THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 5 - Season 8 Episode 18

Among the Ghoul’s loot, Shi Feng found an item that he was relatively familiar with.

Mastery Book!

This item was extremely rare and would provide players with Free Mastery Points.

Normally, it could only be obtained from Treasure Chests or quests. This was the first time Shi Feng had seen this item drop from a Special Elite.

Shi Feng’s One-handed Sword Mastery had already become a Basic Sword Master, the Mastery increasing his damage with the one-handed sword by 30%.

At this stage of the game, even for powerful experts, being an Advanced Swordsman was impressive, receiving a 20% damage increase. The majority of the expert players in God’s Domain were currently stuck as Intermediate Swordsman.

“A Bronze Mastery Book, huh?” Shi Feng was somewhat disappointed after he checked the Mastery Book’s information.

If it were a Mysterious-Iron Mastery Book, he might be able to become an Intermediate Sword Master this instant.

When used, a Bronze Mastery Book could provide players with anywhere from 5 to 25 Free Mastery Points, significantly fewer than a Mysterious-Iron Mastery Book’s 10 to 50 points.

Basic Sword Master required 150 Mastery Points.

Intermediate Sword Master required 200 Mastery Points.

If he were lucky with a Mysterious-Iron Mastery Book, after including his previously accumulated Free Mastery Points, he might have achieved the promotion to the Intermediate Sword Master right away.

At Intermediate Sword Master, the Mastery would increase Shi Feng’s damage with the one-handed sword by 40%. This was a significant increase to any player, not to mention Shi Feng.

Shi Feng then used the Bronze Mastery Book, obtaining 9 Free Mastery Points. Adding this to what he had already accumulated, he had 177 Mastery Points. He was only 23 points away from the 200 point threshold.

“I wonder if all the remaining Ghouls will drop Mastery Books as well?” Shi Feng could not help but get his hopes up. He then directed a Tier 3 Demon to wait outside the restricted area while controlling the other Tier 3 Demon to kill nearby Ghouls.

There were currently three more Ghouls within 200 yards of the Palace.

However, Shi Feng did not dare to lure them away casually. He was too low-leveled. A single mistake might attract the Thunder Beast Guards’ attention. At that time, he would certainly die. Hence, he could not take this risk.

As Shi Feng bided his time quietly, steadily decreasing the Ghoul population.

He had obtained one Bronze Mastery Book for roughly every 50 Ghouls he killed. This gave Shi Feng a good idea to strengthen himself and his Guild.

At the moment, God’s Domain’s players did not focus overmuch on improving their Weapon Masteries. However, once players reached an adequately high level, they would discover the massive strength boost that Mastery provided.

As an Intermediate Sword Master, Shi Feng’s damage with the one-handed sword would increase by 40%. As an Advanced Sword Master, that bonus damage would increase to 50%.

If Shi Feng could go one step further and upgrade his Mastery to Basic Sword King, his bonus damage with the one-handed sword would rise to 80%. Two or three additional pieces of equipment could not bridge a 30% damage gap.

Hence, among the many PvP battles that occurred in God’s Domain, despite both sides being nearly equal in terms of techniques, the player with superior Attributes would occasionally taste defeat. This was a result of the difference in Mastery levels.

If he could improve the Mastery levels of the Guild’s upper echelons, they would have an easier time coping with the assassins of the Flower of Seven Sins.

However, it would be very difficult to increase one’s Mastery to the Sword King standard.

In order to reach the Advanced Sword Master standard, one required a total of 300 Mastery Points. Meanwhile, Basic Sword King required 450 Mastery Points, which was three times that of a Basic Sword Master.

—

As Shi Feng grinded Ghouls while waiting for the Ghouls inside the restricted area to venture out, a huge commotion occurred in Star-Moon City.

The Secret Pavilion’s Guild Residence had appeared in Stone Forest Town. This was the second foreign Guild to establish a Guild Residence in the town after Ouroboros.

It was common knowledge that Ouroboros had only received such treatment due to its alliance with Zero Wing. However, what about the Secret Pavilion?

Were they allies, too?

When the various large Guilds considered the possible alliance between Zero Wing and the Secret Pavilion, they began to reconsider how they treated Zero Wing.

The Secret Pavilion was a massive existence in the virtual gaming world. Although it did not participate in the struggles between Guilds, no one dared to underestimate the Pavilion. Even Super Guilds tread lightly when around the Pavilion. Now that the Secret Pavilion occupied Stone Forest Town, the Guilds, who initially aspired to obtain the town, would have to reconsider their options.

Previously, since a first-rate Guild like the Star Alliance had taken the lead, the various Guilds in Star-Moon Kingdom had gained some confidence in facing-off with Zero Wing.

However, there was a massive difference between the Star Alliance and the Secret Pavilion. Contesting over Stone Forest Town with the Secret Pavilion would be suicide.

—

Inside the Star Alliance’s Guild Residence:

“Purple, have you investigated the matter regarding the Secret Pavilion? Just what kind of relationship does Zero Wing have with the Pavilion?” Galaxy Past, who occupied the Guild Leader’s throne, asked as he turned to Purple Eye.

Originally, Galaxy Past had been in a merry mood as he had recently accepted a high-level Rare Quest. Just as he prepared to complete it, however, he had received this very distressing news. Hence, to get to the bottom of this situation, he had called for an emergency Guild meeting.

Aside from being one the Star Alliance’s top fighters, Purple Eye was also one of the Guild’s information managers. Purple Eye also possessed some special connections of her own, which allowed her to obtain information that even the Star Alliance could not get its hands on.

Hence, Galaxy Past asked Purple Eye directly.

“According to the investigation, the Secret Pavilion is not in an alliance with Zero Wing,” Purple Eye said softly. “However, the Pavilion seems to have conducted an internal trade with Zero Wing. As to what the two Guilds have exchanged, even my sources could not uncover that.”

“A trade?” Galaxy Past frowned. “Black Flame really knows how to surprise people. The Secret Pavilion does not trade with others easily. Just in case, slow down our actions against Zero Wing. From now on, we should be more careful when dealing with Zero Wing. Let Open Source Corporation deal with them.”

Although the Star Alliance had the OSC’s financing, that did not mean the Guild would sacrifice itself for the corporation.

—

In the Stoneclaw Mountains’ outer region:

“Snow, now that the Secret Pavilion has established a Guild Residence in Stone Forest Town, Galaxy Past must be pretty annoyed,” Zhao Yueru could not help but smile when she read the report she had just received. “It really makes you wonder just how Big Brother Black Flame managed it. He actually roped in the Secret Pavilion. As long as the Pavilion intervenes, the Star Alliance will be powerless in the Stoneclaw Mountains.”

“It is still too early to determine anything. No one knows exactly what the Secret Pavilion exchanged with Zero Wing. If the Secret Pavilion is really willing to help Zero Wing, it would have already declared Zero Wing to be its ally rather than let the situation remain uncertain. However, my guess is that the Star Alliance will not act drastically any time soon due to its fear of the Pavilion. We can use this opportunity to snatch some of the high-resource areas the Alliance currently occupies,” Gentle Snow expressed her intentions after examining the report.

Due to the Open Source Corporation’s financing, the Star Alliance had grown significantly stronger over these past few days. They had both gained new members and improved the quality of their members’ equipment. It was especially true for the Consumables the Guild supplied to its members. Ouroboros stood no chance against the Star Alliance. This situation allowed the Star Alliance to occupy many of the high-resource areas in the Stoneclaw Mountains’ outer region.

This was the perfect opportunity for them to steal those high-resource areas.

—

A group of black-cloaked players had gathered inside a bar in Stone Forest Town. These players were all very high-leveled, with the lowest among them being Level 34. On Star-Moon Kingdom’s Ranking List, they could all rank among the top ten. With their presence alone, these people had caused a chill to sweep through the bar, causing the other players around them to shiver in fear.

These players shared a commonality; they all were independent players. None of them belonged to any Guild.

Suddenly, a young man in silver robes entered the bar, instantly breaking the silence. The group of cloaked players stood at attention at this man’s arrival, watching him seriously. None of them dared to show any disrespect.

“Everyone, get ready. Open Source Corporation is already getting antsy.”