Age of Evolution

Chapter 540: Chapter 541: Flame Advancement (Third Update)

After Xuan Jiang finished speaking, he looked at Lin Zhen coldly. He had made his point clear, and now it was up to Lin Zhen to understand or not.

Lin Zhen touched his chin with his hand and then said, “I’m not ignorant of the rules between Martial Artists, but I’ve never liked to bow my head to others. Your attitude is annoying me. So, why don’t you repeat what you said earlier in a more polite tone? Then I will consider your opinions.”

Xuan Jiang was stunned for a moment, then a sneer appeared on his face.

“Well, well! Look at the arrogant rookie who doesn’t know his place. Do you think being invincible in the Black Hole Stage means you’re truly unbeatable? I guarantee that you won’t make a single ten million fortune here. If you have the patience, you can keep challenging for hundreds of thousands or millions at a time, and no one will bother you. But when you decide to set up a challenge stage…well, good luck then! See you in the Star System Stage arena!”

With that, Xuan Jiang ruthlessly cut off the communication, and the screen disappeared.

“Master, it seems you’ve offended quite an important person,” said Chris, who became more human-like after her upgrade and now could discuss personal matters.

Lin Zhen nodded, “This Xuan Jiang is not simple. He is very powerful, and even I can’t be sure of winning against him. If it weren’t for my urgent need for money, I wouldn’t want to make enemies with such a person.”

Lin Zhen was also annoyed. Wherever there were people, there would be struggles, and this arena was undoubtedly a huge battlefield with complicated power structures. When too much wealth was involved, some people’s interests would be affected.

But at this moment, Lin Zhen couldn’t care less about these people. He needed to continue to challenge and make money.

“Don’t mind those people. Keep challenging. We’re almost at one billion.”

Chris checked for a while and then said, surprised, “Master, all the personal challenges with amounts above thirty million have been taken! Many people who usually look for opportunities here have mobilized. Now, the highest amount in the Black Hole Stage arena is only one or two million, and it’s still decreasing.”

Lin Zhen was startled. It seemed that Xuan Jiang really had some influence, able to mobilize the long-term lurkers and sweep the Black Hole Stage arenas. This was an attempts to block Lin Zhen’s wealth stream.

Although Lin Zhen could challenge those lesser stages, the speed of accumulating wealth from them was too slow for him to tolerate.

“Apart from challenging, what else can I do to make money?”

“Master, you can set up your own challenge stage and wait for others to come and challenge you. This way, you can often make more money.”

“Alright, I’ll set up a challenge stage. Set the amount to one hundred million. After a hundred rounds, with good luck, I might be able to make hundreds of billions.”

Soon Lin Zhen registered a Black Hole Stage challenge stage, with a huge amount of one billion. This kind of challenge could end up with astronomical rewards.

However, as soon as the stage was set up, a long string of challenges quickly filled the hundred slots.

To Lin Zhen’s surprise, all the challengers made the minimum bet of one hundred!

If he won the hundred matches, Lin Zhen would only get ten thousand points!

With a one percent fee deducted, he would actually only get nine thousand nine hundred.

But since the stage was set, Lin Zhen had no choice but to fight. The first challenger appeared after a whole minute had passed.

Lin Zhen resolved it with one move and won ten thousand. Then, the second challenger appeared.

For the one hundred matches, Lin Zhen spent more than two hours, and each match only earned him ten thousand. This frustrated him. He initially wanted to vent his anger by defeating some challengers, but unexpectedly, some of them would self-destruct, not even giving Lin Zhen the opportunity to beat them.

Obviously, they have been doing this for quite some time and were very skilled.

After one hundred matches, Lin Zhen received ninety-nine cosmic crystals, successfully defending the stage a hundred times in a row.

However, Lin Zhen didn’t feel any excitement. The only gain from this stage was accumulating three hundred Points, which was not enough.

“Chris, sort the challenge stages by the amount, from high to low. I will start challenging from the highest amount. It will only take a little more time, and once I have enough Points, I want to try the Star System Stage playground!”

Chris immediately gave Lin Zhen the data again. Even a few hundred thousand could do, as Lin Zhen was not picky now.

After a full day, he sometimes earned a million, but later only received several tens of thousands for each match.

However, fortunately, there were plenty of matches. Lin Zhen still managed to accumulate three thousand and ten billion Points.

Once his Points reached one thousand, Lin Zhen could leave the novice area and head to a bigger stage.

“Use the ten billion to buy Fire Crystalstones.”

As they were inside the Kirin Holy Star, the delivery was very fast. The ten billion Fire Crystalstones soon arrived.

“I need four steps to advance my flame to the mid-blue color, and this is the first step.”

After exiting the Dimensional Universe, Lin Zhen looked at a large pile of Fire Crystalstones in front of him.

These Crystalstones were like burning, containing powerful firepower within them.

Each Crystalstone was extracted from the core of a volcano and was the crystalline form of flames. Only one chunk of Fire Crystalstone could be extracted from a single volcano, so the huge pile of one million cubic Fire Crystalstones in front of him was extremely valuable.

Lin Zhen immediately initiated Armorization. Since entering the Black Hole Period, his Black Hole Beast started to take on the appearance of a dark-colored Kirin after Armorization, and had entered the Infant Stage.

A Black Hole appeared above his head, and the firepower within the Fire Crystalstones entered Lin Zhen’s body.

The white flame on his body flooded outwards, gradually brightening in color.

After all the Fire Crystalstones were absorbed, Lin Zhen’s flame power finally reached bright white.

“Great, the advancement was successful. Next, I need to reach incandescent white flames, which will require 5 billion Cosmic Crystals, but it’s not that difficult.”

“After three more times like this, I will have completely fulfilled the conditions to revive Little Phoenix, and I can return to the Chaotic Star River to find her.”

Lin Zhen’s mood was excellent as he moved one step closer to his goal.

Advancing his flame power also brought other benefits. Inside his Heavenly Fire Shop, Lin Zhen’s clone successfully crafted a High Grade artifact.

As soon as the High Grade artifact was crafted, it was immediately purchased by someone for 1 billion Cosmic Crystals. In the vast Fire Kirin Empire, there were countless wealthy people you couldn’t even imagine. They weren’t afraid of high prices, but a lack of supply.

Although the Heavenly Fire Shop was small, the speed at which it made money was even faster than Lin Zhen’s entire Solar Realm, and it would definitely provide a continuous stream of wealth for him in the future.

“Now that I can craft High Grade artifacts, I’m making money in two directions. With 5 billion Cosmic Crystals, I can craft Top Quality artifacts once my flame power is upgraded again. That’s when the big money starts rolling in!”

With these unexpected gains, Lin Zhen’s confidence became even more abundant.

Just as Lin Zhen entered the arena again, Yan Qiyue’s message immediately came through.

“My dear Lord, you finally came online. I knew you’d break through the Black Hole Period quickly. Hurry up and join our team. We’re short on people.”

Lin Zhen didn’t join in a hurry but asked, “What are the benefits of joining a team?”

“There are many benefits, but I won’t mention the other ones since you might not be interested. The biggest benefit is making money.”

“I can make money playing solo as well, and it’s more reliable. Why should I join a team?” Lin Zhen asked.

“You probably don’t know this, but team battles involve multiple players, with a minimum of five players, and there are also battles involving 100, 1000, and 10,000 players. The maximum number is even up to one million players. In solo battles, you have to match and choose opponents, and high-stake bets are not common. Even if you come across one, it’s not easy to win. If you encounter a strong opponent, you might even lose. If you win a hundred battles, you could lose all your gains in one big loss. I’ve seen this happen too many times.”

Yan Qiyue paused and continued, “Moreover, Lin Zhen, the Star System Stage battlefield is different from the Black Hole Period. In the Black Hole Period, you can be invincible, with no one posing a threat to you, but your gains won’t be huge, right?”

Lin Zhen nodded. Yan Qiyue was right. It took him more than 300 battles to get the 1 billion Cosmic Crystals. Four of those battles alone gave him 750 million, while the other 330 battles only gave just over 200 million.

“It’s different in the Star System Stage. The stakes are high here, but so are the risks. Lin Zhen, you’ll be invincible in the Black Hole Period, but I guarantee you won’t be here yet. Do you trust what I’m saying?”

“Of course! I believe in that.”

Lin Zhen never arrogantly thought he could dominate the Star System Stage now. He didn’t even have the confidence to defeat Ye Hua. If Little Phoenix were to be revived, Lin Zhen would probably lose to her as well. Even yesterday’s encounter with Xuan Jiang left him uncertain of victory.

With so many powerful opponents in the vast universe, there were undoubtedly many people in the Star System Stage who could defeat Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen was also worried that it wouldn’t be easy to make money in the Star System Stage, as Yan Qiyue had said. He might lose all his accumulated money in just one go. There’s a high probability of getting your feet wet if you’re always standing by the river.

“That’s why I say solo battles are ultimately unreliable. Lin Zhen, join us for team battles. Our team is a five-player team, and only by joining such a team you can participate in large-scale team battles, which is where the money is. There are rewards for First Blood, ten kills, a hundred kills, and final victory. In this area alone, there was a team battle with 100,000 people two days ago. One of them even earned 18 billion Cosmic Crystals. Isn’t that a lot? This isn’t even a battle involving a million people. That’s the real battlefield for the strongest to gather wealth.”

Upon hearing Yan Qiyue’s introduction, Lin Zhen couldn’t help but be moved. It seemed that team battles were indeed a good place to be. As long as he had strength, team battles were almost a sure win.

“Can I participate in team battles just by joining a team?”

“Of course, small-scale battles happen every day, but large-scale ones require waiting. However, if you don’t join a team, you won’t be eligible to enter team battlegrounds. Lin Zhen, our team only has one vacancy. If you don’t come, there are plenty of people in line to join.”

“Alright, I’ll join!” Lin Zhen made up his mind. As long as there was money to be made, he would welcome it with open arms.