Chapter 1 The Beginning

The instant the Flame Guardians emerged from the barrier, Shi Feng felt a heatwave wash over his face, causing the surrounding temperature to rise sharply.

This was the Flame Guardians' very own Flame Domain.

It inflicted a burning effect on enemies within a 50-yard radius of the Flame Guardian, reducing their health by 400 points every 3 seconds.

Most level 20 players currently have only around 2,600 to 2,700 HP, with plate armor classes having a little over 3,000. Lacking any fire resistance, they wouldn't be able to last long in the Flame Domain. This made the Flame Guardians even more deadly to current players than other Lords.

Moreover, the fact that such a powerful barrier couldn't stop the Flame Guardians' flame hammers showed just how powerful they were.

Even Shi Feng, with Blade Liberation activated, couldn't compare.

Facing more than a dozen level 28 Berserk Lords, Shi Feng, even as a Tier 1 Blade Saint, could only run for his life.

Fortunately, the Flame Guardians weren't fast. The surrounding stone forest further slowed their movement. Furthermore, the Flame Guardians' most terrifying Flame Domain was ineffective against Shi Feng.

With 60 points of fire resistance, Shi Feng felt nothing but warmth in the Flame Domain.

Seeing the barrier shattered, Shi Feng had an idea. He turned around, activated Void Steps, and flew toward the Flame Guardians.

"Awoo! Awoo!"

The dozen or so berserk Flame Guardians, looking at the ant-like Shi Feng, roared and swung their warhammers down on him.

Shi Feng smiled slightly and used Abyssal Stride.

After getting plenty of rest, Shi Feng suddenly felt that using Abyssal Stride placed less of a mental burden on him than before. It was also easier and more skilled than ever before, as if everything was natural.

Before the giant fire hammers could reach Shi Feng, his figure suddenly disappeared from the Flame Guardians' sight.

Having lost their target, the Flame Guardians stopped their hammers mid-swing, their eyes darting around in search of Shi Feng.

After a moment of searching, the dozen or so Flame Guardians couldn't find Shi Feng. It was as if he had never existed in the first place, leaving them completely bewildered.

When Shi Feng reappeared, he had already passed the Flame Guardians blocking his path and was nearly ten yards away.

"That's quite a distance!"

Shi Feng was shocked to see that he could move more than ten yards with Abyssal Stride.

He knew that before, he could only move five or six yards before being discovered. Now, he could move more than ten yards before being spotted, which was almost as far as the top experts who had mastered Abyssal Stride in his previous life.

Before Shi Feng could celebrate, the Flame Guardians spewed scorching flames from their mouths.

A dozen or so Flame Guardians spewing flames together was like a tsunami, overwhelming everything. Even a thousand players would be easily wiped out.

Although the flames were fast, Shi Feng was faster. With the 150% movement speed boost from Airborne, Shi Feng easily outran the oncoming flames and plunged into the End Cave.

As soon as Shi Feng entered the cave, a system notification sounded.

System: Player has discovered the End Cave.

The End Cave was rather dark, but the entire cave wall was like a starry night. In the dim starlight, the visible distance was forty or fifty yards, allowing him to react in time if he encountered monsters.

Inside the cave, the footprints that had been missing before were now visible. Shi Feng followed Aqua Rose's footprints slowly, observing the End Cave and feeling that it was not simple.

The cave's rock walls were engraved with many mysterious magic runes and drawings, similar to the patterns in the Eternal Garden, very ancient and filled with a faint divine power.

Besides these, the End Cave also contained many roaming Earth Golems. These Earth Golems were about the same height as players and moved slowly, but their bodies were made entirely of rock, making them very hard. Ordinary weapons could be blunted and lose durability when used against them.

Earth Golem, Special Elite, Level 27, HP 100,000.

There were many Earth Golems, but Shi Feng could easily avoid them by activating Wind Rider. After creating some distance, he would use Abyssal Stride to make the Earth Golems lose track of him and stop chasing.

After walking for more than half an hour, Shi Feng finally found the Zero Wing members who were resting.

In just over a day, everyone's level had increased by more than one, with the lowest level being 23. Shi Feng was now the lowest-level person. Blackie had even reached level 26, which was incredibly fast.

When the others saw Shi Feng walking over, their eyes widened as if they had seen a monster.

"Guild Leader, how did you get in here?" Guardian Knight Cola asked in surprise.

They were well aware of how powerful the Earth Golems were. Not only did they have extremely high magic resistance, but their defense was also incredibly strong, and their attacks were devastating. It took a long time to kill them one by one. However, the Earth Golems infinitely respawned. Sometimes, if the killing speed was too slow, the Earth Golems would respawn as soon as they died...

The Earth Golems would chase their enemies to the death once they found them. If they weren't killed, the pursuit would never end.

They had spent most of the day getting here, but Shi Feng was as if nothing had happened. It only took him less than two hours to find them after he started searching...

"Of course, I ran here," Shi Feng said with a smile.

"Guild Leader, didn't you encounter any Earth Golems?" Aqua Rose asked curiously, looking at Shi Feng, who didn't seem to have taken any damage.

"I did, but I managed to shake them off," Shi Feng said with a smile. "Alright, let's not talk about this. Let's leave this place now."

"Guild Leader, we can't leave here yet." Aqua Rose shook her head. "Before, Fire Dance went to scout the way, and she found a locked Dark-Gold treasure chest not far ahead. She's trying to open it. We're here to block the respawning patrol golems for her."

"A locked Dark-Gold treasure chest?" Shi Feng couldn't help but feel excited when he heard this.

In his previous life, Shi Feng had only seen a handful of Dark-Gold treasure chests. Each one made countless large guilds drool because Dark-Gold treasure chests had a chance to yield Epic-grade items.

For the current God's Domain, Dark-Gold equipment was already rare, and Epic-grade equipment was unimaginable. Only Shi Feng was lucky enough to have obtained a few pieces. Other guilds didn't even have half a piece.

"I'll go take a look," Shi Feng said and walked over.

Shi Feng had obtained the Seven Luminaries Key in the God Tomb, which could be used to open locked Dark-Gold treasure chests three times. Now, he could still use it twice.

Arriving at the place where the Dark-Gold treasure chest was hidden, Fire Dance was working hard to unlock it. However, the difficulty of opening a Dark-Gold treasure chest was too high. Fire Dance had the Unlocking skill, and her level wasn't low, giving her a very small chance of unlocking a Dark-Gold treasure chest. However, after trying hundreds of times, she still couldn't open it.

"Let me give it a try."

Shi Feng walked over, took out the Seven Luminaries Key, and inserted it into the ancient magic lock.

A cyan light flowed out of the Seven Luminaries Key and entered the magic lock. With a click, the sealed magic lock was opened.