildebeest, drawing envious glances from guild members along the way.

"Chongxing, I heard you're inquiring about the whereabouts of flying pets."

As "Dragon Diagram Frenzy" led the way, he said, "Our guild has also gathered some relevant information. I'll have someone organize the coordinates for you later."

He naturally wanted to maintain a good relationship with this expert, after all, the other party had done him a great favor this time.

As expected, the time I saved the other person before has now come in handy.

It's a pity the other side didn't want to participate in the guild tournament; otherwise, they would have won.

To be honest, his financial resources are not inferior to those of Century Imperial City.

They just weren't as extravagant and wasteful as the other party.

That would be perfect.

"I do need to hunt a lot of flying creatures for some testing recently, thank you for your help." Zhang Mingzhen nodded in response.

He needs to collect the fragments of the "Flying Wings" and piece them together to form the Flying Wings.

He just hoped he wouldn't end up like that damned XiXi, piecing together fragment after fragment, until in the end there would be fragments of fragments (completely real), fragments of fragments of fragments.

You might only earn a little money if you completely drain your social circle and let everyone know you used a certain app.

During this period, in addition to obtaining coordinates from certain channels, he also frequently released the Azure-Scaled Dragon Python to search for traces of Warcraft in the sky.

Experiments have shown that the higher the level and the stronger the Warcraft, the greater the probability of it dropping "Wings of Flight) "—of course, this is only relative.

Nearly a hundred flying creatures have fallen at his hands so far. These types of Warcraft rarely live in groups, making them quite time-consuming to find.

Without relying on multiple sources to provide location information, searching on his own would only be more difficult.

Nearly a hundred Warcraft were attacked, but only eleven feather fragments were obtained, resulting in a drop rate of over 10%.

That's already pretty good.

However, there is still a long way to go before we can achieve free flight.

After the group had been traveling for about an hour, the mountain range suddenly narrowed, revealing a deep ravine.

Dragon Diagram Frenzy gazed at the valley entrance and exclaimed, "This is it!"

"I've heard that there was no canyon here in the past; it only appeared after the guild's former stronghold was destroyed—that fierce battle back then was probably even more brutal than the legends say."

Upon seeing Zhang Mingzhen frowned, sensing a great danger lurking inside.

A sense of crisis began to spread from the rift valley.

He asked with a hint of doubt, "It looks very dangerous in here... You only brought this few people?"

The accompanying Dragon Diagram Guild members numbered only a dozen or so, a size smaller than even a typical dungeon team.

"Boss, you don't know this," Dragon Diagram Frenzy explained, "Everyone in a guild knows that the guild leader possesses a summoning secret technique that allows him to issue a summons order to all members from anywhere in the region, limited to once per day."

"If we send out our entire force this time, it will be too conspicuous and easily attract the attention of other guilds."

That sounded rather harsh.

Zhang Mingzhen felt that the other person's words were loaded with sarcasm, implying that he was a helpless lone traveler.

After all, this is a matter of so-called "common sense," which those in guilds naturally understand.

He naturally didn't care about such a small matter, but the other party would also suffer because of the guild.

He was absolutely certain of this.

After saying "Dragon Diagram Frenzy," he walked to an open area and began chanting incantations.

A minute later, a beam of azure light surged forth from beneath his feet, transforming into a massive temporary magic array.

As the light faded, the figures of members of the "Dragon Diagram Guild" appeared one after another within the magic circle.

They had clearly made arrangements in advance; the number of people appearing in each group was roughly the same, and they quickly lined up and waited as soon as they stepped out of the magic circle.

Finally, with as many as ten thousand players gathered, the magic circle dissipated.

When the number of people exceeds ten thousand, it becomes boundless and limitless.

They came out in an orderly fashion and formed a battle formation along the outer edge of the valley.

Team after team, with a rotation channel between each team.

This is clearly the result of training by an expert.

It's not the kind of chaotic, headlong rush seen in a director's film.

These teams are all accustomed to rotating combat, and that rotation is the essence of their strategy.

The major difference between a professional player and a Rogue Players is that the former can pull Canxue minions to the back in time to prevent them from dying.

Rogue Players often fail to do this basic thing; they always rush in together, resulting in the deaths of many.

"The guild still needs people to manage its daily operations, and some brothers need to level up quickly. Right now, we can only Chongxing 10,000 people. We hope you won't find it too meager, Lord Chongxing," said Dragon Diagram Frenzy with a beaming smile.

He was actually demonstrating his abilities.

To mobilize tens of thousands of people at once—that's the kind of power everyone dreams of in real life!

A person who can command 5 to 10 people can act arrogantly and domineeringly.

Those junior leaders and section chiefs are all incredibly pretentious.

He was afraid that others wouldn't fear him.

Zhang Mingzhen, however, was completely oblivious to this.

He even secretly decided: the next dungeon run will be a no-go for the Dragon Diagram Guild.

Because the other party felt there were too many people.

Let him have more people and go do those dungeons.

The other party hasn't realized that the new era is dominated by elites and geniuses.

It's no longer about having a large number of people and being powerful.

I wonder if the president will regret his words later.

Subsequently, from among these ten thousand people, a team of one hundred was selected to continue deeper into the valley.

The map label was then updated: the place was named "Bloodwind Gorge".

"I encountered level 38 monsters here before, in large groups, and I didn't dare go any further."

The speaker was a player named "The Night Watchman Is Also the Well Digger," who was walking in the middle of the group, protected by more than a dozen other players.

He was the first to discover the mission here.

Before the words were finished, a black dot suddenly appeared on the horizon, rapidly approaching—it turned out to be a flock of vulture-like flying beasts.

Zhang Mingzhen skipped a beat: This would save him the trouble of searching.

With flying monsters lurking around, it's hard to guarantee that there aren't any leader-level monsters present.

No wonder they wanted my help; just this group of flying Warcraft that used the valley terrain could block tens of thousands of people.

After all, they have almost no physical limitations.

Moreover, the mountain path is narrow.

One man can hold the pass.

These monsters are already level 38; if they have a leader, they'll be even stronger.

The chances of losing a feather are probably not small.

"You may leave. I'll stay here and deal with these birds."

Flying monsters are quite troublesome for ordinary players because they often occupy high altitudes and are difficult to reach.

However, Zhang Mingzhen was accompanied by Azure-Scaled Dragon Python, which was capable of taking to the air to fight.

"Alright, let's head into the canyon to search for the guild ruins. Please be careful, Chongxing."

Dragon Diagram Frenzy didn't say much either.

Given this person's strength, it's probably those vultures who should be worried.

[Bloodthirsty Vulture (Level 38)]

[Intelligence 893]

[Physical Defense 879]

[Defense 903]

[Special Skill - Blood Rain: Attacks inflict a weakening effect, reducing the healing received by the target by 80%.]

As time went by, the Azure-Scaled Dragon Python and Zhang Mingzhen understanding.

At his command, the giant python carried him soaring into the sky, heading straight for the flock of vultures...

On the other side, Dragon Diagram Frenzy led his team, one group after another, into the depths of the canyon.

A typical long, snaking queue.

This is a major taboo in military operations; it makes one very vulnerable to being killed.

They quickly discovered the location of the ruins.

That former native guild stronghold is now occupied by vulture monsters from outside, splattered with dark brown bloodstains, scattered with unknown bones, withered grass, and dilapidated buildings.

"Dragon Diagram Frenzy" immediately ordered, "Everyone, spread out in five-person teams to search for the quest items. Be careful and report back in the Legion channel at any time."

"President, we've discovered some strange wild fruits that we can't identify. The system is indicating insufficient knowledge."

"Should we bring it back?"

"Bring it back."

"President, several skeletons have been found on the east side, and they have no identification documents on them."

"Guild Master, we found the old guild's treasure vault, but unfortunately, all the items inside were destroyed by vultures."

"President—we've found the vulture's egg!!!"

Upon seeing the last message, Dragon Diagram Frenzy stood up and urgently ordered the other party to provide the coordinates.

He eventually arrived at a stone chamber where the temperature was significantly higher than the surrounding area.

The room was littered with Bloodthirsty Vulture eggs, the system indicating they were still in the incubation stage.

Dragon Diagram Frenzy was overjoyed: As everyone knows, apart from Chongxing, no player in the entire God's Domain currently possesses a flying mount.

Imagining those figures about to hatch and take flight, Dragon Diagram Frenzy already envisioned the guild's future aerial power—an elite force composed entirely of flying players, enough to dominate the skies.

"Tengchong, take men and collect all the eggs here, leave not a single one!" He issued the plundering order without hesitation.

Just as the last few vulture eggs were being packed into the pack, the entire ruins suddenly trembled violently, as if the earth were roaring.

With a deafening roar as rocks shattered, the enormous, terrifying head of a bird burst forth from the depths of the ruins.

Those ferocious eyes were fixed on Dragon Diagram Frenzy's direction, the ferocity of his gaze almost making Long Tu's legs go weak.

"Quick! Before it completely breaks free, gather everyone and focus fire on its head!"

Dragon Diagram Frenzy suppressed his earlier elation and instantly sobered up—this monster's level was unfathomable, and even his detection abilities had given him no feedback.

In the God's Domain, only targets with a level difference exceeding twenty levels, or those possessing special stealth items or skills, will be undetectable.

Clearly, the giant bird in front of us belongs to the former category.

He is now a level 26 Swordsman, so by that calculation, this monster must be at least level 46.

Many of the guild's Shield Guard stepped forward, attempting to collectively withstand the Vulture King's first attack.

However, with just one flick of its head, the giant bird caused half of the players in the front row to vanish into white light.

Seeing the situation rapidly deteriorating, Longtu Tengchong shouted hoarsely at the guild leader, "We can't hold on! Guild leader, you take the main force and retreat first, go outside and find Boss Chongxing! We, the Shield Guard, will stay here and hold it off!"

"Dragon Diagram Frenzy" was well aware that this was the most rational choice at the moment.

As the guild leader, he consistently ranks among the top five in experience points. If he were to die here, his ranking would inevitably plummet, severely damaging the guild's reputation.

But knowing this is one thing—he personally led the team here, so how could he calmly abandon his companions and retreat alone at this moment?

He, Dragon Diagram Frenzy, was never one to betray his brothers.

It's just death!

"I'll fight this bald bastard to the bitter end today! There are no cowards in the Dragon Diagram Guild! I'll take full responsibility for all the losses today!"

The guild members, who were already shrouded in despair, were filled with fear, especially when they heard that some of them needed to be sacrificed to cover the retreat. They were afraid that they would be the ones left behind.

However, the president's almost reckless declaration actually relieved everyone, and morale soared.

Since they're offering money, there's nothing to fear.

It's not like he's really dead.

The only loss is some experience.

Many people are actually here to make money, not to show off or have fun in this game.

They gave up their jobs, most of them originally worked as food delivery drivers, couriers, or day laborers...

It wasn't a stable job to begin with, and now that I'm earning more in the game, it's safer and more relaxing, so naturally I don't care about the potential losses.