The sounds of drops of blood falling on the floor, staining the walls, splattering on the ceiling, and being sprayed on the faces of the people closest to Ye Feng were the only sounds that could be heard for the first few seconds after Bai Zemin made him explode through the activation of Blood Manipulation.
Except for high-level soul evolvers who could use the mana around them to protect themselves from this kind of situation, the other people were soon stained red and seemed to have forgotten to breathe. In fact, despite the paleness of their faces, there was not even one who dared to move a single hair for fear of being next.
On the other hand, Shangguan Bing Xue, Wu Yijun, Bai Delan, Meng Qi, Xiao Ming, and all the other people who knew Bai Zemin looked at him in shock.
They knew that Bai Zemin was powerful, there was no doubt about it and no one doubted that he was still the most powerful person among those present even if none of them had seen him in action for almost half a year after his disappearance. However, what they had just seen was on a completely different level than what they imagined or expected to witness.
Bai Zemin looked at the faces of the three people who previously seemed to have intentions of mocking. His expression was ice cold as he activated Blood Manipulation.
When they felt the surrounding mana begin to move, the faces of these three Second Order soul evolvers paled and automatically began to beg for mercy.
"Leader Bai, please forgive this little's ignorance!"
"Leader Bai, Ye Feng and I were not close at all!
"Leader Bai, I was not mocking you but Ye Feng because of his ignorance!"
Slowly, the blood that had fallen on the bodies of the others began to move as if it had a life of its own, and just like the blood on the floor, ceiling, and on the walls, it began to drag and coalesce into a single point floating in the center of the table.
In a matter of seconds, the room was so clean that were it not for Ye Feng's shredded clothes and the smell of warm blood still lingering in the surroundings it would be hard to find any trace of what had just happened.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Bai Zemin waved his hand and all the windows in the room slammed open, causing everyone to jump in fright.
At the same time as the smell of blood began to be swept by the wind outside, Bai Zemin calmly said, "You three, whatever Noble rank you have held from now on will be Rank 5 Nobles and at the end of this meeting you will join Luo Ning's troops and the others in the west.... Any objections?"
"No no no! No objection at all!"
"Don't worry, we'll extend our Transcendent faction's territory in no time!"
"Young Miss Luo is only 10 years old but who doesn't know about her ability? No problem at all!"
Objection? What a joke!
Everyone had just witnessed Ye Feng, a terrifyingly powerful Third Order soul evolver, explode just because Bai Zemin wanted him to explode!
Shangguan Xinyue couldn't help but let out a chuckle when she saw her daughter sighing with a helpless expression.
As if realizing her "mistake" and seeing everyone looking at her in surprise after hearing her chuckle, Shangguan Xinyue waved a hand as if it was no big deal and calmly said, "Don't mind me."
In fact, no one expected Bai Zemin to be this powerful; not even the people who had the most faith in him.
Killing an Unclassified soul evolver might not be a big deal, killing a First Order soul evolver was considered an achievement, killing a Second Order soul evolver would practically put one on equal footing with the elites of the faction, and killing a Third Order soul evolver would give one not only prestige but also statistics to compare to some of the most powerful.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"}) However, killing a Third Order soul evolver was incredibly difficult as they were all established powerhouses. As powerhouses, it was naturally impossible for them not to have at least one or two skills to preserve their lives, so unless the other party was very lucky or risked their lives it was simply impossible to kill a Third Order powerhouse.
As for killing a Third Order soul evolver by just thinking about it and saying a couple of words? Such a thing was simply impossible, a fantasy impossible to achieve even in the eyes of Shangguan Bing Xue, Shangguan Xinyue, and Evangeline who were the three most powerful soul evolvers in the entire Transcendent faction along with Chen He and Feng Tian Wu.
Therefore, when they saw that Bai Zemin had become powerful enough to do such a thing, it was not only hard to believe but also made many people sigh; especially Shangguan Bing Xue who had a small bitter smile on her beautiful face.
...
There were no more inconveniences after Ye Feng's case.
The meeting went on for almost three full hours because Bai Zemin made several adjustments to the titles and positions of many people whether they were present or not.
Although losing prestige and privileges naturally left everyone unsatisfied, no one dared to say anything out loud after what happened to Ye Feng whose body exploded as if someone had put a dozen bombs inside him.
Furthermore, Bai Zemin made it clear that they would all regain their titles in no time if they proved to be loyal and capable, so it would be up to them to get the position they had before due to the faction's urges or even climb higher.
Bai Zemin knew that this was not the best move, but he did not mind any of this even if it left many people unhappy.
He would not allow those who had followed him from the beginning and supported him when things were hard to have a lower position than people who joined recently. Of course, if the new ones surpassed the old ones with acts worthy of reward then that was a different matter.
"Everyone has the same opportunities. I will not be stingy with rewards but I will not be stingy with punishments either, I want you to keep that in mind. I, Bai Zemin, am a very simple person that pays kindness with kindness and cruelty with cruelty. Whether you go far or end up being sacrificed by me will depend on yourself."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})With those words, he dismissed everyone present.
It probably wouldn't be long before all the bases under the control of the Transcendent faction would tremble as the news that the true Leader had returned spread along with his demonstration of power and dominance when he killed Ye Feng with a couple of words.
A few minutes later, the number of people who remained inside the room was drastically reduced leaving only those people whom Bai Zemin trusted or who would definitely not try to harm him in order to avoid harming their loved ones.
Of course, Eleanora was also expelled by Bai Zemin and instructed to wait for him in one of the downstairs rooms.
Shangguan Bing Xue, Shangguan Xinyue, Wu Yijun, Wu Keqian, Sun Ling, Evangeline, Kang Lan, Xiao Ming, Bai Delan, and last but not least, Meng Qi; all ten people looked at Bai Zemin since he had been the one who had asked them to stay behind.
"Chen He left for the United States."
""What?""
Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun were the first to react to his words.
"W- What do you mean by Chen He left for the United States?" Wu Yijun asked with wide eyes.
Bai Zemin noticed that it was not only Wu Yijun that was nervous but Shangguan Bing Xue was the same as well.
In fact, even Wu Keqian, Sun Ling, and Shangguan Xinyue who had known Chen He since he was little were somewhat nervous.
Although Kang Lan was better, the girl had a serious expression on her face since no matter how one put it, the reality was that Chen He and she had been teammates and fought together on countless battlefields since the beginning of the apocalypse.
Bai Zemin explained his fair exchange alliance with Angelo and the reason why Chen He followed the American team while Eleanora stayed behind.
He added, "Actually, I had planned to send Xiao Ming instead, but Chen He went ahead and offered himself as a volunteer."
After saying this, Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue for a few seconds before sighing without saying any more. However, this small gesture from him was enough for everyone to get a rough idea of what was happening.
Shangguan Bing Xue simply nodded after a few seconds, "I see."
"Well, I don't think it's necessary to worry too much." Bai Zemin smiled slightly to lighten the atmosphere a bit and said calmly, "Chen He might be stuck in the Second Order, but he is certainly more than capable of fighting most Third Order soul evolvers below level 130. Besides, considering that Angelo left behind a key person from his faction it won't be necessary to worry about him playing shady."
Sun Ling's expression relaxed a little upon hearing Bai Zemin's words and nodded in agreement, "That's true. That boy Chen He is certainly talented and capable of coming out on top regardless of the circumstances."
After a few minutes, Bai Zemin took out a syringe containing the Berserker Serum l liquid along with the formula to concoct it.
"Yijun, I would like you to get this to the best laboratory our faction has at its disposal." Bai Zemin said as he carefully pushed both objects towards her.
Yijun?
The ears of those present twitched and looked at Bai Zemin with surprise.
Even Wu Yijun looked at him with wide eyes before a beautiful smile of pure happiness bloomed on her face.
"L-Let me do it!"
She would make sure that both the serum and the formula reached their destination even if it cost her life!
This was the first time Bai Zemin had referred to her in such a familiar and close way. It had all been so sudden that Wu Yijun could practically see herself going to bed tonight with one of the happiest smiles of her entire life.
Sun Ling smiled too, except that her smile looked extremely sexy despite being a smile of joy.
"Looks like someone finally started to open up a little bit more, just a little bit." She said before looking at her husband and saying, "Keqian, what do you think?"
Wu Keqian looked at his wife with a wry smile and said under his breath, "I think we better not push him too much in case we make this kid regret whatever's going on in his head."
"My. That's not good." Sun Ling covered her mouth and nodded before pretending she hadn't said anything.
"Hahahaha!"
Bai Delan laughed good-naturedly as he saw the black expression on his son's face.
Brat, this morning you dared to fool around with your father? It seems that karma really exists and has come to you faster than expected! Bai Delan felt incredibly good in his heart.
'Laugh, laugh all you want but let me see if in a few days you can still laugh like this!' Bai Zemin secretly gritted his teeth as he looked at his father and vowed revenge.
He quickly took out a small memory card and passed it to Wu Keqian while saying in a serious voice: 'Uncle Wu, I went to my workshop earlier and saw that the factories here are quite well developed. When you get home take a look at what is inside this memory card and let me know if it is possible to develop these energy shields in this base or if anything is needed. I'll have someone arrange everything for you."
Wu Keqian's expression became serious as he took the small semi-transparent card in his hands. "Leave it to me. I'll take care of it."
Bai Zemin rested his back on the back of his chair and said in a deep voice, "As you all well know, I have just returned from another world. However, my time in Eventide World was extended longer than planned due to some circumstances."
Bai Zemin gave a brief summary of the reason why he was away from home for so long even though he had the option to return the very moment he opened the portal.
"I have a device with information and details of a world that has been evolving for several thousand years in my hands." He explained calmly. "Even though Eventide World was a world in its second stage just like our Earth, its inhabitants had a lot of time to grow up unlike us, therefore, the technology and knowledge on this world is certainly greater than ours in all aspects."
"Actually, we have obtained a great quantity of information from the books we found in the ruins, including formulas of all kinds." Wu Yijun interjected, taking advantage of Bai Zemin's pause. "The problem is that even though our world is in the second stage of evolution, 90% of the plants and minerals detailed in those books could not be found even after months of searching... I'm afraid we will have to wait until the next evolution of the Earth at the very least."
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at Wu Yijun for a moment before looking at Bai Zemin and adding, "I think if we use what we found in the books in the ruins along with what you bring we might be able to find a middle ground. Maybe strengthen more what we already have or will be able to do."
"That is precisely what I was thinking." Bai Zemin nodded as he looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and said slowly, "Because so much has happened I haven't had time to look at the contents of the device, but after I take a look at it once Kali finishes modifying the language pendant I will hand it over for you to handle."
"Okay." Shangguan Bing Xue smiled slightly and nodded in satisfaction as she subconsciously looked at Wu Yijun also looking at her.
Shangguan Xinyue and Sun Ling looked at each other, both mothers saw the peculiar smile on each other's faces.
As for Bai Zemin....
'... Somehow I feel like something is not right around here.'
* * * * * * *
