Chapter 406 – Failed Sanctuary

World Passage, Void Sea:

This is…a Space-Time Storm?

When Shi Feng opened his eyes, he was shocked to find that the World Passage had disappeared, and taking its place was a dark void with a silver vortex the size of a star.

Although he had long guessed that a problem had occurred inside the World Passage when he heard that the World Gate on the Greater God’s Domain’s side had disappeared, he still couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that the World Passage was no more, and a Space-Time Storm had taken its place.

Space-Time Storms were incredibly dangerous in God’s Domain, and they were labeled as forbidden lands by players.

Space-Time Storms were not products of nature. Instead, they were artificially created, and they were typically used as a last resort to seal dangerous Ancient Gods.

Shi Feng did not doubt even for a second that the white-robed Ancient God was responsible for creating the Space-Time Storm before him.

How ruthless!

Shi Feng was at a loss for words as he looked at the growing silver vortex.

The formation of a Space-Time Storm required an unimaginable amount of mana. Even an Ancient God would have to risk their lives to create one. After all, it was one of the few methods that could be used against Ancient Gods.

In other words, the white-robed Ancient God was willing to risk their life to deal with Shi Feng.

Unfortunately, despite knowing what he was dealing with, there was nothing Shi Feng could do about it.

The gravitational pull of a Space-Time Storm was so powerful that not even Tier 6 Gods could resist it, let alone a measly Tier 4 Sword Emperor like himself.

Subsequently, amidst Shi Feng’s exasperation, his body transformed into a streak of light as he got sucked into the Space-Time Storm.

Upon entering the Space-Time Storm, Shi Feng fell into a trance. While in this trance, he couldn’t tell from left and right or up and down. He couldn’t even tell the passage of time. He only knew that he was continuously advancing through space, passing through one God’s Domain after another. At a certain point, he even started to travel across Realms.

After an unknown amount of time, Shi Feng felt as if he had collided with something, which caused him to tumble off course.

When Shi Feng snapped out of his trance and opened his eyes, he found himself lying amidst an abandoned city situated in the void.

What a powerful mana suppression!

When Shi Feng tried to get up, he suddenly found that he couldn’t release his mana out of his body. On the contrary, the surrounding mana was continuously trying to squeeze into his body.

Before Shi Feng could figure out what was going on, a series of system notifications entered his ears.

…

System Warning: You have discovered the Fallen Holy Realm.

System Warning: You cannot go offline while in the Holy Realm. Should you forcibly go offline, you will be at high risk of falling into a permanent comatose state.

System Warning: You cannot communicate with the outside world while inside the Holy Realm.

…

The content of the system warnings stunned Shi Feng.

The Holy Realm?

Shi Feng had only ever seen the Holy Realm being mentioned in the records kept in the Greater God’s Domain’s Great Titan Library. Back then, most Tier 6 powerhouses felt that the Holy Realm’s existence was nothing but a fairy tale and it didn’t actually exist.

According to the Great Titan Library’s records, the Holy Realm was the failed product of a certain kingdom.

The kingdom in question had ruled over an entire Realm, and it had aspired to transform its Realm into a Sanctuary so that it could reside in the central area of the Greater God’s Domain and gain power beyond the Ancient Gods.

Although the kingdom ultimately failed to achieve its goal for reasons unknown to others, it managed to detach its Realm from other Realms. Or, more specifically, the kingdom’s Realm had become completely independent of the other Realms, and the Realm came to possess mana far greater than what was available in other Realms.

From the information described in the Great Titan Library’s records, once a person entered the Holy Realm, exiting it was an incredibly challenging task. In exchange, though, one would get to explore the remnants of the kingdom that once ruled over the Holy Realm.

It should be known that they were talking about a kingdom that had come very close to creating an artificial Sanctuary. The technology left behind by such a kingdom was undoubtedly superior to what was available in the modern era. Even the technological standards of the current Sanctuaries might not be a match for that kingdom.

Before Shi Feng could investigate his situation further, he made a surprising discovery.

People!

Many people!

While wandering the streets of the abandoned city, he came across numerous players combing through the streets of the city. These players moved in parties of six, and they carefully searched the streets and buildings around them.

After spending some time observing these players in secret, Shi Feng found that every one of these players were only at Level 140, Tier 4. However, their equipment standards were through the roof, each of them was equipped with a minimum of four Fragmented Legendary items. Some were even equipped in Fragmented Legendary Equipment Sets.

Apart from having excellent weapons and equipment, these players also displayed astonishing combat standards.

The weakest among these players was a titled expert, with many of them being experts capable of matching experts the likes of Saint Nine. Normally, even the various hegemonic powers would have difficulty coming up with a party of such experts. Yet, parties of such caliber could be seen everywhere in this place.

…

“Have you found them yet?” a Tier 4 Ranger, the leader of a party, asked as he looked at Tier 4 Assassin who had just come out of a house.

“There’s nobody here,” the Tier 4 Assassin said, shaking his head.

“Still nothing?” The Tier 4 Ranger frowned. Then, he pointed in a certain direction and said, “Check that side next. We have to find those punks today. Otherwise, Boss is going to let us have it!”

“I know that.” Revealing a bitter expression, the Tier 4 Assassin said, “I’m really starting to regret entering this place. Instead of toiling here, I could be living a leisurely life outside.”

“Oh, don’t say that. The opportunities available outside cannot compare to this place. Any random Party Dungeon here has a chance of dropping Fragmented Legendary items and treasures such as God Crystals. You can’t get these things outside even if you have the money to afford them,” the Tier 4 Ranger said with a yearning look.

“Also, don’t get me started on the Eternal Stones you can get from 20-man Team Dungeons. Those things can go for ridiculous prices. Just one Eternal Stone is enough to exchange for permanent residence in a second-tier city, while ten can be exchanged for permanent residence in a first-tier city. These are normally opportunities that we can’t even dream of getting in the outside world.”

“I guess you’re right.” After hearing the Ranger’s words, the Assassin also revealed a yearning look.

Even though they were two-star mental strength grandmasters in the Greater World, they could only afford to stay in a second-tier city occasionally. Only big shots such as three-star mental strength grandmasters had the qualifications to stay in a second-tier city long-term.

As for the Greater World’s first-tier cities, those were not places that two-star mental strength grandmasters like themselves could hope to live in under normal circumstances.

Now, though, they had the opportunity to gain permanent residence in a first-tier city so long as they could get their hands on the Eternal Stones unique to the Holy Realm.

Although they had no idea what use Eternal Stones had, they knew that the various conglomerates were looking to collect them. Moreover, the prices the conglomerates offered were absurdly generous, so they naturally couldn’t miss out on such an opportunity.

Shortly after the party resumed its search, the Tier 4 Assassin responsible for scouting suddenly smiled and shouted, “Quick! They’re here!”

After saying so, the Tier 4 Assassin swiped the dagger he wielded at the empty space before him, shattering it and revealing the figures of six players.

Why are they here?

When Shi Feng saw the six revealed figures from his distant hiding spot, he couldn’t help but be stunned. This was because out of these six people, he recognized three of them.

Of these three people, two were men and one was a woman. Of the two men, one of them was the Purple Melody Alliance’s Desolate Fury, while the other was Cross, the Red Star Kingdom’s Undefeated Battle Maniac. As for the woman, she was Leroja, the Myriad Forest Empire’s Empress Blood Arrow.

Meanwhile, after having their locations exposed, these three people reacted like frightened rabbits, their expressions turning indescribably ugly.

“Split up!” Cross shouted almost at the same time as his party’s location was exposed.

Immediately afterward, the six exposed players fled in six different directions, none of them having any desire to fight the players before them.