Chapter 320: Number One Among the Rong Tribe

The moment these words left his mouth, Yang Ling could clearly feel the hearts of Zhang Shuzhou and the other players skip a few beats.

Their muscles instinctively tensed, and their pupils shifted in various subtle ways.

"Just as I thought, they're players from the Rong tribe."

Without needing a response, Yang Ling had already confirmed this fact.

"You're a player too? Then why not let us out?"

Zhang Shuzhou froze for a moment, then broke into an overjoyed expression.

The other imprisoned players also perked up at once, their gazes burning as they fixed their eyes on Yang Ling.

"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm Zhang Shuzhou, number one on the Divine Realm Level Ranking."

Zhang Shuzhou smiled slightly. "Brother, since you managed to sneak in here, your strength can't be weak. You must be a top-ranking expert too, right?

May I ask your name?"

"They still haven't caught on. They probably don't know that the Zhao State and Rong Tribe rankings are separate. They think I'm just another Rong tribe player."

With this thought, Yang Ling smiled and said:

"I'm not a top-ranking expert. It's truly an honor to meet all you big shots today. This isn't a good place to talk. Let me first figure out how to get you out of here."

...

The players' hideout in the city was a rundown temple on the outskirts.

The temple had long been abandoned, left to decay for who knows how many years.

Yang Ling made five trips before he could transport all ten Rong tribe players, their hands and feet tendons severed, to this spot.

Throughout this process, Zhang Shuzhou and the others could feel that Yang Ling's movement technique was incredibly agile. Not only did he easily avoid the Heavenly Wolf Guards within the guard station,

he also effortlessly dodged the occasional drunken NPCs wandering the streets along the way.

"Brother, we're really grateful to you this time."

Zhang Shuzhou lay on the ground, his face showing genuine gratitude.

The other players also chimed in with their thanks one after another.

If it weren't for this man's intervention, they'd still be locked up in the Heavenly Wolf Guard's prison right now.

Who knew if those NPCs might get a whim and decide to chop off their heads?

This dungeon was different from the White Bone Cavern. They might only have one life.

If they died, that was it—complete game over.

"Players recover from injuries quickly. All you need to do is raise your HP back up."

Yang Ling asked, "Do any of you still have healing medicine on you?"

Zhang Shuzhou and the others let out bitter laughs:

"The healing medicine was confiscated by the soldiers at King Subei's Manor long ago..."

"I have some Golden Sore Medicine. It doesn't heal very fast, but it can still restore a bit of HP."

Yang Ling took out some Golden Sore Medicine from his Green Dragon Ring and fed seven or eight bottles to each person.

Zhang Shuzhou and the others breathed a full sigh of relief.

These Golden Sore Medicines couldn't restore them instantly, but they at least kept their HP from dropping further.

With this, as long as they circulated their energy, their HP would slowly recover, and their broken tendons would naturally reattach as well.

Zhang Shuzhou finally came to his senses and asked curiously:

"Brother, what's your name? Once we get out of here, I'll settle the fee for this rescue mission."

"My name is Shi Xin. As for the fee, there's no need. I think the most urgent matter right now should be completing this mission."

Yang Ling said thoughtfully.

A hint of gravity crept into everyone's eyes. The words "complete this mission" now felt like a distant dream.

"I don't know why, but this mission's difficulty has jumped to C+. Based on our speculation, C+ corresponds to the Upper Sixth-Rank."

"Among our group, Zhang Shuzhou, the number one ranked, has the highest cultivation, and he's only at the Upper Seventh-Rank."

"Yeah, I'm just at the Eighth-Rank. Having to do a mission of this difficulty feels like a death sentence."

"Maybe the game glitched?"

No matter how hard they racked their brains, they couldn't imagine that a player stronger than Zhang Shuzhou existed in this dungeon.

And since they hadn't yet realized that the Divine Realm Level Ranking had regional restrictions, this thought never even crossed their minds.

Zhang Shuzhou let out a sigh: "At first, we thought maybe the game had a bug. We planned to use the crossbows to try and complete the mission in one go.

Who would have guessed that damned bald monk was so terrifyingly powerful, truly on the Upper Sixth-Rank level.

We intended to fire one arrow and retreat if things went wrong, but we didn't even get the chance to run."

The players present were filled with regret. This time, they had acted too recklessly.

If not for the sudden appearance of this player who saved them, they might have truly died in this dungeon.

"So that's why they were so brave."

Yang Ling understood in his heart.

If it were him, he probably would have had a similar fool's hope.

The hand crossbows Zhang Shuzhou and the others used were of decent quality, capable of dealing fatal damage to a Seventh-Rank martial artist.

With ten crossbows firing simultaneously, if the game had indeed glitched, that Jiu Xingkong would already be dead.

"They can't see Jiu Xingkong's status panel. Otherwise, they wouldn't even have considered using the crossbows. They'd have taken one look and fled outside the city, waiting for the dungeon time to run out."

"Brother Shi Xin, we estimate it'll take four or five days to regain the ability to move, but our strength will definitely be diminished. We won't recover in the short term."

Zhang Shuzhou looked at Yang Ling:

"I suggest you lie low during this time too. Don't act rashly.

Rather than dying here, it's better to let the mission fail and let the game take whatever penalties it wants."

"I was thinking the same thing."

Yang Ling nodded thoughtfully.

"Shi Xin, is your mission the same as ours? Why aren't our mission starting points in the same place?"

A female player asked.

Yang Ling replied, "The objective is the same, but our identities should be different. In this dungeon, I'm a disciple of the Devour Heaven Palace."

"I see. So it seems the game's identity assignments aren't fixed."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"What a pity. If I'd known, I'd have bought some explosives from the Immortal God Sect. If I had explosives on me, no matter how strong that boss was, he'd still be blown to bits."

A player muttered to himself.

Zhang Shuzhou nodded: "That's right. The explosives that Li Fengxian guy developed pack quite a punch. If we could bring a batch in here, they should be able to blow up the boss."

"Those guys are heretic cultists. Even in the real world, they take advantage of chaos to do evil. Cooperating with them won't end well."

Another player said coldly:

"Besides, no one can guarantee that bringing explosives in won't raise the dungeon's difficulty. If the difficulty goes up, it's not worth the trade-off."

"That's true. They're all madmen. I've come across quite a few heretic cultists from the Immortal God Sect."

Zhang Shuzhou couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

Yang Ling's mind stirred, and he asked curiously:

"You've encountered heretic cultists from the Immortal God Sect? Before I entered the game, I saw the news. It reported that the Sect Leader of the Immortal God Sect is Li Fengxian.

Is he in the game too?"

"That's right. That bastard entered the game too. Lucky bastard."

The player who had earlier dismissed the Immortal God Sect nodded slowly:

"If he were in the real world, we would have caught him."

We? Yang Ling looked at this player, roughly guessing what profession this person held in reality. No wonder he harbored such hatred for the Immortal God Sect.

"Officer Ji Nian, just stop thinking about Li Fengxian. He's under the protection of the Heavenly Wolf Guard now. With his ability to develop explosives, the Heavenly Wolf Guard treats him like a treasure."

Zhang Shuzhou said helplessly:

"Don't say things like that outside anymore. If it gets back to his ears, even your sect might not be able to protect you.

Times have changed. This is the Divine Realm, not reality. You need to accept that."

"Hmph."

Ji Nian let out a cold snort:

"If I get the chance, I'll beat him to death directly. You're right. This is the Divine Realm, not reality.

No need for all those tedious procedures!"

"Beat him to death? I've seen Li Fengxian before. Although his level is lower than yours, his strength... should be about the same as mine."

Zhang Shuzhou said slowly.

"You've seen Li Fengxian? What does he look like?"

Yang Ling asked.