Fire Dragon Empire, Fire Dragon City, Illusory Legend's headquarters.
In the conference room packed with Illusory Legend's upper echelon, a hurried figure suddenly burst in, much to the displeasure of Situ Qingtian and the others who were still in the middle of their discussion.
Situ Qingtian looked at the third-tier Ranger who had just entered and said with great displeasure, "What's with the rushing? What happened?"
"It's news about Zero Wing!" the third-tier Ranger said hastily. "Per your orders, our people have been keeping close watch on Zero Wing's every move, but just now, Zero Wing destroyed... the entirety of Ancient Rock City!"
"That's impossible! Wasn't it just reported that Zero Wing had only just flown toward Ancient Rock City? It's only been a little over ten minutes. Even if Black Flame is a fifth-tier Class holder, there's no way he could conquer Ancient Rock City that quickly, right?" Hanguang Shiying's face was filled with disbelief upon hearing this.
Ancient Rock City was the Beast Emperor's lair, one he had fortified to the strength of an iron bucket. With the Beast Emperor's extraordinary methods and the backing of the Evil God Temple—a formidable power that could stand against the War God Temple—even a fifth-tier Class holder like Shi Feng would find it far from easy to conquer.
"No! Vice Guild Master, Zero Wing didn't conquer Ancient Rock City. They destroyed the entire city in a single blow. Ancient Rock City has already been reduced to nothing but rubble." The third-tier Ranger shook his head slightly and placed a mana crystal recorder directly on the conference table. "These are the battle footage sent from the scene."
The mana crystal recorder immediately displayed an image of a colossal dragon measuring five to six hundred meters in length. With just a single roar, blinding light engulfed the entirety of Ancient Rock City, and then the city was turned into complete ruins, with nothing left behind...
"A fourth-tier Sacred Dragon!"
"It wiped out the entire Ancient Rock City in a single strike?"
The entire conference hall fell deathly silent in an instant. Every Illusory Legend upper echelon member wore an expression of the darkest gloom, the shock and wariness in their eyes so palpable that even the reporting third-tier Ranger could clearly feel it.
"No wonder... no wonder he dared to outright reject the cooperation of our two super-guilds. So this was his confidence?" Hanguang Shiying stared fixedly at the fourth-tier Sacred Dragon and the completely destroyed Ancient Rock City in the footage, her emotions exceedingly complex.
The Shi Feng she had once dismissed as utterly beneath her notice, and the Zero Wing guild that had barely managed to hold on to its own territory through external means, had now become a genuine colossus—a force that even Illusory Legend would absolutely not dare provoke.
The Illusory Legend executives in the conference hall were similarly silent, because just moments ago they had been discussing Zero Wing, plotting how to secretly retaliate against them. But now...
"Quite the Black Flame, you are! This old man has underestimated you!" Situ Qingtian's gaze turned cold as he suppressed the unwillingness in his heart, speaking word by word. "All previous discussions regarding dealing with Zero Wing are to be suspended indefinitely!"
Having been killed by Shi Feng at Zero Wing City before had utterly destroyed his reputation, with every major power in the Divine Realm learning of it. He naturally wanted his revenge, but Situ Qingtian knew full well that doing so now would simply be courting death.
A fifth-tier Class holder paired with such a terrifying Sacred Dragon—across the entire Divine Realm's continent, there was likely no city, save perhaps in the most exceptional of locations, that Zero Wing could not destroy.
"Damn it! Are we really just going to let Zero Wing off like this?" some of the guild's upper echelon members said with indignant resentment.
Situ Qingtian shook his head. Looking at Shi Feng standing midair in the footage, he couldn't help but sneer. "Of course not! There is only one thing we need to do now—wait! Wait until the second great war begins! When that time comes, even with Black Flame and the Sacred Dragon, Zero Wing will be unable to withstand the iron hooves of the outer worlds!"
"Furthermore, from this point forward, explore every ancient ruin and legacy site related to advancing to the fifth-tier Class. Spare no expense—we must obtain our own fifth-tier Class holders!"
As much as Situ Qingtian did not want to admit it, the era of fourth-tier Classes was already over. The future belonged to fifth-tier Classes, and without fifth-tier Class holders, even the five great super-guilds would be unable to maintain their standing...
Almost immediately after Illusory Legend issued its orders, every major power across the Divine Realm issued similar commands of their own—some frantically exploring ancient ruins in search of legacies and ways to advance their guild's fourth-tier experts to the fifth tier, while others quietly awaited the second World War.
Meanwhile, in Ancient Rock City within the Orc Empire, Fire Dance and the other fourth-tier Class holders had finally teamed up to take down both Sacred Sculpture Soul Reapers. The generous experience points from the two Sacred Sculpture Soul Reapers caused everyone present to level up by one.
However, compared to the generous experience points from the Sacred Sculpture Soul Reapers, Shi Feng was far more curious about the two pitch-black stone blocks they had dropped.
Previously, when slaying Legendary-class Sacred Sculpture monsters, players could obtain a dark-gray energy that seeped into their bodies, continuously improving their affinity with magical elements over a considerable period of time.
This was precisely why he had held back and let Fire Dance and the others handle the two Sacred Sculpture Soul Reapers.
Now, in place of that misty energy, there were fist-sized pitch-black stone blocks.
"Such dense soul power!"
Shi Feng gazed at the two pitch-black stone blocks in his hands, carefully sensing them, and couldn't help but let out a gasp of wonder.
Ever since his mental state had reached the fifth tier, his soul had undergone a fundamental elevation—as though his originally gaseous soul had transformed into liquid form. Yet compared to the soul power contained within these pitch-black stone blocks, it was utterly dwarfed, because the soul power within these stones had been condensed into a solid state...
"Guild Master, are these things useful for anything?" Ke Le asked curiously, looking at the pitch-black stone blocks in Shi Feng's hands.