Crimson Flame Fortress sat at the heart of the Scorching Canyon, backed by a massive volcano. The surface temperature there was perpetually extreme, the air suffocatingly hot, and the surrounding landscape nothing but barren, scorched earth. Spider-web cracks of grotesque proportions sprawled across the dried, fractured ground—an off-putting sight for anyone who laid eyes on it.
This was the virtual reality experience: the heat and dryness were something players could feel in full. Fighting in such an environment consumed far more stamina than on other maps, so naturally, no player relished the prospect of suffering here.
Because of these harsh conditions, most players avoided coming here to grind levels or complete quests.
Moreover, the Scorching Canyon wasn't the only level 20–25 map. The White River City region alone boasted over twenty such maps, giving millions of players plenty of options for where to level up and take on quests.
But this brutal environment didn't affect Shi Feng much.
He had twenty points of fire resistance, plus the hidden passive skill he'd activated—Basic Body Enhancement. The extreme heat posed no problem for him at all, and it wouldn't drain his stamina during combat. On top of that, most of the monsters here dealt fire-based damage, making the Scorching Canyon an ideal grinding spot for players like Shi Feng who had solid fire resistance. His leveling speed here would be over twenty percent faster than on other maps.
In the Divine Realm, the power of nature was formidable. If players wanted to level up quickly, they had to overcome these harsh natural environments. The further one progressed, the more important resistances became.
That was exactly why Shi Feng had been so excited about the Ice Blue Demonic Flame's ability to boost fire and ice resistance.
After arriving at Crimson Flame Fortress, Shi Feng opened the system map, confirmed his bearings, and headed straight down the flat red-dirt road toward Blazing God's Cavern.
Though the road was crawling with level 20+ monsters—Flame-Crazed Bulls, Enraged Fire Wolves, and the like—Shi Feng was traveling along the main road. High-level NPCs patrolled these routes, fifteen levels above the map's standard, moving in small squads.
Any monster foolish enough to venture near the main road would be cut down by these level-40 NPCs in an instant. Even before getting close—within forty-odd yards—they'd be spotted and dispatched for soup. The monsters didn't dare come within forty yards of the main road, so players walking along it were perfectly safe.
After more than half an hour of careful running, Shi Feng finally arrived at Blazing God's Cavern.
The cavern was situated near the outermost active volcano of the Scorching Canyon. Inside lurked a large number of Elite and field Leader-grade bosses. Ordinary players would never find this place, and even if they did, they'd turn right around—the monsters here were far too powerful. That squad wouldn't have fled here if they hadn't been chased, and they wouldn't have witnessed the ranger farming bosses and Elites in secret.
But now, only Shi Feng knew this secret.
The monsters inside Blazing God's Cavern were uniformly level 25. Typically, only players around level 20 dared to grind here, but Shi Feng had level-ignoring equipment, so he could just barely make it work. The efficiency would be much slower, of course.
Still, grinding level-25 monsters—even at reduced speed—yielded far better rewards than farming level-10-something mobs.
The reason the monsters in Blazing God's Cavern were so deadly was their exceptionally high fire damage. Even a regular level-25 monster could two-shot or three-shot a same-level tank, let alone the fact that these monsters hunted in packs. You wouldn't face just one or two—you'd face five or six at once. Even a top-geared tank couldn't withstand that, not to mention the large number of Elite monsters and special Elite monsters inside, which could almost all one-shot a same-level tank. Even if players knew about this place, nobody dared come here to farm.
But the Blazing Sun Scripture changed everything.
The Blazing Sun Scripture granted the player a "Blazing Sun" buff, whose effectiveness was closely tied to the surrounding environment. The richer the fire elemental energy, the stronger the effect—and it lasted two hours.
However, the Blazing Sun Scripture's text description didn't reveal this effect, so no player knew what it actually did.
Blazing God's Cavern was arguably the place with the densest fire elemental energy in the entire Scorching Canyon, which was exactly why the monsters here had such devastating fire damage—and it made this the perfect spot to use the Blazing Sun Scripture.
But even with the Blazing Sun Scripture, caution was paramount. This was, after all, the den of level-25 monsters—an eleven-level gap. Two hits would finish Shi Feng, leaving him no room to fight back. Moreover, his low level made it easy for these monsters to detect him, so he had to be extremely careful.
Just as Shi Feng gingerly stepped into the steaming-hot cavern mouth with all five senses pushed to their absolute maximum, the system communicator chimed.
"Damn, that nearly scared me to death." Shi Feng flinched and glanced at the system notification.
Thankfully, the system notification sound was inaudible to monsters—just like party chat or raid chat, only the designated player could hear it, so it wouldn't alert anyone else.
"Lin Feilong? Since when does he play the Divine Realm?" Shi Feng frowned slightly at the blinking caller ID.
This Flying Dragon in the Sky was none other than Lin Feilong, Shi Feng's classmate—ninth place in the school's martial arts tournament. In his previous life, Lin Feilong hadn't entered the Divine Realm until long after its launch. By then, Shi Feng was already the guild master of Shadow, while Lin Feilong had joined a powerful family and eventually become a decision-maker at a major corporation, wielding billions in wealth—far more successful than Shi Feng.
"Could it be a butterfly effect that brought Lin Feilong into the Divine Realm earlier?" Shi Feng lowered his head in thought, then chuckled softly. In this life, he hadn't leaked his game ID to anyone. As for Hei Zi, he'd long given him instructions. Not a single person at Jinhai University knew he was Ye Feng, and nobody knew Hei Zi was Dark Clouds Cover the Sun—they only knew Hei Zi was doing well in the Divine Realm and that he was playing too.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" The moment Shi Feng picked up, his tone turned ice-cold, his presence overwhelming—like a god gazing down upon an ant. The pressure was suffocating.
The instant Lin Feilong heard Shi Feng's voice, a chill ran through his entire body. The pressure surged, as if he'd been yanked from a cold bath and plunged into boiling water. His heart rate spiked to 180 beats per minute.
"So this is Ye Feng—the god-level expert who made even the Martial Alliance back down? Just hearing his voice is this overwhelming. The pressure is even greater than what Brother Zhang gives me. Truly worthy of being a god-level expert. No wonder Brother Zhang asked me to recruit him." Lin Feilong was secretly stunned, his reverence for Shi Feng deepening further.
Originally, the person tasked with contacting the god-level expert was supposed to be Zhou Yuhu. But Zhou Yuhu had previously clashed with the expert, so the job fell to Lin Feilong. This felt like an opportunity.
If he could pull this off and attach himself to such a god-level expert, his standing in Shadow would skyrocket—he'd surely surpass Zhou Yuhu in no time. After all, Zhou Yuhu already had a grudge with the expert, so his future in Shadow was bound to be difficult.
As for who would ultimately control Shadow, Lin Feilong had always assumed nobody could match Brother Zhang—until he felt this god-level expert's terrifying presence. Now he was certain: if the god-level expert joined Shadow, he would hold absolute authority. Even Zhang Luowei would have to submit.
"Hello, Expert. I'm the Shadow Guild's representative, Flying Dragon in the Sky. We're sincerely inviting a god-level expert like yourself to join Shadow. As for compensation, rest assured—we'll make sure you're treated generously." Lin Feilong swallowed hard, speaking in a soft, respectful voice. After all, the god-level expert before him was someone he'd need to curry favor with for all he was worth. He was terrified the expert would hang up.