[Tyrant (Lv50 Second Advancement Assassin): "Brother Rulebound, come join my Storm Guild. I'll give you a monthly salary of 20,000! After we establish the guild, I'll also give you a guild elder candidate position."]
[Tyrant: "Brother, join Storm! Let's build a top national server guild together."]
[Tyrant: "Brother, reply when you see this message!"]
As soon as Lin Mo logged in after lunch, his private messages kept ringing nonstop.
As the saying "whoever gets Rulebound gets the world" spread rapidly online,
In just one morning, Lin Mo had received invitations from no fewer than a hundred guilds.
But with other guilds, after Lin Mo rejected them, they would at most try to persuade him a bit more, and if it clearly wouldn't work, they'd give up.
Only this player named [Tyrant], claiming to be the guild leader of Storm Guild, kept pestering Lin Mo relentlessly, to the point of being outright clingy.
He had sent Lin Mo at least forty or fifty messages.
Even though Lin Mo had already clearly rejected him, he just kept sending, nonstop.
Even Ning Xi couldn't stand it anymore, "Brother Lin Mo, this Tyrant is really persistent. He even sent messages to me, asking me to convince you to join Storm Guild."
Lin Mo shook his head, a bit amused, "That's not even the key point. Do you know what the real issue is?"
"Other guilds are offering me salaries starting from hundreds of thousands or even millions. Some are even willing to hand over the guild leader position. And he's offering me 20,000, with an elder position plus a probation period?"
"Yeah," Ning Xi added, "He told me if it works out, he'll give me 500 as a referral fee~"
For a moment, Lin Mo couldn't even tell whether this Tyrant was serious or just messing around.
"Block him. Ignore him."
"Okay."
So Lin Mo and Ning Xi both blocked Tyrant.
Then, following their original plan, they headed out of the north gate of Inferno City toward the [Hall of Yama].
———
At the same time, in a corner of Inferno City,
A group of players gathered together, seemingly anxiously waiting for something.
"Guild leader, how is it? Did Rulebound reply?"
"Did he agree to join our Storm Guild?"
"It's been so long, still no reply?"
Amid the chatter, a thin man with a chiseled face, a terrifying scar across it, and eyes as sharp as a butcher who had just killed someone, the assassin [Tyrant], roared in anger, "Damn it! I invited him again and again, and he just ignores me, and now he even dares to block me?"
"Rulebound! I gave you face and you don't want it, huh?"
"Then don't blame me for turning ruthless!"
As soon as he said that, the dark wizard beside him, named [Tyrannosaurus], hurried to persuade him, "Guild leader, don't be impulsive. Even if Rulebound doesn't want to join us, we absolutely shouldn't make an enemy out of him."
"His strength is too strong, and that Liuli beside him is also very powerful. If we rashly become enemies with them, it might bring trouble to us."
Tyrant's face twisted, "Cowards like you, afraid of trouble and afraid of death, will never accomplish anything big!"
"Our Storm Guild has a thousand members. No matter how strong Rulebound is, he should understand that two fists can't beat four hands!"
"If you won't accept a toast, then you'll have to drink the penalty!"
———
On the other side, Lin Mo quickly arrived at the Hall of Yama.
"By my estimate, Zhao Ling'er, Yu Jin, and Black Night should have already reached Inferno City," Lin Mo muttered.
Unfortunately, even if they were in the same space, Lin Mo couldn't act yet.
"I have to clear the third hall of the Hall of Yama first, get the Incubation Clone scroll hidden in the first-clear reward, and only after creating a clone can I use that identity to recruit them one by one."
Ning Xi asked what she didn't understand, "Brother Lin Mo, how do you know this place definitely has the SS-grade magic scroll Incubation Clone that you need?"
"But I checked the official guide, and it doesn't say that at all?"
Honesty was one thing.
But if he brought up the matter of rebirth, even the truth would sound like a lie to Ning Xi.
He might even get treated like a lunatic.
Since it would sound fake either way, Lin Mo decided to make it even more ridiculous, "I had a dream. I dreamed of the Ten Yama Kings. They told me this place has what I want."
He thought Ning Xi would scoff.
Unexpectedly, she said excitedly, "So dreams really can reflect reality."
"I had a dream last night too. I dreamed I was the chosen daughter of destiny in the Divine Oracle world, controlling miracles."
Lin Mo's mouth twitched.
He thought, 'Did Ning Xi eat too many mushrooms at lunch?'
With his Bronze IV rank status, Lin Mo knocked open the gates of the Hall of Yama.
[Ding~ Welcome player to the Hall of Yama map. Your current location is the First Hall · Qin Guang King Hall!]
With a shift in vision, Lin Mo and Ning Xi appeared in a vast, empty domain.
Above the domain, dark clouds pressed down, like hell itself.
And at the center of this domain stood a grand black palace.
That was the Qin Guang King Hall.
Around the palace, across the endless dark land, were countless flame-covered hound monsters, Hell Hounds.
[Ding~ First Hall of Yama clearance guide: Please achieve 100% kill progress of Hell Hounds!]
Looking at the system prompt panel and the kill progress bar, then looking at the Hell Hounds scattered everywhere, Lin Mo noticed they were only ordinary level 55 monsters, nothing special.
Ning Xi couldn't help but feel curious, "According to the system, we just need to kill these level 55 mobs to clear the first hall. If that's the case, Brother Lin Mo, this Hall of Yama doesn't seem that difficult."
"Not quite!"
Lin Mo pointed ahead, "Look over there."
Following his finger, she saw:
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Beneath the Qin Guang King Hall, waves of visible blood-red aura kept radiating out, shaking the entire domain.
Even Lin Mo and Ning Xi were within the range of these wave-like pulses.
"This is…"
Just as Ning Xi was puzzled, Lin Mo said, "Qin Guang King's aura."
Although the level of the Hall of Yama would adjust based on the average level of top players in Inferno City, that alone wasn't enough to make it one of the top ten most difficult domains in Lin Mo's previous life.
After all, as Ning Xi said, the monsters in the first hall were just slightly higher-level normal mobs.
They weren't enhanced monsters across the entire map, nor were they boss monsters.
And the clearance requirement was just to kill enough of these mobs.
If a few top leaderboard players teamed up, it shouldn't be hard.
It certainly wouldn't explain why, in his previous life, countless strong players tried everything and still could only clear up to the third hall.
Only Lin Mo knew the real difficulty of the Hall of Yama—
"Each hall has an aura that strengthens all monsters in the map."
"And the auras stack with each layer. The second layer has the first layer's aura as well. The third layer has both the first and second layers' auras, and so on."
Lin Mo looked at Ning Xi and said, "So don't underestimate the Hall of Yama."
"It's not as simple as you think."
But instead of discouraging her, Lin Mo's words only ignited Ning Xi's fighting spirit even more.
Ning Xi gripped her staff tightly, staring at the Hell Hounds ahead, her eyes burning, "We can definitely clear it!"
Just as Lin Mo felt a bit moved, thinking Ning Xi was being so fearless to help him get the Incubation Clone, Ning Xi glanced at Ah Li on her shoulder and added, "Ah Li, I'll definitely help you evolve to elite rank."
'Wait!'
Lin Mo reacted.
He said in surprise, "Ah Li's first-stage growth quest is to clear the Hall of Yama?"
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