"Team leader of the 15th team, uh...." Huang Tian muttered as he looked at Bai Zemin with careful eyes as if he wanted to unearth all his secrets.

Seeing him like this, Bai Zemin really didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he suddenly remembered something and pointed out, "To begin with, father.... Didn't that guy named Fan Qiu say earlier that there were only 14 teams within the Black Turtle guild?"

According to Fan Qiu, he was one of the 14 leaders of the 14 teams that made up the Black Turtle guild. Therefore, Bai Zemin found it puzzling that his father named an apparent team number 15, and as if that wasn't enough, the leader of the Black Turtle guild didn't seem too surprised by it either.

Bai Zemin's doubts were instantly cleared up by Bai Delan.

"Actually, our guild has just over 1400 members in total. Each of the 14 teams is composed of a total of 100 soul evolvers.... But, there are approximately 53 more that aren't enough to make up a complete team so the 15th team is actually not really taken as a true team by anyone here." Bai Delan couldn't help but smile with a bit of bitterness as he said those words.

"I see..." Bai Zemin nodded slightly and frowned slightly.

Basically, although in fact the state of his father was considerable, he was actually only leading a team that wasn't even treated as such. At least until the 15th team filled all the memberships, Bai Delan would surely be seen as an incomplete leader. In fact, the reason he had the right to come here instead of other leaders was probably due to his own personal strength.

"Bai Zemin." Huang Tian looked at Bai Zemin with narrowed eyes and said in a serious voice, "Your strength is undeniable. But the question here is how are your leadership abilities. I have no problem with letting Bai Delan be second after you in the 15th team, but I can't allow someone with 0 leadership experience to take the reins now since a significant operation will soon be underway in one of the most dangerous forests in the south."

What was his leadership like? Bai Zemin forced a smile into his heart and really didn't know how to answer that question. 

He didn't dare to say he was a born leader, talented, or overly experienced.... But at the very least, Bai Zemin was pretty sure that only a handful of people in this entire base could perhaps compare to him when it came to leading fighters into battle.

At that moment, a series of footsteps sounded from behind the group heading in their direction. When Bai Zemin raised his head, he saw Zhong De and Nangong Lingxin coming closer.

"You two...?" Huang Tian muttered as he looked at the duo and Bai Zemin repeatedly as if he was asking to the latter if he knew them.

"Guild Leader Huang, these two are my teammates with whom I fought shoulder to shoulder from Yanqing District to clear a path for us here." Bai Zemin pointed at the duo, casually explaining not only the connection they shared but also indirectly saying that they were both existences not to be messed with.

In fact, after hearing the words of Bai Zemin, the eyes of Huang Tian and Bai Delan flashed as they watched the duo carefully.

"... Indeed, I can sense that both of them are powerful warriors." Huan Tian nodded before stepping forward and extending his invitation with goodwill, "Two friends, since you both far exceed the level requirement and considering that you are Bai Zemin's comrades with a lot of combat experience, there is no need for you to go through the joining test. What do you think?"

Nangong Lingxin and Zhong De did not respond immediately and instead looked at Bai Zemin as if waiting for his confirmation. It was only after seeing him nod that the two of them looked at Huang Tian and nodded with polite smiles on their faces.

This brief demonstration was enough for both Bai Delan and Huang Tian to understand that these two soul evolvers in front of them would only listen and follow the orders of a single person.

Probably having heard Huang Tian's previous question, Nangong Lingxin smiled slightly and pointed at Bai Zemin as she said with some pride in her voice, "Guild Leader Huang, my name is Nangong Lingxin and I am one of the main assault members in the group of Bai Zemin. You asked previously if he has the experience to lead, didn't you?"

"... Indeed."

Hearing Huang Tian's confirmation, Nangong Lingxin let out a chuckle and said softly, "Let me tell you a secret then. To get here, Bai Zemin led all of us without losing a single member of the team to break through the Eastern Dragon's Back.... At that time, just before the bridge collapsed due to the growth of the Earth, the zombies from Huang City and Jinping City as well as the surrounding villages had gathered under the command of a zombie with a special skill.... I guess you know what that means."

It was only after hearing Nangong Lingxin's words that both Bai Delan and Huang Tian remembered that to get here in such a short time the only way Bai Zemin had to accomplish such a thing was to break through the Eastern Dragon's Back.... That meant that at the very least, he had to have led his team to break through a horde of no less than 2-3 million zombies!

Bai Delan looked at his son with a sheet-white face as a wave of fear washed over him. He knew that his son Bai Zemin definitely had countless difficult moments to get this far, but subconsciously or not, Bai Delan had been trying not to think about how great the dangers he had to go through had been and how many times he must have been on the brink of death.

"You... You 3 went through a horde of over two million zombies?" Huang Tian looked at the three monsters in front of him as if he couldn't believe it.

"Guild leader Huang, don't joke please." Bai Zemin smiled bitterly and shook his head, "How can a team of seven people not be swallowed to death or die of exhaustion facing so many creatures? Even forging a bloody path would consume all our Stamina. I simply took advantage of a particular event where zombies and beasts fought against each other in order to get through with less trouble."

"I- I see..." Huang Tian nodded this time a little more relieved. However, he quickly added, "Still, the fact that you can lead your team without losing a single member in a situation like that and that you found the key point is definitely proof that you are an experienced and capable leader...."

Bai Delan looked at his son and for some reason felt that he was lying. However, Bai Delan also could not believe that a team of seven people could take on millions of zombies without dying from exhaustion or even receiving a scratch. After all, among a horde of millions, there would definitely be no shortage of First Order zombies and those zombies were cunning and dangerous; if they attacked at the right time, a team of First Order soul evolvers would be destroyed in an instant.

On the other hand, Nangong Lingxin looked at Bai Zemin with hidden bitterness. Although she knew that it was not good to reveal the truth, in Nangong Lingxin's eyes the young man in front of her was a divine existence that everyone should respect and revere, therefore, it was annoying to her that a little First Order soul evolver doubted his ability.

Nangong Lingxin had basically become a devout believer of Bai Zemin long ago.

"All right, Delan." Huang Tian looked at Bai Zemin with glittering eyes and nodded, "Starting tomorrow, your son will officially be the leader of the 15th team with you as the deputy leader. I will take care of the paperwork today, tomorrow you can take him to the base to familiarize him with the rest of the team."

"... Thank you very much for accepting my request." Bai Delan nodded as he looked at his son with complicated eyes.

"Then, I will take my leave. The test must still continue for the rest." Huang Tian chuckled and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and stopped dead in his tracks. Looking at Nangong Lingxin, he asked in confusion, "Nangong Lingxin, just curious but what about the rest of you?"

She was about to answer when suddenly a breeze of unnaturally cold air blew the arena and forced some of the weaker ones to take a few steps back.

"Eh?" 

"Frost?"

Bai Delan and Huang Tian looked at the light layer of frost that had formed on some parts of the ground without knowing what was going on when Nangong Lingxin's voice sounded a little amused:

"Don't worry, guild leader... I'm sure you'll hear news about them soon even if you don't want to."

* * *

After exchanging a few more words with Huang Tian, Bai Zemin left the place with his father and with Nangong Lingxin and Zhong De beside him.

"What do we do now?" Zhong De asked as he looked at Bai Zemin.

"Airhead, Bai Zemin will naturally go to see his family." Nangong Lingxin clicked her tongue and pointed out, "We naturally are not going to interrupt the reunion of a family that was separated by a sea of enemies for months!"

The corner of Zhong De's mouth twitched a couple of times and even though he knew that his question had not been very bright, he could not help but say in a grumpy voice, "I say, surnamed Nangong. Are you forgetting that my position is higher than you in every respect?"

"Hmph! Say that when you can break through my defenses, little man!" Nangong Lingxin coldly snorted without caring about Zhong De's words at all.

Bai Delan watched the duo with amusement and was relieved that that indifferent Bai Zemin who always gave a cold shoulder to everyone had managed to meet people with whom he could forge a friendship that seemed to be quite strong. But Bai Delan also took it as a matter of course, after all, these three must have fought countless battles and had surely saved each other's lives by helping each other cover their backs or even receiving wounds for each other.

"Zhong De, Nangong Lingxin. You two can either wait for the others or go back to Wu Yijun's house first." Bai Zemin interjected after a moment's thought. "I probably won't go back today since I will stay overnight with my family... No, actually. Tell Uncle Wu that there's no need to find a place for me in such a hurry."

"Okaaay."

"Mm."

Nangong Lingxin and Zhong De naturally understood Bai Zemin's thoughts so they nodded easily.

"Well then, Uncle Bai. It was a pleasure to have met you." Nangong Lingxin smiled sweetly towards Bai Delan, creating a strong contrast similar to Wu Yijun's due to her innocent smile compared to her extremely hot body.

"Uncle Bai, see you later." Zhong De bowed respectfully, confusing Bai Zemin's father a bit.

After replying to both of them, Bai Delan watched the duo's back disappearing into the distance before looking to his right only to find his son somewhat anxious.

"Nervous?" he asked with a sympathetic smile full of fatherly love.

Bai Zemin hesitated a bit before nodding. Then, he remained silent for a few seconds before asking apprehensively, "Father.... Meng Qi... She... Is she well...?"

The reason Bai Zemin asked this was because while with partial help from Lilith he had managed to guess that his mother was alive, Meng Qi was different as she did not share even a drop of blood with Bai Zemin so Lilith had no way to speak words that would help Bai Zemin to identify her current state without being punished by the Soul Record as a consequence of intervening in the fate of two Lower Existences.

Bai Delan watched his son and all thoughts of wanting to joke a little disappeared when he noticed how he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to keep from collapsing. For a soul evolver who was not only powerful but had experienced countless hardships in such a short time to find himself on the verge of collapse like this... Bai Delan could only sigh in his heart.

But in fact, although Bai Delan was extremely pleased with the fact that Bai Zemin showed concern for his family to such an extent even when clearly the world had changed him after living in hell for all these months, Bai Delan had no way of knowing that the pressure Bai Zemin felt in his heart at this moment was simply colossal.

Even with the Stone Heart rune practically completely broken into pieces to the point where he could partially see the light of the next skill, Stone Heart was as powerful as ever when it came to Bai Zemin's affection for his loved ones.

* * * * * * *

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