The Book of Hell

Shi Feng walked over without a word and picked up the lethal-looking one-handed sword.

The Blood-Red Blade was arguably one of the rarest drops in the Hell-mode Dead Silence Forest, and it was, without a doubt, the best one-handed sword for a Swordsman before level 6.

Blood-Red Blade, one-handed sword, Mithril Grade, requires 12 Strength, level 3, Attack +21, Strength +5, Agility +6, Stamina +3, Durability 30/30.

Its raw attack power already rivaled a level 5 Bronze two-handed great axe. Combined with the +6 Agility, which significantly boosted a Swordsman's attack speed, it was undeniably a top-tier weapon for the class.

Unfortunately, he couldn't equip it yet. He was only at 69% of level 2, and he still needed quite a bit of experience to reach level 3. Even then, he wouldn't be able to use it immediately, as the Swordsman's dual-wielding talent only unlocked at level 5, allowing him to equip two one-handed swords.

Once he hit level 5, he would wield the Abyssal Walker in his main hand and the Blood-Red Blade in his off-hand. His attack power would be practically invincible among level 5 players; just thinking about it was exhilarating.

"Brother Feng, hurry up and loot the gear! I'm dying of anticipation here," Heizi urged repeatedly.

"That's right, Captain! You can't just keep all the fun to yourself. At least let us see what dropped so we can feast our eyes!"

The loot scattered on the ground was so dazzling it nearly blinded them. Everyone was staring with burning desire, having even forgotten the joy of just hitting level 2. They were desperate to see what the two Hell-mode bosses had dropped. As for rushing over to snatch the loot, not a single person present would dream of it—no matter how valuable the items were.

Doing so might provide a moment of satisfaction, but it would lead to a lifetime of regret. Shi Feng was the greatest treasure of all. Even if he claimed every single piece of equipment, no one would object; after all, they had only made it this far because of him. Thus, no one rushed forward, and they all stood by obediently, watching.

"Alright, alright, don't be so impatient." Shi Feng smiled slightly and began quickly gathering the items, quite satisfied with their conduct.

Unlike his previous life, where Shi Feng occasionally ran dungeons with people who would swarm the loot the moment a boss died and then vanish, leaving him fuming, this group was different.

He hadn't set the party loot to "Captain Only" specifically to test them. It was always better to identify treacherous people early. The fact that they hadn't swarmed the loot made him feel much more at ease with them.

In no time, Shi Feng finished collecting everything: 19 items and 5 silver coins. This haul was comparable to the entire assets of a large guild.

After organizing his bag, Shi Feng's lips curled upward. He had spotted a forging design.

Guardian Armor Design: Once learned, it allows the forging of a level 3 Bronze-grade chest piece. Materials required: 20 Copper Ore, 5 Bronze Ore, and 5 bottles of Magic Essence.

This was a fantastic item. Once their MT equipped this, running the Normal-mode Dead Silence Forest would become much easier. It wasn't just about the high defense and strength; more importantly, it provided a 200-point HP boost, which was crucial for an MT.

In his past life, once this gear appeared, major guilds went insane over it, sparing no cost to farm the Dead Silence Forest for the design.

Seeing Shi Feng's happy smile, Heizi grew even more anxious.

As for the others, if looks could kill, Shi Feng would have died a thousand times over.

"The items are good. Take a look for yourselves." Shi Feng didn't waste any more time and shared the stats of all the equipment.

There were 15 pieces of gear in total: one Mithril-grade item—the Blood-Red Blade—five Mystic Iron-grade items, and nine Bronze-grade items. The Bronze gear dropped by Hell-mode bosses were all top-tier, far superior to the Bronze gear dropped by elite mobs outside.

Among all the gear, besides the precious Blood-Red Blade, the most valuable items were the Mystic Iron-grade sets for various classes. These sets only dropped in Hell mode; Normal and Hard modes only yielded Bronze sets.

Heizi had always been lucky. Out of the five Mystic Iron items, two were pieces of the Cursemancer's Dark Set. The Mystic Iron Dark Set was absolutely the best gear for a Cursemancer before level 5. The set consisted of five pieces: head, chest, legs, boots, and gloves. This drop included the chest and boots, leaving Heizi grinning from ear to ear.

"Brother Feng, I love Hell mode! Let's run it every day from now on. That way, I can complete my Dark Set. Once I do, if anyone dares to look down on us, I'll blast them to bits!" Heizi boasted, clutching the Dark Set pieces.

After equipping the Dark Set, Heizi felt like a true expert. His magic damage had risen to 66, and a single level 3 Shadow Arrow could take away more than half the HP of a level 1 Shield Warrior. If he completed the full set, a single Shadow Arrow would be enough to one-shot a level 1 Shield Warrior.

Dressed in a dark gray fur robe with shiny, pitch-black boots, anyone could tell it was a set.

The others stared at Heizi's flashy Dark Set, practically drooling with envy and jealousy.

They had never imagined that running Hell mode could be this rewarding. They truly hoped they could run it many more times in the future.

The remaining three pieces were sets for the Guardian Knight, Shield Warrior, and Elementalist. Among the party, only Kele was a Guardian Knight, so Shi Feng gave that piece to him and stored the rest.

As for the remaining Bronze gear, one was a shield and one was a greatsword—both top-tier level 2 items—which were given to Kele and Lonely As Snow, respectively. The Oracle, Sleepy Sloth, and the Summoner, Gluttonous Mouse, each received a piece of Bronze gear.

Shi Feng also upgraded much of his own gear. Three of the Bronze items were for Swordsmen, and he kept the remaining two for himself.

Once everyone swapped their gear, the entire party underwent a transformation. Everyone's equipment looked incredibly ornate, clearly not the common gear sold at street stalls. The whole team had reached level 2, with Heizi sitting at 98%—just a hair's breadth away from level 3.

The other four items were a design, an Alchemy recipe, a rare skill book for a Cursemancer, and a notebook.

The rare Cursemancer skill book thrilled Heizi. It was an AoE skill called Hellfire, which dealt 150% fire damage per second to an 8x8 yard area for 5 seconds, with a 36-second cooldown. It was a god-tier skill for grinding mobs in the early game.

"What's the use of this?" Shi Feng examined the worn notebook in his hand. He didn't recall this item dropping in the Hell-mode Dead Silence Forest.

Opening it, he found it filled with indecipherable text, but Shi Feng recognized it as ancient Elvish.

In God's Domain, anything involving Elvish was never ordinary. Just like the Gravity Ring, which had a string of Elvish characters carved into it that granted the ring its incredible abilities.

"Looks like I'll have to make a trip to the library."

Shi Feng felt this notebook was significant. In his past life, he had run the Hell-mode Dead Silence Forest dozens of times and had never seen this drop. No other guild teams had mentioned it either. It was highly likely a first-clear exclusive drop. To understand it, he would have to find a translator at the library.

"Brother Feng, what are we doing next? Are we going to grind mobs?" Heizi was eager to test his new skill.

"That works. Let's head to the Dark Moon Valley to do some quests and grind. The mobs there drop plenty of ore," Shi Feng said after a moment of thought.

With the design in hand, all that remained were the materials. He needed a lot of them, and with Heizi's Hellfire, grinding Kobolds and Goblins should be fast. He also knew of several excellent spots that were perfect for using Hellfire.

Shi Feng turned to the others and asked, "Are you all coming with us, or are you going to do your own quests?"

"Brother Feng, how could you leave me out of the grinding? I've already decided to follow you from now on," Kele said with a goofy grin, stroking his new shield.

"Brother Feng, can we join too?"

Sleepy Sloth and Gluttonous Mouse, both high school students, kept their heads down, looking a bit embarrassed. However, they didn't want to pass up the opportunity. Shi Feng was a top-tier expert; learning even a trick or two from him would be invaluable.

Shi Feng smiled and said, "Of course, you're welcome to join."

Both of them immediately looked thrilled, their hands clenching in excitement.

"Since no one objects, let's head to Dark Moon Valley to grind."

With that, Shi Feng opened the system interface, selected the party dungeon teleport, and left the Dead Silence Forest.