Chapter 1 The Apocalyptic Empire, Apocalyptic City, Dragon Phoenix Pavilion Headquarters

As the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion's main base, it was usually bustling with guild members coming and going, extremely lively. However, at this moment, the courtyard of the headquarters was filled with an indescribable sense of oppression.

The reason was simple: the two great pavilion masters of the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion were standing in the courtyard, each occupying one side, clearly demarcated and full of tension. This made the guild members who entered dare not approach the guild's main building.

It was well known that within the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion, Feng Qianyu and Jiulong Huang had always been at odds, fiercely competing for the position of Grand Pavilion Master. Now, they were showing no mercy, and if one were accidentally caught in the crossfire, they wouldn't even know how they died.

"What's going on today? Both Grand Pavilion Masters are actually here?"

"Don't you know? I heard that today is the day the ancient ruins are supposed to open, so they've gathered here. Look, even the experts of the guild who usually only appear sporadically have come."

"It's not just the experts from our guild. Look at those players, they don't have our guild's emblem on them. They must be hired help."

"I heard that these ancient ruins are extremely powerful, apparently Tier 1. If you can be the first to obtain the treasures inside, it would be a huge boost for either side."

"Previously, Ninth Lord of Nine Heavens Pavilion was the first to clear a Tier 2 ancient ruin. I wonder what treasures he obtained, but it actually made the elders of Nine Heavens Pavilion decide to directly promote the Ninth Lord to the Eighth Lord. It caused quite a stir within Nine Heavens Pavilion at the time. No wonder they're fighting so desperately to compete for this Tier 1 ancient ruin."

…

The surrounding members of the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion looked at the guild's two major factions and couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

Everyone in the guild now knew that the requirements for becoming the Grand Pavilion Master had been set. It just depended on which of the two pavilion masters could complete the goal first. Now that the ancient ruins had appeared, they would naturally spare no effort to compete for the first clear, which might ultimately influence who would control Thunderclap Island first.

Although they were all in the same guild, the atmosphere at the scene was like that of mortal enemies, with each side glaring at the other…

"Sister Qianyu, those people seem to be from Bloodlust Paradise." Qing Huang looked with a somewhat gloomy expression at the dozens of players standing not far behind Jiulong Huang, who had blood-colored crests imprinted on the backs of their hands.

Bloodlust Paradise wasn't a guild, but a very famous adventurer team in the virtual gaming world.

Although Bloodlust Paradise was just an adventurer team, it had existed for longer than many large guilds.

However, that wasn't all. Bloodlust Paradise's strength came entirely from their skills. The reason they were famous in the virtual gaming world was entirely because Bloodlust Paradise had provoked several super guilds and even defeated super guild encirclements many times, remaining very active to this day.

And Bloodlust Paradise spoke entirely through money. As long as you could afford it, they would dare to provoke even super guilds.

"Jiulong Huang has really invested a lot this time." Feng Qianyu looked at a middle-aged man in a black robe standing beside Jiulong Huang and chatting, and her crescent eyebrows furrowed slightly.

She also knew a lot about Bloodlust Paradise. Although Bloodlust Paradise wasn't a super guild, the experts in the adventurer team weren't much worse than those in super guilds, especially the current leader, Siling (Death Spirit).

He was originally ranked eighteenth on the Wind and Cloud Expert List, but he had recently risen to eleventh. Even the old monsters in their Dragon Phoenix Pavilion were wary of this Siling.

And the black-robed man standing beside Jiulong Huang was precisely the leader of Bloodlust Paradise, Siling.

Moreover, besides Bloodlust Paradise, many great experts that she recognized had gathered around Jiulong Huang, but these great experts weren't as famous as Siling.

Although she had also invited many experts to come, and even invited Xuan Jing, the Vice-Hall Master of the super guild Sacred Hall, to help, Xuan Jing was only secretly helping because they were good friends. She couldn't truly rely on the power of the Sacred Hall. Compared to Bloodlust Paradise invited by Jiulong Huang, there was clearly a big gap.

On the other side, Jiulong Huang was watching with a smile on his face, as if the treasure of the Twilight Forest was already beckoning him.

"Pavilion Master Jiulong, it seems your opponent is not simple. You've also invited a few experts who can get people excited." Siling, wearing a jet-black magic robe, glanced at Feng Qianyu and the others opposite him and smiled slightly.

"Feng Qianyu has indeed invited many experts, but how can they compare to Team Leader Siling? Just the team members you brought are probably enough to completely defeat those people." Jiulong Huang had secretly investigated. Apart from those brought by Xuan Jing who were a bit difficult, the others were not worth worrying about. Moreover, this was exploring ancient ruins, not a team battle. "After entering the ancient ruins, I'll leave it to Team Leader Siling."

The strength of the team led by Siling was simply incomparable to Xuan Jing and the others.

After all, it was because of Bloodlust Paradise that Ninth Lord of Nine Heavens Pavilion obtained the first clear of the Tier 2 ancient ruin. Otherwise, the first clear would not have been Ninth Lord's turn at all.

"Don't worry, I've collected a lot of information about Twilight Forest and prepared very thoroughly," Siling said calmly. "But Pavilion Master Jiulong must complete what you promised us as soon as possible."

"Of course," Jiulong Huang nodded.

Seeing that the time for the opening of Twilight Forest was getting closer and closer, both sides began to do the final inspection work, counting related resources and consumables. Ancient ruins exploration was not like running a dungeon. The degree of danger inside was extremely high, and it was normal to be wiped out if you were not careful. At the same time, the consumption inside was several times that of the outside. Without sufficient preparation, it was likely to waste an opportunity.

"Sister Qianyu, the time is almost up. Zero Wing Guild hasn't arrived yet. Otherwise, should we contact them now?" Qing Huang looked at the time and said anxiously.

Although the time given to enter the ancient ruins was the same, entering first would allow you to start the exploration earlier than Jiulong Huang's side.

Feng Qianyu couldn't help but look at the time. There were less than fifteen minutes left before the opening of Twilight Forest.

"Okay, you contact Zero Wing Guild now," Feng Qianyu said.

Just as Feng Qianyu finished speaking and Qing Huang began to contact Zero Wing, a large group of players walked into the gate of the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion. The oppressive feeling emitted by these people just by appearing made the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion members guarding the gate involuntarily make way.

"Zero Wing Guild?" Jiulong Huang looked at Shi Feng, who was at the head, with a hint of coldness in his eyes.

It was because of Zero Wing Guild that the resource town that he had spent a lot of gold coins to build was destroyed. Although Zero Wing Guild did not occupy the resource town, the resource town was razed to the ground, and it would cost a large sum of money to rebuild it.

And even if he really spent a lot of money to rebuild the resource town, Zero Wing Guild might destroy it again, causing him to only be able to watch the resource town helplessly, without any way to stop it.

Thinking of this, Jiulong Huang wished he could destroy Zero Wing Guild.

"The player levels of this Zero Wing Guild are so high!"

"Damn, isn't that the Fiery Flame Witch?"

"That person seems to be Aqua Rose who defeated the Shadow Dragon Legion!"

"Pavilion Master Feng is so awesome, she even invited them! The ancient ruins will be contested this time."

The Dragon Phoenix Pavilion members in the courtyard looked at the Zero Wing members who walked in, and they all whispered among themselves, being extremely familiar with the experts of Zero Wing Guild.