As Shi Feng nodded in acknowledgment, everyone present gasped in unison, their faces a mixture of shock and elation.
"Guild Master, you're way too powerful! The flying mount incident that shook the Divine Realm — that really was caused by you!"
"So this is a flying mount?"
"Guild Master, how could you not tell us about something so huge?"
...
Shui Se Qiang Wei and the others peppered Shi Feng with questions all at once, indignant that he hadn't shared even a hint of this with them before now.
Still, anger aside, seeing that this stunning and imposing Thunder Eagle belonged to their Zero Wing Guild Master filled them with excitement.
This was the very first flying mount known in the Divine Realm.
Once this news got out, the flying mount alone would be enough for Zero Wing to recruit far more top-tier experts.
The information on how to obtain a flying mount was something even the major superpowers didn't possess yet. Flying mounts were exponentially rarer than ground mounts — for a powerful expert to get one purely on their own was virtually impossible unless they had absurd luck. That meant the best way to acquire a flying mount was to join a major power.
And Zero Wing would be the best choice. After all, Zero Wing was the first guild to obtain a flying mount, giving it a clear edge over other major powers when it came to securing more.
Of course, this news had better stay under wraps for as long as possible. Otherwise it would only make the major superpowers target Zero Wing even more aggressively. Keeping a low profile while quietly building wealth was the way to go.
"Now that you all know about the flying mount — as rare as it is, whoever can clear the second floor of the Transcendence Tower will receive one as a reward." Shi Feng looked at the longing on everyone's faces and smiled.
The guild currently had quite a few Perfection-level experts and even a handful who had taken their first steps into the Realm of Reason. In a first-rate guild they would be considered top-tier, but against the superpowers they still fell short.
However, reaching the entry level of the Realm of Reason changed everything.
At that level, one could effortlessly bring out the full power of combat techniques at will — those high-level combat skills that served as trump cards for top experts could be used freely. Even someone at the Perfection level would have a solid chance of mastering a Bronze-rank combat technique.
If a Flowing Water Realm expert reached the entry level of the Realm of Reason and mastered a Bronze-rank combat technique, then under equal base stats, they might not be a match for Domain-level monsters, but among peak experts they would have few equals.
"Guild Master, are you serious?" Huo Wu asked excitedly.
It wasn't just Huo Wu — Shui Se Qiang Wei and Bai Qingxue were equally tempted, each staring at Shi Feng.
Flying mounts were impossibly rare. They had long known this from the mountain of intelligence they'd gathered. The fact that Shi Feng had managed to get one was already luck; getting a second one would be far, far harder.
"Of course. When have I ever talked big?" Shi Feng laughed at the disbelief in their eyes.
Flying mounts were indeed precious beyond measure — rarer even than Epic-grade items. But after all, he had spent ten years in the Divine Realm. A Transcendence-grade flying mount might be out of reach, but an ordinary flying mount was still obtainable now. He had originally planned to go after that particular mount once he reached level one hundred, but with a flying mount already in hand, acquiring a second one would be much easier.
Hearing Shi Feng's confirmation, everyone's motivation to tackle the second floor of the Transcendence Tower soared.
Huo Wu and Ziyan Liuyun were the most confident, since both had already cleared the first floor of the Trial Tower and had pushed deep into the second floor, reaching the peak of the entry stage — just one step away from the entry level.
Shi Feng then led Shui Se Qiang Wei and the other twenty into the Forsaken Lands aboard the Thunder Eagle.
The moment they entered, a chill of dread washed over them all. Everyone except Shi Feng — whose constitution was extraordinarily robust — felt intense hunger, hearts trembling as their bodies hemorrhaged energy at a staggering rate. Without replenishment, even Bai Qingxue would be dead within five or six hours. The rest wouldn't last even that long.
Fortunately, the Thunder Eagle's speed was exceptional. Even though flying monsters roamed the skies above, as a Transcendence-grade creature the Thunder Eagle easily outpaced these level-one-hundred fliers and shook them off without effort.
After nearly two hours of flight, they entered the inner region of the Endless Sand Sea.
The sand here was silver-white, and the entire area was encircled by a river of shifting dunes. Once inside, everyone felt their hunger drop sharply — they could sustain themselves with advanced food and fine wine to replenish their life energy.
But when Shui Se Qiang Wei spotted the creatures on the ground below, her expression darkened.
Bone Demon Spirit — Undead, Leader, Level 101, HP: 70 million.