The first thing Shi Feng did upon entering the Divine Realm was find Bai Qingxue to trade the Arc Shield.
Crafting the Arc Shield before had used up virtually all his Magic Crystal Shards, and in the meantime, all the major guilds had been tackling the three large-scale 10-man team Dungeons.
Although the current guild elites had reached levels thirteen or fourteen, they still couldn't manage the Normal difficulty versions of the three large Dungeons.
They might just be 10-level Dungeons, but the bosses inside were higher level than that, with the highest reaching level 13. The drops on Normal difficulty weren't anything special—mostly level 10 Mythril Rank weapons and equipment, plus quite a few materials needed for life-skills.
But Hard difficulty was a completely different story.
The reason they were called the three major dungeons was primarily because, as the difficulty increased, so did the Dungeon level. The bosses on Hard difficulty were all level 15, so obtaining the First Clear of these three dungeons wasn't going to be easy.
Furthermore, the drops from the Hard difficulty dungeons were somewhat different. They were mostly Gold-grade equipment, and moreover, they were growth-type weapons and equipment that could grow from level 10 to level 15, though they were bound items.
As for the Hell difficulty, the three major dungeon bosses were all level 18. Their drops were primarily Dark Gold-grade, and the weapons and equipment could grow from level 10 to level 18. They were also bound items. One could say the Hell difficulty versions of these three dungeons were the strongest Dungeons before level 20, bar none.
Once players reached level 20, new large-scale Dungeons would appear in the White River City region—a total of four. Three of them were 50-man dungeons, and one was a 100-man dungeon. The difficulty of the 100-man dungeon was a whole other level beyond the 50-man ones. Most importantly, obtaining the First Clear of a 100-man dungeon would trigger a server-wide announcement across the entire Divine Realm. It wouldn't be confined to just one kingdom; in other words, nearly two billion people currently playing the Divine Realm would see and hear it. No advertising campaign could ever have such an effect. Additionally, the achievement would be recorded on the Divine Realm's Epic Leaderboard, visible to everyone in the realm.
However, securing the First Clear of that 100-man dungeon would be immensely difficult. Even for Shi Feng with his knowledge of the strategies, passing it would be incredibly hard.
In a meeting room within the Star Mark Trading Company, Bai Qingxue pushed open the door and walked in. Compared to before, her equipment had undergone a significant transformation; most of her gear was now Mythril Rank. The silver-white greatsword with its magic runes slung behind her was notably Gold-grade, and her level had reached 16. It was obvious she had been grinding day and night to achieve that level.
"Let's make the trade quickly," Bai Qingxue said urgently, not even bothering to sit down.
"Miss Bai seems quite busy, rushing about like this. Did something happen?" Shi Feng asked, surprised.
This was the trade of a Gold-grade shield, which should have been a major event, yet Bai Qingxue acted as if she had something even more pressing.
"It's nothing major. I just heard that the Dark Star guild has already progressed to the second-to-last boss in the Land of Eternal Slumber. So I want to hurry up. I'm heading into the Land of Eternal Slumber in a little while," Bai Qingxue explained without hiding anything, though she was clearly anxious.
For White River City's top-ranked guild to be lagging behind a third-rate guild like Dark Star in dungeon progression—that was definitely something to be worried about.
"They're moving quite fast. But Dark Star shouldn't have such powerful experts," Shi Feng said, feeling something was off about Dark Star.
First, Dark Star had devoured over a dozen minor guilds in one go. Now, a bunch of experts had suddenly appeared, allowing them to outpace even Bai Qingxue in clearing the three major dungeons. Remember, Bai Qingxue led White River City's number one guild. To develop further, she had even transferred numerous elite experts from the God-Slaying Army in the Star Moon Kingdom. Every one of these experts was only a step away from the top tier, and the God-Slaying Army's squads were composed entirely of top-tier experts. Combined with the leadership of two major powerhouses like Bai Qingxue and Zhao Yueru, they were still being outstripped by Dark Star.
Each of the three major dungeons had five bosses. A powerful team like the Snake of the Body had only reached the second boss so far, while Dark Star was already on the fourth.
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed impossible.
The gap between a second-rate and a first-rate guild lay in their depth of experts. Top-tier guilds had spent over a decade recruiting talent from everywhere to cultivate such experts. Guilds like the Assassin Alliance, while top-tier second-rate, were still in the accumulation phase when it came to developing experts—they weren't even in the same league as first-rate guilds.
But what was Dark Star?
Moreover, Shi Feng had brought a major enemy upon Dark Star—the top-tier first-rate guild, Dusk's Echo. Yet Dark Star acted as if nothing had happened, with no news or commotion coming from them. In contrast, Dusk's Echo had done something that surprised Shi Feng: they promptly paid the fifty million Credit Points.
Thinking about it, Shi Feng felt that the forces backing Dark Star were extraordinarily powerful. Dusk's Echo must have discovered something to be willing to pay fifty million Credit Points so readily.
"These are two hundred Spirit Crystals."
"These are four Arc Light Shields. Please verify them."
Bai Qingxue had no mood to keep discussing the guild Dark Star. She directly opened the trade window, and Shi Feng was tactful enough not to bring it up again. The fact that Bai Qingxue was in such a hurry was proof enough that Dark Star was putting considerable pressure on her — it probably wasn't just about Dungeons. There had to be some hidden story, but that wasn't something Shi Feng could meddle in.
Of course, if Bai Qingxue asked for help, Shi Feng would do so as a friend. But since she hadn't asked, he could only keep quiet. Besides, these four Arc Light Shields would provide a substantial boost to the team's main tank — surpassing Dark Star shouldn't be a problem.
Bai Qingxue checked the Arc Light Shields' attributes, and her eyes lit up with a hint of delight.
"The attributes on these Arc Light Shields are really impressive! I need two more. How soon can you make them?" Bai Qingxue had found some interest now, because with these four shields, clearing the second boss would be absolutely no problem.
"Crafting these shields isn't easy — the success rate is quite low. But half a day should be enough to make two more." Shi Feng thought for a moment and gave a reasonably precise answer.
"I'll come back in half a day then. Don't you dare sell them to anyone else." Bai Qingxue nodded, then quickly left the reception room.
Shortly after Bai Qingxue departed, Fire Dance and the others arrived at Star Trace Commerce.
"Guild Leader, we've made all the preparations for the Dungeon. We're ready to go to the Devil's Castle anytime." Fire Dance looked at Shi Feng, eager for him to see just how formidable the team she managed had become.
"It's a bit early right now. The Devil's Castle is a twenty-person team Dungeon. You know our Zero Wing Workshop just brought in a batch of newcomers — their levels are generally quite low, and some have only just created their accounts and entered the game. I want you to lead some of them in leveling up, get them to level fifteen quickly, and form a main raid team before we tackle the Devil's Castle." Shi Feng smiled and handed Fire Dance a list.
Shi Feng had originally wanted to have Aqua Rose send some people over, but most of Aqua Rose's members were busy managing newly joined recruits. On top of that, Aqua Rose was also running ten-person and twenty-person Dungeons to upgrade their equipment, preparing for the three major Dungeons. They simply didn't have the time or manpower to waste on the Devil's Castle.
So Shi Feng had decided to form a main raid team for the guild. The nine top-tier experts they had just recruited couldn't go to waste, which was why he wanted Fire Dance and the others to mentor them.
"I understand." Fire Dance felt a bit disappointed, but when she thought about how Shi Feng was entrusting her with more people to lead and making her the main raid team's captain, she was still quite happy — it meant she had earned Shi Feng's recognition.
"Oh right, I almost forgot. There are a few more things I need to give you."
Just as Fire Dance was about to turn and leave, Shi Feng slapped his forehead and suddenly called out to her.