After s.h.i.+ Feng opened the Northern Fortress to the public, the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion's and Zero Wing's members quickly disseminated news of this throughout the Gravity Mountain Range and Dragonheart City.
"Zero Wing opened the Northern Fortress so quickly!"
"Zero Wing is probably trying to snag some advantages. However, now that War Blood has made that kind of threat, who would dare visit the Northern Fortress?"
The various adventurer teams in the Gravity Mountain Range shook their heads and sighed at this piece of news. The Small Fortress Thirteen Thrones captured was hardly enough to accommodate the players operating in the Gravity Mountain Range. Hence, the capture of the Northern Fortress was naturally good news. However, War Blood had already stated that whoever dared visit the Northern Fortress would become its enemy.
The various adventurer teams with weak foundations did not dare provoke the War Blood adventurer team at all.
Meanwhile, over at the Rock Nest Fortress, War Blood and Nine Dragons Emperor had also received news of the Northern Fortress's opening.
"Commander Blood, it seems Zero Wing is really anxious. Instead of properly making use of the fortress's three-day protection period, it actually opened the fortress so quickly. With this, before we can even take action, the Northern Fortress will most likely fall to the monster tides first." This situation elated Nine Dragons Emperor.
The various superpowers operating on Dragonheart Island all knew that defending a fortress in the Gravity Mountain Range—especially against the first monster tide a fortress would face—was much more difficult than capturing one.
Hence, the wisest decision was to utilize every second of the three-day protection period after a fortress's conquest to enhance the fortress's defenses as much as possible.
Now, however, just one day after seizing the Northern Fortress, Zero Wing had taken the initiative to lift the protection mechanism and open the Northern Fortress to the public. Since the Rock Nest Fortress had yet to open, such an action would indeed attract some players to the Northern Fortress. However, the monster tide at the Northern Fortress would not weaken just because the Guild didn't take full advantage of the protection mechanism.
"Zero Wing is indeed quick. Unfortunately for it, I won't leave it with even the slightest shred of hope," Blood Oath said coldly. "Ink, spread the news that we'll be opening Rock Nest Fortress tomorrow. We'll thoroughly eliminate the various adventurer teams, and Guilds' thoughts of moving to 仕le Northern Fortress!"
Upon hearing Blood Oath's words, Nine Dragons Emperor was surprised. He never thought that Blood Oath would be so vicious as to give Zero Wing no opportunities whatsoever.
In reality, although opening the Northern Fortress so soon was very risky, Zero Wing's decision was still a considerably effective move. After all, the number of players grinding in the Gravity Mountain Range increased with each pa.s.sing day. Thirteen Thrones' Small Fortress couldn't satisfy the needs of all of these players by itself. Hence, despite War Blood's influence and deterrence, some adventurer teams and Guilds would still rest in the Northern Fortress. After all, traveling between the Gravity Mountain Range and Dragonheart City required a lot of time, time which they could spend earning more income.
However, if the various adventurer teams and Guilds only had to wait one more day for Rock Nest Fortress's opening, then they would generally show War Blood some respect and avoid visiting the Northern Fortress, thereby rendering Zero Wing's actions meaningless.
Meanwhile, shortly after War Blood issued its new announcement, Ku Rong, who was in the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion's Residence in Dragonheart City, received news about it.
"Moon, what do you think of this situation?" Ku Rong asked as he looked at the majestic woman seated at a comer of his office.
"Originally, I had a considerably high opinion of Zero Wing," Cloudy Moon said unhurriedly. "Unfortunately, War Blood and Starlink's influence is far too great. Their foundations are also extraordinary. Even if Black Flame possesses frightening combat power, he alone can't change the overall situation. Moreover, I heard that Thirteen Thrones is already planning on working with Starlink again to capture a Medium Fortress. Once that happens, Zero Wing would lose all its advantages."
In Cloudy Moon's opinion, Phoenix Rain's decision was simply too immature. Had Phoenix Rain accepted Starlink's offer for partners.h.i.+p before, then her promotion to Great Pavilion Master would have been practically guaranteed. Unfortunately, Phoenix Rain ended up giving away that opportunity to Nine Dragons Emperor.
"Alright, I understand. Go make the necessary preparations," Ku Rong sighed.
Now that the situation was clear for all to see, if the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion wished to form a good relations.h.i.+p with Starlink, then Phoenix Rain, who was now considered Starlink's enemy, was unsuitable for the position of Great Pavilion Master.
While the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion was secretly making its preparations, the various powers of Dragonheart City were in an uproar over War Blood's decisiveness. This situation allowed the general population in Dragonheart City to realize once more how frightening superpowers were.
Even though Zero Wing was a large Guild that successfully captured the Northern Fortress, it was still no more than an ant before a superpower.
Meanwhile, on a gravel hill in the Gravity Mountain Range, 100 Level 85-plus experts geared in Level 85 Secret-Silver Equipment were frantically besieging a Level 89 Grand Lord.
The Grand Lord ranked Six-armed Demonic Bear possessed extremely high Defense and destructive power. It could easily send several MTs flying with a single attack. However, facing the Level 90 Tigerkin Berserker at the helm of the team, the Demonic Bear was actually getting pushed back one step after another, no match for the Berserker in terms of Strength.
After battling 20 more minutes, the Six-armed Demonic Bear finally fell at the feet of this 100-man team.
"Our boss is too amazing! He actually managed to contend against the Six-armed Demonic Bear. With this kind of strength, he can definitely rank within the top 50 Berserkers on Dragonheart Island," a Level 87 s.h.i.+eld Warrior said in admiration.
"I know, right? Previously, Heaven's Blade's commander even invited our boss to become a vice commander at Heaven's Blade," a Level 87 Ranger said, the female Half-elf s eyes glowing as she looked at the Level 90 Berserker.
Heaven's Blade was one of Dragonheart Island's top 10 adventurer teams. Heaven's Blade's commander, Zwei, was even the idol of countless female players. An invitation from Zwei to become one of Heaven's Blade's vice commanders was considered a great honor on Dragonheart Island.
"Stop spouting nonsense about me," Swimming Dragon said, rolling his eyes at his teammates. "We don't have much Stamina left. Once everyone's recovered, we'll make our way to the Northern Fortress to rest."
"Boss, War Blood has already set the Northern Fortress off-limits. Heaven's Blade also warned us that we'll definitely get targeted by War Blood if we patronize the Northern Fortress. If that happens, it'll be very difficult for us to squeeze into the top eight adventurer teams subordinate to Heaven's Blade."
Upon hearing Swimming Dragon's words, the other players on the team hurriedly tried to dissuade him.
The Dragon Riders adventurer team was improving so rapidly that they now had a chance at becoming one of the top eight adventurer teams subordinate to Heaven's Blade. This was something that they never imagined was possible.
After all, Heaven's Blade was the fifth-rank adventurer team on Dragonheart Island. Plenty of adventurer teams subordinated themselves to Heaven's Blade, but only eight adventurer teams would receive priority treatment.
So long as Dragon Riders became one of these top eight adventurer teams, its position on Dragonheart Island would skyrocket. At that time, even first-rate Guilds would not dare to provoke it.
"Enough! I know what I'm doing! Tidy up immediately! We're heading to the Northern Fortress right now!" Swimming Dragon berated, completely ignoring everyone's opinion.
He had his current success only because of s.h.i.+ Feng.
While training inside the Tower of Four G.o.ds, he had not only entered the Flowing Water Realm but also mastered an Advanced Combat Technique and improved his Completion Rate for Tier 2 Skills by a significant margin. After his challenge ended, he even received an Epic ranked Replica of the Legendary Weapon Hurricane's Injury. This Replica was top-tier even among Epic Weapons. Moreover, the greatsword also had high compatibility with him. As a result, his combat power underwent a qualitative improvement after he equipped the weapon.
Now that Zero Wing was in trouble, how could he just stand by and do nothing?
Since War Blood wished to seal the pathway leading toward the northern region and prevent players from entering or exiting the area, then Swimming Dragon could just stick to grinding in the northern region. In any case, with the Northern Fortress around, he would not have to worry about having nowhere to rest. War Blood wouldn't be able to do anything against him.
The other members of Dragon Riders had no choice but to listen to their commander's words and head off toward the Northern Fortress.
After traveling by Mount for several hours and carefully avoiding War Blood's members, Swimming Dragon and the others finally arrived at the Northern Fortress.
However, the moment everyone walked through the fortress's gates, they were stunned.
"What's going on?"
"Why is the Mana density here so high?"
"No, it's not just the Mana here. I can feel my body becoming significantly lighter as well. It's as if the suppression outside is gone."
