Zero Wing City, Arena.
"Guild Master Black Flame has advanced to Tier 5?" Smokecloud Sixteen Dreams stared at the intelligence report in his hands, momentarily stunned. He turned to the fourth-tier assassin Chi You standing before him and couldn't help asking, "Are you sure there's no mistake?"
Though many of the Divine Realm's top experts had already advanced to fourth-tier Classes—and those monstrous individuals who had grasped Domain were pushing ever further ahead in their Mana Bodies' completion rates—the gap to advancing to a fifth-tier Class was still enormous.
After all, improving the completion rate of one's Mana Body and creating a fifth-tier Mana Body were two completely different things.
With fourth-tier experts' Mana Bodies not yet universally elevated to high completion rates, a fifth-tier Class was nothing more than a dream.
She simply couldn't imagine that Shi Feng had already advanced to a fifth-tier Class.
Chi You nodded with utmost seriousness, his voice carrying an unmistakable note of shock: "That's right. I was in the Zero Wing headquarters' reception room at the time, discussing the long-term lease of combat rooms in Zero Wing City with their people. I wasn't far from the reception hall of the three great super-guilds. Every Zero Wing member on that entire floor erupted into excitement, and the people from Illusory Legend and Holy Sun Temple left with their tails between their legs. I saw it with my own eyes."
In truth, he hadn't merely heard Zero Wing's people talking about it—he had personally felt the terrifying pressure that Shi Feng had unleashed in that reception hall. Even from inside the reception room, that pressure was clearly palpable, far more overwhelming than any fifth-tier NPC he had encountered before.
Of course, the fifth-tier NPCs he had encountered hadn't displayed killing intent, and they had held their own oppressive aura in check. Shi Feng, on the other hand, had struck at Situ Qingtian and Chi Yang Tianhe with absolutely no restraint whatsoever.
That was precisely why he was so certain that Shi Feng had truly reached the fifth tier.
"Now things are going to get interesting." A hint of excitement and a smile crept onto Smokecloud Sixteen Dreams' face. "A fifth-tier Class has appeared, and right at a time when Zero Wing City has fully opened—every major power on the entire Eastern Continent is going to have to redraw the board!"
"Indeed! Thank goodness we partnered with Zero Wing early on and became strategic allies." Chi You nodded in agreement, feeling genuinely fortunate about it.
A fifth-tier Class was nothing like a fourth-tier. Back when fourth-tier Classes were still rare, fourth-tier players could roam the wilds with impunity. While that did deal a considerable blow to the major superpowers, it couldn't threaten their foundations.
A fourth-tier Class simply couldn't capture a guild city—even if they could, it would require a massive number of fourth-tier players working together.
But now things were different. Zero Wing now possessed the power to destroy superpowers.
A fifth-tier Class could easily take down a guild city, including the headquarters cities of even the greatest superpowers. This meant Zero Wing had the power to uproot a superpower's very foundation.
Moreover, with the number of experts in Zero Wing having surged dramatically, the guild could now expand outward and seize more guild cities. Even taking five or six wouldn't raise concerns about insufficient manpower, because Zero Wing now had both the capability and the personnel.
Meanwhile, across the Eastern Continent, the various powers that received this news reacted very differently depending on where they stood. Those factions and guilds on friendly terms with Zero Wing were relatively calm. But the superpowers that had been clashing head-on with Zero Wing found themselves in an extremely awkward and uncomfortable position. Star Ring, in particular—their entire high command wore expressions as dark as iron, unable to believe the news was real.
"Guild Master, now that Zero Wing's Black Flame has advanced to a fifth-tier Class, he'll definitely come after our Star Ring. Should we have all our experts transfer to the Western Continent right away?" A level-150 female fourth-tier Ranger looked toward the handsome young man sitting quietly in his office, leafing through documents, and couldn't help but make the suggestion.
"How many times do I have to say this? Call me Guild Master. I'm no longer just the leader of Quivering Jester—I'm also the Guild Master of Star Ring now." Lu Tiandi glanced at the bewitchingly beautiful female Ranger before him.
"Yes, Guild Master." The fourth-tier female Ranger studied Lu Tiandi's utterly calm expression and pressed on. "Should we begin the transfer now?"
"There's no need." Lu Tiandi continued looking through the documents in his hands, completely unfazed. "Black Flame's advance to a fifth-tier Class is certainly a headache, but there's no reason for us to fear him that much. After all, the Eastern Continent today isn't what it used to be—those forces from the outer worlds are the real problem. Black Flame becoming a fifth-tier is just as troublesome for those outer-world players. Besides, now that Zero Wing has broken with Illusory Legend and Holy Sun Temple, the NPC powers of the kingdoms and empires on the Eastern Continent will almost certainly refuse to support the Star Moon Kingdom and Twin Towers Kingdom in the next great war. Whether Zero Wing can even defend its own guild city at that point is anyone's guess, let alone threaten other powers."