Chapter 144 - Forming a Party  

In regards to Blackie’s and Lonely Snow’s shock, Shi Feng merely nodded in reply.

“Brother Feng, your leveling speed is just too fast!”

“The highest leveled player I’ve previously met was only Level 9. Right now, there might not be another who has reached Level 10 in the entire White River City. Moreover, since there has not been any information on the official website stating that a player has reached Level 10 and entered a City, this means that there are no players who have reached Level 10 at all. Brother Feng, now that you’ve Level 10, you are definitely the top player in all of Star-Moon Kingdom!”

Blackie was incomparably excited. Only high-leveled players would know how hard it was to go from Level 8 to Level 9, not to mention rising from Level 9 to Level 10. The difference in EXP required was at least several times higher. Right now, Shi Feng was far ahead of everyone else.

If the players from Martial Union found out about this, their intestines would turn green with regret.

Every gamer knew that once you got ahead, you stayed ahead. The small gap during the initial period of the game would only grow wider later on. As long as Shi Feng slowly expanded his advantages, little by little, he would sooner or later cause the players from Martial Union to tremble in fear.

Meanwhile, Lonely Snow, who stood by a side, was dumbstruck, not knowing what he should say.

Previously, he had been worried that it would not bode well for them to continue entangling themselves with Martial Union. However, after he saw that Shi Feng had already reached Level 10 and possessed a pile of Secret-Silver Equipment, confidence filled his heart. If this continued, he could, sooner or later, step on Martial Union, becoming a future tyrant of White River City.

“Alright, quickly swap out your equipment. We’ll look for a place to level up,” Shi Feng looked at the excited expressions on Blackie and Lonely Snow and smiled helplessly.

Due to constant tasks earlier, he was never able to lead his own party personally. Now, he still had quite some time before he had to go to Blackwing City to conduct the trade with Aqua Rose, and in the meantime, he could carry Blackie and the others.

In the future, he would have to form a Guild. However, a framework was required to establish a Guild. Otherwise, the Guild would simply fall apart. The members of his current party would become the framework of his future Guild; so, Shi Feng decided to upgrade the overall strength of his party from now on. If the members of his party could reach Level 10 a step earlier and enter White River City, it would be a tremendous help to him in the future.

Blackie and Lonely Snow looked at each other, smiles on their faces as they changed into their new equipment.

Previously, the two of them wore Level 5 to Level 6 Bronze Equipment, mixed in with a few pieces of Mysterious-Iron Equipment. Now, however, the majority of their equipment consisted of Level 8 Mysterious-Iron Equipment, matched with a few pieces of Level 8 Secret-Silver Equipment. Their strengths greatly increased with this. If they met Martial Union now, they would not end up in such a sorry state.

“Brother Feng, if we are going to level up here, what will happen to Cola and the others? They say that they’re under constant surveillance and going out into the fields to level up is extremely dangerous,” Blackie worriedly asked.

“Relax; I’ve already told them to do something more meaningful in Town. We’ll call them over after Martial Union leaves the Gale Valley. At that time, you two might even have a fright when you meet them,” Shi Feng said with a smile.

Seeing Shi Feng’s mysterious smile, curiosity swarmed both Blackie and Lonely Snow about the task Shi Feng had given Cola and the others. Just what sort of quest could it be to shock them?

“Alright; let’s level up then.”

Shi Feng wordlessly smiled at the two’s puzzled expressions. In actuality, having Martial Union focus on Cola and the others was not a bad thing at all. Before, while they had been busy leveling up, Shi Feng stopped them from completing the quest. Now that they couldn’t out and level up, they could give the quest a try. If Cola and the others could truly complete it...

He would be able to carry out his plan with much less effort and more confidence.

Although the Silent Swamp was a Level 15 to Level 20 monster area, the outer edge of the swamp was only a Level 15 monster area, while the inner regions were Level 16 to Level 18 monster areas. Level 20 monsters would only appear in the core region of the swamp.

With the Abyssal Blade, Shi Feng could reduce the level suppression by 5 Levels, making the outer region a perfect fit.

“Let’s go there and take a look.”

Looking at the system’s map, Shi Feng pointed to the bubbling black pool of water in the distance.

Although Blackie and Lonely Snow did not voice out about it, they were overcome with worry. After all, Level 15 monsters owned this place. Even if they received an upgrade to their equipment and could challenge Level 10 Common monsters without much of a problem, Level 15 monsters would still annihilate them.

Just as Shi Feng and the others set foot beside the black-colored pool, a mass of bubbles broke out across the surface. A pair of black, shiny eyes surfaced from the pool, staring at Shi Feng’s party from a distance.

“Brother Feng, I don’t think this place is safe. Look; a large pair of eyes are watching us from over there,” Blackie looked at the fist-sized eyeballs, anxiety gripping his heart. He definitely did not think that the monster hidden in the water was Common.

While Blackie spoke, the monster in the pool surfaced, it’s gigantic figure slowly revealing itself to the party.

[Steel-skinned Hippo] (Elite Rank)

Level 15

HP 6,000/6,000

“Brother Feng, let’s leave! That’s a Level 15 Elite! If it chases us, we’ll suffer the consequences!” Blackie panicked as he watched the Steel-skinned Hippo closing in on them.

Naturally, Shi Feng knew that Blackie and Lonely Snow could not contend with a Level 15 monster, not to mention an Elite. However, Shi Feng had his own strategies for dealing with monsters with special weaknesses, and the Steel-skinned Hippo belonged to this category.

After the evolution of God’s Domain, everything in the game became more realistic. The weaknesses of these Hippo-type monsters also increased as a result. As long as players could find a way to deal with said weaknesses, these monsters would be very easy to deal with.

Shortly after the Steel-skinned Hippo revealed itself, another group of Swamp Hippos surfaced in the black-colored pool. There were over twenty of these Swamp Hippos.

[Swamp Hippo] (Common Rank)

Level 15

HP 2,000/2,000

Watching these hippos leave the pool so overbearingly, rushing towards them, Shi Feng took out an Isolation Scroll from his bag. He then softly said, “You guys use an Isolation Scroll as well.”

Hearing Shi Feng’s order, Blackie and Lonely Snow immediately took out their own Isolation Scrolls.

The Isolation Scroll was only effective against monsters up to Level 15. When used, the scroll greatly reduced the user’s presence, turning them half-transparent for half an hour.

After the two of them used the Isolation Scrolls, they discovered that the hippos had suddenly stopped their movements, looking around in confusion. It was as if they had become invisible to these hippos.

“Hippos have very bad vision, and they cannot see clearly beyond a certain distance. After using the Isolation Scrolls, our bodies are close to transparent, so they cannot see us,” Shi Feng explained. “Blackie, use your Dark Arrows to attack the Steel-skinned Hippo but pay attention to maintain a distance of at least 25 yards. It won’t see you that way.”

Blackie came to a realization after listening to Shi Feng’s explanation. He immediately tried Shi Feng’s instructions.

A Dark Arrow flew from Blackie, striking the Steel-skinned Hippo that was dozing off. Damage of -24 points appeared above the Elite Hippo. Although the damage was minuscule, it was enough to send the Steel-skinned Hippo into a flying rage. The Elite immediately spun towards the source of the Dark Arrow. However, it failed to discover even a single person in that direction. It took several steps forward but still failed to discover anybody. Just when it was about to return to the pool of water, another Dark Arrow struck its body.

The Steel-skinned Hippo was truly enraged now. Letting out an intense snort, it abruptly charged towards the direction the Dark Arrow originated from. However, after rushing forward over ten yards, it still could not find the enemy who attacked it. The Steel-skinned Hippo started to turn in circles in confusion.

Blackie watched the stupid-looking Steel-skinned Hippo in the distance, inwardly laughing at it. He continuously sent Dark Arrows at his target, and with each consecutive arrow, he slowly lured it away from the group of Swamp Hippos.

At this moment, only Level 15 Swamp Hippos occupied the pool.

Shi Feng silently closed in on them.

After closing a distance of 20 yards, the Swamp Hippos finally discovered Shi Feng. Immediately, they all parted from the pool. More than twenty Swamp Hippos thundered after Shi Feng in a grandiose manner. Such a group could easily flatten a Level 15 party.