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Chapter 345 - This must be fate!

After exiting the twilight forests, Liam and the group traveled back north for a while and then headed to the west where the terrain became dry and barren.

The land was dotted with several mountains and craters, some of them being in an active volcanic state.

This was the location of the dungeon 'Molten Domain'.

However, just as the group was about to enter the vicinity, suddenly several dozen players started coming out of the adjacent forest.

"Liam, what should we do now? There are about a hundred players surrounding us. Should we run or fight?" Mia asked.

Not that she was afraid, but theirs was a newly formed guild, and without knowing who this enemy was, it wouldn't be wise to engage.

Also, she was no longer the person at the top. When Liam was around, it was best to consult him before acting.

So Mia clutched the staff in her hand and asked him while simultaneously gauging the strength of the people surrounding them.

However, Liam unexpectedly remained silent instead of answering her immediately. His eyes were fixated on the small emblem on the nearest player's chest.

Jade Mountain!

The emblem of the Gu family guild!

"Heh. You are right. There are indeed a lot of people here." Liam couldn't help but laugh as he looked around.

About a hundred or more people were standing around them, blocking their path.

From the looks of it, they should have prepared some sort of item to keep these many players hidden and suddenly ambush in this way.

"Guild Leader Mia!" A chubby young man sat atop a black panther and shouted, slowly walking out. "Fancy meeting you here. This must be fate."

He laughed loudly and walked with confidence in his strides. His two eyes arrogantly looked at the measly 25 players in front of him.

On the other side, Liam was also equally amused. It was definitely fate! He knew it!

Gu family's Jade Mountain was one of the top guilds in the Gresh Kingdom. So as soon as he created a guild of his own, this confrontation was something that Liam expected.

But he did not think that it would come this soon!

Mia was about to answer the person when suddenly Liam stopped her by raising his hand.

"Welcome, young master. Good to meet you. I wonder what business Jade Mountain has with our guild?"

His eyes at the same time tried to gauge the strength of the people surrounding them.

Their levels and their stats might be hidden but if one observed closely, these things could always be determined by the worth of the equipment they were wearing.

From what Liam could see, this was nothing much.

They wanted to take them out with just this much? With these numbers and this equipment?

Dream on!

"Business? Who said I came to do business? I am here to give you my first and final warning!"

"Surrender now and sign our guild contract. I will let you all live. If not… your equipment might not be the only thing you lose today!"

Hmph! He snorted haughtily giving a glance to either side.

The hundred players dressed in dazzling silver equipment all gave a collective cheer.

They looked as if they were ready to march into battle and tear everything apart at the snap of his finger.

The whole scene might have looked more fear-inducing if not for the fact that the panther under the fat boss currently had a pitiful look on its face.

The guy's weight was clearly too much for the beast to handle, yet the person had black-heartedly forced it to carry him.

"You! How can you be so heartless?" Not able to stand it any longer, Mei Mei stepped forward and shouted back.

"He He. Unfortunately, this game is indeed heartless. You kill or be-"

"What the hell are you talking about? Shut the hell up and get down at once!"

"Huh? What are you talking about? What get down?" Gu Donghai was slightly confused.

Here he was threatening them with death, and this woman was asking him to get down? Who the hell was this crazy woman?

This was not goddess Mia's voice!

"Brother! This guy is too stupid! I don't even want to waste time talking with him. Let's just kill him and save the panther."

Seeing this, Gu Donghai was now even more confused. What the hell was going on here! Why wasn't anyone treating him seriously!

And what was this about saving the panther? Which panther are they talking about?

Especially hearing the word stupid, he was completely triggered.

Liam on the other side was rubbing his temples.

Slut! Pay attention when I am talking to you! You dare call someone from the Gu family stupid? I am going to end you today!"

"Men Attack!"

"When dealing with idiots, it's better to talk with fists first and words later!"

"We will kill them a few times, and then we will-"

"Your words. Not mine." Liam did not want to waste any more time with this bunch of idiots.

Before Gu Donghai could even finish his sentence, the person who was standing in front of him and talking, was no longer there.

Also, his head was already detached and falling to the ground.

AEK!

Gu Donghai screeched before the rest of his dead body also fell to the ground and disintegrated into light dust.

"LEADER!"

"KILL THEM ALL!"

Only the ones at the front realized what happened and shouted. The ones at the back did not even understand what was going on.

There were also some still in a trance, and some took a step back hesitantly.

With the head cut off, the group of hundred suddenly looked extremely unsure of themselves.

Liam smirked. Should he spare them all because they had nothing to do with him in the grand scheme of things?

Unfortunately, that was not how the world worked. He did not stop there and swung his sword wildly.

Jumping off of his back, the white fox dashed around and took care of her share of carnage.

Something bright and shiny dropped with every person who died, so Luna absolutely did not hold back.

Bright reddish-orange bursts of flame popped up here and there amidst the crumbling army.

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There was chaos and uproar everywhere and no one knew what to do. "This is the perfect lesson for having numbers without any structure."

Liam typed in the group chat while killing yet another opponent. The others also did not stand idly.

Derek crushed whoever was in his path. Alex slaughtered her way through. Mia dealt damage seeing that no one needed any sort of healing.

In just a matter of a few minutes, all the hundred players were completely decimated.

A few players at the back tried to escape and run away, but Liam did not allow a single one to leave and took care of every last person.

Only some thieves and assassins probably escaped because of their [Stealth] skill and Liam did not bother chasing after them.

Though even most of these players were exposed to friendly fire because of the complete and utter disorder in the group.

The only being that was still remaining, the last one standing was unexpectedly the pitiful black panther.

Mei Mei had saved the beast right from the get-go and protected it all throughout the fight.

When Liam noticed her, she quickly and shamelessly brought out her adorable puppy dog eyes. "Please, brother."

Standing next to her, the panther also had the same expression for some reason.

Watching these two, what else could Liam do? He helplessly shook his head. "Do whatever you want."

"He did not have the heart to break it to her. Beasts once tamed and bound to a player cannot be tamed again by another player.

It was because the beast's soul was typically branded when a contract was formed. If one tried to forcefully erase this contract, then the beast would only perish.

But Liam knew that Mei Mei was probably not going to do anything extreme like that. After a few tries, he expected her to give up.

Stretching his hands, he relaxed his body and prepared to watch the show.

However, unexpectedly, Mei Mei did not try to tame it?

"Sis Yue, quick, give me something you cooked. Meatballs or something."

"Huh?" Shen Yue was confused, but she hurriedly took some grub from her inventory and handed it to the young girl.

She, Liam, and also the rest of the group, curiously watched as Mei Mei fed the meatballs to the panther.

"Do you want to become my pet cutie?" she lovingly patted the panther.

"Eh?" Liam was shocked. The others were also equally shocked.

But the others quickly recovered as they did not expect anything less from the sister of their genius leader!

Like brother like sister!

Only Shen Yue and Liam who knew the truth watched the little girl in amazement.

They both watched the girl coax the panther. Will this even work?

Several played had tried the same method and beasts typically did not submit to niceties like this. They usually eat the food and then still remain hostile.

But… surprisingly… just after a couple of meatballs…

The panther was licking Mei Mei like a dog?

Just two meatballs were enough? It shifted its loyalty so soon? Even Mei Mei was surprised.

[Ding. You have obtained a new pet. Do you wish to name this pet?]

"Yayyyy! Yippee!" Mei Mei jumped up and down in excitement.

She did not use any skill, did not hatch any egg or use any other contract, and just like that, she received a pet! This was simply too awesome!

"Wait. what happened?" Liam asked.

"Bro, I got my first pet!" Mei Mei stuck her tongue out.

Liam opened and closed his mouth speechlessly. "Just what meatballs did you give? Give me some?" He asked Shen Yue.

"Ah… nothing special." She really did not feed the beast anything special.

Shen Yue embarrassedly showed Liam the meatballs and only after he confirmed it with his own eyes he believed her words.

The meatballs were not anything special.

"Did you really manage to tame the beast?" He asked Mei Mei again.

"Yes. Yes. See, I named him Plum!"

Chapter 346 - Let's aim higher

"Plum?" Liam chuckled, throwing a glance at Luna, who was very close to being named Orange or Apple.

"Can you check his status?"

"Oh! I forgot about that." Mei Mei quickly opened her system interface.

"What does it say?"

Mei Mei scrunched her nose as if she did not know what to say. "Brother, it's level 15 but…"

"But?"

Now Liam was curious. Just from how Mei Mei was able to tame it so quickly and easily, he could tell that the beast wasn't so simple.

There was also the possibility that the Gu family pig might have just not done the taming correctly the first time.

But the chances of that happening were really less. Even that idiot couldn't have screwed this up so badly.

After all, it was just a single system keyword.

He saw the girl continue tapping on the screen seriously and asked again, "Don't worry too much. Just say whatever it shows."

"Ah. There are only question marks. There is nothing written here. Both for type and grade."

Liam's grin widened. He was now even more amused.

Though the question marks might not necessarily mean that the panther was a celestial-grade beast like Luna or even a legendary-grade beast, there was a high chance of it being more powerful than common pets or mounts.

Did they just take another valuable thing from the Gu family without even meaning to?

"Heh." Liam shook his head and then patted the girl, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "You did well. Good. Good."

Subtly hidden behind this amused smile was very thinly veiled rage. A cold glint appeared in his eyes and disappeared.

Liam already knew that what just happened wasn't really that simple.

A quick look at 𝐛𝗲𝐝𝐧𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝗼𝐫𝗴 will leave you more fulfilled.

In fact, by doing this, he had already triggered a set of events that he would now have to face.

Soon, the entire Gu family would be behind him and his guild.

No matter what they do they would never be satisfied until one or the other no longer existed.

And this was also what Liam wanted. The timeline was changing quite a bit and he did not want to put off his old enmity for much longer.

The moment he hit Level 50, he was going to unleash all hell.

And what he was doing right now, would form the base for it. "Okay. Let's go. Time to run the next dungeon."

"We need to strike the iron while it's hot and keep moving. By the end of the day, there will be dozens of players lining up to join our guild."

"Let's do this and make it happen."

It should have been weird to see the person who was always quiet and kept to himself speaking encouraging words like this.

However, everyone felt goosebumps and the group looked fully energized.

They did not linger around for much longer and left the area shortly after tidying up the loot.

"The next terrain gives little to no chance of hiding. So everyone should be prepared to react fast."

"We should also run this dungeon as fast as possible. Otherwise, we might be forced to waste time with more idiots."

"Yes, Sir!"

Everyone chanted unitedly, though Mei Mei and Shen Yue were holding back their giggles as they did.

Soon they arrived at the entrance of the 'Molten Domain' dungeon.

Unlike the 'Twilight dungeon' entrance, this one was truly deserted. Of course, this was no surprise to anyone.

There were no fire-resistance potions available on the market, and the only person who was selling them was right there with them.

Liam did not hold back and readily distributed the goodies to everyone, bottoming out his stock.

The group then entered the dungeon in the nightmarish difficulty mode, silently saying their prayers.

The moment they entered, a wave of hot air swept over them.

Everyone could feel the heat in the depth of their bodies. Some coughed and choked, unable to breathe.

They could tell that this place was hot enough to boil their skin, perhaps even melt their bones and eyeballs, but strangely, they seemed okay.

This was the effect of the potion!

But despite taking the potion, it took everyone a minute to adjust.

Only Luna was running around as if she was in a valley of pleasant flowers.

She was enjoying this place very much, even jumping in and out of piping hot lava like it was just water.

This made Liam wonder just how much fire resistance she possessed.

He wasn't yet able to see all of her skills and attributes, so this was a mystery to him.

Perhaps he needed a higher level or perhaps he needed a special skill?

Either way, he decided not to think about that right now. "We don't have much time. Let's run through this." Liam clapped his hands.

His figure then blurred dashing forward, followed immediately by Derek and Alex. The others also quickly joined in.

Except for Luna, everyone used the fire-resistance potion and blasted through the dungeon.

No one held back and contributed to the best of their abilities. This time Liam was also participating, so the pressure was on.

He was single-handedly doing more damage than four or five of them put together and this was without Luna joining in.

More importantly, he was only using magic. He was playing like a mage.

The molten domain mobs were all fire-type, so they had a weakness toward ice-type magic.

The four other mages in the group observed his attacks, and they couldn't help but feel ashamed of their own.

Whether it was speed, intensity, timing, or anything else, Liam was head and shoulders above the rest.

They badly wanted to ask for pointers from him, but Liam only smiled and gave vague answers.

"If you want it to go faster, then will it to go faster."

"If you want it to be bigger, then wish for it to become bigger."

"It's all up to you. You don't need another skill book to learn this."

His words almost made sense, but they did not.

Their leader who was evidently good at everything he does, could it be… that he was a bad teacher?

"..."

Everyone silently continued thinking about it with a bitter smile on their faces as they bombarded the various monsters inside the dungeon with their attacks.

And in the blink of an eye, the dungeon run was also completed.

With the fire-resistance potion and with Liam's massive dps counted in, the nightmare mode's first clear was easily obtained as if it was just a walk in the park.

"We can take a look at the loot later. Let's leave for now."

Before even the notifications started rolling in, Liam and the group were already on their way out.

"Liam, what is the third dungeon we are attempting?" Mia asked.

They were almost out of the barren hilly terrain back into the cluster of jungles.

Everyone wondered what dungeon they were going to attempt now because, except for these two, most of the other dungeons were already taken care of, at least the Level 30 ones.

Were they now going to attempt a Level 35 dungeon?

In the Gresh Kingdom, all five Level 35 dungeons were still unconquered.

The elite teams of the various guilds were currently focused on the demon invasions and the space rifts as this was a limited-time event.

So not much progress has been made in these dungeons.

However, individual players and some guilds were still paying attention to the dungeons. Also, the overall average level of everyone was also steadily increasing.

Most players were now at Level 30. So it was only a matter of time before someone obtained the first clear.

It would make sense if their group used this opportunity and speedily set the record for at least one dungeon, getting the first clear before the others could get there.

This would also make their guild even more popular.

However, Liam smiled and shook his head.

"The impact is not enough. Let's aim higher. Also, those places might be a bit too crowded for my liking."

After hearing his words, everyone started nervously sweating. Aim higher? He doesn't mean…

The landscape of Xion had a specific pattern, or rather over years such patterns had started to emerge.

In all the Empires, Kingdoms, and other unique territories in Xion, dotting the lands, the central areas were typically the lower leveled regions.

As one moved from the center toward the outer borders, they were always headed towards more dangerous territories.

And currently, everyone noticed that Liam was also headed over to the outer regions of the Gresh Kingdom.

Did that mean…

Answering everyone's question, Liam loudly spoke. "We will be attempting the Level 40 dungeon 'Rock Temple'".

Hearing his words, immediately, everyone in the group came to a halt without meaning to.

"Level 40 dungeon?" Alex blurted out. Did she mishear it?

"Yes." Liam nodded.

"What is the point of wasting time with the useless Level 35 dungeons? This one we are going to is so much more rewarding."

"Also, this is the perfect dungeon to seal our guild's name among the top guilds."

"This will be our foundation and the spatial rift we will be running after this would be our pillar."

"If we begin recruiting after these two achievements, I am sure we will have enough publicity." He casually smiled and continued moving.

If anyone else said these exact words, then the group might have bashed them up left and right for talking like a lunatic, but it was Liam who just spoke.

Everyone could only dazedly nod in agreement and follow the leader.