Among the more than two thousand mutated beasts that had fallen today in combat against the endless hail of bullets fired incessantly by the armed men on the back lines and the ferocity demonstrated by the soul evolvers who greed for the Soul Power of the beasts as if they were the real beasts, a large part of them were colossal monsters the size of a huge house.

How much blood did these beasts have inside their bodies? No one knew exactly.

However, since the size of their bodies had grown exponentially after evolution having accepted the mana inside each of them, it was only natural that the blood circulating through each blood vessel would increase accordingly in order to nourish the body and somehow support the increased energy consumption.

One could only try to imagine how much blood an elephant-like beast that was easily more than fifteen meters tall or rhinoceroses that reached up to ten meters could have.

So, how much blood had been accumulated after more than two thousand such beastly existences were slaughtered? Literally a river flowed through the battlefield as the endless rain seemed to struggle to wash away the heavy iron smell that enveloped the area.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!....

The thick heavy blood began to separate from the rainwater and under Bai Zemin's practically masterful control over the blood element each drop slowly floated up into the skies.

The defending troops of humanity gawked with eyes filled with surprise as the red drops slowly began to release a faint but brilliant crimson shimmer, creating a stark contrast with the purple lightning flashing behind them in the background.

Rain drops were falling.

Blood drops were rising.

The difference between the millions of drops of pure water and the millions of drops of corrupted blood created a visual impact that would undoubtedly remain in the memories of all present for a long time to come.

Flash!

The beasts trembled in fright at the abrupt release of the mana belonging to the small human being before them. However, the most frightened were the beasts of the First Order as they stared with terrified eyes at the drops of blood that slowly began to glow brighter and brighter as they slowly rose to higher and higher heights.

The drops of blood were so many that when they reached a certain height they seemed to merge into a single body to form a huge wave of blood that covered the skies like a crimson cloak.

Nangong Lingxin watched it all with disbelief written all over her beautiful face. 

She had seen firsthand how a single attack from Bai Zemin managed to decimate all enemies within a kilometer of him. However, the scale and magnitude of what she was witnessing tonight was on a completely different level to the point where Nangong Lingxin herself had difficulty expressing how heavy her heart felt.

"What... He... He was holding back?" she muttered with shock and utter disbelief in her voice.

This was the only reasonable explanation Nangong Lingxin could find to associate this Bai Zemin with the Bai Zemin from a week ago. Because from her logical point of view, it was impossible to think of any other reasonable reason why someone would suddenly become three or four times more powerful so fast.

Of course, Nangong Lingxin was aware that by absorbing Soul Power living beings could become more powerful. However, such a thought never crossed her mind as such an idea was simply insane.

Absorbing Soul Power enough to propel you to such a degree? What kind of beings must you face to achieve such a thing...? When this thought flashed in her mind, however, Nanong Lingxin's eyes twitched and her heart trembled as she recalled the great explosion in the center of the forest plagued by mutant beasts.

Just then, an indifferent voice replied:

"I don't think he was holding back then."

Nangong Lingxin looked to her left and saw that at some point, Shangguan Bing Xue had arrived beside her.

Shangguan Bing Xue watched the endless crimson glow dancing above the clouds before slowly lowering her head to look at the young man's back fifty meters away.

The cloak attached to the shoulder pads protruding from Bai Zemin's armor flapped in irregular patterns not due to the wind but due to the terrifying quantity of mana he was using all at once.

In Shangguan Bing Xue's blue eyes, his figure was reflected in the distance and at the same time she could see a faint energy that was tinged with a slight crimson tint around him. The abundance of Mana that Bai Zemin was consuming and providing was so great that for a moment the energy surrounding him became faintly visible.

"It will be better for you if you just assume that this Bai Zemin is a completely new one as far as power is concerned." Shangguan Bing Xue concluded as her eyes glittered with a complicated light.

Even though she was the second most powerful just below him, even though there were thousands who longed to stand where she stood, Shangguan Bing Xue only felt weakness as she looked at that back on which the lives of countless rested and back on which the faith and hopes of many others lay.

At this moment, Shangguan Bing Xue could not help but wonder in her heart: At what point had the disparity between both of us grown so wide?

Shangguan Bing Xue could still clearly remember how back then the difference between her and Bai Zemin was not wide, and even if there was any difference between their overall strength, it was not a noticeable gap. In fact, Shangguan Bing Xue still remembered how back then she saved his life after a battle that exhausted him completely and left him at the mercy of the zombies.

So it was around that time. She thought and a small sigh involuntarily escaped from her lips.

In fact, the inflection point of Bai Zemin could be said to be his encounter with the First Order Blazing Beetle while he was still just a level 15 Unclassified existence.

If not for that battle, many things would be different today. It was from that moment on that Bai Zemin's strength only increased more and more, shooting into the skies like a rocket.

Although Shangguan Bing Xue had also been growing more powerful and the speed at which her levels were rising was frighteningly fast, the difference in power between her and him only increased with each passing day.

How can I be worthy of being his good friend if I can't help him bear his burdens? When such a thought appeared in her mind, Shangguan Bing Xue felt something similar to a burning flame begin to grow deep inside her and her eyes became filled with determination as she saw Bai Zemin about to make his move.

For a person like Shangguan Bing Xue who valued friendship as much as her own life, a friend was not something just for show. A friend was someone who could be trusted and counted on. Therefore, she wanted to be a person, a friend on whom Bai Zemin could trust and rely.

Little by little and without her realizing it, Shangguan Bing Xue was growing not only as a person but also as a woman. Slowly, she was leaving attitudes that could be considered by many as childish to become a real woman; a woman worthy of reliance.

...

Of course, Bai Zemin knew nothing of Shangguan Bing Xue's thoughts.

At this moment he was putting as much concentration as possible into performing a suppression-type attack that would not kill the beasts but would leave them weakened enough so that they would not have the ability to launch any kind of counterattack.

At this point, Bai Zemin had reached level 50 and was at the breaking point where one more step would lead him to evolve once again, becoming a Second Order existence. 

How much Soul Power did he need to level up? Bai Zemin did not know. However, he was aware that the amount was undoubtedly very high.

If Bai Zemin wanted to absorb the Soul Power of Unclassified existences to gain enough boost that would somehow allow him to level up, then he would probably need to kill several hundred thousand or even over a million creatures. Such a path was not feasible unless he was willing to spend years to progress from Order to Order.

For a person like him, who sought to become a powerful existence in the shortest amount of time possible, the most viable path was to defeat and absorb the Soul Power of beings at levels above his own; the more, the better. Although this meant risking his life in every battle, Bai Zemin had decided to walk this path from the day he learned that Lilith needed his help to accomplish something.

Regardless of what Lilith wanted, Bai Zemin would do his best to fulfill it. 

He was this kind of person. He didn't like to owe anyone anything, he didn't like to feel indebted. But above everything else, Bai Zemin was a grateful person; and he was infinitely grateful towards Lilith.

"So, I' ll risk my life in every step if it means to become stronger faster." He muttered in a low voice, low enough to be completely eclipsed by a fierce thunderclap that rumbled the earth.

Bai Zemin looked up at the sky, his face slightly pale due to the consumption of over 600 Mana points brightened slightly after receiving head-on the crimson flash of what appeared to be a huge wave of blood floating above his head and stretching over five kilometers in length.

"This is the path I walk." He whispered to no one in particular, more as if he were reaffirming something to himself.

"Blood Vortex!"

His voice echoed amidst the thunder and lightning.

The heart of every soul evolver and every armed man trembled and the enemy beasts shuddered in fear in their place.

The entire world seemed to fall silent for an instant and as if the emperor of all blood declared it, the seemingly endless amount of crimson liquid floating in the sky twisted to form a huge vortex of blood that quickly began to whirl at speeds impossible to follow with the naked eye.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!...

The blood vortex whirled at such high speeds that the wind began to be drawn into the center like a black hole and the fierce storm failed to overcome the pressure resulting in every raindrop within five kilometers beginning to fly into the vortex before it even touched the ground.

Sitting on top of a large building, Lilith felt bittersweet emotions as she watched this.

To Bai Zemin, what he was doing might not be a big deal, but Lilith knew that this was far from normal. Perhaps, he believed that as long as he had enough Mana, he could do anything. However, this could not be more distant from reality; an existence could not simply perform a magical attack just because they possessed enough Mana. 

Bai Zemin's magic spell had reached such a vast magnitude that it even managed to slightly influence how the weather behaved within a certain limit!

Before Lilith or anyone else could think any more, Bai Zemin's deep voice thundered into the night again.

"Chains!"

And as if a portal to another world opened from the sky, hundreds of thousands of blood chains shot out from the dark center of the blood vortex.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!...

The thick, glowing blood chains remained attached to the vortex and twisted like snakes as they descended from the heavens and headed towards the over 2500 beasts.

Although the beasts knew they had to flee, the pressure of an infinitely more powerful soul was not something they could shake off so casually and at the sight of what seemed to be endless blood chains sent from the heavens to punish them, they could only shudder fearfully.

* * * * * * *

A little late cause of my birthday. Sorry >.<

Thanks a lot to all those who use their Golden Tickets to vote for BW <3

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