Chapter 3953: Life Copy

The crown was rose-gold in color with a cylindrical base and nine spikes curving outward from the circle. Nine crimson rubies were situated at the base of each of the spikes, glowing with a dull red light. A wave of life aura flooded into the arena, strong enough that even those that weren’t able to normally sense it could immediately tell what they were feeling.

The aura alone would be enough to improve the healing capability of every cultivator standing in the arena.

Whatever thoughts the audience had before this in regard to the duel, they had vanished the moment the Fire God had brought out the crown.

"Ninecrest?" Alex asked. He had known about the crown through the memories Godslayer had left behind, but never the name. The artifact had been made from the Nine-Headed Phoenix, crafted for the Fire God’s predecessor, Pyrelight. He had been one of the gods to die at the hands of the Godkiller.

"The Crown of Nine Returns," the Fire God added. "It’s part of its title."

Alex gave a faint nod. "What does it do exactly?"

"Something great," the Fire God said as he turned his palm upwards. Instantly, a tongue of flame appeared, the same variety as what Blazelight had produced, but far more vibrant and intense. The pinkness of the light that came off the red and blue flames was enough to make the entire world look the same color.

"Nine-Headed Phoenix’s fire," Alex said, realizing what it was immediately.

"Yes," the Fire God said. "And of course, it’s not just a failed copy. This isn’t a copy at all to begin with. This is the actual flame."

Alex slowly realized what was happening.

"That crown," he said. "It’s directly allowing you to use the Nine-Headed Phoenix’s flame."

"Correct," the Fire God said. "I have full control of the Nine-Headed Phoenix’s flame, otherwise known as the Timeless Flame. With this fire, I can heal any and all wounds in the blink of an eye. I could stand in the middle of a battlefield, and I have, and heal each fighter with a thought and a single tongue of this flame. That is how powerful it is."

Alex could feel the powerful temporal aura within the fire, so he could understand why it would be called that. He couldn’t help but admit that the fire before him was a powerful fire as well. Perhaps not in terms of destructiveness, as it would not reach the level of Sunfire, but it was incredible in its own way.

Sunfire had some life aura as well, but this was simply on another level. Alex had to admit that if he had found this flame instead of Sunfire, he would’ve been equally happy as well. There was a reason why the Nine-Headed Phoenix was a Primordial too after all.

It was a God beast.

Alex glanced at the audience, who talked among themselves, clearly surprised. Many of them weren’t even aware of the artifact, so this was the first time they were seeing it.

"That is, of course, not all this can do," the Fire God added. "It would be underwhelming if the Ninecrest, formed using the heart of the Nine-Headed Phoenix, couldn’t do more."

Alex agreed.

Ashmaker lifted his finger and pointed toward the crown. "Do you all see these gems on the crown?"

The audience nodded, and so did Alex.

"These are called Life Gems," the Fire God said. "And these contain a copy of my life."

Many people looked around with strange expressions, unsure what the Fire God was talking about. What copies?

Alex asked what everyone was curious about. "What does that mean? How does it copy your life?"

"Quite simply what it says. The gems are capable of copying me and holding in that copy of my life. So, if I were to ever truly die, the Life Gems activate, and the copy is brought back to life. Meaning, I come back to life."

Alex’s eyes widened. "You... you can come back to life?"

"I can," the Fire God said. "It’s not unlike that ability you said your phoenix has. Except, I don’t have to go through another lifetime. I am just there."

The words were stunning for the audience to hear. They could already imagine how hard it would be to kill a Celestial like him to begin with, and he could return to life still? That was like fighting two Celestials, back to back.

Alex looked at the crown. "There are nine gems," he said.

"Correct. I have nine copies of myself saved in my crown," the man said. "I can die up to nine times and I can come back nine different times. You cannot get rid of the God of Fire so easily."

Alex’s mind immediately went to his own Undying body, and how he could do something similar too. However, he feared this may be stronger than what he had right now.

"What is the requirement for activation?" he asked.

"The complete destruction of my body and soul," the Fire God said. "Once I am fully dead, I come back to life."

"What if the crown is stolen from you?" Alex asked.

"The crown brings me back to life. So it doesn’t matter where the crown is, since I come back to life right there."

Alex frowned. "What about your predecessor? He had this crown, and yet he died. Did he not have those life copies?"

"It takes a while to create the copies. If I’m not wrong, he only had two life copies at the time of his death," the Fire God said. "But of course, since his opponent was the Godkiller, it wouldn’t have mattered even if he had all nine copies."

That was true. The anomaly that was the Godkiller could hardly be used as a gap in Ashmaker’s logical defenses.

Alex fell silent as a result.

Ashmaker smirked. "So, what do you think?" he asked. "Is your Primordial artifact better or mine?"

Alex looked up.

"Better?" he asked. "Senior Ashmaker, do you think this is all I have?"