Shi Feng, Gentle Snow, and Fire Dance sat on top of Shi Feng's thunder eagle mount flying across the Ore Empire. Their destination is Red Orc City, a city deep within the Neutral Map.
Normally the journey would take around 4 hours with a land mount but it only takes a little over 20 minutes with an extraordinary flying mount.
Shi Feng was currently experimenting with the soul fire. He was doing this because when he had Ember use the Soul Trace on him it had a weird reaction with the Soul Fire.
He might have full control over the Soul Fire but that doesn't mean he has mastered its abilities yet. So far he's mainly been using the Soul Fire to damage players souls to increase their death penalty. He hasn't really felt the need to use it for much else, treating it more like a mysterious flame.
While he was experimenting he noticed Gentle Snow acting weird.
He saw her repeatedly taking quick glances of envy over at Fire Dance who was opposite from her. After Fire Dance had Ember use the Soul Trace on her they started to play with each other on the journey.
After Ember had used the Soul Trace on Snow she immediately went to Fire Dance without a second to spare and this saddened her.
While the two were playing Snow will try to scooch closer to them but when she got to a noticeable proximity Ember will hide behind Fire's head as if she wanted nothing to do with Snow.
Due to this Snow was forced to just watch Ember and Fire play together in depression.
This surprised Shi Feng. He never expected the battle hardened Snow Goddess to actually love cute things. She had never shown this side of her personality despite spending so much time together.
He thought this side of her was adorable.
But while he was surprised he had no pity for the Snow Goddess.
Ember is the key to his Divine Quest. At most he can reach tier 5 level 170 or so in the time he had left. His tier 5 promotion may take a couple of months to complete. If he had to face dozens of demon gods and possibly a demon god emperor by himself he would be screwed.
But despite his precarious situation his supposed allies and friends didn't care. They were all trying to take away his life saver by tempting her with her favorite foods. Even his personal guards Anna and Versailles were trying to take her away from him.
Because they have a pseudo contract Ember can easily server the contract between them and go to someone else or just leave. If she finds somebody she likes better she might leave him. The only reason she hasn't is because he had hatched her and she sees him as her father. If Ember's intelligence wasn't as high as it was she may have already abandoned him for Aqua or Violet who constantly spoil her.
Shi Feng has no idea why Ember doesn't seem to like Gentle Snow, but the less competition he has the better.
Snow decided to wash away the sadness by talking to Shi Feng. "Guild Leader, I almost forgot to tell you. You won't believe it," she said in a mysterious tone.
This piqued his curiosity. Snow doesn't usually act like this unless it is really something interesting.
"What could possibly surprise you?" He asked.
"Guess who applied for the guild while you were away,"
"How can I possibly know that there's too many experts in God's Domain to keep track of," he said while wondering.
"It's actually some people you know very well," she said as if trying to build up the anticipation.
Shi Feng let out a sigh, "I know so many people. Stop toying with me and spit it out."
Gentle Snow giggled at his response, this is usually the only way she can mess with him. "Okay I'll say it. The Four Shadow Demons have all applied for the guild!"
Shi Feng's eyes widened. He knew Snow would never lie to him but he couldn't believe it.
The Four Shadow Demons were experts among experts. Their combat standards alone could put them in the top twenty of Veteran Super Guild's combatants. In any weaker guild they may very well become the strongest.
These four most likely didn't lack anything in real life either. They could probably get their hands on the Immortal Drinks if they tried hard enough. Only a major corporation like the Starring Corporation can offer them anything they value. So why would they join a guild with no background like Zero Wing. This situation is truly perplexing.
"So did you allow them to join," Shi Feng asked.
"Yes. It could affect the guilds reputation if we turned them away just because they used to be enemies, but we made them elite members for now and were waiting for you to see what we should do next."
"Hahahaha, only Zero Wing will make Domain realm experts elite members!" Shi Feng couldn't help but laugh. "So they still decided to stay in the guild after that?"
Every expert has their pride. Especially experts of the Four Shadow Demons caliber. If such experts were forced to be mere elite members they would find the situation humiliating and would definitely leave.
"I was a bit shocked as well when they decided to stay. Apparently they are aware that we can't fully trust them and are willing to earn higher positions," Snow said.
"I see. Anyway this is a good thing for us. Make them core members as soon as possible, the other superpowers will laugh at us if we make Old Monsters elite members. I'll figure out how they can prove their loyalty." Shi Feng said with some excitement.
While his guild is lacking in the number of Domain and Void Realm experts compared to the more powerful superpowers that's not what made him happy. He was happy because Zero Wing will finally have Old Monsters in it's ranks.
The various superpowers greatly valued Old Monsters, even in the Five Great Super Guilds where they had many Domain Realm experts any Old Monster is still highly valued. The reason is not for their immeasurable strength but for their knowledge.
Because of their many years and experience Old Monsters are the best when teaching younger experts. They can easily tell if someone has the potential to awaken a domain. Not even Shi Feng can accurately judge if a young talent is capable of reaching the Domain Realm as well as these people. After all he's only been in the realms of refinement for a little over a year now.
Someone who can properly guide his guild members is greatly welcomed.
So far his experts have been progressing in a sort of barbaric manner, relying on nutrient fluids and special tools to quickly increase their brain capacity and progress through the realms of refinement. They used to be like him constantly running at full speed without any delicacy.
This is why many of his Void and Domain Realm experts are still stuck in the initial stages despite all the resources and opportunities they acquire. Once a person reaches that level it's not as simple as trying to force your brain capacity to improve, there's a certain finesse that is needed.
Not everyone can be like Shi Feng and have ten years of experience playing God's Domain and being able to quickly adjust to their increased strength. Unfortunately the extraordinary tower and realms of truth don't really help much with this problem since they focus on other aspects.
If they have the help of such experienced people especially people like the Four Shadow Demons who have progressed very far in the Domain Realm than his guild members can improve with flying speed.
Maybe even a few members like Blackie, Youlan, Negative Life, Thoughtful Rain, and a few others can take that final step and enter the world of apex experts.
After a few minutes of flying the trio made it to Red Orc City.
Red Orc City is one of the few intermediate cities at this stage of the game. Due to its close proximity to the inner regions of the neutral map, the city's prosperity is actually greater than Silver Wing City.
Thanks to the faux saint monsters, many updates and expansions the new Orc Emperor is steadily growing stronger and the map's level limit keeps getting raised.
The new level limit for the map is level 160 now.
The various superpowers peak experts are only around level 136-138, level 139 at the very most. It will still be a very long time till they reach level 140, not to mention mainstream and casual players.
The Sacred Temple and Sanctuary; Red Orc City's two ruling powers will enjoy great fortune for many months to come.
After the trio landed in the city they were immediately greeted by a group of peak experts from the Sacred Temple. Shi Feng did not expect such a welcome, after all these superpowers wanted him to give up some of his guild's territory.
"Guild Leader Black Flame, please follow me. The other representatives are currently waiting for your arrival." A tier 4 bulky middle aged man said. He then escorted Shi Feng and the others into the city lord's mansion
This stunned Shi Feng a little. The person escorting them is a famous berserker in the Apocalypse Empire and one of the Sacred Temple's apex experts named Lone Shank. He had once captured a large fortress all by himself. The man is very close to becoming a peerless monster and he only takes orders from the guild leader and very few vice temple masters.
For an expert such as him to escort a Super First Rate Guild's guild leader is a little astonishing. Not even Super Guilds guild leaders may get this kind of treatment.
What Shi Feng didn't know is that the reason he is being shown such courtesy is because he has reached the True Domain Realm.
If Void Realm experts are princes and princesses, a Domain Realm expert is a king. A True Domain Realm expert is someone even above that.
Most Veteran Super Guilds don't even have one such expert so it is only natural they will show Shi Feng such respect, even if he were an enemy.
As Shi Feng's group walked into the mansion that was heavily guarded, they entered the conference room. In the room Shi Feng noticed that the mana density was very high. Looking down he saw that the floor of the room had the tiles lined with seven luminaries crystals.
How extravagant he thought.
Seven luminaries crystals are priceless. If a normal person sold one unit, they would have enough money to live a few months in comfort. While using the crystal like this is much cheaper than making the entire floor be made with it, doing this is still very expensive, not even he would willingly do something like this.
Of Course Shi Feng recognized the benefits of outlining the floor with the crystals. The conference room is where important meetings and strategy discussions are held. The seven luminaries crystal floor will increase the room's mana density, calming and clearing everyone's minds so they can make better decisions and come up with better ideas.
Shi Feng looked up and saw the representatives of the various superpowers.
Crimson Emperor's Illusory Words was here. The Sacred Temple Vice Temple Master Quiet Melody was also here and behind her is one of the Temple's prodigies; Blue Jade. When Shi Feng saw her he was a little shocked. He could tell that Blue Jade had reached the truth realm. Although her foundations were not nearly as polished as Zero Wing's truth realm experts and she only had a technical grasp of the realm, she had still entered it.
Even though the Sacred Temple is an above average Super Guild it is very surprising that a young genius in the guild had learned about the realms of truth. So what about the more elder and experienced members of the guild?
What Shi Feng didn't know was that he was thinking too much into the situation.
The young girl had been eyeing Shi Feng like a hawk ever since he walked in. An urge to challenge him to a fight as well as some reverence can be seen in her eyes.
Ever since she saw Shi Feng control the divine magic dragons in the battle with Beast Emperor she has watched and studied his battle videos. She was trying to learn how Shi Feng could control summon creatures even better than Domain Realm summoners.
After constantly observing his fights Blue Jade had grasped some principles of the realms of truth and managed to enter it. With her new found abilities she had managed to beat many peak experts and her control over summoned creatures even surpasses the Sacred Temple's Old Monsters.
In actuality she has no ideas what the realms of truth are. Not even Quiet Melody knows about them. Only a very few powerful battle maniacs in the Sacred Temple have gotten hints about it and are still exploring the realm.
Shi Feng also noticed Sanctuary's Flourishing Colors. This woman had bought the dragon scale equipment from him in Black Wing city so long ago. At that time Shi Feng didn't know how powerful she was because her name wasn't that big in his past life. But the woman was currently in the half-step Domain Realm, a person like her should have a high likelihood of reaching tier 5 at least.
There were also people from Kings Return, Nine Heavens Pavilion, BlackWater, and a few other superpowers. To have so many high profile individuals in one room created a subtle pressure. If a guild leader of a First Rate guild were here they might not even be able to stand properly.
Shi Feng then sat down in his designated seat while Gentle Snow and Fire Dance sat beside him.
"I was told you wish to meet with me. Now that I'm here please tell me what you have to say." Shi Feng said, as if the pressure in the room was non-existent.
Shi Feng's voice was calm and subtle as if a soothing rain refreshed the skin, the various representatives couldn't help but admire him. Despite knowing why they had asked for him and the potential consequences if something were to go wrong, the man still acted like this was a regular meeting.
Flourishing Colors spoke first, "First, it's an honor to finally be able to meet you Guild Leader Black Flame, I am Sanctuary's Elder Flourishing Colors" her calming and pleasant voice was just as powerful as Shi Feng's.
"I will get straight to the point. Beast Emperor has some new creations and he has been using this to harass us. He has been threatening us to work with him to chase your guild out of the Ore Empire. We do not wish to make an enemy out of Zero Wing but Beast Emperor has become a problem that can even affect us now."
"I see. So you must have called me here to discuss a solution. correct."
The Nine Heavens Pavilion representative spoke up next, "that is correct Guild Leader Black Flame. We have decided that Beast Emperor and the Evil God's Temple must go. But he is mainly after Zero Wing. Seeing as how he is difficult to deal with and how we incurred losses due to his hatred for your guild we can't do this for free," the man said.
"Yes, you must be aware of the potential losses that can occur on all sides from fighting the Evil God's Temple. If Zero Wing is willing to heed some of our request we can immediately work together on this matter," another representative continued. He then handed Shi Feng a piece of paper with a lengthy list on it.
Shi Feng knew what was going on through their minds. 'Beast Emperor is Zero Wing's problem and you dragged us into this.these aren't requests but demands. If you don't want us to ally with Beast Emperor you better do as we say.'
Shi Feng didn't even glance at the list before looking around the room and asking, "is this how you all feel?"
Immediately Illusory Words answered him, "Guild Leader Black Flame, Crimson Emperor doesn't wish to conduct this matter in such a manner. We are willing to ally with Zero Wing and fight against Beast Emperor as mutual partners.
"The Sacred Temple is of the same mindset as Crimson Emperor. We hope to properly work with Zero Wing and help convince the others as well," Quiet Melody added.
The other superpowers gave the two women annoyed looks. They didn't really want to do this either but they have incurred too many losses and can't afford more.
Shi Feng gave Illusory Words and Quiet Melody grateful looks. It's hard to stick to your beliefs when in the minority and peer pressured.Those types of people were the best to ally with.
Shi Feng looked towards the others, "I'll give you four choices."
He raised his hand slightly and extended his index finger towards the ceiling. "One. You can forget about your little demands and work with us to finish off Beast Emperor."
Next he raised his middle finger. "Two. Work with Beast Emperor to work against Zero Wing."
He raised his ring finger. "Three. Stay out of this and we all handle our own problems."
Lastly he raised his pinky. "Four. If the first three aren't appealing to you, then let's all die together! That's my answer for you all!"