Chapter 208

Chapter 208: Beastman Munition Factory

“It really is great to have the Shadow’s Blessing.” Shi Feng’s eyes slightly twitched as he looked at the shining loot scattered across the ground. It was the first time he truly felt fortunate about the 3 points of Luck. “It seems that I should get more equipment that increases the Luck Attribute in the future. I can use it specifically when killing Bosses.”

If he obtained jackpots similar to the Scorching Lamia’s as well, accumulating wealth would be a very simple task.

In God’s Domain, the term ‘jackpot’ only applied to Boss monsters, since Bosses would give out more loot than usual. Normally, the number of items dropped was double or triple the usual amount, and players looked forward to such situations the most.

Unfortunately, aside from obtaining the First Clear of a Dungeon, the chances of a Boss dropping a jackpot were abysmally low.

Depending on a player’s Luck Attribute, the chances of obtaining a jackpot would also increase. However, Shi Feng did not know the exact value each point of Luck provided. He only knew that the higher the Luck, the greater were the chances of obtaining a jackpot.

If Shi Feng’s Luck increased to 10 points, he might obtain another jackpot if he killed a High Lord ranked Boss in the future. To players, nothing was more exciting than obtaining even more high-level equipment and items.

As this was the Flame God’s Cave, the Scorching Lamia’s jackpot was extremely valuable. It was much more beneficial than killing two to three High Lord ranked Bosses.

“This is ridiculous! Just a single Scorching Lamia dropped close to half of my previous harvest of Flame Crystals!” Shi Feng was immediately shocked after he collected and arranged all the loot.

Previously, he had only obtained a total of 223 Flame Crystals from killing many Level 25 Common, Elite, and Special Elite monsters. Yet, the Scorching Lamia gave him 102 Crystals. If converted to Gold Coins, that amount would be worth 15 Gold, 30 Silvers. Moreover, this was only the price of the Flame Crystals.

Compared to the Flame Crystals, the equipment and Forging Designs dropped were much more valuable.

“Aren’t these the Flame Boots?” Shi Feng noticed a flame-red colored, delicate pair of boots. There were three gorgeous Flame Crystals embedded into each side, giving the boots a dazzling appearance.

[Flame Boots] (Plate Boots, Dark-Gold Rank)

Level 25

Defense +175

Strength +21, Agility +30, Endurance +15

Movement Speed +8

Fire Resistance +5

Additional Skill-

Flame Rush: Increases Movement Speed by 100% for 10 seconds.

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Just the value of this piece of equipment exceeded 20 Gold. In addition, Cela also dropped a Dark-Gold ranked shield.

[Light of Day] (Shield, Dark-Gold Rank)

Level 25

Equipment Requirement: Strength 130

Defense +665

Block Rate: 41%

Defend skill level +2

Strength +34, Agility +10, Endurance +32

Maximum HP +15%

Additional Passive Skill-

Guardian Heart: Reduces incoming damage from the front by 20%. In addition, all damage received reduced by 10%.

Not to mention a shield, equipment meant for MTs was usually abnormally expensive. Moreover, the Attributes of this shield were extremely beneficial. If sold, its minimum price would be at least 40 Gold.

Aside from those two Dark-Gold ranked items, there were seven Secret-Silver ranked items. Three of them were Level 25 mage equipment, two were Level 25 healer equipment, one was Level 25 leather armor, and the last was a Level 25 two-handed axe. Every piece could sell for at least 3 Gold Coins.

Meanwhile, the most precious of them all was the Raging Flames Armor Forging Design.

This was also Shi Feng’s first time seeing this item.

Shi Feng was immediately stunned when he read the introduction of this Forging Design.

The Raging Flames Armor was a Level 25 Secret-Silver ranked plate armor. Although its base Attributes were ordinary, it was a very valuable item. It specifically catered to MTs when dealing with fire-type monsters. One could say that the Raging Flames Armor was the best Level 25 Secret-Silver ranked breastplate.

If utilized properly, the value of this Forging Design could exceed a hundred Gold. However, Flame Crystals were necessary to craft the Raging Flames Armor. In addition, it also needed a rare Secret-Silver ranked ore, resulting in a high manufacturing cost. However, it would be greatly desired once forged. In particular, when it was used in the Level 25 large-scale Team Dungeon, Flame’s Nest, it would be frighteningly effective.

The Raging Flames breastplate gave eight points of Fire Resistance and reduced the user’s flame damage received by 20%. No other Secret-Silver equipment could compare to this effect.

Aside from the equipment, there was also a flame-red-colored skill book. The words ‘Flame Burst’ decorated the cover. This was the same skill the Scorching Lamia had used on Shi Feng.

Shi Feng had personally witnessed this attack and knew full well the frightening might of that skill. Yet, such a skill was unexpectedly a Universal Skill that any class could learn.

Without hesitation, Shi Feng chose to learn the skill. He then called out the skill interface.

[Flame Burst]

Level 1 (Requires 100,000 EXP to upgrade to Level 2)

Channeling time: 2 seconds

Gathers the power of flames to a single point and causes 300% damage to the target.

Attack Count: 4 times

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Compared to other skills that required Skill Proficiency to level up, Flame Burst belonged to the Special Skills category. Instead of Skill Proficiency, it required EXP to level up.

Shi Feng greatly admired Cela’s Flame Burst. If he could possess a similar might to the Scorching Lamia when he used the Flame Burst, he needed only a single move to instant-kill a player of the same level. Just the thought of achieving such a feat invigorated him.

However, the skill level was too low right now. It could not achieve such an effect an all.

Since his level was relatively high right now and his leveling speed was also very fast, Shi Feng did not feel much heartache towards such a small amount of EXP. Hence, he immediately supplied 100,000 EXP to the skill, upgrading it up to Level 2.

The Flame Burst’s damage increased to 350%, while the Attack Count remained unchanged. There was also no change to its Cooldown. This time, 300,000 EXP was needed to upgrade the skill to Level 3. However, Shi Feng chose to upgrade it without hesitation. He needed several million EXP just to level up now, so 300,000 was not a significant amount.

Instantly, Shi Feng fell back down to Level 15. The damage of the Level 3 Flame Burst increased to 380%, while its Attack Count increased to 5 times, and Cooldown decreased to 4 minutes 30 seconds. This was a more noticeable improvement. Meanwhile, it now required 800,000 EXP to upgrade to Level 4. Yet, Shi Feng still chose to upgrade it. The damage of the skill increased to 400%, Attack Count remained at 5 times, and Cooldown decreased to 4 minutes. The skill needed 2,000,000 EXP to upgrade to Level 5 this time.

Shi Feng similarly upgraded it to Level 5 without hesitation. The damage of Flame Burst increased to 420%, Attack Count increased to 6 times, and Cooldown decreased to 3 minutes 30 seconds. As a result of such a huge increase, however, Shi Feng had fallen to Level 14. If he wanted to upgrade the skill to Level 6, he needed to supply 4,000,000 EXP. Even if he dropped back down to Level 0, he could not raise Flame Burst to Level 6.

It seems that I can only wait until after Level 20 before upgrading the Flame Burst again. Shi Feng felt it was unfortunate. However, a Level 5 Flame Burst was sufficiently amazing already. It was certainly a very useful trump card.

Shi Feng had spent quite a sum of money on his trip to the Flame God’s Cave this time. Not to mention using more than two stacks of Basic Frost Grenades, he also used the Flaming Sun Scripture. However, with such an astonishing harvest, the losses he incurred were negligible.

There’s still some time left. I’ll get some rest before heading to the Beastman Munition Factory. Shi Feng called out the system clock, discovering that he still had some time before the appointed time. Seizing this chance, he could get some repairs done to his equipment and store his loot into the Bank. He would return to the Flame God’s Cave again in the future when he had the time.

The Boss of the Flame God’s Cave had a respawn time of two days. In other words, Shi Feng would return to the Flame God’s Cave to kill its Boss once every two days. Not only could he level up quickly by doing so, but he could also obtain plenty of high-level equipment. This place was sacred ground for players. It was no wonder the Ranger, who was the first person to discover this place, made a huge earning.

—

Outside of the Beastman Munition Factory, Cruel Blade and the others had already gathered at the Dungeon’s entrance. They currently discussed their strategy to raid the Dungeon.

During the time they spent waiting for Shi Feng, they challenged the Dungeon twice more. However, the end result was still the same. Obtaining the First Clear of a Hard Mode Team Dungeon was much more difficult than they had imagined.

Although they had managed to clear the Hard Mode of a 10-man Team Dungeon, some other Guild was already a step ahead of them by the time they cleared it. Right now, only the First Clears of 20-man Hard Mode Team Dungeons were available. However, the Hard Mode of a 20-man Team Dungeon was obviously more difficult compared to a 10-man Team Dungeon.

No matter how much thought they put into it, they could not come up with any methods to clear the Dungeon. They could only wait for Shi Feng’s arrival at the Dungeon’s entrance. This was also a good chance for the team to get some rest.

Although Stabbing Heart had continuously recommended Shi Feng, Cruel Blade did not place much hope in him.

After all, the Assassin’s Alliance was an apex second-rate Guild. Experts were a dime a dozen within the Guild. Meanwhile, they had gathered 20 experts to raid the Beastman Munition Factory, but they still died under the first Boss’ feet. What difference would an additional, independent player with good techniques make?

“Guild Leader, someone’s coming,” one of the Guild’s scouting Assassins suddenly spoke in the team chat.

Chapter 209: Lone Tyrant

Hearing that someone approached, Stabbing Heart thought that it was Shi Feng. Hence, he turned his gaze towards the entrance.

However, the person walking over was not Shi Feng at all. Moreover, it was not just a single player, but a group of players.

This was a 20-man team. The members of this team all wore impressive equipment; practically all of them wore a mix of Bronze and Mysterious-Iron Equipment, with the majority being Mysterious-Iron Equipment. There were also a few players among them wearing Level 10 Class-specific Set Equipment that only dropped from Level 10 Team Dungeons. Although they were only individual pieces, at this stage of the game, they were definitely considered top-tier equipment to Guilds.

The leader of this team was a Guardian Knight. Judging by appearances, the man looked to be around 25 years of age. There was a nasty smile on the man’s face. The man wore a mix of red and white-colored heavy-armor and carried a blood-red cross-shield and longsword.

“It can’t be, right? That Shield Warrior has the complete Bloody Brilliance Set Equipment! That’s a Level 10 Mysterious-Iron Set Equipment!”

“The glow from his shield and longsword show that they are both of Secret-Silver rank. How come I have never seen such equipment before?”

The members of Assassin’s Alliance started a quiet discussion when they saw the leading Guardian Knight.

The Bloody Brilliance Set Equipment could only be obtained from Level 10 Hard Mode Team Dungeons. The fact that this group of newcomers had gathered a full set displayed just how powerful their team was.

“They seem to be players from Dark Star.” Making a careful observation, Stabbing Heart suddenly discovered that the Guild Emblem these players donned belong to that of the Guild, Dark Star. He then observed the leading Guardian Knight, suddenly exclaiming in shock, “He’s Dark Star’s Lone Tyrant!”

Cruel Sword’s complexion immediately turned grim at these words.

Lone Tyrant of Dark Star was currently number one on the Ranking List. In addition, Dark Star had also managed to obtain the First Clear of two Hard Mode Dungeons. Due to the contribution of these two factors, Dark Star was already like the sun at high noon, and they were currently in their heyday. Cruel Sword did not think that Dark Star would make their move so soon; they were already attempting to raid a 20-man Team Dungeon. If they really obtained the First Clear of a 20-man Team Dungeon, the Assassin’s Alliance would truly be in an embarrassing position in White River City.

After all, due to obtaining the luxury guidebook of White River City in advance, the Assassin’s Alliance had made ample preparations before entering the city itself. As a result, they enjoyed a flourishing period after they entered White River City. Many players even thought that the Assassin’s Alliance had the possibility to surpass the first-rate Guilds.

Hence, now that Dark Star was on the rise, players would naturally compare the Assassin’s Alliance and Dark Star, resulting in the Assassin’s Alliance’s status in White River City becoming very awkward.

“Oh? Isn’t this the Guild Leader of the Assassin’s Alliance? What a coincidence!” Lone Tyrant laughed as he spoke to Cruel Sword, “Unfortunately, you guys have simply wasted your time by coming here, as the First Clear of the Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory already belongs to Dark Star.”

The other members of Dark Star similarly revealed disdainful smiles as they looked at the members of the Assassin’s Alliance.

Currently, throughout the White River City region, Dark Star’s influence surpassed that of the Assassin’s Alliance. Moreover, Dark Star had a much shorter history than the Assassin’s Alliance. The Assassin’s Alliance current success lay in the fact that they had a long-established history, so the benefits they provided to their Guild members were slightly better. However, Dark Star would definitely surpass the Assassin’s Alliance in the future.

“We’ll see about that.” Cruel Sword ignored Lone Tyrant’s provocation, only coldly replying with a single sentence.

Only by personally experiencing it would one understand the difficulty of a 20-man Hard Mode Dungeon. It would be meaningless to argue with a little bastard over who would obtain the First Clear of a Hard Mode Dungeon.

When Lone Tyrant saw that his provocation had failed, he quickly lost interest and turned to leave.

At this moment, a deep and low voice resounded by everyone’s ears.

“Sorry, I’m late.” The person speaking was precisely Shi Feng.

As he had to repair his equipment, store his items in the Bank, and register more Hard Stones on the Auction House, he had wasted quite a lot of time before coming here.

“Brother Ye Feng, you’re finally here!” Stabbing Heart, who was originally enraged due to Lone Tyrant’s provocation, immediately cheered up when he noticed Shi Feng’s arrival. He hurriedly went up and welcomed Shi Feng.

Meanwhile, this was the first time Cruel Sword had personally met Shi Feng. He discovered that Shi Feng still used a complete Bronze Set Equipment. Shi Feng’s level and the quality of his other equipment were also indiscernible. Moreover, looking at Shi Feng’s age and appearance, he was obviously just an immature youth; he did not possess the sharp temperament of a top-tier expert at all. However, he had obtained the First Clear of the Hell Mode Dark Moon Graveyard with Gentle Snow. Coupling that with the widespread battle footage from before and the fact that Shi Feng was the first player to enter White River City, Shi Feng should possess some real skills.

However, they were not here to fight other players in the Dungeon. Although Shi Feng had impressive combat capabilities, one could not clear a Dungeon by depending on combat capabilities alone. Hence, Cruel Sword did not look favorably upon Shi Feng.

“Hahahaha! What a joke! So even the famous Assassin’s Alliance has to invite someone to raid a Team Dungeon! Moreover, you’ve even invited an independent player! It seems that the Assassin’s Alliance only amounts to this much. To think that I’ve always thought of the Assassin’s Alliance as an actual opponent, I was truly blind!” Lone Tyrant looked at Shi Feng, then turned to look at Cruel Sword again before involuntarily laughing.

“You!” Stabbing Heart wanted to flare up in rage; however, he had no counter to Lone Tyrant’s words.

After all, what he said was true.

The other Assassin’s Alliance members had also lowered their heads in shame. At this moment, their hearts harbored dissatisfaction towards Stabbing Heart. They were already disappointed with Stabbing Heart’s previous decision of inviting Shi Feng, so the humiliating situation now only made it worse. Yet, although they wished they could immediately chase Shi Feng away, they dared not voice their opinions.

After making fun of the Assassin’s Alliance, Lone Tyrant’s gaze shifted towards Shi Feng. Pretending to be surprised, he sneered and said, “And here I thought the Assassin’s Alliance had invited some amazing person. Isn’t this Ye Feng, the first player to enter White River City and the previous first place on the Ranking List?”

“I am truly sorry about this. I never imagined that you would be so easy to surpass, so I accidentally snatched away your first position. Oh? That’s not right? Why can’t I find your name within the top 100 of the Ranking List? It seems that there is a limit to a person’s good luck. Without any real strength, one would quickly be surpassed by others. Isn’t that right, Little Brother Ye Feng?”

Although Lone Tyrant could not see Shi Feng’s current level, he did not think that Shi Feng was anything amazing. Otherwise, why would he choose not to display his level? There was only one possibility for such an action, and it was because he was too shameful to show his level. Shi Feng was clearly the first player to enter White River City, yet, a majority of players surpassed him in levels. So it was very logical that he would choose to hide his level in shame.

“Brother Ye Feng, let’s just ignore him and enter the Dungeon.” Afraid that Shi Feng would grow angry and leave, Stabbing Heart hurriedly dragged Shi Feng away from the players of Dark Star.

“The players within the White River City region have constantly used the Assassin’s Alliance as a comparison to Dark Star. Previously, I had felt proud of this matter, but now, I can only feel embarrassment. Please don’t associate Dark Star with you all anymore in the future. We really can’t bear this sort of shame.” Lone Tyrant did not care much about an expert who was already past his prime. He shifted his gaze once more to Cruel Sword, mocking him.

“An apex second-rate Guild? Pah! They aren’t even comparable to a third-rate Guild!”

“The Assassin’s Alliance has truly declined. If I were them, I would have long since killed myself to avoid the embarrassment. They have actually allowed a lucky noob to join their team. Did they think that, by doing so, they could obtain the First Clear of the Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory? Who are they trying to kid?”

“How could you say such a thing? This is known as birds of a feather flocking together! A trash of a Guild would naturally seek out a trash player to aid them! If this situation happened in our Guild, we would have long since expelled such noobs from the Guild! Allowing such trash to join our team would definitely lower our intelligence and strength!”

“Hey, you’ve got that wrong! In reality, the Assassin’s Alliance is so powerful that they are not afraid of having a noob as a team member! They could still clear the Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory with no problems, even with such a member on their team! This is definitely something Dark Star can’t dream of comparing with!”

The relationship between Dark Star and the Assassin’s Alliance had long since been similar to that of fire and water. Now that there was such a good opportunity, the members of Dark Star took this chance to ridicule the Assassin’s Alliance.

Immediately, the atmosphere on the Assassin’s Alliance’s side became abnormally depressing. The players from the Assassin’s Alliance all resentfully glared at Stabbing Heart.

Contrary to expectations, however, Stabbing Heart did not feel any heartache due to these hateful gazes. Instead, he felt apologetic to Shi Feng. Originally, Dark Star merely directed its ridicule at the Assassin’s Alliance. Now, even Shi Feng had been dragged into this matter.

At this moment, Shi Feng could no longer stomach this situation. If this situation continued, they would have no chances of raiding the Dungeon, and he did not wish to lose the opportunity. After all, he planned to obtain the Wind Extinguisher Set Equipment and Basic Fire Resistance Potion Recipe from this trip. He did not wish to see Dark Star spoil this opportunity.

Having no better choice, Shi Feng stood out from the crowd. With pupils as deep as black holes, he gazed at Lone Tyrant. He then calmly said with a smile, “I’m very curious about something. If the nobodies that you’ve looked down on suddenly obtain the First Clear of the Hard Mode Beast Munition Factory a step ahead of you, then what would you all amount to?”

Chapter 210: opener

Shi Feng’s words struck Lone Tyrant and the others.

Immediately, the atmosphere became incomparably tense. Neither side spoke a single word, and both sides stood on the cusp of lashing out right now.

However, nobody intended to make the first move.

After all, everyone present understood that, if they took action right now, it would lead to an all-out war between the two Guilds. Regardless of who won and who lost in this confrontation, both sides would take heavy losses. Hence, be it Cruel Sword or Lone Tyrant, neither wished for such a situation to occur.

As both sides could no longer endure the stifling atmosphere…

“Getting the Hard Mode’s First Clear ahead of us? With trash like you?” Lone Tyrant’s complexion abruptly turned cold. With a ridiculing smile, he spoke with contempt, “Good, very good! Let everyone see the truth, then! I really want to see if your strength is as good as that mouth of yours!”

After he finished speaking, Lone Tyrant led his team into the Beastman Munition Factory. Moreover, they chose to immediately start with the Dungeon’s Hard Mode without warm-up or preparation. They clearly wished to prove to Shi Feng and the Assassin’s Alliance just how wide the difference between them was.

“Why are they trying to act so bold? They will suffer defeat when the time comes.” Stabbing Heart curled his lips, revealing a cold smile.

Without personally experiencing the 20-man Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory, one could not truly gauge the difficulty of the Dungeon. Otherwise, they would not have sought Shi Feng’s help.

They had only chosen this method as a last resort. After all, the Assassin’s Alliance was in a precarious position right now, and they were in dire need of a breakthrough. Hence, they had to obtain the First Clear of a Hard Mode Dungeon.

“That’s right! Dark Star is nothing! They’ll cry with regret once they enter the Dungeon!”

“Guild Leader, let’s hurry and enter! We must teach those bastards from Dark Star the strength of the Assassin’s Alliance!”

“That’s right! Guild Leader, we must get the First Clear this time!”

The players from the Assassin’s Alliance wiped away their depression from before. They all cracked their knuckles as their thirst for battle grew.

Shi Feng remained silent as he listened to everyone’s enthusiasm with a faint smile on his face.

However, due to Shi Feng’s actions, the Guild Leader of the Assassin’s Alliance, Cruel Blade, viewed Shi Feng in a new light.

Cruel Blade considered that Shi Feng might not just be all talk.

Due to Shi Feng’s provocation, the team’s originally downcast mood received underwent a complete change. Right now, everyone was indignant over the injustice they had received rather than depressed, and they immediately wanted to charge into the Dungeon and slaughter the Boss within. They wanted to obtain the First Clear of the Hard Mode Dungeon, letting the players from Dark Star witness their might.

However, Shi Feng did not give much thought to Cruel Sword’s renewed opinion of him.

After all, he had been a Guild Leader in his previous life as well. If one wanted to increase the unity of a team, they only needed one thing.

They needed an enemy.

In fact, Lone Tyrant was already an enemy of the Assassin’s Alliance. Shi Feng merely poured some oil on the already-burning fire, further raising their fighting spirits.

Naturally, high fighting spirits were only a mental boost, and it would not help the Assassin’s Alliance to clear the Dungeon.

If the Assassin’s Alliance wanted to clear the Hard Mode Team Dungeon, they still needed some other key elements.

However, Shi Feng did not reveal this fact. He merely quietly joined the Assassin’s Alliance’s team, entering the Beast Munition Factory with Cruel Sword and the others.

The Beast Munition Factory was a dilapidated weapon manufacturing factory. Hence, the terrain inside the Dungeon was not particularly complicated. Players only needed to walk down a single path to reach the Boss.

There were a total of three Bosses throughout the Dungeon. Although the number was low, each Boss was extremely powerful. In 20-man Hard Mode Team Dungeons, the Bosses were all High Chieftain rank. Every one of them had powerful skills, and it was a normal occurrence for these Bosses to instant-kill an MT. If a team were not familiar with these Bosses’ skills, failing to grasp the timing of their attacks fully, it would not be strange for a team to team-wipe over ten times. In comparison to these Bosses, however, players would have a much easier time clearing the Elite monsters within the Dungeon.

“I think that everyone should know what to do by now. However, since this is Brother Ye Feng’s first time entering this Dungeon, I’ll give you a short explanation on what you should expect later on. Your task is to go all-out, dealing damage, while simultaneously evading the skills of the Elite monsters. On another note, the monsters here have very high Attack Power, and they deal a ton of damage, even to the MTs. Moreover, these monsters are immune to crowd control skills. Hence, healers will be under a lot of pressure. They will have no time to heal anyone other than the MT, so you need to be careful not to pull aggro,” Cruel Sword explained patiently.

“Alright, that’s it for my explanation. Let’s first use the four Elite monsters guarding at the entrance as practice for our coordination.”

Finished speaking, Cruel Sword directed two of the team’s MT to charge at the four axe-wielding Level 10 Elite Beastman Warriors.

[Beastman Warrior] (Elite Rank)

Level 10

HP 50,000/50,000

As this was a Dungeon, the monsters in here had both their HP and Attack Power greatly increased. They were much stronger compared to the Level 10 Elite monsters out in the fields.

One of the two MTs was a Shield Warrior, while the other was a Guardian Knight. Each of them held the two monsters’ agro. However, when Shi Feng saw the damage these two MTs dealt to the monsters, he was immediately stunned.

A normal attack from the Shield Warrior only dealt -32 damage to the Beastman Warriors. When the Shield Warrior used Heroic Strike, he only dealt -66 damage. Meanwhile, the Guardian Knight fared even worse than the Shield Warrior. The Guardian Knight’s normal attack only dealt -24 damage, while his Divine Strike only dealt -51 damage.

Both of these MTs were Level 10 players, and both of them wielded Mysterious-Iron Weapons. Even if it were a one-handed weapon, when faced with an Elite monster of the same level, it should not deal such little damage. Thus, Shi Feng was shocked by this sight he witnessed.

Although the two MTs took care to evade the attacks of the monsters, they were very clumsy. As a result, the number of attacks they received exceeded the number of times they dodged. Moreover, each time they received an attack, they needed to retreat a few steps before they could stabilize themselves. The only fortunate thing was that the damage they received was not high; they received around -300 damage from each attack. Meanwhile, each MT possessed around 2,400 HP. With two monsters attacking each MT simultaneously, each MT received a rough total of -600 damage; a quarter of their total HP. This situation resulted in the healers suffering.

However, Shi Feng was similarly shocked when he discovered that both MTs possessed around 2,400 HP.

What the heck?!

Isn’t their HP a little too high?

They both couldn’t have only added their Free Attribute Points into Endurance, completely ignoring Strength and Agility, right?

However, this was the only explanation that made sense. It explained why, even though both MTs were clearly gaming experts, they required so much effort just to dodge an attack and why their damages were so pitiful. In contrast, a Level 10 Assassin, who similarly used a one-handed weapon, could deal over -100 damage to an Elite monster like the Beastman Warrior. They could even deal over -200 damage if they used a skill. The MTs’ Strength was just abysmal. Their Agility was similarly too low, preventing them from dodging attacks that they could have clearly evaded.

It was obvious that the players of the Assassin’s Alliance have yet to adapt to the battle methods of God’s Domain. They clearly possessed plenty of expert players, yet, they were unable to exhibit their full potential. It was no wonder the Assassin’s Alliance became an obscure existence during the early stages of the game. Only after half a year had passed since God’s Domain’s launch did they gain some achievements. If the Assassin’s Alliance battled the Boss of the Beastman Munition Factory like so, Shi Feng would be surprised if they didn’t team-wipe. It was truly a wonder as to how they managed to clear a 10-man Hard Mode Team Dungeon.

“I wish to say something; is that alright?” Shi Feng looked at Cruel Sword, asking softly.

Although the Assassin’s Alliance now possessed Lone Tyrant as a great enemy, the members of the team still had negative opinions of Shi Feng. They only kept their mouths shut due to his relationship with Stabbing Heart. However, if Shi Feng dared push his luck, they would not sit idle.

“Speak your mind. As long as it benefits the Dungeon raid, we will not reject it,” Cruel Sword had managed to discern Shi Feng’s capabilities somewhat. He could somewhat understand why Gentle Snow would take a fancy to Shi Feng. After all, Shi Feng indeed possessed strength.

“Can we replace the two MTs?” Shi Feng asked, holding nothing back.

Chapter 211: Brilliant Effect

Although Shi Feng’s tone was soft, power filled his voice. It caused the female healers nearby to tremble, nearly failing to cast their heals on the two MTs.

The two MTs tanking the four Elite monsters were similarly shocked stiff, receiving a direct hit from the giant steel axes of the Beastman Warriors. Damages of over -400 points appeared above both MTs, and the two retreated close to half a dozen steps before they managed to stabilize themselves.

The other damage-dealing team members also froze. They all stared at Shi Feng with dumbfounded gazes, thinking that their ears had played a trick on them.

Replace the MTs?

What kind of joke was this? The two players tanking the Elite monsters belonged to the top three MTs of the Guild. Yet, Shi Feng wanted to replace them with someone else? Wasn’t he just looking for trouble?

Shi Feng’s decision would be understandable if the two MTs had made an error while luring the monsters, or lost the monsters’ aggro. However, neither of the MTs made such mistakes. So, why should they be replaced?

“Did they do something wrong?” Cruel Sword asked.

MTs were the core of a team. A powerful MT could greatly reduce the raiding difficulty of a Dungeon; a team should never rashly replace their MTs.

“Nothing.” Shi Feng shook his head. Indeed, the two MTs did not make any mistakes up until this point. However, not making any mistakes did not necessarily mean that everything was fine.

Capable of holding aggro and taking blows, if this were a normal virtual reality game, there would be no problems if the MTs of a team could perform these two tasks.

However, God’s Domain was different. Just carrying out these tasks was still not enough to secure a victory for the team.

“Since there are no problems, why should we need to replace the MTs?” Cruel Sword wrinkled his eyebrows.

The two MTs in question were furious right now, clearly displaying their displeasure. Shi Feng was just someone they had invited, yet, he dared criticize such powerful MTs like themselves? Wasn’t he being too arrogant?

“Their ability to evade attacks is just too poor. To put it bluntly, they are taking too much damage. When they face a Boss, even four healers will not be sufficient to keep them alive. Moreover, their damage output is too low. In a Boss battle, even 1% of HP could decide victory or defeat.”

“I’m guessing that, when you guys faced the first Boss of this Dungeon, aside from having insufficient damage, your healers’ mana ran dry as well. In the end, the result was a complete team-wipe,” Shi Feng said with a smile.

Listening to Shi Feng’s words, the two MTs immediately fell speechless…

Cruel Sword was also awestruck. Clearly, he had not mentioned the matter of their team-wiped to Shi Feng before. Yet, Shi Feng correctly guessed each detail of their previous encounter.

Everything Shi Feng had just said was clear and logical, and Cruel Sword agreed that he needed to make some changes.

“I wonder if Brother Ye Feng has any suggestions on how we can improve? What kind of MT do we need?” Cruel Sword earnestly sought Shi Feng’s guidance.

The other members of the Assassin’s Alliance were no fools, either. They had discerned the meaning behind Shi Feng’s words. As a result, the dissatisfaction they felt towards Shi Feng in their hearts lessened greatly, while respect slightly grew. Each of them perked up, focusing Shi Feng’s wise opinion.

“It’s very simple. Look for two Guardian Knights who have allocated their Free Attribute Points in the ratio of 2 Strength: 1 Agility: 2 Endurance. It would be best if they have learned both Guardian Aura and Power Aura,” Shi Feng unhurriedly spoke.

Unknowingly, Shi Feng had suddenly become the heart of the team.

Within moments, Cruel Sword had found two Guardian Knights from his Guild that fit Shi Feng’s requirements. However, these Guardian Knights’ techniques were not anything impressive, and their equipment was sub-par at best.

One of them was White Feather, and he only possessed slightly over 1,700 HP. The other Guardian Knight was called Water Lake, and his HP was just over 1,800 points. Furthermore, the two’s Defense was lower than the previous MTs by more than 200 points; they were on completely different levels.

However, Shi Feng saw nothing amiss after examining the two’s equipment. The remaining problem would be their techniques. Shi Feng then continued by explaining to the two Guardian Knights how they should battle the Elite monsters and how they should dodge attacks. As for how much of his explanation they actually understood, that would depend on their own comprehensive abilities.

Following which, Shi Feng instructed one of the Guardian Knights to activate Guardian Aura, increasing the Defense of the entire team by 20 points. He then instructed the other Guardian Knight to activate Power Aura, increasing the Strength of the entire team by 5 points. Shi Feng also switched his title to Might of a Thousand, greatly increasing the Attributes of the entire team. As a result, the HP of the two Guardian Knights almost reached the 2,000 HP threshold.

The team’s jaws dropped when they witnessed the brilliant effect brought about by Shi Feng’s Might of a Thousand title.

Increasing all Attributes by 10%? This was an outstanding weapon for Dungeon raiding. Such an increase was the equivalent of raising every team member’s equipment by an entire rank.

With such a brilliant effect, they had far more confidence in dealing with the Bosses of the Dungeon.

Hence, everyone started clearing the Elite monsters with great excitement.

When they first started out, everyone still felt skeptical about Shi Feng’s decision to replace the two MTs. It was simply illogical to replace their previously powerful MTs with weaker ones. However, shortly after the two Guardian Knights began tanking the Elite monsters, they immediately discovered that there was a massive difference.

Although the Beastman Warriors dealt around -450 damage to the two Guardian Knights with each hit, these Beastman Warriors only managed to land one out of every three attacks. In comparison, the previous two MTs would receive two out of every three attacks, taking an additional -150 damage every three attacks. With such a glaring difference in damage, the burden on the healers greatly lessened. Moreover, as they faced more battles, the two new MTs gradually evaded with better efficiency, taking fewer hits as a result. This had allowed the healers to expend less of their mana, thereby increasing their endurance.

By the time they arrived before the first Boss of the Dungeon, Karur, the healers no longer felt any pressure in healing the two Guardian Knights. They even had time to attend to the other team members.

Karur was a large and ferocious Beastman. He was twice as large as a normal Beastman, and his body was fully covered in steel-like, scarlet muscles. On his back, Karur carried a mammoth magical saber that was as long as he was tall. Meanwhile, Karur himself was a Level 12 High Chieftain ranked Boss with a whopping 450,000 HP.

“Brother Ye Feng, I wonder if you have any ideas of how to best raid this Boss?” When facing with Karur once again, Cruel Sword’s thoughts started growing heavy. After all, Karur had already team-wiped them multiple times.

“MTs should hold aggro properly, while everyone else should evade Karur’s skills. That should be it, I guess,” Shi Feng casually spoke after giving the question some thought.

Everyone in the team immediately sent contemptful glares at Shi Feng.

Wasn’t this just a bunch of nonsense!? Wasn’t that obvious?!

“Alright, MTs, take action. You two should take turns tanking the Boss. Whoever’s HP falls to a critical state should immediately back off and let the other tank. As for everyone else, try to use your attacks to assist the two MTs,” Shi Feng instructed.

Shortly after, the two Guardian Knights charged at Karur.

According to Shi Feng’s knowledge, the Hard Mode Karur only had two moves.

One was the Blade Storm. It was a skill that turned Karur into a tornado, causing -600 damage per second to all enemies within a 12-yard distance. The skill had a duration of 20 seconds.

The other skill was Avatar Slash. When Karur used this skill, he would immediately vanish from everyone’s sight. He would then randomly reappear behind three to five players, attacking them and causing -500 static damage. Simultaneously, he would inflict players with a Damage Amplification effect, causing them to take 10% more damage for 2 minutes. To make things worse, this effect stacked.

With these two skills at Karur’s disposal, the Boss prevented players from turning this raid into a prolonged battle. Otherwise, once the Damage Amplification effect stacked so many times, Karur’s Avatar Slash could instant-kill any player. At that time, there would be no way for the battle to continue. Hence, there was only one requirement when facing Karur: resolve the battle in the shortest time possible. The longer the battle dragged on, the more difficult it would become.

Taking the lead, the Guardian Knight, Water Lake, brandished his sword, sending a Punishment at Karur’s head. The attack only caused -126 damage. Compared to the Elite monsters from before, Karur’s Defense was clearly a notch higher. Moreover, such a small amount of damage was practically negligible in the face of Karur’s massive 450,000 HP.

By contrast, as Water Lake failed to dodge Karur’s counter-attack; the Boss’s saber sent him flying. A frightening damage of -1,134 points appeared above Water Lake’s head, instantly devouring over half of his total HP. Following which, White Feather promptly dashed forward and activated Righteous Fury. He then used Shield of Vengeance to attract Karur’s aggro.

The four healers on the team did not dare make any mistakes. They immediately cast their heals on Water Lake.

+234, +215, +221, +225

A Cleric then released an instant-cast skill, Recover, on Water Lake. Every three seconds for 15 seconds, the target would recover 70 HP. Simultaneously, a Druid also used Life Bloom on Water Lake, recovering 43 HP every two seconds for 12 seconds.

Immediately, Water Lake’s HP recovered to 90%. He then returned to his position on the frontlines, coordinating with White Feather to tank the Boss.

Chapter 212: Raiding Karur

By taking turns attacking Karur, the two Guardian Knights quickly established a strong hold on Karur’s aggro. However, compared to when they battled Elite monsters, the pressure on the healers had visibly increased.

Moreover, both Water Lake and White Feather were clearly unfamiliar with the Boss’s attack patterns; their movements were somewhat stiff when dodging attacks. Right now, they could only dodge every other sent at them. Even so, compared to the last time the Assassin’s Alliance had raided Karur, the healers were having a slightly easier time keeping these MTs alive. The healers’ mana consumption made this obvious.

Originally, Cruel Sword still worried that the two Guardian Knights could not manage. However, based on the results before him, it was clearly an unnecessary thought. The healers managed themselves with perfect order right now, unlike the several raids before where they had to cast their heals desperately, without caring about any proper order. The four healers couldn’t even catch their breaths unless they wanted the previous two MTs to die instantly.

In reality, such failures were very common. In God’s Domain, Level 10 players had a large threshold to overcome. The levels before Level 10 were merely an adaptation period. Once players reached Level 10, they would no longer receive any preferential treatment. Hence, entering a Level 10, 20-man Hard Mode Team Dungeon at Level 10 was the equivalent of entering a Level 5, 20-man Hell Mode Team Dungeon at Level 5. How could it possibly be easy?

In addition, Bosses would have much higher intelligence. It would take a certain degree of skill to hold the aggro of a Boss and prevent it from attacking the ranged classes and healers. MTs especially needed to know how to pin down and restrain the Boss monsters, as just having aggro did not mean that the Boss would only hit the MT. After all, even with aggro, Boss monsters would still find an opportune moment to massacre the healers, the weakest players on the team. When this occurred, MTs had the task of restraining the Boss, preventing it from attacking the healers. Hence, the requirements for an MT’s techniques were very high.

If the previous MTs were currently tanking the Boss, they would fare much better than Water Lake and White Feather regarding techniques. They had simply made a mistake during the allocation of their Free Attribute Points. However, there was no way to reset one’s Attribute Points in God’s Domain, so these two players could only be replaced. Moreover, for a long time, these two players would have to allocate all the Free Attribute Points they obtained from leveling up into both Strength and Agility. Otherwise, they would cripple their characters.

“Everyone, start attacking now. Berserkers and Swordsmen, assist the MTs in blocking some attacks. Focus your attacks on the Boss’s weapons or arms, and aim your attacks where they can interrupt the Boss’s attack. As for ranged classes, focus on dealing as much damage as you can,” Shi Feng commanded.

Immediately, a group of players charged forward to give Karur a beating, while the ranged players launched their bombardment at Karur.

-124, -137, -108, -189, -175…

One damage after another appeared above Karur’s head. However, the damage was not particularly high. Among these, the highest damage dealt belonged to the Berserker, Cruel Sword. His normal attacks could deal around -266 damage with each hit, while a Violent Strike could deal up to -448 damage. Right behind Cruel Sword was Stabbing Heart. As Stabbing Heart was an Assassin, his normal attacks could only deal around -120 damage with each hit. However, his attack rate was much faster than Cruel Sword’s. Meanwhile, a 5-star Eviscerate decimated 587 HP from Karur.

Ranking in third was the team’s cute and lovable little sister, the Elementalist, Mu Qing. She was the captain of the Assassin’s Alliance’s Elementalist team, and her techniques were first-rate. She was also one of the famous female Elementalists in Star-Moon Kingdom; she could rank within the top 100 Elementalists within Star-Moon Kingdom. Every one of her attacks could deal around -300 to -400 damage, but due to her spells requiring a long time to cast, her overall damage was slightly less than the two aforementioned players.

Originally, Cruel Sword had intended to say to Shi Feng, “Look! Isn’t our team’s damage output powerful? Why don’t you join our Guild? The position of First Vice Leader will be yours if you do!”

However, when Cruel Sword saw Shi Feng charging at Karur, subsequently slashing his sword at Karur, Cruel Sword was immediately dumbfounded. His words shrunk back into a secluded location in his mind.

Shi Feng’s two casual slashes dealt damages of -395 and -376 to Karur. Immediately after, Shi Feng followed up with a Level 10 Chop. The skill achieved a critical hit, instantly causing -2,137 damage to Karur. He then continued by using Thundering Flash, dealing damages of -643, -832, and -1,102 to Karur, as well as inflicting a damage amplification effect.

Shi Feng then abruptly jumped up into the air. As he descended, he smashed the Abyssal Blade covered in the power of thunder and fire down onto Karur’s head. Suddenly, Karur let out a soul-piercing scream of pain.

Thunder Flame Explosion instantly caused -3,312 damage, and everyone on the team, aside from Shi Feng, became slack-jawed when they witnessed this scene.

If Water Lake had not reacted quickly by using Mock, followed by Righteous Punishment, Shi Feng might have snagged most, if not all, of Karur’s aggro.

“Stabbing Heart, just where did you find a Swordsman expert as amazing as him?” Mu Qing’s exquisite lips parted as she gaped and involuntarily questioned Stabbing Heart.

As Mu Qing had not started out in Red Leaf Town, she was not particularly knowledgeable about Shi Feng. Since the launch of God’s Domain, she had always focused on leveling up and raiding Dungeons. Even after she entered White River City, she had not met many players who could surpass her.

Hence, Mu Qing naturally considered herself as a top-tier expert. However, Shi Feng had utterly shattered that belief. The highest damage she could deal was only around -700 points, and that was when she achieved a critical hit. Meanwhile, Shi Feng could casually deal over -700 damage with a single hit. Right now, he had even dealt over -3,000 damage to a High Chieftain ranked Boss. Mu Qing felt extremely embarrassed to think that she actually thought of herself as a top-tier expert. What a joke!

“Hehe, isn’t this big brother amazing? Shortly after I started playing God’s Domain, I discovered Brother Ye Feng’s prowess! With such a massive damage output, the First Clear of this Hard Mode Dungeon will definitely be ours this time!” Stabbing Heart gleefully said. After all, he was the one who had invited Shi Feng to this raid. Now that Shi Feng performed so valiantly, shocking everyone on the team, Stabbing Heart felt extremely proud.

“Scram! You’re not Ye Feng; what’s there to be proud of?! If you have the ability, then show me that you can deal over 1,000 damage!” Mu Qing glared at Stabbing Heart.

“Little Sister Mu Qing, you think too highly of me! How can I compare to Brother Ye Feng? He is the publicly acknowledged god-ranked expert of White River City! His damage alone can trump over a dozen players! I would be satisfied if I had even a third of his damage.” Stabbing Heart smiled bitterly.

Shi Feng was a great expert just like Gentle Snow. He and Shi Feng were on entirely different levels, so how could he compare to Shi Feng?

Previously, the players who still had some complaints about Shi Feng now had none.

Shi Feng was simply too amazing. Not only were his attacks incredibly powerful, but the timing and techniques he applied to interrupt the Boss’s rhythm continuously were also praiseworthy. Every time one of Shi Feng’s swords attacked Karur, his other sword would simultaneously strike at Karur’s saber, shifting the Boss’s attack slightly. This situation allowed the two MTs to dodge Karur’s attacks with far more ease, greatly reducing the burden on the healers.

At this moment, everyone finally understood what a true Swordsman was. Aside from having fierce attacks, Shi Feng could also nimbly assist the MT. With such a Swordsman on the team, raiding the Dungeon became much easier than before. By making a rough estimate, their chances of victory had risen by at least twofold.

At this moment, Cruel Sword suddenly sent a private message to Mu Qing, “Mu Qing, you’re one of the great beauties in our Guild. You can see how amazing Ye Feng is; it would be a shame not to recruit him into our Guild. It wouldn’t be too good for a brute like me to invite him directly. Can you use your charms to persuade him to join us? If you manage to pull Ye Feng into our Guild, I can guarantee that your current treatment will increase by threefold, and you will also be promoted to an elder of the Guild.”

Cruel Sword also tried to think of a few other methods to recruit Shi Feng into the Assassin’s Alliance. However, he immediately discovered that the Assassin’s Alliance did not have any great benefits to Shi Feng. With Shi Feng’s techniques, even first-rate Guilds would willingly wage a bloody battle with each other to recruit him. As for the price tag the Assassin’s Alliance could offer, any first-rate Guilds could easily double or triple the amount. Hence, the only option Cruel Sword had remaining was to play the relationship card.

Looking at Shi Feng’s age, he should only be in his early twenties. He was at the age where he should be both vigorous and passionate. Meanwhile, a great beauty like Mu Qing was perfect for this situation.

Although Cruel Sword hated resorting to such methods, the competition in God’s Domain was just too intense. There were plenty of Guilds using similar tactics. If he continued being conservative, he might regret it in the future.

“Guild Leader, are you for real?” Mu Qing excitedly asked.

“Of course,” Cruel Sword earnestly replied.

“Guild Leader, leave it to me! With this young lady’s charm, I will definitely recruit Ye Feng into our Guild!” Mu Qing laughed coquettishly, her large eyes shifting towards Shi Feng.

Cruel Sword had similarly notified Stabbing Heart of his plan. However, Stabbing Heart simply shook his head and smiled bitterly after he heard it.

Stabbing Heart really wished to say, “If even a saint like Gentle Snow and a demoness like Zhao Yueru failed to capture Ye Feng’s heart, I’m afraid Mu Qing will not have any chances at all.”

Although Mu Qing was indeed a beauty as pretty as a flower, when Stabbing Heart gazed at Mu Qing’s flat chest and recalled Gentle Snow’s and Zhao Yueru’s outstanding lethal weapons… They were on entirely different levels…

However, Stabbing Heart did not try to ruin Mu Qing’s beautiful fantasy.

At this moment, Karur’s HP had decreased to 50%. Suddenly, Karur let out an angry bellow.

“Everyone, get away from the Boss!” Shi Feng knew that Karur was about to use Blade Storm.

With Shi Feng’s reminder, the elites of the Assassin’s Alliance quickly distanced themselves more than 20 yards from Karur. Shortly after, Karur started spinning, transforming into a tornado that engulfed everything around it.

Even after Karur’s Blade Storm ended, nobody from the team had died. At worst, there were some players who had their HP damaged to a critical point. However, they were healed back to full HP by the healers very quickly.

Following which, the team proceeded to decrease Karur’s HP to 40%. Karur then started using his Avatar Slash. Although Karur only used Avatar Slash once every 20 seconds, there were bound to be some players who were extremely unlucky, chosen as targets for seven or eight consecutive times. For these unlucky players, surviving would be difficult regardless of how they held on.

As one team member after another fell, Karur’s HP also decreased to 10%. Karur went berserk. His speed and Attack Power soared by 30%, and he now had a critical hit effect.

White Feather, unfortunately, received a critical hit. Even with Protection Blessing activated, he instantly lost over 1,400 HP. Moreover, when White Feather received this hit, he only had around 60% of his total HP remaining. Hence, he instantly died.

White Feather’s death greatly increased the pressure on Water Lake. To make things worse, there were only 12 players left alive in the team, while Karur still had 4% of his HP remaining, almost 20,000 HP.

Helpless, Shi Feng could only choose to use one of his trump cards, the Flame Burst.

During the short two-second cast time, Karur had used Avatar Slash once more, instant-killing three more players. One of the three players killed was even a healer. This was truly a desperate situation.

Meanwhile, Karur still had 3% of his HP, which meant that he had around 13,000 HP remaining.

At this moment, the Abyssal Blade in Shi Feng’s hand started glowing a dazzling white. The white glow surrounding the Abyssal Blade shone like a miniature sun; its presence alone raised the surrounding temperature by several folds.

Shi Feng activated Wind Blade and arrived behind Karur. Lightly jumping up, Shi Feng brandished the Abyssal Blade at Karur’s back, instantly forming six sword images. The six sword images resembling the sun instantly devoured Karur, causing frightening damages of -2,153, -2,203, -2,178, -4,356, -2,206, -4,422 to appear above Karur’s head.

Under this tremendous might, Karur’s four-meter-tall body shot like a cannonball towards a steel wall.

Boom!

An indentation in the shape of Karur immediately formed on the steel wall. Meanwhile, Karur was thoroughly charred black, as void of life as a stone.

Chapter 213: Dark Warlock Salou

“Karur is down… We won…”

“What was that skill? How could it be so frightening?”

The surviving members looked at the charred Karur, all involuntarily gulping a mouthful of saliva. The scene Shi Feng displayed before was simply unheard of. It was as if the thing he brandished was not a sword but a miniature sun. Even when standing at a distance of over 30 yards, they could feel the scorching temperature through the pain and burning of their skin.

Meanwhile, the damage Shi Feng had dealt was even more shocking. Of his six last strikes, not one had dealt lower than -2,000 damage to the High Chieftain ranked Boss. Among them, there were even two that achieved a critical hit, causing over -4,000 damage. It was the first time they had seen such a powerful skill.

Stabbing Heart jaw also hung open. Although he knew that Shi Feng was amazing, he never imagined that he would be this amazing.

Cruel Sword was also awestruck.

Originally, he had prepared for another failure. He never thought that Shi Feng would have a move like this hidden. Shi Feng had sent a Level 12 High Chieftain Boss flying and instantly caused more than -10,000 damage. This was definitely the highest damage Cruel Sword had seen so far. At this moment, Cruel Sword’s gaze grew even more fervent when he looked at Shi Feng. He couldn’t help but wish that he could drag Shi Feng into the Assassin’s Alliance right this instant.

Mu Qing reacted quickly. This moment was her best chance to get closer to Shi Feng. Hence, Mu Qing immediately walked up to Shi Feng’s side, acting excited as she pulled on Shi Feng’s arm.

“Big Brother Ye Feng, this move of yours is just too amazing! Just what sort of skill is it? This is my first time seeing such a skill!” Mu Qing eyed Shi Feng as she spoke in a soft and supple tone, her slender eyelashes constantly fluttering. Admiration filled her gaze, and her expression was fragile, invoking any man’s protective instincts.

“Flame Burst. It’s a Universal Special Skill that any class can use.” Shi Feng could clearly feel a sense of warmth and softness on the arm she clung to. However, he did not put much thought into it. He deemed that Mu Qing had only done such a thing due to her excitement. Hence, he casually gave her the answer.

“A Special Skill, is it? How unfortunate. Originally, I thought of inviting Brother Ye Feng to help me grind for one…” Mu Qing’s excitement withered when she heard Shi Feng’s words. One could only come across something like a special skill serendipitously; it was not something that one could obtain through effort. Indeed, how could such a powerful skill be so easily obtained?

“Let’s take a look at the drops, then,” Shi Feng said with a laugh, looking at Mu Qing’s disappointed expression.

Reminded by Shi Feng, everyone finally recalled the fact that Karur, who had just died, was a High Chieftain ranked Boss. The loot he dropped would doubtlessly be bountiful. They had forgotten this fact due to their shock at Shi Feng’s strength.

Following which, the surviving healers started reviving their fallen allies. Only when everyone was revived did Cruel Sword begin to collect the loot.

Karur had dropped a total of five pieces of equipment, and all of them were Mysterious-Iron rank. Compared to the Boss of a 10-man Dungeon, Karur had dropped an extra two to three pieces of equipment. Among the five pieces of equipment, there was a Level 10 greatshield, a Level 10 longbow for Rangers, a Level 10 breastplate for Berserkers, a Level 10 staff for healers, and the last piece was a Level 10 breastplate for Swordsmen. The breastplates for Berserkers and Swordsmen in particular were pieces of Set Equipment. As for money, everyone in the team received 32 Coppers. In general, it was a great harvest.

As Shi Feng previously had an agreement with the Assassin’s Alliance, the Wind Extinguisher Breastplate was given to him directly.

[Wind Extinguisher Breastplate] (Chest Piece, Plate Armor, Mysterious-Iron Rank)

Level 10

Defense +83

Strength +7, Agility +10, Endurance +6

Restricted to Swordsman.

Part of Wind Extinguisher Set Equipment (1/6)

Two-piece effect: Increase damage by 10%.

Four-piece effect: Increase Attack Speed and Movement Speed by 15%

Six-piece effect: Ignore Levels +3. When attacking, 15% chance to increase Attack Power by 50 points for 20 seconds.

Regarding Attributes or set effects, the Wind Extinguisher Set Equipment definitely possessed a qualitative increase compared to the Silvermoon Set Equipment. Shi Feng’s best available option was to gather this whole set now and upgrade his equipment. However, it would not be an easy task.

After receiving the Wind Extinguisher Breastplate, Shi Feng was in no hurry to swap it out with his current breastplate. After all, once he made the change, he would lose one of the set effects of the Silvermoon Set Equipment. He only intended to make the change after he collected four pieces of the Wind Extinguisher Set Equipment.

After distributing the equipment, everyone advanced towards the next Boss.

Now that Water Lake possessed a Level 10 Mysterious-Iron ranked shield, his Defense and HP had both increased significantly. As a result, they easily dealt with the monsters they met on their journey. Within 10 minutes, they arrived at a fighting arena.

In the middle of the arena, Morlock, a Beastman Assassin, stood there. He was also the second Boss of the Beastman Munition Factory.

[Morlock] (High Chieftain Rank)

Level 12

HP 400,000/400,000

Although Morlock’s HP was lower than Karur’s, Morlock was, in reality, much harder to deal with than Karur. Unlike Karur, Morlock was an Assassin. During battle, Morlock would unpredictably disappear and reappear at another location. He would also frequently attack players while ignoring aggro, choosing to attack players on the rearn line rather than those on the frontline. More importantly, Morlock had three skills that rendered players speechless.

The first skill he possessed was Armor Break. Every one of Morlock’s attacks would inflict a stackable armor break effect. To any plate armor classes, this could be a fatal skill, as once the armor break effect reached 10 stacks, their Defense would essentially reduce to 0. Even if it were an MT that possessed over 2,000 HP, Morlock could still kill them with just two to three hits. Before the healers could replenish the MT’s lost HP, the MT would have already succumbed to Morlock’s stunning Attack Speed, dying helplessly.

The only fortunate aspect for players was that the armor break effect only had a short duration of 30 seconds. Players raiding Morlock only needed to swap out their MTs when the effect stacked up to five times.

Morlock’s second skill was Killing Feast. When activated, Morlock would attack all enemies within an 8-yard radius a total of 16 times. Throughout the duration of this skill, Morlock would enter a state of invulnerability. Moreover, Morlock would carry out these 16 attacks very quickly; he would finish all 16 attacks in just two seconds. If, when Morlock activated this skill, there were only the two MTs within range, these two MTs would die with a 100% guarantee. Thus, players needed to share the burden of this attack. This would also place an extreme pressure onto the healers.

Morlock’s third skill was called Vanish. When activated, Morlock would randomly ambush a player. If the ambushed player were a cloth armor class, then, without question, that player would die. Only players that belonged to a plate armor class would have any hopes of surviving Morlock’s ambush.

At this moment, everyone in the team looked towards Shi Feng, intending to obtain his opinion on how to deal with this second High Chieftain Boss. Contrary to their expectations, Shi Feng did not tell them any strategies to raid the Boss. Instead, he instructed one healer and two MTs to test the waters. Otherwise, he might have to explain how he obtained his strategy.

After making a few tests, Shi Feng started explaining his strategy for the initial stages of the Boss fight. In reality, the plan was very simple. All plate armor classes would become tanks during the early stages of the raid, taking turns tanking Morlock. After all, Morlock’s damage was not particularly high. It would only become powerful after the armor break effect stacked so many times. So, as long as one belonged to a plate armor class, they could withstand Morlock’s damage.

Naturally, it was the same when dealing with Morlock’s Killing Feast.

In short, players only needed to surround and beat up this Boss.

After eight minutes passed, Morlock, the second Boss of the Beastman Munition Factory, fell. The main reason for Morlock’s fall was because Shi Feng was simply too strong.

Shi Feng had practically tanked Morlock by himself. Shi Feng was extremely nimble when dodging Morlock’s attacks, and Morlock could very rarely land an attack on him.

This, in turn, resulted in a decrease to Shi Feng’s damage output.

With a stable tanker like Shi Feng, the healers enjoyed a rather easy time throughout this raid. They could spread their attention towards other members of the team, allowing everyone to have an easier time dealing with the Boss. Problems only arose when Morlock used Vanish and appeared behind a cloth armor class. These unfortunate players could only curse their own bad luck as they accepted their deaths.

Chapter 214: Dungeon Cleared

After Morlock died, he dropped a total of four pieces of Mysterious-Iron Equipment. Everyone received a share of 34 Copper Coins and a large amount of EXP. Meanwhile, Shi Feng obtained a pair of Wind Extinguisher Leg Guards, increasing his collection of the Wind Extinguisher Set Equipment to two pieces.

Everyone on the team looked at each other with a smile after they had killed Morlock, a High Chieftain ranked Boss, with such ease. They all felt blissful from the fact that Shi Feng had joined their team.

Right now, no one on the team felt the same panic they had when they first entered the Dungeon. They could joke around with each other and had even become pals with Shi Feng. Occasionally, they would even ask Shi Feng to teach them a few battle techniques.

While Shi Feng gave out casual pointers, the team members’ admiration for Shi Feng gradually grew.

Under Shi Feng’s casual guidance, many players in the team exhibited noticeable improvement.

Soon after, everyone arrived at the final throne room. Here, they met the final Boss, the Dark Warlock Salou.

[Dark Warlock Salou] (High Chieftain Rank)

Level 12

HP 500,000/500,000

—

Elsewhere, while Shi Feng and the others had arrived before the final Boss, Dark Star’s Lone Tyrant still tangled with the first Boss of the Beastman Munition Factory, Karur.

As of this moment, Lone Tyrant and his team had already experienced three team-wipes. Moreover, Karur’s Avatar Slash had caused all three. They had not improved one little bit since their first battle.

Lone Tyrant grew hysterical at this situation. He did not know why a 20-man Dungeon would have such a huge increase in difficulty compared to a 10-man Dungeon.

After pondering for a long time, Lone Tyrant discovered the reason for their failures.

This Boss needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible. However, our overall damage simply isn’t enough to finish him. Unless the team’s equipment is further upgraded, the possibility of clearing this Dungeon doesn’t exist. Do we really have to go and upgrade our equipment before trying again ? Lone Tyrant wore a hesitant expression as he glared at Karur.

Due to his previous boasting, he was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. However, Lone Tyrant suddenly came to a realization. If the damage of his own team were insufficient to deal with Karur, then the Assassin’s Alliance, who had poorer quality equipment, would have even less of a chance of killing Karur. At this moment, the team from the Assassin’s Alliance must certainly be stuck at the first Boss as well. When Lone Tyrant thought about this, his mood immediately lifted. He decided to reflect on their raiding strategy, giving the Boss another try.

—

Meanwhile, in the magnificent throne room of the Beastman Munition Factory…

The Assassin’s Alliance had already investigated the Dark Warlock Salou’s skills.

Aside from Dark Arrow being Salou’s most basic attack, Salou was immune to all controlling effects. Salou also possessed two killing moves. One of them was a skill called Shadow Wound. When cast, the Boss would fire 12 Dark Arrows. Each Dark Arrow would cause -800 damage and inflict a Fear effect that lasted 6 seconds.

The other was a skill called Summon Flame Giant. The Flame Giant was a Level 12 Special Elite with 50,000 HP. Each Flame Giant that Salou summoned possessed Self-immolation effect that dealt -300 flame damage to all targets within a 10-yard range every second.

The Flame Giant was also the largest hurdle to overcome when raiding the Dark Warlock Salou, as the self-immolation was an AoE DoT[1]. If any players other than MTs received -300 flame damage every second, they would last four to five seconds at most. Meanwhile, Salou would summon an additional Flame Giant every one to two minutes. Factoring in the fear effect from Shadow Wound, many players in the team would die under the combination of these two skills.

Even if this combination did not immediately kill them, with three Flame Giants running about, they would similarly end in destruction. Three Flame Giants would mean -900 total damage per second. Even Shi Feng could not last 3 seconds under this damage, much less the other players in the team.

However, if they focused their attacks on the Flame Giants summoned instead, they would waste precious time. As a result, Salou would fully recover his HP due to his battle recovery. A battle of attrition like this would only end with the healers exhausting their mana and a team-wipe.

Meanwhile, after sending a group of half a dozen players to test the waters, everyone learned Dark Warlock Salou’s true strength. As a result, their hearts sunk, and their confidence wavered.

Ignoring the fact that each of Salou’s Dark Arrows could cause -800 damage to their MTs and -1,000 damage to everyone else, the Flame Giants alone were extremely difficult to deal with. After all, none of the melee players could go near a Flame Giant, and even if only the MTs tanked it, the healers still wouldn’t be able to cope with the high damage. Not to mention, there was also Salou’s AoE skill, Shadow Wound, that would suddenly cause -800 damage.

The Flame Giant itself could cause over -300 damage to the MT with its attacks. Coupling that with the Flame Giant’s self-immolation effect, its prowess could rival that of a Boss. If they suddenly received an attack from Salou’s Shadow Wound in addition to the Flame Giant’s attacks, even their MTs might instantly die. Moreover, if they did not kill the first Flame Giant within one to two minutes of its summoning, Salou would summon the second Flame Giant. Under the simultaneous attacks of two Flame Giants, their MTs wouldn’t have a chance.

With their current equipment and levels, it was impossible for them to face Dark Warlock Salou head-on in battle.

Thinking up to this point, everyone’s moods grew somber.

“Isn’t this only Hard Mode? Why is the difficulty so high? What would happen if this were Hell Mode?” Stabbing Heart was similarly bitter after seeing Dark Warlock Salou’s capabilities.

The Guild Leader of the Assassin’s Alliance, Cruel Sword, wrinkled his brows, falling into deep thought.

Salou’s raiding difficulty was clearly much higher than the previous two Bosses. As expected of a final Boss, it won’t be easy to clear this hurdle. At the very least, Cruel Sword did not have any good methods to raid Salou.

While everyone was discouraged…

“Why don’t we give it a try first? It’s not like we’re completely helpless right now,” Shi Feng suddenly said in the team chat.

Shi Feng’s words were like a ray of hope.

“Brother Ye Feng, can we really raid this Boss?” Mu Qing blinked her mesmerizing eyes, her delicate body sticking close to Shi Feng as she asked.

“It should be possible. We can only find out if we try it, right?” Shi Feng merely shrugged as he spoke, his calm appearance giving Mu Qing a slight surprise.

Following which, Shi Feng gave a brief overview of his raiding plan.

Shi Feng’s plan was simple. He, alone, would kite the summoned Flame Giants, while the other members of the team would focus their attacks on the Boss. In this situation, three of the four healers on the team would be responsible for healing the MTs, while the last healer would be responsible for keeping Shi Feng alive. However, this plan was very risky. Its success relied heavily on Shi Feng’s ability to kite the Flame Giants. As the throne room did not provide a wide area for movement, Shi Feng needed to be mindful of his positioning. Any mistakes could lead to a team-wipe.

However, nobody rejected Shi Feng’s proposal. They did not even have the slightest opinion about Shi Feng’s plan. They had long since been convinced of Shi Feng’s strength. Since Shi Feng shared his plan, he must be very confident about it. Thus, they believed that Shi Feng could really pull it off.

“Water Lake, you’ll activate Darkness Aura. White Feather, you’ll activate Crusader Aura. Let’s start the raid, then,” Shi Feng said.

A Guardian Knight’s Darkness Aura could provide an additional 5 points Dark Resistance to allies, decreasing the darkness damage they received. Meanwhile, the Crusader Aura could increase allies’ Movement Speed by 10%, letting everyone have an easier time evading the Flame Giants. With these two auras, the team would have a much easier time raiding the Boss.

Water Lake was the first to dash at Salou. While Salou was still in the process of casting a spell, Water Lake smashed Shield of Vengeance into Salou’s face, causing -181 damage. Water Lake then followed up with Righteous Punishment, dealing -201 damage.

However, neither of these attacks had interrupted or delayed Salou’s chanting, and shortly after, a streak of dark light skewered Water Lake through the chest, causing -800 damage to him. A moment later, three Healing Lights landed on Water Lake’s body, recovering over 700 HP of his HP.

After Water Lake solidified his grasp on Salou’s aggro, Shi Feng instructed the other players to initiate their attacks.

After a moment, Salou pointed his staff towards the sky. A large, azure-green fireball descended from the sky, crashing into the throne room. Immediately, Shi Feng tossed out the Blazing Meteor at the azure-green Flame Giant, causing -621 damage and instantly becoming its main target.

Seeing the Flame Giant charging at him, Shi Feng spun around and fled, luring the Flame Giant away from the rest of the team. He then started circling around the hall with the Flame Giant right behind him.

As Salou’s HP continued decreasing, the Flame Giants he summoned also grew stronger. Unfortunately, Shi Feng lured away all of the Flame Giants Salou summoned, spoiling his fun.

After more than ten minutes, Salou released a resentful bellow. His body fell to the throne as he passed away.

---

TL Notes:

[1]DoT: Damage-over-Time.

Chapter 215: Basic Fire Resistance Potion

From beginning to end, Shi Feng had lured a total of nine Flame Giants, kiting them around the throne room.

Due to his actions, the Flame Giants had not been able to showcase their prowess even once in this entire battle. As a result, the Dark Warlock Salou became very easy to deal with, breathing his last under everyone’s heavy bombardment.

Even an amazing Boss could not compete against a reincarnated player. Their only fate was to be a plaything… unto death.

Seeing Salou fall, everyone jumped in celebration.

The Beastman Munition Factory belonged to the category of Expedition Dungeons. Unlike the Dark Moon Graveyard, which was a Survival Dungeon, players only needed to kill the final Boss in an expedition Dungeon to clear it; there was no need to leave the Dungeon for the clear to be official.

At this moment, the White River City Region System Announcement had already appeared.

White River City Region System Announcement: Congratulations to Assassin’s Alliance for becoming the first team to conquer the Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory. All players within the team will be rewarded with 50,000 EXP and 1 Silver Coin.

White River City Region System Announcement: Congratulations to Assassin’s Alliance for becoming the fastest team to conquer the Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory. All players within the team will be rewarded with 50,000 EXP and one Tier 1 Gemstone of random Attribute.

As it was not the First Clear of Hell Mode, the Main God System would not be so generous as to reward them with reputation points. Normally, players would only receive EXP for obtaining the First Clear of Hard Mode.

Also, the race for Team Dungeons was categorized into two types: Hard Mode and Hell Mode. Normal Mode was not taken into consideration as no time challenge existed.

Normally, the Main God System would implement a clear time for Team Dungeons. The clear time set by the system depended on the type of Team Dungeon and its difficulty. Meanwhile, the Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory’s clear time was set at three hours. The Main God System would usually set the clear time at a very high bar. Only if players had achieved the standard of an elite team, determined by the Main God System, would they have a chance to clear the Dungeon in this set amount of time.

Meanwhile, under Shi Feng’s command, the Assassin’s Alliance had only spent 2 hours and 22 minutes to clear the Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory, surpassing the estimated time. This proved that the team’s strength was already above the standards of a normal elite team.

However, everyone on the team knew full well that this achievement was all due to Shi Feng’s contributions.

After a round of mad celebration, everyone finally welcomed the most exciting moment.

They began examining the item drops of the Dark Warlock Salou, the final Boss monster of the Beastman Munition Factory.

Compared to the previous two Bosses, the loot from Salou was far more bountiful. Salou had dropped a total of seven items. Among them, five were Level 10 Mysterious-Iron ranked helmets, each being a part of a Set Equipment for different classes. With great luck, Salou even dropped a Basic Fire Resistance Potion Recipe. As for the final item, it was a Secret-Silver Staff meant for Elementalists.

[Elemental Scepter] (Staff, Secret-Silver Rank)

Level 10

Intelligence +15, Strength +4, Agility +4, Endurance +10

Increases elemental damage by 5%

Increases casting speed by 10%

Durability 80/80

With just a glance, one could immediately tell that this was a top-tier staff meant for Elementalists.

When the mages in the team looked at the details of this staff, drool nearly leaked from their mouths.

Although these mages had quite a few pieces of Mysterious-Iron Equipment on their persons, their weapons and equipment were all below Level 10. They were clearly much weaker compared to Level 10 weapons and equipment, not to mention a Secret-Silver ranked staff.

Cruel Sword immediately handed the Elemental Staff to Mu Qing. However, nobody in the team expressed any dissatisfaction about Cruel Sword’s decision because Mu Qing’s strength was indeed very powerful. Moreover, her damage was ranked number one amongst all the mages present. Following which, Cruel Sword handed the Wind Extinguisher Helmet, Wind Extinguisher Armguard, and Basic Fire Resistance Potion Recipe to Shi Feng. Similarly, nobody in the team had any gripes about this decision. If it weren’t for Shi Feng, they would not have cleared this Dungeon in the first place.

With this, Shi Feng now had four pieces of the Wind Extinguisher Set Equipment. Although he did not possess all six pieces, they were sufficient for him to replace the Bronze ranked Silvermoon Set Equipment.

“Brother Ye Feng, you’ve helped us out so much, yet, you’re only taking so few items. I am truly embarrassed about this, so please let me pay you another 100,000 Credits as compensation. Otherwise, if the other Guilds discover this matter, they will definitely make mock us for being insincere!” Cruel Sword said with a laugh as he looked at Shi Feng.

Putting aside the advertising benefits brought about from obtaining the First Clear of the Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory, just the equipment they obtained was already of considerable value. It was especially true for the Secret-Silver ranked Elemental Scepter. The value of this staff alone could compare to half a dozen pieces of Level 10 Mysterious-Iron Equipment. Hence, spending an additional 100,000 Credits to compensate Shi Feng was a minor matter.

To put it another way, the Assassin’s Alliance had made a huge profit from this deal. After all, the First Clear of a 20-man Hard Mode Team Dungeon held extraordinary significance, as up until this moment, any Guild had yet to obtain the First Clear of a 20-man Hard Mode Team Dungeon.

Obtaining the First Clear of the Hard Mode Beastman Munition Factory had undeniably allowed the Assassin’s Alliance to break free from their awkward position in White River City. They no longer had to suffer the suppression from Dark Star.

Of course, by giving Shi Feng 100,000 Credits, Cruel Sword also had the intention of deepening the relationship between Shi Feng and the Assassin’s Alliance. Cruel Sword still wished to recruit Shi Feng into the Guild.

Shi Feng could easily see through Cruel Sword’s intentions. However, he merely smiled in reply, receiving all that Cruel Sword offered without hesitation.

Cruel Sword had no idea that Shi Feng did not really care about this equipment. Even if it were the Wind Extinguisher Set Equipment, it was simply a temporary set of equipment for Shi Feng. Meanwhile, amongst these items, the one Shi Feng paid the most attention to was the Basic Fire Resistance Potion Recipe.

[Basic Fire Resistance Potion]

After consumption, increases Fire Resistance by 15 points for 1 hour.

Currently, this item had no market value. However, when the various large Guilds started raiding the Level 25 Flame Nest, the value of this Basic Fire Resistance Potion Recipe would soar beyond one’s imagination. It’s worth would not be less than a piece of Fine-Gold Equipment.

Players were not allowed to use the Flaming Sun Scripture when in a Dungeon. Meanwhile, equipment that increased a player’s Fire Resistance was extremely rare. The quickest way to increase one’s Fire Resistance was through the use of a Basic Fire Resistance Potion. If players did not possess this potion, raiding the Flame Nest would only be possible in their dreams.

If Shi Feng started looking for a Potionmaker to craft the Basic Fire Resistance Potion now, he would carve out an additional path to wealth for the future. Even ten pieces of Secret-Silver Equipment could not rival what he could earn with these potions.

“Brother Ye Feng, are you free tomorrow?” At this moment, Mu Qing walked over to Shi Feng after receiving a silent hint from Cruel Sword. Sweetly, she said, “My party is planning to raid the Old Ruins, a high-level 10-man Team Dungeon, tomorrow. However, one of the original party members had applied for leave due to some personal matters. I’d really love it if you would join me. Will you??”

After a Team Dungeon was cleared, it would have a Cooldown period of three days. Hence, they needed to wait for three days before they could enter the Beastman Munition Factory again.

Standing to the side, Cruel Sword inwardly clapped his hands at Mu Qing’s performance.

Relationships needed care and gentle nurturing. Although he could tell that Shi Feng had no particular interest in Mu Qing, with increased interactions, who was to say would happen in the future?

“I still have something that I need to do tomorrow. Let’s find some other time to go Dungeon diving.”

Shi Feng could naturally tell what Mu Qing was trying to do. However, he simply waved his hand and tactfully rejected her. Although the Old Ruins was a high-level Team Dungeon, there was nothing there that could rouse his interests. He would only waste time by going there. Now that he had changed into the four pieces of Wind Extinguisher Set Equipment, his Attributes had greatly increased once again. He should be able to attempt the continuation of the Epic Quest, Darkness Descends, now.

Mu Qing’s innocent eyes flashed with a hint of disappointment. She did not think that her charm, which had only brought her success so far, would fail against Shi Feng.

Was she really lacking in charm, or were Shi Feng’s defenses just too high?