Bai Zemin was very confident in his physical strength and at the same time his confidence in his defense was very high; especially after he evolved his Second Order Silver Skin skill to the next stage, Third Order Golden Bones back to the Five Silver Pagodas in China while still inside the weaver ant cave.
[Golden Bones (Third Order passive skill) level 1: Your skin becomes so tough that now no pre-evolution weapon outside the Annihilation category can break through your defenses. Rank 0 weapons are unable to cut you and Rank 1 weapons are 40% less effective against you. The hardness of your internal organs is multiplied by 2 times the previous stage and your bone skeleton is now equivalent to a gold skeleton which multiplies your natural defense x5 times. Automatically increases your Stamina stat by +700 points permanently].
With the skill Silver Skin evolving into Golden Bones, Bai Zemin was confident that a mere punch from a Third Order existence should not be able to hurt him when he had responded to the attack using 80% of his full physical strength. However, to his surprise and disbelief, his right fist was bleeding and the skin on his hand had indeed been shredded to the flesh.
While it was true that the giant orc had had the advantage in the previous clash as he had struck from above down which added gravity and weight to his already terrifying physical strength, Bai Zemin had not expected this kind of outcome; especially since the other party had not activated any skills!
"Hahahaha!
The powerful laughter of the orc king attracted Bai Zemin's attention, and looking forward, he saw that Zilug was looking at him with his big sky blue eyes while his right arm was shaking repeatedly.
Zilug looked at Bai Zemin and said with a very friendly laugh, "Human boy, not bad! When that old human king named Philip told me earlier that he had a good addition to our alliance I had high expectations, but when I noticed that you were only in the First Order, I admit I was disappointed and even felt betrayed. I mean, who in their right mind would expect a level 50 human soul evolver to have enough power to fight the strongest in the world? Don't you agree with me too? hahaha!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})The snake queen Mei Lin and the king of Gales looked at Zilug with wide eyes. Neither of them knew whether to call the orc king stupid or smart for what he had just done.
"Well, now that everyone here knows you're this powerful, I think even that witch Mei Lin will feel more comfortable trusting you her tail on the battlefield, don't you? Pahahahaha!"
"Zilug, do you want to be frozen to death?"
"Oh, don't be such a bore, old bag. We older folks need some joy in our lives, don't you think?"
Bai Zemin ignored the two existences of different races and went back to looking at his right fist where the blood ran smoothly even through the combat gauntlet. With a complicated sigh, he activated Blood Manipulation and soon began to feel a slight stinging coming from his fist due to the rapid regeneration of the broken or damaged tissues.
He had been too arrogant to think that a soul evolver in the intermediate levels of the Third Order would not be able to hurt him in a head-to-head attack; at least not a warrior since mages were a separate story. However, the wound on his hand had opened his eyes again.
"Mm?" Zilug seemed to notice Bai Zemin's confused look, and with his experience of over 700 years it wasn't hard for him to understand what the young man was feeling. His previous attitude changed as his voice became serious and deep as he raised his right fist and calmly said, "Human boy, even though I have little idea why you are putting on that kind of expression, let me tell you that you have nothing to feel bad or disappointed about."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})King Philip and the evolved snake Mei Lin held their breath for a few seconds when they looked at the thin but still clear dark crack on the giant orc's jade green fist. Unlike Bai Zemin, the two of them had a better knowledge of Zilu, therefore, they knew what that crack represented.
"My passive skill 'Jade Body' not only increases my physical strength more than you probably think but also my natural defense, also more than you probably think," said Zilug in a low but deep voice. He retracted his fist and looked at the crack there as he slowly said: "This is the first time in at least 2 centuries that my defense is broken in this way, not to mention the fact that the one who did it is none other than a First Order soul evolver who did not activate any skills and, no offense but, of the human race whose physical bodies are pitifully weak in comparison to us orcs or evolved beasts.... If you are surprised then how do you think I feel?"
Bai Zemin shook his head and said nothing about it. Even though what Zilug said was true and made a lot of sense, Bai Zemin's goal was just too big, therefore, being hurt like this by someone within the levels he believed he was capable of overpowering was a strong wake-up call.
"Then why don't we now discuss regarding this alliance everyone was talking about?" proposed Bai Zemin not wanting to linger too much on the previous topic, his priority was the treasure that could be born.
Even if it wasn't 100% certain, the possibility of obtaining a Legend grade treasure was something Bai Zemin was definitely not willing to overlook.
"Before that," King Philip looked at the evolved snake and pointed back, "Mei Lin, aren't you able to do something about that?"
Mei Lin raised her head to look to where the king of Gales was pointing. The sound of constant explosions caused by the activation of magic skills or powerful physical attacks reached her senses, proof that the war between humans and the other races was still going on.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})She shook her big head and her soft voice came from somewhere: "I'm afraid that's not possible. Even though those mutant beasts are indeed my subordinates and in normal times they obey me, I can't defeat the Soul Record. Now that those Unclassified and First Order beasts have lost their sanity from fear of what is to come and from the wild mana, they will not stop, they will continue to attack whatever comes their way whether human or not."
Philip Di Gales looked at Zilug in silence, there were also orcs among the existences fighting in the south direction.
"I can do nothing, I am as helpless as that witch in this matter." Zilug shrugged indifferently knowing what King Philip was asking with his eyes.
The king of Gales nodded as he let out a heavy sigh, "I understand."
Because of the alliance for a common goal, Mei Lin and Zilug would not attack the human soul evolvers. However, they would also not allow Philip to attack the mutant beasts and orcs that were fighting each other and the humans deeper to the south. This was because although those mutant beasts and orcs were no longer under their control, when things calmed down everything would return to normal, and if even one of them managed to survive it was practically a given that such an existence would have already evolved into the Second Order.
As rulers, Mei Lin and Zilug knew how precious Second Order soul evolvers were and therefore would not let anyone casually interfere with the possible birth of one. Of course, they also wouldn't interfere in the war that was going on as long as another Third Order power didn't step in.
"Let the little ones fight while we discuss adult matters." Zilug said and under Bai Zemin's shocked eyes his body suddenly glowed and began to shrink.
In just a few seconds, the 70-meter-tall body had shrunk to 3 meters and although it still looked big it was much more acceptable to the eyes.
"What, did you think I went with that height everywhere?" Zilug snorted as he looked at the surprised Bai Zemin. "If that were the case then there would be no females who could take me, no?"
The corner of Bai Zemin and King Philip's mouths twitched several times at the orc king's words. However, Bai Zemin could feel that even though Zilug's size had shrunk, his true strength had barely dropped.
'Don't tell me...' Bai Zemin slowly turned his head just in time to see Mei Lin's body glow.
"You can shrink too?" he asked in surprise as the obsidian-colored radiance completely covered the giant snake's figure.
"Shrink me? Oh, that's right." The evolved snake's voice came from inside the glow covering her body. "For a second I forgot that you're just a young boy and not an old monster like us. Predictably you don't know too much regarding what happens when other races reach the Third Order."
Soon, the obsidian-colored brightness began to recede when it was about 1.80 meters tall. Under Bai Zemin's shocked eyes, Mei Lin's figure was revealed, however, she was no longer a snake but a great human beauty!
She was covered in obsidian-colored armor that matched her long dark slightly wavy hair that fell down her back and draped across the ground like a cloak. Her two long arms and even longer legs were partially uncovered allowing one to see the blemish-free white skin that looked to be as smooth as silk. Her face was oval shaped and her lovely golden eyes seemed to shine like spotlights in the middle of the darkness, however, the most striking thing apart from the color of her eyes and her thick lips was the fact that her two pupils were actually two straight and black lines worthy of a reptile.
"You..." Bai Zemin was genuinely surprised.
Had it not been for her eyes and bestial aura it would have been hard for him to tell that the mature beauty in her 40s was not a human being but a mutant beast!
Mei Lin smiled, and even though it was just a normal smile with no weird intentions, her level of charm was high enough for Bai Zemin to call her a seductress in his heart.
"Come to think of it... technically, you and I became allies before the two old men over there but I still don't know your name." Mei Lin said suddenly.
Bai Zemin had been amazed not by Mei Lin's beauty but by the fact that she was able to transform her giant body nearly 1km long and as thick as an entire building into a form 99% identical to that of a human female! Moreover, since this was the first time he had formed an alliance with Third Order existences belonging to other races, his surprise was even more justified.
Fortunately, however, he was not a normal person but a soul evolver who had experienced many things in a short time.
"Bai Zemin, that's my name."
"Bai Zemin?" Mei Lin blinked as if surprised. She walked closer to him and her waist swayed as if she still retained her flexibility and agile snake-like movements. "Is that a name similar to mine?" she asked somewhat uncertainly as she stared at him.
Bai Zemin didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he slowly said, "That's why your name surprised me earlier. You're the first existence I've met in Eventide World with a name so different but so similar to mine."
"Alright, witch, don't try to seduce the boy and behave yourself," Zilug said suddenly.
Mei Lin gave him a sidelong glance and said indifferently, "Shut your doggy mouth, and don't treat me like I'm an easy female. What more wouldn't you want, you green-skinned old dog."
King Philip and Bai Zemin exchanged glances, both noticing the helplessness in the other's eyes.
The king stepped forward before things escalated and said quickly, "Alright, how about we all go to my castle for now and have a nice chat there? We don't have much time before more alliances are born, the war that will break out over this treasure could even cause the annihilation of many races depending on the outcome."
The war for a Legend grade treasure would definitely be very bloody if too many existences fought over it. A treasure of such magnitude could easily turn someone weak into an invincible existence within its Order or even allow them to skip levels with ease.
The spatial storage ring granted him a large amount of stats even though it was not an item meant for combat, how terrifying would a Legend grade sword be then?
Although he already knew the answer, Bai Zemin wondered if the demons would also step forward this time.
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