Chapter 712

: Three Realms of Refinement
Translator: 
Hellscythe_ 
 Editor: 
Hellscythe_
– Three Realms of Refinement

Okay, I can agree to your conditions. However, aside from providing information on the assassins this time, you guys must also keep me updated on the latest developments of the Flower of Seven Sins.
Shi Feng put out another request after giving the situation some more thought.
Since the Secret Pavilion was able to uncover the hit list and hit men, it would be an easy task for the Guild to find out the specific time when the organization would take action.
If he knew the general timing of when the Flower of Seven Sins was going to attack, he would have a better chance of laying a trap to deal with the organization’s hit men.
Combat in God’s Domain was not just limited to simple ambushes. There were various sorts of means one could use to deal with other players. Only, the mindset of current players was still confined to previous virtual reality games. This thinking held that only players could be used to deal with other players.
In fact, one could also employ traps in PvP. As long as one knew the opponent’s movements and then proceeded with setting up a trap at a fixed location, one could kill off their targets without even lifting a finger.
Moreover, even if the trap could not finish off the target, one could still gain the initiative in the battle, placing their opponent in a disadvantageous position.

Deal. As long as they make a move, I’ll notify you of it immediately. However, even I will only be able to tell you the general timeframe for when they take action. As for when and where exactly they are going to take action, those are far beyond the abilities of the Secret Pavilion.
Yuan Tiexin agreed immediately, his voice filled with confidence and determination. He had long since guessed that Shi Feng would ask for something like this.
A short moment later, both parties signed a contract through the Main God System.
Shi Feng would provide a location in Stone Forest Town for the Secret Pavilion to establish its Guild Residence, while the Secret Pavilion would provide Shi Feng with reports relating to the Flower of Seven Sins’ movements against Zero Wing.
After the contract was signed, Shi Feng received the report he wanted from Yuan Tiexin almost immediately.
Sure enough, he really is an old fox. After taking a look at the information, Shi Feng found that the file included even the latest movements of the Flower of Seven Sins. Yuan Tiexin had obviously prepared this report long before their conversation. The middle-aged man had only been waiting for him negotiate for it.
However, Shi Feng could not help but admit that the trade this time was very worthwhile.
Even if he spent a large sum of Credits to investigate the movements of the Flower of Seven Sins, it was unlikely he could come up with the information he wanted.
Currently, the Flower of Seven Sins had yet to establish a permanent base of operations in God’s Domain. Moreover, the organization was not a Guild. All its members were independent players, and every member of the organization was extremely mysterious. Just investigating one member would be an extremely complicated task, not to mention carrying out an investigation on the movements and strengths of the majority of the organization’s members.
Only a force like the Secret Pavilion could achieve such a feat.
If not for the Secret Pavilion’s interest in the Stoneclaw Mountains this time, Shi Feng did not believe the Secret Pavilion would sell him this information even if he asked for it. After all, not only would the Guild provoke the Flower of Seven Sins by doing so, but it would also expose some of the Secret Pavilion’s capabilities.

Guild Leader Black Flame, in celebration of our first successful cooperation, I will provide you with additional information. The major forces eyeing Zero Wing right now aren’t limited to Open Source Corporation. Some have already begun taking action. While dealing with the Flower of Seven Sins, it is best to take additional precautions,
Yuan Tiexin laughed. He then disconnected the call.

Other major forces are participating in the struggle this time?
Shi Feng’s expression suddenly grew serious.
In the past, the Star Alliance had been the one that managed to obtain the Stoneclaw Mountains in the end. Back then, the average Level of players was much higher. The Stoneclaw Mountains had also been mostly developed. Quite a number of Regional Dungeons that could produce Magic Crystals had also appeared in other kingdoms and empires. Hence, the various major forces of God’s Domain naturally would not bother going out of their way to lay claim to the Stoneclaw Mountains.
However, things were different in this life.
He had managed to obtain Stone Forest Town a lot earlier thanks to the special means he had employed. However, this had also resulted in a situation where obtaining Stone Forest Town was equivalent to claiming the Stoneclaw Mountains.

It seems that I’ve gone a little overboard this time.
Shi Feng could not help laughing bitterly as he shook his head.
However, if I didn’t take the opportunity to obtain Stone Forest Town back then, doing so would have become much more difficult in the future. It also wouldn’t have become the goldmine that it is right now.

Forget it. Since things have already gotten to this point, I can only deal with the problems as they crop up.

Thinking up to this point, Shi Feng began analyzing the information supplied by the Secret Pavilion.
Open Source Corporation really is going big this time. They’re actually targeting the members of the main force as well. Shi Feng involuntarily sucked in a breath of cold air after reading the report.
The Flower of Seven Sins had a very high asking price.
OSC had paid for two deaths for every member of Zero Wing’s main force. Although that number was much lower than for Zero Wing’s upper echelon, for whom OSC had paid for ten deaths each, it would still weaken Zero Wing’s main force significantly.
But really though, the people from the Flower of Seven Sins are sure looking down on Zero Wing. They are actually sending less than 50 members to deal with us. Giving the list of assassins a glance, Shi Feng could immediately tell how confident the Flower of Seven Sins was.
They had not bothered relying on numbers at all.
Although Secret Pavilion’s information was not complete, judging from what was in the report, every one of these people could be considered a top-tier expert in God’s Domain. They all were Level 33 and above, and even their most inferior equipment was Level 30 Fine-Gold Set Equipment.
The Secret Pavilion really is powerful. They even have a general assessment of the combat standards of these people.
After carefully looking through the Secret Pavilion’s report, Shi Feng gained a new understanding of the Guild.
The Secret Pavilion was simply terrifying.
Compared to the level of detail in this report, the information the Secret Pavilion published on the God’s Domain Experts List was child’s play.
However, the Flower of Seven Sins was indeed as frightening as the rumors made it out to be.
Of the assassins the organization sent, over 30 people had already set foot into the Refinement Realm. No matter which Guild these experts were in, they would surely rank among the top of the Guild, yet the Flower of Seven Sins had actually managed to dispatch over 30 of such people. Among these 30-plus people, seven had even managed to reach the next stage of the Refinement Realm—the Flowing Water Realm.
However, the most powerful assassin sent by the Flower of Seven Sins was not one of those seven Flowing Water Realm experts. Instead, it was an expert who had reached an even further realm.
The categorization of a player’s combat power using combat standards such as the Refinement Realm was a concept that had existed even before the launch of God’s Domain. Moreover, it had existed for a very long time already, so the theoretical setup behind the concept had long since been perfected. The system was not unique to God’s Domain. Only, God’s Domain had made the concept of the Refinement Realm known to the general public.
Back then, Shi Feng had learned of the combat realms dividing expert players only after coming in touch with God’s Domain.
There were a total of three Realms of Refinement: the Refinement Realm, the Flowing Water Realm, and the Void Realm.
Of these three realms, the latter was higher than the former. Meanwhile, only those who managed to enter the Refinement Realm were considered true top-tier experts of God’s Domain. Each one of these experts was capable of going up against an entire army of players by themselves.
Meanwhile, above the Realms of Refinement would be the Domain. However, the monsters that had managed to achieve a Domain were as rare as a phoenix’s feather. One such existence was Martial Dragon. If Shi Feng had not relied on his Attributes to suppress Martial Dragon back then, in addition to having the assistance of his Personal Guard Kite, defeating Martial Dragon would have been utterly impossible. Had the fight dragged on, Shi Feng would have been the loser, instead.
Currently, although Shi Feng still had the advantage in equipment, this advantage was continuously shrinking.
It seems that this Void Realm expert has been prepared to deal with me? Shi Feng could not help but inwardly guess.
Even if he could successfully deal with his opponent, the other members of the Guild…