Reincarnation of The Strongest Sword God

1101-1120

Chapter 1101 - Benefits after a Great War

The dissipation of the Evil Energy quickly attracted the attention of the independent players outside Stone Forest Town.

"What? Didn't they say that Evil Energy won't ever dissipate?"

"Based on the information I found, in order to remove Evil Energy, one needs to sever the source. Could Zero Wing have secretly dealt with the source already?"

"That's not right. The Evil Energy this time should have originated from Black Ridge Town. However, Black Ridge Town is still the same right now."

"How did Zero Wing do it, then?"

Everyone was discussing this development. Very quickly, word of this situation spread throughout the entire Star-Moon Kingdom.

...

Star-Moon City, Blackwater's Residence:

"Impossible! How did they manage to remove the Evil Energy?!" Abandoned Wave practically screamed when he read the report he just received shortly after resurrecting. "Zero Wing must be faking this information! I can guarantee that the Evil Energy is impossible to remove!"

Unlike curses, Evil Energy could not be cleansed. It was a kind of chaotic energy. Like a contagious virus, it would automatically transform other forms of energy into Evil Energy. Without eliminating the source, removing the Evil Energy polluting Stone Forest Town was simply impossible. However, removing the source was easier said than done. Even he did not know the source's exact location. If it was really located in Black Ridge Town, the monster-infested town was not a place current players could approach.

Moreover, Evil Energy was extremely harmful to players. If players immersed themselves in Evil Energy for long periods, they would get infected and fall into a Weakened state. Players exposed to Evil Energy for too long would even turn into monsters. If that happened, they would be barred from logging into God's Domain for a considerable amount of time. Due to these dire consequences, cleaning out the monsters in Black Ridge Town was extremely difficult.

Hence, he firmly believed that Zero Wing could not remove the Evil Energy polluting Stone Forest Town.

The only possibility was that Zero Wing was releasing fake news.

After all, Zero Wing had previously registered plenty of members at the Battle Arena they constructed, collecting a hefty sum in membership fees. If the Battle Arena was gone, those members could seek compensation for their losses. Therefore, the intention behind the release of this fake news was undoubtedly the appeasement of those members.

"Guild Leader, it's true. Our spies in Zero Wing have already confirmed this fact. The Evil Energy inside the town is indeed gradually dissipating. At this rate, it will take less than five days for all the Evil Energy in the town to disappear completely. By then, Stone Forest Town will be able to resume its operations," Qin Muyun said, an ugly expression on her face as she took out another document.

Not only had the Blackwater Guild lost a considerable number of elite members, but the Guild's prestige in Star-Moon Kingdom had also fallen to rock bottom. Members were withdrawing from the Guild every minute.

Most likely, they would have to recuperate for a long time in order to return to their previous state.

Originally, with Zero Wing having lost Stone Forest Town, Blackwater would've been able to leverage its funds and background to quickly surpass Zero Wing. However, now that Stone Forest Town was alright, whether Blackwater could even surpass Zero Wing's development speed was in question.

This was not an outcome that the upper echelon of the Blackwater Corporation was willing to see.

"This won't do! I cannot let Stone Forest Town continue existing in this world!" Although Abandoned Wave was unwilling to accept the truth of this matter, the facts were already before him. In that case, he needed to take action right away. "Notify that man immediately! Tell him I'll try to provide him with the players he needs. However, I want him to have his monster army thoroughly obliterate Stone Forest Town within five days!"

Qin Muyun could not help but frown at these words.

She never imagined that Abandoned Wave had already lost his prudence to such a degree.

Nurturing all those monsters was not easy. Any players sacrificed to them would be unable to log into God's Domain for several days. Blackwater's elite and expert players had already lost a level from this war. If they were sacrificed again...

"What are you still standing there for?" Abandoned Wave glared at Qin Muyun. "Don't forget that I am still the Guild Leader right now!"

Helpless to do anything about the situation, Qin Muyun had no choice but to contact the bandaged man.

"Black Flame! Just you wait! This time, I will definitely make you pay a heavy price!" Abandoned Wave laughed coldly as he looked out his window, his eyes staring in Stone Forest Town's direction.

...

Inside Stone Forest Town, Zero Wing had also begun cleaning up the battlefield.

This war had been considerably intense. Over half of Stone Forest Town's buildings lay in ruins. The Guild Residence was an irreparable mess. Even the Battle Arena had received significant damages and would take a considerable sum of money to repair.

However, their gains far exceeded their losses.

Although the army of 200,000 monsters had not dropped any weapons or equipment, they had dropped plenty of monster materials. The drops from Lord rank monsters were rare materials that could be used to make weapons and equipment. In addition, monsters at the Chieftain rank or above had a fixed chance of dropping a kind of gray crystal called the Evil Energy Crystal.

To ordinary players, this item would be garbage that they would sell to NPC merchants for spare change. However, Shi Feng knew the real use of the Evil Energy Crystals.

This was something a Master Forger had discovered in the past.

If one added Evil Energy Crystals or Magic Crystals during the forging of weapons or equipment, there was a certain probability these crystals would give rise to magic patterns on the items produced. However, the enhancement effect was random. The enhancement might be to the item's Basic Attributes, its Attack Power or Defense, or even its Hidden Attributes or Additional Skills. Hence, the Evil Energy Crystal was highly sought-after by forgers in the past.

In Shi Feng's previous life, there was even a case where a Dark-Gold Weapon produced using Evil Energy Crystals received Attributes nearly rivaling that of Epic Weapons.

Compared to Epic items, Dark-Gold items were much easier to produce.

Hence, in the past, a single Evil Energy Crystal could easily sell for 10 Gold Coins. Even at this price, obtaining one was extremely difficult because after reaching the mid-late stage of the game, many players no longer equipped the weapons and equipment they got from monsters. Instead, they would use items tailor-made for them by forgers. Players would naturally hope that the weapons and equipment produced would be strong. Consequently, players swarmed to whichever kingdom the Evil God's Temple appeared in.

Meanwhile, among the 200,000 monsters that assaulted Stone Forest Town, many were at Chieftain rank or above. As a result, Zero Wing raked in a hefty profit, gathering 2,428 Evil Energy Crystals in all. That was 24,280 Gold Coins at the very least. After including the other materials dropped by the monsters, they had earned more than enough money to repair Stone Forest Town.

Not to mention, even after taking into account the weapons and equipment Zero Wing's members lost in the war, they had netted an additional 114,633 pieces of weapons and equipment from the combined army of Blackwater, Heaven's Burial, and Pantheon. The most inferior items were Level 35 Bronze Equipment with even Level 40 Dark-Gold Equipment in the mix.

Even after giving out spoils as compensation and rewards to Guild members, the amount left was still staggering.

After Shi Feng read the statistics reports Aqua Rose and Gentle Snow gave him, he fell into a daze for a long time.

Although he had experienced plenty of large wars in the past, none of them had been as profitable as this one.

"Guild Leader, people from the Secret Pavilion are asking to meet you." 

Chapter 1102 - Constructing a Holy Land

"They're looking for me?" Shi Feng could not help but recall the offer Yuan Tiexin had made him before. He then continued, "Have them wait at Candlelight's main headquarters for now. I'll head over shortly."

This war had damaged Stone Forest Town beyond recognition.

Most likely, the town would not be able to resume normal operations for a considerable amount of time. In other words, Zero Wing would lose a major source of income.

Meanwhile, reconstruction would cost a lot of Coins. However, selling the Evil Energy Crystals would undoubtedly be a very foolish move. Moreover, the function of the crystals was still unknown to everyone but himself. How could he possibly reveal it to others? Yet, just the income from the Candlelight Trading Firm was not enough to fund the reconstruction. Not to mention, he also required money to build his city.

There was indeed a need to have a proper chat with the Secret Pavilion.

Among the superpowers in God's Domain, the Secret Pavilion was undoubtedly the richest.

Just the income from the Expert Lists it released every week was an astronomical amount. There were also the consultation fees it earned from selling information.

It would be foolish of him not to take advantage of the situation when such a wealthy client delivered themself up to his doorstep.

Just as Aqua Rose was notifying the Secret Pavilion about the meeting place, Gentle Snow walked over and reported, "Guild Leader, many independent players are currently voicing their wishes for us to reopen Stone Forest Town right away, particularly the players that are members of the Battle Arena. They are asking for us to immediately reopen the town's Battle Arena. Otherwise, they are going to ask for their Magic Crystals back. Should we prioritize the repairs of the Battle Arena first to appease these members? If they continue making a fuss, there will most likely be many players seeking to withdraw their membership."

As the Vice Guild Leader of Zero Wing, Gentle Snow had some detailed information regarding Zero Wing. So, she was very clear just how poor Zero Wing currently was.

In the past, she had always thought that Zero Wing was definitely the wealthiest Guild in Star-Moon Kingdom.

After all, it had the Candlelight Trading Firm and Stone Forest Town providing it with income. The amount of Coins these two places raked in each day could make even the Guild Leaders of first-rate Guilds envious. However, when she took a look at Zero Wing's accounts, they might as well be a blank sheet of paper.

It really made her wonder just where the money Zero Wing earned was going.

Gentle Snow had no idea that while Zero Wing was indeed earning a lot of Coins, it was spending even more—the expenditure of Gold Coins was in the tens of thousands.

"Are they in such a hurry?" After giving the situation some thought, Shi Feng chuckled and said, "Alright, then. Tell them that they may withdraw if they want to. However, once the town is reconstructed, the membership fee for the Battle Arena will be increased to 1,200 Magic Crystals. Moreover, rental for the combat rooms will be doubled. If they wish to withdraw their membership, I very much welcome them to do so."

"This..." Gentle Snow could not help but stare at Shi Feng, stunned.

They would practically be chasing away their customers if they did so.

Previously, the membership they charged was already out of reach for most independent players. Only a fool would be willing to pay 1,200 Magic Crystals. Not to mention, if they doubled the rent of the combat rooms, it might even affect business at the Battle Arena.

"Relax. Just tell them as is." Shi Feng waved his hand, not bothering with additional explanations.

Previously, he had focused on running Stone Forest Town as a small town that even ordinary players could enjoy. Now, however, he had changed his mind.

He intended to turn Stone Forest Town into a holy land for PvP!

Now that there were three Magic Towers in Stone Forest Town, the ambient Mana density was much higher than before. Just the cost of maintaining the three towers was extremely high. Retaining the current prices was simply impossible if Zero Wing wished to keep the three towers in operation.

Most importantly, he now had a Town Promotion Order in his hands.

Shi Feng never dreamed that Lancelot would actually drop such an item.

Although this Town Promotion Order was only Secret-Silver rank, it was enough to promote a Basic Town directly into an Intermediate Town.

This was a treasure that many Guilds dreamed of obtaining. No Guild would be willing to trade it away even for 20 Epic items.

Getting a town promoted was a challenging proposition in God's Domain. It was also very time-consuming. Any slight instability or security problem might cause several days' worth of effort to go to waste.

With the Town Promotion Order, however, Shi Feng would be able to promote Stone Forest Town into an Intermediate Town, bypassing the NPC population requirement altogether. He would also be able to hire up to 2,000 NPC guards. At the same time, he could construct real defensive structures instead of basic ones like the Defense Turret. The size of the town would also increase by multiple times. With this, Stone Forest Town would be able to accommodate many more players instead of having players squeeze against each other as they walked through the streets.

A larger town would definitely attract more players. He was not worried about losing visitors at all.

Once Stone Forest Town was promoted, he could also level up all the structures inside it, expanding them significantly. Take the Battle Arena for example. Currently, it was only a five-story building. Once the town was promoted, however, the Battle Arena could have up to eight floors. After including the underground level, the Battle Arena would have nine floors in total. With this, the number of customers they could receive each day would increase substantially.

By then, Stone Forest Town would become a true money-making machine.

However, there was a prerequisite to all of this.

And that was money!

Moreover, it had to be a considerable sum!

Upon hearing Shi Feng's response, Gentle Snow helplessly informed everyone of the new rules in Stone Forest Town. As for Shi Feng himself, he used a Return Scroll to travel to White River City.

The new rules immediately enraged many independent players.

"Zero Wing is simply going overboard! Who would be willing to pay a membership fee of 1,200 Magic Crystals?!"

"They are even doubling the rent now! Do they think our money grows on trees?!"

"I'm going to get a refund! Only a fool would visit Stone Forest Town in the future! If I had that kind of money, I might as well spend it at the Divine Colosseum!"

The spies Blackwater planted in Stone Forest Town began making a ruckus over the new rules, though many independent players did find their words reasonable.

Although the Mana density in Stone Forest Town had indeed increased slightly and would be beneficial for improving their strength, the new prices were simply beyond the reach of ordinary players. Even elite players would not be able to afford to train in the Battle Arena for long periods.

For a time, many Battle Arena members requested refunds, feeling that Zero Wing was trying to cheat them out of their money.

While Aqua Rose and Gentle Snow were grappling with this matter, Shi Feng was seated on a sofa inside a VIP room on the second floor of White River City's Adventurer's Association, leisurely browsing through the designs of Intermediate Towns.

Players had many templates of Intermediate Towns to choose from, and each template had their strong points.

Likewise, different templates had different prices.

Some templates were more suited to economic development through NPCs. Such templates allowed the town's Popularity to increase much more rapidly. Similarly, there were templates geared towards economic development through players. In addition, some templates facilitated the hiring of powerful NPC guards. In any case, many kinds of templates were available depending on the kind of a town that players wished to construct.

Unlike capturing a town, promoting a town cost much less. Moreover, as Shi Feng was using a Promotion Order, the expense was even lower. He only needed to spend 3,000 Gold to promote Stone Forest Town to Intermediate Town status. After applying his identity as a City Protector, he would receive a 20% discount and need to pay only 2,400 Gold in total.

This savings freed up more money, which would allow him to choose better templates.

Sure enough, the templates available here are quite inferior when compared to the one dropped by Lancelot. Taking a careful look, Shi Feng noticed some templates that were only made available to him due to his City Protector title. Even so, none of them could match the Town Design dropped by Lancelot. Shi Feng then turned to the NPC beauty standing at a side and took out an ancient design from his bag. Softly, he asked, "If I wish to use this design here, how much will it cost?" 

Chapter 1103 - Grandmaster Design

Taking a look at the design Shi Feng revealed, the NPC beauty's eyes widened as the design demanded her full attention. Only after some time did she open her mouth and say, "Lord Protector, the quality of these construction materials and level of skill required are extremely high for this design. I cannot provide an immediate answer. I will have to ask the Association Leader to appraise the design. Would my lord be willing to wait here for a short moment?"

"Even you can't give an exact price?" Shi Feng asked the female senior administrator.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

In the Adventurer's Association, NPCs were categorized into ordinary staff member, administrator, senior administrator, Vice Association Master, and Association Master, each catering to adventurers from one-star to five-star status. Anyone capable of becoming a senior administrator even had the insight and knowledge to rival NPC Lifestyle Masters'.

"Although this design is tattered, I am certain that a Grandmaster produced it. A Grandmaster's Town Design is outside of the scope of my appraising abilities. In our branch, only the Association Master can appraise this," the senior administrator explained, smiling bitterly.

"Alright, let the Association Master appraise it, then." Shi Feng nodded.

When promoting a town in God's Domain, choosing the design was only one part of the process, while using the design to construct the town was another. The promotion process was not as simple as capturing a Basic Town. One could say that a town only truly began its operation after becoming an Intermediate Town.

The Adventurer's Association normally provided players with many template designs to choose from, their prices usually ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 Gold. The Adventurer's Association would only offer several Master Designs to someone who enjoyed the status of a four-star adventurer, such as himself. These templates could cost anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 Gold.

Master Designs were roughly 15% better than those of normal designs. Although 15% seemed like a small difference, it would be massively effective in an Intermediate Town.

For example, when that bonus was used to increase the town's Popularity among NPCs, a town which could originally gain 100 Popularity Points each day would gain 115 points with a Master Design. Normally, a lot of manpower and resources were required to gain that additional 15 points. In addition, Master Designs attracted more quests and events that would raise the town's Popularity, allowing the town to reach the next rank far more quickly.

Of course, players could opt to produce their own Town Designs. Only, the majority of players' designs wouldn't come close to the Adventurer's Association's ordinary templates. Extremely few lucky players or genius designers could draft a Town Design better than the available templates.

If a player created such a design, the various large Guilds in God's Domain would fight over purchasing it, offering roughly 3,000 Gold. If the design reached the Master standard, the minimum price would be 5,000 Gold. However, extremely few players could create designs of such standards. These people were even rarer than Master Forgers.

Among the 28 items Lancelot had dropped, twenty were Epic materials. Of the remaining eight, three were Epic Weapons and pieces of Equipment: a cloth armor headdress, a staff, and a pair of plate armor bracers.

The bracers were the best among them in Shi Feng's opinion.

[Angry Tyrant] (Plate Armor, Bracers, Epic Rank)
Level 40 - Level 100
Equipment Requirement: Strength 1,200
Defense +755 (Level 40)
Strength +60, Agility +32, Endurance +35
Ignore Levels +5
Ignore 20% of the target's Defense.
Increase the effect of Strength by 15%.

Additional Passive Skill 1-
Blood Frenzy: When the wielder's HP falls below 50%, Strength increases by 20%, Attack Speed increases by 30%, and damage received increases by 20%.

Additional Passive Skill 2-
Angry Blow: When attacking, there is a certain chance to increase Strength by 100%.

The bracers were a collection of violence. The increase to the effect of Strength, in particular, was rare even on Epic Weapons and Equipment. Without hesitation, Shi Feng took the bracers for himself.

With this, he had a total of five Epic items and one Fragmented Legendary item on his person. After including the Level 50 Magic Light Set Equipment, his Strength was even higher than a Tier 2 Berserker of the same level. Only his physique and Skills were still somewhat inferior.

As for the five remaining items, two were Tier 4 Magic Scrolls, two were designs, and the last one was the Town Promotion Order.

When Shi Feng had discovered that one of the two designs was a Town Design, he had been ecstatic.

Normally, Town Designs dropped in the field came from Masters. That was the equivalent of saving 5,000 Gold. Moreover, Shi Feng very much preferred this Town Design's heavy emphasis on transportation.

Transportation might not seem very important, but it had a considerably special town effect.

Once the town was complete, as long as the town spent a sufficient amount of money, it would unlock the transport carriages between towns. Not only could these carriages transport players, but they could also allow NPC merchants to reach the town more quickly. It was a design capable of enhancing the town's popularity among both players and NPCs.

Now that he had confirmed that this was a Grandmaster Design, Shi Feng felt the holy land for players beckoning him.

A Grandmaster Design was 30% stronger than normal templates. In the past, even an ordinary Grandmaster Design could sell for tens of thousands of Gold, much less these designs at this stage of the game. Right now, Shi Feng wouldn't sell the design even if he were offered one million Gold.

When Shi Feng thought about the carriages that would soon travel back and forth from Stone Forest Town, his heart beat madly.

At this stage of the game, Mounts were extremely rare. The carriages could save players a lot of time when traveling to Stone Forest Town. Players would be far more willing to stay in Stone Forest Town.

Even when Mounts became popular in the future, how could a Common Mount compete with a carriage?

Moreover, the carriages' speed was not always the same. Once Stone Forest Town became an Advanced Town, the carriages would upgrade to advanced carriages. Only with a Mysterious-Iron Mount could one match the speed of an advanced carriage.

Once transportation was no longer a barrier, what player wouldn't want to visit Stone Forest Town?

Setting aside the Battle Arena, now that Stone Forest Town had three Magic Towers, independent players could enjoy double the benefit of resting in a hotel. Right now, the town's hotels were only slightly less effective than Private Rooms in a Guild Residence. Normally, independent players could only dream of having this effect.

With these three major conditions, Stone Forest Town would undoubtedly become a holy land for players.

After Shi Feng waited in the room for a short while, the NPC administrator returned to the room with his Town Design.

"Lord Protector, our Association Master has appraised your design and confirmed it to be a Grandmaster Design. However, as the requirements for this Grandmaster Design are extremely high, the construction fee will be many times more expensive than usual. Including all of the required materials, it will cost 30,000 Gold. Moreover, this price cannot be discounted. May I know if Lord Protector still wishes to use this design to construct your town?"

"Thirty thousand Gold?!"

Shi Feng frowned. He had thought the price might be quite high, but he hadn't expected it to be this high.

That was 30,000 Gold!

He could build five towns with a Master Design with that kind of money... 

Chapter 1104 - Intermediate Town

Shi Feng felt his head ache when he heard the administrator's price.

In reality, this was considered cheap. An Intermediate Town shouldn't have appeared at this stage of the game.

In the past, the first Intermediate Town had only appeared after mainstream players had reached Level 60. During that time, Tier 2 expert players were commonplace. Right now, however, mainstream players weren't even Level 40.

Guild mainstream players could earn money far more quickly at Level 60 than Level 40.

Following which, Shi Feng gave up on constructing his town and stored his Grandmaster Town Design before leaving the VIP room.

Town reconstruction was only one of the benefits of an Intermediate Town. Reconstructing the town was not necessary to reopen it to the public.

Currently, Shi Feng lacked Coins. Hence, he could set this matter aside for now. In any case, Stone Forest Town had already been successfully promoted to an Intermediate Town. The Grandmaster Design wasn't going anywhere. He could simply operate Stone Forest Town as usual. It would not be too late to reconstruct the town after a few more days of earning money.

...

In the Candlelight Trading Firm's second-floor lounge...

Yuan Tiexin and Purple Jade both sat quietly inside the lounge.

"Uncle Yuan, I'm afraid that we'll have trouble completing this trade. For some reason, the Evil Energy in Stone Forest Town is gradually dissipating. It is only a matter of time before Stone Forest Town recovers. Zero Wing won't be interested in our conditions," Purple Jade said after she finished reading the information the Secret Pavilion had sent her. Smiling, she said, "Blackwater, Heaven's Burial, and Pantheon have suffered greatly. Not only have they failed to obtain Stone Forest Town, but they have also lost all of the members that they had dispatched. This is the first time Pantheon has suffered such a massive loss since joining God's Domain. They definitely have a mess to clean up."

The relationship between the virtual gaming world's super powers was not as peaceful as everyone thought. If given the opportunity, these powers would be more than willing to choke their rivals to death. After all, every game's resources were finite. If they had one less competitor, they could claim far more resources for themselves.

Pantheon had lost one trump card legion and two core legions in this war; that was a total of 3,000 experts. This would be a significant blow to any Super Guild. The loss of the trump card legion was particularly severe.

Any player capable of joining a Super Guild's trump card legion could reach the Trial Tower's sixth floor at the very minimum. Such experts were considerably rare in first-rate Guilds. In the eyes of ordinary players, those who reached the fifth floor were already considered experts, much less the sixth floor.

"Zero Wing is truly unpredictable." Yuan Tiexin shook his head and laughed. "No wonder they aren't afraid of mutual destruction with Blackwater. However, this doesn't affect our plans in any way. Even if Stone Forest Town recovers, it will take a considerable amount of time and resources. Meanwhile, Candlelight Trading Firm cannot wait that long. It is even more so for Zero Wing."

He had not talked through his hat.

Currently, both the Blackwater and Heavenly Trading Firms were pressuring the Candlelight Trading Firm. Although Candlelight still held considerable influence in Star-Moon Kingdom's market and maintained its daily traffic, how long would that last?

Both the Blackwater and Heavenly Trading Firms were marking down their prices and selling their items at a loss. They could also keep this up for a considerable amount of time due to their abundant funds and powerful connections.

However, what about the Candlelight Trading Firm?

The Candlelight Trading Firm had neither abundant funds nor powerful connections. It's only capital was Stone Forest Town. There was no way Candlelight could win a price war against the Blackwater and Heavenly Trading Firms.

Moreover, without sufficient Coins, Zero Wing could not continue to develop.

Now that Zero Wing was in the limelight, this was the perfect opportunity for the Guild to develop and widen the gap between itself and Blackwater. If Zero Wing only continued its development after Blackwater recovered, the Guild would be in big trouble. If Blackwater decided to take action against Zero Wing again, it would take more precautions and would not be caught off guard as it had been in this war.

Furthermore, Zero Wing currently had an agreement with the Secret Pavilion to hand over the Bronze Mounts and Strengthening Devices. These items were considerably expensive; obtaining them would not be that easy.

If Zero Wing wished to earn more Coins, working with the Secret Pavilion was undoubtedly the best decision.

Just as Yuan Tiexin and Purple Jade were quietly discussing Zero Wing's situation, Shi Feng, currently disguised as Black Flame, entered the lounge.

"What a powerful mental oppression!" Yuan Tiexin was shocked when he laid eyes on Shi Feng. Meeting the man in person felt massively different than watching Shi Feng on the screen.

Although Shi Feng had hidden his weapons and equipment's glow effects and sheathed his aura, Yuan Tiexin, with his bountiful experience, immediately sensed the dangerous atmosphere coming from Shi Feng. This Swordsman felt like a dragon lurking in the water.

"Six Epic items...?" Upon closer inspection, Yuan Tiexin's lips involuntarily twitched.

In God's Domain, the difference between Epic items and Dark-Gold items wasn't limited to their aura effects. There was also a huge difference in the materials used to produce them. Even if Shi Feng tried to hide his items' glow effects, players who were familiar with the materials could easily recognize the items' quality.

Yuan Tiexin had researched the various materials available in God's Domain precisely to gauge others' strength.

After all, there were too many experts who preferred to keep a low-profile in God's Domain. If he knew how to determine equipment quality, should he come across an independent expert, he might be able to recruit them into the Secret Pavilion. As for his enemies, he could use this knowledge to gauge their strength and respond appropriately.

"Uncle Yuan, are you sure?" Purple Jade was slightly doubtful when she heard Yuan Tiexin's words.

Even their Guild Leader did not have as many as six Epic items on him. At most, he had around three...

Epic items were simply too rare. Even Grand Lords rarely dropped them.

Hence, even now, she only had two Epic items. Even so, many of the Guild's upper echelons were incredibly jealous of her. Of the two Epic items, one was a weapon while the other was a pair of shoes. She had obtained the shoes during a fortuitous encounter. However, that encounter had cost her a level and plenty of effort. As for the weapon, the Guild had given it to her due to her status as the Guild's top genius. Even a genius like Cold Autumn had not received an Epic item.

Yet, Shi Feng had six Epic items. Anyone would question this matter.

"Do you doubt this old man's judgment?" Yuan Tiexin could not help but roll his eyes at Purple Jade. Although he was no match for the little girl in terms of potential, he could rank among the top five in the Guild when it came to judging item quality.

"Six Epic items... Is this the secret to Black Flame's strength?" As Purple Jade quietly watched Shi Feng approach, her will to challenge the man to a fight was immediately extinguished.

Only those who used Epic items knew their strength.

If two combatants had roughly equal combat standards, the one with six Epic items would trample over the one with only two. Furthermore, her standards were weaker than Shi Feng's. By challenging him right now, she'd only ask for a beating.

After Shi Feng took his seat and before Yuan Tiexin spoke, he received a message from his Guild—Stone Forest Town has been promoted to an Intermediate Town! 

Chapter 1105 - Golden Cities

Yuan Tiexin fell into a daze after he read the message.

An Intermediate Town!

Although the Secret Pavilion had captured many towns, they were all still far from becoming Intermediate Towns.

"Uncle Yuan, what happened?" Purple Jade asked curiously when she noticed Yuan Tiexin long stretch of silence despite Shi Feng's arrival.

Yuan Tiexin finally reacted, returning his gaze to Shi Feng with a perplexed look. Just when he thought that he had uncovered all of Zero Wing's secrets, he felt as if he knew nothing about the Guild once again.

Did Zero Wing truly lack a background as he had thought?

Yuan Tiexin did not respond to Purple Jade's question. Instead, he smiled at Shi Feng and said, "I really must congratulate you, Guild Leader Black Flame. Not only did you defeat Blackwater, but you've also promoted Stone Forest Town to an Intermediate Town."

Although Yuan Tiexin smiled, inwardly, he was extremely frustrated.

Now that Zero Wing ruled over an Intermediate Town, he had no choice but to place greater importance on the Guild.

An Intermediate Town occupied far more land than a Basic Town. It also had more features.

If one called Stone Forest Town a mountain of gold when it had been a Basic Town, then as an Intermediate Town, it was a diamond mountain.

Setting aside Stone Forest Town's proximity to the Stoneclaw Mountains, its Battle Arena alone could earn Zero Wing a fortune. Furthermore, plenty of companies would want to open their own virtual shops in the town.

Previously, Stone Forest Town was as valuable as four or five Basic Towns. The town attracted many companies. Unfortunately, Zero Wing's asking price had been too high, causing many of these companies to shy away. However, now that Stone Forest Town had become an Intermediate Town, even a fool could see its value. Most likely, Zero Wing's previous conditions would no longer deter companies' investments. Tons of companies would definitely be willing to invest in the town regardless of the cost.

Right now, Zero Wing did not lack Coins, Credits, or players. It had even earned its prestige. Zero Wing's future was limitless at this point.

The conditions he had prepared to offer Zero Wing would most likely be of little interest to the Guild now.

"Thank you," Shi Feng replied politely. He then smiled and continued, "If you have come to purchase the Magic Tower Design, I'm sorry to say that Zero Wing has no intentions of selling it."

"Guild Leader Black Flame, you jest. The Secret Pavilion has already given up on purchasing the design. Instead, in exchange for constructing one Magic Tower for us, we would like to offer you high-potential Lands in five major cities, each with player populations in the millions. How about it?" Yuan Tiexin asked. After giving the situation some thought, rather than trying to obtain the Magic Tower Design, he would opt for the next best thing.

However, when Purple Jade heard this, she was shocked.

How valuable were major cities' high-potential Lands, exactly?

The various large Guilds had already bought out these Lands. They were impossible to purchase for a reasonable price, yet Yuan Tiexin had just offered five of the Lands for one Magic Tower.

"Your offer is quite tempting. However, I have to refuse," Shi Feng responded, shaking his head.

These five plots of Land were easily worth thirty or forty thousand Gold in total at the moment. Moreover, their value would undoubtedly rise as time passed. Even if he rented these Lands out, rather than use them himself, he could earn a hefty sum.

However, his Magic Tower Design only had two uses left. Among them, he had agreed to reserve one for the Town of Beginnings. Even if he traded the remaining Magic Tower for five high-potential Lands, the trade wouldn't profit the Candlelight Trading Firm overmuch.

Shi Feng's straightforward rejection stunned both Yuan Tiexin and Purple Jade.

Obtaining these five plots of Land was the equivalent of gaining an additional five million customers. Even a Super Guild's Guild Leader would pause to consider such an offer, yet Shi Feng had rejected it without blinking...

Purple Jade even began to wonder if Shi Feng truly understood these Lands' value. Why else would he refuse the offer so decisively?

"May I know how much Guild Leader Black Flame wants for a tower?" Yuan Tiexin asked, gritting his teeth.

The Secret Pavilion was determined to obtain the Magic Tower. The Guild Leader had specifically reiterated this in their conversations.

"I want Lands in these cities. There are a total of twenty locations. I believe the Secret Pavilion should be capable of obtaining them."

Shi Feng then revealed a list of several minor NPC cities. Most of these cities had populations below 100,000, with some as low as 30,000. These cities were also spread out, covering eleven kingdoms and two empires.

"This..." When Yuan Tiexin heard that Shi Feng wanted twenty plots of Land, he nearly cursed at the man. However, when he read the list and noticed that all of the names belonged to minor cities, he was stupefied.

Even if he added all of the cities' player populations, the total was less than two million. Moreover, the Lands in these locations did not have much potential. He could not fathom what was going through Shi Feng's mind.

However, this was good news for the Secret Pavilion.

"Guild Leader Black Flame, is this all that you want?" Yuan Tiexin asked. He doubted that Shi Feng was so generous.

"Of course not. I still want a 20,000-Gold construction fee." Seeing Yuan Tiexin's skepticism, Shi Feng had no choice but to state a more 'reasonable' price.

Truthfully, his price was quite high. Even Shi Feng thought that he was ripping off the Secret Pavilion.

Although these twenty plots of Land were not particularly expensive, they served a great purpose. However, even if he wanted to buy these Lands himself, he could not. Other large and small Guilds already occupied them. These Guilds would only part with the Lands at a reasonable price if an existence like the Secret Pavilion took action.

In the past, these Lands' cities had been known as 'Golden Cities.'

These cities had earned that name due to their proximity to high-level maps that provided Diamond Wood.

Diamond Wood was a rare type of wood in God's Domain. It was specifically used to produce high-ranking boats. Even if Diamond Wood were used to produce a Common Speedboat, that boat's standards would almost be on the same level as Bronze Speedboats. Hence, Diamond Wood had been incredibly popular among the various large Guilds and seafaring adventurer teams.

Unfortunately, Diamond Wood was extremely rare. Many kingdoms and empires lacked maps that provided the wood, including Star-Moon Kingdom.

Now that he had his own Medium Shipyard, he had to prepare.

In the past, he hadn't had this opportunity. Now that the chance was before him, how could he miss it?

Lands in these cities had sold for astronomical prices during his previous life. Back then, 50,000 Gold had been the bare minimum to purchase one plot of Land.

Unlike ordinary materials, players could not store the wood meant for crafting boats in their bag space. Rather, players had to transport the wood at its full size. Moreover, even when the wood reached an NPC town or city, it was still considerably troublesome to transport the wood to its final destination.

Of course, players could utilize teleportation arrays to transport the wood. Only, the price of teleporting a single log was far higher than teleporting a player. In the past, the most common transportation method had been transport carriages. However, it would be foolish to transport a single log each trip. Hence, players usually stockpiled the wood before hauling it all at once.

However, NPC towns and cities did not permit players to leave piles of items on the streets. If anyone dared to do so, their items would be confiscated immediately.

Due to this, the various large Guilds had needed warehouses to store the materials.

To put it simply, Guilds in the past had spent 50,000 Gold to purchase warehouses for their Diamond Wood. 

Chapter 1106 - Advanced Transport Carriage

"An additional 20,000 Gold?" For a moment, Yuan Tiexin fell into deep thought. "Fine. However, once we make the payment, you need to begin the Magic Tower's construction immediately."

Although the minor cities' twenty plots of Land and the 20,000 Gold was slightly more expensive than the five high-potential Lands in major cities, the latter's value had far more space to grow.

"That's fine. When the deeds for those twenty plots of Land and the 20,000 Gold arrive, we will begin the tower's construction." Shi Feng hadn't expected Yuan Tiexin to agree to his demands so quickly.

Although obtaining those Lands was a simple task for a Super Guild, collecting the 20,000 Gold was not.

Yuan Tiexin's ability to agree so readily showed that 20,000 Gold was nothing to the Secret Pavilion right now.

This caused Shi Feng some regret. If he had known, he would've asked for 30,000 Gold.

After all, Super Guilds would undoubtedly invest more than 20,000 gold into a town's defenses. A single Defense Turret already cost 7,000 Gold, roughly the same price of constructing a Magic Tower if it were built by a Master Lifestyle player. Meanwhile, a Guild would need at least four Defense Turrets to defend a town adequately. Unfortunately, four Defense Turrets weren't as capable as a single Magic Tower.

Following which, Shi Feng and Yuan Tiexin signed an agreement stating that the Secret Pavilion would complete its part of the deal within two days. At that point, Zero Wing would be required to construct a Magic Tower in Ice Crystal Town within two days.

Shi Feng was surprised when he saw Ice Crystal Town's name.

He had never imagined that the Secret Pavilion would capture the town.

Ice Crystal Town was a border town in the Fire Wing Empire's southwestern region. The town had originally belonged to a dark force, and the majority of the town's NPCs were Tier 2. There were even several Tier 3 NPCs in charge of the town. Even the Fire Wing Empire had to consider actions against the town carefully. However, this town was precisely the reason that the Fire Wing Empire had given up on evicting the dark forces in the area. One could just imagine how difficult it would be for players to raid the town.

Although Ice Crystal Town appeared ordinary, it was the closest town to the neutral map, Sunset Mountain Range.

As a neutral map, the Sunset Mountain Range did not fall under the influence of any kingdom or empire. The map was also roughly half the size of a kingdom. As no kingdom or empire had ever developed the map, it had far more resources than the various kingdoms and empires.

Moreover, many races lived in that map. Without the many restrictions that were usually found in kingdoms and empires, many dark forces often operated in the map. Players could also find items there that were not available in kingdoms and empires.

Sadly, players couldn't teleport there. They could only travel to the map on their own power.

Ice Crystal Town's popularity among players would undoubtedly surpass Stone Forest Town if someone could obtain it. Pioneering the Sunset Mountain Range would be considerably convenient for a Guild.

As expected of the Secret Pavilion. It actually managed to secure Ice Crystal Town so early in the game. Shi Feng was fairly envious.

The Fire Wing Empire's player population exceeded Star-Moon Kingdom's by many times. For players, Stone Forest Town's sole attraction was the Stoneclaw Mountains. However, the Regional Dungeon had a Level 50 limit. Once mainstream players exceeded that limit, the town would lose its appeal.

On the other hand, the Sunset Mountain Range's limit ranged between Level 50 and 120. Ice Crystal Town would be popular in the Fire Wing Empire for a long time. If a Magic Tower were built in the town, it could easily garner three to five times more players than Stone Forest Town.

However, Shi Feng gave the matter little thought.

Zero Wing was only starting to get on the right track. How could it possibly compete with a well-established Guild like the Secret Pavilion?

Moreover, he had earned a fortune through this transaction. Only, he wouldn't see the profits immediately. Once his Shipyard officially opened for business, those twenty plots of Land would begin to show their true value.

The high-level maps near those minor cities had yet to be developed. No one had noticed the benefit of constructing boats with rare wood yet, either. Now was the perfect time to purchase Diamond Wood in bulk. Once he had trained enough Lifestyle players, he would've collected enough Diamond Wood to mass-produce boats.

Following which, Shi Feng bade Yuan Tiexin and Purple Jade farewell.

...

White River City's Teleportation Hall:

A constant stream of independent players teleported into White River City. Among them, many immediately set out to inquire about Zero Wing's Residence, all of them wishing to join the popular Guild.

"Big Sis Rain, is this really White River City?" Blue Phoenix, who wore a Black Cloak, asked as she observed her surroundings.

Elite players wandered throughout the Teleportation Hall. There were also the members of many large Guilds. Among them, there was no lack of Level 39 and Level 40 experts. Meanwhile, outside the Teleportation Hall, many players hawked their goods, and their items were just as astonishing.

"Selling a Level 35 Secret-Silver plate armor chest piece! Find me for a private chat if interested!"

"Selling a Level 40 Mysterious-Iron Weapon! Only Magic Crystals accepted as payment!"

...

Watching the players sell weapons and equipment on the street, Blue Phoenix wondered if they had teleported to the wrong place.

At this stage of the game, both Level 35 Secret-Silver Equipment and Level 40 Mysterious-Iron Weapons were considered high-quality items. Even in empires, very few players would willingly sell them, yet so many players did just that in White River City. It was simply inconceivable.

Meanwhile, the various adventurer teams present were the most shocking. Many adventurer teams recruited members to head to the Twin Towers Kingdom.

The minimum requirements to join these teams were to be Level 39 and a full set of Level 35 Secret-Silver Equipment. Applicants also had to be capable of reaching the Trial Tower's fourth floor. Players who met these criteria would be considered experts in a large Guild.

Phoenix Rain was also somewhat surprised.

Even in Star-Moon City, she hadn't encountered such a busy scene.

This was the first time she had heard or seen one of a kingdom's major cities surpass the capital.

After leaving the Teleportation Hall, Phoenix Rain quickly noticed a large number of advanced carriages moving about the streets. Hailing a carriage wasn't easy due to so many players fighting for their own.

"Why is Yuan Tiexin here?"

Just as Phoenix Rain was about to climb into an advanced carriage and head to the Candlelight Trading Firm, she discovered two players atop Mounts stopped before the Teleportation Hall's entrance. Both the man and the woman wore Black Cloaks. Although the cloaks prevented others from seeing their IDs and levels, as the two did not hide their appearances, those who knew them could recognize them easily. This was especially true for Phoenix Rain.

When Phoenix Rain saw Yuan Tiexin enter the Teleportation Hall in such a hurry, her expression shifted.

Yuan Tiexin was one of the Secret Pavilion's upper echelons. He was even one of the Guild Leader's closest confidants. Very few matters warranted a personal visit from him.

The only reason she could think of that would demand Yuan Tiexin's attention was Zero Wing.

How many secrets does Zero Wing have? Phoenix Rain could not help but reveal a bitter smile.

Following which, Phoenix Rain dispelled the thought as she made her way to the Candlelight Trading Firm.

...

Shortly after Yuan Tiexin left, Shi Feng called Melancholic Smile to meet him.

Of the two designs Lancelot had dropped, one was a Town Design, while the other was for a Transport Carriage Design. 

Chapter 1107 - New Product Launch

Over twenty Advanced Forgers and Engineers stood inside one of Candlelight's Special Forging Rooms.

These Advanced Lifestyle players had come at Shi Feng's call.

As Advanced Lifestyle players, they were highly valued and had high statuses in any Guild.

However, when these twenty-plus Advanced Lifestyle players entered the room, they all fell silent, fully focused on the ancient design spread out on the table.

"Guild Leader, this is..." Melancholic Smile rubbed her eyes, not daring to believe what she saw.

The Advanced Transport Carriage!

Ordinary players might not have much use for this item, but to a manager of a trading firm, it was incredibly important.

To her, the Advanced Transport Carriage was worth far more than the Bronze Engineering Locomotive.

Not only could the Advanced Transport Carriage transport a large group of players, but it could also transport more goods than the ordinary carriages that NPCs sold.

Many important items in God's Domain couldn't be stored in a player's bag space. Players were required to carry such items by themselves.

The carriages NPCs sold or rented out could only support a few players. Even a Bronze Carriage could only carry five people at a time. And while a Bronze Carriage could carry plenty of items in its bag space, it could only carry a maximum of ten items that couldn't be stored in a bag space. Most importantly, these carriages could only travel on official trade routes, which greatly limited their uses.

Transport Carriages, however, were different. As player-crafted items, they did not have many road restrictions.

The Basic Transport Carriage could already hold up to 10 players. In addition, its bag space was larger than NPC Bronze Carriages, and it could carry up to 30 non-bag items. It was also faster.

Normally, non-bag items were very valuable, regardless of whether the items were for an NPC or to sell to other players elsewhere. Delivering such goods was the easiest way to make a profit.

Merchant players would even fight over Basic Transport Carriages if they were available on the market, much less Advanced Transport Carriages.

The Advanced Transport Carriage could carry up to twenty people. Needless to say, its bag space was leaps and bounds larger than the Bronze Carriage. It could also carry up to 60 non-bag items. As for its speed, it could compete with Mysterious-Iron Mounts.

If the Candlelight Trading Firm could use Advanced Transport Carriages, even if they didn't sell products and focused on logistics, they could make a fortune.

Hence, how could Melancholic Smile contain her excitement?

"You've seen the design for yourselves. I hope that you start producing them quickly. As for the key material, I'll try to think of a way to obtain what you need. For now, start producing whichever parts you can," Shi Feng instructed, chuckling at everyone's dumbfounded expressions.

While the Advanced Transport Carriage was amazing, its required materials were extremely rare.

The Candlelight Trading Firm might be able to procure most of the required materials, but the main material, Green Ebony, was extremely difficult to acquire. Even Shi Feng could only think of a few places that produced this wood. Moreover, these locations were all very high-level maps. Even the lowest leveled location was a Level 60 map called Crying Ghost Ridge. Unfortunately, it was a neutral map, a forbidden land for current players.

Only Tier 2 players would dare to grind there.

However, for the Advanced Transport Carriages, Shi Feng intended to make the trip.

If he had Transport Carriages, he could open trade routes from Stone Forest Town to other NPC towns sooner than he had planned.

Following which, Shi Feng had the Advanced Lifestyle players research the Advanced Transport Carriage's components, while he instructed Melancholic Smile to stay behind.

After the others left, Shi Feng looked to Melancholic Smile and asked, "What's the situation with the Blackwater and Heavenly Trading Firms?"

Before the war, both the Blackwater and Heavenly Trading Firms had waged a crazy price war with the Candlelight, hoping to push Candlelight out of Star-Moon Kingdom's market while they whittle down Zero Wing's financial strength.

Now that Blackwater and Heaven's Burial had suffered such a massive defeat, the two Guilds would take some sort of action.

This was especially true since Zero Wing urgently needed money.

"As you've guessed, they have reduced their prices again. They've dropped their Light Stone's prices in particular. Right now, they're selling each Light Stone for only 30 Copper. They aren't even trying to cover their production cost now," Melancholic Smile slowly reported.

For current players, Light Stones were a must-have item. They were also the Candlelight Trading Firm's most competitive product.

Now that the Blackwater and Heavenly Trading Firms have lowered their prices to 30 Copper, one could see how much the two trading firms hated Candlelight.

At 30 Copper, Blackwater and Heavenly couldn't even cover their production costs. Candlelight Trading Firm, however, could still make a profit due to their many Advanced Forgers. In addition, due to the Special Forging Rooms, powerful flames, and other support tools, Candlelight's production cost for Light Stones was only 20 Copper.

"Since they want to play, let's humor them until the end. Sell the Light Stones for 25 Copper each. We'll also start selling the Exotic Stamina Potions." Shi Feng did not feel anything in particular about this situation. He had long since prepared for the day when the Light Stones would no longer be profitable. After all, the Light Stones were a common product in God's Domain. He was satisfied with the fortune he had already made off of them.

Meanwhile, the Exotic Stamina Potion he was about to launch was different.

Candlelight had exclusive rights over the Exotic Stamina Potion's recipe. Its price was also within ordinary players' budgets. This was definitely a must-have potion. Most importantly, this potion would become popular among gathering players.

One of players' main sources of income in God's Domain was gathering raw materials.

However, players consumed far more Stamina when gathering materials than in Boss battles. Moreover, the rarer a material was, the more Stamina players would consume. This resulted in frequent forced breaks and limited gathering times.

Once they released the Exotic Stamina Potion, Shi Feng refused to believe that players, who preferred to gather materials rather than fight monsters, would pass this new product by.

"I'll get it done right away." Melancholic Smile nodded excitedly.

The Blackwater and Heavenly Trading Firm's actions had irritated her. Now that they were about to launch the Exotic Stamina Potion, she wanted to see how those two trading firms planned to compete with Candlelight.

Following which, Melancholic Smile reorganized the layout of the Candlelight Trading Firm's first-floor hall, setting up a counter specifically for the Exotic Stamina Potion.

The new counter immediately garnered the attention of many players.

"Leader, look over there. Candlelight seems to have launched a new product."

"Let's head over and take a look."

Immediately, a large crowd gathered around the first-floor's new counter.

"Crap! Isn't this potion a little too amazing?! It can actually recover Stamina!" 

Chapter 1108 - Ten People

When the crowd read the Exotic Stamina Potion's description, excitement shone in their eyes.

As one of the major Hidden Attributes, Stamina played a massive large role in players' everyday lives. However, it was very limited.

"Leader, we hit the jackpot this time! This Stamina Potion is perfect for the Silent Swamp! With this potion, we won't have any problems reaching the swamp's core!" a Level 38 Berserker exclaimed through his team chat.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Let's take a look at the price first. If it's too expensive, I'd rather stick to grinding in the swamp's outer region," a Level 39 Shield Warrior replied. However, although his tone was indifferent, anticipation flashed in his eyes. Inwardly, he hoped that the Exotic Stamina Potion was too expensive.

The Silent Swamp was a Level 40 to Level 50 high-resource map. However, as this map was a swamp, players consumed a lot of Stamina while moving through it. Moreover, the deeper one ventured into the swamp, the more Stamina they consumed. Hence, the various large Guilds had avoided sending members there to level up. This provided an excellent opportunity for independent players like themselves to make money and level up quickly.

Previously, on their team's first trip to the Silent Swamp, they discovered that the map was a land of treasures. They frequently came across rare minerals and herbs. Although there were a lot of monsters there, if one were careful, they could walk away with a significant harvest.

Unfortunately, during this period, more players headed to the Silent Swamp, causing their income from the swamp's outer area to plummet, yet they couldn't venture into the inner and core regions as their Stamina consumption would be too severe. If they encountered monsters with nearly depleted Stamina, they would undoubtedly suffer a team-wipe. However, if they took too many breaks, they wouldn't get far, and their harvest would be quite small.

If they could use this Exotic Stamina Potion, they could reach the swamp's core and its abundant resources. At that time, their daily income would skyrocket.

Their team would also be able to gather enough money to equip everyone with Mounts. By then, they would earn the other adventurer teams' envy.

As this Level 39 Shield Warrior was occupied with his thoughts, the other independent players surrounding the counter calculated their own potential gains and losses.

"Quickly look! The pre-sale price is out!"

"Did Candlelight list the wrong price?"

"There must be a mistake! How can the Exotic Stamina Potion be this cheap!?"

The players in the hall cried out in shock when they saw the pre-sale price.

The Mana Mixture the Blackwater and Heavenly Trading Firms sold only had a duration of two hours. The Exotic Stamina Potion, on the other hand, lasted ten hours. Moreover, unlike the Mana Mixture, which only increased the user's maximum Mana by 10%, the Exotic Stamina Potion increased the user's maximum Stamina by 10% and increased Stamina recovery rate by 80%. One Exotic Stamina Potion was roughly the equivalent of five Mana Mixtures, yet it only cost 10 Silver Coins per bottle. It was much cheaper than the Mana Mixture. How could they believe this?

However, even after some time, the NPC manning the counter did not change the price. This situation drove everyone crazy as they panted and stared at the Exotic Stamina Potion's sales timer.

There were 30 minutes until the Exotic Stamina Potion went on sale.

However, none of these players showed any indication of stepping away from the counter. They lined up and waited for the potion's sale. They also contacted their party and team members in secret to gather more money.

As players continued to notify others about the Exotic Stamina Potion, news of the potion quickly spread like wildfire. Immediately, it caused a commotion in White River City. To gathering players and players who spent a long time in the fields adventuring, the Exotic Stamina Potion was a godsend.

"The Exotic Stamina Potion? I never expected Candlelight to sell something like this. With this, we won't have any problems in the ancient ruins in the Twin Towers Kingdom. Send someone to buy the potions immediately. Buy as many as you can."

The various Guild elite teams preparing to head to the Twin Towers Kingdom promptly made their way to the Candlelight Trading Firm after receiving the news.

The relatively calm Candlelight Trading Firm instantly boomed with business.

Meanwhile, sitting in the Candlelight Trading Firm's second-floor lounge, Phoenix Rain and Blue Phoenix were shocked over this situation.

"Big Sis Rain, Zero Wing is amazing. Despite all the effort we've put into gathering information, we have yet to find any items capable of Stamina recovery, yet Zero Wing is about to put one up for sale. Moreover, it's so cheap. With this, Blackwater and Heaven's Burial must be growling in frustration," Blue Phoenix said, giggling as she watched the players line up in the first-floor hall.

One could purchase an Exotic Stamina Potion that lasted for ten hours for just 10 Silver Coins. That was the equivalent of paying 1 Silver per hour. Even ordinary players could afford this.

Ordinary players earned a limited income. Aside from spending their money on necessary items, if ordinary players wished to level up quickly or gather more herbs and minerals, they could buy the Exotic Stamina Potion.

However, if these players bought the Exotic Stamina Potion, they wouldn't have any money to spend elsewhere for a while.

With this, Blackwater and Heaven's Burial's price reductions to attract more customers were now useless...

Nodding in agreement, Phoenix Rain said, "Zero Wing has indeed grown a lot stronger. It's a pity that we don't have much time left. Otherwise, they could help me win the battle on Thunder Island."

She had two matters to discuss with Zero Wing this time.

The first regarded the Dark Arena. The Asura Battle Team's next match had been decided, and it would be held tomorrow afternoon. Once the match was over, the Dark Arena would host a large-scale auction. Based on what she had heard so far, all sorts of precious and valuable items would be up for sale.

The second matter regarded Thunder Island.

Currently, the competition over Thunder Island grew more intense with each passing day. More Guilds were starting to reach for Thunder Island. In fact, Nine Dragons Emperor had even employed his family's influence for this matter. Although she, too, had used her family's influence, she still faced many difficulties regarding the island. Hence, she planned to borrow some of Zero Wing's members to assist her.

As Phoenix Rain and Blue Phoenix conversed, Shi Feng entered the lounge.

What a powerful mental oppression! Blue Phoenix was shocked when Shi Feng joined them.

She had always been curious about the strength of Zero Wing's Guild Leader. Now that she was meeting the man in person, it would seem that the rumors about him were true.

The powerful mental oppression she felt from Shi Feng made her feel somewhat strangled. Rather than a player, Shi Feng felt like a humanoid monster.

Phoenix Rain, however, was not particularly surprised.

She had watched the video of Shi Feng's battle in Stone Forest Town. Otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered with a personal trip to the Candlelight Trading Firm.

"May I know why the Phoenix Pavilion Master suddenly requests my attention? Have they announced the competition's official date?" Shi Feng asked after taking his seat, smiling at Phoenix Rain.

Although the Asura Battle Team's opponents had been decided some time ago, the competition's date had been a mystery.

This competition in the Dark Arena was incredibly important to him.

As more major corporations took part in the Dark Arena, the bets on each match would increase. At this point, It shouldn't be difficult for a winning team to walk away with twenty or thirty thousand Gold.

To Zero Wing, which urgently needed funds, the Dark Arena was an invaluable source of income.

"You're half correct. The competition will take place at 10 p.m. tomorrow in the Flame Dragon Empire's imperial capital," Phoenix Rain said, chuckling. "I'm also here to borrow ten players from Zero Wing." 

Chapter 1109 - Holy Land at Sea

"Borrow some of our players?"

Shi Feng gave Phoenix Rain.

The Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion was a super-first-rate Guild. The Pavilion recruited a large number of members each year, and they had tons of Guild-nurtured experts.

Yet, that same Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion had sought him out to borrow manpower. This was inconceivable.

"That's right. I wish to borrow ten people to help me with a task. Once the task is complete, I will pay you 5,000 Magic Crystals. If the task fails, I will pay 1,000 crystals. Of course, I will offer additional compensation should any deaths occur during my loan," Phoenix Rain said, smiling as she nodded. "May I know what Guild Leader Black Flame thinks of this?"

Normally, when hiring experts to help with a quest, payment was in the form of either Credits or Coins. An ordinary expert would only cost several Gold to hire, while even apex experts only cost around 100 Gold. Meanwhile, she had offered Magic Crystals as payment. Magic Crystals were far more valuable than Coins. It was a hard currency.

The various large Guilds already treated Magic Crystals as a strategic resource. They might be able to purchase ten or twenty Magic Crystals from independent adventurer teams or small Workshops, but when the numbers climbed into the triple digits, it was practically impossible to find enough on the market.

Five thousand Magic Crystals was a considerable sum for any large Guild. Some large Guilds didn't even have so many Magic Crystals in their warehouses.

Now, by loaning ten of its experts, Zero Wing could potentially earn 5,000 Magic Crystals. This was definitely a tempting offer.

"Phoenix Pavilion Master, can you reveal the details of the task?" Shi Feng was indeed tempted after listening to the offer.

Aside from running a Guild, his goal in establishing the Zero Wing Workshop was to accept commissions.

However, requests like Phoenix Rain's were rare.

"That's fine. The task is very simple. I just need Zero Wing's members to defend an ancient tower on Thunder Island, preventing anyone else from capturing it. As Thunder Island is a very special place, only a very limited number of players can be there at a time. When the time comes, our enemies won't be able to dispatch much manpower. It would be a miracle if they could send twenty or thirty players. As long as Zero Wing's members defend their assigned tower until the Pavilion's main force captures a monster encampment, the task will be a success," Phoenix Rain explained after giving the matter some thought.

News of Thunder Island had long since been spread among God's Domain's superpowers. It was no big secret.

Currently, to secure a larger share of Thunder Island, the various superpowers were recruiting helpers from all over the place. Some had even hired extremely powerful independent players.

This was all due to the unique conditions to capture Thunder Island. It was not an issue that could be resolved with a large army. Rather than quantity, one needed quality.

Hence, she was asking for Zero Wing's help.

Zero Wing had performed magnificently in the Dark Arena. Its members definitely qualified to take part in the battle on Thunder Island.

In addition, she had found plenty of apex experts elsewhere. Although she might not occupy Thunder Island exclusively, she should have no problems taking control of a small portion. When the initial skirmish was over, her next step would be to fight the other Super Guilds slowly.

"Thunder Island?" Information about Thunder Island immediately surfaced in Shi Feng's mind.

Thunder Island was in an extremely dangerous sea zone. That zone was known as the Sea of Death. One could find plenty of treasures and fortuitous encounters in the Sea of Death. There were even numerous ancient ruins in the zone. The abundant resources in the sea zone surpassed imagination. Thus, many maritime adventurer teams often explored the Sea of Death.

Meanwhile, the only location in the Sea of Death that players could reside in was Thunder Island. As for the other islands in the sea zone, players couldn't survive on them for long periods. Once the night sky covered the Sea of Death, a large number of underwater monsters appeared. There were simply too many of these monsters for players to contend with.

Thunder Island was only an exception because the island received thunder and lightning all year round. Even after night arrived, sea monsters couldn't reach the island. Thunder Island became a safe haven of sorts in the Sea of Death.

As a result, bloodbaths had been a constant on Thunder Island in the past. The various superpowers in God's Domain all wanted Thunder Island for themselves.

However, it was not that easy to occupy Thunder Island. In the past, not one of these superpowers had controlled the entire island. In the end, various superpowers jointly operated the holy land at sea.

Shi Feng had visited the island many times in the past. Unfortunately, as his Guild had been too weak, they had never qualified to establish a small base in this holy land. He had been forced to travel to Thunder Island by boat each time he visited.

Shi Feng had not expected the war over Thunder Island to begin so soon in this life.

"This task won't last very long. It'll be over in a day or so," Phoenix Rain added after Shi Feng had remained silent.

Capturing Thunder Island was different from ordinary towns, where things would end once the target town was captured. In order to gain authority over the town on Thunder Island, one needed to capture monster encampments. The more encampments one captured, the more authority one could utilize. If one captured all of the monster encampments on Thunder Island, they would obtain the highest authority on the island.

Meanwhile, this authority contest occurred once a month, with each contest lasting eight hours. Moreover, during the day of the contest, Thunder Island would be enveloped in an ancient magic array. If one wished to set foot on the island during that time, they needed an entry pass. Without the entry pass, players would be automatically transported off of Thunder Island. Each entry pass allowed up to ten people to enter the island and could be obtained by killing Bosses in the Sea of Death.

The Sea of Death was already an extremely dangerous sea zone. It was home to plenty of sea monsters, and these monsters were much stronger than the monsters found on land. The chances of a team-wipe were even highly likely when sailing through the Sea of Death, not to mention when hunting Bosses in the zone.

Currently, the various superpowers were doing their best to find and kill Bosses. They had suffered immense losses as a result. The Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion was no exception.

Thus, the entry passes were exceedingly precious. These superpowers could not invite ordinary experts to take part in the contest. They would take as many apex experts to the island as they could. Only by doing so could they utilize the entry passes to their fullest potential.

After pondering the situation for some time, Shi Feng looked at Phoenix Rain and asked, "May I know how many entry passes Phoenix Pavilion Master has right now?"

Hearing Shi Feng's question, both Phoenix Rain and Blue Phoenix were stunned.

The various superpowers were keeping a tight lid on the entry passes. They had never imagined that Zero Wing would know about this as well.

However, when Phoenix Rain thought back to her encounter with Yuan Tiexin, she understood. Although the Secret Pavilion was not one of the superpowers contesting over Thunder Island, the latter possessed a powerful information network. It was not all that surprising that Shi Feng knew about the entry passes.

"Your information network cannot be underestimated. I won't hide it from you. I currently have slightly over twenty passes. In other words, I can bring over 200 people to compete for prominence on the island," Phoenix Rain said, smiling. "Are you interested in a piece of this pie as well?"

Although she would not underestimate Zero Wing, those involved were God's Domain's superpowers. They were on an entirely different level compared to Zero Wing. With how few experts Zero Wing employed, the Guild would not survive long on Thunder Island. 

Chapter 1110 - Contesting over Monster Encampments

Shi Feng shook his head when he heard Phoenix Rain's question. Contrary to Phoenix Rain's assumption, he was not particularly interested in Thunder Island.

Phoenix Rain found Shi Feng's response reasonable.

If Shi Feng truly understood the situation on Thunder Island, then he knew how fierce the upcoming contest would be.

There were already three Super Guilds participating in the contest, not to mention super-first-rate Guilds. Moreover, the upcoming fights wouldn't be minor. These Guilds were dispatching all of their top players. Every one of these existences wanted authority over Thunder Island. This way, they could temporarily establish a Guild transfer point and set up a foundation to explore the Sea of Death.

After all, the Sea of Death was quite far from the main continent. Even if players traveled from the nearest coastal town on a speedboat, they would have to sail for over a day to reach the Sea of Death. On their way to Thunder Island, players would also have to venture through a dangerous sea zone.

One also needed a sufficiently powerful naval fleet to participate in the contest.

Sea monsters were more powerful than land monsters, not to mention Boss-ranked sea monsters. Even the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion had to sacrifice a large number of elites and experts to kill one such Boss. They could easily lose up to 30 ships during one of these raids. Even first-rate Guilds could not afford such a loss, yet even after so many sacrifices, they would only obtain one or two entry passes.

To Zero Wing, which didn't have a naval foundation, it would likely lose far more than the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion if it tried to join this contest.

"Give me twenty slots. I can help you defend two ancient towers. My price is 20,000 Magic Crystals and one temporary transfer point. If we fail, I won't charge a single Coin. I also won't require any compensation for deaths," Shi Feng said after giving the matter some thought.

It was very difficult to occupy the monster encampments on Thunder Island. The monsters in these encampments depended on the players on the island. These monsters were generally Chieftain rank and above. Before players reached Tier 2, the Bosses defending these encampments would be fixed as Grand Lords. Including the risk of ambushes by other Guilds, the difficulty of capturing an encampment was obvious at a glance.

Most importantly, the monsters in these encampments had extremely high Defense and Magic Resistance. It was not possible to raid these encampments normally. One needed the ancient towers' buffs to lower the difficulty.

Meanwhile, the more ancient towers one occupied, the easier it would become to deal with these monsters.

However, Thunder Island had a limited number of ancient towers. The various large Guilds would definitely dispatch their men to take these towers over, although they would only send a small number of players to do so. After all, the monster encampments were the most important targets.

To secure an ancient tower, one would generally dispatch 15 to 20 players, and these Guilds usually attempted to occupy three or four towers. Once they did, with their experts' strength, they could take down a monster encampment with roughly one hundred players.

His offer to defend two ancient towers would undoubtedly relieve some of the burden on Phoenix Rain. She would have an additional 10 players to help her occupy a monster encampment.

"You'll secure two ancient towers?" Phoenix Rain fell into deep thought.

To solidify their hold on the ancient towers, she had previously decided to dispatch 20 players to each tower. Her plan was to send 60 players to capture three ancient towers. The other 100-plus players she had would be more than enough to capture an encampment. This was her most conservative plan. Ideally, she wanted to capture two encampments. However, this was simply too difficult.

If what Shi Feng said was true and he could maintain two ancient towers with just 20 players, she could save an additional 20 players for herself. If she put more efforts into expanding her fleet, she might even obtain two or three more entry passes before the day of the contest. By then, she would have a chance of obtaining two monster encampments.

Only, Shi Feng's transfer point condition was somewhat difficult to agree to.

For each monster encampment one captured on Thunder Island, they would earn two temporary Guild transfer points in the town. She had already promised one transfer point to another large Guild that had agreed to assist her. If not for said large Guild, she would not have obtained so many entry passes in the first place.

If she accepted Shi Feng's offer, she had to secure two monster encampments.

However, there were too many uncertainties.

Moreover, Phoenix Rain found it hard to believe that Zero Wing had so many powerful experts capable of defending two ancient towers with just a team of twenty.

"Is there some issue?" Shi Feng could not help but ask as he watched Phoenix Rain ponder his offer.

"Guild Leader Black Flame, to tell you the truth, each captured monster encampment only provides two temporary Guild transfer points. Among them, I have already promised one to the Firmament Guild. Although Firmament is only a first-rate Guild, the Guild has been developing its maritime strength. Currently, its navy is even stronger than many super-first-rate Guilds. If not for them, I wouldn't have obtained so many entry passes, to begin with," Phoenix Rain explained.

"Firmament?" Shi Feng recalled the Guild from his past.

The Firmament Guild was indeed an overlord at sea. Firmament had occupied two coastal NPC cities, which had populations in the millions, very early in the game. These two cities served as the foundation for the Guild to develop its maritime strength. In addition, Firmament had focused on developing its navy. Although overall, it was significantly weaker than super-first-rate Guilds, battles at sea did not rely on Guild experts. The quantity and quality of the Guild's ships also played a major role. In the past, even some Super Guilds had not been a match for Firmament's combat power at sea.

It was no wonder why the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion had managed to obtain so many entry passes, despite having recently begun its naval development.

"When will Thunder Island's contest begin?" Shi Feng asked.

"The contest will begin in seven days. However, traveling to the island takes a full day, so we only have six days to prepare," Phoenix Rain replied as she gave Shi Feng a quizzical look. She didn't understand why Shi Feng had asked such a question.

"Seven days should be enough," Shi Feng said, laughing. "Phoenix Pavilion Master, how about I make you another offer? Give me 60 slots. As long as your side can hold three ancient towers, my side will capture a monster encampment for you. In return, I want 100,000 Magic Crystals or Lands of equivalent value in addition to one temporary transfer point. What do you think?"

When Phoenix Rain and Blue Phoenix heard Shi Feng's new proposal, they stared at him in shock.

They both believed that Shi Feng was insane.

While 100,000 Magic Crystals was not a problem for them, they simply did not understand where Shi Feng found his confidence to make such a bold claim.

Based on her estimation, under the assumption that they could capture three ancient towers as planned, capturing a monster encampment required at least 100 apex experts.

Although the Guild seemed full of experts to ordinary players, in the eyes of superpowers, Zero Wing only had around ten truly capable experts. How was Shi Feng going to fill the 50 remaining slots?

Even if he could dispatch another 50 capable experts, it was impossible to capture a monster encampment with just 60 players.

"Phoenix Pavilion Master, you originally planned to capture only one encampment, right? You should know that the likelihood of capturing a second is quite low. Even if you allow Zero Wing to fight for the second encampment, I'm sure you won't suffer much loss. If you are still not sure, I can sign an agreement. If Zero Wing fails to secure the second encampment, we will pay 100,000 Magic Crystals. How about it?" 

Chapter 1111 - Improving Strength

Shi Feng's words stunned Phoenix Rain and Blue Phoenix.

One hundred thousand Magic Crystals was not a small amount. Even the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion would not casually play with such a large amount. They never thought that Shi Feng would be so confident of capturing a monster encampment.

However, even after watching Shi Feng for a long moment, neither of them saw any signs of anxiety. Shi Feng had remained extremely calm the entire time.

After giving the matter some thought, Phoenix Rain said, "Since Guild Leader Black Flame is so confident, I will agree to your conditions."

"Big Sis Rain?" Blue Phoenix could not help but turn to Phoenix Rain in shock.

Setting aside Zero Wing's confidence in capturing a monster encampment, losing 60 slots would be a major problem for the Phoenix Pavilion.

They only had 21 entry passes. After deducting Zero Wing's 60 players and the 60 players required to defend the ancient towers, they only had 90 remaining slots. Even if they were lucky and obtained another three passes in the next few days, attempting to capture a monster encampment with only 120 experts was risky.

In the off chance that Zero Wing failed and their side was targeted by other Guilds, it was possible that they might end up with nothing at all.

If they followed their original plan, however, they could gain at least one monster encampment.

"Don't worry. I understand the risks."

Phoenix Rain did not bother to explain herself to Blue Phoenix. She signed an agreement with Shi Feng.

As long as Zero Wing captured a monster encampment and secured it until the end of the contest, Phoenix Rain would pay 100,000 Magic Crystals and one temporary Guild transfer point on Thunder Island.

After both sides signed the contract, Phoenix Rain left the lounge with Blue Phoenix.

...

As they climbed into the advanced carriage, Blue Phoenix couldn't hold it in any longer. "Big Sis Rain, isn't this move a little too risky? Nine Dragons Emperor's group is capable of taking at least one monster encampment down. If we end up with nothing, we won't have leverage against Nine Dragons Emperor."

Phoenix Rain was clearly able to reach a draw with Nine Dragons Emperor, yet she had intentionally chosen a more dangerous path. This was completely different from how Phoenix Rain normally operated.

"Blue, what you're saying is correct. If we follow according to the original plan, we could end in a draw," Phoenix Rain said, chuckling. "However, even if Black Flame hadn't suggested such a risky endeavor, when the time came, I would have split our forces to capture two monster encampments.

"I wonder if Black Flame suggested such a crazy plan because he prediction my intentions. In any case, I won't lose anything by agreeing to his proposal. On the contrary, Zero Wing will share the price of failure with us, but that price is more severe for them.

"Moreover, I am also very curious as to why Black Flame is so confident of taking down a monster encampment with just 60 Zero Wing members."

Phoenix Rain's words rendered Blue Phoenix speechless.

Phoenix Rain had made such a risky decision simply to sate her curiosity. How was she any different from Zero Wing's Guild Leader, Black Flame?

...

In the quiet second-floor lounge in the Candlelight Trading Firm...

Shortly after Phoenix Rain left, two unparalleled beauties entered the room, confusion and helplessness filling their eyes as they gazed at Shi Feng.

"Guild Leader, this is a battle between God's Domain's superpowers. Their strength is on an entirely different level. Aren't we taking too large of a risk for 100,000 Magic Crystals?" Aqua Rose asked, her head aching.

Before encountering the Secret Pavilion's simulation training system, she had assumed that there was only a small difference between first-rate Guilds and Super Guilds. However, after training in the system for some time, she finally realized that Super Guilds were in an entirely different world.

Of the Secret Pavilion's trainees currently in the simulation training system, a large number were already in the Refinement Realm. One could just imagine how many Refinement Realm experts the Secret Pavilion had, much less other Super Guilds.

In comparison, excluding Shi Feng, Zero Wing only had three people in the Refinement Realm: Fire Dance, Violet Cloud, and Gentle Snow.

While this might be a powerful force in first-rate Guilds, this was a paltry amount in the eyes of Super Guilds.

Of course, aside from combat standards, other factors also affected battles with other players such as combat experience, weapons, equipment, Skills, and various tools. Why would Super Guilds' apex experts lack any of these?

In the end, the battles would come down to combat standards.

Gentle Snow nodded in agreement with Aqua Rose's views.

Initially, she had been astonished. She had never imagined that not only did Zero Wing possess a close relationship with the Secret Pavilion, but even the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion's Pavilion Master had traveled so far to seek the Guild's aid.

Superpowers' upper echelons like these even looked down on the Guild Leaders of first-rate Guilds. Although only a single rank separated the two Guilds, interactions between them were unheard of. Someone of Phoenix Rain's rank making a personal visit to anything less than a super-first-rate Guild was practically a dream.

"Don't we have seven days?" Shi Feng shrugged nonchalantly. "I just so happen to be free for the moment. I'll help you all train for a bit."

"Train?"

"Really?! Guild Leader, you must keep your word, alright!?"

Gentle Snow was confused. Aqua Rose, who stood beside her, however, rejoiced when she heard this. Every time Shi Feng took them out to grind monsters, not only would their levels rise rapidly, but if they were lucky, they would also get to upgrade their already-excellent weapons and equipment. The Guild's core members always hoped that Shi Feng would lead them.

"However, we can't have too many people this time. It is very dangerous where we are going. We'll take a team of twenty at most."

"Mhm, I understand."

Upon hearing Shi Feng's instructions, Aqua Rose immediately began to contact the other members.

Since Shi Feng's goal was to help improve the Guild's top combatants, she only contacted the top ranking players within the Guild. Among them were the ten Asura Battle Team members and the top players from Gentle Snow's team as well as Alluring Summer.

Once they formed the 20-man team, Shi Feng led the team to White River City's Teleportation Hall, teleporting to the closest town to Ghost Forest Town near the Crying Ghost Ridge. Crying Ghost Ridge was a neutral map between the Black Dragon Empire and Star-Moon Kingdom.

Although Ghost Forest Town was a border town, it was void of players.

The nearby maps were all Level 60 and above. The monsters here were simply too high-leveled for current players. If one did not wield weapons or equipment that had the Ignore Level Attribute, grinding here was impossible. Furthermore, monsters past Level 50 underwent a qualitative transformation.

Even Level 50 Common monsters were significantly stronger than Level 45 Elite monsters, much less Level 60 monsters.

It also took nearly 14 hours to reach the Crying Ghost Ridge from Ghost Forest Town on foot. Players simply had no reason to visit the town.

However, when Shi Feng's team arrived in the town's Teleportation Hall, they discovered another team of players. Moreover, every player within this team was very high-leveled; they were all Level 40 and above. Their weapons and equipment were also off the charts. Most frighteningly, these people were all independent players...

The instant Shi Feng's group appeared, these players all shifted their gaze towards Shi Feng and his team. Their cold killing intent could be felt from over a hundred yards away. 

Chapter 1112 - Midnight Tea Party

"Why would anyone else come here?"

A robust Guardian Knight carrying a round white shield on his back frowned when Shi Feng's group appeared in the teleportation array.

"Leader, could they be here for the Fallen Ark as well?" a female Cleric asked worriedly.

A beautiful woman wearing luxurious purple robes looked towards Shi Feng's group of cloaked players and said nonchalantly, "They shouldn't be. We rushed over here as soon as we received the message. Moreover, without the key, going there is useless. If they have any ill intentions, we can simply wipe them out."

"I guess you're right. If they wish to take action, we can use the opportunity to test our new weapons and equipment," another member said, laughing.

Shi Feng was also surprised when he noticed the team a short distance away, chatting merrily. He hadn't expected to find other players here at this stage of the game.

"Guild Leader, those players are really strong!" Fire Dance commented when she saw the independent players, a hint of caution flashing in her eyes.

Although the other party only had 20 players, from their movements and auras, Fire Dance could tell that these people's combat standards were very high. These players were no weaker than the apex experts she had previously encountered.

And this team had twenty such experts...

Normally, only Super Guilds were capable of forming such a team, yet these players were all independent.

"With such strength, why have I never heard these peoples names before?" Gentle Snow was similarly shocked. She had previously been a first-rate Guild's Guild Leader. Naturally, her information network was vast. She had also memorized most of the apex experts in God's Domain. However, she had never seen such a powerful independent adventurer team. The most laughable part was that she didn't recognize a single player on that team.

"From what I can remember, the only adventurer team with this level of strength has to be Owl, the team that joined us in Titan City." When Aqua Rose saw this 20-man team, she could not help but recall Owl. In her opinion, Owl was one of the most powerful adventurer teams in God's Domain. She had never imagined that she would encounter another team of such caliber. "Guild Leader, should we make their acquaintance?"

Independent teams were different from Guilds. They might be able to recruit this adventurer team to Zero Wing. Even if they failed to do so, it wouldn't hurt to know such a powerful adventurer team. In the event that they needed more manpower in the future, they could request these independent players' help. After all, apex experts were extremely rare in God's Domain.

Gentle Snow nodded in agreement.

If they could recruit these players to Zero Wing, it would undoubtedly push the Guild to a whole new level. They would also have more confidence in the contest on Thunder Island.

"Forget it. We have more important matters to deal with right now. We'll get acquainted with them if there is a chance in the future," Shi Feng said, shaking his head.

While this adventurer team might be foreign to Aqua Rose and Gentle Snow, Shi Feng could not be more familiar with them.

This adventurer team was the famous Midnight Tea Party. The team maintained a member count of twenty players. In terms of combat power, even Super Guilds feared them. However, as the Midnight Tea Party did not bother to claim territory of their own and refused to operate under anyone, the various Super Guilds had tried to recruit the team in the past. Unfortunately, no one ever succeeded.

However, what surprised Shi Feng was that he found a familiar face among the group.

Endless Scars!

Shi Feng had never imagined that the once-mythical existence would be a member of the Midnight Tea Party during God's Domain's early stages. If the public had learned of this in the past, everyone would have been shocked.

Although members that left the Midnight Tea Party had gone on to their own great achievements in the past, none of them had ever been as successful as Endless Scars.

Ranking as the number one player on the God's Domain Experts List meant that Endless Scars had stood at the peak of God's Domain.

Yet, when Shi Feng thought about how Endless Scars' status as one of the Blackwater Corporation's representatives, his head started to ache. The Blackwater Corporation's background was extraordinary. If Endless Scars joined Blackwater and became one of its leaders, he did not dare to imagine what kind of future awaited the Guild.

However, Shi Feng had never heard of Endless Scars joining Blackwater in the past. She had gone solo throughout her entire career in God's Domain.

Following which, Shi Feng led his team into an NPC Shop to stock up on food and beverages. He also had everyone check their inventory for potions and Magic Scrolls, and he handed these items out to anyone who needed them. After everyone rested, they rode their Mounts to the neutral map Crying Ghost Ridge.

The journey that typically required 14 hours only took Shi Feng and the others four. Moreover, the group didn't encounter a single monster attack on their way, surprising them all.

There were Level 60-plus monsters all over the place, and they were only Level 40-plus players. The massive level difference would allow monsters to detect them easily, yet none of the monsters attacked them during their journey.

What these players did not know was that Shi Feng knew this terrain like the back of his hand. He knew which paths were safe and which were not. In reality, the 14-hour journey included the time players wasted in fights against the local monsters. If one did not have to fight, they could reach the Crying Ghost Ridge in ten hours if they ran straight there.

"Stop for a minute. Before us lay the neutral map, Crying Ghost Ridge." As the team was about to enter the mountain path before them, Shi Feng halted his team. He then took a Tier 1 Group Invisibility Scroll from his bag and said, "We'll complete the remaining journey on foot. Remember to follow me closely. The monsters here aren't like any you have encountered before. Even the Level 60 Common monsters here could reach the Trial Tower's third floor."

"They have the combat standards to reach the Trial Tower's third floor? Are they even monsters?" Blackie could not help his astonishment.

When recruiting ordinary members, most large Guilds only required players to reach the Trial Tower's second floor. Though, Zero Wing's standards were slightly higher, with ordinary members needing to reach the third floor, while elite members needed to reach the fourth floor.

In other words, any random monster in the Crying Ghost Ridge was as strong as Zero Wing's elite members. However, monsters had much higher Attributes than players. If both sides had the same combat standards, monsters could easily kill players.

Everyone's relaxed expressions immediately vanished, and they began to move cautiously. At the same time, they were very curious about why Shi Feng had led them to such a dangerous location.

Following which, Shi Feng activated the Group Invisibility Scroll. As long as they did not attack or receive any attacks, they would remain invisible. The Group Invisibility Scroll's only drawback was that it would reduce the affected players' Movement Speed to 80% and its duration was only 10 minutes.

...

Shortly after Shi Feng's team entered the Crying Ghost Ridge, another group of players arrived before the Ridge on their horses.

"There are too many monsters on the way here. We really are lucky that leader has the Beastmaster's Breath as a deterrent. If that other team came this way, they would be stuck fighting those Level 60 monsters for hours. By the time they got here, we'd already have the Fallen Ark."

The Midnight Tea Party's members could not help but laugh.

They had only braved the journey here because their team leader had the Beastmaster's Breath. Otherwise, they would have waited until they reached Level 50.

"Huh? Something's not right. Look at those hoof prints!" When one of the Rangers used his Investigation Skill, he discovered hoof prints around the mountain path's entrance. He was shocked. "The prints look quite fresh, and there are a lot of them!"

"What?! Could it be the team we saw in town?!"

"Impossible!" 

Chapter 1113 - Foreign Races

When the Midnight Tea Party's members noticed the hoof prints, their expressions grew tense.

The Crying Ghost Ridge was a Level 60 to Level 75 map. To current players, this place was a forbidden land. If not for their interest in the Fallen Ark inside the Ridge, they would not have bothered coming here at all. Even if they were trying to avoid contact with large Guilds, they would only level and quest in Level 55 or so maps.

Why wouldn't they be surprised to find hoof prints from other mounted players?

Breeze Wine, the Midnight Tea Party's leader, turned to t a delicate, pretty Assassin in white clothes and ordered, "Wave, scout ahead and see how many people they have and how far ahead they are."

The Assassin class was not only skilled in the art of assassination. These players were also talented trackers. If an Assassin's Tracking Skill were a high enough level, they could even determine general information of the other party through their footprints. For example, the white-clothed Assassin had leveled her Tracking to Tier 1, Level 9. At this stage of the game, an Assassin with the Skill at Tier 1, Level 2 was already impressive. After all, it was not a commonly used Skill.

"Leave it to me."

The pretty Assassin called Netherworld Wave nodded. She then jumped off her massive avian Mount and checked the hoof prints. As for the rest of the team, they also dismounted and sat to rest.

Although they had ridden their Mounts the whole way here, several hours of riding was a burden on their Stamina. By sitting to rest, they could recover some of the lost Stamina.

"There are twenty sets of prints. It should be a team of Level 40 and above players. The prints are less than half an hour old. However, the team's trail disappears after reaching the path's entrance," Netherworld Wave reported. Even after searching for other clues, she could not find a reason for the sudden disappearance.

Normally, only invisibility-type Skills such as Stealth produced such effects. However, why would a group of twenty Assassins venture to the Crying Ghost Ridge?

"Although we don't know why these players are here, we should be careful. As a neutral map, there are plenty of foreign races in Crying Ghost Ridge. If the natives discover us, kill them immediately. If we can't kill them, run. Do not engage in a drawn-out battle!" Breeze Wine instructed. "Low-ranking Mounts cannot hide their tracks. And my Beastmaster's Breath is only effective against low intelligence monsters. It won't be nearly as effective against the races here. From this point on, we'll advance on foot."

Following which, the Midnight Tea Party stealthily entered the Crying Ghost Ridge.

However, as the team traveled down the narrow mountain path leading into the Crying Ghost Ridge, they discovered a bewildering scene.

The area, which had originally been covered with gravel, now looked like the surface of the moon. Craters and corpses of various races littered the ground. There were at least 300 dead scattered in the rubble.

It looked like some great war's forlorn battlefield.

"What happened here?" The female Cleric Cloud Yarn's jaw dropped, shock filling her gaze as she stared at three Ogre corpses that were over ten meters tall, their bodies bisected. Surrounding these three were hundreds of three- and five-meter tall Ogres.

[Ogre Gladiator] (High Lord)
Level 62
HP 0/19,200,000

[Ogre Warrior] (Special Elite)
Level 60
HP 0/1,900,000

[Ogre Shaman] (Chieftain)
Level 61
HP 0/3,500,000

"Leader, these Ogres seem to have been here to ambush players. However, from the looks of it, the players who passed by earlier must have killed them," Netherworld Wave said as she handed some simple traps she had picked up to Breeze Wine.

In God's Domain, players weren't the only ones capable of setting traps. Monsters could do so as well. As for foreign races that had higher intelligence than monsters, setting traps was common. Though, there were differences between the traps the various races set. For example, simple-minded races like Ogres were only capable of setting very primitive traps. Perceptive players could easily avoid them.

"Just who are those players?" Breeze Wine could not help his joy when he saw the Ogre corpses.

Among the hundreds of Ogres, there were three Level 62 Ogre Gladiators and over 30 Ogre Shamans, which were healers. Even their adventurer team would suffer casualties if they fought such a powerful force. However, he could not find a single trace of a player's resurrection on the battlefield.

"Thank goodness we arrived after those people. Otherwise, we would've had a hard battle," Cloud Yarn said, sighing in relief.

"Leader, I found the team's tracks. It seems like they're heading towards the Fallen Ark as well," Dark War, a Ranger wielding a short bow, said as he pointed towards the dead forest ahead of them.

"This is interesting." Endless Scars smiled faintly as she examined the sword marks on the Ogre Gladiators. "Leader, let's move out. If we waste too much time here, the monsters might respawn."

"Alright, let's go," Breeze Wind said as he gestured with a hand. The team then followed the tracks.

...

Meanwhile, deep in the Crying Ghost Ridge's dead forest, Shi Feng and the others faced-off against an army of Trolls. Wave after wave assaulted the team. Meanwhile, the Troll Shamans standing in the rear continuously healed the Troll Warriors and Chieftain fighting on the frontlines.

[Troll Warrior] (Elite)
Level 61
HP 650,000/650,000

[Troll Chieftain] (Great Lord)
Level 63
HP 42,000,000/42,000,000

[Troll Shaman] (Chieftain)
Level 62
HP 3,100,000/3,100,000

"Guild Leader, if they continue calling for reinforcements, we won't be able to hold them back!" Cola, who held back the Troll Chieftain, shouted. The pressure was intense as he fought the Great Lord.

He was only Level 43. With a 20-level gap, even though he had an Epic shield and the Support Skills of the Demonic Flame Tiger, he felt as if his life were on a rollercoaster. Every one of the Troll Chieftain's normal attacks dealt over -19,000 damage, while a Skill would deal over -26,000. Meanwhile, he only had slightly over 35,000 HP. If not for the Clerics' Truth Shield and Oracles' Protection on him, the Great Lord's Skills would have killed him instantly.

"Wait a little longer. Turtledove and Wumian, try to lure as many Troll Warriors away from the Chieftain as possible," Shi Feng unhurriedly instructed.

"Guild Leader, there are too many Trolls here. If any more join the fray, I'm afraid that we won't be able to deal with them." Gentle Snow felt her chest tighten as she watched more Troll Warriors join the battle.

They could deal with their foes if the monsters were simply Level 40-plus Elites. However, these were Level 60-plus Elite monsters. Furthermore, aside from the abundant EXP, killing these monsters wasn't particularly profitable; They Elite and Chieftain ranked Trolls they had already killed had only dropped Silver Coins and some materials. They hadn't even dropped a piece of Mysterious-Iron Equipment.

"Almost. Just hold on for a little while longer." Shi Feng did not bother to explain.

God's Domain's neutral maps were home to various foreign races.

Unlike humans, foreign races were very talented. Some were good with magic, some possessed unmeasured strength, some had acute five senses, and some were natural-born warriors. To put it simply, foreign races were much stronger than humans.

During ancient times, humans had consistently ranked at the very bottom among the races in God's Domain. Humans did not have an edge in combat. However, humans' intelligence was unmatched. The human race had only achieved the prosperity it enjoyed today by accumulating and passing on their knowledge from one generation to the next.

Although humans were still no match for Archaic Species, they had become the to race on the continent of God's Domain and occupied most of the continent's territories.

There were two foreign races in Ghost Crying Ridge: Ogres and Trolls. While Ogres wielded boundless strength, they lacked the intelligence to produce weapons that could maximize that strength. Trolls, on the other hand, were very smart. Normally, they would gather wood and stone to forge weapons for battle.

Green Ebony was among the wood these Trolls harvested. Hence, when killing these Trolls, there was a chance that Green Ebony would drop.

Of course, players could also search the Crying Ghost Ridge for harvestable Green Ebony. However, the process was troublesome. Moreover, to Shi Feng and the others, Crying Ghost Ridge was still too dangerous to explore casually. There were many places that they couldn't reach yet. Thus, Shi Fent settled on killing Trolls for the wood.

In fact, he was specifically waiting for the Troll Chieftain to call for reinforcements so that he would have more Troll Warriors to kill. Troll Warriors were only Elite monsters. Their chances of dropping a rare material like Green Ebony were quite low. At the very least, they needed to kill Chieftain ranked Trolls for a decent chance of obtaining Green Ebony.

"Guild Leader, more Trolls have arrived!" Minor Wind reported, his expression twisting.

Among the newcomers were three Lord ranked Trolls! 

Chapter 1114 - Advanced Technique

As soon as Minor Wind finished his report, the team heard crashing from the nearby forest as one tree after another fell to the ground. Suddenly, three three-meter-tall figures jumped into the clearing. These three figures were black-skinned Trolls clad in broken armor, each wielding a silver spear. Their blood-red eyes radiated an intense bloodlust.

"Roar!"

The instant the three black Trolls noticed Shi Feng's group, they bellowed in rage. One of them even swung their spear at a nearby tree, felling the massive tree with a single attack. Even Shi Feng couldn't underestimate their incredible Strength.

[Petrified Troll] (Lord)
Level 62
HP 8,200,000/8,200,000

Everyone on the team felt an immense pressure from the Petrified Trolls.

If the Trolls were merely Level 40 Lords, they could hold the monsters back. However, a Level 62 Lord was many times more powerful than a Level 40. On their team, only their MTs could withstand an assault from one of these monsters. No one else could endure their attacks, much less pin them down.

These Level 62 Lords possessed combat standards at the Trial Tower's fourth floor. These Petrified Trolls' Attributes also dwarfed theirs. The same held true for speed. In addition, Lord ranked monsters were generally resistant to Control Skills. If they could neither outrun nor control these monsters, just how were they supposed to fight against the Petrified Trolls?

Shi Feng's expression was just as serious as the rest of his team.

What rotten luck. It's even capable of summoning Petrified Trolls. The Troll Chieftain surprised Shi Feng.

Unlike ordinary Trolls, Petrified Trolls had Petrification Runes carved all over their bodies, which made their skin harder than even steel. They were also monstrously strong. They were famous for being difficult enemies. In the past, players that encountered these Petrified Trolls generally turned and fled.

The three Petrified Trolls didn't give Shi Feng's team much time to react. Without hesitation, they pounced on Cola, who currently held back the Troll Chieftain.

"Why are they always targeting me?!" Glancing at the approaching Petrified Trolls, Cola activated his Tier 1 Protection Blessing and Last Stand, reducing all incoming damage by 50%, weakening any impact he received, and increasing his maximum HP by 40%. Instantly, his maximum HP rose to 49,530.

Peng! Peng! Peng!

Three silver spears struck Cola's Dragonscale Shield, one after another.

-6,717.

-6,809.

-6,784.

Following which, the Troll Chieftain brandished its massive red greatsword and slashed at Cola.

Tier 3 Skill, Stormrage.

Quickly adjusting his footwork, Cola lifted his shield just in time to block the attack coming from his side. Meanwhile, the distant Violet Cloud quickly cast a Truth Shield on the Guardian Knight.

Boom!

When the Troll Chieftain's greatsword crashed into the Dragonscale Shield, dazzling sparks flew as a loud boom resounded through the dead forest. Everyone felt the shockwave from the impact. As for Cola, numerous deep cuts ripped apart the ground around him.

The Truth Shield on Cola shattered as the Guardian Knight was thrown, only stopping when he crashed into a large tree. The wood splintered upon impact.

-19,678!

"What a powerful move!"

Everyone gasped at the power of the Troll Chieftain's attack.

If not for Cola activating Protection Blessing and Last Stand beforehand, he would've died instantly.

After witnessing this assault, the team finally understood that these Trolls were far from ordinary. The Trolls could actually coordinate their attacks. It was also obvious that the Troll Chieftain had already planned this, saving its ultimate move to deal a final blow. Unfortunately for the Trolls, Cola was Zero Wing's number one MT. He wore a Tier 1 Set Equipment and wielded the Epic ranked Dragonscale Shield. In addition, he had three Advanced Mana Armor Kits equipped. After activating his Lifesaving Skills, he was not that easy to instant-kill.

However, after receiving the four Trolls' combination attack, Cola had less than 10,000 HP remaining.

Shi Feng took a Tier 2 Magic Scroll from his bag, unfurling it and reading the incantation within.

Immediately, the dark blue Magic Scroll began to activate. Eighteen ice spears appeared around Shi Feng. He then controlled the frozen spears to attack the Troll Chieftain and the three Petrified Trolls.

Tier 2 Spell, Ice Wheel.

Every one of the eighteen ice spears was powerful. If they all hit their mark, even a Great Lord would suffer severe wounds.

"Go!"

However, Shi Feng did not simply use the eighteen spears to attack the Trolls. Instead, he executed Sword's Orbit with the spears.

The eighteen spears formed a beautiful star of ice and struck at the four Trolls.

Boom... Boom... Boom...

The instant the spears met the Trolls, a series of crashes echoed throughout the clearing. The Trolls cried in agony.

"Guild Leader, you're too good to me! You used a Tier 3 Magic Scroll to save me!" Cola released a sigh of relief when he saw the four Trolls being pushed back.

The team's four healers hadn't recovered half of his HP yet. If he received another round of attacks, he would have no choice but to activate his final Lifesaving Skill.

Now that the four Trolls had been forced back, he had room to breathe.

...

"Who are these people?"

"A 20-man team is actually grinding monsters here! This is insane!"

"That attack should have been from a Tier 3 Magic Scroll, right? That is simply extravagant!"

While Shi Feng's team fought the Trolls, the Midnight Tea Party watched the battle from above the distant forest. They were curious as they observed Shi Feng's team of twenty cloaked players in battle.

"No, that should have been an Elementalist's Tier 2 Spell, Ice Wheel," Endless Scars said, shaking her head. She glanced at the Petrified Trolls, which had been forced back by over twenty yards, and the Troll Chieftain, which had taken six steps back, and said, "However, the Magic Scroll's user is very powerful. He managed to incorporate the Spell with some kind of special technique, allowing the Tier 2 Ice Wheel to display the might of a Tier 3 Spell."

"That's not possible, right? We're talking about a Magic Scroll. It is already extremely difficult to incorporate Skills with combat techniques, not to mention enhancing a Skill's power to such a degree." The Assassin, Netherworld Wave, could not bring himself to believe Endless Scars. However, the latter was an Elementalist and far more familiar with magic-type Skills than himself. Moreover, in terms of combat techniques, Endless Scars was unmatched in their adventurer team.

"That person did incorporate a combat technique into Ice Wheel. However, his technique is so advanced that even I can't discern any clues on how he achieved it," Breeze Wine, the team's leader, said, confirming Endless Scars's claim. "Among the experts I've encountered, that player can rank in the top three."

"What?! Is he even human?!" Cloud Yarn could not help but blink as she stared at the distant Shi Feng. This was the first time she had heard their team leader praise someone to such a degree.

At this moment, the Ranger, Dark War, who had been paying attention to the battle, recaptured his teammates' attention, "Look! That player is about to make a move!"

The Midnight Tea Party's players immediately returned their gazes to Shi Feng.

...

"Fire, coordinate with Snow and lure one of the Petrified Trolls away. Leave the remaining two to me," Shi Feng commanded. 

Chapter 1115 - Violent Team

As soon as Shi Feng finished speaking, Fire Dance and Gentle Snow exploded into action.

Fire Dance immediately used Shadow Steps to appear behind one of the Petrified Trolls, which was over 20 yards away. With a 360-degree spin, she thrust Thousand Transformation's through the Petrified Troll's armor, penetrating the Lord's back.

Backstab!

A damage of -9,216 appeared above the Petrified Troll's head, and it screamed in agony. The Troll spat a mouthful of fresh blood. Although the Petrified Troll tried to retaliate, Fire Dance quickly followed up with a light slash at its back, the sharp Thousand Transformations easily cutting through the Petrified Troll's body like a hot knife through butter.

Not only did Fire Dance's Bisect inflict a 30-second Bleeding debuff, but the Lord was also Paralyzed, unable to fight for a short time.

Following which, Fire Dance executed Absolute Strike, transforming into a streak of black light that lanced through the Petrified Troll. The instant she reformed on the other side of the Troll, she thrust Thousand Transformations at the Lord's heart.

Five-star Eviscerate!

Immediately, the impact sent the Petrified Troll falling backward, two damages over -10,000 appearing above the Lord's head. The Petrified Troll had no defense against Fire Dance's assault whatsoever.

The team was momentarily stunned by this scene.

That was a Level 62 Lord!

Yet, Fire Dance had rendered it helpless. Moreover, she dealt such awe-inspiring damages to the Lord.

Initially, the team had assumed that Shi Feng was pushing his luck when he had only sent Fire Dance and Gentle Snow to deal with the Petrified Troll. Now, however, it would seem that Fire Dance alone was more than enough for the job.

"Roar!"

As the heavily injured Petrified Troll got to its feet, it bellowed with rage. It swept its silver spear horizontally, covering a range of 10 yards. The powerful Strength of its attack ripped apart the air, causing an explosion of force.

In response, Gentle Snow executed Charge and appeared before the Petrified Troll, protecting Fire Dance. Although the Petrified Troll was immune to her Charge's Fainted effect, the Skill increased her Attack Speed and Movement Speed. She followed up by meeting the Troll's spear with a Cross Slash.

Boom!

As an explosion shook the air, Gentle Snow was forced to take three steps back, a damage of over -2,000 appearing above her head, but she had driven back the Petrified Troll's spear.

"She blocked it?"

Everyone was stunned.

"She blocked it?! No matter how I look at it, that monster's Strength should be as high as a High Lord's of the same level, yet a single Berserker blocked its attack and received so little damage in return?" One of the Midnight Tea Party's muscular Berserkers stared at Gentle Snow in shock.

He was one of the top Berserkers in the Midnight Tea Party, and even he did not think he could endure the Petrified Troll's attack as easily as Gentle Snow had. He even wore the complete Violent Will Set, a Level 45 Dark-Gold Set Equipment for Berserkers.

"What's so surprising? Rather, look at how powerful that Assassin is. Although her attacks seemed ordinary, she achieved a 90% or higher Completion Rate with every skilled she used. Her Bisect and Eviscerate's Completion Rates should be nearly 95%," Netherworld Wave said. Although Gentle Snow's ability to withstand the Petrified Troll's attack had surprised him as well, as an Assassin, he understood exactly how powerful Fire Dance was.

"Big Sis Endless, who do you think these people are? They're all as strong as monsters," the female Cleric Cloud Yarn asked Endless Scars curiously.

Among their team members, Endless Scars had the most powerful information network.

"They're all wearing Black Cloaks. With their information hidden, even I have no way of determining their identities. However, there are not many experts at this level in God's Domain. Although I know of a few, none of their actions or behavior match these people," Endless Scars said, shaking her head.

However, what the members of the Midnight Tea Party did not know was that while Level 62 Lords might be difficult to deal with for other experts, Fire Dance and Gentle Snow were not among them.

After all, one of them wielded the Fragmented Legendary ranked Thousand Transformations, while the other wore the Fragmented Legendary ranked Seven Luminaries Battle Armor. With these godly items, how could they not be capable of injuring a Level 62 Lord?

As the Midnight Tea Party conversed quietly, Shi Feng launched his own assault. He activated Dragon's Authority, inflicting the Fear debuff on all enemies within a 50-yard radius and reducing their Attack Power, Attack Speed, and Movement Speed by 40% for 1 minute.

Although the Skill couldn't reduce the Petrified Trolls' Movement Speed, it could slightly reduce their Attack Power and Attack Speed. Moreover, the Skill affected all nearby Trolls, making it much easier for his other team members to fight these monsters.

Shi Feng then activated the Aura of Wind, increasing his Movement Speed and Attack Speed significantly. He executed Wind Blade and appeared before the two Petrified Trolls before executing Sword's Orbit, blue starlight wrapping around his body.

As the starlight bloomed, not only did he force the two Petrified Trolls back, but a bloody gash also appeared across their bodies as a frightening damage appeared above both of their heads.

-13,489!

-27,544!

Shi Feng didn't receive any damage.

Angry Tyrant's effects sure are frightening. As expected from excellent Epic Equipment. Shi Feng was quite satisfied as he looked at the delicate bracers around his wrists. Dark red runes faintly shown on the bracers.

The Angry Tyrant's Strength bonus was above average even among Epic items. When its Passive Skill, Angry Blow, took effect, it pushed his combat power to a whole new level.

If not for these Epic bracers, he would not have decided to confront the two Lords directly, opting for a safer approach instead.

Although the Petrified Trolls possessed high Defense and Strength, they were slower than ordinary Lords of the same level. Even a Tier 2, Level 50 Assassin could easily outmaneuver a Petrified Troll, not to mention Shi Feng, an expert with five Epic items and a Fragmented Legendary item.

Infuriated, the two Petrified Trolls howled. A blood-red haze then appeared around their spears. This move was none other than the Petrified Troll's Tier 2 Skill, Blood Sacrificial Spear. It was a weapon-enhancing Skill that doubled their weapons' Attack Power for 10 seconds and increased their Attack Speed by 30%.

As numerous streaks of red light stabbed at Shi Feng, the latter activated Flame Burst. The Abyssal Blade and Killing Ray both released blinding lights, illuminating the gloomy forest.

Sword's Orbit!

Boom... Boom... Boom...

A series of clangs rang out. Pained screams followed.

The three-meter-tall Petrified Trolls transformed into two massive fireballs as the attack sent them flying; they crashed through numerous trees before they finally fell to the ground. Everyone involuntarily shivered when they saw the two monsters' bodies. Meanwhile, the two Lord's HP bars shrank by a small chunk.

-134,858.

-135,047.

The two horrific damages stupefied everyone on the team.

If not for Fire Dance and Gentle Snow still struggling with the other Petrified Troll, they would have doubted that the two monsters on the ground were actually Petrified Trolls.

"Prioritize killing the other Petrified Troll! Blackie, Aqua, Summer, prepare your large-scale destruction Spells!" Shi Feng commanded immediately after throwing his two opponents.

Now that no more Trolls had joined the battle, they no longer needed to hold back. After clearing out the Elite ranked Trolls, they could deal with the Petrified Trolls more quickly.

Blackie and the others nodded and began chanting their Spells' incantations.

Time flew by. When the three of them finished chanting...

"Gather the monsters around the Troll Chieftain! Blackie, use Guardian of Light on Cola!"

Under Shi Feng's command, the team gathered around the Troll Chieftain. Cola activated Dragonscale Body, increasing his Defense by 200%, HP by 300%, and recovery by 500% for 30 seconds. With Guardian of Light's effects, it was practically impossible for the Trolls to kill him.

"Seal!" When Shi Feng saw that most of the monsters had been herded, he activated Skywheel Sword and limited the monsters' movement. "Attack!"

Immediately, three large-scale destruction Spells descended on the Trolls. As for Shi Feng, he switched the Aura of Wind for the Aura of Fire and activated Firestorm.

Thunder and fire bombarded the monsters. By the time the Spells ended, all Elite ranked Trolls were dead. Even the Chieftain ranked Troll Shamans had less than half their HPs remaining... 

Chapter 1116 - Quadruple Jackpot

There had been over 500 Elite ranked Trolls on the battlefield. When they all died, a golden glow enveloped everyone on the team as they all leveled up.

What astonishing leveling speed! Gentle Snow was flabbergasted as she watched her experience bar rise.

When she had left White River City, she was only at 74% of Level 41. To bridge the gap and reach Level 42, she needed to grind for at least another full day or so, yet she had risen to Level 40 shortly after entering the Crying Ghost Ridge.

With this leveling speed, it was definitely possible to reach Level 43 by the next day.

After players reached Level 40, it was practically impossible to level up once a day. No one would believe this.

However, although the team had killed plenty of Troll Warriors, the loot was pitiful, to say the least.

Aside from some Copper and Silver Coins, the 500 or so Elite monsters only dropped some raw materials. Only five weapons and pieces of equipment dropped. Among them, four were Level 60 Common items, while the last was a piece of Level 60 Bronze Equipment...

However, Shi Feng was not surprised.

After reaching Level 50, the drop-rate for weapons and equipment decreased drastically. Only Chieftain or above ranked monsters had a slightly higher chance of dropping such items.

This drop-rate reduction occurred because players could begin challenging their Tier 2 class promotions after reaching Level 50. After obtaining their Tier 2 class, killing Elite monsters was as easy as taking candy from a baby. Tier 2 experts could solo Chieftains and even give Lords a run for their money. Generally, two or three Tier 2 experts working together could easily take down a Lord of the same level.

Naturally, the system wouldn't give players high-level weapons and equipment so easily.

Hence, past Level 50, 6-man Party Dungeons, even in Normal Mode, usually had Lords as the Final Boss. Moreover, these Bosses had extremely powerful AOE Skills. One mistake could easily lead to a party-wipe. The same held true for Tier 2 experts.

Adventurer teams and Workshops that wanted to make money by selling weapons and equipment generally needed to deal with Chieftains of the same level. If they wished to grind for Mysterious-Iron Equipment, at the very least, they had to deal with Lord ranked monsters. This resulted in the rise in popularity for Lifestyle classes capable of producing weapons and equipment.

Of course, the system also restricted such Lifestyle classes by significantly increasing the production costs of weapons and equipment that were Level 50 and above. As a result, even Bronze Weapons and Equipment required many rare materials. This greatly limited the number of weapons and equipment Lifestyle players could produce and protected the market from oversaturation.

...

"This team is simply...ridiculous.... They have four people capable of using large-scale destruction Spells in a 20-man team! Even our adventurer team only has two people with such Spells..."

"Is that Swordsman an NPC? He can actually overwhelm two Level 62 Lords."

Shi Feng's performance had astonished the Midnight Tea Party's members.

However, they weren't shocked because Shi Feng had fought two Level 60-plus Lords by himself. After all, they were capable of that themselves. What truly shocked them was the overwhelming Strength Shi Feng had displayed. The Swordsman had managed to suppress the Petrified Trolls through brute force.

...

"Turtledove, help tank the Petrified Troll on Fire's side. Wumian, lure one away from me. Everyone else, prioritize killing the Troll Shamans!" Shi Feng ordered after sweeping a glance over the Troll Shamans, who had less than half their HPs remaining. "Cola, start running! Lure the Troll Chieftain as far away from here as possible! Don't give the Shamans any chance to heal the Chieftain!"

"Understood." Cola immediately dashed in the opposite direction of the Troll Shamans.

Seeing this, the Troll Chieftain chased after the escaping Guardian Knight.

When the Troll Chieftain moved, the Troll Shamans had no choice but to follow their leader. However, they couldn't cast their heals while moving. As a result, the Troll Shamans couldn't heal the Troll Chieftain.

Meanwhile, the other members on Shi Feng's team begun to bombard the Troll Shamans.

After a few moments, the Troll Shamans collapsed, one after another, becoming EXP for Shi Feng's team.

Without the Shamans' heals, the Petrified Trolls became a lot easier to deal with.

"Don't kill the Petrified Trolls! Leave them at 5% HP!" Shi Feng warned his teammates when he noticed Turtledove's Petrified Troll only had 10% of its HP remaining.

The Petrified Trolls were Lords. Although the chances of them dropping Green Ebony were high, simply killing them would be a waste. After all, he had Icarus's Heart on him. If he killed the Lords, the chances of them dropping Green Ebony would be a lot higher.

Although no one understood what Shi Feng intended to do, they followed his commands.

When Turtledove's Petrified Troll had 5% HP remaining, the team halted their attacks and shifted their focus to Ye Wumian's Troll.

Under the violent bombardment, it only took five minutes for all three Petrified Trolls to reach 5% of their total HP.

"Guild Leader, can we kill them now?" Aqua Rose asked.

While their team's firepower was indeed fierce, keeping all three Petrified Trolls alive placed an extremely heavy burden on their team's healers. Moreover, after such a long battle, their healers only had 30% of their Mana remaining. On the other hand, the Troll Chieftain had most of its HP remaining. If they delayed the Petrified Trolls' deaths, their healers would not last.

Thirty-percent Mana remaining... We could give it a try. Shi Feng calculated some factors as he glanced at the Troll Chieftain's HP and the healers' Mana. He then said through the team chat, "Healers, use your Intermediate Mana Recovery Potions. Fire, take this Petrified Troll over for me. Remember, keep the Petrified Trolls at least 50 yards away from the Troll Chieftain. Everyone else, focus your fire on the Chieftain!"

Saying so, Shi Feng activated Silent Steps and appeared behind the Troll Chieftain. He then executed Thundering Flash.

Five blue lightning streaks devoured the Great Lord, causing damages of around -7,000 to appear above its head. In terms of Defense, the Troll Chieftain was even stronger than the Petrified Trolls. However, after receiving the Damage Amplification debuff from Thundering Flash, the team's damage was slightly higher.

Divine Providence had a 30-minute Cooldown. Shi Feng did not want to waste it.

Although the Troll Chieftain was a Great Lord, it only had 42,000,000 HP. It also had only three main damage Skills. Among them, one was the Tier 3 Skill, Stormrage. The second one was Death Curse. It was a Spell that was guaranteed to kill one player if it landed. However, this Spell could be dodged, and players would be fine so long as the Spell missed them. The last was an AOE Skill called Whirlwind of Death. When activated, this Skill would decrease the Attack Speed and Movement Speed of all enemies within a 100 yards by 50%. Moreover, players would receive one Death debuff every ten seconds, each debuff increasing the damage they received by 10%. The Troll Chieftain would only activate this skill when its HP fell to 30%.

Many teams had fallen under the Troll Chieftain's greatsword in the past due to Whirlwind of Death.

To put it simply, once Whirlwind of Death activated, it would become a competition of damage against the Troll Chieftain. However, Shi Feng was not worried. After all, their team's firepower was off the charts.

As the battle with the Troll Chieftain continued, Cola's HP continuously increased and decreased. Every time the Troll Chieftain used Stormrage, Shi Feng landed a full-powered blow to one one of the Great Lord's Joints, disrupting Stormrage's trajectory slightly. This small deviation provided Cola with enough space to dodge the attack, preventing his HP from dropping to a critical level and increasing the burden on the healers.

As for the Troll Chieftain's Death Curse, Shi Feng warned his teammates to avoid the Great Lord's front when he noticed the Boss activating the Spell. As the Troll Chieftain channeled Death Curse though its eyes, one simply needed to avoid standing before the Great Lord and wait out the Spell's five-second duration. Ordinary players might find it difficult to avoid this Spell, but these players were experts. As long as Shi Feng notified them in time, they could dodge the Spell with little-to-no trouble.

When the Troll Chieftain only had 30% HP remaining, it roared with fury.

"Despicable humans, know our wrath!" the Troll Chieftain shouted. It then spun its greatsword at the sky. A black storm instantly formed, covering the battlefield and enveloping Zero Wing's players.

"Finally." Shi Feng had long since grown impatient. He activated Phantom Kill and Nine Dragons Slash. "Don't hold back! Throw everything you've got at it!"

With the addition of Shi Feng's doppelganger and the twelve Abyssal Blade Phantoms, the team's damage output instantly soared. The other team members similarly activated their Sure-kill Skills.

The Troll Chieftain's HP rapidly decreased. It lost over 200,000 HP every second.

In the end, when it only had 1% HP remaining, Shi Feng activated Divine Providence and Thunder God's Descent. Both he and his doppelganger then activated Flame Burst and went on to attack the Troll Chieftain before assaulting the three Petrified Trolls.

As the four Trolls died, four golden balls of light lifted from their corpses and flew into the air. Following which, the golden balls burst and transformed into streams of light that rained on the battlefield.

Everyone was rendered speechless.

These players had seen something like this before. This scene occurred when they triggered a jackpot.

The Midnight Tea Party's members were also dumbfounded.

Quadruple jackpots! This was utterly ridiculous! 

Chapter 1117 - Godly Skill

After the Troll Chieftain and three Petrified Trolls died, a golden glow once again encased several players on the team.

Killing Lords and Great Lords of a higher level definitely yielded far more EXP than killing Elite monsters of a higher level.

Among those who leveled up, Aqua Rose, Fire Dance, and Violet Cloud finally reached Level 45, while Cola, Turtledove, Ye Wumian, Minor Wind, and Shadow Sword rose to Level 44.

In the Black Dragon Empire, they could all rank within the top ten on the empire's Ranking List. Currently, the empire's number one player was only Level 42, and still quite a distance away from Level 43.

However, the team was more concerned with the loot before them.

This was the first time any of them had seen four Bosses simultaneously drop jackpots. There were too many items on the ground for them to keep count.

"This is insane! There should be at least a hundred items here!" Blackie gaped at the items on the ground.

Previously, despite killing so many Elite monsters, they had only obtained a few decent items. However, practically every item among the four Bosses' drops looked decent or better.

"Guild Leader, your luck is simply amazing. In the future, you must join us during the large-scale Team Dungeon raids. We'll probably get more during a single trip with you than five or six trips by ourselves." Aqua Rose could not help but look at Shi Feng, her eyes shining. It was fairly obvious that, by the look on her face, she wanted to drag Shi Feng into a Dungeon raid every day.

The rest of the team expressed their agreement. With that kind of ridiculous luck, it would be a waste not to have Shi Feng raid Dungeons.

"Alright, tidy up the loot first. We'll have plenty of opportunities to raid large-scale Team Dungeons afterward." Shi Feng could not help but chuckle and shake his head in response to everyone's expectant gazes. He had no choice but to offer an empty promise.

For now, he had no intentions of revealing Icarus's Heart. After all, this godly tool was simply too important to a Guild. The necklace could even upgrade a Lifestyle player to Master rank.

Following which, everyone began to collect the loot.

They had an extraordinarily abundant harvest this time. The four Bosses had dropped a total of 115 items, with 96 raw materials. Among the raw materials, 22 were Green Ebony, which surprised Shi Feng. Generally, Lord ranked Trolls only dropped one Green Ebony when killed, or two logs if one were lucky. As for Great Lords, they usually dropped three logs.

Crafting a single Advanced Transport Carriage only required 15 logs. If they obtained another eight logs, they could produce a second Transport Carriage.

If they had two Advanced Transport Carriages, he would have the foundation to start new trade routes to Stone Forest Town. Although the two carriages couldn't carry a lot of players, they could increase Stone Forest Town's Popularity among NPCs. He could also earn quite a sum in transportation fees.

After organizing the materials, Shi Feng began to appraise the remaining items.

In God's Domain, after reaching Level 50, players would have to appraise the items monsters dropped if they wanted to know exactly what they had obtained.

This added yet another expenditure for many players.

Because of this, many players in the past had pursued the Appraiser Lifestyle class. This way, they could save money on appraisal fees. Of course, players who picked up the Appraiser class for this reason could only appraise low-rank items such as ] Bronze or Mysterious-Iron rank. For Secret-Silver rank, one needed to become an Intermediate Appraiser. However, becoming an Intermediate Appraiser was extremely difficult. One generally needed a Guild's support to do so. Without the full support of a large Guild, it was practically impossible to become an Advanced Appraiser.

To become an Intermediate Appraiser, one needed to appraise 20,000 Mysterious-Iron items. As items of Mysterious-Iron rank were not extremely rare, some Workshops or adventurer teams could afford to nurture one. Unfortunately, they had no hope of nurturing an Advanced Appraiser.

This was due to the basic requirement of appraising 50,000 Fine-Gold items...

Even top-tier Workshops and adventurer teams could not obtain so many Fine-Gold items above Level 50. Only large Guilds had any chance of achieving this.

Meanwhile, nurturing Advanced Appraisers was a benefit to a Guild.

In the past, Guilds had normally only charged their members a quarter of NPCs' appraisal fees, while non-Guild members paid three-fourths of NPC prices. By doing so, Guilds could make a fortune.

NPC price for appraising a Dark-Gold item was around 10 Gold. For excellent Dark-Gold items, the price was even higher. Even if Guilds charged a lower appraisal fee, with how many players there were in a Guild, it would not be unusual to appraise several thousand items. Including the appraisal fees from non-Guild players, a Guild could easily make two or three hundred Gold a day.

In the past, small Guilds with only thousands of members dreamed of this kind of pure profit.

Although Zero Wing still did not have any Advanced Appraisers, Shi Feng possessed the Omniscient Eyes. Not only was the Skill a very advanced Identification Skill, but it also served as an advanced Appraisal Skill.

After a short moment, Shi Feng finished appraising the remaining 19 items.

"What?! Basic Soul Return actually dropped?!" Shi Feng shouted in surprise after appraising the ordinary-looking Skill Book.

"Basic Soul Return?! Doesn't that Skill allow one to resurrect other players while in battle?!" Gentle Snow asked in shock.

"What?! Guild Leader, did it really drop?!" Aqua Rose looked at Shi Feng excitedly, afraid that Shi Feng was joking.

Resurrection during combat would be a godly Skill in Dungeons.

In Dungeons, it wasn't uncommon for Bosses to instant-kill MTs due to mistakes. When such situations occurred, the entire team would die with the MT. However, if a team had Basic Soul Return, they could resurrect the MT and continue the raid. This Skill would undoubtedly reduce the unnecessary team-wipes in Dungeons.

"Take a look yourself," Shi Feng said, nodding. He then shared the Skill's information in the team chat.

[Basic Soul Return]

Resurrects one player while in combat. Player resurrected will only recover 30% HP and 20% Mana. Their death penalty will be halved.

Cooldown: 30 minutes

Class restriction: Cleric, Druid, and Oracle

After everyone read the Skill's Introduction, excitement illuminated their expressions.

What a godly Skill!

Previously, these players had only heard of Skills that could resurrect players during battle. Now, not only was one such Skill before them, but it could also reduce the death penalty!.

It was very common for players to die and lose a level when fighting a Field Boss. If they could reduce their death penalty by half and only lose 50% EXP, they could save plenty of time.

"What a pity. It would be great if the death penalty reduction were slightly higher," Cola said.

Whether it was raiding Dungeons or killing Field Bosses, MTs were the most susceptible to death...

Following which, Shi Feng shared the information for the remaining loot. The items were mostly Level 60 weapons and equipment, with the best being Secret-Silver rank. However, none of them could compare to Basic Soul Return Skill.

"Guild Leader, should we search for another Troll encampment?" Minor Wind asked. Even after observing their surroundings for some time, he did not notice any signs of incoming monsters. It was likely that they had cleared out all of the nearby Trolls. If they wanted to kill more, they would have to grind elsewhere.

"No. First, we need to greet our friends hiding in the distance," Shi Feng said, shaking his head. He then turned to the dead forest on his left, shouting, "You've been watching for quite some time now. Why don't you come out and meet us?" 

Chapter 1118 - Reuniting with the Tea Party

Due to the quiet of the surrounding forest, the Midnight Tea Party's members heard Shi Feng loud and clear.

"Leader, we've been discovered. What should we do?" Cloud Yarn asked somewhat anxiously.

It wasn't unusual to encounter other players in the fields.

However, this situation was somewhat different.

This was because they bore the suspicion of banditry.

Shi Feng's team had just finished killing multiple Bosses. Although they had already obtained the loot, the items would remain ownerless for the next two hours. As long as they were killed, the loot was guaranteed to drop.

Cloud Yarn did not doubt that Shi Feng's team would be merciless to anyone who attempted to rob them.

It wouldn't have been a major issue if Shi Feng's team were only comprised of ordinary experts. However, based on the miraculous feats she had witnessed, Shi Feng's team was most likely just as strong as theirs. If it really came down to a fight, the outcome wouldn't be pretty.

"Guild Leader, could that guy be trying to trick us into revealing ourselves? We're so far away. How could he possibly discover us? Moreover, we're using Isolation Scrolls right now. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't be able to discover us even with Detection. How could a Swordsman like him detect us?" the Ranger, Dark War, said.

Among the many classes in God's Domain, the Ranger had the strongest perception abilities, with both Active and Passive Skills. Rangers were usually a team's eyes. Although the Swordsman class was also an Agility-type class, it was not even a match for Assassins, much less Rangers.

The rest of the adventurer team agreed with Dark War's words.

Not only were their teams separated by such a massive distance, but the player that had called them out wasn't even a Ranger. Moreover, they were also under an Isolation Scroll's effects.

Shi Feng might have shouted to see whether or not there were nearby players waiting to ambush his team.

"I don't think so. He's looking directly at us. Moreover, this is the Crying Ghost Ridge. This area is too dangerous for ordinary players," Endless Scars said confidently as she watched Shi Feng, who stared straight at them.

"Big Sis Endless, what should we do? Should we just go over there?" Cloud Yarn asked. "What if those people misunderstand our intentions?"

"Yarn, what are you afraid of? At most, we'll have to fight them. We'll see who regrets their actions in the end," Netherworld said, wearing an eager expression.

As an independent adventurer, his favorite hobby was to push his limits.

Watching Fire Dance's performance had excited his will to fight.

"Wave is right. We're the Midnight Tea Party. Since when have we feared other players? Also, they have just finished an intense battle. They must've exhausted most of their abilities. If it really came down to a fight, they would be the suffering team." The other team members shared similar thoughts.

"Alright, enough. Let's go over and introduce ourselves. As for a fight breaking out, I don't believe that it's likely. Those players aren't fools. They should've noticed our presence long ago. Since we didn't try to attack them during a crucial moment, they should realize that we carry no ill will," Breeze Wine, the team's leader, explained. He then approached Shi Feng's team.

Giving the matter some thought, the Midnight Tea Party's members saw the reason in their leader's words. They then followed Breeze Wine.

...

Meanwhile, after Shi Feng announced the other team's presence, the rest of Zero Wing's members followed his gaze. However, none of them noticed the silhouette or presence of other players.

"Snow, do you think the Guild Leader is being overly sensitive?" Zhao Yueru asked softly after failing to find anybody in the forest ahead.

"Overly sensitive?" Gentle Snow considered the possibility. After all, they had just finished a difficult battle. Even the best failed sometimes. They were also in a dangerous neutral map. A mistake wouldn't be unusual.

However, as such thoughts began to sweep through the team, a blurry figure appeared from the dark forest ahead. Shortly after, more figures appeared.

Zhao Yueru's jaw dropped as she turned to Shi Feng in astonishment.

Not only was the other party so far away, but they had also used Isolation Scrolls, yet Shi Feng still noticed them. Did he have the eyes of a hawk or something?

However, the team did not know that Shi Feng's Agility Attribute had long since broken past the threshold of Tier 1 players, 1,500 points, and reached the realm of Tier 2 players. As a result, he gained the Passive Skill, Basic Perception. The Passive Skill greatly enhanced his five senses. As a result, he could see and hear further and clearer.

To Shi Feng, an ordinary Magic Scroll like the Isolation Scroll was useless. He had noticed them when the Midnight Tea Party had hidden among the trees.

However, the team didn't have much time to spend in a daze. The new arrivals were none other than the powerful independent adventurer team they had encountered in Ghost Forest Town. If they were not careful, they would suffer.

"Hello. I am Breeze Wine, the leader of the adventurer team Midnight Tea Party. We have no ill intentions. We just happened to come across your team as we were passing by," Breeze Wine took the initiative to explain.

"I understand. If you guys had any hostile will, you would've taken action as we were about to kill the Bosses," Shi Feng calmly stated. "Moreover, we've already met in Ghost Forest Town."

"Ghost Forest Town? Are you guys that masked team?!" Breeze Wine stared at Shi Feng in shock.

In God's Domain, many adventurer teams wore Black Cloaks to hide their identities. Hence, he hadn't humored the thought that Shi Feng and the others could be the team he had come across in Ghost Forest Town. After all, his team had the Beastmaster's Breath, which had allowed them to reach Crying Ghost Ridge unhindered. Any other team would have been harassed by the Level 60 monsters and wouldn't be a match for their adventurer team's speed, yet now....

Not only had Shi Feng's team reached the Ridge ahead of them, but they had also killed two groups of foreign races. Breeze Wine could not begin to fathom how Shi Feng and the others managed this.

The other Midnight Tea Party members were similarly surprised.

A serious curiosity filled Breeze Wine's expression as he looked at Shi Feng and the other Zero Wing members.

"Are you guys also here for a quest?" Shi Feng asked without hesitation.

Players generally kept quiet about their high-level quests. This was especially true for quests in neutral maps. On the off chance that one attracts unwanted attention, they could suffer significant losses.

Hence, when encountering strangers in the fields, one usually avoided mentioning quests to avoid suspicion.

In Shi Feng's opinion, however, such wariness was unnecessary here.

Only a fool would believe that players in a neutral map weren't pursuing some quest. Moreover, by taking the initiative to admit that they were also here for a quest, he could avoid appearing suspicious himself and hide the fact that they were here to grind Green Ebony.

Upon hearing Shi Feng's straightforward question, Breeze Wine could not help but laugh and admitted, "That's right; our adventurer team is here to complete a quest. Are you, perhaps, interested? If you help us complete the quest, we will give you three pieces of Level 45 Dark-Gold Equipment as a thank you gift!"

"Leader?" Dark War and the others turned to Breeze Wine in confusion.

They had spent over half a month to obtain this quest, yet Breeze Wine had just invited a bunch of strangers to help them. Moreover, these strangers were experts whose strength could rival their own. This was simply too risky. 

Chapter 1119 - Fallen Ark

Just as the Midnight Tea Party's members waited for their leader's answer, Breeze Wine's offer had also stunned Shi Feng's team.

The man had actually offered three pieces of Level 45 Dark-Gold Equipment right off the bat.

At this stage of the game, even first-rate Guild's top-tier experts only wore Level 40 Dark-Gold Equipment. Level 45 Dark-Gold Equipment was simply too difficult to obtain. Normally, one only encountered such items by killing Field Bosses or completing quests. After all, the various large Guilds were still amassing equipment from Level 40 large-scale Team Dungeons. They still did not have good enough equipment to raid Level 45 large-scale Team Dungeons.

If put up for auction, Level 45 Dark-Gold Equipment could sell for at least 200 Gold. If it were an excellent piece of Dark-Gold Equipment, selling for even 500 Gold wouldn't be surprising.

Three pieces of Dark-Gold Equipment was easily worth 1,000 Gold.

Presented with such an offer, even large Guilds would be willing to give everything they had to help.

"Thank you for your the offer, Team Leader Breeze, but we have other matters that we need to attend to, so we cannot accept your offer." Shi Feng rejected the offer without so much as a thought.

Although three pieces of Level 45 Dark-Gold Equipment were quite valuable, it wasn't what Zero Wing needed the most right now.

The Green Ebony they were after would affect Stone Forest Town's prosperity. The wood was arguably their top priority.

Shi Feng's outright rejection stunned the Midnight Tea Party.

Even Super Guilds wouldn't casually reject a 1,000-Gold offer, yet Shi Feng' hadn't hesitated in the least...

Dark War and the others, who had been opposed to the idea of Shi Feng's team joining them, were somewhat annoyed.

Their Midnight Tea Party had never asked for help before, yet in their first attempt, their offer had been tossed aside like garbage. Why wouldn't they be frustrated?

Meanwhile, Endless Scars, who stood to a side, looked at Shi Feng. Smiling, she said, "Truthfully, we don't need much help with our quest. We simply hope that you will help us fend off any monsters while we activate a magic array. We won't take up much of your time. One hour should be more than enough. If you feel that three pieces of Level 45 Dark-Gold Equipment aren't enough, we can pay 4,000 Magic Crystals instead. What do you think?"

"Big Sis Endless?" Cloud Yarn's pretty eyes widened as she stared at Endless Scars in astonishment.

Their leader's invitation was understandable as the man wanted to befriend Shi Feng's team. However, she had never imagined that Endless Scars would also make an offer.

Moreover, Endless Scars was offering Magic Crystals.

Magic Crystal was the current mainstream currency among God's Domain's experts because Magic Crystals allowed players to enter the Divine Colosseum's Trial Tower. There were many other uses for Magic Crystals as well. It was easy to trade Magic Crystals for Coins, but the same was not true for the reverse. As for weapons and equipment, if an expert had no need for them, they didn't have much value to said expert. Hence, apex experts were more willing to act for Magic Crystals than anything else.

"One hour for 4,000 Magic Crystals? Miss Endless, your proposal is impossible to refuse." Endless Scars's wealth momentarily stunned Shi Feng.

Not long ago, Phoenix Rain had offered to hire ten of Zero Wing's players for an entire day for 5,000 Magic Crystals. Even then, he was impressed by the woman's wealth. If it were up to him, he'd never pay such a high price.

Only now did he understood that there was always someone better in this world.

However, when he thought about how the Blackwater Corporation backed Endless Scars, spending 4,000 Magic Crystals wouldn't be much of an issue for her.

"Let's sign a contract right away, then." The smile on Endless Scars's face grew even more charming when she heard Shi Feng's answer.

Following which, Shi Feng signed a contract with Breeze Wine.

The system contract was assurance for both parties involved. Aside from players who were unwilling to spend five Silver Coins on the contract, players at this stage of the game generally signed one when working together.

After signing the contract, Shi Feng and his team followed Midnight Tea Party's members as they carefully proceeded down a gravel path through the dead forest.

"Leader, Endless, what are you two thinking? The quest is dangerous enough already, yet you just invited a team that we know nothing about. What if they harbor some hostility once we complete the quest? Wouldn't we suffer a massive loss?" Dark War asked, displeased, as he eyed Shi Feng and the others.

This quest was extraordinary. It was the most difficult quest the Midnight Tea Party had ever undertaken. Although it was not a Legendary Quest, it could be considered a Pseudo-Legendary Quest. It was very likely that they could acquire a Fragmented Legendary item during this quest.

Not even Super Guilds had a Fragmented Legendary item.

If Shi Feng and his team discovered this, it would be a miracle if they did not outright betray them.

The other Midnight Tea Party members supported Dark War's opinions. They could not understand why these two people, who were usually the most level headed on their team, would make such an irrational decision about something so important.

Ignoring the complaints, Endless Scars turned to Breeze Wine. Smiling, she asked, "Leader, do you want to say it? Or should I?"

"Fine, I'll say it, then." Breeze Wine shook his head and laughed. "Although you know that our quest is incredibly difficult, you guys don't know exactly how difficult. Based on Endless's and my estimates, our chances of success is less than 30%. Opening the entrance will be the most difficult part of our quest!"

"Opening the entrance?" The team was confused.

"That's right. Although we have the key to unlock the Fallen Ark, when we begin the process, it will alert the Ark's guards. Based on the information Endless and I uncovered, there should be five guards, one of which is a Grand Lord, while the remaining four are Great Lords. With our current manpower, it will be too difficult to maintain the magic array while dealing with one Grand Lord and four Great Lords. Originally, Endless and I had planned to use two of the Tier 3 Summoning Scrolls our team obtained. Now, however, plans have changed. With these experts' help, our chances of success will rise to 50%," Breeze Wine explained. "Moreover, befriending these experts isn't necessarily a bad thing. We might even get to cooperate with them during high-difficulty quests in the future."

Realization dawned when these players heard Breeze Wine's explanation. It was no wonder why Endless Scars had offered such an exorbitant price to Shi Feng's team.

As everyone conversed in hushed tones, Breeze Wine had led them to a large canyon dotted with green hills and blue water. The canyon looked as if some giant sword had split the large mountain in half. Each side of the canyon radiated a powerful pressure that scared the monsters in Crying Ghost Ridge away.

Isn't this the Fallen Ark's location? Shock colored Shi Feng's face when he saw this scene. Is the Midnight Tea Party's quest related to the Fallen Ark?

In his previous life, the Fallen Ark had been extremely famous in God's Domain. It was also the Crying Ghost Ridge's greatest secret.

It was rumored that the Fallen Ark had been one of the ultimate weapons in the Great Ancient War. Even Gods would perish under one of the Ark's attacks. However, the Ark had been destroyed during the war and had fallen in Crying Ghost Ridge. Because of the Ark's magic, the Mana flow in the ridge was quite abnormal, making the area inhospitable for humans. Hence, various foreign races had occupied the Crying Ghost Ridge instead. 

Chapter 1120 - Special Lifeform

As Shi Feng recalled information on the Fallen Ark, Breeze Wine slowly approached the canyon's entrance and carefully took a sixteen-sided orange crystal from his bag.

As soon as he revealed the orange crystal, an invisible aura pulsed from the item. Moreover, each pulse was stronger than the last.

What is that?! Why does my whole body suddenly feel like lead?!

Gentle Snow could not help but shift her gaze to the orange crystal. The more she looked at the crystal, the more she feared it. It was as if this crystal were Purgatory itself. Even her soul shuddered with fear.

Gentle Snow wasn't the only one shocked by Breeze Wine's crystal. Alluring Summer and the others were similarly afraid.

Only the Midnight Tea Party's members, Shi Feng, and several Zero Wing core members remained unperturbed.

Shi Feng and the core members had experienced this pressure before.

It was Divine Might!

There was a qualitative difference between the Life Rating of Gods and ordinary people. Gods had created this orange crystal, and naturally, their aura had tainted it. Ordinary people wouldn't be comfortable around this aura. Around this energy, ordinary humans would feel like they had been submerged in liquid metal. Not only would they find it extremely difficult to moves, but their breathing would also become labored.

As the orange crystal released one pulse after another, the canyon began to shake. A purple-gold, fivefold magic array appeared in the sky.

Sure enough, their quest is related to the Fallen Ark. Have they lost their minds? They dare risk opening it at this stage of the game. Shi Feng's expression darkened as he watched Breeze Wine lift the orange crystal above his head while chanting an incantation. Hurriedly, he shouted, "Everyone, retreat!"

"Retreat?" Zero Wing's members looked to Shi Feng in confusion.

"What are you guys doing?!" Dark War and the other Midnight Tea Party members asked, enraged when they heard Shi Feng's command to his teammates.

Their teams had already signed a contract with each other. Although there were no penalties for breaking the contract, no matter how they looked at it, Shi Feng was breaking his promise. Moreover, now that they had exposed the contents of their quest, how could they possibly allow Shi Feng and the others to leave?

"No time for explanations! Either run or die!" Shi Feng turned and fled.

Shi Feng hadn't expected that, while he assumed that the Midnight Tea Party's quest was related to it, their goal was to activate the slumbering Fallen Ark.

Activating the Fallen Ark had shaken God's Domain in the past. When the Ark woke, it also roused the sleeping abyssal monsters within. Although these abyssal monsters had been gravely injured during the Great Ancient War, they were still immensely powerful. The old monsters that had woken inside the Ark were Mythic rank. Moreover, as more time passed and these monsters recovered, they grew more powerful. These monsters emergence had turned Crying Ghost Ridge into a forbidden land for players.

In the past, to explore the Fallen Ark's secrets, a few Super Guilds had dispatched an army of over a hundred thousand players. This army only consisted of Tier 2 players, and the lowest level was Level 60. Many apex experts had marched with the army as well. Such a force was normally more than enough to deal with five or six Mythic monsters, yet the army had been annihilated in the end. Not one player had made it out of the Fallen Ark alive. To make matters worse, these players' had boosted the old abyssal monsters' strength....

It was suicidal to activate the Fallen Ark with just their two teams of Tier 1 players.

"Big Sis Endless, they're running away. What should we do? Do we stop them?" Netherworld Wave hurriedly asked Endless Scars.

"No need. We're fleeing, too," Endless Scars said, shaking her head as she watched Shi Feng. She ran.

"But our leader is still here!" Cloud Yarn exclaimed anxiously as she shifted her gaze between Endless Scars and Breeze Wine.

"Once the unlocking process has begun, it cannot be stopped. The situation has changed; we have no choice but to sacrifice him," Endless Scars said without hesitation. "However, this isn't a complete loss. At the very least, we can hide and watch what happens when the magic array activates from a distance."

Although Endless Scars's words were casual, the Midnight Tea Party's members felt chills crawl down their backs.

These players were all companions and had fought through many life-or-death battles together. Their team leader was one of them, yet Endless Scars spoke of sacrificing Breeze Wind as if she were talking about the weather....

Unfortunately, as their team leader couldn't do anything, they had to listen to Endless Scars as she was the Midnight Tea Party's second in command.

Shortly after the Midnight Tea Party members escaped from the magic array's range, five steel giants pulled themselves from the ground.

[Fallen Garrison Captain] (Special Lifeform, Grand Lord)
Level 65
HP 120,000,000/120,000,000

[Fallen Patrol] (Special Lifeform, Great Lord)
Level 63
HP 57,000,000/57,000,000

Upon seeing these monsters, both Endless Scars and Shi Feng's teams gaped in shock.

"What are these monsters!? Their HP is so high! The pressure from them is so strong, too!" Aqua Rose felt her scalp tingle as she stared at these monsters.

Despite standing several hundred yards away, she still felt an intense pressure radiating from the monsters. It would certainly affect the combat power they could exert in close combat. Based on her estimates, they'd be lucky to display 70% of their usual combat powers. If it came down to a fight, they would team-wipe.

The Midnight Tea Party also understood how powerful the guardian monsters were. These monsters' Life Rating was definitely higher than theirs. The Fallen Garrison Captain, in particular, was at least two or three ratings higher than the Grand Lords they've previously faced. It could practically rival a Mythic monster's strength.

In front of these monsters, their preparations were rubbish.

While the Midnight Tea Party members were frozen in shock, Endless Scars shifted her gaze towards Shi Feng.

Did he know these monsters would show up? Endless Scars came to her own conclusions as she recalled Shi Feng's decisive order to retreat.

Although the Fallen Ark was a secret, based on the team's performance and Shi Feng's statement that they, too, were here for a quest, it was likely that the man knew something about the Fallen Ark. Otherwise, how could she explain Shi Feng's decision to flee the moment he saw them activate the magic array?

What Endless Scars did not know was that what Shi Feng wasn't worried about the steel giants' sudden appearance at all. Rather, he was afraid of the abyssal monsters inside the Fallen Ark itself. If those monsters were released, it would disrupt his plans to grind for Green Ebony. If that was their goal, he wouldn't help the Midnight Tea Party.

As the steel giants appeared, the Fallen Garrison Captain instantly killed Breeze Wine as he maintained the magic array.

When Breeze Wine died, the magic array began to dissipate gradually, as did the steel giants shortly after. Peace soon returned to the canyon.

When the area returned to normal, Endless Scars stopped her team before the Midnight Tea Party members could give Shi Feng a piece of their minds. She approached Shi Feng's team herself.