Chapter 24: Rejecting a Multi-Million Dollar Salary, Qin Wentian Angrily Issues a Blacklist Order

Before the white light of the teleportation array had even faded, Lin Ye saw a massive, dense crowd before him.

In the teleportation plaza of the main city, Dawn City, there were at least a hundred players standing there.

They wore matching guild uniforms with golden Heavenly Temple badges pinned to their chests, surrounding the teleportation array so tightly that not even water could pass through.

People were hidden on the rooftops, steps, and even behind the statues around the plaza; it was clearly an organized encirclement.

The person leading the team was an old acquaintance—Lingtian of Heavenly Temple.

He stood at the very front of the crowd, his gear significantly better than last time; evidently, Qin Wentian had provided him with new supplies.

Behind him stood over twenty elites, all above level 15, with gear that was uniformly purple-tier or better.

"Yo, isn't this Boss Ye?" Lingtian said with a sarcastic tone, "Welcome to the main city."

Lin Ye looked around, a wicked smile curling the corner of his lips: "Such a big formation, are you welcoming me?"

"Of course," Lingtian stepped forward, his tone arrogant. "Our Guild Leader said you are an honored guest, so we must treat you well. We've surrounded the teleportation array 360 degrees with no blind spots; not even a fly can escape. Be sensible and come with us; the Guild Leader wants to see you."

Su Qinghan frowned and whispered to Lin Ye, "At least one hundred and fifty people, plus hidden archers and mages. Forcing our way through isn't realistic."

Fatty Wang's legs went weak. He shrank behind Lin Ye and whispered, "Brother, why don't we go back to the Novice Village first? We can come back after the heat dies down…"

Lin Ye ignored them and stared at Lingtian, asking, "Your Guild Leader wants to see me, and this is his attitude? Blocking the door with over a hundred people—is this an invitation or a kidnapping?"

Lingtian sneered, "An invitation? Do you even deserve one? Our Guild Leader is giving you face by letting me invite you. Otherwise, do you think you could walk out of this teleportation array alive?"

The lackeys behind him chimed in—

"Exactly! A newbie from the Novice Village, and he thinks he deserves our Guild Leader to invite him personally?"

"Be sensible and hurry up and kneel to admit your mistake. Maybe if the Guild Leader is in a good mood, he might spare your life."

"So what if you have an SSS-grade Talent? Once you reach the main city, if you're a dragon, you have to coil; if you're a tiger, you have to crouch!"

Lin Ye laughed. He opened his private messages, found the chat window for Qin Wentian, and sent a message—

[Private Message] Ye: Guild Leader Qin, your men say they want me to kneel and admit my mistake. Is this your intention?

The other side replied instantly—

[Private Message] Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian: Lingtian doesn't know how to speak properly; don't mind him. I genuinely want to invite you to join Heavenly Temple. A ten-million annual salary in real currency, the position of Chief Combatant, and full access to all server resources. You won't find a second offer like this on the entire server.

Lin Ye took a look and replied—

[Private Message] Ye: A ten-million annual salary? Sounds tempting. But I have a question.

[Private Message] Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian: What question?

[Private Message] Ye: After I join Heavenly Temple, can I fleece you guys?

The other side went silent.

Lin Ye added another line—

[Private Message] Ye: Just kidding. Seriously, your conditions are good, but I'm not interested. Fleecing you guys at Heavenly Temple earns more than that annual salary. Besides—your resources will be my resource library in the future. Why would I join?

After sending it, he closed the private message and looked up at Lingtian: "Your Guild Leader said to tell you not to talk nonsense. But my answer is still the same—I'm not joining."

Lingtian's expression changed instantly: "You fucking refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit?"

Lin Ye shrugged: "A forfeit? Just because of you lot?"

"You're courting death!" Lingtian waved his hand. "Brothers, get him! Kill him back to the Novice Village!"

Over a hundred people attacked at the same time, their skills raining down like an overwhelming storm.

But Lin Ye was well-prepared. He raised his hand and activated "Mass Decay Domain"—within a fifty-yard radius, all hostile targets were automatically inflicted with a debuff.

Over a hundred people were hit instantly.

"Damn! This move again!"

"Priests! Dispel it quickly!"

"Dispel my ass! This debuff can't be cleared!"

In less than ten seconds, the dozens of warriors in the front row had all fallen. The mages and archers in the back wanted to run, but the debuff's contagion range was too large; they were infected the moment they turned around.

"Run! Hurry up and run!"

"We can't run! This debuff is contagious!"

In less than thirty seconds, all one hundred and fifty people were dead. Lingtian was the last to die; he watched helplessly as his health bar hit zero, his level dropped from 18 to 12, and more than half of his purple gear dropped.

"Ding! Player [Lingtian of Heavenly Temple] has died. Level dropped: 18 → 12."

He stood up at the respawn point, his face ashen. He looked at his level, then at the bodies littering the ground, his whole body trembling.

"This... how is this possible..."

Meanwhile, Lin Ye was standing in the middle of the sea of corpses, leisurely picking up gear. The items dropped by one hundred and fifty people numbered at least several hundred, with piles of blue and purple gear.

Fatty Wang was so excited his hands were shaking: "Brother, we're rich! So much gear!"

Su Qinghan looked at the corpses everywhere and couldn't help but say, "You really are… killing everywhere you go."

Lin Ye shrugged: "They were the ones who started it. I was just acting in self-defense."

"Self-defense by killing one hundred and fifty people?" Su Qinghan was speechless. "Your scale for self-defense is a bit too large."

Lin Ye laughed: "Good Talent, can't help it."

After the three of them finished picking up the gear and were preparing to leave the teleportation plaza, the system suddenly popped up a server-wide announcement—

[Server Announcement] The Heavenly Temple guild has issued a ban against player [Ye]. Effective immediately, any player who trades with [Ye], helps [Ye], or forms a party with [Ye] will be considered an enemy of Heavenly Temple. Heavenly Temple will utilize all resources to drive them out of the main city.

The entire server exploded—

[World Channel]

[Player "Wocao Wuqing": Damn! A ban! Heavenly Temple is playing for real this time!]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": What's a ban? Sounds terrifying!]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": It means a server-wide wanted order. Whoever dares to help Brother Ye is an enemy of Heavenly Temple. Heavenly Temple will use all their resources to mess with you.]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Isn't this too harsh? Just for refusing to join? Is it worth it?]

[Player "Onlooker": Qin Wentian just can't save face. He personally invited Brother Ye, only to be rejected, and in front of the whole server. Anyone would be anxious.]

Lin Ye looked at this ban, a wicked smile curling his lips. He opened the World Channel and sent a message—

[World Channel] [Ye]: Guild Leader Qin, a ban? Sure. But I have to remind you—your ban is useless against me. If you don't believe me, feel free to try.

The entire server exploded again—

[Player "Invincible Sword God": Brother Ye is going head-to-head with Heavenly Temple!]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": Brother Ye is awesome! Not even afraid of the server's number one guild!]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Go Brother Ye! Take down Heavenly Temple!]

Qin Wentian looked at this message, his face ashen. He opened the guild channel and issued an order—

[Guild Channel] [Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian]: All members, listen up. Block all dungeon entrances, the Trading House, and material shops in the main city. Do not let Ye buy anything. Whoever dares to sell to him is working against Heavenly Temple.

Thousands of Heavenly Temple members mobilized instantly, blocking all the main thoroughfares of the main city. People guarded the dungeon entrances, others watched the Trading House, and over a dozen elites stood at the doors of the material shops; they even bribed the NPCs with gold coins.

Fatty Wang watched this scene and panicked: "Brother, what do we do? We can't enter dungeons, we can't buy materials, and even the NPCs won't sell us anything."

Su Qinghan also frowned: "Qin Wentian is trying to trap us to death. Without dungeons and without materials, we can't even afford to repair our gear."

Lin Ye laughed: "Trap us to death? Just with these pieces of trash?"

He opened his backpack and took a look at the gear dropped by those one hundred and fifty people just now—piles of blue and purple gear, countless materials, enough to last a long time. Plus, with Fatty Wang, the lucky charm, he didn't have to worry about materials at all.

"Fatty." Lin Ye called out.

"Here!"

"Go organize the materials we picked up earlier and see if there's enough to open a material shop."

Fatty Wang was stunned: "Open a shop? Open a shop in the main city?"

"Yes." Lin Ye's lips curled into a wicked smile. "Didn't Qin Wentian want to ban us? Then we'll open a shop on his turf and sell materials. Let's see what he can do about it."

Fatty Wang was so excited his hands were shaking: "Brother, you're too awesome! Opening a shop in the main city to steal business from Heavenly Temple? This idea is so wicked!"

Su Qinghan also laughed: "You really are someone who stirs up trouble wherever you go."

Lin Ye pulled the [Seed of Creation] from his backpack and weighed it in his hand: "Qin Wentian wants to ban me? Then I'll show him who the daddy of this game is."

He opened the item description, selected "Material Shop," and tossed the [Seed of Creation] onto the ground—

A golden light flashed, and a three-story building appeared out of thin air on the vacant lot next to the teleportation plaza. A plaque hung at the entrance with four large characters written on it— "Commoner Supermarket".

[System Prompt: Congratulations to player [Ye] for creating the main city's first player material shop, [Commoner Supermarket]. This shop is a permanent structure, cannot be dismantled, and cannot be destroyed.]

[Server-wide Golden Announcement! Congratulations to player [Ye] for creating the main city's first player material shop, [Commoner Supermarket]! Reward: Reputation +100,000! Added to the server-wide Hall of Fame!]

The entire server was in an uproar again—

[World Channel]

[Player "Wocao Wuqing": Damn! A player shop?! Can you open your own shop in this game?]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": Commoner Supermarket? The name sounds so cheap!]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": Brother Ye is going to open a shop in the main city to steal business from Heavenly Temple? Too fierce!]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Brother Ye is awesome! I'll buy things at your shop from now on!]

[Player "Onlooker": Qin Wentian just issued a ban, and Brother Ye opened a shop on his turf. This is a naked slap in the face!]

Qin Wentian watched this announcement, his face completely black. He didn't expect Lin Ye to have an item like [Seed of Creation], and even less did he expect him to dare to open a shop on his own turf.

"This Ye…" he said through gritted teeth, "is provoking me."

The lackey behind him asked cautiously: "Guild Leader, should we send people to smash his shop?"

Qin Wentian was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head: "No. Player shops are system buildings; they can't be smashed. Besides, his reputation is high right now; taking action will only make him more popular."

"Then what should we do?"

Qin Wentian sneered: "Doesn't he want to open a shop? Then let him. I want to see what he can sell without a source of goods."

He opened the guild channel and issued an order—

[Guild Channel] [Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian]: All members, listen up. Block all sources of materials in the main city. Do not let anyone sell materials to Ye. Whoever dares to sell is working against Heavenly Temple.

Thousands of Heavenly Temple members mobilized again, blocking all the mines, herb gardens, and tanneries in the main city. Independent players who want to mine materials must first get past Heavenly Temple.

Fatty Wang watched this scene and panicked again: "Brother, Heavenly Temple has blocked all the mines. Where will our materials come from?"

Lin Ye laughed: "Where will they come from? From them."

He pointed in the direction of the teleportation plaza—dozens of Heavenly Temple members were still guarding there, their gear shining brightly.

"Fatty, do you believe that in less than three days, the people from Heavenly Temple will voluntarily bring materials to our shop?"

Fatty Wang was stunned: "How is that possible?"

Lin Ye's lips curled into a wicked smile: "Just wait and see."

He turned and walked into the Commoner Supermarket to start setting it up. The first floor would sell materials, the second floor would sell gear, and the third floor would be left for future expansion. Su Qinghan was responsible for pricing, and Fatty Wang was responsible for inventory. The three of them had a clear division of labor and worked together in perfect harmony.

Meanwhile, Qin Wentian was standing by the window of the Heavenly Temple headquarters, looking at the three-story building in the direction of the teleportation plaza with cold eyes.

"Ye, do you think opening a shop means you can fight me?" he said in a low voice, "Too naive. The main city is my turf. Here, you are nothing."

The lackey behind him asked: "Guild Leader, should we send more people? What if he really gets materials…"

Qin Wentian raised his hand: "No need. All sources of materials in the main city are in our hands. He can't get materials."

He paused and added: "However, to prevent any accidents, go contact a few of the big merchants in the main city. Tell them not to sell materials to Ye. Whoever sells, I will make sure they can't survive in the main city."

The lackey responded and turned to leave.

Qin Wentian looked at the small building outside the window, a cold smile curling his lips.

"Ye, welcome to the main city. This is my turf. You will soon know the consequences of offending me."