Before the Dead Silence Forest instance, more and more Level 2 players had gathered, and parties kept coming and going.
With so many Level 2 players around, plenty of people had set up stalls nearby and started hawking their wares.
"Top-quality Level 0 common gear! Don't miss out! You'll need good equipment to run Dead Silence Forest. Limited stock, come grab yours now!"
"Small Instant Health Potion! Restores 90 HP in one go. An essential for battle—you deserve one!"
God's Domain had been open for more than ten hours. Everyone here was a high-level player who had reached Level 2, and after fighting for all those hours, they had gotten quite a few good items. Many planned to sell anything they didn't need and trade for things that would be useful, which was why business outside Dead Silence Forest was so brisk.
Although the number of players outside Dead Silence Forest kept growing, fewer and fewer parties were organizing runs. Only a few uninformed groups still tried to recruit players for the instance.
But after getting a good taste of Dead Silence Forest, they suddenly realized how childish their earlier assumptions had been. So they obediently stood around outside the instance, chatting with the other parties and watching as new groups walked inside. They also discussed intelligence with veteran parties who had already run the instance, pooling their information to improve their strategy for Dead Silence Forest.
As wave after wave of players died trying to clear the instance, Dead Silence Forest finally became a source of dread for everyone in Red Leaf Town.
Every player who had run the instance had only one impression of Dead Silence Forest.
Terrifying!
At that moment, six white lights flashed in the resurrection graveyard of Dead Silence Forest, and six figures appeared.
"This instance is impossible! Gentle Snow, let's just go grind monsters and do quests instead." Zhao Yueru had just revived, and her chest heaved with anger. She stomped her little foot, looking so adorably furious that she caught the attention of a large crowd of male players.
Bai Qingxue shook her head and said thoughtfully, "We've gotten a lot out of Dead Silence Forest, so we can't give up just yet. But its woods are huge, and there are countless paths. Without a map, we'll get lost easily. I suspect that a few of those paths lead to the BOSS, while the rest are traps meant to confuse us. That's why we keep getting ambushed by Night Rabbits, and why there are more and more of them as we fight. Let's find out what information others have first and see if we can improve our map of Dead Silence Forest."
Everyone thought Bai Qingxue's theory made sense. In particular, whenever they attacked the Night Rabbits, arrows would occasionally fly out of the woods and target their Priest, Xiaoyuer. If Xiaoyuer hadn't been skilled enough to dodge them, their party would have been wiped out long ago.
And the deeper they went into the woods, the more Night Rabbits they encountered. In the end, there were simply too many to handle, and they had died and returned. If they could find the right path, they might already have cleared the instance.
Zhao Yueru could only nod in agreement. Gentle Snow was the leader, after all, and her guesses had always been accurate. Zhao Yueru had no choice but to trust her.
So Bai Qingxue and Zhao Yueru called out a few times, saying they wanted to trade information about Dead Silence Forest.
The two beauties' call worked like a charm. All the players outside Dead Silence Forest immediately erupted with excitement and rushed over, hoping to be the first to sign up.
For the male players, this was a great chance to talk to their goddess. Maybe she'd take a liking to them, and they could live a "happy" life together someday.
Meanwhile, inside Hell-Grade Dead Silence Forest, the sky was dark and the birds were in a frenzy. The entire forest was dead quiet.
Werewolf Ferrot wasn't an ordinary monster. He was a notorious werewolf who had once slaughtered countless people in Red Leaf Town, nearly turning it into a ghost town. The Star-Moon Kingdom had flown into a rage and sent an army to hunt him down. In the end, Hilton the Great Sword Master had gravely wounded Ferrot, who fled into Dead Silence Forest to recover. That was how the Dead Silence Forest instance came to be.
Hell-Grade Ferrot had three ultimate abilities. The first was Death Gaze. Any enemy he glared at suffered a sharp decrease in attack and movement speed. Those with weak wills could even be frozen in place.
Aside from Shi Feng, whose Agility had reached 30 and who had activated three hidden basic skills, everyone else was slow to react when faced with Death Gaze.
That was why Shi Feng kept Werewolf Ferrot occupied while Sleepy Sloth continually healed him. However, Sleepy Sloth's casting speed was nearly halved, and the melee fighters couldn't help at all. It wasn't that they didn't want to; they simply couldn't. Werewolf Ferrot attacked so quickly that they couldn't react in time. It was like a duel between martial arts masters in a wuxia novel—ordinary people couldn't get involved.
Charging in would only make things worse, so they were better off watching from the sidelines.
Only the ranged mages were dealing damage, but it was pitifully low. Even Heizi's Shadow Arrow dealt only 24 damage.
"Lonely, interrupt his roar!" Shi Feng shouted as he saw Ferrot suddenly draw in a breath.
Lonely As Snow had been ready for this. He immediately used Charge, stunning Ferrot for one second, then quickly backed away.
Shi Feng seized the opening and used Wind Thunder Flash, Double Strike, and Slash. Each attack struck Ferrot in the chest, preventing him from catching his breath. Ferrot spat out a mouthful of blood, taking a terrifying 500 damage.
Werewolf Ferrot's health dropped to 78% in one blow.
Everyone stared in shock. They were amazed by Shi Feng's nimble movements and astonished by his eye for detail. He had managed to spot such a weakness, making them even more certain that there was something extraordinary about him.
But Shi Feng didn't look pleased. He had interrupted Hell Roar and prevented a party wipe, but it would trigger a backlash.
Werewolf Ferrot spat out blood and seemed to feel much better. He turned and slashed at Shi Feng with his claws. His attacks were even faster than before, filling the air with countless claw shadows.
But Shi Feng wasn't weak either. He had activated the hidden skills for all three attributes—Strength, Agility, and Endurance. This meant his body was no longer that of an ordinary player, but a Transcendent physique. He could enter Transcendent State at any moment and do things ordinary players couldn't. That was his greatest asset in tackling Hell-Grade Dead Silence Forest.
Even beneath the countless claw shadows, Shi Feng remained unharmed, as if dancing through them. Every so often, he used his sword to block an attack he couldn't dodge. This was Transcendent State: his five senses became extraordinarily sharp, and his thoughts focused with unusual intensity, allowing him to draw out his body's full potential. Ordinary players couldn't do this. However, maintaining Transcendent State took a great deal of mental energy. If Shi Feng hadn't already gotten used to it, he would have lasted only a few seconds the first time he tried.
Claws and swords clashed, scattering countless dazzling sparks.
Both sides' health kept falling. Fortunately, Sleepy Sloth healed Shi Feng in time, allowing him to hold on.
Following Shi Feng's orders, Lonely As Snow interrupted Hell Roar from time to time. Kele drew Werewolf Ferrot's attention whenever Shi Feng was in danger, while Heizi used Evil Lash to keep him pinned down. With that, Ferrot's health kept dropping: 70%, 60%, 30%...
"Everyone, line up across from the BOSS! Hurry!" Shi Feng shouted when Werewolf Ferrot's health neared 30%.
Once Werewolf Ferrot's health fell to 30%, he became terrifying. At that point, Hell Roar couldn't be interrupted. They would have to endure it head-on.
No one hesitated. They all knew the BOSS was about to unleash his power, so they immediately took their positions in a line, 30 yards from Werewolf Ferrot.
When Werewolf Ferrot's health reached 30%, his fur began to change color. Before long, it had turned snow-white. Two streams of bloody tears ran from his eyes, and his chest began to swell rapidly, like an inflated frog.
Shi Feng immediately activated Gravity Liberation and rushed to the front of the group.
"Kele, cast Blessing of Protection on me!" Shi Feng shouted.
Blessing of Protection reduced the damage an ally took by 50% for six seconds. It had a five-minute cooldown and was a powerful lifesaving ability. This was the perfect moment to use it.
Blessing of Protection, a Guardian Knight skill, and Shield Wall, a Shield Warrior skill, both had extremely high drop rates in Hell-Grade Dead Silence Forest. Shi Feng had spent time clearing some Night Rabbits that they didn't need to kill earlier precisely to obtain Blessing of Protection.