Page 453

Is it so formidable even under a seal?

Although he was startled at first, Chen Qing maintained considerable calm. If the sealing method was similar to that of the Nine Heavens Mirror, the opponent was likely not in a complete state, being just one of several split fragments, and their attributes would be extremely suppressed.

Could they still so thoroughly overpower him under these circumstances?

After calming down, a puzzled Chen Qing turned around, and sure enough, the person was not behind him...

He thought to himself, Ao Zhen is the Western Sea War God of the Dragon Palace, her combat strength only second to the Dragon King and not inferior to the top elders.

He had acquired her abilities, making him essentially a second version of the top tier, so surely he shouldn’t be getting crushed like this, right?

With that thought, Chen Qing’s mood gradually settled down...

Sparrow Bee is strong, especially in terms of growth potential – practically a monster with no upper limits. But if the other party had already grown powerful, they likely wouldn’t have been sealed. Chen Qing deduced that they must have been sealed quite early on!

This ghost-like method of transmitting sound must be some kind of ability...

Upon this realization, Chen Qing outright said, "Brother, you’ve been following for so long; don’t you think it’s time to meet and talk?"

"Who’s your brother?" The immature voice sounded irritated, and this time, though fainter, it gave away its location.

Chen Qing looked over, his expression freezing for a moment.

A figure stood a hundred meters away, with a tender little face, a short stature, and critically... white stockings?

White stockings exist in this world?

"Not only the ability to transmit sound, but this guy must have strong infiltration skills, and maybe other assassin talents as well. Be careful..." Elder Tianji secretly warned through telepathy.

"You’re saying... where did it get its white stockings from?"

"That’s seriously all you care about?"

"Always staring at people’s bottoms, that’s a minimum of three years for you, uncle!"

In the blink of an eye, the figure resembling someone from Japanese comics had already approached, causing Elder Tianji’s heart to skip a beat, while Chen Qing felt even more at ease.

The opponent was fast, but not so fast that he couldn’t react. That was good, as long as it wasn’t an overwhelming power gap...

"Want some?" Chen Qing pointed to the fist-sized grasshopper on the fire rack.

"Who would give a little fairy something like that?" The other party looked dissatisfied.

Little fairy...

Elder Tianji couldn’t help but twitch slightly; had this guy lost his mind? This seal was probably in place for at least hundreds of thousands of years, and yet ’little fairy’...

Chen Qing glanced at the other person and suddenly laughed, "Little brother, you’re quite the joker."

At those words, the other’s smile froze, and they stared intently at Chen Qing: "What did you say?"

Chen Qing met the stare without flinching, "I’m an old hand in the world of anime and comics, distinguishing between traps and the real deal is still within my capabilities..."

Elder Tianji: "...."

What kind of people are these two?

The atmosphere turned chilly in an instant. Elder Tianji stepped back slightly toward Chen Qing, aware that he wouldn’t be able to react quickly enough to the other’s speed. Without care, Chen Qing might not be able to protect him.

"Really want to fight?" Chen Qing was unconcerned by the other’s threatening aura. "Such great infiltration skills, you’ve followed us for who knows how long without us noticing. But you’ve yet to make a move—could it be you’re showing mercy because we’re compatriots?"

As the other’s face remained unchanged, Chen Qing continued, "Let me guess... either the combat abilities you were assigned aren’t that strong, or... you’re afraid of alarming your other brothers and sisters, right?"

Since the seal was meant to suppress and split the power, as long as the person applying the seal wasn’t foolish, they would definitely divide the abilities fairly, avoiding any single entity from being too strong; like in Elder Shen’s case.

Otherwise, it might lead to the entity reassembling itself inside the barrier.

Once split, each part would develop its own thoughts, and none would obey another. If the powers were distributed well, it would ensure the difficulty of reassembling the opponent would be increased.

This guy excelled in stealth and tracking, which meant he likely wasn’t one for direct combat. Otherwise, if he had both capabilities, it would be too easy to gather the other fragments. If it were Chen Qing suppressing this character, he would never allow the mixing of two such talents.

So, high probability... this guy in front of us is a paper tiger!!

"You sure know your stuff, newbie!" The girl’s voice became somber, and most importantly, it deepened.

Tianji was stunned, damn... it really is a damn trap!

This cross-dressing youth didn’t feign weakness either, sitting directly in front of the fire where the two of them were.

Looking at Chen Qing, he said, "I originally mentioned that by time, someone should have come to inspect this place once a millennium ago, but after waiting for so long, it’s you guys of this caliber that show up.

.. So I’m very curious, outside... has the situation dominated by the four major guilds changed or not? "

Chen Qing and Tianji exchanged glances, a few short sentences from the other party had revealed quite a bit of information!

First of all, this sealing location is guarded, according to what the other party said, and people come to check on it periodically.

This was very normal; Sparrow Bee were a very dangerous species, they themselves wouldn’t feel at ease without inspecting, and if possible, they would naturally come to check again after a period of time.

If they found any individuals that had merged, they would take physical action to split them up again.

According to the other party, someone would come every so often, Chen Qing estimated it might be once every cycle...

Then there was the mention of the four major guilds by the other party!

Indeed, as Tianji had mentioned before, players united on the basis of guilds, giving rise to power struggles. However, specific details were unclear, as Tianji lacked sufficient intelligence. It seemed that this fellow probably knew quite a lot.

Four major guilds?

Dominance?

Very key phrases, judging by the other party’s mention that someone should have come to inspect every millennium, this so-called situation of the four major guilds’ dominance must have lasted for quite a long time!

Which people mainly compose these four major guilds? And what are the main ancient powers involved?

They needed to find a way to extract that information!

"Judging by your appearance, you two must be.

.." The little fellow looked at them with a cold laugh: "The aura emanating from both of you is far weaker than those people’s, especially you.

.." He looked at Elder Tianji: "Your aura is so weak it’s scary; you’re not still from the first version of Demon, are you? "

"Elder has keen eyesight..." Tianji replied respectfully.

Elder my ass...

Chen Qing rolled his eyes, really unsure why Tianji was being so deferential, calling them Elders? In terms of seniority, they, the development team, were the game’s creators, only having joined later. Calling these players elders?

It completely disgraced the face of the planners!!

"This is really interesting..." The other party grinned: "The dominance of the four guilds has persisted for three cycles. I thought the situation wouldn’t change anymore, so what exactly has happened?"

Upon hearing this, Tianji smiled faintly, "Perhaps the elder would like to make another guess?"

The dominance of the four major guilds, stable for three cycles, didn’t sound like good news. For a situation that had solidified like this, what was most disliked were variables. Once revitalized, they’d likely join hands to snuff out sparks of opposition like theirs first.

Previously, Elder Shen had wanted to use Chen Qing’s divine path flow to control the netherworld and thereby negotiate terms with the old players who once held sway over this world, to let them enter the stage. Now it seemed that it wouldn’t be so easy...

"Having your elder this, elder that, is really unlucky..."

Tianji: "...."

"Well then, I’ll make a guess..." The other party stroked his chin: "Hmm, let me see, your auras are so weak, this indicates that the expected revival of ancient forces must have met with accidents. Based on the cycle’s rhythm, powers like the Dragon Palace normally become active during the declining period of the Earth Spirit. According to the timeline, if you guys are from the Dragon Palace, you should be lying low and not daring to come near a player’s sealing location. "

"So it seems, the revival of the Earth Spirit indeed encountered something unforeseen, somebody changed the game, delaying the Earth Spirit’s revival. This is really interesting, who’s behind this bold move? Did one of the four major guilds finally grow dissatisfied with the current situation?"

"That’s not right either... Nowadays, the numbers have balanced out, at least ensuring that members of the four major guilds all have longevity.

While it’s still possible to covet even more under such circumstances, the likelihood is smaller as the stakes are high to disrupt a hard-earned stable situation unless there’s a benefit that outweighs immortality. "

"Hmm... could it be some new player has done this?" When the other party reached this point, he looked up at Chen Qing "No way, which newbie could be so awesome?"

"How do you know I’m from the Dragon Palace?" Chen Qing countered without answering.

"The scent..." The other party smiled faintly: "Ever heard of the Heavenly Mirror Nose? When you were about to take action earlier, that musty smell on you was a bit too obvious!"

"So it’s the Roaring Sky Nose..." Chen Qing nodded, but a cold light flickered deep in his eyes!

This guy is lying...