Although many of Starlink's experts were relieved that they hadn't had to fight s.h.i.+ Feng, anger roiled in their stomachs after leaving the battlefield.
Vice Guild Leader, are we really just leaving?" a Level 67 a.s.sa.s.sin geared in black leather armor asked, disgruntled. "Black Flame might be powerful, but this is our Guild's territory. As long as you command it, at least three teams can converge on our location in ten minutes or less. Couldn't we easily take him down with the strength of four expert teams?"
Starlink was the Ancient Undead Country's overlord. Even players from the Dark Night Empire's other two superpowers had to bow their heads and walk away when they encountered Starlink's members in this neutral map, much less Black Flame.
Regardless of how powerful the Swordsman was, he couldn't be stronger than Unyielding Soul and Crimson Emperor?
The two superpowers' peak and monster-level experts were far stronger than experts from ordinary Guilds, and Starlink had defeated both of them.
Furthermore, if news of this retreat spread, it would damage the Guild's reputation.
Take him down? You think I don't want to?" Bright Dawn demanded, glaring at the female a.s.sa.s.sin. "If he were just some ordinary Domain Realm expert, then sure. But that guy defeated Sword Demon. Even ten expert teams couldn't do anything to him, let alone four; do you understand? If he wished it, none of us would leave this forest alive.
The most annoying thing about all of this is that Black Flame was just toying with us. If I had refused to withdraw, he'd take action immediately and teach me how foolish such a decision is."
Bright Dawn knew that no matter what he had decided, s.h.i.+ Feng would hurt Starlink's reputation in the Ancient Undead Country eventually. Since that was the case, he'd rather take the path that incurred the least amount of losses. Every member of his team was a trusted subordinate. If he let someone kill these people, not only would Starlink's reputation suffer, but his power-base in the Guild would also weaken.
"Is he really that strong?" The Level 67 a.s.sa.s.sin asked, shocked.
Although Domain Realm experts could easily defeat a 100-man expert team like theirs in the fields, it was usually because those experts employed guerilla tactics, gradually picking off the team members. If their team split up and focused on escape, not even a Domain Realm expert could kill every one of them.
However, it seemed that Bright Dawn fully believed that s.h.i.+ Feng could slay them all.
All of Starlink's teams in the Psychedelic Forest were led by peak experts, and Bright Dawn even held the t.i.tle of Undead Sword. He even ranked at the top among peak experts, and it wouldn't be long before he reached the Domain Realm. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been one of Unyielding Soul's three main pillars in the past.
As Bright Dawn's personal security team, their strength ranked at the top among Starlink's various teams, yet their commander insisted that not even they would escape s.h.i.+ Feng's wrath. Could that really be possible?
"Those monsters are not as simple as you think. Why do you think the various superpowers have such headaches when dealing with Domain Realm monsters? G.o.d's Domain, in particular, has given these monsters a platform to exhibit their full strength, which makes them even more of a challenge," Bright Dawn spat hatefully. "However, this isn't over. Although our team can't defeat Black Flame, the Guild Leader will likely send someone to take him down a notch once we report back!"
While Domain Realm experts were frightening, every superpower had such experts of their own. Moreover, G.o.d's Domain offered a plethora of methods to use against Domain Realm experts. It just depended on whether or not the various superpowers were willing to pay the price for these methods.
While Bright Dawn relayed the news of s.h.i.+ Feng's appearance in the Psychedelic Forest to his Guild, Purple Shadow's members were still caught up in their momentary daze. For a time, they had no idea what to do about this turn of events.
"Commander, what should we do now?" Colorful Fruit asked through the team chat.
Everything had happened too suddenly. A second ago, their team had been at risk of utter annihilation, facing Starlink's members in a bitter battle for survival. Then s.h.i.+ Feng had shown up and indicated his desire for the Boss and the treasure chest. What left Purple Shadow's members truly flabbergasted was the fact that Starlink's team had actually acceded to s.h.i.+ Feng's claim and left the area.
"This..." Staring at the Swordsman in question, Late Autumn had no idea how to proceed.
Should they stay and fight s.h.i.+ Feng for the Boss? Or should they take off just as quickly as Starlink's team had?
The outcome of fighting this man was obvious. Since Starlink's team, which was stronger than theirs, had fled without a second thought, Late Autumn had a fairly good idea of how powerful s.h.i.+ Feng was. Unfortunately, s.h.i.+ Feng hadn't given them permission to leave the area. If their abrupt withdraw displeased s.h.i.+ Feng, he might decide to end their lives alongside the Boss's.
Suddenly, Late Autumn felt that the Purple Shadow adventurer team, which he was so proud of, was, in fact, insignificant.
Before powerhouse players and superpowers, Purple Shadow wasn't even strong enough to make its own decisions. These t.i.tanic existences could determine an adventurer team's rise or fall with a single word...
Late Autumn even wondered if the Dark Night Empire was truly just an empire.
After all was said and done, Purple Shadow was one of the top-ten adventurer teams in the Dark Night Empire. Many first-rate Guilds had tried to extend an olive branch to their team and treated them with great respect, but before Starlink and s.h.i.+ Feng, this team was powerless.
While Late Autumn hesitated, s.h.i.+ Feng s.h.i.+fted his gaze toward the Cursemancer.
"Starlink's people are gone. I'll leave this Boss to you, but I want one item from that Dark-Gold Treasure Chest. Do you agree to my terms?" s.h.i.+ Feng asked.
Seeing Late Autumn's obviously anguished indecision, s.h.i.+ Feng related with the Cursemancer's internal struggle.
During his previous life and before Tier 5 players had existed in G.o.d's Domain, most players had still been able to rely on a team against the game's truly powerful experts. Unfortunately, once those experts had reached Tier 5, even Shadow, which had controlled ten major NPC cities, had been powerless against them. Shadow hadn't had a choice, forced to concede any treasures those experts had demanded. If it hadn't, the Guild would've lost both the treasures and its members' lives.
However, s.h.i.+ Feng was no longer the ordinary expert he had been. He had become strong enough to reach G.o.d's Domain's apex.
"Just one item? Of course, we agree." Late Autumn nodded enthusiastically once he snapped out of his daze.
Realizing that s.h.i.+ Feng didn't have any ill intentions toward them, Purple Shadow's other members breathed a sigh of relief.
Kill-stealing was a common occurrence in the fields, but this was the first time they had been so powerless in such a situation.
As they began to relax, Purple Shadow's experts looked to s.h.i.+ Feng with excitement and admiration. Some of the female players even turned starry eyes toward the Swordsman.
Both s.h.i.+ Feng's individual strength and his ident.i.ty of a Guild Leader, commanding a Guild that controlled an entire kingdom, were worthy of their admiration.
With s.h.i.+ Feng's permission, Late Autumn led his team to defeat the Boss.
Although a Level 69 Grand Lord was powerful, it wasn't a difficult foe to an expert team like Purple Shadow's. Furthermore, the magic array they had used to suppress the monster was still in place.
s.h.i.+ Feng didn't even show any interest in the Boss's loot once the Grand Lord fell.
Even in a place like the Ancient Undead Country, the best loot a Grand Lord could drop was Level 65 Dark-Gold Equipment. Moreover, the drop-rate was extremely low. Normally, a team would be lucky if the map's Grand Lords dropped Level 65 Fine-Gold Set Equipment.
Although such quality weapons and equipment were tempting to current players, they held very little attraction to s.h.i.+ Feng. He already had a large stock of Level 70 Fine-Gold Equipment; he didn't mind pa.s.sing up a few pieces of Level 65 Fine-Gold or Dark-Gold Equipment. Only the Dark-Gold Treasure Chest interested him.
However, Purple Shadow's members celebrated the Boss's loot for some time. It had dropped a Level 65 Dark-Gold ranked cloth hat and a piece for a Level 65 Fine-Gold Set Equipment. Both were considered top-tier at this stage of the game.
Once the Boss died, the magic barrier around the Dark-Gold Treasure Chest lifted.
As these players turned toward the glowing treasure chest, they gulped audibly, their eyes becoming bloodshot as they felt the urge to charge forward. However, Purple Shadow's members opened a path for s.h.i.+ Feng under Late Autumn's command, allowing the Swordsman to open the treasure chest. The command didn't surprise any of them. After all, without s.h.i.+ Feng, they wouldn't have acquired anything from this battle. They probably would've lost their lives.
Even if s.h.i.+ Feng wanted everything within that treasure chest, they wouldn't argue.
Fortunately, it isn't a locked treasure chest. s.h.i.+ Feng released a sigh of relief as he approached the chest.
Normally, most treasure chests would be locked once they reached Dark-Gold rank, and unlocking a treasure chest was a troublesome process. Some even required keys of corresponding ranks. Take the Inferior Legendary Treasure Chest he had obtained from the Falling Star Secret Land, for example. Although he had the treasure chest in his possession, it was locked, and it required an Inferior Legendary Key to open...
When he had discovered this, he had been depressed for some time.
s.h.i.+ Feng spent the next 20 seconds opening the Dark-Gold Treasure Chest. The instant he lifted the lid, colorful lights burst forth, illuminating a 400-yard-radius area. These lights were even visible from 7,000 yards away.
