Chapter 1 The Intense Battle

The battle below the cliff intensified. Besides the violent magical elements, earth-shattering roars and the low hum of colliding metal echoed continuously through the canyon.

"What an intense battle." Shi Feng watched as trees shattered and flew through the air, unable to resist a closer look.

Within the dense forest of the canyon, a huge black shadow could vaguely be seen weaving through the trees, leaving a trail of wreckage in its wake.

"Such a powerful monster. Just that overwhelming strength is comparable to a Leader," Shi Feng muttered, his eyes narrowing. He immediately leapt from the cliff, intending to investigate.

He had come to the Dark Cave to complete an epic quest.

The sudden eruption of a battle might be related to the quest. Naturally, he had to take a look.

A cliff hundreds of meters high would instantly kill ordinary players who jumped from it.

However, Shi Feng was unconcerned. When he was only 20 meters from the ground, he activated Gravity Liberation, instantly making his weight as light as a feather. Due to the massive air resistance, Shi Feng's falling speed drastically decreased, allowing him to land safely.

The moment Shi Feng's foot touched the green grass, he activated Eyes of All-Knowing, which allowed him to easily perceive any movement within a 100-yard radius. At the slightest rustle, he could immediately evade danger.

This could be said to be a habit he had developed over years of adventuring.

When facing the unknown, caution was paramount. Moreover, this was the Dark Cave, a den of demons, making caution even more essential.

Meanwhile, the battle in the distance grew even more intense, even shaking the ground.

As Shi Feng ran closer, he discovered a pitch-black serpent over 50 meters long, constantly thrashing its tail. With a single swipe, a tree more than a meter thick was effortlessly sliced apart, the cut as smooth as a mirror. Then, with a flick of its tail, it carved a deep trench in the ground. Every movement drastically altered the terrain.

Black Demon Serpent, a dark creature, Leader-rank, Level 42, HP 800,000.

Battling this Black Demon Serpent was a group of players, specifically a six-person team. Moreover, the team was extremely strong, all around Level 29. Even within the Zero Wing Guild, only Hei Zi had reached that level.

A Level 29 Shield Warrior stood at the front, while two mages and a ranger continuously dealt damage from afar. The priest and druid in the rear continuously healed the Shield Warrior.

For a time, the two sides were evenly matched.

"Iron Arm, be careful, it's Venomous!" the ranger in the rear warned upon seeing the great serpent’s bulging abdomen.

"Don't worry," the Shield Warrior called Iron Arm laughed, instead actively charging towards the Black Demon Serpent.

The Black Demon Serpent opened its maw and spat out rolling black smoke, which spread in all directions. Any grass, flowers, or trees that touched it withered and turned to ashes.

The Shield Warrior rushed forward and used Shield Bash, hitting the Black Demon Serpent’s side. The blow abruptly halted the serpent's venomous mist, preventing it from spreading further, and its concentration began to thin.

However, the Shield Warrior was also poisoned, his skin turning pitch-black, as if he had become a black man. His HP plummeted rapidly, dropping 3,000 points with each tick, instantly reducing the Shield Warrior to critical condition.

Seeing that the Shield Warrior was about to fall, the priest in the back had already prepared Detoxification, removing the poison just before it ticked a third time. Meanwhile, the druid had also prepared Life Recovery, immediately restoring more than 2,000 HP to the Shield Warrior, and then restoring 300 HP per second, pulling the Shield Warrior back from the brink of death.

The Black Demon Serpent was enraged by the interruption of its skill, and its tail swept towards the Shield Warrior.

At that moment, a golden arrow shot toward the serpent's tail.

The instant the arrow touched the serpent's tail, it transformed into golden chains that bound the serpent's tail to the ground.

However, the Black Demon Serpent was too strong, and the golden chains shattered in an instant. Then, it flew toward the Shield Warrior. An Elementalist in the rear used Ice Wall, immediately constructing a wall of ice between the serpent's tail and the Shield Warrior, further slowing the tail's speed. Because of the tail's momentary pause and the drastic reduction in speed, the Shield Warrior easily evaded the tail's attack.

The entire process was smooth and perfectly coordinated.

Even with the Black Demon Serpent's level advantage, it could only be toyed with by this team.

"Such amazing teamwork," Shi Feng praised. "Just who are these people?"

A Level 42 Leader monster. Even elite guilds would avoid it from afar, yet a free player team without a guild could easily defeat it.

However, what surprised Shi Feng the most was that there were other players in the Dark Cave.

The Dark Cave was mysterious and incredibly well-hidden. He had relied on a Tier 4 Magic Scroll to teleport here. For these people to find it was simply unbelievable.

At this moment, Shi Feng wished he could immediately rush forward and ask these people. If there really was another way to get here, he could find helpers to complete the quest together, greatly increasing his chances of success.

However, Shi Feng suppressed this impulse, quietly watching from the dense forest.

In God's Domain, killing and plundering were common. If he rashly rushed over while this team was fighting the Black Demon Serpent, he would likely be misunderstood. How could he possibly tell them the secret of coming here then?

Time passed slowly.

The Black Demon Serpent's HP continued to drop, soon falling to 30%.

"Aooo!"

The Black Demon Serpent suddenly roared, and black mist began to emanate from its entire body. This black mist surrounded the Black Demon Serpent, quickly forming pieces of pitch-black scales that gleamed with a dazzling black light in the sunlight.

Leader monsters generally had a Berserk state. Now that its HP had dropped to 30%, it had reached the condition to trigger Berserk.

With the scales, the Black Demon Serpent was like a steel serpent, with significantly increased defense and magic resistance. Even its strength had increased by at least 30%, making each attack earth-shattering.

However, the team was already prepared. The warlock in the very back began to act, continuously drawing large amounts of runes in mid-air, and chanting incantations one after another. The surrounding magical elements also surged wildly.

"That warlock is amazing. He actually learned the Tier 1 Forbidden Curse, Dark Storm," Shi Feng exclaimed in surprise as he watched the warlock draw the runes. "No wonder they dared to take on this Level 42 Leader monster."

In God's Domain, physical-type Forbidden Skills and magic-type Forbidden Curses were skills of the same level, allowing players to possess the power to fight above their level.

However, Forbidden Curses were harder to learn than Forbidden Skills, but their power was greater.

The warlock finished the final incantation, and it seemed the entire space paused for a moment. Countless black wind blades emerged around the Black Demon Serpent. These wind blades seemed to possess a different nature, able to penetrate anything. Even the Black Demon Serpent's sturdy scales were no exception.

The black wind blades lasted for three seconds.

Each second dealt more than 8,000 damage to the Black Demon Serpent, for a total of more than 20,000 damage in three seconds. Moreover, in addition to the damage, the scales on the Black Demon Serpent's body completely disappeared, returning it to its original appearance.

"Alright, let's go!" The Shield Warrior named Iron Arm immediately slashed with his sword.

However, before the team could rejoice, a roar suddenly came from the forest.

"Aooo!"

At that moment, another Black Demon Serpent emerged from the dense jungle.