Upgrade Specialist in Another World

A Regalia!

Bai Yunfei could sense that there was a Regalia from the waves of energy it was giving off! And if Sealer was saying it, then it had to be true.

The Triumphant Flame!!

One of the 'Ten Great Regalia', the Triumphant Flame held an attribute for both fire and metal and was the only armor-type Regalia!

The Soul Sentinel Scarf's primary function was to protect the soul, defending anything else was simply a secondary objective unlike the Triumphant Flame. Instead of protecting the soul, the Triumphant Flame was meant to protect against physical or elemental attacks.

Bai Yunfei was no idiot. He had the Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate tell him about each and every Regalia Wu Tianhun had and what their capabilities were.

It was these ten Regalia that helped Wu Tianhun unify the continent and cement him as the most legendary figure in the continent's history. He abdicated the throne after governing the empire for a hundred years and became a traveler for the sake of searching for greater heights.

At that time, Wu Tianhun was a Peak Late-stage Soul Saint.

It took place a century after Wu Tianhun began his travels. The 'abandonment'. He left several of the Regalia with the Royal Family and the rest to those 'fated' all over the continent. From there, Wu Tianhun vanished into thin air and wasn ever seen again.

His legend was retold for countless centuries. Many whispered that he spent the last of his remaining years protecting the empire from the shadows before finally departing the mortal coil. Others said he managed to seek the 'higher realm' he had always been searching for and 'transcended'.

But legends and rumors were in the end just legends and rumors. No one knew where Wu Tianhun had truly gone.

Bai Yunfei did, however, know which Regalia the Royal Family had.

The strongest offensive Regalia of the Ten: Soul Slayer.

The strongest defensive Regalia: Triumphant Flame.

The most explosive Regalia: Ironheart.

The strongest flying-type soul armament: Hundred Leagues.

And lastly, the only Regalia without a spirit; the Nephrite Throne.

The remaining five Regalias were scattered throughout the continent after that. The Nephrite Throne was eventually lost to the Royal Family and picked up by the Black Dragon King ages afterward.

With the schism of the Tianhun School and Prince Hao's 'rebellion', the power of the Royal Family and the Tianhun School was essentially halved. The Regalia of the Royal Family was also subsequently taken.

But Bai Yunfei never imagined that he'd come across those other Regalias here of all places. Then again, Shangguan Xiongyan was one of the venerable members of the Royal Family and a protector of the empire. Who else but a Saint could possibly be more qualified to carry a Regalia?

The defenses of the Triumphant Flame were beyond powerful and could not be understated. After pressing both the Core Stone and Sealer for some time, Bai Yunfei was able to have them give a numerical estimation of roughly thirty thousand. A value like that meant Bai Yunfei's Fire-tipped Spear and Shen Pojun's Flame Dragon Crescent Blade would be utterly useless. And the light that came out from the Triumphant Flame earlier was similar in effect and ability to the Cataclysmic Seal's barrier, meaning elemental attacks were equally useless. So powerful was the Triumphant Flame that even the attacks of a Saint would most likely mean nothing to it.

The Cataclysmic Seal, in it's upgraded form of +14, possessed an attack of over thirty thousand, but its true attack power was proportional to how much soulforce Bai Yunfei put into any one attack. In Berserk Mode, the Cataclysmic Seal could probably possess another twenty-thousand points of attack, but given that boost, the Triumphant Flame was still able to protect its owner from the Cataclysmic Seal.

The situation wasn't looking good for Bai Yunfei. He used up a third of his soulforce to power up the Cataclysmic Seal and yet it still didn't do a sliver of damage to Shangguan Xiongyan!

Given his failure and the supremacy of the Triumphant Flame, how could Bai Yunfei possibly not feel shocked?

……

Like Bai Yunfei, Shangguan Xiongyan was in a state of shock as well. He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the barrier of the Triumphant Flame shatter, thus how he was so easily hit by the Cataclysmic Seal when it went through. His eyes were glued tightly onto the Cataclysmic Seal in a way that seemed like they were stuck.

"A…A Regalia!!"

Given the fact that he had Triumphant Flame, Shangguan Xiongyan was also in close contact with its spirit. It was also from the spirit of Triumphant Flame that he was able to learn that the Cataclysmic Seal was also a Regalia when it struck him.

It wasn't as though he didn't know Bai Yunfei had any Regalia. The Core Stone, the Soul Sealing Mandate, and even the Soul Sentinel Scarf, he knew of these. It was no open secret to those in the know that Bai Yunfei had three Regalias with him.

But right now…this soul armament that attacked him was definitely not one of the three Regalias known!

This was a new and unknown Regalia!

That was the greatest reason behind Shangguan Xiongyan's shock.

"How…how is it possible for his shape-changing soul armament to be a Regalia?!"

Shangguan Xiongyan had once heard about this shape-changing soul armament of Bai Yunfei before, and how powerful it was. But he never heard about it being a Regalia before!!

The spirit of the Cataclysmic Seal had been so weak that the Triumphant Flame didn't even recognize it as a Regalia until it struck. But also because the Triumphant Flame tended to keep its aura to itself, it didn't even realize the Core Stone was there until it activated itself.

……

"This'll be a problem if he has the Triumphant Flame…"

Stern-faced, Bai Yunfei began to think about the available options he had. His plan to use the Cataclysmic Seal to 'absorb' whatever soul armament Shangguan Xiongyan was a bust now. This battle against Shangguan Xiongyan would definitely be many times harder now that he knew about the existence of the Triumphant Flame.

If his most powerful offensive soul armament, the Cataclysmic Seal, was useless against the Triumphant Flame, then what would work? There was no guarantee he could use the Fire-tipped Spear for a successful attempt. It'd first require him using the +13 additional effect to bypass the Triumphant Flame's barrier before then attempting to land a blow on a vital spot like Shangguan Xiongyan's throat or head. But other than that, there was no way the Fire-tipped Spear would be strong enough to break the Triumphant Flame's defenses.

The torso was the easiest place to hit on the human body. It was an insanely difficult task to aim for anywhere else but there in a battle!

Introspective, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to call back the Cataclysmic Seal. But at the same time the Cataclysmic Seal disappeared, Bai Yunfei felt a spike of energy approach him!

A bolt of lightning-like fire came snapping at his head the moment he snapped his head up!

……

"This person must be eliminated at once!!"

Something in Shangguan Xiongyan's mind told him at once that Bai Yunfei was a man far too dangerous to let live. So great was his caution that he immediately disregarded Ge Yiyun to kill Bai Yunfei!

It was essential that Bai Yunfei died here. The man was in possession of a 'new' Regalia!

He would've ignored Bai Yunfei if all he had to offer were those three 'Regalias'. He could kill Ge Yiyun and Shen Pojun first before dealing with Bai Yunfei to take those Regalia, but seeing the Cataclysmic Seal filled him with too much fear for him to ignore him anymore.

This was an offensive-type Regalia! One powerful enough to shatter the elemental barrier of the Triumphant Flame!

The very thought of his ultimate defense being vulnerable frightened Shangguan Xiongyan and also left him with some lingering fear. If not for Shangguan Xiongyan warning him about the power of the Cataclysmic Seal, Shangguan Xiongyan would've put up a half-hearted defense instead of a fully-powered one. If that were to happen, the results wouldn't be half as good as they were now for him.

If the Regalia impacted against him without either the elemental or physical defenses of the Triumphant Flame…

He felt a shiver travel up his spine.

And that was the reason why he was so adamant on killing Bai Yunfei! Ge Yiyun could wait, but Bai Yunfei definitely had to die here and now!

It went without saying that a Saint could travel quickly. A bolt of fire as strong as the ones he sent toward Ge Yiyun earlier was now flying toward Bai Yunfei!

"Watch out!!"

Ge Yiyun could only call out a warning for Bai Yunfei. He was simply far too away from him to do anything in time.

"Tch!!"

Face-paling at the realization of him being targeted, Bai Yunfei activated the effects of his Counter Armor at once!

+10 Additional Effect: In exchange for Soulforce, creating a devouring whirlpool of darkness that negates any elemental attack directed towards the user.

Cooldown of 10 minutes.

"Bzz…"

A tear in space formed above Bai Yunfei's head, transforming in a pitch-black whirlpool roughly dozens of meters large in circumference to protect him.

The bolt of fire was sucked into the whirlpool without appearing on the other side. As if it was engulfed, the bolt of fire disappeared without a trace into the darkness.

The whirlpool expanded abruptly in size before then collapsing in on itself and disappearing from the world as if it never existed.

"Phew…"

Bai Yunfei heaved a sigh of relief upon realizing he had just managed to save himself from what could've been a fatal blow.

But blocking that attack meant Bai Yunfei was already down a fortieth of his reserves. He was lucky he didn't use the +12 additional effect, or else he risked a chance of being dreadfully low on soulforce…

A shiver ran up his spine then, causing Bai Yunfei to snap out from his celebration. The stench of death was here once again!

Looking up, he realized with a start that Shangguan Xiongyan was somehow just less than a dozen meters away from him. And in Shangguan Xiongyan's hand was a strange red-colored sword poised to cut into Bai Yunfei's throat!

He was on the verge of being killed!