Chapter 1022 – Anomalies

“Is she really that Elise?” Fervent Samsara muttered, gawking at Elise.

Fervent Samsara had participated in the Continental Championship with Elise, so he knew her quite well. Although she ranked high among the three races’ chosen ones in the championship, the difference between her past self and her current self was like night and day. It wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to say they were completely different people.

Setting aside the fact that Elise’s level had reached a staggering 251, just the aura she exuded when hovering in the air made Fervent Samsara feel like he was gazing up at a mighty mountain.

Besides those familiar with Elise, the other sixth-floor experts in the Twilight Fortress were also amazed and shocked by Elise’s overwhelming aura.

“No wonder she could get selected by that side. She’s simply a monster,” Verdant Rainbow said, smiling wryly at the intense pressure she felt from her former rival.

Although Demon’s Gate and the Seven Luminaries Alliance were not mortal enemies, they often butted heads with each other. As a chosen one nurtured by the Seven Luminaries Alliance, Verdant Rainbow naturally couldn’t avoid clashing with Demon’s Gate’s chosen ones of the same generation.

During the Continental Championship, Verdant Rainbow was still confident she could put up a good fight against Elise. But now, her gut instinct told her she couldn’t resist Elise, despite her having reached the sixth-floor standard. This made her wonder how much stronger Elise had gotten in the time they hadn’t met.

“What an incredible combat standard! She’s giving me a sense of danger!” Shi Feng exclaimed softly as he looked at Elise.

Lunar River rolled her eyes at Shi Feng’s exclamation, her expression seemingly saying, “Thank you for stating the obvious.”

Regarding Lunar River’s exasperated response, Shi Feng had no idea how to retort.

Although Elise was equipped with an unknown Divine Set that matched the human race’s Six Great Divine Sets, she was still a Tier 6 Lifeform. A big gap remained between her and a bona fide Tier 7 Lifeform.

Setting aside the difference in Basic Attributes, merely the different tiers of Skills and Spells they could access made it incredibly difficult for Tier 6 players like Elise to pose any threat to Shi Feng. She’d need to be able to use techniques to make up for the gap between Tier 6 and Tier 7 Skills and Spells, which wasn’t something just any Peak Gold Combat Technique could accomplish.

…

“Nobody is allowed to attack Elise! We will deal with her! Everyone else, start besieging the fortress!”

While the players inside and outside the Twilight Fortress were stunned by Elise’s appearance, Daystar eyed her old rival warily as she issued an order to the Holy Race army behind her.

The other four of the Five Absolute Chosen Ones nodded in tacit agreement, nobody objecting to Daystar’s arrangement.

In reality, capturing the Twilight Fortress could only be considered a secondary objective of the Holy Race’s ten royal powers. The main reason the ten royal powers joined forces to besiege the Twilight Fortress was to create an opportunity for the Five Absolute Chosen Ones to fight Elise.

Elise was the only player to have been recruited by an imperial power as a core member in the last Hundred Race Battlefield. This situation made the Hundred Race Battlefield’s various powers green with envy.

Despite being called the Hundred Race Battlefield, over a hundred races participated in it. Moreover, every race qualified for the Hundred Race Battlefield was strong. Even the weakest participating race had several apex powers, while the stronger ones had over 20 royal powers. In the eyes of these stronger races, even the mighty Holy Race was no more than a slightly larger prey compared to the weaker races.

Out of all the races participating in the Hundred Race Battlefield, only three had a power that went beyond the royal standard, reaching the imperial standard. Two of these imperial powers commanded two Tier 7 experts, while one commanded three Tier 7 experts.

In the past, the imperial power with three Tier 7 experts rarely recruited players from the Hundred Race Battlefield. Yet, it had taken the initiative to invite Elise and promoted her to a core member. This situation confused the Hundred Race Battlefield’s various powers. Even the two other imperial powers were surprised by this situation.

To uncover the reason behind Elise’s recruitment, the other two imperial powers issued a commission to probe her standards. Anyone who could produce satisfying results would be handsomely rewarded—those who had already passed the basic recruitment test would get immediately accepted as a normal member, while those who were already normal members would have their statuses elevated.

There was no way the Holy Race’s ten royal powers could resist the temptation of such a reward.

The three imperial powers’ recruitment standards were exceedingly high. Even if one managed to come in first place in the Hundred Race Battlefield, they wouldn’t necessarily accept one’s membership application. Not to mention, the highest the Holy Race had ever placed was in the top 50, which barely met the recruitment conditions of the three imperial powers.

Furthermore, even after becoming a member of an imperial power, the treatment one received would differ drastically depending on whether one was a normal member or an elite member.

In the case of normal members, even if they were to pay an astronomical price and make many contributions to the Guild, they would, at best, get to redeem the coordinates of a Tier 7 Promotion Land with several dozen ordinary Chaos Creatures. Better privileges, such as having the Guild capture an ordinary Chaos Creature from the depths of the Void Sea for one’s research, were not for normal members to enjoy.

Chaos Creatures were monsters so dangerous even Holy Ancestor-ranked existences would have to risk death to defeat, let alone Tier 7 players. Under normal circumstances, multiple Tier 7 players had to work together and risk permanent death to capture an ordinary Chaos Creature. The entire process could also take months to complete.

As imperial powers had hundreds of millions of normal members, there was no way they could afford to offer such a privilege to normal members.

However, elite members were granted such a privilege. The only caveat was that they might need to wait decades or centuries for their turn to arrive. They’d also have to pay an unimaginable price and make significant contributions to the Guild. Nonetheless, all of these sacrifices would be worthwhile, as they would get to increase their chances of advancing to Tier 7.

For the sake of the Holy Race’s future, the Holy Race’s ten royal powers were willing to help the Five Absolute Chosen Ones, who had already become normal members of the two imperial powers, fight for this opportunity. Even the royal powers that the Five Absolutes had no affiliation with were willing to do their best to help.

“Which one of us will go first?” Tyrant Claw asked, glancing at Daystar, Garuda, and Morning Echo.

“I’ll go first. She and I are old rivals,” Garuda said, rubbing his fists as he looked at Elise with admiration, jealousy, frustration, and excitement.

Originally, Elise wasn’t even an opponent he took seriously. But now, she had become someone he had to challenge. He had to admit that fate truly worked in twisted ways.