Kong Jun was indeed powerful.
Although he had not yet become a Fourth Order existence even though it had been more than 9 months since he joined Bai Zemin's group, this was just another proof of how difficult his evolution requirements were, which in return hinted at how powerful his Fourth Order class would be once he successfully advanced.
Yet, despite not being a Fourth Order soul evolver, Kong Jung was at level 200; right on the borderline between the two stages of power.
Bai Zemin was not so sure how high Kong Jun's Strength was, but after some careful estimation and analysis he guessed that Kong Jun's Strength stat was probably somewhere in the 7000 or 8000 point range; even higher than Bai Zemin's Strength at his highest state reached to date.
At the end of the day, besides having absorbed many powerful enemy records and being a level 200 soul evolver, Kong Jun was a weaver ant that by essence were physically more powerful than most creatures after evolving.
However, Thao Zhi was certainly a monster that had lived for a long time and with countless years of experience, as well as powerful skills in his arsenal.
"Magic Draw!"
Thao Zhi's voice had barely fallen when to everyone's shock the surrounding water began to tremble and subsequently shimmer.
In less than a second, at least 40,000 square meters of seawater disappeared leaving a large emptiness that with a powerful explosion soon began to be filled by more water coming from everywhere.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})At the same time as the emerald green barrier shone again with great brilliance, the cracks caused by Kong Jun's punch on the barrier weakened by Bai Zemin's attack on the weak point of the defense began to disappear and in less than a second, the barrier was back to its maximum.
It was around that time when Thao Zhi sighed in relief as he looked back and noticed that Xian Kun did not seem to be having much trouble fighting the two females that had rushed towards him.
However, Thao Zhi's relief was only there because he did not know that Xian Mei'er was a genius several times higher than the Third Prince.
Xian Mei'er was more than enough to kill Xian Kun if given enough time. However, she did not focus on killing him and in fact did not even attack but used all her skills purely to restrain him.
Xian Kun was an experienced melee warrior, but even though he somehow managed to defend himself and even destroy his little sister's flood dragons, he didn't have time to divert his eyes to the other human female who was about 200 meters distance away. Still, he was mindful of the four objects that the human female had let fall around him but after several seconds and sensing no movement, as well as the constant pestering of his younger sister, Xian Kun had no choice but to ignore certain seemingly insignificant things.
Meng Qi had her eyes closed and was currently making some seals with her hands. However, her movements were extremely slow and beneath her mask, there was a big frown on her face.
About a minute later, the first of the four discs that Kali had been working on for days drawing powerful runes, glowed.
Meng Qi did not stop but kept going, and if one were to look carefully one would be able to see how the seals she formed with her mana-covered hands were actually drawings of runes, and once those drawings were completed one of the runes on one of the discs would light up.
Meanwhile, the battle between Bai Zemin and the rest against Thao Zhi raged on.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The explosions under the sea became more and more terrifying, and even though the battle was taking place at a depth of over 3000 meters below the surface a cataclysm was being unleashed as waves up to over 200 meters high rose into the sky before crashing down after hitting each other.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Thao Zhi flew backwards like a torpedo as under the perfect allied combination of Bai Zemin and Kong Jun his defensive barrier was broken, and was only after about 60 meters that he managed to stabilize his body. His eyes were cold as he looked at his enemies and watched as a thin trickle of dark blue blood flowed out of his mouth and floated in front of him before being diluted in the seawater.
Approximately two minutes had passed, and during those two minutes, the advantage kept tilting to the side of Bai Zemin and his team.
Shangguan Bing Xue held back using her powerful crowd control skills, Bai Zemin weakened and protected using mainly the power of his Anti-Magic Domain along with the different forms of Annihilation of the Falling Sky, Kong Jun attacked simply and directly but effectively with his fists.
It could be said that the three of them together were the perfect combination, a triangle of impenetrable power to the point where even Thao Zhi could do nothing but retreat despite having many powerful magic skills and having higher stats in general.
However, although Bai Zemin's expression showed no emotions, only he and those who knew what his plan was knew how anxious he was; as did the entire team, naturally.
If Evangeline was unlucky then the whole team could only give their all to kill Thao Zhi using whatever it took. It was entirely in her hands as to whether Bai Zemin managed to evolve to Second Order in the midst of the battle.
With his armor covered with small holes and some wounds which were no longer bleeding thanks to the power of Blood Manipulation, Bai Zemin looked at Xian Kun and felt a little better when he saw that 3 of the 4 disks were already on.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})It was right at that moment when Thao Zhi opened his mouth filled with terrifying teeth and spoke in a hoarse and cold voice.
"My name is Thao Zhi. I used to be the leader of the mage legion of the Atlantis Kingdom and ranked only below the Forgotten King in terms of pure power. I have lived over 7600 years regardless only the Sea God knows how long I slept in the Immortal Ice Coffin, and I do admit that you are the most formidable team I have ever known."
Even though Bai Zemin and the rest finally knew the name of the alligator they were facing for the second time in what was undoubtedly the most difficult battle they had all had in their lives, even though they finally confirmed the fact that they were fighting a creature so ancient that even surpassed the oldest history they knew, none of them felt satisfaction let alone pride at being commended.
Quite the contrary, they all felt that something bad was about to come.
But even Bai Zemin with Danger Sense felt nothing so they could only continue to move forward cautiously. Even if he hadn't used Soul Manipulation to raise Danger Sense for 1 Order this time, the skill hadn't stopped working
"My current level is 256, and the fact that you three can take me on and even show to be able to defeat me is certainly commendable." Thao Zhi slowly straightened his body, and with a chillingly indifferent expression said in a deep voice, "But, all strategy or numerical advantage means nothing in the face of absolute power. This is the universal rule that no one can challenge."
He pointed his magic staff upward and said with some pride, "Fire."
Bai Zemin's eyebrows furrowed deeply, but before he had to wonder what was about to happen he saw how from the distant white point of light that was where the city of the realm where Xian Mei'er came from, a red dot flashed, and for an instant, it consumed the white light.
There was no alert from the skill Danger Sense, which meant that Bai Zemin was not in danger. However, this meant that one of his allies was.
Unfortunately, there were many things that were faster than sound or reaction speed.
All Bai Zemin saw was a flash of crimson light, and he barely had time to look out of the corner of his eye just in time to see Kong Jun crossing his arms in front of his chest probably out of instinct before his body was hit full on by a bright, thick beam of blood-red light.
"Kong Jun!" Bai Zemin called out when he saw Bai Shilin's silent but loyal bodyguard being sent flying backwards by the red-colored beam.
Blackish-colored blood stained a small part of the area but soon it faded away under the power of the blood-red beam, and although Kong Jun had not yet died as Bai Zemin had not been notified about the loss of a loyal follower, he certainly would not survive even three seconds in the face of such a dreadful power as the one emanating from the beam.
Fortunately, the blood-red beam disappeared abruptly, and although Kong Jun had been sent flying to an unknown part of the sea and was probably no longer able to fight, the good news was that he was still alive.
"Actually, that's one of the secondary cannons."
Thao Zhi's voice sounded fairly arrogant, drawing everyone's attention once again.
"The energy consumption is too huge so there's no need to waste it on someone who is more than half dead. I'll finish off the weaver ant myself after I'm done with you all."
" ... Thao Zhi, I will definitely rip your head off with my bare hands!" Bai Zemin roared furiously.
Even if Kong Jun was not particularly close to him, it was true that his loyalty was unquestionable and he certainly cared a lot about little Bai Shilin to the point where she even called him uncle.
He knew that Kong Jun would not survive more than 1 hour at the most because the power of that blood-red beam from before was simply frightening to the point of being comparable to the Sky Destroyer's main cannon. Even if Kong Jun's defense was high, he certainly couldn't take a shot like that head-on and walk away without any problems even though he only took damage for 1-2 seconds at most.
Considering the place they were in... the distance... there was no way Kang Lan or Xia Ya would arrive in time no matter what.
[Bloodlust has reached its peak. Second Activation of God of War's Will, God of War's Partial Possession, goes into immediate effect. Strength +800, Magic +800.]
Although Thao Zhi could sense that Bai Zemin's aura had increased by a substantial degree, the battle was already decided.
With the weaver ant out and the black-haired youth being at least half the power he had been during their battle half a month ago, Thao Zhi might not even need to use his secret weapon again.
"Bing Xue, give me a hand!" Bai Zemin called out as he activated Overlap Regeneration and dashed forward now at a speed several times faster than before.
Overlap Regeneration was the only reason Bai Zemin could keep fighting not only because of the raw power it gave him but also because of the fact that it was this activation what allowed him to recover his Mana to the fullest. After all, keeping the Anti-Magic Domain active consumed too much Stamina that was already being rapidly consumed by fighting at the bottom of the sea, therefore, he had no choice but to activate Regeneration constantly to replenish his Stamina every couple of seconds.
Shangguan Bing Xue did not hesitate at all upon hearing Bai Zemin. She immediately gave up on using magic as she knew he could not control who his domain affected and with a swift but elegant movement she unsheathed a beautiful deep blue sword.
When the sword was unsheathed, two of its special attributes were immediately activated and its magical power tripled while the weapon's physical attack power doubled.
The name of this sword was Perfect Storm and it once belonged to a powerful King from Eventide World. Bai Zemin had gifted it to Shangguan Bing Xue not long ago.
(A/N: Chapter 823 for those who want to see Perfect Storm's records)
She activated several skills in a flash, increasing her Agility, Strength, and all her overall defenses in less than a second before turning into a flash of silver light.
She held her breath and took off her mask, and as if she knew what Bai Zemin planned to do she activated the skill that would help him the most to reach his goal while positioning herself at an angle that the enemy definitely couldn't help but stare at.
"Rumbling the Heavens, Shaking the Earth!"
At Bai Zemin's roar, Annihilation of the Falling Sky shimmered with a flash of purple light and the power was enough to cause steady explosions for every inch that the greatsword advanced towards the enemy.
RUMBLE!!!
Thao Zhi did not dare to take that attack at all and immediately used his strongest barrier to guard against it. However, just at that instant, his golden eyes subconsciously glanced at the white-haired human female and his movements froze for a brief moment.
'Not good!' Thao Zhi's mind immediately began to warn him of the impending danger and using the active skill of a treasure he broke out of the Charm effect he had fallen under.
However, it was already too late to defend against Bai Zemin's attack.
* * * * * * *
