Just as they were racking their brains for a way to take down Lucien,

they also heard the system announcement about the Martial Arts Tournament.

Upon hearing this news, several of them immediately sent people to investigate.

They soon figured out the specific details of the Martial Arts Tournament.

Their hearts burned with desire, especially when they learned that the top rankings offered Immortal-grade artifacts and Immortal-grade Skills.

Years - Peaceful spoke up at this moment, "This is our chance. We don’t need to think about first place; we’re definitely no match for Falling into the Human World."

"However, as long as we can take second or third place, we’ll get two pieces of dark gold equipment and an Immortal-grade Skill."

"Our only advantage right now is that our levels are higher than theirs. They only rose up because they cleared the Hell-mode dungeon."

"If we can clear the Level 40-45 Goblin Kingdom dungeon and get the first-clear reward, we should be able to stand on equal footing with them."

Years - Peaceful was very confident when he said this, but he also had a clear sense of self-awareness.

He knew they couldn’t win the championship, but they could certainly take second or third place.

He also knew that relying solely on two pieces of dark gold equipment and one Immortal-grade Skill wouldn’t make them a match for Lucien.

But they weren’t stupid; they knew that clearing the Hell difficulty and getting the first-clear reward was key.

Only then would it be possible to contend with Lucien.

The others listened and all agreed with Years - Peaceful’s words.

"True. He’s just one person; he can’t sweep the top three spots. As long as we take second and third, we can plan our next steps carefully. Once we can hold our own against him, we won’t be so passive."

"Not only that, as long as we can contend with him, so what if we can’t enter the Nine Main Cities? We’ll just station people outside the cities. We’ll make those who aren’t in our guilds hand over the supplies we need. I doubt they’d dare to complain."

While the group was discussing fervently...

The Vice Guild Master of the Gods Guild rushed in frantically.

"Guild Master, this is bad! The Battle Online Marks on the arms of many of our people have disappeared!"

Caleb frowned upon hearing this and asked, "What exactly happened?"

The Gods Vice Guild Master quickly explained the whole situation to everyone.

It turned out that those who died during the monster siege while defending the city found that their marks had vanished after they logged out of Battle Online.

Although they could still call up their status panels, this caused quite a stir among them.

Everyone knew that the mark on one’s arm was required to enter the Battle Online Continent.

Now that the marks were gone, they couldn’t help but worry: what if they couldn’t enter Battle Online anymore?

This game was now vital to their existence; even their food sources mostly depended on what they could bring from Battle Online into reality.

If they couldn’t enter Battle Online, they might as well be cripples.

"Only those who died during the monster siege lost their marks?"

The Gods Vice Guild Master said, "Yes. But besides the monster siege, I just received word that even those who accidentally died while leveling up outside and logged out of Battle Online have lost the marks on their hands."

Caleb pondered calmly for a moment.

"What about others outside our guild?"

The Gods Vice Guild Master first looked at the other eight guild masters.

Then he said cautiously, "Except for our Nine Great Guilds, everyone else is normal. There haven’t been any changes at all."

Everyone present was shaken.

"Does that mean our Nine Great Guilds are being targeted by the Battle Online Continent?"

Caleb’s voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

He had originally thought it was just a system adjustment.

But now it seemed this was clearly targeting their Nine Great Guilds.

Their Nine Great Guilds were indeed powerful forces in reality.

But compared to the entirety of Battle Online, they were not worth mentioning at all.

What they didn’t know was that it wasn’t the Battle Online Continent targeting them.

It was simply that the Emperor of the Jiuzhou Empire was unhappy with their actions.

As the ruler of a nation, he still possessed some privileges within the Battle Online Continent.

The Gods Vice Guild Master gave a bitter smile and nodded silently.

The several guild masters suddenly slumped into their chairs as if all their strength had been drained.

They knew that this time, their Nine Great Guilds were completely finished.

If dying once in the game meant they could never enter the Battle Online Continent again, the blow would be devastating.

No one could guarantee they would never die once in Battle Online.

Even they themselves had died in Battle Online several times.

"No, while there’s still a chance, we can’t just sit here and wait for death. We need to make one last profit."

"How? Once this news gets out, I’m afraid no one will be willing to join our guilds anymore. Even the remaining members will leave."

"Then we’ll block the news first. Don’t let them find out about this."

"Right, we’ll block the news first. We absolutely cannot let this get out."

But could this news really be suppressed?

Originally, fewer than a million people survived this monster siege.

Ninety percent of them had died during this monster siege; how could they possibly block the news?

However, an even bigger blow came. Those Nine Great Guild members who couldn’t enter the Battle Online Continent accidentally discovered that if they quit their guild in reality, the mark would actually return.

In just one short day, only a little over a hundred thousand people remained in the Nine Great Guilds.

And these people were all their management personnel, because once someone joined management, they couldn’t quit the guild on their own.

They had to obtain the consent of the Vice Guild Master or the Guild Master.

But these guild masters knew these people wanted to quit, so how could they easily let them go?

They could only quit after paying a significant price.

Some of these people even had to find lending platforms in reality to pay off debts just to quit their guilds.