"Jiang Yuan, do you think that old city lord was talking about quasi-immortal-tier equipment? Could it be beyond mythic level?"
After leaving the city lord's mansion, Hamster Pudding couldn't stop thinking about the reward information Qian Tianlei had revealed.
"It might be beyond mythic equipment, or it could be even stronger than that!"
Jiang Yuan thought for a moment before replying, though he couldn't be entirely certain himself.
"Since this mission has such rich rewards, should we form a team to go?"
Hamster Pudding looked at Jiang Yuan and suggested.
"How many people in Genesis are currently at level 100?"
Jiang Yuan suddenly remembered that this main quest could only be accepted after reaching level 100, so he turned to Hamster Pudding and asked.
"Let me check... Well, including you, our guild has a total of 15 people above level 100."
Hamster Pudding opened the level ranking list, counted, and said to Jiang Yuan.
"What about Cloudrise and Blossom Palace?"
Jiang Yuan thought for a moment and asked.
"Five."
Hamster Pudding counted again and replied.
"Gather them all. Let's form a group and set off together!"
Jiang Yuan sent a team invitation to Hamster Pudding and immediately converted it into a raid group.
In no time, a raid group was formed from the top-level players of Genesis, Cloudrise, and Blossom Palace—all above level 100 and members of the Cold River City Alliance. Based on class specialties, Jiang Yuan assigned each team a healer, a warrior, and an assassin. Warriors and healers were the standard for every team, while assassins were included because of their stealth capabilities, making them the best scouts for gathering intelligence.
Jiang Yuan's Team 1 consisted of Ding Ye (Warrior), Jiang Yuan (Summoner), Hamster Pudding (Healer), Genesis Whirlwind (Assassin), and Genesis Cloud (Archer). This team had an extra advantage over the others: all members knew each other in real life and had each other's contact information. If anything happened, they could immediately reach someone offline and get them online right away!
"Hey, Cloud, long time no see!"
As soon as the team was formed, Ding Ye started flirting in the team chat with the girl named Genesis Cloud, who was the lobby manager of Gold Pine Ridge Hotel.
"Hi there, handsome!"
Genesis Cloud responded warmly when she saw Ding Ye greeting her.
Encouraged by her reply, Ding Ye perked up and scurried over to Genesis Cloud's side, striking up a conversation.
"Jiang Yuan, everyone's here. Can we head out now?"
Hamster Pudding looked at the 20 highest-level players from the Cold River City Alliance gathered in front of the city lord's mansion and said to Jiang Yuan.
"Hold on, I need to bring Beiluo Shimen along. I don't know how long we'll be gone, and I'm worried about leaving him hungry."
Just before leaving, Jiang Yuan suddenly remembered Beiluo Shimen, who was staying in his home plane. He said this to Hamster Pudding and then ran off alone toward the plane teleportation NPC.
Arriving at the Yuhang plane map, Jiang Yuan quickly walked into his house. As soon as he entered, he saw Beiluo Shimen, pure white all over, crouched on a tall wutong tree, its sapphire-like eyes fixed on birds flying in the distance, looking utterly entranced.
"Beiluo!"
"Meow!"
Jiang Yuan called out. Beiluo Shimen recognized the familiar voice and let out a joyful meow, leaping down from the tree in a few bounds and darting onto Jiang Yuan's shoulder in seconds!
"Meow! Master, did you bring me any treats again?"
Beiluo Shimen lifted its little head, rubbed against Jiang Yuan's neck, and asked happily.
"Eat, eat, eat—that's all you ever think about! You're going to turn into a fat cat!"
Jiang Yuan gently poked Beiluo Shimen's head with his finger and rolled his eyes.
"Hehe! I need to keep eating to store up energy, Master—you just don't get it!"
Beiluo Shimen raised a tiny paw and pushed Jiang Yuan's face, giggling.
At first, Jiang Yuan didn't understand what Beiluo Shimen meant, but later, after entering the Tianshan Celestial Pool, he witnessed Beiluo Shimen's true terrifying power!
"I'm going on a long trip. I don't feel right leaving you home alone, so come with me."
Jiang Yuan patted Beiluo Shimen's head, then turned to leave immediately. But Beiluo Shimen suddenly jumped off his shoulder and scampered away out of sight.
Before long, Beiluo Shimen reappeared in Jiang Yuan's view, carrying an unopened bag of dried fish in its mouth. It then said to Jiang Yuan, "Master, bring all my dried fish—they're so yummy, hehe!"
"You little foodie!"
Jiang Yuan felt a headache coming on but still followed its request. He went up to the second floor, packed the dozen bags of dried fish that Hamster Pudding had bought for Beiluo Shimen, along with Beiluo's cat bowl, into his inventory.
By the time Jiang Yuan returned to the Imperial Capital with Beiluo Shimen, over ten minutes had passed. Hamster Pudding said that Wen Ding Cang Sheng had just messaged him, saying he had already set off with the Tianbo Mansion team.
"Alright, let's go too. It'd be best to rendezvous with Brother Wen Ding and the others."
Jiang Yuan said to Hamster Pudding, then issued the departure order in the raid channel. The 20-person team moved together toward the Imperial Capital's teleportation NPC.
The destination map, "Tianshan Celestial Pool," was located in the far northwest of the Greater China World. It was a neutral map, not under the influence of any alliance—Emperor Province, Ten Thousand Mile Alliance, Tianbo Mansion, or Cold River City.
Jiang Yuan inquired with the teleportation NPC and learned that the farthest point they could teleport to in the northwest was "Yumen Pass." From there, continuing westward would lead to the Tianshan range.
The Imperial Capital was in the northeast of the Greater China World, while Yumen Pass was in the far west, so the teleportation fee was steep—a full 15 gold coins!
Fortunately, anyone who had reached level 100 had at least two to three hundred gold on them. Still, some players winced at the cost when they saw it.
"Let's go, everyone teleport to Yumen Pass!"
Jiang Yuan said in the raid channel and initiated the teleportation first.
After several seconds of dizzying disorientation, Jiang Yuan's vision gradually cleared. The bustling Imperial Capital vanished, replaced by an endless expanse of barren desert and gobi—a scene of utter desolation!
"Damn, what the hell is this godforsaken place?"
Ding Ye, who had teleported alongside Jiang Yuan, stared at the desert before him, dumbfounded. After a pause, he cursed angrily.
The other Cold River City Alliance members behind Jiang Yuan were also stunned. They had thought the Cold River City map was already a harsh, rugged environment, but this place was even worse!