Players – those who were here to watch the show- occupied the space along the cliffs enclosing the rift valley. The noise from the roaring crowd, was deafening.

“Damn, look how large the Glory Guild’s battle formation is! They’re going this far just to fight against one player?”

“Dude, have you forgotten who they’re up against? It’s that frigging Master Healer, that’s who! Huaxia District’s level rankings, equipment rankings, pet rankings, mount rankings, reputation rankings, you name it! The guy is at the top of everything!”

“Indeed. There are several hundreds of millions of players, in the Huaxia District. To be the top person among many players? I’m telling you, the Master Healer’s skills are terrifying! If the Glory Guild doesn’t get enough members involved, and ends up losing to the Master Healer, they will be completely humiliated.”

“Yes. The Master Healer’s true strength is definitely beyond anything we can even imagine. The Glory Guild has to be well-prepared, if they’re planning to take him head on.”

“But just look! There’s got to be more than a million players down there! No matter how strong the Master Healer is, he’s still just a priest, right? Aren’t they just going a little overboard?”

“Well…”

“Hey, it’s almost time, right? How come the man of the hour hasn’t shown himself yet? Where’s the Master Healer?”

“Actually, now that you mentioned it, we’ve been waiting for more than half an hour already, right? How come the Master Healer has not shown up yet? Wait, you don’t think he bailed out on us, do you?”

“I suppose that’s possible. I mean, you guys would not want to take on an entire guild in a head on battle, right? The only outcome is death. I’m pretty sure the Master Healer is no fool.”

“You’re sh*tting me, right? You’re saying we’ve all been waiting here for nothing? Sh*t. It turns out that the Master Healer doesn’t have the courage to show up after all.”

…

The rift valley was not deep; its depth was barely ten meters. Cliffs enclosed the rift valley on all sides. If one were to stand on the edge of one of the cliffs, one could clearly see the densely packed crowd that had gathered below at the rift valley. It was an ocean of players, literally.

Everywhere on the cliffs, it was rowdy. Boisterous voices filled the air, as the crowd debated amongst themselves.

There were players everywhere, layers upon layers of them, jamming themselves into the rift valley. It was as if a huge tidal wave of players had washed over the region, and engulfed the entire rift valley!,

Each and every one of these players had something in common; the character names above their heads had the same prefix: Glory!

“How much longer will it take?”

On top of the most conspicuous, and also the widest, cliff, stood Brother Nine of Glory. He stood, proud and haughty, as he glanced at the quiet army gathered beneath him. In an instant, the haughtiness vanished from his demeanor, and he turned around to face the person behind him.

Behind Brother Nine of Glory, stood a player, who also had the Glory Guild’s prefix before his character name. “One minute till the battle begins,” he said, after glancing at the time.

Brother Nine of Glory nodded, and remained silent. A smirk made its way onto his lips. “It’s best if he doesn’t come,” he thought.

He had already made plans. If Xiaofeng didn’t show up, a legion of Internet ghostwriters would pop up and start making disparaging posts. Then, the number one player in the Huaxia District, would be thrown into the center of public controversy.

On the other hand, things would be more troublesome, if Xiaofeng showed up.

Brother Nine of Glory was aware of Xiaofeng’s strength. Even if his guild could bring Xiaofeng down in the end, it would still come at a great cost; a lot of members had to be sacrificed, in the process. This would hurt the Glory Guild’s reputation, and that was the last thing Brother Nine of Glory, wanted.

A lot of hotshot and famous players stood behind Brother Nine of Glory. Lao Xu (who was doing a live broadcast), and the prominent members of other guilds, were among these players. Then again, just because these players were standing together with Brother Nine of Glory on the cliff, didn’t necessarily mean that they were on his side; the cliff just provided a better and clearer view of the entire battlefield.

Actually, Lao Xu wasn’t the only anchor present. Other well-known anchors had also taken their positions on the cliffs, doing their own live broadcasts. The news of this battle had spread across the entire Huaxia District in just one short hour, and had caught the attention of countless players. More so, considering that it was currently night-time, during which the number of players who were online, peaked. Nobody wanted to miss this grand event.

Obviously, there wasn’t enough room on the battlefield to accommodate all the players in the game server, so most players had to rely on the live broadcast services provided by the anchors, to watch the battle.

The crowd slowly quietened, as the countdown for the start of the battle began. The entire terrain descended into a temporary silence. Everyone held their breaths in anticipation.

Would the Master Healer show up? This was a suicidal battle after all. Nobody would blame him if he did not turn up.

A vague smile was already forming on Brother Nine of Glory’s face. This was exactly what he wanted to see. He hoped this silence would last until everyone dispersed.

“Make way! Make way!”

“Hey, what the hell! Stop squeezing! There’s no more room for you, pal!”

“Why didn’t you come earlier if you want a spot?”

Some guy was trying to squeeze through the crowd from the back, in order to get to the front, but nobody in the crowd was willing to make way for him.

“F***, you assholes! Do you still want to watch the show or not?”

Xiaofeng snapped. He had walked one full circle around the area, before he finally realized that the members of the Glory Guild, were hiding out at the bottom of the rift valley. But when he tried to make his way down there, he couldn’t even make it past the crowd. Worst, it was nearly time for the battle to start.

“It’s none of your damn business whether we want to watch the show or not? Now get your ass to the side and watch the live streaming. There’s no more room here.”

The entire cliff was jam-packed with people, and nobody was willing to make way for Xiaofeng. They even tried to chase Xiaofeng away.

“Xiaoxue, come out!”

These knuckleheads were starting to piss Xiaofeng off. He decided to drop all pretense immediately. “You ***rs!” Xiaofeng growled and removed the pieces of low level equipment that he had used to conceal his identity.

In an instant, the glorious sight of Xiaofeng’s equipment and armor appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The helmet on Xiaofeng’s head was a divine artifact, which looked like the skull of a dragon with its head raised, as it roared at the sky. Under the helmet, the Skeleton Mask covered Xiaofeng’s face. His eyes were of differing colors; one held the lucent green flames of burning ghost fire, while the other was filled with profound darkness.

The Skeleton Suit and the Dragon Suit shared a lot of similarities. The Skeleton Breastplate, when worn on the torso, looked like a magnified version of the human ribcage. Two columns of rib bones covered Xiaofeng’s torso, from top to bottom. His entire lower body, from the top of his thighs, all the way down to his ankles, was covered with a series of crisscrossing white tusks.

Covering Xiaofeng’s right arm, was a menacing Dragon’s Claw, which looked as though it had grown out from the back of Xiaofeng’s hand and right forearm. The Skeleton Vambrace was attached to Xiaofeng’s left arm. Although the vambrace was classified as an arm guard, it actually extended all the way down to his elbow. The vambrace consisted of three sharp bones protruding outwards from the elbow, at an angle.

His belt looked like a spinal column which was coiled around Xiaofeng’s waist; the grotesque facial bone of some kind of monster was used for the buckle.

All in all, the entire set of equipment had an imposing and fearsome vibe to it. The moment it was revealed, the terrain was filled with gasps and shouts of surprise.

“Wow! What a fancy set of equipment!”

“Which master is this? How can anyone own such a cool set of equipment?”

At the same time, a massive portal opened beside Xiaofeng; Xiaoxue’s tall and majestic figure stepped through the threshold of the portal.

At the moment, Xiaoxue was its his original form; a single horn, which glowed with a brilliant silver light, protruded from its raised forehead. Even more eye-catching was Xiaoxue’s back, where a pair of wide and glowing white wings were spread open. What a sight indeed!

“What the… This! This is the number one mount in the mount rankings! The Holy Light Unicorn! He, he’s the Master Healer!”

“What! Is he the Master Healer? Sh*t! No wonder his equipment looked so awesome!”

“So this is the Master Healer, the one who is dominating the entire equipment rankings. Dang, don’t those equipment look extravagant or what? Hey, hey, guys. Which one do you think is the divine artifact?”

“Holy sh*t! That mount looks way too beautiful! It’s got wings, damn it! Wings! I bet it can fly!”

“No sh*t, Sherlock. Those wings are obviously not for show, only!” “Mounts like unicorns are meant to fly!”

“Wow! I want to get a feel of flying in the air, too! Damn, I want that kind of mount too!”

“Well, so do I! With a mount like that, we’ll be chick magnets! I’m telling you, this thing’s got way more style than any one of those luxury cars!”

Just then, the anchors who were gathered in this cliff, began to focus their Video Sprites on Xiaofeng. At the same time, other Sprites began flying over from the other cliffs; those were the Sprites’ long-distance filming feature. Lao Xu’s Sprite was among those flying over.

In an instant, Xiaofeng’s cool and fearsome appearance came into view of all the players, who were currently watching the live broadcast; the same for Xiaoxue’s pure, white, and majestic form.

A Video Sprite was only available for use when a character was in non-battle mode. The Sprites were like phantoms with no concrete form. Neither creeps nor NPCs could see or touch it. In other words, the sprites served no combat purposes at all.

“Hey! Stop b*llsh*tting already, all of you! Make way for the Master Healer!”

Apparently, someone in the crowd had come to their senses. The players in this part of the cliff, were starting to come to their senses as well. They quickly stepped aside and created a pathway for Xiaofeng to pass.

It was a bit too late.

Xiaofeng leapt onto Xiaoxue’s back. Xiaoxue spread its wings wide, and soared high into the air. In one huge bound, Xiaoxue had sprung over the crowd of onlookers, and landed on the rift valley, where countless of Glory Guild members were gathered.

Like a single drop of water that had fallen into an ocean, Xiaofeng’s figure was instantly swallowed up by a throng of his adversaries. Soon, Xiaofeng was nowhere to be seen. A group of Video Sprites flew down towards the rift valley, to capture the action.

“What? I can’t believe the Master Healer has decided to take the head-on approach? Did he just jump right into the center of the enemy formation?”

Xiaofeng’s actions shocked a considerable number of players. Didn’t the Master Healer realize just how many players were gathered down there?

“Hah! This guy is dead meat! Move in! Kill him as quickly as you can!”

Meanwhile, on top of the largest protruding cliff, Brother Nine of Glory scowled, as he gave the order to attack.

It wasn’t until Xiaofeng had leapt into the air and was falling rapidly towards the rift valley, that he realized just how ridiculously outnumbered he was. Despite the large expanse of the rift valley, the entire terrain was occupied by players, so many of them, that he could not even see the edge of the valley, even if he tried.

The entire rift valley was like a massive hourglass, filled with sand particles; and Xiaofeng was nothing but a grain of those inconspicuous particles.

Still, Xiaofeng wasn’t intimidated. He guided Xiaoxue, so that he landed right at the center of the enemy’s formation. At the same time as he was dismissing Xiaoxue, beams of light were shining on Xiaofeng’s body as he applied several BUFFs on himself.

“Ding! You are under the influence of Dad’s skill, Life Blessing. You will gain 310 extra Health Points for 60 seconds!”

“Ding! You are under the influence of Dad’s skill, Weapon Blessing. Your physical attack will be increased by 399 points for 60 seconds!”

“Ding! You are under the influence of Dad’s skill, Courage Blessing. Your magical attack will be raised by 336 points for 60 seconds!”

“Ding! You are under the influence of Dad’s skill, Protective Blessing. Your physical defense will be raised by 55 points and your magic defense by 51 points for 60 seconds!”