After Banjiu swapped in the Steel Crown, his stats dipped slightly, but the moment he put it on, the difference in how it felt was immediate.
Five sea-blue gemstones sparkled upon the silver-white crown, lending Banjiu an air of noble majesty. His expression visibly relaxed as well. The mental pressure that pervaded the great hall no longer seemed to affect him at all.
"This crown is incredible. Once I equipped it, my mind became so much calmer. From now on, dealing with high-tier bosses won't require me to worry about mental pressure anymore." Banjiu felt refreshed and clear-headed after equipping the crown. The biggest difference he noticed, though, was that his body felt far more agile — it was on an entirely different level compared to the helmet he had worn before.
"Growth equipment and Epic-grade equipment are both Transcendent items. In addition to providing substantial stat boosts, they generally come with certain hidden effects," Shi Feng explained.
The Divine Realm, this virtual-reality game, had been constantly evolving. In the beginning, most players had assumed Epic-grade items were simply stronger than Dark Gold-grade items in raw stats. But as the Divine Realm evolved, the true superiority of Epic-grade items gradually revealed itself. The Divine Realm had already undergone four evolutions by this point, and certain exceptional Epic-grade items were beginning to display their extraordinary hidden effects, allowing players to demonstrate their true combat potential.
After the team finished resting, Shi Feng led everyone onward.
Beyond the heavy iron gate lay a narrow corridor that stretched all the way to a statue-lined plaza, with no branching paths along the way.
The vast plaza was filled with statues of every kind, and between them swarmed hordes of monsters. These were not elemental creatures — each one was covered head to tail in pitch-black, spike-covered scales, with crescent-shaped heads and no visible eyes. Their interlocking fangs were enough to send a chill down anyone's spine, and the claws on their four limbs were as sharp as daggers, leaving deep gashes in the ground wherever they passed. Among them were silver-white specimens two to three times larger than the rest — clearly far more dangerous than the black ones.
Corroding Beast — Dark Creature — Elite — Level 42 — HP: 150,000
Corroding Beast King — Dark Creature — Leader — Level 43 — HP: 8,000,000
The entire plaza looked like a nest the Corroding Beasts had claimed as their home, numbering in the tens of thousands. Just looking at them was enough to make one's blood run cold.
At the center of the plaza stood a massive teleportation magic circle. There were no other exits — the only way out was through that teleportation circle.
"There are way too many monsters here. Are we really supposed to clear all of them?" Youlan gazed at the disgusting Corroding Beasts, her delicate brows furrowed.
Even though she had only glanced over the area, she could roughly estimate the numbers — at least ten thousand at a minimum, with several hundred of the silver-white Corroding Beast Kings alone. Clearing out all of these monsters would be an absolutely massive undertaking.
Youlan was not the only one feeling overwhelmed. Everyone stood stunned at the scene before them — this was hands down the place where they had seen the most Leader-grade monsters.
Some even felt that the moment they descended the stairs, the endless swarm of Corroding Beasts would surge toward them.
The thought of facing several hundred Leader-grade monsters was enough to make one's scalp tingle. That kind of number was far beyond what they could handle right now.
Just as the group was still marveling at the sheer number of monsters, they suddenly noticed that at the far end of the plaza, a massive iron gate had swung open — and a party of players stepped out.
"Why are there other people here?" Youlan stared at the players across the plaza, startled.
"It looks like we're not the only ones who obtained a pass to Titan Sacred City. We'll need to pick up the pace," Shi Feng said, somewhat surprised but not overly shocked.
The entrance trial of Titan Sacred City was not a Dungeon — it was simply a highly dangerous special map. Moreover, it was divided by level range, with every ten levels sharing a single map. Players from level 36 to 45 shared one map, while those from level 46 to 55 shared another.