Chapter 1279: Situation and Lion Riders

"MMP, I was chased by three or four waves of people on the National Battle Map today."

"Me too, I was actually fighting A San, and then the Kangaroo Nation snuck up from behind and stole us, and then cooperated with A San to get me out."

"Yeah, same here. Weren't the Monkey and A San supposed to be fighting? But today while I was fighting the Monkey, A San actually teamed up with the Monkey against me."

"MMP, A San is being cheeky again, brothers, any thoughts, let's launch a wave against A San."

"What you guys have is nothing; I ran into Mao Xiong's left wing and got hammered."

"The Mao Xiong Server has now split into two factions; one, called the left‑wing faction by Domestic Server players, is friendly toward the West."

"The other firmly believes we should cooperate amicably with Huaxia and is called the right‑wing faction."

"Although the Mao Xiong Server still maintains a cooperative relationship, the two sides cannot attack each other's cities yet can still clash with each other."

"On the National Battle Map, those left‑wing elements of Mao Xiong show no mercy to Huaxia players."

"Of course, it's unclear how many Mao Xiong players aren't truly left‑wing, but when they see an opportunity on the National Battle Map, they'll masquerade as left‑wing and attack Huaxia players."

"When profit is at stake, it can't be avoided, so the relationship between Huaxia and the Mao Xiong Server remains very delicate."

…

"Primarily, on the National Fortune leaderboard, besides Huaxia, which is a clear first, the second place is Ying Jiang with over 1.3 billion, and third is Mao Xiong, not far behind Ying Jiang; out of a National Fortune value of about 1.29 billion, the gap is only around 20 million."

"Surprisingly, fourth place is Kangaroo, holding at 1.1 billion; fifth is Beibang just over 900 million; after that come Kimchi, Sakura… anyway, the initial 1 billion National Fortune value couldn't be maintained."

"After all, most of Huaxia Server's National Fortune value is plundered from them, and only the recent Demon Race incursion made them fight back."

"Killing Demon Race units also yields National Fortune."

"Thus, some left‑wing elements think they should ally with Ying Jiang, knock Huaxia off its horse, and then compete with Ying Jiang for first place."

"After all, Huaxia's current advantage is truly disheartening."

"There's no way around it; Huaxia has a decade of elite accumulation, and the gaming community already has a mature development system."

"Other servers, however, have to figure it out…"

"Secondly, up to now in the Zhu Lu Game, Huaxia has the most prestigious guilds among all servers combined."

"Twelve, or rather… thirteen. Since Qiancheng Muxue and Snowfall Qiancheng split, but a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse; with the original size of Qiancheng Muxue, even divided in two, it's incomparable to ordinary guilds."

"…At least on the Huaxia Server side, the closest prestigious guilds, Crosswise and Chu Song, still have a considerable gap compared with the split Qiancheng Muxue and Snowfall Qiancheng."

"At this rate, catching up to Huaxia through normal means is too hard."

……

Regarding

this situation, Su Sheng isn't too worried.

Because…

In this Demon Race incursion expansion, with recent developments, the Demon Energy suppression on the National Battle Map has risen to a 5% increase!

Although Huaxia players are being targeted on the National Battle Map, the overall situation hasn't collapsed.

It's precisely because of this 5% Demon Energy suppression!

Each time, at a critical moment… Huaxia players pull out their last‑resort anti‑Demon potions; after offsetting the suppression, even though the amount is small, that 5% edge can turn the tide.

So far, only the Huaxia Server produces anti‑Demon potions.

Other servers also have some items that resist Demon suppression, but the core rights lie with top players on each server, and their prevalence can't match Huaxia's anti‑Demon potions.

Initially, the anti‑Demon potions on the Yanhuang side were price‑hiked.

After all, the market is booming; anyone joining the National Battle Map events now almost always equips anti‑Demon potions.

Even the Yanhuang production of anti‑Demon potions relies entirely on Chen Jianping.

Supply can't meet demand, but later, due to targeting, the price stopped rising and stayed steady.

Even so, the anti‑Demon potions posted daily by Yanhuang are snapped up in seconds.

Guilds with decent relations with Yanhuang have all come knocking.

As for Universe, no need to elaborate; being allies with Yanhuang, high‑quality anti‑Demon potions can be bought from Yanhuang.

The Dawn Star side reaching out is also understandable.

Subsequently, Hong Meng, Dawnbreak, Peak… each guild came knocking.

These don't need further comment.

Myth and Imperial Guild, which have clashed with Yanhuang, have also come pleading.

Su Sheng didn't make things difficult for them; normal trade… Of course, even if Su Sheng doesn't hinder them, the supply of high‑quality anti‑Demon potions is limited, so each guild receives only a modest amount.

Even a member of Yun Duo Guild came personally to buy some high‑quality anti‑Demon potions; as for the Yun Duo Guild, although it's showing some progress, it still lags behind Crosswise and Chu Song.

Of course, some are quite self‑aware; members of Qiancheng Muxue and Snowfall Qiancheng haven't felt uncomfortable coming over, probably realizing that even if they did, Yanhuang wouldn't give them anything.

But honestly, they're being petty, thinking that if their two guilds could also join the National Battle Map, they'd contribute to the Domestic Server.

Su Sheng might indeed make a concession, selling them anti‑Demon potions; after all, it's just selling some potions, not a major principle‑breaking concession.

Moreover, since anti‑Demon potions are mainly useful on the National Battle Map, their purchase naturally aids the Domestic Server.

Considering it, making a small concession is understandable.

Unfortunately, since their split, they've been constantly bickering.

Even when the National Battle Map opened, they didn't participate, just kept bickering, their brains almost exploding.

It's only recently that they've begun to calm down.

It seems that whether it's Wei Cheng or Du Xue, they both realize that continuing the fight brings no benefit. So far, neither side can claim a clear victory.

Moreover, if they keep fighting, their development pace will be further delayed; originally their pace already can't match other prestigious guilds.

Thus, both sides mutually halted, deliberately avoiding each other's activity zones; after Qiancheng Muxue arrived at Huangcheng, it generally expands toward the eastern district, while Snowfall Qiancheng heads to the western district.

…

Next, during the initial ceasefire between the two guilds, there were indeed small squads that entered the National Battle Map.

But after entering the National Battle Map, they discovered that the combat intensity there at that moment even exceeded their mutual slaughter between the two sides.

More than two months have passed, and the vast majority of players have hardly leveled up, remaining at their current level; it is evident that leveling up is generally rare.

Moreover, the two guilds Qiancheng Muxue and Xuelu Qiancheng themselves fell far behind due to their constant infighting.

Thus, the two guilds almost simultaneously made the same choice, and this season they hardly came to the National Battle Map.

Instead, they fully devoted themselves to their own development.

At this time, Huangcheng's wilderness map hardly had any players, because most people, after completing a dungeon, would rush straight to the National Battle Map.

Huangcheng's map was already large, and with no players competing for resources, in a short time the development momentum of these two guilds was indeed very smooth… they also managed to shake off some previous stagnation and catch up with the main group's progress.

But they still hadn't entered the National Battle Map; apparently they wanted to take advantage of the moment when other players and guilds were focused on the National Battle Map to push their guild's development.

No wonder they used to be one family; their two choices are exactly the same.

But now no one is managing them, after all the National Battle Map at this point is already the final stage.

In just over twenty days, the first season's National Battle Map will be settled.

…

…

「Kill! 」

「Brothers, go all out on the attack—kill one to break even, kill two to profit! 」

At this moment, on the National Battle Map, a group of Huaxia players was surrounded by three sides.

One side are the people from the Monkey server, one side are the people from the Kimchi server, and the other side is a coalition of numerous niche servers.

The three sides' players, in perfect unison, did not engage in mutual slaughter but instead launched a siege against the Huaxia players.

Although the Huaxia players present had a skill level considerably higher than that of the other three sides.

But unfortunately, the numerical disparity was too great.

This group of Huaxia players numbered at most a few hundred, while the combined forces of the three opposing sides approached 3000 people.

That's roughly a 30-to-1 disparity.

Even with such a huge numerical disadvantage, even if these Huaxia players had already used anti-magic potions, a mere 5% attribute difference ultimately wasn't enough to support them in reversing the decline.

Furthermore, even if they wanted to break out, it would be relatively difficult because the opposing side had too many people.

Thus, after realizing they couldn't escape, the Huaxia players simply went all-in, adopting an extreme one-for-one exchange tactic.

Killing one breaks even, killing two yields a profit. Besides, they themselves aren't people with exceptionallyly high national fortune status; even if they were killed, with their national fortune points, at most they'd lose a few points to the opposing side, and they could just kill them back.

Of course, the tactic sounds great in theory, but reality is stark.

As the saying goes, the opposing side's numerical superiority prevailed; their resistance was quickly suppressed.

Under the three sides' focus fire, over a hundred players were quickly reduced, with the first targets being some fragile support players.

Without the rear-line team, the remaining frontliners being killed was merely a matter of time.

This group of over a hundred players consisted mostly of elite members from various small guilds who had banded together; they were some group leaders or chairmen of those small guilds, and while their individual skill was not lacking, their guilds simply could not muster enough members to enter the National Battle Map on a large scale.

Thus, these few small guilds linked up, gathered their testicles, formed a team, and roamed the National Battle Map.

Unexpectedly, they were careless and got surrounded right away.

「Looks like we've capsized this time. 」

The chairman of one of the small guilds felt somewhat helpless.

「It's not a big problem; anyway, the loss is only half of what's outside, and with good luck we won't drop equipment; next time we just need to be a bit more careful. 」 The management of another small guild also replied with a wry smile.

And just when they were in despair.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, the formation on the kimchi server's side became tumultuous.

What's happening?!

Inside the encirclement, the remaining dozens of Huaxia players suddenly lifted their heads.

「Huaxia! Lion! Lion has arrived! 」

「Made, just two hundred of them! Take them on! 」

「We can't stop them! 」

Hearing the commotion from the kimchi barbarians' side, the remaining Huaxia players' eyes suddenly lit up.

「Brothers, the Yanhuang Guild's Lion Knight Squad has arrived, and they've brought 200 of them; let's go kill and meet up. 」

Instantly, the small guild chairman who had initially led the decadence, spoke up with renewed spirit.

Lion?!

On the National Battle Map, the only squad that can be called 'lion' at this stage is the Lion Knight Squad of the Huaxia server's Yanhuang Guild.

It is a squad of only a few hundred players, all mounted on lion mounts.

Although their numbers are few, each member's strength is quite formidable, even matching the operation and skill level of group leaders from some large guilds.

Furthermore, their mutual coordination is also very seamless. Their first appearance was in a battle, and their mutual coordination was also very seamless.

Their first appearance was when a ten-thousand-strong team of Little Days Players surrounded and wiped out a Yanhuang Players' Thousand-Person Team on the Huaxia Players' side.

Although Huaxia Players' overall skill is generally high, with a more than tenfold numerical disadvantage, and given that several famous named experts from the Yanhuang Guild seemed absent, the Little Days side was full of confidence.

In fact, it indeed unfolded as they had anticipated: as soon as the battle began, the Yanhuang side immediately fell into a disadvantage.

But just as the Yanhuang players' formation was about to collapse further.

A contingent of over a hundred War Knight players surged out from the Yanhuang formation.

Those over a hundred individuals all rode uniformly appearing lion mounts.

With just over a hundred men, the Little Days players initially paid no heed, but soon their encirclement of over ten thousand was torn open by this Lion Knight Squad, and the squad suffered fewer than ten casualties among its over a hundred members.

Then, the Yan Huang Thousand-Person Team rushed through the torn opening and broke out of the Little Days encirclement.

After that, the Yan Huang side also seemed to discover some problems.

The players of that Lion Knight Team began to form independent squads and operate within the National Battle Map.

Thus, within just a few days, a saying began to spread across the National Battle Map.

…A Lion Knight numbers no more than a hundred; once over a hundred, they cannot be stopped!

Compared to the Huaxia Wolf Cavalry, which is like a flood, this Lion Knight unit is more like a series of swords; wherever they go, they are unstoppable.

Of course, only those who have fought against the Yan Huang on the Huaxia side know this.

Actually, it's all child's play now; if Mo Wen Qianchen were leading them, this Lion Knight would tell them what invincibility means…