THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 6 - Season 9 Episode 67

Inside the quiet Advanced Forging Room, Shi Feng was in an ecstatic mood.

He had never imagined that combining the Abyssal Blade and the Soul Fire’s effects would be this powerful.

Initially, he had prepared a trump card to finish Hell Fiend off. He had never realized that he could defeat the Elementalist so easily by relying on the Abyssal Blade’s hidden effect. With this power, he would even be able to contend with old monsters like Sirius without activating Twofold Berserk.

Twofold Berserk was his final trump card. He would not use it unless he ran out of options completely due to the severe side-effects. If he had to endure a Weakened state for a long time, he could easily fall prey to his enemies.

However, the Abyssal Blade’s mental oppression was not significantly limited. He could utilize it at any time. The only drawback was that the Abyssal Blade’s mental oppression also affected Shi Feng, but fortunately, the Soul Fire allowed him to remain calm and in control.

Unfortunately, now that he had used the Abyssal Blade’s effect on Hell Fiend, he would have to be more careful when using the Magic Weapon in the future.

While he was not afraid of King’s Return’s retaliation, he was afraid of others realizing that he possessed the ancient book. Hence, he had hidden his identity when he killed Hell Fiend.

The ancient book’s power was no trifling matter. It could also enable him to make a massive fortune.

Although current players still knew nothing of the ancient book’s treasure, various quests would appear along with the abyssal monsters’ invasion. This would, in turn, lead to players gradually learning about the ancient book and the book’s true value.

While he was not afraid of anyone attempting to steal it from him due to his confidence of defending the book, he was afraid that, if others learned that he had the ancient book, someone would report him to the War God’s Temple.

Now that the Abyss Passage had opened, the War God’s Temple would need the ancient book’s power to reseal the passage.

If someone provided evidence to the War God’s Temple proving that the ancient book was in his hands, the temple’s NPCs would hunt him down. If that happened, he would be a wanted man throughout the continent of God’s Domain.

At that time, his life would be over, not to mention losing the book. The punishment for possessing the ancient book would not be as simple as dying one or two times.

In the past, players who had been caught using the ancient book had all their Attributes permanently decreased by 500 points, lost 10 Levels, and had their Reputation in all human cities decreased by 500 points. Players had found it difficult to enter the cities in which they had not earned any Reputation points as their relationship with the city’s NPCs had been Hostile. If players wanted to enter the city, they had to make up for the negative 500 Reputation Points first.

When Shi Feng took out the forbidden, ancient book, a black mist instantly enveloped the room.

“Such powerful Demonic Energy!”

Shi Feng frowned. Previously, he had not experienced any such phenomenon when he had picked up the book. Now, however, just taking the book out had filled the room with Demonic Energy. Even after he returned the book to his bag space, Demonic Energy leaked from his bag.

Although Demonic Energy was Mana, it was an extremely violent Mana.

Players who remained inside Demonic Energy would find it difficult to stay calm. Moreover, players’ reactions would become sluggish inside Demonic Energy. To abyssal monsters, however, being surrounded in Demonic Energy felt like heaven. After all, not only would Demonic Energy allow them to grow stronger, but it would also increase their reaction speeds.

However, the worst part about Demonic Energy was that it would attract abyssal monsters.

Now that abyssal monsters had invaded the Twin Towers Kingdom, it was inevitable that Star-Moon Kingdom would be affected. At that time, the Demonic Energy seeping from his bag would act as a beacon in the darkness when Shi Feng ventured out to grind. Swarms of abyssal monsters would hunt him down.

Moreover, the ancient book could only be stored inside a player’s bag space after it had been activated. He could not store it anywhere else…

However, while Shi Feng’s headache grew while he tried to find a solution to deal with the Demonic Energy leaking from his bag, the sound of a system notification reached his ears.

System: Congratulations! You have obtained the Ancient Abyssal Book. Do you wish to wield the Book?

System: After becoming the wielder, you can gain initial control over the Ancient Abyssal Book’s power. However, an Abyss Imprint will be placed on your body. If the War God’s Temple discovers you, you will receive a severe punishment.

“So, this is the issue,” Shi Feng could not help but release a sigh of relief. Immediately, he clicked “Agree.”

Currently, he was in sore need of money. Aside from the money he needed to provide Mounts for his Guild members as they reached Level 40 and the funds he had promised to Immortal Light, his head ached over the money he still needed to build his city.

Although the Strengthening Device netted him quite a profit, the money earned was simply not enough to build a city in a short period. After all, they could only produce so many Strengthening Devices each day. It would also become cheaper as time passed.

As for the Bronze Engineering Locomotive, it required a large number of Advanced Lifestyle players to manufacture. Nurturing these Advanced Lifestyle players alone would require a hefty investment. It would still be a long time before he could profit from the Engineering Locomotives.

Hence, after all was said and done, the Ancient Abyssal Book was the fastest way to earn money.

Due to the abyssal monsters’ appearance, many players were attempting to kill these monsters to earn Merits. However, killing these monsters was not easy as those on the frontlines were generally high-level creatures. Low-level abyssal monsters, on the other hand, usually resided deep inside captured territories. Players had no choice but to circle around the high-level abyssal monsters and sneak into these captured areas if they wanted to earn any Merits.

Unfortunately, sneaking into these captured areas was time-consuming as there were no teleportation points in the cities. Players also had to avoid high-level abyssal monsters carefully. Even with a Mount, the journey would be an exhausting one. Furthermore, fights against abyssal monsters were taxing on weapon and equipment Durability. When one ran out of Durability, they would have no choice but to return to an NPC city, wasting even more time and energy in the process. Hence, those without great determination would not obtain the new class.

On the other hand, if a player focused fully on class-changing to the new class, they would fall behind in terms of Levels and equipment. Yet, the amount of Merit one gained, more or less, corresponded with the Level of the abyssal monster one killed, with higher-leveled abyssal monsters granting more Merits…

This was where the Ancient Abyssal came into play.

The Ancient Abyssal Book could be used to set up a barrier. Abyssal monsters would not actively cross this barrier, so players were safe inside.

If he established a barrier in an area with low-level abyssal monsters and set up a Teleportation Magic Array, he could allow others to teleport to the area safely. He wouldn’t have to worry about the abyssal monsters destroying the teleportation array.

Afterward, he only needed to collect teleportation fees.

The Teleportation Halls in the various NPC cities made even more money than the Auction Houses. In God’s Domain, there were various ways to save money such as purchasing fewer Consumables and avoid purchasing better equipment if unnecessary. However, there were two expenditures that one could not avoid: repair fees and teleportation fees.

The appearance of a new class sorely tempted players. There were also other rewards available. If one claimed to be uninterested in Merits, they would be lying. Meanwhile, to save precious time, these players naturally would not mind spending a little more money.

Operating a Teleportation Magic Array required Magic Crystals. A single Magic Crystal could teleport roughly 20 people.

Even if he only charged four Silver Coins per person, he would be swimming in money in no time.

After solving the problem of the Demonic Energy, Shi Feng left the Candlelight Trading Firm secretly. Wearing a Black Cloak, he rode an advanced horse carriage towards the Teleportation Hall and traveled to the Twin Towers Kingdom’s capital.

Now that the Twin Towers Kingdom had fallen, the originally lively atmosphere in the capital had cooled completely. At this point, only a few players around Level 20 roamed the city; most of the people on the streets were NPCs.