Chapter 9

Listening to the assassins lie made Shi Feng very angry, but in the face of the unknown situation, he had to calm down.

Even members of the studio would have their own selfish interests and would definitely hide some key things they discovered, making themselves quietly stronger and richer.

There were many such people in the studio, whether they were peripheral members or core members. After a while, a few particularly strong individuals would always emerge, their status rising sharply. Shi Feng himself was like this; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone from a core member to the leader of the studio.

"Coming to the Lost Land and telling outsiders that they only saw a mithril treasure chest and nothing else, they must have hidden something more important than the mithril treasure chest. Is it this hidden quest?" Shi Feng brought up the system quest interface.

The hidden quest in the Lost Land: "Past Glory."

Apart from the name, there was no quest content, and it was unclear what needed to be done.

"Is it a regional trigger quest?" Shi Feng, with ten years of experience in the Divine Realm, immediately saw the key to this hidden quest.

In the Divine Realm, there were some very special quests that could only be triggered in certain areas. These quests had no content, and players had to find them on their own. After completing the quest, the next player who came here would not trigger the quest again, making it a very special and unique quest.

At the same time, it was also a very dangerous quest.

To find a way to complete the quest in an unknown area, one had to face the monsters in that unknown area. The monsters in the area of these special quests were usually several levels higher than those in the surrounding areas, making it impossible for ordinary players to complete.

In the previous life, in this level 5 monster area, six level 20+ assassins came here, which is why they were able to complete the quest.

"Whatever, I can't leave anyway, so I might as well explore. If I die, I'll just respawn in the city." Shi Feng, having made up his mind, took large steps forward.

Traversing through the white mist, a few blurry figures soon appeared before Shi Feng.

This was a city, a city that had been abandoned for many years. Everywhere were dilapidated houses. From the size of the city and the grandeur of the buildings, it could be judged that this place was once very prosperous, even more so than Baihe City.

However, this 'prosperous' city now had not a single person in sight.

Shi Feng quietly entered the city, searching for quest clues while observing the surroundings.

Searching a city that could accommodate millions of people was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Shi Feng ran through dozens of streets, entered hundreds of houses, and spent several hours, but still found no quest clues. The Divine Realm had just begun, and this was the time to create a gap. Shi Feng had wasted several hours, and now many players were already level 1, while Shi Feng was still at level 2, 34%.

Shi Feng was hesitant about whether to continue searching for quest clues or to die and respawn in the city.

"I'll search for another hour, and if I don't find anything, I'll go back to the city." Shi Feng set a time limit for himself. Although this quest was valuable, he didn't have much time to waste. He had many other quests to do and didn't need to exhaust himself here.

Time passed bit by bit.

Shi Feng arrived at the central tower of the city. This place was once a holy site for magic users, the best place to learn magic, but it was now in ruins, with even the magic crystals on the tower shattered.

Climbing the tower and standing on the lookout platform, the city's scenery was all in view. If not for the urgency of time, Shi Feng would have definitely taken some time to appreciate it.

Looking around, he didn't see anything special.

Just as Shi Feng was about to leave,

"Young adventurer, welcome to the Sky City."

An old man with a white beard suddenly appeared, his voice full of沧桑 (cang桑) and wisdom, startling Shi Feng, who thought it was a monster. However, upon seeing the yellow marker, he relaxed.

Sky City?

Thinking of this very famous city in the Divine Realm, Shi Feng was shocked.

Sky City was once renowned throughout the Divine Realm continent, with countless legendary professions and a half-god level Sword Saint, Ulutia, as its guardian. Even the gods would be wary of it. Unfortunately, it fell and disappeared during the Third Divine War, becoming a regret in the Divine Realm.

"Respected elder, is there anything I can help you with?" Shi Feng asked with a formal smile.

"Help?" The white-bearded elder shook his head and smiled, "No, I don't need help. I think you must want to become stronger. I can help you, but are you willing to accept my test?"

"Of course, I am willing to accept the test." Shi Feng was relieved; the clue for the "Past Glory" quest was here, so he wouldn't have to die and lose levels and skill proficiency.

The elder nodded in satisfaction and said seriously, "I will give you three choices. The first is a normal difficulty, and upon completion, you can obtain a black iron treasure chest. The second is a difficult difficulty, and you can obtain a mithril treasure chest, with additional rewards based on your performance. The third is a hell difficulty, and you can obtain a fine gold treasure chest, with additional rewards based on your performance."

"Young adventurer, which one do you choose?"

The three choices, each more difficult than the last, but the temptation was also astonishing. Six level 10+ assassins chose the difficult level and obtained a mithril treasure chest, but they chose to hide the additional rewards, indicating that the additional rewards were better than the mithril treasure chest.

Shi Feng thought for a moment. As a reborn person, he should have some courage and be brave enough to challenge.

"Respected elder, I choose the hell difficulty." Shi Feng was confident he could handle this difficulty, and if he could pass, it would play a significant role in his future development.

"Ha ha ha, young people are full of energy. I admire you, but don't regret your choice." The elder laughed and then disappeared.

System: Accepted the quest "Past Glory." Face 1000 monsters of the same level, killing 500 is considered passing, with a time limit of 4 hours. Failure penalty: all attributes permanently reduced by 10 points.

Attributes were the foundation of a profession. If all attributes were reduced by 10 points, the character would be almost useless.

"This punishment is too harsh." Shi Feng, seeing the countless ghost warriors appearing below the tower, felt his scalp tingle.

The countdown had already started, and there were 5 seconds left before the monsters attacked.

Ghost Warrior, normal monster, level 2, health 230.

Dealing with one was easy, but facing a sea of ghost warriors made even Shi Feng nervous.

Rushing down would be suicide, as he would be surrounded and killed. The only way was to fight one-on-one.

Shi Feng, with rich combat experience, quickly ran down the stairs and stood on the narrow staircase.

This staircase allowed only two monsters to pass at a time, making it the best killing point. As long as he held the staircase, he could pass.

When the 5 seconds were up, all the ghost warriors went crazy, rushing into the tower and charging at Shi Feng. However, the staircase was narrow, and one blocked the other, allowing Shi Feng to easily face two ghost warriors. He could dodge their attacks.

Wind Lightning Flash!

Slash!

Three lightning bolts flashed, dealing high damage to all ghost warriors within a 20-yard radius, instantly reducing their health by over 60 points. The slash dealt 33 points of damage.

The first ghost warrior's health was directly halved, and the dozens of ghost warriors behind lost a quarter of their health.

Previously, when facing higher-level monsters with high defense, the effects of Wind Lightning Flash and Slash were greatly suppressed. Now, facing monsters of the same level, the super-strong AoE damage of Wind Lightning Flash was fully displayed.

The damage amplification effect after Wind Lightning Flash allowed Shi Feng to kill the first ghost warrior with just five strikes.

To speed up the killing, Shi Feng activated Gravity Liberation, further increasing his attack speed.

With the damage amplification effect, he could kill one in less than 3 seconds.

Unfortunately, killing ghost warriors didn't give experience, but skill proficiency was 100% increased by 1 point.

Seeing the ghost warriors fall one by one, and his skill proficiency constantly increasing, Shi Feng was delighted.

The NPCs probably didn't expect a level 2 swordsman to use such a powerful AoE skill, making him immune to human wave tactics and able to easily dodge attacks in a one-on-two situation.

If it were other players, they would likely fail the quest, but he could complete it perfectly.

Two hours passed, and the skill proficiency of Wind Lightning Flash increased to 300 points, reaching level 2, with damage increasing from 130% to 135%, and the cooldown time reducing from 30 seconds to 28 seconds.

Slash also increased to 426/600, just a little short of reaching level 3.

With Wind Lightning Flash reaching level 2, Shi Feng's monster-killing speed increased again, and the ghost warriors fell in batches. With only 20 left and an hour and a half remaining.

After using Wind Lightning Flash, the last 20 ghost warriors also fell.

"Good job, young man. This is your reward." The elder reappeared, smiling at Shi Feng and taking out a fine gold treasure chest and a black longsword.

System: Completed the quest "Past Glory." Reward: one fine gold treasure chest, one profession magic weapon, and the title "One Thousand Riders."

The title "One Thousand Riders" increases all attributes of friendly units within a 30-yard radius by 10% and grants the player +5 strength and +5 endurance.

"The reward has been given, you can leave now." The elder said and gently waved his hand.

Shi Feng's vision blurred, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back in the square of Red Leaf Town.

Ding ding ding!

The system communication kept ringing, and the one requesting communication was Heizi.

"Brother Feng, you finally answered. Why couldn't I contact you before? I'm one level behind everyone else. What should I do now?" Heizi was very anxious but, trusting Shi Feng, spoke patiently.

He had spent 7 hours running, and now the streets were full of level 1 players, while he was still level 0. How could he catch up to such a gap? Now, even if he joined a group, no one would want him, as the minimum requirement was level 1, and level 0 newbies were told to go away.

"Sorry, I was doing a quest. Come to the central square, I'll help you level up." Shi Feng apologized.

The quest took over 5 hours, and the Divine Realm had been open for over 8 hours. Many players had already reached level 1, and professional players might be close to level 2.

As a reborn person, it was easy for him to help Heizi level up. It wouldn't take long for Heizi to catch up to the professional players.