Chapter 444 - Path of an Expert

Aqua Rose and the rest of the Zero Wing party nodded passionately in response to Shi Feng’s question.

If they could quickly raise their Skill Completion Rates, their strength would also rise to the next level. Naturally, this was the goal.

“It’s really simple, actually. Think more; train more,” Shi Feng said frankly.

“Think more; train more?” The team rolled their eyes at their Guild Leader.

They had been doing exactly that all this time. However, they had almost reached their limit.

“That’s right. Think more; train more. There’s no other way. In God’s Domain, every skill movement has its own purpose. First, figure out why such movements are required, then carry them out. You guys have been trying to draw a tiger by looking at a cat. You cannot improve if all you’re doing is mimicking the tutorial videos.” Shi Feng was aware of the enthusiasm filling his companions’ hearts. However, one could not become more proficient overnight.

After the second evolution of God’s Domain, players would experience a slump for a relatively long period. Experts were no exception.

Many players struggled with the sudden weakness, falling from glory.

However, it was precisely because of God’s Domain’s second evolution that the difference between ordinary players and experts had become more distinct.

Previously, a player’s strength relied on their equipment and techniques. After the second evolution, however, a player’s strength mainly relied on their Skill Completion Rates. With this new system, one could immediately tell whether a player was a dragon or a worm.

Ordinary players’ Skill Completion Rates usually ranged between 50% and 60%, and players at this standard were considered beginners. Players with 61% to 70% Completion Rates were elites. Meanwhile, those who achieved 71% to 80% were experts, and 80% to 90% was the domain of top-tier experts. Players who could reach Completion Rates above 90% were as rare as a phoenix’s feather.

In the past, Shi Feng’s best record had been 87%. Although he was only 3% away from surpassing a top-tier expert, it was the difference between heaven and earth.

The fact that Fire Dance and the others could achieve such results with just a few hours of practice was already impressive.

After the second evolution of God’s Domain, many players had not dared to solo monsters. Many players had spent several days practicing their skills just to reach a 50% Completion Rate.

Only players who had achieved a 50% Skill Completion Rate were strong enough to solo. Otherwise, with inadequate Completion Rates, their damage was negligible. In addition, a majority of the players in God’s Domain relied on their skills to kill monsters. Hence, without sufficient Completion Rates, players would only find death if they grinded alone.

“Contemplate the importance of the required movements?” Fire Dance pondered.

“Must I do that to manifest the techniques of the skill?” Fire Dance recalled her previous uses of Backstab in battle.

In the past, she would always think of ways to strike her opponent from behind, never considering how she could use Backstab more efficiently.

However, in the tutorial video of Backstab, the player would first dodge the opponent’s attack, reverse the grip on his weapon, then circle behind the opponent with a spin and stab his weapon into his opponent’s back. The entire process was smooth and efficient, and was much faster, more vicious, and more difficult to dodge than her previous attack method.

Thinking up to this point, Fire Dance searched impatiently for another Wolfman Warrior to experiment on.

This time, however, Fire Dance did not enter Stealth. Instead, she waltzed up to the Elite monster. When the Wolfman Warrior noticed Fire Dance, it howled and slashed its greatsword at the Assassin.

Fire Dance did not immediately try to dodge the oncoming attack. Instead, she waited until the Wolfman Warrior’s greatsword reached its maximum speed before moving. Fire Dance took a step forward before sidestepping, dodging the greatsword at the last possible moment. Reversing her grip on the Truefire Blade, she then spun and shoved the blade into the Wolfman Warrior’s back. Due to her body’s rotational power, the radiant sword’s speed had increased. Even Shi Feng could not avoid such a fast attack, much less the Wolfman Warrior.

Hua!

The Truefire Blade pierced the Wolfman Warrior’s back, a damage of -2,736 appearing above its head.

System: Backstab Completion Rate 76%, resulting in 90% of skill’s effect. Skill Proficiency +2.

Fire Dance’s eyes shone upon seeing this system notification. As if she had found a path through the darkness, her confidence suddenly skyrocketed.

Hence, she continued practicing Backstab on the Wolfman Warrior. When the skill’s Cooldown finished, she would begin again. In the end, the poor Wolfman Warrior died after Fire Dance toyed with it for five minutes...

“Sister Fire Dance is amazing! That last one even reached 78%!” Flying Shadow’s admiration intensified when he saw the final Backstab Fire Dance had used on the Wolfman Warrior.

After watching Fire Dance’s performance, as if realization had dawned upon them, everyone hunted down their own targets to practice with.

Meanwhile, Shi Feng continued to search for the exit in silence, not bothering to comment.

Excessive guidance would lead to Fire Dance and the others to believe that his way was the only way. However, everyone had their own paths and unique fighting habits. Different habits and body types would lead to different skill techniques. If they followed him blindly, although they could improve massively in a short time, it would be detrimental to their future development. Thus, he wanted them to figure things out for themselves.

In the past, Shi Feng had tried mimicking other experts, copying their every move in the hopes of improving his technique. Unfortunately, nobody had warned him about his actions’ downsides.

Although his strength had soared in a short time, in the end, he had been stuck as a top-tier expert. No matter what he did, he could not overcome that final hurdle. In the past, he had never been able to use Void Steps. However, after reincarnating, Shi Feng discovered that only the path that suited him most was the best path. He was not other people, so how could he achieve any results if he followed a path meant for someone else?

In the end, this revelation had allowed him to master Void Steps in this life, becoming significantly stronger.

However, learning Void Steps was nothing more than the first step away from mimicry. He still had a long way to go and many aspects to explore before he could forge his own way.

For a time, the Land of the Fallen Star became a testing ground for Shi Feng and his party members.

Without realizing it, they had spent over seven hours in the Land of the Fallen Star, and during this period, they had killed numerous Level 27 Elite ranked Wolfman Warriors. Everyone’s Skill Completion Rates had constantly improved during this time. Although they could not consistently achieve 70%, they could still manage above 60%. The party had also mined over 1,300 pieces of Starfire Ore, their mining far more efficient than when they were outside this crystal cavern. Now, they had accumulated over 20,000 pieces of Starfire Ore.

Such a large stock of Starfire Ore was worth over 200 Gold. Once Shi Feng refined the ore into Starfire Essence using the Philosopher’s Stone, the total value would be over 800 Gold.

Even for first-rate Guilds, 800 Gold was a massive sum of money. If they obtained several hundred more Gold, they could purchase relatively valuable real-estate.

If used for forging, the value of the Starfire Essences would rise by several folds. The thought alone excited Shi Feng.

“Guild Leader, I’ve discovered a hidden door,” Fire Dance suddenly reported.