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Chapter 940: Hell’s Gatekeepers

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

Despite the fact that Three Tigers was a top-tier Assassin from a Super
Guild, he could not think of an appropriate response to the seamless
combination attack.

Only when the Black Coffin began to close did Three Tigers activate a
Control Removal Skill.

Unfortunately, the half-second delay before he made a decision was more
than enough time for Fire Dance to catch up to him, executing Absolute
Strike.

Suddenly, Fire Dance transformed into a shadowy streak that pierced
through the male Assassin’s body.

With little effort, Fire Dance, Violet Cloud, and White Night had taken
out a Super Guild’s top-tier Assassin. The surviving Pantheon members
were stunned.

Three Tigers was in no way weaker than Peerless. The Assassin could move
about unhindered even against hundreds of elite players and dozens of
experts. In a large-scale war, he could even take the enemy commander’s
life while surrounded by thousands of enemies.

Yet, now, the combination attack of three people had killed him almost
instantly.

“Their cooperation is seamless. Without Skills that provide
invulnerability, there is simply no escaping that attack.” War Wolf
sighed as he watched this scene play out. “The difference between the
two team’s experts is massive. Pantheon doesn’t have a chance.”

As a matter of fact, War Wolf knew that, even without Violet Cloud and
White Night, Fire Dance alone could render Three Tigers helpless.

Although Fire Dance was an Assassin, her Attributes were outrageous.
Moreover, only MTs could block the female Assassin’s mystifying attacks
with their shields. Other classes had no hope of blocking or dodging her
attacks. Their only option was to maintain a distance from the Assassin.
Letting her get close was the equivalent of welcoming death into their
homes.

Youlan nodded her agreement with War Wolf’s evaluation.

While it might seem as if Peerless had an advantage after activating his
Berserk Skill, Zero Wing’s people had many of their own, terrifying
Skills. After all, they had just come from the Titan Library. Youlan
also understood just how powerful the Skills were in the library’s outer
and inner areas. Even five Berserked Peerless clones wouldn’t be enough
to change this battle’s outcome, let alone one.

As Youlan was lost in her thoughts, Shi Feng joined the battle.

The instant Shi Feng stepped forward, he vanished. In the blink of an
eye, he appeared before Peerless, arcs of blue electricity coursing
around his body. He then slashed his blade down on the Berserker.

Tier 2 Taboo Skill, Instant Strike!

“Die!” The instant Shi Feng appeared before him, Peerless sensed the
Swordsman’s presence. A grin appeared on his face as he executed
Whirlwind Slash.

After watching Three Tigers die almost instantly, he had worried that
Zero Wing’s experts would pin him down and defeat him before he had the
chance to confront Shi Feng. He had never imagined that the detestable
Swordsman would come to him and without activating a Berserk Skill!

However, before Peerless’s greatsword could accelerate, a blue streak of
light bloomed from Shi Feng’s hand.

In the next moment, a critical damage of -27,684 appeared above
Peerless’s head, the Berserker’s HP plummeting to zero. Peerless did not
even have a chance to realize what had happened before his vision faded
to gray.

How is this possible?! As Peerless slowly fell to the ground, confusion
filled his eyes as he stared at his body. A sword wound had appeared
across his chest without his notice. The speed at which Shi Feng had
drawn his sword had surpassed his perception.

When Peerless’s body hit the ground, a piece of Level 40 Dark-Gold
Equipment dropped beside him.

Shi Feng’s attack had dumbfounded the remaining Pantheon members.

His sword strike had been way too fast.

Aside from a gradually fading blue glow, they saw nothing. That strike
may have even killed someone with an Invulnerability Skill before they
could deploy it.

After Peerless died, Shi Feng went after the remaining members, too lazy
to pick up the equipment the Berserker had dropped.

By the time Pantheon’s members realized what was going on, Shi Feng had
darted past them all, and they were already falling to the ground, one
after another. Without suspense, Shi Feng had killed everyone.

Instant Strike was as strong as a Tier 3 Skill. Even if they activated
Berserk Skills that doubled their Attributes, current players were
nothing against this Skill.

“Pick up the loot and prepare to face the monsters!” Shi Feng commanded
upon noticing the three Bosses breaking free from their distant
imprisonment.

Although one could clear the entrance trial without defeating the three
Stage Bosses, Shi Feng had decided that defeating them was necessary.

Like the second stage’s Boss, they might earn an unexpected reward for
the First Kill of these three Bosses.

As for why he had killed Pantheon’s members without a second thought, he
had worried that these people would run for the city half-way through
the Boss battle. Should that have happened, all of the regret in the
world wouldn’t have given him his Titan City Reputation back.

Moreover, had they cooperated with Pantheon, they would have had to
share the Bosses’ loot equally. Since his team was more than capable of
defeating the Bosses by themselves, why should they share the bounty?

...

After the three Bosses had annihilated the Pantheon members that had
trapped them, they shifted their gaze towards Shi Feng’s team. Roaring
angrily, the three Bosses, followed by over a hundred four-armed demonic
monsters, charged forward.

“Cola, tank the Ape King! Wumian and Turtledove, separate the other two
Apes! The farther, the better! The rest of the MTs will pin the demonic
monsters down! Don’t let them get away! Everyone else, kill the demonic
monsters first!” Shi Feng shouted. These Bosses’ powerful auras didn’t
affect him in the slightest.

The team immediately did as Shi Feng had ordered. Youlan cast Angel’s
Blessing, increasing everyone’s Attributes slightly and decreasing the
damage they received. Shi Feng also summoned the Demonic Flame Tiger and
had it cast Battle Roar and Darkness Blessing, increasing everyone’s
Attributes by an additional 10% and reducing the damage they took by
another 20%. The team also received a 100-point boost to their Magic
Resistance. These buffs immediately rose the team’s strength to a whole
new level.

When Cola was within range, he executed Justice Bash and attracted the
Three-headed Demonic Ape King’s attention. Ye Wumian and Turtledove
lured the Two-headed Demonic Apes away from each other as well.

However, the Demonic Apes had absurdly high Strength. This was
especially true for the Ape King. Although the Grand Lord was not an
Archaic Species, it still dealt over -10,000 damage to Cola despite the
Guardian Knight’s multiple damage reduction buffs. As for Ye Wumian and
Turtledove, they each took over -6,000 damage when the Great Lords hit
them.

Generally, players who had reached the third stage avoided fighting the
three Demonic Apes. After all, like the second stage’s King of
Corrosion, killing them wasn’t necessary to clear the entrance trial.
Teams were simply not willing to take this risk.

Moreover, in the past, the three Demonic Apes had been known as Hell’s
Gatekeepers. Most teams that had reached this far would avoid them as
much as possible.

This was due to the three Demonic Apes’ special ability.

In reality, the three Demonic Apes were actually of one body. Although
they were neither Ferocious Beasts nor Archaic Species, they were still
a nightmare for players.

When one Demonic Ape died, its strength would transfer to the remaining
Demonic Apes. When only one Demonic Ape remained, the gates of hell
would truly open. No team could survive the Boss’s devastating power.
Even if Shi Feng activated Twofold Berserk, he could do nothing about
his impending death.

Hence, the only way to defeat the three Stage Bosses was to kill them
simultaneously.

If the last Demonic Ape even had 1% HP remaining, it would massacre the
entire team.

However, a team needed powerful MTs, and healers in particular, if they
wanted to kill all three Demonic Apes at the same time. From time to
time, the three Demonic Apes used an AOE Skill. Every player on the team
would lose HP when they did. These moments would put the team’s healers
to the test.

If too many members died, it would wound their overall damage output.
All three Demonic Apes possessed extremely high HP, so their battle
recoveries were not to be trifled with. If the team could not maintain
their damage above a certain threshold, a team-wipe was inevitable.

If not for Violet Cloud’s new AOE Healing Spell, Shi Feng would not have
dared to fight the three Demonic Apes.

As the battle raged, time passed quickly. By the time everyone finished
dealing with the four-armed demonic monsters, Cola was close to
succumbing to the Ape King’s might. Although the Guardian Knight could
easily deal with the Ape King’s ordinary attacks, his roughly 30,000 HP
would drop to just over 10,000 when the Grand Lord used its War Stomp.
The Skill also forced him into a Fainted state. If not for a powerful
healer like Violet Cloud, the Ape King’s next hit would have likely
killed him.

As Cola wavered, the rest of the team worried. If he died, it would not
be long before the rest of them followed him to the grave.

As expected, this will be a tough fight without Berserk Skills. Shi Feng
felt somewhat powerless. Previously, to deal with the King of Corrosion,
their team had nearly exhausted their Berserk Skills. Now, the Skills
were still on Cooldown. “Fire, it’s up to you now.”

“Leave it to me,” Fire Dance said as she playfully licked her lips. She
had long since grown impatient and was incredibly eager to test the new
Tier 3 Sure-kill Skill she had learned in the Titan Library.

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Chapter 941: Complete State

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

Chapter 941 – Complete State

Suddenly, the Three-deaded Demonic Ape King roared and stomped the
ground violently.

Boom!

The ground shattered instantly, a shockwave spreading from the Grand
Lord. Cola currently had less than 20,000 HP. Not wanting to risk his
life, he activated Protection Blessing to reduce the AOE Skill’s damage.
Even so, he still received close to -8,000 damage from the attack. Other
players who stood within 60 yards of the three Bosses also received
varying damages, with the farthest players receiving the least amount of
damage. Even so, the team’s ranged players still received nearly -6,000
damage each...

Immediately after using the Skill, the Ape King slapped at Cola. The
Guardian Knight hurriedly raised his shield to block the attack; the
impact forced him back three steps before he stabilized himself, his HP
dropped by almost another 5,000 points.

In the blink of an eye, Cola had less than 5,000 HP remaining. If not
for Protection Blessing, he would’ve died already.

However, after the Ape King’s attack, several heals blanketed Cola, one
after another, raising his HP to just over 20,000.

Meanwhile, Fire Dance had already circled to the Grand Lord’s back. She
then thrust Thousand Transformations into the dirt. Suddenly, water
began to spew from the ground.

“Go!” Fire Dance smoothly swung Thousand Transformations at the Demonic
Ape King.

Water Binding!

The water that had pooled around the Ape King’s feet transformed into a
rope, binding the Grand Lord’s limbs and body tightly. No matter how
many times the Ape King broke the water rope, the latter always reformed
around the Grand Lord’s body, slowing the Boss so much that it couldn’t
hit Cola properly.

Even when the Ape King’s attacks struck Cola, it only dealt around 70%
of its normal damage due to the watery restrictions. The Ape King was no
longer a threat to Cola.

“What a powerful Skill! It can even affect a Great Lord!” Everyone was
stunned when they saw the Demonic Ape King’s combat power decrease
significantly.

While everyone was still dazed, Fire Dance executed an even more
surprising move.

As Fire Dance swung her short sword through the air, a water whip
emerged from the ground and lashed at the Ape King’s fist.

Boom!

Although the whip shattered upon impact, The Ape King’s attack had also
stopped.

Following which, Fire Dance swung again, summoning another water whip
that lashed at the Ape King’s back. A damage of over -10,000 points
immediately appeared above the Grand Lord’s head, stupefying her
teammates.

“What Skill is that?” Youlan’s mouth twitched involuntarily as she
watched Fire Dance’s attacks.

Fire Dance stood still as she swung her two blades, yet she had
restrained the Demonic Ape King without help.

Oddly enough, no one on the battlefield was more surprised than Fire
Dance.

She had never imagined that the Skill she had learned in the Titan
Library would be this powerful. She had only upgraded Water Binding to
Tier 1, Level 1, yet the Skill could already partially subdue a Grand
Lord. If the Skill were upgraded to Tier 2, it could suppress a Grand
Lord completely.

“Good. Everyone, focus your full power on the Ape King!” Shi Feng
excitedly ordered after watching Fire Dance’s performance with her new
Skill.

In God’s Domain, Skills generally fell into three categories: Attack
Skills, Healing Skills, and Control Skills. However, there were also
Domain Skills. However, this type of Skill was extremely rare, and
players usually only discovered them after reaching Tier 4.

This was also one of the reasons that there was such a huge strength gap
between Tier 3 and Tier 4 classes.

However, the Domain Skill Fire Dance had learned also had a glaring
flaw–the Skill’s user could not move while using Skill. Moreover, the
Skill’s duration wasn’t very long. Based on Shi Feng’s guess, it would
be a miracle if the Skill lasted ten minutes. Hence, they needed to
deplete the Ape King’s HP while Fire Dance was engaged with her Skill.

With Fire Dance’s assistance, fighting the Demonic Ape King became much
easier.

The Ape King’s Defense could not compare to the King of Corrosion’s. It
was also a Dark Creature. As a result, even without activating a Berserk
Skill, Shi Feng’s attacks easily dealt around 20,000 to 30,000 damage.

When Fire Dance’s Water Binding ended, the Demonic Ape King only had 50%
of its HP remaining.

As the Grand Lord’s HP had dropped to 50%, Shi Feng commanded, “All DPS,
distance yourselves from the Ape King and attack the other Two-headed
Apes! Healers, focus on your Mana! Use a potion as soon as the Cooldown
is over! Don’t try to conserve them!”

When the Demonic Ape King’s HP fell to 50%, it would target a random
player, executing Charge and forcing the player into a Fainted state
before launching a barrage of rapid attacks. The Grand Lord’s Charge was
far more powerful than a Berserker’s, and even an MT with an active
Lifesaving Skill had little hope of survival against such a vicious
assault.

Unless the targeted player had a Skill such as the Elementalist’s Ice
Barrier that could grant them a long period of damage immunity or they
managed to dodge the Ape King before it reached them, only death awaited
the Grand Lord’s victim.

However, if players dealt with the Two-headed Demonic Apes first, when
the two Great Lords’ HPs fell below the 70% threshold while the Grand
Lord’s HP was above that, the Great Lords would enter a Berserk state,
their damage and Attack Speed increasing by 30%.

Hence, for safety’s sake, after reducing the Ape King’s HP to nearly
50%, he shifted the team’s attention towards the Two-headed Apes. Once
the two Great Lords were almost dead, they would then return to deal
with the Grand Lord. However, to achieve all of this, the team’s
positioning and coordination needed to be precise. Moreover, as this
would be a long battle, the healer’s Mana usage would be put to the
test.

As for the Three-headed Demonic Ape King’s situation, Shi Feng had four
other Guardian Knights support Cola.

At Tier 1, Level 1, Protection Blessing had a Cooldown of 3 minutes, 30
seconds. At higher levels, that Cooldown would drop. As every member of
the team was an expert, their Skill levels were very high. Including
Cola, all five of the team’s Guardian Knight had roughly a three-minute
Cooldown on their Protection Blessings.

When Cola had taken on the Demonic Ape King, Shi Feng had used Life
Bloom on the Guardian Knight. Life Bloom had a duration of 40 seconds
and a Cooldown of 1 minute, 30 seconds. After including the healing from
three healers, Cola had been practically invincible during Life Bloom’s
duration.

Once Life Bloom’s Cooldown ended, the other four Guardian Knights would
take turns casting Protection Blessing on Cola. Protection Blessing had
a duration of 20 seconds, so Cola only needed three to tide him over
until Life Bloom was ready once more. With Protection Blessing, even
without Shi Feng’s Life Bloom, Cola would not die. If necessary, Shi
Feng was also prepared to activate a Lifesaving Skill to help Cola
survive the Ape King’s attacks, reducing the pressure on the Guardian
Knight. With this, they formed a solid defensive cycle.

Time passed quickly. The Three-headed Demonic Ape King had been pinned
down during the entire battle. As for the two Level 45 Great Lords, they
weren’t a challenge for Shi Feng’s team in the least. Very quickly, the
two Great Lords’ HPs had dropped below the 5% threshold. Shi Feng then
delegated one party to pin the Great Lords while everyone else attacked
the Ape King.

When the Demonic Ape King’s HP fell below 50%, it finally activated its
Charge.

Despite Shi Feng’s warning, the Ape King was simply too fast. In the
end, the Ape King’s targeted Assassin had died instantly. During its
Charge, the Ape King also collided into three others, two of which died
and one had been gravely injured. Unfortunately, the injured player was
a Shield Warrior...

Chills ran down the players’ spines as they received a blow to their
morale.

As the Ape King’s HP gradually decreased, the team lost members.

By the time the Ape King had 10% HP remaining, only 64 team members were
standing. Fortunately, the survivors familiarize themselves with the Ape
King’s Charge, decreasing the number of fatalities with each subsequent
Charge.

“Roar!”

As these players wondered if victory were within sight, the Demonic Ape
King hammered on its chest as its entire body turned red; it was
entering its Berserk state. Its fist then slammed into Cola’s Shield,
instantly burying Cola up to his waist in the ground.

Even with Protection Blessing, Cola still received close to -9,000
damage. As a Healing Beam struck Cola from one side, the Ape King’s next
punch struck from the other. This time, the rest of Cola’s body sunk
into the ground, his HP instantly falling below 50%.

As everyone thought that the Ape King would punch Cola again, the Grand
Lord swung its arms at the nearby players. Immediately, several players
transformed into streaks of white light and disappeared...

The Ape King’s Strength left the players dumbfounded.

“The Boss doesn’t have a lot of HP left! Give it everything you’ve got!
Blackie, cast Guardian of Light on Cola!” Shi Feng hurriedly shouted.

After saying so, Shi Feng activated Heavenly Dragon’s Power and Thunder
God’s Descent before attacking the Ape King with everything he had. Fire
Dance also used Illusory Power.

At this moment, the team went into a frenzy as they desperately fought
to kill the Demonic Ape King.

Many also began to hurl powerful Magic Scrolls at the Grand Lord.

7%...

5%...

3%...

As the Ape King’s HP decreased, the team dwindled. Very quickly, only 40
or so players remained standing. When the Grand Lord’s HP fell below 1%,
the team finished off the two Great Lords. However, even with less than
300,000 HP, the Demonic Ape King’s might rained despair over the team.

Even with Dragonscale Body activated, the Ape King still killed Cola.

“Kill it!” Shi Feng used Flame Burst. However, in its complete state,
the Demonic Ape King’s Defense was too high. Both Shi Feng and his
doppelganger had only managed to deal a total of 120,000 damage.

When the Ape King only had 100,000 HP remaining, there were less than 20
survivors. However, the most their attacks dealt was around -1,000
damage, with a majority of them only dealing hundreds of damage.

The Ape King’s last 100,000 HP felt like an insurmountable wall.

When the Grand Lord only had 50,000 HP, only ten players were still
alive. Even White Night was beginning to lose hope.

Suddenly, the Ape King’s gaze fell onto Shi Feng. Without hesitation,
Shi Feng activated the Aura of Earth’s Activatable Skill, Absolute
Defense.

The Ape King’s sudden punch sent Shi Feng flying over 30 yards away.
Even Shi Feng shuddered when he felt the Grand Lord’s tremendous
Strength. Fortunately, the Ape King could not penetrate Absolute
Defense.

Seeing Shi Feng survive its attack, the Ape King grew furious. It
charged at Shi Feng before whaling on the Swordsman.

However, throughout Absolute Defense’s five-second duration, the Ape
King could do nothing to Shi Feng. All its rage-fueled attack did was
buy more time for the team’s other survivors.

Suddenly, Shi Feng retrieved a pitch-black Magic Scroll from his bag.
Sensing the horrific Mana radiating from the ancient scroll, the Ape
King shrunk back in fear, panic shining in its eyes.

It seems that I will have to use this after all. Reluctance flashed in
Shi Feng’s eyes as he looked at the black scroll.

He had obtained this from the Epic Treasure Chest he got from Phoenix
Rain. He had spent a lot of Mana Stones to open that Epic Chest, yet it
had only contained two items. Among them, one had been the black scroll
in his hands.

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Chapter 942: Beastmaster’s Compendium

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

Chapter 942 – Beastmaster’s Compendium

The remaining team members noticed the scroll the moment Shi Feng took
it from his bag.

“What’s that?”

“Why is it radiating so much Mana?!”

The instant the black scroll appeared, it released a daunting pressure.
The flow of Mana around them froze under this pressure.

If it could display such power before its activation, it was hard to
imagine just what kind of Magic Scroll it was.

Even Youlan, Bloodsucker, and White Night, people who knew a lot about
God’s Domain, had never seen anything like this.

In the end, we still have to use it? Aqua Rose sighed, clearly reluctant
when she saw the scroll.

In Zero Wing, only she and Shi Feng knew what items he had obtained from
the Epic Treasure Chest.

In God’s Domain, even Fine-Gold Treasure Chests were extremely rare.
Generally, they were only found in special, hidden locations. As for
Dark-Gold Treasure Chests, it was unlikely for a player to stumble
across one even in the most resource-rich hidden locations or ruins.

Hence, one could just imagine how precious an Epic Treasure Chest was.

A Magic Scroll from an Epic Treasure Chest would be just as
extraordinary.

Currently, the strongest known Magic Scrolls in God’s Domain were Tier 3
Magic Scrolls. However, the scroll in Shi Feng’s hands was a Tier 4
Magic Scroll.

However, this scroll was not why Shi Feng kept his the Epic Treasure
Chest and the items he had obtained from it a secret. Rather, he had
done so due to the other item the Treasure Chest had given him.

The Beastmaster’s Compendium!

Although it was an ordinary parchment book, every Guild dreamed of
having their own.

As Guild players reached higher levels, their need for Mounts would also
increase by the day. Hence, the Guild Mounts’ importance was
self-evident. However, nurturing Guild Mounts was more important.

Common Mounts could not satisfy the members of the various large Guilds,
yet upgrading a Common Guild Mount was far from easy. Even if the base
Mount were a 5-star Mount, players only had a 70% chance of upgrading it
from Common to Bronze rank, a 30% chance to upgrade it to
Mysterious-Iron rank, and a 3% chance to upgrade it to Secret-Silver
rank.

If the Mount a Guild captured was a 3-star Mount or below, its upgrade
chances were even lower.

However, with the Beastmaster’s Compendium, Guilds could craft medicine
that increased the promotion success rates. Moreover, the boost was
quite high. Even a Basic Beastmaster’s Potion could increase the success
rate of upgrading a Mount to Bronze rank by 10%, Mysterious-Iron rank by
5%, and Secret-Silver rank by 1%.

If others knew that Zero Wing possessed the Beastmaster’s Compendium,
every Guild in God’s Domain would target them. Furthermore, to produce
the Basic Beastmaster’s Potion, one needed to become a Master Alchemist
at the very least. Hence, they needed to keep the compendium a secret.

When Aqua Rose had seen the Beastmaster’s Compendium, she had been
utterly stupefied. If Phoenix Rain had known that the Epic Treasure
Chest she had given away had not contained Epic Weapons or Equipment,
but the Beastmaster’s Compendium instead, she would have even been
content to wait six months before she could open it.

...

After a pause, the Demonic Ape King started to hammer its fists at Shi
Feng in fear, the powerful impacts forming large crater that was eight
meters deep and forty meters across. Because of this, the team’s
survivors were forced to attack the Grand Lord from a distance.

“It’s no wonder why so many teams called it Hell’s Gatekeeper. With this
horrific Strength, even a team of Tier 2 players wouldn’t defeat it,”
Shi Feng muttered to himself, smiling bitterly.

However, no matter how hard the Ape King struggled, it was for naught.
Shi Feng only needed one second to activate the Tier 4 Magic Scroll, and
Absolute Defense would last for another two seconds. The Ape King could
not stop Shi Feng.

Shi Feng unfurled the scroll and began to chant the recorded
incantation.

Immediately, everything within 300 yards of Shi Feng froze. Aqua Rose
and the others, who stood some distance away, couldn’t move at all; only
the Demonic Ape King could move. However, the instant the Grand Lord saw
Shi Feng unfurl the Magic Scroll, it turned and fled.

Youlan and her companions were flabbergasted.

A powerful monster like the Demonic Ape King was actually running away
from a Magic Scroll. No one would ever believe this...

“You want to escape?” Shi Feng chuckled at the Demonic Ape King, who was
already 30 yards away from him. “Can you get away, though?”

With Shi Feng at the Spell’s epicenter, black fog rose from the ground
across 300 yards in every direction. The fog then flowed into every body
in the area.

As Aqua Rose and the others were allies, they did not feel affected by
the black fog. However, as if it had been submerged in a muddy swamp,
the fleeing Ape King slowed rapidly until it eventually stopped. No
matter how hard it struggled, it could not move an inch. In the next
moment, the black fog formed ropes that bound the Grand Lord’s limbs and
body.

“Isn’t this the Domain Skill that I used earlier?” When Fire Dance saw
the familiar ropes, her Water Binding Skill came to mind. Only, Water
Binding was significantly weaker than this black fog. Moreover, Shi Feng
could move the black fog as he wished.

The Tier 4 Domain Skill Dark Madness is superb! Shi Feng controlled the
black fog as if it were an extension of himself.

In the past, one such Tier 4 Domain Skill had been precisely the reason
he had been forced to let a Tier 4 NPC rob him.

Of course, not every Tier 4 class had a Domain Skill. However, any
player, NPC, or monster that managed to grasp one would undoubtedly
stand at the peak among Tier 4 classes.

Let’s test out its power. After activating Divine Providence, Shi Feng
waved his hand at the Demonic Ape King.

Suddenly, four black whips appeared around the Demonic Ape King. The
whips then proceeded to batter the Ape King.

The restrained Grand Lord couldn’t defend itself against these whips at
all. When the first whip struck the Ape King’s tough hide, the Grand
Lord’s skin spit, revealing flesh. The Ape King cried in agony as a
damage of over -30,000 appeared above its head. Before the third whip
landed, the Demonic Ape King’s HP dropped to zero, its body falling
lifelessly to the ground.

“So strong!”

“That Skill is terrifying!”

Youlan and the others gaped at the fallen Ape King. Even Bloodsucker and
White Night, who had fought through many large battles, were shocked.

Their attacks had only dealt around -1,000 damage. Moreover, that was
the damage of a critical hit. However, one black fog whip had dealt over
-30,000 damage with a single strike...

After the Demonic Ape King died, the survivors’ Levels soared. Shi Feng
and his companions rose to Level 44 on the spot, with some even closing
in on Level 45.

The Demonic Ape King had provided far more EXP than the King of
Corrosion.

However, the remaining team members were far more interested in the
Demonic Ape King’s loot.

Despite Shi Feng’s Divine Providence, the Demonic Ape King had dropped
fewer items than the King of Corrosion. In total, the Grand Lord had
only dropped five items and some Gold Coins.

-   Prev Chapter
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Chapter 943: Holy Weapon

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Vampirecat

Chapter 943 – Holy Weapon

After the Demonic Ape King died, the sound of a system notification
entered the ears of the survivors simultaneously.

System: Congratulations! You have obtained the First Kill of the
Three-headed Demonic Ape King. Rewarding “Trial’s Hero” title.

This is the reward for getting the Demonic Ape King’s First Kill? This
was the first time Shi Feng heard of the title. He then clicked to check
its information.

[Trial’s Hero] (Title)

When title is in use, Reputation with the Holy City of Titan increased
by 10%. Movement Speed and all Basic Attributes increased by 20% while
within the area of Titan City.

A pity. Shi Feng could not help but sigh as he swept a glance at the
nine remaining players on the team. Including himself, only four of the
survivors were Zero Wing members.

The third stage of the entrance trial was different from the previous
two. The system directly disqualified any players killed here and sent
them out of the trial. Hence, only the survivors received this title.

Moreover, this was the reward for getting the First Kill of the Demonic
Ape King. In the future, others wouldn’t be able to obtain this title
even if they killed the Grand Lord.

With this title, they would have a much easier time should they attempt
the entrance trial again in the future.

A 20% increase in Attributes was already equivalent to a mini Berserk
Skill. Excluding the effects of Skills and equipment, even MTs like Ye
Wumian and Turtledove could surpass Cola if they received such a huge
boost.

Unfortunately, only Fire Dance, Aqua Rose, and Violet Cloud had managed
to reach this point. There were no MTs among the survivors of Zero Wing.

Even so, this was still a good outcome. The Trial’s Hero title increased
its user’s Reputation by 10%.

In Titan City, there was nothing that could be better than this reward.

Following which, Shi Feng shifted his attention to the loot dropped by
the Demonic Ape King.

As he appraised the items dropped one after another, he could not help
but sigh repeatedly.

“Leader, how is it?” Aqua Rose could not help but ask curiously.

The Demonic Ape King in its complete state was definitely the most
horrific Boss she had ever gone up against. Even the King of Corrosion
they faced before was no comparison to it. If not for Shi Feng using the
Tier 4 Magic Scroll in the end, they would’ve team-wiped for sure. They
wouldn’t have the luxury of sitting down and resting here right now.

“Much better than the King of Corrosion’s. Of the five items, two are
Growth-type Equipment.” Shi Feng chuckled.

[Life Talisman] (Necklace, Bronze Rank)

Level 40 – Level 90

Equipment Requirement: Intelligence 300, Vitality 200

Intelligence +21, Vitality +27, Endurance +22 (Level 40)

Casting Speed increased by 10%.

Healing effects increased by 15%.

Additional Passive Skill-

Light of Life: Select up to eight allies within a 30-yard radius and
heal them for 30% of player’s Intelligence once every 3 seconds.

Additional Active Skill-

Life Connection: Select up to five allies, connecting and sharing their
HPs. Life-connected targets receive a 20% increase in healing effects.

Duration: 30 seconds

Cooldown: 5 minutes

A possession of the Life Priest Irene, the Life Talisman was made using
the Stone of Life, which formed from the tears of the Goddess of Life.
The Life Talisman contains immense Life Force. However, due to
contamination by the power of darkness, it is greatly weakened. A large
amount of Magic Crystals and EXP is needed to purify it. Can be purified
five times. (The first purification requires 200 Magic Crystals and
300,000,000 EXP)

[Crimson Moon] (Greatsword, Bronze Rank)

Level 40 – Level 100

Equipment Requirement: Strength 600, Agility 400

Attack Power +975 (Level 40)

Strength +102, Endurance +36

Ignore Levels +5

When attacking, has a 30% chance to trigger Boiling Blood, increasing
Strength Attribute by 500 points for 10 seconds, and a 15% chance to
cause 200% damage.

Additional Passive Skill-

Blood Domain: Within a radius of 30 yards, the presence of any creatures
with less than 50% HP will increase wielder’s Strength by 100%.

One of Titan City’s thirty-one Holy Weapons, its strength has been
greatly weakened due to battle damage. Fortunately, the Holy Weapon’s
core remains intact. A large amount of Magic Crystals and EXP is needed
to repair it. Can be repaired five times. (The first repair requires
1,000 Magic Crystals and 500,000,000 EXP)

Everyone gasped upon reading the statistics of the items.

Both pieces of Growth-type Equipment were clearly far from ordinary,
particularly the greatsword, Crimson Moon. Despite being only Bronze
rank, the Strength Attribute it provided surpassed even that of Epic
Weapons. Crimson Moon was an entirely Strength-oriented weapon made
purely with destruction in mind.

Strength-wise, not even Shi Feng’s Killing Ray could compete with
Crimson Moon. Most likely, only Fire Dance’s Thousand Transformations
was superior to it. However, the former was a Fragmented Legendary
Weapon, while the latter was currently still a Bronze Weapon.

While these two items were indeed shocking, what truly grabbed Shi
Feng’s attention was a dilapidated crimson crystal ball. Despite its
appearance, the crystal radiated faint Divine Might. Everything in the
displayed information of the item was listed as “Unknown”; the result
was the same even after Shi Feng used Omniscient Eyes.

However, Shi Feng knew what exactly this crystal was.

This was no longer his first time to encounter such an item.

God Crystal!

This was something even a Tier 4 Sky Knight had died trying to obtain.
It was simply not an item that ordinary mortals could control. If not
for the God Crystal being damaged, causing it to lose most of its power,
he wouldn’t even be able to touch the crystal right now.

Shi Feng had never imagined that he would encounter yet another God
Crystal.

The last time the blue crystal ball devoured a God Crystal, it had
transformed into the Legendary ranked Holy Grail. However, as the Holy
Grail had been destroyed by the God of War, it was still in a damaged
state right now. Even so, it was still a Legendary item. The power it
possessed was not something that a Fragmented Legendary item could
compare to.

One could see just how amazing a Legendary item was from the fact that
the current Holy Grail could upgrade an item up to a maximum of
Fragmented Legendary rank.

If he obtained this God Crystal, he would be able to repair the Holy
Grail further.

Obtaining Growth-type Equipment or an Epic item would pale in comparison
to being able to upgrade the power of a Legendary item.

The other two items that dropped, aside from the two pieces of
Growth-type Equipment and the God Crystal, were extraordinary as well.
One was a Secret-Silver ranked summoning flute, while the other was a
Tier 3 Summoning Scroll.

Currently, even Bronze Mounts were extremely rare in God’s Domain, not
to mention Secret-Silver Mounts. The latter was most likely much more
valuable than even an Epic item.

As for the Tier 3 Summoning Scroll, even Super Guilds would only have a
few of these things. Its rarity was even greater than Epic items’.

“There are a total of five items. It won’t be possible to split them
equally. How about we bid for the last item?” Shi Feng suggested to
Youlan.

Every single one of the five items was extremely valuable to a Guild. It
was natural for neither side to be willing to let the other side get an
additional item. Hence, bidding for the last item would be the fairest
solution.

“No need. If not for Team Leader Ye Feng using that precious Magic
Scroll this time, we wouldn’t have been able to defeat the Ape King.
I’ll let you choose three items first. Our side will be fine with taking
the rest.” Youlan shook her head, rejecting Shi Feng’s goodwill.

After witnessing Zero Wing’s strength, she put much more importance to
forming a friendly relationship with Zero Wing than to gaining these
items.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 944

Honorary Citizen

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

Youlan’s determined answer slightly surprised Bloodsucker.

Of the five items, aside from the unknown, dilapidated crystal, the
other four were priceless. One would be hard-pressed to find these items
in Raven.

The Secret-Silver Mount, in particular, was extraordinarily rare. Only
Super Guilds or super-first-rate Guilds had any chance of getting their
hands on one or two.

He had never imagined that Youlan would actually be so generous as to
give Shi Feng first-pick of three items.

While he could understand Youlan’s train of thought, if the choice were
his, letting Shi Feng choose up to three items, rather than giving the
Swordsman the first three picks, would be the limit of his generosity.

Among the five items, it went without saying which three were the most
important.

The three included the two pieces of Growth-type Equipment and the
Secret-Silver Mount. They had no information on the dilapidated crystal
whatsoever. One could not use it even if they obtained it. As for the
Tier 3 Summoning Scroll, while it was very valuable, there was no
guarantee that it could help defeat a Boss or to obtain a Growth-type or
Epic Equipment. At best, it could aid in team battles between Guilds or
when raiding a town.

However, Youlan’s decision had not surprised War Wolf, who had also
survived the tough battle.

Outsiders had no idea about Underworld’s internal situation or Youlan’s
current position within it. However, after witnessing Zero Wing’s power,
War Wolf was even more certain that they needed to strengthen their
relationship with the Guild.

To elevate their fame and position in Underworld, many upper echelons
had spent a lot of effort to curry favor with various Super Guilds. For
example, the numerous Underworld upper echelons were trying to get close
to Pantheon. Unfortunately, the Guild wouldn’t give Underworld the time
of day.

After all, Underworld was only a coalition of organizations with some
influence and capital. It was slightly stronger than an ordinary
first-rate Guild. However, the organizations’ authority was scattered,
and it was much harder to unite its members under one banner than it was
in a first-rate Guild. Every upper echelon in the organization had their
own motives, each trying to nurture their own forces and Guilds.

Overwhelming Smile was the combined effort of four Underworld upper
echelons.

Although Zero Wing could not compete with Pantheon in terms of
background, the same could not be said for its main force. With such a
powerful team, they could acquire top-tier weapons and equipment just as
fast as any Super Guild. This was clear based on the equipment Zero
Wing’s members wore.

Moreover, Zero Wing was situated in Star-Moon Kingdom. If Overwhelming
Smile could improve its relationship with Zero Wing, they might be able
to ask Zero Wing’s members for some help in the future. Perhaps they
could assist each other when raiding monsters that one alone could not
handle or trade raid information. After all, weren’t Underworld’s upper
echelons trying to do the same with Pantheon for those very reasons?

“I’ll take you up on that offer.” Shi Feng also understood Youlan’s
intentions. Without hesitation, he chose the God Crystal and the two
pieces of Growth-type Equipment.

As for the Secret-Silver Mount, it wasn’t nearly as valuable as the
Growth-type Equipment to Zero Wing. Moreover, he had the Beastmaster’s
Compendium. As long as he had a sufficiently skillful Master Alchemist,
it was only a matter of time before he nurtured the Guild Mount to
Secret-Silver rank.

The Tier 3 Summoning Scroll held even less appeal to him.

He had the Bible of Darkness. Once he was promoted to his Tier 2 class,
he could easily summon Tier 3 Demons. Even now, it was possible to
summon a Tier 3 Demon with Aqua Rose’s Song of Beatrice. Although this
Tier 3 Demon would be weakened, they could use it as a meat shield.

After both sides finished splitting the loot, Shi Feng passed the Life
Talisman to Violet Cloud.

Violet Cloud was already a powerful healer, and after equipping the
necklace, her healing abilities would rise further.

Once the remaining team members had rested, Shi Feng led them up the
mountain.

Although the group encountered many monsters on their way into Titan
City, these monsters were no threat to Shi Feng’s team. After only three
hours, these players arrived at the Holy City’s entrance.

Titan City’s gates were 100 meters tall. The surrounding walls climbed
to 300 meters. When Shi Feng’s group arrived before the city’s entrance,
they looked like ants.

Many divine runes had been engraved into the massive steel gates. When
Shi Feng stepped within 500 yards of the gates, he felt an immense
pressure wash over him. It felt as if these gates were the jaws of a
gigantic monster.

Clouds drifted above the city. However, these clouds were not ordinary;
Rather, they consisted of Mana. One could imagine just how dense the
Mana was in the Holy City of Titan.

The instant Shi Feng’s group arrived before the gates, one of the two
200-meter tall Titan statues standing guard on either side moved.

“Outsiders, congratulations on reaching the Holy City of Titan. For
clearing the entrance trial, you will be awarded 100 entrance tokens.
You may use these entrance tokens to teleport to Titan City’s
Teleportation Hall without undergoing a trial. Every token will grant
you three days in Titan City. Use them well.” After the Titan statue had
spoken, it waved its arm and formed 100 black iron tokens before Shi
Feng and the others. “If you wish to enter the city now, you may do so
using teleportation array to the side without expending an entrance
token.”

After the Titan statue fell silent, the team members heard the sound of
two system notifications.

System: Congratulations! For being the first team to clear the entrance
trial, you have been awarded 110 Titan City Reputation Points.

System: Congratulations! Your Titan City Reputation has reached 100
points. Your status in the Holy City has been upgraded to Honorary
Citizen. You will now receive the benefits of an Honorary Citizen while
in the Holy City. You may now stay up to five days with each visit to
the Holy City.

“Why is there a time limit when in Titan City?” Youlan frowned.

Originally, she had thought that, once she gained the slots to enter the
city, her Lifestyle players could remain in the city until they became
Advanced Forgers or Alchemists. She had not realized that each token
only had a duration of three short days. It was impossible for an
Intermediate Forger or Alchemist to reach Advanced rank within such a
brief time.

This meant that each Intermediate Lifestyle player would need multiple
tokens to reach Advanced rank.

She had never expected this development.

“Let’s head inside and take a look for now,” Shi Feng suggested. The
revelation had not surprised him. Youlan and the others had simply hoped
for too much. They had thought that, by obtaining the entrance slots to
Titan City, they could nurture a small army of Advanced Lifestyle
players without a care in the world.

God’s Domain wasn’t that nice. Otherwise, Master Lifestyle players
wouldn’t have been so rare in the past, even more exalted than Tier 4
players.

This was also why he had prioritized the First Clear.

Only by becoming an Honorary Citizen could one prolong their stay by two
days. If one’s Reputation rose further, their allotted stays would also
be extended. Of course, the benefits of becoming an Honorary Citizen
weren’t limited to an extended stay.

At Shi Feng’s words, Youlan quickly adjusted her mood and nodded before
following Shi Feng to the teleportation array. She wanted to know if the
team’s sacrifices had been worth the rumored benefits of Titan City.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 945: Holy Land of Players

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

The Holy City of Titan was not like other cities. As soon as Shi Feng
and the others emerged from the Teleportation Hall, they were stunned by
what they saw.

Buildings that were hundreds of meters tall had been erected all over
the city, looking very much like a modern city.

Various Lifestyle NPCs roamed about the streets. In God’s Domain’s NPC
cities, players did not often encounter Master Lifestyle NPCs. Here,
however, it was hard not to.

Yet, the Mana density was the most shocking aspect of the city.

Just by standing on the street, everyone felt an indescribable serenity.
Their minds were astonishingly clear.

“This is a fantastic place to rest. This is a perfect place to relax and
unwind after an exhausting day in the real world,” Aqua Rose muttered to
herself as she inhaled the pleasant air.

Even a Dark Player like Bloodsucker found himself nodding in agreement.

“Alright, snap out of it. Let’s investigate the Lifestyle Association
first,” Shi Feng said, chuckling at his companions’ reactions.

In the past, many people had dreamed of vacationing in Titan City.
Unfortunately, very few could afford such a luxury.

Following which, the team rode an advanced horse carriage and headed for
Titan City’s Lifestyle Association.

There were three buildings that stood out in Titan City, and one was the
Lifestyle Association’s floating island. Titan City’s ten saints had
created this special island and suspended it above the city’s western
area. Players could take the floating elevator in the spire to reach the
island.

When Youlan and the others saw the massive island above the 400-meter
tall spire, they fell silent.

Youlan had initially assumed that the Lifestyle Association in Titan
City would only be slightly better than those in kingdoms and empires’
capital cities. Now, however, it would seem that there were more
differences than she had thought. Calling this Lifestyle Association the
‘Holy Land’ for Lifestyle players was an exaggeration.

Shi Feng could not help but smile at Youlan’s shock.

In the past, even Grandmaster Lifestyle players had dreamed of visiting
the Holy City of Titan, and not without reason.

Upon entering the spire, Youlan immediately approached an NPC to inquire
about this place.

“Hello, miss. How may I help you today?” the metal robot, which stood
over three meters tall, asked from behind the front desk.

“I wish to rent a Workshop. Can you give me an introduction?” Youlan
asked.

Immediately, the front desk robot began to explain the various Workshops
available.

However, the NPC robot’s introduction was very brief. It conveyed far
less information than what Shi Feng knew. Even so, it was shocking
enough the first time players heard it.

The Lifestyle Association was divided into three areas, namely the lower
layer, the middle layer, and the upper layer.

The lower layer referred to the spire area. Workshops ranging from Basic
to Special rank were found there. However, unlike the Workshops in other
NPC cities, the Mana density in these was much higher. The Special
Workshop here was even superior to the Basic Meditation Room in 3-star
Shops.

Of course, its rental was very expensive.

Renting an Advanced Workshop for one day cost 10 Gold, while Special
Workshops cost 25 Gold per day. This was an astronomical amount to
ordinary Lifestyle players.

Meanwhile, the middle layer referred to the ordinary buildings on the
floating island. The island had various Research Rooms, ranging from
Basic to Advanced rank, but not limited.

Research Rooms were different from Workshops in which they stored large
amounts of data that players could use to research and invent their own
designs.

It was commonly known that, to reach the rank of Master, Lifestyle
players needed to create their own items. Moreover, they needed to
create relatively high-ranking items. This was far more difficult than
producing an item from an existing design.

With these Research Room, Advanced Lifestyle players would have a much
higher chance of becoming a Master Lifestyle player.

It was also precisely this reason that the Holy City of Titan had been
known as the Holy Land for Lifestyle players. In the past, countless
Lifestyle players had spent spend hundreds of Gold to get a slot into
the Holy City. However, no Guild would be foolish enough to sell their
slots. Only those top-class adventurer teams would sell entrance tokens.
However, the various Guilds normally bought these tokens. Independent
Lifestyle players had no hope of obtaining their own.

Of course, with such high benefits, the Research Rooms’ rent wasn’t
cheap.

A Basic Research Room alone cost 200 Gold per day, though players of any
status could rent one.

As for the Intermediate Research Rooms, each cost 500 Gold per day.
Moreover, one needed to be an Honorary Citizen to rent these rooms.
Furthermore, loaning the room to others was forbidden.

At Advanced rank, the Research Room cost 1,200 Gold per day. Only Titan
City’s nobles were allowed access to these rooms. This was one of the
reasons that Shi Feng had been os desperate for the Holy City’s
Reputation Points. Without sufficient Reputation, he couldn’t rent an
Advanced Research Room regardless of how much money he had.

In reality, even without the Reputation requirement, the rental cost was
enough to deter most Guilds at this stage of the game. However, if one
calculated the cost carefully, they would realize how inexpensive the
rooms were. If a Guild nurtured a Master Lifestyle player as a result of
renting one of these extortionate Research Rooms, that player could
bring the Guild far more profit than the rental costs.

Above the middle layer area was the Sacred Tower in the island’s center.
Only players who were major nobles in Titan City were allowed to entry
the tower. As far as Shi Feng knew, the players that had access to the
Sacred Tower had been as rare as a phoenix’s feather in the past; most
of them had been Grandmaster Lifestyle players, standing at the peak of
God’s Domain’s Lifestyle players.

As for what the Sacred Tower contained, even Shi Feng didn’t know.

As the NPC robot introduced the Lifestyle Association’s various
benefits, everyone, except for Shi Feng, gasped.

“NPCs are really skilled thieves!” Even Bloodsucker and White Night,
people who had paid no attention to Lifestyle classes, were shocked by
the Research Room’s prices.

Renting an Advanced Research Room for a day cost as much as an Epic
item. Even Super Guilds couldn’t afford this.

Youlan paled upon hearing the NPC robot’s explanation.

Even the Workshops’ rent was astonishing.

If she calculated the cost of nurturing twenty Lifestyle players, each
person could spend six days in Titan City. If she allowed all twenty to
use Special Workshops, the rent alone would cost 3,000 Gold. After
factoring in the material costs, the total would even endanger a
first-rate Guild. Furthermore, she would have to use her own money, and
there was still no guarantee that all twenty players would reach
Advanced rank within those six days.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 946: Magic Light Set

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

While Youlan’s head ached over how much it would cost to nurture
Advanced Lifestyle players, Shi Feng wandered to the sales counter.

Aside from renting Workshops, Lifestyle Associations also sold designs
and recipes for the various Lifestyle classes. Titan City’s Lifestyle
Association was no exception.

Moreover, compared to the other Lifestyle Associations in kingdoms and
empires, Titan City’s designs were more valuable.

Reaching Titan City was not easy.

By focusing her attention on nurturing Advanced Lifestyle players,
Youlan missed Titan City’s true value.

Like Blackwing City, Titan City sold many exclusive items. One could say
that these items were Titan City’s specialties. However, players needed
to explore to learn more.

“Sir, how may help you?” the NPC robot standing behind the counter
asked.

“I wish to purchase forging designs,” Shi Feng stated.

“Understood. Here is the information you’ve requested,” the NPC robot
responded before passing Shi Feng a list.

It was a list of the available forging designs.

Elsewhere, one would be hard-pressed to find an NPC selling
Secret-Silver Equipment forging designs. Here, however, purchasing one
was easy. Meanwhile, Shi Feng eyed the Magic Light Set Equipment Forging
Design, which was unique to Titan City.

This was one of the top-ranking sets among Level 50 set equipment.

Due to the system’s evolution, Level 50 had become a great divide for
players. Not only could players begin class-changing to their Tier 2
classes, but equipment would also receive huge Attribute increases.
Moreover, Level 50 and above monsters had significantly reduced
drop-rates.

Currently, even Guild elite players strutted around in the latest
Fine-Gold Equipment. However, once players reached Level 50, this would
no longer be possible. Even Secret-Silver Equipment would become a
luxury, much less Fine-Gold rank. As a result, Forgers’ status would
rise exponentially.

The Magic Light Set could be divided into three ranks: Secret-Silver,
Fine-Gold, and Dark-Gold.

Titan City’s Lifestyle Association sold the forging designs for all
three ranks. This was a benefit that no other Lifestyle Association
offered. Of course, their prices were maddeningly high.

The Secret-Silver rank forging design cost 300 Gold, the Fine-Gold
design cost 900 Gold, and the Dark-Gold design cost 3,000 Gold. The
Dark-Gold design cost as much as an Epic Weapon. Among the three, any
player could purchase the Secret-Silver version, while Honorary Citizens
or higher could buy the Fine-Gold rank. As for the Dark-Gold version,
one needed to be a Titan City noble to buy their own.

However, there was one detestable fact about the designs and recipes
available in Titan City; they could neither be sold or traded to other
players once they had been purchased. Hence, even if non-Lifestyle
players earned sufficient Titan City Reputation, they would not be able
to profit from the city’s designs and recipes.

Of course, Shi Feng also had no intention of reselling the Magic Light
Set Forging Design. Even if he could, other forgers would struggle to
craft the set.

After all, the set’s required core material was a Mana Stone. Even in
100-man large-scale Team Dungeons, Mana Stones rarely dropped. Producing
weapons or equipment with one was incredibly expensive. Their production
volume would also be limited. Furthermore, the set’s forging success
rate wasn’t high.

The Magic Light Set had six set pieces. At Secret-Silver rank, forging
the set needed a minimum of six Mana Stones, with each set piece
requiring one. At Fine-Gold rank, the amount of required Mana Stones
tripled. At the Dark-Gold rank, the cost rose to insane heights as the
set required a minimum of 60 Mana Stones.

The Epic Treasure Chest that Phoenix Rain had obtained had only needed
88 Mana Stones to open. Even so, Phoenix Rain had given up on the
Treasure Chest due to how much time and effort it would take to acquire
88 Mana Stones.

As for Shi Feng, even with the Philosopher’s Stone, he needed to invest
50 Magic Crystals to synthesize one Mana Stone. Based on market value,
each Mana Stone cost 10 Gold to produce.

Fortunately, Magic Crystals were not a problem for Shi Feng. Shi Feng
only regretted that he couldn’t purchase the Dark-Gold rank design.

If he could equip the plate armor classes of Zero Wing’s main force with
the Level 50 Dark-Gold ranked Magic Light Set, the team would be
invincible.

Unfortunately, this dream would remain a dream.

In his previous life, even after players had reached Level 50,
first-rate Guilds’ main forces had been lucky if they wore a few pieces
of Fine-Gold Equipment. Level 50 Fine Gold Set Equipment was nothing
more than a dream.

Following which, Shi Feng spent 900 Gold to purchase the Fine-Gold
ranked Magic Light Set Equipment Forging Design.

After the team had spent several hours strolling around Titan City,
Youlan and War Wolf returned to White River City and started preparing
their Lifestyle players and required funds. Shi Feng did not linger,
either, as he also led his team back to White River City.

Although Shi Feng had wanted to complete a few Reputation Quests before
he left, the Candlelight Trading Firm could no longer wait. The trading
firm desperately needed Advanced Lifestyle players. They also had to
face the issue of manufacturing the Bronze Mounts. He could not afford
to waste much time in the Holy City.

—

While Shi Feng had been gone, many changes had occurred in White River
City.

Not only had the tension of the Abyss Invasion alleviated, but more
players had also gathered in the city. Currently, the city’s streets
were packed with players. This looked nothing like a city in decline.

“Why are there suddenly so many outsiders here?” Aqua Rose was slightly
surprised by the scene that had greeted her.

Although Zero Wing and the Candlelight Trading Firm’s recruitment
campaigns had attracted quite a few of players to White River City, they
hadn’t attracted this many. She could even see Guild players from other
kingdoms and empires.

Aqua Rose wasn’t the only person surprised by this development. White
Night and Bloodsucker were also stunned.

Players generally gathered in a city’s center, yet, rather than heading
towards the central district, the players arriving through the
Teleportation Hall rushed towards White River City’s Slums. Regardless
of which city, players avoided the Slums.

Yet, the opposite was occurring in White River City.

While players flooded the city, White River City’s Guilds were in an
uproar.

They had all believed that White River City had been finished. Even if
Zero Wing tried to utilize its recruitment campaign to increase the
city’s population, no one could change its fate. However, a new building
had appeared in the city’s Slums, and it had changed everything.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 947: Mysterious Shop

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Vampirecat

Chapter 947 – Mysterious Shop

The moment Shi Feng left the Teleportation Hall, he saw dozens of
100-man teams rushing towards the Slums. A few among them immediately
attracted the attention of the surrounding players.

The reason for such attention was these teams’ all-female composition;
there was not a single man among them. Such situations seldom occurred
in the virtual gaming world. Moreover, the woman leading these teams was
also extraordinary.

The woman was dressed in a set of crimson mage robes that gave off a
faint impression of scorching flames. In her hand, she held a
silvery-white crystal staff that constantly drew the ambient Mana,
causing illusions to appear around it. She was even Level 40, a level
which could rank her at the very top even in empires.

However, compared to her dazzling equipment and level, her appearance
and bearing held an even greater attraction for the surrounding players.
She carried herself as if she was the empress of this space; one could
not help but want to submit oneself to her rule.

“Huh? Doesn’t that Guild Emblem belong to the Hundred Flowers Palace of
the Dark Night Empire?”

“Lucky! I actually got to see the Frostflame Goddess Cleansed Rue! This
trip to White River City was definitely worth the money!”

When the male players on the street saw Cleansed Rue, they all fell into
a reverie.

The title of Frostflame Goddess was not one that Cleansed Rue had long
possessed. Cleansed Rue herself was a female player who had become
famous in God’s Domain just recently. However, due to her superb combat
power and beautiful appearance, many male players treated her as a
Goddess.

The reason why Cleansed Rue was known as the Frostflame Goddess was her
extreme skill in fire and ice Spells, which she had used to defeat over
a dozen well-known experts in the virtual gaming world. Recently, she
had even triumphed over the Guild Leader of a first-rate Guild, her
victory instantly solidifying her Guild’s rule over Silver Pine City,
the seventh most populous city in the Dark Night Empire.

After that famous battle, she received the rank of 173rd in the latest
update of the God’s Domain Experts List.

Meanwhile, aside from the Hundred Flowers Palace, Shi Feng also spotted
many teams belonging to other first-rate Guilds. With just a single
glance, he already noted four first-rate Guilds—an impossible sight even
in Star-Moon City.

“Guild Leader, I’ll carry out an investigation right away,” Aqua Rose
hurriedly whispered to Shi Feng. She, too, found this situation
perplexing. She was prepared to head to the Slums personally to find out
just what was capable of attracting the interest of so many large
Guilds.

“No need,” Shi Feng said, shaking his head.

“But...there are so many Guilds coming here.” Aqua Rose was somewhat
surprised that Shi Feng would actually have so little interest in such a
huge incident.

“All of this is part of my plan. Zero Wing’s members just need to watch
from the sidelines,” Shi Feng explained secretly. “Don’t let others know
of this matter.”

Before he headed to Titan City, he had sent Melancholic Smile to
purchase some Lands in the Slums on the sly. The Guilds and players in
White River City paid practically no attention to the city’s Slums, and
nearly all of the Lands there were still ownerless. Hence, these Lands
were very cheap and easy to purchase.

After purchasing the Lands, he had constructed a Shop there. He then had
Melancholic Smile set up the Teleportation Magic Array inside the Shop;
the location tied to the magic array was the teleportation point he had
previously set up at the Twin Towers Kingdom. After that was done, he
had hired a group of high-intelligence NPCs to manage the Shop as well
as ordered them to keep any information regarding the Shop an absolute
secret. To outsiders, all information regarding the Shop would only
appear as “Unknown,” preventing players from finding out if an NPC or a
player owned the Shop.

Afterwards, he had Melancholic Smile spread rumors of a Shop that had
appeared in the Slums of White River City—a Shop with a teleportation
array that could send players directly to the Twin Towers Kingdom where
players could freely kill low-level abyssal monsters to earn Honor
Points. After that was done, he just needed to wait patiently for things
to develop on their own.

The Ancient Abyssal Book was simply too dangerous. He absolutely could
not allow others to find out he possessed the book.

It would be very easy for others to make a connection between the
teleportation array and the Ancient Abyssal Book. Although not many
should know about the secret of the Abyssal Book at the moment, Shi Feng
did not wish to take any risks. Keeping his identity hidden while
earning money through the collection of teleportation fees would be much
safer.

As an extra precaution, he didn’t set up a Teleportation Shop in just
White River City. Cities in the Black Dragon Empire and the Purple
Thorns Kingdom also had them. All countries affected by the Abyss
Invasion had such Shops set up in them, only the teleportation fees
charged in these two countries were much higher than White River City’s.
As a result, ordinary players who could not afford frequent
teleportations would choose to come to White River City, instead.

However, Shi Feng never expected that, in less than a day’s time, so
many people would’ve already come to White River City. Moreover,
everyone was highly interested in killing the abyssal monsters in the
Twin Towers Kingdom.

Aqua Rose was briefly stunned when she heard Shi Feng’s explanation. She
was very curious about what method Shi Feng had used to attract so many
players and Guilds.

Although she did not investigate, she still managed to catch the gist of
the situation from conversations of players on the streets.

This sudden development greatly tempted the members of Shi Feng’s team.

Currently, if one were to point out what the players of God’s Domain
were most interested in, the first would have to be Mounts, while coming
in second would be the new class.

Although the official game developers had only given a brief
introduction of the new class, the strength of this new class was simply
unbelievable. It was definitely the top pick for players who loved both
melee and ranged battles.

Growing impatient, White Night and his group said their goodbyes to Shi
Feng and directly rushed towards the Slums.

However, before White Night left, he also sent Shi Feng a friend
request. Through this trip to Titan City, Owl’s relationship with Zero
Wing had deepened further.

After White Night’s group left, Bloodsucker’s group also grew hesitant.

Originally, they had planned to awe Zero Wing with their ability, making
Zero Wing aware of the Raven Guild’s power, so that they could negotiate
from a stronger position later on. However, after seeing Zero Wing’s
performance today...

Bloodsucker’s confidence was severely shaken.

It would’ve been fine if their party was inferior to Shi Feng alone, yet
the ones that surpassed them in damage-dealing were not just two or
three people. After such an unsightly performance, Bloodsucker would
find it very difficult to negotiate for a higher price. However, he was
also somewhat reluctant to settle for just 20%. If he returned to the
Guild with such a poor result, the upper echelon would no doubt hold him
accountable for it.

Had he known that Zero Wing’s main force was actually this strong, he
never would’ve chosen to have his party perform alongside Zero Wing’s
main force.

After arriving at the reception room of Zero Wing’s Residence, the
Assassin Kirin could not help but look at Bloodsucker and ask, “Boss
Blood, what should we do now?”

As a member of Raven, he always held the Guild in high esteem. He looked
down on even Super Guilds. However, after witnessing Shi Feng’s horrific
strength, for the first time ever, he felt an overwhelming sense of
defeat.

Before, they had confidently declared their strength to Shi Feng. Now,
however, they were nothing more than jokes.

“I don’t have any ideas, either. Let’s just contact the Guild Leader for
now,” Bloodsucker replied, shaking his head. If possible, he really
wished he could stop his past self from speaking so boldly. At the very
least, he wouldn’t be at a complete loss for words right now.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 948: Rapid Development

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Vampirecat

Due to the presence of the Teleportation Shop, a large number of players
had gathered at White River City. In less than a day, White River City’s
player population skyrocketed past Star-Moon City’s, becoming the most
populous city in Star-Moon Kingdom.

As soon as Shi Feng returned to Zero Wing’s Residence, he received the
statistics reports made by the Guild members.

These statistics drew on the latest information gathered from White
River City’s City Hall.

Just recently, White River City’s player population broke past six
million. A large majority of the capital cities of the kingdoms in God’s
Domain did not even possess such a large population. In reality, though,
most of these newcomers had migrated from various cities in Star-Moon
Kingdom.

Meanwhile, as a byproduct of the flood of players, the Candlelight
Trading Firm’s business flourished. Even the quality of the players Zero
Wing recruited continued to rise.

Originally, the Guild had lowered its recruitment criteria significantly
in consideration of its expansion plans towards the Black Dragon Empire
and the Twin Towers Kingdom. However, with the player population of
White River City skyrocketing, Zero Wing had no choice but to gradually
raise its recruitment criteria again.

Even so, Zero Wing still managed to recruit over 10,000 players in less
than a day.

Such a number might not be a lot to large Guilds, but Zero Wing walked
the path of the elite. The overall strength of these 10,000 new recruits
could easily surpass the 50,000 new recruits of other Guilds.

Due to this sudden increase in members, Aqua Rose was swamped with work
as soon as she returned to the Residence. She needed to arrange these
newcomers right away into parties and teams as well as assign them
Dungeons to raid. Unlike independent players, Guild players could not
raid Dungeons as they wished. Their team members would also change
frequently.

Generally, Zero Wing’s Guild teams consisted of a mix of veterans and
new members. Such a combination allowed newcomers to get their equipment
up to standards and integrate themselves into the Guild quickly. Having
veteran members guiding newcomers also gave Aqua Rose a better grasp of
the strengths and weaknesses of these newcomers. After gaining a
sufficient understanding, she would then have to assign them to more
appropriate teams.

“Guild Leader, at our current recruitment rate, if we don’t move some
members to other cities soon, our Guild members’ levels will lag behind
other first-rate Guilds’ before long.” Aqua Rose had a huge headache
when she looked at the report in her hands.

Due to the Abyss Invasion, abyssal monsters now occupied many
high-resource areas in Star-Moon Kingdom. This situation had severely
affected the leveling speed of Zero Wing’s Guild members. The
recruitment of so many players meant that leveling speed would become
even slower.

“I understand. Start making the necessary arrangements to send 50,000
members to develop at the Black Dragon Empire’s Lake Heart City. During
this period, I’ll try to have the Guild Residence at Lake Heart City
constructed as quickly as possible. Once it’s ready, they can use the
Guild Transfer Scroll to teleport there directly.” Shi Feng also
understood Zero Wing’s current predicament.

However, he also did not have a better solution.

This was the problem with an upstart Guild without any foundations. It
was especially so for a Guild that had developed as rapidly as Zero Wing
had.

Unlike other Guilds that had already existed for several or even dozens
of years, Zero Wing did not possess the luxury of starting its
development in multiple cities. These long-established Guilds could
simply split a large and unexpected influx of new members among the
various cities under their influence.

Upon hearing Shi Feng’s decision, Aqua Rose immediately started making
the necessary preparations. It was going to be a huge job to decide
which teams they would send over to the new Branch Guild.

Seeing how busy Aqua Rose was, Shi Feng suddenly felt a little
embarrassed.

Although Zero Wing was gradually moving towards the top of God’s Domain,
management of the entire Guild depended mainly on Aqua Rose alone.
Moreover, management of the Guild involved the core secrets of the
Guild. He could not assign the job to some random person he did not
trust. Although he wanted to help out, he was already bogged down with
his own matters.

Meanwhile, Fire Dance needed to manage the Guild’s main force, while
Blackie had to deal with the matters of the Workshop. Suddenly, Shi Feng
discovered that he had nobody he could put to use.

At this moment, the various flaws of an upstart Guild were quickly
coming to light.

“It seems that I’ll need to find some trustworthy managers.” Shi Feng
had already considered this matter before. Although he had thought of
having some of the core members manage the Guild, none of them were
particularly suited for the role. Moreover, all of them were busy
improving themselves. After all, Zero Wing’s internal competition was
extremely intense. If one wanted to receive better treatment, they
needed to earn it with their own strength.

Anyhow, he had already set his sights on a suitable candidate.

Liang Jing!

During this period, he had occasionally let Liang Jing handle some
matters relating to Zero Wing’s Workshop, and she always dealt with them
excellently. She was much more amazing than even Shi Feng himself,
someone who had served as the Guild Leader of a second-rate Guild for
many years. Not only was she knowledgeable, but she was also very
efficient. Blackie would even often seek guidance from her on various
problems.

If he could have Liang Jing manage the Guild, she would lighten Aqua
Rose’s burden as well. At the very least, Aqua Rose would not try to run
away as soon as she saw him the way she did right now.

However, there was one problem with having Liang Jing manage Zero Wing.

Liang Jing was an employee of the Big Dipper Training Center.

The Guild’s manager needed to be someone from Zero Wing.

“It seems I’ll need to find time to have a chat with Liang Jing.” When
Shi Feng considered the Guild’s present situation as well as the
problems that would crop up in the future, he felt an even greater need
to poach Liang Jing.

While experts were necessary for a Guild to develop, managers were
similarly important. Otherwise, it would simply be impossible to operate
a Guild with so many members.

In truth, aside from Liang Jing, he had another candidate in mind.

White Night!

White Night was strong not only in combat but also leadership
capability, if not stronger.

When they were fighting against the Demonic Ape King, he had led the
members of the team as if they were his own arms and legs. Even Shi Feng
had no choice but to admit defeat against him in that regard.

In the past, under White Night’s management, Owl had gradually grown
into one of the top adventurer teams in God’s Domain, an existence on
par with the Midnight Tea Party. One could see just how capable White
Night was from this feat.

If Shi Feng could recruit White Night into Zero Wing, Zero Wing would
definitely rise by another level.

However, Shi Feng could only take it slowly regarding White Night’s
matter. In the past, White Night had rejected even the offers of Super
Guilds without hesitation; Zero Wing would not fare any better at the
moment.

After Shi Feng finished dealing with the various Guild affairs, he
hurried to the reception room of the Residence.

“Sorry for the wait,” Shi Feng apologized when he saw Bloodsucker, who
had been waiting for him for quite some time now.

“It’s fine. I’ve also just received instructions from our Guild Leader,”
Bloodsucker said. “May I know if Elder Ye Feng has some time to spare
right now?”

“Time?” Shi Feng stared at him, somewhat confused by this question.

Before giving a reply, Bloodsucker took in a deep breath. In a very
serious tone, he then said, “Our Guild Leader wishes to have a personal
chat with you and hopes that you can come meet him.”

After reporting Zero Wing’s information back to the Guild, he had been
shocked to hear that Raven’s Guild Leader wanted to meet with Shi Feng.

Kirin had also been surprised by this news. Less than ten people in the
entire Raven Guild had ever seen the Guild Leader’s appearance before.
Even Kirin himself had never personally met the Guild Leader, his
conversations with the man limited to voice calls. However, just the
means displayed by the Guild Leader so far had already inspired a
worshipful mentality towards him in everyone in the Guild. Hence, Kirin
found it truly inconceivable that their Guild Leader was actually
willing to meet personally with Shi Feng.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 949: Entrance Token

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Vampirecat

“Right now?” Shi Feng asked, feeling somewhat curious as he looked at
Bloodsucker.

The Guild Leader of Raven, Bloodfang, was a mysterious existence in
God’s Domain.

Even in the past, Shi Feng had only heard of the man’s name. He had
never seen a picture of the man.

Yet, now, the high and mighty Guild Leader Bloodfang had suddenly asked
to meet him. If this situation had happened in the past, it would
definitely trigger a huge commotion.

“Yes. Our Guild Leader has said that some things cannot be expressed in
words. It will be more convincing if you see them with your own eyes,”
Bloodsucker explained, nodding.

Back when Bloodsucker heard Guild Leader Bloodfang’s request to meet, he
himself had been shocked.

As a top-tier expert of the Raven Guild as well as an upper manager of
Raven, he had only ever spoken with the mysterious Guild Leader of Raven
through voice calls. To date, he had never personally met the man.

For an outsider like Shi Feng to actually receive an invitation to meet
for a discussion, one could see just how much importance the Guild
Leader placed on Zero Wing. This situation made even Bloodsucker envy
Shi Feng slightly.

“Alright, then. This reason is indeed tempting.” Shi Feng was also very
curious as to what Bloodfang wanted to show him. “However, I still need
to deal with some matters first, before I can follow you all. It’ll take
me a few hours, roughly, to finish.”

“No problem. Guild Leader has already said that he is willing to wait
for Elder Ye Feng’s visit.” Bloodsucker unconsciously breathed out a
sigh of relief when he heard Shi Feng agreeing to the meeting.

The Guild Leader had already stated that he wanted to meet with Shi Feng
no matter what. Moreover, the sooner, the better. It would be best if
they could meet before the match between the Asura Battle Team and the
Evil Dragons Battle Team.

Although he did not understand why Guild Leader Bloodfang was in such a
hurry, he did not try to delve into the man’s thoughts.

Following which, Bloodsucker left Zero Wing’s Residence, intending to
stroll around the city while waiting for Shi Feng to tie up his matters.

—

Meanwhile, at the Slums of White River City, the originally desolate
streets of the area were currently packed with a sea of players.
Well-equipped 100-man teams loitered everywhere, the members of these
teams all wearing discontented expressions.

“Just how long are we supposed to wait?! We’ve already been waiting for
over half an hour here already!”

“Half an hour? Our team has already been waiting for nearly an hour
already!”

The various teams gazed helplessly at the simple house in the distance.

While this house looked very simple, it contained the teleportation
array that could send players straight to the heart of the Twin Towers
Kingdom. However, the number of players this teleportation array could
accommodate at a single time was limited, while the number of players
wishing to earn Honor Points was a lot. Before long, the queue to use
the teleportation array had already meandered through several streets.

Among the teams waiting to use the teleportation array, a beautiful
woman riding atop a black panther looked towards the Level 39 female
Assassin who had just run up to her, and asked, “Frozen, what did you
manage to find out?”

This black panther was over two meters tall and looked just like a
large-scale jeep. It was a very eye-catching sight on the street.

However, compared to this black panther, its owner commanded even more
respect.

The beauty riding atop the black panther was none other than the Vice
Guild Leader of the Hundred Flowers Palace, Cleansed Rue.

“I’ve already checked everything. All nearby Lands suitable for
constructing a Guild Residence have already been bought by someone. In
addition, the few strategic locations that can be used to set up a Store
have similarly been bought by someone,” the Assassin named Frozen Pearl
reported softly.

“These people sure move quickly. Have you found out who bought them?”
Cleansed Rue frowned slightly.

After receiving news of this Teleportation Shop, she had immediately
gathered a team and hurried over. She had even prepared a large sum of
money to construct a Guild Residence in White River City. This way,
their Guild members would not have to waste money on exorbitant
teleportation fees and could simply teleport to White River City using
the Guild Transfer Scroll.

The new class would be very beneficial to their Guild in future
struggles. Hence, they need to nurture a large number of this new class.

Moreover, aside from exchanging for a new class, Honor Points also had
other uses. There were only benefits to be had from grinding abyssal
monsters.

The only problem was the teleportation fee. The Dark Night Empire where
their Guild was based was somewhat distant from Star-Moon Kingdom. They
had spent several hundred Gold just to transport 300 players to White
River City.

If their Guild were to send thousands of players over, the expenditure
would definitely reach frightening proportions. Nevertheless, if their
Guild wished to have an advantage at the Twin Towers Kingdom, it was
naturally better to send as many members over as possible. Hence, it was
imperative for them to establish a Guild Residence in White River City.

“I have yet to find out. The buyers have all kept their identities
hidden,” Frozen Pearl replied, shaking her head.

“They’ve hidden their identities?” Cleansed Rue smiled. “Send some
people to these locations to leave a message saying that our Hundred
Flowers Palace sincerely wishes to purchase Guild Residence Land and
that we hope they can contact us. If there are any movements from those
landowners, notify me immediately.”

Generally speaking, any Guild that managed to secure these Lands would
be more than eager to boast about their successful acquisitions. They
definitely would not conceal it. Since the owners of these Lands chose
to keep their identities a secret, that meant that they had purchased
these Lands not for personal use but for resale. Their silence also
showed that they were still waiting for the right price.

Although Cleansed Rue did not know who would possess such great insight
to actually discern the value of these Lands so quickly, she had no
intention of wasting time waiting for these landowners to sell these
Lands.

Currently, the sooner they obtained nearby Guild Land, the sooner they
would be able to dispatch more Guild members to the Twin Towers Kingdom.

Even if the price was astronomical, she needed to purchase the Land as
expeditiously as possible.

“Understood!” Frozen Pearl nodded. She then led her subordinates to the
nearby Lands that were suitable for constructing a Guild Residence.

—

Inside one of the Basic Meditation Rooms of the Candlelight Trading
Firm, all Intermediate and Advanced Lifestyle players of the firm were
currently gathered.

Several hundred players were present in the room. These players made up
a large portion of the Intermediate and Advanced Lifestyle players in
the entire Star-Moon Kingdom. This was especially true for the Advanced
Lifestyle players.

Nowadays, the various large Guilds throughout God’s Domain were placing
more and more importance on Lifestyle players. Currently, the treatment
an Advanced Lifestyle player received was already on the level of core
members.

At this moment, however, all these Advanced Lifestyle players were
quietly seated at one side, all of them unconsciously holding their
breaths as they looked with yearning at the black iron tokens placed on
the table.

These tokens were none other than the entrance tokens Shi Feng had
obtained from Titan City.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 950: Competition between Trading Firms

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Vampirecat

Chapter 950 – Competition between Trading Firms

“I’ve already explained the purpose of these Titan City Entrance
Tokens,” Shi Feng said as he toyed with the entrance token in his hand.
He then took a look at the crowd before him, feeling very satisfied with
the eagerness they all displayed. “So, what will your decisions be?”

He had sacrificed plenty in order to obtain these entrance tokens. He
had used even his most treasured Tier 4 Magic Scroll.

In the past, each Titan City Entrance Token had sold for over 300 Gold
at auction, the token’s price sometimes reaching even 600 Gold. It was
not something ordinary players could afford.

Moreover, even if they managed to obtain it, they still needed
sufficient funds for expenditures in Titan City. Otherwise, there would
be no point in visiting the Holy City.

Generally, large Guilds were willing to purchase the entrance tokens for
a high price only if they were trying to get an Advanced Lifestyle
player to the Master rank or have some Lifestyle Master produce a new
creation. Sending Lifestyle players of Intermediate rank and below to
the Holy City would just be a colossal waste.

However, Shi Feng couldn’t care less now.

It was simply impossible for current Lifestyle players to reach the
Master rank. Even with the aid of the Research Room, there was no way a
forging genius like Cream Cocoa could become a Master Forger within a
short time.

Achieving the Master rank required all Lifestyle classes to produce
original creations. To do so, one needed extensive knowledge of all
sorts of materials. The Glimmer Chestplate Shi Feng had managed to
create early on was merely the result of dumb luck. If he had to create
a new piece of equipment right now, the likelihood of success was
practically nil.

Just creating the Bronze ranked Glimmer Chestplate was already a
miracle. Not to mention, the quality of the items one needed to produce
to become a Master was much higher.

To become a Master Forger, aside from needing a ton of Forging
Proficiency, one also needed to create three Mysterious-Iron items and
one Secret-Silver item. Hence, the number of players who could
successfully become a Lifestyle Master was extremely low—less than one
out of 100 Advanced Lifestyle players.

It was precisely because of this reason that the Holy City of Titan had
become holy ground for Lifestyle players in the past. Countless Advanced
Lifestyle players dreamed of entering the Holy City to further their
careers. The various large Guilds also tried to purchase the entrance
tokens at all costs.

Anyone who managed to become a Lifestyle Master would become a core
component of the trading firm they belonged to.

After all, Lifestyle Masters could produce items unique to themselves.
Moreover, one’s success at becoming a Master also proved that their
research into the various materials related to their class had already
reached a certain level. In the future, they would have a much easier
time producing new items and thus plenty of opportunities to make money.
Hence, the various large Guilds had treated Master-ranked players with
great respect.

“Well?” Melancholic Smile urged in a stern tone as she looked at the
Lifestyle players before her. Tapping the contract placed on the table,
she continued, “If you wish to improve yourselves further, you’ll have
to sign this contract. Otherwise, the trading firm definitely will not
give this precious opportunity to you.”

“But if we sign this contract, it’ll be equivalent to us selling
ourselves to Candlelight. We won’t have any chances to leave Candlelight
at all in the future. Moreover, you are even requiring us to go
full-time. We need some time to consider this matter properly.” A few
Intermediate Lifestyle players voiced their opinions.

In their eyes, God’s Domain was only a game. If they fully dedicated
their lives to God’s Domain, who would guarantee that they wouldn’t
starve to death in the future?

In addition, the conditions listed in the contract were extremely
demanding. The contract barred its signatories from working elsewhere
within the next decade. They wouldn’t even be able to delete their
accounts and start all over again. As this was a system-enforced
contract, unless they decided to stop playing God’s Domain altogether,
there was no escaping these conditions.

Moreover, even if they chose to work elsewhere a decade later, they
needed to first delete their accounts before doing so.

“I won’t force you. However, you all must understand that it was
extremely difficult to obtain these tokens. If you spend only half a
day’s time in God’s Domain, you will simply be wasting these tokens. Not
to mention, if you suddenly decide to just up and leave later on,
wouldn’t all those resources I have invested into you go to waste? You
all should know that any resource capable of helping you further advance
your skills is priceless in God’s Domain. There might not be another
opportunity after it is used up.

“The contract already states very clearly that after you go full-time,
you will enjoy benefits equivalent to the core members of Zero Wing.
Aside from a monthly salary of 10,000 Credits, you will also receive
commissions for the items you produce. I believe that you all aren’t
signing this contract just for that little bit of income, right?

“You should know very well that the treatment offered by Candlelight is
also at the very top of the industry. I am a busy person. Ten minutes. I
will only give you all ten minutes to consider.”

Shi Feng also understood the concerns these people had. Even so, they
still had to sign the contract if they wanted to receive the opportunity
to visit Titan City.

Moreover, he had already presented them with very generous conditions.
The offers of other Guilds simply could not compare to the resources he
could provide. If the Advanced Lifestyle players of other Guilds had a
1% chance of becoming a Master, then those on his side had a 5% chance
at the very least.

In the past, as Shadow was a small Guild, it had not placed a lot of
restrictive conditions on the Advanced Lifestyle players it hired. In
the end, after investing a large quantity of resources into these
people, those who managed to become Masters simply up and left for other
Guilds, and there was nothing Shadow could do to stop them from leaving.

There were just too many headhunters in God’s Domain. As the importance
of Lifestyle players grew, the conditions offered by these poachers
would likewise improve. Nobody could guarantee that these Lifestyle
players would not fall prey to the temptations.

Moreover, based on the investigations he had asked Aqua Rose to carry
out, quite a few Advanced Lifestyle players of the Candlelight Trading
Firm had already received overtures from headhunters.

He did not wish to risk such an important matter on the morality of
these Lifestyle players.

“Right. I forgot to mention this before, but not everyone present will
be qualified to sign the contract. You’ll have to look for Melancholic
and take a test first,” Shi Feng said as he looked at the silent
Advanced Lifestyle players. “Also, you lot aren’t the only ones allowed
to take the test. Melancholic, notify everyone in the trading firm. Tell
them that, as long as they pass the test and sign the contract, they
will have the qualifications to use the Meditation Room in the future.”

Other Guilds might have difficulty nurturing Advanced Lifestyle players,
but to the Candlelight Trading Firm, this was an easy feat to
accomplish.

Other Guilds might find Advanced Lifestyle players rare, but not him.

The Intermediate Lifestyle players of other Guilds would’ve long since
reached the Advanced rank had they joined the Candlelight Trading Firm.
After all, the Candlelight Trading Firm was the first to possess Special
Workshops. The trading firm also had a large number of rare designs.

If these people weren’t willing to sign the contract, he would rather
place his resources on lower-ranked Lifestyle players.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 951: Super-first-rate Forger

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Vampirecat

Chapter 951 – Super-first-rate Forger

While Shi Feng was holding a meeting with the Lifestyle players of the
Candlelight Trading Firm, Heaven’s Burial was also having a meeting at
Star-Moon City.

Among the participants of the meeting were several middle-aged people
dressed in plain clothing, aside from a large group of well-equipped
expert players. The levels of these middle-aged people were only in the
low thirties. The aura that combat experts usually exuded was also
absent from these people. On the contrary, they gave off a dull and
strict feeling.

However, nobody present in the venue looked down on these people.
Rather, everyone looked at them with deep reverence.

“Uncle Seven, you are simply too amazing. I never thought that you would
actually manage to recruit these people,” the Cleric Flame Blood said in
admiration as he looked at the middle-aged man named Seven Treasures.
“With this, our Guild will definitely rise rapidly.”

“You’re giving me too much credit. I simply followed the Guild Leader’s
orders to bring them here.” Seven Treasures chuckled as he waved his
hand.

“It was Guild Leader who managed to persuade them? I heard that these
people had rejected even the invitations of Super Guilds,” Flame Blood
said, a look of surprise appearing on his face.

While he had known that Singular Burial had been secretly trying to
poach the Advanced Lifestyle players of various Guilds before, he had
considered it a futile effort.

Currently, Advanced Lifestyle players were like treasures to any Guild.
Not only did they receive excellent benefits, but they were also subject
to a series of restrictive conditions binding them to their respective
Guilds. These players would not easily defect to Heaven’s Burial.

However, after seeing these few middle-aged men and women sitting before
him, he now realized he had assumed wrong.

The virtual gaming world had developed for over a hundred years already.
Aside from well-known experts and Super Guilds leaving their names
behind in the annals of history, there were also plenty of amazing
Lifestyle players. These people had relied on Lifestyle classes to
become famous in the virtual gaming world, and their fame was not one
bit inferior to that of top-tier experts.

Although there would be some differences between the Lifestyle classes
of different virtual reality games, those capable of domination in a
virtual reality game would perform mainly the same even if they switched
to a different game.

Aside from that, the middle-aged men and women present were among the
best Lifestyle players in multiple virtual reality games, and any
professional gamer who walked the path of Lifestyle classes would know
of them.

Now that Lifestyle classes were becoming increasingly important in God’s
Domain, these several masters had become even more difficult to hire
than top-tier experts, yet Heaven’s Burial had managed to recruit these
people.

With them aboard, Flame Blood was certain of one thing...

From today onwards, things were going to change in Star-Moon Kingdom.
The Candlelight Trading Firm, which had remained the dominant trading
firm within the kingdom all this time, would soon be history.

Heaven’s Burial had an abundance of capital. In addition, they also had
a steady source of Magic Crystals. Just the number of cities the
Heavenly Trading Firm covered right now already surpassed the
Candlelight Trading Firm’s greatly. Currently, it was only lacking in
Advanced Lifestyle players and popular exclusive products when compared
to Candlelight. Once the Heavenly Trading Firm dealt with these
problems, becoming the number one trading firm in Star-Moon Kingdom
would be a piece of cake.

“Daybreak, how is the progress of the quest on your side?” asked
Singular Burial, who was seated on the Guild Leader’s throne.

“We’re almost done. At most, we’ll need another two days’ time to obtain
the Shop Promotion Order,” Daybreak Fog said confidently.

“Good. As long as we obtain this Promotion Order, the Heavenly Trading
Firm will be able to secure its foothold in Star-Moon Kingdom. When the
time comes, we’ll be relying on you several masters,” Singular Burial
said, turning to look at the middle-aged men and women seated at a
corner.

“As long as you accomplish what you’ve promised, we naturally won’t
disappoint you,” the bespectacled middle-aged man seated in the lead of
the group said very casually. “At that time, not only will the Heavenly
Trading Firm become the number one trading firm in Star-Moon Kingdom,
but it will also become the number one in the Black Dragon Empire and
the surrounding countries!”

Although the words of the man sounded very arrogant, nobody present
doubted his words.

After all, this man was the super-first-rate forger, Lava Heart, someone
known as the Forging Lecturer in the virtual gaming world. In the real
world, he was even a famous blacksmith who specialized in producing all
sorts of weapons and defensive equipment for bigwigs and martial arts
masters.

“Please rest assured on this point. I am a man of my word,” Singular
Burial laughed.

—

Inside the Candlelight Trading Firm:

After Shi Feng was done stating his demands, the Intermediate Lifestyle
players, who had initially been hesitant to make a decision, started
applying to take the test one after another.

The Basic Meditation Room was simply too tempting.

Despite having entered the Meditation Room for only a short time, they
could already clearly feel the benefits it provided.

The Mana released into the room allowed them to maintain their calm.
Their concentration while inside this room was significantly better.

Any player that produced items would know just how important
concentration was.

After the fourth evolution of God’s Domain, the procedures to
manufacture items had become increasingly complex. The lack of fine
control over one’s movements when producing an item would easily result
in failure. Meanwhile, having high concentration could allow players to
carry out these fine movements with ease. The Meditation Room would
definitely be able to help them further improve themselves.

“Are you guys really going to agree to these conditions?” an Advanced
Alchemist named Flying Fish could not help but ask as he looked at his
fellow Advanced Lifestyle players. “I believe that you guys should’ve
received invitations from Heaven’s Burial as well. The conditions they
are offering are triple those of Candlelight’s. Moreover, they’ve also
promised to assign an exclusive Special Workshop to each of us in the
future. We’ll even get priority over choosing rare designs and recipes.
We’ll have a much better time there than at Candlelight. Why don’t we
all just move to Heaven’s Burial’s Heavenly Trading Firm?”

“Although the treatment Heaven’s Burial is offering is indeed good, we
get to learn extremely rare designs at the Candlelight Trading Firm.
Moreover, there’s even the Basic Meditation Room available now. Not to
mention, if we move to the Heavenly Trading Firm, we’ll have to start
over from scratch,” an Advanced Lifestyle player replied worriedly.

“What’s there to worry about? Even if we start a new account, the
technical skills we’ve accumulated will stay with us. Moreover, rare
designs and recipes are becoming increasingly abundant. We’ll be able to
regain our lost development very quickly. Also, you shouldn’t forget
that the Heavenly Trading Firm also has those several masters. Compared
to fumbling around in the dark, our chances of reaching the Master rank
will improve significantly if we follow in their footsteps,” Flying Fish
said, yearning stirring in his heart when he mentioned those “masters.”

The only reason the Candlelight Trading Firm could become as strong as
it was now was the rare designs it had managed to obtain early on.

However, after the fourth evolution of God’s Domain, the difficulty of
making items had increased significantly. It would be very difficult for
them to improve further by relying on external factors. If they could
receive the guidance of those several masters hired by the Heavenly
Trading Firm, their chances of becoming true Lifestyle Masters would be
much higher than if they continued staying at the Candlelight Trading
Firm.

“Burning, why don’t you follow me as well? With those masters guiding
us, I believe that you’ll be able to become a Lifestyle Master very
quickly. At that time, you might even get to join the upper echelons of
Heaven’s Burial,” Flying Fish urged the tall and thin youth standing
beside him.

Burning Abyss had entered the Candlelight Trading Firm just recently.
Back then, he had only been an Advanced Apprentice. However, due to his
great talent, he quickly managed to become an Advanced Engineer. In
contrast, Flying Fish became an Advanced Alchemist only after striving
for a long time.

However, Burning Abyss shook his head in reply.

Usually, aside from making items inside his Workshop, the thing he liked
doing the most was reading in libraries. In addition, he would also take
a look at the information gathered by Zero Wing.

From reading the gathered information, he had obtained many secrets that
others did not know about, which was also one of the reasons why he had
managed to improve so quickly in engineering.

Previously, when he saw Shi Feng take out the Titan City Entrance
Tokens, his legs had nearly gone limp from shock.

Although Shi Feng had kept his explanation of the function of the
entrance tokens brief, only stating that those who use it would get to
train in Special Workshops as well as learn some rare designs and
recipes, Burning Abyss knew exactly what kind of place the Holy City of
Titan was.

That was a place known as the Holy Land.

Titan City even had the Research Rooms that all Lifestyle Masters
dreamed of entering. The help the research materials there could provide
was many times more accurate and detailed than any guidance from a bunch
of players.

“Are you really planning to defect to the Heavenly Trading Firm?”
Burning Abyss asked seriously as he looked at Flying Fish.

“Of course,” Flying Fish replied in a determined tone.

At Flying Fish’s reply, Burning Abyss could not help but sigh as he
said, “I advise you not to go. If you defect to the Heavenly Trading
Firm, you will definitely regret your decision today.”

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 952: Immense Wealth

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Vampirecat

Chapter 952 – Immense Wealth

“Burning, you sure know how to joke.”

“Burning, you can’t be reluctant to part with the Meditation Room,
right? Although the Basic Meditation Room is indeed good, there are too
many Advanced Lifestyle players in the trading firm. We’ll have to wait
for a long time before our turn to use it comes. Not to mention, the
Meditation Room simply provides very little assistance in getting us
promoted to the Master rank, compared to the guidance provided by those
top-tier Lifestyle experts.”

“Also, rather than the current situation where Super Guilds look down on
us, once we become Masters, Super Guilds will beg us to join them.”

When the surrounding Lifestyle players heard Burning Abyss’s words, they
could not help but start laughing.

Lifestyle classes were different from combat classes. The aid that
external factors could provide Lifestyle players was limited; one had to
rely mainly on their own techniques and experience to perform well.
Meanwhile, these things required frequent practice.

During the early stages of the game, the external conditions provided by
the Candlelight Trading Firm were indeed much better compared to those
of Super Guilds. However, the aid from these external factors stopped
when a player reached the Advanced rank. This was also the reason why
Super Guilds thought little of Advanced Lifestyle players. After all,
players relied on an abundance of resources to obtain that rank.

It was a different story for Lifestyle players who had reached the
Master rank, which was not achievable through resources alone.

“Burning, if you don’t want to leave, so be it. Is there a need to try
and scare us into staying as well?” Flying Fish’s expression darkened.
Although he did not think that Burning Abyss’s words would come true, he
still felt displeased after hearing them.

Regret leaving the Candlelight Trading Firm?

He refused to believe that the Basic Meditation Room could compete with
guidance from those several masters. Moreover, he would receive much
more attention and better treatment at the Heavenly Trading Firm.

With those several masters present, it was only a matter of time before
the Heavenly Trading Firm became the number one trading firm in
Star-Moon Kingdom.

“Suit yourself.” After saying so, Burning Abyss walked towards
Melancholic Smile to apply for the test.

The only reason he had cautioned Flying Fish was the good relationship
they usually had.

The Titan City Entrance Tokens were extremely limited. In order to
nurture talents, the Guild would no doubt prioritize sending
Intermediate Lifestyle players to Titan City. The number of slots
reserved for Advanced Lifestyle players would definitely be very few. If
Flying Fish and the other Advanced Lifestyle players left, he would have
a much better chance of getting selected to visit the Holy City.

—

“Guild Leader, just like you’ve speculated, four Advanced classes and
over twenty Intermediate classes are requesting the termination of their
contracts with us,” Melancholic Smile said as she handed a stack of
withdrawal applications to Shi Feng. Frowning slightly, she asked,
“Guild Leader, are we really going to let them go?”

Currently, the Candlelight Trading Firm had a dearth of Advanced
Lifestyle players. If they let these people go now, it would only serve
to undermine the trading firm’s competitiveness.

“Don’t worry about it. Candlelight’s future has no need for these
people.” Shi Feng chuckled. “If they wish to terminate their contracts
and gift us money, I very much welcome them to do so.”

Zero Wing’s Workshop had recently recruited a large number of people and
required money urgently. Since other Guilds were willing to pay to poach
these Lifestyle players, he was more than happy to oblige them.

Upon hearing Shi Feng’s words, Melancholic Smile could not help but fall
speechless.

Other trading firms were selling products to earn money, yet Shi Feng
was actually selling Lifestyle players to earn money.

However, this was also a good outcome. To begin with, those Lifestyle
players never had any intention of staying at Candlelight over the long
run. Now, not only could they rid themselves of these leeches, but they
could also make a huge profit off the termination fee while they were at
it.

“Right, how are things on the teleportation house’s side?” Shi Feng
asked quietly.

“Based on the test I conducted, each individual needs roughly one-fifth
of a Magic Crystal’s energy to teleport from White River City to the
Twin Towers Kingdom. Hence, I set the teleportation fee for White River
City at 20 Silver per person. The profits we’ve made so far already
exceeds what the entire Candlelight Trading Firm makes in a day by a
considerable margin,” Melancholic Smile answered, great joy brightening
her face when she spoke about the teleportation house.

The Candlelight Trading Firm was the number one trading firm in
Star-Moon Kingdom. The Coins it earned in a day could make even
first-rate Guilds drool.

Even so, the trading firm’s income still paled significantly in
comparison to that of the teleportation house.

Deducting the daily management fees of the several NPCs as well as the
cost of the Magic Crystals used to fuel the teleportation array, the
teleportation house had already earned over 2,000 Gold after just a few
hours of operation. Unfortunately, the amount of Magic Crystals they
could obtain through the Guild and purchasing from others was limited;
they couldn’t provide players with unrestricted use of the teleportation
array. Even so, based on Melancholic Smile’s calculations, they could
still make a clean profit of around 5,000 Gold every day. This was
several times the income of the Candlelight Trading Firm.

If Super Guilds were to learn of Zero Wing’s daily income, they would
definitely take action against Zero Wing regardless of the cost.

After hearing Melancholic Smile’s report, even Shi Feng was surprised.

Although he had expected the teleportation house to be extremely
profitable, he never thought it would be this profitable.

If not for the limited supply of Magic Crystals, this amount would most
likely be several times higher. It was no wonder so many people had gone
crazy over the Ancient Abyssal Books in the past.

It seems Magic Crystals will always remain a problem. The amount we can
obtain by relying on just Stone Forest Town and purchases is simply too
little. Shi Feng started pondering methods to earn large amounts of
Magic Crystals in God’s Domain.

As players progressed further into the game, the amount of Magic
Crystals they required would also increase. However, the sources of
Magic Crystals in God’s Domain were just too few. Currently, aside from
Dungeons and certain hidden locations, the only other method to obtain a
large amount of Magic Crystals was through mining Magic Crystal veins.
However, the standard of current God’s Domain players made it utterly
impossible for them to go to that kind of place.

Sometime later, the results of those who applied to take the test inside
the Meditation Room came out. Based on the ranks of each class, Shi Feng
chose 50 players with the highest production success rates. Among these
50 players, only five were Advanced Lifestyle players, while twenty were
Intermediate Lifestyle players, and 25 were Basic Lifestyle players.

The reason he had decided on such a distribution was his wish to nurture
a large number of Advanced Lifestyle players. He had no plans of having
the Advanced players strive for the Master rank at the moment. Moreover,
even if Shi Feng wanted to, the current Advanced Lifestyle players were
simply incapable of doing so.

As for Cream Cocoa’s group of Advanced classes, who wielded the core
secrets of the Guild, Shi Feng would use the Holy City’s Emblem to
transport them over. If he had them working in the Special Workshops of
Titan City, they would be able to produce the Mounts and Strengthening
Devices slightly faster.

The Holy City’s Emblem could open a transfer gate to Titan City and
allow up to ten people to pass through it. However, the emblem had a
Cooldown of seven days.

Although it was not as convenient as the entrance tokens, which did not
possess a Cooldown, it was valuable in the fact that it was reusable. It
could continuously send the Lifestyle players of the Candlelight Trading
Firm to Titan City.

After everyone had teleported to Titan City, Shi Feng silently departed
the trading firm.

—

“This is the Holy City of Titan?”

Originally, everyone had been extremely excited over the fact that they
were going to get to have their own exclusive Special Workshop as well
as learn rare designs and recipes. However, upon entering Titan City,
they were utterly shocked by the scenery of Titan City.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 953: Holy Space

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

Inside Heaven’s Burial’s Residence in Star-Moon City...

“Guild Leader, I’ve just been notified that those four Advanced
Lifestyle players from Candlelight have agreed to our conditions.
Moreover, Candlelight isn’t forcing them to stay. As long as we send the
money, they’ll let those four go,” Flame Blood reported excitedly upon
receiving the news.

Advanced Lifestyle players were currently a rare commodity to any Guild.
They were precious resources for Guilds in the war over market
dominance. Hence, the various Guilds held onto their Lifestyle players
tightly, preventing other Guilds from poaching. If a Guild wanted
Advanced Lifestyle players, it would have to start by nurturing complete
novices. However, doing so was time-consuming, and it would be very hard
for a trading firm to gain a competitive edge in a short time.

Hence, Singular Burial had used those several masters and offered
irresistible benefits.

Flame Blood had not expected Singular Burial’s strategy to be effective
enough to poach four Advanced Lifestyle players. This would
significantly weaken the Candlelight Trading Firm.

Moreover, even though these Advanced Lifestyle players’ Proficiency had
been reset and they had lost the designs and recipes they had learned,
they still retained their experience and technical skills. With Heaven’s
Burial’s resources, it would not take long for these players to recover
the losses. This was far more cost-efficient than simply nurturing
Advanced Lifestyle players from scratch.

“Black Flame really is quite interesting. While other Guilds are keeping
a tight leash on their Advanced Lifestyle players, he generously allowed
four to walk away. It seems he is relatively confident in the
Candlelight Trading Firm.” The corners of Singular Burial’s mouth
twitched when he heard this news, and he could not help but admire Shi
Feng.

They were talking about four Advanced Lifestyle players!

After investing plenty of resources into its trading firm, Heaven’s
Burial had only nurtured five Advanced Lifestyle players thus far. Among
them, three had only recently achieved their promotion.

Yet, the Candlelight Trading Firm had abandoned four such individuals
without hesitation.

“Guild Leader, will these players be a problem?” Daybreak Fog asked
worriedly from the side.

“They shouldn’t be. I spoke with all of them in secret earlier. Their
item production techniques and success rates are genuine,” Singular
Burial said, shaking his head. Chuckling, he continued, “Since
Candlelight is so generous, we don’t need to be courteous with them.
Uncle Seven, deal with this matter right away. We can’t let another
Guild steal these people from us.”

With these four Advanced Lifestyle players and the five masters in the
Heavenly Trading Firm, it wouldn’t be long before the position of
Star-Moon Kingdom’s top trading firm switched owners.

Once the Heavenly Trading Firm surpassed the Candlelight Trading Firm,
Heaven’s Burial would have a stable source of income. At that time,
Heaven’s Burial could officially begin its conquest of Star-Moon
Kingdom.

“Guild Leader, rest assured; I’ll head over right away,” Seven Treasures
said. He immediately departed the meeting room and dashed towards
Star-Moon City’s Teleportation Hall.

—

On the streets of Titan City, the city’s dense Mana intoxicated
Melancholic Smile and her companions.

The Mana density in this city is even higher than the Basic Meditation
Room! Melancholic Smile grew breathless when she felt the city’s Mana.

Although the difference in Mana between the Basic Meditation Room and
the Special Workshop seemed small, it was precisely this small
difference that made it far easier for Intermediate Lifestyle players to
reach the Advanced rank.

Lifestyle players gained Proficiency in a slightly different way from
combat players who only needed to gain EXP by killing monsters.

Take Intermediate Forgers who were trying to become Advanced Forgers for
example. When their Forging Proficiency reached a certain degree, even
if they only produced ordinary items befitting their rank, they would
not gain any Forging Proficiency. They would have to produce rare items
befitting their rank to raise their Proficiency.

Soon, even rare items would not provide any Proficiency, at which point,
Intermediate Forgers would have to produce items that were one rank
higher to improve.

One could just imagine how abysmal an Intermediate Forger’s success rate
with producing Advanced items would be.

If one could not complete the forging procedures flawlessly, they would
waste an astonishing amount of materials. Moreover, Intermediate Forgers
would be producing advanced merchandise, which required rare materials.
Even Super Guilds would not waste their rare materials so recklessly.

Guilds mainly nurtured Lifestyle players to make money. Although they
would have to invest, this investment was not limitless. There was
definitely a cap.

In the Candlelight Trading Firm, rare materials were extremely limited.
The trading firm did not have the leeway for everyone to produce
higher-rank merchandise limitlessly. Hence, the trading firm would
conduct a quality check every now and then, using the opportunity to
determine how many rare materials to allocate to each person.

Those with high production success rates received a larger supply of
rare materials. This way, they could gain more Proficiency each day,
increasing their promotion speed.

This was precisely the reason that...

The Basic Meditation Room’s Mana density was extremely important. The
dense Mana in the air could allow players to maintain a calm mind and
high concentration. This way, they wouldn’t make errors as easily when
crafting. If they could cut down on unnecessary mistakes, their
production success rate would increase. Their promotion speed would also
increase.

This was why the various large Guilds were more willing to pay a huge
price to poach Advanced Lifestyle players rather than nurture their own.

Following which, Melancholic Smile led everyone to the Titan Lifestyle
Association.

As Shi Feng had requested, she rented Special Workshops for everyone for
three days. Including the cost to purchase designs and recipes, she had
spent over 4,000 Gold.

This expenditure dumbfounded Cream Cocoa and the others.

Even first-rate Guilds would be hard-pressed to collect more than 4,000
Gold.

None of them had ever imagined that the trading firm would spend so much
on them.

They finally understood why the trading firm had required them to sign
such a strict contract.

In fact, if not for the money earned through the Teleportation House,
even Melancholic Smile’s heart would’ve stopped by now.

Coming here to raise one’s Proficiency and techniques was the epitome of
luxury.

However, upon entering the Lifestyle Association’s Special Workshop, her
opinion changed.

Although the Workshop here was only half the size of the Candlelight
Trading Firm’s Special Workshops, the Mana density was three times that
of the outside world. Inside this room, she experienced a mental clarity
like never before.

( )

Moreover, aside from its high Mana density, there was a large amount of
research materials available inside this Special Workshop.

After a cursory search for information on the Strengthening Device,
Melancholic Smile compiled a few dozen pages’ of information. Among them
were production videos from Master Forgers and key crafting points.

“Master-ranked production videos?” Melancholic Smile clicked on the
video out of curiosity.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 954: New World

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

The moment Melancholic Smile clicked on one of the Masters’ production
videos, a tall, robust figure appeared inside the room, which was the
size of a basketball court. The man had tanned skin and a long beard.

“What?! This is a hologram?!” Melancholic Smile was shocked when she saw
the bearded man.

While there were production videos of many capable individuals on God’s
Domain’s official forums, one could only watch them on a flat screen. At
the end of the day, one could not experience their production process.

Moreover, compared to this holographic Master Forger’s techniques, every
forging player throughout God’s Domain was practically garbage.

“A Master Forger is impressive. So, I can use this method to forge the
Strengthening Devices as well.”

After watching the holographic video once, Melancholic Smile was aware
of her flaws. Particularly, her rune-drawing techniques needed work.

The bearded man’s rune looked natural on the Strengthening Device.
Moreover, he completed the rune with one smooth motion.

The original Strengthening Device design only offered a simple
introduction and a few basic demonstrations. It did not contain any
forging techniques to speak of. Melancholic Smile had no choice but to
experiment.

After watching the Master Forger’s video, Melancholic Smile felt as if
doors to a whole new world had opened for her.

“If this is what the videos are like, what are the key production
points?” After calming herself, Melancholic Smile shifted her attention
towards the key points of production, clicking on one of the several
available links.

As soon as Melancholic Smile clicked on it, she heard a system
notification.

System: Production Annotation Mode activated. Energy is required to
activate this mode: Magic Crystals. One Magic Crystal will last one
hour. Do you wish to continue?

“It even needs Magic Crystals?” Melancholic Smile could not help her
surprise.

The Master Forger’s holographic video had not required any payment.
Seeing as energy was required to annotate the key points of production,
this function should be far more valuable than the videos.

Melancholic Smile did not take long to consider her options. As she had
come to produce Strengthening Devices, she had plenty of Magic Crystals
on hand. Wasting one wouldn’t matter.

Following which, Melancholic Smile clicked “Accept,” and a single Magic
Crystal disappeared from her bag.

System: Production Annotation Mode activated. Loading Strengthening
Device Template Number 017. You may now produce the Strengthening
Device.

“That’s it?” Melancholic Smile had not noticed anything different about
herself, and nothing new had appeared in the room.

However, since the system had said as much, she decided to start forging
the Strengthening Device.

In any case, Shi Feng had stated that they needed to produce a large
quantity of Strengthening Devices as quickly as possible.

As Melancholic Smile took out the necessary materials and prepared to
smelt them, various images and data appeared before her. The information
consisted of semi-transparent holograms and wouldn’t affect her
production directly.

When Melancholic Smile looked through the images and data, she was
shocked.

After all, this information guided her through producing the
Strengthening Device. All she needed to do was overlay her actions with
the holographic images and observe the smelting process. The data
displayed also provided specific hints for carrying out these actions.

The Production Annotation Mode was like a copybook that provided ideal
forging procedures, and all she needed to do was familiarize herself
with these procedures. Learning how to forge the Strengthening Device
this way was many times more effective than simply watching a Master
Forger at work.

As Melancholic Smile forged the Strengthening Devices according to the
hints provided, her forging success rate and speed steadily rose.

Originally, Melancholic Smile’s success rate with the Strengthening
Device had been around 40%. After using the Intermediate Mana Source
Ore, her success rate increased to roughly 50%. However, she rarely
achieved a 50% success rate when actually crafting them. Before arriving
in Titan City, she usually succeeded four of ten tries, and sometimes
less.

After an hour inside the Special Workshop, however, she could now
stabilize her output to four or more out of ten tries. Many of her
uncertainties when forging the Strengthening Device had also vanished,
and now, her actions were more decisive. This resulted in a faster
forging speed. She was practically as fast as she had been before God’s
Domain’s fourth evolution.

She was overjoyed.

With the videos of the Master Forgers and the key production points, her
forging techniques improved with each second she spent in the room. Her
growth was at least ten times faster than when she had been in the
Candlelight Trading Firm’s Basic Meditation Room.

Melancholic Smile felt that the 4,000-plus Gold they spent was worth it.
After such a short time here, she was confident of trying for the Master
rank. As for the firm’s other Lifestyle players, rising from Basic or
Intermediate rank to Advanced would be a piece of cake.

Melancholic Smile wasn’t the only one excited about Titan City’s Special
Workshops. All those who experienced the Special Workshops instantly
fell in love.

Everyone felt that, if they could stay here, they could easily become
Masters.

Unfortunately, this was only a misconception. After all, techniques and
high success rates were not the only requirements to become a Master.
One also needed extensive knowledge of materials. Without sufficient
knowledge, creating an item of their own would be impossible.

“If Flying Fish and the others knew about this, they’d go mad.” Burning
Abyss, who resided in his own Special Workshop, could not help but sigh
when he thought of Flying Fish and the other Advanced Lifestyle players.

Before coming to Titan City, although he had known that the city was the
Holy Land for Lifestyle players, he had not expected it to be this
amazing.

Titan City definitely deserved to be called a ‘Holy Land.’

It now seemed that, in his search of a shortcut to become a Master,
Flying Fish had suffered a huge setback. Even if those several masters
were extremely skilled in other virtual reality games, at the end of the
day, those games were not God’s Domain. How could those masters’
guidance possibly compare to God’s Domain’s true Masters?

Furthermore, there were the Research Rooms.

—

Star-Moon Kingdom, White River City’s Teleportation Hall:

Due to the new teleportation house, large groups of players flooded into
White River City. Among them, a majority consisted of Guild players;
only a small minority were independent players.

After Shi Feng finished sorting out his matters, he arranged to meet
with Bloodsucker and the others at the Teleportation Hall.

When Shi Feng discovered Bloodsucker among the crowd, he also noticed an
unfamiliar man beside Bloodsucker. The other party noticed him as well.

Although this man hid his appearance with a Black Cloak, Shi Feng felt
his piercing gaze. It was the gaze of a predator. Shi Feng was not
comfortable being its target.

Meanwhile, Bloodsucker and the others obviously treated this man with
great respect. Kirin and Masked Angel, who stood beside the man, did not
even dare to breathe loudly.

( )

“You must be Ye Feng, right?” the unfamiliar man said after looking at
Shi Feng. Coldly, he continued, “Before you meet our Guild Leader, the
Guild Leader has said that he wants to show you something.”

“Show me what?” Shi Feng asked curiously.

“Strength!” The man laughed.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 955: Raven’s Background

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

After the unfamiliar man spoke, he shifted his gaze towards Bloodsucker.

“Blood, follow me. Everyone else, return to the Guild.”

Kirin and the others nodded to the man’s commanding tone, reverence
filling their eyes when looked at him.

This surprised Shi Feng.

During the entrance trial, Shi Feng had discovered that that Kirin was a
Void Realm expert. Throughout Zero Wing, only he could trump over the
Assassin. Both Fire Dance and Violet Cloud were still weaker than him in
terms of combat standards. Though, if it came to an actual fight, Fire
Dance would defeat Kirin easily as the difference between their
equipment was massive.

Regardless, with Kirin’s combat standards, he would be an apex expert in
any Guild.

Yet, the unfamiliar man had clearly expressed that they were heading
somewhere where an expert of Kirin’s caliber wasn’t qualified to be.
Among the party, only Bloodsucker was allowed to accompany them.

“Brother Blood, where are we going?” Shi Feng sent Bloodsucker a private
message. He was very curious about their destination.

“I don’t know. This is only my third time meeting one of the Guild
Leader’s Dark Guards.

Although he was a part of Raven’s upper management, he was not qualified
to meddle with Raven’s core.

In addition, Raven’s internal affairs were kept hidden. As a Dark Guild,
Raven did not prioritize killing monsters or developing cities. Instead,
Dark Guilds killed players and plundered cities for a living, and
everything they did demanded secrecy. After all, NPCs desperately wanted
to eliminate them.

Hence, even an upper manager like Bloodsucker knew very little about the
Raven Guild. He was only responsible for managing his area’s bounties.

As for the Guild’s core secrets, he knew nothing.

The Dark Guards were the Guild Leader’s trusted aids. Every one
possessed extremely high combat standards; even he admired them. The
Guild Leader almost never revealed himself during his various tasks. He
even left crucial matters for his Dark Guards to handle.

“A Dark Guard?” Shi Feng glanced at the cloaked man, shocked.

He had heard about Raven’s Dark Guards before.

Raven had become one of the Six Great Dark Guilds in God’s Domain due to
its Dark Guards. These Dark Guards possessed inhuman combat standards.
There were also many of them. Moreover, as they constantly covered
themselves with Black Cloaks, nobody outside of Raven knew of their
identities.

Initially, many people had wondered if a Super Guild had established
Raven.

However, facts had proven that Raven was not related to any Super Guild
in God’s Domain. Every Super Guild in God’s Domain had been under the
care of Raven’s Dark Guards at some point. Despite the Dark Guards
robbing them of many riches, none of these Super Guilds had any real
method of dealing with the Dark Guild. This was because Raven had no
fewer top-tier experts than a Super Guild.

Meanwhile, Shi Feng could clearly feel that the Dark Guard before him
was even more impressive than Bloodsucker.

Of course, ‘impressive’ did not refer to combat techniques. Rather, it
was the Dark Guard’s aura that impressed him. He felt more like a
machine, cold and emotionless, than a human.

Bloodsucker was a Dark Player. He could build a mountain with the
corpses of the players he had killed, yet he could not feel as
intimidating as this Dark Guard. Like a soulless robot, this Dark Guard
revealed neither joy nor sadness.

After Kirin and the others had departed, this indifferent Dark Guard led
Shi Feng and Bloodsucker through numerous teleportations, traveling far
from Star-Moon Kingdom and arriving in a remote town in the Dawn Empire.
Following which, the trio rode their Mounts for several hours before
finally arriving in a seemingly-uninhabited town.

Unlike NPC towns, this town had plenty of NPC guards patrolling its
borders.

A captured town? After seeing the town’s situation, Shi Feng could not
help but admire Raven.

Various large Guilds hungered to capture their own town.

However, capturing a town was easier said than done.

He had only managed to capture Stone Forest Town because the town was
slightly unique. He had also been able to use hundreds of thousands of
players as bait.

Although players had reached higher levels and their Attributes had
increased significantly, capturing a town was still very difficult. Even
Super Guilds needed to plan long-term to do so. They couldn’t afford any
mistakes. Otherwise, the consequences would be extremely dire. There was
even less need to mention other Guilds.

On his way here, Shi Feng had noticed that the surrounding monsters were
all above Level 40. With this, the town’s original NPCs should have been
Level 60 at least.

It was no longer possible to capture a town by relying on players’
strength. One needed powerful external assistants such as Tier 3
Summoning Scrolls or a small army of Personal Guards. They could also
use siege weapons. However, without any of that, capturing a town of
this level was impossible.

As for Bloodsucker, who was a member of Raven, he wore a dumbfounded
expression. He could not believe his eyes.

Despite being one of the Guild’s upper echelons, he had no clue that his
Guild had its own town...

“Is this the Strength Guild Leader Bloodfang wants me to see?” Shi Feng
asked the Dark Guard leading them.

Currently, among God’s Domain’s various powers, those capable of
capturing a town of this caliber could be counted with one’s fingers.

However, after entering the town, Shi Feng realized something.

The town was extremely poor. Aside from a Guild Residence, the only
other buildings were a hotel and a smithy. There was nothing else...

Although the town was extremely poor, the several hundred players in the
town were far from ordinary.

Not only were they all Level 38 or above, but they felt like ferocious
beasts. The chill in their eyes was similar to the Dark Guard’s; there
was not a shred of emotion in their gaze. They seemed even less human
than high-intelligence NPCs. If not for the green, diamond marker above
their heads, Shi Feng would’ve wondered if these players were the town’s
NPCs.

( )

When Shi Feng arrived before the town’s only hotel, three cloaked men
emerged from the dilapidated building. The auras around these men were
the same as the Dark Guard who had led them here, and they felt just as
dangerous to Shi Feng.

“Guild Leader has said that only Ye Feng may enter. Bloodsucker, wait
outside.”

After hearing the Dark Guard’s command, Bloodsucker had no choice but to
wait. As for Shi Feng, he boldly waltzed into the hotel. He was very
eager to learn just what kind of person Raven’s Guild Leader was.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 956: Priceless Town

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

Inside the tattered hotel, aside from a man dressed and cloaked in black
sitting on a windowsill and the two Dark Guards standing beside him,
there were no players inside the establishment.

There were only two NPCs inside the hotel: a bartender and a waiter.

It was difficult to call this establishment a hotel.

From the moment he entered to the moment he stopped before the
black-cloaked man, the two Dark Guards watched Shi Feng’s every
movement. If he made any sudden movements, they would eliminate Shi Feng
immediately.

They both felt like well-trained bodyguards.

This is their hotel. Why are they so nervous? The Dark Guards’ behavior
confused Shi Feng. Their behavior furthered his interest in the man
named Bloodfang.

In his previous life, Bloodfang had never once revealed his true
appearance to the world. He had been a complete mystery, even more
secretive than the legendary Flower of Seven Sins.

Although many people had looked into Bloodfang’s background, no one ever
learned anything.

Bloodfang’s identity was so obscured that nobody even knew whether he
was a man or a woman. After all, there were many items in God’s Domain
that could disguise a player. Moreover, Bloodfang wore a Black Cloak
constantly. Even if one used an advanced Identification Skill, they
would learn nothing. The only thing everyone knew was that Raven’s
members referred to their Guild Leader as “Bloodfang.”

“Care for a drink?” Bloodfang asked after Shi Feng sat. “The beverages
here are very good.”

Unlike the Dark Guards, Bloodfang’s voice was not void of emotion. Only,
his tone was somewhat gravely.

“No need. Just tell me what you want. You didn’t invite me all this way
just for a drink, right?” Shi Feng declined, shaking his head.

“Indeed, just as Bloodsucker had said, you really are straightforward.”
Bloodfang chuckled. Pointing to the town outside the window, he
continued, “I’ll just get straight to the point. What do you think of
this town?”

“It is very shabby. However, the fact that your Guild has captured this
town shows that there must be something of great interest to your Guild
here,” Shi Feng said honestly.

The Dawn Empire was very far from Star-Moon Kingdom. Teleporting from
Star-Moon Kingdom to the Dawn Empire cost 4 Gold, 24 Silver. Even
current expert players would be reluctant to pay this price.

In the past, Shi Feng’s activity had always remain centered in Star-Moon
Kingdom. Hence, other than knowing their general location, Shi Feng did
not know much about distant kingdoms and empires.

Of course, he still had some knowledge of major incidents.

Although he had never personally visited these countries, the Secret
Pavilion often reported major incidents that occurred in God’s Domain’s
various kingdoms and empires.

However, as far as he could remember, nothing significant had occurred
in the Dawn Empire at this stage of the game.

“Your senses are sharp. Indeed, as you’ve said, this town is quite
shabby. However, Raven has paid a huge price to capture it. We’ve almost
invested everything we’ve accumulated since joining God’s Domain to do
so,” Bloodfang said, sighing. “I’m ashamed to say this, but although
Raven has accumulated a lot of resources so far, constructing this town
is too expensive.”

Shi Feng revealed a surprised expression as Bloodfang explained the
situation.

He was very familiar with a town’s construction. The construction’s
early stages required a hefty investment. However, to a power like
Raven, it should not pose a problem.

“I don’t expect you to believe me. However, I am not lying. This town is
somewhat special. Although it looks like this now, this town was
initially flourishing. What you’re seeing is our second reconstruction.”
Helplessness tinged Bloodfang’s voice as he spoke.

“The second time? Had the town been destroyed?” Shi Feng’s shock grew.

It was common knowledge that a newly constructed city could hire NPC
guards to protect it for 15 days. To current players, Level 150 NPC
guards were invincible. Even if the surrounding Level 40-plus monsters
sought to cause trouble, Raven could take care of them easily. This town
was indestructible.

“That’s right. This town has been destroyed once before. Even after
hiring so many guards, in the end, we failed to defend it. Raven has
invested too much into this town during its early stages. As a result,
we can’t afford the reconstruction. Hence, I sought to cooperate with
Zero Wing, hoping to convince your Guild to invest into this town and
develop it with us,” Bloodfang said, nodding sternly. Confidently, he
continued, “No other Guild knows about the town’s true value. I only
discovered it after reading through an Ancient Document. If Zero Wing
invests 100,000 Gold, your Guild will receive 20% of the town’s income.”

“Guild Leader Bloodfang, you’re talking about 100,000 Gold, not 100,000
Copper. With that kind of money, you can rebuild this town six or seven
times over, or construct six or seven other towns, yet you’re only
offering 20% of this town’s earnings. Even if there were a literal Gold
Mine here, this town would never be worth that much money,” Shi Feng
said, shaking his head.

After hearing Bloodfang mentioning the words “Ancient Document,” Shi
Feng more or less understood that this town was different.

However, he could construct a city’s basic structure with 100,000 Gold,
much less a town.

Even if this place had a Gold Mine, harvesting the ore would require
tons of resources and manpower. Furthermore, they would have to smelt
the ore into actual gold before they could sell it. Even if the harvest
were high, if he only got 20% of the profits, who knew how long he would
have to wait just to earn back his initial investment? He could not
afford to throw what Coins he current possessed at this town.

“Elder Ye Feng, don’t reject the offer so quickly. I have yet to explain
why this town is so special.” Shi Feng’s refusal did not seem to
surprise Bloodfang.

“Special? What’s special about this place?” Shi Feng asked.

“There is a Manatite vein here. One can also obtain Magic Crystals
alongside the Manatite Ore. Although the vein does not yield much, I
believe that it does yield more than Stone Forest Town’s daily income.
This could certainly benefit the Candlelight Trading firm,” Bloodfang
said, chuckling. “How about it? Do you think my offer is worth
consideration now?”

“It’s no wonder why Guild Leader Bloodfang is so confident. However, why
Zero Wing? Wouldn’t it be better to work with Super Guilds? With the
financial strength and manpower of a Super Guild, you would have more
than enough to develop the town,” Shi Feng said. He had to admit that
the offer was tempting.

Manatite was one of God’s Domain’s particularly rare minerals. As
Manatite Ore contained dense Mana, Magic Crystals formed as a byproduct
in a Manatite vein. Although one could collect more Mana Crystals by
grinding monsters in the Stoneclaw Mountains, there was one benefit to
harvesting Magic Crystals from a mine: the absence of danger. As long as
they had a sufficient Mining level, any player could mine Magic
Crystals. Moreover, the higher their Mining level was, the greater their
chances were of obtaining Magic Crystals.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 957: Defense Turret

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

Chapter 957 – Defense Turret

In God’s Domain, many players used Mining and Herb Gathering to get
rich.

Ordinary players had very few income options. Generally, players relied
on quest rewards as Common monsters rarely dropped Coins. Only Elite
rank and higher monsters had any chance of dropping money. Even so, the
chances were only around two or three percent. Moreover, they dropped
Copper Coins.

As for monsters dropping materials, the chances were even lower...

After first joining God’s Domain, players could mostly afford their
repair fees with their earnings from grinding Common monsters. However,
as their levels increased and the quality of their equipment rose, the
money they earned from Common monsters wouldn’t be enough to maintain
their items. Usually, they had to grind Elite monsters to cover their
costs. If they were lucky and obtained a Bronze Weapon or piece of
Equipment, not only could they afford a day’s worth of repair fees, but
they might also have something to save.

Unfortunately, that had only been the case after God’s Domain had first
launched.

Every time God’s Domain evolved, the Main God System lowered weapon and
equipment drop-rates. Now that the game had undergone its fourth
evolution, even Elite monsters rarely dropped Bronze Weapons and
Equipment. One usually had to obtain such items from Field Bosses or
Dungeons.

It was precisely this reason that Lifestyle classes had become popular.

Meanwhile, the Lifestyle classes’ development relied on various
materials.

As players moved through maps, they usually paid attention to their
surroundings. However, they were not only doing so to avoid player or
monster ambushes, but to find ores and herbs.

A gathering player who was familiar with the environment could earn more
money by selling the raw materials they gathered than what Guild elite
members could earn from fighting monsters.

In the past, Shi Feng had frequently heard about gathering players
obtaining excellent weapons and equipment solely by gathering ores and
herbs. Many Guilds and trading firms had signed contracts with expert
gathering players. As long as these players fulfilled their monthly
quota, not only could they sell their materials at market price, but
they would also gain bonus Credits.

Hence, for players in God’s Domain, both Mining and Herb Gathering were
usually very high-leveled.

If there truly were a Manatite vein beneath this town, they only needed
to higher players with high-level Mining Skills. They could certainly
earn far more Magic Crystals than Stone Forest Town. After all, Stone
Forest Town only earned Magic Crystals from players repair and hotel
fees. The town didn’t earn nearly as much as players did in the
Stoneclaw Mountains.

“My initial plan was to earn a large sum in the Dark Arena. However,
Zero Wing’s abilities have surpassed my expectations. While I have
considered cooperating with Super Guilds before, they are simply too
powerful; they might just take the town from Raven. Moreover, even if we
form a partnership, with Super Guilds’ appetite, Raven won’t obtain
much.

“Although there are a few more powers aside from Super Guilds that we
could approach, these powers cannot provide as many Coins as Zero Wing.

“How about it? By cooperating with Raven, not only would Zero Wing not
lack Magic Crystals, but the Candlelight Trading Firm would also have
plenty of Manatite Ore. You will certainly earn more than 100,000 Gold.”

Bloodfang believed that the conditions he had proposed were quite
generous. There was simply no reason for an upstart Guild like Zero Wing
to reject his offer.

Currently, Zero Wing did not have many assets in God’s Domain. However,
it was extremely difficult to invest in the real estate in other
kingdoms and empires. The local Guilds had long since claimed the
available Lands. As for kingdom and empire’s main cities, although some
golden Lands were still available, without sufficient Reputation in
those cities, purchasing those lands was impossible.

By the time someone from Zero Wing obtained the required Reputation,
others would have claimed those Lands.

In other words, Zero Wing should have a lot of money lying around right
now, yet it could not effectively utilize the Coins, spending money to
make money.

However, this could not be helped. After all, Zero Wing was merely an
upstart Guild. Its income couldn’t even compare to a veteran second-rate
Guild, much less a super-first rate or Super Guild.

If Zero Wing continued to hold on to its funds, it would eventually
depreciate.

This was also why, despite earning boatloads of Gold, Super Guilds had
very little liquid funds. This was because these Super Guilds had long
since invested the money into something more valuable, particularly
various city’s Lands with high potential.

If Zero Wing invested its excess Coins into Raven, it could kill two
birds with one stone.

“Guild Leader Bloodfang, as I’ve said before, 100,000 Gold Coins are not
100,000 Copper Coins. Even Super Guilds can’t hand over such a large
amount, not to mention Zero Wing,” Shi Feng said, shaking his head. “And
again, you’re only offering 20%. It will take ages to earn back our
initial investment. God’s Domain changes each day. Zero Wing cannot make
such a huge gamble. Why don’t we change our method of cooperation?”

Bloodfang shook his head, responding, “If you wish to invest manpower,
forget it. Current players cannot defend this town. With the number and
level of monsters attacking this town, we can only rely on NPCs to
defend it; in fact, we need a small army. We also need to construct
extremely powerful magical arrays and Defense Turrets before the 15-day
protection period is over, all of which requires a large sum of Coins.”

If not for his urgent need for money, he wouldn’t have considered
cooperating with Zero Wing at all. He very much preferred to have the
town’s profits to himself.

There was not a single power in God’s Domain that would complain about
having too much money, not to mention an essential item like the Magic
Crystal.

As expected, these monsters must be unusual. Hearing Bloodfang’s words,
Shi Feng could faintly discern the true reason the town had been
destroyed, and he could not help the corners of his lips curing up.

In the past, towns with rare mineral and herb fields nearby were often
harassed by the local monsters.

Needless to say, a town with Manatite would be assaulted once every few
days.

During God’s Domain’s early stages, the various large Guilds had
headaches over these towns. After all, most of the money the earned had
to be spent on the town’s defense, with some towns needing additional
investment.

As Bloodfang had said, constructing one Tier 3 defensive magic array to
defend a town would cost 32,000 Gold. Although the magic array would
block any monsters below Tier 4, Level 200, it required a lot of Mana to
operate.

As for the Defense Turret, each one cost 7,000 Gold to construct.

Generally, monsters would come from all directions when raiding a town.
Even if they placed only one Defense Turret at each of the four cardinal
points, they needed at least four Defense Turrets. Moreover, the
Turrets’ artillery shells were very expensive. At market price, each
shell cost 5 Gold, with higher-quality ones costing dozens.

Furthermore, a single Defense Turret at each corner wasn’t nearly
enough. They would need at least two.

With this, the total cost was around 88,000 Gold.

It was no wonder why Bloodfang wanted a 100,000 Gold investment.

However, players’ wisdom was infinite. In the past, after the various
large Guilds had experimented countless times, they had finally found a
method to not only save on the high construction cost, but also resist
against the swarms of invading monsters.

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 958: Inconceivable Zero Wing

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn

“If you can’t make a decision right now, you can return after discussing
it with your Guild Leader. However, I can only give you a day to
consider,” Bloodfang did not believe that there was another option for
cooperation. He believed that Zero Wing could not afford to hand over
that much money in such a short time. “One hundred thousand Gold is no
small amount. I do not believe that Zero Wing can collect that much
money in so little time, either; you can pay 40,000 Gold upfront and the
remaining 60,000 in the next five days.”

Raven was currently broke. They had used almost all of their money to
reconstruct the town and hire the necessary NPC guards.

However, these NPC guards were still not capable of standing against all
those monsters.

If they wanted to defend the town, they needed to construct the
defensive magic array. With the magic array and the NPC guards, they
should survive through the 15-day protection period. As long as they
constructed the Defense Turrets during the protection period, they could
begin mining the Manatite vein without issues.

“Guild Leader Bloodfang, 100,000 Gold is just too much. Even Zero Wing
can’t spend that much money,” Shi Feng again rejected Bloodfang’s offer.
“Why don’t we try a different method of cooperation? Zero Wing will be
responsible for protecting the town. However, you will pay us 30% of the
vein’s income.”

He still needed a large sum to construct his own city. How could he
possibly give Raven his Coins?

Moreover, even without the defensive magic array and NPC guards, it was
possible to prevent monsters from trampling the town.

He could simply head to Blackwing City and purchase a Monster Repellent
Scroll.

The Monster Repellent Scroll was an item that could disperse monsters
within a certain area, preventing low-intelligence monsters from
actively approaching. Although the effect was temporary, the scroll was
very cheap. Each scroll only cost 5 Gold. It was much more
cost-effective than constructing a defensive magic array or Defense
Turrets.

In God’s Domain, the defensive magic array and Defense Turrets were
mainly used during monster raids. When dealing with players, however,
they were not as effective as NPC guards, yet they cost far more.

Rather than wasting money on that particular plan, Shi Feng would be
better off investing his money into his own Guild or somewhere else.

Generally, the monsters that raided towns and cities possessed very low
intelligence, so the Monster Repellent Scroll could chase them away. As
for using the scroll against the Abyss Invasion, very few abyssal
monsters possessed low intelligence. Hence, the scroll wouldn’t be as
effective.

“Let Zero Wing defend the town?” Bloodfang could not help but laugh at
Shi Feng’s proposal. “It’s not that I am looking down on Zero Wing, but
rather, these monsters are over Level 100. There are thousands of them.
With players’ current strength, it is impossible to defend against such
an onslaught. And even if you succeed, why should I give you 30% for
defending the town when I can ensure its safety for 100,000 Gold?
Wouldn’t that be more of a loss? If this is your offer, I would rather
contact several other major powers. I believe that they will be more
than willing to cooperate.”

Zero Wing was not Bloodfang’s only option. The only problem was that
none of the major powers could afford a 100,000-Gold investment.
However, he did not necessarily need 100,000 Gold. As long as he had the
initial 40,000 Gold, he could construct a sufficient number of hotels
during the 15-day protection period. With a place to replenish their
Stamina in, his subordinates could mine for Magic Crystals continuously.
He could earn enough money to construct the required Defense Turrets
before the protection period ended.

However, Raven would have to be particularly frugal during this period.

“If so, I have another suggestion. For each monster raid Zero Wing
stops, Raven will pay 6,000 Magic Crystals. What do you think of that?”
Shi Feng casually suggested.

“Are you serious?” Bloodfang asked in surprise.

If they utilized this method, the town’s income would belong to Raven
fully. As long as they could begin their mining operation, Raven
wouldn’t have any financial problems. They could quickly construct a
powerful defense. Only, the initial period would be the most difficult.

He hadn’t expected Shi Feng to be interested in such an exchange.

Had Shi Feng simply handed over 100,000 Gold, he could have received 20%
of the town’s income. As time passed, he would earn far more than
100,000 Gold, yet for short-term profit, he had given up on a future
goldmine. Bloodfang found it hard to believe that a large Guild’s upper
echelon would make such a rash decision.

“Of course, I’m serious. I’ve already discussed this with my Guild
Leader, and he has approved. Now, it is up to you whether or not to
accept this condition.” Shi Feng chuckled.

“Alright, I agree to work with Zero Wing. I just hope that you don’t
regret this decision,” Bloodfang said. Even after watching Shi Feng for
a long time, he did not understand the man’s thoughts. He could not
figure out what Black Flame, Zero Wing’s Guild Leader, was thinking,
either.

The only reason he had agreed to offer Zero Wing a share of the town was
because he had worried the Guild would not be willing to fork over the
money. That Zero Wing had refused the shares, only asking for some Magic
Crystals, was good news for Raven.

The monster raids did not occur every day. Generally, they only attacked
every other night. Even if Zero Wing defended the town from ten attacks,
he would only spend 60,000 Magic Crystals. When the town’s defenses were
complete, he would not need Zero Wing’s assistance.

Based on the current market price, each Magic Crystal was worth 25
Silver. Even if Zero Wing defended the town for twenty days, he would
only spend 15,000 Gold. No matter how he looked at it, he would profit
from this trade.

Following which, Shi Feng signed a contract with Bloodfang. As long as
Zero Wing helped Raven defend against a monster raid, Raven would pay
6,000 Magic Crystals. Moreover, the payment could only be made in Magic
Crystals. If Raven could not pay up, it would have to pay five times the
value of the Magic Crystals with Coins or other products. Aside from
that, Raven must also allow Zero Wing to construct a Guild Residence in
the town so that Zero Wing’s members could travel here easily.

Of course, if Zero Wing failed to defend the town, it would have to pay
Raven a reconstruction fee of 30,000 Gold.

“It is highly likely that the next raid will happen tomorrow night, but
I can’t say for sure. I hope that you will be prepared before then.”
Although Bloodfang had signed the contract with Shi Feng, he was still
worried. Could Zero Wing really defend against that many monsters?

“Rest assured. Once Zero Wing’s Residence has been constructed, you
won’t have to worry about monsters,” Shi Feng replied confidently.

Now that they had signed the contract, he was in a great mood.

Although it seemed as if Raven had just secured Zero Wing’s help,
dealing with the Dark Guild’s biggest concern, Zero Wing would gain far
more than 20% of the town’s income. However, Bloodfang didn’t know this.

While the Monster Repellent Scroll was very convenient, it also had a
huge flaw.

The scroll could only chase monsters away, not exterminate them. As they
fled, the monster army would grow. When players stopped using the
Monster Repellent Scroll, the subsequent raid would be intense, even
horrific.

As long as the army grew four or five times, the town would fall even if
they had thirty turrets...

-   Prev Chapter
-   Next Chapter

Chapter 959 – Spirit Seal

Shi Feng had no intention of telling Bloodfang about the Monster
Repellent Scroll’s flaws.

They were collaborators, not friends. They were simply obtaining what
they needed from each other.

Whether or not Raven could fend off the monster army was none of his
concern. After all, he only needed to pay a small price for Raven to
endure through the early phases of the town’s construction. Moreover, it
would be a waste if he did not rip off a Magic Crystal tycoon like
Raven.

White River City’s teleportation house urgently needed Magic Crystals.
As long as he had enough Magic Crystals, he could turn them into Coins.
Once Zero Wing had its first city, it would have a safeguard of its own.

As the Main God System had administered the contract between them, both
parties felt reassured.

Shi Feng had initially planned to leave using a Return Scroll. However,
Bloodfang suddenly stopped him.

“A moment!” Bloodfang held Shi Feng back. Smiling, he continued, “I
still have information that I think will be of use to Zero Wing.”

Saying so, Bloodfang took out a black envelope and passed it to Shi
Feng.

Shi Feng raised his brows when he saw the envelope.

Although the envelope looked normal, it was actually an encrypted
message. No one would be able to read the message aside from the
intended player. Moreover, after the message was read, it would
self-destruct. Even recording the message would not be possible.

“A video message?” After opening the envelope, the message came in the
form of a video file. Following which, Shi Feng clicked to open the
file.

When he finished watching the video, however, he was shocked.

In the video displayed numerous players encircling a one-horned humanoid
creature that loomed over three meters tall and wore a black robe.
Numerous crimson runes, resembling flames, decorated this humanoid
creature’s body. Moreover, the humanoid creature exuded black fog from
its body, and players shuddered when its crimson eyes turned towards
them.

Aside from this monster’s level and HP, the video showed nothing about
it.

Neither the monster’s level nor its HP was very high at Level 40 with
just over a million HP. With a rough guess, Shi Feng surmised that the
monster was only Chieftain rank, yet even it had massacred several
hundred elite players.

However, rather than the deaths of several hundred Level 35-plus elites
players, the one-horned monster’s extraordinary actions were the key
points of the video.

The monster’s combat style was similar to a player’s.

Moreover, whenever this monster killed a player, not only did it recover
some HP, but its Attributes also rose slightly. Most importantly, Shi
Feng noticed something familiar on the monster’s body.

The Spirit Seal used to absorb Immortal Souls!

Sharlyn had only marked the Spirit Seal on the back of his hand so that
he could complete his quest, and this Spirit Seal would only shine
silver when absorbing an Immortal Soul.

The same Spirit Seal had been imprinted on the humanoid monster’s chest.
Every time the monster killed a player, the Spirit Seal radiated a faint
silver glow. From an outsider’s point of view, the glowing Spirit Seal
throbbed like the monster’s heartbeat.

A passing expert Assassin had recorded this video. As this Assassin had
maintained his distance from the battlefield and stayed in Stealth, they
had been hard to detect. Hence, this video was a record of the entire
battle.

After the one-horned monster finished killing the elite players,
something even more astonishing happened.

Usually, monsters didn’t pay attention to the items players dropped when
they died unless they were quest-related items, yet after killing the
players, the one-horned monster looted the drops.

Before the monster left the area, several other figures appeared. Among
these figures, a few looked like the monster. Not only were they tall,
but a single horn also grew from their foreheads. Surprisingly, a player
stood among them. However, as this scene had been recorded from far away
and due to the player’s Black Cloak and mask, Shi Feng could not even
discern the player’s gender, much less their identity.

Yet, Shi Feng was certain that it was a player due to the green, diamond
marker about their head. The marker was unique to players.

The Assassin expert had tried to follow the monsters. However, he had
been discovered. Although the Level 38 Assassin expert tried, with all
his might, to flee, in the end, he failed to escape the one-horned
monsters.

How can there be such monsters? Shi Feng inwardly shuddered as he
watched the monsters kill the Assassin.

In terms of combat techniques, the Assassin could reach the Trial
Tower’s sixth floor with his standards. He would be a considerably
powerful expert, even in a first-rate Guild. After all, the general
public recognized players as experts once they had reached the fourth
floor.

Yet, the monsters’ combat standards were stronger than the Assassin’s.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of combat footage, Shi Feng could not
discern the one-horned monsters’ true capabilities. Even so, Shi Feng
roughly guessed them to be near the Half-step Refinement Realm at the
very least...

If they had been NPCs, Shi Feng would not be surprised if they had
reached this standard. After all, he had encountered NPCs with much
higher combat standards than that. However, for God’s Domain’s monsters
to fight like this, their intelligence must be extremely high; even
Great Lords didn’t fight like this.

“The Assassin who recorded this video is a Red Player and a slightly
famous one at that. It had been two days since he had died, but even
now, he cannot log into God’s Domain,” Bloodfang informed Shi Feng.
“Very few people know about this. From what this player has said, these
monsters are extremely powerful. Before these monsters dealt with that
elite team, they were roaming the area, killing Field Bosses. These
monsters were also capable of increasing their Attributes by killing
both monsters and players. Moreover, their intelligence is very high.

“The Assassin reported that, when he had faced those one-horned
monsters, it had felt as if he had been fighting expert players. They
were so intelligent that they could easily predict his movements and
implement the appropriate countermeasures.”

“What does this have to do with Zero Wing?” Shi Feng asked.

Although he agreed that these monsters were extraordinary, there were
many bizarre situations in God’s Domain. It might be some sort of
in-game event. Furthermore, he was already swamped with his own matters.
He did not have the time to concern himself with someone else’s
business.

“This video was taken in Star-Moon Kingdom, only a short distance from
Stone Forest Town. Although these monsters are not yet a threat to the
NPCs protecting the town, I believe that the town’s safety will be a
problem once the protection period ends. After all, nobody can say for
sure just how powerful those monster can become,” Bloodfang said,
chuckling.

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