Chapter 1 A Fresh Look at Zero Wing

On the chaotic battlefield, the battle between Zero Wing and Underworld not only attracted the attention of the guilds and adventure teams fighting outside the teleportation area, but also caused the major super forces within the teleportation area to reassess Zero Wing.

"Zero Wing Guild indeed has some strength. No wonder they didn't care about our Return of the King's warning before. It seems we can consider joining forces with them for this trip to the Ancient Shrine," a stern middle-aged man wearing dark black armor, carrying a greatsword engraved with runes that emitted bursts of cold air, said from afar, a hint of a smile on his lips as he looked at the members of Zero Wing.

The Ancient Shrine was somewhat like a field instance dungeon. If one wished to delve deeper into it, they needed to reach a certain level. This was destined to limit the number of players who could enter as they progressed.

To delve into the fifth level of the Ancient Shrine, the requirements for the player team were extremely harsh. It was no longer something a single guild's team could accomplish. Only by joining forces could they better pass the levels.

The man's words immediately caused surprise among the surrounding people.

They didn't expect him to give Zero Wing such high praise.

The stern middle-aged man before them was none other than Duan Qingcheng, the Thunder Sword, an absolute high-level figure in Return of the King. He was a famous figure in the virtual gaming world, and even the current guild leader had to give him some respect.

Duan Qingcheng rarely praised anyone or any force.

The last time he had given such praise was to their current guild leader. For him to now commend Zero Wing was simply unbelievable.

"Uncle Duan, you think too highly of them. They only managed to defeat nouveau riche like Underworld and Blackwater. They're still ten years away from joining forces with us," a heroic young man wearing dark gray armor, holding a single-handed axe engraved with dazzling magic patterns in one hand and a scaled giant shield in the other, glanced at Zero Wing with slight disdain.

"Huang Hai, Uncle Duan must have his own reasons for saying that. Their team's base stats are very strong, and their overall strength is also good. They would be a good choice to team up with after entering the Ancient Shrine," Qi Lian, wearing a pure white holy robe, at level fifty, and holding a purple-golden scepter, shook her head, not entirely agreeing with the shield warrior named Huang Hai's point of view.

Although Huang Hai was a newly promoted Arbiter in the guild and a rare Tier 2 class, possessing keen insight and strength, she, like Duan Qingcheng, felt that Zero Wing's strength should not be underestimated.

Especially since she hadn't seen Shi Feng, the leader of Zero Wing, make a move from beginning to end, which was enough to prove that Zero Wing was holding back some of their strength, and that they were not as simple as they appeared to others.

"Zero Wing is good at dealing with players, but in the Ancient Shrine, we're facing endless terrifying monsters and various traps and formulas. Don't even mention delving into the fifth level, even passing the third level is a huge problem."

"You need to know that, apart from our few super forces, no other team has been able to pass the third level of the Ancient Shrine. You also know that place isn't something you can deal with simply by relying on strong stats, let alone joining forces on the fifth level. Let's talk about it when they can reach the fifth level."

Huang Hai snorted lightly, feeling that Qi Lian was thinking too highly of Zero Wing.

In fact, not only Huang Hai thought so, but many of the high-level members of Return of the King present also agreed with Huang Hai's idea. If they were to join forces, they would have to split the spots in half. What was Zero Wing? What was Return of the King?

Did Zero Wing even have the qualifications to take half?

As time passed, the competition within the teleportation area of the Ancient Shrine became more and more intense. More and more forces rushed into the teleportation area. Even if the major forces didn't want to provoke Zero Wing before, they were now fighting to enter the Ancient Shrine. Besides, they even dared to kill people from super forces, let alone Zero Wing.

The battle lasted for more than half an hour. The intensity of the fighting was unprecedented, and the corpses of dead players littered the entire teleportation area.

The final result was that the major super forces divided up most of the teleportation slots, while a small portion was obtained by the allied forces of first-rate guilds and top-tier adventure teams.

Among them, the most incredible was Zero Wing.

Although they initially brought less than two thousand people, by the end of the battle, more than twelve hundred of them were still standing, quickly snatching up one-tenth of the slots. They were only slightly weaker than the other super forces.

Among the other super forces, the most was Pavilion of Heaven's Mystery, occupying a full two thousand slots. It could be said that it was intentional on their part. If they really wanted to, they could have occupied even more slots. The other super forces only occupied a little over fifteen hundred slots, not much higher than Zero Wing.

This was the reason for everyone's surprise.

It should be known that each of the super forces had sent out at least five to six thousand people to barely obtain these slots, but Zero Wing, with less than two thousand people, had achieved such results, which was truly terrifying.

"Damn it! I thought there would be more slots available after Underworld and Blackwater were gone, but how come we got even fewer slots than before?"

"That's right, it would have been better to let Underworld and Blackwater win. That way, we would have gotten more slots."

Everyone looked at the number of people in Zero Wing Guild and clicked their tongues in envy, jealousy, and hatred.

As everyone knew, the more players who entered the Ancient Shrine, the greater the advantage inside. With Zero Wing's one thousand two hundred plus people, they might really be able to persist until the fifth level of the Ancient Shrine and directly enter the legendary Ancient City.

While everyone was marveling at Zero Wing's strength, Shi Feng's side was overjoyed.

Just one battle in the Ancient Shrine had allowed them to obtain more than five thousand pieces of top-tier equipment, although most of them were Level 45 Fine-Gold equipment, they were still extremely precious. Compared to their losses this time, they were insignificant.

Because in this battle, most of the Zero Wing players who were killed were members of the White Tiger Dojo. The equipment on them was only Elite-level at Level 50. Losing over six hundred people, and recovering a lot of the dropped equipment, how could this not be a huge profit?

As the number of players in the teleportation area reached the standard of fifteen thousand, a blue light rose in the entire teleportation area. Immediately afterward, a pillar of light soared into the sky, and the players in the teleportation area disappeared without a trace, leaving only an empty space. The remaining members of the major forces relayed the results of this event.

With the help of the teleportation magic array, the members of Zero Wing Guild instantly arrived in a dark canyon. Three silver moons shone in the sky, and the visibility was far less than during the day. They could only vaguely see a range of one or two hundred yards around them. The entire canyon was indescribably silent, and they could not feel the aura of any living thing. All that existed was fear and unease from the depths of their hearts.

"Is this the first level of the Ancient Shrine?" Aqua Rose curiously scanned her surroundings. With her Tier 2 class physique, she quickly discovered the hidden threats.

Many skeletal undead lurked on the slopes, controlling heavy crossbows that shot arrows with power no less than Tier 2 skills. They had clearly locked onto them and were preparing to attack. In front of them, there were also a large number of ghosts that appeared and disappeared, wandering everywhere. The lowest level was Elite at Level 50, and some of the stronger ghosts even reached the High Lord rank at Level 55. If they accidentally provoked them, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The other super forces seemed to be used to it, like old hands, leading their teams forward quickly along a predetermined route, while resisting the ghosts they encountered and dodging the attacks of the heavy crossbows. Compared to the combined top-tier adventure teams, they were worlds apart.

Before they could even take a few steps, they encountered powerful ghosts, who directly pinned them down, and then were attacked by the heavy crossbows on both sides, resulting in heavy casualties.

"Damn it! How can it be so difficult?"

The high-level members of the adventure teams frowned deeply, not knowing what to do for a moment. The super forces couldn't help but shake their heads.

The Ancient Shrine was extremely dangerous. Everyone thought that once they entered, they could relax, but they didn't know that the previous player battle was just the prelude.

Before the combined adventure teams could think for a moment, they saw Zero Wing ignoring everything and striding directly towards the entrance to the next level.

"Are they crazy?" The high-level members of the adventure teams stared at Zero Wing, their mouths wide open.