Hundred Flow City, Candlelight Hotel:

After exiting the Teleportation Hall, Shi Feng hurriedly made his way to the hotel and slumped down to the ground with a pale complexion.

Sure enough, it’s still too much for me to use it repeatedly. I’ll probably have to refrain from combat for the next two days. Shi Feng breathed out a deep sigh when he looked at his trembling hands under his cloak. At the same time, he also felt glad as he thought, Thankfully, they didn’t notice anything. It’d be a huge embarrassment, otherwise.

The Holy Annihilation Mana Technique was powerful, but its flaws were also evident. It placed too huge of a burden on the user’s Stamina and Concentration, and it simply wasn’t something players could use at Tier 3. Even using it at Tier 4 was pushing the envelope a little.

Shi Feng might have behaved normally when he fought against Schwartold, even going as far as to use Holy Devour to repulse the Bronze Dragon, but that was entirely because of his Legendary Mana Body and the Winter of Eternal Night’s heaven-defying Skill. Otherwise, even if he managed to use Holy Devour, he wouldn’t have been able to injure the Bronze Dragon. Instead, he would get smacked to death like a fly. Moreover, the burden Holy Devour placed on his body would’ve reached unimaginable levels, and it might have even injured his mind and soul.

If he hadn’t achieved perfect mastery over the Holy Annihilation Technique long ago, the instant he executed his first Holy Devour, he would’ve probably lost consciousness already.

Even then, the few seconds he fought with the Bronze Dragon had nearly paralyzed him. His mind had also fallen into a weakened state, and he had only been holding on thanks to his strong willpower. In the end, he even had to go through the troublesome way of picking up his loot using his Mana Domain to protect his and Zero Wing’s image.

Although I overexerted myself this time, judging by those two’s reactions, they shouldn’t doubt my words for the time being. When Shi Feng recalled the longing expressions Galaxy Past and Lin Yaoyue wore on their faces, a hint of expectation appeared in his eyes. Next, all I need to do is have them gather those items for me. Then, I’ll be able to challenge the Godslayer’s Legacy. So long as I acquire the Godslayer’s complete Legacy, I’ll have enough confidence to clash against those Outerworld bigshots once we gain access to the other sub-worlds.

The current sub-world he resided in was different from the sub-world he fought in during his previous life.

Back then, because he had become a Tier 6 Sword God very early on, he had propelled his sub-world’s development significantly, allowing it to gain access to the greater world of God’s Domain much sooner. Meanwhile, powers from other sub-worlds had nearly taken over their entire sub-world when that happened.

This was because, unlike their sub-world, the other sub-worlds had gained access to the Greater God’s Domain much sooner than they did. The amount of time these Outerworld powers had to develop themselves was over ten times more than they did. The foundation these Outerworld powers had built for themselves was far superior to the powers of their sub-world. In a sense, their sub-world was akin to a baby competing against adults.

Fortunately, thanks to the suppression of the world’s power, they were able to catch a breather and gradually reclaim their lost world. Meanwhile, this process had taken three years to accomplish…

Although the current sub-world he resided in had already been developing for ten years, it was merely a slightly bigger baby in the eyes of the other sub-worlds. It was still nothing but easy prey.

Hence, before this sub-world gained access to the Greater God’s Domain, he needed to make sufficient preparations. Otherwise, let alone returning to his peak, even reaching Tier 6 would most likely become a dream.

This was because promotion to Tier 6 required a large amount of Seven Luminaries Crystals. Meanwhile, Seven Luminaries Crystals were a rare and precious commodity even in the Greater God’s Domain. It was also one of the main factors limiting players from reaching Tier 6.

Shortly after Shi Feng entered the hotel and sat on the floor, a beautiful woman dressed in a black uniform approached him.

After giving Shi Feng a curious look, the NPC receptionist Blakeana asked, “You don’t look so well, Owner. Should I call a Cleric here?”

“No need. I’ll be fine after a little rest,” Shi Feng said, shaking his head. “How many customers have visited the hotel while I was away?”

Now that God’s Domain had been developing for ten years, the intelligence of NPCs was no different than that of players. The only thing that separated NPCs from players was their need to follow certain protocols. Because of the intelligence of NPCs, many players would even make friends with NPCs in God’s Domain. Players were now treating God’s Domain as a real world.

“A total of two people visited. They are currently staying in the basic guest rooms,” Blakeana said as she handed Shi Feng a detailed list.

Shi Feng couldn’t help but smile bitterly when he saw the list.

Originally, he thought that many players would come to rest here since the hotel was located near the Teleportation Hall. After all, not only could players get rid of the foreign energy in their bodies much more quickly by resting in a hotel, but they could also accumulate the Double EXP buff.

Yet, even after such a long time had passed, not one player had visited the hotel. The two customers the hotel welcomed were both NPCs…

“Should I get you a cup of water, Owner?” Blakeana asked with concern when she saw Shi Feng’s complexion becoming paler.

“No, I’m fine.” Shi Feng shook his head. It seems I won’t be able to attract people here unless I make some sacrifices.

According to his initial estimates, now that the Miniature Ancient World had only opened recently, players were unlikely to skimp on hotel fees to facilitate their grinding process. Hence, the hotel business should be booming around this time. It should be especially so for a hotel close to the Teleportation Hall.

However, the Miniature Ancient World’s players were much looser with their money than expected.

Rather than staying at a 1-star Hotel, players had chosen to rest in higher ranking Hotels instead…

The 30,000 Gold required to upgrade the Candlelight Hotel to 2-star status wasn’t a problem for Shi Feng right now. He could instantly acquire it so long as he issued a few tasks to Galaxy Past and Lin Yaoyue. Although doing so would slightly affect Zero Wing’s image, it was a necessary sacrifice.

However, while money might not be a problem, the 10,000 Popularity Points needed to reach 2-star status was a problem. If a hotel wanted to grow its popularity, players and NPCs would need to stay in it.

Afterward, Shi Feng had Blakeana help him to the hotel’s core control room. Then, he had the receptionist help him buy 3,000 Magic Crystals and various magic materials from player merchants using his remaining Gold Coins, essentially bankrupting himself.

Shi Feng wasn’t just a Tier 6 Sword God during his previous life. He was also a Grandmaster Magician.

Although he didn’t have any magic array designs and couldn’t construct complicated Grandmaster Magic Arrays by memory alone, so long as he had enough materials, constructing a Master Mana Gathering Magic Array still wasn’t a problem for him.

After working continuously for three hours, Shi Feng looked at the magic array he drew in satisfaction.

With this magic array, luring players and NPCs shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

The Ancient Magic Array Seven-star Magic World was one of the mainstream Master-ranked Mana Gathering Magic Arrays in the Greater God’s Domain. Although it cost a hefty 600 Magic Crystals daily to maintain, it could increase the Mana density of the affected area by 50% and speed up the removal of foreign energy by 50%. In the Greater God’s Domain, the Seven-star Magic World was one of the must-have magic arrays for housing.

After solving the hotel’s customer problem, Shi Feng returned to his advanced guest room and activated its defensive magic array. Then, he carefully took out the three items he looted from the Bronze Dragon.

I didn’t think I would see these things here. This Miniature Ancient World really is extraordinary. Shi Feng couldn’t help but sigh ruefully as he looked at the three items before him.

Shi Feng had already seen through the identity of these three items when he picked them up with his Mana Domain. He was also incredibly familiar with these three items. They were a rare and highly demanded resource among the Outerworld powers.

Mana Protection Crystal!

The Mana Protection Crystal was one of the main reasons why Outerworld experts were as powerful as they were. This was because the Mana Protection Crystal’s main purpose was to improve a player’s Mana Body!

Indeed! It could improve a player’s most fundamental Mana Body!

So long as these Mana Protection Crystals were refined using a magic array, it was possible to extract a few strands of an Ancient God’s Blood from it. Meanwhile, these few strands of blood could be used to strengthen a player’s Mana Body.

Of course, each player could only use one strand of Ancient God’s Blood in their lifetime. Moreover, the blood could only strengthen a Mana Body up to the Basic Epic rank. Although the effects were significantly weaker than the Miniature Ancient World’s Demon God’s Blood, the Ancient God’s Blood was still amazing nonetheless.

After all, once players constructed their Mana Body at Tier 3, they couldn’t replace it or reconstruct it. Even players who managed to reach Tier 6 were no exception.

These crystals are quite large. I wonder how many strands of blood I can extract?

Afterward, Shi Feng started carving a magic array while observing the three Mana Protection Crystals hovering in mid-air, his eyes full of expectations.

…

Hundred Flow City, Teleportation Hall:

The main street outside the Teleportation Hall was crowded with players. After a day of grinding, many players had returned to the city, and all of them were discussing their harvests with great enthusiasm.

However, amidst the lively crowd, two cloaked players silently approached the Candlelight Hotel.

Of these two cloaked players, one was a man, and the other was a woman. Although the woman had concealed her appearance with her cloak, the cloak couldn’t hide her stunning body. At a glance, one could tell that this woman was a breathtaking beauty, and many young men walking nearby couldn’t help but turn to look at her.

“Is this the place you talked about?” the cloaked woman asked the middle-aged man beside her after taking a look at the Candlelight Hotel.

“It should be,” the middle-aged man said, nodding.

“I hope you’re not lying to me! Otherwise, be prepared for the consequences!” the woman gave the middle-aged man a long look before pushing open the hotel’s doors and walking into the establishment.

…

TL Notes:

Greater God’s Domain is a term the author introduces in Chapter 71, but I am introducing it in advance as a replacement for “many/various worlds of God’s Domain.”

From my understanding of the term, Greater God’s Domain refers to the network of sub-worlds, not the main world of God’s Domain. I’m not sure if the main world is included in this network, though.