NO.78 The Founding of the Guild: San Chi Ming
The guild had indeed been established, yet the current number of members was still far too few.
His old guild, “Blazing Dragon,” in the previous server, hadn’t been a large one, yet it boasted dozens of active members, with its total roster numbering in the hundreds.
Now, there was [White Clouds and Snow].
Yan gazed at the six solitary names displayed in the guild window, a helpless smile gracing his lips.
Well, they would take things slowly.
For now, he would simply allow himself to be genuinely happy about the guild’s establishment.
“Let’s go explore Sky City.”
Having transformed Sky City into their guild’s headquarters, members of the [White Clouds and Snow] guild now enjoyed unrestricted access to every corner of the city.
Yan gently pushed open Sky City’s pristine white gates.
The golden [Guild Certificate] seamlessly merged into the gate’s recess before vanishing, seemingly filling the unnatural groove and rendering the entire entrance a uniform, snowy white.
Beyond the gates lay a fantastical Western-style courtyard.
Though not particularly vast, it featured a complete array of amenities, including a fountain and flowerbeds.
Despite its name, Sky City wasn’t truly a city; it was more akin to a small, ancient castle, comprising three above-ground floors and an underground warehouse.
That said, the “underground warehouse” was merely within the soil of Sky City’s floating island, still a considerable distance from the actual ground and true underground levels.
On the first floor, as expected, was the guild hall, featuring a long rectangular table at its center, capable of accommodating over a dozen guild members for meetings.
Though in his old server, Yan recalled that table having been laden with all sorts of things—dishes, drinks, and various other odds and ends—but never once used for a proper meeting.
After all, the old server’s game core had been PVE mode, with guild versus guild battles rarely occurring.
The guild hall held virtually no strategic combat significance, and most of the time, members would simply shout in the guild channel to gather a few acquaintances for a dungeon run.
The guild hall occupied nearly the entire first floor.
Beyond it, the only remaining spaces on this level were the entrances to the guild shop and the guild arena.
There wasn’t much to say about the guild shop; it simply provided direct access to the guild warehouse.
Guild leaders could choose to sell certain reward items, which guild members could then exchange using their contribution points.
The guild arena, however, was quite interesting, holding a special significance for Yan.
Back in the old server, while player-versus-player combat wasn’t the game’s primary focus, who wouldn’t want to test their might against friends in a game?
The guild arena served precisely this purpose, allowing guild members to engage in PK battles, and occasionally hosting guild events within its confines.
Both of these were independently instanced spaces within the game.
The guild hall merely housed their entrances; upon stepping through, players would be teleported into a separate map, thus not significantly occupying the guild’s headquarters area.
That covered most of the first floor; the rest consisted of highly decorative but ultimately useless ornaments.
The second floor, in contrast to the spacious and bright first floor, was divided into numerous small rooms.
These included the guild’s alchemy lab, smithy, and kitchen, designed for large guilds to provide dedicated spaces for their professional artisan players.
Still, Yan’s previous guild had almost no dedicated artisan players, leaving these rooms largely unused.
He wondered how things would be this time around.
Yan offered a helpless smile, then led the group to continue their exploration of the second floor.
Beyond the rooms already mentioned, the second floor also contained many smaller rooms designated for player rest and entertainment, as well as other empty rooms yet to be assigned a purpose.
It would be up to Yan, as the guild leader, to gradually fill these spaces.
The third floor, however, remained inaccessible.
Gazing at the staircase leading to the third floor, where a “No Entry” sign was displayed, Yan scratched his head in confusion.
This was a situation he had never encountered before.
Or rather, his guild in the old server had never been as luxurious as Sky City, lacking a third floor entirely.
Yet, by Yan’s common sense, if the guild system had been updated and opened, there shouldn’t be any unaccessible areas within a guild’s architecture.
The new server was indeed a bit peculiar.
Yan shrugged helplessly.
Since they couldn’t access the third floor, there was nothing to be done.
It was a system-imposed invisible wall, an area even he, as the guild leader, couldn’t enter, which likely meant it hadn’t been fully implemented yet.
“Everyone, please sit.”
He turned, leading the group back to the first-floor guild hall, and gestured for them to take a seat.
“…”
Aside from the slightly naive Tian Jiu, who promptly plopped down, everyone else remained standing behind their chairs, looking uniformly at Yan, not daring to make a move.
Upon noticing the situation, Tian Jiu quickly sprang from her chair, her face flushing crimson as she lowered her head.
“What’s wrong?”
Yan looked at the standing group, a puzzled expression on his face.
“Guild Leader, please, you sit first.”
An Dong chuckled heartily as he spoke.
It turned out that because Yan, as the guild leader, was still standing, none of them dared to be the first to sit in the guild hall chairs.
Though, Tian Jiu had already done so just moments ago.
Seeing their deference, Yan smiled helplessly.
“Oh, you all…”
“Alright, alright, I’ll sit first then.”
Yan pulled out the innermost, most prominent chair at the long table and settled into it.
“Everyone, please sit now.”
“Understood.”
The others took their seats, and Tian Jiu, after a timid glance at them, slowly sat down as well.
“From now on, let’s dispense with these formalities.”
“Since you’ve all chosen to join my guild, you are all my friends.”
Yan looked around at them, speaking with a sincere smile.
“Among friends, there is no hierarchy.”
“Though our guild may gradually grow into a large one in the future…”
In fact, there was no doubt that [White Clouds and Snow], established with the golden [Guild Certificate], would inevitably become a major guild.
The benefit of a 5% increase to a single attribute upon joining was surely something not every guild could offer.
Lost in thought, Yan offered a helpless smile.
“Once it grows into a large guild, a hierarchy will naturally and inevitably emerge for ease of management.”
“However, I still hope that guild members can continue to treat each other as friends…”
“At the very least, the few of us, this initial group of players, must interact as friends, not through the cold relationship of ‘guild leader’ and ‘subordinate player’.”
“Can we agree on that?”
Yan tilted his head, smiling as he looked at them.
“Yes.”
The others all nodded back with smiles.
With that, the establishment of the [White Clouds and Snow] guild had finally concluded.
All that remained was to recruit more members.
Yan stroked his chin, pondering slightly.
Ah!
Suddenly, something came to mind.
“How could I have forgotten that guy?”
Yan chuckled, pulling up his friends list and quickly scrolling to find a familiar name.
Nan Shi.
– I’ve started a guild.
Yan sent the message.
– Invite me.
Nan Shi replied instantly.
Yan couldn’t help but smile at the straightforward reply; this guy was certainly direct.
He gently lifted his finger and sent the guild invitation.
[Nan Shi has joined the guild [White Clouds and Snow].]
The next instant, a blue light shimmered at the entrance of the guild hall, and shortly after, Nan Shi’s figure appeared there.
This was the guild’s teleportation function, allowing any guild member to directly warp to the guild hall’s entrance, which was incredibly convenient.
“Holy crap! Where is this? Sky City!? Yan, you actually built a guild here, you’re amazing!”
As soon as Nan Shi opened his eyes, he let out a cry of astonishment, shattering the somewhat solemn atmosphere of the guild’s establishment into a puddle of cheerful simplicity.
Watching him, Yan couldn’t help but smile helplessly.
“Not bad, right?”
“You’re something else, kid.
Building a guild here must be awesome.”
Nan Shi turned around, gazing out the window from within the guild hall, where the azure sky and flowing white clouds seemed almost within reach.
“Otherwise, we wouldn’t have all fallen for this place at first sight.”
An Dong chuckled playfully, while Lian, beside him, uncharacteristically showed a bashful, embarrassed smile.
“Tian Jiu likes it here too.”
Tian Jiu nodded earnestly, shaking her cute little head.
With Nan Shi’s arrival, the guild’s atmosphere instantly grew lively and boisterous.
The group chatted amidst laughter, and for a moment, Yan caught a glimpse of the cheerful camaraderie of his old guild.
A guild started anew, it wasn’t bad at all.
Yan smiled, recalling a few other acquaintances from the new server, and pulled up his friends list.
– I’ve established a guild called [White Clouds and Snow]. Do you and Guan Ying want to come play with us?
He sent this message to Xiao.
Well, Guan Ying was likely always by Xiao’s side anyway, so it was an invitation to him by extension.
– Sure!
Xiao’s reply came swiftly; she agreed without hesitation.
– Coincidentally, I was just about to invite you.
‘Invite me?’
Yan tilted his head slightly, a hint of confusion on his face.
– I’ve also established a guild.
It’s called…
– [San Chi Ming].