The towering pillar of resplendent light immediately startled the members of the Purple Shadow Adventure Team.
Under normal circumstances, opening a Dark Gold-grade treasure chest would only produce a disturbance that reached three to four thousand yards at most. But this particular Dark Gold chest had radiated its glow across a radius of at least six thousand yards.
This was exactly what every major field adventure team dreaded—within six thousand yards, every player would know a Dark Gold chest had been opened. And this was the Undying Ancient Kingdom. Its resource abundance was incomparable to any other neutral map, making a first-clear treasure chest's value self-evident.
The fact that Shi Feng had been able to drive off the Morning Radiance team by himself was certainly impressive, but with a treasure glow this massive, the number of teams it would attract would likely be several times greater than what a normal Dark Gold chest would draw. After all, the detection range had more than doubled.
The guilds operating in the Undying Ancient Kingdom weren't limited to Star Ring alone—numerous powerful adventure teams were present as well. When the time came, Shi Feng might be able to escape on his own, but what about them?
Whenever teams ventured into the wild, they purchased magic water mirrors. The magic water mirror could only observe a small area, but its detection range was extremely far. The moment a treasure glow appeared, they could use the magic water mirror to pinpoint the source and lock onto the target.
With a three-to-four-thousand-yard radius, they had estimated at most six or seven teams would come. With the Purple Shadow Adventure Team's strength, they could barely handle that—enough for at least some of them to escape. But now, at least twenty teams would be converging on their position, and every single one would be a top-tier crew. It was practically a death sentence.
Meanwhile, within the seven-thousand-yard radius, every major team had already activated their magic water mirrors to investigate.
"That intense a treasure glow, and it's only from a Dark Gold chest?"
"That's Shen Qiu Mingdong of the Purple Shadow Adventure Team, isn't it? Their luck is incredible—finding a Dark Gold chest like this. It's only a Dark Gold-grade chest, yet it's emitting such an intense glow. There must be something extraordinary inside."
"Move! We can't let another team snatch the treasure!"
Through their magic water mirrors, the various teams quickly identified the Purple Shadow team, and one after another, they sprang into action.
The magic water mirror could only display images—no sound, no data overlays. However, the Purple Shadow Adventure Team was quite famous in the Dark Night Empire, so recognizing them by appearance was not difficult.
Normally, before opening a treasure chest, ordinary players would use a Black Cloak to conceal their identity. Only the most powerful guilds and teams dispensed with such precautions. But now it was clear that the Purple Shadow Adventure Team had miscalculated.
First, with a treasure glow this powerful, the items inside had to be extraordinary.
Second, the range affected by the glow was far too wide.
On top of that, in the Divine Realm, any item obtained from a treasure chest carried a forced death-drop status for over two hours. Only after holding the item for that duration would the status be removed. With all of this in play, how could anyone resist the temptation?
"Team Leader, according to the spatial detection magic scroll, there are currently twenty-six magic water mirrors scanning this location. If we want to get out, it's going to be very difficult," Mu Qingcheng said, her expression darkening.
Twenty-six top-tier teams—that meant twenty-six hundred elite players forming a perimeter around them. They had only a hundred people. Breaking through would be nearly impossible.
"How did it come to this?" A trace of helplessness crept into Shen Qiu Mingdong's voice.
The treasure was right in front of them, yet they didn't even have the power to protect it.
While the Purple Shadow Adventure Team was grappling with their predicament, Morning Radiance's group—who had long since moved away from the boss—were equally stunned.