Chapter 481 – Silence

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TL Notes:

I made a misinterpretation in Chapter 478.

Apparently, Shi Feng’s not replacing Xia Qingying in the group. He is joining the group as the fourth member.

I have already made the necessary changes to Chapter 478, but they’re too lengthy, so I won’t be listing them here.

If you don’t want to re-read Chapter 478, just note that Xia Qingying’s group will be taking the test as a group of four instead, and the reason Invincible Swallow and Xuanwu Chisha were surprised was changed from “Xia Qingying letting Shi Feng replace her” to “Xia Qingying reacting in delight to see Shi Feng showing up.”

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“Don’t you find that swordsman familiar?” Untold Paths said to the young Shield Warrior, smiling. “And his name, you should have heard it not long ago.”

“I have?” The young Shield Warrior took another look at the Swordsman among Xia Qingying’s group of four. Then, his eyes widened in shock as he exclaimed, “Black Flame! He is Black Flame!”

Not long before they arrived on Dark Star, the World Light Conglomerate, the cross-realm conglomerate they belonged to, had issued a sky-high bounty to the conglomerate’s executives.

The bounty was worth a staggering one billion Star Coins, and the target was a Swordsman named Black Flame.

It should be known that a fortune of one billion Star Coins was something even heirs of conglomerates would covet. It was also a fortune that could make many experts on the Divine Glory List lose their minds.

Yet, this sky-high bounty wasn’t for killing Black Flame.

It was only for them to acquire Black Flame’s contact information…

Indeed! Black Flame’s contact information was worth a billion Star Coins!

Even those who were well-versed in the ways of the world, like Untold Paths, were stunned by this bounty, and they had to verify with the higher-ups whether there was a typo with the reward.

It should be known that the life of an upper-ranking hegemonic power’s Vice Guild Leader was only worth around two hundred million Star Coins. Even the head of Untold Paths, an expert on the Divine Glory List, was only worth half a billion. One billion Star Coins was already enough to have Untold Paths killed twice.

Yet, the World Light Conglomerate’s core executives were willing to pay such a fortune just to obtain one person’s contact information…

Even as an executive of the World Light Conglomerate, Untold Paths utterly failed to understand the core executives’ thought process when he initially heard about the bounty. Only after one of the Grand Elders he had owed a favor to had come to ask for his help on the matter did Untold Paths learn why the conglomerate was looking to get in touch with Black Flame.

Apparently, it was because of an incident that the World Light Conglomerate had taken part in the Eternal Realm. In that incident, the team led by the Red Dragon Nation’s Vice Guild Leader Frey had been caught in an encirclement formed by four conglomerates, seventeen upper-ranking hegemonic powers, and over 50 Saint-level experts from the Holy Race. Normally, it should have been the end of the road for Frey’s team. Yet, a Swordsman named Black Flame had safely brought the team out of the encirclement.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to call this achievement a legend. When Untold Paths heard of it, he had thought the Grand Elder was joking with him. However, irrefutable video evidence showed that Black Flame had accomplished it. On top of that, Black Flame was also suspected of helping Frey’s team secure the First Clear of the first-ever World Mode Team Dungeon discovered.

With such terrifying strength and the ability to conquer World Mode Team Dungeons, one could say that Black Flame was the best partner for the World Light Conglomerate in the Eternal Realm. There was no way the conglomerate’s higher-ups would miss out on such an opportunity.

“Boss?” Looking at Shi Feng’s distant figure, the young Shield Warrior stuttered in excitement, “S-Shouldn’t we go over and help him? T-That’s a bil—Black Flame we are talking about!”

“What can we even do to help right now? Can you help them pass the preliminaries?” Untold Paths rolled his eyes at the young Shield Warrior. Then, with a wry smile, he continued, “Let’s wait for the finals. When Abyss Water makes his move, we’ll beat him up for Black Flame.”

The young Shield Warrior nodded eagerly.

…

“Lord Abyss Water, please rest assured. I have already informed the Elders. You won’t need to dirty your hands on those people. I guarantee the Elders will give you an account,” Wu Duanhen said with a flattering smile. “If they don’t kneel and apologize to you, they will face the wrath of the Eternal Chamber of Commerce. In addition, once the participating talents and spectating powers learn of your importance to the Chamber of Commerce, I’m sure they will be more than eager to help you vie for the Scarlet Merchant Alliance’s Guild Leader position.”

“They don’t have to apologize to me. They just need to apologize to my friend,” Abyss Water said, nodding to Wu Duanhen’s words.

“Naturally,” Wu Duanhen couldn’t help but feel excited when he saw Abyss Water agreeing with him. “I will personally tell them when the time comes.”

Normally, Wu Duanhen would never dare to have any thoughts of offending Xia Qingying because of her ties with one of the Eternal Chamber of Commerce’s Elders. But now, with Abyss Water’s backing, even if he made life miserable for Xia Qingiyng, the Elder behind her wouldn’t dare to say anything.

…

Subsequently, time passed by quickly as the various participating groups stepped onto the stage one after another. To the audience’s shock, over seventy percent of the participating groups failed to last even ten seconds against the three Elders, while twenty percent of the groups passed with one or two casualties, and less than ten percent passed with all members intact.

In past tests, at least seventy percent of the participating groups could enter the finals. Yet, now, not even a third of the participating groups could do so.

However, while this difficult test was bad news for the participating groups, it made for a thrilling spectacle for the spectators. Watching Untold Paths’ and Abyss Water’s groups in action was especially exhilarating.

Unlike others, these two groups did not have any foreign aid. Each group only had three members, and each member faced the three Elders in one-on-one battles. The fights were incredibly intense, and it was especially so for Untold Paths’ and Abyss Water’s fights.

Untold Paths was like a god of war when he fought, pushing his opponent back by a step with every swing of his axe. Moreover, throughout the entire battle, Untold Paths only used one of his axes, never drawing his second one.

As for Abyss Water, he was incredibly swift and elusive in his movements. He could split into over a dozen copies of himself at will. These copies were real yet fake; they were real when launching attacks and fake when taking attacks. If not for all of the Eternal Chamber of Commerce’s Elders being Saint-level experts, Abyss Water’s opponent would have suffered greatly in their fight.

After Abyss Water’s group finished their test, it was Xia Qingying’s group’s turn to step onto the stage. The group of four immediately attracted the entire audience’s attention as soon as they appeared on stage.

Abyss Water had clearly expressed his anger toward Xia Qingying’s group before the start of the preliminaries. Hence, there was no way the Eternal Chamber of Commerce’s three Elders would let Xia Qingying’s group pass easily. They might even kill Xia Qingying’s group in the very first exchange as a show of sincerity to Abyss Water.

“Everyone, be careful. I doubt these three Elders will make things easy for us,” Xia Qingying reminded Shi Feng and the others in a low voice.

Xuanwu Chisha and Invincible Swallow remained surprisingly silent in response to Xia Qingying’s reminder. They understood the severity of the situation, and they were watching the three Elders’ every move with utmost seriousness.

Their group of four was a temporary one formed by four people who had never fought together before. Hence, the coordination between them was bound to be stiff.

On the other hand, the Eternal Chamber of Commerce’s three Elders were more than likely comrades-in-arms who had fought together on more than one occasion. At the very least, the three’s coordination was bound to be superior to their group of four. Not to mention, all three Elders were Saint-level experts, and Saints could exhibit much greater combat power when working together with other Saints.

Although the three Elders had always chosen to fight separately when fighting the previous groups, it would be wishful thinking for them to assume that the three Elders would do the same for their group of four. Because of Abyss Water’s issue, it was likely the Elders would fight as a group. If they were not careful and were caught out of position, one of them might have to face the joint attack of three Saints.

Shortly after Xia Qingying finished speaking, a whistle sounded on the stage, announcing the start of the battle. But…

One second… Two seconds… Three seconds…

To everyone’s surprise, even until ten seconds had passed and the whistle signaling the end of the match sounded, nothing happened…

What’s going on? Xia Qingying’s eyes went wide with confusion as she looked at the three Elders standing quietly across the stage, her mind failing to comprehend the situation.