"Yay! Jiang Yuan, you're the best!"
Jiang Yuan's words sent a warm current through Hamster Pudding's heart. In Jiang Yuan's astonished gaze, Hamster Pudding lunged forward and gave him a big hug!
"It's a bit of a shame we couldn't be in the same alliance together! Heh heh!"
Seeing that Jiang Yuan had agreed to Hamster Pudding's idea of joining Hanjiang City, Wen Ding Cangsheng's face showed a hint of regret as he spoke with a smile.
"Brother Cangsheng, rest assured. As the saying goes, 'Green hills share the same clouds and rain, the bright moon has never been two different lands.' The Wen Ding Guild will always be a friendly partner of the Chuang Shi Guild. Even if we're in different alliances, our bond won't change!"
Jiang Yuan smiled at Wen Ding Cangsheng, then patted Hamster Pudding on the back. The latter immediately realized her own indiscretion, quickly let go of her arms around Jiang Yuan's neck, blushed, and stepped aside, silently lowering her head.
"Haha! Of course. If the Ao Shi Guild really teams up with the Wan Li Alliance to oppose you, our Tian Bo Fu won't stand idly by!"
Wen Ding Cangsheng extended his hand and smiled at Jiang Yuan, who took it and shook it firmly!
"Let's go! Time to join the alliance!"
Jiang Yuan said to Wen Ding Cangsheng and Hamster Pudding, then followed them to the NPC "Shangguan Yun" to join their respective alliances as planned.
The NPC Shangguan Yun was located in Xianyang County on the Central Continent map, while Ping'an City, where Jiang Yuan and the others were, belonged to the Jiangnan map, so they needed to use a teleportation array.
The three paid the fee and were teleported to Xianyang County on the Central Continent map via the array.
Arriving at the Alliance Hall, Jiang Yuan found it already packed with members from various sects, big and small, who had come to join alliances.
As Jiang Yuan, Wen Ding Cangsheng, and Hamster Pudding approached the NPC "Shangguan Yun," they happened to run into Ao Shi Long Huang and his group, who had just finished joining an alliance.
"Brother Long Huang, how have you been? I've missed you dearly since our parting at Anyang Town!"
In the battle at Anyang Town, the elite forces led by Ao Shi Long Huang had gained nothing but cycles of annihilation, revival, re-annihilation, and re-revival. Some busybodies even recorded a video of the Ao Shi Guild being wiped out in one move by Gu Ma and posted it online, making it a topic of gossip and ridicule among players for days, which had really frustrated Ao Shi Long Huang!
"Hmph! Jiang Yuan, your good days are over!"
Ao Shi Long Huang glanced at Jiang Yuan and sneered.
Now that the Ao Shi Guild had allied with five major sects, occupying both Di Huang Zhou and Wan Li Alliance to counter Jiang Yuan's Chuang Shi Guild, Ao Shi Long Huang was confident that in the upcoming Alliance Plunder War, they would crush the Chuang Shi Guild in one fell swoop!
"Is that so? It seems Brother Long Huang's confidence has soared after joining an alliance!"
Jiang Yuan looked at the "Di" character icon on the left side of Ao Shi Long Huang's head, smiled, and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Di Huang Zhou and Wan Li Alliance together have over ten thousand people. Dealing with your mere Chuang Shi Guild is no problem at all."
Ao Shi Long Huang knew the strength of the Chuang Shi Guild well—it had fewer than two thousand members in total. With a human wave tactic, the two alliances could bury the Chuang Shi Guild alive!
"Brother Cangsheng, I advise you as a friend. It's best you don't meddle in the feud between our Ao Shi and Chuang Shi, to avoid souring relations between our two sides."
In real life, Ao Shi Long Huang's company had close business ties with Wen Ding Cangsheng's family conglomerate, and the heads of both groups were on good terms privately. So Ao Shi Long Huang directly brought up this connection to restrain Wen Ding Cangsheng, making it awkward for him to openly support the Chuang Shi Guild due to real-world obligations.
"Brother Long Huang, rest assured. The higher-ups have given instructions, so our Wen Ding plans to join Tian Bo Fu, not team up with Chuang Shi to join Hanjiang City."
A mysterious smile appeared on Wen Ding Cangsheng's face as he nodded to Ao Shi Long Huang, then joined the Tian Bo Fu Alliance right in front of him.
"Haha! Brother Cangsheng is truly a standout among the younger generation. With your words, I can rest easy!"
Seeing that the Wen Ding Guild hadn't let the Chuang Shi Guild latch onto their coattails, Ao Shi Long Huang was overjoyed. He nodded at Wen Ding Cangsheng with a satisfied smile.
"Tch! Bai, do you think I'm afraid of you or something?!"
Hamster Pudding stepped in front of Jiang Yuan, puffing out her ample chest, glaring fiercely at Ao Shi Long Huang, even blurting out his surname.
In real life, Hamster Pudding's family business was a competitor to Ao Shi Long Huang's family conglomerate. The two groups' main industries overlapped significantly, and besides their in-game rivalry, they often clashed head-to-head in reality.
"Hmph! I hope the Hengyun Group's foundation is as solid as your bold talk!"
Ao Shi Long Huang's gaze swept over Hamster Pudding's full chest, a sinister smile spreading across his face as he rubbed his chin with two fingers and spoke to her.
"You!"
Stung by Ao Shi Long Huang's provocation, Hamster Pudding's temper flared, and she rushed forward to argue with him, but Jiang Yuan grabbed her arm.
"Games are games, reality is reality. He's using provocation—don't fall for it."
Jiang Yuan was level-headed and saw through Ao Shi Long Huang's psychological tactic at once, quickly persuading Hamster Pudding.
"Hmph! Annoying jerk! Bleh!"
Hamster Pudding snapped back to reality, realizing she'd been thrown off by Ao Shi Long Huang's mind games. She made a face at him and turned away, ignoring him.
"Jiang Yuan, let's go join the alliance!"
Hamster Pudding said, then grabbed Jiang Yuan's arm and led him to the NPC "Shangguan Yun." After paying the 1,000 gold joining fee, the Chuang Shi Qing Yu Guild officially became part of the Hanjiang City Alliance, one of the four major alliances!
"Ding! Congratulations on joining the Hanjiang City Alliance. The system has automatically gifted you a 'Hanjiang City Alliance Uniform.' Please collect it from the courier at any map!"
As Hamster Pudding added the guild to the Hanjiang City Alliance, Jiang Yuan immediately heard the system's notification.
"Wow! Jiang Yuan, look! Our Hanjiang City alliance emblem is pretty nice!"
After joining Hanjiang City, a hexagonal pattern appeared to the left of Hamster Pudding's and Jiang Yuan's IDs. In the center of the pattern was a regular script character "Han," with a background of an ancient city tower standing on rippling water.
Jiang Yuan nodded at Hamster Pudding with a slight smile, then quickly opened the alliance interface. He saw that three guild names now appeared below the Hanjiang City alliance interface: his own Chuang Shi Qing Yu Guild, the Yun Qi Guild, and the Bai Hua Gong Guild.
Since the Chuang Shi Guild was the strongest within the Hanjiang City Alliance, it automatically became the alliance's leading guild. Beside Hamster Pudding's avatar on the alliance interface, the words "Leading Guild" were prominently displayed.
"Leading Guild of Hanjiang City! What a majestic title!"
Jiang Yuan gave Hamster Pudding a thumbs-up with a smile. From this day forward, the Chuang Shi Guild would officially take on the heavy responsibility of revitalizing Hanjiang City!