Chapter 1 The Beginning

The gray sky was illuminated by a high, full moon, casting a faint silver glow that enveloped the serene forest. The shimmering lake echoed with the croaking of frogs, and fireflies danced among the trees, creating a dreamlike fairytale world.

This was Moonlight Forest, also known as the 'resting place' for players.

As soon as Shi Feng arrived, he immediately took out an Invisibility Scroll and activated its magic.

Magnificent magical runes detached from the scroll, causing Shi Feng's body to become somewhat indistinct. From a distance, it would be difficult to notice his presence.

An Invisibility Scroll cost 40 copper coins – practically the entire fortune of an average player.

Although expensive, the effect was remarkable. The Invisibility Scroll significantly reduced a player's presence, making them less likely to be detected by enemies nearby. It lasted for half an hour and was an essential item in dangerous areas.

Perhaps it wasn't as effective as an assassin's Stealth, but for classes without Stealth, it was already excellent. What more could one ask for?

With the Invisibility Scroll active, ordinary monsters below level 15 would have extreme difficulty detecting him within 30 yards, unless he foolishly went to attack them.

Immediately, Shi Feng plunged into the forest, heading towards the center of Moonlight Forest to find the Moonstone and dispel this annoying curse as soon as possible.

Moonlight Forest was a level 9 monster zone located not within Star-Moon Kingdom, but in an independent space. Every major city had a teleportation gate leading to Moonlight Forest. In his past life, over 90% of players would come here to kill monsters and seek treasure, even after they reached level 10. They would still be killed repeatedly, because the monsters here often roamed in groups of three to five, and possessed powerful skills. A single misstep could result in a total wipe. Even so, many players stubbornly charged in, dying again and again, as if possessed, continually dying. This was why it was called the resting place.

The main reason these players persisted was that the monsters here dropped gems, and the drop rate wasn't low. In particular, there were many treasure chests, and there was an 80% chance of finding a gem inside.

Gems were valuable in God's Domain because they could enhance attributes. Depending on the color, the attributes they increased were different. For example, red gems increased Strength, yellow gems increased Agility, blue gems increased Stamina, purple gems increased Intelligence, and green gems increased Spirit. First-tier gems could increase an attribute by 2 points. Although it seemed small, a piece of Bronze equipment could be socketed with one gem, and a piece of Mysterious-Iron equipment could be socketed with two gems. With so much equipment on the body, socketing all of them with gems would result in a terrifying accumulation of attributes.

Therefore, the demand for gems was extremely high, causing their prices to remain high, which led many players to disregard their lives and come here to farm them.

Moreover, Moonlight Forest contained various resources, such as minerals, herbs, rare ingredients, and so on. The most famous was the 50-man team dungeon 'Sleeping Ancient Castle,' which was also a good place to exchange for card sets. However, to exchange for card sets, a team had to clear the dungeon, allowing players in the region to enter Sleeping Ancient Castle and exchange for card sets.

However, Shi Feng's current goal was not card sets, but the Moonstone. Only the core area of Moonlight Forest had it. Being only level 3 and deep within a level 9 monster zone, not to mention the extremely dangerous Moonlight Forest, he had to move cautiously.

If he died carelessly, the 200,000 experience points he had painstakingly gained would be for nothing, and he would have to start all over again. After all, he hadn't reached level 10 to unlock the city teleportation gates. If he died, he could only return to Red Leaf Town. To come back again, he would have to save up experience points again, with no other options.

He was already at a significant level disadvantage compared to the top-tier players. If he died again and had to accumulate 200,000 experience points, it was an unimaginable nightmare.

In the forest, he only had to walk a few steps before seeing level 9 Shadow Panthers hiding in the trees or grass, ready to ambush their prey. If not for the Invisibility Scroll, the level 3 him would have been discovered long ago.

Facing level 9 monsters, Shi Feng naturally couldn't win in a direct fight, so he could only avoid them. Besides, his goal wasn't to kill monsters, so there was no need to fight the Shadow Panthers.

Shi Feng carefully bypassed one Shadow Panther after another, spending a full hour to reach a broad stone forest.

This stone forest was inhabited by a group of warlike creatures called Mountain Beast Warriors. They were tenacious warriors who weren't afraid of hardship and faced difficulties head-on. They loved to fight and grew stronger the longer they fought. They also guarded a large pile of treasures, including the rare Moonstone.

However, the stone forest was filled with giant beasts wielding two-man-tall spiked clubs and wearing armor, patrolling back and forth. There was no way to advance. If he stepped inside, he would be 100% discovered. A group of Mountain Beast Warriors would rush over and beat him into mincemeat with their clubs.

Mountain Beast Warrior, Common, Level 9, HP 1100/1100.

"Looks like I can only clear them out slowly." After searching for a long time, Shi Feng couldn't find a safe way to pass. The only way was to kill them.

It had to be said that Epic quests were difficult. This was just the beginning, and he had to face level 9 Mountain Beast Warriors at level 3. He didn't know what difficulties he would face in the future.

Fortunately, he was very familiar with Moonlight Forest and knew many ways to deal with the Mountain Beast Warriors before him.

Although the Mountain Beast Warriors were exceptionally fierce and had extraordinary attack power, even shield warriors and guardian knights of the same level couldn't withstand more than a few hits, their massive bodies meant they didn't move very fast. In his past life, many elementals used Ice Arrows to slow them down, then used the unique terrain to dodge the spiked club attacks, kiting the Mountain Beast Warriors.

Subsequently, this stone forest became a holy land for ranged classes to farm monsters. Everywhere you looked, you could see Mountain Beast Warriors being kited.

Although Shi Feng didn't have slowing skills, he could make up for it with other things. As for kiting Mountain Beast Warriors, he had the extremely rare Imperial Heaven Return, which significantly increased his attack range. He refused to believe that he, a Sword King expert, couldn't utilize the terrain to dodge better than a level 10 elementalist.

After carefully observing the terrain, Shi Feng had simulated the movements in his mind at least five times.

There was a distinct difference in effect between acting with and without mental simulations. Action simulations were something almost every expert did, and did often.

The reason experts were experts was because they prepared more than others.

Ordinary players often envied the experts of God's Domain, lamenting that their own skills were lacking and that they could never reach their level. They didn't know how hard these experts worked, and the effort they put in far exceeded that of ordinary people. This was what allowed them to shine.

After completing the simulation, Shi Feng took out Black Iron Beer and a Speed Scroll.

Black Iron Beer could reduce the monster's level by 2. Combined with the Deep Abyss set attributes, he wouldn't suffer from level suppression against level 9 monsters and could deal normal damage. As for the Speed Scroll, one cost 25 copper coins and increased movement speed by 25% for 10 minutes. This scroll was a good item for surviving in the wild, so he bought a full twenty of them to deal with situations like this.

If ordinary players heard about it, they would definitely scold Shi Feng for being a spendthrift. How could you use such a thing unless you were in a life-or-death situation? Yet Shi Feng was using it to kill ordinary monsters. It was simply too extravagant.

If not for the curse, he could completely kite the monsters with his attributes. However, with a 50% attribute reduction, the suppression was too great. Using a Speed Scroll would make it safer.

If he messed up, it wouldn't just be a matter of losing a level, but 200,000 experience points going down the drain.

Looking at the closest Mountain Beast Warrior, Shi Feng took a few deep breaths to relax himself. Then, he suddenly exerted force with his legs and charged towards the nearest Mountain Beast Warrior.