Black Iron Beer

They left Red Leaf Town.

Shi Feng led Heizi straight toward Dark Moon Valley.

"Brother Feng, we're heading to Dark Moon Valley? That's a Level 4 monster zone. Can't we pick somewhere safer?" Heizi felt uneasy seeing that Shi Feng's target was a Level 4 monster zone.

In God's Domain, challenging monsters above one's level was extremely difficult. Generally, exceeding one level was the limit; to exceed two levels, a six-man party was required at this stage. However, even six-man parties wouldn't do this, because it was far more efficient for a Level 1 party to kill Level 2 monsters than to struggle to death killing Level 3 monsters.

There were only two of them. Shi Feng was fine, being a Level 2 Swordsman, but he was only a Level 0 Cursomancer. Facing a Level 4 monster was basically serving himself up on a platter. For the two of them to take on a Level 4 monster was nothing short of suicide.

Regarding Heizi's concerns, Shi Feng smiled calmly and assured him, "Don't worry. See, didn't I reach Level 2? My friend is a closed-beta expert. If it weren't for our close relationship, he wouldn't have shared this secret with me. Just wait to level up like a rocket."

Shi Feng didn't mention a word about his rebirth, pushing all questions onto his "good friend." This way, all his actions in God's Domain could be easily explained, and Heizi would believe it completely without needing a long-winded explanation.

After all, a closed-beta player was the best excuse.

"Brother Feng, you're the best. No wonder you didn't go to the stable Shadow Studio to make money. With guidance from such a closed-beta expert, you'll definitely make a fortune in God's Domain. My future happiness depends on you." Heizi felt much more at ease and chuckled.

He had been shocked when he saw Shi Feng's level reach Level 2 after they formed their party.

At this stage, no player in Red Leaf Town had been heard to reach Level 2, not even the elites from the studios. Yet Shi Feng had achieved it; his leveling speed was simply terrifying.

It wasn't that Heizi didn't know Shi Feng's skill level. While his technique was decent, it definitely wasn't this impressive. He had been skeptical about the closed-beta player news before, but after seeing Shi Feng's level, all his doubts vanished. Only a closed-beta player could accomplish these things. He even started to believe Shi Feng's bold claim of earning 16,000 credits in ten days.

"Tch, I'm a real man." Shi Feng rolled his eyes at Heizi and moved slightly away. However, the way Heizi looked at him was still so impure that it made him a little nervous.

"Brother Feng, what are you thinking? My dream lover is the Ice Goddess, Bai Qingxue." Heizi quickly explained.

The Ice Goddess?

Shi Feng had a deep impression of this woman. She had performed exceptionally well in other virtual games. Because of her stunning beauty, devilish figure, queenly temperament, and top-tier combat skills, she was incredibly popular.

Three years after God's Domain opened, she became even more formidable, leaping to become a top expert in the country and one of the ten great Berserkers. Known as the Valkyrie, she starred in countless celebrity endorsements and had a net worth of over tens of billions. She was also the Vice Guild Leader of the super guild Snake of the Void, capable of easily commanding millions of players. Back then, he was just a nobody in God's Domain, only able to look up at Bai Qingxue's silhouette. Unfortunately, not long after, Bai Qingxue disappeared from God's Domain, which became a major, long-burning topic at the time.

"Brother Feng, look, that's an elite monster!" Heizi pointed at a snow-white fox in the distant rice field and shouted.

Shi Feng looked over. Sure enough, there was a white fox in the golden rice field, currently holding a small white rabbit in its mouth.

Cunning Snow Fox, Rare Elite, Level 2, HP 450.

"Heizi, your eyesight and luck are too good. To even run into this—we're in luck." Shi Feng quietly crept closer and instructed, "Just provide output from a distance. Leave the rest to me."

Rare Elites were a special type of elite. Their strength was the same as ordinary elite monsters, but the rewards after killing them were higher. Once killed, it would take a long time for them to respawn, and whether one could encounter them at all depended on luck.

"Brother Feng, you're crazy. That's a Level 2 elite; we can't handle it."

Heizi wanted to stop him. A party was needed to deal with an elite of the same level. Without a healer, fighting one-on-one would surely lead to being toyed to death by the monster.

But it was too late for Heizi. Shi Feng had already quickly circled behind the Snow Fox and launched an attack.

Slash!

A sword aura flew out.

The Snow Fox was very agile and dodged the vital point on its abdomen, taking only 32 damage.

"So agile, and its defense isn't low either." Shi Feng quickly made a judgment based on the Snow Fox's dodge and the damage dealt.

He possessed the title One Against A Thousand, which increased all attributes by 10%. With an additional 5 points in Strength and 5 in Stamina, his Strength reached 13, Stamina 10, and Agility 17. His current attack power was 29 and his HP was 260. His attributes could rival a Level 5 Swordsman, and he was fully capable of duking it out with a Level 2 elite.

The enraged Snow Fox moved quickly, lunging directly at Shi Feng's neck to launch a Fatal Strike skill.

However, Shi Feng's speed was not slow either. With 17 points of Agility, he was not a bit inferior to the Snow Fox. The moment the Snow Fox rushed over, his Novice Sword had already struck its head.

Bang.

Shi Feng only had 13 points of Strength, which still couldn't block the Snow Fox's power. His body retreated two steps, 49 damage appeared above his head, and the durability of his Novice Sword decreased by 1 point.

The Snow Fox only took 5 damage; the gap between the two was clear at a glance.

"Dead, dead, we're dead for sure." Sweat beaded on Heizi's forehead. He had seen the attacks of ordinary monsters, but he hadn't expected the gap with an elite monster to be this large. Shi Feng was lucky to have blocked the attack with his sword and still took nearly 50 damage. If he had been hit in the body, wouldn't it have been over a hundred? Shi Feng had finally reached Level 2; if he died now, he would drop back to Level 1, and all his hard-earned advantages would be gone.

"Heizi, attack!" Shi Feng roared.

"You're truly insane. Fine, fine, at worst we die together. I'm only Level 0 anyway." Heizi gritted his teeth, chanted an incantation, and gestured.

A Shadow Arrow shot out, dealing 5 damage to the Snow Fox.

Seeing the damage, Heizi gasped. He had put all his points into Intelligence to increase magic damage, yet he only dealt 5 points. The defense of an elite monster was simply too terrifying.

Shi Feng, facing the Snow Fox, was under even greater pressure. The Snow Fox had high Agility; every time Shi Feng tried to use Slash, it would dodge. He could only use ordinary strikes, which dealt 18 damage, but if he were bitten by the Snow Fox, it would be over a hundred damage. The ratio was completely off.

Ten seconds later, Shi Feng's HP was down to 31, while the Snow Fox still had 244.

"Too few skills. As expected, I can't go head-to-head with an Agility-type elite." Shi Feng looked at the Snow Fox, which still had half its health left. If he kept dragging this out, he would definitely die. He had to go all out.

He took a bottle of Black Iron Beer from his bag and took two gulps. His vision became a bit blurry, and he felt slightly drunk. He then activated Gravity Liberation, his speed increasing significantly as he flashed to the Snow Fox's side like lightning.

At this moment, Shi Feng saw the Snow Fox's level displayed as 0, while he was Level 2. He instantly gained a level suppression, which increased his damage, though it made his body very difficult to control.

"Die!" Shi Feng's eyes were cold, and he gripped his Novice Sword a little tighter.

Wind Thunder Flash!

Swish, swish, swish. Three streaks of lightning flashed rapidly across the Snow Fox's waist. The Snow Fox let out a miserable shriek, and -30, -36, -42 damage appeared above its head. A quarter of its health vanished instantly.

Following that was another Slash, dealing 43 damage.

The Snow Fox tried to fight back desperately, but Shi Feng, with Gravity Liberation active, was too fast. Even while drunk, relying on years of combat experience, he could control his body well, keeping the Snow Fox in a position of absolute disadvantage.

"Holy crap, Brother Shi, what are you drinking? You're so fierce all of a sudden!" Heizi's eyes were practically popping out of his head. Shi Feng's performance was like he had turned on a cheat code; the ferocious Snow Fox had become nothing more than a plaything in his hands, with not even a chance to resist.

Just as the Snow Fox's HP dropped to 42 points, Shi Feng prepared to deliver the final blow.

Suddenly, Shi Feng felt a chill on the back of his neck, as if a dagger were pressed against his throat. It was an unsettling sensation, and he instinctively lunged forward. A split second later, a gleaming blade slashed through the air where he had just been, missing him by a hair's breadth.

The figure revealed behind Shi Feng looked utterly astonished. He had concealed his presence perfectly, not making a single sound, and after reaching Level 1, his Agility had hit a high of 10 points. Yet, his stealth attack had still been dodged—what kind of intuition was this?

"Friend, we have no grudge between us. Isn't this a bit uncalled for?" Shi Feng stared at the assassin who had revealed himself, his voice cold.

"If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for provoking our Shadow Studio. It's too late for regrets now." Shadow Wolf gripped his dagger in a reverse hold, watching Shi Feng's every move with excitement.

He had been tailing him the whole time, originally intending to report Shi Feng's location, but he hadn't expected to run into an elite monster. Now that the Snow Fox was targeting Shi Feng, even though Shi Feng's skills were decent, the distraction of the beast gave him the perfect opportunity to finish off the weakened Shi Feng and then claim the Snow Fox for himself—a highly profitable endeavor. As for the Curse Master nearby, he was nothing but trash, not worth mentioning.

The Snow Fox, naturally, cared nothing for any of this; it only knew it had to kill Shi Feng.

With a sudden roar, its snow-white fur turned fiery red and its body grew slightly larger. Its HP recovered significantly, jumping back up to 20%, and it lunged at Shi Feng to unleash its ultimate skill, Bite. The damage dealt increased by 50%, and it inflicted 30 points of bleeding damage over 5 seconds.

"Go ahead and regret it! I'll be taking the Snow Fox for myself!" Shadow Wolf charged at Shi Feng simultaneously, preparing to finish him off the moment he tried to dodge.