Those Assassins had lied. Shi Feng was furious, but faced with the unknown situation, he had to calm down.
Even members of a studio had their own motives. They would definitely hide some of the key things they discovered, quietly making themselves stronger and secretly raking in the rewards.
There were plenty of people like that in the studio. Whether they were peripheral or core members, a few especially powerful people always emerged after a while, suddenly rising in status. Shi Feng himself was one such person; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone from being a core member to the studio's team leader.
"After coming to the Lost Land, they told outsiders they had only found a Mithril Treasure Chest and nothing else. They must have hidden something more important than the Mithril Treasure Chest. Is it this hidden quest?" Shi Feng opened the system quest interface.
The Lost Land's hidden quest, "Past Glory."
Aside from its name, it had no information at all. He didn't even know what he was supposed to do.
"A region-triggered quest?" With ten years of experience in God's Domain, Shi Feng immediately saw what was special about this hidden quest.
In God's Domain, some quests were very unusual. They could only be triggered in certain areas, and they had no information at all. Players had to find out what to do on their own. Once someone completed the quest, the next player who came there wouldn't be able to trigger it. It could be called a truly unique quest.
It was also an extremely dangerous quest.
To find a way to complete the quest in an unknown area, he would have to face the monsters there. The monsters in areas containing these special quests were generally several levels higher than those in the surrounding regions, making them impossible for ordinary players to defeat.
In his previous life, the six Assassins who had triggered the quest in this level 5 monster area had been over level 20, which was why they'd managed to complete it.
"Forget it. I can't get out anyway, so I might as well explore. At worst, I'll die and return to town." Once Shi Feng had made up his mind, he strode forward.
He made his way through the thick white fog. Before long, several blurry figures appeared in front of him.
It was a city, one that had been abandoned for many years. Ruined buildings were everywhere. Judging by the city's size and the grandeur of its architecture, it must once have been prosperous beyond compare, even more glorious than White River City.
But this once-prosperous city was now completely deserted.
Shi Feng cautiously entered the city, searching for clues to the quest while keeping an eye on his surroundings.
Searching a city capable of holding millions of people was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Shi Feng ran down dozens of streets and entered hundreds of buildings. After spending several hours, he still hadn't found any clues. God's Domain had only just launched, and this was the time when players began to pull ahead of one another. Yet Shi Feng had wasted several hours. Many players were already level 1, while he was still level 2, with 34% of his experience bar filled.
Should he keep looking for clues or kill himself and respawn in town? Shi Feng hesitated.
"I'll search for one more hour. If I still find nothing, I'll return to town." Shi Feng set himself a time limit. Although this kind of quest was valuable, he didn't have that much time to waste. He had plenty of other quests to do; there was no need to waste away here.
Time passed by.
Shi Feng reached the city's central tower. This had once been a holy site for magic classes, the best place to learn magic, but now it was in ruins. Even the magic crystals on the tower had shattered.
He climbed the tower and stood on its observation deck, where the entire city spread out beneath him. If he hadn't been pressed for time, Shi Feng would have stopped to admire the view.
He looked around but found nothing unusual.
Just as Shi Feng was about to leave—
"Young adventurer, welcome to Sky City."
An old man with a white beard suddenly appeared. His voice was full of wisdom and the weight of age, startling Shi Feng. He had thought some kind of monster had appeared, but when he saw the yellow marker, he relaxed.
Sky City?
At the thought of this famous city in God's Domain, Shi Feng was stunned.
Sky City had once been renowned throughout God's Domain. It was home to countless Legendary-class experts, and even the demigod Sword Saint Ulutia had been stationed there. Even the gods had been wary of the city. Unfortunately, it had fallen and disappeared during the Third Divine War, becoming one of God's Domain's great regrets.
"Esteemed elder, is there anything I can do for you?" Shi Feng asked with a formulaic smile.
"Help?" The white-bearded old man shook his head and smiled. "No, I don't need any help. I imagine you want to become stronger. I can help you, but are you willing to accept my test?"
"Of course. I'm willing to accept your test." Shi Feng relaxed. The clue to the Past Glory quest was here, so he wouldn't have to die and return to town, losing a level and skill proficiency.
The old man nodded in satisfaction and said solemnly, "I'll give you three choices. The first is Normal difficulty. If you pass, you'll receive a Mystic Iron Grade Treasure Chest. The second is Hard difficulty, which will reward you with a Mithril Grade Treasure Chest. You can also receive additional rewards based on your completion rate. The third is Hell-Grade difficulty. The reward is an Adamantite Grade Treasure Chest, and you can also receive additional rewards based on your completion rate."
"Young adventurer, which one will you choose?"
The three choices grew harder one by one, but the rewards were incredibly tempting. The six Assassins above level 10 had chosen Hard difficulty and received a Mithril Treasure Chest, but they'd hidden the additional reward. That meant the additional reward was even better than the Mithril Treasure Chest.
Shi Feng thought it over. As a reincarnated person, he ought to have some courage and dare to take on a challenge.
"Esteemed elder, I choose Hell-Grade difficulty." Shi Feng was confident he could handle it. If he passed, it would make a significant difference to his future development.
"Hahaha! Young people are certainly full of energy. I admire you. Don't regret your choice!" The old man laughed heartily, then vanished without a trace.
System: Accepted quest "Past Glory." Face 1,000 monsters of the same level. Killing 500 will count as passing. Time limit: 4 hours. Quest failure penalty: all attributes permanently reduced by 10 points.
Attributes were the foundation of a class. If all his attributes fell by 10 points, this character would practically be ruined.
"That's one brutal penalty." Shi Feng looked at the countless Ghost Warriors appearing below the tower, and his scalp tingled.
The countdown had begun. The monsters would attack in 5 seconds.
Ghost Warrior, Normal monster, Level 2, HP 230.
One would be easy to handle, but faced with a sea of Ghost Warriors, even Shi Feng grew tense.
Charging straight down would be suicide. He would definitely be surrounded and killed. His only option was to fight them one by one.
Shi Feng was an experienced fighter. He quickly ran down the stairs and took his position on the narrow staircase.
The staircase was only wide enough for two monsters to pass through, making it the perfect place to kill them. As long as he held the stairs, he could pass the test.
When the five seconds were up, all the Ghost Warriors went berserk. They rushed into the tower, recklessly charging at Shi Feng. However, the staircase was narrow, forcing them to bunch up. Shi Feng could easily handle two Ghost Warriors at a time, and he dodged all of their attacks.
Wind Thunder Flash!
Slash!
Three flashes of thunder streaked past. Every Ghost Warrior within a 2-by-10-yard area took massive damage, instantly losing more than 60 HP. Slash dealt another 33 damage.
The first Ghost Warrior immediately lost half its HP, while the dozens behind it lost a quarter of theirs.
Earlier, he had faced high-level monsters with very high Defense, greatly suppressing the effects of Wind Thunder Flash and Slash. Now that he was fighting monsters of the same level, Wind Thunder Flash's powerful area damage was on full display.
With the damage amplification effect from Wind Thunder Flash, Shi Feng needed only five more strikes to take down the first Ghost Warrior.
To speed up the kills, Shi Feng activated Gravity Liberation, boosting his attack speed once again.
With the damage amplification effect, he could kill one in less than three seconds.
Unfortunately, killing Ghost Warriors didn't grant experience, but it did always grant one point of skill proficiency.
Watching the Ghost Warriors fall one after another as his skill proficiency continued to rise, Shi Feng was overjoyed.
Even an NPC probably wouldn't expect a level 2 Swordsman to have an exceptionally powerful area-of-effect skill, let alone one who was perfectly suited to fighting hordes and could easily dodge attacks while facing two enemies at once.
Other players would probably fail the quest, but he could complete it perfectly.
Two hours passed. Wind Thunder Flash's skill proficiency reached 300 points, raising it to level 2. Its damage increased from 130% to 135%, and its cooldown dropped from 30 seconds to 28.
Wind Thunder Flash reaching level 2 increased Shi Feng's killing speed once more. The Ghost Warriors fell in droves. Only a little over 20 remained, and he still had an hour and a half left.
After using Wind Thunder Flash, the last 20-odd Ghost Warriors fell as well.
"Well done, young man. Here's your reward." The old man appeared again, smiling at Shi Feng as he took out an Adamantite Treasure Chest and a pitch-black longsword.
System: Completed quest "Past Glory." Rewards: one Adamantite Treasure Chest and one Class Magic Weapon. Title acquired: One Against A Thousand.
Title: One Against A Thousand. While using this title, all attributes of nearby allies within a 30-yard radius increase by 10%. The player also gains Strength +5 and Stamina +5.
"Your reward has been given. You may leave now." The old man gently waved his hand.
Shi Feng's vision blurred. When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the square in Red Leaf Town.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
His system communicator rang nonstop. The person trying to reach him was Heizi.
"Brother Feng, you finally answered! Why couldn't I get through to you before? I've fallen a whole level behind everyone else. What do I do now?" Heizi was frantic, but he still spoke patiently, trusting Shi Feng.
He'd spent more than seven hours on the run. Now the streets were full of level 1 players, while he was still level 0. How could he possibly catch up? No one would even let him join a party. The minimum requirement was level 1. As for a level 0 newbie? They could get lost.
"Sorry, I was busy doing a quest. Come to Central Square; I'll help you level up." Shi Feng apologized.
The quest had taken more than five hours, and more than eight hours had passed since God's Domain launched. Many players had already reached level 1. If they were professional players, they might even be close to level 2.
As a reincarnated person, it would be easy for Shi Feng to help Heizi level up. It wouldn't take long to get him caught up with the professional players.