397 Chapter 397 - Everyone’s Gotta Make a Living (2/2)
”Perhaps they were merely sparring due to their similar background?” Royal God Call's guess was actually rather close to the truth.
”There's even less reason for them to stay their hands if that was the case!” everyone cried out. There were all outsiders, so it was obvious they would not understand that the MMO setting was an unsuitable stage for Gu Fei and Eternal Dominion to spar. They had tried their best to make it an even fight, as Gu Fei's spell damage was already an unfair aspect he possessed in-game. It was clear why he had to give that up.
”Perhaps Gu Fei's PK Value had reached 29!” Everyone began to examine this issue from a gaming perspective, which resulted in a suggestion proposed by Brother Assist. The people nodded in agreement.
”That's thanks to the efforts of Deep Waters bro here! Eternal Dominion should really be thanking you. Where's Eternal Dominion? You should get him to salute you and treat you to a good meal, with drinks of course!” Young Master Han said.
”Eat and drink your own a**!” All the anger and sadness inside Deep Waters was condensed into that sentence, lightly tugging on Coco's hand as he turned to leave, ”Let's go.”
”Bye!” Coco was old acquaintances with Sword Demon and Young Master Han, not forgetting to say her goodbyes with a slight smile as she left with Deep Waters in hand.
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Over by the other side, plenty of Oathless Sword's guild mates had arrived as well. Excitement grew among them once more now that they were all gathered together. Oathless Sword was all smiles as he walked over to Young Master Han and the others. ”Haha, the quest is finally over!”
Young Master Han and the rest already knew what sort of reward they had received, since Royal God Call was still considered a member of Traversing Four Seas.
They knew just how bountiful the reward was for the guild to increase by a whole level just from this one quest, but the average guild member would not really feel any sort of direct benefit from this. Thus it could be said that those members who were the most excited were the core members of the guild, similar to Oathless Sword. Even though the guild had hundreds of players in it, its existence mainly benefited this lot of players, especially the private wealth of the guild leader.
To give a very simple example to illustrate this point, if Oathless Sword put his Level 6 guild up for sale, buyers would very likely flock like bees to pollen in an attempt to outbid one another. There were plenty of players out there who would love to experience what it was like to be a dominant force in an MMO, and owning such a powerful and large guild would be the easiest and most efficient method to achieve this. This was especially true for any late-adopters of the game. With how guilds were developed by the contributions made by hundreds of players, there was simply no way such players would be able to quickly reach such heights. Such a transaction would surely be a chance that must not be missed.
In the trade forums of Parallel World, there were already plenty of messages appearing explicitly stating their desire to purchase a guild outright. Currently, the successful transactions were all exorbitantly priced, with a small Level 2 guild worth about the price of a single piece of top-grade equipment. The prices for Level 3 and 4 guilds skyrocketed even more, and there were usually no more than three Level 5 guilds in every city, so there was not even a market price for them. There were even rumors that there were professional gamers out that had begun to make strides along this road to wealth. Those who had the financial power had set up their own guilds, organizing their men to begin grinding on guild missions day and night and creating their own 'product'. Some of the craftsmen who did not have any financial backing travelled across the land to the various large guilds or other capitalistic professional players in an effort to form their own guilds, selling their services as players who specialized in setting up guilds in their stead, creating a new group of gamers from this demand.
Obviously Oathless Sword did not have any intention of selling his guild like this, but the availability of this option was nevertheless a very satisfying fact, so it was no wonder the man was grinning from ear to ear.
”Everyone, since the quest has already been completed, there's no need for us to be in a rush to head back home. Let's all head to the tavern, drinks are on me. Today, we shan't… We shan't log out until we're drunk!” Oathless Sword declared loudly.
Few would reject such an open invite, as all these players from Yunduan City began to inquire which way the tavern was as rancorous laughter and celebrating spread out. Oathless Sword instantly ditched the group of experts he was with when he saw Gu Xiaosiang, giddily heading towards where she was…
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After Gu Fei logged out, he called back home and exchanged polite pleasantries with his father before he went on to inquire about the situation with the Gu Family.
It was fine if Eternal Dominion was in a hurry to log out for his night training session, but Gu Fei had not expected to see the huge portion of those players from Eternal War mercenary follow him as well.
When he previously exchanged blows with the men that had blocked their way, Gu Fei had already sensed that they were most likely properly taught actual kung fu, so for the Gu Family to actually possess so many disciples…
Gu Fei was very intrigued by this development. If it was that easy to find so many fellow practitioners for kung fu, then the martial arts would not be in the decline they were experiencing. Thus, the moment he logged out, Gu Fei immediately rang up his home and asked his father just what was going on over there.
”You can't count those as Gu Family's disciples,” Old Man Gu sighed when he heard the question.
”Then who are they?”
”The Gu Family there has collaborated with some bodyguard school, and is now in charge of teaching them close-combat kung fu techniques,” Old Man Gu explained.
”They looked to be properly taught,” Gu Fei said.
”Of course they are. Do you really think that the Gu Family is a white elephant? Don't you look down on them just because that family's patriarch lost to you in that match back then, and then his kid lost to your dad recently. Your thinking is no different from bullying the weak just because you're strong. Just what is wrong with you? Is it because it's been ages since I properly taught you a lesson!? You better get your butt back home this weekend…”
”That's not what I mean!” Gu Fei hurriedly interrupted, ”What I meant to say was he is no longer just randomly teaching them a few moves, and is also formally training them in the ways. How would there be any guarantees towards the conduct of these disciples considering the line of work they were in?”
Old Man Gu sighed, ”There's no way they could guarantee it...”
”And so…” Gu Fei did not know what else to say. The rules when it came to discipleship were not something that differed from family or sect. The rules were something passed down from the days of yore, a rule that any kung fu practitioner should follow at its core. It represented the responsibility and obligation they had towards maintaining unity, harmony, and social stability.
Old Man Gu sighed deeply once more, ”Such matters are becoming more and more prevalent over the years. There's nothing we can do about it; everybody's gotta make a living, somehow…”