THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 8 - Season 16 Episode 3

After Nine Dragons Emperor died, everyone turned towards Shi Feng with blank looks.

Everything had happened too quickly!

Only a few short seconds had passed between the moment Shi Feng began his charge to the moment Nine Dragons Emperor had died. Shi Feng’s speed when he had landed the killing blow had been particularly ridiculous. Before any of them had even noticed, Shi Feng had already moved past Nine Dragons Emperor, taking the Ranger’s life.

“Ye Feng…” Martial Dragon stared at Nine Dragons Emperor’s ashes in a daze.

Although he had considered the possibility of Shi Feng killing Nine Dragons Emperor, he had never thought that the Swordsman would achieve the feat so quickly. Just seconds after Shi Feng had broken past his blockade, he had taken the Pavilion Master’s life. Even Undead had failed to save their leader.

“Martial, the Pavilion Master is dead! We are no match for Zero Wing while we’re within the tower’s range! We need to retreat!” Shadowtooth shouted when he noticed that Martial Dragon hadn’t moved.

Now that Nine Dragons Emperor was dead, the team had fallen into chaos. Even if he and Martial Dragon took command of the battle, the outcome wouldn’t be in their favor with Zero Wing’s absolute advantage in Attributes.

Furthermore, Shi Feng was still alive.

Shadowtooth didn’t think any of them had the power to contend with the Swordsman while in range of the ancient tower.

“Everyone, split up and retreat! We’ll regroup at the forest tower!” Martial Dragon shouted as he shot Shi Feng, who had turned towards him, a glare. Despite the fact that the man wasn’t particularly muscular or tall, he felt as if he were looking at a giant.

When Martial Dragon recalled Shi Feng’s last attack, he felt stifled. That final attack had been so fast that he hadn’t had time to react.

If he had been on the receiving end of that attack, he doubted that he would’ve fared any better than Nine Dragons Emperor. In the end, he, too, would’ve died.

When Martial Dragon gave the command, the Heavenly Dragon Pavilion and Miracle’s members made a hasty and disorderly retreat, making it difficult for Zero Wing’s members to kill them.

“Don’t even think of escaping that easily!”

However, Shi Feng refused to let such a profitable opportunity get away. After picking up the Level 45 Dark-Gold belt Nine Dragons Emperor had dropped, he dashed towards the retreating crowd.

Rather than going after Domain Realm experts like Martial Dragon and Shadowtooth, he opted for the Refinement Realm experts. After all, it was far easier and less time-consuming to kill Refinement Realm experts. The Refinement Realm experts practically died as he reached them.

By the time Martial Dragon and the others had made it out of the tower’s 100-yard radius, Shi Feng had killed another dozen or so players.

As Martial Dragon and his companions breathed a sigh of relief, a pillar of fire descended from the sky. At the same time, the ground beneath their feet froze solid.

A short distance away, a massive tidal wave surged forward, devouring another group of retreating Heavenly Dragon Pavilion members.

The devastation looked as if Armageddon had begun.

These attacks were the result of none other than Zhao Yueru’s Frostflame Hell and Aqua Rose’s Annihilation Torrent. In seconds, another 100-plus players had died, reducing the 200-plus players that managed to escape the ancient tower’s range by half.

“Zero…Wing!” Martial Dragon’s heart bled when he saw how few of his teammates remained alive.

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The damage they had suffered from the assault was simply too massive.

Thunder Island didn’t have a special death penalty; players suffered the same fate when they died in the field. Hence, any players that were killed would lose one level and a piece of equipment. Meanwhile, every player the Heavenly Dragon Pavilion had dispatched was an expert. Every piece of equipment they lost would be extremely difficult to replace, and when these players resurrected, they would suffer a significant drop in their combat power.

Meanwhile, as the battle ended, the various superpowers on Thunder Island received news of its outcome.

“What did you say? Zero Wing defeated an army of over 400 with only 100 players?”

“Impossible! How did they manage it?!”

“Attribute suppression?”

“Zero Wing has such an ability?”

…

For a time, the news of Nine Dragons Emperor’s defeat stunned the various superpowers. Not only had he died as everyone had watched, but the army he had led to reclaim the tower had also suffered grievous losses, losing three-quarters of their forces. In contrast, Zero Wing had only lost around ten or so players.

None of the various superpowers could believe it was true.

They were fully aware of the ancient towers’ abilities. Although the towers could enhance defending players’ combat power, the effect wasn’t overwhelming enough to help the outnumbered defenders achieve a one-sided slaughter.

Meanwhile, the name ‘Ye Feng’ spread across Thunder Island.

Despite multiple Domain Realm experts standing in his way, this man had single-handedly slain Nine Dragons Emperor. No one had ever achieved this kind of battle record before. Although the result was due to the ancient towers’ buff, that didn’t make it any less terrifying.

The various superpowers began to treat Phoenix Rain and Zero Wing with caution.

Normally, they could use certain tools to deal with Attribute suppression, but Thunder Island didn’t allow the use of tools. Although the suppression only reduced Attributes by 15%, it was more than enough to make the various superpowers pay attention. Beyond that, Shi Feng had a Skill like Spatial Gate, allowing him to transport a massive number of players across long distances. This was a serious threat to the other competing Guilds.

If they lost the ancient towers’ buff, raiding the monster encampments would be impossible.

For a time, the various superpowers were forced to strengthen their towers’ defenses due to Zero Wing’s presence. Now, they stationed at least 60 to 70 players in each tower as a precaution.

This turn of events dumbfounded the uninvolved spectators outside of Thunder Island.

Nobody could have imagined that an inconspicuous Guild like Zero Wing could make the various superpowers nervous. No one would ever believe this.

Even Phoenix Rain, Zero Wing’s collaborator, had mixed emotions over the matter.

She had never thought that Shi Feng’s borderline insane plan would succeed.

…

“Damn it! Damn it! Zero Wing! I won’t let you all get away with this!” Nine Dragons Emperor, who had just resurrected, bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the forest he was currently in. The Heavenly Dragon Pavilion members were scared into silence.

He had spent so much money and resources to hire both the Flower of Seven Sins and Blood Paradise to crush Phoenix Rain, yet all of his efforts were for nothing.

At this point, even capturing another ancient tower would be incredibly difficult, not to mention capturing a monster encampment.

This was the first time he had suffered so much humiliation.

“Good! Very good! Since you won’t let me have my way, I won’t let you claim a single encampment, either!” After Nine Dragons Emperor finished venting his rage, he growled, “Send someone to keep an eye on their three towers! If they try to raid an encampment, we’ll attack their towers! I refuse to believe they can afford to keep so many people at the towers at all times!”

“Understood!” Martial Dragon’s eyes shone with realization upon hearing Nine Dragons Emperor’s order.

If Phoenix Rain and Zero Wing wished to capture a monster encampment, they needed all three ancient towers under their control, and to capture a monster encampment, they’d have to dispatch at least 130 players. However, Phoenix Rain’s team only had 220 players. If they dispatched 120 players to a monster encampment and left 100 players to defend the towers, Nine Dragons Emperor’s team would have the opportunity it needed to steal back the towers.

Even if Shi Feng had a Teleportation Skill, his team could never defend all three towers against the full force of the Heavenly Dragon Pavilion’s team unless they gave up on capturing an encampment.

If Phoenix Rain and Zero Wing failed to capture an encampment, neither Phoenix Rain nor Nine Dragons Emperor would have an advantage for the Great Pavilion Master’s position.

Saying so, Martial Dragon sent his subordinates to survey the three towers under Phoenix Rain’s control. At the same time, he had his team prepare to raid the towers at a moment’s notice.

…

“Big Brother Ye Feng must’ve angered Nine Dragons Emperor beyond reason. He actually has the nerve to do something so shameless.” When Blue Phoenix read the report she received from her subordinates, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

This was the first time she had seen anyone push Nine Dragons Emperor to this point. He had never even reacted so insanely when facing down other superpowers.

Phoenix Rain, who stood beside Blue Phoenix, felt a headache brew over the matter.

With Nine Dragons Emperor keeping a close eye on them, they didn’t have the manpower to guard the towers and raid any encampments.

She had to admit that, sometimes, having more manpower was a good thing. Even when one wasn’t a match for their opponent, they could afford to employ such shameless tactics to limit their opponent’s options.

“Guild Leader, things will be troublesome if this continues. If we keep wasting time with Nine Dragons Emperor, we’ll waste this trip to Thunder Island,” Aqua Rose said, frowning as she looked at the arrangement of Nine Dragons Emperor’s forces.

“It isn’t going to be easy.” Shi Feng didn’t have any helpful ideas, either. “Right, what’s the situation on Blackie’s end?”

“They’ve already completed their promotions and are dealing with the Tier 2 promotion procedures in White River City,” Aqua Rose said.

“They’ve succeeded?” Shi Feng grinned. He then said, “Tell them to form a team of 49 players and gather in Ocean Viewing Town immediately. I’ll head out to fetch them.”

He had yet to use the Thunder Emblem’s available slots, so he could easily bring another 50 people to the island.