Chapter 2508 – Changes to the Dark Den

In a rainforest at the periphery of the Dark Den’s central area, a huge gate made entirely of black fog suddenly appeared. The frightening amount of energy the gate radiated prompted the Demonic Creatures nearby to retreat involuntarily as they stared nervously at the six-meter-tall gate.

After the gate opened up, figures of players walked out of it in quick succession.

“What kind of place is this? The gravitational force here is so strong. It practically rivals the Star Tomb’s first floor’s,” Thunder Beast, who had just set foot into the rainforest, exclaimed in surprise.

The dense Power of Darkness enveloping this rainforest aside, just the high-gravity environment here was more than enough to halve a Tier 2 player’s combat power. Even Tier 3 players, like Thunder Beast himself, were affected quite significantly.

“The Mana here is also very dense, close to 50% of the Mana found inside the Starlight Fortress. If we can engage in combat here long-term, it’ll definitely provide significant help toward honing our Mana control,” a Tier 3 Elementalist said excitedly.

Although the Starlight Fortress’s ambient Mana was much denser than this rainforest’s, combat was prohibited inside the fortress. However, in God’s Domain, if players wished to improve themselves, the fastest way to do so would be by participating in life-or-death battles. Fighting in Mana-dense environments was particularly effective, as players would have a much easier time controlling their Mana, which would, in turn, allow them to practice and familiarize themselves with their Mana control more efficiently.

At this point, the eyes of the Hell Legion’s members glowed with excitement.

This was because the rainforest teemed with monsters above Level 100. This place was an excellent location for not only training their Mana control but also grinding for levels.

Hell Rush and the others immediately understood why Shi Feng was so confident that he could help them fully unlock their Mana Bodies in one month. If they could fight in such an excellent environment, fully unlocking their Mana Bodies in one month would indeed be feasible.

Meanwhile, Aqua Rose, who had followed Shi Feng to the Dark Den, was similarly surprised by this situation.

She never thought that Shi Feng had actually kept such an excellent training ground hidden. The monsters here might not be very strong, with the majority of being Level 100 Chieftains and the strongest being Level 100-plus Great Lords, but the environment here made it the perfect location for newly promoted Tier 3 experts to train in.

“Guild Leader, you’re too biased. You actually saved such an excellent location for others. If Zero Wing’s members had grinded here as soon as they hit Level 100, we might’ve been able to double the number of Tier 3 experts we have by now,” Aqua Rose grumbled.

Aqua Rose’s complaint rendered Shi Feng, who had just set foot into the rainforest, at a loss for words because this place was completely different from the central area he knew!

Previously, when he used Moloch’s Ring to teleport to the Dark Den’s central area, he had arrived very close to the World Summit. Now, however, he couldn’t even see the World Summit from where he stood. Moreover, his surroundings abounded with Demonic Creatures. The Mana density here was also considerably high. In addition, the world here seemed to have built up some resistance toward him, as he found that he currently couldn’t exhibit his full strength.

Does the teleportation gate change destinations according to my tier or level?

After giving the matter some thought, Shi Feng concluded that his hypothesis was very likely to be correct, because he had arrived at different locations during his first and second use of the Gate of Darkness. Only, the difference was not particularly obvious, as he was teleported close to the World Summit on both instances. On the third instance, however, he was teleported to a completely foreign location, although still in the Dark Den’s central area.

Shi Feng quickly shook his head, dismissing this matter.

He was using the Dark Den as a transit point to travel to the eastern continent. As they were going to leave the Dark Den very soon, it did not matter what kind of location they arrived in.

Unlike the Bible of Darkness’s Gate of Darkness, Moloch’s Ring’s Gate of Darkness was a two-way teleportation gate.

In other words, so long as he opened Moloch’s Ring’s Gate of Darkness, anyone who was a part of his team could move freely between the two locations connected by the Gate of Darkness.

Hence, what he needed to do next was simple.

He just had to use White River City’s Return Scroll in the Dark Den and return to White River City. Afterward, he would use Gate of Darkness once more and let Hell Rush and the others, who did not possess White River City’s Return Scrolls, cross over to White River City.

Even if this method wasn’t viable, he could still use the Bible of Darkness. Although the Bible of Darkness’s Gate of Darkness had a 30-person limit, it was still a better option than relying on ancient teleportation arrays.

Right now, however, as Moloch’s Ring was still on Cooldown, Shi Feng had the Hell Legion’s members grind the surrounding Demonic Creatures and explore the rainforest. Although they wouldn’t be here for long, the Dark Den was still a place created by Gods. Even without the World Summit, there were still plenty of treasures and opportunities here that could not be found in the outside world. If they were lucky, they might gain a significant harvest. At the very least, it would be much better than sitting around doing nothing for an entire day.

“Guild Leader, there’s a town that’s protected by a magic barrier right outside the rainforest. By the looks of it, quite a lot of players are gathered there,” Fire Dance, who was scouting the vicinity, reported through the team chat.

A town protected by a magic array? Fire Dance’s report piqued Shi Feng’s interest. Is it one of the Dark Den’s Shelters?

From what he knew, the Dark Den should have only Shelters, not towns or cities. Shelters operated differently from the NPC towns and cities found in the outside world. Every Shelter had its own unique abilities and produced its own specialty products. The higher-ranked a Shelter was, the better its specialty products.

Meanwhile, with the Shelter Fire Dance reported being in a Level 100-plus map, its rank was definitely very high.

Moreover, aside from specialty products, the Dark Den was also rich in Gemstones, which were in short supply on the main continent.

“Guild Leader, should we head over?” Fire Dance asked.

“Of course,” Shi Feng said, nodding. “This is an opportunity to make a fortune.”

Previously, Shi Feng had been incredibly busy. In addition, the Bible of Darkness was necessary to suppress Moloch’s Ring, so he couldn’t pass the Bible of Darkness to somebody else. As a result, aside from the occasional offline reports he received from Blue Frost and the others, it had been a very long time since Zero Wing had direct contact with the Dark Den.

Shi Feng had earned a lot of Magic Crystals and Coins via the Starlight Fortress. Just the Magic Crystals he currently had on hand exceeded 600,000, while his Coins totaled over 200,000 Gold. He could use this opportunity to purchase a bunch of items to resell on the eastern continent. Moreover, Attribute Gemstones were much more valuable than Magic Crystals and also much more useful to players.

Following which, Shi Feng led Aqua Rose and the other members of Zero Wing toward the Shelter Fire Dance found.

The Hell Legion’s members showed no interest in the Shelter at all, opting to remain behind. They only wanted to continue grinding and honing their Mana control. After all, Shi Feng had already told them that they would be leaving this precious training ground soon. Hence, they needed to cherish this opportunity and improve themselves as much as possible.

The Shelter Fire Dance found was at the foot of a mountain range, with mountains at three of its four cardinal directions. Since Shelters were under constant assault from Demonic Creatures, it was undoubtedly strategically located.

As Shi Feng’s group arrived within several hundred yards of the Shelter, he finally got a clear look at it.

Although this Shelter wasn’t particularly large, only the size of an Advanced Town in the outside world, the defensive magic array protecting it was incredibly powerful, capable of resisting the attacks of Tier 4 monsters for a very long time. In a Level 100-plus map, a Shelter with a defensive magic array of such caliber would definitely be considered a very safe location.

This was also the reason why plenty of players resided in this Shelter. Shi Feng estimated that the Shelter could easily accommodate over 200,000 players.

A player population of 200,000 might not be anything significant compared to the towns found in the outside world, but in the Dark Den, with its low player population, this was a very frightening number.

Moreover, the residents of this Shelter were very strong. Even the lowest-level player Shi Feng had spotted was Level 104. At Level 106 and Level 107, the higher-level ones could rival the levels of the various superpowers’ peak experts found in the outside world. The Shelter’s players were also considerably well-equipped, with the weakest piece of equipment on them being Level 100 Mysterious-Iron rank and the majority being Level 100 Secret-Silver Equipment. Some experts were even fully geared in Level 100 Fine-Gold Weapons and Equipment. However, for some reason, most of the weapons and equipment of these players stopped at Level 100. Extremely few players sported Level 105 equipment. In fact, even Level 105 Mysterious-Iron Equipment was incredibly rare.

When Shi Feng’s group arrived at the Shelter’s entrance, a Level 106, Tier 3 female Swordsman who looked both beautiful and capable suddenly approached them.

“I believe you are Vice Guild Leader Blue Frost’s teammates? I have been waiting for you for a long time now!” the female Swordsman said excitedly. “May I know when Vice Guild Leader Frost will arrive?”

“Blue Frost?” Shi Feng could not help growing confused at this situation.

The female Swordsman before him was considerably strong. Not only was she at the Flowing Water Realm standard, but she was also just one small step shy of the Void Realm standard.

When the female Swordsman saw the confusion on Shi Feng’s face, she pointed at the six-winged emblem he wore and asked strangely, “Are you not Vice Guild Leader Frost’s companions?”

At this stage of the game, Tier 3 players were still incredibly rare, and Tier 3 players wearing Zero Wing’s Guild Emblem were even rarer. Hence, she had concluded that Shi Feng’s group should be Blue Frost’s companions.

“We are indeed companions, but probably not in the way you think we are,” Shi Feng explained.

“So, Vice Guild Leader Frost’s team still couldn’t make it in time?” The female Swordsman grew a little dejected when she heard Shi Feng’s words.

Meanwhile, as soon as this female Swordsman finished speaking, a clear and pleasant voice suddenly came from a short distance away.

“Graceful, I told you long ago that rather than inviting Zero Wing’s Blue Frost, it would be much better to invite Crimson Emperor’s Vice Guild Leader Fantasy, yet you refused to listen! Now, we’re doomed!”