After two days of planning and tactical adjustments, Shen Yicheng finalized the twenty-five people for the raid and thoroughly explained the strategy in the YY voice channel.
However, he didn’t share the video with everyone. He only showed the diagrams Canmo Wuhen had drawn. Even then, he never mentioned Canmo Wuhen’s name, only saying that Chen Xi had borrowed a strategy plan from Tianfeng Yage for reference.
Theory was one thing.
Practice was another.
Though Dark Battle Underground Palace was extremely difficult, player gear quality had improved compared to before. There were more mechanics to watch out for, but as long as everyone was careful, clearing the dungeon was still possible.
Considering time constraints, Zhan Ming Hall decided to enter the dungeon an hour earlier than usual.
At exactly seven that evening, all twenty-five players formed up and entered together.
The first boss wasn’t too bad.
They had already beaten it during early progression, so they were fairly familiar with the mechanics. Combined with proper planning, although they wiped once, they managed to clear it on the second attempt.
After killing the mobs along the way, the group arrived before the second boss.
This boss had two targets—the boss himself and his pet tiger cub.
In YY, Shen Yicheng counted down. At one, the main tank rushed in and grabbed aggro, turning the boss away from the group while everyone started unloading damage.
During the fight, the second boss randomly applied one of six poisons to players.
Before entering, everyone had taken six antidotes from an NPC at the dungeon entrance.
Players had to memorize which antidote corresponded to which poison and drink the correct one within fifteen seconds of being poisoned.
Otherwise, not only would they die, but the poison would also spread to the two nearest players.
In the first round, Gentle Deep Blue and Charming Light Blue were poisoned.
Both quickly drank the correct antidotes, and disaster was avoided.
“Fei’er, heal your group back up,” Shen Yicheng called in YY.
“I’m already healing! Qianlan, you’re too far from me—I can’t hit you with group heals!” Lian Fei’er replied anxiously.
“Throw a big heal on me!” Charming Light Blue shouted as she ran toward Lian Fei’er.
Being poisoned had already drained her HP rapidly. Even after detoxing, she was nearly dead. By the time Lian Fei’er’s group heal landed, she’d probably already be flattened by the boss’s AoE.
Before Charming Light Blue even finished speaking, Xia Zichen had already thrown two heal-over-time spells on her.
She wasn’t the boss’s target, so the two HoTs would definitely restore her before the next AoE landed.
That also saved a major healing skill for the tank.
Watching her HP rise, Charming Light Blue laughed.
“Hehe, with a god healer here, I feel safe.”
Though Chen Xi said nothing, only one healer in the raid paid attention to everyone this carefully.
Charming Light Blue had no doubt it was him.
Before her words fully faded, Lian Fei’er suddenly snapped—
“Chen Xi, what are you doing? I already used a big heal on Qianlan. Stacking HoTs on top of it just wasted my healing skill.”
Charming Light Blue’s health had already recovered to 70%.
Lian Fei’er’s big heal really had been completely unnecessary.
“I’m saying, Lian Fei’er, are you blind?” Charming Light Blue shot back. “Can’t you see my HP going up? Are you healing with your eyes closed? Those two HoTs in my buff bar are so obvious—how could you not see them?”
Xia Zichen never used voice chat while gaming.
Since his healing was always timely, no one questioned him, so there was never any need to speak.
Now that Lian Fei’er publicly blamed him, Charming Light Blue naturally defended him.
Clearly she was bullying Chen Xi because he never got on voice.
“Stop arguing. Lian Fei’er, your group’s HP!” Tang Hui cut in coldly. “AoE the spiders, now.”
The boss periodically spawned over a dozen small spiders.
They targeted healers specifically, so they had to be AoE’d down quickly. Healers also had to keep an eye on their own HP.
The moment the spiders appeared, Xia Zichen leaped high into the air and used a double jump to buy around five seconds.
That gave the group enough time to AoE the spiders down, preventing Chen Xi from taking damage.
After landing, he immediately refreshed HoTs on his group.
By the time he finished healing his group and looked at the others, he noticed Qingcheng Baby had actually been bitten to death by the spiders.
Shen Yicheng had another healer from Jingning Hall battle-resurrect Qingcheng Baby.
Meanwhile, Xia Zichen helped stabilize Qingcheng Baby’s team.
The second poison round passed smoothly.
When the boss’s HP dropped to 80%, it entered the pull phase.
Before pulling, the boss cast a skill with a visible cast bar.
Everyone had to move at least fifteen chi away before the cast finished.
Anyone too close would be pulled to the boss and instantly killed.
The moment the cast bar appeared, Shen Yicheng gave the command.
Everyone dashed away with movement skills.
First pull phase—success.
No one got caught.
Immediately after came another poison round.
This time, Lian Fei’er and Chrysanthemum Girl were poisoned.
Chrysanthemum Girl quickly cured herself.
Lian Fei’er used the wrong antidote.
She missed the detox window and died instantly.
Worse, the poison spread to the two players beside her.
Those two had no time to react and also died, spreading it to four more.
Fortunately, the four learned from the earlier mistake and detoxed immediately, preventing further spread.
Qingcheng Baby battle-resurrected Lian Fei’er.
That left only two battle resurrections in the raid.
Battle resurrection was exclusive to Jingning Hall healers and had an extremely long cooldown—basically usable once per boss.
The moment Qingcheng Baby revived Lian Fei’er, another spider wave spawned.
Chen Xi reacted as before, jumping high to avoid damage.
Qingcheng Baby didn’t react in time and died again.
Lian Fei’er’s timing was even worse.
The spiders hadn’t died yet, and battle resurrection only restored 1% HP.
She revived—
and instantly died again.
“Fuck!” An Jing exploded.
Two healers dropped in an instant.
Though there were two backup healers, they couldn’t adjust fast enough.
Then the boss cast AoE.
Two teams lost another two members each.
“Battle-res me now,” Lian Fei’er said in voice chat. “I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry.”
“We can’t,” Tang Hui replied bluntly. “The last two battle resurrections are reserved for the main tank and off-tank.”
No one had time to care about dead players anymore.
The raid continued.
Everyone repeated the earlier mechanics with extra caution.
Thankfully, no one made major mistakes.
At 50% boss HP, the tiger cub joined the battle.
According to the plan, the off-tank grabbed the tiger and fought it ten chi away from the boss.
A healer from Saint Immortal Valley focused solely on healing the off-tank.
Once the tiger’s HP dropped to 50%, it entered a weakened state and stopped attacking.
Meanwhile, everyone else still had to deal with poison and spiders.
The only difference was that the boss stopped using the pull mechanic.
During this phase, two more players died.
One backup healer shifted to focus entirely on the off-tank.
That left only one backup healer covering both healer-less groups while patching raid-wide HP.
The pressure was immense.
Fortunately, Chen Xi kept supporting constantly.
Xia Zichen watched his own group’s HP while applying HoTs to other teams.
If the tank’s HP dropped too sharply, he threw big heals.
His concentration was so intense his back had gone stiff.
He just wanted this fight over.
When he ran this dungeon with Tianfeng Yage, it had been much easier.
He only needed to handle his own job.
Finally, the tiger dropped to 50%.
The boss was also nearing 20%.
This was the hardest phase.
Below 20%, the boss began spawning adds.
Two at a time.
The player targeted by an add gained 200% damage.
Once marked, that player had to drag the add to the boss and stay near him for ten seconds so the boss could apply a defense-down debuff to it.
Then they had to immediately kite the add over twenty chi away from the group and kill it alone within thirty seconds.
If not, the add would rush into the group and explode, dealing massive raid damage.
If anyone except the targeted player attacked the add, it would instantly explode in the group, dealing double damage.
First add wave.
Chen Xi was unlucky enough to be targeted.
After applying HoTs to himself, he dragged the add to the boss.
During the ten-second wait for the debuff, he still managed to refresh HoTs on melee players.
At the final second, he dashed away from the raid and started killing the add.
With 200% bonus damage, even healers could kill adds easily as long as they were fast.
Xia Zichen used AoE damage plus single-target skills simultaneously to kill faster.
Once the add died, he rushed back, used a group heal to stabilize HP, then resumed spot healing.
Back when he ran with Tianfeng Yage, whenever Chen Xi got marked, Canmo Wuhen would wait twenty chi away.
The moment the debuff landed, Canmo Wuhen would whip Chen Xi directly to him.
After that, Canmo Wuhen returned to the raid to continue DPS.
Once Chen Xi killed the add, Canmo Wuhen would whip him back again.
That saved a lot of time and kept Xia Zichen from being distracted.
But now, Canmo Wuhen wasn’t here.
Xia Zichen had to rely entirely on himself.
Fortunately, he didn’t mess up.
Adds kept spawning.
Fu Family Matchmaker failed to detox properly, dragging two others down with her.
Another spider phase killed two more healers.
Then, for some unknown reason, Little Cutie failed to kill her add in time.
The add charged into the raid and exploded.
Massive raid-wide damage hit.
There were too few healers alive.
Healing couldn’t keep up.
A huge portion of the raid collapsed instantly.
Including the main tank.
Xia Zichen immediately battle-resurrected the main tank.
He dumped both major healing cooldowns onto him and stacked HoTs.
Then he checked the raid.
Still alive were only—
Main Tank.
Off-Tank.
Wuqing Xue.
Deep Night Sneak.
Dusk Assassination.
Chen Xi.
Fortunately, the boss only had 5% HP left.
“Reset?” Shen Yicheng asked.
The boss was low, but the situation was terrible.
No one could make a single mistake now.
One mistake meant a total wipe.
“Push.”
Xia Zichen quickly typed one word into raid chat.
“Listen to Xiao Chenchen. Let’s go all in,” An Jing agreed immediately. “We’ve been fighting this damn boss for almost thirty minutes. If we reset, I’m gonna puke.”
“Fine.” Shen Yicheng agreed. He sounded sick of it too. “Chen Xi, keep healing. DPS, burn him down fast!”
The moment he finished speaking, DPS went all out.
Xia Zichen no longer aimed to keep everyone at full HP.
As long as they stayed around 70% and wouldn’t die to a boss skill, that was enough.
All his focus went to the main tank.
The tank absolutely could not die again.
If he did, it was over.
The boss’s HP crawled downward like a fuse burning toward detonation.
Every second stretched unbearably long.
Under that suffocating tension—
the boss’s HP finally hit zero.
With a thunderous crash, it fell.
Everyone in YY let out a long breath at the same time.
Xia Zichen also relaxed and leaned back in his chair.
Everyone’s HP bars were nearly empty.
But no one else had fallen.
“Damn it—even if this dungeon drops weapons, I never want to come back here again!” An Jing shouted.
A wave of laughter and agreement followed.
Then Shen Yicheng stepped forward to loot.
“Whoa, there’s a healer weapon!” Little Cutie shouted first.
Xia Zichen straightened in his chair and checked the loot.
Sure enough, there was a healer weapon token.
This dungeon dropped two kinds of weapons.
One was direct weapon drops, clearly labeled by class, with better stats.
The second type was tokens.
Tokens were divided into healer, internal DPS, external DPS, and tank categories.
Players could exchange them at their sect vendor for class weapons.
These weapons had slightly better stats than current weapons—not as good as direct drops, but still solid.
Getting a weapon token on the first clear of Boss 2 was excellent luck.
Though this weapon only had slightly better stats than Xia Zichen’s current fan, he still wanted it badly.
His current fan was better for PvE.
This token weapon was excellent for PvP.
“Even if it’s just a token weapon, it’s still nice,” Chrysanthemum Girl said.
“Mm. Chen Xi still has the highest healing output,” Fu Family Matchmaker said, posting the healing statistics in raid chat.
Guild raids normally didn’t use gold bidding.
Tanks compared performance, DPS compared damage, healers compared healing.
Past contributions were also considered.
And among healers, there was no dispute.
Chen Xi should get this token.
Xia Zichen was already thinking about what gems to socket—
when a system notification appeared.
Raid leader Wuqing Xue has assigned [Universal Healer Weapon Token] to teammate Lian Fei’er.
Xia Zichen frowned.
A strange feeling rose inside him.
Anger.
Frustration.
And something heavier.
“Guild Leader, aren’t you going too far?!” Charming Light Blue was the first to speak.
“Sister Qianlan, if you’re jealous, just say so. What’s unfair about it? Fei’er is the guild leader’s wife. Of course good things should go to her first,” Qingcheng Baby shot back.
“Since when does our guild have ‘guild leader’s wife privilege’?” Charming Light Blue’s voice sharpened.
“Other guilds all do this. If you’re not the guild leader’s wife, why are you yelling?” Little Cutie joined in.
“Other guilds discuss it beforehand and everyone agrees,” Chrysanthemum Girl snapped. “Did our guild ever vote on guild leader’s wife priority?”
“So what if she’s the guild leader’s wife? Does that make her superior?”
“Everyone treats it as default. It’s not our fault if you don’t understand,” Little Cutie said.
“Stop arguing. Everyone gets 3000 gold. The weapon goes to Fei’er,” Shen Yicheng said quietly. “We’re doing 2v2 PK. She needs a better weapon.”
“Guild Leader, this isn’t about money,” Fu Family Matchmaker said, voice rising. “Then if someone pays more than you, does the weapon go to Chen Xi instead?”
“Besides, Chen Xi is also doing 2v2.”
“Exactly. Be fair,” Charming Light Blue said. “Lian Fei’er started lying dead from Boss 1. Did you not notice how decisively she died?”
“She got battle-resurrected on Boss 2 and couldn’t even time her revive properly. Died again immediately.”
“Bottom-ranked healing output.”
“How are you not embarrassed to assign her the token without even asking?”
“Wuqing, you really crossed the line,” An Jing said coldly now, no longer joking. “Chen Xi got the strategy. Canmo Wuhen gave the video. Chen Xi ranked first in healing.”
“The weapon should go to Chen Xi.”
“Did the boss hit your brain?”
Xia Zichen had only briefly explained the video and strategy situation to An Jing.
He hadn’t told him everything.
He hadn’t even fully watched the video himself.
But he knew one thing—
Canmo Wuhen only helped because of Chen Xi.
Otherwise, there was no way they could’ve gotten help from someone like him.
“Fine, fine. I’ll return the token to Chen Xi. Stop blaming Wuqing.” Lian Fei’er’s delicate voice floated through the channel.
Looking at the characters on the screen, Xia Zichen suddenly felt very far away.
From the day the guild was founded, he had worked alongside Shen Yicheng and the others, grinding guild development points and slowly building it into what it was today.
If he truly had feelings for this game, most of those feelings were tied to this guild.
But today—
looking at the field of gray names lying dead on the ground,
hearing the ugly arguments replacing the guild’s former harmony—
Xia Zichen suddenly felt everything becoming distant.
Those people felt distant.
The effort he had put in felt distant.
Even his attachment to the guild felt distant.
“You can stop acting nice.” Charming Light Blue cut straight through it. “The transfer window already expired. Why pretend to be a white lotus now?”
Once the transfer timer expired, the token became bound.
“You guys are going too far. Even if Chen Xi got the strategy, it wasn’t hers. She copied it from Tianfeng Yage,” Qingcheng Baby argued.
“Hah? Damn, today I’ve really seen what brain damage looks like.” An Jing laughed coldly. “Tell me—which guild raids without studying others’ strategies? Without Chen Xi, would you even have entered this dungeon today?”
“Who are you calling brain-damaged?” Qingcheng Baby snapped.
“Chen Xi stopped joining guild events ages ago and only runs dungeons with outsiders.”
“She latched onto a Great God and forgot the guild.”
“Even if she had top healing today, she still doesn’t deserve the weapon.”
“When Chen Xi was grinding development points for this guild, you were probably still playing in mud somewhere,” Chrysanthemum Girl sneered.
“And you dare bring this up?”
“You all know exactly why Chen Xi stopped joining guild activities.”
“Stop acting righteous. It’s disgusting.”
“She stopped because she got close to a Great God and looks down on us now!” Little Cutie shouted.
“Bullshit!” Fu Family Matchmaker slammed the desk so hard the mic buzzed. “Did you invite her when you ran raids?”
“Every time someone suggested inviting Chen Xi, you acted like your men would be stolen and found every excuse not to call her.”
“We stayed quiet. That doesn’t mean we’re blind.”
“If you don’t like staying in the guild, leave. Nobody begged you to stay,” Little Cutie shouted louder.
“Leave? If anyone leaves, it should be you.”
“What are you even?”
“Ever since you people joined, this guild’s never known peace.”
“Just because everyone avoided tearing things apart doesn’t mean you can keep pushing without shame,” Fu Family Matchmaker snapped.
“You’re just jealous of Fei’er!”
“Jealous? Of what? I’m not that bored. Not everyone is like you.”
“Guild Leader, say something!”
“Can you do anything besides calling for the guild leader?”
…
YY had descended into total chaos.
Xia Zichen couldn’t even pinpoint when the peace in the guild had disappeared.
Even the casual jokes and teasing were gone.
The people were still the same—
but everyone had been forced into separate little circles.
And somewhere along the way, without realizing it, he had drifted away from that circle…
and walked toward another side.
“Don’t lose everyone’s trust over one piece of gear. It’s not worth it,” Tang Hui said sternly.
Shen Yicheng said nothing.
Because of Tang Hui’s words, the arguing gradually quieted.
Whether it was worth it—
only Shen Yicheng himself knew.
Perhaps, in real life, everything was worth it.
After all, his relationship with Lian Fei’er had already deepened.
From that perspective, who was close and who was distant had already become clear.
Silently, Xia Zichen revived the dead players one by one.
Then he closed YY.
He clicked his character portrait and chose Leave Party.
Then he flew back to the main city, opened the guild interface, clicked Leave Guild, and pressed confirm.
From that second onward—
the world seemed to become quiet.
Maybe he should have made this choice long ago.
This guild had been built together by all of them.
Xia Zichen didn’t want to see it fall apart.
So perhaps the best option was for him to leave first.
From now on—
those arguments would no longer have anything to do with him.