Chapter 283

Chapter 283: Arrogance

Feng Xuanyang’s words dripped with temptation.

Just the prestige of being the number one Guild in the entire eastern region of Star-Moon Kingdom would cause many to fight over it.

These exact same words might have been used to attract Lone Tyrant into cooperating with Underworld back then.

Under the banner of the number one player on the Ranking List, in addition to Underworld’s covert support, Dark Star had managed to rocket to fame, becoming a Guild capable of rivalling even the powerful Ouroboros.

So that’s how it is . Shi Feng suddenly came to a realization.

He finally understood why Dark Star could become so amazing, just like that, with experts appearing in the Guild out of nowhere. Its abrupt rise was all because of Underworld helping it in secret.

However, now that Zero Wing had established a Guild Residence, Underworld couldn’t help but reconsider its original plans, hence its interest in investing in Zero Wing.

Shi Feng couldn’t help but acknowledge that Underworld was indeed amazing.

They were willing to support an entirely different Guild even at the cost of sacrificing all their previous investments. From an outsider’s perspective, such an action was plain foolish. However, Shi Feng knew that Underworld’s decision was, in fact, very wise. It was obvious at first glance how great an influence a Guild Residence would have towards a Guild’s success. If it were up to him, he, too, would choose to take such an action.

“Master Black Flame, you should know that there are over 20 cities just in Star-Moon Kingdom’s eastern region alone. If Master Black Flame agrees to our proposition, in the future, you will become the absolute overlord of these 20-plus cities. Moreover, even though Underworld will be investing in Zero Wing, we will not interfere directly in the management of the Guild itself. Rather, we will provide you with a large sum in funding and manpower,” Feng Xuanyang slowly said in a tempting tone. “We at Underworld have already decided that, as long as Master Black Flame agrees, we will immediately inject one billion Credits into Zero Wing, and also provide the Guild with 100 Gold Coins every week. In addition, we will also provide 100 experts, and also one team of Underworld Guards for you, Master Black Flame, to command as you see fit. If Zero Wing develops well, Underworld will invest even more into the Guild in the future.

“Master Black Flame, what do you think?”

Feng Xuanyang had taken Shi Feng’s previous silence for hesitation, thinking that Shi Feng was definitely considering his proposition; hence he sweetened the deal. In God’s Domain, wasn’t the main purpose one established a Guild earning money and gaining status?

For a newly established Guild, one billion Credits was definitely an astronomical sum. Even a major corporation in a city couldn’t easily take out one billion Credits. Recently, due to God’s Domain’s raging popularity, the number of corporations investing in the game had been continuously increasing. The value of Guilds in God’s Domain had similarly shot up abruptly. Yet, even so, a third-rate Guild with a member count of 20 to 30 thousand would, at most, be worth two to three hundred million Credits.

Meanwhile, Zero Wing merely had several thousand members in its ranks. Although it had both fame and experts, its value was still not worth one billion Credits. After taking into account the value of a Guild Residence, Zero Wing would at most be worth 500 million Credits. Hence, it would be completely illogical for Shi Feng to refuse the offer of one billion Credits.

“I wonder how much shares Young Master Feng is intending to purchase?” Shi Feng asked, an indifferent smile on his face.

“Not much, just 50%. In exchange for 50% of Zero Wing’s shares, you can obtain one billion Credits, in addition to having many experts to assist you. I believe that no other corporation will be willing to offer such a high price,” Feng Xuanyang said confidently.

Shi Feng propped up his chin with his hand, entering into a deep contemplation. Shortly after, he slowly said, “Although your offer is indeed attractive, 50% of the Guild’s shares is simply too much. I am willing to sell 10% at most.”

Although Feng Xuanyang’s offer of 50% seemed as if both sides would be wielding half of the Guild’s shares, it was simply a trick to make Shi Feng drop his guard. In reality, wielding 50% of Zero Wing’s shares was already tantamount to full control of the Guild. After all, when Shi Feng established his Guild, he hadn’t claimed the full 100% shares of the Guild; he had given a small portion to Aqua Rose.

If Feng Xuanyang purchased 1% of Zero Wing’s shares from Aqua Rose, then he would have 51% of the Guild’s shares. At that time, Feng Xuanyang’s words would become law in Zero Wing, while Shi Feng would sooner or later end up in a situation like the one in his previous life. Shi Feng had sworn to never let something like that happen again in this life.

“Ten percent?” Feng Xuanyang did not dare believe his own ears.

He was going to spend one billion Credits on Zero Wing, yet, all he would get in return was 10% of its shares? Did Shi Feng really take Zero Wing for the number one Guild in Star-Moon Kingdom?

“Vice-Leader Feng, you must think that the amount I’m offering is too low, right?” Shi Feng asked, his indifferent smile still on his face. “It’s only normal that you would think so. However, what I’m trying to say is that one billion Credits really isn’t a big sum of money. I’m already giving Young Master Feng a lot of face by offering you 10% of Zero Wing’s shares. If it were anyone else here today, I would only offer them 1% at most.”

In fact, Shi Feng was not speaking conceited nonsense at all.

Just the Gold Coins he had on hand right now already exceeded 10,000. If he converted them into Credits, they would be worth at least 200 million Credits. His daily income was also continuously rising day after day. Just the benefits he could obtain from the Starstreak Trading Firm had already far exceeded one billion Credits. Not to mention, Zero Wing’s Guild Residence was also built on a strategic location like the Purple Sun Mansion.

The Purple Sun Mansion was the best location for players to establish a Guild Residence in White River City. It also occupied a broad tract of land, larger than even a football field, which could contain 50,000 people. Not to mention the current state of White River City, where every square inch of land was worth its inch in gold; even after a decade passed since God’s Domain’s official launch, the land of the Purple Sun Mansion would still be worth more than ten billion Credits.

Although one billion Credits was indeed an astronomical sum, it was truly not worth 10% of Zero Wing’s shares. Even 1% was an overestimation, not to mention 10%…

“Master Black Flame, there has to be a limit even to jokes. By toying around with me like this, do you take me for someone easily bullied?” Feng Xuanyang’s expression suddenly changed; his tone turned cold as well.

“Vice-Leader Feng, what I speak is the truth. If Vice-Leader Feng feels wronged, then let’s just forget about this matter entirely.” Shi Feng shook his head and laughed. After this meeting, he, too, started thinking of looking for an investment partner.

The falling flowers are yearning for love, but the heartless brook ripples on[1].

If Shi Feng had rejected Feng Xuanyang’s investment proposal from the very beginning, or had argued that Feng Xuanyang was asking for too high a percentage of Zero Wing’s shares, Feng Xuanyang might still have accepted Shi Feng’s answer with a smile.

This was the atrocity of the truth; hence people would often prefer to hear a lie than the truth.

The reason being, the truth was much crueler than a lie.

If Aqua Rose were here right now, she would definitely scold Shi Feng for speaking the truth.

Soon after, Shi Feng departed from the private room, leaving behind a thoroughly incensed Feng Xuanyang.

“South Wolf, get in here!” Feng Xuanyang roared.

South Wolf hurriedly entered the private room, asking, “Young Master Feng, why are you so angry? Did that brat Black Flame fail to appreciate your kindness?”

“Tell Lone Tyrant that he can take action immediately. I don’t wish to see the Guild called Zero Wing in White River City anymore.” Feng Xuanyang no longer had his elegant appearance from before. Instead, he revealed his sinister nature, saying, “Since he isn’t willing to cooperate with Underworld, then we will just remove him, one way or another. White River City does not need a Guild that Underworld cannot control.”

“Yes, I’ll notify Lone Tyrant immediately,” South Wolf said with excitement as he licked his lips.

—

After Shi Feng departed from the high-class bar, he immediately headed towards the Teleportation Hall. Spending 32 Silver Coins, he quickly arrived at Star-Moon City, Star-Moon Kingdom’s most affluent city.

Compared to White River City, the competition at Star-Moon City was much more intense. Just the number of first-rate Guilds present in the city already surpassed five. The second- and third-rate Guilds were even more numerous. Meanwhile, the player population at Star-Moon City was over three million. Such a number could easily match the total number of players in White River City and its neighboring seven cities.

One could say that Star-Moon City was a location that every Guild needed to compete for in the future. After all, it was a super-city that would be able to contain over ten million players in the future. Meanwhile, the resources available in the surroundings of Star-Moon City were even more abundant. There were plenty of high-level maps that were only a short distance away from the city. Obtaining Star-Moon City would be the equivalent of occupying a fifth of the entire Star-Moon Kingdom’s resources.

TL Notes:

[1]The falling flowers are yearning for love, but the heartless brook ripples on: this is a Chinese idiom that gives the meaning – one side is willing, yet the other one remains indifferent

Chapter 284: Ghost Raider

As the capital city of Star-Moon Kingdom, beneath the flourishing appearance of Star-Moon City were piles and piles of pearly white bones.

The moment Shi Feng arrived at the city, he could already sniff out the strong smell of blood.

When Shi Feng walked the bustling streets of Star-Moon City, none of the players he saw belonged to small and unknown Guilds. Instead, all the Guild players he saw belonged to third-rate Guilds or above. As for the unrated Guilds, Shi Feng could make a general guess as to where they had gone.

They had definitely been completely annexed by these large Guilds.

Furthermore, the average level of players in Star-Moon City was very high. In terms of equipment, the players of Star-Moon City were also a notch higher than the players of White River City.

Originally, it was a very rare sight to find average players possessing Bronze Equipment. At Star-Moon City, however, it was not a rare sight at all. Shi Feng had even seen some independent players who possessed equipment of Mysterious-Iron rank and above. As for the players who wore a Guild Emblem on them, majority of their equipment were of Mysterious-Iron rank. Some elite members of Guilds were even fully geared with Mysterious-Iron Equipment. The standards of Star-Moon City were clearly a lot higher than White River City’s.

However, if these players were to be compared to Shi Feng, they would still be miles and miles behind.

When Shi Feng arrived in Star-Moon City, he had removed his disguise of Black Flame. Instead, he had chosen to use his original appearance of Ye Feng to move around the city. Hence, he did not choose to hide the equipment he had on him right now.

Although Shi Feng had already turned off the innate glowing effect that Dark-Gold Equipment possessed, he was unable to do anything about the originally dashing appearance of the item itself. There was also the two weapons at his waist, the Abyssal Blade and the Demonbane, whose quality could not be discerned through sight alone. Overall, Shi Feng’s equipment had caused all the players who walked past him to cast sidelong glances at him.

Shi Feng was just like a famous celebrity as he strolled along the streets of Star-Moon City; it was impossible for him to keep a low profile even if he wanted to.

However, Shi Feng paid no attention to the stares he was receiving, focusing only on the task at hand.

After arriving at Star-Moon City, a new city, Shi Feng first made a trip to the city’s Auction House by force of habit. He intended to gauge the market conditions of this entire city.

As the capital city, Star-Moon City was geographically located in the central region of Star-Moon Kingdom. Hence, whether it was the northern, southern, western, or eastern region, all trade would pass through this place. In the past, during the peak of Star-Moon Kingdom, Star-Moon City controlled a full quarter of Star-Moon Kingdom’s trade volume. One could simply imagine how large the trade volume at Star-Moon City was.

If one could dominate Star-Moon City, the daily profits one could rake in would be astronomical. In comparison, the Starstreak Trading Firm’s daily profit of 1,600 to 1,700 Gold Coins was merely a trifling sum.

With such a large trade volume available, it would be a lie to say that Shi Feng did not have aspirations towards it.

Unfortunately, Zero Wing had just recently set out on its journey. It would still be a long time before he could attempt to get a share of the pie known as Star-Moon City.

Today, Shi Feng was simply here to lay the groundwork for his eventual entry into Star-Moon City’s market in the future.

Star-Moon City’s Auction House was also the largest Auction House in Star-Moon Kingdom. When players registered an item here, the item would also be available for the players in the surrounding tens of cities to purchase. It was much more amazing than the White River City Auction House.

Moreover, when players from another country wished to visit Star-Moon Kingdom, or when players from the kingdom itself wished to head to another country, they would be required to make a transit through Star-Moon City, as it was the capital city of the kingdom. This situation also led to players from other countries selling their wares at the Star-Moon Auction House. Hence, there was a very large variety of items available at the Star-Moon Auction House, and no other Auction House in Star-Moon Kingdom could ever dream of being its equal.

This was also one of the reasons why many players would willingly come here to purchase or sell their items.

—

The inside of the Auction House was filled with a sea of players. After entering the building, Shi Feng quickly looked for a quiet corner and sat down. He then called out the Auction House interface, quietly browsing through its contents.

“Brother Blade, look at that person’s amazing equipment! Although my Eagle Eyes skill allows me to identify any weapon or equipment that is Fine-Gold rank or below, when I tried identifying that person’s stuff, many of them returned as Unidentifiable!” a skinny Ranger said excitedly as he drooled at Shi Feng’s equipment.

“What? Unidentifiable? Don’t tell me he’s using Dark-Gold Equipment? Imperial Thunder, did something go wrong with your skill? Let alone a player from an unknown Guild, even the Guild Leaders of Ouroboros and the Star Alliance wouldn’t be able to possess so many Dark-Gold Equipment,” the robust-looking Berserker named Lifeless Blade argued, laughing.

“Brother Blade, you should know that this identification skill of mine is an advanced skill that I obtained only after completing a Unique Quest. When had it ever gone wrong before?” the Ranger named Imperial Thunder replied earnestly.

Lifeless Blade nodded, his expression turning serious. He then looked towards Shi Feng, who currently sat on a stone chair, noticing that he was actually unfamiliar with this person.

“Ye Feng?

“He isn’t an expert of Star-Moon City. He should have come from some other city.”

After Lifeless Blade used an identification skill on Shi Feng, he immediately knew that Shi Feng was not a player belonging to Star-Moon City.

Lifeless Blade could be considered a somewhat famous person in Star-Moon Kingdom. He had met many players before, and he had also met majority of the experts that could be found in the city. As for the experts he had yet to meet, he knew what they were called, at the very least. Even so, he had never heard of an expert called Ye Feng before.

“And yet, I seem to recall hearing this name, Ye Feng, from somewhere…” Lifeless Blade drifted into deep thought. “I recall seeing this name on the official forums before. I wonder if I can still find it now.” Thinking so, Lifeless Blade opened the official forums and started searching for information relating to a player called Ye Feng.

At this moment, Imperial Thunder used Eagle Eyes on the Guild Emblem hanging on Shi Feng’s chest. Instantly, a shocked expression surfaced on his face. Yet, immediately after, that shock turned into great excitement.

“Imperial Thunder, what happened to you?” Lifeless Blade asked curiously. It was his first time seeing Imperial Thunder produce such an expression. In the past, Imperial Thunder did not react with such intensity even when he saw a Lord ranked Field Boss.

“Brother Blade, he’s a member of Zero Wing!” Imperial Thunder said excitedly.

“Zero Wing? Why would they be here?” Lifeless Blade asked curiously.

Nobody in Star-Moon Kingdom had not heard of Zero Wing at this point.

After all, it was the first Guild in Star-Moon Kingdom to possess its own Guild Residence. Moreover, there were plenty of experts in its midst. Even the top ranking player in Star-Moon Kingdom was a member of Zero Wing. Not only was this Guild extremely mysterious, it also had Star-Moon Kingdom’s Chief Forger providing them with equipment.

Countless players wished to join Zero Wing. Unfortunately, the Guild was only recruiting members in White River City. Unless players from other cities migrated there, they would have no chance of joining it at all.

At this moment, Lifeless Blade had also found some information relating to Ye Feng on the forums.

Aside from finding out that Ye Feng was the author of the White River City Guidebook, Lifeless Blade had also found some video recordings of Ye Feng’s battles. Of them, the video showing Ye Feng’s one-man battle against hundreds of Martial Union members was still ranked within the top 30 most-viewed videos. The video had even been titled God-ranked Swordsman’s Instructional Video.

“So he is that god-ranked expert, Ye Feng.” Lifeless Blade felt greatly surprised at this moment. He never imagined he would get the chance to meet such a great expert.

While Lifeless Blade and Imperial Thunder were watching Shi Feng, Shi Feng, with his extraordinary five senses, had long since noticed his two observers.

The interest these two players emitted was very strong. In addition, the fervor in their gazes made it hard for Shi Feng not to notice them, even if he wasn’t trying.

“And here I was, wondering who was spying on me. It turned out that it was Lifeless Blade and Imperial Thunder.” Shi Feng glanced at his two admirers, sending a faint smile at them. Shi Feng had been looking forward to meeting these two famous players for a long time now.

Before they had even started playing God’s Domain, they were already a relatively famous independent party. In the gaming world, they had even been called the Sharp Arrow party. After they entered God’s Domain, they shone even more than before. In the past, the team they had formed managed to successfully raid plenty of Team Dungeons that even the main force of first-rate Guilds were helpless against.

Meanwhile, the team leader, Lifeless Blade, had also been nicknamed the Ghost Raider.

“Brother Blade, such a chance won’t fall into our laps a second time. Why don’t we go get acquainted with him? Who knows, we might even become friends,” Imperial Thunder suggested to Lifeless Blade.

Chapter 285: Market Research

Imperial Thunder’s suggestion sent Lifeless Blade into a light contemplation. Soon after, Lifeless Blade replied with a nod.

As the saying went: another friend is another opportunity. If one wished to succeed in a game, an extensive network of friends was necessary. It was especially true when it came to friends who were experts.

“If we are going to hastily approach and interrupt him like this, we need to be careful with our words when we speak. After all, every expert has their own unique personality: some might be cheerful, some might be indifferent, and some might be arrogant. It would be counterproductive if we happened to accidentally provoke him,” Lifeless Blade whispered.

“Ah, of course I know about this point!” Imperial Thunder laughed.

“You do, huh?” Lifeless Blade rolled his eyes at Imperial Thunder. He then continued, “Do you still remember how you managed to provoke Yuan Fei, one of the top ten rookies of the gaming world, whom we met last time?”

“That was his fault for going overboard! He actually tried to Roll for every equipment we got from that Boss!” Imperial Thunder still held a grudge against the player called Yuan Fei.

When they had discovered a Lord ranked Field Boss before, they had kindly sent Yuan Fei an invite to raid the Boss together. After the Boss died, the loot the Boss dropped was distributed using the dice-rolling system, as more than a dozen players had participated in the raid. It was also logical that every team member would only Roll for the items they needed. Yet, contrary to custom, Yuan Fei had Rolled for every single item the Boss dropped.

Yuan Fei’s actions clearly stated that, if he could not use it, then he could still sell it.

“You could have just spoken up about the matter. At worst, we could have just stopped contacting him; there was no need for us to become enemies. Yet, you chose to pick a fight with him without even trying to talk things out. That’s not how you make friends; that’s how you make enemies. Yuan Fei is still holding a grudge against us even until now.” Lifeless Blade felt speechless when he recalled the incident back then.

Yuan Fei was one of this year’s top ten rookies of the virtual gaming world, and the Star Alliance had even offered him an annual salary of two million Credits in order to recruit him.

Meanwhile, just because their team had provoked that petty-minded Yuan Fei, they had received plenty of oppression from the Star Alliance, making it hard for them to mingle in Star-Moon City. If not for the fact that Lifeless Blade was acquainted with the Guild Leader of the Star Alliance, this matter would never have been settled, and their team would have been forced out of Star-Moon City long ago.

“I understand… I won’t repeat the same mistakes…” Imperial Thunder said in a soft tone. In fact, he, too, recognized the mistake he made in the past. However, it was not easy for him to fix his short temper.

As the two of them quietly conversed while they made their way towards Shi Feng…

Shi Feng had already grasped the general market trend in Star-Moon City.

Overall, the items sold here were cheaper than White River City.

In White River City, a stack of Hard Stones could be sold for 10 Silver Coins. At this place, however, each stack was being sold for only 9 Silver Coins. The same went for Whetstones. In White River City, each stack of Whetstones could be sold for 35 Silver Coins, while at this place, it was being sold for only 32 Silver Coins. Only Advanced Whetstones were sold at the same price in both cities, whereby each stack went for 1 Gold Coin.

On the other hand, Mysterious-Iron ranked weapons and equipment sold here were at least 10% to 20% more expensive than the ones sold at White River City. As for Secret-Silver ranked weapons and equipment, those were sold at prices 30% to 40% higher.

Sure enough, with more players around, the resources available is also greater in volume. Even though Mysterious-Iron Equipment is such a rare commodity in White River City, here in Star-Moon City, these items seem to be available in abundance. There is someone actually selling Secret-Silver Equipment as well. As expected of the capital city, the number of experts here is much higher than other cities. Just by looking at the items being sold at the Auction House, Shi Feng could clearly feel the intensity of the competition at Star-Moon City, with higher quality equipment in greater demand.

It was also precisely this fierce competition that resulted in more experts being produced here. In order to survive in this city, one had to rack their brains and constantly think of ways to improve themselves, gradually climbing up the ranks of this prosperous city.

Otherwise, what other explanation would there be for a precious Secret-Silver Equipment to appear at the Auction House?

It was simply impossible for Guilds to sell any weapons or equipment that were of Mysterious-Iron rank or better. After all, these items were strategic materiel for a Guild. At most, they would sell the equipment produced by their own forgers. However, where would they find a forger who was capable of producing Secret-Silver Equipment?

Even Shi Feng, who possessed plenty of support items, could not easily produce them. It went without saying that other forgers should only be able to produce Bronze Equipment, or at best, Mysterious-Iron Equipment at this stage of the game.

Hence, the Secret-Silver ranked weapons and equipment being sold at the Auction House were definitely the offerings of independent teams. Meanwhile, their purpose in selling was simply to bolster their team’s strength and obtain the funds necessary to cover their expenses.

The number of independent teams that could obtain Secret-Silver ranked weapons and equipment at White River City could definitely be counted using one’s fingers. As far as Shi Feng knew, the only team capable of such a feat was the Holy Grail Knights that he had met by coincidence last time. On the other hand, there were a number of such independent teams in Star-Moon City. One could just imagine the difference between the two cities.

If I am going to try to enter Star-Moon City’s market, it seems that selling high-end equipment would be the most effective way to do so . At this moment, the Fine-Gold ranked Dragonscale Set Equipment popped up in Shi Feng’s mind. He felt that it might not be a bad idea to rely on the Dragonscale Set Equipment to break into Star-Moon City’s market. However, his current forging standards were still too low. Cream Cocoa was also only an Advanced Forging Apprentice right now; she was still in the midst of striving to get promoted into a true Forger.

Moreover, another condition needed to be met if Shi Feng wished to enter Star-Moon City’s market. Currently, Shi Feng’s Guild was based only in White River City. If he were to establish a branch Guild at Star-Moon City at this period of time, that branch Guild would immediately be annihilated by the many large Guilds of Star-Moon City. Hence, what Shi Feng needed right now to enter Star-Moon City’s market was a shop to do business with.

However, not to mention a shop, even if Shi Feng wished to set up a stall, he first needed to become a minor noble of Star-Moon City. As for establishing a shop, at the very least, he needed to become a Baron before he could do so.

As expected, if I don’t deal with this shop issue, I won’t have any way of entering Star-Moon City’s market at all .

After all, the Auction House’s 15% processing fee was simply too expensive. More importantly, placing items at the Auction House was something only independent teams or players would do. If one wished to have any sort of development and earn large sums of money and fame, a shop of their own was essential.

“Hello there, friend. I am called Lifeless Blade. Seeing that you have come to the Auction House, I’m guessing that you are here to sell some equipment, right? I am somewhat well-known in Star-Moon City, and I have plenty of sales channels. If you wish to sell your equipment at a good price and its Attributes are good, I can lend you a hand with selling them,” Lifeless Blade said as he walked over, a smile on his face.

“Selling equipment?” Shi Feng took a look at his own get-up, discovering that the weapons and equipment he had on him were far better than what anyone else present inside the Auction House had. From an observer’s point of view, he definitely would not have any demands for the items sold at the Auction House. In which case, the possibility of him coming to the Auction House to sell some of his unwanted equipment was very high. After all, with so many good equipment on hand, there were bound to be some obsolete equipment that he needed to dispose of. Immediately, Shi Feng shook his head, saying, “No, you misunderstand. I’m just here to take a look.”

“Sorry, it’s my fault for misunderstanding,” Lifeless Blade quickly said in embarrassment when he realized that he had acted too rashly. “In truth, I’m not trying to earn some middleman’s fees. I’m just trying to make your acquaintance.

“This here is a brother of mine, Imperial Thunder.”

Imperial Thunder nodded in reply, his mind still slightly dazed, completely mesmerized by the elegant appearance of the Abyssal Blade and the Demonbane when seen at such a close distance.

Dark-Gold Weapons!

Even the Guild Leader of the Star Alliance, a first-rate Guild, did not possess such powerful weapons. Imperial Thunder wondered just what kind of Attributes such weapons could possess. Just how much did they surpass the Secret-Silver Weapon he wielded?

Seeing his companion constantly staring at the weapons hanging at Shi Feng’s waist, the drool in Imperial Thunder’s mouth nearly overflowing, Lifeless Blade immediately clapped Imperial Thunder’s back. He then let out an awkward laugh as he said to Shi Feng, “Please excuse him. He doesn’t normally act this way.”

Shi Feng had been playing God’s Domain for many years now, and his eye for people was still quite accurate. Naturally, he could tell that the two players before him did not harbor any evil intentions in their hearts; they were really just trying to get acquainted with him. Furthermore, from the stories he’d heard about Lifeless Blade and Imperial Thunder in the past, he had quite a good grasp on the two’s personalities. They were definitely not sinister, villainous people. Lifeless Blade was the calm and silent type. As for Imperial Thunder, although he was brash, he was a man of integrity.

“No problem. I can tell that Brother Imperial is a straightforward man.” Shi Feng waved his hand, laughing. “Since Brother Blade wishes to become friends, it would be my honor to oblige.”

Lifeless Blade’s eyes immediately glowed. He hadn’t expected Shi Feng to be so easy to get along with, having such an easygoing attitude.

Hence, the two quickly started a conversation between themselves. When they touched on the topic of combat techniques, Shi Feng thoroughly shocked Lifeless Blade with his words. Meanwhile, Lifeless Blade finally understood why the public would acclaim Shi Feng a god-ranked expert.

After conversing for more than half an hour, Shi Feng managed to obtain a more detailed understanding of the situation at Star-Moon City, thanks to Lifeless Blade.

“I’ve gained plenty from this discussion of ours. If not for Brother Ye Feng, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even know such a combat technique existed. This knowledge is simply priceless for Dungeon-raiding,” Lifeless Blade said earnestly. He then retrieved a special tool from his back and presented it to Shi Feng, saying, “This ring is the only item I can offer you as thanks. Brother Ye Feng, please accept it. Otherwise, my conscience won’t let me rest.”

Chapter 286: The Eternal Throne

Shi Feng had not expected Lifeless Blade to be such a forthright person.

Although Lifeless Blade had only taken out an ordinary-looking silver ring, Shi Feng knew exactly how precious this item was.

The reason being, not only had he seen this ring in the past, he had even owned one before.

The ring was a Space Ring; it was a storage item.

One could not judge it simply based on its Mysterious-Iron rank. The Space Ring could store up to 200 slots of items; it was a very significant amount. It also did not impart any additional weight to the user, regardless of the number of items stored in it. However, this was still not the most important point about this ring. Instead, the Space Ring excelled the most when used during battle.

Although it did not have many uses in a normal battle, when used in a fight between experts, a battlefield, or a Boss battle, it could bring about game-changing effects.

For example, if players wished to use Magic Scrolls or support items during a battle, they needed to first place their hands into their bags and search for their items before pulling those out. This entire process would waste much time. However, it was a different story if players possessed the Space Ring. With a simple thought, the item specified would instantly appear within the player’s hands.

The Space Ring was much more convenient than a bag.

In reply to Lifeless Blade’s offer, however, Shi Feng shook his head and said, “This item is too valuable. I cannot accept it.”

“Brother Ye Feng, I am a man who never takes advantage of his friends; I’ll feel extremely guilty if you don’t accept it. Moreover, this ring is merely a storage item. It’s not particularly valuable, so please accept it,” Lifeless Blade said.

“Well, how about this? I have a favor to ask of Brother Blade. I wonder, how many reputation points does Brother Blade have at Star-Moon City right now?” Shi Feng whispered, sighing.

Lifeless Blade grew confused at Shi Feng’s question, failing to understand why Shi Feng would ask him such a thing. However, he still chose to answer honestly. “I’m only 30 points away from becoming a minor noble of Star-Moon City.”

As the capital city of Star-Moon Kingdom, the reputation points of Star-Moon City was the most difficult to earn out of all the cities in the kingdom. Even if Lifeless Blade and his team were amazing, they were still a distance away from becoming nobles of the city.

“Thirty points?” Shi Feng sank into deep contemplation. He thought to himself, That’s not a lot, I guess. If hecomplete s those several quests, he should be able to get those points.

“Must your favor require a noble to accomplish, Brother Ye Feng?” Lifeless Blade asked.

“Yeah.” Shi Feng nodded.

Only by becoming a noble could one purchase a stall in Star-Moon City.

Also, exchanging of stalls could only be conducted between nobles of Star-Moon City, in order to prevent players from taking advantage of any loopholes.

However, Shi Feng was a Demon Hunter. No matter where he went, he would still be treated like a noble. Hence, after Lifeless Blade purchased the stall, there would be no problems if he simply transferred ownership of the stall to Shi Feng. In this way, Shi Feng would have a stall in Star-Moon City to officially sell his items.

Originally, Shi Feng had thought to complete a few quests in Star-Moon City to increase his reputation here. However, it would not be easy to obtain 100 Star-Moon City Reputation Points; he needed to invest plenty of time to do so. Meanwhile, Lifeless Blade had a trustworthy character, and it would be much faster to earn just 30 reputation points than to earn 100 reputation points.

At first, Lifeless Blade felt ashamed for being unable to be of any help to Shi Feng. However, Shi Feng’s next remark immediately sent him into a daze.

“I know a few high-level quests that can increase reputation points. After Brother Blade completes them, you should be able to become a noble of Star-Moon City.”

After saying so, Shi Feng proceeded to list out the few quests he had in mind to Lifeless Blade, withholding nothing at all.

“This… shouldn’t be a good idea, right?” Lifeless Blade was nearly left speechless.

Originally, he had fully intended to help Shi Feng. In the end, however, he had been the one to receive help from Shi Feng instead.

Currently, the many Guilds in Star-Moon City were desperately searching for quests that could increase one’s reputation, holding back nothing to do so. However, even when they offered a huge reward for any related information, they still had no luck in finding any. Yet, Shi Feng had just casually revealed to him four high-level quests that rewarded reputation points, his casual remarks making it seem as if these quests were plain cabbages that could be found anywhere.

“Is the difficulty of these quests too hard for you to manage?” Shi Feng suddenly came to a realization when he saw Lifeless Blade’s troubled expression. “I still know a few quests that reward reputation. However, as their difficulty is much lower, the reputation points rewarded is similarly low. You’ll have to complete at least seven or eight of them in order to accumulate 30 points.”

“…” Lifeless Blade’s mind was an utter mess now.

He even started to suspect Shi Feng was a GM, to actually know of so many Reputation Quests in Star-Moon City. However, Lifeless Blade quickly dispelled this notion from his mind. After all, God’s Domain was controlled by the Main God System; nobody else was allowed to interfere with the game. Hence, the quests in the game were auto-generated by the system, and nobody should know about them in advance.

Of course, if there was an exception to this point, then that would be the extremely mysterious Beta Testers. However, after God’s Domain was officially released, many settings and quests in the game were changed. In theory, the quests that were originally present during the Beta Test should no longer exist.

Thinking up to this point, Lifeless Blade was thoroughly confused by Shi Feng’s identity. Just how was he able to know so many things?

“Are you wondering why I know so much?” Naturally, Shi Feng could discern Lifeless Blade’s doubts.

“Ah.” Lifeless Blade silently nodded his head, making no attempt to hide his thoughts.

“It’s because I am a reincarnated person. I returned to this time from ten years into the future; hence I know about all these quests,” Shi Feng said in full honesty.

“Brother Ye Feng sure knows how to joke!” Lifeless Blade abruptly burst into laughter. “I’ll complete these quests as quickly as possible. After I’ve managed to become a noble, I’ll immediately notify Brother Ye Feng!”

Lifeless Blade knew full well that everyone had their own secrets. Meanwhile, information on Reputation Quests would definitely be categorized as a top secret by Guilds. Shi Feng’s willingness to reveal such precious information to him showed how much trust Shi Feng placed in him. If Lifeless Blade still tried to probe deeper into the matter, then he would simply be too insensible.

“I’m telling the truth,” Shi Feng laughed bitterly.

“Ah, I know.” Lifeless Blade nodded his head repeatedly, the smile on his face seemingly saying, “I understand.”

“…” Shi Feng was left completely speechless.

Although he had long since grown familiar with such a behavior, he still could not help but feel helpless every time he was faced with it.

Why wouldn’t anybody believe him even though he was telling the truth?

Why must the world make an honest man like him tell a lie before somebody was willing to believe him? Shi Feng was no longer able to make sense of this world…

Soon after, Lifeless Blade added Shi Feng as a friend before hurrying off to complete the quests.

Meanwhile, thanks to Lifeless Blade, Shi Feng now had a better understanding of Star-Moon City’s situation. After Lifeless Blade’s departure, Shi Feng hailed a horse carriage and headed to the War God’s Temple of Star-Moon City. He intended to continue carrying out his Legendary ranked Main Storyline Quest.

—

The War God’s Temple of Star-Moon City was built beside the palace. From the outside, the building looked like a magnificent and majestic pyramid, and at the summit of this pyramid was a house-sized Sunstone, which exuded a divine light. Be it day or night, this Sunstone would shine brilliantly on the entire War God’s Temple, and one couldn’t help but admire this dazzling construction when seeing it.

As the main branch of the War God’s Temple, it had Tier 3 NPCs roaming around outside the temple itself, and even a Tier 5 Shadow Saint would not be able to penetrate the tight security here.

Although this was not Shi Feng’s first time visiting this War God’s Temple, it was still his first time coming to the ninth floor of the temple.

The Eternal Throne!

Just the NPC guiding Shi Feng to this place was already a Tier 4 Glory Knight. In other cities, such an NPC would be an overlord-like existence that could cause others to tremble in fear. However, in this place, this NPC simply amounted to a guide.

After entering the Eternal Throne, Shi Feng immediately discovered one purple throne and nine golden thrones suspended in the center of the room. On the sides were fifty silver thrones. Aside from the empty purple throne, every other throne was occupied by a person. Moreover, these people were all apex powerhouses of God’s Domain. A single step of theirs could send tremors throughout the entire continent. However, among all these people, only one of them had a real body; the others were simply phantoms.

Sitting in their thrones, these powerhouses quietly observed Shi Feng. Meanwhile, as the recipient of these gazes, Shi Feng could not help but feel that his life was no longer in his hands. His body felt incomparably heavy under these stares, and his back was also already drenched in sweat.

This was the imposing aura of a true apex powerhouse. It was not something Tier 4 classes could ever hope of equaling.

As expected of one of God’s Domain’s strongest powers. To think they actually have so many apex powerhouses in their midst. Shi Feng was racked with emotion right now. Although he had played God’s Domain for over a decade, this was the first time he personally witnessed the War God’s Temple’s true strength.

“What an interesting young man. However, I don’t believe a little guy like you can accomplish that quest. This is something that involves the fate of the entire continent, after all.”

“Since it is so, let us give this little guy a test. If he passes it, I believe that nobody here would have any other objections, right?”

“A test? This lady likes it! Let’s go with that! If he passes the test, I’ll throw in my vote of support. If he fails… Well, he’ll already be dead at that point, so no punishment will be necessary.”

“How are we going to test him?”

“Obviously, we are going to activate the Twelve Trials!”

“Hahaha! The Twelve Trials! I have only heard of it before and only treated it as a legend. The last time it was activated was more than 900 years ago. I didn’t expect that I would be so lucky as to witness it being activated in my lifetime. I must really thank you, little guy! I do hope you can last a few rounds, though! Let this old man here widen my horizons!”

Chapter 287: Twelve Trials

The occupants of the silver thrones voiced their opinions one after another, merrily deciding how they should “deal with” Shi Feng.

Standing a short distance from the golden doors of this chamber, Shi Feng silently muttered, “Crap! Don’t players have any human rights?”

However, Shi Feng had no choice under the circumstances.

The NPCs before him were all apex powerhouses of God’s Domain; Shi Feng was merely an ant in their eyes. It would be fortunate if they even decided to give him a few extra glances, not to mention involve him in their discussion.

At this moment, a youth garbed in white robes, one of the occupants of the silver thrones, moved and instantly appeared before Shi Feng.

Although this youth was simply standing in front of Shi Feng, showing no animosity whatsoever to Shi Feng, the formidable pressure Shi Feng felt from him was much more overwhelming than what he’d felt from White River City’s Magistrate Weissman.

This white-robed youth was none other than Ucarus, the Star-Moon Temple Lord of the War God’s Temple, whom Shi Feng had been instructed to look for.

“Young man, we already know your reason for coming to this place. Although the Endless Abyss has indeed been unsealed, this is something that would have happened sooner or later. After all, no seal is eternal. In the face of time, everything is powerless. It is already good that the seal could suppress the Endless Abyss for hundreds of years.

“In the near future, we will join forces to suppress the Endless Abyss, preventing this matter from escalating.

“However, before we go and suppress it, we need to choose a person to collect the materials needed to reseal the Endless Abyss. However, this person must be a heaven-blessed person, and you just so happen to be one. Hence, we’ve decided to send you to collect the materials for us. Before we send you on your way, though, we need to first take a look at your potential. If you are no good, we will have no choice but to look for someone more suitable for the task.”

By “heaven-blessed person,” the NPC meant a player. In the NPCs’ settings, heaven-blessed people were immortal existences, as even if these individuals died, they could still revive shortly after. Hence, heaven-blessed people were the best candidates for collecting the materials needed for the seal.

“We have decided that your test will be the War God’s Temple’s Twelve Trials. You will be considered to have passed the test as long as you can clear six of the twelve trials. Of course, we won’t make you go through the trials for nothing. As long as you can clear up to the 2nd trial, you will be rewarded with 100 War God’s Temple Merit Points. Also, the rewards will be doubled with every subsequent trial you clear. After you’re done with a trial, you can use the treasury of the War God’s Temple to exchange your Merit Points for treasures.

“You should know that the treasury of the War God’s Temple contains the most treasure throughout God’s Domain. An ordinary Secret-Silver ranked item only costs 200 Merit Points, while a Fine-Gold ranked item costs 500 Merit Points, a Dark-Gold ranked item costs 1,500 Merit Points, an Epic ranked item costs 4,000 Merit Points, a Fragmented Legendary item costs 15,000 Merit Points, and lastly, a Legendary item costs 60,000 Merit Points.

“If you have sufficient strength, you can even exchange for a Divine Artifact. However, that would require 200,000 Merit Points.”

While Ucarus was giving his explanation with a smile, Shi Feng’s heart was already pounding madly with excitement.

Shi Feng couldn’t help but admit that a Legendary ranked Main Storyline Quest was indeed amazing.

The highest ranked item Shi Feng had seen before was only of Legendary rank. He had only heard rumors about Divine Artifacts; he had never personally seen one before. Now that he had the chance to actually see one, his gains from this trip to the War God’s Temple was already plenty.

However, Shi Feng knew his own limits. Even a Legendary item was already a luxury for him, not to mention a Divine Artifact. Shi Feng did not even dare fancy the notion of owning one. He would be satisfied as long as he could take a look at it.

Just as Shi Feng was imagining what a Divine Artifact looked like…

Ucarus started chanting some incantations, while drawing complex divine runes with his fingers.

After Ucarus finished chanting, a pair of large golden doors appeared before him. There were twelve scenes carved into the dazzling golden doors, and each scene told of a cruel battle. When the doors parted, a very ancient and violent aura gushed forth from within, as if there was a ferocious primordial beast housed beyond those doors.

“Young man, the Twelve Trials lies beyond these gates. Go ahead,” Ucarus said slowly as he pointed towards the golden doors.

Shi Feng nodded in reply. Step by step, he slowly walked towards and beyond the doors, soon vanishing from the Eternal Throne.

“Hahaha! That little guy sure is brave! Doesn’t he know that the Twelve Trials is the cruelest trial of the War God’s Temple?”

“Ucarus, you’re a devious bastard yourself as well! You actually used such a temptation against that little guy! Moreover, you’ve only mentioned the abundant rewards he could gain, but not the penalty for death!”

“The Merit Points needed for the Divine Artifact… Even after saving for an entire lifetime, this old man still hasn’t collected the necessary amount… If he wishes to obtain the Divine Artifact, at the very least, he needs to clear the 11th trial. Ever since the War God’s Temple was established, from ancient times until now, only one person has ever managed to do so. However, that great personage was a mighty god who had saved the entire continent in the past.”

“This lady has read plenty of ancient texts relating to the Twelve Trials. According to the information in those ancient texts, the majority of the people that had entered the trial only managed to clear up to the 3rd or 4th trial. Meanwhile, the ones that were capable of clearing up to the 6th trial were as rare as a phoenix’s feather and a qilin’s horn. Ucarus, your requirement for him sure is high.”

“Collecting the Seven Treasures is a matter of great importance. Without sufficient strength, how can he expect to gather all of them? Besides, we can’t afford to waste any energy on a weak little ant.”

Just as the occupants of the silver thrones were having another round of discussions among themselves, one of the occupants of the golden thrones, who had remained silent throughout the prior discussion, finally spoke.

“This matter is decided. Just as Ucarus has said, the old monsters sealed within the Endless Abyss are becoming restless. We can’t afford to waste too much energy on a single weakling. If he can pass the 6th trial, I will lend him a hand as well.”

“As you command, my lord.”

The occupants of the silver thrones could not help but feel astonished when they heard one of the lords of the golden thrones speak.

They never expected that this great personage would take action as well. This was a fortune that could not be obtained even if one begged for it.

Soon after, Ucarus waved his hand, summoning a water screen into the Eternal Throne. The water screen that was suspended in mid-air showed the image of Shi Feng who was currently facing the 1st trial.

—

Shi Feng’s current location was at the summit of a precipice. Aside from the 100-yard or so plateau available to him, he was surrounded on all sides by deep cliffs. In addition, the winds here were extremely violent, and a single misstep could send him plunging into the endless abyss.

Shi Feng quietly sat on a platform paved with stone slabs. Immediately, he discovered that, aside from the weapons and equipment he had on him, everything else he possessed was unusable.

The powerful Frost Grenades could only lie quietly inside his bag. Even the Magic Scrolls Shi Feng had prepared beforehand were completely useless, and the same went for recovery potions. Instantly, Shi Feng’s combat strength had been reduced sharply.

It seems that these trials are meant to purely test my combat power. I wonder who my opponent will be? Shi Feng took a look at his surroundings and failed to discover any monsters. He then thought to himself in bewilderment, Don’t tell me the monster is invisible?

Having thought up to this point, Shi Feng immediately extended his five senses to their limits.

Invisible monsters were not unusual in God’s Domain. In fact, some of the truly powerful monsters were even capable of serial teleportation.

—

Meanwhile, inside the Eternal Throne, the big shots of God’s Domain were excitedly observing Shi Feng’s trial.

After all, it had been close to a millennium since the Twelve Trials had last been activated. None of the occupants of the silver thrones were that old yet, so they were naturally very curious about the Twelve Trials.

“I wonder who will be his first opponent?”

“Though there are no records about it in the ancient texts, I did hear that the creatures inside the Twelve Trials are all primordial beasts that are extremely ferocious. However, this is only the 1st trial. That little guy isn’t even a Tier 1 Swordsman yet, so the monster’s strength should be barely within the Tier 1 realm.”

“Look, something’s flying over.”

Chapter 288: Continuous Clearance

Primordial beasts. In the God’s Domain of today, these creatures were either extremely rare, or had long since gone extinct. They were beings that one would not normally see.

Now that the Twelve Trials had been activated, Shi Feng would also have the fortune of meeting one. If he were at any other location, it would be extremely hard for him to meet a primordial beast.

Above the stage of the 1st trial, a blurred figure slowly descended from the skies, remaining unperturbed even in the face of the turbulent winds of this realm.

This gigantic figure landed at the center of the stage, towering over the tiny Shi Feng.

With the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion, this monster was none other than the king of the skies, a Gryphon.

[Gryphon] (Elite Rank)

Level 20

HP 30,000/30,000

“I didn’t expect a Gryphon would be so big. Just its wingspan alone is over 20 meters.” Shi Feng did not hurry into action. Instead, he took his time carefully observing the Gryphon.

He was currently within a trial. The monsters in here were completely different from their counterparts in the outside world. Not only would the monsters inside a trial possess a large variety of skills, their Basic Attributes would also be much higher. Most importantly, their intelligence would also be higher; they would not follow a set pattern when they fought.

However, the Gryphon did not provide Shi Feng with too much time to think. With a piercing cry, the Gryphon flapped its wings, generating a violent gale.

Instantly, two tornados over three meters in height swept towards Shi Feng, and where the blades of wind passed, everything shattered.

Using a skill right off the bat? As expected, this Gryphon isn’t an ordinary monster.

Revealing a faint smile, Shi Feng’s figure flashed, swiftly withdrawing from the attack range of the two tornadoes.

Following which, he activated Silent Steps, instantly appearing behind the Gryphon. Before the king of the skies could react, the pitch-black Abyssal Blade turned into multiple streaks of black, slashing down at the Gryphon’s wings.

Like snowflakes, the Gryphon’s snowy white feathers fluttered onto the now bloodstained ground.

“Aooo!”

The Gryphon let out an agonized roar, damages of over -400 points appearing above its head, one after another. The attacks that achieved a critical hit had even dealt over -800 damage.

Immediately afterward, Shi Feng followed up with a Level 10 Chop, his sword slicing off a large chunk from one of the Gryphon’s wings, completely crippling it.

Meanwhile, the Gryphon instantly lost over 1,900 HP from the attack.

From this short exchange, the Gryphon had already lost 16% of its total HP. Furthermore, with one of its wings now crippled, it could not fly even if it wanted to.

The gap in strength was obvious in a single glance.

Against a Shi Feng who had over 200 points in Agility, a flightless Gryphon would only amount to a sitting duck.

Following which, Shi Feng constantly shuttled around the Gryphon, sending streak after streak of black radiance stabbing into the Gryphon’s body. However, Shi Feng only used basic attacks throughout all this. This way he would not be affected by the awkward movements consequent to using a skill, which would hinder his ability to dodge. Moreover, Shi Feng’s attacks were extremely accurate. Every one of his attacks would land either on a vital point of the Gryphon or at a joint that would affect the Gryphon’s movements, making it even harder for the Gryphon to strike him.

Although every hit Shi Feng landed only caused around -400 damage, after a dozen or so seconds passed, the ferocious Gryphon fell.

System: Gryphon defeated. First trial completed. Rewarding 100,000 EXP and 5 Free Mastery Points. Proficiency of all Skills increased by 50 points.

System: First trial cleared. Do you wish to start the next trial?

The trial even rewards Free Mastery Points? How wonderful. When Shi Feng saw the rewards he received, a faint smile appeared on his face. After sheathing the Abyssal Blade and the Demonbane back into their scabbards, he clicked “Yes” to start the next trial.

Although the monsters of the trial were indeed powerful, they were barely worth mentioning when compared to Shi Feng’s Attributes and equipment.

—

“He cleared it, and with such ease as well.”

“Not bad. Although he hasn’t yet officially become a Tier 1 Swordsman, his combat power is already at that tier. It is only natural that he is able to kill the Gryphon.”

“If this continues, he should be able to get through the first three trials without any problems. From the 4th trial onwards, however, things won’t be as easy anymore.”

“That’s right. The Twelve Trials would undergo a change in level once every three trials. The monsters would also receive a huge increase in combat power between levels. The 1st to 3rd trials will be basic level, while the 4th to 6th trials will be intermediate level, the 7th to 9th trials will be the advanced level, and the 10th to 12th trials will be the peak level. My bet is that the kid will hit his limit once he reaches the 5th trial.”

The people within the Eternal Throne were all apex powerhouses, and their eyes were well tempered by experience. After watching only one of Shi Feng’s battles, they could already make a relatively clear judgment.

—

Indeed, just like the big shots of the War God’s Temple had guessed…

The stage for the 2nd trial was a sylvan setting, and Shi Feng’s opponent this time was the Moon-howling Silver Wolf. Inside a forest, this monster was an alpha predator. Similar to the Gryphon, the Moon-howling Silver Wolf was a Level 20 Elite monster with 30,000 HP. Although it, too, was a Tier 1 primordial beast, unlike the Gryphon, the Moon-howling Silver Wolf was much stronger on land. Its physical attacks were much more powerful, and its reaction speed was also much faster than the Gryphon’s.

However, as if to replicate the scene from the 1st trial, Shi Feng immediately activated Silent Steps and arrived at the hind leg of the Moon-howling Silver Wolf. Again, similar to the time with the Gryphon, Shi Feng slashed his swords down at the wolf’s hind legs, crippling them and greatly reducing the monster’s Movement Speed.

Following which, Shi Feng simply kited the Moon-howling Silver Wolf with the Blazing Meteor.

Before thirty seconds had passed, the Moon-howling Silver Wolf fell.

System: Moon-howling Silver Wolf defeated. Second trial completed. Rewarding 300,000 EXP and 10 Free Mastery Points. Proficiency of all Skills increased by 50 points.

System: Second trial cleared. Do you wish to start the next trial?

Immediately after, a golden glow surrounded Shi Feng’s body, signifying his rise to Level 19. Shi Feng then placed all six of his newly obtained Free Attribute Points into Strength, increasing the Attribute to 180 points and activating Basic Destructive Power, the Hidden Passive Skill for Strength. Now, Shi Feng’s bare hands were capable of destroying a Bronze ranked item.

In other words, Shi Feng’s unarmed attacks could damage Bronze ranked weapons and equipment, reducing their durability, and eventually destroying them.

Originally, Shi Feng had intended to place all six of his Free Attribute Points into Intelligence. However, he wanted to increase his combat power for the sake of the trial, even if it was only by a small amount.

Soon after, Shi Feng clicked “Yes” and started the next trial.

The 3rd trial’s monster was a Blue-eyed Spider, while the stage for the 3rd trial was a location completely befitting a spider—inside a dark cave.

Fortunately, there was no change to the Blue-eyed Spider’s level despite Shi Feng’s rise to Level 19. Similar to the previous two monsters, it was a Level 20 Elite monster with 30,000 HP.

However, the Blue-eyed Spider was much stronger than the Moon-howling Silver Wolf, though not in terms of Attack Power and Movement Speed. Instead, the Blue-eyed Spider had its highly potent venom and its tough and sticky silk. It also possessed superb eyesight. Even if its surroundings were pitch-black, the Blue-eyed Spider would still be able to see clearly, as if it were daytime. Moreover, its eyes also provided it with a 360-degree field of vision without any gaps in between.

Shi Feng carefully looked around. Even if he possessed extraordinary strength, his range of visibility was limited to a maximum range of five yards.

Meanwhile, the Blue-eyed Spider could easily spot any attempt Shi Feng made to attack from a distance of thirty to forty yards, making the situation extremely unfavorable for Shi Feng.

“Interesting.” However, Shi Feng did not show any signs of panic. On the contrary, his lips curled up slightly. “If it were any other player here, they might have to fight a bitter battle if they did not possess any supportive tools. Unfortunately, not me.”

Suddenly, a deep-blue flame appeared in Shi Feng’s hand, lighting up the surrounding area. The scorching flame also caused the freezing temperatures inside the cave to rise sharply.

Nevertheless, this was still not the end.

The Ice-Blue Devil Flame in Shi Feng’s hand quickly expanded and enveloped his body, completely covering him in a layer of deep-blue flames. At this moment, Shi Feng looked just like a god of fire, the flames on his body brightly illuminating the entire cave.

Meanwhile, the Blue-eyed Spider’s position had also been clearly revealed.

Chapter 289: eyed Lion King

The Blue-eyed Spider lived in darkness all year round. Hence, its eyes, which were accustomed to the dark, could not adapt at all when the dazzling flame suddenly illuminated the entire cave. The Blue-eyed Spider was just like a frightened little rabbit.

Suddenly, the Blue-eyed Spider, which had previously had the upper hand, was placed in an unfavorable situation.

On the other hand, Shi Feng, who had summoned the Ice-Blue Devil Flame, could now deal 20% more damage and his fire- and ice-type attacks would also have an additional 40% damage, instantly breaking out of his disadvantageous position.

While the Blue-eyed Spider was still incapacitated, Shi Feng used Silent Steps and arrived over 20 yards behind the eight-legged monster. With the power of thunder and flames coating its length, the Abyssal Blade smashed into the Blue-eyed Spider’s body.

-1,836

A frightening amount of damage appeared above the Blue-eyed Spider’s charred head. The attack had also placed it in a Fainted state for four seconds.

Shi Feng then followed up the attack with a Thundering Flash and a normal attack.

-634, -1,751, -1,087, -1,169…

After suffering this series of attacks, the Blue-eyed Spider finally broke out of its stupor. However, it only had 72% of its HP remaining now.

The Blue-eyed Spider was furious. Rotating its body, it spat a stream of dark-green venom at Shi Feng. Having long since anticipated such an attack, Shi Feng swiftly dodged to the side, avoiding the attack completely. He then activated Windwalk and escaped.

Shi Feng knew full well how frightening the Blue-eyed Spider could be. Its venom attack just now was merely the tip of the iceberg. The deadliest feature of the monster was the poisonous gas emitted by its venom. If he stood his ground to fight the Blue-eyed Spider, the end result would be obvious—he would inevitably die of poisoning.

Meanwhile, Shi Feng’s purpose in using Thundering Flash on the Blue-eyed Spider was simply to inflict the Damage Amplification effect on the monster. He would then kite it using the Blazing Meteor.

Shortly after, one by one, fiery red needles streaked through the air and pierced the Blue-eyed Spider’s body. Although the Blue-eyed Spider was very skilled at dodging and blocking attacks, Shi Feng still managed to land two out of every three hits thanks to Precision Throw, the Special Skill he obtained back at the Steel Fortress Barrutia. Moreover, his attacks would occasionally trigger the Quadruple Phantom effect of the Blazing Meteor, instantly causing four -600 damages to appear above the Blue-eyed Spider. When his luck was good, he would also trigger the Burning Flames effect. When the effect stacked up to five times, combined with the amplification effects of the Ice-Blue Devil Flame, the debuff caused -1,600 damage every second to the Blue-eyed Spider. The damage of this debuff was even higher than Shi Feng’s melee damage.

However, such an occurrence was only natural. Although Magic Weapons were amazing, before they were fully released, they would still be far from comparable to a Pseudo-extraordinary item.

Meanwhile, aside from Venom Attack, the only other ranged attack the Blue-eyed Spider possessed was Silk Bind.

However, these two skills were simply superfluous when used against Shi Feng. Shi Feng simply made an effortless sidestep to dodge these attacks, and with a flick of his wrist, he would send yet another needle into the Blue-eyed Spider.

Following which, the Blue-eyed Spider’s HP bar constantly decreased.

62%… 45%… 33%… 20%…

Within a few moments, the Blue-eyed Spider died at Shi Feng’s hands as well.

System: Blue-eyed Spider defeated. Third trial completed. Rewarding 1,000,000 EXP and 10 Free Mastery Points. Proficiency of all Skills increased by 100 points.

System: Third trial cleared. Do you wish to start the next trial?

A million EXP just for clearing the 3rd trial? The system sure is generous. The difficulty for the first three trials isn’t that high, though. It seems that the truly difficult part would start from the 4th trial onwards. I should take a rest and get my mental state back to peak condition for now. Despite having effortlessly cleared the first three trials, Shi Feng did not believe, even for a second, that a Legendary ranked Main Storyline Quest could be so easily completed.

Although Shi Feng did not possess a good understanding of the Twelve Trials, it was still established as one part of a Legendary Quest; its difficulty would definitely be high.

The passing requirement was for Shi Feng to clear up to the 6th trial. Yet, the difficulty of the first three trials was not particularly high. According to combat power, the monsters Shi Feng had faced were only at the basic level of a Tier 1 monster. Hence, the truly difficult part was definitely the 4th to 6th trials.

Shi Feng had always been a careful person. Hence, he intended to make ample preparations.

—

Inside the Eternal Throne, the many apex powerhouses there had been slightly surprised by Shi Feng’s battle.

“That was a Tier 2 Mysterious Flame, the Ice-Blue Devil Flame. It seems that the kid is still hiding his strength.”

“It seems he really does have a chance at clearing the 6th trial. Based on his current strength, from the 4th trial onwards, he should be facing intermediate level Tier 1 primordial beasts. In terms of combat power, the kid is already at the intermediate level of Tier 1. Since the primordial beast that would appear in the 6th trial will be at the peak of intermediate Tier 1, he should have a 30% chance of defeating it with his current combat power.”

The big shots sitting in the silver thrones unanimously acknowledged Shi Feng’s potential.

—

After resting for more than ten minutes, Shi Feng discovered an interesting matter. Although he could not use any potions or Magic Scrolls, he could still eat food made from Cooking to boost his Attributes.

“It was a good choice to let Violet Cloud continue pursuing the Chef subclass.” Shi Feng smiled.

After Zero Wing’s Workshop was established, Shi Feng had given Violet Cloud a very high salary. The salary was much higher than what Violet Cloud earned from selling her cooking products; there was no need for her to continue on the path of a Chef.

However, Violet Cloud had chosen to continue cooking, giving the reason that it had already become a habit of sorts. Moreover, Violet Cloud herself loved cooking, and currently, she was already an Advanced Chef; she was not far away from being promoted to a Master Chef.

Now, not only could the Delicious Steaks she cooked increase the consumer’s HP regeneration rate while in a non-combat state, it could also provide an additional buff that increased the consumer’s Strength by 10% for 10 minutes.

To others, a 10% increase in the Strength Attribute might not amount to much. However, to Shi Feng, who currently had 180 points in Strength, that would mean an additional 18 points in Strength, which was also equivalent to an additional 36 points in Attack Power. Overall, the effect of the Delicious Steak provided Shi Feng with a significant increase in combat power.

After Shi Feng was rested, he clicked “Yes” to start the 4th trial.

Soon after, Shi Feng was teleported to a grassy plain. Taking a look at his surroundings, Shi Feng quickly discovered a lion with a golden mane lazily sprawled across a large boulder, its stout tail swishing around in a leisurely manner.

However, Shi Feng’s arrival had obviously alerted it.

When this golden-maned lion stood up, its height exceeded five meters. A chill flashed in the lion’s silver eyes as it raised its eyelids. In the next moment, the lush, green grass beneath its paws was frozen solid.

The grassy plains had also been instantly transformed into an icy hell, the green landscape turning snow-white.

[Silver-eyed Lion King] (Special Elite)

Level 20

HP 100,000/100,000

The difficulty of the 4th trial was clearly much greater than the 3rd trial.

“Amazing. As expected of the primordial beast of the 4th trial. It is actually capable of affecting its surroundings, transforming its environment into the ideal territory for it to fight in.” Shi Feng couldn’t help but be shocked.

Even with his ten years of experience playing God’s Domain, Shi Feng had very rarely encountered such a monster.

However, the icy hell had minimal effect on Shi Feng. After activating the Ice-Blue Devil Flame, the icy hell instantly returned to its original state. Just like that, the Silver-eyed Lion’s environmental advantage was easily vanquished by Shi Feng.

Although the Silver-eyed Lion had lost its advantage, its innate Strength and destructive power was still high. With a swipe of its paws, a large pit was formed in the grassland and gravel flew all over the place. Before Shi Feng could get a good grasp of the situation, he was hit by the shockwave ensuing from the impact of its claws and instantly lost 621 HP.

What terrifying Strength. Just the shockwave of its attack could already deal over -600 damage to me. If I received a direct hit from its claws, the damage will definitely be in the thousands. __ Although Shi Feng had been caught off guard by the Silver-eyed Lion, he did not freeze in place. Immediately, he activated Windwalk and escaped.

If he fought a direct battle against the Silver-eyed Lion, there was no question that he would die.

Although Shi Feng could avoid the Silver-eyed Lion’s claws in a head-on confrontation, if its claws battered the ground just like before, the resulting shockwave would propagate over at least an 8-yard radius. Shi Feng would have no way of dodging the shockwave at all. Also, Shi Feng only had a little more than 2,400 HP in total; he would last only a few hits at best.

Chapter 290: Simultaneous Advancement

The Silver-eyed Lion King roared furiously when it saw Shi Feng running away. Focusing its eyes on Shi Feng, the Silver-eyed Lion King abruptly pushed against the ground with its robust and powerful legs. Like a violent gale, its body shot forth directly at Shi Feng.

Unfortunately for it, in terms of speed, Shi Feng had a clear advantage over the Silver-eyed Lion King. The distance between Shi Feng and the Silver-eyed Lion King gradually grew as the chase continued. However, if Shi Feng started his kiting maneuver, the Silver-eyed Lion King would quickly close this distance.

Under a situation where he was not allowed to use potions to recover his HP, Shi Feng’s only recovery method was his innate battle recovery. However, he would only recover 1% of his HP every five seconds. Based on Shi Feng’s total HP, he would only recover around 24 HP every five seconds.

If he wished to recover the 600-plus HP he’d lost, he needed to spend a relatively long period of time to do so.

Fortunately, I’m a tad faster than it. The stage this time also covers a large area, so I can run around without any worries. Otherwise, I will really lose my life this time. Shi Feng sent a casual glance at the Silver-eyed Lion King, while majority of his attention was focused on the surrounding terrain.

God’s Domain was different from other virtual reality games in that it was much more realistic than the others.

One could say that a player’s combat power was responsible for only around 50% of a battle’s outcome. Meanwhile, 40% was due to environmental factors, while the remaining 10% was up to luck.

Luck was something filled with uncertainties, so there was no need to place much consideration into it.

As for the 50% combat power and 40% environmental factors, how much a player could grasp them was an important indicator of how skilled a player was.

A normal expert could only exhibit around 50% of their personal combat power. In God’s Domain, the Main God System would be the one responsible for evaluating and making the final judgment on a player’s personal combat power. This method of calculation was the most credible way to judge a player’s personal combat power.

As to how it was calculated, only the Main God System knew this.

Currently, however, the Main God System would not show players how much their personal combat power was, and how much of it they could actually exhibit.

Once the first 100-man Team Dungeon was successfully raided, the second evolution of God’s Domain would be activated. After the second evolution, a teleportation gate to the Divine Colosseum would appear in every city. When players entered the Divine Colosseum, they could compete and battle against other players there. Not only could they obtain equipment there, they could also upgrade and improve their combat techniques.

It was also due to this reason that the fights in God’s Domain became extremely popular. As more time passed, the popularity of fights in God’s Domain would even grow to surpass that of the fighting competitions in the real world.

Those who were capable of exhibiting over 50% of their personal combat power would be considered normal experts.

Meanwhile, players that could exhibit over 60% would be considered second-rate experts.

Once a player could exhibit 70%, they would be considered first-rate experts.

If one could exhibit more than 85% of their personal combat power, then they would be considered apex experts. A majority of the players within this category were famous experts of God’s Domain, and they would often participate in the international competition that was held only once a year by the developers of God’s Domain. They were, without a doubt, the most popular individuals in God’s Domain.

Back in the days when Shi Feng was still a Tier 3 Sword King, although he was not comparable to these great experts of God’s Domain, he had still been categorized a first-rate expert since he could exhibit around 80% of his personal combat power. However, compared to exhibiting his personal combat power, Shi Feng was much stronger in terms of observing and utilizing his surroundings.

Currently, in terms of combat power, Shi Feng was about equal to the Silver-eyed Lion King. However, the Silver-eyed Lion King’s HP was many times greater than Shi Feng’s. Without taking into consideration the environmental factors, Shi Feng would definitely die if he chose to clash head-on with the Silver-eyed Lion King.

If Shi Feng had met the Silver-eyed Lion King under normal circumstances, he would simply accept his death. At worst, he would just lose a single Level. However, the current situation he was in did not allow him to do so. This was a trial given by his quest; there was no second chance for him, and his death would also signify the end of the quest. Hence, he absolutely could not die right now.

After running for over a dozen minutes, Shi Feng arrived at a hill. As for the Silver-eyed Lion King, it was still far from catching up to Shi Feng.

Shi Feng wandered around this hill for awhile and eventually discovered a cliff. Immediately, Shi Feng’s eyes glowed and his lips curled up in a smile.

“At last, I’ve found the key to victory.” Shi Feng chuckled lightly. He then activated Windwalk, dashing towards the edge of the cliff.

Originally, Shi Feng could have used this period of time to increase the gap between him and the Silver-eyed Lion King even further. However, Shi Feng chose not to do so because he wanted to find a favorable terrain to deal with the Silver-eyed Lion King.

A minute later, Shi Feng stood at the edge of the cliff. Below him was a large gorge.

This height should be sufficient. Shi Feng made some mental calculations and felt that his plan was feasible.

After several more seconds passed, the Silver-eyed Lion King finally caught up.

Just as the Silver-eyed Lion King leapt into the air, its razor-sharp claws about to slash Shi Feng’s head, Shi Feng jumped, dodging the attack completely. In the next moment, the Silver-eyed Lion King’s paws smashed into the cliff.

Boom!

The ground beneath Shi Feng and the Silver-eyed Lion King was destroyed, both man and beast plunging towards the very bottom of the cliff.

Just as Shi Feng’s body was about to hit the ground, he activated Gravity Liberation, his body instantly becoming as light as a feather. Immediately, Shi Feng’s rate of descent dropped sharply.

The Silver-eyed Lion King, on the other hand, was not as fortunate. When its body hit the ground, a large crater was formed from the impact.

“Still not dead? You’re quite durable, aren’t you?” Shi Feng commented as he looked at the Silver-eyed Lion King that was embedded into the ground. Right now, the Silver-eyed Lion King only had a thread of its HP left. “You’ve already dug your own grave, so you might as well stay in it.” Shi Feng unceremoniously sent a Thundering Flash at the monster.

Three arcs of lightning streaked into the Silver-eyed Lion King, taking away its remaining 1,000 or so HP.

Before, if Shi Feng had chosen to jump down the cliff first, the Silver-eyed Lion King definitely wouldn’t have followed suit; its intelligence was not that low, after all. Instead, it would simply have taken a detour down the cliff. Hence, Shi Feng had chosen to borrow the Silver-eyed Lion King’s immense destructive power to destroy the edge of the cliff. That way, there was no doubt the Silver-eyed Lion King would be caught unawares.

System: Silver-eyed Lion King defeated. Fourth trial completed. Rewarding 3,000,000 EXP, 20 Free Mastery Points, and 10 Gold Coins. Proficiency of all Skills increased by 300 points.

System: Fourth trial cleared. Do you wish to start the next trial?

“Three million EXP? Isn’t this reward a little too lavish?” Shi Feng was immediately shocked by the system’s reward. He had only recently risen to Level 19. Yet, now, he was already close to welcoming Level 20.

Moreover, after the 4th trial, Shi Feng’s War God’s Temple Merit Points were already at 700 points. He could now afford to exchange for one Fine-Gold ranked item and one Secret-Silver ranked item.

And as long as he cleared the 5th trial, he could obtain another 800 Merit Points. The points in that round alone trumped those from all the previous rounds combined. He would then be able to afford to exchange for either one Dark-Gold ranked item or three Fine-Gold ranked items.

After a short rest, Shi Feng clicked “Yes” again and started the 5th trial.

The stage of the 5th trial was set in a desert. Meanwhile, the primordial beast that would serve as his opponent in this trial was a monstrosity that had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and a snake as its tail.

The moment this monster noticed Shi Feng’s entry into its territory, its crimson red eyes immediately squinted, a hint of excitement leaking out from them.

“Chimera!” Shi Feng was surprised.

Without even needing to use Observing Eyes on the monster before him, Shi Feng already knew what it was. After all, he had fought this monster countless times in the past. A Chimera was the final Boss of a 100-man Team Dungeon. In the past, Shi Feng and the team he led had suffered defeat after defeat under the hands of the Chimera. Only after experiencing innumerable team-wipes did they manage to finally kill it. Hence, Shi Feng had a very deep impression of Chimeras.

[Chimera] (Special Elite)

Level 20

HP 120,000/120,000

The Chimera was a monster Shi Feng was extremely familiar with. Shi Feng knew both the strengths and weaknesses of a Chimera like the back of his hand.

A Chimera could spit fire from its mouth, and its Strength was comparable to the Silver-eyed Lion King. Meanwhile, the snake that acted as the Chimera’s tail was equivalent to another monster entirely. The snake boasted powerful venom attacks. If players were struck by the Chimera’s flames after being poisoned by its tail, they would die with 100% certainty. However, the Chimera also possessed a fatal weakness—poison.

Shi Feng immediately activated Windwalk. Faced with the Chimera’s sharp claws and venom attacks, Shi Feng chose only to dodge and not retaliate. After the venom spat out by the Chimera’s tail started spreading and emitting a poisonous gas into the surroundings, Shi Feng finally took action.

Without hesitation, Shi Feng charged into the poisonous fog, with the Chimera following closely behind him.

The moment Shi Feng stepped into the poisonous fog, he was inflicted with a Poisoned debuff, losing 200 HP every second. However, Shi Feng paid no mind to the debuff.

After he ran out of the poisonous fog, he spun his body around and threw the Blazing Meteor.

When the blazing needle entered the poisonous fog, the vivid green fog instantly turned into a dark green. Immediately after, an explosion occurred. The explosion promptly sent the Chimera, which was still standing inside the poisonous fog, flying. The monster lost over 10,000 HP from the explosion, and it was placed in a momentary Crippled state. Taking advantage of this change, Shi Feng launched a barrage of attacks at the Chimera.

By the time the Chimera had recovered from its Crippled state, Shi Feng had already taken an additional 6,000 or so HP away from it.

Furious, the Chimera charged at Shi Feng, while the latter started evading the Chimera’s attacks once more, biding his time while he waited for the next poisonous fog to form.

After repeating this process several times, the battle finally came to an end. Although Shi Feng had only around 400 HP remaining, the Chimera had already fallen at his feet.

System: Chimera defeated. Fifth trial completed. Rewarding 6,000,000 EXP, 20 Free Mastery Points, and 10 Gold Coins. Proficiency of all Skills increased by 300 points.

System: Fifth trial cleared. Do you wish to start the next trial?

Immediately, Shi Feng’s experience bar rose to 62% of Level 20. He was not far away from reaching Level 21.

Although Shi Feng was slightly stronger now after allocating his Free Attribute Points, he still felt that the next trial would be extremely dangerous. If not for the fact that Shi Feng was familiar with the Chimera’s habits, he would have definitely died in the 5th trial.

Meanwhile, the monster in the 6th trial would definitely be much stronger than the Chimera. It would be fortunate if the monster that appeared in the 6th trial was something Shi Feng was familiar with. However, what would he do if it was a monster he had never seen before?

Most likely, death would be his only ending…

Shi Feng would not rely on luck to decide such an important matter for him. Hence, Shi Feng did not immediately start the 6th trial after he was rested this time. Instead, he called out his Attribute Panel, choosing to use the Free Mastery Points he had reserved all this time.

[One-handed Sword Mastery]

[Intermediate Apprentice Swordsman]

Mastery Points required: 50

Damage when using a One-handed Weapon increased by 15%.

[Advanced Apprentice Swordsman]

Mastery Points required: 100

Damage when using a One-handed Weapon increased by 20%.

[Basic Swordsman]

Mastery Points required: 150

Damage when using a One-handed Weapon increased by 30%.

There is a 5% chance for a qualitative change to occur.

[Intermediate Swordsman]

Mastery Points required: 200

Damage when using a One-handed Weapon increased by 40%.

There is a 10% chance for a qualitative change to occur.

Normally, even after players were promoted into a Tier 1 Swordsman, their One-handed Sword or Two-handed Sword Mastery would only be at the Intermediate Apprentice Swordsman rank.

Meanwhile, Shi Feng had received a total of 65 Free Mastery Points from clearing the first five trials. In addition to the points he had received from completing quests and the points that were rewarded once every five levels, he now had a total of 168 unused Free Mastery Points.

After Shi Feng used up all his Free Mastery Points, his One-handed Sword Mastery had reached the rank of a Basic Swordsman.[1]

However, Shi Feng was still not satisfied with this result.

Following which, he retrieved the Level 20 Dark-Gold ranked Purgatory’s Shadow, which he had previously bought at the Blackwing Auction House, from his bag and swapped out the Level 15 Demonbane.

“Let’s start the devouring process, then.”

Shi Feng looked at the pitch-black Abyssal Blade in his hand. He then offered the ten Level 15 Mysterious-Iron Weapons, which he had prepared at an earlier date, and the Level 15 Demonbane as sacrifices to upgrade the Abyssal Blade.

Although it was unfortunate that he did not possess ten Level 15 Secret-Silver Weapons to use as a sacrifice, the Legendary Quest was of utmost importance. He could not afford even the slightest misstep, and it was necessary for him to utilize all available avenues.

TL Notes:

[1] There are some inconsistencies with the following two paragraphs:

“Meanwhile, Shi Feng had received a total of 65 Free Mastery Points from clearing the first five trials. In addition to the points he had received from completing quests and the points that were rewarded once every five levels, he now had a total of 168 unused Free Mastery Points.

After Shi Feng used up all his Free Mastery Points, his One-handed Sword Mastery had reached the rank of a Basic Swordsman.”

Remaining Free Mastery Points at Ch.88: 15 points

Demon’s Heart quest (Ch. 270): 50 points

Miracles Unsealed quest (Ch. 278): 40 points

Level 10, 15, 20: 3 * 8 points = 24 points

Five trials: 5+10+10+20+20 = 65 points

Total: 194 points

[Note: the points for One-handed Sword Mastery are cumulative, so it’s not 50+100+150+200 etc…

Instead, it’s like,

One-handed Sword Mastery: 50 points (Intermediate Apprentice Swordsman)

One-handed Sword Mastery: 100 points (Advanced Apprentice Swordsman)]

After all’s said and done, however, please assume that Shi Feng only has 168 Free Mastery Points at the moment, and after using them up, he’s only at the Basic Swordsman rank.

[2] Also, important note.

Basic Swordsman → Basic Apprentice Swordsman

Intermediate Swordsman → Intermediate Apprentice Swordsman

Basic Mastery → Basic Apprentice Mastery

Intermediate Mastery → Intermediate Apprentice Mastery

Chapter 291: The Beginning of Greatness

In order to increase the Abyssal Blade’s potential, Shi Feng had intended to gather ten Level 15 Fine-Gold Weapons to serve as a sacrifice. Hence, he had deliberately kept the Abyssal Blade at Level 10 all this time.

Now, however, he no longer had the leeway to do so.

The Abyssal Blade started exuding a dark fog, which immediately charged at the sacrificial weapons Shi Feng had prepared.

Within three seconds, even the incomparably hard Demonbane, a Dark-Gold ranked one-handed sword, had been turned into dark fog and was absorbed by the Abyssal Blade.

After the Abyssal Blade had finished devouring the sacrificial weapons, the weapon was no longer completely pitch-black in appearance. Golden divine runes appeared on the blade of the sword, giving off a faint golden glow. Meanwhile, the entire blade itself had also become silvery gray.

When Shi Feng casually brandished the Abyssal Blade, slashing it through the air, the feeling he got was like he was cutting a transparent sheet of paper.

“Sharp!” Shi Feng looked at the Abyssal Blade in his hand, astonishment filling his eyes.

If he combined such sharpness with the Basic Destructive Power passive skill, even without the Ice-Blue Devil Flame, he could still easily destroy Mysterious-Iron ranked weapons and equipment. Secret-Silver ranked items would also last only a while longer.

[Abyssal Blade] (One-handed Sword, Magic Weapon)

Attack Power +211

All Attributes +25

Attack Speed +8

Ignore Levels +8

Attacks have:

35% chance to cause 200% damage.

10% chance to cause 300% damage.

20% chance to induce Doom Curse, reducing all Attributes by 40% for 30 seconds.

If wielder belongs to any Swordsman-related class, all Skill Levels +3.

Increase Free Ability Points received for every increase in Level by 2 points.

Equipment Level 15. Can be upgraded. (Devour ten Level 20 Mysterious-Iron Weapons and one Level 20 Secret-Silver Weapon to upgrade to Level 20). Can be evolved (Unknown).

Additional Skill 1: Phantom Kill. Instantly creates a doppelganger. You can control this doppelganger. Doppelganger will have 55% of original body’s Attributes and all Skills. At the same time, doppelganger and the original body can be swapped.

Duration: 40 seconds

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Additional Skill 2: Abyssal Bind. Binds enemies and prevents movement, reducing Defense by 100%.

Duration: 3 seconds

Cooldown: 1 minute

Additional Skill 3: Nine Dragons Slash. Instantly creates nine phantoms of the Abyssal Blade for wielder to use; each phantom sword is capable of dealing up to 30% damage.

Duration: 30 seconds

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Additional Skill 4: Dark Violent Dance. 45% of the total damage dealt to the target spreads in a cone-shaped area towards targets within a distance of 12 yards.

Duration: 30 seconds

Cooldown: 1 minute

The Abyssal Blade was personally created by master smith Olysses using the Black Dragon King’s fangs as material. It is one of thirty-six famed swords, and it is ranked 31st. However, this sword has been cursed by the Black Dragon King. Aside from providing the wielder with immense strength, there will be a Backlash every period of time. However, after being remodeled by Jack using a Star Crystal, the strength of the Backlash has been greatly reduced. If the wielder is unable to suppress the Backlash, the wielder will receive the curse of the Black Dragon King, permanently reducing All Attributes by 50%.

Unable to be dropped.

Unable to be traded.

As expected of a Magic Weapon. Even though only ten Mysterious-Iron Weapons and one Dark-Gold Weapon were used as its sacrifice, its new Attack Power is even higher than a Dark-Gold Weapon of the same level. This Attack Power could already rival a Dark-Gold ranked two-handed sword. Shi Feng smiled in satisfaction.

The Level 15 Dark-Gold ranked Demonbane only had 183 Attack Power. Meanwhile, the Abyssal Blade had 211 Attack Power; it was far stronger than the Demonbane. Not to mention, the other Attributes and Skills of the Abyssal Blade had also received a significant improvement from the upgrade this time around.

Unfortunately, the Abyssal Blade was still far from being a match for the

Purgatory’s Shadow, a Level 20 Dark-Gold ranked one-handed sword.

[Purgatory’s Shadow] (One-handed Sword, Dark-Gold Rank)

Level 20 (Can be upgraded twice)

Attack Power +273

Strength+30, Agility +25, Endurance +22

Attack Speed +2

Attacks have:

20% chance to cause 300% damage.

10% chance to reduce damage dealt by target by 20%. Effect not stackable.

Additional Skill-

Purgatory Power: When activated, increases Attack Speed by 100% and damage dealt by 30% for 15 seconds.

Cooldown: 2 minutes

However, this could not be helped. Level 20 weapons and equipment were essentially more powerful than Level 15 ones.

At Level 20, players could take the promotion to become a Tier 1 class. Hence, Level 20 weapons and equipment would all be significantly stronger.

Although the Attack Power has improved greatly, it won’t be enough to get me through the 6th trial.

Shi Feng knew that a player’s combat power could not simply be measured through their Attack Power alone. An increase in Attack Power only meant that the damage players dealt would be higher than before. Meanwhile, combat power was the synthesis of various other factors such as Strength, Agility, Endurance, and other Basic Attributes. Skill Level was also a factor to consider.

Even if Shi Feng multiplied his current Attack Power by three to four times, his HP would still be tens of times lower than the monster in the 6th trial. If he could not dodge the monster’s attacks, he would still lose his life after taking a few hits. So, an increase in Attack Power would not bring too great an increase to his overall combat power.

A player was just like a wooden bucket that was used to collect water[1]. How strong they were depended not on their strengths but their weaknesses.

Shi Feng called out the system interface. As Ucarus had already opened up the Exchange System of the War God’s Temple’s treasury for Shi Feng, he could now directly exchange his Merit Points through the system. Shi Feng immediately used 1,500 Merit Points to exchange for a Level 20 Dark-Gold Weapon. He then took out another ten Level 20 Mysterious-Iron Weapons from his bag.

There were plenty of Mysterious-Iron Weapons stored inside the Guild Warehouse. Moreover, during the past few days, while Shi Feng, Aqua Rose, and Fire Dance were trapped within the Forgotten Lands, Blackie and the others had kept themselves busy raiding Level 20, 5-man Party Dungeons to level up and obtain materials and equipment. They were making preparations to challenge the Level 20, 10-man Great Dungeon. During this process, they had obtained plenty of Level 20 Mysterious-Iron ranked weapons and equipment. Currently, Zero Wing possessed the most Level 20 weapons and equipment out of all the Guilds in White River City.

With such a large supply, Shi Feng had set aside some of the Level 20 Mysterious-Iron ranked weapons and equipment with the weakest performance for future use. However, he had never thought he would get to put them to good use so quickly.

Following which, Shi Feng chose to upgrade the Abyssal Blade once more.

In God’s Domain, Level 20 was considered a large threshold. Just like the time the Abyssal Blade had risen to Level 10, it would receive a large improvement when it was upgraded to Level 20. Now, whether or not Shi Feng could clear the next trial would rely solely on the performance of the Level 20 Abyssal Blade.

The devouring process this time was clearly different from when the Abyssal Blade got upgraded to Level 15.

After devouring the offerings, the Abyssal Blade erupted and let loose a dragon’s roar. The sky and earth trembled in the face of this mighty roar. Immediately after, the Abyssal Blade broke free from Shi Feng’s grasp and floated in mid-air.

Boom!

The Abyssal Blade exploded, transforming into a black tornado. The surroundings went deathly still as if with bated breath.

As the black tornado dissipated, a gigantic figure emerged in its place. This figure was none other than the phantom of the Black Dragon King that Shi Feng had previously seen. However, compared to the first time Shi Feng had seen it, the phantom that appeared this time was much more vivid. Moreover, the destructive aura it emitted was far stronger than before. Even when he was faced with the apex powerhouses back at the Eternal Throne, Shi Feng had not been so scared.

Of course, this disparity was also due to the fact that those big shots had been intentionally suppressing their auras.

At this moment, the Black Dragon King’s phantom, which was several hundred meters in height, actually turned to look at Shi Feng and revealed a human-like sneer. Soon after, the phantom dissipated and transformed back into the Abyssal Blade. As the sword landed, its blade stabbed deep into the earth before Shi Feng, with only its hilt remaining aboveground.

Some time passed before Shi Feng gradually recovered from his stupor. He then slowly extended his hand and pulled out the Abyssal Blade.

The appearance of the Abyssal Blade had greatly changed after being upgraded. The entire sword was now silvery gray in color, and it exuded a faint, black aura of death. The image of a black dragon could also be seen fading in and out of existence on the blade of the sword. Meanwhile, the image of a dragon had also been carved out of the hilt of the Abyssal Blade. There were small black chains wrapped around the hilt as well, seemingly acting as a seal for the dragon.

“Have I just done something I shouldn’t have?” Shi Feng wondered, laughing bitterly as he looked at the lifelike dragon sculpture.

Everything was playing out just as Faust, the legendary character Shi Feng had met back at the Star River Valley, had said.

A Magic Weapon was a double-edged sword. As one allowed the Magic Weapon to grow in strength, the curse contained within it would also grow stronger. Meanwhile, the wielder would sooner or later be devoured by the strength of the Magic Weapon.

TL Notes:

[1]

This is the bucket that’s being used as description.

https://gss1.bdstatic.com/-vo3dSag_xI4khGkpoWK1HF6hhy/baike/c0%3Dbaike92%2C5%2C5%2C92%2C30/sign=e09bcf35d3c8a786aa27425c0660a258/4d086e061d950a7bc78c210b08d162d9f3d3c940.jpg

How much water the bucket can hold relies not on the longest plank used to make the bucket, but the shortest plank instead.