The moment the Fallen Angel Sereina finished speaking, she vanished without a trace. The hellscape of molten lava surrounding them reverted to a magnificent, resplendent temple. Atop the temple altar sat a thick, black-bound book, and beneath it were three rainbow-colored treasure chests.
"I finally won!" Shi Feng couldn't help but let out a breath of relief.
Sereina was far too strong.
Whether in technique or raw stats, she surpassed him in every way.
Within a single three-second burst, his main body and clone had slashed out over a hundred strikes in a frenzy, and only then did he manage to strike Sereina in the very last second of his Instant Open duration. Her power was simply terrifying.
Even if he swapped in his direct bodyguard Kite, he likely wouldn't have been a match for Sereina with her power suppressed to the first tier.
If Sereina had suppressed her rank to the second tier, he wouldn't have stood a chance at all.
Though Shi Feng had barely managed to pass the trial, the rewards were equally significant.
During those three seconds of frenzied attacks, Shi Feng had personally experienced Sereina's perfect swordsmanship defense firsthand — a taste of the sword techniques of an NPC standing at the pinnacle of the Divine Realm. It was an opportunity no one else ever got; normally, people would simply be scared to death.
After replaying the battle in his mind, Shi Feng walked up to the altar and carefully picked up the thick, black-bound book.
The instant Shi Feng's hands touched the book, he felt as though something had locked onto him.
And it wasn't the sensation of being watched by a single entity — it was countless gazes, each one cold and violent, as though he were standing in an icy hell.
"The Book of Darkness truly isn't an ordinary item." Shi Feng activated his Eye of Omniscience to examine the black book.
Book of Darkness — a fragment of a Legendary item. It was destroyed during the Great Cataclysm, but the residual dark power it held was immensely powerful. If all scattered fragments were reunited, its full power could be restored. It would command all demonic creatures, making its wielder the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.
"It's actually a Legendary item fragment? But I heard the Book of Darkness that Qianhuan Wanmie obtained was clearly an Epic item — could it be that what Qianhuan Wanmie got was a counterfeit?" Shi Feng looked at the quality of the Book of Darkness, somewhat surprised.
But when he thought about it, it made sense.
Sereina's power was so overwhelming that with Qianhuan Wanmie's strength at the time, he could never have injured her. He had most likely chosen the first reward instead.
The reason Qianhuan Wanmie had been able to become the unrivaled powerhouse of the Black Dragon Empire was precisely because of the Book of Darkness.
With the Book of Darkness's help, Qianhuan Wanmie not only possessed overwhelming personal strength but also dramatically boosted his guild's power. It was only after that era that the first-generation players like Qingshuang rose to prominence.
Countless major guilds had been green with envy at the time.
A single Epic item wasn't all that remarkable on its own, but the Book of Darkness was no ordinary Epic item — it held the power to enhance a guild's overall strength.
It allowed players to gain the power of darkness, boosting their stats enormously and granting them enhanced skills.
That was why the Illusory World Temple had possessed an invincible Dark Demon Army. Even the Blood Corps of the Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion at the time was no match, propelling the Illusory World Temple to the top of the Black Dragon Empire in one leap.
"If Qianhuan Wanmie achieved all that with a counterfeit, then with the real Book of Darkness, the entire Black Dragon Empire would likely have fallen into the Illusory World Temple's hands." Shi Feng gazed at the Book of Darkness in his hands, his heart racing with excitement.