Chapter 1998 Eliminating the Weak

Only to see Shi Feng suddenly vanish without a trace.

"Is that the Abyssal Steps?"

Grey Hawk was startled. He had seen Shi Feng's signature Abyssal Steps in videos, but he never expected a living person to disappear right before his eyes, beyond the detection of his keen senses.

However, the weakness of the Abyssal Steps was also evident.

The instant Shi Feng attacked, the brain would inevitably process the signals from that lethal strike. But defending against it was not easy, as the distance was too close.

The most common countermeasure was to adapt to the Abyssal Steps, training the brain not to ignore the signals. This would render Shi Feng's technique useless. However, achieving this was incredibly difficult, like trying to remember the faces and attire of hundreds of strangers passing by.

Remembering just a few was already challenging; the brain automatically filters out most information. Therefore, completely deciphering the Abyssal Steps was exceedingly difficult.

"But you underestimate me."

Grey Hawk smirked, his battle blade twirling as he swung it at an empty spot.

Clang!

Sparks flew, and the low hum of metal colliding echoed throughout the arena, revealing Shi Feng's figure.

"As expected, you can still sense the approximate location."

Shi Feng wasn't surprised by Grey Hawk's performance. After all, Grey Hawk had reached the Realm of Micro, with meticulous observation skills, so he didn't ignore as much information, allowing him to roughly perceive Shi Feng's location.

It was similar to fighting Long Wu. Long Wu mastered the Domain, where all information was transmitted to the brain without any filtering. With focused observation, the Abyssal Steps were useless.

"But too bad, you only have one sword, and I can suppress you with just one hand."

Shi Feng exerted force with the hand holding Abyssal Blade, immediately pushing back Grey Hawk's two-handed battle blade. Simultaneously, Hell Shadow traced a perfect arc, piercing Grey Hawk's heart, leaving a barely perceptible slit.

"Damn it..."

Grey Hawk clutched his chest, his eyes filled with unwillingness, before collapsing onto the arena's stone floor.

Grey Hawk's defeat silenced the entire arena.

While this battle seemed simple, such were the exchanges between experts, where victory and defeat often hinged on the slightest difference.

"What a pity. If Grey Hawk had used two weapons, Black Flame wouldn't have won so easily," Ling Xiang sighed. After all, Grey Hawk was a member of the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion, and his one-sword defeat didn't reflect well on them.

"Just because of the weapon issue?" Feng Qianyu looked at Shi Feng, her expression complex. "What an annoying guy."

Grey Hawk was, after all, a Berserker, a class known for its strength, with the highest strength growth among all classes. Yet, Shi Feng could suppress Grey Hawk with one hand, demonstrating his incredibly high Strength attribute.

With such an advantage, the outcome could have been decided from the start, but Shi Feng deliberately prolonged the fight.

Why?

For one purpose: to assess Grey Hawk's level of strength.

Originally, Feng Qianyu intended to use Grey Hawk to probe Shi Feng's limits, but now it was Shi Feng who thoroughly studied Grey Hawk, making it impossible for her to discern Shi Feng's true strength.

Subsequently, Shi Feng tested all twenty members, and as expected, none passed. Each was defeated with a single strike.

"Pavilion Master Feng, what a pity. None of these people qualify. It seems I'll have to recruit my own team members," Shi Feng said, smiling at Feng Qianyu.

The twenty members of the reserve team turned ashen upon hearing Shi Feng's words.

Their previous pride and confidence had been completely shattered by Shi Feng's Abyssal Blade, leaving them unable to retort.

"Since they don't qualify, there's nothing that can be done. I still need to handle some entry procedure. As for the team members, I'll leave it all to Guild Leader Black Flame," Feng Qianyu glared at Shi Feng. It was clear that Shi Feng didn't want her people joining the team. Otherwise, with the skills of the top three, they could definitely be formal members of the team.

After speaking, Feng Qianyu led her group out of the arena.

Shi Feng then took a carriage to the teleportation hall.

"Feng Qianyu is not to be underestimated. She managed to recruit three experts in the Realm of Micro. It seems I must urge Fire Dance and the others to improve their speed," Shi Feng clearly understood his own team's strength.

If it weren't for wanting the core members of the guild to gain some experience, the top three members of the reserve team would definitely have qualified as formal members. After all, great experts in the Realm of Micro were extremely rare in God's Domain. A team with three such individuals would definitely rank in the middle among all teams. That was why Feng Qianyu was so confident, believing she had a chance to compete for a top-hundred spot.

Of course, this didn't mean that Fire Dance and the others were weaker than Grey Hawk and the others.

A player's combat power depended not only on combat skills, but also on attributes and abilities.

Arriving at the teleportation hall, Fire Dance and the others were already waiting.

"Guild Leader, we've already bought what you asked for, but haven't we bought too much?" Aqua Rose said with some heartache.

Hunting scrolls and space storage scrolls were already expensive. One hunting scroll cost 3 gold and 50 silver coins, and a space storage scroll was even more expensive, costing a full 5 gold coins.

If they had only bought a few, Aqua Rose wouldn't have felt so bad. Now that the number of guild members had increased significantly, the daily guild quests for a second-star guild also yielded a lot of gold coins. Combined with the profits from Candlelight Trading Firm, spending a hundred or two gold coins was not a big deal.

But now, they had bought a hundred hunting scrolls and fifty space storage scrolls, along with some other hunting items, totaling over eight hundred gold coins. Even a Bronze Mount wasn't that expensive.

"You'll understand when the time comes. We haven't bought too much at all," Shi Feng smiled.

In the previous life, the major guilds had spent countless gold coins on obtaining better guild mounts. Spending just over eight hundred gold coins on hunting tools now was nothing.

Aqua Rose sighed helplessly. Fortunately, Zero Wing had Candlelight Trading Firm; otherwise, this beast capture would have crippled the guild.

"Let's go to the Soria Great Forest now," Shi Feng said before heading towards the magic teleportation array.

Upon hearing their destination, everyone couldn't help but shudder.

The Soria Great Forest, as anyone who had researched high-level maps knew, was a Level 50 map. For the current players, going there was simply courting death.

Moreover, the Soria Great Forest was different from ordinary leveling maps. It was a forbidden zone for humans!