Chapter 2.016: Tier 5 Existence

In front of the wall that led to the Withered Ruins’ inner region, Southern Tiger, Moon Rain, and the other members of Soulfire couldn’t help but be shocked when they saw Shi Feng’s team.

“Level 101?”

“How can their team reach this place?”

Questions appeared in the minds of Soulfire’s members one after another. Some of them even rubbed their eyes, thinking that they were hallucinating.

“Captain, could they be monsters disguised as players?” Moon Rain asked in a quiet voice as she warily looked at Shi Feng’s team.

Moon Rain had scrutinized Wu Lingling and the other students at the Dungeon’s entrance, so she knew what kind of combat standards they possessed. Let alone reaching the Withered Ruins’ inner region, these students would be fortunate if they could last even half an hour in the outer region.

Yet, now, not only did Wu Lingling and the others reach the inner region’s entrance, but they had even managed to level up within this short period. Moreover, none of them looked to be in a miserable state. No matter how Moon Rain looked at this situation, she couldn’t help but find it unbelievable.

Instances of monsters disguising themselves as players were not unheard of, and monsters capable of such disguises were incredibly dangerous in God’s Domain. This was because these monsters were not only highly intelligent, but they were also capable of devouring players. Meanwhile, players that were devoured would not only be prevented from logging into the game for half a month, but they would also permanently lose a small portion of their Basic Attributes.

To make matters worse, even high-ranking Identification Skills did not work on these monsters. One would need a top-tier Identification Skill to see through their disguises.

Meanwhile, out of the 200 players in their team, only Southern Tiger owned a top-tier Identification Skill.

“No, they are indeed the people we met at the entrance. They aren’t disguised monsters,” Southern Tiger said, shaking his head. Then, in a confused voice, he continued, “I’m not sure if my senses are playing tricks on me, but I feel that they have undergone a slight transformation since we last met them.”

“Transformation?” Moon Rain started paying closer attention to Wu Lingling and the others after hearing Southern Tiger’s words. “Is it their equipment?”

Southern Tiger was one of Soulfire’s 16 captains. While he might not be the strongest captain, he was the best when judging people.

If Southern Tiger said that a person had changed, it was almost certainly true.

However, even after scrutinizing Wu Lingling and the others for some time, Moon Rain failed to see any substantial change in these students. Apart from their levels, the only difference she could see in these students was their equipment. Moreover, it wasn’t a positive change, but a negative one instead. Initially, these students had been fully equipped with Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold Weapons and Equipment. Yet, now, many of them had Secret-Silver Weapons and Equipment mixed in their gear. If Moon Rain was meeting these students for the first time, she would’ve mistakenly assumed that they were players who had recreated their accounts.

“It’s not their equipment. It’s their attitude that has changed,” Southern Tiger said. Then, after taking a moment to think, he continued, “Yes! It’s their composure! Every one of them looks much more composed now than before!”

“Composure?”

Moon Rain took another look at Wu Lingling and the others. Thanks to Southern Tiger’s hint, realization quickly hit her.

If Moon Rain were to equate the students she saw at the Dungeon’s entrance as frightened rabbits, the students she was looking at now were akin to seasoned hunters. Even after arriving at the inner region’s entrance, Wu Lingling and the others behaved calmly and showed no sense of crisis.

Meanwhile, this was a strange sight no matter how Moon Rain looked at it.

The Withered Ruins was a Hell Mode Regional Dungeon. Even frontline experts would need to remain at high alert when roaming in the Dungeon’s outer region, let alone the area close to the inner region’s entrance.

Even their team was no exception. Although they were currently resting in front of the inner region’s entrance, none of them had loosened their guard. This was because even the slightest mistake could lead to the annihilation of their team, which would, in turn, waste all of the efforts they had put into grinding previously.

However, Wu Lingling and the others currently behaved as if they were on a sightseeing trip. None of them showed any signs of crisis whatsoever.

“Maybe they didn’t encounter any monsters on the way here?” Moon Rain asked. The change in the behavior of Wu Lingling’s group was simply too unbelievable. No matter how she racked her mind, she couldn’t figure out what gave these students the confidence to behave so calmly in front of the dangerous inner region’s entrance.

The only reasonable explanation Moon Rain could come up with was that these students had not encountered any monsters on the way here. After all, players would be teleported to a random location when they entered the Dungeon. It might be possible that Wu Lingling and the others had been teleported to a safe location, thus explaining their calm behavior.

However, Southern Tiger couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Moon Rain when he heard her words. Then, he said, “If they didn’t encounter any monsters, do you think they could reach Level 101 before us?”

“Ah, you’re right.” Moon Rain immediately realized the flaw in her explanation. However, this outcome only served to further confuse her. “But how can they reach this place so quickly with their strength? We have a 200-man team while their team only has 31 players. Moreover, every one of them is so weak.”

Although the Withered Ruins’ teleportation was random, those teleported to the outer region wouldn’t be transported anywhere close to the inner region. Moreover, the closer one got to the inner region, the more monsters one would encounter.

Moon Rain found it hard to believe that a team as weak and small as Wu Lingling’s group could reach the inner region’s entrance so quickly.

“My guess is that it is related to that male Swordsman,” Southern Tiger said as he shifted his gaze to Shi Feng. Then, a hint of fighting spirit appeared in his eyes as he continued, “It’s been a long time since I came across such a powerful expert. I didn’t think I would actually meet one in the Miniature Ancient World.”

Moon Rain followed Southern Tiger’s gaze and looked at Shi Feng as well. However, when she saw Shi Feng’s terrible equipment and sensed his lack of presence, she couldn’t help but grow confused and asked, “He’s an expert?”

Even the average Tier 4 expert could easily secure themselves a full set of Level 100 Epic Equipment when they entered a Miniature Ancient World, let alone someone capable of being regarded as an expert by Southern Tiger.

In God’s Domain, anyone Southern Tiger regarded as an expert would be at the Half-step Tier 5 standard at the very least. Meanwhile, such experts were existences capable of serving as the cornerstones of first-rate Guilds. These existences could easily get a 1,000-man expert team to help them level up should they choose to do so.

Yet, what about Shi Feng?

Not only was he geared in Secret-Silver Equipment, but the team he led only had 31 players. To make matters worse, his teammates were nothing but children with immature combat standards. If she were to tell others that a Half-step Tier 5 expert was using such equipment and leading such a team, others would probably call her out as crazy.

“It’s normal that you can’t tell. Real experts will never show their true colors. Whether it is their killing intent or aura, they will only reveal these things when they take action as this is a sign that they have perfect control over their bodies,” Southern Tiger said, chuckling when he saw Moon Rain’s skepticism. “Seeing that he can conceal his aura to such an extent, I’m guessing that his combat standard might be at the level of Blue Smile’s.”

“How is that possible?!” Moon Rain couldn’t help but look at Southern Tiger skeptically.

Not only was Blue Smile Soulfire’s Honorary Elder, but she was also a Tier 5 Guardian Knight. She was one of Soulfire’s strongest combatants, and her combat standard had already reached an inhuman level. So, Moon Rain found it unbelievable that an expert of Blue Smile’s caliber had entered the Miniature Ancient World and was even grinding together with a bunch of children.

Seeing that Moon Rain still doubted him, Southern Tiger did not try to persuade her further. This was because even he wasn’t sure about his conjecture. After all, Tier 5 experts were esteemed individuals in God’s Domain. These experts were typically busy searching for ways of getting promoted to Tier 6. There was no way they would casually abandon their past achievements to enter the Miniature Ancient World.

…

Meanwhile, during the time Moon Rain and Southern Tiger were conversing with each other, Shi Feng’s group had also arrived in front of the city wall that measured several dozen meters in height. Then, when Wu Lingling and the other students saw Soulfire’s team resting in front of the wall, every one of them grew ecstatic.

“Instructor Shi is amazing! We actually caught up to Soulfire’s exploration progress! I’m definitely going to boast about this to my old classmates!”

“I’m not dreaming, right? We outleveled Soulfire’s team?”

Previously, when Wu Lingling and the others had been continuously slaughtering Demonized Half-orcs with Shi Feng and refining their combat standards, they already knew that their leveling speed had surpassed that of the average expert. However, they never thought that their leveling speed would surpass Soulfire’s team.

However, before everyone could get too excited, Shi Feng suddenly said, “Everyone, quiet down. It’s getting late, so we will log off here for today. We’ll proceed to the inner region after the Academy’s enrollment ceremony, so make sure to rest up.”

When everyone heard Shi Feng’s words, they couldn’t help but grumble in complaint. They felt that it was still too early to rest. After all, they were still brimming with energy, and there were still two hours left until the enrollment ceremony. So, they eagerly suggested that they enter the inner region now. By doing so, not only could they enter the inner region before Soulfire’s team, but they could even hone their techniques against stronger monsters.

However, Shi Feng shot down every one of his students’ suggestions.

Players in God’s Domain might be able to mitigate their fatigue using Stamina and Concentration Recovery Potions, but these items did not reduce the mental stress they experienced. After grinding continuously for so many hours, everyone’s minds had long since entered an incredibly tense state. If he let his students fight in such a state, they wouldn’t achieve any significant improvements. Rather than wasting time trying to achieve negligible improvements, it’d be better if everyone got some rest now. That way, they would be able to explore the inner region with much greater efficiency afterward.

Faced with Shi Feng’s rejection, Wu Lingling and the others had no choice but to log out and rest. After all, they’d be committing suicide if they insisted on going into the inner region without Shi Feng.

After seeing all 30 of his students log out, Shi Feng chose to rest as well. Today would be the first day he officially began his duties as one of the God’s Domain Academy’s instructors, after all. He could no longer act with as much freedom as he did in his previous life.

However, as the mansion Shi Feng lived in was quite distant from the God’s Domain Academy, by the time he arrived, there were only 15 minutes left until the enrollment ceremony began. He had just barely arrived on time.

Originally, Shi Feng didn’t think much of the enrollment ceremony. However, when he entered Jin Hai University’s indoor arena, he couldn’t help but be surprised by the scale of the enrollment ceremony.

What’s going on?

At this time, not only were there over a thousand students standing in the arena, but there were also many executives of first- and second-rate Guilds seated on the spectator stands. Based on the seating arrangements, there should be at least 30 Guilds present. Rather than an enrollment ceremony, it looked more like a fighting competition was being held here.

Meanwhile, when Shi Feng arrived at the seats reserved for instructors, the several dozen instructors present immediately turned to look at Shi Feng and began a quiet discussion among themselves.

“So, he’s Shi Feng? The ex-Guild Leader of Shadow?”

“I didn’t think he would dare show himself. Does he not know that Gu Yiren is attending the ceremony in person today?”

“Maybe he thinks that Wu Lingling can win against Gu Yiren’s cousin. She is one of the few freshmen capable of rivaling Gu Tong, after all.”

“He must be dreaming. Wu Lingling might stand a chance in a one-on-one fight, but the competition is a team battle. Gu Tong has two other talented freshmen on his team, while Wu Lingling has nobody. There is no way Wu Lingling can hold off three people by herself.”

“I heard that Gu Yiren has personally come here to watch his cousin secure the championship for the freshman competition today. If Gu Tong secures the championship, he will become an unofficial internal member of Shadow and get the opportunity to visit the Secret Pavilion’s branch headquarters.”

Many of the instructors present secretly ridiculed Shi Feng for his shamelessness and overestimating himself when they saw him attending the enrollment ceremony. After all, even though he had already been dismissed from Shadow, he still planned to rely on Wu Lingling, whom Shi Feng had tricked into becoming his student, to increase his reputation.

Meanwhile, Luo Tiancheng couldn’t help but smirk gleefully when he thought of what was to come. Let’s see how you embarrass yourself when you try to compare with Guild Leader Gu!

Amidst the various instructors’ quiet discussions, the God’s Domain Academy’s enrollment ceremony officially began.

After the Academy’s director finished her speech, the executives of the various attending Guilds also went up the stage to give a short speech. The sweet promises these executives made excited the freshmen present, and many of them couldn’t help but wish they could join these large Guilds immediately.

Meanwhile, after the various Guild executives finished their speeches, the highly anticipated freshman competition also officially began. Immediately, the mood in the arena soared to its peak.

“Instructor Shi, did you properly read the competition rules I emailed you?” At this time, Lin Yaoyue, who was wearing a black suit that emphasized her enchanting body, approached Shi Feng and asked in confusion, “Are you sure you want to let Wu Lingling participate by herself?”