C.3474 - 548 – Sword of Space!

Chapter 548 – Sword of Space!

“Sleeping Spark got overtaken?”

“Black Flame and Aurebeth? Who are these people? Am I hallucinating? This is Sleeping Spark we are talking about! Even the various apex powers are looking to recruit him!”

“Don’t forget that the Star Dynasty has hastily confirmed Sleeping Spark’s position as a future Taboo to keep him from defecting. So, once he reaches Tier 6, he’ll immediately get to manage a Divine Artifact!”

“I know about Aurebeth. She’s Azure Fang’s officially recognized Saintess. She is considered the best talent Azure Fang has had in the past few centuries. I previously thought Azure Fang was exaggerating about this, but it seems that those claims aren’t unfounded, seeing as she is two trials ahead of Sleeping Spark. With such a talent under its command, Azure Fang will most certainly prosper in the future.”

“A height of 19,786 meters? Is Black Flame the successor of some apex power?”

The players resting in the starting temple started an excited discussion among themselves when they saw the changes to the Challenge Tablet. To them, this development was even more shocking than Shi Feng’s accomplishment of deterring the members of the Star Dynasty and Flaming Bee.

It should be known that climbing a height of 19,786 meters on the upper level wasn’t something that could be accomplished with a Mana Domain alone.

According to their research on the Golden Spire, once players climbed to a height of 10,000 meters on the upper level, the opponents they had to face would change from ordinary Magic Puppets into Advanced Magic Puppets. Even without the assistance of battle arrays, these Advanced Magic Puppets would possess Basic Attributes nearing that of Tier 6 Divine monsters of the same level. They could also exhibit the power of an Advanced Silver Combat Technique with their every move.

If these Advanced Magic Puppets were under the effects of a large battle array, they would not only have the Basic Attributes of a Divine monster, but they could also exhibit power nearing the standard of Gold Combat Techniques with their every move. With such parameters, these Advanced Magic Puppets would not fear any Mana Domain. At most, they would lose some of their mobility.

Even a bona fide Tier 6 player would be instantly reduced to ashes if they tried to fight against 27 of such frightening Advanced Magic Puppets.

…

Meanwhile, at the upper level’s 19,800-meter mark…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At this time, a figure could be seen moving back and forth, left and right, while continuously dodging and blocking hundreds of wind blades. These wind blades covered the entire staircase section, and every one of them possessed enough power to send even Tier 6 MTs flying off their feet.

The figure going up the wind blades was massive, standing at a height of twenty meters. White holy patterns also covered this figure’s body, and his every action carried the power to destroy worlds. So, none of the terrifying wind blades could leave a scratch on him.

Meanwhile, this giant of a person was none other than Shi Feng with Holy Mana’s Shadow active. Currently, though, Shi Feng wore a pale complexion as his mental state was quickly reaching its limit.

Even full-powered attacks with Holy Mana’s Shadow active can barely damage it? Shi Feng couldn’t help but frown as he looked at the slightly damaged barrier in the distance.

The Golden Spire tested players based on their tiers. So, the magic barriers Tier 5 and Tier 6 players faced were completely different, with the former having to face significantly weaker ones.

With his current strength, once he activated Holy Mana’s Shadow, he could exhibit power at the Tier 6 Peak standard if he went all out. This was already the strongest attack he could accomplish as a Tier 5 player.

Yet, even after dishing out dozens of attacks of this caliber, he had only managed to leave some cracks on the barrier separating him from the 20,000-meter mark. Moreover, these scratches would rapidly heal over time. If he stopped attacking, the barrier would return to its original state in just three seconds.

After trying up to this point, Shi Feng couldn’t help but wonder exactly how powerful the Tier 6 players who had climbed to the upper level’s 20,000-meter mark in his previous life had to be to accomplish what they did.

It should be known that he was a Great Grandmaster Magician. Unlike other players, he could target all of his attacks on the magic barrier’s weakest areas, which allowed him to achieve drastically better results at a much lower cost.

However, Shi Feng didn’t have much time to ponder as the 27 Magic Puppets had no intentions of letting him catch his breath. After completing one round of attacks, they promptly brandished their claws at him again in a frenzy, filling the space above the staircase with space-shredding wind blades.

Sure enough, I can only pass this trial with attacks that have broken the limits of my tier.

Immediately, Shi Feng executed Flowing Space and evaded all of the Magic Puppets’ attacks. He no longer tried to block or deflect the oncoming wind blades, choosing to gradually focus his mind.

After the previous series of attacks, Shi Feng had already verified that those who passed the 20,000-meter mark in his previous life must be individuals with Primordial God Legacies.

If he wanted to complete the Advanced Abyssal Trial in his current state, his only option to succeed would be to rely on the Goddess of Space’s Mana Technique, Dark Moon. Otherwise, he would have to halt his progression before the 20,000-meter mark.

However, Shi Feng honestly didn’t wish to try using Dark Moon.

Dark Moon was unlike any Saint-ranked Mana Technique. It involved the manipulation of various magic elements on a massive scale. Even if he had already mastered manipulating the various magic elements, it would still be a tall order to execute the Mana Technique at Tier 5. He would need to reach Tier 6 at the very least to use it normally.

Should he try to use Dark Moon at Tier 5, he would have to focus all of his mental capacity on the task, rendering him unable to do anything else. In other words, it would be a do-or-die situation.

Originally, he had only considered researching the Mana Technique after getting promoted to Tier 6. But now, he had no choice but to give it a try.

Good! Now’s the time!

After reviewing the Sword of Space multiple times in his mind, Shi Feng activated Fluctuating Law, his last resort, to create a world barrier around himself that could block all attacks. Then, he began using all of his mental capacity to construct a blade using the element of space.

However, while Fluctuating Law might have a theoretical duration of thirty seconds, it was currently only a Tier 5 Skill, whereas its opponents were 27 Magic Puppets that rivaled Tier 6 Divine monsters. After blocking just one round of attacks from the Magic Puppets, numerous cracks appeared on the world barrier. And before the barrier could even repair itself, more attacks bombarded it again.

After three short seconds, the world barrier started breaking into large pieces. At this point, the barrier’s self-recovery ability had become nothing but a joke, and there was no way the barrier could last through its full duration.

Fortunately, Shi Feng finished structuring the space elements, as shown in the Goddess of Space’s Legacy, in these three seconds. Then, the surrounding volatile mana began converging on the blade he constructed, the size of the affected area rapidly growing over time.

In the blink of an eye, the affected area had expanded from its initial radius of 100 yards to a radius of 1,000 yards. Even then, it showed no signs of stopping.

Faster! Faster! When Shi Feng saw the barrier protecting him falling into a tattered state, a sense of urgency filled his heart.

At this point, he no longer had any spare energy to do anything else. All of his energy was focused on maintaining the Sword of Space’s mana structure. If he tried to do anything else, the mana structure would crumble, the Sword of Space’s formation would fail, and all his efforts thus far would be in vain. So, he could only pray that Fluctuating Law could hold on for a few more moments.

One-tenth of a second… Two-tenths of a second… Three-tenths of a second…

What should have been a brief moment felt like an eternity in Shi Feng’s mind.

Several wind blades pierced through the world barrier the next moment, flying straight for Shi Feng’s heart. But just as the wind blades were about to hit him, Shi Feng suddenly felt a tremor in space as the blade in his hands suddenly exerted a mighty suction force on the surrounding area, causing the space in a 10,000-yard radius to contract. Then, the blade in his hands transformed into a black dot.

Without hesitation, Shi Feng executed a slash at the oncoming wind blades.

Primordial God-ranked Mana Technique, Sword of Space!

…