Chapter 884: Sealed memories & Spiritual Power

As Bai Zemin was inside the illusion of the Staircase of Heaven in conjunction with the Collector's Pocket Watch, the soul evolvers who had their eyes fixed on him and the Demon Lord who was just one step below frowned as they realized that as the seconds passed, there was no apparent movement from either of them.

"W- What happened...?"

"Neither Bai Zemin nor the Demon Lord is moving."

"No shit. If you didn't tell me I wouldn't have noticed, you idiot! I'm asking the reason why neither of them is moving!"

"... The Demon Lord probably can't move any further? I mean, his body is trembling and he seems to be having a hard time just staying on his feet."

"But... What's the problem with Bai Zemin? He climbed 9999 steps without even trembling once but for some reason his steps stopped and he hasn't moved from his spot since he planted himself on the second to last level."

"It's probably some illusion? Although it seemed to be that Bai Zemin didn't have any fear in his heart such a thing doesn't make much sense if you think about it carefully."

"So... So, you think Bai Zemin is fighting against that powerful illusion right now?"

"Well, that's probably the case."

As everyone discussed in hushed voices, those who had come with Bai Zemin began to get more and more nervous with each passing second.

He was so close, so close to getting the treasure! Just one more step, one more step to acquiring a Demigod grade treasure!

"Come on... come on... come on... come on...!" Seraphina felt anxious whether sitting or standing. She clenched her small fists with her eyes fixed on the back of the young man on step number 9999 as she repeated the same word over and over again.

Seraphina was not the only one, all the humans as well as Zilug and Mei Lin were having similar reactions to hers, especially those who despite not having spent a lot of time together had come to appreciate Bai Zemin very much for his actions that made it clear what kind of person he was.

Soon, however, something that stunned everyone occurred at the top of the Staircase of Heaven.

At first, there was nothing unusual other than that Bai Zemin's footsteps had stopped abruptly, however, his aura soon began to undergo tremendous changes that took everyone's breath away.

His aura went from confusion to panic, from panic to joy, from joy to pride. The auras of joy and pride often mingled with each other and lasted the longest, about 30 seconds in total.

This made many think that the illusion Bai Zemin was in was not one of his fears but something mellow to distract him. However, about 30 seconds after Bai Zemin's footsteps stopped, the faces of most of those present turned pale.

RUMBLE...!!!!

The Staircase of Heaven began to tremble fiercely as a blood-red aura covered Bai Zemin's body. The indistinct ghost of a wolf on its two hind legs partially covered his silhouette, the sky was tinged with crimson and two cold golden eyes opened in the clouds looking down with disdain.

No one had time to think too much about the reason why Bai Zemin would suddenly release so much killing intent even though a moment ago he was happy and joyful nor did they have time to process the fact that they had all been weakened by 20% when suddenly and without warning most of that killing intent receded and what replaced it was sadness.

"This..." The little pixie princess subconsciously put a hand to her chest and a pained expression covered her face.

Not only her, but all the pixies were also the same and the next moment the other soul evolvers with fully developed feelings looked at the young man's back with eyes brimming with sadness.

"This..." Princess Dianna was surprised when she felt something slide down her cheeks, and when she realized that she was crying the shock in her heart grew even more.

"Wh- Why do I suddenly feel like crying so much?" Gu Lim was dumbfounded.

Everyone was asking the same question. Although Bai Zemin's aura was extremely sad as if he was experiencing the worst of fates, few of those present should really care about that enough for a large part of them to feel like crying.

"It's because the sadness Bai Zemin is feeling right now has reached a level where his aura is capable of evoking emotions in others." The pixie princess subconsciously muttered.

Although her voice was not loud, everyone heard her. Moreover, no one said anything to refute her since it was known to all that Princess Scarlet of the pixie race was a soul evolver whose skills had different effects depending on her emotions and even parts of her body could change depending on her emotions such as her eye color or hair color.

The pixie king and all the pixie race soul evolvers present were shocked. They looked at Bai Zemin's back in surprise, and the king muttered under his breath, "Could it be that this boy is just like Scarlet?"

Soon, Bai Zemin's sorrowful aura began to slowly recede, but despite that, it did not disappear completely. The sadness soon mixed with joy, pride, and anger, which eventually created a strange fluctuation around him.

When about 40 seconds had passed, the sadness and anger finally disappeared being replaced by a maximum level of happiness and everyone was sure that whatever Bai Zemin was seeing in that illusion was undoubtedly the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. However, approximately 59 seconds after Bai Zemin's footsteps stopped, a sadness that was surprisingly even higher than before covered his entire existence and his posture even curved slightly forward.

Lilith had been looking at Bai Zemin anxiously all this time. Although she was far from being versatile in the law of time, Lilith had seen some skills and spells that had to do with the law of time. Therefore, she could tell that Bai Zemin was enveloped in an invisible bubble untouchable to anyone in which time ran differently from everyone else.

All the sudden aura changes, the emotions abruptly going out of control.... Lilith realized that whatever Bai Zemin was seeing would definitely affect him in some way or another.

Her face was slightly pale as she silently prayed.... She was praying that not too much time had passed for him in that illusion, or else it was very probable that he would no longer be him when he opened his eyes again.

It was then that everything changed.

The blowing wind stopped, the clouds in the sky froze, the domain of murderous intent disappeared, and the Staircase to Heaven that had been rumbling lightly fell silent again.

The Demon Lord who was standing right behind Bai Zemin subconsciously took half a step back and his expression became deadly serious. For some reason, when he looked at Bai Zemin's back just now he felt that he was looking at a completely different person; it was as if he was looking at a true giant, the ruler of life itself.

Although this feeling was only there for a split second, the Demon Lord sensed that something was not right and immediately judged that at least for now it was better to forget about the Demigod grade treasure. Soon, his body was enveloped by a layer of golden light and teleported to the bottom of the Staircase to Heaven where he immediately began to drink some potions to recover to his peak condition in record time.

When Bai Zemin opened his eyes and looked at the world in front of him, for some reason everything seemed to be colorless to him and he even got scared when he felt that his life had no meaning anymore.

"Uh..."

Greater was his shock when touching his face he found tears, his tears. Even right now he was crying even though he didn't know what was going on!

What... What was this overwhelming feeling of sadness he was feeling? Why was he feeling as if he had lost something very important? As Bai Zemin thought about these questions, a deep pain from his soul struck him to the point where even with his willpower he couldn't help but clutch his head and cry out.

"Zemin!" Lilith called out in fear as she hugged him tightly.

However, even though she asked what was wrong, Bai Zemin didn't answer.

"Don't fuck with me, you little piece of shit!" Bai Zemin roared angrily as he noticed that, in his soul, there was some sort of lock that was blocking something, and that something was precisely where the answers to his current state were.

He didn't know why but he felt incredibly sad and when he noticed that something within his own existence was giving him problems Bai Zemin immediately turned some of that sadness into anger. Not even Bai Zemin himself realized how but using his own soul he began to fiercely strike at that seal.

One... two... three... four... Seconds passed, and in about 2 minutes Bai Zemin had struck that seal about 20,000 times! However, each hit resulted in a great deal of pain for him.

He writhed on the ground as he howled like a wounded beast, but his eyes were as steady as they had ever been. He continued to hit that lock as if he was willing to die right there for the sake of easing the pain in his heart.

Again and again, he was always being bothered by all kinds of mysterious bullshit; Bai Zemin already had enough!

In the midst of sadness, he completely released all his frustration against the unknown seal.

Everyone below the staircase was shocked, especially those close to Bai Zemin.

Seraphina and Gu Lim were the first to rush forward followed by Ellis and Princess Bianca. The four of them seemed to have ignored the fact that they did not have the ability to reach the 9999th step and it was as if their bodies had moved out of pure instinct at the sight of a loved one in trouble.

The pixie princess also flew forward and ignored her father's shouts. She was indebted to him after all and could not stand by and do nothing when her benefactor was suffering.

Liam and a few others also joined in later, but none of them managed to reach Bai Zemin despite their efforts. In fact, this time the one who got the farthest was Liam, reaching the 9212th step before being sent down the staircase.

Lilith didn't think too much about it either when she rushed forward determined to do whatever it took to help him even if she had to strike him despite the punishment that awaited her. However, her movements were halted when a word in green letters flashed out of nowhere in her retinas.

[Stop.]

Lilith's face abruptly changed as she realized what was happening and the shock in her heart grew to indescribable levels.

"You... are you really alive...?" Lilith muttered in a state of utter shock.

The Soul Record was a living being? The universe would tremble if this came to light!

However, that shock quickly disappeared and was replaced by apprehension as her ruby eyes looked at the young man who was still writhing in pain but whose black eyes were still as fierce and steadfast as those of a lion willing to do anything to get what it wanted.

"He... Is he really going to be all right?"

There was no answer.

After several attempts and when his throat was getting dry from roaring so much, a small and almost invisible crack appeared on the surface of that seal.

Bai Zemin was surprised when he suddenly discovered how stupid he had been before and how basic he had been in the use of some skills. In fact, he even had strange memories of him using some of his skills much more efficiently than his current self even though Bai Zemin was sure he had never experienced such a thing.

At the same time, his heart trembled as a message in green letters flashed in his eyes.

[You have gained +1 Spiritual Power in exchange for 1 Mana point permanently.]

Spiritual Power? His heart trembled.

Wasn't that what he needed but didn't know how to get?

Bai Zemin immediately focused on that strange seal and his eyes flashed. He now had a new reason to smash that thing at any cost!

He refused to believe that this was a coincidence!

However, before he could attack that seal again, an age-old voice rang in his head forcing him to stop.

"Kid, stop for once and for all if you don't want your soul to collapse under the pressure and turn into a vegetable."

"You... Are you the Collector's Pocket Watch?" Bai Zemin asked that question in his head.

"Because I'm incomplete I can't stay awake for long, especially now that I've spent much of my strength so for now listen to what I have to say unless you want to die young."

"I have sealed what you saw and lived inside that illusion, as for the reason... Let's just say that It's because receiving 10,000 years of experience all at once would have caused your soul to break into thousands of pieces and your brain to fry."

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