While everyone was still reeling from the shock of Shi Feng tanking the Devil King's Hand, Shi Feng walked out of the crater and let out a deep breath of relief.
"Good thing the Devil King's Hand only barely reached Tier 5 power, and the Void Shield I activated at the last moment absorbed most of the recoil damage. Otherwise, I really would have been dead for sure."
Shi Feng glanced at his health bar. He'd been a hair away from death. If the Devil King's Hand hadn't been used by Zhutian Luanshi — someone who hadn't unlocked the Mana Body — but by a true master who had, he wouldn't have even had a chance to fight back.
In the Divine Realm, while the power of magic items was fixed, the difference between a player who had unlocked the Mana Body and one who hadn't was enormous.
Players who hadn't unlocked the Mana Body could only let magic items operate on their own, producing only the lowest level of power. If a player could channel the Mana Body's mana to activate it, the power would rise by a full tier.
If wielded by Tier 5 experts, it could even reach the peak of Tier 5.
Fortunately, Zhutian Luanshi hadn't unlocked the Mana Body, or the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Although he had forcibly advanced to Tier 4 by harnessing the power of the Armor of Ruin, the gap between Tier 4 and Tier 5 wasn't something trivial. Even the first sword of the Mana Battle Arts couldn't bridge that gap — it had only reached the absolute limit of Tier 4.
To achieve the qualitative leap to Tier 5 power, he would probably need to master the second sword, Saint's Devour.
Of course, the main reason he'd been in such a sorry state was that his use of the Light and Shadow sword wasn't yet perfect. He couldn't wield it as freely as the Azure Sage had, maximizing the power of the Mana Battle Arts. If he could, he might have reached Tier 5 power — and even if he still took damage, it would have been minor and hardly worth mentioning.
But at Tier 4, simply being able to use Light and Shadow at all was already his limit. Perfect mastery was essentially impossible.
The Mana Battle Arts weren't like combat skills — they were techniques for manipulating mana.
Combat skills became easier to use the better one's physical attributes were. The Mana Battle Arts were the opposite: as one's tier rose and the amount of mana under one's control increased, the difficulty of using them grew as well.
He'd used Light and Shadow just once and it had consumed more than half his mental stamina. Using it a second time now was probably out of the question, let alone using it perfectly or deploying Saint's Devour…
"Guild Leader Zhutian, since you've finished your turn, it's time for mine!" Shi Feng took a deep breath and turned his gaze toward Zhutian Luanshi, who was standing not far away in a daze, speaking in a calm voice.
Though Shi Feng's voice wasn't loud, and he was clearly in a heavily debilitated state — his combat power slashed and even simple movement a struggle — every single person in the Sentinel Shelter felt their scalps go numb, gripped by a fear unlike anything they'd ever experienced.
Even Zhutian Luanshi instinctively took a step back when he saw Shi Feng slowly advance toward him.
Because the man was simply too powerful!
He'd survived a direct hit from a Tier 5 Devil King's Hand. It was hard to imagine anything that could stand against Shi Feng. Zhutian Luanshi understood perfectly well that after the ordeal of blocking that attack, Shi Feng was practically running on fumes — a single additional strike would finish him off.
But he… he didn't dare. He truly didn't dare try.
Because no one could guarantee Shi Feng didn't have other means or trump cards left to play. And when a demon player died, the price was far steeper than for ordinary players — especially one like him who held the title of Demon Viscount.
The onlookers couldn't help but draw sharp breaths as they watched Shi Feng.
"He can still keep fighting?!" Junya stared at Shi Feng as his aura continued to dim yet somehow grew ever more imposing, a wave of indescribable shock washing through her.
In his current state, forget about the demon-empowered Zhutian Luanshi — even she could have killed Shi Feng.
Yet as he walked toward Zhutian Luanshi, one step at a time, she felt an overwhelming sense of invincibility radiating from him. All she wanted to do was run.
"Black Flame, you've got guts! But don't think the Sentinel Shelter will let this go. It won't be long before the First Shelter falls into our hands!" Zhutian Luanshi called out as he watched Shi Feng approaching, unable to hold back.