"Qi... Chen Qi was slightly taken aback, as the Flower Witch had always called him 'Chef,' and now she had finally called him by his name.
"Thanks..."
Chen Qi took the little yellow flower.
The petals were like delicate silk, gleaming a bright golden yellow.
The flower was not magical.
Apart from the flower on her head, any other flowers that grew on the Flower Witch would drain her life force.
The Flower Witch secretly wiped the blood from her hands and proudly raised her head,
"Do you know? This flower is called the Growth Flower. In our Golden Flower Bird Kingdom, it is a flower that parents give to their children when they ascend.
It symbolizes the hope that their journey of ascension will be smooth and that they will live a happy life.
Moreover, this flower has a blooming period of one year~"
"Nice sentiment."
Chen Qi carefully placed the flower on the table.
When he had time, he could buy a flowerpot.
Wait a minute? Parents? Was the Flower Witch taking advantage of him? Chen Qi suddenly realized.
"Wait, Flower Witch, what do you mean by 'parents'?"
The Flower Witch blushed and playfully explained,
"Ahem, friends or relatives might also give it to the person who is ascending."
After placing the flower safely, Chen Qi took out a Deep Sea Water Elf from his backpack card, placed it on the chair, and sat down.
Comfortable! Soft feeling!
Having just digested his Occupation Card, his body already felt empty.
Whether it was his brain or his body.
He needed to relax for a while.
Chen Qi checked his panel.
First, his occupational tasks.
[Traveling Assassin: Within seven days, complete a journey or an assassination to receive a large number of spiritual points. (The two skills must not overlap.)
Golden Basin Handwashing: If the First Order occupation's task has nothing to do with Blade Phase or Shadow Phase, it will increase the spiritual points gained by your First Order Occupation Card by 50%.]
A Second Order Occupation Card actually enhanced the spiritual points gained from a First Order Occupation Card, how rare...
This Occupation Card was indeed special.
Next, Chen Qi once again looked at his passive skills.
With the blessing of Yu Huo the Hunter, his passive skills as a Shadow Assassin were also slightly enhanced.
[Your assassin talent (Shadow) has been enhanced, gaining an additional ability - Shadow Resistance to Negative Emotions. When facing shadow abilities formed by negative emotions, you will have stronger defenses.]
[Your travel willpower (Lamp) has been upgraded from minor to moderate mental resistance!]
Shadow Resistance to Negative Emotions, plus moderate mental resistance.
Moderate mental resistance!
Chen Qi was secretly stunned.
Mental resistance, like Nature Form comprehension, was also a very hard-to-obtain enhancement.
It often required years of hard training to improve one's mental resistance.
Minor mental resistance needed at least one year of hard training.
And the gap between moderate and minor mental resistance was like a chasm.
Moderate mental resistance required at least ten years of hard training!
Lamp Phase comprehension, Shadow Phase comprehension, mental resistance...
Three quite decent passives.
As a strategy expert, Chen Qi began thinking about his system construction.
Even though his occupation was an assassin, which came with a stealth skill.
But the definition of an assassin was very broad.
As long as one wasn't caught, a berserk assassin was also an assassin!
The side effects of many relics could be offset by mental resistance.
And many Shadow Phase skills also required mental resistance.
When it came to skill learning, he could choose some more aggressive and dangerous skills entirely.
Assassin flow, Berserker flow were both good choices.
Or maybe, flows that needed relics: Sin Flow, Shadow Flow.
Chen Qi rubbed his hands together.
Without joining a transcendent organization, the construction of a combat system could only be done step by step.
Regardless, he urgently needed a Shadow Phase Skill Card now.
At this moment, the Flower Witch took out a cup, added a bunch of strange herbs, and shook it.
She handed Chen Qi a cup of green tea,
"Here, nutritional tea."
"Nutritional tea?"
Chen Qi took the tea.
Green oil floated on the surface, like a demon swimming around.
The Flower Witch said,
"You've just ascended to the Second Order, you're in the development stage. You need to eat more nutritious things to develop well."
"Me? Development stage?"
Chen Qi suddenly remembered.
After transcendent ascension, there was about a month-long development period.
During this developmental period, the body would undergo slight enhancements.
And some occupation cards that could change one's appearance would slowly change the appearance during this developmental period.
For example, occupations like Cat Eared Thief, Dwarf Craftsman, and so on.
Of course, the extraordinary power of second-tier occupation cards was limited. For instance, a Dwarf Craftsman would grow a beard and get a bit shorter.
Or grow cat ears, dog tails, or some feathered spots on the body. These small appearance changes were already the limit of second-tier occupation cards.
Only reaching the third tier would allow for more dramatic changes, like becoming a beastman, gaining the heart of a dragon, etc.
By the fourth tier, some transcendent occupations could even change the species or gender.
For instance, the famous witch occupation cards in the Witch Sea could even change your gender!
And for mythological creatures like angels, chimeras, and other forms, only fourth-tier and above occupations could achieve that.
Chen Qi painfully drank the nutritional tea.
Just as the Flower Witch had said, if he maintained nutrition during this period, he would further develop in all aspects.
He needed to eat more good stuff.
[You have consumed the transcendent nutritional tea, your body development speed has increased...]
It was made from transcendent materials, but it was still so unpleasant... Chen Qi put down the cup and started to ask the main question,
"By the way, Flower Witch, why did you come to see me?"
This was the first time in twenty days that the typically independent Flower Witch came looking for him.
Out of money? Or some other issue?
The Flower Witch fiddled with her hands, trying to look natural, and said with difficulty,
"I am planning to participate in the ultimate trial left by my teacher to ascend to the Fourth Order Witch, but I haven't challenged a high-order rift in a long time.
So, I plan to first go to the Sea Demon Gorge in the Sea of Fissures and find a Floral Phase rift to build my courage!"
Chen Qi rubbed the Deep Sea Water Elf and asked, "Then what?"
The Flower Witch continued,
"But, the Sea Demon Gorge is a terrifying place full of sea beasts. Ordinary ships would never dare enter.
I want to find a ship to go there, but we are both on the bounty list, so I can't board a travel ship."
We are both on the bounty list?
Chen Qi showed a puzzled expression.
"Yes, because we previously angered the Black Glove, we are wanted by the pirates..."
The Flower Witch pulled out two wrinkled bounty orders from her backpack card.
Pirates liked to issue bounty orders? Chen Qi was surprised.
One was for the Flower Witch, and the other was for him.
The Flower Witch's bounty order matched her witch-like appearance, with a bounty of 24 million shell coins plus a forbidden relic salvaged by the Black Whale Group.
On his bounty order was a hideous person with black whiskers all over his body.
Is this me? Chen Qi complained.
This did resemble the dark shadow left behind by the White Dove Times!
And as for his description, there was only one simple word—"monster."
The bounty was also not high, only 800,000 shell coins!
In the eyes of the pirates, the Flower Witch's bounty was thirty times his, and it even came with a forbidden relic!
Damn!
Even after using the ghost fire oil worth 800,000, as a First Order transcendent, he was still looked down upon!
Fortunately, he was no longer the same as before, a poor newbie who was at the mercy of others.
Now, I barely count as a new transcendent novice… Chen Qi put down the bounty order,
"Flower Witch, in simple terms, you need me to take you to the Sea Demon Gorge in the Sea of Fissures."
The Flower Witch clenched her fists,
"Yes, besides the terrifying sea beasts, there are also members of the Black Whale Group in the Sea Demon Gorge.
I know it's dangerous, but I haven't saved enough money to buy a boat, and I really don't know what to do.
Hmm...I have prepared many potions as compensation, such as underwater breathing potions, agility potions, etc."
"And I can make any potion you can think of!"
Then, the Flower Witch continued,
"For this reason, I also prepared a scent potion that can ward off sea beasts."
Well prepared… Chen Qi curiously asked,
"By the way, Flower Witch, do you know what other sea beasts are in the Sea Demon Gorge besides sea demons?"
"Yes, I know... Tentacle Flowers, Black Sharks, Armored Dragon Tortoises, Magic-Devouring Sea Snakes, Witch Birds, Black Ship Sea Dragons…"
The Flower Witch rattled off more than ten terrifying names in one breath.
In the Sea of Fissures, there were numerous entities scarier than the Nearshore Dominator.
Due to unforeseen incidents, adventurers who died at sea were not fewer than those who perished in the rifts.
Sweat covered the Flower Witch as she spoke.
The more she talked, the more she felt Chen Qi wouldn't take her to the Sea of Fissures!
It was simply too dangerous!
The Flower Witch lowered her head and softly asked,
"Um, will you agree?"
"Okay, when do we set off?"
The Flower Witch immediately said,
"I know it's dangerous, and you don't want to go, but I have studied how to evade sea beast pursuits, and ordinary pirates are not our opponents.
And, I truly can do anything… Wait... you agreed?"
A small black flower appeared on the Flower Witch's head, surprised!
The other party actually agreed so easily.
That was the dangerous sea area within the Sea of Fissures!
Chen Qi sat in his chair and opened his "Sea Beast Medicinal Materials Collection Guide."
Among the sea beasts the Flower Witch mentioned, many were precious.
They had all kinds of valuable items on them.
Maybe he could find some transplantable sea beasts.
It was time to expand the sea beast breeding base and find a companion for the Ghost Fire Fish.
And just in time, it would complete his new task, "Travel."
The Flower Witch asked again,
"You really agreed?
Besides, there are famous relics like the Meat Cutting Bone-Breaking, Sea's Lute, Joy Elf reportedly near the Sea Demon Gorge.
So, we might even encounter the Four Great Pirate Groups."
Both of them were wanted by the Black Whale Group.
Chen Qi thought and replied,
"Really, don't worry; the navy is there too. Besides, we're just a law-abiding food ship."
Huh? The Flower Witch added,
"Really? My scent potion can only drive away small sea beasts like the Black-Toothed Fish. If we encounter a dangerous large sea beast or a sea demon, I won't be able to protect you."
Chen Qi secretly smiled.
If it were pirates, as a novice, he might actually need the Flower Witch's protection.
But sea beasts...
As someone with Deep Sea Affinity, he wished to run into the most dangerous creatures in the Sea Demon Gorge—the sea demons!
To say the least, sea demons, being humanoid creatures that lured humans, were quite pretty!
He wouldn't mind meeting more of them!
Chen Qi thought about it and confidently said,
"Large sea beasts and sea demons are not that easy to encounter, don't worry, Flower Witch, trust our luck!"
"???"