Reincarnation of The Strongest Sword God

1981-2000

Chapter 1981 - Trial Difficulty

"What? Even the Guild Leader is going to train?"

"I wonder how far the Guild Leader can reach?"

"Didn't the Guild Leader say that he would wait for us on the second floor's training ground? That means he has to pass through the first floor!"

"This trial is so difficult I wonder how the Guild Leader will clear it?"

As Shi Feng approached the first-floor training ground, Zero Wing's members stopped their respective training and turned to look at Shi Feng, curious to see his performance.

By this time, they had all attempted the training ground's trial already, so they knew that its difficulty was frustratingly high. Hence, they couldn't believe that Shi Feng would succeed.

As Shi Feng got increasingly closer to the boundary of the training ground, he did not make any preparations at all—unlike everyone else. Instead, he stepped straight into the training ground, his gait not faltering even in the slightest.

The moment Shi Feng entered the training ground, four beam attacks suddenly appeared and flew straight at him.

The beam attacks of the training ground appeared with no warning at all, making it impossible for players to take preemptive action to evade them. Players had to rely on their sight and quick judgment to dodge the attacks.

Of course, dodging four of such sudden attacks would not be a problem at all for the expert players present, so long as they gave it their all.

However, despite seeing the beam attacks, Shi Feng gave no indication of wanting to dodge them. Instead, he maintained his pace, continuing to walk forward, straight into the attacks.

Xiu... Xiu... Xiu...

In the next moment, Zero Wing's members saw the beam attacks pierce right through their Guild Leader.

However, contrary to everyone's expectations, even after the four beam attacks faded out of existence, Shi Feng still did not get sent flying backward. His pace hadn't even faltered. The beams had apparently passed through Shi Feng to no effect.

"What's going on?"

"I didn't see the Guild Leader making any evasive maneuvers!"

"How did the Guild Leader do it?"

The spectating crowd was stunned as Shi Feng kept moving forward.

The beam attacks that had repeatedly given Zero Wing's members a terrible beating actually had zero effect against their Guild Leader. Shi Feng did not even sidestep the attacks. Right now, it looked as if Shi Feng was merely taking a leisurely stroll through his backyard as he walked toward the central magic array. The beam attacks would always miss their mark by just one or two centimeters, as if they were actively avoiding Shi Feng, and bypass him ineffectually.

When Shi Feng crossed the 50-yard mark and faced 20-plus beam attacks simultaneously, one of the beams suddenly altered its trajectory just as it was about to reach Shi Feng. However, despite this abrupt change, Shi Feng reacted to it calmly and simply slashed it with one of his swords.

In the end, the beam attack got sliced through cleanly. It did not even manage to slow Shi Feng's advance for even a heartbeat.

Following which, as Shi Feng continued advancing, the number of beam attacks that abruptly altered their trajectories increased as well. By the time he neared the 100-yard mark, the number of transforming attacks had already reached eight. However, this increase was trivial to him. It just meant that he needed to swing his swords a few more times, at most. From a spectator's perspective, it would look as if the beam attacks were attracted to his swords, as if they all automatically headed toward the weapons.

"Are you kidding me? Did the difficulty of this training ground change?"

Zero Wing's members were at a loss for words as they watched Shi Feng's leisurely progress through the training ground.

The players who were formerly members of adventurer teams, in particular, found themselves doubting their own eyes right now. Before today, they had rarely ever seen Shi Feng fighting in person. Most of their knowledge regarding Shi Feng came from battle videos.

Now that they were seeing Shi Feng in action with their own eyes, however, they doubted their senses.

Meanwhile, after Shi Feng crossed the 100-yard mark, the attacks he faced were no longer limited to straight beams and beams that abruptly altered their trajectories. Slashing beams joined the onslaught.

The addition of the slashing beams instantly increased the surface area under threat by a significant margin. Moreover, the slashing attacks contained great power. When Shi Feng tried blocking one with his swords, he found himself stumbling back several steps.

So, this is the first-floor training? Shi Feng deflected a slashing attack with Killing Ray, surprised by the change in attack patterns.

The first-floor training was much more difficult than the Extraordinary Tower's initial entry test.

If the trial before the 100-yard mark trained players' dodging capabilities, then the trial past the 100-yard mark focused on players' offensive and defensive capabilities.

While Shi Feng was entertaining such thoughts in his mind, the number of slashing attacks had very quickly increased from one to four. The difficulty of the trial now already rivaled that of Rhinebeck's trial, which Shi Feng had undergone to obtain the Sea God's Legacy.

However, despite the high difficulty, Shi Feng, who had already reached the Ascension Realm, had no problem controlling his body's instinct to dodge and block the incoming attacks. This was also the most rudimentary usage of the Realms of Truth—the skillful utilization of one's own body. Instead of moving just his arms and legs, he had to employ his entire body. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to dodge and block all these beam attacks.

Following which, under everyone's gaze, Shi Feng started advancing toward the central magic array at flying speeds. The numerous beam attacks couldn't hinder his progress at all.

After a short moment, Shi Feng finally set foot on the central magic array. Shock filled the eyes of Aqua Rose and the others, who were spectating outside the training ground, at this sight.

Although they had long since expected that the first-floor training ground wouldn't pose a problem for Shi Feng, they still had not imagined that he would clear it so effortlessly.

"That's it for the demonstration. You'll have to rely on yourselves to get through," Shi Feng said as he glanced at the flabbergasted crowd behind him. He then teleported to the second-floor training ground.

The first-floor training ground provided very thorough training for players to master the Truth Realm. If not for him having already reached the Ascension Realm, he would've most likely had a difficult time reaching the central magic array, as even the slashing attacks had started altering their trajectories suddenly toward the end of the trial. Trying to defend against such attacks was extremely challenging. Merely moving one's arms and legs wouldn't be enough to cope with these attacks. One needed to coordinate their entire body with their weapons in order to effectively block and deflect these attacks.

The difficulty was doing so was extremely high. At the very least, if Shi Feng were still in the Truth Realm right now, he would have an even chance of receiving a direct hit from the changing slashing attacks. In other words, if one had just entered the Realms of Truth and barely had any attainments, clearing the first-floor trial would be impossible.

Meanwhile, Shi Feng's demonstration allowed everyone to understand that reaching the central magic array wasn't exactly impossible. After all, Shi Feng had done so—and in a very leisurely manner at that. From start to end, he had not made any large movements at all.

"Is the Guild Leader really human? He actually got through such a challenge!" After snapping out of his daze, Seven Light was bursting with excitement and motivation.

"So, this is the Sword King's strength?" Watching Shi Feng's leisurely display had likewise ignited Stubborn Bone's fighting spirit.

In the past, although he knew that there was a massive gap in strength between himself and the peak experts of the various superpowers, he had attributed this disparity to the difference in Basic Attributes. He had believed that there wasn't much difference between them when it came to combat standards. In hindsight, he found his thoughts laughable.

The difference was not limited to just Basic Attributes. Even his combat standard was inferior by leaps and bounds. Moreover, aside from Shi Feng, he was also inferior to the Guild's Vice Guild Leader Aqua Rose, the main force's commander Fire Dance, and the healer Violet Cloud.

Only, the gaps between him and the three women were not as gigantic as the one between him and Shi Feng.

However, it was precisely because of this discovery that he became keen on the training ground before him. In the past, he did not know how far behind he actually was, but now he knew.

Chapter 1982 - Breakthrough

After Shi Feng disappeared from the first floor, Zero Wing's members quickly snapped out of their daze and resumed challenging the first-floor trial.

Extraordinary Tower's second-floor training ground:

So, this is the second floor's training? The scene before Shi Feng took him by surprise.

At this moment, the space he stood in was no longer inside the Extraordinary Tower. Instead, he had arrived in an alternate realm.

Unlike the first-floor training ground, the second-floor training ground consisted of a mist-covered staircase, which had a hundred steps, and a pair of stone doors at the top of the staircase. It was obvious the second-floor trial required players to ascend this staircase and reach the stone doors.

However, what caught Shi Feng's attention the most was the Mana density here, which was at least 50% higher than what he felt in the Extraordinary Tower. Surrounded by such concentrated Mana, Shi Feng felt his mind becoming extraordinarily clear. For a moment, he felt as if he could accomplish anything so long as he put his mind to it.

In such a Mana-rich environment, he would not have to worry about running out of Stamina and Concentration, even if he were to use Advanced Combat Techniques nonstop. He could exert his full strength as much as he wanted.

Shi Feng finally understood why activating the second-floor training ground had cost 100,000 Magic Crystals, why the second-floor training ground required 5,000 Magic Crystals to operate every day, and why only 50 people could undergo the training at the same time.

With such an excellent environment, as well as the fact that the training ground here provided in-depth training for the Realms of Truth, the second-floor training ground was indeed worth every Magic Crystal he had paid. Given the opportunity, the various superpowers would be willing to pay five times that price to obtain such a training ground.

After Shi Feng familiarized himself with the environment here, he promptly stepped onto the snow-white staircase.

Each step of the staircase was half a meter tall, requiring players to make quite a large movement just to climb one. A distance of roughly 13 yards separated each step. Even a Tier 2 expert would need some time to climb each step; they wouldn't be able to climb the next step in a single breath at the very least.

The moment Shi Feng climbed onto the first step, he felt his entire body weakening. His Basic Attributes and the improved Life Rating he gained from his Dark Iron Bloodline became useless as soon as he set foot on the staircase.

After three seconds, his Basic Attributes had fallen to the standard of a Level 50, Tier 1 Swordsman fully geared in Bronze Equipment Even his physique had regressed to the Tier 1 standard. He was as ordinary as an ordinary player could get now.

Meanwhile, before Shi Feng could adapt to this sudden drop in strength, two Tier 1 Swordsmen, who looked exactly like him and were geared in silver armor, appeared on the step he stood on. As soon as they had fully materialized, these Swordsmen unsheathed their twin swords and charged at him.

Within a breath of time, both Level 50, Tier 1 Swordsmen crossed the 10-yard distance and arrived before Shi Feng.

Tier 1 Skill, Gale Sword!

Tier 1 Skill, Triple Moon Intercept!

Both Swordsmen used an extremely rare Tier 1 Skill. Moreover, their actions were free of any unnecessary movements as they struck directly at Shi Feng's vitals.

Upon seeing this, Shi Feng hurriedly countered by executing Sword's Orbit.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After the swords of the two sides clashed about five or six times, Shi Feng got sent flying off the staircase's first step. Meanwhile, once Shi Feng fell off the step, the two silver Swordsmen did not pursue him. Instead, they returned to their original positions and stood there quietly.

So strong! Shi Feng was astounded as he looked at his two opponents. Even after falling to the foot of the staircase, he had to take five steps back before he managed to stabilize himself.

Although the clash with the silver Swordsmen was brief, Shi Feng understood that their combat standard was already close to reaching the Refinement Realm standard. Moreover, their mastery over their Skills was practically perfect with both Skills executed at a 100% Completion Rate. Their true combat power was definitely no weaker than a true Refinement Realm expert's.

Aside from having very high technical standards, the silver Swordsmen's Basic Attributes were also far superior to his own.

If he tried to face their attacks head-on, he would definitely get sent flying.

The difficulty ramped up this much just by going up a floor? Glancing at the motionless, silver Swordsmen, Shi Feng roughly understood the difficulty rating of the second-floor trial.

If a Flowing Water Realm expert were to go up against these two silver Swordsmen, the said expert would have no chance of getting past even the first step.

The Flowing Water Realm allowed one to perceive the actions of one's opponents and make simple, preemptive offensive or defensive maneuvers.

However, both silver Swordsmen were invulnerable to damage. Attacking them would be meaningless. Moreover, doing so would only expose holes in one's defenses to the silver Swordsmen. Executing simple defensive maneuvers, such as blocking or deflecting, would result in the Flowing Water Realm expert getting gradually pushed off the staircase step after step. As for evasive maneuvers, those were simply impossible. With the disparity in Basic Attributes, Movement Speed, and reaction speed, a Flowing Water Realm expert would find it next to impossible to dodge the attack of just one silver Swordsman, let alone two.

In other words, a Flowing Water Realm expert would not be able to achieve anything on this floor. Only if said Flowing Water Realm expert had reached the Truth Realm might they barely defend against the two silver Swordsmen. As for Refinement Realm experts that had entered the Truth Realm, they would very likely get sent flying off the staircase on the first exchange.

Following which, Shi Feng stepped onto the staircase once more.

This time, however, he did not choose to receive the attacks of the two silver Swordsmen directly. Instead, he skillfully brandished his two swords and redirected the attack of one of the silver Swordsmen toward the other silver Swordsman's attack, the two attacks canceling out each other. This then created an opportunity for Shi Feng to move past the two silver Swordsmen and climb to the next step.

Only, climbing each step was a challenge, as he had to make huge movements to climb up the tall steps while deflecting the attacks of the two silver Swordsmen.

However, with each step he climbed, Shi Feng could feel his understanding of the Realms of Truth deepening.

When he ascended to the tenth step, one more silver Swordsman suddenly joined the two silver Swordsmen chasing after him, instantly increasing the trial's difficulty by a large margin.

Things are finally getting a little interesting. Shi Feng felt the pressure on him strengthening as he dealt with the relentless assault of the three silver Swordsmen.

Fortunately, it had already been quite some time since he had reached the Ascension Realm. The combined assault of the three silver Swordsmen was still within his tolerance range. Nevertheless, each time he wanted to climb a step, he had to prepare himself both physically and mentally for quite a while.

By the time Shi Feng reached the 29th step, he was facing four silver Swordsmen and already close to reaching his limit

When he eventually climbed to the 30th step, one of the silver Swordsmen suddenly turned into a golden Swordsman. Before Shi Feng could adjust to the change, the golden Swordsman's improved Strength and speed sent him flying back down to the 29th step.

Due to the presence of the golden Swordsman, Shi Feng was stuck moving back and forth between the 29th and 30th steps.

As the number of times Shi Feng got sent flying increased, he began to grasp his shortcomings—his skill at utilizing external forces was still inadequate. Although he had redirected one of the silver Swordsmen's attacks toward the golden Swordsman's, the golden Swordsman's Strength was simply overwhelming. Before the golden Swordsman's attack could be nullified, the silver Swordsman's attack was crushed, and the golden Swordsman's attack would continue toward him.

One hour...

Two hours...

Four hours...

After many hours had passed, when Shi Feng was faced with the golden Swordsman's oncoming longsword once again, he executed Sword's Orbit and filled his surroundings with a galaxy of stars.

In the next moment, however, the three silver Swordsmen's attacks involuntarily moved to greet the golden Swordsman's attack.

Boom!

After a loud explosion echoed throughout the entire training ground, the golden Swordsman went flying up a step while the three silver Swordsmen fell down the step. At this moment, only Shi Feng remained standing quietly on the 31st step.

Wonderful! I succeeded! Shi Feng had an ecstatic expression on his face as he gazed at the collapsed golden Swordsman. I finally have my own combat technique!

Chapter 1983 - Sword's Transmigration

While Shi Feng rejoiced over the new combat technique he had successfully created and prepared to test it on the golden Swordsman and three silver Swordsmen on the 30th step, the sound of a system notification reached his ears.

System: Congratulations! You have created a Bronze Combat Technique. Please name your combat technique.

Shi Feng was stunned to hear the notification.

Taking advantage of the distraction, the golden and silver Swordsmen stood and charged towards Shi Feng in a coordinated assault.

By the time Shi Feng snapped out of his daze, it was too late to defend himself. All four attacks struck vital points, and Shi Feng's body vanished from the 30th step, reappearing at the very bottom of the staircase.

Although Shi Feng had to restart his climb from the bottom, he wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Rather, he stared at his notification window in astonishment.

What? A Bronze Combat Technique? Dubious, Shi Feng examined the system's congratulatory message.

Although he knew that he hadn't created a low-standard combat technique, he didn't think that it was so amazing to be categorized as a Bronze rank Combat Technique.

Mastering a single Advanced Combat Technique would enable players to challenge opponents of a higher combat standard. Of course, there was a limit to how effective these combat techniques could be. For example, the Advanced Combat Technique, Void Steps, was most effective against Flowing Water Realm experts, but the footwork technique had little-to- no effect against Void Realm experts or above. After all, Void Steps relied on fooling an opponent's sight. Void Realm experts used more than one sense to locate their opponents.

However, Bronze Combat Techniques were a different story.

Bronze Combat Techniques would even be effective against Domain Realm experts. If a Domain Realm expert failed to cope with a Bronze Combat Technique properly, it could even cost them their life.

Until now, Zero Wing had only possessed a single Bronze Combat Technique—Lightning Flash, which he had only obtained through luck from the Primordial Divine Ruin. The only other way Zero Wing's players could obtain more Bronze Combat Techniques was by entering Bronze Legacy Tablets, but they were extremely rare and highly coveted by the various superpowers.

Unfortunately, despite many Zero Wing members attempting to learn Lightning Flash, not one of them had mastered the Secret Attack Technique, and Shi Feng was no exception.

Yet, he had just succeeded in creating his own Bronze Combat Technique.

Why wouldn't he be surprised?

Of course, the technique's creation had been a coincidence. He had only created it though the inspiration he had gained as he tried to deal with the golden and silver Swordsmen's relentless assault. If he tried to create another Bronze Combat Technique, he'd simply waste his time and energy.

Just creating a Basic Combat Technique required a solid foundation, and those that were capable of doing so were, without a doubt, geniuses. As for Advanced Combat Techniques, only the various superpowers' old monsters had any hope of successfully creating one.

Shi Feng's success in creating a Bronze Combat Technique was nothing short of a miracle.

As Shi Feng reveled in the joy of his new Bronze Combat Technique, the system reminded him to name the technique.

A name? The combat technique he had created was a variant of Sword's Orbit that he had combined with the Realms of Truth's principles. After giving the matter some thought, Shi Feng decided, Let's call it Sword's Transmigration!

Once Shi Feng had entered the technique's name, the system rang with another notification.

System: Congratulations! You are the first player to create a Bronze Combat Technique. Rewarding one Bronze Legacy Orb and the title 'Bronze Legatee.'

As the system notification ended, a green orb appeared before Shi Feng.

Creating a Bronze Combat Technique offers such a benefit as well? Shi Feng could not help his surprise to see the green orb.

[Bronze Legacy Orb] (Epic Rank Item)

Can record up to three created Bronze Combat Techniques. Players may learn the combat techniques in immersive environments. Each attempt will cost 100 Magic Crystals.

Cooldown: 1 hour after each use.

Shi Feng had heard of many experts creating their own combat techniques in the past, although those techniques had only been Basic or Advanced rank. However, he hadn't heard of those players receiving a recording device as he had. If other players wished to learn the combat techniques, they had to either rely on videos or receive the technique creators' personally tutelage.

Unfortunately, learning a combat technique was easier said than done.

Experts struggled desperately to learn Basic Combat Techniques, even if they had the assistance of a book. It was easy to imagine how much more difficult learning a Basic Combat Technique would be without proper guidelines, not to mention learning Advanced rank or higher combat techniques.

Thus far, the various superpowers had obtained quite a few Bronze Legacy Tablets, yet despite possessing complete legacies that provided detailed instruction, Shi Feng hadn't heard of a single player mastering a Bronze Combat Technique.

Meanwhile, the Bronze Legacy Orb allowed him to record three Bronze Combat Techniques permanently. This would be a great help. Moreover, the Bronze Legacy Orb had a very short Cooldown. He could allow one player to learn the technique he had created each hour. While the Bronze Legacy Orb wasn't as effective as an actual combat technique book, which didn't have a cost or Cooldown, it was better than a Bronze Legacy Tablet.

Following which, Shi Feng examined his new title.

[Bronze Legatee] (Advanced Title)

When using combat techniques, expenditure is reduced by 20%. Enjoy the status of Baron in any city, kingdom, or empire.

Amazing! It actually grants a global Baron status! Developing in the various major cities will be much easier now. The Bronze Legatee title's benefits surprised Shi Feng.

Although the Demon Hunter title was a Basic Title, it was extremely rare and valuable. After all, it gave him the status of a World Noble, and he had greatly benefited from the title thus far. Meanwhile, the Bronze Legatee title offered him a higher status than the Demon Hunter title. Unlike an ordinary noble, a Baron would have access to greater benefits when purchasing items and Lands in NPC cities.

As he considered the situation, the names of a few super-large-scale neutral cities came to Shi Feng's mind.

These super-large-scale neutral cities were similar to the Sea of Trees; all of the various superpowers wanted access to these cities to conduct business. Only, unlike the Sea of Trees, these neutral were not located within secret lands; gaining entry to these cities was much easier.

Every one of these neutral cities had a player population of over 20,000,000 in the past, even more than ordinary empires' imperial capitals. Hence, the various superpowers had frequently fought over dominance in these cities, while first-rate Guilds and below had only been able to watch from the sidelines.

I think the minimum level-requirement to activate a super-large-scale neutral NPC city was Level 70? Now that I have the Bronze Legatee title, I can go and take a look. Shi Feng immediately decided to set aside his Realms of Truth training. He knew that he had already exhausted his current potential at this point, and he wouldn't gain anything from continuing his training right now. If he wished to progress in the second-floor trial, he needed inspiration. Following which, Shi Feng took out a Return Scroll and left the Extraordinary Tower.

Chapter 1984 - White River City Promoted

Star-Moon Kingdom, White River City:

When Shi Feng returned to White River City's Teleportation Hall once again, he discovered that the hall was quite busy. The Teleportation Hall had recently transformed, becoming even more magnificent than before.

What?! The city has been promoted?! Shi Feng was slightly surprised as he gazed around the building's interior.

Originally, only the first-floor hall had teleportation arrays, but now the second and third floors of the open-air hall had their own arrays, as well. The higher a teleportation array was located, the farther it could transfer players. Moreover, multiple platforms now floated around the main hall. These floating platforms could transport players to the second and third floors, and if players wished to, they could pay a small fee to teleport to White River City's airport, central plaza, or business district.

The floating platforms moved even faster than Dark-Gold Mounts, becoming the fastest mode of transportation in White River City. By using these platforms, players could save plenty of time while moving around the city.

While this new function might not seem like much, NPC cities would grow larger as they were promoted, accommodating more players. After a certain rank, running from one end of the city to the other would require a considerable amount of time. Although floating platforms had fixed destinations, they could save players half the travel time.

Normally, NPC cities only activated the floating platform function once they had become a Main City with a certain level of prosperity. However, this prosperity wasn't the equivalent to the city's player population. Rather, it referred to economic interactions between players and NPCs, as well as the Shops' quantity and quality within the city walls.

Thus far, only the various empire's imperial capitals had unlocked the floating platform function, and they had only done so recently. Kingdom's capital cities were still some time away from the upgrade, yet White River City had achieved the feat.

As Shi Feng walked through the city streets, he discovered that White River City was far livelier than it had been before the latest promotion. The number of merchant players in the city, in particular, had increased drastically. Moreover, more Shops lined the streets now that the city streets had been broadened.

"Selling Level 50 Secret-Silver leather armor! Price is open for negotiation!"

"Selling various types of Level 50 equipment with Magic Resistance! Welcoming long-term partnerships with adventurer teams!"

"Purchasing Energy Essence and Primordial Crystals in bulk! Offer available long-term!"

Idle and merchant players fervently hawked their wares, all selling much higher-quality products than during Shi Feng's last visit to White River City. During his last visit, only the Guild-operated Shops had sold Level 50 Secret-Silver Equipment, but now even idle and merchant players announced that such items were for sale.

The city's various Shops had even put up Level 50 Dark-Gold Equipment on display, although their prices were ridiculously high. Not even Guild experts could afford these equipment pieces.

Once Shi Feng had seen enough, he rented a floating platform and made his way to White River City's business district.

Due to the recent promotion, the main street had changed significantly. Rather than a street, it looked like a commercial plaza. Not only had it tripled in size, but it was now home to a building that was over 70-stories-tall. This building was none other than White River City's Auction House.

When the Auction House had been upgraded, it had gained new functions. Players weren't the only ones who could consign items for auction anymore; even NPCs held Basic and Intermediate Auctions a few times a week. In addition, players could browse and purchase items that players sold from one-fourth of Star-Moon Kingdom's towns and cities. Previously, players had only been able to view and buy items from White River City and its neighboring NPC cities.

If players wished to find and purchase specific items, doing so at White River City's Auction House was now the best option. Meanwhile, the most valuable of the Auction House's new functions was the Auction Arena.

Might was right in God's Domain, and the game's Auction Houses were no exception to this rule. Once the Auction Arena activated, the Auction House would hold a competition each day. The Auction House would offer various rare items as prices during these competitions, and players only needed to pay the entry fee to take part. The competition had two phases. The first phase was a test the system decided, and the second involved a battle between players. However, equipment wouldn't help players in this battle. The competition focused on testing players' financial strength and resources. While combat standards were also tested, they were insignificant in comparison.

When the Auction Arena had been introduced in the past, it had caused quite the stir in God's Domain. Merchant players that hadn't been suited for combat had gone mad over the arena, and while many of them had taken part in the competition themselves, some had also hired experts to fight in their place. Countless merchant players had made their fortunes through the Auction Arena, and some experts had obtained top-tier weapons, equipment, and tools with their success in the arena.

Of course, due to the Auction Arena, God's Domain's influence in the real world had expanded.

However, the Auction Arena's appearance had also been responsible for the various superpowers' violent frenzy that had followed...

It's finally time to wrestle over the city's management rights. Shi Fen took a deep breath as he gazed up at the towering White River City Auction House.

NPC cities were different from Guild Cities. During the game's early stages, the various powers had to rely on player-count and Shop economy to spread their influence in an NPC city. These powers also used physical and economic oppression on those who moved against them. Even so, they couldn't gain any substantial authority in an NPC city.

But once the Auction Arena activated, players could secure the Auction House's management rights.

While this change might not seem like much, a city's Auction House was extremely important to players' daily lives. Taking control of an Auction House was akin to controlling the NPC city's lifeblood, indirectly controlling the player economy.

If someone obtained an Auction House's management rights, they could bar certain players from the Auction House, for example. This would be a fatal blow to the city's independent players and various major powers. Both relied on the Auction House as their main source of income, and without it, independent players couldn't sell their items, and Guilds couldn't purchase materials.

One could easily imagine the consequences of losing access to an Auction House.

The competition for an Auction House's management rights would be held once a month on a fixed date. All NPC cities with Auction Arenas would hold the competition at the same time, preventing the various superpowers, who had an absolute advantage in terms of resources and experts, from monopolizing every NPC city in the game. Unfortunately, this arrangement also restricted the various large Guilds' development

Guild's only had a limited number of resources and expert players, and the more NPC cities they controlled, the fewer resources and experts they could allocate to each location. Occupying a large number of NPC cities would be impossible for Guilds that lacked sturdy foundations.

Of course, only Shi Feng knew about this right now. The Auction Arena function wouldn't activate the moment the Auction House had been promoted. It would only activate once a certain number of Auction Houses in God's Domain had risen to the appropriate rank.

Although the Auction Arena hadn't activated yet, this did remind Shi Feng that he had to prepare funds and resources for the inevitability. Currently, Zero Wing's foundations were slightly stronger than an ordinary first-rate Guild, and it would be some time before the Manatite vein affected the Guild's development in a significant way.

Following which, Shi Feng entered the Candlelight Trading Firm and notified Melancholic Smile, instructing her to bring him the Tier 1 Mysterious Flames the Guild had collected so far.

He then took his Fire Spirit to the warehouse that housed the Holy Grail. He intended to increase his strength before he left to activate a super-large-scale neutral city. The quest to do so was even more difficult than an ordinary Epic Quest after all, and he'd only get himself killed if he didn't prepare.

Chapter 1985 - Strengthening Fire Spirit

Candlelight Trading Firm's private warehouse:

Due to the Holy Grail, Divine Might filled the entire room. The Divine Might's powerful pressure would even suppress Tier 1 expert players until they moved as slow as turtles. Despite having the Strength to rival Great Lords of the same level, even Shi Feng felt uncomfortable as he entered the warehouse, his movements becoming somewhat sluggish.

Shi Feng hadn't originally planned to use the Holy Grail since the Power of Evolution was so costly, and he wouldn't get a refund if the evolution attempt failed.

However, if he wished to complete a super-large-scale neutral city's activation quest, he needed to grow stronger. He had to rely on the Fire Spirit.

To increase his chances for success, he had no choice but to gamble on the Holy Grail.

As Shi Feng arrived before the stone platform housing the Holy Grail, he retrieved a crimson crystal ball from his bag. The crystal ball was none other than the Fire Spirit.

Despite being an Epic item, he could only use it to summon one Tier 2 Fire Spirit of the same level in exchange for 5 Magic Crystals. It was a toy compared to the Bible of Darkness. Even a Tier 2 Summoning Scroll could call forth a stronger creature than the Tier 2 Fire Spirit. The item simply didn't deserve its Epic rank.

This was also why Shi Feng had decided to upgrade the Fire Spirit. The stronger an item was, the lower its chances would be for success, and before devouring any Mysterious Flames, the Fire Spirit could only be considered an Epic item at best. Its quality would only increase after absorbing powerful Mysterious Flames. If nurtured properly, this crystal ball could even become stronger than Fragmented Legendary items.

Shi Feng then had the Holy Grail scan the orb in his hand.

Dark-purple mist emerged from the grail, enveloping the crimson orb in Shi Feng's hand. After five seconds, Shi Feng received a system notification.

System: Designated item cannot be evolved to Fragmented Legendary rank.

"Cannot be evolved?" Shi Feng was stunned.

He had never imagined that the Fire Spirit was so special. Despite being an Epic item, the Holy Grail couldn't force an upgrade to Fragmented Legendary rank.

However, as Shi Feng began to feel disappointed, the sound of a second notification reached his ears.

System: Do you wish to sacrifice 5,000 HP to enhance Fire Spirit's effects?

Enhance its effects? Shi Feng was surprised again to read the words in his notification window. However, he was stupefied to see the cost of this enhancement. How fraudulent! Evolving the Blacksteel Insignia had only cost 1,000 HP, yet enhancing the Fire Spirit's effects cost 5,000?

Five thousand HP was significant even to a Tier 2 MT. Very powerful Level 70, Tier 2 MTs would only have 100,000 HP at most, and the cost was taken from the player's base HP. Taking into account the percentage HP modifiers on weapons and equipment, players would lose far more than just 5,000 HP.

But even after considering his options, Shi Feng gritted his teeth and agreed to the cost.

While 5,000 HP was a painful amount to lose, even for him, the Fire Spirit was extraordinarily valuable. Most importantly, he wasn't attempting to evolve the item to Fragmented Legendary Rank; he could only enhance its effects. Logically, the risk of failure shouldn't be as high.

Moreover, HP wasn't particularly important for a Swordsman player like himself, and he could also rely on his Bloodline to compensate for the loss. With the Bloodline, he gained a lot more HP than ordinary players with each level-up. He wouldn't suffer as much of an impact by losing 5,000 HP as other players.

After Shi Feng agreed to enhance the Fire Spirit, more purple mist spilled out of the Holy Grail, far denser than it had been a moment ago. So much mist spilled out that it filled the private warehouse.

As the purple mist continued to seep into the Fire Spirit, the miniature Flame Dragon woke and roared again and again. The sound pierced through its crystalline cage and echoed throughout the warehouse.

Due to the purple mist's invasion, the baby Dragon began to grow.

In less than ten seconds, the baby Dragon had transformed into a mature Flame Dragon and was nearly twice as large. Intelligence flashed in its eyes, no longer lacking emotion as it had earlier.

Was it a success? Shi Feng could not help his growing excitement as he gazed at the adult Flame Dragon.

God's Domain's players might not know about Fire Spirits, but Shi Feng was very familiar with the items. He also recognized how valuable an intelligent Fire Spirit was.

To put it simply, the difference between a Fire Spirit with higher intelligence and an ordinary Fire Spirit was like the difference between an expert and an ordinary player. Even if both Fire Spirits possessed the same Basic Attributes, the combat power they could exert would be worlds apart.

Many powers had gotten their hands on Fire Spirits in the past, but trying to increase a Fire Spirit's intelligence wasn't easy. One would only have a chance of triggering an intelligence growth by sacrificing Tier 2 and above Mysterious Flames. Unfortunately, despite many owners feeding their Fire Spirits the appropriate Mysterious Flames, very few had succeeded in increasing their Fire Spirit's intelligence.

A Fire Spirit was a very special Epic item with endless potential. Countless experts had even guessed that by feeding the item enough Mysterious Flames, a Fire Spirit could grow to become a Tier 6 God. Even Tier 6 God-ranked players would flee from a Tier 6 God with higher intelligence.

Once the purple mist had dissipated, Shi Feng carefully picked up the Fire Spirit and inspected its Attribute Panel.

As expected of the Holy Grail. Despite the fact that I haven't fed it any Mysterious Flames, the Fire Spirit has already grown so much? Shi Feng was ecstatic when he saw the Fire Spirit's updated Attributes.

The new Fire Spirit didn't summon an ordinary Tier 2 Fire Spirit, but a bona fide Tier 2 Advanced Fire Spirit with higher intelligence. Moreover, the Advanced Fire Spirit would be ten levels higher than the player that summoned it.

An Advanced Fire Spirit's Life Rating was only slightly inferior to an Archaic Species, and since it had higher intelligence, its combat power could rival ordinary Great Lords of the same level. An Advanced Fire Spirit would provide far more assistance than ordinary Tier 3 monsters as well, possessing even more Spells than a Tier 2 Elementalist. A Tier 2 Advanced Fire Spirit would likely beat a challenging Tier 2 peak expert black and blue.

Advanced Fire Spirits could cast their Spells with a 100% Completion Rate, and their Basic Attributes were far higher than Tier 2 players of the same level-

while Shi Feng marveled at the new and improved Fire Spirit, Melancholic Smile contacted him and reported, "Guild Leader, I've gathered the Tier 1 Mysterious Flames you asked for."

"Good! I'll head there right away!" Shi Feng nodded. He then disconnected the call and visited his Special Forging Room on the top floor.

Chapter 1986 - Consecutive Growth

In one of the Candlelight Trading Firm's top-floor Special Forging Rooms...

As Shi Feng entered the room, the sight of Melancholic Smile organizing various crystal balls on a stone table greeted him. Each crystal ball contained a Tier 1 Mysterious Flame, and there were easily over 20 of them on the table.

If other Guilds saw this collection of Tier 1 Mysterious Flames, they'd be astonished.

Everyone in God's Domain was privy to the existence of Mysterious Flames by this stage of the game. They knew that these unique flames were a great help to forgers and alchemists.

Hence, the various major powers fought over any Mysterious Flame they came across. They wouldn't even pass over a Tier 1 Mysterious Flame. After all, Mysterious Flames were extremely rare and even coveted by superpowers' master-level crafters.

"Guild Leader, here are all the Tier 1 Mysterious Flames we have collected so far. There are a total of 23.1 did find another flame in the Blackwing Auction House, but the bidding was intense. In the end, the price rose past our 5,000-Gold budget, and another Guild purchased it for 8,3〇〇 Gold," Melancholic Smile said.

She hadn't fully understood how valuable Tier 1 Mysterious Flames were since collecting the first few had been relatively easy with the clues Shi Feng had provided. Furthermore, the Guild shared the flame Shi Feng used, and his Mysterious Flame was much stronger than Tier 1.

She certainly hadn't expected a Tier 1 Mysterious Flame to sell for more than an ordinary Epic item...

Shi Feng nodded in response. He then asked, "How is our business with Secret coming along?"

"The basic arrangements have been completed. We have even started to sell many of our products through Secret's channels, but as we are only a basic member, we can only sell our products in up to 80 of the Chamber's NPC cities. Among them, only 25 can be within empires, and only five of those can be major cities. Of the 55 kingdom cities, we can only select ten major cities," Melancholic Smile said, a little excited.

Currently, the Candlelight Trading Firm's influence only reached across a little over 50 NPC cities, nearly half of which were located in Star-Moon Kingdom. Now that Candlelight had joined the Secret Chamber of Commerce, it had access to an additional 80 cities. This more than doubled Candlelight's sales channels.

Secret is quite impressive, to think it can even give its basic members 80 city slots. Shi Feng was slightly astonished by Melancholic Smile's report.

Joining a Chamber of Commerce in God's Domain didn't mean that one would gain immediate and full access to its sales channels. That depended on one's rank within the alliance.

Normally, newcomers were given positions as basic members. Only powerful superpowers could be promoted to an advanced member upon joining.

Based on Shi Feng's knowledge, most Chambers only granted 60 city slots to basic members, yet Secret had given them 80. It was clear how powerful Secret's foundations were.

"Guild Leader, here is the list of cities we've selected. Once we begin our collaboration, Candlelight's income will double at the very least. We won't have to worry about lacking development funds," Melancholic Smile said, smiling as she took out a list and handed it to Shi Feng.

She had worked with Aqua Rose to choose the cities on the list. They had decided to do business in a total of three empires and six kingdoms, and although they couldn't sell all of their products in the selected kingdoms and empires, as doing so would be unprofitable, they wouldn't have to worry about a lack of customers. They would've chosen many more kingdoms and empires had they not been limited by a specific number of cities. After all, they couldn't afford to waste the referral fee they had paid to the Secret Chamber of Commerce.

"I see no issues with the chosen cities," Shi Feng said. Changing topics, Shi Feng asked, "How is the Resuscitation Potion's production coming along?"

"Silent Wonder and the others are doing their best to brew the potion now. Moreover, Candlelight has recently gained another Master Alchemist. Now, we have a total of four Master Alchemists working on the potion, and they have made over 3,3〇〇 bottles thus far," Melancholic Smile replied.

She had very high hopes for the Resuscitation Potion. It was, after all, a potion that allowed players to resurrect themselves without losing any EXP. Moreover, the production cost for each bottle was only a little over 20 Silver. Although the potion required a lot of rare materials, it had become very easy for Zero Wing to acquire what it needed with the Secret Chamber of Commerce's connections.

"Good. Continue production. Later, try to nurture as many Master Alchemists as possible. We need to ensure that we have enough people to learn the recipes You Ziping's group obtains," Shi Feng said, chuckling.

The Resuscitation Potion had been extremely popular during his previous life. At one point, it had even sold for 3 Gold per bottle. Three Gold was incredibly expensive even for ordinary expert players, not to mention ordinary players. Only the various adventurer teams and Guilds could possibly afford such a price.

Normally, he wouldn't have bothered to push for so many Resuscitation Potions since there was a limit to the number of adventurer teams and Guilds in Zero Wing's territories, but now that Candlelight had joined the Secret Chamber of Commerce, they didn't have to worry about a lack of customers. Hence, they needed to craft as many Resuscitation Potions as possible.

After Shi Feng finished giving Melancholic Smile her latest instructions, he shifted his focus to the Mysterious Flames on the table.

While one Tier 1 Mysterious Flame might be of little help to the Fire Spirit, he had a total of 23 on hand. Furthermore, he had upgraded his Fire Spirit to Advanced rank. An Advanced Fire Spirit would gain more from absorbing Mysterious Flames than a normal Fire Spirit.

As Shi Feng pulled the Fire Spirit from his bag, the Flame Dragon within quickly noticed the Tier 1 Mysterious Flames on the table and grew restless.

"Start absorbing! Show me how much you can grow!" Shi Feng immediately picked up a Tier 1 Mysterious Flames and placed it before the Fire Spirit

Like a hungry wolf, the Flame Dragon burst forth from the crystal ball and pounced on the Mysterious Flame.

As the Flame Dragon devoured the Mysterious Flame, the flame grew weaker until it eventually vanished.

Although the Fire Spirit's Attributes hadn't transformed, the little Dragon began to emit more heat. Its previously blurry form also began to sharpen.

Shi Feng immediately chose to feed the Fire Spirit another Tier 1 Mysterious Flame.

With each Mysterious Flame the Fire Spirit devoured, the Flame Dragon's figure became clearer. By the time it had absorbed its seventh Mysterious Flame, Shi Feng could see the scales across the Flame Dragon's body.

After devouring the eighth Mysterious Flame, the Flame Dragon began to expand, releasing a low growl. The Fire Spirit's Attributes finally changed.

Tier 3? Shi Feng's excitement grew when he saw the new Attributes.

Tier 3 meant that the Fire Spirit had now reached the Great Lord standard. With its higher intelligence, it was even more powerful than a Tier 3 peak expert of the same level.

Following which, Shi Feng continued to feed the Fire Spirit Tier 1 Mysterious Flames.

Twelfth-

Fifteenth...

Twentieth...

Finally, after the Fire Spirit absorbed the 21st Mysterious Flame, it underwent a transformation. Not only did the Flame Dragon grow larger, but Shi Feng could also sense that its Life Rating had improved.

Wonderful! I've finally succeeded! Shi Feng's eyes glowed as he gazed at his Fire Spirit.

Chapter 1987 - Giant Race

The flames that surrounded the Fire Spirit's body expanded drastically, transforming from their original crimson color to a scorching white. Even the space around the Flame Dragon began to show signs of crumbling under the power of its flames.

Tier 3 Archaic Species? Shi Feng's heart skipped a beat when he examined the Attribute Panel.

He hadn't thought that a measly two dozen or so Tier 1 Mysterious Flames would be enough to upgrade the Fire Spirit to a Tier 3 Archaic Species. So many powers in his past had fed their Fire Spirits a large number of Tier 1 Mysterious Flames, yet the results of their efforts had been disappointing. Most powers had only nurtured their Fire Spirits into Tier 3 Archaic Species after feeding them a significant number of Tier 2 flames.

Shi Feng had assumed that his Fire Spirit would grow to the Tier 3 standard at most, and he'd have to feed it Tier 2 Mysterious Flames if he wanted it to become an Archaic Species. He hadn't expected the Advanced Fire Spirit's absorption rate to be so effective.

Now that his Advanced Fire Spirit was a Tier 3 Archaic Species with higher intelligence, its combat power should be even greater than an ordinary Grand Lord of the same level. Though, if it really came down to a one-on-one fight, the Advanced Fire Spirit would still have a high chance of losing since actual Grand Lords had far more HP.

However, Shi Feng was satisfied with these results.

Although he could summon Kite and Anna to help him with his quest, he did not want to risk them. Resurrecting Personal Guards was very troublesome, and even if he resurrected them, they'd need quite some time to recover their losses.

Fortunately, the Fire Spirit was a different story. Even if it died, he could simply spend Magic Crystals to resummon it. Furthermore, each time he summoned the Fire Spirit, now that it was a Tier 3 Archaic Species, he only had to spend 300 Magic Crystals. Moreover, its Cooldown was even shorter than the Bible of Darkness's Demon Summoning. He only had to wait 30 minutes to resummon the Fire Spirit. However, unlike the Bible of Darkness, he could only summon a single Fire Spirit to fight for him at a time.

Once Shi Feng had finished upgrading the Fire Spirit, he collected a small stock of Magic Crystals and left the Candlelight Trading Firm. He then made his way towards the Adventurer's Association in Star-Moon City.

Although God's Domain didn't have many super-large-scale neutral cities, there was one near every few empires and dozen or so kingdoms. Like the Fairy Country's Forest City, these super-large-scale neutral cities served as trade hubs between the game's neutral races and the nearby empires and kingdoms.

To enter super-large-scale neutral cities, like the Sea of Trees, players had to complete specific quests.

The neutral city Shi Feng aimed to activate was called Thunder Axe City, home to the Giant race.

Appearance-wise, Giants looked no different than humans, only larger. Generally, Giants stood at least four-meters tall, and their physiques were even more powerful than Ores'. Giants were born for combat.

Aside from the Titan race, Giants' Defense was the highest among the numerous neutral races.

In the past, Giant Shield Warrior and Guardian Knight players had been incredibly popular among the various major powers. Some of the various superpowers had even pressured some of their members to convert to the Giant race since there was nothing that prohibited neutral race players from joining human Guilds. However, they would be restricted within human cities. But how could such a small issue compare to the benefits of having a powerful MT?

Of course, while the Giants' advantages were obvious, their flaws were just as glaring. Giants weren't very skilled with magic, and their mobility was atrocious compared to humans'. Defeating players or monsters that were particularly fast and agile would give Giant players a massive headache.

These obvious weaknesses were the reason many players refused to become Giants. There had been far fewer Giant players than Half-elf and Beastkin players in the past.

Meanwhile, as a super-large-scale neutral city, Thunder Axe City had a wide variety of unique aspects. Chief among them was the city's location within the Icefire Mountain Range, a neutral map that was rich in ores. Due to their environment, Giants were experts in the art of forging. Their forging techniques had been passed down from the Titan race, making their standards even superior to the Dwarves'.

This was also one of the reasons that Shi Feng had chosen Thunder Axe City.

Although Zero Wing current had many advantages, its position in the Ore Empire was still precarious, and it would only get worse as time passed. The Guild's foundation was too weak, and it had too few experts. While Zero Wing had enough manpower and resources to defend its current position in the empire, it didn't have enough to launch an assault against its enemies.

Zero Wing might possess more resources and experts than ordinary first-rate Guilds, but it was an infant compared to the various superpowers. Zero Wing didn't have nearly as much territory as the various superpowers, after all.

Star-Moon Kingdom, Star-Moon City:

Once Shi Feng had arrived in Star-Moon City, he immediately headed for the kingdom's Adventurer's Association. Star-Moon City hadn't developed nearly as much as White River City, and most of the players that visited the Adventurer's Association were Level 55 or 66 elite players. Level 58 or higher expert players were still far and few between.

Without hesitation, Shi Feng headed to the second floor and approached one of its counters.

"Lord Spirit Slayer, how may I be of service today?" the NPC beauty manning the counter asked with a smile.

"I wish to pick up an Exploration Quest," Shi Feng said.

"Very well." The NPC clerk revealed a list containing a large number of Exploration Quests and handed it to Shi Feng. "Lord Spirit Slayer, these are all of the Exploration Quests you can accept right now."

With a nod, Shi Feng carefully examined the list.

The Adventurer's Association had many quests to offer, and among them, the most difficult were Crusade and Exploration Quests. Meanwhile, only players who had reached Level 70 and three-star status in the Association could accept Thunder Axe City's Exploration Quest.

Although three-star adventurers could accept the Exploration Quest, it was even more challenging than ordinary Epic Quests.

Players had only entered Thunder Axe City in Shi Feng's previous life after he had reached Level 75. At the time, peak experts had already reached Level 77 and beyond and were geared in Level 75 top-tier weapons and equipment.

"I'll take this quest," Shi Feng said as he pointed to a quest named Giant's Hideout.

"Very well. I will mark you down as this quest's challenger. Please pay a 1,000-Gold deposit. Should you abandon this quest, your deposit will not be returned," the NPC clerk informed him.

The other Tier 2 experts picking up quests on the second floor were astonished to hear the NPC clerk's comment.

"Crap! What kind of quest is that? A 1,000-Gold deposit?"

"That can't be real, right? Even my two-star quest only required a 3-Gold deposit."

Many of the Tier 2 experts stared at Shi Feng's cloaked figure in shock.

Normally, the Adventurer's Association only charged 3% to 5% of a quest's reward as a deposit fee, preventing players from picking up quests they had no hope of completing. The fact that Shi Feng's quest cost 1,000 Gold meant that its reward was worth at least 20,000 Gold...

After Shi Feng accepted the quest, the sound of a system notification reached his ears.

Chapter 1988 - Three-star Reward

System: Congratulations! You are the first player to accept a Three-star Unique Exploration Quest You have the right to choose between two options.

System: The first option will reduce the quest difficulty by 15%, but the reward will remain the same.

System: The second option will maintain the quest difficulty but increase the reward by one rank.

System: You have ten minutes to consider. If you do not make a decision within ten minutes, the difficulty will remain the same by default.

I have such an option? Shi Feng read his notification window in surprise.

He had picked up Three-star Exploration Quests in the past, but this was the first time the system had presented such an option.

While the Thunder Axe City's Exploration Quest was more difficult than ordinary Epic quests, it awarded far more. It would also grant him the opportunity to occupy Thunder Axe City before other players. That benefit alone was worth the effort of completing the Giant's Hideout Exploration Quest

If he could lower the quest's difficulty by 15%, it would become easier than completing an ordinary Epic Quest, giving him a much higher chance of completing it However, he could increase his reward by one rank if he maintained the quest's difficulty. In other words, he would receive the reward of an Inferior Legendary Quest That was just as tempting, and Shi Feng had accepted the Giant's Hideout Exploration Quest with the understanding of the quest's difficulty.

After giving the matter some thought, Shi Feng decided on the second option, maintaining the quest difficulty and upgrading his reward.

The Exploration Quest's reward was a large part of the reason he had chosen it, aside from access to Thunder Axe City's resources. Although the Adventurer's Association did not mention the quest reward, he knew what to expect.

Conversion slots for players!

It wasn't easy to convert to a neutral race in God's Domain, especially for the races with powerful racial traits. The stronger a race was, the more difficult the Conversion Quest would be. However, the Giant's Hideout quest awarded conversion slots for players upon completion. With these slots, he could convert the players into a Giant without having to complete the Conversion Quests.

As far as he could remember, the Giant's Hideout quest awarded 1,000 conversion slots upon completion. While the players he converted would not be able to enter most NPC cities in God's Domain, they could enter towns and cities Guilds and neutral races operated.

With a bunch of powerful MTs, Zero Wing would have a much easier time raiding Team Dungeons and Field Bosses. The Giants' racial traits were too perfect for MTs to pass up, and unlike Half-elves and Beastkin, becoming a Giant didn't improve a player's five senses or magical abilities. Instead, it granted a massive boost to players' Basic Attributes.

If a Tier 1 MT converted to the Giant race, they would gain the Strength and Defense to rival Tier 2 MTs. Their HPs would increase drastically, as well. In return, though, their Movement Speed, Attack Speed, and reaction speed would decrease, making it more difficult to complete future Promotion Quests.

If a Tier 2 MT converted to a Giant, they'd become more powerful than human, top-ranked Tier 2 MTs, although they wouldn't reach the Tier 3 standard.

The superpower that had completed the Giant's Hideout quest in the past had increased its strength by a large margin very quickly due to the 1,000 Conversion slots. Its development speed had easily surpassed the other superpowers, and although the other superpowers had sent their own experts to attempt the Conversion Quest, they hadn't been able to catch up due to the amount of time needed to complete the quest.

After Shi Feng made his selection, the NPC clerk took out an ancient, yellowish-brown Magic Scroll and handed it to Shi Feng.

"Lord Spirit Slayer, this Magic Scroll will help you temporarily remove the magic seal on the path. However, you can only use it once, so please choose your timing carefully. If you expended the Magic Scroll without completing your quest, a replacement will cost 1,000 Magic Crystals," the NPC clerk respectfully explained.

"I understand." Shi Feng nodded as he accepted the Magic Scroll.

Quests from the Adventurer's Association were different from Exploration Quests found elsewhere. If players failed the quests they had accepted from the Association, they'd at most lose some Coins or Magic Crystals; they wouldn't suffer penalties that affected their performance in battle, such as Basic Attribute reductions. This was why most players preferred to accept quests from the Adventurer's Association.

Once he left the Association, Shi Feng made his way to the Teleportation Hall and traveled to a border town in the Purple Thorns Kingdom. This was also the closest town to the Icefire Mountain Range.

Unbeknownst to Shi Feng, his actions in the Adventurer's Association had aroused quite the commotion. No quest requiring a 1,000-Gold deposit was ordinary, and many players within the Association had begun to search for the Giant's Hideout quest

Although multiple players couldn't accept some of the Adventurer's Association's quests, they would show up on the list of available quests until they were completed.

"What's going on? Why isn't there such a quest on my list of Exploration Quests?"

"Maybe we aren't a high enough rank?"

"That can't be possible! I'm a two-star adventurer! Was that guy a three-star adventurer? That's even less possible! Not even the first-rate Guilds' peak experts, who have focused on the Adventurer's Association's quests, have reached the three-star standard yet!"

"A three-star quest? Who was that guy?"

After Shi Feng left, the players within the Adventurer's Association fell into a heated discussion. They all wanted to know the identity of the player who had accepted this mysterious Exploration Quest.

News of the event quickly reached the Star Alliance's Residence in Star-Moon City.

"I've never considered that the Adventurer's Association had hidden such a major quest. Have someone notify Crimson Feather and the others. Tell them to become three-star adventurers as quickly as possible," Galaxy Past, who sat in the Guild Leader's office, commanded after reading the report he had received from a subordinate.

The various large Guilds often had numerous teams focus on different aspects of development. Some teams specialized in completing the Adventurer's Association's quests and raising their rank within the Association, while other teams focused on quests that were only available out in the fields, and other teams focused on increasing their Reputation in particular NPC cities. By doing so, Guilds could secure greater advantages in the game.

"HI notify Crimson and the others immediately!" Purple Eye, who currently wore a set of luxurious, dark-blue robes, replied. "Guild Leader, what should we do about the Witch's Hill situation? The Guilds that own the two Guild Towns in the area have invited us to join their alliance, and I've heard that multiple corporations are now supporting the towns. Even Sin Realm, a first-rate Guild from the Purple Thorns Kingdom, has joined the alliance. Why don't we join as well?"

The Witch's Hill had already become the center of attention in Star-Moon Kingdom. The map was the sole producer of Primordial Crystal Fragments, and as long as players reached Tier 2, they could enter the Otherworld Gate, which offered bountiful resources.

If the Star Alliance could secure a foothold in the Witch's Hill, it could help the Guild's development considerably.

"Sin Realm, is it?" After giving the matter some thought, Galaxy Past shook his head and said, "Let's wait and see for now. Tell them that our Guild has some matters to settle first, so we can't join them at the moment."

"Are we really going to give up on such a good development opportunity?" Purple Eye asked, confused.

"According to the Secret Pavilion's information network, the Evil God's Temple hides in the Sin Realm's shadows. I doubt that Zero Wing will tolerate the Guild Town's parading much longer," Galaxy Past said, chuckling. "If those two towns can truly defend themselves, we can join them then."

"I understand." Purple Eye nodded. She then sent the Guild Towns' representatives a reply.

The upper echelons controlling the Guild Towns in the Witch's Hill received Galaxy Past's reply at the same time.

"He has rejected the offer?"

"How cowardly. He is actually willing to ignore such a golden opportunity? It seems Zero Wing has beaten the Star Alliance into submission already."

"I agree. How can the Star Alliance even be considered a first-rate Guild with such a cowardly attitude?"

"The Star Alliance's cooperation doesn't matter. Once we've completed our preparations, not only will we destroy Zero Wing City, but we'll also keep more of the profits for ourselves. We'll make Galaxy Past regret his decision!"

Multiple major powers' upper echelons revealed delighted grins as they gazed at the map of the Witch's Hill on the table before them from within a secret meeting room.

Chapter 1989 - Basic Level Strengthening Potion

Purple Thorns Kingdom, Glory Town:

Glory Town was built atop a mountain and surrounded by tall walls. Although it was only a border town, its defenses nearly rivaled a fortress.

Huh? There are already so many players here? Shi Feng was a little surprised to see the thousands of players outside of the Teleportation Hall.

The monsters near Glory Town were Level 70 and above, and a neutral map not far away was a Level 80-plus map. Just surviving in Glory Town's map would be challenging for current players, not to mention setting foot in the neutral map.

Most of the thousands of players Shi Feng could see were Level 56 or above, with the highest at Level 59, and more than a hundred Tier 2 players wandered the street outside of the Teleportation Hall. Moreover, most of the players in the town didn't wear a Guild Emblem, proving that they were independent players.

Independent players were typically weaker than Guild players in terms of Levels and equipment, yet so many independent players were visiting an area that the various large Guilds had yet to touch. Why wouldn't Shi Feng be surprised?

The independent players around him didn't think anything of Shi Feng's arrival. They simply went about their business.

"Wind Basilisk grinding party is recruiting a healer! Must be Level 57 or higher!"

"Recruiting two Level 57 or above DPS for the Black Cavebat Quest! Tier 2 players get priority!"

Players shouted as they recruited teammates from the street outside of the Teleportation Hall. Whether they planned to quest or grind monsters, they all acted as if this were normal.

However, if Star-Moon Kingdom's experts saw this, they'd be astonished.

Wind Basilisks and Black Cavebats were Level 70-plus monsters, at least 10 Levels higher than current players. The level suppression would be substantial with such a massive difference. Even Level 60, Tier 2 players would struggle against these monsters, much less Tier 1 players, yet these independent players intended to grind these monsters as if it were natural.

After a short moment, Shi Feng noticed that these parties and teams had recruited quite a few members before they headed past Glory Town's main entrance to grind or quest...

Is this really the Purple Thorns Kingdom? Shi Feng was momentarily stunned as he watched these teams leave.

He was quite familiar with Glory Town, a place the Purple Thorns Kingdom's army constantly had to protect from monster assaults from the nearby neutral maps. This wasn't a safe place. In the past, players had only dared to visit this town after they had reached Level 65.

Wind Basilisks were Level 72 Chieftains, and although the Black Cavebats were only Special Elites, they usually moved in large groups. The Great Black Cavebats that led these groups were also Chieftain ranked monsters.

The six-man parties and 20-man teams Shi Feng had seen might be able to take down one Wind Basilisk or a single group of Cavebats, but only barely. If they accidentally aggroed additional monsters, they could even team-wipe.

These players might have a chance if they all wore top-tier equipment, but that wasn't the case for these independent players. From what Shi Feng could see, they all wore average equipment With such equipment, killing the area's high-level monsters would take a long time. In Shi Feng's opinion, these independent players would be much better off grinding Level 60 or so monsters.

Shi Feng also soon discovered that these players weren't limited to those outside of the Teleportation Hall. Plenty of players occupied the rest of the town's streets, as well. Similarly, these players were all Level 56 or above. Shi Feng guessed that there should be more than 30,000 players in Glory Town at the moment, and they were all elites or stronger.

Normally, one would be hard-pressed to find such a gathering of elite and expert players in an NPC town, even in the various empires, yet this phenomenon was occurring in the Purple Thorns Kingdom's Glory Town...

As Shi Feng reached the town's main street to investigate further, he noticed that an extraordinarily large number of players were setting up stalls alongside the street. Player stalls took up every available space on both sides of the street, and every one of them sold considerably valuable items. They either sold rare herbs or high-ranking items that were normally hard to find on the market.

Among the items sold, one item, in particular, caught Shi Feng's attention.

The Basic Level Strengthening Potion!

This was a super-rare potion that, when consumed, granted players an Ignore Levels +7 buff for six hours.

While ignoring a difference of seven levels might not seem like much, fighting monsters that were ten levels higher was still incredibly difficult for Tier 1 players, despite the recent reduction on the system's level suppression during the previous updates. Only Tier 2 players had the power to do so without too much of a problem.

However, as long as Tier 1 players had sufficient Attributes and combat standards, they could fight higher-leveled monsters efficiently, increasing their leveling speed, after consuming the Level Strengthening Potion. In the past, the Level Strengthening Potion had been immensely popular among elite and expert players.

No wonder why so many players are grinding here. Realization dawned on Shi Feng.

Although the Basic Level Strengthening Potion wasn't as effective as Zero Wing's Void Field Magic Array, it was the best option for independent elite and expert players when grinding higher-leveled monsters.

After this discovery, Shi Feng approached one of the stalls selling the Basic Level Strengthening Potions.

More than ten players had lined up at the stall, every one a Level 57 or higher expert. The strongest among them was even a Level 59, Tier 2 expert.

Producing the Basic Level Strengthening Potion was laughably cheap compared to the Void Field, with each bottle only costing 8 Silver to brew. In the past, Basic Level Strengthening Potions had sold for roughly 50 Silver per bottle. Unfortunately, the potion's recipe was painfully rare and could only be acquired by opening Treasure Chests found in Level 50-plus maps. Moreover, the Luck Attribute wouldn't affect its drop-rate, so players had to rely on their personal luck to obtain it

Each recipe had easily sold for around 800 Gold in the past due to its rarity.

Meanwhile, only two players manned the stall that sold the Basic Level Strengthening Potions, a man and a woman. Both appeared quite young.

The handsome, young man was a Level 58, Tier 2 Assassin named Smiling Breeze. Most of his equipment consisted of Level 50 Mysterious-Iron and Secret-Silver Equipment, with a few pieces of Level 55 Mysterious-Iron Equipment. Even independent experts would have a hard time getting their hands on such items at this stage of the game.

As for the beautiful, young woman, she was a Level 57, Tier 1 Summoner named Cool Summer, and her equipment was in no way inferior to her companion's. However, unlike Smiling Breeze, she did not possess a Tier 2 Class Insignia. Instead, she wore an Advanced Alchemist's Insignia.

Why are these two people? Shi Feng was astonished to see these two players.

He was actually familiar with both of them. After all, the brother and sister duo had been very famous in the Black Dragon Empire in the past Smiling Breeze had ranked as one of the Black Dragon Empire's top ten Assassins, while Cool Summer had been a Master Alchemist. Moreover, Cool Summer hadn't just been a Basic Master Alchemist, but an Advanced Master Alchemist. Even the various superpowers had been wary of her.

Although the siblings were independent players, ordinary large Guilds had avoided provoking them due to their superb combat power. Although the younger sister, Cool Summer, hadn't been as strong as her brother, she had still been a Refinement Realm experts, and the various large Guilds' ordinary experts had been no match for her in battle.

As Shi Feng wondered why these two were in the Purple Thorns Kingdom, a group of players approached the stall, surrounding it.

"Sin Realm is conducting business here! Anyone who isn't a member needs to scram!

Chapter 1990 - Heavy Sword

The town's main street fell silent as the shouted announcement echoed. Very quickly, the players waiting in line distanced themselves from Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer's stall. Even the expert players that had waited to purchase Basic Level Strengthening Potions had retreated.

"Why are Sin Realm's people here?"

"Does Sin Realm plan to expand its control to Glory Town?"

"Damn it! Sin Realm's members again?! They've already prevented us from grinding in the normal resource maps, and now they want to claim this town, too?!"

"I don't think that's it. Glory Town isn't a resource-rich map. By the looks of it, it seems they're interested in the Basic Level Strengthening Potion."

"Those two players are certainly unlucky. They've actually attracted Sin Realm's attention just for selling some products."

As the crowd watched Sin Realm's 100-man team, which had already surrounded Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer's stall, they flashed the Guild players indignant looks. They also pitied the sibling pair.

But despite their true feelings, the surrounding players only dared to discuss the situation in whispers. Even though only 100 of Sin Realm's members were here, which the crowd outnumbered by several-fold, no one dared to voice their opinions loudly enough for the Guild players to overhear. Even the Level 59, Tier 2 experts gritted their teeth and reluctantly left the scene.

They all knew that they wouldn't have a future in the Purple Thorns Kingdom if they provoked Sin Realm. They'd be lucky if they only died a few times. In the past, players' accounts had been crippled, forcing them to start over, due to Sin Realm...

In the Purple Thorns Kingdom, Sin Realm was king!

Other kingdoms generally had two or three first-rate Guilds and over a dozen second-rate Guilds. The Purple Thorns, however, only had one first-rate Guild: Sin Realm. The kingdom's second-rate Guilds could also be counted on one hand.

Sin Realm had absolute control over the Purple Thorns Kingdom.

Otherwise, independent players wouldn't have bothered to come to a place like Glory Town to grind.

Under the crowd's hateful gazes, the fierce, young man leading Sin Realm's team stepped forward. He wore dark-gray armor and carried a greatsword with a deathly aura. As he emerged from the Sin Realm group, the crowd gasped.

"What?! Crocodile Breaker?!"

"Why is the Heavy Sword here?!"

This young man's appearance gave the watching players goosebumps.

Sin Realm had seven great experts, and every one of them was one of the Guild's core upper echelons. Crocodile Breaker was one of these great experts. His role in the Guild was to deal with players that opposed Sin Realm, and he had easily over 3,000 expert player deaths under his name. He had even set the record for defeating 100 players single-handedly, and those 100 hadn't been random nobodies. They had all been Guild experts, and one had even ranked on the God's Domain Expert List.

The reason behind Crocodile Breaker's astonishing success was his unbeatable Strength. He had even whittled the expert that ranked on the God's Domain Expert List down until the player had died.

Due to Crocodile Breaker's immense Strength, he had gained the nickname 'Heavy Sword.'

While the watching players were surprised by Crocodile Breaker's appearance, the young man arrived before Smiling Breeze's stall.

"Pack up. Today, you two have the honor of joining Sin Realm," Crocodile Breaker proclaimed, flashing Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer an arrogant grin. "The Guild Leader has decided that you two will be instantly promoted to core members when you join, and you won't have to grind for GCPs like everyone else. If you perform well, you might even become Guild Elders in the future. If you don't have any questions, come with me."

Although Crocodile Breaker's words seemed like an invitation, his imposing aura hinted that he'd slay the sibling pair if they rejected his invitation. When his aura and pressure washed over the spectators, they shuddered.

However, many of the watching experts envied Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer for receiving this forceful invitation.

Although Sin Realm behaved like a tyrant in the Purple Thorns Kingdom, it had the strength to stand behind its actions. Becoming one of the Guild's core members was a golden opportunity. At the very least, one could freely roam the Purple Thorns Kingdom. Even the upper echelons from the kingdom's second-rate Guilds had to tread lightly around Sin Realm's core experts. As for Sin Realm's Guild Elders, even the kingdom's Guild Leaders treated them with respect.

As everyone expected the siblings to leave with Crocodile Breaker, Smiling Breeze shook his head and stated, "Thank you for your invitation, but my sister and I are used to living on our own, and we prefer to keep it that way."

Cool Summer nodded in agreement with her elder brother.

As soon as Smiling Breeze finished speaking, however, the crowd felt the surrounding temperature fall by several degrees. An intense killing intent filled the street, so powerful that even the various Tier 2 experts felt a chill crawl down their spines.

"You're rejecting Sin Realm's invitation?" A cold glint flashed in Crocodile Breaker's eyes as he stared at Smiling Breeze. "Do you know the consequences for those who reject Sin Realm's goodwill?"

As Crocodile Breaker finished his question, the Sin Realm members around him stepped forward, clearly ready to act at a moment's notice based on their postures.

"Is Smiling Breeze stupid? He actually rejected Sin Realm?"

"Sin Realm has even sent Heavy Sword for this. Does that guy think he can escape with his life?"

The crowd watched Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer in shock. They had never expected to find players who would dare to reject Sin Realm within the Purple Thorns Kingdom. The overbearing Guild had even annihilated peak adventurer teams, and those teams' upper echelons had been so crippled that they had to delete their accounts and start over. Getting rid of two independent players would be child's play for Sin Realm.

Even Smiling Breeze felt a little nervous in this situation.

He had no doubt that if he continued to reject the invitation, Crocodile Breaker and his minions would take action.

Although NPC soldiers patrolled the town, he wasn't confident of escaping if Crocodile and the other Sin Realm members attacked. It would take the NPC soldiers too long to react and arrive to stop Sin Realm's members.

As Smiling Breeze tried to find a way out of this predicament, a low voice rang out of the crowd.

"Excuse me, but are you still selling Basic Level Strengthening Potions?"

As this voice broke the silence, the tension on the street loosened considerably. Almost as one, the crowd turned toward the voice's origin. They were all curious to know what fool dared to interfere with Sin Realm's affairs.

As they turned, the spectating players found themselves looking at a cloaked player. At a glance, everyone assumed that this player was a young Swordsman. As the Swordsman approached Smiling Breeze's stall, his leisurely gait made it seem as if Sin Realm's players were nothing in his eyes.

Chapter 1991 - Power of a Bronze Combat Technique

Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer were dazed as the Swordsman youth arrived before them. They had never expected that someone would dare stand out during such a critical moment.

The Swordsman youth was none other than Shi Feng, who currently used his original appearance as Ye Feng.

Both siblings would be a benefit to Zero Wing. Since he had found them here, he might as well use this situation to make them owe him a favor.

"We do! We still have plenty!" Cool Summer instinctively responded to Shi Feng's question. However, she spun towards Sin Realm's members after snapping out of her daze and hesitantly said, "But..."

Crocodile Breaker frowned at Shi Feng. Although he said nothing, the relaxed atmosphere regained its prior tension. Everyone could see that Crocodile Breaker was truly furious now.

Sensing Crocodile Breaker's rage, the surrounding players could not help but take a few steps back.

"This guy must be nuts!"

"Is he really trying to challenge Sin Realm's prestige?"

The crowd stated at Shi Feng as if he were a dead man walking.

"Brat! You sure have guts, don't you? You dare to interfere with Sin Realm's affairs?" Crocodile Breaker hissed as he glared at Shi Feng. "Are you trying to die so soon?"

It had been quite some time since he had encountered anyone who openly dared to provoke Sin Realm. Naturally, he didn't mind teaching everyone the price for such an insult!

While Crocodile Breaker had addressed this stranger, the several Tier 2 experts around him surrounded Shi Feng, sealing off any path of escape.

Seeing this, Cool Summer began to worry.

She felt that Shi Feng was simply too foolish!

Although the town had NPC soldiers to protect its citizens, players weren't absolutely safe from harm. If Sin Realm's members wanted to act, not even her brother could stop them.

As she considered the situation, Smiling Breeze called out to her through their party chat, saying, "Once the battle starts, I'll hold them back as long as I can. Use the chance to flee with this Swordsman. As long as you two find the town's NPC soldiers, Sin Ream's members should give up the chase."

"Brother, you need to be careful! Crocodile Breaker won't be an easy opponent!" Cool Summer said as she nodded. She agreed that the plan was their only way out of this predicament.

Although everyone expected Shi Feng to make a move, he didn't seem on high alert in the least Instead, he looked at Cool Summer and calmly asked, "Wonderful! I'd like to buy every Basic Level Strengthening Potion you have. How much will it be?"

Hearing Shi Feng's offer, Cool Summer was speechless. Despite the situation's painful tension, Shi Feng was in the mood to discuss the potion. If they didn't make a move now and allowed Sin Realm's members to surround them, they'd be doomed.

She even began to suspect that Shi Feng truly wanted to purchase the potions and that he didn't actually have any intentions of helping them...

"Brat, you must really be tired of life!" one of the Tier 2 Assassins around Shi Feng bellowed. He hadn't thought that Shi Feng would dare to belittle them to this extent.

The Tier 2 Assassin dashed towards Shi Feng to scare the Swordsman, although he didn't plan to attack the man. Crocodile Breaker hadn't given the command to attack, and if he struck this Swordsman, the town's NPC soldiers would attack him and the rest of his team.

However, after the Tier 2 Assassin used Shadow Steps to appear behind Shi Feng and before he could place a Tracking Mark on the Swordsman, a blue light flashed before him.

The Level 58, Tier 2 Assassin's vision faded to black, and his body collapsed to the ground, a piece of equipment appearing next to his corpse...

As if space had frozen, the main street fell deathly silent Everyone only recovered from their daze after a few seconds.

"What's going on?"

"What just happened? How did that Tier 2 Assassin die?"

Although the spectators saw that the Tier 2 Assassin was dead, they didn't understand what had just occurred. The Tier 2 Assassin had been charging at Shi Feng a moment ago, yet his body had fallen to the ground a second later.

"Brother, do you know what just happened?" Cool Summer whispered to Smiling Breeze as she stared at the slain Assassin.

"I didn't get a clear look, but I think that Swordsman is responsible," Smiling Breeze said as he stared at Shi Feng, an indescribable shock filling his heart. Despite having reached the Trial Tower's seventh floor, he had failed to witness Shi Feng take action. All he has seen was a blue flash envelop the Tier 2 Assassin.

To make matters worse, he hadn't been able to react to the situation. He had only realized that Shi Feng had acted after the Assassin had died. It was unbelievable.

Sin Realm's members were just as stunned, unable to believe that their companion had fallen.

What did he do?

This question consumed their minds.

It wouldn't have been as unusual if anyone else had died, but the Tier 2 Assassin was one of Sin Realm's top-ranked experts. Why wouldn't they be afraid after watching such an expert die in an instant?

"What are you afraid of?!" Crocodile Breaker roared. "We're in an NPC town! He attacked us first! The NPC soldiers won't let him off the hook!"

Crocodile Breaker's reminder snapped his companions out of their daze, and they began to close the distance between them and Shi Feng. They planned to distract this Swordsman until the NPC soldiers arrived.

"Fellow friend, you need to run! You'll be in trouble if you stay until the NPC soldiers arrive!" Smiling Breeze hurriedly warned Shi Feng.

Despite Shi Feng's frightening strength, attacking another player in a town was unwise. If the NPC guards captured him, he'd suffer a tragic end.

"Run? You think we'll let you get away so easily?"

Sin Realm's members sneered at Shi Feng as they began to attack.

They had been rather apprehensive of making a move, but now that Shi Feng had attacked them, the system would determine that this Swordsman was the guilty party. If they attacked now, they'd simply be defending themselves.

Spells and arrows bombarded Shi Feng as Sin Realm's Tier 2 MTs formed a tight circle around Shi Feng, leaving no gaps for escape.

However, when the Spells and arrows struck, they only hit Shi Feng's afterimage. Before anyone had time to realize what had happened, Shi Feng had appeared beside the approaching Tier 2 MTs, his blades slicing the MTs' vital points.

Purgatory Pentaslash!

Despite targeting Tier 2 MTs, Shi Feng ended them in no more than two slashes. In the end, two Tier 2 MTs died without the chance to activate their Lifesaving Skills.

When Crocodile Breaker saw his companions dying, his expression darkened. He immediately activated his Berserk Skill and launched a vicious slash at Shi Feng with his greatsword. Sin Realm's other Tier 2 experts activated their Berserk Skills, as well, assisting Crocodile Breaker from the side and aiming to pin Shi Feng down.

Despite seeing the greatsword, with its deathly aura, and the multiple Tier 2 Spells flying toward him, Shi Feng didn't move to dodge. Instead, he dashed forward and brandished his two swords against Crocodile Breaker. Sword's Transmigration!

Suddenly, a beautiful galaxy of stars appeared around Shi Feng before exploding.

Boom!

The impact threw Crocodile Breaker back by over ten yards. Even after he landed, he had to stumble several steps back before he could stabilize his position. Both of his arms had gone numb, and he couldn't lift his weapon. He had also lost 20% of his HP. In contrast, Shi Feng remained unharmed.

How is this possible?! Crocodile Breaker stared at Shi Feng, dumbfounded.

When he activated his Berserk Skill, his Strength was even higher than a Great Lord's of the same level. He nearly had enough Strength to rival a Grand Lord, and he had the support fire from the Tier 2 Elementalists and Cursemancers around him. Still, Shi Feng had sent him flying, not the other way around. To make matters worse, he could tell that this Swordsman hadn't used a Skill or Spell, both of which would change the user's ambient Mana when activated.

Crocodile Breaker's companions were just as stupefied.

The Berserker, known as Heavy Sword, had been thrown from a head-on clash. Moreover, Crocodile Breaker had already activated his Berserk Skill, while his opponent hadn't...

So, this is the power of a Bronze Combat Technique? Shi Feng was similarly surprised to see the results of his attack. He had never thought that a Bronze Combat Technique would be so powerful.

"Boss Croc! The NPC soldiers are here! This Swordsman is dead for sure!" Sin Realm's players sent Shi Feng gleeful sneers when they noticed the approaching NPC soldiers.

Although Shi Feng's combat power had exceeded their expectations, his demise was assured now that the NPC soldiers had arrived, regardless of how powerful he was.

"It's over... Why didn't he run away?" Cool Summer anxiously muttered as she watched the town's guards surround Shi Feng.

Just as Sin Realm's members assumed that they'd get to watch Shi Feng struggle against the NPC soldiers, the Tier 3 NPC leading the patrol squad approached the Swordsman and respectfully asked, "Lord Bronze Legatee, how may we be of service?"

Chapter 1992 - Taking Action in Purple Thorns Kingdom

Rows of Level 150 NPC stood at attention before Shi Feng between him and the street crowded with players.

When they heard the Level 150, Tier 3 patrol captain's question, the watching players were stunned.

"How is this possible?!"

"Why aren't the soldiers arresting him?"

"Who is that?"

"Is the system bugged?"

Questions plagued the players' minds, and Sin Realm's members were particularly stupefied.

The scene they had just witnessed had thoroughly altered their world view.

It was common knowledge in God's Domain that any player that attacked another within an NPC town or city would be killed, captured, or both. It was an ironclad rule.

Yet, this player had just broken that ironclad rule. In fact, the NPC soldiers, who were supposed to administer justice to Shi Feng, treated the Swordsman with respect...

"Brother, am I dreaming?" Cool Summer asked as she tugged on Smiling Breeze's sleeve, blinking in confusion as she watched Shi Feng.

Glory Town was one of the most heavily fortified towns in the Purple Thorns Kingdom, and its laws were just as strict as in NPC cities. The NPCs that ensured order within the city wouldn't ever pardon a player that had intentionally committed murder. Not only would the guards kill the offender on the spot, but they'd also lock the player in jail for another two or three days. Unless one could escape the NPC soldiers' pursuit, avoiding punishment was impossible.

Despite hearing his sister's question, Smiling Breeze didn't reply. He was preoccupied with his frustration over this situation.

Naturally, Shi Feng wasn't particularly surprised by the NPC soldiers' reactions. He was, after all, a Bronze Legatee, enjoying the status of a Baron in any NPC city he visited. Although the Baron rank was the lowest among nobles, one was treated differently in NPC cities based on their title.

Although Sin Realm's Tier 2 Assassin hadn't attacked Shi Feng, the Assassin had planned to use a Tracking Skill on him. Using a Tracking Skill on a normal player in an NPC city might not be a crime, but using it on a titled noble was. The system would consider the act as a premeditated attack. The NPC soldiers wouldn't question him for killing the Tier 2 Assassin.

Needless to say, although the other Sin Realm members hadn't landed an attack, they had attacked him. He could kill these players without consequences from the system, as well. This was the true benefit of being a titled noble.

Of course, if two titled noble players fought, the system would deem the first to cause damage as the offender.

However, an Advanced Town like Glory Town might not have a single ordinary noble, much less a titled noble. Hence, Shi Feng didn't have a reason to hold back and could slay all who had attacked him.

"These people attacked me. What is the most severe punishment they can receive according to the laws?" Shi Feng asked the patrol captain, smiling as he gestured to Crocodile Breaker and his minions.

"Lord Bronze Legatee, since they have attacked a titled noble within the town, they can be imprisoned for a maximum of three days," the patrol captain replied, flashing Crocodile Breaker's group a frosty glare.

"Good. Lock them up for three days, then." Shi Feng nodded.

"Understood!"

Upon hearing Shi Feng's instructions, the patrol captain waved a hand and signaled his soldiers to arrest Crocodile Breaker and the rest of Sin Realm's members.

The crowd gaped in shock as they watched the NPC soldiers arrest Crocodile Breaker's group.

Shi Feng had clearly attacked and killed a player first, yet Sin Realm's members were going to jail. This would be a huge loss for the Guild.

Damn it! How does he have a titled noble position in Glory Town?! Crocodile Breaker's expression darkened after hearing the patrol captain's command.

He knew a little about the privileges a titled noble enjoyed, but he hadn't dreamed that Shi Feng would be a titled noble here. Spending three days in jail was far less acceptable to expert players like himself than losing a single level.

In God's Domain, time was money. He would fall far behind the frontline players if he lost three days. Not only would he fall behind in terms of levels, but his weapons, equipment, and Skills would as well.

"Boss, what should we do?" Sin Realm's members grew anxious as the NPC soldiers approached.

Spending three days in jail was akin to being locked out of God's Domain for three days. To players like them, who had already gotten used to living in God's Domain, this outcome was worse than death.

"Retreat! Everyone retreat!" Crocodile Breaker shouted.

The only way to escape imprisonment was to flee Glory Town. They'd be ruined if the NPC soldiers captured them.

As soon as Crocodile Breaker gave the command, the Sin Realm members held nothing back as they used their lifesaving tools to flee. Trying to fight the NPC soldiers would be suicidal; the Level 150, Tier 2 NPCs could kill them with a single hit.

They'd be pulverized. If they fought, not only would they die and lose a level, but they'd still be stuck in prison for three days.

When Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer saw Sin Realm's members turn and run, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Now that these Guild players were gone, they could escape danger. At worst, they would have to leave the Purple Thorns Kingdom. Although doing so would waste the investments they had poured into the kingdom, it was a better option than being hounded and killed by Sin Realm's members.

However, as Crocodile Breaker fled, he retrieved a Magic Scroll from his bag and activated it.

Suddenly, a pitch-black magic array formed above the main street, radiating a dense, lethal aura. The aura extended toward Shi Feng and the two siblings so quickly that it was almost impossible to evade.

However, the aura didn't inflict any damage, but left Shi Feng and the sibling pair a debuff.

The Death Mark!

No matter where the marked players ran, the Death Mark would reveal their location to Crocodile Breaker during the next twelve hours. The Death Mark would even be effective while the players were offline, and its duration would only decrease while they were logged into the game.

"Although I don't know who you are, I promise that only death awaits you since you have made an enemy of Sin Realm in the Purple Thorns Kingdom!" Crocodile Breaker bellowed as he glared at Shi Feng with bloodshot eyes. Many of the expert players in the crowd felt a chill crawl down their spines as they sensed the killing intent within his voice.

He had wanted to kill Shi Feng to prove Sin Realm's might to the watching players, but he hadn't expected the Swordsman to use him as a nameless pawn and damage Sin Realm's reputation instead. He swore to himself that he wouldn't rest until he killed Shi Feng personally. Naturally, he couldn't let Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer off the hook, either.

"It's over! Those three are doomed!"

"I knew something like this would happen! Provoking Sin Realm in the Purple Thorns Kingdom is simply suicide! No one can save those three now!"

The various expert players and adventurer team members present could not help but sigh at this turn of events. They knew Crocodile Breaker wouldn't easily let this matter rest. He would kill the trio back to Level 0 at the very least.

Realizing the same, Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer revealed grim expressions.

Now that they bore the Death Mark, Sin Realm would track them down and kill them even if they left the Purple Thorns Kingdom.

"Is that so? Let's see you try it!"

Glancing at Crocodile Breaker, who was about to activate an Instantaneous Movement Magic Scroll, Shi Feng used Instant Strike to appear before the Berserker. He then brandished Killing Ray.

Sword's Orbit!

With the Attack Speed boost from Instant Strike, the Sacred Sword moved so quickly that not even Crocodile Breaker, who still had an active Berserk Skill, could defend himself before multiple swordlights devoured him. In the blink of an eye, his HP plummeted, and his body collapsed to the ground.

Chapter 1993 - Kingdom Uproar

Crocodile Breaker's death shocked the spectating crowd and Sin Realm's retreating members; none of them could believe what they had just seen.

"He's dead?!"

"This is a trick, right?! The Heavy Sword actually died in a single move?!"

Players new to the Purple Thorns Kingdom might not be familiar with Crocodile Breaker, but those who resided in the kingdom knew his name and nickname quite well. He had become many players' nightmare.

Many of the kingdom's expert players that had resisted Sin Realm had died by Crocodile Breaker's hand, yet such a powerful expert had died instantly. No one would believe them if they retold this tale.

"That player is amazing, Brother!" Cool Summer exclaimed as she watched Shi Feng loot the battlefield. "He might even be stronger than you!"

"Mhm! His swordsmanship is so fast!" Smiling Breeze nodded in agreement. Shi Feng's performance had shocked him, as well. "I've seen almost every top-ranked Swordsman in 出e kingdom in artion, but none of 出em are close to his levd^ ^ who is he?"

Not only was he a Tier 2 player, but he was also an Assassin, the class famed for its speed, but he hadn't been able to keep up with Shi Feng's attack. He hadn't even caught the moment this Swordsman had executed the Skill. By the time he had realized what was happening, Shi Feng's attack was over, and Crocodile Breaker was dead.

When he tried to put himself in Crocodile Breaker's shoes, he doubted that he'd be able to activate Vanish, an almost instantaneous Lifesaving Skill, in time.

When he recalled his decision to send Shi Feng and his sister away while he protected them from behind, he found the idea laughable.

Crocodile Breaker's death had undoubtedly dealt Sin Realm's members quite the mental blow. As a result of their momentary pause, only a small number of the Guild players had actually escaped Glory Town. The NPC soldiers captured the rest of them. The players that had died lost a level and a piece of equipment as a result, in addition to resurrecting in the town's prison to spend three days behind bars.

"Friends, Sin Realm's people have left. If you intend to flee, you should do so now. I doubt it will be long before the Guild sends reinforcements. It will become far harder to leave Glory Town once they arrive," Shi Feng addressed Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer once he finished collecting the items Sin Realm's members had dropped.

Shi Feng's warning snapped Smiling Breeze out of his daze, and he gratefully replied, "Thank you. I'm Smiling Breeze, and this is my little sister, Cool Summer. May I have your name,什iend?"

"Ye Feng," Shi Feng answered truthfully.

Although he had considered using Black Flame, it would cause a commotion if the public learned that Zero Wing's Guild Leader had appeared in the Purple Thorns Kingdom. The kingdom's various major powers would certainly pay more attention to him, and if that happened, it could affect his quest.

"Ye Feng? Could you be Zero Wing's Honorary Elder?" Smiling Breeze stared at Shi Feng in surprise.

Zero Wing had become considerably famous in God's Domain. Its success in repelling a veteran super-first-rate Guild's offensive and joining the Secret Chamber of Commerce had earned the Guild some notoriety, increasing Zero Wing's chances of becoming a super-first-rate Guild itself in the future.

With so much attention on Zero Wing, it was only natural for the public to grow familiar with the Guild's peak experts, including Ye Feng. Thus far, Ye Feng had displayed great strength in multiple battles in Star-Moon Kingdom. Not only had he become well-known in his own kingdom, but he had become extremely famous among the Purple Thorns Kingdoms' expert players. During their free time, expert players enjoyed discussing nearby kingdoms' experts and comparing themselves to figure out who was stronger.

Cool Summer stared at Shi Feng in shock, as well. She felt as if she were dreaming.

"Brother, is this really happening?! We actually got to meet Zero Wing's Honorary Elder, Ye Feng!" Cool Summer whispered to Smiling Breeze, her eyes glowing with excitement.

Even existences like Crocodile Breaker were out of reach for independent players like them, not to mention an Honorary Elder from a Guild with the potential to become a super-first-rate Guild. A single sentence from Ye Feng was enough to cause most second-rate Guilds to shudder with fear.

When nearby players overheard Shi Feng's introduction, they couldn't help but gape at the Swordsman.

They finally understood why Shi Feng had been so relaxed during the earlier exchange with Sin Realm's members and shrugged off Crocodile Breaker's mighty aura.

"That's right," Shi Feng replied, at a loss for words after seeing the two siblings' surprise.

Both Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer had been beyond his reach in the past. Smiling Breeze had been one of the top-ten Assassin experts in the Black Dragon Empire during his peak, and if not for his status as an independent player, he would've likely reached Tier 5.

As for Cool Summer, she had only been a step away from becoming a Grandmaster Alchemist. Second-rate Guilds hadn't had a prayer of encountering her, and even first-rate Guilds had treated her like a VIP, doing almost anything to recruit her.

"May I know what plans you two have after this?" Shi Feng asked.

"Remaining in the Purple Thorns Kingdom is no longer possible now that we have a tracking mark on us. We'll probably head over to the Black Dragon Empire and check out the situation there," Smiling Breeze replied, sighing.

"The Black Dragon Empire? That is certainly a good place to develop," Shi Feng said after giving the matter some thought. He then sent the two players friend requests and said, "Zero Wing has a Branch Guild in the Black Dragon Empire as well. If you encounter any trouble or run into Sin Realm's people, you can contact me. If you need to buy or sell anything, you can also do so at the Candlelight Trading Firm. I'll make sure you both enjoy the membership benefits."

Although Shi Feng had considered inviting Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer to join Zero Wing, he knew that they'd never accept. Many superpowers had tried to recruit them in his previous life, as well, even offering incredibly lax conditions that barely restricted their freedom. In the end, however, the siblings had rejected every offer.

This proved to him that these two weren't interested in joining any Guild. So, he shouldn't try to force the situation. Befriending them would be a wiser choice. If these two ever changed their minds, they'd at least consider joining Zero Wing.

"Thank you!" Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer expressed their gratitude. Continuing, Smiling Breeze said, "We really don't know what to say. If you need our help with anything in the future, please feel free to ask! We'll help you to the best of our abilities!"

Ordinary players might not understand the benefits of Zero Wing's protection and the Candlelight Trading Firm's membership, but they did. Countless independent players dreamed of such an advantage.

After conversing with Shi Feng for a little while longer, Smiling Breeze and Cool Summer departed from Glory Town. Meanwhile, the players on the main street were in an uproar over Shi Feng's battle with Sin Realm's members. Some players had even uploaded the battle videos they had recorded to the Purple Thorns Kingdom's official forums.

The instant the battle videos were available, they become the most popular topic of conversation throughout the kingdom.

Many of the kingdom's players had negative opinions of Sin Realm due to its tyrannical behavior, but since the Guild was so powerful, they were forced to endure its control.

Now that Sin Realm had suffered a massive defeat in Glory Town, with one of its seven great experts falling in battle, it was only natural that the populace's general mood was quite jubilant.

For a time, the kingdom's population grew curious about Shi Feng's identity, and many players found themselves admiring the Swordsman. As news of the battle spread, everyone soon discovered that Shi Feng was actually Zero Wing's Ye Feng. Due to this revelation, the entire kingdom was in an uproar, with many players expressing their desire to join Zero Wing, hoping that the Guild would establish a Branch Guild in the Purple Thorns Kingdom.

The overwhelming reaction even surprised Shi Feng.

At this point, over 200,000 players, a truly frightening number, had voiced their desire to take down Sin Realm.

Just how much of a tyrant is Sin Realm in the Purple Thorns Kingdom? Shi Feng was astonished as he read the forum post containing a petition to deal with the offending Guild.

The average large Guild didn't even have 100,000 members; only second-rate and above Guilds could amass such a collection.

It didn't take long for news of the matter to reach the Purple Thorns Kingdom's various major powers, especially the kingdom's tyrant, Sin Realm.

Chapter 1994 - Unexpected Joy

Purple Thorns City, Sin Realm's Residence:

The glorious, magnificent Guild Hall was hectic due to the incident in Glory Town. The Guild members in the building struggled to control their bloodlust after learning about the defeat, and some players had even tried to form an expedition to flatten Glory Town.

Meanwhile, Sin Realm's upper echelons had gathered in the Guild Leader's office.

"Guild Leader, we've looked into the situation. The player that killed Crocodile Breaker is Ye Feng, Zero Wing's Honorary Elder!" an indifferent man in purple-gold robes and carrying a silver staff addressed the emaciated man in the Guild Leader's seat.

Although the emaciated man looked like a shriveled tree, he felt like a towering mountain. Some of the Guild's upper echelons didn't even dare to look him in the eye due to the powerful pressure he gave off.

Sin Realm's members only felt awe and reverence towards this emaciated man.

He was the strongest Guild Leader in Sin Realm's history.

Lone Beacon!

Sin Realm had still been considered a lowly second-rate Guild a few years ago, but after Lone Beacon had become the Guild Leader, Sin Realm had rapidly developed. Now, it was a publicly-acknowledged first-rate Guild.

Under Lone Beacon's leadership, Sin Realm had increased its development speed after joining God's Domain. The Guild was now even stronger than some veteran first-rate Guilds and had taken full control of the Purple Thorns Kingdom. Many first- rate and super-first-rate Guilds had even failed to accomplish such a feat.

"Zero Wing's Ye Feng?" Lone Beacon's lips curled into a smile. "That is interesting. As soon as we lay our hands on the Witch's Hill, someone from Zero Wing appears in the Purple Thorns Kingdom?"

"Guild Leader, this Ye Feng is too arrogant! He actually dared to kill Crocodile Breaker in our own territory! It's a slap to the face!" a robust, tanned Berserker growled angrily. "Please, let me lead a team to teach this guy a lesson! We'll show Zero Wing that just because it barely resisted an offensive from Miracle, that doesn't mean that it can strut around before Sin Realm!"

"Irontooth is right, Guild Leader! Ye Feng has come to our territory alone and killed Crocodile Breaker. If we don't take care of him, we'll become a laughingstock in the kingdom. Everyone will assume that we fear Zero Wing!" the other Guild upper echelons promptly voiced their agreement.

It might have been acceptable if Zero Wing had sent an army into Purple Thorns Kingdom, and the two Guilds had clashed, but Shi Feng had come here on his own. He had even publicly announced his identity before the kingdom's populace. If they didn't deal with this player and prove to Zero Wing that they weren't to be trifled with, then Sin Realm's reputation would be in tatters.

"Alright. Irontooth, take a team to Glory Town," Lone Beacon said, nodding. He, too, felt that it was necessary to teach Zero Wing a lesson. He then continued, "However, Ye Feng is extraordinarily strong. Take the Steel Puppet with you as a precaution."

The Guild's upper echelons were surprised by Lone Beacon's decision.

Sin Realm had only obtained the treasured Steel Puppet after many difficulties. The Guild had lost more than 10,000 lives and numerous Tier 3 Magic Scrolls. Although the Steel Puppet couldn't fight on its own like a summoned creature, needing a player's control, it could kill players as easily as killing ants. The Steel Puppet wouldn't have any issues dealing with Tier 3 experts, much less Tier 2 players.

Yet, Lone Beacon wanted to use the Steel Puppet against a single expert player from Zero Wing. He was simply making a mountain out of a molehill.

Now that Shi Feng bore the Death Mark, the Guild could easily track his movements. Sending Irontooth and his team, along with some Magic Scrolls and Magic Array Scrolls, would be more than enough. There was no need to mobilize the Steel Puppet.

"The Steel Puppet?" Irontooth rejoiced when he heard his Guild Leader's command. Hurriedly, he replied, "Leave it to me! I'll make sure Ye Feng regrets ever setting foot in the Purple Thorns Kingdom!"

Following which, Irontooth, one of Sin Realm's seven great experts, walked out of the Guild Leader's office to organize a team for his trip to Glory Town.

In the meantime, Shi Feng had arrived at Glory Town's Town Hall.

Although Glory Town was not located in a high-resource map, based on the situation, Shi Feng felt that this was an excellent place to make money and recruit expert players for Zero Wing.

Although the monsters around Glory Town were average in all aspects, a specific rare herb was available in the area—the Phantom Flower, the main material for producing the Basic Level Strengthening Potion.

Even in a herb-rich country like the Purple Thorns Kingdom, the Phantom Flower was far from common, and it didn't even grow in Star-Moon Kingdom. Other kingdoms and empires that contained the Phantom Flowers didn't produce the flowers in large quantities, either. This was why Cool Summer had come to Glory Town.

Due to the Basic Level Strengthening Potion's popularity in the past, the Phantom Flower had become incredibly valuable. Each flower had initially sold for 3 Silver, but the price had eventually skyrocketed to 15 Silver.

Currently, one could count the number of Basic Level Strengthening Potion Recipes that existed in God's Domain on one hand. Since so few players grinded in high-level maps right now, the demand for this potion wasn't particularly high yet, either. However, as players progressed in the game, they would need more EXP per level, making it far more difficult to level up. Fighting higher-leveled monsters would soon become a necessity if players wanted to increase their level quickly.

At that time, the Basic Level Strengthening Potion would become intensely popular, which, in turn, would increase the scarcity of the Phantom Flowers.

Although Shi Feng didn't yet have the recipe, he could take advantage of the situation to stockpile Phantom Flowers. Producing Basic Level Strengthening Potions would become impossible without them, after all. Naturally, more of the potion's recipes would surface as time passed.

"Lord Bronze Legatee, how may I be of service today?" The Town Hall's senior administrator took the initiative to approach Shi Feng as he entered the building.

"I wish to buy two plots of Land," Shi Feng replied.

"Very well. These are all the Lands available for sale in the town," the senior administrator said as he revealed a map of Glory Town.

Despite being an Advanced Town, Glory Town's size was only the size of an Intermediate Town. As a result, it didn't have many Lands for sale. As Shi Feng inspected the Lands in the town's central district, he noticed a dark-blue marker. It was particularly eye-catching since the rest of the markers on the map were light-blue.

How is this possible? There's actually a plot of Advanced Land for sale? Shi Feng was stunned as he stared at the dark-blue marker.

Chapter 1995 - Advanced Land

"How much for this plot of Land?" Shi Feng asked, suppressing the excitement in his heart as he pointed at the dark-blue marker on the map.

In the past, the various superpowers had considered Advanced Lands extremely valuable. Unlike ordinary Lands, players had absolute control of the Advanced Lands they purchased.

In other words, like Guild Towns and Cities, players wouldn't be limited to the type of construction they could build on the land. Instead of building Shops, Guild Residences, or private houses, players could construct Auction Houses or Battle Arenas.

Though, only a fool would build a Battle Arena in an NPC town as doing so would not yield any profits. NPC towns didn't have much Mana, and a Battle Arena wouldn't provide enough benefits to the players training within without a high Mana density.

The wisest way to use a plot of Advanced Land was to build an Auction House!

Auction Houses couldn't be constructed on ordinary Lands, and NPC towns didn't usually possess Auction Houses.

Of course, player-constructed Auction Houses didn't hold much attraction for players. They were already available in NPC cities, and every NPC town and city had a Teleportation Hall, allowing players to travel from one location to another easily. Moreover, NPC Auction Houses were usually connected with multiple other NPC Auction Houses, which allowed players to sell and purchase items from multiple NPC cities. In contrast, player-constructed Auction Houses were only connected with other Auction Houses the player owned.

However, player-constructed Auction Houses had an advantage that NPC Auction Houses lacked: the freedom to choose the form of currency required. Instead of Coins, players could use Credits or Magic Crystals.

Many of God's Domain's players dreamed of earning rea卜world money through the game, but transactions involving Credits and in-game items were troublesome. Normally, players were only willing to go through the trouble for bulk or high-value transactions.

However, player-constructed Auction Houses removed the hassle of Credit trades. The services player-constructed Auction Houses offered were convenient for small transactions, and the Guilds operating the Auction Houses could collect processing fees, earning a large sum of Credits. If the Auction House's trade volume was sufficiently high, the ruling Guild could even earn enough Credits per day to make the various superpowers jealous.

Of course, obtaining such an income was impossible if one relied on a single NPC town's Auction House, but there was a

saying; many a little makes a mickle. If Shi Feng could construct an Auction House while God's Domain was still in its early phases, he could earn a fortune.

Moreover, an Auction House in an NPC town would be far more popular than one in a Guild Town. This was due to the more convenient transportation methods. Every NPC town and city in the Purple Thorns Kingdom allowed direct teleportation to Glory Town.

"Lord Bronze Legatee, this plot of Land's price is somewhat special. In addition to 14,000 Gold, you'll also have to pay 300 Mana Stones and 300 Pure Magic Cores if you wish to purchase it," the senior administrator said.

"Mana Stones and Pure Magic Cores?" Shi Feng released a sigh of relief when he heard the senior administrator's price.

Normally, Advanced Lands cost both Coins and resources. Fortunately, the resources required this time were not particularly valuable.

Shi Feng could easily synthesize Mana Stones from Magic Crystals, and he could collect Pure Magic Cores from killing Level 50-plus Great Lord ranked Demonic Beasts. Neither of these items would be difficult to acquire for Zero Wing.

As for the 14,000 Gold, the cost was practically negligible. Zero Wing had earned quite a bit of profit recently, and he had the compensation the Black Dragon Empire's various large Guilds had paid for their transgressions. Even though most of the compensation had been paid in materials and Lands, quite a few Guilds had paid with Coins. Overall, Shi Feng currently had over 170,000 Gold in his pockets.

This was also why he had decided to activate a super-large-scale neutral city.

After speaking with the senior administrator, Shi Feng contacted Melancholic Smile and had her send some manpower to Glory Town. He also instructed her to send Mana Stones and Pure Magic Cores.

In less than an hour, Shi Feng had received the required 300 Mana Stones and 300 Pure Magic Cores. He then purchased the Advanced Land, in addition to two plots of ordinary Lands, spending a total of 18,000 Gold.

After purchasing the Lands, Shi Feng used the Auction House Design, which the Guild had recently acquired, and instructed his Guild's architects to construct the Auction House on the Advanced Land. He then spent another 5,000 Gold to construct a Guild Residence and a Shop on the two plots of ordinary Land.

Suddenly, three extremely eye-catching buildings rose within Glory Town. The Candlelight Trading Firm was especially impressive, and although it wasn't as majestic as the Advanced Auction House, it was a three-story building. Moreover, it occupied just as much area as Zero Wing's new Residence.

Glory Town's players immediately noticed the appearance of Zero Wing's Residence and the Candlelight Trading Firm. The town wasn't particularly large, after all, and none of the town's Lands had been purchased by any major powers. Glory Town was merely a border town, a temporary leveling area for a small number of independent players. There was no real value to purchasing the Lands here.

"Why is there a player-constructed Auction House? Didn't they say that it wasn't possible to construct Auction Houses in N PC towns?"

"Zero Wing is so awesome! It has even pulled off something like this!"

"But what's the point in constructing an Auction House here? Player-constructed Auction Houses don't usually have a lot of items for sale. The customer base is so much smaller than NPC Auction Houses, so there isn't much point in using a player- constructed one."

"True, but isn't Zero Wing Star-Moon Kingdom's overlord. It also has a big city like Zero Wing City. This Auction House here should be connected to the one there. If that's the case, it should have a lot of items for sale."

Glory Town's players were all curious about the Candlelight Auction House that now graced their town. They immediately entered to inspect the building and its services.

However, once players examined the items for auction, they were stupefied.

The Candlelight Auction House had just as many items as the Auction Houses in NPC cities. Most importantly, many items could also be purchased with either Coins or Credits. Players could even spend Credits to buy a single piece of Bronze Ore. This discovery excited the players that didn't have many Coins but had spare Credits lying around.

Moreover, the weapons and equipment the Candlelight Auction House offered were much cheaper.

"Amazing! The Candlelight Auction House is simply amazing!"

"Crap! There are so many pieces of Level 55 Mysterious-Iron Equipment for sale! You won't even find this many in NPC cities' Auction Houses!"

Everyone's eyes turned bloodshot as they read through the item lists in the Candlelight Auction House. Meanwhile, news of Glory Town's new Auction House soon reached the Purple Thorns Kingdom's official forums with a particularly eye-catching title.

Candlelight Auction House appears in Glory Town!

Chapter 1996 - Popular Auction House

Due to the appearance of the Candlelight Auction House, the players viewing the Purple Thorn Kingdom's official forums were in an uproar, especially the ordinary independent players. Once they read the forum thread, they headed to Glory Town.

Normally, these independent players struggled to earn money, yet God's Domain had many aspects that required Coins. Exchanging Credits for Coins wasn't easy either since most Workshops and money-farming teams sold Coins at a minimum of 5 Gold. Sellers very rarely sold small amounts, such as 50 Silver or 1 Gold. Players from ordinary households couldn't afford to spend the Credits on 5 Gold, and although they were willing to purchase individual pieces of Bronze or Mysterious- Iron Equipment with Credits, such opportunities were incredibly rare. Most players only sold Bronze and Mysterious-Iron Equipment for Credits when they were selling in bulk.

Although it was possible to purchase individual Bronze and Mysterious-Iron Equipment with coins in Guild Towns' Auction Houses, there was generally a limited supply. Furthermore, traveling to Guild Towns wasn't very convenient.

Now that the Candlelight Auction House had appeared in an NPC town and had a large stock of items, Purple Thorns Kingdoms' general populace couldn't sit still and do nothing.

In less than half an hour, Glory Town's sparsely populated streets had become crowded with players. Everyone visiting the town swarmed toward the Candlelight Auction House to purchase and sell items. The town had become even more lively than Zero Wing City.

Shi Feng was overwhelmed as he watched from within the Auction House.

According to the Auction House's statistics, over 30,000 items had been put up for auction, and over 50,000 items had sold. Meanwhile, the Auction House had collected over 200,000 Credits from processing fees and over 100 Gold in consignment fees.

Glory Town's Candlelight Auction House made even more money than Zero Wing City's.

Suddenly, Melancholic Smile contacted Shi Feng and demanded, "Guild Leader, what did you do in the Purple Thorns Kingdom?! The Candlelight Auction House has gained several thousand members in the last few moments! We've earned over 40,000 Magic Crystals via membership fees alone! In addition, the total trade volume for the Auction Houses in Zero Wing City, Silverwing Town, and Stone Forest Town has increased drastically! It's 30% higher than usual!"

The Auction Houses in Zero Wing City, Silverwing Town, and Stone Forest Town were some of Zero Wing's main income sources. However, the trade volume for these Auction Houses had increased by 30% and continued to rise. At this rate, the three Auction Houses would soon generate half of Zero Wing's Credit income.

At that time, Zero Wing would no longer have to sell Secret-Silver and Fine-Gold Weapons and Equipment to maintain the training ground. The Guild might even be able to afford to recruit more internal members.

"A 30% increase in trade volume?" Shi Feng chuckled. "That's only the beginning. If everything goes smoothly, we should see an increase of 70% at the very least. Oh, right. Send someone out to collect Phantom Flowers. As long as they don't cost more than 5 Silver per stalk, buy as many as possible!"

An ordinary Guild City couldn't compare to the convenience of owning an Advanced Land in an NPC town or city. This was even true for Zero Wing City, which had a player population of over 10,000,000. No other Guild had built a Guild Auction House in an NPC town in the Purple Thorns Kingdom, and Shi Feng's success would attract a large number of players to Glory Town. Soon, the NPC town would see more player traffic than Zero Wing City, and almost every player that visited had done so specifically to use the Candlelight Auction House.

Melancholic Smile was dazed when she heard that the trade volume would increase by at least 70%. If it really were possible to secure so much income, they wouldn't have to worry about the new training ground's operation costs.

"Phantom Flowers? I'll have my people purchase them via Secret's channels," Melancholic Smile said after recovering from her shock.

"No! We cannot purchase the flower through Secret. I don't want to attract any unnecessary attention. Have people purchase the flowers from the various kingdoms and empires in secret, but try not to affect the market price," Shi Feng said.

Although the Phantom Flower wasn't particularly special, if Zero Wing purchased the flower in bulk through the Secret Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber's other members would notice. That could affect his plans to stockpile the Phantom Flowers. He was not willing to take such a risk.

"I understand. I'll have people collect Phantom Flowers in secret," Melancholic Smile said, understanding Shi Feng's intentions. She then disconnected the call and began to arrange the necessary manpower.

Meanwhile, a group of cloaked players had reserved a bar not far from the Candlelight Auction House and had settled in to observe the situation.

"Commander Irontooth, I've sent some players to investigate, but we haven't discovered how Zero Wing got permission to construct the Auction House. We only know that Zero Wing had dispatched a group of architects to construct it on that plot of Land," a masked, Level 58, Tier 2 Assassin reported. "Zero Wing has also constructed a Residence in the town. By the looks of it, the Guild plans to recruit members from Glory Town and begin its development in the kingdom from here."

"What an arrogant Guild! First, Zero Wing kills our Guild members, and now, it intends to start a Branch Guild in our kingdom? This is an insult to Sin Realm!" Rage flared within Irontooth as he listened to his subordinate's report.

"Commander, why don't we go and kill Ye Feng now?" a Level 58, Tier 2 Ranger suggested.

"No! We'll wait until he leaves Glory Town!" Irontooth growled, shaking his head. "Although Glory Town is only a town, it is a heavily fortified border town. Moreover, he must be aware that he has a tracking mark on him. He will expect an ambush and remain around a high number of NPCs. He might even have a bunch of companions with him. If we strike abruptly, we'll just end up like Crocodile Breaker.

"Right now, we need to wait! Once the tracking mark disappears, Ye Feng will sense it. He'll think that he is free and will act more boldly. That will be the perfect time to take his life. Notify Feather Hunter and tell him to keep a close eye on Ye Feng!"

"Understood!"

The Tier 3 Tracking Scroll Crocodile Breaker had used was incredibly rare and effective, but it had an obvious flaw; the targeted player could perceive the mark. However, Sin Realm used such a Tracking Scroll for that reason, letting their prey know that they were being tracked and hunted. The Tracking Scroll was merely a distraction, a set-up for the true attack that would occur after the Death Mark disappeared.

Their killing move was a special Legacy Sin Realm had obtained-Covert Killer. Not only did the Covert Killer hidden class allow a player to track others without being detected, but it also allowed the player to land a fatal blow from an extremely long distance. The class was almost tailor-made for Rangers.

Sin Realm had nurtured a group of true tracking experts with this special Legacy. Feather Hunter was the best among the players that had obtained the Covert Killer hidden class.

While Sin Realm's Feather Hunter watched his target, Shi Feng boldly left the Candlelight Auction House and headed for the trading firm a short distance away.

The Candlelight Trading Firm's interior was finally complete. The first floor would be reserved for selling daily necessities, the second would sell valuable items Candlelight produced, and the third would contain workspaces and a warehouse.

The Shop was also fully staffed by NPCs and Candlelight members from White River City. Now, all that was left was the Shop's grand openings.

Once Shi Feng entered the Candlelight Trading Firm, he instructed an NPC to purchase materials and focus on buying Phantom Flowers. The Guild members would be responsible for managing sales and producing items. With everything set up, Shi Feng's true purpose of setting up the trading firm in Glory Town should remain hidden.

I should head to the Icefire Mountain Range now. Shi Feng glanced at the time once he had settled his affairs in Glory Town. Since the tracking mark on him had disappeared some time ago, he decided that it was finally time to leave. He immediately donned his Black Cloak and snuck out of the town. He only called out his Mount and made his way towards the neutral map after he had put some distance between himself and Glory Town.

The moment Shi Feng left the town, Feather Hunter notified Irontooth of the development

"Commander Irontooth, Ye Feng has snuck out of Glory Town!" Feather Hunter reported as he watched the moving red dot on his system map.

"Good! He's finally getting impatient! Follow him closely! We'll head to your location immediately!" Irontooth said, laughing as he finished the beer in his hand.

Chapter 1997 - Ancient Stone Box

Shi Feng headed south after leaving Glory Town.

"Is this guy insane? He's running out in the fields without a care!"

"What's going on? Why haven't the monsters noticed him?"

The players grinding in the fields were astonished as they watched Shi Feng brazenly charge through the wilderness. They were stunned further when they realized that the high-level monsters nearby completely ignored the Swordsman, while some actively avoided him.

After a short moment, Shi Feng vanished.

The players here have already gotten used to killing higher-leveled monsters? As Shi Feng rode through the wilderness on his Mount, he noticed many parties fighting in the wild. Seeing these elite players' performance, he realized that they were slightly stronger than Star-Moon Kingdom's elites.

The monsters these elite players faced were clearly Level 70 or higher. Not only did the monsters have an advantage in levels, but their Basic Attributes were also much higher. However, these elite players handled the monsters adeptly. They never tried to take the monsters head-on, sending the party's MT to distract the target while evading the monsters' attacks instead. Meanwhile, the party's ranged players bombarded the monsters, slowly but surely whittling down the higher- leveled opponents.

While this combat method might seem simple, it was not easy to implement since the monsters in the area had considerably high combat standards. Including the Attribute differences, distracting these monsters without taking a hit would be very difficult for current MTs, much less doing so for a long period. Players' combat standards would be tested here.

However, despite their excellent performances, the best these players could manage was grinding in Glory Town's nearby maps. The farther they were from Glory Town, the stronger the monsters would be. Players would encounter more than just Special Elites and Chieftains; they'd also run into Lords and High Lords.

Even Level 60, Tier 2 experts would have to flee from Level 70-plus Lords and High Lords, not to mention Tier 1 players. Not only were these monsters' combat standards superior to Special Elites and Chieftains, but they also had an arsenal of Skills.

If Tier 2 experts were not careful, they could die in the blink of an eye.

Of course, these monsters were no trouble for Shi Feng. He had already reached Level 70 and could easily move through these Level 70-plus Lords and High Lords.

After over two hours of travel, Shi Feng finally arrived in an open gravel plain. An ancient altar, surrounded by stone pillars that formed a maze, stood in the center of the plain. Meanwhile, Level 75 and higher Elemental Creatures roamed the maze, the majority of which were Lord ranked monsters.

This was the Elemental Altar, the most famous location in Glory Town's map during Shi Feng's previous life.

Sure enough, no one has come this far yet. As Shi Feng arrived before the Elemental Altar and gazed upon the ancient, stone box upon it, he couldn't help but smile.

Any player that had wanted to travel to Thunder Axe City had almost always done so through Glory Town in the past, but by the time he had made it to the town, players had long since explored the area. Meanwhile, among the various locations found, players had talked about the Elemental Altar more than any other.

The altar had become such a hot topic due to the stone box enshrined on it. While the stone box might look ordinary, it contained an amazing treasure.

The Sealing Stone!

Although the Sealing Stone was a one-time use tool, it had astounding power. When used, it could seal the strength of one monster, reducing its rank by one for three hours.

While this effect might not seem impressive, the Sealing Stone was even effective against Mythic monsters. The tool would reduce ordinary Mythic monsters to Grand Lord rank, and Mythic ranked Archaic Species would become as weak as ordinary Mythic monsters.

The player that had opened Thunder Axe City's entrance in the past had only succeeded due to this Sealing Stone. The Guardian Boss that protected the entrance would've been unbeatable for individual players at that time otherwise. As proof, many superpowers' apex experts had failed to unlock the neutral city.

Now that Shi Feng wanted to open Thunder Axe City, he had to get a Sealing Stone of his own.

However, opening the stone box was easier than said due to the Thunder Beast that guarded it.

[Thunder Beast] (Elemental Creature, Grand Lord) Level 77

HP 85,000,000/85,000,000

This Thunder Beast would be a challenge, and as more players gathered, it would become stronger. Unlike other Field Bosses, it would grow stronger once more than one hostile lifeform was within range. If more than six lifeforms were nearby, the Thunder Beast would grow into a Grand Lord ranked Archaic Species, and it would become as strong as Mythic monster

if more than 20 lifeforms were within range. Although it wouldn't grow past Mythic rank, its combat standards would skyrocket. The Thunder Beast would become impossible to defeat if more than 100 lifeforms were nearby.

Meanwhile, the lifeforms in question included summoned creatures and players' Personal Guards.

To make matters worse, the Thunder Beast would obtain more and higher quality Skills as more lifeforms entered its range of influence...

Because of this, the Thunder Beast had remained undefeated even after many Guild experts had reached Level 70 in the past The Sealing Stone had only been discovered after a Level 75 peak expert had visited the Elemental Altar and defeated the Boss with special tools in hand.

Although Shi Feng had yet to reach Level 75, he had incredibly powerful outside help.

Following which, Shi Feng took out the Bible of Darkness and summoned a Level 85, Tier 3 Lava Demon. When the Lava Demon emerged, the surrounding temperature rose sharply due to the molten lava that covered its body, creating a natural domain. The Lava Demon was fond of melee combat, and while it might not be able to contend with a Grand Lord of the same level, it shouldn't have any issues against a Grand Lord eight levels lower with the Bible of Darkness's strengthening effects.

"Go!" Shi Feng commanded, gesturing at the Thunder Beast that slumbered beside the Elemental Altar.

The Lava Demon released a warcry before charging at the Thunder Beast, appearing before the Grand Lord in an instant and activating the Tier 3 Taboo Skill, Lava Claw. By the time the Thunder Beast woke from its slumber, the Lava Demon's claw had struck the monster's lightning-formed body.

Roar!

The Thunder Beast cried out in agony, instantly losing more than 2,000,000 HP. Due to Lava Claw's weakening effect, the Thunder Beast's Basic Attributes dropped by 10%, as well.

However, not one to be outdone, the Thunder Beast responded with a swipe of its tail, sending a whip of lightning at the Lava Demon.

Tier 3 Skill, Lightning Annihilation!

With just one swing of its tail, the Thunder Beast launched a lightning attack in a 100-yard cone. Even a Tier 2 MT of the same level with an active Lifesaving Skill would barely survive the attack if they were on the receiving end. Any other class would die.

Fortunately, the Skill was nothing to the Lava Demon. The summoned Demon only lost a little over l,5〇〇,〇〇〇 of its 24,000,000 HP.

Shi Feng finally made his move after the Lava Demon and Thunder Beast struggled against each other for some time. Activating Instant Strike, he appeared beside the Thunder Beast and bombarded the Grand Lord with his attacks.

Shadow Blade!

Purgatory Pentaslash!

Flame Burst!

Phantom Kill!

Shi Feng used one Skill after another, each hit dealing tens of thousands of damage, with some even dealing over -100,000. The Thunder Beast's HP began to plummet.

90%... 70%... 50%...

Since the Thunder Beast only had two opponents, Shi Feng and his Lava Demon, it could only use two of its Skills: the AOE Tier 3 Skill, Lighting Annihilation and the single-target Tier 3 Skill, Lightning Claw.

Against Shi Feng, a player with the Strength to rival a Great Lord of the same level, the Thunder Beast could only watch, helpless, as it continued to lose HP.

In the end, Shi Feng activated Divine Providence and landed the killing blow when the Thunder Beast's HP fell below 1%. The Grand Lord's body then dispersed as countless arcs of lightning, vanishing from the Elemental Altar...

Chapter 1998 - Sin Realm

So much EXP!

Shi Feng stared at his experience bar in astonishment. After the Thunder Beast had died, his experience bar had increased by 11%. If he were grinding normally, he'd need at least half a day to earn that much EXP, but he had gained so much after less than 20 minutes.

When he remembered that the Thunder Beast as a special Boss, so much EXP made sense.

If a 20-man team killed an ordinary Grand Lord of the same level, every member of the team would receive a significant amount of EXP. Not only was the Thunder Beast seven levels higher than Shi Feng, but he had also killed the Grand Lord without help, monopolizing the awarded EXP. It was only natural that he received so much. Any other Level 70 player would've likely gained enough EXP to fill 20% of their experience bar.

When the Thunder Beast had fallen, it had also dropped over 30 items, filling Shi Feng with delight.

Past Level 50, even ordinary Mythic Field Bosses only dropped around 30 to 40 items. Although he was responsible for the Thunder Beast's First Kill, 30 items were still impressive.

Meanwhile, over half of the items were materials, and all of them were unique materials from the Thunder Beast's body.

[Thunder Skin) (Epic Rank Material)

When producing leather armor, the Thunder Skin can be used to enhance the armor's Basic Attributes and grant Lightning Resistance.

[Thunder Claw] (Inferior Legendary Rank Material)

When added to a weapon's production process, the Thunder Claw increases the weapon's Attack Power and adds additional lightning-type damage.

All of the materials were unique items for tailoring, leatherworking, forging, alchemy, enchanting, and engineering. Every one of these items was incredibly valuable.

The Thunder Claw was just as valuable as an ordinary Epic Weapon since materials that altered a weapon's damage to lightning-type were particularly rare.

Any weapon that could use lightning would ignore a significant amount of Defense unless the target had very high Lightning Resistance, but equipment that provided that Resistance was just as rare.

Melee players in the past had dreamed of enlisting a Master Forger to create a custom weapon with lightning-type damage for them. With such a weapon, players would have a massive advantage when fighting monsters or players.

As expected of a Unique Boss. Its loot is amazing. Shi Feng's eyes glowed as he gazed at the weapons and equipment the Thunder Beast had dropped.

The Thunder Beast had dropped a total of seven weapons and equipment. Six pieces were Level 70 equipment, of which three were Fine-Gold rank, and three were Secret-Silver rank. Of the three Fine-Gold Equipment pieces, one was a cloth chest piece, one was a pair of leather pants, and one was a pair of plate armor boots.

The Lightning Combat Boots pleased Shi Feng the most. Although the cloth armor and leather pants were good, they weren't quite as powerful as the boots.

Not only did the Lightning Combat Boots add 10 points of Lightning Resistance, but they also possessed a powerful Additional Active Skill called Lightning's Shadow. When activated, the Skill transformed the wearer into a streak of lightning for ten seconds. Players wouldn't be able to attack during this time, but they would move as fast as lightning. If the player attacked during the transformation, they'd revert to their original state. The Skill also had a 10-minute Cooldown.

This Skill would undoubtedly make up for a plate armor class's lack of mobility. Whether the player used the Skill to chase an opponent or flee, it would be exceptionally effective.

Moreover, the Lightning Combat Boots' Basic Attributes were even higher than those on the Level 60 Fine-Gold boots Shi Feng currently wore.

Without hesitation, Shi Feng switched his current boots for the Lightning Combat Boots, gaining more than 20 points to his Basic Attributes overall. Although the increase was minor, the additional Skill, which would drastically increase his survivability, was far more important.

Level 70 experts would covet the three pieces of Level 70 Secret-Silver Equipment since each item offered Lightning Resistance. Not only would the resistance protect the wearer from lightning-type damage, but they'd also have more defense against Skills and Spells that inflicted numbing effects. The three pieces were even more valuable than ordinary Level 70 Fine-Gold Equipment.

However, the weapon the Thunder Beast had dropped, an extremely rare Epic Growth-type Weapon, was even more impressive than the six pieces of equipment.

[Howling Thunder] (Throwing Weapon, Bronze Rank)

Equipment Requirement: Strength 1,000, Agility 900, and Tier 2.

Attack Power (Value is set at Player's Strength*1.7)

Strength +36, Agility +27, Endurance +5 Attack Speed +4

Maximum throwing distance: 42 yards When attacking:

Ignore 20% of target's Defense;

Attack Speed increases by 12%;

20% chance to land a critical hit;

10% chance to trigger a knockback effect;

10% chance to trigger the Thundering Wind effect, increasing Attack Speed by 150% and ignoring Defense completely. Additional Skill 1-

Lightning Guidance: Deals 120% lightning damage every second for five seconds in a 10-yard radius around the targeted area. Can store to a maximum of three Lighting Guidance charges. Each charge has a two-minute Cooldown.

Additional Skill 2-

Sundering Thunder: Causes a Lightning Impact that carries 100% of user's Strength in a 30-yard cone.

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Upgrading this weapon requires a large amount of Mana. Can be upgraded to Epic rank at maximum. Currently Bronze rank. Requires 1,000 Magic Crystals to reach the Mysterious-Iron rank.

Throwing weapons were extremely rare in God's Domain, even more so than ornaments. They were also the only ranged attacks available to melee players. Moreover, throwing weapons were categorized by ranks, not levels. They were the only type of weapon that players could use throughout the entire game without becoming obsolete. Hence, every throwing weapon was worth a fortune.

In the past, most melee experts had still used Mysterious-Iron throwing weapons after reaching Level 100. Very few had acquired Secret-Silver or Fine-Gold throwing weapons, and only the most fortunate players had obtained Dark-Gold ranked throwing weapons.

Shi Feng hadn't switched to another throwing weapon since he had obtained the Blazing Meteor from Seliora. The Blazing Meteor would even be incredibly rare after players reached Level 200, after all.

Of course, he hadn't expected to get his hands on an Epic Growth-Type throwing weapon after killing the Thunder Beast. The Howling Thunder was even more valuable than ordinary Epic Weapons.

Shi Feng immediately began to upgrade the Howling Thunder since he had so many Magic Crystals on him at the moment.

After a short moment, Shi Feng had upgraded Howling Thunder to Dark-Gold rank. He would need 40,000 Magic Crystals to upgrade it to Epic rank, however, which was ten times more than upgrading it from Fine-Gold to Dark-Gold rank. Since he didn't have enough Magic Crystals for this final upgrade, he had no choice but to set the matter aside for now. Even so, the Dark-Gold ranked Howling Thunder had already surpassed Blazing Meteor's power, satisfying Shi Feng.

Shi Feng left the Elemental Altar after he replaced Blazing Meteor with Howling Thunder and retrieved the Sealing Stone from the ancient stone box.

However, as he was about to use the Seven Luminaries Ring to teleport to the Icefire Mountain Range, a gigantic magic array appeared above him, forming a magic barrier that enveloped the area around Shi Feng.

Once the barrier was complete, a group of players wearing Sin Realm's Guild Emblem emerged from the ground. A playful light flashed in their eyes as they turned to Shi Feng.

"Just as the Guild Leader guessed, you came to Glory Town for a quest! It's a pity your efforts will go to waste!" the tall, robust Irontooth said as he stepped out of the crowd. Smiling, he continued, "Now, are you going to hand over the item, or will we need to retrieve it from your corpse? Decide!"

Chapter 1999 - Instant Kill

As Irontooth finished his question, the players around him burst into action. Wasting no time, these players formed a tight circle around Shi Feng.

The Shield Warriors and Guardian Knights stood at the forefront with their shields raised, followed by the Berserkers and Swordsmen who offered their MT companions support. The ranged DPS players and healers stood farther behind. Sin Realm's members left Shi Feng no room to flee.

Even if Shi Feng could tear through the encirclement and escape, the area had been sealed off with a magic barrier. He was trapped unless he could destroy it.

"Based on this pressure, you must have used an Intermediate Magic Array?" Shi Feng thought aloud as he glanced at the players channeling the array. This magic array had also reduced his Basic Attributes by 25%.

In God's Domain, magic array's suppression was far less effective against players than monsters, and the higher-tiered a player was, the weaker the suppression would be.

To rob a Tier 2 player of 25% of their Basic Attributes, one would need to use an Intermediate Magic Array at the very least.

"You've guessed correctly. This Earth's Wind is an Intermediate Magic Array, and even a Mythic monster would need some time to destroy it While within the array, you won't be able to use Teleportation Spells or tools," Irontooth informed his prey, sneering. "We prepared this magic array for you specifically. Is it to your satisfaction?"

Earth's Wind was one of the few sets of Intermediate Magic Array Scrolls Sin Realm possessed. They had originally saved it to use against particularly powerful Field Bosses.

However, to ensure Shi Feng's death and teach Zero Wing a lesson, Lone Beacon had decided to send the Scrolls with Irontooth's party.

"You don't really think one Intermediate Magic Array is enough to take me down, do you?" Shi Feng calmly asked as he eyed the several hundred Sin Realm players before him.

Around 50 of these players were Tier 2 experts. The rest of them were only Tier 1 players. The strongest player among them was Irontooth, a mere Level 59, Tier 2 Shield Warrior, and Shi Feng could tell that his combat standards were not quite as powerful as Crocodile Breaker's. This man was only an ordinary Refinement Realm expert.

This team wasn't enough to deal with a peak expert head-on. Peak experts had exceedingly powerful Basic Attributes, and even if those Attributes had been reduced by 25%, they were still higher than ordinary Tier 2 experts'. Naturally, killing ordinary Tier 2 experts would be child's play; they'd only need a little more time to complete the task.

"Of course, a single Intermediate Magic Array and these ordinary experts won't be enough to deal with you," Irontooth said, smiling at Shi Feng. "But what if these experts have Violent Blood Potions?"

Earth's Wind would suppress Tier 2 experts' Basic Attributes by 25%, but a peak expert could still easily annihilate ordinary experts of the same level and tier while subjected to the array's effects. A 100-man team of ordinary Tier 2 experts still wouldn't be enough to take Shi Feng down. This team would need over a dozen Refinement Realm experts working together to have any chance of victory.

Although Sin Realm did not have that many Refinement Realm experts, it did have the extremely valuable Violent Blood Potions.

Sin Realm had gone to great lengths to obtain the recipe for this potion, and after consuming it, players would gain an additional 1,200 points to every Basic Attribute. Moreover, these Attribute Points would add to players' base Attributes. With their weapons and equipment's percentage modifiers, the potion's effects would be even greater. Meanwhile, the Violent Blood Potion had a 20-second duration and five-minute Cooldown.

An ordinary Tier 2 expert would instantly gain the combat power of peak experts after drinking the potion.

Unfortunately, the materials to produce the Violent Blood Potion were incredibly rare and valuable, and not even an Advanced Alchemist would have a high success rate when brewing it. To ensure Shi Feng's defeat, Irontooth had specifically received four Violent Blood Potions from the Guild.

With four peak experts and an Intermediate Magic Array's suppression, they could even kill a superpower's apex expert, much less Shi Feng.

When Irontooth had finished speaking, three Tier 2 experts near him took out their Violent Blood Potions and drank them. The intensity of the trio's auras instantly skyrocketed.

The three Tier 2 players in question were a Berserker, a Swordsman, and an Assassin. In this line-up, the Berserker would act as the MT, the Swordsman would offer support, and the Assassin would find the opportunity to land the final blow.

"Ye Feng, today, we will prove to you and Zero Wing that resisting an attack from Miracle doesn't mean that you can stand up to Sin Realm!" Irontooth bellowed as he pointed at Shi Feng. "Go! Kill this arrogant fool!"

The trio then advanced on Shi Feng. The Berserker used Charge, the Swordsman used Wind Blade, and the Assassin entered Stealth.

The Violent Blood Potion? Watching the approaching Berserker and Swordsman, Shi Feng retrieved Howling Thunder and

flicked it.

Sundering Thunder!

Countless arcs of lightning then surged forth.

Once Shi Feng had upgraded the throwing weapon to Dark-Gold rank, Howling Thunder's Skills had considerably improved. Now, Sundering Thunder could exert 180% of its user's Strength and covered a 45-yard cone. The attack's speed was also extraordinary.

The attack caught the charging trio off guard. The impact sent all three flying while their HPs rapidly decreased. The Sin Realm members that had stood behind the trio had suffered an even more tragic fate. The Tier 1 players within Sundering Thunder's range died instantly. Only Tier 2 players had survived the attack, although their HPs had fallen to a critical level.

While Sin Realm's players were stunned, Shi Feng took the opportunity to throw Howling Thunder a second time.

Lightning Guidance!

Suddenly, three arcs of lightning charred the ground beneath the three Tier 2 experts that had consumed the Violent Blood Potions. Numerous arcs of lightning then descended from the sky and bombarded the area around the trio.

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

Since Lightning Guidance was an AOE attack, players could only evade it by escaping its range. Meanwhile, numbed by Sundering Thunder's effects, the three Tier 2 experts had no hope of dodging out of Lightning Guidance's range before the Skill struck.

The expert trio lost their remaining HP to the Skill after three seconds. Not even the healers had time to save them as they lost tens of thousands of HP each second.

How is this possible? Irontooth paled when he saw the three Tier 2 experts' corpses.

Shi Feng had killed three players with the combat power to rival peak experts without much effort. Moreover, he had accomplished this feat while suppressed by an Intermediate Magic Array...

For a moment, Irontooth couldn't believe his eyes.

Shi Feng, however, wasn't particularly surprised by the outcome. Peak experts were considered such due to their ability to react to danger. Some peak experts could even predict an enemy's attack before the player launched it. While Sin Realm's expert trio had greater combat power than peak experts, their ability to react was no more impressive than an ordinary expert's. Furthermore, even with the additional 1,200 points to their Basic Attributes, they were still no match for Shi Feng's.

"Commander, what should we do?" a Tier 2 Assassin asked.

"As expected of Zero Wing's Honorary Elder! I had considered giving you an easy death, but since you don't appreciate my kindness, I'll make you suffer!" Irontooth snarled. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the Steel Puppet from his bag.

Chapter 2000 - Combating the Steel Puppet

The Steel Puppet stood eight meters tall and was comprised entirely of Fine Iron. It also wore thick, heavy, pitch-black armor. The Steel Puppet had two heads and four mechanical arms, each wielding a gigantic saber. Despite the Steel Puppet's inactive state, it radiated a dreadful aura.

"The boss is finally getting serious!"

"Amazing! So, this is the Guild's Steel Puppet?"

When they saw the colossal Steel Puppet, Sin Realm's members recovered their senses. They no longer feared Shi Feng, but cheered with excitement.

A Steel Puppet? Shi Feng was quite surprised to see the massive construct.

Like the Guardian Puppet, the Steel Puppet was a Bronze Puppet with the Strength of an apex Tier 2 being. Its Defense was even greater than the Hell Tank's. Like the Hell Tank and other war weapons, Bronze Puppets didn't have HP, but durability. The Steel Puppet was capable of several times the Hell Tank's combat power, the perfect weapon to deal with players and take down buildings.

"Ye Feng, you should be pleased! You'll be this Steel Puppet's first victim!" Irontooth said, sneering as he sat in the Steel Puppet's control module.

This was the first time Sin Realm would use the Steel Puppet since obtaining it.

The Guild simply hadn't needed to use it yet.

Operating the Steel Puppet also cost a large number of Magic Crystals. Just to activate it, one needed to store 1,000 Magic Crystals within the Puppet For every minute the Steel Puppet was operated, it would consume 50 crystals. In other words, the Steel Puppet could only operate for 20 minutes at full capacity. To make matters worse, using the Steel Puppet's Skills would cost additional Magic Crystals.

Sin Realm hadn't bothered to use the Puppet for these reasons, even when dealing with other Guilds.

Irontooth was only allowed to use the Steel Puppet now because Lone Beacon wanted to teach Zero Wing a lesson.

As Irontooth fell silent, he used the Steel Puppet to advance on Shi Feng.

The Steel Puppet's Movement Speed was extremely high, crossing 50 yards in less than two seconds. Upon arriving before Shi Feng, the Steel Puppet swung one of its sabers at the Swordsman.

Despite the attack's casual nature, its power was at the peak of Tier 3. The wind even howled as the saber soared towards Shi Feng.

So fast! Shi Feng immediately responded by swinging Killing Ray.

Boom!

With the sound of an explosion, the saber's trajectory altered, and it crashed into the ground beside the Swordsman, the impact tearing a 20-meter-long gash in the ground. Shi Feng instantly lost over 20,000 HP...

"You really are something to survive an attack like that! But how will you fare against four sabers?" Irontooth brandished his three remaining weapons after seeing his target only lose a small fraction of his HP.

Since a player controlled the Steel Puppet, all three sabers accurately flew towards Shi Feng's defensive blind spots.

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

As one slash after another descended, the blades devastated the ground around Shi Feng. The earth trembled violently under the resulting impacts, and some of Sin Realm's nearby players lost their footing.

The Steel Puppet's devastatingly destructive power stupefied Sin Realm's members.

Setting aside the Steel Puppet's Strength, its Attack Speed alone shocked many of the watching players. The sabers were far too quick, and even the Tier 2 players realized that they'd be hard-pressed to block a single strike. If they had to combat all three sabers simultaneously, they'd die on the spot

Once the dust settled, however, they were even more shocked.

Shi Feng still stood beside the Steel Puppet's swords. He hadn't died in the flurry of attacks, and this time, his HP was fully intact...

As expected of a Bronze Combat Puppet Its combat power is amazing. The Hell Tank is nothing in comparison, Shi Feng thought as he looked at the deformed terrain around him. If he hadn't activated Power of Darkness in time, he would've likely lost more than half of his total HP.

Controlling a Combat Puppet was very similar to controlling a Divine Beast Players essentially merged with the Combat Puppet, and although they couldn't control the Puppet as easily as they did their own bodies, executing simple attacks at maximum efficiency wouldn't be difficult

Moreover, a Bronze Combat Puppet's every attack contained the Strength and speed of Tier 2 at its peak. It was the equivalent of a Grand Lord ranked Archaic Species. In addition, every attack a Combat Puppet executed would contain its full power, like a player at their peak. Even a Tier 3 expert would be at a disadvantage against a Bronze Combat Puppet with the same combat standard.

"A Berserk Skill? Do you think that can save you?" Irontooth sneered when he saw the black aura around Shi Feng. He then raised his four sabers and attacked again.

Although he couldn't control the Steel Puppet as nimbly as his own body, he was confident of defeating a real Tier 3 expert with the Puppet's Strength, speed, and four arms.

"We'll see about that!" Shi Feng brandished his two swords to meet the four sabers.

Sword's Orbit!

A galaxy of stars formed around Shi Feng, and he either blocked or deflected every attack Irontooth launched with the Steel Puppet

"How is this possible?! How is he keeping up with the Steel Puppet?!" Sin Realm's members watched the battle with dropped jaws as the Steel Puppet was rendered ineffective against Shi Feng.

However, none of them knew that Shi Feng's Attributes could normally rival a Great Lord's of the same level. After using Power of Darkness, his Strength was as high as an ordinary Grand Lord's under the Intermediate Magic Array's suppression. He was also as fast as a Tier 3 player of the same level. Hence, the Steel Puppet's Basic Attributes were only slightly higher than his, and Shi Feng could easily make up for the gap with his techniques.

He's actually so strong? Irontooth's expression darkened when he realized that he couldn't gain any ground against Shi Feng.

He had never thought that this Swordman's Attributes were so high that they could rival the Steel Puppet's.

After trading blows for a short moment, Shi Feng lost interest in passively defending himself. He started to find opportunities to attack the Steel Puppet.

Dang! Dang! Dang!

Dazzling sparks filled the air as Shi Feng's swords stabbed and slashed at the Puppet, but despite taking multiple attacks, there wasn't a single mark on the Puppet's armor.

"It's useless! Even if you have heaven-defying Basic Attributes, they are nothing before the Steel Puppet's Defense! I want to see just how long your Berserk Skill will keep you alive!" Irontooth growled, sneering.

He was fully confident in the Steel Puppet's Defense, which had Tier 3 defensive capabilities. Only a Grand Lord ranked Archaic Species' attacks could reduce its durability. Ordinary Grand Lords would only accomplish the feat if they used particularly powerful Skills.

"Is that so?"

Shi Feng chuckled. He then activated Blade Liberation and slashed at the Puppet again.

Hua!

Suddenly, a visible tear appeared on the Steel Puppet's armor...