Chapter 1 A Ripple

Shi Feng's words were like a drop of water falling into a silent ocean. While they couldn't create any waves on the surface, the ripples of the drop echoed across the water.

The moment Shi Feng quietly asked his question, both Bai Qingshuang and Water Rose revealed a trace of surprise in their otherwise calm gazes.

This surprise wasn't excitement or elation, nor was it the feeling of finding someone who understood them.

It was simply a hint of astonishment.

They wondered why Shi Feng would know about this.

Soon, the surprise vanished from their eyes, returning to their usual darkness and stillness.

Water Rose and Bai Qingshuang exchanged a glance, and then Water Rose turned to Shi Feng, a faint smile gracing her exquisite face.

"As expected, nothing escapes your notice, Guild Leader. We're not sure exactly how long we lived in that world."

"But according to our calculations, it should be eighty years."

...

"Eighty years?"

Shi Feng couldn't help but gasp, his mind reeling.

He had considered that Water Rose and Bai Qingshuang might have lived in that special world for a considerable amount of time—ten or twenty years wouldn't have been impossible.

But eighty years…

Many people's entire lives were only eighty years long, and Water Rose and Bai Qingshuang had spent every day of those eighty years constantly fighting and killing. Just thinking about it was horrifying.

Eighty years spent alone, the loneliness unimaginable. A normal person would probably have gone mad.

But Water Rose spoke with complete composure, as if she were talking about someone else's experiences, something that had nothing to do with her…

"Eighty years…" Shi Feng quietly looked at Water Rose and Bai Qingshuang, his gaze filled with indescribable complexity. "No wonder I felt like I was looking at monsters."

From the first moment he saw Water Rose and Bai Qingshuang, he felt that they were no longer human.

Now, hearing Water Rose's words, he understood everything.

Eighty years of relentless fighting and killing. Their combat experience was arguably the best in the world. Compared to his ten years of fighting experience in God's Domain, it was nothing. And that was to say nothing of the fact that they were both geniuses.

As he was now, his combat skills were probably like those of a baby compared to Water Rose and Bai Qingshuang.

It was a joke for a baby to try to understand the thoughts and skills of an adult, let alone combat masters like them.

This left Shi Feng unsure whether to feel happy or helpless…

"Guild Leader, Mu Xin from Frost Heaven's Sword just contacted us," Liang Jing suddenly said while Shi Feng was still stunned. "Mu Xin said that she wants Zero Wing to gather in the Fire Dragon Empire's capital today. The maximum number of people allowed is twenty."

"It seems they're finally starting to move," Shi Feng wasn't too surprised, since Duan Hanshan had said that Frost Heaven's Sword would be taking action soon. "Did she tell you their plan?"

"Yes," Liang Jing nodded, her expression slightly grave. "Guild Leader, do we really want to participate in this operation with Frost Heaven's Sword?"

"I wouldn't want to if I could, but the price Frost Heaven's Sword is offering is really hard to refuse," Shi Feng said with a wry smile.

Three slots in the upper zone. That wasn't something you encountered every day. Even the super forces would probably fight tooth and nail for it.

Not to mention that these slots in the upper zone had another great use.

Bai Qingshuang and Water Rose might have gained eighty years of combat experience in that special world, giving them inhuman combat skills, but there was also a huge downside.

On the surface, they had lived in the special world for eighty years, but in reality, only a few days had passed outside. It wasn't a real experience.

The moment they left the special world, their brains were as if they had downloaded eighty years of memories in one go, all flooding into the depths of their minds. This was an unimaginable burden on both their brains and their bodies.

In his previous life, those players who had lived for two or three years in the special world slowly developed problems after they returned. They ended up lying in the hospital for a month, unable to move.

Because digesting these memories was extremely draining on the players' spirits, it wasn't a good thing.

Bai Qingshuang and Water Rose had lived in the special world for eighty years, and he didn't dare imagine how great the backlash would be.

For their safety, he had to take them to the upper zone.

Although the S-rank nutrient potions the guild had in stock now had a great restorative effect on people, they provided too little replenishment for the brain and spirit. There had to be potions that greatly helped the brain and spirit in order to alleviate the drain.

Of all the potions he knew, not even life potions had a good effect on restoring the spirit. The most life potions could do was restore ordinary spiritual drain. This kind of situation, where the brain's reaction exceeded its limit, causing it to overheat and break down like a CPU, was probably beyond their capabilities.

The only possibility was the upper zone.

The upper zone was a special area created by the Green God Corporation. There were too many unknowns inside. S-rank nutrient potions circulating on the market, or even more precious life potions, were just potions that the Green God Corporation had long since eliminated.

"Guild Leader, but Frost Heaven's Sword's ambition is too great this time," Liang Jing couldn't help but say. "If we're not careful, our Zero Wing might be finished…"

"What exactly are they planning to do?" Shi Feng asked, puzzled.

"Their goal this time is to become one of the twelve great guilds of the God's Domain Continent!" Liang Jing said almost word for word.

The twelve great guilds weren't just something players casually talked about.

These were the twelve great guilds recognized by the War God Temple in the entire God's Domain Continent!

If a player guild could become one of the twelve great guilds of the God's Domain Continent, it could enjoy many privileges throughout the entire God's Domain Continent, and even be able to station itself in one of the empires in God's Domain and receive offerings from that empire.

Offerings from an empire!

That alone would be enough to far outstrip other super forces. It could be said that it was a position that all super forces would fight for.

It wasn't easy to compete for this position. You needed to meet a series of conditions to be eligible to compete.

First, you had to compete for the annual Top Ten Newcomer Guilds. Only after becoming one of the Top Ten Newcomer Guilds could you compete for the twelve candidacy seats. However, because this was the first time God's Domain guilds were competing and it was the end of the year when the competition for the twelve candidacy seats would begin, and because the War God Temple had announced that there were six vacant seats this year.

So now, as long as player guilds met the conditions to participate in the twelve candidacy seats, they could directly compete for those six twelve candidacy seats.

It was just that Zero Wing's foundation was not strong enough, so Shi Feng had not considered it at all.

There were four basic conditions to participate in the twelve candidacy seats.

1. Submit two thousand units of Seven Luminaries Crystals to the War God Temple.

2. Have guild residences in the royal capitals of fifty kingdoms and the imperial capitals of twelve empires, all of which must be at least four-star guild level.

3. Have more than one thousand Tier 3 players.

4. Own thirty guild towns.

Currently, these four basic conditions could be said to be very harsh. It was simply impossible for ordinary guilds to even think about it. Only those powerful super forces could barely manage it. Ordinary super forces probably couldn't do it.

According to the information they obtained from Tianji Pavilion, nearly twenty super forces and super guilds would be participating in the competition for the twelve candidacy seats this time. Each one of them was a real giant, and you could imagine how tragic it would be to snatch seats from them…

"No wonder Frost Heaven's Sword offered such a high price," Shi Feng suddenly understood.

In his previous life, Frost Heaven's Sword had emerged from the Top Ten Newcomer Guilds before finally becoming a twelve candidacy guild and slowly climbing to the position of one of the twelve guilds.

Currently, Frost Heaven's Sword had not yet fully developed, so it was very unlikely that they would compete for candidacy seats so early. Frost Heaven's Sword was probably treating this matter as a last-ditch effort.

"Guild Leader, if we become Frost Heaven's Sword's mercenaries, then all the guilds that oppose Frost Heaven's Sword will probably treat us as mortal enemies afterwards…" Liang Jing explained worriedly.

The competition for the twelve candidacy seats was a path paved with the bones of countless failures!

Zero Wing's current situation was not very optimistic.

On one side, they were being watched covetously by the Star Ring Guild. On the other side, there were new super forces that had developed later staring at them. In the Orc Empire, there was also an extremely dangerous Holy Heart Hand.

If they provoked some of the giant forces in God's Domain as well, their Zero Wing would probably no longer be able to survive in God's Domain in the future.

"Although it's very dangerous, this is also an opportunity for our Zero Wing. It would be a pity to let it go," Shi Feng shook his head. "Notify Fire Dance and the others. We'll prepare and leave immediately!"

Snatching a candidacy seat for the twelve great guilds was indeed extremely dangerous, but if they succeeded, the mercenaries would also be recognized by the War God Temple, thereby obtaining some of the most basic privileges of a guild.

Such as the right for the guild to station in and receive offerings from cities!

They might not be able to receive offerings from a country, but they could have a city or region make offerings to the guild. This was why many guilds in the previous life rushed to become mercenaries.