Shi Feng departed Glory Stone Fortress and headed south.
"Is that guy insane? He's charging through the wilderness like that!"
"What's going on? Why aren't those monsters noticing him?"
Players in outdoor teams watched as Shi Feng sprinted through the desolate forest, the high-level monsters roaming the surroundings acting as if he didn't exist — some even swerving out of his way on their own. The sight left everyone stunned.
In the blink of an eye, Shi Feng vanished from their field of view.
"Have I gotten so used to fighting monsters above my level?" Shi Feng rode his mount through the desolate forest and spotted numerous player squads battling in the area. These elite squads were notably stronger than the elite players of the Star Moon Kingdom.
The monsters here were all level 70 and above, possessing both a level advantage and a massive edge in attributes. Yet these players knew how to fight — they never tanked head-on, relying only on their main tank to hold aggro while the tank constantly dodged. Meanwhile, the ranged Classes unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks to whittle down these high-level monsters.
The strategy sounded simple enough, but the monsters here had solid combat AI. Combined with their attribute advantage, keeping them occupied was far from easy — let alone maintaining that for an extended period. It was a severe test of player skill.
That said, these players could only operate in the vicinity of Glory Stone Fortress. They couldn't stray too far, because the deeper into the wilderness one ventured, the higher the monster levels became — and their ranks were no longer limited to special Elites and Leaders. Lords and High Lords roamed those areas as well.
Level 70-plus Lords and High Lords — even a level 60 Tier 2 expert would have to give them a wide berth. Their combat proficiency was leagues above the Elite and Leader monsters, and paired with their lethal skills, a single misstep could cost a Tier 2 expert their life in an instant, let alone a Tier 1 player.
But none of this posed any threat to Shi Feng. The level 70-plus Lords along the road that Tier 2 players had to tread carefully around were no danger to him at all at his own level 70. He passed through them with ease.
After more than two hours of riding, Shi Feng arrived at a wide, open plain strewn with rubble. At its center stood an ancient altar, surrounded by towering stone pillars that formed a labyrinth around it. Within the pillar maze, various elemental creatures roamed — all level 75 or above, including Lords among their ranks.
This was the most famous location on the Glory Stone Fortress map: the Elemental Altar.
"As expected, no one's here yet." Shi Feng crept up to the Elemental Altar and gazed at the ancient stone box placed at its center. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
In his previous life, virtually anyone heading toward Thunder Axe City would have passed through Glory Stone Fortress. But by the time he himself had come here, the fortress had long since been fully explored. What players talked about most was this very Elemental Altar.
The reason it attracted so much discussion was the stone box enshrined within. It looked ordinary and unremarkable, but once opened, it contained a treasure of earth-shattering importance.
The Sealing Stone!
Though the Sealing Stone was a single-use item, its power was terrifying — it could seal a single monster, directly suppressing its strength by an entire tier for three hours.
That might not sound particularly impressive, but the Sealing Stone could seal even Legendary-tier monsters, reducing them to High Great Lord level. Primordial-species Legendaries could be suppressed down to ordinary Legendary tier.
In his previous life, it was this very Sealing Stone that had opened the gates of Thunder Axe City. Without it, the guardian monsters had been utterly impossible for any single player to defeat. Countless peak experts from superpowers had been turned away at those gates before.
Now that he wanted to open Thunder Axe City's gates himself, the Sealing Stone was naturally indispensable.
However, obtaining the Sealing Stone from the stone box was no simple task, because a Thunder Beast guarded it.
Thunder Beast — elemental creature, High Great Lord, level 77, HP: 85 million.
The Thunder Beast was notoriously difficult to deal with, and the more players there were, the stronger it became. This scaling mechanic was different from ordinary world bosses — it counted from a single living being rather than starting from a hundred-man raid. If the number of living beings exceeded six, the Thunder Beast would grow into a Primordial-species High Great Lord. If it exceeded twenty, it would ascend to Legendary tier. And if it exceeded a hundred — while it wouldn't continue growing further — its combat proficiency would skyrocket. At that point, with over a hundred living beings present, it became an utterly invincible existence.