After resting for around ten minutes, Cleansed Rue and One-eyed Ghost gathered everyone to enter the Ancient Demon Court. However, before they could enter, they heard the sound of footsteps coming from the cavern entrance.
Immediately, the members of both Guilds turned toward the source of the footsteps and saw a team of nearly 300 players led by a cloaked man entering the cavern. Walking beside the cloaked man was a beautiful woman, and this woman was none other than Su Qianliu.
"Why are they here?"
"Didn't already give up on partnering with our two Guilds?"
"Did they regret their decision?"
The members of Hundred Flower Palace and Nature Hall began a quiet discussion among themselves as they looked at Su Qianliu's group.
"What is Su Qianliu trying to do, Big Sis Rue? Didn't she already terminate our partnership?" Rain Song, the female Knight carrying a round shield and a one-handed axe on her back, asked.
"They should be planning on raiding the Ancient Demon Court by themselves by the looks of it," Cleansed Rue said.
"They want to raid it themselves?" Song Rain couldn't help but blink her eyes in disbelief when she heard Cleansed Rue's answer. "Are they stupid?"
Although the Ancient Demon Court was only a Trial Dungeon, its raid difficulty was more than double that of Hell Mode Team Dungeons of the same level. Moreover, unlike Hell Mode Team Dungeons, the loot players could acquire from an Ancient Demon Court was highly dependent on the evaluation they received, and the loot's quality would be reduced significantly if players couldn't achieve a high evaluation.
The Ancient Demon Courts' raid evaluation was split into five ranks: D, C, B, A, and S. The difficulty of achieving a higher rank increased exponentially, and players would need to score at least a B-rank evaluation for a high evaluation. This was also why their two Guilds had dispatched their best players to raid the Ancient Demon Court.
Yet, now, Su Qianliu was trying to raid the Ancient Demon Court with her adventurer team that didn't even reach the standard of well-known adventurer teams.
"Maybe they came prepared," Cleansed Rue said as she moved her gaze from Su Qianliu to Shi Feng. "Although I don't know who that Swordsman is, the fact that he managed to get Su Qianliu to join him must mean that he is strong."
Hearing this, Song Rain retrieved her axe and shield and asked, "Should we get rid of them now?"
Now that Su Qianliu had already withdrawn from their partnership, they were no longer in the same boat. Meanwhile, an Ancient Demon Court in the Miniature Ancient World was of extraordinary value. Before the entrance key was found, anyone could freely enter the Ancient Demon Court. It might be fine if Su Qianliu's team lacked the strength to raid the Ancient Demon Court, but it'd be a problem if her team did have the necessary strength.
However, Cleansed Rue shook her head and said, "Let them be."
"I concur," One-eyed Ghost said, nodding. Then, he smiled as he continued, "They are aware of the Ancient Demon Court's location. While we might be able to kill them here, if they publish the Ancient Demon Court's coordinates to everyone out of spite, we'll be the ones to suffer."
If the various superpowers learned of this Ancient Demon Court, they definitely wouldn't let it be. Meanwhile, their two Guilds couldn't guarantee that they could acquire the key on their first try. So, the best solution now was for both sides to keep the Ancient Demon Court a secret and rely on their respective abilities to secure the ancient settlement.
…
At the same time as Cleansed Rue and One-eyed Ghost had come to an agreement, Su Qianliu, Blackie, and the other members of the team couldn't help but feel shocked and anxious.
"Crap! It's the Frostflame Goddess and new Sword Meister!" Blackie was flabbergasted when he saw Cleansed Rue and One-eyed Ghost in the distance. "With those two here, their team is probably on par with the various superpowers' main force…"
"Guild Leader, I'm afraid it'll be tough for our team to compete with theirs," Su Qianliu said to Shi Feng with a worried look on her face. She didn't think that Hundred Flower Palace and Nature Hall would send two such experts into the Miniature Ancient World.
The strength of two top 100 God's Domain Experts List experts was no laughing matter. Even if Cleansed Rue and One-eyed Ghost were only at Tier 3 right now, it was still impossible for their team to win against these two experts. After all, each of these people could constitute an entire team by themselves.
"Raiding a Dungeon and combat standards are two separate matters," Shi Feng said nonchalantly as he glanced at Cleansed Rue and One-eyed Ghost. "They might have a significant advantage over us, we have our own strengths as well."
"Strengths?" Su Qianliu asked skeptically. No matter how she thought over the situation, she couldn't figure out how their team was superior to the other party's team in any way. "Do we have any?"
"Of course," Shi Feng said. Then, he walked up to the Ancient Demon Court's massive entrance and reached for the magic array engraved on it, saying, "For example, the ability to stir up trouble!"
As soon as Shi Feng finished speaking, the magic array on the door suddenly glowed with a dazzling light.
"Not good! Stop that lunatic!" One-eyed Ghost shouted, his expression sinking when he saw the magic array activating.
Although the Ancient Demon Court was an ancient settlement, it had a few similarities with Team Dungeons. One example would be the different difficulty settings. Meanwhile, the Ancient Demon Court had two difficulties: Normal Mode and Hard Mode. However, unlike Team Dungeons, the difference in raid difficulty in the Ancient Demon Court's Normal Mode and Hard Mode was massive. Hard Mode's difficulty was at least several times higher than that of Normal Mode. Moreover, once an Ancient Demon Court's difficulty was set, it couldn't be changed again for a month.
"This crazy bastard!" Cleansed Rue's expression also turned ugly when she saw Shi Feng adjusting the Ancient Demon Court's difficulty.
If the difficulty was changed to Hard Mode, it'd become much more difficult for them to acquire a high evaluation. Meanwhile, it was almost impossible for them to acquire the Ancient Demon Court's key without a high evaluation.
However, before One-eyed Ghost and Cleansed Rue could say anything else, another change occurred to the door's magic array. Specifically, the magic arrays' color had gradually changed from red to black.
"Hell…Mode… How is this…possible?!" Cleansed Rue was utterly shocked when she saw the familiar skull illusion appearing in front of the door.
At this time, apart from Cleansed Rue and One-eyed Ghost, even Su Qianliu couldn't help but be dumbfounded by this situation.
In God's Domain, it was common knowledge that the highest difficulty the Ancient Demon Courts had was Hard Mode. Never had a higher difficulty been seen before. Yet, now, the black skull illusion unique to Hell Mode Dungeons had appeared above the teleportation portal in front of the Ancient Demon Court's entrance…
"Alright, now it is fair for all of us. Let's go in, then," Shi Feng said before walking into the portal.
The Ancient Demon Courts indeed only had two difficulty settings on the surface. However, during his previous life, after his sub-world gained access to the Greater God's Domain, the various powers in his sub-world came to realize that the Ancient Demon Courts actually had a hidden difficulty—Hell Mode.
Apart from being a much more challenging mode to tackle, Hell Mode was also the only place where players could acquire the true treasures the Ancient Demon Courts had to offer.
Meanwhile, activating an Ancient Demon Court's Hell Mode was simple. All that was needed was for a Grandmaster Magician to adjust the difficulty setting. However, as Grandmaster Magicians and Tier 6 God-ranked experts typically wouldn't visit Ancient Demon Courts, nobody in his previous life's sub-world had noticed this feature until they gained access to the Greater God's Domain.