I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

Day 14.

Deep within the Eternal Night Forest lies an area called "Heart of the Dead Tree," the place with the highest monster density in the entire forest. Li Wu spent six days there, thoroughly clearing out the monsters within the surrounding tens of square kilometers several times over.

Elite monsters between levels 60 and 63 no longer provide him with much experience. However, the attribute bonuses from Devouring Fortune are still steadily increasing.

On the morning of the fifteenth day, Li Wu left the Eternal Night Forest.

Next stop, Lava Ridge.

Levels 65 to 70.

This area lies deeper within the Evernight Forest, and as seen on the map, it is a north-south mountain range with numerous active volcanoes and lava channels inside.

The system recommends that players level 70 and above team up for the challenge.

He is currently at level 63.

Seven levels below.

But this gap is nothing to him anymore.

Just as he was about to leave, his communicator rang.

Hua Zitong.

For the past two weeks, Hua Zitong has been calling him two to three times a day on average to report on the guild's operations. Li Wu has gotten used to this routine.

"Speak."

"Two things." Hua Zitong's tone was a little more excited than usual, though she was trying to control it, it was still noticeable. "First, the guild experience is full."

Li Wu paused for a moment. "Is it full?"

"Just now, I've accumulated the 50 million guild experience points needed to upgrade from level three to level four. I've already confirmed the upgrade on the guild panel."

"how long?"

"Fifteen days, that's half as fast as you said, a month."

"How did you do that?"

"There are several main aspects," Hua Zitong said. "First, the Immovable Mountain team is very efficient at leveling up in the Screaming Abyss. The core members have basically all reached level 45. After the level 45 dungeon was opened, the guild's experience gain more than doubled."

"Secondly, Steel Shield hasn't been idle either. Their first group set a speedrun record for the level 40 dungeon and cleared it several more times. Thirdly, many of the newly recruited members are hardcore players who are very active in completing daily guild tasks and have contributed a lot."

"How many people are there?"

"The guild has 850 combat members and 150 reserve members, totaling a little over 1,000."

Li Wu nodded.

A thousand people.

Before setting off, the guild had only a little over 300 members, but in less than half a month, that number tripled. Furthermore, with the guild level reaching level four, Mythical Guild's position in server 21 was now completely secure.

"And the second thing?"

"Level 4 guilds have unlocked some new features," Hua Zitong said. "The three most important ones are: First, the guild warehouse capacity has doubled. Second, the guild shop now offers more items. Third, and most importantly, guilds can now construct functional buildings in the fortresses they've captured."

"What building?"

"Training grounds, warehouses, teleportation arrays, and defense towers. Among them, the teleportation array is the most practical. After it is built, guild members can teleport directly to the Sun Fortress without having to travel far."

"Build, build it all up."

"It's already under construction. Lin Hai estimated that it will cost about 200,000 gold to complete. The guild currently has enough funds."

"Is there anything else?"

"There's some bad news." Hua Zitong's tone became calm. "The new leader of the Iron Blood Alliance has been confirmed."

"Who?"

"A guy called Iron-Blooded War God. I haven't heard of that name much, but my sources say he's not a player from District 21; he was transferred from outside."

"Transferred from outside?"

"Yes. The capital group behind the Iron Blood Alliance also has a presence in other regions. It's said that this Iron Blood War God was transferred from an older region, and he brought a group of high-level players with him."

Li Wu narrowed his eyes.

Transferring people from old revolutionary base areas?

"What level are you at now?"

"I don't know. The Iron Blood Alliance is currently controlling information very strictly. Even Lin Hai's intelligence channels haven't obtained detailed data. But one thing is certain: after the Iron Blood War God arrived, the Iron Blood Alliance's ranking list saw more than a dozen new faces between levels 38 and 42."

"If people from the old district move to the new district, do they still have to start from scratch?"

"Of course. Due to the regional isolation rules, players entering a new region must reawaken and level up. However, players in older regions have far more experience and understanding of the game than players in new regions, so their leveling speed will be much faster."

"Understood," Li Wu said. "Keep an eye on them. If they make any unusual moves, notify me immediately."

"it is good."

"Thank you for your hard work, guild."

"……Um."

Communication was lost.

Li Wu put away the communicator and stood at the entrance of the outpost, gazing at the distant lava volcano ridge for a while.

The Iron Blood Alliance has brought in outside help.

He wasn't surprised. Three thousand men were routed by three hundred; the boss behind them couldn't just stand by and do nothing. The most basic response would be to replace them with an experienced commander, bring another batch of elite troops, and regroup.

But this didn't affect him much.

No matter how skilled a player is in an older server, they'll have to start from scratch in a new server. By the time they reach level 60 or 70, he'll already be level 100.

The gap between levels will widen, not narrow.

The only concern is that if that Iron-Blooded War God is a truly capable commander, he might pose a threat to the interests of the Myth Guild in Li Wu's absence.

But Hua Zitong was there.

Immovable as a mountain and steel shield are also present.

The problem is not big.

He turned and stepped into the lava ridge.

The ground beneath our feet had turned into dark red volcanic rock, and the temperature had risen noticeably. The air was thick with the smell of sulfur, and orange columns of lava occasionally spewed from the distant mountain peaks, illuminating the hazy sky.

System prompt:

"You have entered an extremely dangerous area: Lava Ridge. Environmental effects: High temperature - 50 health points are lost per second, fire resistance is reduced by 20%. Recommended for 30-player teams of level 70 or higher with fire-resistant gear."

50 HP loss per second?

He only had a little over two thousand health points, and he would be down in less than a minute.

"It must be protected by the rock."

He fired a shot at himself, and three rock shields appeared around him, reducing the damage he received to one-tenth. From 50 damage per second to 5 per second, that didn't matter.

Go forward.

The first group of monsters appeared on the other side of the lava river.

Eight level 65 elite monsters, "Lava Elementals".

It is a humanoid magma creature with orange-red glowing liquid flowing from its body.

Health: 280,000.

"Two hundred and eighty thousand, that's not low."

The Arrow that Burns Stars and Returns to Ruins.

boom.

Collapse.

The eight lava elementals vanished, along with a section of the riverbank beneath their feet.

"One shot, one second."

The Starburst Arrow, with its magic attack approaching 20,000, is already deadly enough to a level 65 elite monster. Even if the monster has 280,000 HP, it cannot survive within the collapse area.

Li Wu stepped across the glassy riverbank and continued deeper into the water.

The monsters in the Lava Ridge are stronger than in any of the previous areas. Elite monsters of level 65 to 68 are everywhere, and level 69 and 70 monsters occasionally appear. There are also more lord-level monsters; you can encounter one almost every few steps.

But none of these pose a threat to him.

The real significance lies in the fact that the high-level monsters here provide a greater bonus to the Devouring Luck attribute.

Each level 68 elite provides between 1.0 and 1.2 in luck and intelligence.

The lord rank is even higher, reaching 3.0 or above.

Every minute he unleashed his furious attacks on the Lava Ridge, his attributes skyrocketed.

The result of boosting his attributes was that he killed even faster.

The positive loop restarts.