Chapter 75 – One Person’s Strength
Inside the Ancient Demon Court, Su Qianliu and the others remained wholly unaware of what was going on outside. Even if they did know what was going on, they wouldn’t be in the mood to care since they were currently in shock over the environment inside the Ancient Demon Court.
“What violent Mana!”
“So, this is Hell Mode?”
Everyone’s faces paled when they looked at the dilapidated settlement and the Death Energy that filled the streets before them. Although they had long since known that an Ancient Demon Court’s Hell Mode wouldn’t be an easy challenge, they never thought it would be this difficult.
Setting aside the violent Mana that constantly inflicted pain onto their bodies and affected their ability to control their bodies, just the Death Energy that filled the settlement’s streets was more than enough to instill despair into them.
Death Energy was a special type of energy with extremely powerful corrosive effects. It might be fine if it was present in scant amounts. At most, it would only prevent players from operating their bodies normally. However, if the presence of Death Energy was so dense that it was visible to the naked eye, it would be fatal to players.
Even if Death Energy was only visible as a thin layer of gray gas, it was already more than enough to corrode players’ minds and rapidly reduce their Concentration. Meanwhile, if players’ Concentration fell below the critical threshold, their characters would become an empty shell, and it’d be no different than if they had died.
“I’m afraid there’s no way we can raid this Ancient Demon Court, Guild Leader. Setting aside the violent Mana, just the Death Energy that’s floating in the air is already too much for us to handle. Apart from those with a Gold Mana Body, everyone else would die in under thirty minutes…” Su Qianliu said, a bitter smile forming on her face as she looked at Shi Feng.
Originally, before entering the Hell Mode Ancient Demon Court, she had thought that they might have a chance at clearing it. After all, their team was not weak by any means. However, after entering the Ancient Demon Court, she realized that she had been too naive…
With such a harsh environment, even the Five Great Super Guilds’ main force would probably have difficulty surviving in such an environment.
Not to mention, the Bosses in Level 100 Hell Mode Team Dungeons were typically Tier 4 Mythic monsters that had their HP, Attack Power, and Defense boosted significantly. After getting strengthened, their overall strength could rival Mythic ranked Archaic Species found in the outside world. Meanwhile, seeing as they were inside a Hell Mode Ancient Demon Court, the Boss they had to face was probably on par with Mythic ranked World Bosses. In other words, they had to face a Mythic monster with at least 50% more Basic Attributes than the average Mythic monster…
“Death Energy and violent Mana?” After surveying their surroundings, Shi Feng nodded and said, “It seems we got lucky.”
“Lucky?”
When Happy Snow heard Shi Feng’s words, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him. She felt that Shi Feng was truly skilled at consoling people.
How could their current situation even be considered lucky?
Faced with such dense Death Energy, Happy Snow felt that she could, at best, last half an hour with her Peak Silver Mana Body. As for the others with weaker Mana Bodies, they probably wouldn’t last more than fifteen minutes. As soon as they stepped into the settlement before them, they’d be taking a ride on hell’s tour bus. They could probably meet God even without fighting.
“We are indeed very lucky,” Shi Feng said, calmly smiling when he saw the look of contempt Happy Snow was giving him. “Ancient Demon Courts are products of the ancient era. When we consider the fact that the Ancient Demons were suddenly wiped out and the Ancient Demon Courts were sealed, we can consider ourselves lucky that all we have to face right now is a little Death Energy and some Mana fluctuations left behind from back then.”
Shi Feng had visited quite a few Ancient Demon Courts during his previous life. Among them, many had much harsher environments than the one they currently faced. In one instance, not only did he have to deal with violent Mana and dense Death Energy, but he also had to be wary of a temporal storm that was capable of obliterating everything. Even a random gust of wind that came out of that temporal storm could severely injure a Superior Mythic. Meanwhile, the temporal storm back then had covered the entire settlement. The scene back then was both beautiful and devastating.
In comparison, the Ancient Demon Court here only had violent Mana and Death Energy. Among the many Ancient Demon Courts in existence, it could be considered a relatively mild one.
“What should we do next, Guild Leader? We have no way to retreat now, but we can’t progress in such an environment, either. Even with my Gold Mana Body, I doubt I can last more than an hour. If I have to fight monsters on top of that, I don’t think I can last more than twenty minutes,” Blackie said anxiously as he looked at the settlement ahead.
While a Gold Mana Body was stronger than a Silver Mana Body, it wasn’t invincible. It merely provided players with stronger adaptability.
“Don’t worry. Since I decided to come here, I naturally came prepared,” Shi Feng said, chuckling. “Whether it is the violent Mana or Death Energy, both are merely a form of external energy. Why do you think a Gold Mana Body can have a better time adapting to harsh environments?”
Upon hearing Shi Feng’s question, Blackie immediately came to a realization as he said, “It’s because of the enhanced control it provides toward Mana! So long as we can control the Mana around us, we’ll be able to resist the Mana and Death Energy here!”
“That’s right.” Shi Feng nodded. “Rather than a Dungeon, an Ancient Demon Court is more like a trial for players. If players can control their Mana well, they can drastically reduce the pressure they face from the surrounding environment.”
As soon as Shi Feng finished speaking, whether it was the violent Mana or Death Energy surrounding him, both had stopped half an inch away from his body. It looked as if there was an invisible barrier surrounding him.
What powerful Mana control! Firecloud mentally exclaimed when he saw what Shi Feng just did.
Forming a Mana Barrier around one’s body was easier said than done. This was due to the way players visualized Mana. It was especially true when the Mana in question came from one’s own body. The average player couldn’t see or touch Mana at all, and the only way they could manipulate their Mana to form an external barrier was through relying on magic arrays.
The process of forming an external Mana barrier was essentially players compressing the Mana they radiated to form a dense coating of Mana around their bodies. It shouldn’t be mistaken with the action of severing one’s Mana flow to prevent one’s Mana from leaving one’s body. The two achieved entirely different effects, and the former was much more difficult to accomplish than the latter.
Meanwhile, the closer the compressed layer of Mana got to one’s body, the denser it would become. As a result, the resistance it put up would also grow stronger. Without incredible control over Mana, there was no way a player could compress their Mana to within half an inch of their body.
With Shi Feng’s reminder, everyone present started compressing their Mana to form a barrier that repelled the violent Mana and Death energy surrounding them.
Fortunately, everyone present was a veteran expert. They possessed excellent control over Mana, and everyone managed to form a barrier that was, at most, one-yard thick. In Su Qianliu’s case, she managed to form a half-inch thick barrier with ease, and none of the surrounding violent Mana and Death Energy managed to affect her in the slightest.
“Well done.” Shi Feng nodded approvingly when he saw that everyone had more or less managed to resist the surrounding environment’s effects. “Alright, let’s start the raid for real now. I’ll be splitting you all into three separate teams from now on. All Guardian Knights and Shield Warriors will be in Team One, the remaining melee players will be in Team Two, and all ranged players will be in Team Three. Without my command, nobody in Team Two is allowed to take action. As for Team One, you are only allowed to use your shields to block the attacking monsters. You are forbidden from attacking and attracting aggro. For Team Three, you will attack whichever monster I tell you to attack. You are not allowed to attack any other monsters.”