Chapter 25: Using NPC Guards to Counterattack, the Heavenly Temple's Encirclement Collapses Instantly.

The news of the Commoner Supermarket opening exploded across the server for an entire day, but very few people actually came to buy anything.

It wasn't that they didn't want to come, but that they didn't dare. The Heavenly Temple's blacklist order was still in effect; anyone who dared to enter the Commoner Supermarket to buy things would be an enemy of the Heavenly Temple. Casual players couldn't afford to offend the Heavenly Temple, so they could only watch from afar and post on the forums to satisfy their curiosity.

[Hot Forum Post]

OP: Brother Ye's Commoner Supermarket has opened. Does anyone dare to go buy something?

1st Floor: Don't dare. Heavenly Temple people are guarding the entrance; they'll hack anyone who tries to go in.

2nd Floor: I want to go too, but I'm afraid of retaliation. The Heavenly Temple is the number one guild on the server; they can't be messed with.

3rd Floor: Brother Ye is so pitiful; he opened a shop but no one dares to come. Qin Wentian's move is really ruthless.

4th Floor: Pitiful? Brother Ye even took down over a hundred people from the Heavenly Temple, would he be afraid of this? Just wait and see, there's bound to be a good show.

Fatty Wang looked at the forum posts, pacing anxiously. "Brother, what should we do? No one dares to come buy things. Our inventory is almost piled to the ceiling."

Lin Ye sat by the window on the third floor of the supermarket, watching the dozens of Heavenly Temple members guarding below. A wicked smile curled on his lips. "Don't worry. If they won't come in, we'll go out."

"Go out? Where to?"

"To give them some 'gifts'."

Lin Ye stood up, brushed the dust off himself, and said to Su Qinghan, "Come on, let's go for a walk."

Su Qinghan glanced at him. "What are you trying to pull now?"

Lin Ye smiled. "I'm not pulling anything; I'm just teaching Qin Wentian a lesson."

The three of them walked out of the Commoner Supermarket, and the Heavenly Temple members guarding the door immediately surrounded them. The leader's ID was "Heavenly Temple Tiebi," a Level 18 Warrior clad in purple gear, carrying a large shield. He looked quite intimidating.

"Ye, you still dare to come out?" Tiebi sneered. "The Guild Leader said that as long as you step out of this door, don't even think about going back alive."

Lin Ye glanced at him. "Just you guys?"

"Of course not just us." Tiebi pointed around—the square, the streets, and the rooftops were crawling with Heavenly Temple members, at least two or three hundred of them. "All the exits of the main city have been blocked by us. You won't be able to escape today even if you had wings."

Lin Ye looked around, a wicked smile playing on his lips. "Two or three hundred people? Qin Wentian really thinks highly of me."

"That's right," Tiebi said smugly. "The Guild Leader said you're a significant figure and deserve special treatment. If you know what's good for you, close your crappy shop and crawl back to the Novice Village. Otherwise—"

"Otherwise what?"

"Otherwise, I'll make it so you can't take a single step in the main city."

Lin Ye laughed. Ignoring Tiebi, he turned and walked toward the NPC guards at the main city gates.

Two NPC guards stood at the main city gates. They were Level 30, wearing golden armor and carrying halberds, meant by the system to protect the city's safety. Under normal circumstances, guards wouldn't actively attack players unless a player started a fight in the city.

Lin Ye walked up to the guards and raised his hand, applying a debuff to each of them—"Targeted Hostility."

[System Notification: Target [Main City Guard] has been inflicted with the [Targeted Hostility] effect. Effect Description: Automatically identifies all players wearing the Heavenly Temple guild badge as hostile targets and initiates maximum-level attacks.]

The guards' eyes instantly turned red, and a murderous aura erupted from them. Gripping their halberds, they strode toward the Heavenly Temple crowd.

Before Tiebi could react, one of the guards had already rushed in front of him and swung a halberd down.

"Holy shit!" Tiebi quickly raised his shield to block, but the attack power of a Level 30 NPC was not something he could withstand. With one strike, his shield shattered, and more than half of his health vanished.

"What's going on?! Why are the guards attacking?!"

The lackeys behind him also panicked—the two guards were like madmen, chasing and hacking at the Heavenly Temple members. One strike per person, one strike per person; dozens were instantly cut down.

"Run! The guards have gone crazy!"

"They're not crazy! It's that guy Ye's doing! He put a debuff on the guards!"

"What kind of debuff can make NPCs attack people?!"

"How should I know! Just run!"

Two or three hundred Heavenly Temple members fled in terror, but the guards' movement speed was too fast. They caught and hacked down one after another. In just five minutes, over two hundred people were cut down, their corpses littering the ground and equipment scattered all over the street.

Tiebi was the last to die. He watched helplessly as his health bar hit zero, his level dropping from 18 to 13, and more than half of his purple gear dropping.

"Ding! Player [Heavenly Temple Tiebi] has died. Level drop: Level 18 → Level 13."

He stood up at the resurrection point, his face pale as he looked at his level, which had dropped by five.

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

Meanwhile, Lin Ye stood at the main city gate, looking at the corpses covering the ground, a wicked smile on his face.

"Qin Wentian wants to blacklist me? That's it?"

Fatty Wang jumped up in excitement. "Brother! You're amazing! You can even use NPCs!"

Su Qinghan couldn't help but laugh. "You really cause trouble wherever you go. You won't even let system NPCs off the hook."

Lin Ye shrugged. "Can't help it, I've got a good Talent."

As the three were about to head back to the supermarket, a system notification suddenly popped up—

[System Notification: You have a private message from player [Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian].]

Lin Ye clicked to open it—

[Private Message] Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian: Ye, you think you can win just by bribing a few NPCs? Too naive. There are more than just these two NPCs in the main city. You can bribe one, but can you bribe them all?

Lin Ye smiled and replied—

[Private Message] Ye: Who said I was bribing NPCs? I was just teaching them a lesson. Besides—Guild Leader Qin, are you sure you want to compete with me on who can cause more trouble?

After sending it, he closed the private message and said to Su Qinghan and Fatty Wang, "Let's go to the teleportation array."

"Why go to the teleportation array?" Fatty Wang asked.

"To teach Qin Wentian another lesson."

The three walked to the main city's teleportation array. The teleportation array was a core facility of the main city, through which players could travel to various maps. Heavenly Temple members had already surrounded the teleportation array, forbidding anyone from using it.

Lin Ye walked to the side of the teleportation array and raised his hand to apply a debuff to it—"Directional Contagion."

[System Notification: Target [Dawn City Teleportation Array] has been inflicted with the [Directional Contagion] effect. Effect Description: All players wearing the Heavenly Temple guild badge will automatically be inflicted with 100 stacks of the Decay Debuff when using the teleportation array.]

After applying the debuff, Lin Ye clapped his hands and said to Su Qinghan, "Let's go, back to the supermarket to wait for news."

"Wait for what news?"

"Wait for the Heavenly Temple people to come crying and begging me to remove the debuff."

Not long after the three returned to the Commoner Supermarket and sat down, the World Channel exploded—

[World Channel]

[Player "Temple of Gods - Berserker": Holy shit! The teleportation array is poisonous! I died the moment I stepped on it!]

[Player "Heavenly Temple Mage": Me too! Dropped 5 levels! All my gear dropped!]

[Player "Heavenly Temple Priest": What the hell is this? The teleportation array can kill people?]

[Player "Wocao Wuqing": Hahaha! It must be Brother Ye's doing! He was standing by the teleportation array for quite a while just now!]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": Brother Ye is amazing! He can even mess with the teleportation array! Now the Heavenly Temple people can't even leave the city!]

Qin Wentian looked at the messages on the World Channel, his face ashen. He opened the guild channel and found that over a hundred members had already died once at the teleportation array, with level drops ranging from three to five levels.

"This Ye..." he said through gritted teeth, "he's forcing my hand."

The lackey behind him asked cautiously, "Guild Leader, should we temporarily call off the blockade? If this continues, the brothers' levels will all be gone."

Qin Wentian was silent for a long time before finally shaking his head. "No. Calling off the blockade is equivalent to admitting defeat. I, Qin Wentian, cannot afford to lose face like that."

"Then what should we do?"

Qin Wentian sneered. "He wants to open a shop? Then let him. I want to see how long he can last without customers."

He opened the guild channel and sent an order—

[Guild Channel][Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian]: All members, listen to my command. Temporarily withdraw the blockade, but continue to block the source of materials. No one is allowed to go to his shop to buy things. Anyone who dares to go is making an enemy of the Heavenly Temple.

Over a thousand Heavenly Temple members felt as if they had been granted a grand pardon and quickly withdrew from the vicinity of the teleportation array. They were truly terrified—dying a few more times would send them back to the Novice Village.

Fatty Wang looked at the messages on the World Channel and jumped up in excitement. "Brother! The Heavenly Temple people have withdrawn! There's no one near the teleportation array!"

Lin Ye smiled. "I told you, they wouldn't be able to handle it."

Su Qinghan looked at him with a complex gaze. "You really... have Qin Wentian right where you want him."

Lin Ye shrugged. "It's not that I have him where I want him, it's just that he's too weak."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked toward the direction of the Heavenly Temple headquarters in the distance, a wicked smile curling on his lips.

"Qin Wentian, you think it's over just because you withdrew the blockade? Too naive. This is only the beginning."

Meanwhile, at the Heavenly Temple headquarters, Qin Wentian was staring at the Commoner Supermarket marker on the map, his gaze cold.

"Ye, you think you've won?" he whispered. "No, this is only the beginning. The main city's dungeons, mines, and herb gardens are all in my hands. Without a source of materials, your shop won't last long."

He opened his friend list and found an ID—"Black Market Trader."

[Private Message] Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian: Old Hei, do me a favor. I want all the material drops from all the dungeons in the main city. Name your price.

[Private Message] Black Market Trader: All of them? That's a business worth hundreds of millions of gold coins. Are you sure?

[Private Message] Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian: Positive. I want to make it so that Ye can't buy even a single piece of material.

[Private Message] Black Market Trader: Alright. Wait for my word.

Qin Wentian closed the private message, a cold smile appearing on his face.

"Ye, you want to open a shop? Then I'll let you open an empty one. Without materials, what will you sell?"

Meanwhile, Lin Ye was sitting on the third floor of the Commoner Supermarket, looking at the sunset outside the window with a wicked smile on his face.

Fatty Wang leaned over and asked, "Brother, the Heavenly Temple people have withdrawn. Should we start stocking up?"

Lin Ye shook his head. "No rush. Let them get anxious first."

"Who are we waiting for?"

Lin Ye pointed toward the Heavenly Temple headquarters. "Waiting for Qin Wentian to get anxious. He thinks monopolizing the materials can choke me out? Too naive."

He pulled the [Eye of the Undead] from his backpack and weighed it in his hand. "Fatty, I'll take you somewhere tomorrow."

"Where?"

"A Hidden Mine outside the main city. The Heavenly Temple can't monopolize the materials there."

Fatty Wang's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Lin Ye smiled. "Of course. And—there's a Hidden Boss there. We might as well take the first kill while we're at it."

Fatty Wang's hands were shaking with excitement. "Brother, you're amazing!"

Su Qinghan watched this and couldn't help but laugh. "You really never stop, no matter where you go."

Lin Ye shrugged. "It's not that I never stop, it's that I'm professional."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked toward the Heavenly Temple headquarters, a wicked smile on his face.

"Qin Wentian, you want to play? Then I'll play with you until the end."

Meanwhile, Qin Wentian stood at the top level of the Heavenly Temple headquarters, also looking toward the Commoner Supermarket, his gaze cold.

"Ye, you want to play? Then I'll let you know who the real king is in the main city."