"Take a hit from my sword and not die?"
For a moment, Shi Xin Fei Xue was stunned by what Shi Feng had said.
Chasing Wind and Chi Lan were also dumbfounded for a good while, feeling as though Shi Feng was simply making a fool of their Sky Flame Adventurer Team.
Chasing Wind couldn't help but stare at Shi Feng and confirm once more: "Are you sure this is your condition? Do you know what our team leader's title is in Meteor Fire City?"
They had originally thought Shi Feng would make things difficult for Shi Xin Fei Xue, thereby causing the deal to fall through. That way, when word got out, Shi Feng would have an excuse while also blaming their incompetence — if they couldn't complete it, they naturally wouldn't qualify for the deal, and they wouldn't be able to say a thing about it.
But now Shi Feng had actually said all Shi Xin Fei Xue had to do was take a single sword strike and survive.
This test couldn't be simpler.
Forget about a Berserker among the neutral fourth-tier forces — even an Upper Legendary monster couldn't one-shot their team leader. And it was precisely their team leader's supreme defense that had led the Sky Flame Adventurer Team to where it stood today.
If their team leader could be taken out in a single hit by a fourth-tier class, it would be the laughingstock of Meteor Fire City.
He even felt that Shi Feng hadn't bothered to learn the first thing about their team leader, or perhaps thought their team leader's reputation was entirely unearned. If he truly wanted to cooperate, there was no need for any test at all.
"Of course, I'm certain." Shi Feng nodded, speaking with complete seriousness.
Beside him, Yu Luo also watched Shi Feng with puzzlement, completely unable to understand why he would do something so meaningless. Shi Feng's strength was formidable — that much was obvious from how he had repelled over a dozen Demon Lords with a single deployment of his magic formation. But Shi Xin Fei Xue had earned his standing through battle after battle. He was the real deal, not some pretty figurehead propped up by others' hype.
Immediately, both Chasing Wind and Chi Lan looked toward Shi Xin Fei Xue. They didn't know what he was thinking, but this test was incredibly easy for them — calling it a freebie wouldn't be an overstatement.
As long as both sides came to an agreement, the Sky Flame Adventurer Team would dominate Meteor Fire City with ease. Before long, they could even establish branches in other NPC main cities.
Even if the player factions in those main cities were unwilling, they would have little power to stop them. After all, the future belonged to fourth-tier classes. A single fourth-tier could stand against countless third-tiers — that might sound like an exaggeration, but there were many things only fourth-tier classes could accomplish that third-tier classes simply could not.
This was the gap between tiers, and the gap between levels of existence.
"No problem, I accept." Shi Xin Fei Xue thought it over and figured it shouldn't be an issue. "But are we going to fight right here?"
In his view, Shi Feng probably had no idea how powerful his Demon Blood Knight class truly was. As one of Divine Realm's exceedingly rare Ancient Legacies, the techniques and abilities it conferred were beyond compare with ordinary top-tier legacies — to say nothing of the three Legendary Item Fragments he possessed.
A shield called the Holy Blood Barrier, a suit of armor called the Void Demon Armor, and a ring called the Ring of Wind Wall. With the Holy Blood Barrier and Void Demon Armor as his defensive trump cards, he had never feared Upper Legendary monsters of the same level. The only headache was figuring out how to kill those same high-defense, high-HP Upper Legendary monsters — and that was before he'd gotten even stronger.
"This place probably won't do. We'll need to rent an advanced battle room," Shi Feng said, shaking his head.
"Then let's go to our team's Sky Flame Inn. They have a superior battle room — more than enough room for us to go all out," Shi Xin Fei Xue suggested.
"A superior battle room?" Shi Feng was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected them to have one here. A superior battle room was a significant step above an advanced one — perfect not only for honing and refining magic skills, but also for conducting specialized magic skill training. It wasn't something you could get your hands on in the early days of Divine Realm. "Then let's go to the Sky Flame Inn."
And so, Shi Feng and Yu Luo followed Shi Xin Fei Xue and his two companions to the Sky Flame Inn, just one street away.
The moment they stepped into the Sky Flame Inn, Yu Luo was thrilled. Not just anyone could come in and rest here. Apart from allied factions and team members who received a fifty-percent discount, outsiders paid full price — four hundred Magic Crystals per day, and that was for the most basic room.
Even a top-tier third-tier Priest like her couldn't afford to spend that kind of money casually. She only came when she needed to verify certain magic skills or pick up new combat techniques.
As for Shi Feng, he felt as though he had stepped into a cultivation sanctuary. The mana here was incredibly dense — far more so than the Freedom Inn in Stone Forest City. His perception of magical elements was even ten to twenty percent sharper than at the inn where he'd been staying.
"No wonder they were confident enough to produce over three million Magic Crystals in a week." Shi Feng was beginning to understand where the Sky Flame Adventurer Team's confidence came from.
With the arrival of Shi Feng and Yu Luo, the higher-ups of the Sky Flame Adventurer Team were abuzz with excitement.
"Did you hear? That guy called Black Flame wants to test the team leader."
"No way — this guy has to be crazy. He thinks he can test the team leader? Even if the team leader stood there and let him attack, he probably couldn't scratch him."
"It's not exactly a fight with the team leader. He just wants the team leader to take a sword strike head-on."
"Looks like this guy wants to put on a show for our Sky Flame Adventurer Team, but he's worried he can't actually beat the team leader. So he went with the 'take a single strike' thing — that way, even if he can't hurt the team leader, he'll save some face."
Dozens of the Sky Flame Adventurer Team's higher-ups watched Shi Feng enter the superior battle room, each of them whispering among themselves. They figured Shi Feng wanted to save face while also worrying about embarrassing himself, which was why he'd cooked up this little performance.
But in the eyes of the Sky Flame Adventurer Team's higher-ups, this was nothing more than a farce. When their team leader fought, he had almost never needed to use his full strength before his opponent was already defeated.
Even Chasing Wind, the vice-team leader who had recently advanced to the fourth tier, couldn't do a thing against their team leader's iron defense. His only hope was dealing a small scratch with his initial strike, after which he could only keep dodging and weaving until he was eventually worn down to death.
And this was with their team leader not even going all out. Otherwise, even Chasing Wind wouldn't have been able to land a scratch.
Before long, the spacious superior battle room had filled with every higher-up of the Sky Flame Adventurer Team. Some had even abandoned ongoing quests just to come and watch.
Their team leader hadn't fought anyone since that one time shortly after Chasing Wind had advanced to the fourth tier. In the time since, their team leader had improved significantly — mastering an additional fourth-tier Legacy skill and swapping in a newly acquired Legendary Item Fragment, the Ring of Wind Wall, an ultimate defensive ring.
One could say their team leader's current strength had surpassed anything they could imagine.
In moments, Shi Feng and Shi Xin Fei Xue stood facing each other on the vast battle stage, both having settled into their optimal state, simply waiting for the fight to begin.