Chapter 317 - [Ocean’s Heart]

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After the Fishing Festival, all members of Savage Blade had filled their pockets with rewards. Each of them had increased by at least 10 Stat points and were even stronger than if they had leveled up by two levels. Coupled with that, all of them became really rich!

Even Qiu Yuan, who had the worst Fishing skills among them, managed to get lots of gold coins by opening the various treasure chests.

To be honest, Lin Jie fared the worst results amongst the Savage Blade team members! In Aquatic World, he had spent all his energy to help Bu Yi gather all kinds of items to activate the Mermaid Princess’ plot. As such, he did not have time to catch as much Rare fish as he should have.

However… he had caught the Demon Shark!

The Demon Shark was a longed possession of any Aqua Mage. If not for the fact that Lin Jie had great Strength and was really skilled, he would not have managed to fish it up. He might even end up being eaten by the fish.

At The Brothers’ City.

Lin Jie and Bu Yi searched around frantically and threw Identify spells upon every NPC they met. They finally managed to locate Sea Mage Laney and Mermaid Princess Herya—they had transformed into human beings and were sitting in an alley, speaking love words to each other.

To be very honest, the long, white legs of the Mermaid Princess made all human models pale in comparison. Such perfect legs would ever only exist in games…

NPC: Wandering Mage Laney.

NPC: Wandering Priest Herya.

Both of their names were also disguised.

“Laney, we really have to thank the two human beings, for us being able to get away safely. After they left Aquatic World, the laws of the alternate realms had locked up the place. As such, our traces were wiped away,” commented the Mermaid Princess as she hugged her beloved’s arms blissfully. Being outside on an adventure with the man of her dreams had made her ever more contented.

“It’s such a pity we didn’t have time to bid them farewell properly. Or else, I would definitely have given them a gift.”

Sea Mage Laney watched the Mermaid Princess’ fingers twirl the pearl necklace, which she wore in front of her chest and immediately understood that she wanted to give this pearl necklace to the human beings. Emotions fleeted across his eyes, and he said, “You wanted to give the Seaheart Pearls to them? I will suggest you refrain from doing so. The Seaheart Pearl Necklace is too precious as a gift for human beings. If they wear this necklace, they will be immune to all Aqua Elemental Magic. Aqua Mages will actually find this very useful in their leveling-up processes. In fact, I will require the power from the Seaheart Pearl Necklace to protect me from being harmed by the Laws of the Ocean when I am leveling up to Legendary myself. Let’s keep this necklace then, shall we?”

The Mermaid Princess pouted. “But I don’t have other suitable items to give as gifts. How about I just give one pearl, just one, please?”

Laney wanted to continue speaking, but when he saw the Mermaid Princess’ resolute expression, he decided to let it go at that.

“Hey, Sir Sea Mage, how do you feel being with your beloved?” Lin Jie and Bu Yi greeted them with wide smiles as they walked towards the lovers.

The Sea Mage’s expression changed as he welcomed them in a gentlemanly gesture. “Ah, our benefactors! It’s such a surprise to meet you here. Herya and I were discussing about you just now. Even though the dry lands and the vast skies do seem more polluted than our seas, we managed to have many wondrous encounters until now. This is all thanks to you. I had left too hastily previously and did not manage to give you the gifts you deserved. Now is the perfect time! These are a pair of necklaces known as the Ocean’s Hearts, and I shall give them to the two of you.”

Lin Jie and Bu Yi exchanged stunned looks and hurriedly received the items.

Ocean’s Hearts (Epic item)

Attributes: None.

Additional effect: The two players who wear the Ocean’s Hearts will be able to teleport to each other’s side at any time.

Lin Jie was shocked—they actually received a Teleportation item!

Regardless of what kind of magical space players were in, any skills or items associated with the vast concepts of ‘time’ or ‘space’ would be worth millions. Especially this type of skill which allowed free teleportation across limitless terrains—it would be worth a city in itself!

Take, for example, the Atlas Peak. From the start of the game till now, there were fewer than five players who had managed to reach its peak! Yet with this Ocean’s Heart, Lin Jie could just pull anyone over to his side—at the peak!

He could let a Bandit skilled in Stealth skills sneak into the Elements Sacred Grounds, and then the Bandit could pull a clumsy Mage over to his side to learn the skills.

Such was the value of directional teleportation equipment.

“The Ocean’s Hearts! Laney, I wronged you just now…” The Mermaid Princess caressed the Sea Mage’s arms apologetically, and she said softly, “I thought that you did not want me to give the Seaheart Pearls to them because it was related to your own benefits.”

Laney smiled and tousled the Mermaid Princess’ hair. He turned to the two of them and spoke, “The Ocean’s Hearts were created in memory of undying love. Once upon a time, the seas within The New Age’s lands were not as vast. In fact, the Endless Sea was divided into two different seas, and the Nagas lived in one of them while Merpeople stayed in the other. One fine day, a mischievous Mermaid Princess managed to cross to the other side, which the Nagas lived in, and she got to know the Naga Prince, who was leveling up near his country’s borders. Such was the beginnings of an epic love story.”

Herya sighed, and she continued Laney’s story with her moving mermaid’s voice, “The love between the two who came from different races was met with obstruction. Both of them were locked away at their own shrines and were appointed as their individual race God’s Servant, as a form of punishment for falling in love blindly. All God’s Servants would be void of their emotions. It was said that during the God’s Servant ceremonies, both patches of seas seemed to wallow for them. After a hundred years, the different aquatic species that lived among both seas were shocked—they discovered that the two seas, which were originally unrelated to each other, had actually grown closer and closer until they merged… to form the Endless Sea!

“The merging of the two seas engulfed a piece of land which was almost the size of The New Age’s continents. From then onwards, this whole water region was known as the Endless Sea. The pair of lovers managed to break free from the restraints of being the God’s Servants, and finally met each other the day the two seas formed one.”

“However, the price for breaking free from being God’s Servants was death! Their bodies decomposed, but their hearts were left behind and became these two Ocean’s Hearts. It was from then on the Poseidon Shrine was created, and it included both the Nagas and the Merpeople. Although both races would work together at times by the orders of the Poseidon Shrine, both still held deep grudges against each other. In fact, it was an unspoken secret that the Merpeople and the Nages were just pretending to be at peace on the surface.”

After the Mermaid Princess finished her story, Lin Jie and Bu Yi exchanged looks and sighed simultaneously. It was a typical ‘Romeo and Juliet’ story again…

‘No wonder there were so much Primordial traces and treasures left under the sea. This must be part of the reason,’ thought Lin Jie. He thought of another issue—in the future when the Sea’s Secret expansion pack was released, he definitely would need to make a trip to where the pair of lovers had died. Exploring that area would probably bring him plenty of rewards.

Herya put the Ocean’s Hearts necklaces on Lin Jie and Bu Yi individually. She commented smilingly, “Then… we will give these necklaces to the both of you. Let’s hope that you will also have an undying love, like them…”

Bu Yi’s face flushed red. She tried to speak but stopped herself in the nick of time. Fiddling with the necklace, which lay before her chest, she tucked it into her clothes. A warm feeling spread from where it touched her skin.

Such was the power of the Ocean’s Heart—it would link its owner to the other owner’s heart.

Lin Jie nodded his head and said, “Then, thank you very much.”

“Hehe, there’s no need to thank me. After all, it’s due to your help that Laney and I managed to run away from our home—all thanks to the rules which protected the human beings of the alternate realms! As such, this necklace…” Herya looked at Laney coquettishly, and then took down the Seaheart Pearl Necklace, which she wore on her neck. “I shall give this necklace to you too! Alright, I had enough fun in this city. Laney, I still want to visit the Snowy Mountain’s Peak, the Moonlit Forest, and the Abandoned Ruins…”

Ding~

—’You received the Seaheart Pearl Necklace.’

Lin Jie’s heart almost leaped out of his mouth!

The Seaheart Pearls—finally! His main aim to please the Mermaid Princess was this! In his previous life, one Seaheart Pearl was enough to break apart the seal on Broken Blade roughly. This whole necklace had 16 of such Seaheart Pearls—just imagine, how powerful would it be?

This trip was really worth it!

One would require two items to break the seals on Broken Blade:

1. Plenty of Enhancement materials!

2. Specific means to break through its bottleneck seals!

In Lin Jie’s previous life, he had needed to use numerous rare materials, Enhancement materials, and even feed Broken Blade with all sorts of equipment, items, or monsters’ corpses, etc., to break apart the seals. Once he had managed to achieve the ‘quantity’ of items needed to lift Broken Blade’s seal, he would then need to find appropriate items to upgrade its ‘quality’—by breaking apart its bottleneck seals.

There were various methods to do so. For example, he could find a Smith with superb Smithing skills to refine Broken Blade, or immerse it in the blood of Primordial beasts, etc. Only when he broke apart those bottleneck seals would Broken Blade be able to level up!

In this life, Lin Jie had discovered a new means of upgrading Broken Blade—by finding its blades! After his Expert-Level Trials, he had been on the journey of seeking out those blades, which often required him to complete ultra-difficult missions!

However, the blades were worth it—they were stronger than any Smiths and were crucial for leveling up Broken Blade. As long as Lin Jie managed to find the blades, Broken Blade would undergo a qualitative change for sure.

So now, the difficult part lied in accumulating the ‘quantity’ of materials needed.

Technically speaking, Lin Jie had killed numerous Bosses in the game, and he had gathered a massive amount of rare materials. However, Broken Blade did not seem to like them. From what Lin Jie guessed, most probably after Broken Blade had engulfed the blades, it had grown in its taste and of course, would not be satisfied by those materials.

Just like a beggar who would eat even mud, grass’ roots, and tree barks when he was hungry, what would he think of those when he discovered that he actually had a filthy rich family and was supposed to be of high socioeconomic status? Would he still want to eat mud, if he could avoid it, which he definitely could, as a rich guy?

The answer would be a definite no.

To put it simply, Broken Blade had grown too proud and fussy for its own good!

“Old friend, I hope this thing can attract your attention?” Lin Jie dangled the Seaheart Pearls in front of Broken Blade. Indeed, there was an attraction force coming from Broken Blade—it was as if it longed to digest the pearls!

However, it would take a long while for Broken Blade to digest the pearls completely. Lin Jie could not afford the time now, and thus he kept the Seaheart Pearls into his backpack and made a thankful gesture.

At this moment, emotions fleeted across Laney’s eyes. His brows creased slightly as if he was rather displeased with Herya’s decision. However, he put on a smile when Herya turned back to him. He commented, “Alright then, we shall make a move first. Goodbye to both of you!”

Whoosh!

With a wave of his right hand, both Laney and Herya transformed into rays of blue light and left!

However, the sharp-eyed Lin Jie noticed that a tiny ray of light shot into his backpack as if searching for something! This blue light was fast—in the blink of an eye, it was about to fade into the distance!

‘The Seaheart Pearls! Darn it, this fellow’s too crafty!’ Lin Jie’s pupils constricted, and he understood the Sea Mage’s intentions immediately. He got into Enraged mode the next second!

“Flame Boost!”

“Thunder Descent!”

“Wind Rider Blade Aura Executioner!”

“Enchanted Scaly Armor!”

“Blood Power!”

“Death Rage!”

Boom-boom-boom-

Blood filled up Lin Jie’s body and flowed towards his limbs. His torso swelled up and became almost one and a half times of his usual stature! With a slash of Broken Blade, he activated Shield Cut!

The blue light seemed like it was caught by surprise, and it was being cut apart in half!

Cling…

One Seaheart Pearl dropped onto the ground. The rest were taken away by Laney!

“Hah, human being, fancy you are trying to stop me!” An angry shout was heard. Water vapor condensed to form the Sea Mage’s features, but that was obviously not his real self. Most probably, the real Sea Mage had concerns about Herya’s impression of him, and hence he could not attack Lin Jie directly. However, his clone would have no qualms to commit such crimes!

“The Seaheart Pearl Necklace is an Aqua Sacred Item. It will allow its owner to be immune to all sorts of Aqua Elemental Magic, and adjust its owner’s compatibility for Aqua Elemental Magic. How dare you cut this necklace apart?! One would need 15 years to make this item again! You are unforgivable!”

The Sea Mage’s clone condensed up a trident. Sparkling with cold light, it was aimed straight at Lin Jie!