Absolute Death Game

This really felt like a thunderbolt out of the blue.

With a loud boom, the intense shockwave blasted the nearby military commanders and axemen right out of the vicinity. Since they were a few meters away, the damage wasn't very significant, only a few dozen points of health were lost, but the swordsman wasn't so lucky.

Being a class with low defense and health, standing right at the epicenter, and taking a critical hit to the head meant he sustained almost the full damage. A red number -579 flashed out of nowhere, and he was blasted into pieces—a one-hit kill!

Killing in the game didn't make Xiao Buli feel uncomfortable; in fact, he felt an indistinct pleasure from controlling the life and death of his enemies in his hands.

"Shit, they killed Lin!" the military commander bellowed, "Let's fight them to the death!"

However, Chen Chuan's expression changed at this moment. The opponent's strength was far beyond his expectations, and that swordsman was obviously a hidden profession, his power unfathomable. Chen Chuan knew they were completely outmatched.

There's no such thing as class balance in this game. Chen Chuan had encountered powerful opponents with hidden professions before, and his entire party was wiped out by one of them. He was well aware of the staggering gap in strength. If they were to engage in a hard fight, a total wipeout could be possible. "Retreat!" he shouted.

"But!"

"I said retreat!" Chen Chuan roared, thrusting his magic wand forcefully into the ground—a Static Guard.

Then he turned and ran. Seeing this, his teammates had no choice but to follow suit and flee. He Suoju only chased for a couple of steps, and when he got within five or six meters of the magic wand, it suddenly shot out a lightning bolt and blasted him away.

While the damage wasn't high, the knockback effect was quite apparent. Xiao Buli was also hit, but thanks to the Ethereal Armor's protection, he didn't lose any health. Still, being cautious, he promptly moved out of the magic wand's attack range.

Xiao Buli quickly assessed the situation and knew that the three of them couldn't possibly eliminate the enemy completely. Therefore, it made more sense to retreat quickly.

"They'll definitely call for reinforcements if they go back. Let's pull out too."

As they spoke, the three of them each mounted their warhorses and galloped away from the city. Although the members of the Awesome Empire had some background, Nine Dragons City was not their turf after all, and the guards didn't listen to them. By the time Chen Chuan gathered his forces for a pursuit, the three had already broken out of the city.

They ran breathlessly for a good distance and only when they were a considerable distance from Nine Dragons City did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Du Yibo complained, "Phew, we finally got out. That hellhole is no place to stay."

He Suoju sighed, "If we can't stay, so be it. The monster siege is coming up soon anyway. As solo players, it's hard for us to gain anything significant, and even if we do, it's easy to get robbed by those from the great guilds. Maybe this is for the best, so we don't work for nothing."

He Suoju's tone suggested he had quite some prejudices against those great guilds.

Xiao Buli, however, had other ideas, "Why don't we set up a guild too? I just don't know how to establish one."

He Suoju responded, "You want to establish a guild? That's not going to be easy."

"Oh, why is that?"

"Well, it's not exactly difficult, it just depends on what kind of guild you want to establish. Guild is what we call it, but NPCs don't call it that. Of course, that's just a name and not too important. There are roughly four types of guilds in this game."

The first type is a trade guild. You just need to pay to register, with the registration fee being 100 Gold Coins. Many large cities have guild managers with whom you can register. The benefits of a trade guild include the ability to hire NPCs, purchase property and shops, and engage in commercial trade.

The second type is Mercenary Corps, which can also be established simply by paying money. The registration must be done at the Mercenary Guild, requiring only 10 Gold Coins in total. These are generally small organizations, like the Knights' Order, the Thieves' Group, the Assassins' Group, and so on.

Such organizations can participate in wars between nations, fighting as mercenaries, carrying out group tasks, and Mercenary Corps can also exist as a subordinate organization of a Great Guild. Therefore, under the Great Guilds, there are usually several Mercenary Corps.

The third type is religious sects, which enshrine a certain deity or type of creature as their faith. However, it seems that they are all NPCs; I haven't seen any established by players.

The fourth type of guild is a 'nation,' which is considerably more difficult to establish. But its functions are extremely powerful. You can do almost anything: conquer cities, manage territories, recruit NPCs, form armies, make laws, collect taxes, and even compete for supremacy in the world. The Awesome Empire is one such organization.

Xiao Buli was awe-struck. It sounded amazing and somewhat aligned with his initial thoughts, "So, how do you establish a nation?"

"Establishing a nation is no easy matter; you need to meet two major conditions."

In the center of this continent, there is a city ruled by the Divine Race, called Yan Huang City. On a high mountain in Yan Huang City, there stands a Dragon Pillar adorned with Dragon Heads. The first thing you need to do if you want to establish a nation is to kill a dragon and take its Dragon Head to the Guardian of the Dragon Pillar.

You can hang the Dragon Head on the pillar for a fee of 100 Gold Coins.

Then the Guardian of the Dragon Pillar will make you a Dragon Flag. Depending on the type of Dragon Head you hang, the attributes of the Dragon Flag will differ. Once you have the Dragon Flag, it means you have the strength and the qualifications to compete for supremacy in the world.

Apart from providing an aura to nearby friendly units, the Dragon Flag also gives you the ability to recruit soldiers on a large scale. When you carry the Dragon Flag, NPCs will continuously join your team as followers. Once you have gathered a certain number, you can assault cities.

As long as you capture a major city, you can officially gain the title of a nation."

Xiao Buli asked, "Have you ever seen a dragon?"

"No, but I have seen quite a few Dragon Flags, though most are owned by NPCs. For example, that Zhang Xiaotian, Nine Dragons City uses the Golden Dragon Flag, so presumably, he once killed a golden dragon. Only three player-established guilds possess a Dragon Flag, and the Awesome Empire is one of them."

Xiao Buli thought establishing a nation was indeed not a simple task. Killing a dragon and conquering a city, neither was easy. However, to become powerful and expand in this game seemed to be an unavoidable task.

He suddenly looked curiously at He Suoju, "How do you know so much?"

He Suoju chuckled, "Well, you naturally learn more when you've played for a long time."

Xiao Buli thought that He Suoju was quite talented. If he was to run a guild, this person would be essential to recruit. With this thought, he couldn't help but consider the idea of inviting him to join his ranks. However, Xiao Buli was very self-aware. With his current strength, he was still far from able to make He Suoju follow him; at most, they could cooperate as allies for the time being.

But as there was plenty of time ahead, he was in no hurry.

With that thought, Xiao Buli asked, "What are your plans for the future, you two?"

"What else could we plan? Just wander around. In this damned game, guilds are everywhere claiming territories left and right. Fortunately, the map is big enough that we can always find a place to get by."

Du Yibo also said, "Yeah, it didn't feel unsafe when I was with a guild, but ever since I went solo, I feel insecure everywhere."

Xiao Buli suggested, "I happen to know a place that hasn't been occupied by a Great Guild, though it's a bit remote. The only nearby power is a bandit stronghold, good for treasure hunting and leveling up. Are you interested in hanging around there for a while?"

He Suoju happily agreed, "That sounds great—hm, I mean, I was thinking the same thing."

Du Yibo thought for a moment and nodded, "Count me in."

Xiao Buli then told them about the location of Black Stone Village, "You two go ahead, I still need to resurrect that old Taoist."

"What's the rush? Let's go together, I want to see how Merit Points are used to resurrect someone." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian with recommendation tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)