Before Zenobia could finish speaking, Sophia extended her hand and grabbed her by the throat.


    Her eyes flickered with a strange blue light as she looked at the face that was identical to her own. With a deliberate, measured tone, she said, "Have you said enough?! What does it matter if he''s with someone else? What does that have to do with me?!"


    However, Zenobia showed no sign of panic. Instead, she burst intoughter, her face twisted into a mocking grin. "You noticed, didn''t you? He has someone he likes now, and it happened just in the past few days! You lost again! You lost again!"


    Sophia''s chest rose and fell with rage, and she could almost feel the urge to choke the so-called Mistress of the Sin Domain to death.


    But in the end, she slowly regained herposure.


    "No matter what, you can forget about me helping you get the Celestial Pearl." Sophia stared at Zenobia, whose face was now rigid with frustration, and said, "And weren''t you the Mistress of the Sin Domain? A mere Celestial Pearl—could it possibly be a challenge for you? Why would you need the help of a lowly high-level mage like me?"


    Zenobia''s expression darkened at the insult.


    She red at Sophia and said, "The Celestial Pearl is beneath our feet, right here in the sea. If you can obtain it, everything you want will be within your grasp. Don''t you find that tempting?"


    Sophia remained calm, her voice steady. "I don''t need the Celestial Pearl to ascend to the Divine Realm and get what I desire."


    She paused, her lips curling into a faint smirk. "And I won''t go looking for him. I will make hime find me himself."


    At this, Zenobia''s face shifted from anger to frustration.


    She snapped, "Then just how long are you going to wait for that damned human toe find you?


    "Are you nning to wait until you grow old, your beauty fades, your body turns to dust, and you''re reborn once again?


    "Or are you going to wait until the Ancient Gods descend, the universe falls into silence, and a new era begins, with all divine souls erased?"


    Sophia''s smile barely deepened at the corners of her mouth. "What I do has nothing to do with you."


    ...


    Meanwhile, on Snake Ind.


    In the dense forest, countless snakes slithered around, and at the core of the mountains, a grand pce stood tall.


    "Hmm? That Luca has already reached thirty nautical miles out?" Furious Shark Evans sat on his throne, his interest piqued as he listened to his subordinates report.


    One-eyed Carmichael, fanning himselfzily, added, "That''s about right. He''s already reached Waterhorn Ind. The only thing is, for some unknown reason, he hasn''t continued forward."


    Beside him, a three-meter-tall man with a thick beard and only one arm picked up arge chunk of meat and shoved it into his mouth. As he chewed, he mumbled indistinctly, "What other reason could there be? He''s definitely scared."


    One-eyed Carmichael shook his head. "That kid named Luca, though young, is no ordinary person. Just from what he showed in the Bluewater Sea, it''s clear he has Superss-level power."


    "Superss at just over ten years old?" This statement made all the pirates in the hall pause in shock. They had seen many geniuses, but none with this kind of overwhelming ability.


    Bloodhand Jack, the bearded, one-armed giant, wasn''t particrly concerned. He casually said, "No need to think too much. He''s probably relying on high-level or Superss magic runes."


    "You all know how it is with Demonic Rune Mages. Without money, they''re just bottom-tier no-hopers. With money, they be unreasonable geniuses."


    At this, everyone in the hall burst intoughter. While no one denied the power of Demonic Rune Mages, the nature of the ss meant that most of them were nothing more than shy but ultimately useless practitioners. The dazzling feats and achievements often came from spending vast amounts of money, but when it came down to actualbat, they turned out to be soft and weak.


    "What does the captain say? Should we send someone to scout the situation?" Carmichael looked to Evans, waiting for the leader to make a decision.


    "What''s there to discuss?" Evans grinned widely, standing up and grabbing the serrated de resting beside him. He shouted at the people inside the pce, "Everyone, gather up! We''re going to greet the neer ourselves!"


    "Let them know who runs the Western Sea!"


    "Don''t worry, Captain! We''ll scare the crap out of that kid!" The pirates in the hall cheered, clearly excited.


    A group of effeminate people from Seaway City actually dared to venture into dangerous waters to trouble their ck Raven Pirate Crew!


    They''d been wanting to kill these clueless fools for a while!


    As Evans reached the door of the hall, something suddenly urred to him.


    He turned to Carmichael and said, "Oh, and don''t forget to bring our precious and beautiful Miss Ellie along, or else they''ll say we''re not ying by the rules."


    The rules of the sea were simple.


    If you lose, you stay. If you win, you take everything.


    ...


    Meanwhile, on the other side, after entering the trial dungeon door.


    Luca hadn''t even opened his eyes yet, but he could already feel an intense, scorching hot wind hitting his face.


    The temperature around him was incredibly high.


    "No wonder," he thought as he looked around and realized that he had entered a volcanic mountain range.


    As far as the eye could see, everything was bathed in a fiery red. Volcanoes erupted from the ground, and the sky was obscured by the thick ashes rising into the air.


    The ck volcanic rocks were scattered across thend, and through the cracks, Luca could see the burning crimson mes and rollingva below.


    In just this short amount of time, beads of sweat began to form on Luca''s forehead.


    It was important to note that his physique was far from ordinary; it was a divine body forged through divine refinement.


    Even his divine body was affected by the intense heat here, so the mes in this ce were clearly extraordinary.


    At that moment, the hidden Sr Divine Spear rune on his forehead suddenly flickered.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A golden figure slowly appeared in the air, standing tall. Golden hair cascaded down from his head—it was the Sr Divine Spear, who had been dormant for a long time.


    He looked around in surprise at the surroundings and said, "I was wondering why the fire elements around here are so dense. So we''re in the underground volcanic range. By the way, how did you end up in such a ce?"


    Luca shrugged and replied, "It''s the Awakening Trial dungeon. It just teleported me here."


    Upon hearing this, the Sr Divine Spear couldn''t help butugh. "I really don''t know whether to say you''re lucky or unlucky. The mes here in the underground volcanic range are the essence of Earthfire, the same grade as Heavenly Fire. Forget about you as a high-level ss, even if a Transcendent level being came here, they''d still be doomed to die."


    Luca understood then. No wonder his divine body was feeling difort here; the mes were indeed problematic.


    After a brief pause, he asked, "What do you mean by ''lucky''? Can you control the mes here?"


    "You''re thinking too much," Sr Divine Spearughed. "Heavenly Fire and Earth Fire both belong to different natures. The Sun God controls the rules of Heavenly Fire, while the Earth God controls the rules of Earth Fire.


    "The two rules may seem simr, but they are worlds apart.


    "However, although I can''t control the mes here, since they originate from the same source, I can still ease your burden a little."


    As he spoke, he conjured a golden me in his hand, and streams of Law of the Sun runes fused into Luca''s body.


    In that instant, Luca could clearly feel the intense heat disappear.


    He stretched out his hand and tried to get closer to a cluster of Earthfire. To his surprise, the mes actually avoided him as if they were consciously moving away.


    This scene fascinated Luca.


    It turned out that even powers of the same attribute could have such repelling effects.


    "With the help of the Sr Divine me,pleting the task will be much easier from here on out," Luca said with a smile, looking up to search for the trial''s objective—the four Guardians.


    His gaze eventuallynded on a vast sea ofva, and in the middle of this fiery ocean, he saw a strange creature seemingly bathing in the mes.


    At that moment, Sr Divine Spear nced up at the highest volcano and said, "This ce will be immensely beneficial for healing my injuries. From here on, I won''t be able to assist you much. You''ll have to rely on yourself."


    "Can this ce really heal your injuries?" Luca''s eyes immediately lit up at the words. The Sr Divine Spear''s injuries had remained unhealed for over a hundred thousand years, and it had always been a headache for him.


    He never imagined that he would find a solution here.


    "Of course. The primordial fire can help heal my wounds, just like the fire attribute materials you helped me find before," the Sr Divine Spear said with a hint of regret. "It''s a shame that the Earthfire here isn''t powerful enough to restore me to my peak state, but reaching the Transcendent level shouldn''t be a problem."


    Transcendent level? Luca couldn''t help but smile at the thought.


    Even if the Sr Divine Spear couldn''t return to its full power, that was still more than enough for Luca at this point.


    After bidding Luca farewell, the Sr Divine Spear transformed into a golden streak of light, racing toward the highest volcano.


    The moment the golden figure entered the volcano, Luca clearly felt the fire element energy throughout the underground volcanic range gather and surge toward that very volcano.


    The crimson Earthfire converged into flowing rivers, heading straight into the mouth of the volcano. The sight was nothing short of spectacr.


    After confirming that there were no problems on the Sr Divine Spear''s side, Luca turned his attention back to theva sea and began his journey toward the Guardian in the center of the fire ocean.


    In this area, aside from the four Guardians and some fire spirits, there were no other monsters; the environment here wasn''t suitable for most monsters to survive.


    As he got closer, Luca was finally able to make out the appearance of the Guardian.


    It was an enormous crimson giant python, its entire body covered in glowing, iron-like red marks. It exuded the aura of a peak Superss, just half a step away from breaking through to the Transcendent level.


    "Looks like we''re in for a tough battle," Luca muttered to himself, and with a sh of light in his hand, he summoned a Diamond-level ck crystal spear. Golden patterns appeared on its surface, radiating with intense power.


    Luca''s aura also began to rise rapidly.


    The Guardian, sensing the hostile presence of this outsider, let out a terrifying roar.


    "ROAR!!!" The deafening sound echoed throughout the entireva sea.


    Endless mes swirled around the giant python''s body.


    The air seemed to tremble under the immense pressure of its aura, as if the very heavens themselves were copsing.


    Luca, taking onest look at the peak Superss fire python before him, paused for a moment, then lightly patted the inert Jormungandr on his wrist. "Stop ying dead, it''s time to get to work."