Chapter 995: Second Order Bai Zemin & First Meeting!

By injecting large amounts of Mana, the small crack in the Soul Stone simply grew a little but it still needed some time to break completely.

And Bai Zemin was clearer than anyone else that time was exactly what he lacked.

Therefore, he could only make use of a resource he had been saving, reserving, and had been unwilling to use or spend for fear of not being able to recover it; rather, for fear that recovering it would be extremely difficult if it was even possible.

For the first time, Bai Zemin focused on that stat with a solitary, embarrassing point in the face of the rest of his other main stats.

However, to his surprise, what Bai Zemin faced when using that single point of Spiritual Power was not only the total absorption of the records inside the Soul Stone but he also discovered something that would definitely open a big door for him in the not-so-near future.

...

There were many things from his conversation with the former Queen of the Weaver Ants that Bai Zemin had simply overlooked or had not given them that much importance at the time.

However, it was only now that he finally understood how mysterious, powerful, and brilliant Shi Lin was.

The former Queen Shi Lin had a hundred years to live, but when she used her skill to see Bai Zemin's future she lost those hundred years leaving her with barely a few minutes. What did this mean? The answer was very simple.

From the most natural logical sense, Bai Zemin was the cause of Shi Lin's death; he had killed her even if he had not used force or had not intended to.

... No, he had not killed her. He had not dealt the final blow.

Therefore, what the former Queen Shi Lin did was simple.

She stored her records inside a Third Order Soul Stone with methods known only to her race in the same way she had passed most of her records to Bai Shilin to nurture her as the supreme queen of the weaver ants.

Once the Soul Stone was shattered, Shi Lin's death would be fully confirmed... and Bai Zemin, who had "critically injured" her in the past by taking 99.99% of her life time and now shattered the Soul Stone where the former Queen's remaining records rested was naturally going to obtain what quintessentially belonged to the victor of a battle of records.

Will Bai Zemin get much? Probably not considering that the vast majority of the former Queen's records were bestowed by her to the egg from which Bai Shilin was born.

But... he didn't need much.

All Bai Zemin needed was the record of him killing a Third Order being by himself.

That was more than enough, everything else was minor benefits in comparison.

* * *

In a world where there was no life.

In this world, the air was incredibly heavy, and even breathing would become a laborious task for any living being... if there were any inhabiting it.

The gravity of this planet was sickeningly powerful, so powerful that a First Order soul evolver would die immediately just by standing there doing nothing.

The whole world smelled of iron and the visibility was very bad because of the thick fog that covered the whole earth. However, this fog was not a normal fog of the kind that formed on cold days, and its coppery color was proof of this.

The fog was actually old blood that had been condensing in the world for a long time, and part of the reason behind the iron smell that stank up the whole globe was exactly this reddish-colored fog.

The land was arid as if a great drought on a global scale had punished this planet for years after years without mercy. However, if one were to look carefully through some of the small cracks that covered the world like patches trying to cover up something troubling or scary they would immediately notice that the ground was stained red; it was dried blood, dried over a long period of time.

On top of a mountain over 700 meters high.

Sitting on a seemingly normal rock about 30 to 40 centimeters high, a lone man stared into the distance with his eyes as red as those of a legendary demon portrayed in picture books staring into nothingness.

There were no trees to look at, and there were no passages to appreciate.

This man had been sitting in that same position with only minor changes for at least 10 years with his movements being more "abrupt" recently during the last year and a few months in particular.

Just then, the man seemed to feel something and raised his head for a few seconds before looking down again.

His eyes stared at the small and practically unnoticed green sprout that seemed to be starting to grow in the middle of one of the cracks, and although it was just a small grass that many would definitely ignore or step on, in this man's eyes it was very significant.

Maybe it was because this might be the only sign of life left in this world... Maybe it was because that sprout had been keeping him company... Or maybe it was because that little sprout gave him hope that things would soon be different.

The man slowly stood up with somewhat stiff movements, and his bones boomed like thunder exploding in the clouds. At the same time, something deep in the man's soul suddenly began to release a brilliant crimson radiance and in a matter of seconds, the radiance had become so powerful that the man's upper body began to glow and this was noticeable even with the heavy plate armor he wore.

He remained standing as he looked forward with a serene expression on his face, but in contrast to before this time he really seemed to be waiting for something as the slight expectation that shone in his eyes with each blink was impossible to miss considering his eyes hadn't shone in a long time.

* * *

[You have received records of Third Order Shi Lin level 200.....]

[Congratulations, all the evolution requirements have been fulfilled to perfection within the set time limit!]

[Analyzing records obtained during the class evolution period.]

[All records have been successfully analyzed.]

...

As Thao Zhi tortured Bai Zemin by not only inflicting constant wounds on his body but also saying hurtful and humiliating things, his expression suddenly changed for the worse as even though his eyes had been torn apart by Evangeline it did not obstruct his ability to sense the changes of everything around him at all.

Feeling the aura of the young enemy he hated more than anyone else in the universe rise abruptly until it soon reached a level of considerable danger, Thao Zhi roared in preparation to end with Bai Zemin's life the very next second.

Unfortunately, Thao Zhi's opportunity disappeared the moment he decided not to finish off Bai Zemin when he had the chance to do it all for the sake of satisfying his desire for revenge.

As to what price Thao Zhi would have to pay for this... He would soon find out without a doubt.

BOOM!!!!!

A large explosion suddenly sent Thao Zhi flying backwards and the waters of the sea churned fiercely causing Shangguan Bing Xue to retreat under her reluctantly as well since Wu Yijun had no Mana to activate Hydrokinesis.

However, she and Wu Yijun let out cries of horror and panic when they saw Bai Zemin's body exploding without warning.

Everything about him disappeared; his flesh exploded in such a way that it turned to blood, joining the blood coursing through his veins and painting a small part of the sea crimson red.

"No no... no no no!" Wu Yijun shook her head slightly at the same time as her whole body trembled uncontrollably. She seemed to be on the verge of mental and spiritual collapse as she stared at the place where the one she loved had just disappeared after exploding.

Shangguan Bing Xue's face was pale as a ghost as she watched the red blood slowly spreading and dissolving. It wouldn't be long before everything of what once conformed Bai Zemin as existence would disappear... and the very thought of it made her feel as if she was going crazy.

Just at that moment, Shangguan Bing Xue saw a small red flash; something similar to a cube-shaped stone that soon began to release a brighter and brighter glow, illuminating part of the sea with its radiance.

"What... What is that?" Shangguan Bing Xue whispered to herself in a voice somewhat hoarse from the tears choking her.

Under her and her good sister's disbelieving eyes, all the blood mist that Bai Zemin had exploded into began to recoil and at surprisingly high speeds his body began to reshape itself.

However, not even a second after his body reappeared before the eyes of both women, it exploded again.

BOOM!!!!!

This time, both Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun watched as that small cubic stone glowed brighter and brighter as Bai Zemin's body re-formed and then exploded for the third time.

Four times.

Five times.

Six times.

Seven times.

...

Bai Zemin's body exploded over and over again, but as strange as it seemed, he could still see the whole process as if he was in spiritual form appreciating how his body was reforming.

[Congratulations, you have successfully advanced to Second Order!]

[You have received UNIQUE class 'Blood Mystic']

[Your physical body is too weak to support the records stored in your soul during the advancement process.]

...

To evolve and survive, both body and soul needed to be within a certain level of balance between the two.

If the soul was too powerful in comparison to the body, what would happen would be very similar to what would happen if a person put a light bulb in a power generator meant to abruptly power a construction machine.

Therefore, Bai Zemin's physical body needed to be rebuilt in order to adapt to the power his soul would have once he absorbed at least part of the records gained during the period he was stuck at level 50.

In addition to feeling grateful for the fact that his body's pain sensors had been turned off after the activation of the skill Blood Berserker's Wrath as feeling his body explode and regenerate repeatedly was certainly not something Bai Zemin wanted to feel, his greatest gratitude was directed towards the former Queen Shi Lin.

Bai Shilin's first mother... She had certainly played a big role in Bai Zemin's life even though they had only known each other for less than an hour.

His meeting with her on the Sky Destroyer had been one of the biggest turning points in his life, even surpassing that moment when Bai Zemin managed to kill the mutant beetle back at the university during the early days of evolution.

As Bai Zemin watched everything happening from what seemed to be some sort of astral form, his consciousness suddenly began to be pulled towards the small red cube-shaped stone.

He didn't even have time to think over things too much. In less than a second, Bai Zemin found himself on top of a mountain in an unknown location.

Before Bai Zemin could look at his surroundings, a hoarse voice similar to someone who hadn't said a word for a long time sounded behind him.

"Blood Mystic, uh..."

Bai Zemin hurriedly turned around, and when he saw the man in front of him he was surprised not by the fact that this man was by a considerable margin the most perfect in terms of physical appearance but by the not-so-slight resemblance he had with himself.

In addition to being better looking in general, the man before Bai Zemin had red eyes and an ice-cold expression on his face. The most notable feature would be that, unlike Bai Zemin, this man had blood-red hair falling down his back and swaying gently despite the strong winds blowing at the top of the mountain.

"...Who are you?" Bai Zemin frowned as he looked at the small cube-shaped stone floating in front of the unknown man.

The man said nothing, and for what seemed like minutes simply stared at Bai Zemin with seemingly curious eyes.

Bai Zemin glanced sideways to the corner, and what caught his eye was the heavy-looking two-handed sword stuck in the ground. The sword looked quite old but still magnificent, and what made his eyes tremble was that attached to the hilt of the weapon was something that Bai Zemin easily identified as the modified sinew of a mutant beast.

"Our next meeting... I look forward to it."

Bai Zemin looked at the man slowly sitting on the rock behind him.

Bai Zemin wanted to open his mouth to say something but couldn't as he soon began to feel a great pulling force dragging him somewhere. However, he could still faintly see the man and hear his voice.

"The next time we meet it won't be this friendly... Keep that in mind... and grow up strong... Blood Mystic doesn't seem to be much."

In the next instant, Bai Zemin disappeared and the man with long red hair stared at the empty space in front of him with an indifferent expression. He was alone, once again.

However, the man was fine with that.

He wouldn't be alone much longer, and at this rate, he would soon be able to fulfill his dream.

"You and I are destined to be enemies even though it shouldn't be that way. If there is anyone to blame it would be you for being the lucky chosen one able to have everything while I am nothing but the black sheep that fate chose to punish on a whim."

Fate or not, he was going to crush it all... No matter who or what, everything that came his way was going to be destroyed.

That was the way it had been so far and that was the way it was going to be in the future.

The man looked at the small cube-shaped stone in front of him and when the small stone stopped glowing the incomplete part that was previously covered by the light became visible.

"You and I are destined to be enemies because the existence of the two of us is not allowed. With that person or without... it's just a matter of time."

* * * * * * *

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