Abyssal Star City, Asura Mercenary Alliance’s headquarters:

Due to the clash between the Asura Mercenary Alliance and Flower of Seven Sins, many independent experts and adventurer teams had chosen to leave the mercenary alliance and flock to the Guild Towns that had sprung up around the Boundary Mountain Range recently. As a result, Asura’s once lively headquarters had become a lot quieter.

Currently, the only people that could be seen in the football field-sized lobby were players from the various first-rate powers and superpowers. Meanwhile, these players were either turning in the quests they had completed or waiting to exchange the last few remaining Lineage Crystals in Asura’s warehouse.

“Another Guild has withdrawn from Asura after exchanging a Lineage Crystal, Elder Liu. Going by this trend, several other Guilds that are close to accumulating enough Contribution Points will most likely withdraw from the mercenary alliance in the next few days. Should we raise the exchange price?” Blue Sheath, clad in dark-gray leather armor, asked Liu Wusheng, a frown appearing on her face when she saw another Guild’s team leaving the building after exchanging a Lineage Crystal.

She had seen this scene multiple times over the past few days.

Although the Asura Mercenary Alliance was holding its ground against the Flower of Seven Sins thanks to the Lineage Crystals, the supply of Lineage Crystals was limited.

Moreover, as more and more players started to reach Level 110, the various powers had also shifted their focus to exploring the Boundary Mountain Range. As a result, many teams that saw no hope of exchanging a Lineage Crystal before its supply ran out had swiftly withdrawn from Asura.

As for the various powers and teams that remained in Asura, they weren’t optimistic about the mercenary alliance’s future, either. Hence, they similarly planned to withdraw from the mercenary alliance after accumulating enough points to exchange Asura’s last few Lineage Crystals.

In the current juncture where the various powers were competing fiercely in the exploration of the Boundary Mountain Range, if Asura were to lose the support of these powers, it would definitely be put into a passive state when it came to exploring the Boundary Mountain Range and resisting the Flower of Seven Sins…

“This is the rule that was set at the beginning. If we change it now, it will only create more problems for us,” Liu Wusheng said, sighing deeply when he saw another power leaving Asura. “It’s especially true now that the entrance to the Boundary Mountain Range’s second underground level has been discovered. If we put off any more experts, we might not have enough manpower to even get close to the second underground level’s entrance, let alone explore it.”

Blue Sheath clenched her teeth in frustration when she heard Liu Wusheng’s words.

Two days ago, a team had finally found the entrance to the Boundary Mountain Range’s second underground level. Previously, players had already discovered clues pertaining to Tier 4 Legacies in the Boundary Mountain Range’s first underground level, which had, in turn, sparked a shocking war that involved over a hundred powers.

If not for the first underground level’s special environment preventing those under the Refinement Realm standard from controlling their bodies properly, the number of players that had participated in that fight would have easily exceeded ten million. Even so, that war had still involved over two hundred thousand players.

Meanwhile, after more than a day of fierce battles, the various powers engaged in the war eventually split up and formed coalition forces. Each of the Five Great Super Guilds had formed its own coalition consisting of several other superpowers. Besides them, the Secret Pavilion and the Flower of Seven Sins had also formed their own coalitions.

The Asura Mercenary Alliance had naturally formed a coalition as well. Although Asura’s coalition wasn’t as strong as the aforementioned seven coalitions, with over 20,000 Refinement Realm experts serving as its base, Asura had still managed to secure itself a place in the first underground level. Only, due to the frequent clashes with the Flower of Seven Sins’ side, Asura’s exploration progress was greatly affected.

If the remaining powers in the mercenary alliance also chose to withdraw, Asura might not even be able to establish itself in the first underground level.

While Blue Sheath was lamenting Asura’s fate, the team that was originally making its way out of the lobby suddenly stopped. Several other adventurer teams that were in the midst of completing their withdrawal procedures from Asura were also called to stop their actions. Then, after these players exchanged a few words, they promptly canceled their withdrawal procedures and ran for the quest area instead.

“What’s going on?” Blue Sheath was puzzled by these adventurer teams’ behavior.

It had already become common to see adventurer teams withdraw from Asura these past few days. After all, in the current situation where Asura could offer very little benefit to these adventurer teams, it would be unwise to clash against the Flower of Seven Sins in the Boundary Mountain Range’s first underground level.

“These people are merely seeking advantages while avoiding harm,” Liu Wusheng said, suddenly smiling after reading a report he had just received.

“Seeking advantages while avoiding harm? Did something good happen for Asura?” Blue Sheath asked strangely.

“Indeed.” Liu Wusheng nodded, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes. “Around fifteen minutes ago, Guild Leader Black Flame led a force of over 500 peak experts to eradicate the Flower of Seven Sins’ forces in Windy Sand Town. The Flower of Seven Sins’ three commanders are enraged by this incident and have raised their bounty on Guild Leader Black Flame. They have also had all Flower of Seven Sins members operating in the primordial ruins to start moving in smaller groups.”

“Guild Leader Black Flame led a force of over 500 peak experts to eradicate Windy Sand Town’s forces?” Blue Sheath widened her eyes in shock when she heard Liu Wusheng’s words, her brain having difficulty processing this information.

Windy Sand Town was an important stronghold for the Flower of Seven Sins in the primordial ruins. For this reason, the organization had garrisoned the town with at least 6,000 Refinement Realm experts at all times. On top of that, many Refinement Realm Red Players were also using the town as their base of operations.

Logically, even a superpower going all out would have no way of exterminating such a powerful force. Yet, Zero Wing had accomplished this feat?

Moreover, what was that about a force of over 500 peak experts?

After all these years of development, Witch’s Sin didn’t even have 200 peak experts under its command. Yet, Zero Wing had over 500 peak experts?

“I see.” Liu Wusheng suddenly remembered the words Hidden Soul had said to him previously, realization dawning upon him. Then, he revealed a bitter smile and said, “So that’s why Chief Administrator Soul wasn’t worried about Zero Wing. If Zero Wing has a force of over 500 peak experts, even the Flower of Seven Sins will have to treat it with caution.”

However, what Liu Wusheng didn’t know was that the real reason the Flower of Seven Sins had reacted so cautiously didn’t lie in the fact that Zero Wing had over 500 peak experts. Instead, it was because every one of these peak experts was under twenty. This had frightened the Flower of Seven Sins’ leadership into commanding the organization’s members to spread out.

“Guild Leader Black Flame has called for all powers with a seat in Asura to gather for a meeting in the top-floor conference room, Elder Liu,” Blue Sheath said after reading a message she had just received. Then, with a stern expression, she continued, “He says he is going to discuss launching an all-out war against the Flower of Seven Sins!”

“Guild Leader Black Flame wants to have Asura start an all-out war at this juncture?” Liu Wusheng frowned when he heard this. “Is he crazy?”

Asura might have put a bounty on the Flower of Seven Sins and clashed with the organization many times out on the fields, but both sides had merely treated each other as a hostile force. Neither side had escalated the matter beyond that.

However, it would be an entirely different story if Asura were to declare an all-out war.

This would mean that any power tied to Asura would have to choose between fighting with the Flower of Seven Sins to the very end or leaving the mercenary alliance. Rather than declaring war on the Flower of Seven Sins, it’d be more appropriate to say that Shi Feng was forcing the mercenary alliance’s various powers to make a decision.

To leave!

Or to resist!