"Go to the level-100 map?"
Everyone present stared at Shi Feng, momentarily unable to process what they had just heard.
For current top-tier experts, the norm was to operate in areas ranging from level 80 to level 85 at most. Higher-level zones brought not only the problem of level suppression but also made killing high-level monsters far more strenuous. On top of that, higher-level maps were more dangerous and more time-consuming to traverse.
The reason was simple: the higher a map's level in the Divine Realm, the farther it was from the nearest teleportation point. Moreover, high-level monsters possessed far stronger perception. A level-80 monster would only detect a level-75 player within a hundred yards, but swap that for a level-90 monster, and it could likely spot a player's presence from two hundred yards away.
On densely packed, high-level maps, even a hundred-yard detection range was more than enough to attract unwanted attention — two hundred yards was practically asking for trouble. At that range, there was no telling how many monsters would come swarming, and there would be no escape.
This was exactly why few current experts ventured to high-level maps to grind. It wasn't that they didn't want to — it simply wasn't worth the risk.
As for a level-100 map, it was something most players wouldn't even dare to dream about.
"Guild Leader, we're not even level 80 yet. Isn't it way too dangerous to head to a level-100 map right now?" Yan Tianxing asked with concern. "We've already fallen noticeably behind the major superpowers in our Abyss exploration. If we go to a level-100 map, that gap could widen even further…"
He knew that the people gathered here were among the best of the best — probably only the major superpowers could assemble a hundred-person team of this caliber. But even so, it was far too reckless.
The Abyssal Gorge, on the other hand, was a God-tier area Dungeon, perfectly suited to their current levels. It was, without question, the ideal place to level up and grow stronger.
"Our current levels are more than sufficient," Shi Feng said with a smile, clearly understanding Yan Tianxing's concern. "Besides, the place we're heading is no worse than the Abyssal Gorge."
Under normal circumstances, the Abyssal Gorge was indeed the best grinding spot available — but that was only if you didn't count level-100 maps. What's more, over ten superpowers had already entered the Abyssal Gorge, making the competition inside fierce. Why compete there when they could have the Endless Sand Sea all to themselves?
The group couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement at those words.
They trusted Shi Feng's judgment. If he said they could do this, then he must have been absolutely certain. Having a prime grinding spot entirely to themselves was leagues better than scrapping with the major superpowers in the Abyssal Gorge.
Still, quite a few among them harbored reservations. This was a level-100 map, after all — all the monsters inside were level 100 or above. A gap of over twenty levels was enormous. Even equipment that ignored level restrictions could only negate around a dozen levels at most. Bridging a gap of more than twenty levels was no simple feat.
While everyone buzzed with a mixture of curiosity and lingering doubts, Shi Feng led the group straight to the nearest teleportation point to the God-Forsaken Land. The teleportation fee alone cost over eleven gold per person, and with a hundred people, the total came to over a thousand gold — enough to make even large guilds wince.
After arriving at a remote small town, Shi Feng used the Portal of the Seven Luminaries Ring to teleport the group step by step into the border zone of the God-Forsaken Land. It took four successive teleportations before they finally reached the bordering map outside the God-Forsaken Land — the Precipice Valley.
The Precipice Valley was a level-80 map, considered quite high-level for current players. Aside from the elite teams of the superpowers, only the main raid forces of first-rate guilds could realistically grind here. But the Precipice Valley was so remote that virtually no players bothered to come.
The group stood before the massive cliff face of the Precipice Valley, their expressions darkening one by one.
From the towering cliff — over a thousand meters high — they could faintly feel a terrifying pressure. The desolate aura of death that shrouded the cliff was visible to the naked eye. Simply approaching it sent a sharp, stinging pain through their bodies, and they felt as though some invisible force was siphoning away their energy.
In just moments, an indescribable hunger set in, their whole bodies trembling faintly as they craved a way to replenish their depleted vitality.
"Holy crap! What kind of hellhole is this?!" Hei Zi stared at the enormous cliff before them with a trace of fear. "Guild Leader, please tell me we're not actually going inside?!"
This was an experience he had never encountered in his entire time in the Divine Realm. The sensation of death lingered over him like a shadow, and they hadn't even entered yet — they were just standing in front of the cliff. He couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like once they went inside.
Forget the monsters — the environment alone would probably kill them.
"This cliff is highly unusual. It exerts an extremely powerful suppressive force. I doubt an ordinary Tier 2 expert could even climb it," Bai Qingxue remarked after lightly touching the cliff face, a hint of surprise in her voice. She hadn't expected Shi Feng to bring them somewhere like this.
She held a fragment of a Legendary item and possessed a top-tier inheritance. Her base stats were undoubtedly among the very pinnacle of the Divine Realm. Yet even she would find scaling this cliff incredibly difficult — for other Tier 2 experts, it would be practically impossible.
"Exactly. Climbing this cliff is completely impossible for current Tier 2 experts. They'd probably fall to their deaths before even reaching the halfway point." Shi Feng nodded. This was the God-Forsaken Land, after all — even its outermost fringe was not a place players could simply waltz into. He then smiled. "But we don't need to climb it. I'll take us across directly."
With that, Shi Feng summoned the Thunder Eagle.
The Thunder Eagle materialized before the group, its size comparable to a mid-sized airliner, its wings blotting out the sky. The terrifying pressure it radiated made everyone feel a weight settle over them. When Shi Feng leapt onto the Thunder Eagle's back, Hei Zi and the others nearly had their eyes pop out of their heads.
"G-Guild Leader, is that… a flying mount?!" Hei Zi asked, his voice trembling.
The appearance of a flying mount on the Ice Prison Island had caused a sensation throughout the entire Divine Realm, and Zero Wing had been no less intrigued. But the flying mount had appeared on the Ice Prison Island only once, after which all news had gone cold. There had been no way for them to gather further intelligence no matter how hard they tried.
And now the Thunder Eagle standing before them looked exactly like the flying mount from those recordings. Combined with Shi Feng riding on its back, Hei Zi was already ninety-nine percent certain that the person who had appeared on the Ice Prison Island was Shi Feng.
But the mere thought of Shi Feng possessing a flying mount — something that had driven the entire Divine Realm into a frenzy — still made him desperate to hear confirmation from Shi Feng's own lips.
After all, this was simply too incredible.
A flying mount!
It could soar freely through the sky, reach any map in the Divine Realm at will, and make distance a non-issue.
At that moment, it wasn't just Hei Zi — Shuisa Qiangwei, Bai Qingxue, Ke Le, Huo Wu, Yan Tianxing, and every other member of the group was staring at Shi Feng with eager, burning eyes, desperate to hear his confirmation.
"Yes, this Thunder Eagle is indeed a flying mount."
Meeting their eager, almost fanatical gazes, Shi Feng smiled and nodded.