“Is that true, Guild Leader Black Flame?”
Maria, who was resting nearby, couldn’t help but stand up and look at Shi Feng with a fervent look on her face when she heard Shi Feng’s words.
Weapons made using Black Iron were incredibly durable, and these weapons had gained themselves a nickname since primordial times.
Immortal Weapons!
Black Iron was an incredibly rare material used for weapon production in the Greater God’s Domain. Demand for it was much greater than supply, and it was a resource frenziedly fought over by the various powers in the Greater God’s Domain.
This was because only weapons made using Black Iron were tough enough to go up against Tier 4 Mythic monsters and above in the Greater God’s Domain. If a weapon wasn’t made using Black Iron, even an Epic Weapon would last no more than a fight when used against the Greater God’s Domain’s Mythic monsters. Afterward, it’d have to be repaired.
Naturally, Epic Weapons made without Black Iron would wear out even quicker when used against Superior Mythic monsters or above. Such Epic Weapons were almost certain to break in the middle of the raid. Meanwhile, the consequences of such a situation happening went without saying. Players would be fortunate if they could retain even 10% of their combat power if they tried to fight barehanded.
Because of this, weapons made using Black Iron were incredibly valuable in the Greater God’s Domain. Even a Secret-Silver Weapon made using Black Iron would be worth dozens of times more than an Epic Weapon made without Black Iron. When teams were recruiting members to head out into the fields, players without Black Iron weapons would even be disqualified automatically…
To make matters worse, in addition to being incredibly rare, Black Iron was also incredibly challenging to process into weapons. Even a Grandmaster Forger could only achieve a 30% success rate when producing a Fine-Gold Weapon.
Moreover, this was only the success rate on paper. Any Lifestyle Player would know that the 30% success rate the system showed was a big fat lie. With a theoretical success rate of 30%, a Lifestyle Player would typically succeed only once out of ten tries; two out of ten tries if they were incredibly lucky.
As for Dark-Gold Weapons and above, the success rate of producing them was even lower.
Due to these factors, Black Iron was incredibly rare and precious in the Greater God’s Domain. Currently, the market price for one piece of Black Iron was five units of Seven Luminaries Crystal.
It should be known that Seven Luminaries Crystals was necessary for players to reach Tier 6. Even in the Greater God’s Domain, the supply of Seven Luminaries Crystals was very low. Any mine and Regional Dungeon that produced Seven Luminaries Crystals would become a target of competition for the Greater God’s Domain’s hegemonic powers.
Yet, one piece of Black Iron could easily fetch five units of Seven Luminaries Crystal. Even then, rarely anybody would trade their Black Iron away for Seven Luminaries Crystals.
Thus, Maria was greatly surprised to learn that the Grand Lords they had just killed had dropped the raw material for Black Iron. It should be known that there were numerous Grand Lords in this area, and every monster group had at least six or seven Grand Lords. If news of this matter spread to the Greater God’s Domain, the various hegemonic powers would definitely do everything they could to gain access to this place.
“Don’t look at me like that. I am a forger, so I can still determine the materials necessary to make Black Iron,” Shi Feng said, chuckling when he looked at Maria’s excited expression.
Honestly, if he weren’t a Grandmaster Forger during his previous life, he wouldn’t have realized that the inconspicuous dark ore was the raw material needed to produce Black Iron. This was because even in the Greater God’s Domain, most players only knew Black Iron for what it was. They thought that Black Iron was something that occurred naturally in nature. They didn’t know that Black Iron was actually a man-made product.
There were many powers that weren’t aware of this secret. Of course, that was only limited to the weaker powers. The various hegemonic powers naturally knew of this secret, and so did a small portion of peak powers. This information could be considered a secret that wasn’t a secret among the Greater God’s Domain’s top circle.
However, Shi Feng didn’t mind sharing this secret with Blood Hammer and Maria. After all, it didn’t really matter even if they knew that Black Iron was a man-made product and what it was made from. Even if they managed to get their hands on Black Iron’s raw material, they couldn’t do anything with it without the design to craft Black Iron. It’d simply be an ordinary piece of ore.
Of course, Black Iron Ore could also be found in the Greater God’s Domain. Only, the places that produced Black Iron Ore were thoroughly monopolized by the various peak and hegemonic powers. Other powers had no way of interjecting at all, and their only option was to find them in the various Stratified Abyssal Realms. In fact, according to Shi Feng’s knowledge, the places that produced Black Iron Ore in the Greater God’s Domain were actually Stratified Abyssal Realms that had broken their respective seals and were introduced into the Greater God’s Domain.
Meanwhile, as soon as Shi Feng finished speaking, both Maria and Blood Hammer started looking at the Grand Lords around them in a different light.
As for Crimson Heart and the others, they couldn’t help but be confused by Shi Feng’s conversation with Maria. Even so, judging by Maria’s reaction, it was obvious that the dark ore they acquired was incredibly valuable, so valuable that it could stir the desires of even suspected God-ranked experts like Maria and Blood Hammer.
“There isn’t much time left before nightfall, so let’s quickly leave this place. We’ll most likely die if we have to face the increased number of monsters at night,” Shi Feng said, giving Maria and Blood Hammer a reminder when he saw that the two were looking to hunt more Grand Lord ranked Two-Headed Manticores.
Maria and Blood Hammer promptly snapped back to their senses when they heard Shi Feng’s words. Then, the team resumed advancing and searching for places with a water source.
No matter the world and regardless if it was for players or NPCs, the precondition to establishing a settlement was to build it near a water source.
The precondition for establishing a settlement was to build it near a water source. This condition held true for all worlds, players, and NPCs. Hence, if they managed to find a water source, there was a high chance they’d find an NPC settlement nearby.
After traveling in this wasteland covered in floating islands for around four hours, Shi Feng and the others arrived at a place with countless ancient trees and rocks that measured several hundred meters in height. As soon as they arrived here, they suddenly heard the sounds of battle. In addition, they also saw a towering pillar of fire rising in the distance, coupled with the sounds of thunder and glaring streaks of lightning coming down from the sky.
Immediately, Shi Feng and the others grew alert.
“That should be Shadow Thunder, a Tier 3 Curse,” Cleansed Rue said as she looked at the dark-red lightning bolts in the distant sky. “Judging by its power, a player should have cast it, so there should be players fighting there. Moreover, it should be quite a big fight by the looks of it.”
Shadow Thunder was a super-large-scale destruction Spell. So, one would typically only use it in a fight involving large numbers.
“Should we go and take a look, Guild Leader Black Flame?” Crimson Heart asked as she turned to Shi Feng.
Based on their journey thus far, Crimson Heart noticed that Shi Feng was much more knowledgeable about the Stratified Abyssal Realm than everyone else. Even Maria and Blood Hammer couldn’t help but listen to Shi Feng’s instructions.
Moreover, if she were to rank the three groups in their team based on combat power, Zero Wing’s group would rank first, while the Tower Alliance’s group would rank second, and Hundred Flower Palace’s group would rank last. So, it was completely normal for her to seek Shi Feng’s opinion on how they should proceed.
At this time, Maria and Blood Hammer had similarly turned to Shi Feng seeking his opinion.
“Of course we’re going to take a look. This is our first encounter with other players. If we miss this opportunity, who knows when another one will appear? There’s also only two hours left until nightfall,” Shi Feng said, chuckling when he saw everyone turning their gazes to him. “But we have to be careful when approaching them. You mustn’t underestimate the strength of the Stratified Abyssal Realm’s players no matter what. If we create a misunderstanding, we will be the ones to suffer.”
Everyone nodded their heads and put on their Black Cloaks to hide their information. Then, they followed Shi Feng toward the distant battlefield.
Although Hidden Soul, Gentle Snow, and the others from Zero Wing’s group knew next to nothing about the Stratified Abyssal Realm, they knew that any player capable of living in the Stratified Abyssal Realm’s environment would be far superior to the average player in God’s Domain.
Not to mention, their Stamina consumption rate here was significantly greater than in the Miniature Ancient World. In such a situation, individual combat power would be severely restricted, and quantity would play a much more important role than quality.
If they accidentally provoked one of the major native powers, the fate that awaited them here would be even worse than if they provoked one of the Five Great Super Guilds in the Miniature Ancient World.
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