THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 8 - Season 12 Episode 22

Endless Scars’s conversation with Shi Feng had been private. The other players hadn’t heard their discussion.

However, when the Midnight Tea Party members saw Endless Scars’s frown, they were shocked.

Endless Scars had never revealed such an expression throughout her time on the team. Even when monsters nearly wiped their team out, nothing close to a frown had appeared on her face.

“Propose another. Our team cannot agree to that condition,” Endless Scars said after giving the matter some thought. Looking straight at Shi Feng, she said seriously, “The map itself is a pass to the Fallen Ark. If you have it, you can enter the Ark more than once. This will undoubtedly increase our competition over the Ark’s treasure. With how important the Fallen Ark is, I believe that no sane person would agree to your proposal. Moreover, even if our adventurer team can’t enter the Fallen Ark right now, we can simply return when we’re strong enough. In any case, the key is ours. If we don’t activate the Ark, no one will be able to enter it.”

“What you’re saying is true. However, you don’t seem to know the Fallen Ark’s true secret,” Shi Feng said, chuckling. He had long since guessed Endless Scars’s reply.

The Fallen Ark Map was priceless. Naturally, he didn’t expect the Midnight Tea Party to just make a copy for him. However, the adventurer team’s understanding of the Fallen Ark was no match for his.

“What are you trying to say?” Although Endless Scars had her suspicions, after hearing Shi Feng’s confident comments, she was even more certain that Shi Feng knew plenty of information about the Fallen Ark.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter even if I tell you this. Although you have the key and the map, it is still impossible to obtain the items inside the Fallen Ark,” Shi Feng explained as he pointed to where the five Special Lifeforms had disappeared. “You’ve seen for yourselves how powerful those guards are. However, the monsters inside are even more formidable. If you open the Ark, those monsters will escape. Moreover, those monsters will, slowly but surely, grow stronger. If you don’t deal with them properly, even the map won’t help you. Meanwhile, I have a way to deal with those monsters.

“If we work together, we can reach the Ark’s inner region quickly. Even if you don’t want to cooperate with us, once you open the Ark, we can still go in ourselves. Once the Ark is open, it won’t ever close. Anyone will be able to enter.”

Endless Scars hesitated after listening to Shi Feng’s explanation.

Although she wasn’t sure if Shi Feng were telling the truth, if he was, then her side had no way of dealing with those monsters. Their map might as well be a blank piece of paper. On the other hand, Shi Feng had a way of combating this problem. Once Shi Feng’s team entered the Ark, although their progress would be slow without the map, the Midnight Tea Party would suffer a massive loss if they came across any treasure.

Most importantly, her team did not have a lot of time. After all, their quest had a time limit. Based on her estimates, even if they focused on grinding and completing their class promotions, the furthest they could reach was Tier 2, Level 55 before the quest’s time limit was up. At that tier and level, their team might have a chance of defeating the five entrance guards. Unfortunately, she was not certain that they could deal with the Ark’s monsters, which Shi Feng claimed were far stronger.

She had to admit that Shi Feng’s knowledge on those monsters was invaluable.

“Alright, I’ll agree to your conditions. However, you need to tell me what you know about those monsters. You also have to tell me how to deal with them. If what you say is true, I’ll make a copy of the map once we’re in the Ark. If you lie to me, you won’t get anything.” Endless Scars glared at Shi Feng. This was the first time she hadn’t had the upper hand in a negotiation since she had joined God’s Domain. She was even more frustrated that she still didn’t know Shi Feng and his team members’ identities.

“That won’t be a problem. Once you see for yourself, you’ll know the truth,” Shi Feng laughed.

After the various Super Guilds’ army had suffered annihilation, Crying Ghost Ridge had become a forbidden land for players in the past. Even then, however, many players had sought the Fallen Ark’s treasure. To deal with the incomparably powerful abyssal monsters, these players had formed a multitude of plans. Unfortunately, none of those plans had succeeded. The most ridiculous part was that players had only discovered a proper method of dealing with the monsters after they had been defeated.

That method involved utilizing Mana Stones!

Due to the special Mana phenomenon inside the Fallen Ark, the slumbering abyssal monsters couldn’t absorb Mana to recover. However, once the Fallen Ark was unlocked, this Mana disturbance would vanish. To recover their strength, these abyssal monsters urgently needed large amounts of Mana. Ordinary Magic Crystals would not do. To those ancient abyssal monsters, Mana of such quality did little to aid in their recovery. Only Mana Stones were suitable.

When the time came, he simply needed to construct a Foundation Magic Array to display the Mana Stones. The Mana Stones would lure the abyssal monsters, and once they left, these abyssal monsters wouldn’t be able to return to the Ark for a short time. Their teams could then search the Ark relatively safely.

Following which, Shi Feng and Endless Scars signed a contract. After ensuring that there were no issues, Shi Feng had Violet Cloud use Basic Soul Return on Breeze Wine. This way, Breeze Wine would not lose a level, and his combat power would be unaffected.

“Wait here for now. I still need to prepare,” Shi Feng said before entering the dead forest by himself and setting up a teleportation point with the Abyss Pendant. He then used a Return Scroll and teleported to White River City.

As soon as Shi Feng returned to White River City, he passed the Green Ebony he had obtained to Melancholic Smile. Although they only had enough for one Advanced Transport Carriage, it took a considerable amount of time to manufacture one. Even if they had a Master Engineer and a Master Forger, they would need close to a day. Hence, the sooner they began production, the better.

Inside one of the Candlelight Trading Firm’s Special Forging Room, Shi Feng retrieved the Philosopher’s Stone, which he had picked up from his Private Warehouse on his way back, and began to synthesize Magic Crystals into Mana Stones.

He could synthesize one Mana Stone from 50 Magic Crystals. Without hesitation, he used all 1,000 Magic Crystals he had obtained from Endless Scars and ended up with 20 Mana Stones. That was enough to lure the abyssal monsters from the Ark twice.

Following which, Shi Feng made nine Magic Array Scrolls for the Nine-star Polar Domain. Once those were complete, he used the Abyss Pendant to return to Crying Ghost Ridge.

Upon returning to the Ridge, Shi Feng used ten Mana Stones to set up a Foundation Magic Array far from the canyon where the Fallen Ark resided. With this Foundation Magic Array, he could lure all the abyssal monsters from inside the Ark.

After finishing that task, Shi Feng returned to his team.

“You’ve finished your tasks already?” Endless Scars asked Shi Feng with a suspicious tone.

Only one hour or so had passed since Shi Feng had left. That wasn’t even enough time to make a round-trip to a town or city.

What could he possibly do in one hour?

Originally, she had thought that Shi Feng had left to gather reinforcements. After all, with their current strength, defeating the five guardian monsters was impossible. At the very least, they needed a team of 100 experts.

Yet, Shi Feng hadn’t brought even one player back with him…

“Endless, is this brat toying with us?!” Dark War asked through the team chat, infuriated.

After Shi Feng left, Endless Scars had told her team everything about her agreement with Shi Feng.

They all thought that Shi Feng’s demands were outrageous. They also thought that Shi Feng was lying about how powerful the monsters inside the Ark were and that he simply wanted to trick them for their map. Shi Feng’s speedy return only justified their assumptions.

Before Endless Scars could reply, however, Shi Feng beat her to it and said, “I’ve completed my preparations. However, during the battle, everyone needs to follow my commands.”