Chapter 2222 – Qualitative Transformation

The first Casting Goldstone Shi Feng had produced was so hard that not even a Dark-Gold Weapon could damage it, yet the instant it had touched Killing Ray, it liquefied and flowed into the Sacred Sword. Golden, divine runes then emerged down Killing Ray’s blade.

In the blink of an eye, the divine runes covered the entire sword. Some even manifested on the hand Shi Feng used to wield the weapon. It was as if these runes connected Shi Feng’s hand with the Sacred Sword.

After the last rune formed, Shi Feng felt a stream of dense energy flow into his body, and his mind cleared.

Amazing! It can even improve my mental state! Shi Feng could not help his excitement as he gazed down at Killing Ray.

Improving one’s mental state was incredibly difficult. Generally, players could maintain a clear mind when in a high Mana density environment, but now, holding Killing Ray was even more effective. As Shi Feng held his sword, his mind felt sharp and alert, as if he had just swallowed a stimulant.

With this, his performance would be extraordinary.

However, Shi Feng’s mental state wasn’t the only thing that had improved. Killing Ray itself had changed slightly. Now, divine runes circulated the Sacred Sword as it steadily absorbed the Life Energy around it. The divine runes only vanished after this continued for three to four seconds. Once they had disappeared, a faint layer of bloody mist took their place.

But Killing Ray’s new Attributes were even more astounding than the external changes. The weapon had gained another Passive Skill after merging with the Casting Stone.

Blood Refining Power: Increases all of user’s Basic Attributes by 15% and main Basic Attribute by an additional 5%. Increases user’s physique by 25%, as well. All attacks claim some of the target’s Life Energy to restore the user’s Concentration.

The Casting Goldstone is already so powerful with a twofold magic array? Shi Feng was stunned after reading Blood Refining Power’s introduction.

Killing Ray was nearly as powerful as Fragmented Legendary items in terms of Basic Attribute bonuses now. It was only somewhat inferior in its Attack Power and Skills.

The bonus to his physique was truly horrific. A 25% increase could almost rival the boost players received when they rose from Tier 0 to Tier 1.

With the Casting Goldstone’s massive improvements, ordinary experts would have a high chance of defeating Refinement Realm experts if both had the same levels and equipment standards. An improvement to physique alone would improve players’ perception, kinetic vision, and reaction speed. Even if players didn’t have the fine physical control to exhibit their combat power to the fullest, they could dodge attacks from Refinement Realm experts with these advantages. Furthermore, the Blood Refining Power significantly increased the bonuses to players’ Basic Attributes.

Of course, the Blood Refining Power was so effective here because of Killing Ray’s extraordinary quality.

The Casting Goldstone’s power didn’t just originate from the magic arrays used to create it. A small portion of that power came from the weapon it merged with.

Resheathing Killing Ray, Shi Feng returned his focus to producing another Casting Goldstone, merging it with a Level 75 Dark-Gold ranked battle axe when it was finished.

As Shi Feng had guessed, the Blood Refining Power’s effects weren’t as intense with this battle axe as they were with Killing Ray. Even so, it still increased all Basic Attributes by 13% and the user’s main Basic Attribute by an additional 4%. It also increased physique by 22% and absorbed a portion of the enemy’s Life Energy to restore the user’s Concentration.

It’s no wonder why the various superpowers had been so desperate to obtain the Advanced Blood Refining Designs. If even a Basic Blood Refining Design can produce such an item, the items crafted with the Advanced designs can likely empower a first-rate Guild to stand against a Super Guild’s assault for some time.

Not even he could help his desire for the Advanced Blood Refining Designs.

If the Casting Goldstone were already so powerful, Tier 2 experts could likely take on Tier 3 experts with the items crafted from the Advanced Blood Refining Designs. Tier 3 experts would even be able to face Tier 4 experts.

A Tier 2 Domain REalm expert could only face ordinary Tier 3 experts of the same level without such a boon. If a Tier 2 Refinement Realm or Flowing Water Realm expert challenged an ordinary Tier 3 expert, they might not even escape with their life.

However, Shi Feng did not give the matter too much thought. Aside from how difficult obtaining the Advanced Blood Refining Designs was, he hadn’t even mastered the Casting Goldstone’s production process yet. He was only able to draw two of three of the core magic arrays right now. Even if he had an Advanced Blood Refining Design, he wouldn’t likely be able to craft the item.

Following which, Shi Feng focused on forging more Casting Goldstones.

Although the Casting Goldstones he could currently forge weren’t perfect, they would still significantly increase players’ combat power. These Casting Goldstones would boost the Guild’s overall combat power much faster than nurturing Refinement Realm experts, and they didn’t cost nearly as much.

Each Casting Goldstone only cost around 40 Gold to produce. That might be an abhorrent expense to most ordinary experts, but it was spare change to Shi Feng.

Gathering the necessary materials was the only thing that troubled him. Even after utilizing all of Zero Wing’s connections, he had only collected several hundred sets of materials.

To the massive Zero Wing, several hundred Casting Goldstones was simply not enough. At the very least, he would need 10,000 Casting Goldstones to arm Zero Wing’s members enough to confront superpowers in the fields.

Even so, these several hundred sets of materials were not completely useless. At the very least, he had enough to boost the combat power of Zero Wing’s main force.

As one Casting Goldstone after another took form, Shi Feng’s production speed increased.

Since he hadn’t yet been familiar with drawing the magic arrays and worried that he’d fail the production process, he had been very careful when he had started. However, after merging Killing Ray and the first Casting Goldstone, the boost to his mental state made it easier to draw the magic arrays.

After more than 20 hours of continuous work, Shi Feng had gone through 326 sets of materials. Although he had occasionally failed the process and excluding the first two goldstones, he had forged 300 Casting Goldstones.

As Shi Feng was about to begin the next forging process, he received a call request. It was Unyielding Heart, and Shi Feng immediately accepted the call.

“Brother Heart, how are you free to give me a call?” Shi Feng asked while forging a Casting Goldstone. “I’ve heard that you’ve been grinding restlessly in the Bottomless Abyss’s first floor.”

Once Unyielding Soul had garrisoned in Stone Forest City, the Guild had turned its focus to the Bottomless Abyss. Both of its Vice Guild Leaders had devoted themselves to exploring the Regional Dungeon, barely leaving the first floor since they had entered.

“Brother Black Flame, how do you have time for jokes?” Anxiously, Unyielding Heart asked, “Is it true that you’ve agreed to fight Starlink in Dark Night City?”

“Oh? So you’ve heard about it?” Shi Feng said, nodding.

“Every player in the Dark Night Empire knows by now,” Unyielding Heart stated, flabbergasted by Shi Feng’s lackluster reaction. “Starlink recently, and quite loudly, announced the situation to the public. Every player in the empire is talking about this. How could you agree to such a match?”

Since Zero Wing had secured its hold on Stone Forest City, its fame in the Dark Night Empire had become unmatched. As a result, the Guild had finally established a foothold in the empire, and Starlink couldn’t do anything about it.

Yet, Starlink had found an opportunity.

A 10,000-versus-10,000 fight might seem like a fair match, but in reality, Zero Wing had an overwhelming disadvantage. Starlink had been in the Dark Night Empire for a long time already and had recruited many talented experts within the empire. It had more than enough high-quality experts to fill the 10,000 slots. On the other hand, Zero Wing had just established itself in the empire and recruited a small number of powerful experts. How was it supposed to compete with Starlink?

If Zero Wing lost this fight, its hard-earned reputation in the empire would crumble. Everyone would think of the Guild as a one-trick pony.

Zero Wing had only established a foothold in the Dark Night Empire because the various major powers and powerful experts saw the Guild’s potential to resist Starlink. Thus, many of these powers and experts had formed secret alliances with Zero Wing to band together against the larger superpower.

Although Starlink had many experts under its command, its territory was too vast. It had barely been able to manage its territory, and now that the various major powers were working against the Guild, Starlink was struggling even more to do so. As a result, it had no choice but to dispatch more manpower to these areas, preventing the Guild from concentrating its forces.

However, once the various major powers saw that Zero Wing couldn’t withstand Starlink’s assault, they’d abandon the Guild and ally with Starlink. Some might even move against Zero Wing to curry favor with Starlink. If that happened, Zero Wing would be doomed.

Shi Feng could only offer a bitter smile as a reply to Unyielding Heart’s concern and confusion. The situation regarding the fortress in the Gravity Mountain Range was confidential, so he couldn’t say anything about it.

Unyielding Heart could not help but sigh. He then said, “I have a group of hidden experts under my command.

Although there are only a little over a thousand of them, they should be helpful to Zero Wing. I also have some weapons and equipment that we obtained from the Bottomless Abyss. If your main force members use them, their combat power should increase quite a bit.”

“Thank you, but let’s not do that. If my Guild suddenly gains an extra thousand or so experts, Starlink will grow suspicious. It will look into the matter, and news will spread that Zero Wing requested external aid. In addition, it will expose Unyielding Soul’s strength,” Shi Feng said, shaking his head. Chuckling, he continued, “Starlink might have an advantage in this match, but Zero Wing’s no pushover.”

“Alright, then. If you need any help, feel free to ask,” Unyielding Heart said, sighing.

A l,000-versus-l,000 fight might not have been an issue. With a few peak experts and apex experts, one could easily turn the tide of battle. However, a 10,000-versus-10,000 match was a different story. It was very difficult for a handful of players to change such a large-scale battle’s outcome. Furthermore, Starlink was a powerhouse. Not even some of the weaker Super Guilds would be guaranteed to win a 10,000-versus-10,000 battle against Starlink.

After Shi Feng exchanged a few more words with Unyielding Heart, he disconnected the call. He then contacted Aqua Rose and had her send the main force members and some core members to the Candlelight Trading Firm. Once they arrived, Shi Feng distributed the 300 Casting Goldstones he had made.

When she used her own Casting Goldstone, Aqua Rose was stunned by how powerful its effects were. She had never expected to find such an amazing item in God’s Domain. The Casting Goldstone would even be useful to Flowing Water Realm experts like herself, not to mention Refinement Realm experts.

Later, Shi Feng instructed Aqua Rose to gather the top 10,000 experts in the Guild and recall them to White River City’s Guild Residence.

Zero Wing’s White River City Residence was quite lively for a while as experts from across the Guild’s territories gathered. It was truly an impressive sight. The lowest-leveled of these experts had already reached Level 77, while most of them were already Level 78. These experts were a cut above mainstream experts, who had only reached Level 75.

“Everyone’s here, Guild Leader. We can depart at any time,” Aqua Rose reported, smiling at Shi Feng, who stood before the gathered experts.

“Good! Let’s set off!”

Glancing over the crowd before him, Shi Feng nodded approvingly and led his players out of the Residence. The group then boldly marched toward White River City’s Teleportation Hall.