As Chen Hui widened the distance from Shi Feng in the Illusory Forest, most of Star Ring's experts felt a measure of relief—they wouldn't have to fight Shi Feng after all. Yet every one of them still harbored a bitter frustration.
"Vice Leader, are we really just leaving?" a Level 67 assassin clad in black leather armor asked indignantly. "Sure, Black Flame may be strong, but this is Star Ring's territory. Just give the word, Vice Leader, and we can have three more squads here in under ten minutes. With four squads combined, taking him down would be child's play!"
Star Ring was the dominant power in the Undying Kingdom. Even the two superpowers of the Dark Night Empire kept their heads down around Star Ring these days, let alone some lone Black Flame.
Could Black Flame possibly be stronger than those two superpowers?
The top-tier experts and monsters within those superpowers were beyond what any ordinary guild could even imagine, yet they had all been brought to heel by Star Ring!
Besides, if word got out about this, it would be terrible for Star Ring's reputation.
"Take him down? You think I haven't thought about that?" Chen Hui shot the assassin a vicious glare. "If he were just a Domain expert, fine—but he's the one who killed the Sword Demon. Forget four squads, even ten wouldn't make a difference, understand? If he wanted to, not a single one of us would escape."
"What's truly infuriating is that Black Flame was toying with us the entire time. The moment I refused, he would have attacked immediately—just to show me how stupid my choices were."
He understood perfectly well that no matter what he chose, Shi Feng would ultimately crush Star Ring's prestige in the Undying Kingdom. Given that, he'd rather pick the option with the least damage. Everyone present were his loyal subordinates—if they were wiped out, the loss would fall squarely on him. Losing face would be bad enough, but losing his people as well? That would be far worse.
"Is he really that strong?" the Level 67 assassin asked, genuinely stunned.
A Domain monster defeating their hundred-man expert squad out in the wild was one thing—that kind of defeat usually came from guerrilla tactics, getting whittled down bit by bit.
If they scattered and fled with everything they had, even a Domain expert would be hard-pressed to stop all of them.
But according to Vice Leader Chen Hui, Shi Feng could prevent every single one of them from escaping if he so chose? That was terrifying.
The squads operating in the Illusory Forest were typically led by top-tier experts, and Vice Leader Chen Hui himself held the title "Sword of the Fallen"—his strength placed him at the apex even among top-tier experts, just one step away from Domain mastery. Otherwise, he wouldn't be one of the three pillars of the War Soul guild. Every member of his personal guard was likewise elite among elites. For none of them to be able to escape? Impossible.
"Those Domain monsters aren't as simple as you think," Chen Hui said through gritted teeth. "Otherwise, why would all those superpowers have such a headache dealing with them? Especially in Divine Realm—a game of this caliber takes everything they're good at and amplifies it, making them even harder to deal with. But this isn't over. We may not be able to handle him ourselves, but once I report this to the Guild Leader, he'll send someone to deal with him!"
Domain monsters were fearsome, no question, but the superpowers had their own monsters too. Moreover, Divine Realm already provided means to counter player-monsters—whether the superpowers were willing to pay the price was the only question.
While Chen Hui relayed the news of Shi Feng's presence in the Illusory Forest back to the guild, the members of the Purple Shadow adventurer team—who had been locked in combat with the boss—were still struggling to process what had just happened, unsure of what to do next.
"Team Leader, what do we do now?" Mu Qingcheng asked Shenqiu Mingdong.
Everything had changed so fast. Just moments ago, they had nearly been wiped out by Star Ring. Then in the next breath, Shi Feng had claimed the boss and the chest for himself—and Star Ring had actually turned around and walked away. It was almost unreal.
"This..." Shenqiu Mingdong looked at Shi Feng, momentarily at a loss.
Do they fight or not?
Stay or go?
Fighting was obviously out of the question. If even Star Ring—stronger than them in every way—had backed down, that alone spoke volumes about Shi Feng's power. As for leaving, Shi Feng hadn't given them permission. If they left and angered him, he might casually wipe them out along with the boss, and they'd have nowhere to vent their grief.
In that sudden, crushing moment, Shenqiu Mingdong felt that the Purple Shadow adventurer team—his pride and joy—was nothing more than dust.