Silver rank?! Instructor Shi already cleared the second-floor trial?!
Chen Ziyou couldn't help but doubt her eyes as she looked at the notification she received on her quantum watch. She also made sure to look at the distant holographic display to ensure she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating.
She had long since known that Shi Feng wasn't an ordinary expert. After all, there was no way an ordinary expert could help her grow from the Half-step Refinement Realm to the Refinement Realm with just one short lesson. This was a feat that even Void Realm experts couldn't necessarily accomplish.
In fact, after attending just one of Shi Feng's lessons, Qi Lianshan had lauded Shi Feng's teaching abilities and estimated that Shi Feng's strength was at the Void Realm standard at the very least.
However, even after seeing the results on the second-floor trial's scoreboard and her entry into the Silver List, she still couldn't help but doubt this situation.
The Silver List!
After getting into the Silver List, it meant that she had a high chance of getting accepted into the God's Domain Association's Talent Camp. At the very least, she had a success rate of 20%. After all, at the current rate, the Silver List wouldn't have more than 50 applicants by the end of the application period. Meanwhile, the Association would similarly accept ten applicants, so the competition she faced was much fewer than the Bronze List's applicants.
However, other than the surprised Chen Ziyou and shocked Liu Yanya, nobody was paying attention to Shi Feng. Instead, everyone had their attention focused on the third-floor trial's scoreboard.
"It's been nearly 30 minutes since Purple Jade cleared the second floor. Why hasn't she cleared the third floor yet?"
"The third floor's difficulty is probably significantly greater. I've seen many Void Realm experts failing the second-floor trial already. The third-floor trial is probably reserved exclusively for God-ranked experts."
"I guess that's good. Otherwise, it'd be tough for us to tell the actual difference between these God-ranked experts."
"Empress Purple Jade came in first on the second floor just now. I wonder who will complete the third floor first?"
"I'm putting my money on the Witch of the West. It's either going to be her or the Silver Ghost. These two people are ranked within the top ten of the God's Domain Experts List. Everyone else is a little inferior to them."
Everyone began hushed discussions among themselves when they saw that the third floor's scoreboard wasn't being updated even after a long time, and they couldn't help but wonder who would clear the third-floor trial first.
Tier 6 God-ranked experts rarely fought against each other, so there was no precise way to determine who was stronger and weaker in the past. However, now that so many God-ranked experts were participating in this test for combat standards, everyone could see the difference between these God-ranked experts at a glance.
Moreover, there was a slight difference in the scoreboards for the third floor and beyond.
Rather than ranking participants by the order in which they cleared the trial, the scoreboards for the third floor and beyond ranked participants based on the time they took to clear their respective trials instead. In other words, the quicker a participant's clear time, the higher their rank would be. This would also provide everyone with a much more accurate measure of the participants' combat standards.
Amidst everyone's discussions, the first name had also appeared on the third-floor trial's scoreboard.
…
1st (Current) – Magic-eye Hunter Fithalia – 21 minutes 17 seconds
…
"Fithalia actually came in first?"
"It seems the rumors about her strength being barely within the top ten of God-ranked experts is false."
Everyone was surprised when they saw the Magic-eye Hunter Fithalia coming in first. They didn't think that the Witch of the West, who possessed extraordinary perception and control, and the Silver Ghost, who mastered several Bronze and Silver Combat Techniques, would actually lose to Fithalia. After all, the public's evaluation of the Magic-eye Hunter wasn't particularly high.
Meanwhile, shortly after Fithalia cleared the third-floor trial, the second and third place participants also appeared one after another.
…
2nd (Current) – Silver Ghost Prosciutto – 22 minutes 39 seconds
3rd (Current) – Witch of the West Alice – 22 minutes 52 seconds
4th (Current) – Thirteen Thrones' Guild Leader Melancholy – 24 minutes 26 seconds
5th (Current) – Purple Jade – 26 minutes 31 seconds
…
"Those two lost to Fithalia by over a minute?"
"Fithalia has really concealed her strength well! At this rate, unless the Five Great Super Guilds' old monsters and those four monsters make an appearance, she'll probably rank number one in the test this time!"
When everyone saw the time it took for the Silver Ghost and the Witch of the West to clear their respective trials, they could clearly tell that there was a significant difference between them and Fithalia.
However, just when everyone thought that the top ranks for the scoreboard were set, another name appeared on the third floor's scoreboard a few minutes later and pushed Melancholy out of fourth place.
…
4th (Current) – Thousand Swords – 23 minutes 28 seconds
…
"Crap! Who's this Thousand Swords?! He's actually behind the Silver Ghost and the Witch of the West by less than a minute!"
"I believe this person is World Domination's Great Elder. I remember that he challenged the Five Great Super Guilds' old monsters around 20 years ago, and his results were a mix of wins and losses. I didn't think he would still be so strong after such a long time."
"As expected of a veteran Super Guild. World Domination has powerful foundations."
Many people who recognized Thousand Swords' name couldn't help but be surprised to see him ranked so highly. After all, he had already reached his prime 20 years ago, yet he was still capable of matching the experts of younger generations.
"I knew it! Teacher really is amazing!" Tao Yuwei's eyes sparkled when she saw Thousand Swords' name appearing on the third floor's scoreboard. "Fourth! He actually came in fourth place! Moreover, he's only slightly behind the two in front! With this, everyone will know that World Domination is no weaker than the Five Great Super Guilds!"
"The other superpowers will probably shrink back a little when dealing with our Guild in the future," Gu Yiren said, a rare happy smile appearing on his face.
After all was said and done, God's Domain where strength spoke volumes. Although Tier 6 God-ranked experts rarely took action and typically served as only a deterrence, there was still a difference in the strength of a Guild's deterrence. Now that the various superpowers could see that World Domination possessed a high-ranking God-ranked expert, they would definitely think twice when challenging World Domination in the future.
…
Meanwhile, inside one of the many instances of the third-floor trial…
Shi Feng was currently facing against 100 Tier 3 NPCs at the Half-step Void Realm standard. Moreover, every one of these NPCs could exhibit the power of an advanced combat technique with their every move. When they combined their attacks, the power they could exhibit easily reached the standard of Mythic monsters. When 100 of such NPCs worked together, it'd be a child's play for them to defeat Domain Realm experts.
This temple truly is a wonderful place for training. Although it isn't as good as the ancient civilizations' Realms of Truth Legacies, it is still one of the few places to train in the Realms of Truth.
Shi Feng's eyes burned with passion and excitement as he looked at the Tier 3 NPCs attacking him.
The experience of facing these NPCs' fierce and unrelenting attacks was an experience that couldn't normally be found in the outside world. If he didn't maximize the use of his offensive power, defensive power, and speed, he wouldn't be able to defend against the fierce assault at all.
However, even though Shi Feng was continuously losing HP as time passed, his mind had achieved unprecedented levels of focus as he dodged and blocked the oncoming attacks. After sparring with these Tier 3 NPCs for some time, he could feel that he had finally returned to his prime in the Realms of Truth. Now, not only could he exhibit the power of a Bronze Combat Technique with his every move, but he could also execute every movement as naturally as flowing water. This meant that he had thoroughly mastered the third realm of the Realms of Truth.
The Transcendental Realm!
Combined with the fact that he had already reached the Domain Realm's second step, he could now combine even Bronze Combat Techniques with Skills and Spells. This meant that he could exhibit power at the Tier 4 Intermediate standard with his Tier 3 Skills and Spells, and he would no longer have to rely on the effects of weapons and equipment to transcend tiers.
"Now that I've achieved perfect control already, the training session ends here!"
After saying so, Shi Feng immediately used the Tier 3 Legacy Skill for Swordsman, Consecutive Wind Blades!
Suddenly, wind blades that tore through space flew in multiple directions, catching the melee NPCs surrounding Shi Feng off guard and killing them instantly. Moreover, even after the wind blades had their power dampened by the corpses of the NPCs they killed, they still packed enough punch to cause the other melee NPCs in their path to stumble several steps backward.
Immediately afterward, Shi Feng followed up his attack using the Tier 3 Skill Storm Rush. There was no gap whatsoever between his Skill uses, so the melee NPCs that had been knocked out of their stances were utterly defenseless against Shi Feng's flurry of slashes, their HPs decreasing by two to three million every attack. Before the rear line healers could even do anything, the melee NPCs in Shi Feng's way had already died in the storm of blades…
Subsequently, after Shi Feng used a few more Tier 3 Skills, over half of the melee NPCs had died already, and the tides of battle changed to favor Shi Feng.
It's a pity I don't have many Tier 3 Skills and Spells. Otherwise, I could've gotten rid of all of these NPCs in one fell swoop.
Shi Feng sighed in pity as he looked at the remaining shield-wielding NPCs surrounding him. Because he had failed to kill all of the melee NPCs within two seconds, those surviving with less than half NPC instantly recovered all of their HP thanks to the rear line healers. They were no different than a group of cockroaches.
Unfortunately, now that he had already used up all of his Tier 3 Skills, he had no choice but to go on the defensive until they were ready again. After all, even if he could exhibit the power of a Bronze Combat Technique with his normal attacks, he couldn't kill any of these NPCs within one or two seconds. So, he'd only be wasting his energy if he tried to fight them without Tier 3 Skills.
Finally, after fighting with these NPCs for several minutes, Shi Feng got rid of the last melee NPC protecting the rear line. Then, with his speed and power that rivaled Tier 4 players, he swiftly took care of the ranged NPCs.
…
System: You have cleared the third floor. Time spent: 9 minutes 23 seconds. You are now officially a Gold Instructor at the God's Domain Association. You will have three recommendation slots for every Talent Camp the Association hosts. Do you wish to proceed to the fourth floor?
…
"The fourth floor?" After having experienced the third-floor trial, Shi Feng couldn't help but wonder what challenges would await him on the temple's fourth floor. "Proceed!"