Chapter 716 - Ruins of the Imperial Capital

Under Shi Feng’s control, the two Level 52 Tier 3 Demons quickly swept through all of the Giant Petrified Rats in the stone hall.

Following the clear sound of a system notification, a golden glow encompassed Shi Feng. He had finally reached Level 36. Without hesitation, Shi Feng placed the 10 Free Attribute Points he had just obtained into Agility, partially making up for the loss of 25 Agility he had previously suffered.

The Giant Petrified Rats were Level 60 Elites, and they dropped valuable loot. Aside from some materials, they dropped plenty of Level 50 and above Common and Bronze Equipment. In the outside world, Shi Feng would have to grind far longer to obtain so many items.

“Huh? A Tier 2 Skill Book!” Shi Feng was slightly surprised as he picked up a book decorated with silver silk from the pile.

In God’s Domain, the majority of a class’s Basic Skills were learned from NPC instructors, while some of the slightly more powerful Skills were obtained from quests. As for high-tiered Skills, however, one could gain them by trading the Legacy Skill Point that the system provided.

Tier 0 Skills could generally be found in the fields or Dungeons. However, Tier 1 Skills practically never dropped, increasing the difficulty of obtaining them exponentially.

In truth, the majority of the Tier 1 Skills that monsters dropped could be gained by trading in Legacy Skill Points. If one obtained such a Skill from monsters, they would not have to waste their Legacy Points to unlock said Skill and could spend the points on learning other Skills.

Ordinary Tier 1 Skills generally cost two Legacy Skill Points to learn. Meanwhile, players only obtained one point for every three Levels. Hence, a player would have to level up six times to learn an ordinary Tier 1 Skill.

If Tier 1 Skills were already so expensive, there was no need to mention Tier 2 Skills.

Even the most common Tier 2 Skill cost four Legacy Skill Points. One had to level up 12 times to learn one. Hence, in God’s Domain, Skill Books were extremely valuable.

Currently, the going rate for an ordinary Tier 1 Skill Book could even rival a piece of Level 30 Fine-Gold Equipment. If it were a powerful Tier 1 Skill such as a Lifesaving-, AOE Attack-, Control-, Control Removal-, or Burst-type Skill Book, no one would sell it even for the price of a Level 30 Dark-Gold Weapon, much less anything Fine-Gold ranked.

Weapons and equipment would be discarded as players increased in level. However, Skills would not.

Nobody would complain about too many Skills.

The drop-rate of Tier 1 Skill Books in a large-scale Hell Mode Team Dungeon was roughly 2%.

However, in large-scale Hell Mode Team Dungeons that were Level 50 and above, the drop-rate of Tier 2 Skill Books was less than 0.3%. Obtaining one was mostly due to luck.

Hence, Shi Feng was astonished when he realized that the Giant Petrified Rats had dropped a Tier 2 Skill Book.

Shi Feng checked the Skill Book, discovering that it was the Tier 2 General Melee Skill, Dark Ghost.

[Dark Ghost] (Tier 2 Skill)

Split yourself into four and attack simultaneously. Every doppelganger deals 100% of the main body’s damage. Duration of 4 seconds.

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Tier Requirement: Tier 2 class or above.

I recall someone exchanging this Dark Ghost Skill for an Epic item with relatively good Attributes in the past. I never thought I would find it here. Shi Feng was speechless.

General Skill Books were much more valuable than Class Skill Books as they could be used in a variety of battles.

It was especially true for this Dark Ghost Skill. If he suddenly split himself into four identical copies, who would dare to approach him casually?

Hence, among Tier 2 General Skills, Dark Ghost ranked relatively near the top. Many melee players had sought after this Skill. If used during a crucial moment, the Skill could turn the tide of battle.

It’s a pity that I can’t learn it yet. I’ll have to wait until I reach Tier 2. Shi Feng tucked the Dark Ghost Skill Book away in satisfaction. He then directed the Tier 3 Demons to advance.

The second underground floor was like a massive maze. Even with the map in hand, Shi Feng had a very difficult time progressing through it.

Throughout his journey, he would occasionally encounter Giant Petrified Rats’ nests.

When he met such encounters, he had no choice but to stop and clear out the nest. Otherwise, he could not venture further.

Moreover, due to the petrification issue, it became far more difficult to control the Tier 3 Demon that held off the Giant Rats. In the end, Shi Feng gave up on the Tier 3 Demon altogether and let the Giant Rats attack it. With the Tier 3 Demon’s HP and Shi Feng’s Life Bloom, they Giant Petrified Rates would never kill it.

Although killing the Rats was time-consuming, the fact that these Elites could drop Tier 2 Skill Books motivated Shi Feng. Moreover, he could also obtain a large sum of EXP.

While Shi Feng explored the Dragon’s Maw’s second underground floor, he instructed the Dark Gods Legion, which had been training all this time, take action, delving deeper into the Stoneclaw Mountains.

As an Asura Mode Regional Dungeon, the Stoneclaw Mountains was somewhat special.

Not only were the monsters inside the Dungeon more powerful, but the loot was also better than elsewhere. The monsters also dropped Magic Crystals. More importantly, the monsters dropped Barrier Crystal Balls.

If one collected a sufficient number of Barrier Crystal Balls, they could use them to form a barrier. The barrier would suppress the strength of contained enemies. It was just like the Demon Suppressing Barrier that Blue Frost’s team had used when they faced the Level 40 Great Lord Noya. The barrier had greatly reduced Noya’s combat power, making it a lot easier to raid the Great Lord. The Barrier Crystal Balls were similar in this aspect.

Only, the Barrier Crystal Balls were somewhat different from Magic Scrolls. Generally, Magic Scrolls were one-use items. Barrier Crystal Balls, however, could be used multiple times. Only, each use would expend a lot of Magic Crystals.

During God’s Domain’s initial stages, players were both low-leveled and low-tiered. Hence, most felt helpless against even High Lord ranked monsters, not to mention Great Lords. Raiding these monsters simply required too much from players at this stage of the game. Perhaps the Main God System had taken this into consideration; since a player’s strength was limited, the only other way to defeat these Grand Lord ranked Bosses was to suppress their strength.

However, aside from quests, there were practically no methods or tools that could suppress Boss-level monsters.

Bosses of large-scale Team Dungeons had been a roadblock for many large Guilds. However, after the Stoneclaw Mountains had appeared, the various Guilds had discovered the Barrier Crystal Ball in the Dungeon’s inner region. This had allowed the Guilds to reduce the difficulty of large-scale Team Dungeons, significantly increasing their raiding speed.

A Guild only had a limited number of experts. Normally, only these experts were barely able to clear large-scale Team Dungeons. Large-scale Team Dungeons also had Cooldown times. Hence, this had resulted in the rarity of top-tier equipment.

However, if a Guild could lower the difficulty of a large-scale Team Dungeon and allow players that were not quite experts to clear it, the acquisition of top-tier equipment would naturally skyrocket.

Shi Feng was not confident in dealing with the Flower of Seven Sins adequately. Against the Star Alliance, however, he had plenty of confidence. The best method to crush the Star Alliance swiftly was to increase Zero Wing’s overall strength. After all, a battle between Guilds could not be settled by an individual.

Currently, the various large Guilds were grinding in the Stoneclaw Mountains outer area. They avoided the inner region as they had deemed the danger to be higher than the potential rewards.

The Flower of Seven Sins was already preparing to deal with Zero Wing. However, it would not be wise for Shi Feng to send the main force into the Stoneclaw Mountains. But it was a different story for the Dark Gods Legion.

Originally, the Dark Gods Legion’s members were already powerful as individuals. After taking into account the Power of Darkness, they could easily venture into the Stoneclaw Mountains’ inner region to obtain the Barrier Crystal Balls.

Under Shi Feng’s command, the Dark Gods Legion had no trouble obtaining several dozen Barrier Crystal Balls. This was enough to outfit several 100-man teams to raid the Hard Mode Frost Prison.

Time passed quickly. After a day of travel through the second floor, Shi Feng finally arrived at the staircase leading to the floor below. Meanwhile, Shi Feng was already Level 37. He had fully recovered the 25 Agility he had lost.

The instant Shi Feng’s foot landed on the staircase, the view before him changed. He was transported to a fog-covered city. The sound of a system notification suddenly reached his ears.

System: You have discovered the Ruins of the Imperial Capital.

Grinding Mastery Points