C.3465 - 539 – Black Flame?

Chapter 539 – Black Flame?

Why is she here?

Shi Feng was genuinely surprised when he saw Aqua Rose standing outside the Golden Spire’s entrance.

During his previous life, Aqua Rose’s life trajectory experienced massive changes due to his intervention. Firstly, she no longer worked for Twilight Echo. Instead, she chose to join Zero Wing and became Zero Wing’s Vice Guild Leader.

Later on, she got promoted to Tier 6 and supervised Zero Wing’s rapid development across multiple Realms simultaneously. Eventually, she even became one of the key figures who spearheaded Zero Wing’s entry into the Twelve Sanctuaries and led Zero Wing’s fight against the various apex powers.

Meanwhile, as one of Zero Wing’s Five Great Experts, Aqua Rose not only mastered two Gold Combat Techniques, but she even acquired a Fragmented Divine Artifact[1] and became capable of fighting Primordial Gods of the same level.

In this life, though, Aqua Rose should have experienced a similar situation as other Tier 6 experts from their homeworld and entered the Greater God’s Domain through some special means. Only, Shi Feng didn’t think he would meet Aqua Rose in the Eternal Realm of all places.

Moreover, the current Aqua Rose differed greatly from the Aqua Rose in Shi Feng’s previous life.

The Aqua Rose in Shi Feng’s previous life was always brimming with vitality and fighting spirit, but the current Aqua Rose was inexplicably calm, like a lone wanderer who had experienced countless crises.

And although the current Aqua Rose was not as strong as the Aqua Rose in Shi Feng’s previous life, she was still a bona fide fifth-floor expert. She could undoubtedly be considered one of the strongest experts in their homeworld.

In addition, as if determined by fate, the current Aqua Rose wielded the same Fragmented Divine Staff[2] she used in Shi Feng’s previous life.

Breath of the Deep Sea!

With the assistance of Breath of the Deep Sea, even if Aqua Rose was currently only a Level 158, Tier 5 expert, she had a great chance of defeating Tier 5 Saints wielding Legendary Weapons.

“Is that beauty an acquaintance of yours?” Aurebeth asked out of curiosity when she saw Shi Feng staring at Aqua Rose.

“Something like that,” Shi Feng said in an uncertain tone.

They were indeed very familiar with each other during his previous life. After all, Zero Wing’s daily operations largely depended on Aqua Rose, with Gentle Snow and Blackie acting as her assistants.

However, in this life, he had spent the first ten years of God’s Domain working as the Guild Leader of some no-name Guild, whereas Aqua Rose held the position of Honorary Elder of Twilight Echo, a top-tier first-rate Guild. They had zero interactions with each other. Even now, this remained true. So, he couldn’t really say that they were acquaintances.

“Something like that?” Aurebeth grew confused. She couldn’t understand how someone could be “something like an acquaintance.” Regardless, after taking another look at Aqua Rose in the distance, she softly said, “I don’t know what your relationship is with her, but I can tell you that she’s not some random nobody. Based on my sources, one of the Scarlet Merchant Alliance’s Taboos has taken a liking to her and signed a Blood Contract with her. So long as she joins Scarlet in the future, she’ll easily become one of the greats there.”

“A Blood Contract?” Realization dawned upon Shi Feng when he heard Aurebeth’s explanation.

Blood Contracts weren’t uncommon in God’s Domain. It could be considered a way for players to grant other players strength. Or, more specifically, a Blood Contract could grant the contractee the combat experiences of the contractor, letting them personally experience the battles the contractor had experienced.

However, the creation of a Blood Contract was not a simple task.

Firstly, the contractor had to reach the two-star great grandmaster standard in their mental strength development.

Secondly, the contractor needed the materials to create a Blood Contract. Meanwhile, most of the materials needed were at the Inferior Divine rank.

Lastly, the contractor had to invest roughly two to five years of their time and energy into creating the Blood Contract. Throughout this period, the only thing the contractor could do was immerse their combat experiences into the Blood Contract.

Because of these three stringent factors, typically only pseudo-apex powers and apex powers could create Blood Contracts. Weaker powers had neither the resources nor the ability to create one.

…

Outside the Golden Spire’s entrance…

“I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you after we enter the spire, Aqua,” a Level 157, Tier 5 Cleric dressed in a holy white robe said apologetically as she walked up to Aqua Rose. “Big Brother Dragon Soul had to go ahead and enter the spire first. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to pass the trial before the other powers’ chosen ones and obtain the best reward.

“Though, if we had Big Brother Dragon Soul here to help us, none of the other pseudo-apex powers would have dared to lay a hand on us, nor would the Star Dynasty’s Demon Axe be pointing fingers at us now.”

“I understand, Melody. You don’t have to apologize. Helping you is also something I should do,” Aqua Rose said as she looked at the Cleric named Seven Melody. Then, she glanced at the stalwart Berserker standing in front of the Golden Spire’s entrance and inwardly sighed as she thought to herself,?The strength gap truly is huge. Sure enough, only the pseudo-apex powers’ chosen ones can fight against these Golden Masters.

The trip to the Golden Spire this time might seem like a joint effort between the seven pseudo-apex powers, but in reality, it was a competition between the seven pseudo-apex powers’ chosen ones.

Although Aqua Rose had the fortune of catching the eye of one of the Scarlet Merchant Alliance’s Taboos due to Seven Melody and received significant improvements to her combat standards, among the experts visiting the Golden Spire this time, she could barely be considered above average. And in front of an expert like the Demon Axe War God, she was an insignificant existence.

“It’s a pity you refused to get together with Big Brother Dragon Soul and join our family. Otherwise, with your talent, you would have definitely received a slot to enter the Golden Spire’s upper level first,” Seven Melody said as she looked at Aqua Rose with a hint of pity. “If you could secure the upper level’s rewards, you can definitely become a powerhouse in the Eternal Realm in the future. At that time, you and your family can move into a special-tier city, and even people from Demon’s Gate would be helpless against you.”

“Become a powerhouse in the Eternal Realm?” Aqua Rose smiled and shook her head. “How can it be that easy? Not to mention, if I join your family, Demon’s Gate will also point its sword at your family.”

After finding herself in the Greater God’s Domain through a fortunate event, Aqua Rose originally thought she could operate freely because of her status as a Tier 6 expert. However, after wandering about the Greater God’s Domain for some time, she learned that even Tier 6 players could barely get by here.

“By the way, I heard someone from your homeworld got onto the Sacred Glory List. He even caused multiple upper-ranking hegemonic powers to suffer immense losses,” Seven Melody suddenly said. “With his talents, if he has enough fortuitous encounters, he might also be able to become a powerhouse in the Eternal Realm.”

“You mean Black Flame?” In a plain tone, Aqua Rose said, “He has indeed made a name for himself in the Eternal Realm, but what he has seen thus far is only the tip of the iceberg the various upper-ranking hegemonic powers have to show. Not to mention, there are still pseudo-apex powers and apex powers above upper-ranking hegemonic powers.”

While Aqua Rose and Seven Melody quietly conversed, two people approached the Golden Spire’s entrance. Of the two, one was male, the other was female, and both were of the Swordsman class.

Seeing the two Swordsmen, a middle-aged Level 158, Tier 5 Saint-ranked Berserker guarding the entrance impatiently said, ” Do you two not see that our seven Guilds are busy here? Get lost if you’re smart!”

“Get lost? Are you talking about yourselves?” Shi Feng asked.

As soon as Shi Feng’s words fell, the whole area went silent. Whether it was the players standing around the Golden Spire or the seven pseudo-apex powers’ members, everyone looked at Shi Feng in disbelief.

Meanwhile, when Aqua Rose saw the familiar figure she had just recently seen on the latest Sacred Glory List, her eyes widened.

“Black Flame?”

…

TL Notes:

[1][2]Fragmented Divine Artifact:

I’m not sure whether this is supposed to be a Divine Artifact or a Fragmented Divine Artifact. In the first instance[1], the author mentioned “Divine Artifact,” but in the second instance[2], the author wrote “Fragmented Divine Artifact.”

For the time being, I’ll leave it as Fragmented Divine Artifact.

It could also be possible that “Breath of the Deep Sea” is a Fragmented Divine Artifact that could be upgraded/repaired into a Divine Artifact.