THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 5 - Season 8 Episode 54

Every one of the experts within the God’s Domain Experts List’s top 100 had been a famous expert in the virtual gaming world for many years.

These experts had become overlords in not just one, but several virtual reality games. Each was a master-level character with countless, brilliant battle records. Upstart experts could never hope to compare with these masters.

It was already extremely difficult for upstart experts to join the top 1,000.

For an upstart expert, joining the top 100 was practically a miracle.

Yet, not only had Black Flame achieved a miracle, but he had also jumped to the 51st rank. Excitement over the new development swept through Star-Moon Kingdom.

The majority of those top 100 experts resided in God’s Domain’s various empires. Empire players had always been dismissive of kingdom players.

Subconsciously, no one truly believed that kingdom players were a match for those from the empires.

Yet, Black Flame, who came from Star-Moon Kingdom, had managed to rank 51st on the Experts List. Star-Moon Kingdom’s players were bursting with pride.

“The Secret Pavilion is certainly trying hard to flatter this upstart expert, raising his rank to 51 just after a single Guild war. Is he someone from the Secret Pavilion’s son?”

“That’s right. Didn’t he just lead an upstart Guild to victory against a first-rate Guild? That has happened many times before in other games, yet I’ve never seen the Pavilion change the ranking list so drastically The top 100 experts have experienced victory in dozens of great wars. The Secret Pavilion is just favoring Star-Moon Kingdom’s players.”

“There is definitely something fishy about this!”

“Black Flame’s title just as absurd. He’s actually calling himself a Sword King! Does he really think he is the king among sword users? Every other Swordsman player in the top 100 could easily beat him to a pulp!”

…

As the God’s Domain Experts List updated, many players from other kingdoms and empires voiced their complaints about the latest change. They all felt that the Secret Pavilion over-exaggerated Black Flame’s achievements. Many of these players were also miffed that an upstart player had surpassed the god-like experts they had looked up to so easily and were skeptical about the Secret Pavilion’s judgment.

However, the Secret Pavilion couldn’t be bothered to explain itself.

They didn’t need to waste their time mincing words with fools. Shi Feng’s battle video was evidence enough. If these players still could not understand, then there was a problem with their intelligence. Trying to explain further was pointless.

If Shi Feng had not displayed the combat standards of a Void Realm expert, the Secret Pavilion would not have granted him the 51st rank.

When the other top-tier experts saw this development, they realized that Black Flame was someone who demanded their attention. It was especially true for the top 100 experts.

There were three thresholds for all ranking lists the Secret Pavilion published. Only the Pavilion itself and very few experts knew exactly what these thresholds were.

The first threshold was the top 400.

If an expert had yet to set foot into the Realms of Refinement, then regardless of how brilliant they performed in a game, they would never reach the top 400. If an expert were ranked among the top 400, then it proved that this expert had already set foot into the Realms of Refinement.

This was why Shi Feng had only ranked 481st; based on the Secret Pavilion’s previous investigation, Shi Feng had not yet entered the Realms of Refinement. He had only reached the Half-step Refinement Realm. Otherwise, Shi Feng would have had a higher ranking.

The second threshold was the top 200.

Experts outside of the Flowing Water Realm should not even dream of entering the top 200. Even with the most brilliant of performance, the best rank they could achieve was 201.

The third threshold was the top 100.

Only those in the Void Realm could earn one of the top 100 ranks.

As Shi Feng had shown that he had reached the Void Realm and had defeated the well-known Sky, his rank instantly jumped to 51. Otherwise, the best rank Shi Feng could achieve was around the 80s or 90s.

An expert’s position on the God’s Domain Ranking List was not determined by just their strength. Instead, experts ranked based on their performance and battle records in a game. If experts ranked according to strength, then many of the experts on the ranking list would qualify for any positions.

If an upstart expert managed to reach the 401st rank on the God’s Domain Experts List, God’s Domain’s top powers would, at most, spare that player a glance, making a note of their existence. They would not consider that person important in the least. Now that Shi Feng had joined the top 100, however, this sudden development forced the major powers to acknowledge him.

“Fifty-first? Black Flame is truly interesting.” Phoenix Rain’s beautiful eyebrows lifted slightly as she read the God’s Domain Experts List. “He certainly knows how to hide his strength. I had actually failed to notice his true combat standard. It seems that he had not defeated Martial Dragon by luck alone.”

Previously, Shi Feng had merely been a minor character in Phoenix Rain’s eyes. He had just luckily obtained some top-tier equipment. At most, he would only reign supreme for a short time. However, it was a different story if She Feng had reached the Void Realm.

Even Phoenix Rain would have no choice but to treat Shi Feng as an equal.

With the Experts List’s latest update, God’s Domain’s top tier players understood one thing—another apex expert had appeared in the virtual gaming world.

—

Star-Moon Kingdom, White River City:

As soon as Shi Feng returned to the city, he discovered that a constant stream of players arrived though White River City’s Teleportation Hall. Moreover, these players’ average Level was quite high, with the lowest among them being around Level 30. Although they were not at the standard of a Guild elite player, they were considerably high-leveled among ordinary players.

Meanwhile, as these players arrived, they immediately asked around for directions to Zero Wing’s Guild Residence.

“Little brother, do you know where Zero Wing’s Guild Residence is?” a thin man approached Shi Feng, asking politely. This man looked to be in his forties and wore a blue mage’s robe.

Behind this middle-aged man were five other people. All five were Level 30, and their equipment was Level 25 Mysterious-Iron rank at the very minimum. In a Guild, these players could definitely join the elite members. Unfortunately, their Levels were slightly off the mark.

However, independent players did not have the same advantages as Guild player. Independent players did not have access the various benefits that a Guild offered. They had no choice but to invest some of their time in other aspects. Hence, their leveling speed was slower than Guild players.

Shi Feng currently hid under his Black Cloak and had reverted to his original appearance. Both his Level and equipment were also hidden. Hence, no one recognized him.

When Shi Feng glanced at this group of players, his eyes instantly lit up with an excited light.

The person speaking to him was actually Silent Years, who had been a top-tier expert in his previous life. This man had once ranked within the top 50 among the Oracles of Star-Moon Kingdom. He had even reached the top 10 during his peak.

“Big Brother Silent, this person is wearing Zero Wing’s Emblem. He’s from Zero Wing,” the female Elementalist beside Silent Years said awkwardly as she jabbed her finger at the Oracle.

Suddenly, Silent Years jerked, realizing this. As he had walked up to Shi Feng from behind, he had not noticed the Guild Emblem on the Swordsman’s chest. To think that he had actually asked a member of Zero Wing whether or not they knew where the Guild Residence was…

“Zero Wing’s Residence is on the city’s central street,” Shi Feng said casually, not minding the Oracle’s awkward question. “You guys can just take a carriage there.”

After saying so, Shi Feng turned and left the Teleportation Hall, riding a horse carriage towards the Library.

“Sure enough, Zero Wing is really amazing. It’s no wonder how it became an expert’s playground. I felt so much pressure from a casual member! It seems that we have not wasted a trip. We must join Zero Wing,” Silent Years stated as he watched Shi Feng’s departing figure, reverence on his face. His evaluation of Zero Wing increased substantially.

Shi Feng had not realized that his casual response had increased Silent Years’ reverence of Zero Wing.