Shi Feng's words left everyone confused.
It was just a roar — what was so important about that?
Seeing the dismissive expressions on everyone's faces, Shi Feng grew serious. "Listen up. Hell Roar isn't as simple as you think. In a moment, you'll advance according to my instructions. If anyone screws up, don't blame me for kicking you out of the party."
His stern reprimand sobered everyone up. Nobody wanted to be expelled from the group.
"In a moment, Ke Le and I will take point. Jimo Ruxue, you protect the Oracle and stay in the middle. Hei Zi, you and the Summoner bring up the rear. Remember — if there's any movement, don't break formation. No one attacks without my order. Understood?" Shi Feng laid out the basic formation.
The reason Shi Feng had Guardian Knight Ke Le take the front was because Ke Le had poured all of his free attribute points into Stamina, pushing his HP to 310. That meant he could tank for longer, taking some of the pressure off Shi Feng.
Dungeons in Divine Realm weren't like those in other virtual games. They offered enormous freedom — the dungeons were vast, and plenty of player groups had entered one only to wander around for hours without even finding a boss. Silent Forest wasn't that large, but getting lost in the dark woods was still a real possibility.
And if you got lost...
Shi Feng could only offer a dry chuckle.
The horror of Silent Forest lay in the fact that players who entered would lose their way in the woods and eventually die one by one under bizarre circumstances. In his previous life, countless players had gone in, only to die again and again without even catching a glimpse of a monster. On the rare occasion they got lucky and spotted a small mob, the result was a party wipe. It wasn't until many guild elites had fallen that people finally understood the true terror of Silent Forest — a dungeon universally considered impossible to clear below level five.
When the Shadow Guild hit level five, they had organized over a hundred players to enter in batches and scout the paths, eventually mapping out Silent Forest at the cost of hundreds of lives.
The entire Silent Forest had thirty-six paths, but only three led to the first boss, Wilmy. Those three routes had been paid for with the lives of many players. Two of them were extremely dangerous — without sufficient strength, death was certain. Only one had relatively few small mobs along the way.
Under Shi Feng's lead, the group stepped into the forest.
The moment they entered, they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of paths, unsure which to take. But Shi Feng didn't hesitate for a second, picking one and walking straight ahead. The others followed closely, keeping a careful watch on their surroundings.
After about five minutes, the group encountered their first monster, and everyone tensed up.
"Don't rush in. Follow my commands!" Shi Feng shouted.
Up ahead was just a level-two Elite Night Rabbit, but thanks to the dungeon's enhancements, its attack, defense, and HP had all been dramatically boosted — it had a full 700 HP.
"Ke Le, pull it toward us. Oracle, focus on healing. Everyone else, hold your attacks until I give the order," Shi Feng issued rapid commands.
Guardian Knight Ke Le swallowed hard and carefully stepped into the Night Rabbit's aggro range. The rest of the group was wound tight with tension. Even though this was only a level-two Elite, this was a Hell Difficulty dungeon.
But their nerves proved unnecessary. The Night Rabbit, standing a full person tall, spotted Ke Le and charged straight at him.
Ke Le successfully lured the Night Rabbit back without panicking, retreating step by step while blocking the creature's attacks with his shield. Every hit landed squarely on the shield, but the damage was terrifying — 42 points per strike. By the time Ke Le reached the party, his HP had already dropped by a third.
The Oracle known as Shuimian Shulan had good awareness. The moment Ke Le entered casting range, she immediately unleashed a healing spell. But each heal only restored 24 HP — nowhere near enough to offset the damage.
"Brother Feng, aren't we attacking yet?" Hei Zi grew anxious. Ke Le had less than a third of his HP left.
Bringing an Oracle into a dungeon was fundamentally a mistake. Among healing classes, the Oracle was the weakest healer. But Shi Feng had made the choice, and Hei Zi could only accept it. Still, with the main tank on the verge of death and no order to attack, this was getting ridiculous.
"Wait," Shi Feng said firmly.
Seconds ticked by. Ke Le continued using his shield to block the Night Rabbit's claw strikes as his HP dropped further and further — down to just 20%. Yet still, Shi Feng gave no order to attack.
Just when everyone thought Shi Feng was going to sacrifice Ke Le, a flying arrow shot out from the depths of the forest, aimed directly at the party's Oracle, Shuimian Shulan. Jimo Ruxue didn't even have time to react — the arrow struck Shuimian Shulan square in the chest, and a massive 123-point damage number popped up.
At that moment, Shi Feng bellowed: "Shulan, use Life Payment! Transfer the damage you took to Ke Le. Hei Zi, pin down the Night Rabbit and give Ke Le time to recover. Jimo, follow me. Everyone else, attack the Night Rabbit!"