Chapter 2785 – Differences Gradually Emerge

Meteorite City, main street:

As Shi Feng walked through the city’s main street, he noticed a visible change in the city’s players. The number of Tier 3 experts roaming the main street was around 10% more than before. While this increase didn’t seem significant, if one street saw a 10% increase to its Tier 3 traffic, then the other streets should’ve experienced a similar increase as well. In other words, Meteorite City as a whole had gained a 10% increase to its Tier 3 player population.

In the case of Meteorite City, such an increase meant that the city had gained over 100,000 more Tier 3 experts-a number that probably exceeded even the total of the Five Great Super Guilds’ Tier 3 experts.

Aside from the Tier 3 player population, another evident change had also occurred to the city’s atmosphere.

To be precise, an atmosphere of tension and excitement now enveloped the city.

Before Shi Feng could start looking into the city’s situation, though, he overheard a conversation between several Tier 3 experts in a nearby open-air bar. “Crap! My application actually got rejected! I’m a Level 131, Tier 3 Ranger, for god’s sake! Any other adventurer team or Guild would be more than happy to welcome me with open arms! Skyflare is simply too arrogant!” a tanned, robust youth snarled.

A Level 132 middle-aged man carrying a round shield shook his head and chuckled at the male youth’s complaint. “You’re not the only one. The number of Tier 3 experts Skyflare is rejecting currently ranges between 700 to 1,000 daily. Less than 10% of those who apply at Skyflare actually get in. Moreover, Skyflare’s recruitment criteria are growing stricter by the day.”

“That’s right. The present Skyflare is no longer the same as before. It already has four Tier 4 experts. Moreover, according to insider information, two of them managed to reach Tier 4 thanks to the Crystal of Souls and Soul Water. From what I heard, Skyflare still has plenty of Crystals of Souls and Soul Water,” a Level 131, Tier 3 Assassin youth said, agreeing with the middle-aged man’s words.

“I heard that one of those two newly promoted Tier 4 experts relied on only the Soul Water to get promoted,” the middle-aged man added. “The Crystal of Souls is incomparably rare, but it’s a different story for the Soul Water. Even Skyflare’s normal members have a chance to get a drop of Soul Water. Right now, if you lined up the people trying to join Skyflare, the line would probably extend from one end of the city to the other.

“I also heard that news of this has reached the neighboring cities’ Tier 3 experts, and many of them are already making their way to Meteorite City. Once they arrive, the number of Skyflare’s applicants will definitely skyrocket.”

“If I’d known something like this would happen, I would’ve joined Skyflare long ago. Even if I can’t get my hands on a Crystal of Souls, I would still be able to get a drop of Soul Water and maybe get promoted to Tier 4 and live a good life in the civilian area,” the Assassin youth sighed.

The Skyflare adventurer team had recently raised its recruitment standards. Now, even ordinary Tier 3 experts wouldn’t be accepted; at the very least, one needed to be at the Half-step Refinement Realm standard or Truth Realm standard to join.

It seems Skyflare has recently developed quite a bit. When Shi Feng overheard the Tier 3 players’ conversation, he didn’t feel particularly surprised. After all, the Skyflare adventurer team possessed a bunch of peak experts. In addition, unlike the modern era’s experts, the ancient era’s experts had long since regarded God’s Domain as their everything. The combat standards of the players here were far superior to those of the modern era’s players. If not for the ancient God’s Domain lacking means of restoring one’s Concentration, there would’ve been many more Tier 4 players roaming the world. After all, the ancient era’s players had a massive advantage when it came to getting promoted to Tier 4.

Afterward, Shi Feng eavesdropped on a few more conversations about Skyflare’s and Meteorite City’s current state. From what he heard, he understood that Skyflare was preparing to expand its influence to other NPC Main Cities, and it was recruiting the necessary manpower to do so. Once it had enough Tier 3 experts, it would most likely make a beeline for the neighboring Main Cities.

As for the local player forces of those Main Cities, they would probably have difficulty stopping Skyflare’s encroachment.

This was welcome news for Shi Feng. After all, the stronger Skyflare became, the easier obtaining all sorts of resources would be.

After listening in on a few more conversations and finding no more useful information, Shi Feng went to the Silver Hotel.

Silver Hotel, high-end room:

When Shi Feng entered the room, he found Lifeless Thorn and the others waiting for him Of the five people in the room, three looked elated while two looked crestfallen. Shi Feng also noticed that the auras of the three had undergone a qualitative transformation.

These three people were Lifeless Thorn, Solitary Nine, and Yu Luo. As the three of them did not wear a Black Cloak to conceal themselves, their Tier 4 life auras were on full display.

“Commander, we’ve let you down,” Yan Ya said in a depressed tone as she watched Shi Feng walk over.

Cleansing Whistle, who stood beside Yan Ya, was also gloomy. It was evident she felt frustrated over her failure to get promoted to Tier 4.

“No need to be discouraged. Getting promoted to Tier 4 has never been easy. Even peak experts have a high chance of failure, let alone your present selves,” Shi Feng said in consolation. “Moreover, now that you know where you’re lacking, you can spend this time thinking of ways to address your flaws. I believe it won’t be long before you two reach Tier 4 as well.”

Shi Feng didn’t feel particularly surprised by Yan Ya and Cleansing Whistle’s failure. In fact, he wouldn’t even have found it strange if Lifeless Thorn and Solitary Nine had failed.

After all, the Tier 4 Promotion Quest truly was a difficult hurdle to cross, one players couldn’t overcome just by relying on combat standards. It required players to comprehend Tier 4 Skills and Spells under time constraints. However, there was a massive difference between Tier 3 and Tier 4 Skills. Learning a Tier 4 Skill to 80% Completion Rate within a limited period was an incredibly difficult feat.

In fact, a large part of the reason why Shi Feng had managed to complete his own Promotion Quest was his extensive experience, having undergone it several times before. In comparison, Yan Ya and Cleansing Whistle did not have such experience. Hence, their failure was very normal.

According to past statistics, 99% of the various superpowers’ core members failed their Tier 4 Promotion Quest when they challenged it for the first time; most never reached Tier 4. Those capable of reaching Tier 4 had normally experienced two or three failures before succeeding, with some even having suffered five or six failures.

Hence, Tier 4 could be considered an invisible barrier that thoroughly distinguished players from each other.

It was also because of this invisible barrier that an insurmountable gap had formed between the various superpowers and ordinary powers.

Upon hearing Shi Feng’s words, Yu Luo nodded subconsciously in agreement, as she had very nearly failed her Promotion Quest this time. Were it not for the Soul Water’s help, she definitely wouldn’t have finished learning her Tier 4 Spell within the allotted time.

“Guild Leader, can Whistle and I remain here, then?” Yan Ya asked Shi Feng.

Unlike the modern God’s Domain, players here were not required to search for their Legacy Land when challenging their Tier 4 Promotion Quest. They could attempt their promotion so long as they paid the necessary Magic Crystals. The only problem was that players who failed their Promotion Quest had to wait 20 natural days before they could challenge it again.

“This...” Shi Feng was at a loss as to how to answer Yan Ya. “I can’t say for certain. I don’t mind letting you challenge your Promotion Quests again 20 days later. However, I honestly don’t know whether you can remain here for such a long period.”

The old man did not say how long they could stay in the ancient God’s Domain. They also didn’t know what would hasten their departure from the ancient era.

Of course, they weren’t completely without options for leaving.

Previously, the old man had said that if they drew the attention of the world of God’s Domain, they would be repatriated to the modern era. In other words, so long as they did something to make the world notice them, they would quickly be banished.

One possibility Shi Feng could think of was raiding the Tier 4 Infant Dragon themselves, without Angelica Teresa’s help. Angelica Teresa was a historical figure in the modern God’s Domain. If the miracle of her slaying a Tier 4 Infant Dragon disappeared, the world of God’s Domain would most likely notice them. If even that didn’t work, they could just cause a ruckus in the ancient era, such as killing important NPCs and affecting God’s Domain’s history. The world would definitely notice them then. However, Shi Feng didn’t know when they could return to the ancient era again in that case. He also didn’t know what kind of effects their actions would have on the world. “Is that so?”

Yan Ya and Cleansing Whistle couldn’t help feeling helpless when they heard Shi Feng’s answer.

If they returned to the modern God’s Domain, reaching Tier 4 would become many times more difficult. After all, the task of searching for their Tier 4 Legacy Land was incredibly challenging Afterward, Lifeless Thorn, Solitary Nine, and Yu Luo shared their experiences learning their respective Tier 4 Skills and Spells with Yan Ya and Cleansing Whistle. At the same time, the three of them also sought guidance from Shi Feng regarding the combat methods of Tier 4 players. They were especially keen to learn how to utilize environmental Mana in combat.

After reaching Tier 4, they finally understood just how massive the gap between Tier 3 and Tier 4 classes was. Particularly, the way they controlled Mana was completely different. As the first among them to reach Tier 4, Shi Feng naturally had a better understanding in this regard.

After Shi Feng taught Lifeless Thorn’s group for half an hour, Skyflare’s commander, Lionheart, suddenly contacted him. In the ancient God’s Domain, if two players were too far away from each other, video calls between them would be impossible. At most, they could only exchange messages.

The transmission of messages wasn’t instantaneous, either. Depending on the distance, the transmission times would also vary. In the aspect of communication, the ancient God’s Domain was far inferior to the modern God’s Domain. However, it was this inferiority that made the ancient era feel more like a real world. “Brother Black Flame, you’re finally back,” Lionheart said, a hearty look appearing on his face when he saw Shi Feng. “May I know when we can meet up?”

“We can meet up now. I’ve already dealt with the matters on my side,” Shi Feng replied, smiling. “It just so happens that I need to discuss the previous matter with you.” From Lionheart’s expression, Shi Feng could tell that the Crystals of Souls and Soul Water were of significant help to the Skyflare adventurer team. Otherwise, Lionheart wouldn’t have contacted him as soon as he returned.

“Okay. Let’s meet in the Skyflare Hotel. I’ve already prepared everything on my side,” Lionheart said, smiling. “I also have a big surprise prepared for you, Brother Black Flame.”

“No problem. I’ll head over now.” Shi Feng nodded. He then disconnected the call and turned to Lifeless Thorn and the others. “The three of you should get ready. We’ll be heading to the Skyflare Hotel in a moment, and we might begin the operation right away.”

In response, Lifeless Thorn, Solitary Nine, and Yu Luo nodded without hesitation. They understood that they were what Shi Feng had been waiting for all this time. Now that they had completed their Promotion Quests, it was indeed time to take action.

As for Yan Ya and Cleansing Whistle, Shi Feng decided to let the two of them remain in Meteorite City in the hopes that they could avoid the world’s detection and challenge their Tier 4 Promotion Quests again 20 days later.

Shortly afterward, Shi Feng’s four left the Silver Hotel and made their way to the Skyflare Hotel.