Final Outcome

The bizarre phenomenon was spotted by Sangharama Shrine and Heavenly Body as well.

A grave expression appeared on the face of Sangharama's Grace, "What is that?"

Thousand Mile Dream was dumbfounded by the sight as well, along with the players on the plains.

Not a single one of them could describe what they saw with words.

A huge wave of whiteness was surging towards the Mor Jiami Plains, as if a living beast seeking to consume all live in its path. It was perhaps not an uncommon sight out at sea, but such an event was happening in the Mor Jiami Plains.

The sky was blue, the plains green, but the gigantic wave that came crashing down was nothing but white. Each of these colors were elegant but pleasing to the eyes, but at that very moment, they were forming a scene that induced terror in the hearts of those who laid their eyes upon them.

Lethal Poison bit down hard on his lips as he stared at the large "wave". He was gripping onto his staff so hard that his knuckles had turned white. "Move all our siege engines to a safe place. And be quick about it!"

"Oh?" Nangong Yunfei immediately relayed the orders, "You know what that is?"

"I don't." Lethal Poison shook his head, "but I can tell that if we don't pull back some of our assets now, we will be in big trouble."

"What about our men?" Nangong Yunfei scanned the formation of players from his guild. They saw what was coming, but they were able to remain calm.

Lethal Poison took in a deep breath, "They won't be able to make it. Let's just pull them back and hope for the best."

The order was immediately relayed by Nangong Yunfei, and the entire Heavenly Body guild was able to retreat from their attacking positions into the forest beside the abandoned fort. Their actions were mirrored by the members of Sangharama Shrine and Rain of Blood.

The discipline of the guild members of large guilds enabled them to complete their evacuation within 30 seconds, but it was still not enough.

"They've begun to retreat." observed Spotless Autumn who was following behind Ye Ci. Despite the large expenditure of his Haste Potion, he was still not able to catch up with the speed of a Huntress.

He was simply too slow.

"Of course they will. They don't want to die." replied Ye Ci.

"I mean, isn't it a little too late for them? Besides…" Spotless Autumn narrowed his eyes, a smile forming on his face, "The fort is filled with monsters. They are placing themselves into more trouble."

He's right. Thought Ye Ci. Time is not their only problem. If they pull back just like that, the monsters surging out from the fort will be a thorn in their sides. A sudden thought flashed across her mind, "Hey, how many Honor Points do you have?"

"You're thinking of grinding some Honor Points?" Spotless Autumn's eyes were shining like the stars in a dark night.

"Should I compliment you for your intelligence, or should I look down on you because you're a rascal?" Ye Ci smiled at the man.

"Doesn't matter to me. You're thinking about the same thing, and it is speaking volumes about your character," Spotless Autumn chuckled, "We did not cause the avalanche. We will never gain the honor points if they die."

The avalanche was a result of the relentless bombardment by the three major guilds, while the duo were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Ye Ci was silent. They were players, and players were forced to follow the rules of the game. No one was above the game's system, and it was a fact that she could not change.

But while players were governed by the rules of the game, it did not mean that they could not use the rules to their advantage.

And one of them was fully prepared to do just that.

Spotless Autumn pulled out two bottles from his inventory and tossed one to Ye Ci, "I have an idea, if you're willing to follow it through."

The black liquid in the tiny bottle emitted a faint glow.

Nameless Potion: Attracts all the aggro on the map 1 second after consumption while granting Invulnerability for 60 seconds. Penalty: Reduces user level by 1, reduces user's gold by 10%, randomly drops 1 item (Item dropped will not be able to be picked up by its owner)

"You made this?"

"Do you seriously think that I am capable of making something like this? No. It was dropped by a Hidden BOSS some time ago and I've never found the chance to use it."

Ye Ci stared silently at the potion.

"It's okay if you don't want to do it. Just help me pick up the item that I drop." Spotless Autumn offered a smile.

Ye Ci responded with a smile of her own as she produced two bottles of Large Invisibility Potion from her backpack and tossed one of them to Spotless Autumn, "Remember to stay close. Make sure that you're near me when we have our level dropped. We can help each other out with the equipment drop."

Spotless Autumn snatched the bottle out of the air with a well-practiced grace, "Where did you find the formula for this?"

Ye Ci cast a sideway glance at Spotless Autumn, and saw the envy written all over his face. She could tell that he was a potion maker himself. Even if he was a top-tier player, a solo player like him would find it hard to survive if he was not equipped with a useful second skill. Spotless Autumn, who was already in poverty, would be in deeper trouble if he did not have a potion brewing skill.

"Do you think I have the time for that?" she smiled, "It was found by one of our guild's team that specializes in looking for potion." Of course, it was I who told them where to find it.

Spotless Autumn's eyes lit up like two tiny light bulbs. Despite his best efforts to suppress his emotions, his true feelings were betrayed by the hint of excitement in his voice, "You even have a specialized squad like that in your guild?"

It was only natural for a guild to have Life Players in their employment, but high leveled Life Players were very rare in the game. And despite the importance of Life Players, the combat players that were tasked with pioneering the new contents of the game, and setting records for the guild would receive more priority. This meant that most of the guild funds would be poured into arming these players, while Life Players would only receive significantly less resources. A team specializing in searching for recipes and blueprints was an even rarer existence.

The growth of a Life Player is a money consuming ordeal. They had to rely on large amounts of money to level up, and if they do not have the money to do so...

This was a topic that had been discussed time and time again by Bai Mo and Timely Rain, who held differing stances regarding the treatment of their players. But with the increasing number of Life Players brought into the guild by Ye Ci, Timely Rain's opinion of giving priority to the combat players were swayed. This was why Upwards Ho! remained a relatively small guild.

The rewards they received from dungeon clearing was enough to expand the guild by at least 6 times its current size, but because of the decision of the higher ups to funnel large amounts of resources to the Life Players instead, Upwards Ho! remained a small guild.

Spotless Autumn was enticed by Ye Ci's words. He knew that he was just one person despite his skills. His strength was limited, and was no match for a squad specialized in hunting down recipes. He was deeply envious of the Life Players of Upwards Ho!. Lucky bastards! They can stay in their guild encampment all day long and not have to worry about anything else. Even the recipes that they need are taken care of by a specialized squad.

Ye Ci pretended to not notice the envious stares from Spotless Autumn. She glanced at the man, but remained silent. The intention to recruit Spotless Autumn was there, but she knew that the time was not right. They were still fleeing from an impending doom, and they were still not very close friends. Besides, she was certain that her grasp on Spotless Autumn was firm especially with their contract in place.

The duo was getting closer to the mass of players before them.

Despite their swift actions, it was impossible for the guilds to fully retreat to safety. What awaited them was the full destructive power of the avalanche.

"Who are the two red players over there?" Lethal Poison spotted the two glows of red running ahead of the white wave. It was as if they were leading the raging force of nature right into the formation of players.

"If I'm not mistaken..." Nangong Yunfei pursed his lips.

Lethal Poison silenced Nangong Yunfei with a wave of his hand, "The Lord sure works in mysterious ways. I was just thinking about the missed opportunity to fight those two, and here they are."

"Guild leader..." Nangong Yunfei was at a loss of words when he noticed the expression on the face of his guild leader.

Lethal Poison was cursing the two red players in his heart, but he knew that cursing at them would not solve the problem at hand. The only thing he could do was to attempt to reduce the losses suffered by his guild, "Have our Warriors form up and lock shields. We're on the east side, we should be able to avoid the full force of that avalanche."

The leaders of the two other guilds gave out the same order as well, and the Warriors of the three guilds formed up into four layers of shield walls that were glinting under the sun.

"Wow, they are fast.'' Despite the slight disdain in her voice, Ye Ci was impressed by the guilds's reaction speed. As expected of the top guilds of the Northern Continent. They're on a level that Upwards Ho! in its current state can never hope to match.

Unlike Ye Ci, Spotless Autumn's concern lay somewhere else, "Say, do you think the guilds over there can recognize us?"

"Of course they will." Ye Ci nodded. The leaders of these top guilds are not idiots. Of course they will figure it out.

"Then.. Do you think that they will hate us for it?"

"Well, I will definitely hate us for it if I'm one of them. In fact, I will even hunt us down no matter the cost." Ye Ci knew the meaning behind the question.

"So… Where should we retreat to?" Spotless Autumn shrugged. He was calm. It was as if he did not mind even if there was a bounty on him in the Northern Continent.

"Are the Guardians dead?" asked Ye Ci after a brief moment of thought.

Spotless Autumn immediately became silent. Fine! He completely forgot about that.

As a mage with low mobility, Spotless Autumn was only able to increase his movement speed and jump height with his consumption of a large number of Haste Potions. With Ye Ci's coaching prior to their attempt, he was able to leap cleanly across the walls of shields and keep up with Ye Ci.

Wading into a sea of enemies would usually be an act of suicide for two lone players, but the circumstances were different on this day. With the avalanche fast approaching, the duo was able to make it past the large group of players unopposed and disappeared out of sight.

And the duo immediately gulped down their Nameless Potion after they were past the shield walls.

The duo's plan was to place the aggro of the avalanche upon themselves, which would effectively guarantee their rewards of Honor Points. But they have forgotten to take the monsters hiding within the abandoned fort into account as well. They had effectively transferred the aggro of not only the aggro of the avalanche, but of the monsters as well onto themselves.

"My God! Where did they come from?" Spotless Autumn shivered at the sight of the large number of monsters. The duo were invulnerable, but their invincibility would only last for 60 seconds, and 60 seconds was not a very long period of time. They would lose their lives along with the rest of the players on the map if they were not able to find a way out.

Spotless Autumn raised his head, and spotted the forest that shielded the Heavenly Body guild, "Over there!" he pointed at the forest, "Climb onto one of those trees! Hurry!"

Ye Ci cast a backwards glance. The avalanche was a mere 5 seconds away, and they were still 20 yards away from the closest three. With so many players in the way, it was impossible for the duo to make it in time.

She pulled out her Cat Claw, held onto Spotless Autumn's belt, and swung her Cat Claw at the nearest sturdiest looking tree, and pulled herself along with Spotless Autumn towards the tree.

Her movements were so fast that Spotless Autumn did not even have the time to react before Ye Ci landed on the tree.

Before he could speak, the white wave had swallowed the first row of Warriors, followed closely by the second, third, and fourth row. Despite their sacrifices, the Warriors' attempt to slow the raging tide of snow and ice was in vain. Man was helpless before the wrath of Mother Nature.

The fear in their hearts drove the members of the three guilds into despair. They wanted to flee, but it was no longer a viable option. The avalanche swallowed all life on the plains in the blink of an eye, washing past the forest itself as well as the abandoned fort.

The tree that sheltered Ye Ci and Spotless Autumn almost fell from the impact, but it remained anchored to the ground, saving them from the fate of once again being buried under the snow. The duo clung onto the tree, and stared at the spectacle before their eyes.

How many time had passed?

No one knew.

The time it took for the wrath of nature to snuff away all signs of life on the plains with a sea of white felt so short to the duo.

Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with.

"Your invulnerability will end soon. You will receive a penalty once you are no longer invulnerable."

A system notification rang out as the duo was still hanging onto the tree.

"Ah, I lost a level." observed Spotless Autumn when his level was reduced to lvl59. He was not worried about his equipment with Ye Ci by his side, but his heart ached for the 10% loss of his gold coins.

The gold coins were not dropped onto the ground, and were instead immediately deducted by the system. Spotless Autumn's hopes of picking up his gold coins from the ground was immediately crushed.

Ye Ci stole a quick glance at the inventory, and the Mysterious Ring was the equipment that she had dropped onto the now-snowy ground. She spotted another ring on the ground as well. It belonged to Spotless Autumn. With all the monsters in their vicinity dead or dying under the thick snow, Ye Ci dropped down from the tree, picked up Spotless Autumn's ring, and began reading its description.

The shock she received drove her to stare at Spotless Autumn in awe. Damn, he sure has some very good luck!

Zerubbabel's Ring: A beloved item of the Great Mage Zerubbabel. It was buried with him in his grave, but was eventually lost.

Quality: Orange

Stats: Hidden

Trait 1: Allows user to control Ice, Fire, and Lightning type magic.

Trait 2: Hidden

Trait 3: Hidden

Ye Ci waved at Spotless Autumn, "Come on, get down here and help me get my stuff."

Spotless Autumn, who was worrying about the fall damage stared at the ring in Ye Ci's hand, and then at his own fingers before letting out a sigh. Unlucky! Of all the things that the system could drop.. Now she knows! The fall damage was now no longer his concern. He dropped down from the tree and sprawled out on the ground. He then stood up, patted away the snow on his clothing, and walked towards Ye Ci.

He picked up the ring beside Ye Ci, and chuckled when he read its description, "So this is why you were able to survive the fall." The stats of the ring might not be meant for a Huntress, but the skill "Featherfall" was something that was far more valuable.

Ye Ci smiled silently as she took her ring from Spotless Autumn, "You have a nice ring as well."

Spotless Autumn responded with a smile of his own. A player would always like to keep his or her most valuable equipment a secret, and this ring was especially important to him.

"Get an NPC to bind that thing to you. Would be a shame if you drop it next time." Ye Ci flipped open her Honor panel once she did a quick inventory of her equipment. She was already at the rank of Grand Marshal, and had enough Honor Points stored to unlock the next tier when it eventually got released. The only thing she saw earlier was a sea of golden words and letters, flooding her vision with a gleaming light.

"Wow! We sure earned a lot of Honor Points. I'm a Grand Marshal now!" Spotless Autumn exclaimed when he opened his own Honor panel, "I can get a decent set of PVP equipment when I get back to Hurricane City."

A sudden thought flashed across Ye Ci's mind, "Aren't we still under pursuit by two Guardians? Can you track them?"

"Only one left. I guess the other died." as the main target of the Guardians, Spotless Autumn had the ability to track their location. He studied the plains that had been dyed into a sea of white and shook his head, "It's buried under the snow, I can't find it." and he let out a laugh, "We're no longer in combat!"

"What about it?" Ye Ci raised an eyebrow.

"Time to go home!" Spotless Autumn began casting a spell, and a black hole appeared before the duo.

Ye Ci was shocked. Spatial Magic! Even she who was the top Sorceress in her last life was not able to get her hands on any Spatial Magic skill book. "You can use Spatial Magic?"

"Just a little." Spotless Autumn responded with a smile and rubbed the thumb and the index finger of his right hand together. He would of course wish to expose more of his secrets to Ye Ci, "Are you coming? This portal leads to Hurricane City. You should come with me if you have nothing else to do on the continent," and he continued after a short pause, "I have a feeling that the remaining Guardian will not be your only worry if you remain here."

Ye Ci understood the meaning behind his words. Despite the silence that had fallen over the Mor Jiami Plains, there were still players who had survived the avalanche. These survivors would pose a serious threat to her along with the remaining Guardian. Her courier quest in the Northern Continent was simply not worth the risk.

There was also nothing she could do about the Mithril ore vein in the Northern Continent. Then again, with two of the ore veins firmly in her hand, Golden Era would never be able to cause a lot of damage even if they ended up in control of Northern Continent's ore vein.

"Alright. I'll follow you to Hurricane City then." Ye Ci replied after a brief moment of hesitation.

The city was the home turf of the Black Plum Family and the Isle of Heroes, but being on an allying continent was always better than staying on a hostile one.

The duo arrived in the Tower of Mages of Hurricane City after a bright flash.

This tower was a place used by mage players to learn and upgrade their skills. It was the residence of the best mage NPC of the entire continent, and the home of NPCs that would occasionally give out Hidden Quests to the players. This made the Tower the most frequented place by mage players.

The Spatial Magic brought the duo to the first out of three below-ground levels of the Tower of Mages. The first underground level of the tower, which was guarded by four Grand Magicians, was the landing point for teleportation spells. The second underground level of the tower housed the energy source for the entire tower, and was guarded by six Elite Grand Magicians, and in the third underground level of the tower, guarded by eight BOSS-tier NPC, laid the controlling mechanism for the tower.

Only access to the first underground level would be granted to players.

The duo could see the influx of players entering and leaving the tower when they made their way out of the first underground level, "It's so good to not see a single red glow." Spotless Autumn laughed.

The same feeling was apparently shared by Ye Ci as well, "There's something that I have to attend to. As for our contract…"

Spotless Autumn's expression immediately changed at the mention of the contract, but was ignored by Ye Ci who chuckled at the man, "I'll let you know when I need your help in the future."

"Is this how you treat someone who saved your life? Why must you be so petty!" Spotless Autumn wasted no time in voicing out his protest.

"Oh?" Ye Ci raised her eyebrows, "I think that is something that I should say to you." and she took her leave of Spotless Autumn, heading for the Teleportation Stone of Hurricane City. It did not take her long to arrive in Red Lake City.

She let out a sigh of relief when she arrived at the city. Ahh.. It's good to be back in my own home turf. But Ye Ci's moment of respite was short-lived. The World Channel exploded into activity before she could make her way back to the headquarters of Upwards Ho!.

Of course, it was unbeknown to Ye Ci, who had her World Channel permanently muted. But it did not mean that the measure was mutual to many of the players. Her Guild Channel was in chaos as well, and messages began to flood into the Private Channel as well. It was as if the entire world had turned mad.

Ye Ci was dumbfounded. Her Private Message, which had long been quiet, was suddenly filled with activity.

Bai Mo: Are you okay? What happened?

Timely Rain: Gongzi, what happened?

Fruit Jelly: Hey hey hey, what did you do this time?

Sir Ditty: Do you need help?

Clear Moon: Let me know if you need reinforcements. I'll be the first one there.

Unbridled Willow: Do you need help? I'll get to you right away!

Zero Arsenic: Hey, who did you piss off this time?

Flutter n' Sway: What's going on, Ye Ci? Why are you being hunted?"

Clingy Wolf: Little Ci, what's going on? What did you do?

Lukewarm Water: What happened, Gongzi? Let me know if you need my help.

NightAndDay: I know them. I can talk to them for you.

Good Ol' Days: I'm quite close with Sangharama Shrine. What happened? Do you need me to settle it for you?

Messages continued flooding into Ye Ci's Private Message channel. The players on her friend list were usually as quiet as the dead, but it was apparent that they were simply feigning their deaths. Her Private Message channel was bustling with activity just like a market. She immediately muted the channel so as to regain her sanity and some silence.

She then opened the Guild Channel, and began reading its messages. Despite the constant influx of messages, one thing was for sure. They were all about Ye Ci, and the guild members were worried about her. She finally understood what was going on after a brief moment.

And she turned on her World Channel, which seemed to be the main culprit of all the ruckus.