"Haha, Ye Luo, you’ve also come to Luoyang Town, huh? Wow, Level 15 already, and you’ve learned Resurrect Zombie too? Seems like you’re doing pretty well."
"Hehehe, just normal stuff, I’m nowhere close to you, Feng. Your fame in Luoyang Town is like thunder piercing the ear. Solo killed a Level 29 Qi Gong Master—tsk tsk, it feels so surreal. Don’t tell me you’re cheating?"
"Haha, cheating, you’re joking, right? This is skill, man. The title of a game master isn’t for nothing."
Seeing an old friend had lifted Xiao Jie’s spirits, and he was in the mood for some playful banter.
Dongfang Sheng, however, was utterly baffled.
Solo killed a Level 29? Behind the computer screen, Dongfang Sheng’s face was full of question marks. Are you kidding me? Even novels wouldn’t dare write such outrageous stuff.
But recalling the respectful attitudes of those street vendors toward "Feng," it seemed it might actually be true.
This... I must cling onto these coattails.
Feigning curiosity, he asked, "By the way, where’s ’I Want to Be Immortal’? Haven’t seen him around."
If ’I Want to Be Immortal’ did perish, or if they parted ways, wouldn’t it be perfect for me to fill the position of his top lackey?
Although Dongfang Sheng harbored ambitions of being a leader and showing off, he didn’t mind playing second fiddle to someone, as he had run errands for others in the past.
Back then, it was merely for money, but now, tangible benefits were in reach, so why not play the lackey?
"He went to Xuanxu Palace to learn magic."
"He went... He really got into Xuanxu Palace?" Dongfang Sheng’s voice trembled. Magic, oh, magic!
Commanding the wind and rain, turning beans into soldiers, creating thunder and lightning with a flick of the fingers, resurrecting the dead with a wave of the hand... well, lower-level magic might not be that incredible, but it still is magic!
The thought that while he was still struggling to become a General, someone else had already entered Xuanxu Palace to study magic...
"Feng, big bro, dear bro, could you help me get in there too? I’d go broke to thank you," Dongfang Sheng pleaded desperately, almost ready to kneel and call him "Daddy."
Xiao Jie was speechless. "Dude, do you think a magic profession is like, what, common cabbage? Forget it man, I haven’t even figured it out myself yet. You see I’m still diligently learning Saber Skill as a Beast Tamer. Just focus on grinding out General, and consider a magic profession when you reach Level 19."
"By the way, Ye Luo, interested in joining a guild?"
"The Dragon Soaring Knights? Sure, having a guild isn’t bad—but weren’t you planning to start your own guild? I remember you had a house deed. Don’t you guys like to play the big boss?"
Ye Luo’s tone remained casual, seemingly not very enthusiastic, yet not declining either.
Xiao Jie helplessly said, "I had to sell the house deed because I urgently needed money to learn Martial Arts. Besides, being the big boss in this game isn’t easy."
People in Dragon Soaring Knights automatically get mounts and loans; they’ve given out a billion just by adding up a few hundred players, what could I compete with? Better join and mix in with them.
I’m playing this game to gain strength, not to show off being the boss."
Ye Luo expressed some regret, "That’s a pity, I was thinking about retiring to Ginkgo Village once I reach a high level and have no more ambitions left."
"Nothing to regret, if we have spare money later, we can always buy another one,"
As they were talking, Xiao Jie’s message box suddenly received a new private message.
Deceitful Fox: Feng, we want to join your guild, can we?
Hidden Moon Following Wind: No problem, come to Yuelai Inn. My friends are all here.
Soon, the three of them ran to the inn’s second floor.
After acquainting themselves with Xiao Jie and the others, they all applied to join the guild.
Seems like the folks from the little village were indeed scared off by the big city prices.
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Jie had recruited seven people into the guild, looking around at his group of buddies, he felt quite gratified. Being an elder in the Dragon Soaring Knights wasn’t in vain after all—look, it’s barely been a day, and he’s already recruited so much fresh blood, strengthening the guild’s force.
Right—need to take care of the newbie benefits.
"I’ll call someone over to distribute your benefits soon. If you need money, apply for a loan quickly, don’t be shy."
Mu Qingliu timidly said, "We can slowly save up money."
Xiao Jie was speechless, these three really didn’t know anything. "There are some things I’ll only say once; having a loan is definitely better than not."
"Figure it out yourself."
Xiao Jie couldn’t be bothered to explain, why indeed? The Dragon Soaring Knights offered interest-free loans to newcomers as a way to buy loyalty. Not taking a loan implied you weren’t as invested, hence not as dependable.
The good stuff naturally wouldn’t come your way.
In future group activities outside, who gets rescued first in danger? Definitely those with loans.
After all, death ends all debts, and if somebody dies, their loan goes unpaid—a bigger loss indeed. If you don’t have a loan and die, well, you just die.
Of course, these are rather grim speculations. Since they were willing to give money and horses to newcomers, probably they wouldn’t even think about this during rescue operations.
But even if not considering this factor, having a loan is at least not a bad thing.
Especially since there’s no interest.
However, these weren’t things Xiao Jie could say outright, as it would make things seem rather underhanded.
He was here to recruit people, not to scam them.