Bai Zemin did not notice when he left his room or when he went downstairs to the main floor of the villa. He also didn't notice how he got to the living room nor did he seem to notice the moment when his body rested comfortably on the expensive leather couch and when his back rested against the back of the couch.

No, maybe it wasn't that he didn't notice. Perhaps, he was simply too detached to worry about small and insignificant details. With his mind distracted and his spirit seemingly faint, he simply sat there without saying a word.

His current condition was naturally due to the fact that the person with whom he had spent almost every minute and every second of his life from the beginning of this new era had left his side just like that.

She simply said I'm leaving, and then she left.

It sounded natural, but somehow Bai Zemin felt that things should not be like that. Apart from feeling lost, he couldn't deny that he was also slightly angry and a small frown on his face was the strong proof of this.

However, after thinking it over he realized that he had neither the qualifications nor the right to feel angry toward Lilith. After all, he and she were friends but that friendship might not be as strong as he initially thought. At the end of the day, the reason why Lilith was supporting and helping him was to make him strong enough to be of use for whatever her motives were.

The small frown on Bai Zemin's face slowly eased gently, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he was overthinking things. Maybe, he trusted her wholeheartedly, but it didn't mean that she trusted him wholeheartedly.

In a matter of minutes, Bai Zemin's emotions calmed down completely and Lilith's departure stopped affecting him almost entirely.

He didn't realize that his Stone Heart skill was passively doing its job again. But how could he know? Passive skills worked like that, covertly, becoming part of you.

It was because of this powerful Third Order skill that Bai Zemin unconsciously overlooked the fact that Lilith had told him minutes before leaving that he was one of the only two living beings she considered as friends. Otherwise, Bai Zemin would have realized that her appreciation of him was in no way inferior to his appreciation of her.

Lilith did not realize this fact either. Or maybe, instead of saying that she did not realize it, it would be more accurate to say that she had forgotten the fact that Bai Zemin possessed a passive skill that affected his emotions and thus his thoughts. 

Because Bai Zemin had acted completely normal and open with her, Lilith gradually forgot about the existence of the Stone Heart skill, ignoring that a Third Order skill was powerful no matter what it was; especially passive skills that acted covertly without anyone noticing them, and even more so a skill that in itself was focused on suppressing the effect that the opposite sex could have on a man.

That little slip ended up causing a large part of the closed distance to increase again. Although Bai Zemin still trusted Lilith with all his heart, some of his thought processes had changed slightly.

For example, he recalled the reason and basis why he and Lilith met and why they still continued to interact. At the end of the day, regardless of whether the two considered themselves friends, it was undeniable that in one way or another they were both using each other.

With his heart now much calmer and with a completely clear mind, Bai Zemin's thought process cleared up in its entirety, and in an instant, he was able to remember and identify what his true and most important objectives were for which he should be moving and striving to achieve.

Again, he did not realize that in reality, he was not using Lilith nor was she using him; it was just that they were both supporting each other to help the other. It was a big change of seeing things, which naturally could cause thoughts to change completely along with emotions.

When he raised his head for the first time since sitting on the couch, his black eyes immediately met the gaze of two beautiful and charming sky blue eyes.

Shangguan Bing Xue was sitting on the couch opposite Bai Zemin's, being separated only by a small glass table placed in the middle. Her bright eyes stared at him, studying his changing expression and trying to understand the reason why he was suddenly acting so peculiarly.

Seeing him raise his head to look at her, Shangguan Bing Xue lifted one of her smooth shining legs and with the elegance of a princess crossed it nimbly over the other. Then, she said in a somewhat perplexed voice, "Are you sure you are all right? Earlier you let out a furious shout that could be heard from here clearly, and just now you looked as if your soul had flown away from your body somewhere, but a few minutes later, you regained your composure."

In fact, Shangguan Bing Xue somehow felt that the person in front of her suddenly looked colder than before, which confused her greatly. However, she denied these thoughts immediately as they did not make any sense. After all, a few hours ago everything was perfect and she didn't remember having any disagreements with him.

"About that..." Bai Zemin sighed and after a moment's consideration decided to tell part of the truth but not all of it, after all, Shangguan Bing Xue was an incredibly intelligent woman, and he was aware that if he lied to her and she realized, it would be damaging to both of them in the end.

Therefore, after taking a second to think, he narrated that he had already reached level 50 and had chosen his next path of evolution. However, the problem was the requirements.

"Two thousand Second Order and one hundred Third Order..." The beautiful woman whose hair was silver and soft as moonshine gasped as she listened to the evolution requirements of the man in front of her. "What insanity is this?"

Now she could understand the reason why Bai Zemin shouted in anger to the four winds and the reason for his strange behavior just now! Anyone would go crazy if they were suddenly required to complete such a task! As if that wasn't enough, the Soul Record even imposed a time limit on this trial that while they were here ran backwards!

"You... What kind of monster are you turning into? Even the Soul Record seems to be trying to slow you down!" Shangguan Bing Xue exclaimed in surprise as she looked at him with wide eyes.

Bai Zemin forced a smile and shook his head. 

He knew thanks to Lilith that the Soul Record wasn't trying to slow him down at all, it was just that this entity was giving him just the right trial for whatever he was to become someday if he managed to reach the end of the path he himself had opened with his own strength.

"Anyway, as you know now, we need to take over China in less than 365 days as a deadline." Bai Zemin said earnestly. "This also means that you will soon be able to have the man who humiliated your mother in the past and abandoned you on his knees before you."

Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes shone brightly upon hearing this and her spirits seemed to lift as she sat up straighter. She analyzed aloud, "The central government cabinet is located here in Beijing, this means that the chances of that man being in the same city as us is high. If we manage to take over all the districts and bring down the various leaders of the previous government, sooner or later Xuanyuan Wentian will have to appear whether he likes it or not."

"Right." Bai Zemin nodded and said lazily, "Even if not, it's just a fact written in stone that it will happen in less than a year."

"That's fine with me." She nodded and after a deep breath calmed down, returning to her usual indifferent and calm expression. "So, all that aside, I think it will be best for you if we start with the loot so we can get moving as quickly as possible."

"Yeah. Let's get started." Bai Zemin nodded and looked at the five yellow orbs on the table. "As we agreed, three of these treasures will be for you since I took the Epic grade treasure."

"Okay." Shangguan Bing Xue nodded without too much rejection this time.

If she felt a little unfair before because she was aware that in reality, Bai Zemin could also keep everything, she decided to put aside her pride in this case. The difference in strength between the two was already very great and Shangguan Bing Xue was extremely clear that if she let her pride get in the way here then the gap would only grow wider and wider.

At this point, a single Magic grade treasure was extremely valuable and the amount of stats she would be able to obtain from three of them at the same time would undoubtedly be a great boost to her strength, which would help her in defeating more powerful enemies, and thus absorb higher quality Soul Power; all this not to mention the skills attached to these treasures. This was an endless circle in which the stronger one was, the stronger one would become.

Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!

Shangguan Bing Xue and Bai Zemin gently crushed the treasure orbs and lights flashed inside the room. Since the two of them were alone as the rest were still sleeping or had gone out to hunt to level up or perform other tasks, he and she were the only beings who could witness the moment when five incredibly valuable treasures appeared before them at the same time.

A few seconds later, several objects appeared on the glass table.

"Fortunately and they are all small or otherwise the table would have ended up on the floor and no longer healthy." Shangguan Bing Xue joked, clearly in a good mood.

Ring, necklace, bracelet; these were the treasures that had appeared from the five Magic grade treasure orbs.

To be precise, two rings, two necklaces, and one bracelet.

Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue looked at each other and as if by prior agreement both took the two rings to study them.

The ring Bai Zemin took turned out to be one he already had; it was a Rejection Ring. This was an incredibly powerful treasure and there have been few occasions in which Bai Zemin was forced to use the power of the skill attached to this treasure.

After studying hers, Shangguan Bing Xue exchanged with Bai Zemin and showed him the ring she had taken while he passed her the other one.

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[Water Animation Ring (Magic Grade Treasure): When equipped it automatically increases Magic by +15 and Health by +15 points. Possesses the power to create a living being from water. The living being has no emotions or feelings, and its only reason to exist is to serve the user. The power of Water Animation depends on the magical power of the creator and a water source is needed to work. The skill Water Animation can be used once every 12 hours and has a duration of 30 minutes or until the water creation is destroyed.]

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This was a ring that Bai Zemin did not have. However, even then the only thing that was really useful to him was actually the stats as the attached skill wasn't of much use to him considering his combat methods.

"I want these two rings." Shangguan Bing Xue stated and looked at Bai Zemin wanting to see some sort of reaction from him.

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