Cold Spring Canyon, Stone Forest City:
Under the Shiuse Qiangwei's escort, Yuan Tiexin and Purple Jade arrived before the City Lord's Mansion's main entrance. As Yuan Tiexin and Purple Jade were about to enter the City Lord's Mansion, a group of Level 100 newcomers, who had just arrived in Stone Forest City, chatted among themselves as they stared at the City Lord's Mansion in shock and awe.
"Are there so many Tier 3 experts on the streets normally?" A Level 100 female Elementalist exclaimed as she looked at the players walking down the street. "Stone Forest City is amazing!"
Tier 3 experts were the peak combatants at this stage of the game. Even a first-rate Guild that ruled over a kingdom would be impressive if it had a dozen or so Tier 3 experts. How many first-rate Guilds did a kingdom or empire have?
Normally, one would be lucky to encounter even one Tier 3 expert on the main street of an empire's capital, yet one could easily find 20 Tier 3 experts on a random street in Stone Forest City. This was simply inconceivable.
However, Stone Forest City's players weren't the least bit surprised by such a situation. They simply went about their own business as if it were only natural for them to do so. None of them paid any attention to these Tier 3 experts.
"There's nothing to be surprised about. What kind of place do you think Stone Forest City is?" A Level 102, Tier 3 Shield Warrior said softly as he glanced at the female newcomer. "Remember, be more cautious. Be careful in the future. Even if the Hundred Flowers Palace is a first-rate Guild in the Dark Night Empire, we cannot guarantee your safety here unless you reach Tier 3! "
Stone Forest City was the only city in a Level 100 neutral map. It was easy to imagine how attractive it was to players. However, aside from the powers that had partnered with Ling Yi, players could only enter Stone Forest City by renting a private house in Stone Forest City.
Renting a private house in Stone Forest City was both expensive and extremely rare. Of course, this was only in comparison to the number of mainstream players in the various kingdoms and empires. Hence, the players who could afford to rent a private house in Stone Forest City were either wealthy or respectable.
Players that could afford to live in Stone Forest City either had a powerful background or were extremely strong. Ordinary expert players couldn't afford to enter the city even if they wanted to.
Because of this, none of the players living in Stone Forest City were simple.
If he accidentally provoked a Tier 3 expert, it would be a nightmare for him.
The situation in Stone Forest City wasn't as bad. There were plenty of NPCs patrolling the Stone Forest City. In addition, Ling Yi had plenty of experts protecting the city. She even had Tier 3 experts patrolling the city. As a result, the Tier 3 experts inside the city were more or less afraid of causing trouble. However, it was a different story outside of Stone Forest City.
That was the world of Tier 3 players. A first-rate Guild like Zero Wing couldn't do anything about it.
As soon as the Level 102, Tier 3 Shield Warrior finished speaking, the Hundred Flowers Palace's dozen or so talented newcomers nodded in agreement, not daring to speak another word.
They could clearly sense the gazes and auras coming from every direction. The Tier 3 experts, in particular, even radiated killing intent as if they had set their sights on prey.
If not for the Level 115-plus, Tier 2 NPC Knights patrolling the city, Ling Yi, and the Secret Pavilion's experts maintaining the city's security, and the Tier 3 Shield Warrior leading the team, they didn't doubt that the Tier 3 experts would find an opportunity to kill them and steal the Level 100 weapons and equipment the Guild had prepared for them.
"It seems that Stone Forest City is becoming more and more unstable." Yuan Tiexin's grim expression deepened as he glanced at the several Tier 3 independent experts and Tier 3 experts from major powers.
He felt that he had underestimated Stone Forest City's development speed and management difficulty.
Although Ling Yi had over 50 Tier 3 experts, which was more than enough to rival ordinary superpowers, compared to the number of Tier 3 experts in the various kingdoms and empires, the number of Tier 3 experts Ling Yi had was simply too small.
Moreover, the number of Tier 3 experts in the various kingdoms and empires would continue to increase. The rate of growth would far surpass Ling Yi's. Take Stone Forest City for example. In the past, Ling Yi had relied on his 20-plus Tier 3 experts to suppress every Tier 3 player in Stone Forest City, but now …
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the number of Tier 3 experts Ling Yi had right now wasn't even a fraction of the number of Tier 3 players residing in Stone Forest City. In the future, this gap would only grow. After all, Stone Forest City was Cold Spring Forest's development paradise. More and more Tier 3 experts would flock to the city to live and develop.
Meanwhile, as the number of Tier 3 experts in Stone Forest City continued to increase, the city's safety would become a major problem.
With the several hundred Tier 3 experts currently residing in Stone Forest City, Ling Yi could barely maintain Stone Forest City's safety. However, as the number of Tier 3 experts in Stone Forest City continued to increase, even if the Secret Pavilion dispatched a large number of Tier 3 experts to Stone Forest City, it would most likely be difficult to maintain Stone Forest City's safety.
After all, once a player reached Tier 3, they would be considered powerhouses no matter where they went. They could even force their way out of large NPC cities, let alone a Guild City.
Take Stone Forest City for example. Currently, the Tier 3 experts no longer concealed their killing intent because they knew that Ling Yi was no longer under their control. Without the absolute authority and strength that they had in Stone Forest City, it was only a matter of time before they took action in Stone Forest City.
Yet, instead of focusing on stabilizing Stone Forest City's safety and developing in secret, the Shifeng actually wanted to hinder the various superpowers and force them to work together to eliminate Ling Yi …
Now that the situation had developed to this point, even if the Secret Pavilion intervened, Ling Yi would most likely have a hard time withdrawing safely from the city. After all, the various superpowers normally wouldn't work together. Moreover, even if several superpowers worked together, it would be pointless. They could only watch as Ling Yi continued to grow stronger.
Now that the Secret Pavilion had found an opportunity to take a bite out of Ling Yi, it definitely wouldn't let them off lightly.
Meanwhile, Yuan Tiexin didn't give the matter any further thought as he followed Shiuse Qiangwei through the City Lord's Mansion's entrance. Right now, the most important thing was to persuade the Shifeng to hand over the Twelve Elemental Pillars. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to negotiate with the other superpowers.
Just as Yuan Tiexin and Shi Feng were about to enter the City Lord's Mansion's inner courtyard under Shiuse Qiangwei's guidance, a regional system announcement suddenly reached their ears.
Cold Spring Forest Region Announcement: Congratulations to Stone Forest City for unlocking its lockdown and officially opening to the public. All players may enter the city to rest after paying the entrance fee.
The system announcement repeated three times. Although the voice was cold and emotionless, the shock it brought stunned Yuan Tiexin.
Has he lost his mind? Yuan Tiexin stared at the system announcement in disbelief. For a moment, he even wondered if he had misheard.
Managing Stone Forest City while under lockdown was already extremely difficult. If he opened the city to the public, he simply couldn't imagine what would happen to Stone Forest City.
After all, the various superpowers had their eyes on Ling Yi right now. They might've even begun to work together in secret.
By opening Stone Forest City to the public, Shi Feng was basically gifting the Stone Forest City to the various superpowers.
"Vice Guild Leader Aqua, what is President Hei Yan trying to do? Is he really planning to sacrifice his life for money? "Purple Jade couldn't help but ask Shiuse Qiangwei when she saw the regional system announcement.
In her opinion, selling a treasure like the Twelve Elemental Pillars in bulk was already insane.
Now, however, Shifeng was even more ruthless. By opening the unstable Stone Forest City to the public, a flood of experts would swarm into Stone Forest City. At that time, the Stone Forest City would most likely be destroyed before the various superpowers could do anything about it.
At this moment, let alone Yuan Tiexin and Purple Jade, every player in Cold Spring Forest was stunned when they received this announcement.
After all, nobody had ever thought that Ling Yi would actually open Stone Forest City to the public.
After all, Tier 3 players were no longer the same as before. Ordinary NPC soldiers could no longer suppress Tier 3 experts. If a large number of Tier 3 experts swarmed into Stone Forest City, while the Stone Forest City might belong to Ling Yi, whether Ling Yi had the final say in Stone Forest City was another matter altogether.
After a brief moment of surprise, everyone was overjoyed.
Now that Stone Forest City was open to the public, they could move freely in Cold Spring Forest. They wouldn't have to waste time and effort traveling back and forth. They could also get promoted to Tier 3 more easily. Moreover, they would only have to pay a small entrance fee to enter the city.
"This won't do! We can't let him mess around like this! The Secret Pavilion also owns shares in Stone Forest City! We need to lock down Stone Forest City immediately! If we wait until Cold Spring Forest's experts arrive, the Stone Forest City will be finished!" Yuan Tiexin felt that the Shifeng had truly lost his mind. After saying so, he rushed into the City Lord's Mansion's inner courtyard, intending to rush to the City Lord's Office.
After all, only the City Lord's Office could allow the City Lord's Mansion's butler to open or lock down the entire city.
However, just as Yuan Tiexin pushed open the courtyard's inner courtyard's doors and was about to set foot in the courtyard's small plaza, an overwhelming pressure assaulted him. It felt as if a tsunami was crashing down on him, filling him with fear and helplessness.
Both Purple Jade and Yuan Tiexin, who were Tier 3 experts, instinctively leaped backward, instantly putting a large distance between them and the courtyard's doors. Moreover, both of them wore wary expressions as they looked at the small plaza, which was the size of a soccer field.
"Tier 3 … NPCs?"
"What's going on here?"
When Yuan Tiexin and Purple Jade saw the small plaza beyond the courtyard's doors, they couldn't help but gasp.
Rows of fully-armed NPCs stood in the middle of the square, which was the size of a football field.
Not only did these NPCs fill the plaza, but every one of them was also Level 115, Tier 3, and the aura they radiated was even more frightening than the one before. The two NPCs with the strongest aura even made Yuan Tiexin and Purple Jade despair.
It was as if they had just opened Pandora's Box.
Most frightening of all, these Tier 3 NPCs were actually staring at them …
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