Star Moon Kingdom,
Beams of teleportation light cascaded one after another across the teleportation hall, and
"That's strange. We've been resting for quite a while now, but even after making it back to the city, I feel like my stamina barely recovered at all," Watercolor Rose muttered, sensing the change in her body with a frown.
She wasn't the only one who had noticed.
Once a player reached Perfection, they gained fine control over their bodies. The gradual depletion of stamina would imperceptibly affect a player's physical condition, so even though stamina and mental energy were hidden stats that couldn't be viewed directly, Perfection-realm experts could judge their own stamina state purely through how their bodies felt.
Ordinarily, players entering a town would see their stamina recover at a rapid clip. But right now, their stamina showed virtually no signs of movement — or rather, the recovery speed was absurdly slow. How could such a thing not strike everyone as odd?
"It's nothing. This is simply because the frigid energy of a high-tier zone like the Amethyst Ice Plains has seeped into the body. Once the frigid energy dissipates naturally, things will return to normal," Shi Feng explained.
Higher-level zones weren't merely more dangerous — they also brought along various aftereffects.
The Amethyst Ice Plains were a special region that rejected all forms of energy aside from frigid power. Staying inside for an extended period didn't just burn through stamina at an accelerated rate — it also hampered a player's recovery. This was especially true after fighting a world-class boss like the Frost Army Lord; the frigid energy's erosion of the body became that much more severe. Without a good ten-plus hours of recovery back in a city, it was simply impossible to return to peak condition.
"Doesn't that mean we'll have to rest for a long time and can't do anything?" Bai Qingxue said, her delicate brows knitting together.
She had just obtained the Frost Bone Dragon as a flying mount. She'd originally planned to lead a team into a high-tier zone and farm the field bosses there, netting a haul of equipment in the process. Their levels were high now, but most of the team's gear hadn't caught up yet — otherwise they wouldn't have had such a grueling time beating Star Ring in the tournament.
"That's just how it is. A resource-rich zone of that tier isn't going to let players carry on as if nothing happened," Shi Feng said with a helpless shrug.
In the Divine Realm, leveling up past 100 wasn't particularly hard. The real difficulty lay in acquiring top-grade weapons and equipment matched to your level.
Zones like the Amethyst Ice Plains were the premier source of quality gear. World-class bosses at level 90 spawned there, and multiple Legendary-grade field bosses above level 90 could be found as well — all prime targets for farming level-90 Dark Gold equipment.
However, such zones were typically blanketed by some kind of special energy. Snagging top-tier gear was far from easy. The Amethyst Ice Plains was actually one of the better options; in some places, the lingering effects didn't just impact stamina and mental energy but could even leave lasting damage to a player's constitution and base attributes.
This was precisely why teams that relied on superior strength to farm high-tier resource zones, or major powers that attempted to monopolize a zone's bosses through sheer dominance, found half their routes blocked. It allowed many free adventurer teams and smaller factions to survive within the Divine Realm. The notion of a single power rising above all others was growing ever more difficult — it required ever-larger numbers of strong teams to prosper.
In this regard, the great superpowers held an overwhelming advantage.
Bai Qingxue and Watercolor Rose exchanged a glance, their brows furrowing even more tightly at Shi Feng's words.
In other words, the level and mount advantage they had worked so hard to obtain wouldn't let them pull ahead of those superpowers as easily as they'd imagined.
"Forget about farming a massive haul of high-grade equipment for now. But you can take a group out to grind some levels first. Once the frigid energy is purged, organize the guild's teams for dungeon runs — we need to catch up on our dungeon progression," Shi Feng said with a smile.
Assembling a huge stockpile of high-grade equipment was no simple feat. If it were, the small factions and teams of his previous life would never have survived, and the great superpowers wouldn't have needed to pivot toward crafting professions and scramble for every possible resource.
"Then I'll head out right away," Bai Qingxue conceded helplessly, forced to follow Shi Feng's approach for the time being.
Bai Qingxue and Watercolor Rose promptly led their people out of the teleportation hall, planning to take a group to a high-level zone and grind out some levels. Meanwhile, Shi Feng brought the Shura Adventure Team over to the Candlelight Trading Company, where the members could exchange Contribution Points for high-grade magic armor plates and other internal consumables. He also had
As for Shi Feng himself, he found a private Forging Room and activated the
In the blink of an eye, Shi Feng materialized in an alleyway on the outskirts of Dragon Heart City.
For reasons he couldn't immediately discern, Dragon Heart City was far more bustling than the last time he'd visited. The outskirts, which should have been deserted, were teeming with players on the streets — and not human ones, either. They were almost all neutral-race players.
"So many neutral-race players?" Shi Feng murmured, a flicker of surprise crossing his mind as he studied the crowd.
These neutral-race players all had impressive levels — mostly above 76, with no shortage of level-78 players among them. In a landscape where the mainstream player base hovered around level 72 or 73, these levels were extraordinarily high, on par with the top experts of any major guild. And Dragon Heart City lay deep within the
What's more, it wasn't just neutral-race experts who had gathered in droves. Experts from numerous major factions had converged on the city as well — not only first-rate guilds, but even players from second-rate and third-rate guilds could be spotted in the crowd.
As Shi Feng watched the parade of players crossing the street, he suddenly caught sight of a few familiar faces.
There, together, were Siyu Qingxuan and Qingzhu — the pair who loved to vanish without a trace — along with Qinyin and the others from Ninth Heaven. Shi Feng was still disguised as Black Flame, but Siyu Qingxuan and Qinyin recognized him almost at once.
"Brother Black Flame, you're here too!" Qingzhu called out, walking over.
"Guild Master Black Flame," Qinyin, the half-elf, greeted him with a wave.
"What are you all doing here?" Shi Feng asked, surprised.
The Sylvan Kingdom where Qinyin's group was based was nowhere near this area. Getting here was no easy task.
"Oh? Guild Master Black Flame, you haven't heard?" Qinyin replied, looking at him curiously.
"Heard what?" Shi Feng asked, puzzled.
"About the passage to the