THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 8 - Season 12 Episode 12

“Why would anyone else come here?”

A robust Guardian Knight carrying a round white shield on his back frowned when Shi Feng’s group appeared in the teleportation array.

“Leader, could they be here for the Fallen Ark as well?” a female Cleric asked worriedly.

A beautiful woman wearing luxurious purple robes looked towards Shi Feng’s group of cloaked players and said nonchalantly, “They shouldn’t be. We rushed over here as soon as we received the message. Moreover, without the key, going there is useless. If they have any ill intentions, we can simply wipe them out.”

“I guess you’re right. If they wish to take action, we can use the opportunity to test our new weapons and equipment,” another member said, laughing.

Shi Feng was also surprised when he noticed the team a short distance away, chatting merrily. He hadn’t expected to find other players here at this stage of the game.

“Guild Leader, those players are really strong!” Fire Dance commented when she saw the independent players, a hint of caution flashing in her eyes.

Although the other party only had 20 players, from their movements and auras, Fire Dance could tell that these people’s combat standards were very high. These players were no weaker than the apex experts she had previously encountered.

And this team had twenty such experts…

Normally, only Super Guilds were capable of forming such a team, yet these players were all independent.

“With such strength, why have I never heard these peoples names before?” Gentle Snow was similarly shocked. She had previously been a first-rate Guild’s Guild Leader. Naturally, her information network was vast. She had also memorized most of the apex experts in God’s Domain. However, she had never seen such a powerful independent adventurer team. The most laughable part was that she didn’t recognize a single player on that team.

“From what I can remember, the only adventurer team with this level of strength has to be Owl, the team that joined us in Titan City.” When Aqua Rose saw this 20-man team, she could not help but recall Owl. In her opinion, Owl was one of the most powerful adventurer teams in God’s Domain. She had never imagined that she would encounter another team of such caliber. “Guild Leader, should we make their acquaintance?”

Independent teams were different from Guilds. They might be able to recruit this adventurer team to Zero Wing. Even if they failed to do so, it wouldn’t hurt to know such a powerful adventurer team. In the event that they needed more manpower in the future, they could request these independent players’ help. After all, apex experts were extremely rare in God’s Domain.

Gentle Snow nodded in agreement.

If they could recruit these players to Zero Wing, it would undoubtedly push the Guild to a whole new level. They would also have more confidence in the contest on Thunder Island.

“Forget it. We have more important matters to deal with right now. We’ll get acquainted with them if there is a chance in the future,” Shi Feng said, shaking his head.

While this adventurer team might be foreign to Aqua Rose and Gentle Snow, Shi Feng could not be more familiar with them.

This adventurer team was the famous Midnight Tea Party. The team maintained a member count of twenty players. In terms of combat power, even Super Guilds feared them. However, as the Midnight Tea Party did not bother to claim territory of their own and refused to operate under anyone, the various Super Guilds had tried to recruit the team in the past. Unfortunately, no one ever succeeded.

However, what surprised Shi Feng was that he found a familiar face among the group.

Endless Scars!

Shi Feng had never imagined that the once-mythical existence would be a member of the Midnight Tea Party during God’s Domain’s early stages. If the public had learned of this in the past, everyone would have been shocked.

Although members that left the Midnight Tea Party had gone on to their own great achievements in the past, none of them had ever been as successful as Endless Scars.

Ranking as the number one player on the God’s Domain Experts List meant that Endless Scars had stood at the peak of God’s Domain.

Yet, when Shi Feng thought about how Endless Scars’ status as one of the Blackwater Corporation’s representatives, his head started to ache. The Blackwater Corporation’s background was extraordinary. If Endless Scars joined Blackwater and became one of its leaders, he did not dare to imagine what kind of future awaited the Guild.

However, Shi Feng had never heard of Endless Scars joining Blackwater in the past. She had gone solo throughout her entire career in God’s Domain.

Following which, Shi Feng led his team into an NPC Shop to stock up on food and beverages. He also had everyone check their inventory for potions and Magic Scrolls, and he handed these items out to anyone who needed them. After everyone rested, they rode their Mounts to the neutral map Crying Ghost Ridge.

The journey that typically required 14 hours only took Shi Feng and the others four. Moreover, the group didn’t encounter a single monster attack on their way, surprising them all.

There were Level 60-plus monsters all over the place, and they were only Level 40-plus players. The massive level difference would allow monsters to detect them easily, yet none of the monsters attacked them during their journey.

What these players did not know was that Shi Feng knew this terrain like the back of his hand. He knew which paths were safe and which were not. In reality, the 14-hour journey included the time players wasted in fights against the local monsters. If one did not have to fight, they could reach the Crying Ghost Ridge in ten hours if they ran straight there.

“Stop for a minute. Before us lay the neutral map, Crying Ghost Ridge.” As the team was about to enter the mountain path before them, Shi Feng halted his team. He then took a Tier 1 Group Invisibility Scroll from his bag and said, “We’ll complete the remaining journey on foot. Remember to follow me closely. The monsters here aren’t like any you have encountered before. Even the Level 60 Common monsters here could reach the Trial Tower’s third floor.”

“They have the combat standards to reach the Trial Tower’s third floor? Are they even monsters?” Blackie could not help his astonishment.

When recruiting ordinary members, most large Guilds only required players to reach the Trial Tower’s second floor. Though, Zero Wing’s standards were slightly higher, with ordinary members needing to reach the third floor, while elite members needed to reach the fourth floor.

In other words, any random monster in the Crying Ghost Ridge was as strong as Zero Wing’s elite members. However, monsters had much higher Attributes than players. If both sides had the same combat standards, monsters could easily kill players.

Everyone’s relaxed expressions immediately vanished, and they began to move cautiously. At the same time, they were very curious about why Shi Feng had led them to such a dangerous location.

Following which, Shi Feng activated the Group Invisibility Scroll. As long as they did not attack or receive any attacks, they would remain invisible. The Group Invisibility Scroll’s only drawback was that it would reduce the affected players’ Movement Speed to 80% and its duration was only 10 minutes.

…

Shortly after Shi Feng’s team entered the Crying Ghost Ridge, another group of players arrived before the Ridge on their horses.

“There are too many monsters on the way here. We really are lucky that leader has the Beastmaster’s Breath as a deterrent. If that other team came this way, they would be stuck fighting those Level 60 monsters for hours. By the time they got here, we’d already have the Fallen Ark.”

The Midnight Tea Party’s members could not help but laugh.

They had only braved the journey here because their team leader had the Beastmaster’s Breath. Otherwise, they would have waited until they reached Level 50.

“Huh? Something’s not right. Look at those hoof prints!” When one of the Rangers used his Investigation Skill, he discovered hoof prints around the mountain path’s entrance. He was shocked. “The prints look quite fresh, and there are a lot of them!”

“What?! Could it be the team we saw in town?!”

“Impossible!”