Chapter 2362 – She’s an Advanced Master Alchemist Too?

Silence!

Shock!

For a time, everyone in the hall was stunned.

White Autumn was one of Giant’s Heart’s Vice Guild Leaders as well as one of the strongest individuals in the Fire Dragon Empire. After he obtained the Sea G.o.d’s blessing, his strength had further skyrocketed. Nowadays, he was an existence that even the Guild Leaders of the various superpowers wished to befriend.

Now, however, White Autumn had actually taken the initiative to greet s.h.i.+ Feng.

Let alone the various superpowers’ upper echelons, even Long Xianglong and Duan Hanshan could not help looking confused at this scene.

In their opinion, s.h.i.+ Feng was merely the Guild Leader of a pseudo superpower. Even if Zero Wing had a lot of potential, it would still take a long time to become a superpower. Moreover, even if it eventually became a superpower, it still wouldn’t warrant the attention of someone like White Autumn.

Could that kid have some kind of relations.h.i.+p with Giant’s Heart? Duan Hanshan guessed as he took in s.h.i.+ Feng’s calm expression.

White Autumn was an existence that even the Duan Family fervently wished to befriend. After all, Giant’s Heart possessed extraordinary strength out at sea. In the future, when the various powers of the two main continents interacted more frequently, maritime trade would be unavoidable.

So, he still has such a backer. It’s no wonder he paid no heed to Old Ice’s questioning. Long Xianglong also started observing s.h.i.+ Feng. He had never thought that s.h.i.+ Feng would have such a connection.

If s.h.i.+ Feng had Giant’s Heart supporting him, with the Azure Chamber of Commerce’s current att.i.tude toward Giant’s Heart, Duan Hanshan definitely wouldn’t dare to casually take action against s.h.i.+ Feng. Although the Ice Demon was short-tempered, he was no fool. He knew when he should take action and when he should restrain himself.

A short distance away, Jade Bamboo and the blue-clad a.s.sa.s.sin beside her were dazed for quite some time after seeing White Autumn greeting s.h.i.+ Feng. When they snapped out of their daze, however, realization immediately dawned upon them.

Previously, they had been curious as to why Hermit had spared s.h.i.+ Feng so easily. Looking at it now, Hermit must’ve known about the relations.h.i.+p between s.h.i.+ Feng and Giant’s Heart.

Meanwhile, in response to White Autumn’s greeting, s.h.i.+ Feng simply nodded and said, “Vice Guild Leader White, you’re too courteous.”

In reality, s.h.i.+ Feng was also somewhat surprised that White Autumn had taken the initiative to greet him. After all, his current ident.i.ty was Black Flame, not Ye Feng. Moreover, he had only helped White Autumn complete a quest and receive the Sea G.o.d’s blessing. This amount of help should not warrant White Autumn’s enthusiastic welcome.

“Guild Leader Black Flame, I am not being courteous at all,” White Autumn said, shaking his head. In a serious tone, he continued, “Currently, Giant’s Heart has captured a relatively excellent town over at Dark Moon Lake, outside the Fire Dragon Empire. We wish to form a partners.h.i.+p with Zero Wing for this town. May I know if Guild Leader Black Flame is interested?”

As soon as White Autumn finished speaking, gasps filled the hall once more.

As for Long Xianglong and Duan Hanshan, they both gaped in shock at this scene, their minds blank with disbelief.

The area around Dark Moon Lake was a fat piece of meat that many powers were eyeing. Not only was it a neutral map, but it was even connected to the sea, a location without many developmental restrictions. Dark Moon Town had the potential to become a large-scale port city. At that time, the income generated from the city would be several times higher than that from NPC port cities.

Hence, many of the Fire Dragon Empire’s superpowers had tried to capture Dark Moon Town. In the end, however, it was White Autumn who succeeded. Moreover, he had even served Pride Empire a huge loss while doing so.

Now, however, White Autumn wanted to form a partners.h.i.+p with s.h.i.+ Feng.

“Dark Moon Town? Zero Wing is naturally very interested in this partners.h.i.+p,” s.h.i.+ Feng said, although he, too, was very surprised by White Autumn’s suggestion.

s.h.i.+ Feng was relatively familiar with Dark Moon Town, or more precisely, with Dark Moon City. In his previous life, Dark Moon City had been the largest player-operated port city in the vicinity of the Fire Dragon Empire. It had practically been the lifeline linking the Fire Dragon Empire with the sea. The prices of the Shops and Lands inside Dark Moon City had rivaled even those of imperial capitals. Back then, Giant’s Heart ruled over Dark Moon City as well, and countless powers wished to form a partners.h.i.+p with the Guild. Unfortunately for them, very few powers actually succeeded.

During the time s.h.i.+ Feng and White Autumn were has.h.i.+ng out the details of their partners.h.i.+p, everyone present was thoroughly stupefied, especially Duan Hanshan and Long Xianglong. Shock and confusion filled their hearts. They even wondered if they were dreaming.

“Who is he?”

The Fire Dragon Empire’s various superpowers were desperately seeking to cooperate with Giant’s Heart on Dark Moon Town. Now, however, White Autumn was proposing a partners.h.i.+p with s.h.i.+ Feng. This was simply absurd.

Aside from Duan Hanshan and Long Xianglong, Burning Owl and Cold Memory’s group were also astonished by this scene.

“Big Sis, what kind of relations.h.i.+p does your Guild have with Giant’s Heart?” Burning Owl asked Silent Wonder.

Even though Burning Owl had just arrived in the eastern continent, he knew about Dark Moon Town and its importance because one of his tasks in coming to the eastern continent this time was to negotiate a partners.h.i.+p with Giant’s Heart regarding Dark Moon Town. However, there were simply too many superpowers eyeing Dark Moon Town, so even with the Azure Chamber of Commerce’s backing, he was not particularly confident in his chances. Now, however…

Cold Memory and South Dream were also eager to hear the answer to Burning Owl’s question.

They knew for a fact that s.h.i.+ Feng was a Tier 3 player. However, they never considered that Zero Wing might still possess a foundation so powerful that it would warrant Giant’s Heart’s active solicitation. This was something even Dark Pursuit was incapable of accomplis.h.i.+ng.

“I… I don’t know, either.” Silent Wonder was also confused by this situation.

Meanwhile, White Autumn himself paid no heed whatsoever to the shock everyone felt at his actions.

He had personally witnessed Zero Wing’s strength before, particularly its Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p. The flying s.h.i.+p’s performance exceeded his expectations entirely. Meanwhile, after seeing s.h.i.+ Feng now, he was even more certain that his decision to partner with Zero Wing was a wise one.

Due to the Sea G.o.d’s blessing, White Autumn’s perception toward life aura and danger had improved significantly. When looking at s.h.i.+ Feng, he actually felt a deadly threat. Moreover, he could also tell that s.h.i.+ Feng’s life aura was stronger than his own. The only explanation he could think of for this situation was that s.h.i.+ Feng was a Tier 3 player.

In a period where none of the various superpowers possessed even one Tier 3 player, Zero Wing actually had two. He simply did not know what to say about this situation.

“Elder Hanshan, this is going to be troublesome. Silent Wonder is a member of Zero Wing. Now that Zero Wing is proven to have a close relations.h.i.+p with Giant’s Heart, the Long Family will have an easier time partnering with Giant’s Heart,” a youth standing behind Duan Hanshan said worriedly.

“What’s there to worry about? So what if the Long Family gets to partner with Giant’s Heart? The most important point is who will get to rule Azure. Even if Zero Wing has a good relations.h.i.+p with Giant’s Heart, that won’t help the Long Family or Silent Wonder win the upcoming compet.i.tion,” Duan Hanshan retorted.

Although the Long Family’s Silk Moon had also joined the famous Dark Pursuit as a Lifestyle player, the time she joined Dark Pursuit was much shorter compared to Yan Xiaoqian’s. Moreover, Yan Xiaoqian was almost as talented as Silk Moon. In such a situation, it would be impossible for Silk Moon to beat Yan Xiaoqian.

While Duan Hanshan was saying so, another group of players arrived in the second-floor hall. Similar to the arrival of Giant’s Heart’s group, the arrival of this group of players caused quite a commotion because it consisted of Dark Pursuit’s members. Not only was the lowest-leveled player among them Level 100, but the equipment they possessed was also something that could make even the upper echelons of the various superpowers envious.

Of the dozen or so Dark Pursuit members that entered the hall, even the worst equipped among them had three pieces of Epic Equipment paired up with a six-piece, Level 95 Dark-Gold Set Equipment. The most eye-catching among these players were undoubtedly the two heroic women walking in the lead. One of these women was Silk Moon, a Cursemancer that possessed a mature and seductive charm. Silk Moon’s appearance and figure were not the slightest bit inferior to Silent Wonder’s. The other tall and graceful woman was Yan Xiaoqian. However, unlike Silk Moon’s mature appearance, Yan Xiaoqian looked to be only eighteen years old.

Both women were actually geared in the Elven Light Set, an eight-piece set of Level 95 Dark-Gold Equipment— currently the best set equipment available for magical cla.s.ses. The other pieces of equipment they wore were all Epic rank.

“Amazing! Truly amazing! So, this is Dark Pursuit’s foundations?”

“The Elven Light Set! Dark Pursuit is really going all-out for the compet.i.tion this time! It seems the winner of this compet.i.tion is going to be one of these two.”

“I know, right? I heard that Dark Pursuit invested all its available resources into nurturing the two of them. Although the Long Family’s and Duan Family’s other heirs are excellent, these two are on a completely different level.”

The various superpowers’ upper echelons were green with envy as they looked at Silk Moon and Yan Xiaoqian.

The Elven Light Set was currently the strongest Dark-Gold Set Equipment available for magical cla.s.s players. None of the various superpowers present had managed to complete even a single set yet. However, Dark Pursuit actually had two. This was simply unbelievable.

With the arrival of Dark Pursuit’s group, all six representatives of the Long Family and Duan Family were finally present. A short moment later, an elegant, middle-aged man walked to the center of the hall. This man was none other than Hermit, the manager of the Dark Hills.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for attending the Azure Chamber of Commerce’s alchemy compet.i.tion today,” Hermit said. “I believe everyone present has been waiting for quite some time now, so I’ll dispense with the pleasantries. The compet.i.tion this time will be very simple. Partic.i.p.ants will have to produce as many Meditation Souls —an Intermediate Master Potion—as possible within the given timeframe. However, there is a precondition for those seeking to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion: they must be an Intermediate Master Alchemist at the very minimum. Those who do not meet this requirement may not partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion, so all partic.i.p.ants, please show your Alchemist Insignias.”

Upon hearing the rules, the various spectators gasped involuntarily.

Setting aside the Meditation Soul’s production difficulty, just the condition of Intermediate Mastery would already leave countless alchemist players in despair.

“The requirements of this compet.i.tion are really high. I bet that more than half of the partic.i.p.ants will be disqualified because of this condition.” Cold Memory was astonished when she heard Hermit’s words.

Nurturing an Intermediate Master Alchemist was easier said than done. This was a task that even Dark Pursuit found difficult. Despite being very talented herself, Cold Memory was still a long way from the Intermediate Master rank. Needless to say, others would have an even more difficult time attaining it.

In the next moment, just like Cold Memory antic.i.p.ated, the Long Family’s first representative revealed that he was only a Basic Master Alchemist. As for the Duan Family’s heirs, Duan Ying and Duan Qingfeng, they, too, were only Basic Master Alchemists. Although they would be extremely talented geniuses in the eyes of the various superpowers, they failed to meet the minimum requirement for partic.i.p.ation in this compet.i.tion.

When it was Yan Xiaoqian’s turn, she proudly took out an insignia with three silver moons. Upon seeing this insignia, the spectating crowd gasped in shock.

“Advanced Master rank… She’s actually an Advanced Master Alchemist!”

“How is this possible?! Our Guild doesn’t even have an Intermediate Master, yet she’s actually an Advanced Master already?!”

The various superpowers were filled with an indescribable sense of shock and envy at this scene. After all, the abilities an Advanced Master could exhibit were far greater than those of an Intermediate Master. Furthermore, an Advanced Master could produce Advanced Master Potions, which would be extremely useful when exploring new maps in the future.

However, shortly after Yan Xiaoqian flaunted her insignia, the Long Family’s Silk Moon also took out an insignia with three silver moons on it, shocking the spectating crowd once more.

“Two Advanced Master Alchemists! How powerful is Dark Pursuit?!”

“Advanced Master Alchemists! Sure enough, everyone else is no match for these two women!”

The various superpowers were left breathless by this revelation. At the same time, they also started growing fearful of Dark Pursuit’s foundations.

“Big Sis Silk really is amazing. With this, we at least have a 50% chance of winning.” Burning Owl sighed in relief when he saw Silk Moon’s Alchemist Insignia.

The latest information he had received said that Yan Xiaoqian had been promoted into an Advanced Master Alchemist already while Silk Moon was still trying. Hence, he had been considerably worried until this point. Now that Silk Moon had become an Advanced Master Alchemist as well, both the Long Family and Duan Family could be said to be on the same starting line.

“It’s a pity that Wonder did not join Dark Pursuit. Otherwise, she would also have had a chance at becoming an Advanced Master Alchemist before this compet.i.tion, and our chances of winning will be much greater.” Cold Memory was relatively confident in her own Guild’s strength. However, as Silent Wonder was determined to stay in Zero Wing, Cold Memory couldn’t do anything about it.

“This is already good enough. At least, it is much better than our initial expectations,” South Dream said, chuckling.

She caught up? Yan Xiaoqian reflexively took an extra glance at Silk Moon. She had never thought that Silk Moon would actually succeed in catching up with her.

While everyone was wondering who between Yan Xiaoqian or Silk Moon would win this compet.i.tion, Silent Wonder also took out an Alchemist Insignia with three silver moons on it from her bag.

“Impossible!”

“She’s an Advanced Master Alchemist too?!”