After the Great Demon Gilroad fell, Shi Feng discovered something else very interesting.
It was a blueprint, but unlike a regular blueprint, the one dropped by the Great Demon Gilroad was much larger — three to four times the size of a normal design.
"A Stable Blueprint!" Shi Feng picked up the blueprint and examined it closely, his surprise evident.
Once a player's level reached 40 in the Divine Realm, they could use mounts to traverse the world instead of relying on their own two legs.
Ordinary mounts could be purchased in any major city, though a certain level of reputation was required. As for higher-grade mounts, players could only obtain them by completing quests, clearing team Dungeons, or slaying world bosses.
For guild players, however, there was another way to obtain mounts.
Guild mounts!
Guild mounts were different from the mass-produced mounts sold in cities. They were unique to each guild and served as a symbol of that guild's identity. Not only were they faster than ordinary mounts, but they could also be upgraded in quality. However, upgrading was far from easy. For most players, obtaining a high-quality mount was nothing short of a dream, so being able to upgrade a mount's quality through other means was already a rare privilege.
And how did guild mounts come about?
Through stables!
A guild needed to build a stable, recruit NPCs to breed its unique mounts, and those mounts could only be purchased with guild contribution points. They could not be traded, but they could be upgraded.
For this reason, many solo players desperately wanted to join guilds just for the sake of getting guild mounts.
It wasn't just about faster speed and the ability to upgrade — what truly mattered was that guild mounts were special and one-of-a-kind. Walking around on one made you stand out on any street, not only as a matter of prestige but also as an excellent conversation starter.
The ordinary mounts in the Divine Realm were horses, differing only in color. But guild mounts came in a wide variety — far beyond just horses. As far as Shi Feng knew, there were several thousand different types, and every major guild had its own distinctive guild mount.
Why were there so many types of guild mounts?
It was because guild mounts were captured, tamed, bred, and cultivated from wild beasts and magical beasts. They were then raised and bred further until they became proper guild mounts. As a result, the variety was enormous, and obtaining one wasn't easy either — it required a tremendous investment of resources and manpower.
"Now that I have the Stable Blueprint, Zero Wing can start preparing the mount-breeding plan in advance." Shi Feng knew the locations where many rare mounts could be captured.
In his previous life, the major guilds had all struggled a great deal with guild mounts. The beasts captured varied, and the resulting mounts' stats would differ depending on how they were raised. If trained well, a mount could approach Bronze Rank quality right from the start, with a movement speed reaching 115%. The benefit this would bring to a guild was self-evident.
While everyone else was still using ordinary mounts, being able to obtain mounts close to Bronze Rank — and with just a bit more cultivation, having a full squad of Bronze Rank mounts to support players — this alone could create a considerable gap. That was why every major guild put great effort into raising their guild mounts. At the very least, they couldn't afford to fall behind at the starting line.
The earlier a guild obtained a Stable Blueprint, the sooner it could begin preparing guild mounts.
However, Stable Blueprints were exceedingly rare. The easiest way to obtain one was by clearing the hundred-player team Dungeons for levels 20 through 60, all of which could drop a Stable Blueprint. But the drop rate was so abysmally low that many guilds offered as much as five or six thousand gold and still couldn't find anyone willing to sell.
Shi Feng had originally planned to wait until the guild members were strong enough before continuously running hundred-player team Dungeons to obtain a Stable Blueprint as quickly as possible.
The Great Demon Gilroad had dropped a Stable Blueprint this time, saving him no small amount of effort.
After Shi Feng excitedly stowed the Stable Blueprint, Xia Lian closed the Book of Darkness and looked at him, saying softly, "You did well. You actually managed to defeat the Great Demon Gilroad. But even though the Great Demon Gilroad has already perished completely, why is there still such a dense aura of dark power on your body?"
Seeing the puzzled expression on Xia Lian's face, Shi Feng quickly understood what she was wondering about and retrieved the Ring of Morlock from his backpack. "It's probably because of this."
"The Ring of Morlock!" Xia Lian recognized the ring immediately and exclaimed in shock, "How did you get this ring?"
"Snatched it from a Great Demon named Kneitler," Shi Feng replied honestly.
"Snatched it?" Xia Lian's eyes went wide, clearly not believing a word he said. An unsuppressed Tier 4 Great Demon could wipe Shi Feng out with a mere wave of its hand — he wouldn't stand a chance. "You really have a death wish, or are you just too ignorant to be afraid? You actually dared to break the seal on this ring. At least you've obtained the Ring of Morlock now, so I suppose you could call that luck."
"The legends say the Ring of Morlock is tied to the fall of the Lord of the Flame Demons, and this ring is a complete Legendary-grade item. With your strength, it would probably devour you before long."
"Devour me?" Shi Feng recalled how the Great Demon Kneitler had hunted him down. If it hadn't been for his good luck, he would indeed have been killed.
"What I mean by devour is exactly what it sounds like. Did you think Legendary-grade items were so easy to control?" Xia Lian shot him a look. "From what I know, the demon who guarded this ring several hundred years ago was a Tier 5 Great Demon King. Only after that Great Demon King was devoured did the current Great Demon Kneitler take over as its keeper."
The moment Shi Feng heard this, a chill ran down his spine.
He now understood all too clearly what Xia Lian meant. The so-called "keeper" was nothing more than a sacrifice to be devoured, and those demons had been completely oblivious to it — while he had been foolish enough to snatch it for himself.
If even a Tier 5 Great Demon King couldn't withstand the fate of being devoured, then with Shi Feng's current strength, he probably wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.
"Back then, ten Tier 5 powerhouses sacrificed their lives just to seal this ring. You've already cracked the seal open even slightly. To re-seal it, you'd need at least three Tier 5 Class holders. Otherwise, no matter where you go, you won't be able to escape the fate of being devoured." Seeing Shi Feng's dark expression, Xia Lian couldn't help but smile. "But like I said, you do have a bit of luck."
"Luck?" Shi Feng asked curiously.
"That's right. Your luck truly is extraordinary — you actually managed to obtain the real Book of Darkness. If it had been a counterfeit, I'm afraid even I wouldn't have been able to save your life." Xia Lian lightly rubbed her forehead and said with great seriousness. "The Book of Darkness is a supreme treasure crafted by the Lord of Destruction. With the Book of Darkness, one can command all demons — the Lord of the Flame Demons is no exception. The reason it can command all demons is that the Book of Darkness is the origin of all demons. Every one of them was evolved from the Book of Darkness, which means having it gives you the power to suppress all demonic forces."
"Of course, the current Book of Darkness cannot suppress the Ring of Morlock. Only the complete Book of Darkness can counter the power within the Ring of Morlock. What you need to do is restore the Book of Darkness. Do you understand now?"(To be continued.)