The second evolution of Divine Realm had significantly raised the requirements for skill usage.
Even top players needed a considerable amount of time to adapt.
Searching for an exit in the Land of Falling Stars naturally meant fighting monsters along the way.
Fortunately, Shi Feng didn't need to go through that adaptation process — most skills came naturally to him, and dealing with isolated Elites and Special Elites posed no problem whatsoever.
As for Shuishui Qiangwei and the others, they used these monsters as practice targets.
Especially the melee fighters Huowu and Feiying.
Each one faced off against a level-27 Elite Werewolf Warrior, using skills in the midst of ongoing combat.
Huowu's dazzling True Fire Flow Blade swept through the air in a streak of crimson light, plunging straight into the Werewolf Warrior. With a pull and a slash, a spray of blood burst forth, and 2,749 points of damage immediately popped above the Werewolf Warrior's head. Though for a creature with 42,000 HP, that damage was negligible.
System: Gut completed at 56% proficiency, skill proficiency +1, dealing 69% of skill effectiveness.
Huowu glanced sideways at the combat notification bar, her delicate brows furrowing slightly — she wasn't satisfied with that Gut.
The Werewolf Warrior roared in fury and swung its warhammer down at Huowu. She pivoted on her foot, easily evading the devastating blow. Her True Fire Flow Blade shifted to a reverse grip as her body spun — the spark-trailing blade plunged into the werewolf's back. The entire sequence flowed like water.
Backstab!
-2523 "Arrgh!" The Werewolf Warrior let out a sharp howl.
System: Backstab completed at 69% proficiency, skill proficiency +2, dealing 83% of skill effectiveness.
The Backstab was executed more smoothly and precisely than the Gut, pushing its completion rate up an entire tier. But Huowu still wasn't satisfied. In the past, even without a weapon like the True Fire Flow Blade, she could have easily dealt that kind of damage.
After just a few practice rounds with the Werewolf Warrior, Huowu fully realized how difficult it was to master the new combat system!
There were far too many variables now. The power of a player's skill depended entirely on the completion rate — completely unlike before, where activating a skill automatically delivered 100% of its effect.
But that was no longer the case…
A skill performed with improper form could deal negligible damage.
And achieving proper form in the heat of battle was harder still.
When all factors were combined, the difficulty of the current combat mode had increased by at least two tiers.
Originally, Huowu could handle one or two Special Elites with ease and even challenge Leaders — but now, dealing with a single Special Elite was a struggle, let alone a Leader.
On the other side, Feiying's brow was furrowed too, growing more exasperated the longer he fought.
After some effort, Huowu could at least achieve over 50% completion, with her Backstab skill even hitting 70% at one point. But Feiying could only manage 50% on even the simplest Shadow Stab skill — barely enough to gain skill proficiency — and none of his other skills reached 50%.
Compared to Huowu and Feiying, the magic-oriented classes achieved much higher completion rates after a short period of practice, all above 60%. This was because the casting motions were different: magic users relied on writing and chanting, with some spells requiring only gestures and simple incantations. As a result, the execution was relatively simpler, though casting time was longer than before — especially when using high-level magic.
While the group was busy practicing their skills, Shi Feng, who had been standing at the very front the entire time, was cutting through enemies left and right.