THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 8 - Season 15 Episode 10

“I got promoted into a Master?” Shi Feng could not help his confusion as he looked at the system notification.

He had long since maxed out his Forging Proficiency. However, he had not created any new item since becoming an Advanced Forger, so he had remained stuck at the rank all this time.

It never occurred to him that creating a new Advanced Item would directly promote him into a Master Forger. With this, he would save a lot of time.

Now that Shi Feng had truly been promoted into a Master Forger, he could retrieve the Master Forger’s Insignia and further improve his production success rate. He could also start learning Foundational Forging Skills, which were reserved for Master Forgers.

These Foundational Forging Skills were of great help to Master Forgers in creating new items.

For example, there was Material Analysis, which allowed Master Forgers to analyze material to get a better idea of what materials would complement it.

Aside from that, there was also Attribute Analysis, which allowed Master Forgers to produce weapons and equipment tailored to a particular player, allowing the said player to exert more of their actual strength.

Due to the existence of these Skills, Master Forgers enjoyed a much higher status than Advanced Forgers.

There’s no reward notification for becoming a Master Forger? Could someone else have become a Master Forger already? Shi Feng felt slightly surprised as he took a look at the system notification once more.

Reaching the Master rank was not easy for Lifestyle players—especially in the top three most popular Lifestyle classes. A lot of effort was needed to do so. Even Cream Cocoa and the others, people supplied with all sorts of precious resources, had yet to become Master Forgers. Meanwhile, he had only managed to become a Master Forger so quickly due to his luck. He never imagined that there would actually be someone who had become a Master Forger even sooner than he did.

However, Shi Feng did not dwell on the matter. There were plenty of talents in God’s Domain. There was nothing strange about someone becoming a Master Forger ahead of him.

After his joy from becoming a Master Forger faded, Shi Feng shifted his gaze to the silver device sitting atop his workbench.

Before, due to his excitement, he had completely neglected to inspect his creation.

What amazing Attributes! Shi Feng’s eyes glowed as he looked at the Attribute Panel displayed before him.

Not only did the silver device increase the user’s surrounding Mana density by an additional 20% when compared to the Titan Device, but it also amplified Basic Attributes. Although it only increased the user’s Basic Attributes by 5%, this was still a rare bonus. After all, the Titan Device was originally a tool specifically meant to counter low Mana density environments. Now that it also increased all of its user’s Basic Attributes by 5%, using it was equivalent to equipping an additional Advanced Mana Armor Kit.

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System: Please give the Advanced Item a name. You may also leave your personal mark on this item.

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Since it increases both Attributes and the environmental Mana, let’s call it the All-rounded Device. After giving the matter some thought, Shi Feng wrote down the new name for his creation. With this, he could make as many copies of the forging design as he wished. However, he would allow only those who had become Master Forgers to attempt forging the All-rounded Device. After all, the difficulty of forging his creation was slightly higher than that of the Titan Device. It would be a miracle if an Advanced Forger could attain even a 10% success rate.

After becoming a Master Forger, Shi Feng did not immediately continue forging All-rounded Devices. Instead, he made a trip to the Forging Association to collect his Master Forger’s Insignia. While he was at it, he also spent 20 Gold to learn Material Analysis and Attribute Analysis.

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[Master Forger’s Insignia] (Dark-Gold Rank Item)

Increases production speed by 20% and production success rate by 3%.

User restriction: Ye Feng

Cannot be dropped.

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With the Master Forger’s Insignia, not only did he take less time to forge the All-rounded Device, but his forging success rate also increased considerably. In addition, due to him being the creator, he also received a slight bonus to his production success rate. Now, even without the support from materials like the Magical Gold, he still achieved a 40% success rate. On average, he could produce two All-rounded Devices out of five attempts. With this, the cost of the All-rounded Device was directly halved to only six Gold.

Moreover, the EXP awarded for successfully forging an All-rounded Device was much higher than that for the Titan Device. Each success awarded EXP equivalent to a Chieftain of the same level. Meanwhile, Shi Feng took roughly 15 minutes to successfully produce one All-rounded Device, essentially spending 15 minutes to kill a Chieftain of the same level. Although the efficiency was slightly poor, he could keep producing the All-rounded Device as long as he had sufficient materials. This would be equivalent to him continuously killing Chieftains of the same level, something rarely possible out in the fields.

Overall, Shi Feng’s experience bar skyrocketed.

Following which, Shi Feng forged one All-rounded Device after another, passing more than half a day unawares. Meanwhile, he also reached 76% of Level 57. As long as he continued forging the All-rounded Device for another day, he would reach Level 58. In the eyes of other players, this would definitely be an astonishingly fast leveling speed.

Just as Shi Feng was about to start forging another All-rounded Device, Gentle Snow suddenly contacted him.

“Guild Leader! The ranking competition is about to start soon! Why aren’t you here yet? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about it?” Gentle Snow asked, a frown on her face.

“It’s starting already?” Shi Feng automatically checked the time and discovered that he had actually unknowingly spent close to an entire day cooped up inside his Special Forging Room. “Alright, I’ll head over immediately.”

His harvest today was considerably good. Due to his increasing proficiency with the forging process, he managed to forge a total of 131 All-rounded Devices and over 100 Titan Devices. Not only did he have enough for his trip to Karna Island, but he also had some leftovers he could sell or use as a Guild benefit.

Although the Titan Device only improved the Mana density around its user, if it was used appropriately—such as in the exploration of low Mana environments—its value would increase severalfold.

In reality, there were quite a few low Mana environments in God’s Domain, many of them locations that Guilds and adventurer teams wished to explore. Only, due to the environments severely affecting one’s combat power, players were generally forced to give up on ranging through these areas.

Take the Dragon’s Graveyard, a well-known forbidden land in the Black Dragon Empire, for example. Due to a certain incident, many Dragons had died in that location in the past. Now, it was a forbidden land for the living—a Level 50 to Level 100 super-large-scale leveling map that had practically no Mana present, such that players could not use Tier 1 Skills and Spells there. If players entered the map, their combat power would be reduced to less than 10%. As luck would have it, the Bosses located at the inner and core areas of the Dragon’s Graveyard had quite a significant chance of dropping the Stable Design and all sorts of Advanced Designs and Recipes.

However, this was still just the tip of the iceberg. If one managed to get the First Kill on the Dragon’s Graveyard’s Final Boss, they would be awarded their choice of weapon at Black Dragon City. Moreover, this weapon would be a Fragmented Legendary Weapon.

Hence, in the past, the various large Guilds in the Black Dragon Empire had put in a lot of effort into searching for tools that could help raise one’s ambient Mana density. Only after gathering sufficient tools did they succeed in raiding the Dragon’s Graveyard. Meanwhile, back then, the Titan Device had been one of the best tools available for the purpose.

In the past, a single Titan Device had easily sold for 50 Gold. One could just imagine how desperate the various large Guilds were back then. Of course, compared to the value of a Fragmented Legendary Weapon, this price was not worth mentioning whatsoever.

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Black Dragon Empire, Black Dragon City:

As soon as Shi Feng appeared inside Black Dragon City’s Teleportation Hall, he was greeted by the sight of a massive crowd of players. After he exited the Teleportation Hall, the players were still packed like sardines. Normally, one could see such a street scene only in small but popular places like Stone Forest Town. Even the imperial capitals of the Four Great Empires were far from comparable to Black Dragon City right now.

The streets teemed with not only Level 40-plus players but even the rarely seen expert players. Players riding Mounts were also a dime a dozen at the moment. It was as if every expert player in the Black Dragon Empire had gathered at Black Dragon City. One could just imagine how lively the ranking competition this time was going to be.

Following which, Shi Feng summoned the evolved Demonic Flame Tiger and made his way towards Black Dragon City’s Underground Arena.