The players had seen images of diamonds and enchanted books before, but only on forums.
As for treasure maps and Nether Stars, not even the forums had much to show.
This alone spoke volumes about how rare these drops were.
Seeing this, Yun Li finally dismissed his last doubts.
"Did you capture everything just now?"
Yun Li turned and asked the high-ranking player who had been monitoring the battle.
The player nodded and then sent the recorded video to Yun Li.
"Boss, take a look. Is it good?"
Yun Li played the video and saw that even in death, HIM's corpse was covered by a mosaic blur.
Even in death, his appearance couldn't be captured on camera.
But that was fine—this was proof that they had truly killed HIM. If the video had shown HIM's face clearly, Yun Li would have suspected a trap instead.
Satisfied, Yun Li collected all the rare loot from the crater and then opened the forum.
Without hesitation, he posted the video.
The title was as simple and direct as it gets:
"The Demon King Falls—No More HIM in Minecraft!"
After publishing, Yun Li immediately closed the forum.
There was no need for extra publicity; he was certain the post would go viral.
"Everyone, you've done well."
"Let's go back and celebrate!"
"But one more thing—keep all information about the Wither and the Nether confidential."
Hearing this, the top players nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry, Boss. We get it!"
"Why isn't the post trending yet? I'm dying to see everyone's reactions!"
"Relax, it'll be pinned soon enough!"
"With this post, the Yunteng Guild will claim the number one spot. No one can challenge that!"
"Obviously! Hahaha!"
Amidst cheers and laughter, the group made their way back to the Yunteng Guild's headquarters.
None of them noticed a pair of glowing white eyes watching from the shadows.
"The fish has taken the bait… Time to close the net."
———
Xu Yuan had invested a lot of effort into this battle.
He had to admit, dealing with someone like Yun Li was no easy task.
The man was overly cautious, which forced Xu Yuan to execute every detail to perfection.
Otherwise, tricking this old fox would have been impossible.
Fortunately, hard work paid off. Xu Yuan had finally reached the endgame.
The net was ready to be pulled in.
With utmost caution, Xu Yuan trailed the group, wary of making any mistakes.
———
Less than five minutes after Yun Li's post went live, it had already surpassed one million views.
A catchy title was truly powerful.
When players first saw the post, many assumed it was just another clickbait attempt.
But seeing that it was posted by Yun Li, the vice president of the Cloud Soar Guild, their curiosity got the better of them.
As they watched the video, they were stunned.
"What the hell?! Is this video real or fake? Did HIM really die?!"
"Wha—?! No way, no way!"
"The pixelated mess in the crater… That's HIM? But there's no white eyes!"
"Are you stupid? He's dead. His eyes are closed—of course, there's no white glow."
"The video doesn't look edited. It was recorded directly in-game, in real time…"
"So, Cloud Soar Guild really killed HIM?!"
"Holy crap… I need a moment…"
"No way! This has to be another of HIM's schemes. There's no way he'd go down that easily!"
"I agree. HIM is the Demon King! He wouldn't just die like that!"
"Stop overhyping HIM. Plenty of experts have analyzed him; he's not that strong on his own—just good at mind games."
"I've heard Yun Li is ruthless and cunning. It's possible he outplayed HIM!"
"There were whispers about Yunteng's top players and elite squads being offline for days. They were probably planning this secret mission…"
"Does that mean HIM is really dead?!"
"Most likely. Did you see the rare drops in the crater? I've never seen anything like those…"
———
Yun Li's post left the player base in shock.
Initially, many assumed the video was edited.
Professional analysts even took it upon themselves to verify the footage for signs of tampering.
In the end, their conclusions left no room for doubt.
The footage was a raw, unedited in-game recording.
HIM's death, confirmed by the drops, was no hoax.
Despite the disbelief, players had to accept the truth.
The once-feared Demon King HIM, with his mind games and monstrous army, had fallen.
His legend, no matter how terrifying, was now history.
Players, though dazed, gradually began to accept reality.
"Seriously? That's all it took to kill the so-called Demon King?"
"Good riddance! No more living in fear…"
"Damn, I never even saw HIM in-game. And now he's gone…"
"I was thinking of defecting and joining HIM's side… Guess that plan's out."
"Damn it! My carefully curated HIM fan club just hit 500 members—and now this?!"
"What?! I was halfway through outlining my HIM fanfiction! You've got to be kidding me!"
"Hey, better to not start than to leave it unfinished. Cheer up…"
Despite HIM being a villain, his charisma had captivated countless players.
Even though few had encountered him directly, his presence resonated throughout the game.
His aura as the Demon King was undeniable.
No one expected someone so fierce to fall like this.
Within an hour, Yun Li's post was pinned to the forum.
The news of HIM's demise spread rapidly.
The Cloud Soar Guild's fame skyrocketed.
Their achievement in slaying HIM catapulted them to the second-highest spot on the guild leaderboard.
Guild popularity was based on player votes.
The higher the rating, the more players wanted to join.
The Cloud Soar Guild became the talk of the town.
After all, they were the guild that killed HIM, and with all the rare drops in their possession, their future looked incredibly bright.
Many players now yearned to join their ranks.
However, as a major guild, Cloud's recruitment standards were high.
They didn't publicly disclose their headquarters' location. Interested players had to privately message high-ranking members and pass rigorous assessments to join.
Knowing this, players spammed the guild's high-ranking members with messages.
But they received no responses.
Frustrated, many took to the forums to vent.
"Cloud Soar Guild sure is stuck-up. They don't even reply."
"Aren't they recruiting? Why act so high and mighty?"
"So, it's not just me, huh? My brother and I are fully geared in iron, but they ignored our messages."
"Forget it… Who needs them?"
———
Meanwhile, deep in the forest 5,000 yards from Cloud Soar's base…
A group of fully-armored players were talking.
"Ah Long, did Yun Li reply to you?"
"Nope. I saw on the forum that many others aren't getting replies either."
Ah Long closed the forum with a frown.
The players began to complain.
"Cloud Soar Guild is getting cocky just because they killed HIM?"
"Right? Before, they were practically begging us to join. Now they think they're too good for us."
"So, what do we do? Find another guild or check it out ourselves?"
"Their base isn't far. Let's take a look."
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