The number of players flooding into Zero Wing's headquarters to join the guild was staggering — the place was practically teeming with people. The arrival of more than twenty cloaked guild members barely drew any attention at all.
For players at Zero Wing's base, wearing black cloaks had practically become the norm. Star Ring's bounty was no joke, after all, and for cash-strapped experts, hunting down Zero Wing members was the fastest way to make a fortune. Only by concealing their identities behind those cloaks could they minimize the risk of being targeted by opportunists. As long as they flashed their guild emblem upon entering the headquarters, they could slip right in — and plenty of Zero Wing members were already doing exactly that.
Those twenty-some cloaked figures made their way into the guild mansion and proceeded straight to the guild master's office, where Shi Feng had already been waiting for some time.
Once inside, all twenty-plus Zero Wing members dispelled the cloaks' concealment effects, revealing their true appearances.
The instant the cloaks' disguises dropped, the air inside the office turned searing and violent — as though more than twenty colossal beasts were standing in the room. The terrifying pressure would have been enough to freeze any Tier 2 expert in their tracks.
"So, Guild Master, our strength has gotten a lot better than before, hasn't it?" Ke Le looked at Shi Feng and eagerly showcased the dense magical power radiating from his entire body.
"Don't listen to him brag, Guild Master — he was the last one among us to complete the class advancement. He just got lucky during the process and managed to construct a Gold-tier High-grade Mana Body with 80% completion," Sword Shadow said from the side.
"Hey, I'll take it! My Mana Body still ranks higher than yours — I'm eighth in the entire team!" Ke Le replied proudly.
Before they had advanced to Tier 3, Shi Feng had explained the importance of the Mana Body to them and stressed that no matter what, they had to aim for at least a Gold-tier Mana Body. He had also given them considerable guidance on how to construct one.
Given his level of skill, achieving a Gold-tier Mid-grade Mana Body with 85% or higher completion would have been more than good enough. Yet during the construction process, he had exceeded all expectations — after just two attempts, not only had he completed a Gold-tier High-grade Mana Body, but the completion rate had reached a full 80%.
It was worth noting that among all of them, only ten had achieved a Gold-tier High-grade Mana Body with 75% or higher completion. The majority had Gold-tier Mid-grade Mana Bodies. While the difference might seem like just one sub-tier, the gap in stamina and mental energy recovery was substantial — and it would pay enormous dividends down the road.
"80% Gold-tier High-grade?" Shi Feng was genuinely surprised. The construction of a Mana Body was an area where physical-class players were inherently at a disadvantage compared to magic-class players. Ke Le's overall skill level wasn't low, but among the entire team, he wasn't particularly outstanding — his combat power only surpassed most of the others thanks to his Legendary fragment, the Titan Guardian. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even cracked the top fifteen.
Moreover, in his previous life, he had heard that Ke Le — the Tyrant Bear — had only managed a Gold-tier Low-grade Mana Body with 78% completion. Even so, that had been enough to make him famous throughout the entire Star Moon Kingdom and rank among the foremost main tanks of the realm.
In this life, Ke Le had somehow achieved a Gold-tier High-grade Mana Body with 80% completion. That would translate into a qualitative leap in his future combat strength.
"Guild Master, 80% Gold-tier High-grade isn't even that impressive," Ban Jiu chimed in from the side. "Boss Yan Tian and Sister Yi are the real monsters — one built a Gold-tier Supreme Mana Body with 93% completion, and the other hit 95%. Now that recovery rate is something else."
She had actually been quite proud of her own Gold-tier High-grade Mana Body at first. After all, Shi Feng had told them that the gap between Mid-grade and High-grade within the Gold tier was enormous — out of every ten players who managed a Gold-tier Mana Body, maybe one would reach High-grade.
But Yan Tianxing, Yi Luofei, Zhao Yueru, the Silent Bladesman, Banxia Qingcheng, and You Lan were all too strong. Every single one of them had reached Gold-tier High-grade, with a minimum of 80% completion. The only one who fell short was Man Gu, ranked seventh, who — through sheer bad luck — had never managed to construct a Gold-tier Supreme Mana Body above 80% completion. In the end, running out of time, he had to settle for a Gold-tier High-grade at 89%.
Compared to the top seven, Ke Le's eighth-place finish was nothing to write home about.
As the group chatted among themselves, Shi Feng pulled up the files on all of them.
He hadn't realized the full picture until he looked — a total of twenty-four people had completed the Tier 3 class advancement. That level of combat power, if unleashed, would be absolutely terrifying. Right now, every major superpower in existence didn't have a single Tier 3 expert, yet here he had enough to field a twenty-man squad with substitutes to spare.
Even more remarkable was the quality of their Mana Bodies. Perhaps because the construction methods and techniques he had provided were so effective, the worst result among the twenty-four was a Silver-tier Supreme Mana Body with 80% completion — something no major superpower would even dare imagine.
In those superpowers, players who advanced to Tier 3 typically only managed Silver-tier Mid-grade Mana Bodies. For second- and third-rate guilds, producing a single player with any Silver-tier Mana Body was cause for celebration — achieving Silver-tier was the minimum prerequisite for advancing to Tier 4.
As for Gold-tier Mana Bodies, that was something ordinary guild experts wouldn't even dream of. Even among the major superpowers, Gold-tier Mana Bodies were rare, and a single Gold-tier holder would see their status within the organization skyrocket — the advantage a Gold-tier Mana Body provided in the level 100 neutral maps was simply too enormous.
Yet among the twenty-four who had just advanced, a full seventeen had achieved Gold-tier Mana Bodies…
"Guild Master, we just made it to Tier 3 and haven't really had a chance to feel out our new power yet. Why don't we head to the arena and have a proper spar?"
"I agree! My body feels absurdly strong right now — I can barely get used to it. With so many of us having advanced at the same time, it's the perfect chance to see where we actually stand at Tier 3."
Everyone had been swept up in the euphoria of their Tier 3 breakthrough earlier, and none of them were entirely sure what their new level of power actually looked like. There had been nowhere to test it — but with this many Tier 3 players gathered together, it was the ideal opportunity to find out.
"You want to test your Tier 3 strength?" Shi Feng smiled. "That's easy. Right now, every major superpower has their eyes on Stone Forest City, and quite a few Star Ring experts have headed to the Cold Spring Great Forest. Why don't you go there and give them a show? Let Star Ring know that the Cold Spring Great Forest is no place for them to waltz into."
He had originally been worried about lacking manpower and had considered deploying the knight order — Stone Forest City's ultimate trump card — to teach Star Ring a lesson and show every major superpower that Stone Forest City wasn't prey they could hunt at will.
But now it seemed that wouldn't be necessary. Twenty-four Tier 3 experts were more than enough to run roughshod through the Cold Spring Great Forest.
"Star Ring?"
"Awesome! I've been dying to test out some combat techniques I hadn't had the chance to master before. If they're Star Ring's top fighters, they should make decent sparring partners!"
…
Everyone's excitement was palpable. While it wasn't quite the same as sparring among themselves, it was the perfect excuse to head into the level 100 neutral maps and put their new Gold-tier Mana Bodies to a real test.
After quickly sorting out their gear, the group used teleportation scrolls and warped straight to Stone Forest City.