"I already mentioned before that I'd have priority in choosing one item from the trial boss's drops — that goes without saying. However, if you want to challenge the Hero-tier trial, I'm sure you're well aware of how difficult that is. Our Zero Wing's hundred people simply aren't enough on their own," Shi Feng said in an utterly calm tone. "So I'll need your full cooperation — and I mean full cooperation. The two-hundred-person raid team must be handpicked by my people. Of course, you can send a dozen of your own along. As for the entry passes that drop, we split them evenly. I don't think that's an unreasonable condition."
The moment Shi Feng finished speaking, both Inferno Fury and Silent Red Star in the reception room were stunned.
They had never expected him to make such a demand.
Under normal circumstances, they'd assumed Shi Feng would make far more outrageous demands — like using their people as cannon fodder, or even preparing for their members to die multiple times. Yet not only had he refrained from asking more from them, he was actually offering to send more of his own people in to handle the raid.
At that moment, not just Inferno Fury and Silent Red Star, but even Water Curtain Rose and the others inside the reception room, as well as Pang Wushang standing outside, were all rendered speechless.
Raiding the ancient secret realm was essentially working for Violet Sword's benefit. It would be one thing to not ask Violet Sword to contribute more, but here he was offering to commit even more of his own people — it was practically insane.
"No problem at all. As long as you can clear the Hero-tier trial, you can pick whoever you want — as long as we get it done. Even if you order every last one of us from Violet Sword to throw our lives away, that'll be fine," Torei replied, somewhat surprised but nodding nonetheless. "However, I have to make this clear upfront — if you think the trial is impossible to clear and still order us to go and die, we won't obey that kind of order."
When it came to the Hero-tier trial, their guild had already steeled themselves for the possibility of a total wipeout just to get through it. Now that Shi Feng was willing to reduce their losses, he was naturally pleased. After all, players dying and losing experience while clearing a secret realm was just a fact of life — the less of that, the better.
"If that's the case, then I have no objections," Shi Feng nodded. "Three days! In three days, I'll bring my people to the ancient secret realm. In the meantime, Wuyin will stay here to assist you. I'm confident that in three days, you should be able to prepare enough special items."
"Three days?" Kuang Huo Kuang Zhan frowned slightly. He hadn't expected Shi Feng to ask for such a short timeframe — he had originally thought they would need four or five days, which, added to the agreed-upon ten days, would have been more than enough for Violet Sword's members to organize a team capable of tackling the Elite-tier trial.
"No problem. In three days, you can come to Purple Light City. We'll be waiting for you there," Torei said.
Afterward, Shi Feng and Torei signed a cooperative contract between their two guilds. As long as they successfully cleared the Hero-tier trial, Zero Wing would be granted one hundred slots to the ancient secret realm. If the attempt failed, Zero Wing would be forbidden from setting foot in the ancient secret realm for the next ten days.
Once the contract was signed, Shi Feng left Holy Flame City immediately without lingering for even a moment.
"Guild Leader, three days is way too rushed. I'm afraid our hundred people won't even make it in time. I could understand us sending people to help Violet Sword clear the secret realm, but now we need to send even more? I honestly can't make sense of it," Shui Se Qiang Wei said from atop the Thunder Eagle's back, unable to hold back her question as she looked at Shi Feng.
Clearing a new secret realm had always been a brutal endeavor — lives were essentially thrown away to make progress. Of course, the rewards went without saying. But this time, they would only get a portion of the spoils while Violet Sword took the lion's share. There was simply no need for them to commit so many people to the operation.
At this point, it wasn't just Shui Se Qiang Wei who was puzzled. Pang Wu Shang, sitting nearby, found the whole thing strange as well. However, since he wasn't a member of Zero Wing — and his connection to the guild was solely through Miao Wu Yin — he didn't feel it was his place to ask.
"If this were an ordinary secret realm, I obviously wouldn't be committing both people and effort," Shi Feng said with a smile. "But that secret realm is different. It's an ancient secret realm — and more importantly, it's an ancient secret realm's trial. What do you think a trial is?"
"A trial is just a test that's been set up, and you get generous rewards for passing it, right?" Shui Se Qiang Wei looked at Shi Feng, completely unable to understand why he was asking such a question. This was supposed to be common knowledge in the Divine Realm.
"You're half right," Shi Feng said, shaking his head.
"Half?" Shui Se Qiang Wei was even more puzzled. "Then what's the other half?"
"Beyond testing you, trials actually carry the meaning of training and improvement as well," Shi Feng said slowly. "It's true that the trials in the Divine Realm are designed for players to pass tests, but what they really hope is for players to use them as a chance to grow. This is especially true for trials left behind from the ancient era. The trial rewards are merely an extra bonus — the trial itself is the most precious part, because these trials were left behind when the ancient world still had complete lineages of knowledge. That means they contain fragments of ancient heritage. If we can use them to gain even a partial understanding of that heritage, breaking through the 100% limit on the Magic Body isn't out of the question. After all, the Divine Realm's heritage has long been severed. To advance and improve, you have to figure things out on your own with nowhere to learn. Otherwise, why do you think the Hero-difficulty trial in that ancient secret realm only gives you one chance?"
Before players in the Divine Realm reached Tier 4 and stepped into those truly dangerous zones, everyone treated trials as nothing more than Dungeons. They never considered anything beyond that.
However, once those Tier 4 experts experienced one ancient trial after another in those dangerous regions — trials that constantly pushed them to improve — people finally realized just how important trials were. You could even say that the trials left behind from the ancient era were themselves an enormous opportunity.
This was precisely why the gap between Tier 3 and Tier 4 wasn't just about rank. The difference in combat proficiency and every other aspect only grew wider and wider.
Now that the Sword of Iris had voluntarily given up the Hero-difficulty trial opportunity, he certainly couldn't let it pass. In fact, at the time, he had almost been unable to contain his excitement, terrified that he might show something unusual and let Torey and the others catch on.
If it were possible, he truly would have wanted to claim all two hundred spots for himself. But the Sword of Iris still needed people to obtain entry passes, so he had to send at least a few as a gesture.
"Guild Master, you mean we can use this trial to give every single one of us a further boost to our Magic Bodies?" Shui Se Qiang Wei's eyes lit up instantly.
If that was really the case, they had struck gold.
She had experienced ancient training firsthand. The most representative example was the Tower of Transcendence — the training effects inside were incomparably better than anything in the outside world. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to go toe-to-toe with experts who had grasped the Domain while only at the level of the Void State.
If their levels or magic control could improve even further, it would be a tremendous help for their future advancement to the Fourth Order.
"That's impossible. A trial is just an opportunity, but whether you can actually gain something from it depends on the player's own comprehension." Shi Feng shot Shui Se Qiang Wei a sidelong glance.
Breaking through to 100% of the Magic Body was far easier said than done. Among ten thousand Third Order experts, there might not even be one who had achieved it. How could an entire group break through just because of a single trial?
It was just like the Tower of Transcendence. Its training in the Realm of Truth was incomparably better than anything in the outside world, yet even now, many of Zero Wing's core members still hadn't reached the threshold of the Realm of Truth.
"But this is still great. At least we have a chance to improve. Maybe one of us will be able to break through the 100% shackles like Ziyan Liuyun. If that happens, we'll have struck it rich." Shui Se Qiang Wei said with a smile.
Standing off to the side, Pang Wushang's heart stirred with excitement upon hearing this. He had never expected that the ancient trial could produce such an effect.
He had witnessed firsthand what unlocking the breakthrough to 100% of the Magic Body could do. Ziyan Liuyun hadn't even grasped the Domain, yet she had still managed to defeat Zui Yan. That alone spoke volumes about how enormous the boost from unlocking the Magic Body's 100% breakthrough truly was.
"Guild Master Hei Yan, I wonder if it would be possible to allocate a few of those spots to our Azure Trading Company." Pang Wushang couldn't help but speak up as he looked at Shi Feng. "Of course, we're willing to pay a price that satisfies you. Name your terms."
What was the most scarce resource among the great superpowers in the Divine Realm right now?
Experts!
This isn't about ordinary experts, but powerhouses capable of suppressing all others. If a faction has even a few such powerhouses among their younger generation, the entire faction will flourish.