Chapter 677 – Top Five Expert?

“Black Flame?”

Azure Ship’s answer dumbfounded Nineteenth Sword, and he couldn’t help but think the other party was joking with him.

“That’s right.” Azure Ship nodded. Then, in a voice of admiration, he said, “Although the Alliance has made plenty of preparations for that camp, going as far as to arrange a Divine Artifact there, the Holy Race similarly came prepared and mobilized a Divine Artifact. The Holy Race’s Divine Artifact is even the Sunlight Blade, one of the Sun Dynasty’s Seven Arcanas. The camp’s losses would have been unimaginable if not for Black Flame killing the Holy Child wielding the Sunlight Blade.”

“He killed a Holy Child who had a Divine Artifact?” Milia couldn’t help but doubt Azure Ship’s words.

The Sun Dynasty’s Holy Children were all individuals at the standard of chosen ones. Individually, they were definitely as strong as the Seven Luminaries Alliance’s chosen ones. If a chosen one of such caliber was given a Divine Weapon, they would undoubtedly become a Taboo-level existence.

Yet, Azure Ship was saying that Black Flame had not only defeated such a Taboo-level existence but also killed him? Who could possibly believe him?

“Is there really no mistake with this information?” Nineteenth Sword couldn’t help but ask.

The Skylight Association had conducted a thorough investigation into Black Flame’s strength. However, based on the Association’s assessment, he could, at best, enter the Divine Glory List’s top 300 after reaching Tier 6. This would put him close to Titan’s and Milia’s standards.

Yet, Azure Ship was now saying that Black Flame was already strong enough to slay Taboo-level existences. How could Nineteenth Sword possibly bring himself to believe this?

“This information is absolutely accurate,” Azure Ship said definitively. “In fact, the higher-ups are already prepared to rank Black Flame among the Eternal Realm’s top five experts once the new ranking list for the Eternal Realm comes out.”

The Eternal Realm’s top five?

Nineteenth Sword’s expression turned incredibly gloomy.

Back in the Crystal City of Secrets, Nineteenth Sword had ridiculed Shi Feng for overestimating himself and claimed that Zero Wing would have no future in the World Ark. News of the matter had even become widely spread, and the various powers were all eagerly waiting to see how he would take care of Shi Feng.

But if Shi Feng was strong enough to rank among the Eternal Realm’s top five experts, he could utterly crush the current Skylight Association in the Eternal Realm…

“What should we do now, Elder Sword?” Milia quietly asked Nineteenth Sword. “If Black Flame wants to, we won’t have any chance at securing a foothold in the World Ark.”

Milia knew much about the matter between Shi Feng and Nineteenth Sword. Not to mention, Nineteenth Sword had even publicized this matter himself, so a peaceful resolution was practically out of the question.

“Black Flame is indeed a tricky opponent for us right now, but he will similarly have difficulty surviving in the inner area later.” After thinking over the matter, Nineteenth Sword regained his calm as he said, “You’ve seen how strong the Holy Race is for yourself. Do you think occupying a resurrection camp in the inner area will be easy? Also, more experts will reach Tier 6 as time passes. So what if he is a Taboo-level existence?

“Now that he has killed one of the Sun Dynasty’s Holy Children, the Sun Dynasty won’t let Zero Wing off the hook easily. With Zero Wing’s foundations, do you think it can go up against the Sun Dynasty? We can simply wait until the Sun Dynasty takes care of him. At worst, we will avoid him during this time and take our time exploring the inner area. Whoever among us will emerge victorious remains uncertain!”

Anyone who had participated in the battle this time would know what kind of competition awaited them in the World Ark’s inner area. It simply wasn’t feasible for one Taboo-level existence to occupy an entire resurrection camp. And even if Shi Feng did manage to occupy a resurrection camp, he would have to garrison it long-term and could never move too far away from it. Meanwhile, with how big the World Ark was, the Skylight Association could simply operate in areas outside of Zero Wing’s influence.

With its powerful foundations and many potential Tier 6 experts, Nineteenth Sword was confident that the Skylight Association would have no trouble surpassing Zero Wing’s development in the World Ark.

“You’re right.” Milia nodded, fully agreeing with Nineteenth Sword’s argument.

Admittedly, Shi Feng wasn’t an existence the Skylight Association could afford to provoke at present. However, competitions between powers were not decided overnight. Even if Zero Wing had a Taboo-level existence, with the Guild’s pitiful foundations and expert count, it would quickly lose its advantages to the various powers. Not to mention, Shi Feng would have thoroughly offended the Sun Dynasty after this battle.

It should be known that the Sun Dynasty was a titanic existence on par with the Seven Luminaries Alliance. It could probably make even Primordial Gods suffer, let alone slay a Taboo-level existence.

…action

Subsequently, time passed quickly.

Half a day after the battle between the Seven Luminaries Alliance and the Sun Dynasty concluded, the pseudo-apex powers that had assisted the Alliance eventually decided against trying to monopolize the rear-line resurrection camps. Instead, they chose to form mini-alliances among themselves.

Meanwhile, because of Zero Wing’s outstanding performance at the Deadzone Forest’s resurrection camp, Azure Fang’s Garut and the Red Dragon Nation’s Frey took the initiative to suggest allying with Zero Wing to occupy and defend a resurrection camp together. And upon further discussion, it was agreed that Zero Wing would be the one to lay claim to the camp. It was also agreed that Zero Wing would receive 40% of the camp’s slots while the two other Guilds would receive 30% each.

…

Soul Lake, Resurrection Camp:

“We’ve finished clearing out the camp’s monsters, Guild Leader. All we need to do now is protect it for 24 hours,” Hidden Soul reported to Shi Feng.

Nodding, Shi Feng said, “Good. You all can rest for now. I’ll need you all to guard the core circle if any battle takes place later.”

Zero Wing currently had less than 100 members present. Even with Azure Fang and the Red Dragon Nation’s help, it would be tough for them to face an army of tens of thousands of Holy Race experts if their Tier 6 combatants were mentally exhausted. Hence, Hidden Soul and the others needed to rest.

Meanwhile, should they successfully occupy the Soul Lake’s resurrection camp, they would no longer have any worries about money in the future. This was because the Soul Lake was one of the closest maps to the inner area’s frontline. In addition, although the monsters here were all at Level 175 and above, they were much more sparsely populated compared to other maps. So, the Soul Lake could be considered one of the safer maps in the inner area, and it was very suitable for expert teams to grind in.

Hearing Shi Feng’s words, Hidden Soul nodded and made her way into one of the temporary camps to rest.

Now, all we need to do is wait for 24 hours.

When Shi Feng saw the core circle’s runes gradually lighting up, he couldn’t help but grow a little eager.

While Shi Feng and the others were waiting for time to pass, the Seven Luminaries Alliance suddenly sent everyone a message. The message contained a list of everyone’s contribution rankings and a personal exchange list.

…