This time, Liu Chuan didn't ignore Ze Wen Xiaobai like he did when he first met Wu Zewen in the novice town in South Xinjiang. Liu Chuan deliberately stopped and waited for them. The three of them teamed up to complete tasks, and their speed was like using cheats, incredibly swift.
As they reached the east gate of Jiangling, they received an escort mission. Just as they were about to start, a male Emei disciple approached them.
Emei disciples wore red and white outfits. The female attire was primarily pink, and the males wore white. The male Emei disciple, with a white robe and carrying an ancient qin on his back, looked like a graceful young gentleman. In the professional circle, Emei players, except for Qin Ye playing a female character, mostly chose male characters when creating their roles.
The male Emei disciple introduced himself as Qiu Se Wubian and sent a team invitation to the three.
Liu Chuan approved his team request and asked in the team channel, "Is there something?"
Qiu Se Wubian said, "Let's do the mission together; I happen to be doing the same one."
Liu Chuan straightforwardly agreed, "Sure."
The qin-playing Emei was a healing class, and doing escort missions alone was a bit challenging. Liu Chuan was happy to have this support player with them.
After talking to the NPC, the countdown for the escort mission began. The four protected the NPC and encountered small monsters along the way. Li Xiang, playing the role of a Shaolin tank, skillfully drew aggro and led the monsters away. His monster-pulling technique had become more proficient after many dungeon runs. Sometimes, when the small monsters were scattered, he could perfectly bring them all together, allowing Liu Chuan and Wu Zewen to output damage without worries.
One minute later, the escort mission was completed. The four handed in the quest together and continued with the main storyline. The mainline quests near Jiangling City were from level 30 to 35, and all sects had similar tasks, making it easy to team up.
At this point, many players who had finished dungeons were doing quests nearby, mostly at level 33.
Qiu Se Wubian suddenly asked, "Are you all not going to sleep yet?"
Liu Chuan said, "It's the weekend today, and we're planning to stay up all night. Are you going to sleep?"
Qiu Se Wubian sent a handshake emoji and said, "I'm planning to stay up too. Let's do quests together."
Liu Chuan agreed, "Sure."
Qiu Se Wubian asked, "Are the three of you in a party?"
Li Xiang said, "I'm with Wudou; the Tangmen captain is not with us!"
Qiu Se Wubian said, "Did the Wudang captain in your team log out?"
Li Xiang, alert, said, "You even know we have a Wudang captain in our team?"
Qiu Se Wubian sent a smiley face, "You guys just finished the Famous Sword Pavilion dungeon with a record, and the world announcements showed it. Your names are also on the dungeon leaderboard! You three are celebrities on the whole server now!"
Li Xiang proudly said, "Right, it's hard to break the record we set, isn't it?"
Qiu Se Wubian said, "That record is indeed impressive, breaking the records of Chang'an Guild. Are you high-level players looking for an extra member? I want to run dungeons with you. I'm a veteran gamer, I'll follow orders in dungeons without making mistakes. Unfortunately, I don't have friends in this area, and most Heroic dungeons are done by guild groups now. As a free player, it's hard for me to find a team."
Liu Chuan smiled and said, "We've already completed it five times today."
Qiu Se Wubian said, "No problem. After the counts reset at midnight, can you guys call me if you need an extra member?"
Realizing that this person came to join their dungeon team after seeing their names, and he initiated the conversation, the three couldn't directly refuse.
Li Xiang asked Liu Chuan, "Do we need another member in our team? Are the two from Qixingcao coming tomorrow night?"
Liu Chuan said, "Probably not."
Qiu Se Wubian, puzzled, asked, "Qixingcao? Isn't Qixingcao Guild known for being incompetent in dungeons?"
Liu Chuan chuckled, "Yes, it's Xiao's dark history, everyone knows."
Li Xiang, curious, asked, "Xiao's dark history? How come I haven't heard of it?"
Liu Chuan cheerfully said, "Then let me reveal his dark history for your entertainment."
Talking about someone's dark history, Liu Chuan's typing speed was naturally very fast. He quickly typed a string of words: "A few years ago, before the professional league, Xiao Sijing was the leader of the Seven Star Grass Guild in District One's Yijiangnan. At that time, with the official update of the expansion pack, the first 30-player team dungeon, Peach Blossom Island, appeared. All major guilds were rushing to explore it, so Xiao Sijing also took 30 people to explore. Once inside, Xiao Sijing looked at the super-large dungeon map and got dizzy. He then asked, 'How many bosses are there in this dungeon?' Su Shilun said, 'Three.' Xiao Sijing said, 'Let's split into three groups. Group one, go for boss one. Group two, go for boss two. Group three, go for boss three. After defeating them, gather in the middle.'"
Li Xiang: ".........."
Li Xiang laughed so hard at his computer that he banged on the table, and Wu Zewen glanced at him calmly.
Li Xiang asked, "What happened next? How did it turn out?"
Liu Chuan sent a row of tearful emojis: "Do I need to say the result? Using the method of capturing flags in the arena, he divided into three groups to attack three bosses simultaneously. The whole group was wiped out, all three groups were wiped, and after gathering, he rearranged the team and continued wiping. They wiped the entire night on Peach Blossom Island..."
Li Xiang continued laughing: "Haha! Xiao's really a dungeon idiot. Who plays team dungeons like that!"
Liu Chuan also chuckled, "Exactly, he always played in the arena, had no idea about dungeon bosses, didn't understand hate mechanics, and had no clue about off-tanking. He thought three bosses could be split into three groups to be defeated simultaneously. The 30 elites he brought from the guild wiped all night on Peach Blossom Island. The people from Seven Star Grass had a psychological shadow about doing dungeons. Xiao Sijing only later found out that this team dungeon's bosses had to be tackled with 30 people together, one by one, in order. You couldn't split them like in the arena. Then he said, 'What's the point of doing dungeons! So troublesome!'"
Li Xiang: "......"
Li Xiang was almost laughing to death.
Indeed, there's a huge gap between PvP and PvE. Many PvP players have no concept of doing dungeons, don't understand what threat is, and are even more clueless about managing hate.
Unexpectedly, the current captain of the Seven Star Grass team, Xiao Sijing, had such a comical incident in his youth.
Li Xiang continued to ask, "What happened later? Did they eventually clear Peach Blossom Island? Did Seven Star Grass stop doing dungeons after that?"
Liu Chuan suddenly fell silent.
It was Autumn Horizon who typed, "I heard that later, Seven Star Grass invited outside help to command and finally cleared Peach Blossom Island. At that time, Peach Blossom Island was the top-tier dungeon, and there was a material for weapon upgrades that only dropped there. They had to do it, so Xiao didn't like dungeons, saying it's too bothersome to fight a boss, check the hate list, and listen to the boss blabber about the storyline."
Li Xiang laughed heartily, "So, Xiao brought in outside help to command because he couldn't handle it himself?"
Autumn Horizon said, "Yes, the former captain of the Huaxia Guild, Haina Bai Chuan, personally came to command for Seven Star Grass and helped them clear the dungeon."
Li Xiang exclaimed, "You mean Haina Bai Chuan, the former captain of the Huaxia team? Aren't Huaxia and Seven Star Grass enemies?"
Autumn Horizon said, "Back then, there was no professional league, and everyone was just playing online games. There was no concept of enemies. I heard that back in the day, Chuan's team and Xiao's team got along well. Chuan even taunted Xiao in front of the entire guild, calling him a dungeon idiot, and he didn't get angry."
Li Xiang was getting addicted to the story, "You know a lot! Isn't this all from several years ago?"
Autumn Horizon said, "Yeah, most old players in District One know these gossips. I heard it from friends. Back then, District One had many current esports legends – Huaxia, Seven Star Grass, Chang'an, Luohua Ci. These four teams all originated from District One guilds."
Li Xiang excitedly said, "Even Chang'an? I love Chang'an team's vice-captain Nightfall the most. I only started following the Wulin Professional League this year, so I don't know these past gossips. Is Nightfall also from District One?"
Autumn Horizon said, "Um, I'm not quite sure about that."
Li Xiang said, "Oh! Then tell me more about the past gossips. It's so interesting to hear these gossips."
Liu Chuan smiled and privately messaged Autumn Horizon, "Which guild's spy are you? From Chang'an Guild, right?"
Autumn Horizon: "..."
The feeling of being discovered as a mole is indeed quite embarrassing!
After a long silence, Autumn Horizon, blushing, sent a line of words: "Cough, cough, expert! How did you figure it out?"
Liu Chuan laughed, "Since you know Xiao Sijing's dark history, how could you not know the 'Goddess Nightfall's' dark history?"
Autumn Horizon: "..."
Liu Chuan continued, "Nightfall is also a dungeon idiot. He used to play as an Emei healer, healing one dead one. Many guilds in District One were afraid to do dungeons with him because he was a wipe-out god healer. If you've heard of Xiao's dark history, you must have heard of Nightfall's too, right? He's even more famous than Xiao, and everyone on the server trembles at the thought of having this wipe-out god healer in their group. Later, no one wanted him for dungeons, so he went to play Claw Emei."
Autumn Horizon: ".........."
Liu Chuan chuckled, "Because Nightfall is your Chang'an's vice-captain, you probably don't want to expose his dark history. I understand. Go back and tell your guild leader to send two Tangmen players tomorrow night for the dungeon. I can teach you the strategy, whether you can handle it or not depends on your abilities."
Autumn Horizon could only run back and report the message with a dejected look.
As for Liu Chuan, after seeing off Autumn Horizon, he suddenly felt a bit bitter, recalling those old memories.
Back in the day, District One Yijiangnan was indeed the liveliest server. What was so great about the current server with eight major guilds and teams? District One was filled with top-tier players, and every world boss fight was like a river of blood. There were daily flag-inserting duels in front of the main city gates. Liu Chuan, Xiao Sijing, Qin Ye, Su Shilun – they had dueled countless times.
Huaxia, Seven Star Grass, Chang'an, Luohua Ci...
The initial four powerful teams of the alliance, all originated from the gaming guilds of District One's Yijiangnan.
Time passed too quickly. So many significant events had happened in Telecom District One, how many of them were known now? Those who first went to play in the professional league, some retired, some left, some worked, some became fathers...
There were only a few left in the alliance who stayed.
Old Xiao's condition probably couldn't hold on for much longer. Qin Ye in Chang'an had been having conflicts with that crazy Yang Jian...
Liu Chuan couldn't help but rub his temples, feeling a sudden twinge of bitterness.
A private message popped up in the lower-left corner: "What's wrong?"
It was from Wu Zewen.
Liu Chuan smiled and typed a row of words: "Is my wife caring about me?"
Wu Zewen: "..."
Habitually blocking certain words, Wu Zewen asked seriously, "You were silent when Autumn Horizon was talking. Later, he left on his own. What happened?"
Liu Chuan said, "Undercover."
Wu Zewen was surprised for a moment, then calmly asked, "Is it because we broke the dungeon record, so they sent someone to get close to us, trying to get the dungeon strategy from us?"
Liu Chuan laughed, "Wife, you're really smart."
Wu Zewen ignored his teasing and said, "I've never played an online game. I don't understand these guild disputes. Will it be troublesome for you to do this?"
Liu Chuan said, "Perhaps? I haven't played an online game for a long time, and I don't know the thoughts of those guild managers. Logically, since the official has set the competition method for dungeon achievements, naturally, anyone capable can go for it. However, these records have been monopolized by various large guilds for years. Suddenly, we jump out to participate, and the major guilds certainly won't be happy... The consequences of their unhappiness, I'm not too sure at the moment."
—Unhappy? What will happen if those guild leaders are unhappy? Will they come to kill us?
Wu Zewen wasn't worried at all; instead, he found it quite interesting and couldn't resist opening the guild ranking to take a look.
Numerous guilds had settled in this area, spanning several pages in the guild list, ranked by guild points.
The top eight guilds had already upgraded to level two guilds: Chang'an Dream Night, Falling Flowers Farewell, Seven Star Grass, Nation of Huaxia, Bronze Sparrow Platform, Prosperous Tang Dynasty, Beacon of War, and Beautiful Land.
Each guild had a distinct emblem in front, a badge. The emblems of these eight guilds were evidently crafted with care.
Wu Zewen remarked, "These guild emblems actually look pretty good."
Liu Chuan asked, "Really? What do you think of the emblem of the Huaxia Guild?"
The emblem of Huaxia was a transformed "华" character, appearing as if written casually in cursive, free-spirited, and grand. The color used was a beautiful deep red, and this simple yet elegant style matched the team's name perfectly.
Wu Zewen said earnestly, "Not bad, this '华' character is beautifully written."
Liu Chuan smiled, "I think so too!"
—I personally wrote the character, so of course, it looks good!
Liu Chuan didn't sense anything; just being praised by Wu Zewen made his mood suddenly extremely pleasant!