Even if Shadow comes, he would have to follow the Great One’s rules!

When the lid of the coffin buried in the earth was broken open by a withered arm, a gaunt, frail old man dressed in gaudy, colorful clothes staggered out of the coffin.

If there were any players nearby, they would be able to see the name above his head:

—

【Rhythm Master · Evil Sound Old Ghost (Lv50)】

—

In addition, there was a special NPC marker, indicating that he was an NPC and not some BOSS.

The functions of such wilderness NPCs were generally quite unique.

"Hahaha! This old man has finally been awakened!"

"Music, music…!"

"But where is this music coming from? It sounds terrible!"

The gaunt old man in gaudy clothes frowned, his cloudy eyes slowly turning toward the direction where the music was coming from…

…

At this moment, Qin Feng had just arrived above the Buried Bone Trench.

He had used the teleportation array from the Evil Spirit Academy, teleporting over at a massive discount, and happened to witness this scene.

A team of players from the KEY Guild was chasing a Giant Dragonfly BOSS, approaching the Buried Bone Trench…

Deep within the Buried Bone Trench, Qin Feng 'saw' through a patch of blood-red mist that, under the 'stimulation' of the music, a gaudy old man NPC had crawled out of a coffin!

"Finding it without any effort at all!"

Qin Feng was a bit surprised.

Because that gaunt, frail old man was none other than the NPC who could convert items from other worlds into items for this world!

Qin Feng didn't know much about this NPC in his previous life.

But he had heard of his name.

He just didn't know how to bring this NPC back to the guild.

"Besides being able to convert an item's world of origin,"

"he also has some other abilities, such as imbuing skills with 'Sound,' which grants additional effects when the skill is activated."

Qin Feng thought to himself.

He maintained a Stealth Level as high as Level 70, with his Death Wings spread behind him, hovering in mid-air without revealing himself immediately.

Qin Feng didn't know much about this 'Evil Sound Old Ghost' NPC.

After all, in his previous life, this old ghost belonged to a guild here in the Sakura Country.

In his previous life, Qin Feng had almost no interaction with the Sakura Country, and the information he got was all just hearsay.

"Since the KEY Guild has already arrived…"

"I might as well let them interact with this NPC and see how to recruit him."

Qin Feng watched from the side.

If they found a way, Qin Feng could interrupt them at any time before they succeeded and kill them all back to their respawn points.

That way, wouldn't the NPC be his?

Furthermore…

"If I really can't figure out how to recruit him, then I'll just have to use some forceful methods."

Qin Feng thought calmly.

After all, he would have to interact with this NPC in the future, so unless necessary, Qin Feng didn't want to sour their relationship.

But if it really came down to it…

Then he would have to tie him up and bring him back!

And so,

Qin Feng sent a private message to the girl Ghost Spirit, telling her to back off for a bit and give the KEY Guild and the NPC some room to perform.

Ghost Spirit was busy leveling up and was a bit curious about where that 'boom-chick-boom-chick' rock music was coming from.

When she received the private message from Qin Feng, a look of surprise immediately appeared on her pretty little face.

Soon, Qin Feng flew to her side, pulled her into his party, took her to 'Integrate into Darkness,' and then brought her along to ride on Osirio's back, flying off to a side of the sky…

…

The KEY Guild's full sixty-man team chased the Giant Dragonfly BOSS all the way into the Buried Bone Trench.

Along the way, some Level 25-30 skeleton minions approached, but they were all killed by concentrated fire.

These skeleton minions included warriors, archers, axe-throwers, and skeleton mages.

They weren't too difficult to kill.

But in terms of leveling efficiency, this place wasn't great, especially since it was a disaster zone with a thousandfold lifespan flow rate…

In contrast, the 'Poison Water Swamp' not far away was the true leveling treasure land.

As the KEY Guild team entered the range of the Buried Bone Trench, the surrounding crimson mist made them all alert, with only the young musician's rock music still going 'boom-chick-boom-chick'.

"Everyone be careful. That female assassin who killed so many of our people might be nearby."

"By the way, where did that female assassin named 'Ghost Spirit' come from? I feel like we've been targeted by her!"

"She's already Level 23, while the highest-level player in our East Capital is only Level 20…"

"For the past few days, that female assassin has been haunting us, killing many of our people!"

"Be careful, her combat power is astonishing. From what I've observed, she might even be at Shadow's level!"

They advanced cautiously.

Since Ghost Spirit had been following them, it was inevitable they would run into her.

Since they had run into each other, she naturally had to politely send them 'home'…

At first, they wanted to surround and kill Ghost Spirit.

But they found that they couldn't find Ghost Spirit at all!

As the sole Hidden Class 'Huangquan Blade,' her Stealth Level far exceeded the detection capabilities of current players, and she was extremely fast.

In battle, by utilizing the balance of her Huangquan Tail Blade, she could easily perform various difficult maneuvers unimaginable to most people, thereby evading many attacks that were nearly impossible to dodge!

As for her damage, it came from the multi-layered toxin damage inherent to her Huangquan Chain Blade.

Once she appeared for a surprise attack, a combo from her Huangquan Chain Blade could stack hundreds of layers of toxin damage. Finally, she would re-enter stealth while detonating the poison, instantly dealing millions of points of damage!

This was exactly why these KEY Guild players believed Ghost Spirit's level could reach 'Shadow's' standard.

A single set of skills dealing three to four million damage in less than a second!

Even Shadow would only be at this level, right?

Clearly, these Sakura Country players had never seen Qin Feng with their own eyes, nor had they witnessed the scenes of Qin Feng killing Epic-grade or Legendary BOSSes.

So in their imagination, no matter how amazing Shadow was, his damage would only be in the range of a few million!

Although they knew Qin Feng had killed epic and Legendary BOSSes.

But they didn't know that those BOSSes had been killed instantly!

Soon, the KEY Guild team entered the Buried Bone Trench. They had originally wanted to chase the Giant Dragonfly BOSS, but the dragonfly BOSS vanished in an instant.

Within the blood-red mist, they felt a bit like retreating.

After all, this area was somewhat dangerous, and the thousandfold lifespan depletion rate made them unwilling to stay.

But, just as they were about to leave.

A gaunt, frail old man dressed in gaudy clothes staggered out of the blood-red mist and appeared before them…

An NPC!

When they saw the NPC marker above the old man's head, their faces became excited and expectant.

"Subarashii! It's an NPC!"

"It seems we've struck gold!"

"Wilderness NPCs like this are very rare. Let's go check it out. If we can invite him back to our Hideout, our development will be greatly accelerated!"

The group quickly and cautiously approached him.

Judging by their attitudes and expressions, they were all extremely respectful!

Clearly…

When they encounter an NPC, their first thought is to butter them up!

…

Qin Feng and Ghost Spirit sat together, watching the situation below side-by-side.

Qin Feng was curious about how the KEY Guild would recruit that NPC.

As for Ghost Spirit, her heart was beating a bit fast, and the blood-red mist swirled around her cheeks with the wind…

"I wonder how strong Teacher is now?"

The young girl was quite curious.

She hadn't seen Qin Feng in action for a while, so she was quite intrigued.

However, when she saw the gaudy old man NPC below, she became a bit nervous.

"This NPC looks so strong…"

"Even for Teacher, it probably won't be easy to recruit him, right?"

Because she saw that as the gaunt, frail old man walked along, even the ground of the Buried Bone Trench rippled.

On the flat ground, ripples spread out just like on the surface of water.

Instantly shattering all the skeleton minions around him!

He definitely looks like a big deal!

Fortunately, the seismic waves produced by the old man's footsteps didn't cause any damage to the players.

The KEY Guild's sixty-man team successfully reached the old man and then knelt down before him in unison.

"Senior! Our KEY Guild is willing to serve you!"

"Senior! Please give us any orders you have!"

"Senior! Please join our KEY Guild; we are willing to do our utmost to serve you!"

Seeing these sixty people kneeling in unison,

it seemed even 'Evil Sound Old Ghost' was a bit stunned.

Are they really this quick to kneel?

"Heh."

Evil Sound Old Ghost glanced at everyone and said calmly, "Since you are so sincere, let's do this."

"Choose a representative to participate in my trial."

"I will play a piece of music, and your representative must kowtow to the rhythm. If the rhythm of the kowtows matches the music, I will go back with you and join your guild."

"There is a musician among you? You should know a bit about music!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the members of the KEY Guild team looked at each other.

Kowtowing to the rhythm of music?

This is just too…

But in the team, the young musician didn't find anything wrong with it; instead, he stepped forward excitedly. "I'll do it, I'll do it! I'm a musical genius!"

"But Totsuka-kun, you have to kowtow…"

Someone in the crowd said nervously.

The young musician 'Totsuka' laughed. "What's a few kowtows? As long as I can invite the noble Great NPC back to the guild, my personal sacrifice is completely worth it!"

If he could bring the NPC back to the guild, he would be the guild's hero!

This was the young man's thought.

Watching this scene from the side, Qin Feng's expression became a bit strange.

"Kowtowing continuously according to the rhythm of the music?"

"Only if he kowtows correctly can he bring him back?"

Qin Feng felt it was a bit ridiculous.

This condition—anyway, if it were Qin Feng, it would be impossible for him to achieve…

Not to mention he was slightly tone-deaf.

Even if he were a true musical genius, Qin Feng would never kowtow to an old geezer.

"Old geezers should just drop gold coins."

"And he wants people to kowtow?"

Looking at the playful smile on the old NPC's face, Qin Feng clearly guessed that kowtowing was definitely not a necessary condition to bring this NPC back to the guild Hideout.

But the Sakura Country players of the KEY Guild clearly took it seriously.

"Let's see."

"I'll learn more about this NPC before making a decision."

Qin Feng was in no hurry.

Anyway, it would only take a few minutes at most.

Even if he had to use forceful means to deal with the NPC, Qin Feng needed to understand the NPC's abilities better!

At the same time,

the young Sakura Country musician had already arrived in front of the old NPC.

He said to the people around him again, "Don't worry, brothers. This is a noble Great NPC. Even if Shadow comes, he would have to follow the Great One's rules. Kowtowing a few times isn't shameful!"

Upon hearing this, the members of the KEY Guild nodded one after another, all feeling that it made a lot of sense!

…

(Only one update today, 3,000 words~ There's a lot going on at home, so I'm taking a small break today QAQ~ I haven't rested in half a year of continuous updates.)