Chapter 143

Chapter 143: Shadow’s Blessing

While Fire Dance and Water Buffalo were both inwardly shocked, a deep voice came from behind them.

“Why haven’t you guys left yet?”

The voice startled them both. They hurriedly jumped, spinning around to dodge while unsheathing their weapons; they stared at the figure that had appeared behind them.

“Big Brother Ye Feng.”

Fire Dance let out a sigh of relief after identifying the newcomer. She pulled back her dagger and returned it to its sheath at her waist.

The men from Martial Union were all over Gale Valley. If a battle were to occur, they would immediately call to their companions, and there would be no end to the enemies that Fire Dance needed to kill.

“We came to help. Martial Union has killed so many of our companions; we must take revenge,” Fire Dance’s eyes turned cold as she spoke about Martial Union.

“I wish to form a large team to enter large-scale Dungeons in the future. I wonder if you all would be interested in joining?”

Shi Feng felt that Fire Dance had great talent. Moreover, Fire Dance and the others were all independent players that did not belong to any Guilds. If he could rope them in and form his own team, it would be a great benefit to his Zero Wing Workshop.

“This…” Fire Dance was slightly hesitant after hearing Shi Feng’s proposal.

Water Buffalo also turned taciturn.

“Do you guys already have your own large team?” Shi Feng inwardly lamented.

After entering White River City, there would be many large-scaled Dungeons. They were the main source of equipment, materials, and many other resources. If an independent player wished to obtain good equipment, they needed to raid these large-scale Dungeons. Moreover, if a Guild wished to level up, conquering large-scale Dungeons was a must. Hence, if one wanted to develop at all in God’s Domain, conquering large-scale Dungeons was one of the necessary conditions.

However, it was extremely difficult for independent players to form a large team capable of raiding a large-scale Dungeon. The most common large-scaled Dungeons were all 50-man Dungeons, while there were even some 100-man Dungeons available. Gathering so many players was a near-impossible task. Not to mention whether the entire team possessed sufficient strength, just the degree of trust and the distribution of equipment would be a huge hurdle. In this, however, the elite teams of Guilds and large-scale Workshops had it much easier.

“No, we don’t have our own large team. Our team currently only consists of players who prioritizes amusement and don’t really care much about other matters. Could you give me some time?” Fire Dance explained.

In reality, she, too, wished to develop in God’s Domain properly. In spite of that, the majority of the players in her current team were not too keen on raiding Dungeons. They only wished to play casually. If they joined a large team, they would definitely experience certain constraints and would not be willing to join.

“Alright. In any case, there is still time. Let’s add each other as friends then. When you’ve made your decision, you can contact me at any time.” Shi Feng knew that such matters could not be decided upon immediately. If one wished to obtain something, they would have to lose something in return. Shi Feng did not wish for just any random person to join him.

“That’s good. I’ll contact you after discussing it with them,” Fire Dance nodded. She also felt that it was about time to make a decision.

Soon after Shi Feng added Fire Dance as his friend, he ran towards the deeper regions of the Gale Valley in search of Blackie and Lonely Snow.

On his way there, in order to avoid Martial Union’s patrols, Shi Feng hid in the treetops and waited for the players of Martial Union to move past.

Since he had nothing better to do, Shi Feng took out the loot from the Shadow Leopard King. He wanted to see just what valuables the monster dropped.

Isn’t my luck just too good? The profits from a Chieftain monster are impressive. Shi Feng was slightly shocked after looking at the drops.

Among the nine items, there were two Secret-Silver Weapons, three pieces of Mysterious-Iron Equipment, two rare materials needed to make Secret-Silver Equipment, one Bronze-ranked cooking knife, and one Secret-Silver Accessory.

The two Secret-Silver Weapons were a Level 8 staff and a Level 8 two-handed axe. The Mysterious-Iron Equipment was also Level 8. Moreover, the usefulness of the Bronze-ranked cooking knife was also not small. It could increase the speed and success rate of one’s cooking.

However, the most valuable item among all these items was the Secret-Silver Accessory, the Shadow’s Blessing. It was one of the most precious items that the Shadow Leopard King could drop.

[Shadow’s Blessing] (Secret-Silver Rank, Necklace)

Level 8

All Attributes +5

Luck +3

In God’s Domain, Accessories were extremely rare. Even when players reached Level 20 or above, they would, at most, possess one or two Bronze Accessories. Moreover, these accessories would all be below Level 10.

Meanwhile, the accessory in Shi Feng’s hands was Secret-Silver rank, and it was much more precious than a Fine-Gold Weapon of the same Level.

The Luck Attribute was extremely rare in God’s Domain, and it was capable of increasing the drop-rate of items when killing monsters. There was once a player who calculated that, with 1 point in Luck, the drop-rate would nearly double. However, the higher a person’s Luck was, the less effective every additional point would be. At 3 points in Luck, a player’s drop-rate would only triple.

Besides that, the Luck Attribute also held a great effect for Lifestyle classes, so its value would never depreciate.

If Shi Feng estimated correctly, the Shadow’s Blessing would only be worth 2 to 3 Gold Coins to the average player. However, to Shi Feng, this item’s value was around 10 Gold Coins.

Immediately, Shi Feng equipped the Shadow’s Blessing. That way, when he killed high-level monsters in the future, the amount and quality of the equipment he would obtain would increase.

After some time, the team from Martial Union finally left. Shi Feng then continued his journey into the depths of the Gale Valley.

“Blackie, where are you guys right now?” Shi Feng sent a voice call, asking.

“We seem to be beside a swamp. I don’t know where this place is, but the monsters here have very high levels. I’ll send you the coordinates.” Blackie sighed in relief after learning that nothing had happened to Shi Feng. He then sent his coordinates.

“Don’t go any deeper, and stay where you are. I’ll be there soon.” Shi Feng immediately knew Blackie’s whereabouts after glancing at the coordinates.

He truly did not think that Blackie could actually survive in the Silent Swamp.

There were two entrances to the Gale Valley. One was where Shi Feng entered, and the other was at the Silent Swamp, which led to the high-level monster areas.

The Silent Swamp was a Level 15 to Level 20 monster area. To the players at the current stage of the game, it was a forbidden area.

Half an hour later, Shi Feng managed to locate Blackie and Lonely Snow.

The two of them sat beneath a tree, silently observing their surroundings. They had previously met a Level 15 Swamp Crocodile, frightening them into a run. The Swamp Crocodile had nearly turned them into its chow, but fortunately, they had Speed Scrolls and Isolation Scrolls, allowing them to escape. After this meeting, they no longer dared roam.

“As expected of Brother Feng! You avoided Martial Union’s search and arrived here safely!” Blackie immediately felt that there was hope for them when he saw Shi Feng walking over, “Let’s leave this place immediately. This place is simply too dangerous.”

Lonely Snow nodded in agreement. They were only Level 8, and the gap between them and the Level 15 Swamp Crocodiles was just too massive. It was extremely dangerous for them to stay here.

“No; let’s stay here to level up.” Shi Feng shook his head, saying, “I’ve previously killed quite a lot of Martial Union’s members, so they should be frantically looking for me right about now. It would be too difficult to get you guys out of here without discovery.”

Hearing Shi Feng, Blackie and Lonely Snow finally discovered the bright red marker displayed above Shi Feng’s head. This mark was deeply crimson, and it was a wonder just how many players Shi Feng had killed in order to turn it into such a state.

However, it was only right when one thought about it.

Martial Union’s men currently filled the Gale Valley, and it would be impossible for Shi Feng to arrive without being seen. Shi Feng would have encountered some players from Martial Union on his way. With Brother Feng’s skills, he would have no problems facing three to four players at a time. He has definitely killed a lot of players on his way here.

Thinking up to this point, Blackie and Lonely Snow were extremely moved. Although Shi Feng spoke in a casual manner, they knew that his journey must have been filled with extreme dangers.

“Alright, I’ll party you two up. You guys should change into this equipment first,” saying so, Shi Feng passed the staff and two-handed axe, dropped by the Shadow Leopard King, over to Blackie and Lonely Snow.

When the two of them received the weapons, they were shocked. Level 8 Secret-Silver Weapons were the most top-tier weapons currently available. Though they did not understand just how Shi Feng managed to obtain them, they did not attempt to look into it too deeply. They knew that some questions were not meant to be asked, and such a situation would be beneficial to both parties.

After partying up, Blackie was immediately startled when he looked at Shi Feng’s level. He asked, voice trembling, “Brother Feng, you… you’re Level 10 already?”

They reached Level 8 after continuously grinding monsters and leveling up in Gale Valley. Even if their levels were not the highest amongst all the players throughout God’s Domain, they were still considered close to the top. However, after not meeting for only a few days, Shi Feng had left them behind by two levels. Such a leveling speed was simply frightening.

Chapter 144: Forming a Party

In regards to Blackie’s and Lonely Snow’s shock, Shi Feng merely nodded in reply.

“Brother Feng, your leveling speed is just too fast!”

“The highest leveled player I’ve previously met was only Level 9. Right now, there might not be another who has reached Level 10 in the entire White River City. Moreover, since there has not been any information on the official website stating that a player has reached Level 10 and entered a City, this means that there are no players who have reached Level 10 at all. Brother Feng, now that you’ve Level 10, you are definitely the top player in all of Star-Moon Kingdom!”

Blackie was incomparably excited. Only high-leveled players would know how hard it was to go from Level 8 to Level 9, not to mention rising from Level 9 to Level 10. The difference in EXP required was at least several times higher. Right now, Shi Feng was far ahead of everyone else.

If the players from Martial Union found out about this, their intestines would turn green with regret.

Every gamer knew that once you got ahead, you stayed ahead. The small gap during the initial period of the game would only grow wider later on. As long as Shi Feng slowly expanded his advantages, little by little, he would sooner or later cause the players from Martial Union to tremble in fear.

Meanwhile, Lonely Snow, who stood by a side, was dumbstruck, not knowing what he should say.

Previously, he had been worried that it would not bode well for them to continue entangling themselves with Martial Union. However, after he saw that Shi Feng had already reached Level 10 and possessed a pile of Secret-Silver Equipment, confidence filled his heart. If this continued, he could, sooner or later, step on Martial Union, becoming a future tyrant of White River City.

“Alright, quickly swap out your equipment. We’ll look for a place to level up,” Shi Feng looked at the excited expressions on Blackie and Lonely Snow and smiled helplessly.

Due to constant tasks earlier, he was never able to lead his own party personally. Now, he still had quite some time before he had to go to Blackwing City to conduct the trade with Aqua Rose, and in the meantime, he could carry Blackie and the others.

In the future, he would have to form a Guild. However, a framework was required to establish a Guild. Otherwise, the Guild would simply fall apart. The members of his current party would become the framework of his future Guild; so, Shi Feng decided to upgrade the overall strength of his party from now on. If the members of his party could reach Level 10 a step earlier and enter White River City, it would be a tremendous help to him in the future.

Blackie and Lonely Snow looked at each other, smiles on their faces as they changed into their new equipment.

Previously, the two of them wore Level 5 to Level 6 Bronze Equipment, mixed in with a few pieces of Mysterious-Iron Equipment. Now, however, the majority of their equipment consisted of Level 8 Mysterious-Iron Equipment, matched with a few pieces of Level 8 Secret-Silver Equipment. Their strengths greatly increased with this. If they met Martial Union now, they would not end up in such a sorry state.

“Brother Feng, if we are going to level up here, what will happen to Cola and the others? They say that they’re under constant surveillance and going out into the fields to level up is extremely dangerous,” Blackie worriedly asked.

“Relax; I’ve already told them to do something more meaningful in Town. We’ll call them over after Martial Union leaves the Gale Valley. At that time, you two might even have a fright when you meet them,” Shi Feng said with a smile.

Seeing Shi Feng’s mysterious smile, curiosity swarmed both Blackie and Lonely Snow about the task Shi Feng had given Cola and the others. Just what sort of quest could it be to shock them?

“Alright; let’s level up then.”

Shi Feng wordlessly smiled at the two’s puzzled expressions. In actuality, having Martial Union focus on Cola and the others was not a bad thing at all. Before, while they had been busy leveling up, Shi Feng stopped them from completing the quest. Now that they couldn’t out and level up, they could give the quest a try. If Cola and the others could truly complete it…

He would be able to carry out his plan with much less effort and more confidence.

Although the Silent Swamp was a Level 15 to Level 20 monster area, the outer edge of the swamp was only a Level 15 monster area, while the inner regions were Level 16 to Level 18 monster areas. Level 20 monsters would only appear in the core region of the swamp.

With the Abyssal Blade, Shi Feng could reduce the level suppression by 5 Levels, making the outer region a perfect fit.

“Let’s go there and take a look.”

Looking at the system’s map, Shi Feng pointed to the bubbling black pool of water in the distance.

Although Blackie and Lonely Snow did not voice out about it, they were overcome with worry. After all, Level 15 monsters owned this place. Even if they received an upgrade to their equipment and could challenge Level 10 Common monsters without much of a problem, Level 15 monsters would still annihilate them.

Just as Shi Feng and the others set foot beside the black-colored pool, a mass of bubbles broke out across the surface. A pair of black, shiny eyes surfaced from the pool, staring at Shi Feng’s party from a distance.

“Brother Feng, I don’t think this place is safe. Look; a large pair of eyes are watching us from over there,” Blackie looked at the fist-sized eyeballs, anxiety gripping his heart. He definitely did not think that the monster hidden in the water was Common.

While Blackie spoke, the monster in the pool surfaced, it’s gigantic figure slowly revealing itself to the party.

[Steel-skinned Hippo] (Elite Rank)

Level 15

HP 6,000/6,000

“Brother Feng, let’s leave! That’s a Level 15 Elite! If it chases us, we’ll suffer the consequences!” Blackie panicked as he watched the Steel-skinned Hippo closing in on them.

Naturally, Shi Feng knew that Blackie and Lonely Snow could not contend with a Level 15 monster, not to mention an Elite. However, Shi Feng had his own strategies for dealing with monsters with special weaknesses, and the Steel-skinned Hippo belonged to this category.

After the evolution of God’s Domain, everything in the game became more realistic. The weaknesses of these Hippo-type monsters also increased as a result. As long as players could find a way to deal with said weaknesses, these monsters would be very easy to deal with.

Shortly after the Steel-skinned Hippo revealed itself, another group of Swamp Hippos surfaced in the black-colored pool. There were over twenty of these Swamp Hippos.

[Swamp Hippo] (Common Rank)

Level 15

HP 2,000/2,000

Watching these hippos leave the pool so overbearingly, rushing towards them, Shi Feng took out an Isolation Scroll from his bag. He then softly said, “You guys use an Isolation Scroll as well.”

Hearing Shi Feng’s order, Blackie and Lonely Snow immediately took out their own Isolation Scrolls.

The Isolation Scroll was only effective against monsters up to Level 15. When used, the scroll greatly reduced the user’s presence, turning them half-transparent for half an hour.

After the two of them used the Isolation Scrolls, they discovered that the hippos had suddenly stopped their movements, looking around in confusion. It was as if they had become invisible to these hippos.

“Hippos have very bad vision, and they cannot see clearly beyond a certain distance. After using the Isolation Scrolls, our bodies are close to transparent, so they cannot see us,” Shi Feng explained. “Blackie, use your Dark Arrows to attack the Steel-skinned Hippo but pay attention to maintain a distance of at least 25 yards. It won’t see you that way.”

Blackie came to a realization after listening to Shi Feng’s explanation. He immediately tried Shi Feng’s instructions.

A Dark Arrow flew from Blackie, striking the Steel-skinned Hippo that was dozing off. Damage of -24 points appeared above the Elite Hippo. Although the damage was minuscule, it was enough to send the Steel-skinned Hippo into a flying rage. The Elite immediately spun towards the source of the Dark Arrow. However, it failed to discover even a single person in that direction. It took several steps forward but still failed to discover anybody. Just when it was about to return to the pool of water, another Dark Arrow struck its body.

The Steel-skinned Hippo was truly enraged now. Letting out an intense snort, it abruptly charged towards the direction the Dark Arrow originated from. However, after rushing forward over ten yards, it still could not find the enemy who attacked it. The Steel-skinned Hippo started to turn in circles in confusion.

Blackie watched the stupid-looking Steel-skinned Hippo in the distance, inwardly laughing at it. He continuously sent Dark Arrows at his target, and with each consecutive arrow, he slowly lured it away from the group of Swamp Hippos.

At this moment, only Level 15 Swamp Hippos occupied the pool.

Shi Feng silently closed in on them.

After closing a distance of 20 yards, the Swamp Hippos finally discovered Shi Feng. Immediately, they all parted from the pool. More than twenty Swamp Hippos thundered after Shi Feng in a grandiose manner. Such a group could easily flatten a Level 15 party.

Chapter 145: Might of the Devil Flame (1)

The Swamp Hippos were each the size of a small car. When over twenty of them charged forward, it was like being run over by twenty cars going full-speed. The earth trembled under the combined weight of the Swamp Hippos. Their imposing aura surged forth, instilling shock and awe into all observers.

In the distance, Lonely Snow, who observed this scene, wore a nervous expression. He tightly gripped the Secret-Silver ranked greataxe in his hands.

He wondered just what their party leader, Shi Feng, intended to do.

This was a group of over twenty Level 15 Swamp Hippos. Not only did these monsters possess thick hides and sturdy muscles, but they also possessed 2,000 HP each. Just judging by how the earth trembled with each step, one could easily tell just how powerful these Swamp Hippos were. If that kind of body plowed into Shi Feng, the consequences would be unimaginable.

However, Shi Feng remained extraordinarily calm as he silently awaited the arrival of the Swamp Hippos.

15 yards…

10 yards…

5 yards…

Just as the Swamp Hippos were right before him, Shi Feng finally took action. As Shi Feng raised the pitch-black Abyssal Blade, it released a chilling glow. Green arcs of electricity abruptly appeared on the blade, producing crackling sounds. Shi Feng then slashed down, the Abyssal Blade pointing at the incoming Swamp Hippos.

Thundering Flash!

Three electric arcs chained towards the Swamp Hippos, one after another. When the Swamp Hippos leading the charge noticed these arcs of electricity moving towards them, their bodies instinctively trembled. Though they tried to halt their feet to dodge these electric arcs, the Swamp Hippos at the back crashed into them. As a result, none of them managed to dodge the incoming attack.

In the end, they received all three hits.

After the electric arcs flashed by, the squealing of pigs at slaughter filled the surrounding space. The smell of something burning also filled the air.

A series of damages appeared above the twenty-plus Swamp Hippos, creating a dazzling sight. Every Swamp Hippo received frightening damages of -356, -481, and -648. Some even received critical hits, suffering damages of over -1,000 points, their HPs immediately falling to zero.

The remaining dozen or so Swamp Hippos were burnt black. Their HP bars also dropped to dangerous levels, turning a bloody-red color. Moreover, a Debuff icon appeared beside their HP bars: Damage Amplification. All damage received increased by 20% for 20 seconds.

Immediately, fear surfaced on the faces of all the surviving Swamp Hippos. They all wished to scatter and escape.

Shi Feng gave them no chance whatsoever. With a sudden leap, Shi Feng jumped into the airspace above these Swamp Hippos. He raised the Silver Lake, the sword giving off a faint-blue glow as it carried with it the power of thunder and fire. Shi Feng loosed a Thunder Flame Explosion in the midst of the Swamp Hippos, thunder and fire exploding outwards, devouring every single Swamp Hippo.

With the Damage Amplification effect, this attack of Shi Feng’s caused over -900 damage on the Swamp Hippo, instantly killing every single one of them.

The gigantic figures of the twenty-plus Swamp Hippos fell to the ground with a loud boom, shaking and trembling the earth. The scene was similar over twenty small cars descending from the air, heavily smashing into the ground. When the bodies of the Swamp Hippos collided with the ground, the resulting impact generated gusts of wind that spread to the surroundings, causing the leaves and branches of the nearby trees to snap and float in mid-air.

Lonely Snow, watching this scene from a distance, was completely dumbfounded.

Be it the visual or physical sensation, both impacted him greatly.

Shi Feng caused over -1,000 damage to the Level 15 Swamp Hippos, ending their lives in just two moves. Just how high of an Attack Power was required to achieve such a feat?

If Shi Feng fought against average players, wouldn’t he kill one with every strike?

Lonely Snow even started to suspect that he and Shi Feng were not playing the same God’s Domain. The difference in strength between them was no longer just several stages. It was practically the difference between the sky and the earth.

“Lonely, you pick up the loot. I’ll go help Blackie,” Shi Fen instructed before turning to chase after the Steel-skinned Hippo.

Lonely Snow nodded in reply, though an absent-minded expression remained on his face. He thought that he had hallucinated before, but after giving his eyes a rub, the pile of Swamp Hippo corpses still remained. Plenty of items and Coins blanketed the ground surrounding them.

He now knew that this was not a dream, but reality.

When Lonely Snow looked at the system notifications and his experience bar, he was once more given a shock.

System: Level 15 Swamp Hippo killed. Level difference of 7. EXP obtained increased by 700%. Obtained 1,650 EXP.

System: Level 15 Swamp Hippo killed. Level difference of 7. EXP obtained increased by 700%. Obtained 1,650 EXP.

System: Level 15 Swamp Hippo killed. Level difference of 7. EXP obtained increased by 700%. Obtained 1,650 EXP.

……

After a series of notifications displayed, Lonely Snow’s experience bar greatly increased, reaching 69% of Level 8. The amount of EXP he obtained was truly frightening.

Previously, even when faced with Level 8 monsters, they needed to kill each one while being extremely cautious and prudent. Moreover, every kill only yielded each member of the party several tens of EXP. After spending over an hour repeating the same process, they would see their experience bars increase by a sizable portion. On the other hand, Shi Feng casually killed off a large group of Level 15 Swamp Hippos with only a few moves. Even after splitting the EXP obtained amongst the three of them, Lonely Snow’s experience bar still increased by a sizable chunk.

Only now did Lonely Snow understand how Shi Feng managed to level up so quickly.

In this regard, Lonely Snow became even more respectful towards Shi Feng. There was even a hint of fanaticism in his eyes. If he followed someone as strong as Shi Feng, his future would be limitless. Even if he could not become Shi Feng’s equal, as long as he continued struggling forward, he could still become a true expert one day.

On the other side, Blackie was still toying around with the Steel-skinned Hippo, continuously decreasing the Elite Hippo’s HP.

However, not only did the Steel-skinned Hippo had a very high recovery rate, but it’s HP was also very high; it would recover a lot of HP every 5 seconds. Moreover, Blackie’s attacks could only inflict a tiny amount of damage. If he wanted to grind away the Steel-skinned Hippo’s life completely, he would need at least twenty minutes.

And yet, instead of tiring, Blackie grew even more excited. Dark Arrows flew from his hand, one after another, each arrow bringing Blackie even more joy.

The reason Blackie reacted this way was that challenging monsters of a higher level in God’s Domain was extremely difficult. Meanwhile, he was currently bypassing seven levels to challenge a Level 15 Elite monster. If he spoke of this feat in the future, he would enjoy supreme glory. It was this sense of achievement that became the largest motivation for Blackie.

“Blackie, use Evil Whip,” Shi Feng said in the party chat after hurrying over.

“Okay,” seeing Shi Feng arrive, Blackie knew that it was time to deal with the Steel-skinned Hippo.

As Blackie’s chanting came to an end, nine black-barbed vines sprung up and bound the Steel-skinned Hippo’s four limbs, restricting its speed. However, the Steel-skinned Hippo’s strength was just too high. In the blink of an eye, one of the vines snapped, while the remaining eight were only a small matter.

At this moment, Shi Feng used Wind Blade, rapidly arriving behind the Steel-skinned Hippo. Instantly, three sword strikes landed on the Steel-skinned Hippo’s body, the collision producing glittering sparks.

Seeing that the attacks from his swords had only dealt -22 damage each to the Steel-skinned Hippo, Shi Feng was slightly speechless.

It was as expected of the Steel-skinned Hippo. Its physical defense was truly frightening. It also possessed its innate steel skin, reducing all physical damage it received by 70%. If even Shi Feng could only cause slightly over 20 damage to the Steel-skinned Hippo, a normal physical damage dealer would most likely cause 2 or 3 damage. This rate of damage certainly could not contend with the Steel-skinned Hippo’s regeneration speed.

Shi Feng’s attacks had yet to end. He immediately followed up with a Thundering Flash, the three electric arcs causing -125, -160, and -211 damage. The Steel-skinned Hippo was instantly enraged. It spun around, charging at Shi Feng.

However, with the thorny vines restricting it, the Steel-skinned Hippo’s turning speed was slowed. This situation gave Shi Feng the chance to evade its charge easily. Shi Feng continued with a series of attacks on the Steel-skinned Hippo, using one skill after another. However, the damages his attacks managed to cause were generally very low.

“Ao!” Enraged, the Steel-skinned Hippo abruptly jumped. It intended to use War Stomp.

War Stomp was Hippo’s killing move. When used, the skill would cause all enemies within a 15-yard radius to enter a Fainted state for 5 seconds.

Reacting quickly, Shi Feng immediately cast Abyssal Bind on the Steel-skinned Hippo. The hippo’s movements immediately halted, and its War Stomp canceled.

Originally, Shi Feng did not think that there would be any issues. However, a chilling sensation pervaded his entire body, preventing him from moving a muscle. All of his skills were unusable.

This is the Tier 1 magic, Death’s Lock! Shi Feng was astonished. With his many years of experience, he immediately knew what sort of attack struck him. This was definitely not a move of the Steel-skinned Hippo!

“Not bad. This is something that I specifically prepared just for you. You can be at ease and be on your way,” a black figure suddenly appeared behind Shi Feng. This figure was precisely the Absolute Heaven, the expert Assassin Shi Feng had met before.

In the same moment Absolute Heaven revealed himself, the silver dagger in his hand sunk into Shi Feng’s back. Absolute Heaven’s Ambush instantly caused -357 damage.

Chapter 146: Might of the Devil Flame (2)

A single Ambush instantly devoured one-quarter of Shi Feng’s HP.

Blackie, who stood at a distance, was dumbfounded by this scene. He did not understand why an Assassin suddenly appeared here and attacked Shi Feng. Although he wished to help Shi Feng, time was needed to cast his spells. Moreover, all his restricting skills were already in use on the Steel-skinned Hippo. He could only helplessly watch as the scene unfolded.

The only thing Blackie could do now was to chant and attack with his Dark Arrows.

Such high damage! Watching his HP abruptly decrease by a large portion, Shi Feng was inwardly shocked.

Previously, when Shi Feng faced the Level 9 Berserker, Five Rats, the maximum damage Shi Feng received was only slightly over -100 damage. Yet, one of Absolute Heaven’s Ambushes caused over -300 damage. Compared to Five Rats, Absolute Heaven’s Attack Power was much stronger.

Assassins had very fast Attack Speeds, so generally, their attack damage could not compete with that of a Berserker’s. However, they could complement their low attack damage with the number of attacks they could dish out. To say nothing of Absolute Heaven’s attack damage, which far exceeded that of the Berserker Five Rats’, if an Assassin could deal the same amount of damage as a Berserker with each attack, their total output would be at least double or triple that of a Berserker’s. In the case of Absolute Heaven, his total output would be three to four times that of Five Rats’.

Although Shi Feng was shocked, Absolute Heaven was similarly shocked.

When he had used his Ambush on an MT who possessed a complete Bronze Set Equipment and was the same level, the attack stole at least two-thirds of the MT’s HP. Now, however, he only managed to remove one-quarter of Shi Feng’s HP.

Compared to those well-equipped MTs, Shi Feng’s Defense and HP far exceeded them.

“Die!” Absolute Heaven’s hands twisted, a streak of silver swiping across Shi Feng’s neck. Simultaneously, his other dagger stabbed into Shi Feng’s back once more.

Garrote!

Backstab!

Although Absolute Heaven was shocked, an Assassin’s explosive power did not lie in just the first strike, but a burst of continuous skills.

From the moment Shi Feng appeared in the Gale Valley to the moment Shi Feng began kill-stealing the Shadow Leopard King, he had constantly trailed after Shi Feng. He had silently waited for the best moment to attack Shi Feng. He knew that Shi Feng was extremely powerful, so he needed to wait for the moment when Shi Feng was the most vulnerable. Only when Shi Feng did not possess any Skills, would he have a chance at getting rid of him. However, he never found the perfect time to strike.

However, his patience had finally paid off. While battling the Steel-skinned Hippo, Shi Feng finally revealed a weak point. However, in order to guard against the unexpected, he unhesitatingly decided to use the Death’s Lock Scroll he had bought at an extremely high price. He bought this scroll precisely for this sort of situation.

[Death’s Lock]

Disables all skills of the target, temporarily preventing the target from using any skills. Target’s movement will also be disabled. Duration of 6 seconds

Although Shi Feng had high Defense and HP, a 6-second burst was enough to kill Shi Feng.

In such close quarters, Shi Feng could clearly feel the two incoming daggers. If he received the burst of Absolute Heaven’s attacks, he would definitely die.

At the moment of life and death, Shi Feng activated Phantom Kill, immediately swapping positions with his doppelganger.

The Death’s Lock could only seal the skills a player had learned. However, it would not affect the skills attached to equipment.

Just after swapping positions, Absolute Heaven’s two daggers immediately sliced into the doppelganger’s body. Bleeding damage of -212 points and a skill damage of -257 points appeared above the doppelganger’s head.

Absolute Heaven continued with a flurry of attacks. The two daggers in his hands assaulted the doppelganger, and ten streaks of silver light stabbed the doppelganger’s vital points.

The series of normal attacks coupled with an Assassinate and the poison damage on his daggers instantly decimated the doppelganger’s HP.

“A doppelganger?”

Originally, Absolute Heaven drowned in ecstasy at the thought of having killed Shi Feng. However, he did not expect that, after all of his effort, what he had killed was only a doppelganger. Absolute Heaven’s expression turned grim. He squinted his eyes as he observed his surroundings. Very quickly, he discovered Shi Feng a distance away, behind him. He immediately spun, charging towards Shi Feng.

The Death’s Lock had a duration of 6 seconds. Right now, there were 4 seconds remaining, so how could he so easily allow Shi Feng to break free from the Death’s Lock that he had spent a fortune on?

Just as Absolute Heaven arrived before Shi Feng, a Dark Arrow came flying at him.

“Garbage, I don’t have time to deal with you right now.” Absolute Heaven ignored Blackie’s Dark Arrow, his dagger aimed straight for Shi Feng.

Regarding Shi Feng’s teammates, Absolute Heaven did not place any importance on them at all. As long as he dealt with Shi Feng, killing Blackie would be a simple task.

Boom! The Dark Arrow exploded on Absolute Heaven’s body.

Damage of -221 points appeared above Absolute Heaven’s head, removing one-quarter of his HP.

Why is this garbage’s damage so high?! Absolute Heaven’s brows slightly wrinkled, inwardly shock ed.

Absolute Heaven had not the slightest knowledge that the staff in Blackie’s hands was actually a Level 8 Secret-Silver ranked staff. Moreover, Blackie wore a few pieces of Level 7 and Level 8 Mysterious Iron Equipment. He also used the Mysterious-Iron Accessory, the Interpreter’s Pendant, that Shi Feng had given him. Blackie’s magical damage had long since reached the apex. If it were not for Absolute Heaven’s equipment being of excellent quality, he might have lost more than half of his HP from just one of Blackie’s Dark Arrows.

However, Blackie’s high magical damage could not stop Absolute Heaven. Absolute Heaven still accurately slid his daggers into Shi Feng’s vital points.

The moment Absolute Heaven’s dagger was about to stab Shi Feng, Shi Feng used Silent Steps, instantly appearing behind Blackie.

“Crap!” Seeing Shi Feng vanish before him, rage and dismay filled the Assassin.

Shi Feng was clearly unable to use any of his learned skills, yet, he still possessed so many skills to avoid the ambush.

There were over 25 yards between Absolute Heaven and Blackie. If Absolute Heaven ran towards Blackie, he would waste a lot of time. The seal on Shi Feng would definitely dissipate, and it would become incomparably harder for him to kill Shi Feng.

“Brother Feng, you’re too awesome! You still managed to escape under such conditions!” Blackie said with a smile.

Watching the previous exchange, shock overwhelmed Blackie. The Assassin’s speed was impressive. If Shi Feng had reacted a bit slower, he would definitely have lost his life. Blackie couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat as he had watched the scene unfold. However, now that the distance between them was sizable, that Assassin would be at his wit’s end.

“Stop fooling around and be more careful. That Assassin is not someone simple,” Shi Feng warned as Blackie still seemed to be in a joking mood.

“Got it; leave it to me! The Cooldown on my skills have already finished,” Blackie confidently said.

However, just as Blackie turned to look at Absolute Heaven, he discovered that Absolute Heaven was missing. He could only see an enraged Steel-skinned Hippo, bellowing as it searched for its enemy.

“Brother Feng, that person’s gone missing. Did he just choose to run away since he failed his ambush?” Blackie said with a laugh.

Just as Blackie turned to look at Shi Feng, his expression immediately turned grim.

The Assassin from before stood right behind Shi Feng.

“Causing me so much trouble, you guys should be proud of yourselves,” Absolute Heaven sneered, his hand holding some Flash Powder. He tossed the powder at Blackie.

Blackie instantly shrieked as both his eyes lost their vision, causing Blackie to lose his battle prowess.

After restricting Blackie, Absolute Heaven’s dagger immediately stabbed Shi Feng.

Shi Feng did not think that Absolute Heaven could actually learn a high-tier skill like Shadow Steps.

Assassins’ Shadow Steps allowed them to instantly appear behind an enemy and increased the damage of their next attack by 15%.

However, Shi Feng still could not move. Moreover, he did not have any skills left to avoid Absolute Heaven’s attack. He could only grit his teeth as he activated the Silvermoon Set Equipment’s second Set Effect, the Tier 2 Life Shield. The Tier 2 Life Shield would absorb 60% of the damage Shi Feng received, up to a maximum of -500 points. It could delay Absolute Heaven for some time.

When Absolute Heaven saw the Life Shield appear on Shi Feng, he was momentarily speechless. He did not understand just how Shi Feng came to possess so many lifesaving skills, using them one after another.

However, a single Life Shield was still not enough to extinguish his determination to kill Shi Feng. Immediately, Absolute Heaven brandished his daggers, sending a flurry of attacks at Shi Feng like a fierce gale. He used normal attacks, coupled with Assassinate, Backstab, and many other damaging skills.

Peng! Shi Feng’s Life Shield quickly shattered and disappeared. Shi Feng had less than 500 HP remaining.

“Die!”

Absolute Heaven excitedly shouted. Immediately, he placed all five Skill Points that he had held on to into his finishing skill, Eviscerate. With all his might, he prepared to use his most powerful damaging skill.

Soon after, Absolute Heaven’s dagger swiveled, accurately sailing towards Shi Feng’s back.

Finishing skill, Eviscerate!

A plume of blue flame suddenly appeared above Shi Feng’s palm…

Chapter 147: Might of the Devil Flame (3)

Absolute Heaven suddenly convulsed in shock when he saw the clear-blue flame floating above Shi Feng’s palm. Although this flame looked miniscule, the heat it gave off was extraordinarily hot. Within an instant, he could already feel his mouth drying up.

However, since the arrow was nocked, he had no choice but to let it loose.

Within an instant, the Ice-Blue Devil Flame covered Shi Feng’s entire body, turning him into a man on fire.

The ice-cold dagger suddenly stabbed into Shi Feng’s back.

“You… can move already?” Absolute Heaven was greatly shocked.

To a top-tier expert like himself, he had a very precise grasp on time. At worst, there was only an error of 0.1 seconds.

Absolute Heaven clearly felt that the 6 second duration for the Death’s Lock had yet to pass. Yet, Shi Feng was still able to use Defensive Blade to block his finishing move, Eviscerate.

“Didn’t you have a fun time beating me up just now?” Shi Feng revealed a faint smile, coldly saying, “It’s my turn now.”

Wielding the Abyssal Blade, which was covered by a layer of clear-blue flames, Shi Feng used Chop, and the Abyssal Blade transformed into a blazing streak of light as it struck towards Absolute Heaven.

“You have less than 500 HP remaining right now. Do you think you can defeat me?” Absolute Heaven sneered, retaliating.

The instant the two weapons collided, a trace of shock immediately appeared on Absolute Heaven’s frosty expression.

It was as if the opponent he was facing against right now was not Shi Feng, but a humongous bear. Shi Feng’s strength had thoroughly numbed his arm, and he was forced to retreat several steps before stabilizing his body.

How can he have such great strength ?! __ When Absolute Heaven had exchanged moves with Shi Feng the previous time, Shi Feng’s strength was not yet quite so terrifying. However, now that he had changed and upgraded most of his equipment, increasing his Attributes by a large leap, he not only surpassed Shi Feng, but the gap between them had somehow grown even wider!

Now that he had failed at ambushing Shi Feng, it was already impossible for him to kill Shi Feng in a direct confrontation. He could only patiently wait for his next chance.

After forcing Absolute Heaven into a retreat, Shi Feng quickly took out a Basic Regeneration Potion and drank it. Very quickly, Shi Feng’s HP recovered more than 700 points.

“Absolute Heaven, it seems you only amount to this much. You’ve failed to kill me in both of your ambushes, so now it’s my turn to get revenge. Don’t even think of getting away from me today,” Shi Feng revealed a calm smile as he looked at Absolute Heaven, who was currently filled with killing intent.

He could not help but admire, and admit, that Absolute Heaven’s assassination abilities were very powerful. Not only did Absolute Heaven manage to persevere and track Shi Feng to this place, he had even managed to set up an ambush the instant Shi Feng relaxed his guard during his battle against the Steel-skinned Hippo. As a result, Absolute Heaven nearly managed to kill him.

Unfortunately, Absolute Heaven did not know that the Ice-Blue Devil Flame had strengthened Shi Feng’s body, slightly reducing the duration of the Death’s Lock on him. Otherwise, he would truly be finished.

Now that he was back to normal, he used the Ice-Blue Devil Flame to aid him; a 20% increase in damage was no laughing matter.

“What a joke. You’ve only managed to live this time due to luck. I will definitely kill you the next time we meet. As for you wanting to keep me here? You couldn’t do it the last time, and you similarly won’t be able to do it this time!” Absolute Heaven felt that Shi Feng was simply too conceited, daring to declare that he could kill him. The rage in his heart burned from Shi Feng’s words. He inwardly vowed to form a more thorough plan to utterly vanquish Shi Feng the next time.

“Brother Feng, I’ll help!” at that moment, Blackie’s vision was finally restored. He angrily glared at Absolute Heaven, prepared to use his Evil Whip.

Shi Feng waved his hand, saying with a laugh, “No need. Against him, I alone am enough.”

“Brother Feng, he is an Assassin; he definitely has a lot of lifesaving skills. His speed is also very fast. If he manages to escape, what should we do if he comes back to ambush us again?” Blackie had seen before an Assassin’s myriad of escaping skills. If not properly countered, one would be completely helpless against an Assassin.

“Relax, he can’t get away.”

“Alright, then.”

Since Shi Feng insisted, Blackie could only resolve himself to watch.

The reason why Shi Feng voiced out those words was to agitate and provoke Absolute Heaven. When dealing with experts like Absolute Heaven, it was not easy to kill them. Dealing with such experts, one first needed to attack them emotionally, provoking them and sending their state of mind into a mess, before looking for a chink or weak point.

“Brat, you sure have a big mouth. I want to see just how you intend to block my path,” Absolute Heaven said with a sneer, rage clouding over his expression.

“We’ll know once we try,” Shi Feng revealed a calm smile. He activated Wind Blade, his body piercing towards Absolute Heaven.

Originally, Shi Feng’s speed was already very fast. Now, with Wind Blade activated, Shi Feng’s speed was on a whole nother level. He arrived in front of Absolute Heaven within an instant, six sword images immediately stabbing towards Absolute Heaven’s vital points.

“So fast!” Absolute Heaven was awe-shocked, hurriedly using his daggers to block the attacks.

Peng! Peng! Peng!

With the added power from the Ice-Blue Devil Flame, Shi Feng’s attacks were not something that Absolute Heaven could easily block. Immediately, Absolute Heaven was in a disadvantageous position. He desperately blocked and dodged Shi Feng’s attacks, and he was forced into a retreat with every consecutive attack.

After exchanging several moves without using any skills, Absolute Heaven was struck once by Shi Feng. As a result, Absolute Heaven lost over 300 HP within an instant.

“Damn!” Originally, Absolute Heaven only intended to exchange a few moves with Shi Feng, grinding away Shi Feng’s arrogance. Never would he have imagined that he would instead be forced into a constant retreat. Yet, his pride as an expert was unwilling to admit that he had actually lost against Shi Feng in a normal exchange.

Seeing as the flaming sword was about to hit him, Absolute Heaven gritted his teeth, using the skill Block to defend against this attack.

If he was to receive another attack from that flaming sword, then he would very well lose his life.

Not good, time to leave. The gap between our Attributes and Attack Power is just too wide. After coming to grips with Shi Feng, he clearly understood the gap between the two of them. It was especially true for that clear-blue flame. Every time his equipment came into contact with it, their durability would continuously fall. Though his Secret-Silver ranked dagger was better off, only losing a little durability with each clash, the armor he obtained with much difficulty was only of Mysterious-Iron rank. Just a single stab from Shi Feng’s sword had reduced over a quarter of the armor’s total durability. If this situation were to continue, then his equipment would all soon turn to waste. Without the Attributes provided by his equipment, he would definitely die under Shi Feng’s swords. Hence, he immediately turned and ran.

“You can’t escape.”

Shi Feng gave Absolute Heaven no chances at all, activating Windwalk immediately. As fast as a ghost, Shi Feng caught up with Absolute Heaven in the blink of an eye. He then let loose his most powerful strength, creating sixteen sword images in the blink of an eye. The sword images fully surrounded Absolute Heaven, the flames released by them looking as if they intended to devour Absolute Heaven.

Absolute Heaven was greatly shocked. There was no way at all for him to stop so many sword images. He then hurriedly activated Wind Steps, using the 1 second invincibility to block all the incoming attacks. With his speed greatly increased, he immediately entered Stealth mode.

“I said, you can not get away!” Shi Feng immediately leaped up, the Silver Lake in his hand releasing the power of fire and thunder towards Absolute Heaven’s path of advancement.

Absolute Heaven knew that this move of Shi Feng’s was immensely powerful. He immediately used Vanish, the 1 second of invincibility allowing him to avoid the damage, and Fainted effect of the Thunder Flame Explosion.

After successfully blocking the Thunder Flame Explosion, Absolute Heaven no longer possessed any lifesaving skills in his arsenal. Just like last time, he was prepared to leap up into the trees, shaking off Shi Feng’s pursuit.

At this moment, he suddenly discovered that he was unable to jump, nor move. Unknown as to when it happened, both his legs had been frozen solid, and even his figure was revealed.

“I’ve already said that you can not escape.” Shi Feng was extremely satisfied with the effect of the Frost Grenade. Once again, he sent a burst of sixteen sword images stabbing at Absolute Heaven.

This time, Absolute Heaven could only go all-out, desperately stopping the incoming attacks with his daggers.

Two swords… Four swords… Six swords…

By the time Absolute Heaven blocked the eleventh sword, he was no longer able to keep up with the remaining sword images. He could only helplessly watch as the sword images stabbed into him, damages of over -300 points, and even -400 points, appearing above his head, one after another. Moreover, the durability of the equipment on his body fell madly.

By the time Absolute Heaven’s HP reached zero, the equipment on his body was all turned to scrape.

Absolute Heaven suffered an incomparable heartache, gnashing his teeth.

All these equipment were gathered by him, one by one, after spending a large amount of time. Yet, they were all destroyed now. The only thing he could rejoice about was that the two Secret-Silver ranked daggers, which were as precious as his own life, were not destroyed.

Soon after, Absolute Heaven’s dead body fell to the ground, an expression of unwillingness displayed on his face.

“I’ve already said that you won’t get away. Your weapon, I’ll gratefully accept!” Shi Feng looked towards the silver-colored dagger that Absolute Heaven dropped with a smile, picking it up.

Chapter 148: Underworld

Absolute Heaven disappeared with the wind after he died.

Shi Feng toyed around with the dagger Absolute Heaven dropped. The edge of the blade seemed capable of slicing air apart. A dagger with such a degree of sharpness was definitely a rarely seen item.

Blade of Assassination? Shi Feng took a look at the dagger’s introduction, discovering that the weapon was actually an exclusive item for Assassins.

[Blade of Assassination] (Dagger, Secret-Silver Rank)

Level 8

Attack Power +51

Strength +5, Agility +12

Attack Speed +2

Durability 35/60

Additional Passive Skill-

Sharp Edge: Attacks have a 15% chance to cause an Armor Break effect, reducing target’s Defense by 50% for 10 seconds. Non-stackable.

Class Restriction: Assassin

With such a high Attack Power and Agility, it was no wonder Absolute Heaven was able to deal such massive damage to Shi Feng.

This Blade of Assassination was an assassination weapon completely made to increase the user’s Attack Power and Speed. It was definitely a favored weapon for the Agility-type Assassins. Based on Shi Feng’s estimations, the Blade of Assassination was worth at least 1 Gold Coin.

With this death, Absolute Heaven will probably need a very long time before he can recover! Shi Feng looked at the Blade of Assassination, a smile plastered on his face.

Previously, Shi Feng still felt apprehensive towards Absolute Heaven constantly following him around and abruptly ambushing him. Now that Shi Feng used the Ice-Blue Devil Flame to give Absolute Heaven a thorough beating, not only did Absolute Heaven lose a level, all the equipment on his body was destroyed as well. Absolute Heaven had even dropped his Blade of Assassination after dying. It would be a long time before it would be possible for Absolute Heaven to come looking for trouble again.

“Brother Feng, you… you’re just too awesome! You were like the incarnation of the Fire God just now! Just looking from afar, I could already feel myself being burned. I didn’t think that Swordsmen would have such a skill. If I had known about it earlier on, I would have chosen to play as a Swordsman as well! If I were to use this skill to pick up chicks in the future, I would definitely catch one with every hook I send!” Blackie excitedly ran up to Shi Feng, his eyes filled with endless envy as he looked at the Ice-Blue Devil Flame covering Shi Feng’s body.

As for the matter of Shi Feng managing to kill Absolute Heaven, Blackie paid no attention to it at all.

In Blackie’s eyes, although Absolute Heaven was indeed an expert, he was still just an elite player of Martial Union. Shi Feng being able to kill him was all too normal. On the other hand, the elegant looking clear-blue flame surrounding Shi Feng was the truly shocking matter.

Hearing Blackie describing the Ice-Blue Devil Flame as a tool to pick up girls, Shi Feng became speechless. He did not understand just what was going through Blackie’s mind every day.

“This flame isn’t a Swordsman skill. It is a Mysterious Flame, and it can increase a player’s attack damage,” Shi Feng explained.

“Mysterious Flame?” Blackie’s face filled with confusion.

Although Blackie did not know what a Mysterious Flame was but hearing that it was able to increase a player’s attack damage confirmed it was definitely an extremely precious item. Seeing that Shi Feng possessed such an item, instead of becoming envious, his heart filled with joy. With the Mysterious Flame, Shi Feng could become even stronger than before. When the time comes, let’s see who still dared to bully them!

At this moment, Lonely Snow also hurried over after finishing picking up the loot from the Swamp Hippos. When he saw that Shi Feng’s entire body was covered in flames, giving off a scorching hot temperature and that Shi Feng was even able to control these brilliantly beautiful clear-blue flames, he too became incomparably shocked. He nearly regarded Shi Feng as a Hidden Class. However, after listening to Blackie’s explanation, Lonely Snow as well understood just how precious and powerful was the Ice-Blue Devil Flame.

The Ice-Blue Devil flame was definitely one of Shi Feng’s secrets. If others were to find out about this secret, there would definitely be tons of players wanting to obtain the Ice-Blue Devil Flame. Moreover, Shi Feng being willing to share this secret with them showed just how much he trusted them. Just this piece of trust alone was enough to let Lonely Snow feel that it was worth striving for Shi Feng.

“Let’s not chat for now. We should get rid of the Steel-skinned Hippo and quickly leave this place. After Absolute Heaven revives, he might tell the other players from Martial Union to come here and surround us,” Shi Feng no longer continued to explain, turning around and charging towards the Steel-skinned Hippo.

Blackie knew that they could not stay in this place for too long as well. He started chanting incantations, aiding Shi Feng in attacking and restricting the Steel-skinned Hippo.

Although the Steel-skinned Hippo had high HP and Defense, with its short vision range, it was destined to become an easy kill for Shi Feng.

What Shi Feng needed to do now was to charge up and go all out at dealing damage. After bursting out all of his skills, he would then turn to escape. Meanwhile, Blackie would desperately attack from a distance, and as long as Shi Feng finished using all of his skills, Blackie would use Evil Whip to restrict the Steel-skinned Hippo. Lonely Snow would then use Charge and Break before escaping as well. After Shi Feng was more than 25 yards away from the Steel-skinned Hippo, the Steel-skinned Hippo would lose its target, dumbly rushing about. When the Cooldown for Shi Feng’s skills ended, he would then continue with another round of bombardment, repeating the cycle all over again.

This time, Shi Feng did not keep his strength hidden away. He immediately used the Ice-Blue Devil Flame, increasing his damage output by 20%. Simultaneously, the power of ice-type and fire-type skills was increased by 40%.

With such an increase, Shi Feng’s damage against the Steel-skinned Hippo instantly soared. Even his normal attacks could deal around 50 to 60 damage now. As for Thunder Flame Explosion, the skill could cause over 400 damage to the Steel-skinned Hippo.

Even if the Steel-skinned Hippo had high HP, it still frantically decreased under the fierce onslaught.

Several minutes later, the Steel-skinned Hippo let out a blood-curdling shriek as its body fell to the ground with a boom. It dropped four items and gave a large amount of EXP after it died.

Amongst the four items, two of them were Level 15 Bronze Equipment, while the remaining items were a Tier 1 Strength Gemstone and a Bronze ranked leatherworking material. The effects of the Shadow’s Blessing was fully displayed here. Otherwise, aside from giving out a lot of EXP, a Level 15 Elite would at most give out a piece of equipment and some materials only.

“Let’s go somewhere else to kill Swamp Hippos.”

After killing the Steel-skinned Hippo, Shi Feng brought Blackie and Lonely Snow to another grinding spot.

The Silent Swamp was extremely large in size. Its size was at least two to three times that of the Gale Valley. Meanwhile, the habitat of the Swamp Hippos took up one-tenth of the entire Silent Swamp. Moreover, they were scattered throughout the entire silent Swamp. With the one to two hundred members of Martial Union, it would be hard pressed for them to locate Shi Feng’s party successfully.

Moreover, Shi Feng was very familiar with the Silent Swamp. He had once lived at this place for over twenty days in his previous life, so he knew which locations had the highest number of Swamp Hippos and also the locations with the fastest respawn rates. Shi Feng also knew the spawn locations for the Elite monsters in Silent Swamp. However, with the strength of their party of three right now, the only Elite monster they could deal with was the Steel-skinned Hippo, as the other Elite monsters did not possess any clear weaknesses. If they were to go against these Elite monsters, they would have to risk their lives doing so.

“Leveling up at this place is just too awesome! Originally, I thought that the leveling speed at Gale Valley was already extremely fast, but after coming to this place for less than two hours, I’ve already managed to reach Level 9. If we are to continue in this trend, within three hours, I would definitely reach Level 10 and be able to enter White River City! At this speed, the elites of those major Guilds have probably just reached Level 9!” Blackie excitedly said, “If Cola and the others didn’t die and were with us right now, we six would be able to enter White River City today, becoming the first party to enter White River City!”

Lonely Snow nodded, agreeing with Blackie’s statement.

He too could not help but admit to the invigorating feeling of having Shi Feng power-leveling them. This leveling speed was at least ten times faster than the other players. Even if Martial Union surrounded them and killed them once right now, with Shi Feng carrying them, they would quickly recuperate their losses. They did not need to fear having a confrontation with a large Guild like Martial Union at all.

Red Leaf Town, Slums.

Absolute Heaven was currently drinking away his sorrows in the Enchanted Bar. When the others saw Absolute Heaven, they all obediently distanced themselves to a corner, not daring to go near him at all. The reason was due to the waves of killing intent radiating off of Absolute Heaven. There was nobody who was willing to come into contact with that aura.

“Damn! I made a huge loss this time! Sooner or later, I will definitely have my revenge!” Though Absolute Heaven did not feel heartache over the loss of his levels, it was a different story for the equipment he lost. It was especially true for the Blade of Assassination.

As long as he put some time into it, he could easily catch up in terms of EXP. However, it was a different story for equipment. It was especially true for top-tier equipment. Those top-tier equipment were only obtainable through killing monsters or doing high-level quests. They were not something that could be obtained within a short amount of time. The opportunity was also needed to obtain them.

Just what is that clear-blue flame? After equipping his weapon, he could actually destroy my Mysterious-Iron Equipment with such ease, and even greatly reducing the durability of my Secret-Silver Weapons. Recalling the Ice-Blue Devil Flame that surrounded Shi Feng’s body, Absolute Heaven could not help but shudder in fear. To every player, the destruction of their equipment was much more terrifying than facing death itself.

Just considering the future, every time he fought Shi Feng, he would once again risk the possibility of all of his hard-earned, top-tier equipment being destroyed. It was truly a nightmare!

“Brother Absolute Heaven, long time no see! I see that you still love drinking like always!” a short-bearded man wearing a black cape said as he sat opposite to Absolute Heaven.

“South Wolf, why do you have the time to come looking for me?” When Absolute Heaven looked at the person speaking to him, his previous indifferent attitude was completely gone.

“Of course, it is to congratulate you!” the man named South Wolf said with a laugh, “Didn’t you always want to join Underworld? Right now, the higher-ups have already recognized your potential, and you already have the rights to become an outer member of Underworld. In the future, you too will be one of Underworld’s members. I think you should know what this means, right?”

“What? I passed the test?” Absolute Heaven nearly jumped up from excitement.

The frustration and depression Absolute Heaven felt from being killed by Shi Feng before were immediately swept clean. He no longer minded even the loss of the Blade of Assassination, as there was nothing more joyous than being able to join Underworld.

In order to join Underworld, Absolute Heaven had spent three full years undergoing over a dozen assessments and tests. Now, he finally obtained Underworld’s recognition, officially becoming one of Underworld’s outer members.

Underworld was a very mysterious organization. Its strength in the real world was extremely terrifying. The resources, influence, and information it possessed was not something any outsider could imagine. Just based on some of the identities of the outer members of Underworld that Absolute Heaven knew of was enough to astonish him greatly.

However, for reasons unknown, Underworld started investing into virtual reality games some ten years ago.

In order to join Underworld, the real world Assassin, Absolute Heaven, had also started playing virtual reality games.

Right now, Underworld was paying unprecedented attention towards God’s Domain. Hence why Absolute Heaven decided to fully devote himself into God’s Domain. Now that he finally managed to become an outer member of Underworld, how could he not be excited?

“Absolute Heaven, weren’t you Level 9 the last time I saw you? Why are you Level 8 now? You couldn’t have been killed by a player, right?” the man named South Wolf joked as he downed his drink.

He was extremely clear about Absolute Heaven’s strength. Absolute Heaven was definitely a top-tier Assassin. Moreover, the equipment on him was all of excellent quality, and he even had Secret-Silver Weapons. He also learned plenty of rare advanced skills. There were only a scant few players in Red Leaf Town who were capable of directly confronting Absolute Heaven. Moreover, the majority of these players would not have a win-rate of over 60%.

As for players who would have a win-rate of 80% and above, in the entire Red Leaf Town, only the famous Snow Goddess could possibly achieve such a feat; it was absolutely impossible for other players.

Moreover, if Absolute Heaven were to put all his might into escaping, even the Snow Goddess would not be able to hold him down.

Now that Absolute Heaven lost a level, there was a high possibility that it was due to him accidentally dying while carrying out a high-difficulty Quest.

However, after hearing South Wolf say so, Absolute Heaven’s expression abruptly turned gloomy, his mood turning extremely sour.

“It can’t be, right? Were you really killed by someone? Who did it?”

“Don’t tell me you went and provoked the Snow Goddess, Gentle Snow? You couldn’t have been so foolish, right? Daring to provoke even her.”

Looking at Absolute Heaven’s dark expression, South Wolf immediately knew that he guessed correctly. He couldn’t help but abruptly spit out all the alcohol in his mouth.

Chapter 149: Freezing Shadow

“I’m no fool. Why would I dig my own grave by provoking Gentle Snow?” Absolute Heaven shook his head.

“If you didn’t provoke Gentle Snow, then who killed you? I doubt that there is another expert like her in the entire Red Leaf Town.” South Wolf could not help but become curious.

Based on the information he obtained, the experts in Red Leaf Town only numbered so many. If it wasn’t a top-tier expert like Gentle Snow, could there possibly be another top-tier expert appearing in Red Leaf Town without him knowing?

South Wolf’s curiosity deeply pierced Absolute Heaven’s pride. He tightly gripped his fist to the point where blood almost came out.

He had spent such a long time planning and preparing so many measures. Originally, he had a 100% possibility to kill Shi Feng. However, the rate at which Shi Feng increased his strength had far surpassed Absolute Heaven’s estimations.

Looking at Absolute Heaven’s silence, South Wolf could not help but let loose a smile. He was now even more interested in the expert that managed to kill Absolute Heaven.

“Absolute Heaven, you know what my job entails, right? Now that such an expert has appeared in Red Leaf Town, I need to know just who that person is,” South Wolf looked at Absolute Heaven, asking in a low tone.

Absolute Heaven’s expression turned sullen. He did not wish to tell anybody of this embarrassing matter at all, not to mention telling it to the South Wolf before him.

Absolute Heaven had maintained a no-loss record for three whole years. Yet, today that record was ripped apart by the unknown Shi Feng. Moreover, today was even the big day where he got to join Underworld. With such an incident happening, it would definitely affect his standing in Underworld in the future.

“Hah… I can understand how you are feeling right now. You’ve managed to join Underworld after much difficulty, yet, you were immediately met with such an incident. It would definitely have a huge impact on your mood. However, this is my job. If you do not cooperate, as an outer member, you might even be expelled from the organization. You should think clearly about your decision,” South Wolf said strictly.

“You…” Absolute Heaven was extremely aggravated. However, he could not retaliate against South Wolf’s words at all. He could only forcefully suppress the burning rage in his heart, saying in a low tone, “The person’s a Swordsman called Ye Feng.”

“Swordsman Ye Feng? Isn’t that the Ye Feng that cleared the Hell Mode of the Dark Moon Graveyard together with Gentle Snow?” South Wolf entered into deep thought, “I’ve seen his battle recording before, and I’ve also analyzed his strength. He is indeed an expert, but it is only up to a normal standard. He has no qualifications to join Underworld at all. Now that he has actually managed to kill you, however, it would seem that he has previously hidden quite a lot of his strength.”

“What hidden strength? It’s just dumb luck. I don’t know where he got it from, but that flame of his was extremely powerful. It was able to destroy my equipment during battle, and that flame greatly reduced even the durability of my Secret-Silver Weapons. If it wasn’t for that flame, he would have no chance at killing me at all,” Absolute Heaven said in disdain.

“Flame? It could even destroy equipment, and not even Secret-Silver Weapons could block it?” South Wolf became even more curious, “I recall that Swordsmen do not possess such a skill. It should be some sort of special equipment skill. However, if not even a Secret-Silver Weapon could block it, the skill is definitely not anything simple. This special equipment quality must be extremely high. It must be a Dark-Gold ranked special equipment or item. However, even Dark-Gold items would not have such a strong effect. There is a substantial possibility that it is an Epic ranked item.”

“Epic rank!” Absolute Heaven was greatly astonished, “It can’t be, right? Right now, I haven’t even heard the news of someone obtaining a Dark-Gold ranked item. Yet he, as an independent player, could obtain an Epic ranked item?”

“What’s there to be surprised about? God’s Domain is filled with mystery. Even if it is only at this stage of the game, there is no surprise at obtaining an Epic ranked item. Within Underworld, there has already been more than one person who obtained a Dark-Gold ranked item, but it is indeed my first time hearing about an Epic ranked item. However, this is still just a guess of mine. It requires deeper investigation.” South Wolf’s face was filled with joy. Thinking that he could obtain such information, even if it was only a possibility, he could still receive quite a reward from the higher-ups. If he could confirm this information, he might even be able to increase his standing within Underworld further.

“I’ve already passed on all the information about which the Underworld wishes to inform you. I’ll now go and investigate about that flame. If it truly is an Epic ranked item, as long as Ye Feng hands over that flame, taking into account his techniques, he might be able to become an outer member of Underworld. Within this period, you should avoid seeking him out for trouble. After all, you guys might be colleagues in the future,” South Wolf said with a laugh as he departed from the bar.

“Damn it!” Looking at South Wolf’s unconcerned attitude as he departed, Absolute Heaven abruptly punched his fist onto the table. The beer bottles on the table all fell to the ground, breaking apart into fragments.

Silent Swamp, Stream Falls.

Shi Feng was currently leading Blackie and Lonely Snow to attack a jade-green, three-headed snake.

[Three-headed Snake Demon] (Rare Elite)

Level 16

HP 15,000/15,000

A Rare Elite was not much stronger when compared to a normal Elite monster of the same level. It was extremely rare for players to meet one, hence why it was called a Rare Elite. However, even these Rare Elites had specified respawn points. Only, they had many locations they could spawn from, so it was not easy to locate them at all.

The loot of Rare Elites was much better than that of normal Elites. Hence why many players loved Rare Elites.

There were only a total of five Rare Elites in the Silent Swamp. Amongst them, the weakest one was the Three-headed Snake Demon. Also, when a Rare Elite died, they would only respawn two days later.

After carrying both Blackie and Lonely Snow to Level 10, Shi Feng himself reached Level 11 as well. He felt that they should roughly be able to kill the Three-headed Snake Demon, hence why they had spent a lot of time looking for it.

“Brother Feng, this Rare Elite’s Movement Speed is simply too fast. I can’t land a hit on it at all.” Blackie continuously used Dark Arrow to attack the Three-headed Snake Demon. However, the Snake Demon was extremely swift in its movements. It was able to dodge all the Dark Arrows that flew at it easily.

“No problems. You just need to use Curse to weaken the Three-headed Snake Demon’s speed and strength,” Shi Feng said in the party chat.

Previously, they obtained many good items from grinding the Swamp Hippos. Amongst those items was the Weakening Curse skill book for Cursemancers. The skill was able to reduce all the Attributes of the target by 15%, damage dealt by 15%, and increase the Darkness damage the target received by 10%. It was one of the signature skills of Cursemancers.

In addition to the Evil Whip binding and restricting the Three-headed Snake Demon, and also Lonely Snow’s Charge and Break, Shi Feng could easily deal with this monster.

The Three-headed Snake Demon’s main form of attack was a long-range venom attack. This venom was extremely terrifying, and even a Level 15 MT would not be able to withstand the sustained damage caused by the venom. Moreover, Basic Antidotes were completely ineffective against it. On the bright side, the Three-headed Snake Demon had very low physical damage.

Moreover, the Three-headed Snake Demon had much less Defense when compared to the Steel-skinned Hippo. Just Shi Feng’s normal attacks alone could deal over -150 damage to the Snake Demon. In addition to the Damage Amplification effect from Thundering Strike, each of Shi Feng’s normal attacks could deal close to -200 damage. If he were to use a skill, then the damage dealt would exceed 300 to 400 points. With only 15,000 HP, the Three-headed Snake King stood no chance at all against Shi Feng’s frightening damage.

After ten minutes or so, the Three-headed Snake released a pained cry, its body smashing down into the stream. It also dropped five pieces of items.

“Brother Feng, your luck recently is getting better and better. It’s even better than mine now,” looking at the large number of good items dropping from the monster Shi Feng killed; Blackie could not help but curiously comment.

According to his memories, Shi Feng’s luck before was not very good. Even if Shi Feng killed Elite monsters, at most he would get one piece of Bronze Equipment. Now, he would get at least three pieces of Bronze Equipment, and even rare materials or skill books. It was truly unfathomable.

“Hahaha! It’s a secret!” Shi Feng smiled. He naturally would not reveal that it was due to the contribution of the Shadow’s Blessing. The effect of the 3 points in Luck was not something with which Blackie could catch up.

Shi Feng then picked up the loot, discovering a very familiar item, “Eh? Isn’t this the Freezing Shadow? This thing really brings back memories.”

“Brother Feng, what dropped?” Blackie asked.

Lonely Snow was also very curious.

“We got quite the good harvest. We got two Level 15 Bronze Equipment, one Level 15 Mysterious-Iron Equipment, one rare Dungeon Teleport Scroll, and one consumable item, the Freezing Shadow. We definitely hit the jackpot with this.” Shi Feng displayed the Attributes on all the items for the two to see, “Now that the Three-headed Snake is dead, it will take another two days before another respawns. Let’s continue grinding Swamp Hippos, then.”

Just as Shi Feng and the others were about to continue grinding Swamp Hippos…

Shi Feng suddenly received a communication request.

“Who’s South Wolf?” Shi Feng looked at the caller ID, discovering that it was a stranger. Moreover, there was no such person in his memories, “Since it is someone I don’t know, let’s just reject it then.”

Saying so, Shi Feng rejected the call.