After the lightning-like flash of sword light swept past, Chen Hui and Feng Mo—who were positioned at a greater distance—instinctively retreated at full speed the instant they saw it. They didn't dare take even half a step closer to Shi Feng, staring fixedly at his surging aura, which was like that of some primordial beast.
"Could he be that old monster in disguise?" Feng Mo's eyes were filled with shock as he looked at Shi Feng.
Setting aside someone like Chen Hui, who was half a step away from mastering the Domain, the three of them—Sword Demon, Mind Demon, and Feng Mo—had been fighting at full power in a coordinated assault, and yet their combined might was unstoppable. Their stats were absolutely at the Tier 4 level.
Yet against a single sword strike from Shi Feng, they hadn't been able to put up any resistance at all.
He could no longer imagine just how powerful Shi Feng had become.
But compared to his strength, what was truly terrifying was Shi Feng's temperament. He was nothing like a young man. If Shi Feng's earlier strike hadn't come from a greater distance, and if they hadn't sensed his aura suddenly spiking and instinctively activated their life-saving skills, that single slash would have ended them all.
And Sword Demon and Mind Demon had fallen right into the trap.
Because their skills were still in the middle of being cast.
In the Divine Realm, when a player was using a skill and wanted to switch to another, there was always a very brief interval before the new skill could be used. The more powerful the skill, the longer that interval.
Shi Feng had clearly seized on this detail. He had been waiting for exactly this moment—like a swordsman who held his strike in reserve, biding his time until his enemy revealed an opening, then delivering the killing blow.
Sword Demon and Mind Demon had sensed Shi Feng's sudden transformation, but while in the middle of casting their skills, there was simply no time to respond to this perfectly timed slash…
Strength!
Technique!
Composure!
The three aspects had not a single flaw among them. Under normal circumstances, a young man who had acquired immense power would never have the restraint to hold back. He would be like the sun, eager to show the world every last ounce of his might. But Shi Feng was different. He was like a seasoned veteran of the martial world who had weathered decades of storms, never revealing his trump card until the absolute last moment—and when he did, each one was played at precisely the right time.
At that moment, it wasn't only Feng Mo who was thinking this. Even Yuan Tiexin, who was battling in the distance, couldn't help but think the same.
Shi Feng's trump cards just kept on coming. Even someone like Yuan Tiexin—an old hand who had weathered countless storms—couldn't see through him. The more he observed, the thicker the fog surrounding Shi Feng seemed to become. He was nothing like a young man like Ziqiong, who was straightforward with nothing to hide.
Now that Sword Demon—the strongest in close combat among the three demons—and Mind Demon—the most powerful at range—had both been taken out, Feng Mo and Chen Hui alone could no longer keep Shi Feng suppressed. Their own deaths were only a matter of time.
Once Chen Hui and Mind Demon were killed as well, Star Ring would have no one left to command, and the tide of battle would turn in their favor.
"Black Flame, you're impressive. I truly never expected you to reach this level of strength," Chen Hui said, watching as Shi Feng prepared to strike again. A cold smile suddenly crossed his face. "But no matter how strong you are, you won't be able to stop Stone Forest City from being destroyed today!"
"Chen Hui, you're not actually going to—" Feng Mo's face contorted with horror the moment he heard those words.
Their trip to the Bottomless Abyss had actually come with two contingencies. One was to seize Stone Forest City. The other was to destroy it.
But destroying Stone Forest City was ultimately the worst-case option—one that came at an enormous cost and would never be used unless there was absolutely no other choice.
Because once that method was deployed, nobody would walk away alive.
Before Feng Mo could even stop him, Chen Hui had already pulled an utterly pitch-black seed from his inventory.
Though the seed was only the size of a finger, the pressure it radiated was utterly terrifying—far surpassing even a Tier 4 Legendary Flame War Elephant.