Sun Rose ran toward Li Wei. As she reached 5 meters away from him, she suddenly laughed and switched direction, sending a teasing kiss at Li Wei.

The latter who had already drawn his weapons paused for a moment, but before he could react, he suddenly felt danger from the side and immediately raised his swords to parry. "Cling!"

A dagger violently hit the swords but was immediately knocked away by Li Wei.

"So you are with them! Die idiot. You should have stayed out of this!" shouted the rogue who attacked Li Wei just before spinning and kicking him in the stomach.

"F*** that's a misunderstanding! Don't you see that I am not part of their guild?" said Li Wei.

"Don't even try to fool me!", [Shadow Strike]. The rogue completely ignored Li Wei's words and immediately used his skill to attack.

'Tsssk so troublesome.’

Li Wei immediately reacted. he stepped to the side, easily dodging the dagger and fought back with [Cleave]. The rogue clearly did not expect his attack to miss and before he could react, he was knocked back by a heavy sword strike. "-31".

Another rogue emerged from stealth and stabbed Li Wei's back. "-27" The rogue immediately swung his second dagger, but Li Wei jumped back avoiding the strike. Raising his swords, Li Wei swung them at the rogue one from each side like a pair of scissors.

The rogue was confused on what to do and did not react before the two swords pushed him away. "-26”, "-30"

Not waiting for the rogue to react, Li Wei immediately turned around and ran after Sun Rose. It was not that he was afraid of the rogue, but the latter had his teammates closely following behind him. If he got entangled in a fight, he would soon be surrounded.

"F***! Kill that guy! He is with the Fleeting Clouds Sect!"

Li Wei ran as fast as he could. On his side, he saw Sapphire turn and jump to sneak attack him. But he quickly reacted and ducked just enough to allow the blade to pass above his head.

[Howl]

Li Wei activated his [Howl] to disturb Sapphire’s balance, causing him to fall. At the same time, an arrow flew out of nowhere and struck Li Wei's shoulder. "-18"

"Ahhh" Li Wei was surprised and let out a shout but he quickly looked around to see a ranger charging his [Power Shot] towards him. Li Wei quickly drew one of his throwing needles and threw it towards the ranger.

The latter was still charging and was carefully aiming at Li Wei. He was very careful since Sapphire was right next to his target. But before he could release the arrow, he saw a ray of light flight straight towards him.

The ray of light hit his fingers holding the arrow, causing him to inadvertently release the charged arrow.

The arrow flew an almost horizontal trajectory and barely missed Li Wei and instead, hit a stealthed rogue that was trying to sneak onto Li Wei and pushed him back.

"AHHH F*** idiot! What was that !?" angrily shouted the rogue that was just knocked back. He was now lying on the ground with barely any HP left.

"I am sorry! I am sorry!"

...

Li Wei did not wait to see the result. He quickly charged towards Sun Rose.

"You***! Chase after them!"

A few seconds later, he finally caught up with Sun Rose, who was still running at full speed.

"Wow! So impressive. You are able to catch up to me?" asked Sun Rose with a surprised expression.

"What do you mean? What was that!? You owe me an explanation! You think it is funny to use innocent people as baits?" angrily responded Li Wei.

Sun Rose stayed silent for a few seconds, she then giggled and with a teasing smile answered, " Didn’t you want to join the Fleeting Clouds Sect? Just treat it as a test for entering the Fleeting Clouds Sect. I will directly accept you in my family."

Li Wei had to admit that Sun Rose was really pretty. She was previously partly hiding her features under her mage’s hat but now, Li Wei could clearly see her face. However, what was the point of beauty if her heart was black?

“Calm down Li Wei… If you want to join her guild to get one of their techniques…” said Li Wei to himself.

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"Don't try to change the subject. That was really mean to use me as a decoy. I almost died back there you know?"

Sun Rose bit her lips and answered: "I had no choice. I am really sorry, but the loot is really precious to the sect right now. I had to use all means necessary to escape out alive. The sect will definitely reward you appropriately later." She was still running at full speed but still showed a sincere expression and slightly nodded.

“What if I don’t end up joining your sect?” Li Wei internally grumbled.

Although he was not very satisfied, Li Wei still decided to keep it inside. He wanted to join the sect; it would be unwise to start a conflict with one of its members. Out of the three sects, the Fleeting Clouds Sect was the one that caught his attention. He was curious about the different skills they displayed. As far as Li Wei was aware, the only way to obtain all these skills was to create them themselves. He asked:

"What do you mean by your family? I just want to join the sect, not... "

"What? You want to join the Fleeting Clouds Sect, but you don't even know about our system? I told you earlier that it was more complex than it seemed. Fine just hold on. We will talk when we reach the city."

She quickly turned around and cast [Mana Bind]. Li Wei took a glance behind him but saw nothing. He was puzzled by Sun Rose's action but suddenly, the [Mana Bind] seemed to wrap around an invisible object.

A few moments later, Sapphire was revealed, his legs tied by the [Mana Bind].

"F***"

Curses flew out of his mouth, but the two completely ignored him and rushed to the city.

Li Wei was surprised to see that Sun Rose was able to run as fast as him. She was a mage and he invested heavily in dexterity. Yet, she was moving as quickly as Li Wei.

"Hey? How is it that you can run as fast as me?" asked Li Wei.

"I was gonna ask the same question. Are you also a martial artist? I practice the Soaring Snow Swan technique. This technique specializes in movement. What do you practice? "

"There are such techniques? Are they the one that any player joining the Fleeting Clouds Sect can learn?" asked Li We, completely ignoring the later part of her answer. He was precisely looking for techniques related to footwork. If the Fleeting Clouds Sect did provide them, then he would no longer hesitate to join them.

Sun Rose looked at Li Wei in doubt. Did that guy really know nothing about martial arts?

"Sadly no. That technique is my family's secret technique. I cannot share it with outsiders. Besides, it was designed for girls... *giggle* but there are many others from which you can choose from."

 As the two talked for a bit, they eventually reached the city gate. The guards immediately drew their spears, blocking the entry, asking for the entry fee. Li Wei and Sun Rose quickly took out 50 silvers each and entered the city.

As soon as they got into the city, a group of players came out from an adjacent street.

"Miss Rose! Are you alright?"

The paladin leading the group hurriedly approached Sun Rose, asking about her situation.

"I am fine. This new recruit helped me get out the fight. Did the others get back?" asked Sun Rose.

"You are the first to come back. Rising Dragon is still in spirit form while the other two are still escaping from the guilds," answered the paladin.

"Good. You should immediately go and assist them. It’s a miracle that we were not intercepted by any other teams. I will report to the headquarters now," dismissed Sun Rose.

"Yes, miss!" The Paladin quickly lead his group, exiting the town.

"Come with me, I'll bring you to the guild!"

"Alright "

Li Wei silently followed behind Sun Rose. It was a rather awkward situation for him but quickly broke the silence.

"Now that we are in the city. Can you tell me about those families you were talking about?" said Li Wei.

"Ahh yes!" She closed her menu interface. She had just opened it to avoid the awkward situation as she did not know how to engage the conversation.

"The Fleeting Clouds Sect is more complex than it looks. Even though we all form part of the same guild, we all come from different families. I am sure that you heard of our background; most of us are ancient families full of martial artists. More than 20 families have gathered together to form the sect and so, there are inevitably some internal groups that formed over time."

"But don't worry. Even if my Liu family is not the strongest, we definitely won't allow anyone to step on us! I can guarantee that you will have a good time in the guild!" proudly said Sun Rose.

"Well. That's hard to believe after having witnessed the number of players that just died for that boss fight."

Sun Rose immediately blushed a little upon hearing that, "Well some deaths are unavoidable. You could see that even I was put in danger. We are all working hard to gather resources and become stronger! You are not forced to participate in these fights but if you want resources then it's a necessity. It is also the case for the other guilds. Everyone is fighting for resources right now. The drops of the bosses are very important for the early development of the guilds."

"Mmmm. Then what about the benefits? What are the advantages of joining the Fleeting Clouds Sect?"

"As you know, you will get the chance to pick one of the techniques to learn for free when you enter. All the families put up some for players to choose from and the players normally end up join the family that provided the technique they are interested in."

"Yes, but apart from that? " continued Li Wei.

"Ehhh, well that's it. You will get the usual 15 gold and an equipment. For the rest, you will have to earn it yourself. According to the loot you submit or missions you complete for the sect, you will be rewarded with contribution points. You can exchange them for resources and other things just like for the associations. We chose to run the same system as the associations to avoid confusion," answered Sun Rose with an embarrassed expression.

Li Wei looked at Sun Rose, wondering why she was embarrassed and then he realized something.

"Does that mean that I will have to submit my loot from the Giant Worms to you? What makes it more worth it to submit my loot there rather than at the Warrior Association?" asked Li Wei with a suspicious look.

"Cough Cough", "I am not in charge of recruitment so there are many details I don't know, rather than misleading you, it will be better to wait for you to see the contract and ask the people in charge."

"Mmmm"

Li Wei clearly felt that something was wrong. Wasn't the Fleeting Clouds Sect supposed to be one of the 3 strongest guilds? Why would Sun Rose not want to brag about the benefits?

Li Wei was still wondering, when Sun Rose displayed a saddened expression and continued, "You know, it is very hard for us to recruit people right now, apart from our secret techniques, we have nothing better to offer. We were all rather recluse people before coming into the game and are not the best at socializing and recruiting."

"The Gem Family consists mainly of political families. They recruited many merchants, managers, and accountants before entering the game and so, they were able to create a decent network for resources in just a few days. Players would naturally go where resources are. As for the Stone Defenders, when they announced that they came from the military, players flocked to them for safety and because they believed in their strength. "

"But we? What do we have apart from our techniques? Recruiting is hard and we still cannot openly share our resources like the others do! We were not well known in the real world either. I am sure you’ve never heard of the Liu family either. Although we are in better shape than the medium guilds, we are still lagging behind the other two large ones. One depended on the trust of the people, while the other on their connections in the business world," said Sun Rose.

She stopped walking all of the sudden in front of an inn and turned to look at Li Wei, and with a hardened expression and a firm tone, she continued: “However, I believe that the Fleeting Clouds Sect have a bright future. Quality primes over quantity. Even today, you saw how despite having the least players, we ended up getting the boss."

"Our techniques are not to be underestimated. Things might not look very attractive right now, but I do hope that you will still choose to join us after seeing what we offer. You don't look like a short-sighted person and the fact that you've already made it to the open world proves your strength," said Sun Rose as she pushed open the door of an inn.

"This is our headquarters. Well it can barely be called headquarters, but it is still better than nothing. Come in, I will bring you to register."

Li Wei calmly listened to everything Sun Rose said. Joining the Fleeting Clouds Sect did not look very attractive anymore, but he still understood what she meant. The other guilds had the advantage of having a network and players right now. When the Fleeting Clouds Sect will succeed in building their own, with their techniques, they would definitely become a major force.

Li Wei witnessed their techniques and was quite impressed by them. Players using these techniques would definitely be stronger than a normal ones.

He sighed and looked at the open door. The pretty mage was standing on the other side, holding the door open with a smile full of hope.

Li Wei hesitated for a moment, but when he saw Sun Rose still looking at him expectantly, he resolutely entered the inn. Since he was already there, he might as well have a look at the guild.