Chapter 177 – Limit Breaker?

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TL Notes:

Purple Light Trading Firm -> Purple Light Chamber of Commerce

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When Shi Feng bisected Death Curse’s Advanced Combat Puppet, silence suddenly enveloped the entire battlefield. Even the members of Purple Light and Death Curse had stopped fighting to look at the destroyed Combat Puppet.

“It got destroyed?”

“He destroyed it with just one attack?”

“No! Impossible! That’s an Advanced Combat Puppet we are talking about! I must be dreaming! How can a player possibly accomplish such a feat?!”

Everyone was greatly shocked by the sight of the bisected Advanced Combat Puppet.

Advanced Combat Puppets were known for being nigh-invincible existences in the Stratified Abyssal Realm’s various cities. At the same time, they were the various powers’ trump cards. Meanwhile, even the administrators of the various cities would have great difficulty destroying an Advanced Combat Puppet.

Yet, now, one of these nigh-invincible existences had failed to survive even one attack from Shi Feng and gotten bisected like a piece of tofu...

“Could that person be a Tier 4 NPC in disguise?” Wordless Ember muttered, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at Shi Feng.

When it came to being a Swordsman, Wordless Ember felt that he could easily rank within the top five of Slumber City. Meanwhile, the only Swordsman who could achieve a convincing victory against him in Slumber City was the Purple Light Chamber of Commerce’s backer, Laura Crader.

However, Wordless Ember was certain that the destructive power Shi Feng had just exhibited was something even Shimmering Sword Laura Crader could not accomplish. Yet, it should be known that Laura Crader was the closest person to becoming a Limit Breaker in Slumber City.

It might make sense if Shi Feng was a Limit Breaker since it was rumored that Limit Breakers could destroy Advanced Combat Puppets in one hit. However, Shi Feng couldn’t be a Limit Breaker. After all, once a player became a Limit Breaker, they could only remain in the Stratified Abyssal Realm for a short time before having to leave for a higher world.

So, if Shi Feng wasn’t a Limit Breaker, the only plausible explanation for his unbelievable strength was that he wasn’t a player but a Tier 4 NPC instead.

“No, it should be his sword! When he attacked just now, I could feel the power gathered within his sword reaching the Limit Breaker standard,” Sleeping Quicksand said, shaking her head as she observed Shi Feng. “The sword he wields is most likely extraordinary even among Fragmented Legendary Weapons. In addition, he also has extraordinary combat standards. I believe he should be able to rival those administrators.”

“The administrators?”

When Wordless Ember heard Sleeping Quicksand’s evaluation, his fighting spirit promptly flared up. Slumber City might have a player population of several hundred million. Still, the number of Swordsmen who could spar with him numbered only a handful, let alone Swordsmen who could match the city’s administrators. If he could engage in an all-out fight with Shi Feng, he was certain that it would greatly help his swordsmanship.

Meanwhile, when Shi Feng defeated the Advanced Combat Puppet, Crimson Heart, Blood Hammer, Gentle Snow, and the others who followed him also couldn’t help but be shocked.

They had long since known that Shi Feng possessed astounding strength. After all, he had managed to single-handedly tank the Tier 4 Dark Titan. However, that raid had taken place in God’s Domain, where they didn’t have to suffer the Stratified Abyssal Realm’s severe penalties. Moreover, Shi Feng had used all of his strength to tank the Dark Titan back then.

However, they couldn’t help but feel that rather than grow weaker, Shi Feng had grown stronger after entering the Stratified Abyssal Realm instead...

“That person is too dangerous, Commander! We might also lose the other Advanced Combat Puppet if we keep on fighting! Should we continue?” a Berserker clashing against Echoing Judgment, Purple Light’s commander, asked through the team chat urgently.

“Retreat!” Night Revenant commanded without hesitation, his eyes filled with shock as he looked at Shi Feng. Then, a cold glint flashed in his eyes as he swore, “We’ll pay him back for this in Slumber City sooner or later!”

Night Revenant never expected to encounter an existence rivaling Slumber City’s administrators in a 20-man team. He also didn’t expect to lose an Advanced Combat Puppet. If news of this spread, Death Curse would definitely suffer a huge loss in reputation.

After saying so, Night Revenant promptly disappeared into his shadow, preventing Hidden Soul from perceiving his movement and presence.

He left? Just like that?

Hidden Soul grew a little disappointed when she saw Night Revenant and the other members of Death Curse retreating.

I might have been able to achieve a breakthrough in that Silver Footwork if I could clash with him a little longer...

Hidden Soul had gained a significant harvest from fighting with Night Revenant. Particularly, the evasive techniques Night Revenant employed was undoubtedly the strangest out of all evasive techniques she had seen used by Assassins. If it weren’t for her talent as a High Demonkin, she would have likely been led astray by Night Revenant’s movements and gotten hit on numerous occasions.

Meanwhile, after Death Curse’s members swiftly withdrew from the battlefield, Purple Light’s members couldn’t help but sigh in relief. The size of Death Curse’s team exceeded their team by more than two times. They had also fought many battles against monsters before Death Curse had ambushed them, so they didn’t have much Stamina remaining. Had the fight with Death Curse continued for a few more minutes, they would have most certainly suffered annihilation.

“Thank you for your assistance. If not for you all, our entire team would have died here,” Echoing Judgment said gratefully after approaching Shi Feng quickly. “My name is Echoing Judgment, the Purple Light Chamber of Commerce’s commander. May I know how I should address you all?”

“Black Flame,” Shi Feng answered without hesitation.

Everyone else in Shi Feng’s team also introduced themselves one after another.

“It seems you all possess extraordinary skills if you can operate outside with so few people. Could you all be from the Dark Sanctuary?” Echoing Judgment asked somewhat excitedly when he saw that there were players with higher races, such as Hidden Soul and Maria, in Shi Feng’s team.

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Typically, players in the Stratified Abyssal Realm would operate in teams of 200 at the very least for the sake of survival. If a team operated with only 20 members, the team either had an Upper-class Noble or was made up of overconfident players. In the latter case, they were usually ignorant newcomers who were setting foot into Level 100-plus maps for the first time.

Aside from these two scenarios, there was also one more possibility for a small team of 20 to appear in a Level 100-plus map.

These players were from the Dark Sanctuary, the center of the Stratified Abyssal Realm!

It was rumored that the Dark Sanctuary possessed the secret for players to become Limit Breakers. However, the Dark Sanctuary was isolated from the rest of the Stratified Abyssal Realm, and it was incredibly challenging to get into and out of the Dark Sanctuary.

Players seeking to get out of the Dark Sanctuary needed to complete a trial with a participation limit of 20 players per team. Meanwhile, each trial completion would only grant players one exit opportunity. Moreover, teams that sought to leave the Dark Sanctuary could only spend a limited time outside the Dark Sanctuary.

For outsiders seeking to enter the Dark Sanctuary, the conditions they needed to meet were even stricter. Not only did they have to complete a trial, but they also needed to find trial certificates before they could even qualify to challenge the trial. Trial certificates dropped randomly in the Stratified Abyssal Realm’s Level 100-plus maps, and only after gathering 20 certificates could players challenge the Dark Sanctuary’s entry trial.

The various cities’ peak powers all sought to enter the Dark Sanctuary and search for the secret to becoming a Limit Breaker. Unfortunately, even until now, not even one of Slumber City’s powers had managed to gather 20 certificates. In fact, there weren’t even 20 certificates in total in the entire city.

On the other hand, though, there were some players who had managed to come out of the Dark Sanctuary. These were all players belonging to the Dark Sanctuary’s various powers, and every one of these players was incredibly powerful. These players had specifically left the Dark Sanctuary to trade with powers outside the Dark Sanctuary, and many powers had skyrocketed in strength because of their trades with the Dark Sanctuary’s players.

Meanwhile, one of the easiest ways to identify whether a team was from the Dark Sanctuary was by looking at the number of higher races the team had. Higher races were incredibly rare in the various cities. They were so rare that there wouldn’t be more than a handful of higher races in a city of several hundred million.

Yet, Shi Feng’s small team of 20 had two higher races. Moreover, one of them was a High Demonkin, and the other was a Demidragon. Both were extremely powerful races, even among higher races. There was no way any city outside of the Dark Sanctuary could come up with a team with two of these higher races.

Thus, the only explanation was that Shi Feng’s team came from the Dark Sanctuary!