Chapter 63: Only with Conviction Can One Be Truly Dominant

Xu Feng pursed his lips, his body lowered as he squatted on the ground. With rough fingers, he began to draw in the dust, explaining as he worked, “The entrance to the instance is here, and this is roughly a circular space. ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Guardian Knights’ are at the center. The two sides aren’t entangled in combat—it feels more like… how to put it, yes, like a duel between selected participants rather than a brawl.”

“A duel?” Zhao Nan’s expression flickered, and the others began to frown as Xu Feng spoke.

Xu Feng paused, looked up, and hesitated, “I eavesdropped a bit. It seems they’re fighting for the right to enter the instance… there’s a cap on how many can go in.”

“How many spots?” someone asked.

Xu Feng shook his head, indicating he didn’t know.

Zhao Nan felt a jolt inside. Though he had returned through rebirth, this world was filled with too many events, unfolding every day, every moment… This wasn’t a real online game; no one could log out and post strategies on an official forum, nor would anyone be so idle as to write an autobiography to warn future generations.

Zhao Nan knew the event only because of its fame, not its details.

“Let’s go take a look.” Zhao Nan mused for a moment; there was only one path, and no matter how they walked, they would ultimately face Ximen Yu and Nan Yangsheng.

…

Ximen Yu and Nan Yangsheng stood about thirty meters apart, faces calm, their eyes occasionally meeting, but both focused more on the fight fifteen meters ahead.

A temporary dueling platform, thirty meters in diameter, had been marked out here.

Suddenly, both men’s expressions shifted slightly, and they turned their heads almost simultaneously. At the entrance, a group of eight strode in directly.

The duel stopped at that moment; even the two who had been fighting energetically, belonging to different guilds, fixed their gaze on the newcomers. In Dongyuan City, the two most prominent guilds were ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Guardian Knights’. Yet, among these guilds, the most famous was ‘End of the World’ Guild.

No one could forget the scene in the third layer of the level 10 standard instance, when those eight toppled ‘Blood Shadow’, nor could anyone forget that while others wandered lost in the fourth layer of the maze, their group had already triggered the defeat of the maze’s boss.

Ximen Yu waved his hand, Nan Yangsheng nodded, and the two duelists quickly returned to their respective teams. At the same time, the group of eight walked between the two guilds.

The three parties formed a triangle.

“How many spots are there?” After a brief silence, Zhao Nan was the first to break the eye-contact standoff, his words unceasing, “I need eight spots.”

“Let that—ah!”

A rough voice from ‘Guardian Knights’ had barely begun when it was abruptly silenced. The speaker was suddenly slammed to the ground, a sword as large as a door board, still sheathed, crashing down upon him.

Many who had been about to speak swallowed their words back down.

Nan Yangsheng’s wrist holding the sword hilt did not move. The man struggled on the ground, unable to get up, and dared not utter another word.

The ‘Guardian Knights’ guild was known for its righteousness, inspiring hot-blooded devotion. Yet all who entered this guild heard Nan Yangsheng’s favorite phrase:

“Never defy me! Even if you know I’m going to kill you!”

He truly had the strength to speak thus… anyone could try wielding a hundred-pound greatsword as if it were weightless in a safe zone.

“Apologies, my man lacks manners.”

At this, many in ‘Guardian Knights’ threw odd looks around. Everyone knew that the guild leader was, in fact, the least polite of them all. At this moment, however, he was neither arrogant nor humble, simply acting as if he were visiting an old friend, teaching a rude child some manners.

Ximen Yu couldn’t help but chuckle. Nan Yangsheng frowned but didn’t look at him, instead fixed his gaze on Zhao Nan and suddenly said, “Zhang Tian is dead.”

Zhao Nan’s heart stirred. He hadn’t dealt the killing blow to Zhang Tian; the system wouldn’t announce the attacker’s name. He responded calmly, “And then?”

Nan Yangsheng narrowed his eyes, slung the greatsword onto his back, and said lightly, “So there’s no bad blood between us.”

“I still need eight spots.”

“Fine! The remaining spots are mine.” Nan Yangsheng spoke without expression.

This was his excessively polite purpose… Ximen Yu finally witnessed the other’s decisiveness and dominance. He narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curled in a fox-like smile, reminiscent of a smug salesman, polite to the point of being remarkable.

“Mr. Zhao, do you need equipment enchanted? Our guild has excellent enchanters… a level 19 enchanter.”

A secondary profession surpassing the main profession in level, especially higher than Zhao Nan’s current level, was astonishing… How many Luminous Crystal Stones were needed to reach such heights?

Zhao Nan couldn’t calculate, nor did he want to… Enchantments before level 20 didn’t boost power much, but this level 19 enchanter seemed promising and lucrative.

“I still need eight spots. But I’ll go first. You can split what’s left yourselves; I won’t participate.”

Zhao Nan tapped his staff on the ground as he walked, reminiscent of an old man strolling in the park, with his anxious family trailing behind, all tense as if worrying he might fall.

Step by step, they passed between ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Guardian Knights’. Xu Feng noticed Gao Mingyang’s sharp stride, Xu Fei saw the sweat on Xu Feng’s neck, Gao Xiang watched Xu Fei’s throat bob as he swallowed nervously, Jiang Lun avoided eye contact, glancing left and right, feeling a sudden urge to pee.

Two women walked in the middle, faces composed... Sister Finina was fearless thanks to her formidable strength, while Sister Xu Yang, perhaps, was unfazed by the grand occasion due to experience? Jiang Lun’s eyes darted about, lost in thought until he bumped into Gao Xiang ahead.

Because Zhao Nan had stopped, and someone spoke.

“Mr. Zhao, eating alone is a rather unsavory habit.”

Ximen Yu spoke at this moment, “I may not wish to fight, but I don’t intend to hand things over either… I doubt President Nan Yangsheng would like that. Are you confident you could take on both our guilds at once?”

Zhao Nan eyed the doors of the instance ahead and sighed. Their earlier victory against ‘Blood Shadow’ was only possible because the opponent’s level wasn’t high. Now, with the level 10 standard instance open, the strength of ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Guardian Knights’ had outstripped ‘Blood Shadow’ by far. As levels and gear improved, it was becoming harder for a single person to take on an entire army.

There are limits to strength.

“I want eight spots. The rest you two can split—I don’t care how. I’ll wait three minutes. Whether you fight or not is your decision.”

No one wanted to start a fight.

Nan Yangsheng and Ximen Yu exchanged glances… The original plan was for both sides to send representatives into duels, with the outcome determining entry allocations. But ‘End of the World’ had emerged midway.

“There are twenty spots in total. Ximen Yu, I won’t cheat you; the remaining spots will still be distributed according to duel results, agreed?”

“That’s the only way.”

Both looked at Zhao Nan, each with their own thoughts.

‘End of the World’ guild’s approach was domineering, but their path was unique. There was never any rumors of them recruiting outsiders.

Compared to ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Guardian Knights’, ‘End of the World’ was like a solitary wanderer… Ximen Yu didn’t believe he could keep Zhao Nan, and Nan Yangsheng worried he couldn’t contend with ‘End of the World’. If Zhao Nan slipped away, neither wanted to face the retaliation of this formidable mage.

Of course, Finina’s strength as a swordswoman made both men cautious.

The duel between ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Guardian Knights’ continued under these terms. In the end, ‘Purgatory’ claimed seven of the remaining twelve spots. Nan Yangsheng accepted his loss without complaint, immediately choosing his team.

The instance doors opened. The three groups, each deep in thought and silent, entered together.