"A hunting group formed by the graduates." Lin Qi was quite surprised upon hearing it, "Can someone like me, an Initial Stage Martial Artist, join?"

Forming a hunting group wasn't just about wanting to; you needed Bone Forging Realm strength. Only then would the Martial Artist Association recognize the hunting group and provide information on high-tier monsters for them to hunt.

For martial artists who wanted to join these hunting groups and hunt monsters above high-tier level, it wasn't as simple as casually teaming up with other martial artists in the wild.

After all, hunting high-tier monsters was not something Initial and Middle Tier martial artists could handle; they're basically just cannon fodder, and they have no qualification to join.

As for high-tier monsters, their value is incredibly high.

Unlike the Initial and Middle Tier monsters, whose bodies soften entirely upon death, the skin, teeth, claws, and bones of high-tier monsters remain very tough, making them the primary materials for weapon crafting in major cities.

Currently, the alloy with the highest strength that cities can produce is C-level, as it can harm Lord-level monsters. According to the association's weapon tier categorization, Tier One weapons can injure monsters below high-tier, while Tier Two weapons can harm monsters below the high Lord level, hence weapons and equipment made from C-level alloy are also called Tier Two weapons.

However, the raw ore for making C-level alloy is extremely rare, and even in the major cities, there aren't many Tier Two weaponry crafted from C-level alloy. Almost all weapons and equipment above Tier Two are made from high-tier monster materials.

So buying weapons and equipment above Tier Two from major powers and cities comes at a sky-high price, something that can't be bought with bits, and can only be exchanged with Energy Crystal Stones, which are invaluable to all martial artists.

Furthermore, the blood and flesh of high-tier monsters have cultivation effects that are unmatched by Initial and Middle Tier monsters. Hunting a high-tier monster is capital for both Bone Forging Realm Martial Artists and the major powers within city districts to enhance themselves.

Now, a Bone Forging Realm Martial Artist inviting him, an Initial Stage Martial Artist, to join a hunting group seemed impossible no matter how one looked at it.

"In your current state, you indeed lack the strength to participate in high-tier monster hunts, but that person sees potential in you," Qin Mu explained. "Hence, they're inviting you in advance. Once you join the Genius Training Camp and become a High-tier Martial Artist, you can go hunt high-tier monsters together."

"Moreover, as long as you join, with that person backing you, the Four Great Powers won't dare to openly target you anymore. Otherwise, that person would definitely not spare the Four Great Powers."

"Alright, I'll join." Lin Qi didn't hesitate and directly joined the hunting group.

This time, the players wiped out the Iron Heart Gang entirely and took down quite a few elite members of the Four Great Powers. If the Four Great Powers decide to ignore their reputation and drop the attrition warfare, sending everyone to attack the Martial Arts Hall, then he'd have no choice but to hide in the city district due to the sheer power gap, something not bridgeable by several hundred players.

But with the protection of a prominent figure from the Bone Forging Realm, if the Four Great Powers don't dare flip the table, he could confidently engage them in an attrition warfare, seeing who could outlast the other.

"Alright, I'll inform that person now." Qin Mu, seeing Lin Qi agree, comforted him, "Though the Four Great Powers will seek revenge after the loss you dealt them today, you need not worry too much. With that person speaking, just have the Martial Arts Hall refrain from taking transportation jobs for now. If there's something urgent, send a small team quietly."

"I'll remind them." Lin Qi nodded.

Now that he's taken over the Iron Heart Gang's territory, the surrounding suburban gangs are itching to move in, intending to seize territory, recruit more followers, and expand their power. His players are already stretched thin maintaining territorial security, leaving him no peace of mind to focus on training local residents, let alone sending players to venture out for trading.

Qin Mu then bid farewell and left the Martial Arts Hall, planning to personally report Lin Qi's agreement to that individual at the earliest opportunity.

Meanwhile, under the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, the players were about to explode with excitement.

Because not long ago, after the Hall Master Lin Qi distributed the rewards, the system issued a new announcement.

After completing the hidden storyline, the game developers decided to launch a new feature called Faction Conquest.

To make the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall prosper even more in Chasing Light City, players can now participate and assist in expanding the martial arts hall's influence range in the suburbs.

The method to expand is simple: defend the Iron Heart Gang territory that the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall has acquired and, in turn, seize the suburban territories of the Four Great Powers. The more suburban territories controlled by the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, the higher its prosperity rating will be.

The higher the prosperity rating of the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, the more permissions players can gain. Upon completing each phase, all players will receive rewards, with the most contributing team earning the right to purchase a team base.

Although there wasn't much content in the update, it sent all players into a frenzy, especially on the official forum, where everyone was going wild.

"This game's quite impressive! They're letting players drive the martial arts hall's development!"

"Do you think if we wipe out all factions in Chasing Light City, it might become ours?"

"Wow! If so, that would be amazing, we'd totally play as city lords then."

"Whoa! Isn't this just a modified guild and campaign system? At a certain stage, never mind being city lords, players could potentially even establish a kingdom, provided the martial arts hall first becomes an empire."

"With everything so well developed, how is this game still not in open beta?"

Players not yet in the game, especially those from major gaming guilds, were left with eyes red with envy upon seeing the latest game updates.

Descent of High Martial has now become a very popular game.

Especially after many people watched the battle of Azure Sky, witnessing the lord-level monster as enormous as a skyscraper and the grand and magnificent Azure Sky where every scene could serve as a background, even seeing it on video was enough to captivate people, making them unable to imagine what it would feel like to experience it firsthand.

Furthermore, there was the battle in the wild valley, the fight was simply exhilarating, especially at the level attained by players after becoming Martial Artists, practically like superhumans. And such a battle involving thousands is just the tip of the iceberg of Descent of High Martial, making one unable to imagine the scale of future power struggles or even city wars in Descent of High Martial.

Due to these two epic battles, Descent of High Martial has already become one of the top ten new games recognized by platforms this year, even though it hasn't officially launched.

Now Descent of High Martial has introduced a power struggle gameplay, even the prototype of the guild system has appeared. It's hard for major gaming guilds to sit still.

Fang Zhen: "The game developers have finally opened the suburban maps. Is anyone forming a group to visit the territories of the four major forces tomorrow?"

One Leaf Floating Cloud: "I just spent all my points, count me in."

Outer Gunman: "(⊙﹏⊙)b Didn't you just get over 20 million points?"

One Leaf Floating Cloud: "I drew them all away /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~"

Fang Zhen: "+1! That is indeed a bottomless pit Orz"

Twilight of the Gods: "I suggest still enhancing strength before going. Those are the four major suburban forces. Today's rescue storyline is probably just to get us players familiar with the battle over territories. Otherwise, how could a suburban force be wiped out so easily without even a decent boss?"

Xiao Yuan is also Frantic: "I agree, today's Martial Artist BOSS was too weak, clearly not as good as the BOSS of the valley battle, and according to data, that BOSS was just a guard of the four major forces. If you go like this, watch out for investing all your weapons and equipment in vain."

Luo Wushang: "I've learned about those four major forces in the game before, they all have middle-tier or higher Martial Artist level bosses. I also suggest going after becoming a Martial Artist. Although we can't take on a Martial Artist level boss, this game mode is about territory battles, and we can conquer the land naturally by clearing off the small monsters. Otherwise, going without being a Martial Artist is just giving it away."

One Leaf Floating Cloud: "What should I do now? I don't have the points to buy Energy Ore, can anyone lend me some?"

With the system updating new content, veteran players in the forum have become active again, unexpectedly led into a big one by the game developers.

Not only was a new map opened, but new gameplay was added, making the already busy players farming attribute outfits feel like they can't keep up with the game.

And in the depths of the Maze Tunnel under the Martial Arts Hall.

"Fanchen, have you seen the system's announcement?" Lin Xinyao walked over very excited, after witnessing Lu Fanchen kill a Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rat and said, "This time the hidden storyline actually opened up the permission to purchase a team base, if we can get this permission, we can definitely surpass Celestial Might quickly afterward."

"I've seen it." Lu Fanchen said calmly, "But my thoughts are the same as Luo Wushang's, first promote to Martial Artist, to conquer the land and get the most Contribution Points."

"Promote to Martial Artist?" Lin Xinyao looked at her own panel, slightly helpless, "It will take two or three days to reach quasi-Martial Artist, even in this Maze Tunnel, during these two or three days, I'm afraid Zhang Qingwei and Zhao Hu from Celestial Might will have both broken through to Martial Artist."

"How about we also farm some outfit attributes?" Li Tianxing dressed in A6-level Battle Armor, suggested, "If we can farm the effect of improving Qi and Blood Circulation, our promotion speed to Martial Artist should be much faster."

"Forget it, that's too expensive." Lu Fanchen shook his head, looking towards the tunnel in the distance, "Let's focus on improving ourselves, don't mind the four major forces now, this matter can't be solved by a few Martial Artists, and we also need to save up points. Since the game developers opened the purchase function for the team base, the price won't be cheap either. In the Maze Tunnel, we can not only quickly improve but also farm Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rat for points, it's a win-win."

With that said, Lu Fanchen led the team to continue deep into the Maze Tunnel.

As they delved deeper into the Maze Tunnel, Lu Fanchen and the others felt the violent energy becoming increasingly dense. If they weren't all already Advanced Apprentices, they would likely be burst apart in an instant.

Continuing down the tunnel for over twenty minutes, Lu Fanchen and his team suddenly discovered there was a big door at the end of the tunnel.

This door stood twenty meters tall and six meters wide, made of an unknown metal, appearing like a door but exerting an oppressive feeling that even Lu Fanchen and his team felt a shiver in their hearts.

"Why is there a door here? Isn't this supposed to be the lair of the Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rat?" Lin Xinyao looked at the door in wonder.

"We probably took the wrong path, considering we've come to several branches along the way." Li Tianxing said, "But this door doesn't look simple, just getting within a hundred meters, I feel like I'm carrying several dozen kilograms of weight."

"Could this be level suppression?" Lin Xinyao felt the increasing pressure as she moved forward, turned her gaze to the door, "The door is just an inanimate object, it shouldn't suppress our Qi and Blood like this. Could it be a game setting hinting at a high-level area ahead?"

"It's very likely, but since we're here, let's open the door and have a look." Lu Fanchen nodded and directly walked towards the door intending to see what kind of area on the other side could suppress their levels.

As Lu Fanchen and his team reached the door, they used all their strength to slowly push it open.

In just a moment, Lu Fanchen and his team found themselves plunged into darkness.

"Did we just die?"

Lu Fanchen stared at the game capsule's interface, dumbfounded.

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