THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 8 - Season 12 Episode 20

As Shi Feng recalled information on the Fallen Ark, Breeze Wine slowly approached the canyon’s entrance and carefully took a sixteen-sided orange crystal from his bag.

As soon as he revealed the orange crystal, an invisible aura pulsed from the item. Moreover, each pulse was stronger than the last.

What is that?! Why does my whole body suddenly feel like lead?!

Gentle Snow could not help but shift her gaze to the orange crystal. The more she looked at the crystal, the more she feared it. It was as if this crystal were Purgatory itself. Even her soul shuddered with fear.

Gentle Snow wasn’t the only one shocked by Breeze Wine’s crystal. Alluring Summer and the others were similarly afraid.

Only the Midnight Tea Party’s members, Shi Feng, and several Zero Wing core members remained unperturbed.

Shi Feng and the core members had experienced this pressure before.

It was Divine Might!

There was a qualitative difference between the Life Rating of Gods and ordinary people. Gods had created this orange crystal, and naturally, their aura had tainted it. Ordinary people wouldn’t be comfortable around this aura. Around this energy, ordinary humans would feel like they had been submerged in liquid metal. Not only would they find it extremely difficult to moves, but their breathing would also become labored.

As the orange crystal released one pulse after another, the canyon began to shake. A purple-gold, fivefold magic array appeared in the sky.

Sure enough, their quest is related to the Fallen Ark. Have they lost their minds? They dare risk opening it at this stage of the game. Shi Feng’s expression darkened as he watched Breeze Wine lift the orange crystal above his head while chanting an incantation. Hurriedly, he shouted, “Everyone, retreat!”

“Retreat?” Zero Wing’s members looked to Shi Feng in confusion.

“What are you guys doing?!” Dark War and the other Midnight Tea Party members asked, enraged when they heard Shi Feng’s command to his teammates.

Their teams had already signed a contract with each other. Although there were no penalties for breaking the contract, no matter how they looked at it, Shi Feng was breaking his promise. Moreover, now that they had exposed the contents of their quest, how could they possibly allow Shi Feng and the others to leave?

“No time for explanations! Either run or die!” Shi Feng turned and fled.

Shi Feng hadn’t expected that, while he assumed that the Midnight Tea Party’s quest was related to it, their goal was to activate the slumbering Fallen Ark.

Activating the Fallen Ark had shaken God’s Domain in the past. When the Ark woke, it also roused the sleeping abyssal monsters within. Although these abyssal monsters had been gravely injured during the Great Ancient War, they were still immensely powerful. The old monsters that had woken inside the Ark were Mythic rank. Moreover, as more time passed and these monsters recovered, they grew more powerful. These monsters emergence had turned Crying Ghost Ridge into a forbidden land for players.

In the past, to explore the Fallen Ark’s secrets, a few Super Guilds had dispatched an army of over a hundred thousand players. This army only consisted of Tier 2 players, and the lowest level was Level 60. Many apex experts had marched with the army as well. Such a force was normally more than enough to deal with five or six Mythic monsters, yet the army had been annihilated in the end. Not one player had made it out of the Fallen Ark alive. To make matters worse, these players’ had boosted the old abyssal monsters’ strength….

It was suicidal to activate the Fallen Ark with just their two teams of Tier 1 players.

“Big Sis Endless, they’re running away. What should we do? Do we stop them?” Netherworld Wave hurriedly asked Endless Scars.

“No need. We’re fleeing, too,” Endless Scars said, shaking her head as she watched Shi Feng. She ran.

“But our leader is still here!” Cloud Yarn exclaimed anxiously as she shifted her gaze between Endless Scars and Breeze Wine.

“Once the unlocking process has begun, it cannot be stopped. The situation has changed; we have no choice but to sacrifice him,” Endless Scars said without hesitation. “However, this isn’t a complete loss. At the very least, we can hide and watch what happens when the magic array activates from a distance.”

Although Endless Scars’s words were casual, the Midnight Tea Party’s members felt chills crawl down their backs.

These players were all companions and had fought through many life-or-death battles together. Their team leader was one of them, yet Endless Scars spoke of sacrificing Breeze Wind as if she were talking about the weather….

Unfortunately, as their team leader couldn’t do anything, they had to listen to Endless Scars as she was the Midnight Tea Party’s second in command.

Shortly after the Midnight Tea Party members escaped from the magic array’s range, five steel giants pulled themselves from the ground.

[Fallen Garrison Captain] (Special Lifeform, Grand Lord)

Level 65

HP 120,000,000/120,000,000

[Fallen Patrol] (Special Lifeform, Great Lord)

Level 63

HP 57,000,000/57,000,000

Upon seeing these monsters, both Endless Scars and Shi Feng’s teams gaped in shock.

“What are these monsters!? Their HP is so high! The pressure from them is so strong, too!” Aqua Rose felt her scalp tingle as she stared at these monsters.

Despite standing several hundred yards away, she still felt an intense pressure radiating from the monsters. It would certainly affect the combat power they could exert in close combat. Based on her estimates, they’d be lucky to display 70% of their usual combat powers. If it came down to a fight, they would team-wipe.

The Midnight Tea Party also understood how powerful the guardian monsters were. These monsters’ Life Rating was definitely higher than theirs. The Fallen Garrison Captain, in particular, was at least two or three ratings higher than the Grand Lords they’ve previously faced. It could practically rival a Mythic monster’s strength.

In front of these monsters, their preparations were rubbish.

While the Midnight Tea Party members were frozen in shock, Endless Scars shifted her gaze towards Shi Feng.

Did he know these monsters would show up? Endless Scars came to her own conclusions as she recalled Shi Feng’s decisive order to retreat.

Although the Fallen Ark was a secret, based on the team’s performance and Shi Feng’s statement that they, too, were here for a quest, it was likely that the man knew something about the Fallen Ark. Otherwise, how could she explain Shi Feng’s decision to flee the moment he saw them activate the magic array?

What Endless Scars did not know was that what Shi Feng wasn’t worried about the steel giants’ sudden appearance at all. Rather, he was afraid of the abyssal monsters inside the Fallen Ark itself. If those monsters were released, it would disrupt his plans to grind for Green Ebony. If that was their goal, he wouldn’t help the Midnight Tea Party.

As the steel giants appeared, the Fallen Garrison Captain instantly killed Breeze Wine as he maintained the magic array.

When Breeze Wine died, the magic array began to dissipate gradually, as did the steel giants shortly after. Peace soon returned to the canyon.

When the area returned to normal, Endless Scars stopped her team before the Midnight Tea Party members could give Shi Feng a piece of their minds. She approached Shi Feng’s team herself.