As Shi Feng swung the Abyssal in his hand and unleashed the Soul of the Black Dragon, the Abyssal instantly dissolved into a swirling mass of black mist that enveloped him in an instant, forming a dark fog zone spanning fifty to sixty yards.
Before anyone could even react, a deafening dragon roar erupted from within the black mist. A colossal jet-black dragon, over thirty meters tall, leaped out from inside, and its terrifying pressure washed over the entire battlefield in a heartbeat.
"A dragon?!"
Silent Star, Wildfire Rampage, and the others stared at the utterly realistic black dragon, unable to believe their eyes.
Dragons were one of the apex races in the Divine Realm — symbols of calamity and power. Any appearance of one would cause an uproar across the entire Divine Realm.
Yet here was Shi Feng, actually transforming into a dragon, and whether it was the outward appearance, the life-tier, or the pressure radiating from its power, it was virtually indistinguishable from a real dragon.
The only shortcoming was that the dragon Shi Feng had become was still only Tier 3.
Of course, even so, Shi Feng's ability to transform into a dragon was nothing short of astonishing. After all, a dragon was still a dragon — even at the same tier, the gap in stats was like heaven and earth.
Still, the Violet Sword and Azure Commerce members present, while secretly shocked, were after all core experts of their respective guilds. They quickly snapped out of their daze, and at Water Blue Rose's command, everyone charged straight toward the altar.
Zero Wing's movements were immediately spotted by the trial monsters on the altar. Before anyone had even closed to within three hundred yards, every trial monster on the altar had already taken position. A full four to five hundred trial monsters blocked the very bottom of the altar staircase, while the rest were distributed across the various tiers of the altar, their bows drawn taut to the full, just waiting for Zero Wing's forces to step into range.
As for the four Mana Towers flanking the altar, they had already finished charging. Arcane beams lanced directly into Zero Wing's ranks.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four towering pillars of arcane light erupted through the trial corridor, instantly reducing everything within their reach to nothing — not a trace remaining.
Fortunately, Zero Wing's members were spread out considerably, and the Mana Towers' arcane beams didn't cover a particularly wide area. After the four beams fired, everyone except those who had truly unlucky positions managed to dodge out of the strike zones in time. Even so, the four beams still took down more than ten members.
In that moment, everyone present couldn't help but swallow hard, their expressions growing incredibly grim.
They hadn't even started fighting yet and had already lost over a dozen people. If they got bogged down in a drawn-out battle with the trial monsters, it wasn't hard to imagine that they'd be completely wiped out before they could even take down a few.
But just as everyone sank under the weight of the oppressive atmosphere, a dark shadow streaked over their heads and materialized less than a hundred yards from the Mana Towers in the blink of an eye.
This sight brought a measure of relief.
However, the moment Shi Feng stepped within a hundred yards of the Mana Towers, the Ancient Lich on the altar — who had kept its eyes shut this entire time — suddenly opened them. Its blood-red gaze locked onto Shi Feng, and it raised a hand toward him, beginning to chant a spell.
In a mere instant, a dual-layered magic circle formed beneath the Ancient Lich's feet.
"Fast casting?" Silent Star's face darkened as he watched the Ancient Lich channeling its spell.
The Ancient Lich's health pool was already immensely thick, and now it could cast at accelerated speed — and not just slightly faster. A Tier 4 spell that would normally require four or five full seconds to complete was finished in less than one second in the Ancient Lich's hands. The speed was utterly inconceivable.
The instant the dual magic circle took shape, hundreds of ice blades tore through the air and rocketed straight at Shi Feng.
Tier 4 Spell — Frost Waltz of the Frozen Heavens!
Each ice blade carried power exceeding that of a Tier 4 Legendary monster, and the blades themselves could freeze everything in their vicinity solid. Hundreds of ice blades streaking through the air amplified the devastation further; wherever they passed, it was as though heaven and earth were transformed into a frozen world, all of it surging to devour Shi Feng.
Seeing this, everyone tensed up.
Such an attack was utterly impossible to dodge. If he got tangled up in it, he wouldn't even be able to approach the Mana Towers.
Just as the hundreds of ice blades were about to swallow Shi Feng out of the sky, he suddenly extended his claw and slashed violently at the air. In that instant, an enormous phantom claw mark appeared in midair.
The entire world went silent.
Sacred Annihilation Combat Art — Light and Shadow!
The frozen world hanging in the air was sliced through by the claw, instantly dissolving into a pitch-black void. The hundreds of ice blades vanished without a trace, as though they had never existed at all.
"He blocked it…"
"Is this Guild Leader Black Flame's true power?"
Everyone stared at the pitch-black void and the dissipated ice blades in midair, utterly dumbstruck.
Hundreds of ice blades!