There really was no need to make things so complicated.
Li Yi had planned to leave the guild once they beat Molten Furnace. It had just been brought forward slightly, that was all.
He believed that he had done enough for Dark Empire, but the environment within Dark Empire simply made it hard for him to put his entire heart and soul into the guild.
Everyone liked having money, but if you gave up the fun of playing the game for the sake of money, would that still be playing the game?
That would be being played by the game!
His dream was to be a happy professional gamer who could earn money while also having the fun of playing the game. However, that was not something that he would ever find in Dark Empire.
"When Dark Empire grows to a point that no one else dares to resist us, I'll definitely invite you back in."
"I appreciate that."
Li Yi left the guild!
He did not mince any more words with Chu Tiange, Li Yi's body vanishing from the Virtual Meeting Room.
There was no way he was joining them again.
It was true that Dark Empire's future looked bleak right now, but if they just persisted, there was still a chance of victory.
Chu Tiange's actions proved that he was short-sighted. What he lost was not Li Yi, the talented player, but the many players who were waiting to see how things turned out.
When they found out that Li Yi had left the guild, the Century Flower and Huashan guilds immediately stopped attacking and made up with the Dark Empire Guild, even shaking hands over it. A fierce war ended just like that.
It began mysteriously and ended mysteriously. Other than a few people who knew the truth, many others had no idea what was happening.
"Brother Hua, let's continue fighting, c'mon. Why are we suddenly stopping? I haven't fought enough," Scumbag Wang complained, dissatisfied.
"You'll know why in the future." Hua Feiwu patted Scumbag Wang's shoulder with a smile.
"Chu Tiange forced you to leave the guild?" Chen Yang was pissed.
"I volunteered to. I never meant to stay in this guild for long, anyway."
As soon as Li Yi left the guild, Chen Yang and Fire Ice left without a question. After that, more than 20 others left as well.
"Three Goat, why did you leave too?"
"The commander's left, so I didn't feel safe anymore. What about you, why d'you leave?"
"I left because I saw that you had left…"
In an instant, Dark Empire's reputation hit rock bottom. If it was not for Chu Tiange tossing money everywhere, trying to prevent his members from leaving, Dark Empire would have collapsed then for sure.
Now, Li Yi would receive more than ten messages inviting him to join guilds every time he logged on.
Although he had always kept a low profile, his first kill achievement was right there for all to see, so he could not keep a low profile even if he wanted to. Many guilds did not lack members, but they lacked talents like him.
"Dark Wing, I heard that you left your guild? Would you be interested in joining ours?" Another familiar face, I Love Beast Beast, sent him a message.
"I don't want to join any guild right now." Li Yi rejected him.
"Our guild has more than 3000 members now, and among the Pinnacle of the Fire Instance Group Dungeons, we've already reached Molten Furnace. Our guild's benefits won't be any worse than Dark Empire's. Let's put it this way: if you join our guild, we'll give you double of whatever benefits Dark Empire gave you."
"No thanks, I had my own plans in mind when I left Dark Empire. I'm just a measly player, and I don't wish to be influenced by anyone. If anyone tries to trick me, I'll make them pay a hundred times what they owe me."
"?" I Love Beast Beast sent him a question mark.
"Must you really force me to state it in no uncertain terms, O Chief Priest of Star Fire?" said Li Yi with a cold laugh. "You guys instigated Century Flower and Huashan to suppress Dark Empire. That has nothing to do with me now, but I hope you won't get in my way in the future. Otherwise, I don't give a damn about how strong your guild is. If you get on my bad side, I'll make sure you guys never live it down."
The blatant threat stunned I Love Beast Beast into a long silence.
"What do you mean?"
"Platinum Hand is a small party and they never recruit members, so they're not much of a threat to you. But Dark Empire has been on the rise recently, and they're threatening your position, so you need to press them down a little. Am I right, Beast Beast?"
Even without Qing Pingle's information, Li Yi could already guess who the masterminds behind all this were.
Century Flower and Huashan would not have gotten such an explosion of new members without reason. The truth was when Li Yi was launching sneak attacks on them, he had already seen quite a few familiar faces, and they were all from the Star Fire Guild.
Right now, all the guilds were stuck at Molten Furnace, and the guild that posed the largest threat to Star Fire was, without a doubt, Dark Empire.
The video of Li Yi commanding the party to defeat the Fire Beast had long since been uploaded to the official site, and it had garnered more than a million hits within a short period of time. Others did not really know Li Yi, but I Love Beast Beast knew him well.
The first kill of the Fire Lord, the entry into the Eastcloud Valley Secret Dungeon. I Love Beast Beast had participated in these exploits of Li Yi's, and the truth was it had also been his idea that led to this war between three guilds.
To Star Fire, as long as they could chase away Li Yi, they could forget about Dark Empire completely.
Right now, their goal had been achieved, but naturally, I Love Beast Beast would not pass up on this chance to recruit Li Yi. What he had not expected, however, was that Li Yi had long since found out about the strings he pulled.
I Love Beast Beast was silent for a moment before he said, "Although our methods haven't exactly been the best, have you never given it a thought? If you could come to the Star Fire Guild, we would definitely give you the best platform for your development…"
Before I Love Beast Beast could complete his sentence, Li Yi had turned off the private chat channel.
That was a person who forced him out of his guild and then passionately invited him into their own guild. Li Yi did not want even to bother with him anymore.
If Li Yi had to say how leaving the guild affected him, the only thing would be that he did not have to waste his time and energy considering how to beat Molten Furnace anymore. Other than that, he was completely unaffected.
He was not afraid of the Star Fire Guild coming to pick a fight with him, and that was why he dared to say everything openly.
"Brother Beast Beast, that Li Yi doesn't know how to appreciate your kindness in acknowledging him. Should we teach him a lesson?" Simple Little Tiger, the Explosive Thief who currently had the best equipment in the Star Fire Guild, volunteered eagerly.
I Love Beast Beast shook his head. "Forget it, let's put this guy out of our minds for now.
"Don't go looking for him, you're no match."
Simple Little Tiger was a Level 22 Explosive Thief wearing a full Shadow Equipment Set. His DPS was more than 400, and if he could achieve a Critical Hit, he was confident that he could kill off anyone who was not an MT in an instant.
What the heck did that mere little Archer think he was?
Simple Little Tiger did not obey I Love Beast Beast's advice and acted on his own accord. He went looking for Li Yi.
Li Yi received a message from a stranger that said, "Where are you?"
"You are?"
"I'm looking for you for something, you'll know who I am once we meet."
"Oh, okay. I'm outside Shattered Frost City, my coordinates are 250250, 250250."
"I'll be there in a bit. Wait for me…"
Simple Little Tiger successfully found Li Yi, who was doing the bandit-raiding quest, outside Shattered Frost City.
Simple Little Tiger gripped his two swords and excitedly approached Li Yi using Stealth. Suddenly, his foot stiffened up, and a wave of frost instantly covered his entire body, freezing him on the spot.
"Freezing Trap!"
'Crap.'
Chain Arrow Skill!
Crippling Shot!
"Pfft! Pfft!"
[−96]
[−101]
[−237 Critical Hit!]
Simple Little Tiger fell to the ground with a grunt and dropped a piece of equipment.
Li Yi ran up to him, picked up the equipment for a look, and nodded his head in satisfaction. "A Shadow Shoulder Guard, not bad. Thanks."
"Give it back!"
When he saw that Li Yi was leaving, Simple Little Tiger grew anxious. He released his run and ran back as soon as he could, immediately resurrecting and then going into Stealth…
"Pfft! Pfft!"
Simple Little Tiger fell again, and he was even unluckier this time, dropping two pieces of equipment.
Li Yi picked them up, grinning from ear to ear. "Shadow Ankle Boots and Shadow Cloth Armor. You got pretty sweet equipment, bro."
"If you got balls, stay right there!"
Simple Little Tiger flew off the handle and released his soul once more...