No one in the group doubted Mo Qiubai's assessment of the situation. Lin Ya immediately produced a Tier 3 group teleportation magic scroll, unfurled it, and activated it — moving with a speed that would easily rank among the top five fastest actions of her life.
A Level 100 Legendary monster was already trouble enough. Even with all of them being blessed by the Sea God, their combined strength was no match for it, let alone a Legendary monster that had become an aberration.
The last time an aberration had appeared in the Sea God World, it had shaken the entire realm.
Back then, Heart of the Giant had already unified the Sea God World, but the appearance of that aberration had annihilated nearly ten thousand of their elite experts, consumed almost half of Heart of the Giant's reserves, and forced them to expend even the trump cards they had been saving to rival the super guilds — and only then had they barely managed to bring the aberration down.
Heart of the Giant had suffered catastrophic losses in that battle. Otherwise, the Empire of Awe wouldn't be so bold in pressuring them now.
The reason was that being killed by an aberration was nothing like being killed by a normal monster. If an aberration simply killed you outright, that was one thing — but if it devoured you, things got truly horrific.
Not only was the death penalty increased by 300%, but you also suffered ten days of soul weakness after revival. That was worse than being killed five or six times in succession. During Heart of the Giant's battle with the aberration, numerous experts at the Mastery realm and above — even peak experts — had been swallowed whole, devastating their combat strength.
Now, facing a Legendary-class aberration, if they didn't flee immediately, being devoured was a very real possibility — something utterly unthinkable for them. Fortunately, within this world inside the Temple, players could freely use magical items. Otherwise, they would truly be doomed.
In an instant, a teleportation magic circle spread out beneath Lin Ya's feet, enveloping everyone.
As a Tier 3 group teleportation magic scroll, it could instantly transport up to twenty party members to the nearest NPC city or to a specified location within a certain range.
Within this miniature world, Lin Ya had no intention of staying a single moment longer. She chose to teleport directly to the nearest NPC city.
Shi Feng had no objections whatsoever.
A Legendary-class aberration — this was the first time he had ever encountered one. Once a monster became an aberration, it was like a beast unchained from its cage. Not only did its stats undergo a qualitative transformation, but its intelligence also improved dramatically. Just how far its strength had increased, he dared not even imagine.
If he stayed behind, death was a certainty.
The teleportation magic circle transformed everyone into streaks of white light that shot into the void and vanished from the miniature world.
When Shi Feng and the others opened their eyes again, they had appeared in Mountain Lake City — tens of thousands of yards away from the ruins.
"We're finally safe," Lin Ya said, letting out a sigh of relief as she looked at the pedestrians on the street.
Everyone nodded in agreement. If they had stayed even a few more seconds, the Twilight King — now transformed into an aberration — would certainly have killed them. But here in Mountain Lake City, they were safe.
Mountain Lake City might not be a major city, but it was still a large NPC city, and it was extremely far from the ruins. Even if the Twilight King wanted to come after them, he wouldn't have the means to do so.
The only person who felt regret was Mo Qiubai. He had been so close — just one final step — to completing the quest and advancing to become a direct Sea God blessed. Now it had all fallen through.
"I'm truly sorry for the trouble, Elder Nightwind. I didn't expect such an accident to occur, but I will still offer three Ocean Boundary Stones as compensation for this quest. I hope Elder Nightwind won't disdain them," Mo Qiubai said, looking at Shi Feng with sincere apology.
Though the quest had failed, the strength Shi Feng had displayed made him well worth recruiting. Perhaps in the future he would encounter a quest that required someone of Shi Feng's caliber. After all, becoming a Tier 3 Sword King this early — leading everyone by a full step — meant that even after they all advanced to Tier 3 Classes, Shi Feng's strength would still command respect.
Standing nearby, Yusheng Momo and the uncultured Niu looked on with undisguised envy.
Their agreement with Mo Qiubai only entitled them to Ocean Boundary Stones upon successful completion of the quest. With the quest failed, Shi Feng was still receiving three Ocean Boundary Stones — one more than their own reward. This trip to the Sea God Ruins had been a massive windfall for him.
Just as Shi Feng was about to speak, the space around them surged with violent fluctuations, drawing everyone's attention.
The previously calm void suddenly cracked open, and two pitch-black arms reached out from within, slowly tearing the fabric of space apart.