Chapter Ninety-Six: Advancing Through Hardship

As Old Hu had said, Ye Yu had likewise foreseen that such a thing would happen.

This so-called one-time instance battle event, with its scenario and story, sent the popularity of the Purple Illusion Realm soaring to an unprecedented peak. Even the First Power was eclipsed this time, and on the official Divine Calamity forum, the guild section had already begun an all-out publicity campaign for the event.

Because of the special mechanics in place, the official team of Divine Calamity changed the guild-size limit on the novice servers so that there was no upper cap at all. This was undoubtedly another adjustment to the game’s systems.

That very day, Ye Yu received a private message from the one known as Caring for Warmth and Cold. The guild’s membership had already reached more than a thousand. A single one-time instance battle had brought Purple Illusion Realm to a thousand members in an instant, and at least one hundred fixed parties had also joined.

Meanwhile, in the auction server, the items Ye Yu and the others had obtained in Ancient Heaven and Earth were still being auctioned off. As a long-term advertisement, this also served to remind players from old servers who were trying to make their way into the novice server of the existence of Purple Illusion Realm. And naturally, articles on the official Divine Calamity forum about the Purple Illusion Realm force on the Heavenly Abyss server were another powerful form of publicity, something Ye Yu was more than happy to see.

Purple Illusion Realm also began receiving task commissions from merchants in the auction server for the novice-server region. In particular, many merchants placed great value on the Heavenly Abyss server and one after another came to Ye Yu’s guild with commissions. Such commissions naturally attracted even more players, drawing in large numbers of players above level thirty, as well as newcomers who had only just stepped into Divine Calamity.

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The next day in reality, Ye Yu and the others naturally enjoyed a perfect night’s sleep. Since Luo Feng had gotten up early to buy everyone a full breakfast, no one even needed to leave the dormitory to get ready. After all, Qing University’s first week was meant to help students adjust to their new environment.

Then, in the afternoon of that day, Ye Yu once again received a message from Caring for Warmth and Cold. The reason was simple enough: Purple Illusion Realm’s membership had already reached twelve hundred, making it the guild with the largest headcount on the Heavenly Abyss server. Because certain requirements had to be met before approval, the pace of growth had slowed somewhat. But the guild notice for Purple Illusion Realm explicitly refused arrogant and domineering players; anyone with that sort of self-styled lone-hero mentality was completely unwelcome.

Because everyone logged in at different times, most guild members at this point were searching for suitable tasks in their guild’s message area and waiting to notify one another when there was an instance run. A smaller group of players chose to continue the main storyline to raise their levels, and while doing so, they also handled side quests to train their hands and strengthen their abilities.

Ye Yu and his party did not return to the guild territory. Instead, in order to hone their skills and temper themselves, they remained in the Ancient Ruins Stone Forest region for further training. At their current level of forty, this was the only ordinary, non-instance area that was truly suitable. And after listening to some of Old Hu’s suggestions, Ye Yu and the others were also preparing to try moving toward a slightly higher-level region.

For Ye Yu and the others, the monsters in the wilderness were an easy matter, with no real difficulty at all. So they chose places where monsters spawned in dense clusters, taking turns with one person leading the other two in fighting the wild monsters until their mana was exhausted.

Of course, this sort of rotating monster hunting had two benefits: first, it allowed everyone’s mana and stamina to recover fully; second, it helped prevent negative status effects. All afternoon, Ye Yu and the others remained in this state. Since the experience they gained could be accumulated, and with the doubled experience bonus, Ye Yu calculated that once the server’s level cap increased and everyone’s stored experience was counted, they would be able to reach level forty-two. In other words, at this pace, they could maintain a rate of two levels per day before level fifty. Of course, other fixed parties might not necessarily be able to do the same.

“You always say you’re just an absentee boss, but looking at you now, I’d say you’ve already started learning how to manage a guild.”

At that moment, Luo Feng glanced at the communication status glowing above Ye Yu’s head and said with a faintly mocking smile, “By the time you’ve turned Purple Illusion Realm into an even bigger guild, maybe quite a few people will start getting a little proud.”

“Before anything truly happens, no one can know for sure. As for me, I think it’s best to let things take their course. Wouldn’t you say I’m right?” Ye Yu asked suddenly in reply.

At that moment, Qu Zheng’s smile, lit by the campfire, made him look especially handsome. Naturally graceful to begin with, he seemed, under the flickering firelight, like a warm and understanding older brother as he gently said, “I think they probably won’t do that. Caring for Warmth and Cold practically worships Third Brother, so of course he’ll manage things properly. And Third Brother is the soul of the guild.”

“All right, the negative status is gone too. Let’s keep going. When we log off tonight, I think we should still be able to rack up at least one level’s worth of experience, maybe even two, as reserve.”

Luo Feng stretched lazily, patted Qu Zheng on the shoulder, and then looked at Ye Yu as he spoke.

Originally, Ye Yu and the others had planned to head toward the next map. There was a relay teleport point there, and not far beyond it lay a wilderness zone nearing level fifty. Although the map connected seamlessly and did not require any loading screen, it was still, after all, the next map area, leading them toward the next city.

“Starting from here, if we keep fighting all the way into the city in the next map area, our stored experience should at least carry us to level forty-five. If things go a bit more optimistically, we might even be able to save enough experience to reach level forty-six. By then, clearing our current quest line will also be much easier.”

Ye Yu opened the map panel to take a look, then spoke.

After that, the group set off again. In the world of Divine Calamity, whether in instances or in wild areas, monsters would appear differently depending on the time of day. Even monsters at night had enhanced attributes in various aspects, making them considerably stronger. But for Ye Yu and the five others, this was precisely an excellent chance to sharpen their skills.

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