In front of the ancient and sacred teleportation gate, as Silent Star and the others continued chanting their incantations, a spatial corridor gradually took shape before the gate.
The moment the spatial corridor appeared, everyone present felt an unprecedented ancient aura surge outward from it, as though a slumbering dragon had been roused from the depths of an abyss. The overwhelming pressure left every person present feeling a sense of oppression they had never experienced before.
"So powerful! This is the Hero-tier trial?" Shi Feng felt the might emanating from the spatial corridor, and inwardly, he was genuinely surprised. "The instant pressure alone is probably not far short of Demigod-tier. If I were to step inside, it would be extremely difficult for even a Tier 3 expert to unleash anything beyond Tier 2 combat power."
Pressure, as a thing, might not be lethal to players, but it would severely hinder their ability to perform in combat.
The pressure currently pouring out of the spatial corridor was enough to make even the top-tier Tier 3 experts uncomfortable — even he himself would find it hard to bear. He could barely imagine what it would be like for other Tier 3 Class holders to fight under those conditions.
"The teleportation gate will be fully opened in forty seconds. When that happens, there will be a Mana Shockwave — Floating Light, start constructing a Mana Barrier!" Silent Star watched the spatial corridor grow increasingly stable and called out through the party chat.
"Yes!"
At Silent Star's command, Floating Light immediately began directing the Tier 3 spellcasters in the team to set up a Tier 3 defensive magic barrier.
The Mana Shockwave wouldn't deal any direct damage to players, but if a player was hit by it, their own Mana reserves, as well as their perception and control of Mana, would be drastically reduced for a period of time. Some would even be unable to use magical skills at all.
Previously, their Violet Sword guild had learned this the hard way when exploring an ordinary trial — they had been caught off guard by a Mana Shockwave, which left their entire exploration team in a state of Mana instability for an entire day.
However, just as the Violet Sword members were constructing the magic barrier, a sharp shout rang out from the distance.
"Now's the chance! Everyone, charge! Disrupt their gate unlocking!" Sandburst spotted Floating Light and the others building the barrier and swept his arm forward with a decisive wave.
In an instant, a cluster of figures surged toward Silent Star's group at breakneck speed.
"The Radiant Silver Corps?" Silent Star recognized Sandburst and his people the moment she saw them charging from afar, and her expression darkened immediately. "Sandburst! Are you from Mythic Illusion trying to break our agreement?"
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have given Sandburst and his people a second thought.
But right now, their Violet Sword's top experts were simultaneously unlocking the gate and preparing to withstand the Mana Shockwave — they had no combat-ready personnel to spare.
And every single one of Sandburst's people was a top-tier expert. An attacker like Sandburst, who had already mastered Domain, launching an assault was something she dared not even contemplate. To make matters worse, Sandburst's group was deploying a Battle Formation, boosting their base stats far beyond what any ordinary Tier 3 Class holder could match.
"Agreement?" Sandburst let out a laugh. "I don't recall Mythic Illusion having any agreement with Violet Sword inside the Ancient Secret Realm. And if you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for being too stubborn — you actually dared to cooperate with Zero Wing. Now you can be buried together with them!"
As he spoke, Sandburst and his group accelerated even further.
"Damn it! They actually dared to make a move!" Silent Star watched Sandburst's forces draw closer and closer, then turned to Floating Light. "Floating Light, you and the others coordinate with Guild Leader Black Flame's group. You have to stall them for forty seconds! If the channeling for the teleportation gate is disrupted, the trial challenge will be invalidated as well!"
"Understood!" Floating Light nodded, a hint of gravity in his gaze as he watched Sandburst's approaching forces.
Though they held an overwhelming advantage in numbers and even had a monster like Shi Feng on their side, their current count of combat-ready top experts was far inferior to Sandburst's group. And that was before accounting for the Battle Formation bonus, which pushed their stats well beyond anything Violet Sword could match. If Sandburst's group broke through and interrupted Star Coach and the others' channeling, everything would be for nothing.