Reincarnation Of The Strongest Sword God - Chapter 575

Chapter 575: four Consecutive Strikes

“Damn, it actually called a companion!” Ironwrist frowned.

The other party members also grew anxious at the arrival of another Dark Magic Serpent.

Facing one was already their limit. Moreover, their only Curse was on Cooldown, and it would be quite some time before they could use it again.

“Ironwrist, what are we going to do now?” the Cleric at the rear line asked hurriedly.

Ironwrist looked at the Dark Magic Serpent that they had injured heavily, before turning to look at the newly arrived Chieftain that was rapidly slithering towards them. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Let’s retreat!”

Although the heavily injured Dark Magic Serpent only had 30% of its HP remaining, they would still need quite some time to kill it.

Meanwhile, the Dark Magic Serpent was unlike other Chieftains. It was a Chieftain that possessed a potent venom.

When fighting against a Dark Magic Serpent, if one failed to interrupt the Chieftain’s Vicious Venom Skill in time, even a team of 100 players would die. If their party was fighting just one of these Serpents, they could still manage to interrupt its Skill. However, going up against two at the same time was impossible since their party did not have a second person capable of interrupting the other Dark Magic Serpent’s Vicious Venom. As long as the venomous mist of the Skill spreads, only death awaited them.

Hence, their only option right now was to retreat.

When the others heard Ironwrist’s command, they immediately withdrew without hesitation.

Unfortunately, although Ironwrist and the others had made the correct decision in this situation, the heavily injured Dark Magic Serpent had no intentions of letting them go. Widening its mouth, it shot jets of venom at Ironwrist and his team.

A short moment later, the other Dark Magic Serpent caught up with the party, circled around to their rear, and used its Tail Swipe Skill at the party’s Cleric and Druid.

“Damn!” Ironwrist’s complexion sank. Although he wanted to go save the two healers, the distance to them prevented him from doing so. Moreover, the Dark Magic Serpent in front of him was also bombarding him with venom attacks. Not to mention saving others, he was having a tough time just trying to avoid being hit himself.

“Leave us!” the Cleric named Off Fire shouted. He could not help squeezing his eyes shut when he saw the Serpent’s tail swiping at him.

Against a Level 42 Chieftain like the Dark Magic Serpent, even their party’s Shield Warrior, Ironwrist, could only survive two direct hits. As for cloth armor classes like them, the Chieftain would need only one hit to end their lives.

Boom!

The earth shattered.

“Huh? Why am I still alive?” Despite waiting for a long time, Off Fire did not feel any pain from the impact of the Serpent’s tail. He then cracked open his eyes, taking a peek at the Dark Magic Serpent. Immediately, a dumbfounded expression appeared on his face. “How is this possible?”

At this moment, whether it was Off Fire or his fellow party members, all of them had their mouths hanging wide open.

Standing before Off Fire right now was a person. Meanwhile, this person had actually blocked the Dark Magic Serpent’s attack using just one hand without so much as taking half a step back. Only, due to the immense force contained within the Serpent’s tail, the ground beneath this person’s feet had shattered.

A player had actually managed to overwhelm a Level 42 Chieftain. This scene was as if someone had stopped a moving truck using a single hand. How could it not be shocking?

However, what the party of six did not know was that the reason Shi Feng was able to block a Level 42 Chieftain’s attack with just a single hand was entirely due to his activation of Heavenly Dragon’s Power, which doubled his Strength. Otherwise, even Shi Feng, with his exaggerated Attributes, would not be able to receive the Dark Magic Serpent’s attack safely.

“You guys deal with the injured Dark Magic Serpent. Leave this one to me,” Shi Feng said directly.

In response, Off Fire and the others absentmindedly nodded their heads. It was as if Shi Feng was currently their party’s leader.

After saying so, Shi Feng immediately jumped up to the space above the Serpent’s head. Raising the Abyssal Blade, he activated Thunder Flame Explosion.

The power of lightning wrapped around the Abyssal Blade as the Magic Weapon landed on the Dark Magic Serpent’s head.

Boom!

Lightning and flames instantly washed over the Dark Magic Serpent. Even though the Chieftain possessed very high Defense and Magic Resistance, it still suffered over -6,000 damage from the attack.

“Who is this person? Is it really possible for a player to be that strong?” Off Fire’s jaw fell when he saw the damage Shi Feng had dealt.

Their party could be considered a top-tier party already.

Yet, the highest damage their party could deal a Dark Magic Serpent in a single instance was just slightly over -1,000. Meanwhile, Shi Feng had managed to deal over -6,000 damage in just a single attack. His damage output alone was already more than double that of their entire party.

The Dark Magic Serpent constantly let out anguished cries as it was bathed in the power of lightning and fire. It glared at Shi Feng with its chilling eyes. However, although it wished to devour Shi Feng, it was powerless to do so.

Other than dealing massive amounts of damage, the Tier 1 Thunder Flame Explosion also had a Fainted and Speed Reduction effect. Although the Fainted effect was not particularly effective against the Dark Magic Serpent, the Speed Reduction effect was highly effective. The Serpent’s Movement Speed and Attack Speed instantly fell to only one-sixth of its original, its movements becoming extremely sluggish.

Only when Shi Feng had already landed back on the ground, did the Dark Magic Serpent’s jaw, that was capable of swallowing a small car whole, begin descending towards Shi Feng.

Smiling, Shi Feng shifted his footwork slightly, easily dodging the Dark Magic Serpent’s attempt to devour him. Turning his body, he followed up with a slash to the Chieftain’s mouth.

The instant he struck the Serpent, it went flying, and its head smashed heavily into a tree. As the tree swayed wildly, damage of over -2,000 points appeared above the Serpent’s head.

Such a high Defense. It’s even higher than an ordinary Lord’s. Just what kind of monster is this? Shi Feng clicked his tongue slightly.

He had activated not only Dragon’s Power but also the Aura of Fire, which increased his damage by 40%. With his current equipment and Attributes, his normal attacks should still be able to deal over -3,000 damage, even if he was up against a Level 40 Lord. However, when it came to the Dark Magic Serpent, his attack only dealt more than -2,000 damage. To the Level 42 Chieftain, which possessed 800,000 HP, that amount of damage was practically negligible.

Just its battle recovery alone could regenerate 1% of its HP every five seconds. That was 8,000 HP every five seconds.

Should he encounter this Dark Magic Serpent without Dragon’s Power, he would most likely have no choice but to flee.

On the other side, Ironwrist and the others had begun luring the heavily injured Dark Magic Serpent away from Shi Feng. If the two Dark Magic Serpents used Vicious Venom simultaneously, even a thousand-strong army would have to say their prayers.

Seeing that Ironwrist and the others had distanced themselves from him, Shi Feng now activated Nine Dragons Slash and Phantom Kill. At the same time, he had also had his doppelganger activate its ultimate move, Blade Liberation, increasing its Strength and Agility by 80%. With two of them attacking the Chieftain together, the battle became much more efficient.

Although the doppelganger’s Strength was not comparable to the original, it surpassed Shi Feng in terms of speed. Taking hold of the Dark Magic Serpent’s aggro, the doppelganger kited the Chieftain effortlessly. Meanwhile, Shi Feng himself attacked the Chieftain madly from behind.

Chop!

Thundering Flash!

Earth Splitter!

Finally, both original and doppelganger used Flame Burst simultaneously. Every single one of their attacks dealt over -10,000 damage and over -20,000 damage if their attacks triggered a critical hit. Out of the twenty-four consecutive hits, over half achieved a critical hit. In the blink of an eye, the Dark Magic Serpent’s remaining 50% HP zeroed out. The Chieftain did not even get the chance to use Berserk.

The Dark Magic Serpent’s death also allowed Shi Feng’s EXP to soar.

In addition to the difference of ten Levels, the EXP a Field Chieftain provided was also very generous.

Aside from contributing a huge sum of EXP, the Dark Magic Serpent dropped seven items.

Only seven items dropped even after I activated Divine Providence? Isn’t this Dark Magic Serpent a little too miserly? Shi Feng was stunned when he saw only seven items scattered on the ground.

Chapter 576: Maverick

In God’s Domain, a Chieftain ranked monster normally dropped around four or five items since a 20-man team could easily deal with a Chieftain of the same level.

As for Lords, these monsters usually required 50-man or 100-man teams of the same level to defeat, and the number of items they usually dropped was above ten pieces.

At Dark-Gold rank, Icarus’s Heart possessed 14 Luck. Moreover, Divine Providence gave an additional 32 Luck when activated.

In total, Shi Feng could raise his Luck up to 46 points.

With so much Luck, Shi Feng had a high chance of triggering a jackpot even if he were to kill a Lord, not to mention a Chieftain. Yet, the Dark Magic Serpent had only dropped seven items…

Moreover, all seven of these items were very ordinary.

Usually, players would have a tiny chance of obtaining Fine-Gold Equipment from Field Chieftains. However, among the seven items Shi Feng obtained, there was no Fine-Gold Equipment at all. There were only two pieces of Mysterious-Iron Equipment and two pieces of Secret-Silver Equipment. All four were Level 40 equipment. As for the remaining drops, they were three gray crystals. Taking a look at the crystals’ information showed that all three were Common items.

What is going on here? Shi Feng was astonished when he saw the items the Dark Magic Serpent dropped. Despite his having such high Luck, the Chieftain dropped only such low-quality items. It was practically the lowest possible drop one could get from a Chieftain. Shi Feng then shook his head, dispelling his thoughts as he quickly stored the drops. Whatever. Best to take a look at the situation on other side for now.

Although the drops he obtained were unsightly, Shi Feng felt that it was somewhat reasonable after giving the matter some thought.

The higher the level one reached in God’s Domain, the more difficult it was to obtain good equipment.

When players reached Level 40, the difficulty of obtaining Level 40 Secret-Silver Equipment was no less than the difficulty of obtaining Level 30 Fine-Gold Equipment at Level 30.

While Shi Feng was hurrying over to Ironwrist’s side of the battlefield, the fight there had yet to end.

Currently, the Dark Magic Serpent still had 10% of its HP remaining. However, Ironwrist and the others were not doing too well right now. Due to the unexpected ambush earlier, the party’s mages and healers had depleted themselves considerably. Now that they resumed their conquest of the heavily injured Dark Magic Serpent, they found the battle extremely taxing.

Hence, even after fighting for so long, they had managed to take away only 20% of the Dark Magic Serpent’s HP.

“Everyone, keep it up! It has only 10% of its HP left! We should hurry up and finish off this Dark Magic Serpent, so that we can go help on the other side!” Ironwrist said as he blocked the Chieftain’s Tail Swipe using his shield.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and they began using everything they had.

The two mages each took out a Tier 1 magic scroll and started chanting.

Tier 1 magic scrolls were lifesaving items. Although the scrolls only contained Tier 1 Skills, the might of the Skills was much more than that of any ordinary Tier 1 Skill. Most importantly, these Tier 1 magic scrolls did not require any Mana to use.

The Ranger had also taken out 20 Special Arrows. These Special Arrows were Consumable items. Although they were not as expensive as a Tier 1 magic scroll, the combined value of 20 Special Arrows was no less than that of three Tier 1 magic scrolls.

The spells contained in the Tier 1 magic scrolls bombarded the Dark Magic Serpent one after another, each dealing over -3,000 or -4,000 damage—three or four times more damage than what the mages’ own Tier 1 spells were capable of.

The two mages’ bombardment instantly reaped over 20,000 HP from the Chieftain.

Meanwhile, every one of the Special Arrows the Ranger shot dealt around -1,500 damage to the Serpent. After firing all 20 arrows, the Ranger inflicted a total of -30,000-plus damage to the Chieftain.

In the blink of an eye, the Dark Magic Serpent’s HP fell to a critical level. The Chieftain constantly let out anguished shrieks as the spells and arrows visited numerous terrible wounds on its body.

“Die!” Ironwrist shouted as he used Beheaded.

The Tier 1 Beheaded could instantly kill a monster with less than 5% HP remaining at a certain probability.

Ironwrist immediately slashed his saber down on the Serpent’s head, dealing nearly -30,000 damage to the Chieftain and instantly killing it.

“Sss!”

The Dark Magic Serpent hissed one last time before its body fell to the ground.

“Whew, our win this time sure didn’t come easy. I wonder if it dropped?” the Cleric, Off Fire, said as he breathed out a sigh of relief, his hand wiping away the sweat that had gathered on his forehead.

“We don’t have time to care about these things. Dustwind, you stay behind and pick up the loot,” Ironwrist instructed the Elementalist beside him. “Everyone else, follow me. Don’t forget, we still have another full HP Dark Magic Serpent we need to take care of. Without anybody to Detoxify him, that person won’t be able to last too long.”

Although they had seen how powerful Shi Feng was, the Dark Magic Serpent was no ordinary monster. Particularly, without a Cleric to deal with the Chieftain’s Vicious Venom, it was simply impossible for someone to defeat a Dark Magic Chieftain all alone.

When everyone heard Ironwrist’s words, they immediately readjusted their moods and promptly broke out into a run towards Shi Feng’s side of the battlefield.

However, before they managed to take two steps, they stopped cold.

Everyone was stupefied.

A person had suddenly walked out of the forest in front of them, and this person was none other than Shi Feng, the person they were just about to go save. Moreover, Shi Feng appeared completely unscathed. He had not lost even a single HP. There was also no sign of a Dark Magic Serpent behind him, proving that he had not escaped his battle but had instead finished it already.

The Dark Magic Serpent had an extensive hunting range. As long as one remained within this region, the Dark Magic Serpent would not give up on its pursuit. In other words, Shi Feng had single-handedly defeated a full HP Dark Magic Serpent. Moreover, he had killed it much, much faster than they had.

The difference in strength between them was simply unimaginable.

“Is he a monster? Off Fire’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Shi Feng walking over slowly. “Even our District Five’s number one expert, Punishment Day, isn’t capable of such a feat, right?”

“That person is definitely a Maverick, a solo expert standing at the peak of all great experts! Once we return, we can go boast to those in the Sixth Party!” Dustwind, the Level 28 Elementalist, exclaimed, his gaze filled with reverence as he looked at Shi Feng.

“Alright, enough fooling around. Stay serious. That person is our Seventh Party’s savior,” Ironwrist said. In fact, just like his companions, Ironwrist, too, was inwardly shocked by Shi Feng. It was definitely an honor to be able to become acquainted with such a solo expert out in the fields.

While Ironwrist and the others were happily chatting together, Shi Feng, who had overheard their conversation, grew confused.

“District Five?” This was the first time Shi Feng had heard this term.

In addition, Maverick? Did these people not see the Guild Emblem on his chest?

Moreover, looking at the reverence in their eyes, it seemed that what they revered was not his strength, but more of the fact that he was a Maverick, instead.

“That’s right, we’re the Seventh Party of District Five, and I am the party leader of the Seventh Party, Ironwrist. We are truly grateful for your help before, sir expert. Otherwise, our party would have truly been finished,” Ironwrist said gratefully.

Hearing Ironwrist’s words, Shi Feng grew even more confused.

“May I ask if this place is the Dark Den?” Shi Feng asked.

“Dark Den? I’ve never heard of such a place. Our party only operates in areas close to District Five. We’ve never ventured anywhere too far. I sincerely apologize for not being able to offer any help,” Ironwrist replied after giving Shi Feng’s question some thought. “However, the other parties in District Five might know something about it. After all, the area our Seventh Party has explored is somewhat smaller than what the others have. Why don’t you follow us back to District Five? I can help you ask around the other parties.”

“Alright, I’ll have to trouble you, then,” Shi Feng agreed after thinking it over.

Shi Feng could tell that Ironwrist had not lied. However, the Shield Warrior’s words left him thoroughly muddle-headed. He might as well go to this District Five and take a look around.

Meanwhile, when Ironwrist’s party heard Shi Feng agree to accompany them back to District Five, they all showed excited expressions.

Chapter 577: Chapter of Darkness

While Shi Feng was patiently waiting for Ironwrist’s party to collect their loot, he suddenly discovered an astonishing matter.

The loot of the Dark Magic Serpent had exceeded his expectations entirely.

The Serpent Ironwrist and his party killed had dropped only three items, with two of them being Level 40 Mysterious-Iron Equipment. The third item was a piece of gray crystal. Aside from those, there was nothing else.

Their loot was miles short of the seven items he had gotten.

It seems that the loot of the Dark Magic Serpent really is terrible.

When Shi Feng looked at the drops Ironwrist’s party obtained, he realized that his luck before hadn’t been bad at all.

Just as Shi Feng was about to lament the paucity of the Dark Magic Serpent’s loot, Dustwind, the Elementalist of the party, suddenly jumped up in joy.

“We’ve lucked out! It actually dropped!” Dustwind laughed.

“Really?! Let me see!” Off Fire rushed to the Elementalist, the expression on his face right now as if he had just won the lottery. “We’ve only been hunting Dark Magic Serpents for four days, yet we’ve already managed to obtain it? That can’t be, right?”

Likewise, everyone else in the party ran over to the Elementalist, one after another, excited expressions on their faces.

Shi Feng could not help but be stunned at this sight.

He had long since peeked at the party’s loot using Omniscient Eyes. Although Level 40 Mysterious-Iron Equipment was indeed a rare item right now, it was still useless to current players. Moreover, its Basic Attributes were only slightly better than Level 30 Fine-Gold Equipment. With the strength of Ironwrist’s party, would Level 40 Mysterious-Iron Equipment be able to even enter their eyes by the time they reached Level 40?

Was there a need to get this excited?

“Wah! Leader, it really dropped! We’ve hit the jackpot this time!” Off Fire said as he showed off the gray crystal in his hand to Ironwrist.

After Ironwrist accepted the gray crystal, he took a look at it before gritting his teeth and passing it to Shi Feng, saying, “Brother Expert, you saved our Seventh Party. We don’t really have anything we can offer to you in gratitude, so please accept this Soul Crystal on our behalf.”

“This…” Shi Feng was stunned momentarily. He then said, “Instead of giving me this item, I hope that Brother Ironwrist can help me ask around on some matters. You can take this item as remuneration for your efforts.”

“This won’t do. The value of a single Soul Crystal far surpasses the price required for us to ask around for information,” Ironwrist refused. He then pondered slightly before continuing, “Why don’t I use Gemstones of equal value to trade for it?”

Gemstones were not foreign to players of God’s Domain. One could say that they were one of the hard currencies of God’s Domain. They could be inlaid into equipment to improve said equipment’s Attributes.

However, during the initial stages of God’s Domain, Gemstones were extremely rare. Hence, the prices for these items were also very high.

Currently, a single Tier 1 Gemstone, which was capable of increasing a single Attribute by three points, cost around ten Silver. As for Tier 2 Gemstones, capable of increasing a single Attribute by six points, they cost around 90 Silver. Among the variety of Tier 2 Gemstones, the ones that increased Strength, Agility, or Intelligence could sell for up to one Gold.

To current players, the best Gemstones obtainable right now were Tier 2 Gemstones.

“Sure,” Shi Feng agreed.

“Great! Our party has a total of 23 Tier 2 Gemstones and 89 Tier 1 Gemstones. However, we don’t have too many on hand right now; most of them are in our Warehouses. Can I pass you the remaining ones after we return to the district?” Ironwrist asked, somewhat embarrassed.

Shi Feng was greatly shocked by the Shield Warrior’s offer.

If he sold all these Gemstones, he could get roughly 30 Gold in total. Moreover, that 30 Gold was only part of the Soul Crystal’s actual value.

Since Shi Feng had already promised to exchange it, he naturally would not regret his decision. Hence, he promptly accepted all the Gemstones Ironwrist currently had on him.

Shi Feng could tell how desperate Ironwrist and his party members were for the gray crystal. Moreover, it seemed that they had come here solely to farm for this Soul Crystal. In any case, Shi Feng had no use for this item right now. He also had another three crystals sitting inside his bag. If he really needed more in the future, he could simply come and kill more Dark Magic Serpents. With Divine Providence, he could easily obtain plenty of Soul Crystals.

Following which, Shi Feng accompanied Ironwrist and the others back to District Five.

To put it simply, District Five was an area enclosed within a gigantic magic array. There was a small town inside this area, and the number of players residing within this town was relatively low.

Although there were not many players here, the players had very high Levels. Every one of them was Level 26 or above. They were higher-leveled than even the elite players of Guilds. Moreover, the equipment these players wore were of very high quality, with the weakest being Mysterious-Iron Equipment, and the majority being Secret-Silver Equipment. Only the elite members of Zero Wing could possibly compare to these ordinary players.

“Why aren’t there any NPCs guards here?” Shi Feng could not help but ask. After surveying the streets for a while, he had not seen any NPC guards whatsoever.

NPC guards were normally used to maintain town security and to prevent fights between players.

Not having any NPC guards was not good news to ordinary players.

“NPC guards? What’s that?” Ironwrist asked curiously.

“They’re NPCs meant to maintain the security of the town and prevent players from trying to kill each other,” Shi Feng replied, surprised.

“District Five doesn’t have such NPCs, as we’re inside a Safe Zone. Within the Safe Zone, no player can attack anyone. Hence, town security is very high. Moreover, our District Five is very powerful. We’ve accumulated enough Soul Crystals to even establish a new Training Facility already. On the other hand, Districts Six and Seven are only able to defend themselves against monster assaults,” Ironwrist proudly explained.

“I see.” Shi Feng nodded. He more or less understood what was going on now.

God’s Domain was an extremely mysterious game. The Main God System was also constantly expanding God’s Domain itself.

Depending on the region a player resided in, the gameplay they experienced would indeed be somewhat different.

Shi Feng had encountered such situations a few times in the past. Only, he had not expected the gameplay here to be this different from where he came from.

It felt as if the players here were playing a city-building game, protecting and developing the cities they belonged to.

This was just like how a Guild would establish their own town or city.

However, there was yet to be a single Guild capable of constructing their own city.

Soon, Ironwrist and his party set out to help Shi Feng gather information related to the Dark Den. Meanwhile, Shi Feng himself went to a bar to collect information about this place.

“Did you hear? Our few Districts have recently joined forces and are preparing to go on a crusade against Gloomy Valley. The crusading army is currently recruiting members as well. As long as we can get rid of the Great Lord Noya inside Gloomy Valley, we will be able to open up new maps,” a Guardian Knight inside the bar said to his companions after taking a sip of red wine.

“I heard that the top ten parties of our District Five can join the crusading army directly. Unfortunately, my party is ranked more than fifty, and we’ll have to pass a test if we want to join the coalition,” an Assassin said with disappointment.

“That’s right! As long as we can defeat the Great Lord, we will be able to obtain the Chapter of Darkness. At which point, the monster assaults will become much easier to handle.”

…

For a time, everyone inside the bar discussed matters related to Gloomy Valley.

Chapter of Darkness? Shi Feng suddenly thought about the Bible of Darkness when he heard about the Chapter of Darkness. Is there some sort of connection between the two?

His quest required him to obtain the Bible of Darkness. However, he had no clue as to how he should go about doing so.

Meanwhile, the Chapter of Darkness could possibly be an important clue.

“It seems that I’ll have to make a trip to Gloomy Valley myself,” Shi Feng quietly muttered.

Chapter 578: District Five

Time passed little by little. Before he knew it, Shi Feng had spent over an hour inside the bar already.

Although he had not done anything in particular, he had gained an enormous harvest.

The bar was somewhere players often conversed and exchanged information with each other, so collecting information was effortless, particularly information regarding District Five.

After going through the information he had, Shi Feng finally understood what kind of place District Five was.

He could not help but admit that it was similar to the real world.

To put it simply, District Five was a simple Shelter that allowed players to stay at a close distance to high-leveled monsters, removing the need to waste large amounts of time on travel.

As there were no teleportation arrays here, players had to rely on their own two feet to get anywhere.

Due to the large number of ferocious monsters in the area, players would generally form parties when venturing into the fields, not daring to go solo. Any player capable of moving solo in the fields was an expert among experts. These solo players were known as Mavericks, and they were the definition of strength. Hence, they were admired by many players.

Besides that, Shelters also served as a defensive measure against monster assaults because the nights in this place was extremely terrifying.

How terrifying were they?

At nighttime, monsters would group up and actively assault players. Even a 100-man team would not survive without the protection of the Shelter.

Moreover, even if players were inside the Shelter, they still needed to face the tsunami of monsters. Hence, the players here had no choice but to work together to fend off these monsters.

If the Shelter were compromised, then the activity range of players would be similarly affected. They would have no choice but to move their base of operations to a lower-level region. In the future, if they wished to grind high-level monsters, they would have to waste a lot of time traveling from a low-level region to a high-level region.

Meanwhile, the nights here were longer than days. Out of the 48 hours in each day, 30 hours consisted of nighttime with only 18 hours of daytime. The time available for players to level up and improve themselves was much more limited.

This situation further emphasized the importance of Shelters.

After all, if players were to waste eight to nine hours on travel every day, how were they supposed to level up? Nevertheless, it was this dire situation that allowed the players here to have very high levels.

District Five was one of the Shelters located in a high-level region.

The players here did not have to waste a large amount of time on travel to encounter high-level monsters, go to high-level Dungeons, or take on high-level quests.

As the players here had to face the assault of a monster army every night, not only could they gain a considerable amount of EXP from killing these monsters, but they could also take the opportunity to complete high-level quests, obtaining significant sums of money and equipment.

Meanwhile, the most precious resource for a Shelter was the Soul Crystal. This item could be used to strengthen the magic array enveloping the Shelter, significantly weakening the monsters within the magic array’s range and giving players an easier time pushing back the monster armies. If players donated Soul Crystals to the Shelter, they could receive large amounts of Contribution Shares in return. Contribution Shares were equivalent to money in Shelters, and players could use these points to purchase some specific items to strengthen themselves.

For example, the Tier 1 Curse that Ironwrist’s party wielded was one of the good items acquired using Contribution Shares.

Hence, the players here had a great desire for Soul Crystals.

Only, this item was truly useless to Shi Feng. He would not be living in this place. He was only going to stay here as a guest until he completed his quest.

Although the Soul Crystals are useless to me, it won’t be a bad idea to exchange them for some Gemstones. Shi Feng suddenly thought of a good idea to make money as he looked at the three Soul Crystals inside his bag.

Compared to the outside world, Gemstones were much more easily obtained in this place.

During the monster attacks at night, there was no lack of Chieftain and Lord ranked monsters. Chieftains had a high chance of dropping Tier 1 Gemstones, while Lords might even drop Tier 2 Gemstones. Hence, the supply of Gemstones here was much higher.

In the outside world, players very rarely had the chance to inlay Gemstones into their equipment. In here, however, it was very normal for players to have all the equipment on their bodies inlaid with Gemstones. As a result, the Basic Attributes of the players here were much higher than those of players in the outside world.

Meanwhile, the prices of Gemstones here were also much cheaper.

Outside, each Tier 1 Gemstone sold for 10 Silver, whereas Tier 2 Gemstones sold for 90 Silver to one Gold per piece. In here, however, five Silver could buy a Tier 1 Gemstone, whereas Tier 2 Gemstones only cost around 40 Silver.

As for Soul Crystals, each piece could sell for up to 40 Gold. Even then, players would still fight to buy it. The drop rate of Soul Crystals was abysmally low, and only Chieftains that were Level 40 or above had a slightly higher drop rate. This was also the reason why Ironwrist’s party had gone hunting for Chieftains over Level 40.

By the time Shi Feng was done compiling the information he had gathered, Ironwrist had also entered the bar together with a silver-armored Guardian Knight.

The instant this bearded man with thick eyelashes entered, the bar fell silent. Every player inside the bar immediately turned to look at this Guardian Knight one after another.

“What’s the party leader of the Third Party, Discipline Paradise, doing here?”

“Is Discipline Paradise here to recruit members?”

“How could it be? That’s the Third Party of our District Five. Even if he were recruiting more members, he would choose from their list of available candidates first. Why would he come to a bar looking for members?”

“I heard that the six official members of the Third Party have all learned Tier 1 Curses and Taboo Skills. They can go out to grind without fear even during the night.”

“That’s right. The Third Party’s strength is currently the closest to the First Party. It is highly possible that, after the next ranking battle, Discipline Paradise will become the leader of the Second Party.”

Everyone inside the bar looked at the silver-armored Knight with gazes of admiration and reverence.

In a Shelter, the higher ranked a party was, the more resources they could obtain. In addition, they would also gain greater access in the Shelter, allowing them to purchase items that were not available to regular parties. That way, their party’s strength would improve even faster.

Soon, Discipline Paradise and Ironwrist arrived before Shi Feng, who was currently seated at a corner of the bar.

“Brother Expert, let me introduce you. This here is the leader of our District Five’s Third Party, Discipline Paradise. He’s quite knowledgeable about the Dark Den you spoke of,” Ironwrist said, smiling.

“Hello, you can just call me Discipline.” Discipline Paradise smiled.

Although Discipline Paradise was one of the powerhouses of District Five, he did not display any form of arrogance. On the contrary, he was a very kind and straightforward man.

When the surrounding players saw Discipline Paradise, the leader of the Third Party, and Ironwrist, the leader of the Seventh Party, actively greeting a Swordsman that none of them had ever seen before, every one of them was stupefied.

“Who is that person? Why haven’t I seen him before?”

“Is he one of the top ten party leaders of some other District?”

“I don’t think he’s just limited to being in the top ten, right? Didn’t you hear Ironwrist calling that person an expert? That person might even be one of the top three party leaders of some other District. Otherwise, why would Discipline Paradise personally come over to meet him?”

Everyone began guessing at Shi Feng’s identity one after another.

However, Discipline Paradise’s next words instantly shocked everyone inside the bar.

“Brother Ye Feng, would you be willing to join our District Five’s crusading army?”

Chapter 579: Crusading Army

“Join the crusading army?” Shi Feng began pondering silently.

He did indeed want to go and take a look at Gloomy Valley, with his goal for going there being the Chapter of Darkness. After all, there might be some sort of connection between the Chapter and the Bible of Darkness. However, he had intended to go there by himself.

There was only a single Chapter of Darkness. With so many people wanting to obtain it, how was he supposed to get it if he went with a group?

It was also unlikely that everyone would give him the Chapter of Darkness.

Hence, the only way for him to obtain it was to move alone. That way, he would not have to share the Chapter with others.

Based on the information he had gathered earlier, there was no need to defeat the Great Lord Noya to get the Chapter of Darkness. The Great Lord was simply guarding the Chapter of Darkness. Hence, Shi Feng could just steal the Chapter. There was no real need for him to conquer the Great Lord. The difficulty of obtaining the Chapter of Darkness this way was undeniably much lower.

Moreover, he had already succeeded in carrying out similar feats in the past.

Previously, he had stolen an Imperial Heirloom from the Anubis’s Gatekeeper, a Great Lord ranked monster.

Afterward, he had also snatched the God Crystal from a Tier 4 Mythic Creature, the Orc King Tresik.

The first theft was difficult, but the subsequent one was easy.

Currently, he had much more confidence in stealing an item from a Great Lord.

“That’s right, join the crusading army. To be precise, I am asking you to join our Third Party,” Discipline Paradise said, his eyes filled with sincerity.

Hearing Discipline Paradise’s words, all the players inside the bar could not help but turn to look at Shi Feng, envious expressions appearing on their faces.

The crusade this time was not something just anyone could participate in.

As it was a crusade against Gloomy Valley, the number of players they could bring was limited. Naturally, they would only allow elites to participate in it. That way would increase the chances of success considerably.

Meanwhile, in District Five, only the top ten ranking parties received direct admission into the crusading army. Everyone else had to go through a test, and only the best could join the crusade.

There were many players in District Five. Meanwhile, only a total of 100 slots were allotted to District Five for the crusade. Among them, 60 were already assigned to the top ten parties, so everyone else would have to fight for the remaining 40 slots. One could just imagine how intense the competition would be.

Now, Shi Feng could join the Third Party directly and participate in the crusade without having to compete over those 40 slots. This was practically a gift from the heavens.

As long as the crusade succeeded, the 100 players participating in it would receive a bountiful harvest, particularly in terms of Contribution Shares for the Shelter. How could this situation not make others envious?

“Discipline, how can you be so underhanded?!” Ironwrist suddenly called out. “Even if Brother Ye Feng is going to join the crusading army, he should be joining my Seventh Party, not your Third Party! I only invited you over to discuss matters relating to the Dark Den!”

When Ironwrist had gone looking for Discipline Paradise earlier, he had told the Guardian Knight everything about his encounter with Shi Feng. However, he had not expected Discipline Paradise to actually play such a card.

No matter how one looked at it, Shi Feng was a Maverick with frightening strength.

Although the crusading army this time had gathered the power of multiple Districts, after the crusade succeeded, the number of Contribution Shares awarded would be based on each party’s performance in the crusade. In other words, the party that was the most helpful during the raid of the Great Lord Noya would receive the most Contribution Shares once the Great Lord was defeated.

Most importantly, the party that received the highest Contribution Shares had priority in choosing from the loot.

If Ironwrist could get a Maverick like Shi Feng to join the Seventh Party, his party’s strength would no doubt soar. At that time, the number of Contribution Shares they could obtain was self-evident. Hence, he was doing everything he could to befriend Shi Feng.

“This is not a ‘first come, first served’ thing. Moreover, regarding this matter, I won’t back off even if you’re my friend,” Discipline Paradise said in a righteous tone. “Also, it will be of great help to Brother Ye Feng if he joins my Third Party.”

Suddenly, Discipline Paradise and Ironwrist began arguing with each other over Shi Feng.

“What is this situation? Can someone tell me who that Swordsman is?”

The scene of two District Five big shots arguing over an unknown Swordsman stunned the players drinking inside the bar.

“Great help?” Shi Feng could not help but ask, “May I know what kind of help Brother Discipline is referring to?”

“The Chapter of Darkness!” Discipline Paradise sent a whisper to Shi Feng. “This item serves a huge purpose for Shelters. However, it is also closely related to the Dark Den. From the information I gathered, the Chapter of Darkness is a key meant to open the Dark Den. Since Brother Ye Feng wishes to go to the Dark Den, you will naturally have to obtain the Chapter of Darkness.

“However, the Chapter of Darkness is in the Great Lord Noya’s hands. If one wishes to obtain it, they will have to either kill or steal the Chapter from the Great Lord. Only, the latter option is practically impossible. The only feasible method to gain the Chapter is to kill the Great Lord.

“As long as Brother Ye Feng joins our party, we will definitely have a chance to become the top contributing party in the crusade. At that time, we can choose the Chapter of Darkness as our reward. I will then use the Chapter of Darkness to open the Dark Den for Brother Ye Feng. What does Brother Ye Feng think about this?”

“So that’s the case.” Shi Feng suddenly came to a realization. Nodding, he said, “Alright, then. I’ll agree to your proposal. However, I wish to change the conditions a little.”

“Change the conditions?” Discipline Paradise asked, slightly worried. “What conditions? You can’t be wanting the Chapter of Darkness itself, right?”

The Chapter of Darkness had only two functions: empowering the magic array of a Shelter and opening the Dark Den.

To a Maverick, the first function was obviously useless. This was also the reason why Discipline Paradise had come looking to cooperate with Shi Feng.

“Rest assured, I don’t want the Chapter of Darkness. Only, if I manage to obtain the Chapter of Darkness by myself, what will you use to exchange for it?” Shi Feng asked secretly.

“Obtain the Chapter of Darkness by yourself? How can that be possible?” Discipline Paradise asked, stunned.

“I am only saying ‘if,’” Shi Feng laughed.

“If you manage to get the Chapter of Darkness by yourself, I will definitely provide you with sufficient remuneration—Taboo Skills, Curses, top-tier equipment, whatever—as long as you are willing to exchange it.” Discipline Paradise did not know what was going through Shi Feng’s mind, but if he could obtain the Chapter of Darkness, it would be of great help to their party. Hence, he was willing to pay any price for it.

Shi Feng was slightly stunned after hearing Discipline Paradise’s words.

“Exchanged Taboo Skills can be traded?” Shi Feng asked softly.

Discipline Paradise nodded. “Of course. Only, the price required to do so is somewhat high. However, for the Chapter of Darkness, I am willing to pay six Tier 1 Taboo Skills.”

“Six?” Shi Feng shook his head. “If I obtain the Chapter of Darkness, I want to exchange it for a Tier 1 Taboo Skill for every class, as well as the activation of the Dark Den.”

“Can you really do it?” Discipline Paradise asked in surprise.

A Tier 1 Taboo Skill for every class, this price was indeed frightening. Even for Discipline Paradise, this was a very steep price. The Chapter of Darkness was merely a Dark-Gold item with a somewhat special function. In truth, it was worth only seven or eight pieces of Dark-Gold Equipment.

Meanwhile, the value of a Taboo Skill was no less than a piece of Dark-Gold Equipment. Since there was a total of twelve major classes, that meant a total of twelve Taboo Skills—equivalent to twelve pieces of Dark-Gold Equipment.

Dark-Gold Equipment was considered a luxury item for any party. If one had to give away twelve pieces all of a sudden, any party would feel a sting in their hearts.

However, compared to this painful price, what Discipline Paradise was most concerned about was whether or not Shi Feng could obtain the Chapter of Darkness.

Chapter 580: Abyssal Upgrade

In response to Discipline Paradise’s question, Shi Feng only smiled while remaining silent.

Receiving such a reply from Shi Feng, Discipline Paradise didn’t get angry; his eyes glowed with excitement, instead, his trust in Shi Feng growing even stronger.

Previously, he had heard from Ironwrist that Shi Feng had managed to defeat a Level 42 Chieftain ranked Dark Magic Serpent all by himself. This was definitely a feat that no ordinary person was capable of.

Currently, there were only ten parties capable of hunting Dark Magic Serpents in District Five. Other than their excellent techniques and equipment, the main reason why these ten parties were equal to the task was their having learned Tier 1 Taboo Skills that countered these Chieftains.

Otherwise, they all would be powerless against Dark Magic Serpents.

As for defeating a Dark Magic Serpent single-handedly, not even he, the leader of District Five’s Third Party, had ever dreamed of attempting such a feat.

Due to this reason, he had come over personally to invite Shi Feng to join their team and aid them in competing for the Chapter of Darkness.

“When will Brother Ye Feng be able to obtain the Chapter of Darkness?” Discipline Paradise asked somewhat anxiously. Hints of reverence and elation gleamed in his eyes.

Although several Districts were participating in the crusade against the Great Lord Noya this time, Noya was a Level 40 Great Lord. Even if everyone combined their power, victory over the Great Lord was still a long shot. They had made ample preparations, yet their current predicted success rate was below 10%. The odds for stealing the Chapter of Darkness weren’t worth mentioning.

It was not easy for a party to survive in a Shelter. Besides constantly competing over the party rankings inside a Shelter, parties also needed to defend the Shelter every day lest the Shelter fall into ruin and all their efforts come to naught.

Now that an expert like Shi Feng had shown up, the Third Party would have a much better chance at obtaining the Chapter of Darkness.

Noya was no ordinary Great Lord; it was a Guardian Monster serving as the key for activating a new map.

Such Guardian Monsters normally tested a player’s individual abilities. Having more players participating in the crusade would only lead to more mistakes occurring.

Ever since God’s Domain began, Mavericks had been the ones to activate many of the new maps. Hence, everyone in this place revered Mavericks greatly as they had managed to accomplish a task that most parties couldn’t.

Meanwhile, this was the first time Discipline Paradise encountered a Maverick as strong as Shi Feng. Shi Feng’s chances of obtaining the Chapter of Darkness were definitely much higher than their crusading army’s.

“I’ll give it a go as soon as possible.” Shi Feng could not give an accurate timeline. After all, he had not yet seen Noya personally. However, with his equipment and means, he should have an excellent chance of stealing the item the Great Lord was guarding. “I hope that Brother Discipline can prepare the Tier 1 Taboo Skills as soon as possible.”

Tier 1 Taboo Skills and Curses were not cabbages piled high in the market. Based on the information Shi Feng had collected, out of the tens of thousands of players in District Five, only the top five parties possessed six or more Tier 1 Taboo Skills and Curses. Ironwrist’s Seventh Party had two; however, currently only one of his members had succeeded in learning a Tier 1 Curse. One could just imagine how difficult it was to obtain Tier 1 Taboo Skills and Curses.

“Brother Ye Feng can rest assured on this point. As long as you succeed in getting the Chapter of Darkness, I will definitely hand over twelve Tier 1 Taboo Skills.” Discipline Paradise laughed confidently.

Following which, Discipline Paradise shared with Shi Feng specific information regarding Noya.

Unfortunately, Shi Feng and Discipline Paradise’s conversation in a private chat dismayed Ironwrist, who was seated beside the two. However, seeing how Discipline Paradise, the leader of the Third Party, was acting so respectfully with Shi Feng, Ironwrist also could not help but feel a little prideful.

After Discipline Paradise left, Shi Feng looked at the depressed Shield Warrior and said, “Brother Ironwrist, can I get you to help me with something?”

“Brother Ye Feng, please don’t hold back. You are our party’s savior. If you have anything you need help with, just tell me!” Ironwrist assured, clapping his chest.

“Can you help me exchange these Soul Crystals for some Level 30 Fine-Gold ranked or above weapons?” Shi Feng asked as he took out three gray crystals from his bag.

“Heavens! You actually have so many Soul Crystals!” Ironwrist’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he saw the three Soul Crystals Shi Feng produced.

He finally realized why Shi Feng seemed to care little about Soul Crystals before.

In order to obtain just one Soul Crystal, their Seventh Party had spent several days hunting Dark Magic Serpents. In the end, they had gotten one only by sheer luck. He had even shown off their party’s harvest in front of Discipline Paradise.

Yet, now, Shi Feng just casually took out three Soul Crystals…

Seeing that Ironwrist was still silent after quite some time, Shi Feng could not help but ask, “Has nobody managed to obtain Level 30 Fine-Gold Weapons yet?”

The players residing in District Five were very high-leveled. The high-ranking parties often challenged monsters of higher levels. Although only a few parties were capable of defeating Level 40 monsters, there should be plenty that could handle monsters that were Level 30 or so. Shi Feng had also seen plenty of players selling Level 30 Bronze and Mysterious-Iron Equipment on the streets earlier. Moreover, they were selling the items very cheaply. This was a scene that had yet to appear in White River City.

However, after giving it some thought, Shi Feng found it to be reasonable.

The players here were killing monsters day in and day out—especially since monster armies attacked the Shelter at night. They were improving their combat techniques daily. In addition to other factors, such as Gemstones, challenging monsters of a higher level was routine.

However, while the players here found it very normal to fight against monsters of a higher level, it was a different story for the players outside the Dark Den. Players outside preferred to grind monsters of a lower level whenever possible. They definitely would not choose to grind monsters that were of the same level as, or even higher level than, they were, as doing so would mean increased risk. As a result, players outside the Dark Den improved their combat techniques and upgraded their equipment at a much slower rate.

“That’s not it. Brother Ye Feng, do you really want to exchange Soul Crystals for weapons? That’s just such a waste. Although the market value of a Soul Crystal is equal to one Level 30 Dark-Gold Weapon or five Fine-Gold Weapons, no one who manages to obtain a Soul Crystal would exchange them for equipment or weapons. After all, weapons and equipment will depreciate with time. On the other hand, the Contribution Shares one can acquire with Soul Crystals will never lose their value. The true value of a Soul Crystal is far above a Level 30 Dark-Gold Weapon. It will be an even greater loss if you exchange it for Level 30 Fine-Gold Weapons,” Ironwrist advised.

The Shield Warrior’s words rendered Shi Feng somewhat dumbfounded.

Soul Crystals were really of no value to him. On the other hand, the value of Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold Weapons was much higher.

As for why he wanted these weapons, he was planning to upgrade the Abyssal Blade to Level 30.

A Level 40 Great Lord was no pushover, and it would be to Shi Feng’s benefit to increase his combat power as much as possible. As a Magic Weapon, the higher-leveled the Abyssal Blade was, the higher its Attributes and quality would be.

When Shi Feng first obtained the Abyssal Blade, the Magic Weapon’s Attributes were only equal to a Secret-Silver Weapon. Now that the weapon was Level 25, its Attributes were already above Dark-Gold rank. If Shi Feng upgraded it to Level 30, it might reach the standard of an Epic Weapon.

A Level 30 Epic Weapon would definitely push his combat power up to a whole new level. At that time, he would have much more confidence in stealing the Chapter of Darkness.

Seeing how Shi Feng was insistent on exchanging his Soul Crystals for weapons, Ironwrist had no choice but to comply and think of a way to carry out the Maverick’s wishes.

An hour or so later, Ironwrist had managed to exchange the three Soul Crystals for one Level 30 Dark-Gold Weapon and eleven Level 30 Fine-Gold Weapons.

After Shi Feng received the weapons, he parted ways with Ironwrist and went searching for a secluded location.

The commotion the Abyssal Blade caused with each subsequent evolution grew increasingly larger. Now that Shi Feng was about to upgrade the Magic Weapon to Level 30, the aftermath would definitely alarm the entire District Five. Not wanting to attract any attention to himself, Shi Feng had no choice but to head for an out-of-the-way spot.

“Devour!” Shi Feng chose to upgrade the Abyssal Blade upon arriving at a wilderness with no other players around.

Chapter 581: Epic Weapon

The moment Shi Feng’s finger made contact with the system window, the pitch-black Abyssal Blade released a dragon’s roar.

The deafening roar sounded as if an actual dragon stood before Shi Feng right now.

With such a ferocious roar, even the birds in flight were petrified, falling out of the sky one after another.

Immediately after letting out the dragon’s roar, the Abyssal Blade struggled free from Shi Feng’s hand and flew into the air.

In the blink of an eye, the pitch-black Abyssal Blade transformed into a cloud of black mist that devoured the eleven sacrificial weapons.

As it consumed the weapons, Shi Feng could also hear a strong heartbeat coming from the black mist. It was as if an ancient creature was awakening. A terrifying aura washed over Shi Feng and his surroundings; the nearby greenery even withered.

“Why is there such a huge difference in power from the last evolution?” Shi Feng looked at the black mist floating in midair, frowning. “Is this the beginning of a Backlash?”

Shi Feng had never witnessed or heard any details about the Backlash of a Magic Weapon before.

In the past, players who obtained Magic Weapons had never disclosed any information regarding Backlashes. They only advised others to stay as far away as possible from Magic Weapons.

The pressure the Abyssal Blade was currently emitting was incredibly terrifying. Back when Shi Feng upgraded the Magic Weapon to Level 25, he could still move about relatively easily under the aura the weapon emanated. Now, however, even motion was a luxury. He could only stand still and watch quietly as all of this happened.

After a while, the magnitude of the heartbeats gradually increased. The black mist in the sky also took the shape of a black heart. Meanwhile, with this black heart as the core, a vaporous phantom of a black dragon appeared.

The black dragon silently looked down on Shi Feng, a human-like playful expression contained within its blood-red eyes. In the next moment, the phantom dissipated into nothing, this time transforming into a silver sword that landed at Shi Feng’s feet.

The phantom of the black dragon is becoming more realistic with each subsequent evolution. Even the pressure it emits is growing stronger. No wonder so many players dared not use Magic Weapons even though they had obtained them. Shi Feng frowned slightly as he looked at the Abyssal Blade, which had stabbed into the ground.

When and where a Backlash would occur, nobody knew.

Continuously strengthening the Abyssal Blade was equivalent to enhancing the power of the Magic Weapon’s Backlash. Just the current Abyssal Blade could already make him feel fearful. If he continued upgrading the Abyssal Blade, he might really fail to cope with the Backlash.

This should be the so-called “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

“Forget it. Let’s take things as they come.” Shi Feng shook his head, dispelling the negative thoughts in his head. He then pulled out the Abyssal Blade and took a look at its Attributes.

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

Attack Power +633

All Attributes +42

Attack Speed +15

Ignore Levels +15

Attacks have:

50% chance to cause 200% damage.

25% chance to cause 300% damage.

Every attack increases damage by 2%, up to a maximum of 20%.

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 30. Can be upgraded. (Devour twenty Level 35 Fine-Gold Weapons and three Level 35 Dark-Gold Weapons to upgrade to Level 35).

Can be evolved (Unknown).

Additional Skill 1: Phantom Kill. Instantly creates a doppelganger. You can control this doppelganger. Doppelganger will have 70% of original body’s Attributes and all Skills. At the same time, doppelganger and the original body can be swapped.

Duration: 1 minute

Cooldown: 5 minutes

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

Duration: 4 seconds

Cooldown: 1 minute

Additional Skill 3: Nine Dragons Slash. Instantly creates twelve phantoms of the Abyssal Blade for wielder to use; each phantom sword is capable of dealing up to 50% damage.

Duration: 30 seconds

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Additional Skill 4: Abyssal Curse. Prevents all targets within a radius of 30 yards from moving or attacking for 5 seconds, as well as reducing all their Attributes by 20% for 10 minutes.

Cooldown: 40 minutes

Additional Profound Inheritance: Black Emperor. When activated, every critical hit will accumulate one stack of Death Aura. Each stack of death aura can be used to increase all Attributes of wielder by 2% and Attack Speed and Movement Speed by 1% for 10 seconds, or be used to reduce the Cooldown of a skill by 3 seconds. Maximum of 30 stacks of Death Aura.

Duration: 10 minutes

Cooldown: 15 hours

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.

“Such a high Attack! This is equal to the Attack Power of a Level 30 Epic ranked two-handed sword, right?” Shi Feng exclaimed in surprise.

Back when the Abyssal Blade was Level 25, its Attack Power had only been over 400. Now that the Magic Weapon was upgraded to Level 30, its Attack Power had actually increased by over 200 points. Not to mention, the weapon’s Skills had also undergone a transformation, with Abyssal Curse replacing Dark Violent Dance. Used against a single target or a group, it was an extremely powerful Control and Weakening Skill.

However, this was still not the most significant change to the Abyssal Blade.

Swinging the Magic Weapon lightly, Shi Feng felt as if the Abyssal Blade was an extension of his arm, so much so that he could even feel the sword’s edge cutting through the air.

“What’s going on here?” Shi Feng looked at the Abyssal Blade incredulously.

There was a saying that, when one’s mastery of a weapon reached a certain level, said weapon would feel like an extension of one’s own body.

However, this was only a saying.

Just being able to incorporate a weapon into one’s own attack habits and styles was already an amazing feat.

During the early stages of God’s Domain, the Attributes of weapons and equipment were very important. However, as players acquired better equipment, they would begin ordering custom-made weapons and equipment for themselves. Even if two items possessed the exact same Attributes, most players would choose equipment custom-made to their requirements over the other.

Why was this so?

The reason was very simple: the far greater ease of harmonization to their habits and styles. For this reason alone, players were willing to spend as much money as necessary.

If a player possessed a high compatibility rate with the weapons they wielded, their attacks would flow much more smoothly. Most importantly, a weapon with good compatibility could improve a player’s Skill Completion Rate. This was also the reason why, during the later stages of the game, many players chose to discard ready-made Epic Weapons and, instead, were adamant in paying an astronomical sum to hire a Master or Grandmaster Forger to produce a custom-made Epic Weapon for themselves.

It was all because custom-made weapons and equipment possessed a much higher compatibility rate.

Thinking up to this point, Shi Feng immediately began brandishing the Abyssal Blade to get used to the newly enhanced weapon. He then found a Level 35 Demonic Hound to test his sword on.

Chop!

Usually, Shi Feng could achieve a Completion Rate of 85% or above when using this Skill, displaying 100% of the Skill’s might. In the past, his best record for Chop was 90%. Although this Skill was very simple, it was extremely difficult to execute properly.

The three sword lights, which should have resembled three silver crescents, converged into one as they struck at the Demonic Hound, causing the damage dealt by Chop to reach its maximum. At this moment, however, the three sword lights had transformed into three full moons that met at a single point. The space at this single point looked as if it had been pierced—one could faintly see a small spatial crack at this location.

System: Chop Completion Rate 92%, resulting in 125% of Skill’s effect. Skill Proficiency +4.

Shi Feng then followed up with Thunder Flame Explosion. Originally, this Skill should have combined the power of lightning and fire into a massive fireball that bombarded the enemy. Now, however, instead of a fireball…

System: Thunder Flame Explosion Completion Rate 90%, resulting in 110% of Skill’s effect. Skill Proficiency +3.

“What?! Why is there suddenly such a huge increase in Skill Completion Rate?!” Shi Feng stared at the system notification window, flabbergasted.

Compared to his past self, his current strength was much stronger. In the past, his best record for Chop was 90% Completion Rate. Although it was only a meager 2% increase, the gap was like the difference between heaven and earth.

Based on the system’s configuration, Completion Rates between 81% to 90% were categorized into the same group; achieving any percentage within this range would give an increase of three Proficiency Points. Also, at 90%, one could display 110% of a Skill’s effect. At 91%, a Skill’s effect was directly upgraded to 120% and would yield four Proficiency Points.

The improvement to Thunder Flame Explosion was even more apparent. Previously, he could not even achieve an 85% Completion Rate on the Skill. Now, however, he had managed 90%.

Shi Feng had killed a Level 35 Demonic Hound in just two moves.

“It’s no wonder many had said Magic Weapons possessed frightening power and many experts could not bring themselves to divest their Magic Weapons in the past. So this was the case!” Shi Feng’s heart was pounding madly as he looked at the Level 35 Demonic Hound he had just annihilated.

His compatibility with the Abyssal Blade right now was practically perfect. He felt invincible!

Chapter 582: The True Power of a Magic Weapon

Shi Feng killed over a dozen Level 35 Demonic Hounds, testing his various Skills.

When used with the Abyssal Blade, he could manipulate every Skill of his as if just playing with a toy. He could casually mold the Skill to his liking, very easily exceeding his past records of Skill Completion Rates.

In God’s Domain, Skill Completion Rates were an important indicator of a player’s actual strength.

In the past, in order to improve the Completion Rate of one Skill by just 1%, many players had trained arduously for days, sometimes even weeks. Particularly, after reaching the 85% threshold, raising a Skill’s Completion Rate by 1% required a tremendous amount of effort. For some, even that wasn’t enough; all the training in the world was useless.

However, with the Abyssal Blade in hand, this ironclad law was instantly broken.

When one wanted to improve their combat techniques, they first needed to learn how to control their own bodies. If one could not even control their form properly, they could never control the weapons in their hands.

Shi Feng’s control over his body had long since reached a very high standard. Unfortunately, he had not reached a similar level with his control over his weapons. He could not reach a level where he could feel even a strand of hair fall onto his sword’s edge.

However, his compatibility with the Abyssal Blade now was practically perfect. It felt as if he had become one with the Magic Weapon, allowing his Skill Completion Rate to reach new highs.

At this moment, he surpassed all previous records with one of his Basic Skills, Chop, achieving a 95% Completion Rate.

If a Skill’s Completion Rate reached 95%, the Skill would display 135% of its effects. In other words, Shi Feng’s current Chop dealt an additional 35% damage compared to his previous 85% Completion Rate. The increase in combat power was obvious.

After continuously using the newly improved Abyssal Blade for such a long time, Shi Feng had grown addicted to the sensation he received from the Magic Weapon and the pleasure he felt from his strength gradually rising with every passing moment. His heart ached to remain in this state forever.

After killing dozens of Demonic Hounds, Shi Feng’s hunger was unsated. He wanted to continue to utilize these Demonic hounds to improve his Completion Rate. Unfortunately, time was of the essence. He needed to prioritize his quest for now.

In the past, many of those who obtained Magic Weapons had told others not to involve themselves with these things as the Magic Weapon’s power would devour them. So, it turns out that the power they had referred to was not a Magic Weapon’s powerful Attributes. Shi Feng inwardly sighed as he looked at the Abyssal Blade in his hand. In the past, countless experts had trained arduously just so that they could increase their Skill Completion Rate by just one more percentage; some had even gone through all that effort for nothing. Yet, a Magic Weapon can achieve this feat easily. Moreover, as a Magic Weapon grows more powerful, this frightening compatibility rate will also intensify. This is the reason that players in the past had continued to upgrade their Magic Weapons, and as a result, drowned themselves in this sea of Skill Completion Rates, unable to pull themselves from the allure of this power.

Thus far, Shi Feng had only trained for half an hour or so, and already, his stagnant Skill Completion Rates had improved massively. Moreover, Shi Feng could clearly feel that he had yet to reach his limit.

Such power was truly terrifying!

This was a temptation that no expert could distance themselves from. After all, there was not a single expert that did not wish to further refine their own techniques, particularly in this virtual world that was filled with various chance encounters.

Even Shi Feng, someone who had played God’s Domain for over a decade, hungered to upgrade the Abyssal Blade once more, improving the Magic Weapon’s compatibility rate again. This way, he might be able to refine his Skill Completion Rate further.

Achieving a 95% Completion Rate had already increased his combat power by 35%. Every 1% past 90% could increase a Skill’s effect significantly, not to mention past 95%. At that time, just how terrifying would his Skills become?

It might even be possible to double his combat power.

The impact of raising his Skill Completion Rates was far more valuable than learning a single Taboo Skill. After all, a Taboo Skill was only one attack. Although its might surpassed Skills of the same Tier, what would happen the Taboo Skill’s duration?

In the end, he would return to his prior strength.

Meanwhile, a player normally incorporated a variety of Basic Skills into their attacks when engaged in battle. If every Skill could achieve a 100% Completion Rate, one could easily wipe the floor with a player that had learned a Taboo Skill of the same Tier.

This was the true power of a Magic Weapon. Its main purpose lay not in increasing its wielder’s Attributes, but rather, its main function was to improve the fundamentals of a player’s techniques. Not even Fragmented Legendary Weapons could offer such a devastating benefit, much less Epic Weapons.

In the past, every player that wielded a Magic Weapon was undoubtedly a top-tier expert. Some even stood at God’s Domain’s peak.

Shi Feng finally understood that their achievements were all due to the intense compatibility rates that Magic Weapons offered.

Of course, this improvement method was more of a form of diabolism. After all, most of the apex experts of God’s Domain had attained their strength step by step. They had first trained their physical control to the very limit. They then focused on their control over their weapons. Apex experts like these possessed unshakable foundations. Even if they switched to new weapons and equipment, their strength would not decrease significantly and would soon recover. However, it was a different story for Magic Weapon wielders. For those who had obtained a Magic Weapon at the very start of the game, if they suddenly lost their Magic Weapons, their strength would plummet.

Someone who had initially been an apex expert might instantly become a nobody. Hence, in the past, none of the wielders were willing to part with their Magic Weapons. As a result, their Magic Weapons eventually devoured them, and they were forced to start all over again.

However, this inspired an idea in Shi Feng.

If he wanted to nurture experts quickly, it would be best to start with searching for weapons with high compatibility rates. If a player possessed weapons or piece of equipment that was highly compatible, their strength would skyrocket.

Currently, Zero Wing had extremely few top-tier experts, and the standard of the Guild’s elite members was still relatively low. Meanwhile, Dungeons required very high levels of personal strength. Zero Wing’s advantage of raiding speed was only due to the equipment its team wore. In truth, they were far weaker than those teams that relied on personal combat techniques. The Dungeon’s Final Boss was particularly challenging for Zero Wing.

There was practically no way to improve the equipment of Zero Wing’s core members any further at the moment.

If they wished to increase their combat power, they could only do so through Skill Completion Rates.

Unfortunately, until now, Zero Wing’s members had only focused on finding ways to obtain better weapons and equipment to increase their Attributes. They had mostly neglected to improve their Skill Completion Rates. Currently, even Fire Dance, the most powerful melee fighter on Zero Wing’s core team, could only achieve a maximum Skill Completion Rate of 80%. She was still a great distance away from reaching 85%.

If he could improve Fire Dance and the others’ compatibility rates with their weapons, the combat power of Zero Wing’s core team would improve by leaps and bounds.

“Compatibility rate?” Shi Feng pondered aloud.

In fact, he did have a method that could improve one’s compatibility rate; he could recruit a Master Forger into the Guild. Although Master Forgers could not produce a weapon with a 100% compatibility rate with a player, if Zero Wing had a Master Forger, said Forger could, more or less, produce tailor-made weapons and equipment with slightly higher compatibility rates for some of the Guild’s members. This would help the Guild’s experts massively.

Only, nurturing a Master Forger was easier said than done…

Shi Feng no longer wasted time as he sheathed the Abyssal Blade and made his way to Gloomy Valley.

Gray mist shrouded Gloomy Valley all-year round, limiting players’ vision as they explored the area. Moreover, Shi Feng could feel the gray mist suppressing all five of his senses while he wandered the Valley. It was as if he stood deep within the blood mist of the Demonkin army’s killing intent. Only, the suppression effects were much weaker here.

The majority of the monsters inside Gloomy Valley were Level 40 or above Elite rank. There were also plenty of Level 40 or above Special Elites roaming around. Even the outermost region of the valley was a challenge to get through.

Meanwhile, in Gloomy Valley’s inner region, the Level 40 Great Lord Noya stood guard at the gate leading to the next map. If one wished to journey to the new map, they first needed to kill Noya.

“That’s Noya? Sure enough, it’s strong.”

Shi Feng hid in the forest as he observed the massive gargoyle in front of the valley’s entrance.

[Noya] (Demonic Great Lord)

Level 40

HP 10,000,000/10,000,000