Chapter 1826 - Vulcan’s Sigh
After Shi Feng left, all of the various large Guilds’ members visibly relaxed.
“Black Flame is leaving, just like that? He doesn’t intend to deal with Blackwater’s members?”
“My guess is that Black Flame finds it beneath him to deal with them. I’ve watched the battles that occurred at the Primordial Divine Ruin. Black Flame had soloed a Mythic monster. Then he sent both Blackwater’s army and the Evil Beast army running with their tails tucked between their legs. A measly 1,000-man elite team probably isn’t worth his effort.”
“Black Flame is too strong! His presence alone was enough to make the various large Guilds shrink back with fear! It’s no wonder why Black Flame is recognized as Star-Moon Kingdom’s number one expert. He is far stronger than those famous peak experts!”
The adventurer teams watching from a short distance away were shocked when they looked at the various Guild players, who watched the departing convoy cautiously. They had never thought that the presence of a single player would be enough to deter so many Guild players.
They had all heard many rumors about Black Flame, but they had assumed the rumors were jokes and baseless assertions. However, they simply treated those rumors as jokes and baseless assertions.
However, after seeing the man in person today, they finally understood that the rumors were actually true. In fact, Black Flame was even scarier than the rumors made him out to be.
Because of this discovery, many of these independent players, who hadn’t been interested in joining any Guild, began to have second thoughts. They all considered joining Zero Wing, especially the Swordsman players. This was especially true for Swordsman players.
Unbeknownst to Shi Feng, his casual action of sparing Blackwater’s members had made many independent players in the Ore Empire reconsider their position about joining his Guild.
At the same time, news of Shi Feng’s appearance in the Ore Empire had reached the various Dark Players hiding in the empire.
“Commander, we have discovered Black Flame.”
“Where?”
“He’s near the Ore Empire’s border. However, there are quite a number of NPCs moving with him. Taking him out won’t: be easy.”
“Follow after him for now. I’ll gather our members and head over as soon as possible. As long as our Wind’s Arrow adventurer team kills Black Flame once, we’ll qualify to join Dark Soul. We cannot miss this opportunity, so follow him closely!”
“Understood!”
The various dark adventurer teams operating within the Ore Empire began to make their way towards Shi Feng.
Some time ago, the Dark Night Empire’s Dark Soul had placed a bounty on Zero Wing. For each Zero Wing upper echelon killed, one could earn a Dark Mutation slot If one managed to kill Zero Wing’s Guild Leader, regardless of whether an individual or an entire team completed the task, both would be welcomed to join Dark Soul. Individuals would be given command of a new adventurer team in Dark Soul.
To players that operated in the dark, Dark Soul’s reputation was equivalent to that of a Super Guild. Joining the Dark Alliance and become one of its commander-level figures was no different than becoming the Vice Guild Leader in a Super Guild. Why wouldn’t such an offer be tempting?
The various dark adventurer teams and several Dark Guilds began an enthusiastic search for Black Flame.
Although Black Flame was very powerful, even giants would fall against overwhelming numbers. God’s Domain also had many special methods to kill players. Dark Soul had not specified a requirement to defeat Black Flame with raw strength.
The Lightning-horned Earth Dragons dashed down the Ore Empire’s gravel roads.
As Shi Feng ventured deeper into the Ore Empire, stronger monsters and Ores showed up to hinder his progress. Initially, most of the monsters had only been Chieftains, but now, Lords began to target his caravan.
If not for the Lightning-horned Earth Dragons being Level 80 Great Lords, the monsters in their way would have stopped the caravan long ago.
Sure enough, it really is difficult to set up a trade rule in a land ruled by the dark forces. Shi Feng inwardly celebrated as he watched one Lord ranked Ore get knocked aside after another.
Fortunately, he was the first player to set up a trade route in Star-Moon Kingdom and had the privilege of using the Lightning-horned Earth Dragons. Normally, players would only have access to Mysterious-Iron Transport Carriages, which were only pulled by Lord ranked monsters, when setting up a trade route. Traveling through a neutral map under the dark forces’ rule with such carriages would be extremely difficult. He would have had to stop his progress whenever he was attacked. In that case, he would have had to rely on the NPCs he had hired to clear a path or dispatch a large number of his Guild members to do so.
With the Lightning-horned Earth Dragons, however, he could simply bulldoze his way through. Though, due to the large number of Ores and monsters blocking his path, his advance had slowed considerably. Now, the transport carriages only moved a little faster than players running at full speed.
Meanwhile, this was only the beginning of the dark forces’ territory. As Shi Feng traveled deeper into the empire, he would encounter more numerous and powerful Ores and monsters, which even the Tier 3 NPCs accompanying him would have some trouble with.
After about eight hours, Shi Feng arrived before an Ore Fortress. According to the system map, the fortress was the final point for the trade route.
This quest… Does it really want me to build the magic array inside the fortress? As Shi Feng watched the patrolling Ores on the fortress’s walls, he wondered if he had read his system map wrong.
This was nothing like the Ores he had faced on the road earlier.
On his way here, he had faced wild Ores or Ore patrols, but these Ores were members of the Ore Empire’s well-trained army. Fortunately, due to his quest, the fortress only had around 3,000 Ore guards, far fewer than normal. In return, however, their levels and rank had increased significantly. Now, the weakest Ore guarding the fortress was a Chieftain, with the majority of the Ores being Lords. The leader of these creatures was even a Level 80 Mythic ranked Ore General.
After spotting Shi Feng’s caravan, the Ore General raised its greatsword with one hand and loosed a furious roar. Suddenly, the army of 3,000 Ores stationed inside the fortress flooded out of the fortress’s gates and marched towards Shi Feng’s caravan. Sturdy, shield-wielding Ores occupied the frontline while agile, bow-wielding Ores moved at the rear. The Ore army’s approach even made the NPCs with Shi Feng nervous.
Shi Feng could see well over a hundred Great Lord ranked Ores and over a dozen Grand Lords. This force was on an entirely different level than the caravan’s contingent
As Shi Feng wondered if something had gone awry, the sound of a system notification reached his ears.
System: You have triggered the Epic Trade Route Quest “Ore King’s Ambitions.” You may choose to accept or abandon this quest If you complete this quest, you will receive a commendation from Star-Moon Kingdom and qualify to build an airport. Abandoning this quest will not affect your original Trade Route Quest. If you choose to abandon this quest, the system will designate an alternative path for the trade route. You have three minutes to consider.
An Epic Trade Route Quest? Shi Feng was stunned when he read the system notification, but after seeing the quest
rewards, he couldn’t help his growing excitement. Could this be the reward for being the first player to set up a trade route?
The qualifications to build an airport!
Countless Guilds in neutral maps dreamed of acquiring this qualification, but very few succeeded in doing so. In the past, not a single Guild had revealed how they had managed it.
Meanwhile, the sensational scene at the Ore Fortress stupefied the various dark adventurer teams and Dark Guilds following Shi Feng.
“Crap! What’s going on?! Is Black Flame trying to raid the fortress?!”
“Does he intend to raid a fortress by himself? Is he crazy?”
“Black Flame is insane! That’s an Ore Fortress we’re talking about! Although he can stand against a Mythic monster for some time, capturing a fortress is a different story entirely! Even if he has some NPCs to support him, ambushing a fortress is impossible!”
As the Dark Players watched the distance between the Ore army and Shi Feng’s caravan decrease, they were dumbfounded.
They had watched many Guilds try to raid one of the Ore Empire’s fortresses before, but this was the first time they had seen a single player attempt it…
“Commander, what should we do? Should we attack Black Flame?”
“These Ores are too high-leveled. Moreover, there’s a Mythic Ore among them. If we attack carelessly, we might get dragged into the fight Let’s wait It won’t be too late to take action once the Ore army pushes Black Flame and his NPCs back.”
All of the dark adventurer teams and Dark Guilds following Shi Feng came to the same decision.
Meanwhile, as the Ore army approached the caravan, Shi Feng and his NPCs prepared for battle.
Let’s give it a try, Shi Feng decided after analyzing his current combat power and the challenge. The quest had only mentioned that he needed to set up a magic array in the fortress, not capture the fortress. There was a huge difference between the two tasks. Naturally, the former was far easier. Moreover, this was a valuable opportunity. It would be a huge waste to give it up.
Grinding his teeth, Shi Feng accepted the quest. He then pulled a Magic Scroll with crimson divine runes from his bag.
This Magic Scroll was none other than the Tier 4 Continuous-use Magic Scroll, Vulcan’s Sigh, which he had acquired from the Gold Magic Crystal Treasure Chest in the Eclipse Throne. The Magic Scroll was even more valuable than ordinary Epic Equipment
Vulcan’s Sigh was also an extremely rare Summoning Scroll.
He had hoped to save the scroll as a trump card for any future Guild wars, but using it to complete this Epic Trade Route Quest was worth the expenditure.
Following which, Shi Feng injected 1,000 Magic Crystals of Mana into the Magic Scroll and activated it.
In the next moment, a crimson, threefold magic array manifested beneath Shi Feng’s feet. The sky also began to transform, and the earth started to quake.
“Why did the sky suddenly go dark?”
Everyone noticed dark clouds block out the sun. A moment later, the space around Shi Feng began to freeze. The spectating Dark Players felt a powerful aura assault their minds and bodies.