Astonishing Skill

The moment the countdown ended.

Shi Feng leaned his body forward, knees bent like a hunting leopard, and exploded off the starting line with a burst of force.

Whoosh.

Shi Feng had already covered three yards before the sound of the flintlock even rang out, the shot striking the starting line behind him.

A barrage of gunfire followed, six bullets in total, sealing off Shi Feng's path forward. Green predictive ballistic lines covered his entire body; without lightning-fast reflexes, he would have been turned into a sieve.

Seeing the bullets flying toward him, Shi Feng took a side-step, shifting nearly a yard to the right to dodge the second volley before charging forward again.

Although the three goblins struggled to aim and fire, their spent casings clattering to the ground, Shi Feng moved with the agility of a leopard. He seemed to master the trajectory of the bullets, always managing to dodge a step ahead and gaining ground whenever the next volley arrived.

"No way, he's already covered 10 yards?" The male priest watched Shi Feng cross the ten-yard line in under five seconds, twice as fast as their boss, Cixin. He was stunned.

Cixin stood to the side, silent, watching Shi Feng's progress.

He had assumed Shi Feng was a total novice who didn't even recognize him, just someone looking for kicks in the challenge arena. But the speed and precision he displayed were those of a veteran tempered by years of competition. Every movement was simple and efficient—something no ordinary newcomer could achieve. Even with his own experience, Cixin doubted he could have dodged any better.

However, Cixin possessed the pride of an expert and refused to believe Shi Feng could be better than him. "Perhaps this rookie is an athlete or has practiced martial arts, which is why he's so agile. But once he passes 15 yards, the goblins' attack pattern will change. He won't be able to hold out then."

"Boss is right. Anyone who isn't even known to our Assassin Alliance can't be an expert. Once he hits 15 yards, he'll be in for a shock and end up a pincushion."

"Exactly. After 15 yards, the number of bullets increases to 12. They stop focusing on the player and cover a wide area. Dodging left and right definitely won't work."

The others from the Assassin Alliance agreed, having watched this challenge seven or eight times themselves.

Cixin had cleared the 15-yard mark on his first attempt, but in subsequent tries, he had only ever reached 20 yards, which showed just how high the difficulty spiked after 15 yards.

"He passed 15 yards," one of the Assassin Alliance members noted.

Immediately, the eyes of Cixin and the others locked onto Shi Feng, eager to see how he would fare.

On the field, as soon as Shi Feng stepped past the 15-yard line, the three goblins grew visibly enraged, firing wildly without bothering to aim.

Suddenly, a massive web of ballistic lines covered the area in front of Shi Feng. Only three of those bullets were on a direct path to hit him, but a single strike would end the game.

"Finally decided to cheat?" Shi Feng smiled calmly, drawing his novice sword and charging straight into the hail of bullets.

In his past life, as the leader of Shadow, Shi Feng had been too busy with work and leveling to play the challenge arena, but he had watched plenty of them and knew exactly how the goblins changed their tactics after 15 yards.

The 15-yard mark of the Black Market Challenge was the benchmark for measuring a player's technical skill. Only by clearing it could one claim to have mastered basic physical control. Most players took two or three months to reach this level, a few managed it in a month, and only a tiny fraction of experts could do it on their first try—Cixin being one of those few.

Three bullets were now seconds away from striking Shi Feng's head, chest, and arm.

"This kid is done for. There are too many bullets, he's forgotten to dodge and is just stupidly charging in." To Cixin, watching Shi Feng run straight into the fire was sheer idiocy. Did he think the challenge would continue if he got hit by a bullet or two?

At that moment, Shi Feng tilted his head and swung his novice sword, a flash of white light cutting through the air.

Bang!

The sword swung with perfect timing, easily deflecting the bullet aimed at his chest and sending a small spark flying.

The three dangerous bullets were easily neutralized, and Shi Feng gained more ground.

The three goblins, however, had no intention of stopping. Their flintlocks seemed to have transformed into machine guns, tongues of fire spitting continuously. The interval between volleys became incredibly short, and in an instant, Shi Feng faced five more bullets, with the surrounding area completely locked down by fire, leaving him nowhere to hide.

Clang, clang, clang!

Shi Feng swung his sword rapidly to parry the unavoidable shots while shifting his body to let the others graze past him. He could even hear the sound of the bullets piercing the air right by his ears.

In just three more seconds, Shi Feng crossed the 20-yard mark, leaving only 10 yards to the finish line.

"Holy crap, Boss, is that guy even human? He's actually blocking bullets with a sword!" The male priest's eyes were wide with shock. The impact Shi Feng had on him was indescribable.

Even if one could see the ballistic lines, actually blocking them was easier said than done. It required incredibly precise judgment and reflexes; the margin for error was infuriatingly small.

Cixin was speechless. Using a weapon to block bullets was like walking a tightrope over an abyss; one slip meant disaster. Yet, Shi Feng seemed to thrive on it, blocking bullet after bullet while the others seemed to have a life of their own, weaving around his body.

"Boss, that swordsman is already at 25 yards. He's definitely going to clear it now." The male priest watched Shi Feng move as if he were dancing, sparks flying around him, his mind in complete disarray.

"I have eyes, I don't need you to remind me," Cixin snapped, his own attention completely captured by Shi Feng's movements.

The moment Shi Feng passed the 25-yard mark:

"Die, challenger!" the goblin at the finish line laughed excitedly, pulling a rapid-fire flintlock from its clothes and unleashing a barrage at Shi Feng.

The number of bullets per volley jumped to 24, and at the ultra-short range of five yards, it was impossible for a player to dodge.

"Damn it, that's cheating!" Cixin roared.

Seeing this, the hearts of the other players jumped into their throats, and they cursed the goblins' shamelessness.

Facing such a dense rain of bullets, Shi Feng grew serious for the first time. Although he knew the attack pattern would change again at 25 yards, facing so many bullets head-on was still nerve-wracking.

Shi Feng bent his knees and leaped like a leopard, diving into the area where the bullet density was lowest to minimize his target area. He gripped his novice sword and swung it frantically, four flashes of white light appearing almost simultaneously.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

After a burst of sparks, Shi Feng pierced through the storm of lead.

The moment he landed, he braced himself with his free hand, pushed off, and sprinted across the finish line like a bolt of lightning.

Total time: 14 seconds, shattering the bronze-tier record of 18 seconds.

"Ugh, I'm really not used to this weak body," Shi Feng sighed slightly after crossing the line. If he had his level 100+ physique, a quadruple sword strike would have been effortless, not nearly as exhausting as it was now.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let us cheer! Congratulations to this swordsman for successfully completing the challenge," the goblin administrator announced loudly.

System: Player is the first to pass the Bronze Challenge and has broken the record. Rewarding player with 1 silver coin and the Swordsman skill Wind Thunder Flash.

"No way, it actually rewarded the ultra-rare skill Wind Thunder Flash? This is a skill that even level 100+ Swordsmen can't obtain." Shi Feng thought he was hearing things, but seeing the skill book for Wind Thunder Flash in his bag, he was still shocked.

Wind Thunder Flash, action-type, requires a sword. Rapidly deals three sword-light attacks to a 10*2 yard area in front. Each attack deals 130% damage and carries a damage-amplification effect, increasing the next instance of damage by 20%. Cooldown is 30 seconds.

Since the skill was obtained, he clicked to learn it without a second thought.

The Swordsman class is primarily focused on single-target damage skills and lacks powerful area-of-effect skills. Wind Thunder Flash can be considered one of the few super-strong AoE skills for a Swordsman. Being able to learn it in the early stages definitely puts him far ahead of all other Swordsmen.

After learning Wind Thunder Flash, Shi Feng finally felt like he had the look of a true Swordsman.

"You guys have fun, I'm leaving. Don't forget my 50 coppers." Shi Feng looked at the dumbfounded Cixin, gave a greeting, and left the black market.

Cixin nodded blankly.

"Brother Cixin, he left and took the reward. Should we chase after him?" the male Priest asked.

Only after Shi Feng had left did Cixin recover from his shock. He glared at the male Priest and scolded, "Are you an idiot? We should be trying to get on the good side of such an expert Swordsman; making an enemy of him is just asking for death."

"No, I have to report this to the Guild Leader. It's a good thing I added him as a friend. Ye Feng, is it? I've never heard the name of such an expert Swordsman. Could it be a disguise used by some master of the sword?" Cixin admitted to himself that he couldn't have passed the challenge as brilliantly as Shi Feng, especially that round of attacks after the 25-yard mark—it was practically cheating. How could a player dodge that? Yet, Shi Feng had managed it.

In the trade district, Shi Feng found the Master Alchemist Kevin and spent 120 coppers to purchase 20 Burst Berries. This caused Shi Feng's wealth to shrink significantly, leaving him with only 30 coppers.

However, for the sake of rocket-speed leveling, it was money well spent.

Carrying the Burst Berries, Shi Feng left Red Leaf Town and ran westward.

Currently, all players were level 0 and were killing level 0 monsters outside Red Leaf Town. There were some skilled players teaming up to kill level 1 Wolf Pups, with Warriors tanking in the front, ranged units dealing damage, and healers providing support. They fought methodically; although the experience was split among them, the efficiency was high and there were few people competing for monsters.

However, Shi Feng had no intention of competing with others for monsters. He ran straight past the level 1 monster area, then past the level 3 monster area, and kept running until he reached the Red Leaf Forest, a level 5 monster area where not a single player would dare to come.

At this stage in God's Domain, no player dared to challenge level 5 monsters. Due to level suppression, massive health pools, and the disparity in attack power, a level 5 monster could easily crush a level 1 player. Even a six-man party couldn't defeat a single level 5 mob.

If a player died, the death penalty was severe. Not only would they lose one level's worth of experience, but they would also lose skill proficiency. No player dared to take risks lightly, or else the experience and proficiency they had worked hours to earn would be wasted.