Chapter 1982 – Breakthrough

After s.h.i.+ Feng disappeared from the first floor, Zero Wing’s members quickly snapped out of their daze and resumed challenging the first-floor trial.

Extraordinary Tower’s second-floor training ground:

So, this is the second floor’s training? The scene before s.h.i.+ Feng took him by surprise.

At this moment, the s.p.a.ce he stood in was no longer inside the Extraordinary Tower. Instead, he had arrived in an alternate realm.

Unlike the first-floor training ground, the second-floor training ground consisted of a mist-covered staircase, which had a hundred steps, and a pair of stone doors at the top of the staircase. It was obvious the second-floor trial required players to ascend this staircase and reach the stone doors.

However, what caught s.h.i.+ Feng’s attention the most was the Mana density here, which was at least 50% higher than what he felt in the Extraordinary Tower. Surrounded by such concentrated Mana, s.h.i.+ Feng felt his mind becoming extraordinarily clear. For a moment, he felt as if he could accomplish anything so long as he put his mind to it.

In such a Mana-rich environment, he would not have to worry about running out of Stamina and Concentration, even if he were to use Advanced Combat Techniques nonstop. He could exert his full strength as much as he wanted.

s.h.i.+ Feng finally understood why activating the second-floor training ground had cost 100,000 Magic Crystals, why the second-floor training ground required 5,000 Magic Crystals to operate every day, and why only 50 people could undergo the training at the same time.

With such an excellent environment, as well as the fact that the training ground here provided in-depth training for the Realms of Truth, the second-floor training ground was indeed worth every Magic Crystal he had paid. Given the opportunity, the various superpowers would be willing to pay five times that price to obtain such a training ground.

After s.h.i.+ Feng familiarized himself with the environment here, he promptly stepped onto the snow-white staircase.

Each step of the staircase was half a meter tall, requiring players to make quite a large movement just to climb one. A distance of roughly 13 yards separated each step. Even a Tier 2 expert would need some time to climb each step; they wouldn’t be able to climb the next step in a single breath at the very least.

The moment s.h.i.+ Feng climbed onto the first step, he felt his entire body weakening. His Basic Attributes and the improved Life Rating he gained from his Dark Iron Bloodline became useless as soon as he set foot on the staircase.

After three seconds, his Basic Attributes had fallen to the standard of a Level 50, Tier 1 Swordsman fully geared in Bronze Equipment Even his physique had regressed to the Tier 1 standard. He was as ordinary as an ordinary player could get now.

Meanwhile, before s.h.i.+ Feng could adapt to this sudden drop in strength, two Tier 1 Swordsmen, who looked exactly like him and were geared in silver armor, appeared on the step he stood on. As soon as they had fully materialized, these Swordsmen unsheathed their twin swords and charged at him.

Within a breath of time, both Level 50, Tier 1 Swordsmen crossed the 10-yard distance and arrived before s.h.i.+ Feng.

Tier 1 Skill, Gale Sword!

Tier 1 Skill, Triple Moon Intercept!

Both Swordsmen used an extremely rare Tier 1 Skill. Moreover, their actions were free of any unnecessary movements as they struck directly at s.h.i.+ Feng’s vitals.

Upon seeing this, s.h.i.+ Feng hurriedly countered by executing Sword’s...o...b..t.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After the swords of the two sides clashed about five or six times, s.h.i.+ Feng got sent flying off the staircase’s first step. Meanwhile, once s.h.i.+ Feng fell off the step, the two silver Swordsmen did not pursue him. Instead, they returned to their original positions and stood there quietly.

So strong! s.h.i.+ Feng was astounded as he looked at his two opponents. Even after falling to the foot of the staircase, he had to take five steps back before he managed to stabilize himself.

Although the clash with the silver Swordsmen was brief, s.h.i.+ Feng understood that their combat standard was already close to reaching the Refinement Realm standard. Moreover, their mastery over their Skills was practically perfect with both Skills executed at a 100% Completion Rate. Their true combat power was definitely no weaker than a true Refinement Realm expert’s.

Aside from having very high technical standards, the silver Swordsmen’s Basic Attributes were also far superior to his own.

If he tried to face their attacks head-on, he would definitely get sent flying.

The difficulty ramped up this much just by going up a floor? Glancing at the motionless, silver Swordsmen, s.h.i.+ Feng roughly understood the difficulty rating of the second-floor trial.

If a Flowing Water Realm expert were to go up against these two silver Swordsmen, the said expert would have no chance of getting past even the first step.

The Flowing Water Realm allowed one to perceive the actions of one’s opponents and make simple, preemptive offensive or defensive maneuvers.

However, both silver Swordsmen were invulnerable to damage. Attacking them would be meaningless. Moreover, doing so would only expose holes in one’s defenses to the silver Swordsmen. Executing simple defensive maneuvers, such as blocking or deflecting, would result in the Flowing Water Realm expert getting gradually pushed off the staircase step after step. As for evasive maneuvers, those were simply impossible. With the disparity in Basic Attributes, Movement Speed, and reaction speed, a Flowing Water Realm expert would find it next to impossible to dodge the attack of just one silver Swordsman, let alone two.

In other words, a Flowing Water Realm expert would not be able to achieve anything on this floor. Only if said Flowing Water Realm expert had reached the Truth Realm might they barely defend against the two silver Swordsmen. As for Refinement Realm experts that had entered the Truth Realm, they would very likely get sent flying off the staircase on the first exchange.

Following which, s.h.i.+ Feng stepped onto the staircase once more.

This time, however, he did not choose to receive the attacks of the two silver Swordsmen directly. Instead, he skillfully brandished his two swords and redirected the attack of one of the silver Swordsmen toward the other silver Swordsman’s attack, the two attacks canceling out each other. This then created an opportunity for s.h.i.+ Feng to move past the two silver Swordsmen and climb to the next step.

Only, climbing each step was a challenge, as he had to make huge movements to climb up the tall steps while deflecting the attacks of the two silver Swordsmen.

However, with each step he climbed, s.h.i.+ Feng could feel his understanding of the Realms of Truth deepening.

When he ascended to the tenth step, one more silver Swordsman suddenly joined the two silver Swordsmen chasing after him, instantly increasing the trial’s difficulty by a large margin.

Things are finally getting a little interesting. s.h.i.+ Feng felt the pressure on him strengthening as he dealt with the relentless a.s.sault of the three silver Swordsmen.

Fortunately, it had already been quite some time since he had reached the Ascension Realm. The combined a.s.sault of the three silver Swordsmen was still within his tolerance range. Nevertheless, each time he wanted to climb a step, he had to prepare himself both physically and mentally for quite a while.

By the time s.h.i.+ Feng reached the 29th step, he was facing four silver Swordsmen and already close to reaching his limit

When he eventually climbed to the 30th step, one of the silver Swordsmen suddenly turned into a golden Swordsman. Before s.h.i.+ Feng could adjust to the change, the golden Swordsman’s improved Strength and speed sent him flying back down to the 29th step.

Due to the presence of the golden Swordsman, s.h.i.+ Feng was stuck moving back and forth between the 29th and 30th steps.

As the number of times s.h.i.+ Feng got sent flying increased, he began to grasp his shortcomings—his skill at utilizing external forces was still inadequate. Although he had redirected one of the silver Swordsmen’s attacks toward the golden Swordsman’s, the golden Swordsman’s Strength was simply overwhelming. Before the golden Swordsman’s attack could be nullified, the silver Swordsman’s attack was crushed, and the golden Swordsman’s attack would continue toward him.

One hour…

Two hours…

Four hours…

After many hours had pa.s.sed, when s.h.i.+ Feng was faced with the golden Swordsman’s oncoming longsword once again, he executed Sword’s...o...b..t and filled his surroundings with a galaxy of stars.

In the next moment, however, the three silver Swordsmen’s attacks involuntarily moved to greet the golden Swordsman’s attack.

Boom!

After a loud explosion echoed throughout the entire training ground, the golden Swordsman went flying up a step while the three silver Swordsmen fell down the step. At this moment, only s.h.i.+ Feng remained standing quietly on the 31st step.

Wonderful! I succeeded! s.h.i.+ Feng had an ecstatic expression on his face as he gazed at the collapsed golden Swordsman. I finally have my own combat technique!