Chapter 290 - Simultaneous Advancement

The Silver-eyed Lion King roared furiously when it saw Shi Feng running away. Focusing its eyes on Shi Feng, the Silver-eyed Lion King abruptly pushed against the ground with its robust and powerful legs. Like a violent gale, its body shot forth directly at Shi Feng.

Unfortunately for it, in terms of speed, Shi Feng had a clear advantage over the Silver-eyed Lion King. The distance between Shi Feng and the Silver-eyed Lion King gradually grew as the chase continued. However, if Shi Feng started his kiting maneuver, the Silver-eyed Lion King would quickly close this distance.

Under a situation where he was not allowed to use potions to recover his HP, Shi Feng’s only recovery method was his innate battle recovery. However, he would only recover 1% of his HP every five seconds. Based on Shi Feng’s total HP, he would only recover around 24 HP every five seconds.

If he wished to recover the 600-plus HP he’d lost, he needed to spend a relatively long period of time to do so.

Fortunately, I’m a tad faster than it. The stage this time also covers a large area, so I can run around without any worries. Otherwise, I will really lose my life this time. Shi Feng sent a casual glance at the Silver-eyed Lion King, while majority of his attention was focused on the surrounding terrain.

God’s Domain was different from other virtual reality games in that it was much more realistic than the others.

One could say that a player’s combat power was responsible for only around 50% of a battle’s outcome. Meanwhile, 40% was due to environmental factors, while the remaining 10% was up to luck.

Luck was something filled with uncertainties, so there was no need to place much consideration into it.

As for the 50% combat power and 40% environmental factors, how much a player could grasp them was an important indicator of how skilled a player was.

A normal expert could only exhibit around 50% of their personal combat power. In God’s Domain, the Main God System would be the one responsible for evaluating and making the final judgment on a player’s personal combat power. This method of calculation was the most credible way to judge a player’s personal combat power.

As to how it was calculated, only the Main God System knew this.

Currently, however, the Main God System would not show players how much their personal combat power was, and how much of it they could actually exhibit.

Once the first 100-man Team Dungeon was successfully raided, the second evolution of God’s Domain would be activated. After the second evolution, a teleportation gate to the Divine Colosseum would appear in every city. When players entered the Divine Colosseum, they could compete and battle against other players there. Not only could they obtain equipment there, they could also upgrade and improve their combat techniques.

It was also due to this reason that the fights in God’s Domain became extremely popular. As more time passed, the popularity of fights in God’s Domain would even grow to surpass that of the fighting competitions in the real world.

Those who were capable of exhibiting over 50% of their personal combat power would be considered normal experts.

Meanwhile, players that could exhibit over 60% would be considered second-rate experts.

Once a player could exhibit 70%, they would be considered first-rate experts.

If one could exhibit more than 85% of their personal combat power, then they would be considered apex experts. A majority of the players within this category were famous experts of God’s Domain, and they would often participate in the international competition that was held only once a year by the developers of God’s Domain. They were, without a doubt, the most popular individuals in God’s Domain.

Back in the days when Shi Feng was still a Tier 3 Sword King, although he was not comparable to these great experts of God’s Domain, he had still been categorized a first-rate expert since he could exhibit around 80% of his personal combat power. However, compared to exhibiting his personal combat power, Shi Feng was much stronger in terms of observing and utilizing his surroundings.

Currently, in terms of combat power, Shi Feng was about equal to the Silver-eyed Lion King. However, the Silver-eyed Lion King’s HP was many times greater than Shi Feng’s. Without taking into consideration the environmental factors, Shi Feng would definitely die if he chose to clash head-on with the Silver-eyed Lion King.

If Shi Feng had met the Silver-eyed Lion King under normal circumstances, he would simply accept his death. At worst, he would just lose a single Level. However, the current situation he was in did not allow him to do so. This was a trial given by his quest; there was no second chance for him, and his death would also signify the end of the quest. Hence, he absolutely could not die right now.

After running for over a dozen minutes, Shi Feng arrived at a hill. As for the Silver-eyed Lion King, it was still far from catching up to Shi Feng.

Shi Feng wandered around this hill for awhile and eventually discovered a cliff. Immediately, Shi Feng’s eyes glowed and his lips curled up in a smile.

“At last, I’ve found the key to victory.” Shi Feng chuckled lightly. He then activated Windwalk, dashing towards the edge of the cliff.

Originally, Shi Feng could have used this period of time to increase the gap between him and the Silver-eyed Lion King even further. However, Shi Feng chose not to do so because he wanted to find a favorable terrain to deal with the Silver-eyed Lion King.

A minute later, Shi Feng stood at the edge of the cliff. Below him was a large gorge.

This height should be sufficient. Shi Feng made some mental calculations and felt that his plan was feasible.

After several more seconds passed, the Silver-eyed Lion King finally caught up.

Just as the Silver-eyed Lion King leapt into the air, its razor-sharp claws about to slash Shi Feng’s head, Shi Feng jumped, dodging the attack completely. In the next moment, the Silver-eyed Lion King’s paws smashed into the cliff.

Boom!

The ground beneath Shi Feng and the Silver-eyed Lion King was destroyed, both man and beast plunging towards the very bottom of the cliff.

Just as Shi Feng’s body was about to hit the ground, he activated Gravity Liberation, his body instantly becoming as light as a feather. Immediately, Shi Feng’s rate of descent dropped sharply.

The Silver-eyed Lion King, on the other hand, was not as fortunate. When its body hit the ground, a large crater was formed from the impact.

“Still not dead? You’re quite durable, aren’t you?” Shi Feng commented as he looked at the Silver-eyed Lion King that was embedded into the ground. Right now, the Silver-eyed Lion King only had a thread of its HP left. “You’ve already dug your own grave, so you might as well stay in it.” Shi Feng unceremoniously sent a Thundering Flash at the monster.

Three arcs of lightning streaked into the Silver-eyed Lion King, taking away its remaining 1,000 or so HP.

Before, if Shi Feng had chosen to jump down the cliff first, the Silver-eyed Lion King definitely wouldn’t have followed suit; its intelligence was not that low, after all. Instead, it would simply have taken a detour down the cliff. Hence, Shi Feng had chosen to borrow the Silver-eyed Lion King’s immense destructive power to destroy the edge of the cliff. That way, there was no doubt the Silver-eyed Lion King would be caught unawares.

System: Silver-eyed Lion King defeated. Fourth trial completed. Rewarding 3,000,000 EXP, 20 Free Mastery Points, and 10 Gold Coins. Proficiency of all Skills increased by 300 points.

System: Fourth trial cleared. Do you wish to start the next trial?

“Three million EXP? Isn’t this reward a little too lavish?” Shi Feng was immediately shocked by the system’s reward. He had only recently risen to Level 19. Yet, now, he was already close to welcoming Level 20.

Moreover, after the 4th trial, Shi Feng’s War God’s Temple Merit Points were already at 700 points. He could now afford to exchange for one Fine-Gold ranked item and one Secret-Silver ranked item.

And as long as he cleared the 5th trial, he could obtain another 800 Merit Points. The points in that round alone trumped those from all the previous rounds combined. He would then be able to afford to exchange for either one Dark-Gold ranked item or three Fine-Gold ranked items.

After a short rest, Shi Feng clicked “Yes” again and started the 5th trial.

The stage of the 5th trial was set in a desert. Meanwhile, the primordial beast that would serve as his opponent in this trial was a monstrosity that had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and a snake as its tail.

The moment this monster noticed Shi Feng’s entry into its territory, its crimson red eyes immediately squinted, a hint of excitement leaking out from them.

“Chimera!” Shi Feng was surprised.

Without even needing to use Observing Eyes on the monster before him, Shi Feng already knew what it was. After all, he had fought this monster countless times in the past. A Chimera was the final Boss of a 100-man Team Dungeon. In the past, Shi Feng and the team he led had suffered defeat after defeat under the hands of the Chimera. Only after experiencing innumerable team-wipes did they manage to finally kill it. Hence, Shi Feng had a very deep impression of Chimeras.

[Chimera] (Special Elite)

Level 20

HP 120,000/120,000

The Chimera was a monster Shi Feng was extremely familiar with. Shi Feng knew both the strengths and weaknesses of a Chimera like the back of his hand.

A Chimera could spit fire from its mouth, and its Strength was comparable to the Silver-eyed Lion King. Meanwhile, the snake that acted as the Chimera’s tail was equivalent to another monster entirely. The snake boasted powerful venom attacks. If players were struck by the Chimera’s flames after being poisoned by its tail, they would die with 100% certainty. However, the Chimera also possessed a fatal weakness—poison.

Shi Feng immediately activated Windwalk. Faced with the Chimera’s sharp claws and venom attacks, Shi Feng chose only to dodge and not retaliate. After the venom spat out by the Chimera’s tail started spreading and emitting a poisonous gas into the surroundings, Shi Feng finally took action.

Without hesitation, Shi Feng charged into the poisonous fog, with the Chimera following closely behind him.

The moment Shi Feng stepped into the poisonous fog, he was inflicted with a Poisoned debuff, losing 200 HP every second. However, Shi Feng paid no mind to the debuff.

After he ran out of the poisonous fog, he spun his body around and threw the Blazing Meteor.

When the blazing needle entered the poisonous fog, the vivid green fog instantly turned into a dark green. Immediately after, an explosion occurred. The explosion promptly sent the Chimera, which was still standing inside the poisonous fog, flying. The monster lost over 10,000 HP from the explosion, and it was placed in a momentary Crippled state. Taking advantage of this change, Shi Feng launched a barrage of attacks at the Chimera.

By the time the Chimera had recovered from its Crippled state, Shi Feng had already taken an additional 6,000 or so HP away from it.

Furious, the Chimera charged at Shi Feng, while the latter started evading the Chimera’s attacks once more, biding his time while he waited for the next poisonous fog to form.

After repeating this process several times, the battle finally came to an end. Although Shi Feng had only around 400 HP remaining, the Chimera had already fallen at his feet.

System: Chimera defeated. Fifth trial completed. Rewarding 6,000,000 EXP, 20 Free Mastery Points, and 10 Gold Coins. Proficiency of all Skills increased by 300 points.

System: Fifth trial cleared. Do you wish to start the next trial?

Immediately, Shi Feng’s experience bar rose to 62% of Level 20. He was not far away from reaching Level 21.

Although Shi Feng was slightly stronger now after allocating his Free Attribute Points, he still felt that the next trial would be extremely dangerous. If not for the fact that Shi Feng was familiar with the Chimera’s habits, he would have definitely died in the 5th trial.

Meanwhile, the monster in the 6th trial would definitely be much stronger than the Chimera. It would be fortunate if the monster that appeared in the 6th trial was something Shi Feng was familiar with. However, what would he do if it was a monster he had never seen before?

Most likely, death would be his only ending...

Shi Feng would not rely on luck to decide such an important matter for him. Hence, Shi Feng did not immediately start the 6th trial after he was rested this time. Instead, he called out his Attribute Panel, choosing to use the Free Mastery Points he had reserved all this time.

[One-handed Sword Mastery]

[Intermediate Apprentice Swordsman]

Mastery Points required: 50

Damage when using a One-handed Weapon increased by 15%.

[Advanced Apprentice Swordsman]

Mastery Points required: 100

Damage when using a One-handed Weapon increased by 20%.

[Basic Swordsman]

Mastery Points required: 150

Damage when using a One-handed Weapon increased by 30%.

There is a 5% chance for a qualitative change to occur.

[Intermediate Swordsman]

Mastery Points required: 200

Damage when using a One-handed Weapon increased by 40%.

There is a 10% chance for a qualitative change to occur.

Normally, even after players were promoted into a Tier 1 Swordsman, their One-handed Sword or Two-handed Sword Mastery would only be at the Intermediate Apprentice Swordsman rank.

Meanwhile, Shi Feng had received a total of 65 Free Mastery Points from clearing the first five trials. In addition to the points he had received from completing quests and the points that were rewarded once every five levels, he now had a total of 168 unused Free Mastery Points.

After Shi Feng used up all his Free Mastery Points, his One-handed Sword Mastery had reached the rank of a Basic Swordsman.[1]

However, Shi Feng was still not satisfied with this result.

Following which, he retrieved the Level 20 Dark-Gold ranked Purgatory’s Shadow, which he had previously bought at the Blackwing Auction House, from his bag and swapped out the Level 15 Demonbane.

“Let’s start the devouring process, then.”

Shi Feng looked at the pitch-black Abyssal Blade in his hand. He then offered the ten Level 15 Mysterious-Iron Weapons, which he had prepared at an earlier date, and the Level 15 Demonbane as sacrifices to upgrade the Abyssal Blade.

Although it was unfortunate that he did not possess ten Level 15 Secret-Silver Weapons to use as a sacrifice, the Legendary Quest was of utmost importance. He could not afford even the slightest misstep, and it was necessary for him to utilize all available avenues.

TL Notes:

[1] There are some inconsistencies with the following two paragraphs:

“Meanwhile, Shi Feng had received a total of 65 Free Mastery Points from clearing the first five trials. In addition to the points he had received from completing quests and the points that were rewarded once every five levels, he now had a total of 168 unused Free Mastery Points.

After Shi Feng used up all his Free Mastery Points, his One-handed Sword Mastery had reached the rank of a Basic Swordsman.”

After calculating the Free Mastery Points Shi Feng received from quests, leveling up, and the five trials, he should have around 194 Free Mastery Points remaining (this doesn’t include the 50 points he has already allocated back in Chapter 88.) In theory, he should be able to reach Intermediate Swordsman if he used up all his points.

Remaining Free Mastery Points at Ch.88: 15 points

Demon’s Heart quest (Ch. 270): 50 points

Miracles Unsealed quest (Ch. 278): 40 points

Level 10, 15, 20: 3 * 8 points = 24 points

Five trials: 5+10+10+20+20 = 65 points

Total: 194 points

[Note: the points for One-handed Sword Mastery are cumulative, so it’s not 50+100+150+200 etc...

Instead, it’s like,

One-handed Sword Mastery: 50 points (Intermediate Apprentice Swordsman)

One-handed Sword Mastery: 100 points (Advanced Apprentice Swordsman)]

After all’s said and done, however, please assume that Shi Feng only has 168 Free Mastery Points at the moment, and after using them up, he’s only at the Basic Swordsman rank.

[2] Also, important note.

Chapter 88:

Basic Swordsman → Basic Apprentice Swordsman

Intermediate Swordsman → Intermediate Apprentice Swordsman

Basic Mastery → Basic Apprentice Mastery

Intermediate Mastery → Intermediate Apprentice Mastery

The raws for Chapter 88 didn’t actually include the word “Apprentice” in them.