Thao Zhi, Shangguan Bing Xue, and Wu Yijun.
The three of them stared as Bai Zemin's body continuously reformed over and over again only to explode again less than a second later.
It was as if a video was being played on an endless loop of fast-forwarding and reverse.
However, there was one thing that was clear to all three of them after the first 20 or 30 seconds... and it was the fact that Bai Zemin was definitely not dying. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Exploding into hundreds of millions of tiny fragments certainly had to hurt, not to mention a process of such magnitude repeating itself dozens of times. However, regardless of all the pain Bai Zemin might be experiencing, the reality was that his aura had not stopped growing during this entire terrifying and tyrannical process.
"Bastard!!" Thao Zhi roared and the entire sea over 3 kilometers around him shook with vigor. His aura broke out completely as he shouted with his head looking up to the heavens, "Soul record, whatever you are, I curse you one and one million times!!!"
Thao Zhi had never felt so many complicated emotions at the same time, let alone because of a First Order soul evolver.
But how could he not feel anger, fear, frustration, shame, and desire for revenge?
How could he be at peace knowing he had less than 50 minutes to live? Such a thing was impossible.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Thao Zhi could sense that his hated enemy had entered the Second Order, and given his severe injuries, his chances of killing him were not particularly high even if the young human was also not in good condition and was in fact worse off than he was.
Bai Zemin was capable of causing all these injuries to Thao Zhi while he was still at level 50.... It didn't require too much thought or a genius to know the obvious.
To flee? No. The thought of running away never crossed Thao Zhi's mind.
What was the point of running away if he was going to die one way or another anyway? Since he was going to die regardless of whether he was killed or not... then he might as well do everything he could to make the impertinent young man in front of him live with regrets for the rest of his miserable life and thus make him wish for death!
"You all... YOU REALLY GET ON MY NERVES!!!"
Thao Zhi's roar of anger, despair, and frustration would have easily raised waves of great magnitude were it not for the fact that he was currently almost 4000 meters deep in the sea. However, even with the pressure of the water and the gravity of the world, his voice resounded in the depths under the drive of his high magical power.
Wu Yijun was out of Mana and was currently trying to recover as fast as possible without being able to drink mana recovery potions, but when Thao Zhi's roar hit her with sonic strength, her mind went blank and she staggered.
Shangguan Bing Xue quickly moved to try to help her when she saw blood starting to gush out of Wu Yijun's ears, and when she managed to hold her up using her teeth and clinging to her magic robe, Shangguan Bing Xue couldn't help but wince in pain. The sudden movement had caused both of her arms to move all over the place, making her feel all her pulverized bones moving past skin and flesh.
"DIE!" Thao Zhi stepped back making use of his only leg as he took back his magical staff and waved it outward, "Freeze Lightning Lash!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Despite his fatal wounds, magical attacks did not require a good physical condition to launch as was the case with physical attacks; as long as one had enough Mana and high magical power, they could unleash any magic that their consciousness allowed them to activate.
Seeing the ice whip with bright flashes of lightning slashing towards them, Shangguan Bing Xue abruptly turned around with her back facing the oncoming attack and shielding Wu Yijun's body.
Shangguan Bing Xue had no Mana to use any skills nor could she use her sword to defend against it, and although her Agility gave her a 60% chance of dodging Thao Zhi's magical attack, the same could not be said with Wu Yijun needing protection.
By the time Wu Yijun realized this fact it was already too late.
Fortunately, the worst did not happen because, at the same time as Thao Zhi's magical attack approached, both Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun were enveloped and surrounded by a strange force that despite weakening them gave them incomparable feelings of security and trust.
Bang!
Like an eggshell hitting a wall, Thao Zhi's magical attack broke apart ridiculously and without causing the slightest damage when this strange energy surrounding both women came in contact with it.
"I curse you! I curse you!! I curse all of you!!!"
Thao Zhi did not give up and as his roars spread under the sea he launched several magical assaults more. However, even after launching 10 attacks, they all ended up exploding and turning into tiny particles of light before finally becoming nothing.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})With Bai Zemin's Strength stat growing exponentially, the range of the Anti-Magic Domain increased as well, now covering an area of approximately 500 meters in total with him as its core. Furthermore, he was now a Second Order soul evolver so the magical attacks of a Fourth Order existence like Thao Zhi had a 75% probability of being completely nullified!
While it was true that Bai Zemin and the two women had been lucky that the other 25% didn't show up, they had been unlucky enough today. Now that they were having a bit of fortune on their side they certainly wouldn't complain.
At that precise moment and before Thao Zhi could continue his assault, even before the former leader of the legion of mages of the former kingdom under what was now known as the East Sea could think of changing his targets to the two unconscious women floating in the distance, an explosion louder than the previous ones shook the water vigorously as Bai Zemin's body exploded again.
A flash of golden light shone for an instant, and when the only three beings able to remain standing and awake on the battlefield looked forward, they all noticed Bai Zemin.
Bai Zemin was standing in front of Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun with his back facing them while looking at Thao Zhi with an indifferent expression.
Wu Yijun looked at Bai Zemin's body, and seeing that both his left leg and left arm were missing, she couldn't help but feel her heart ache.
"You... you okay...?" She asked practically in a whisper.
"... I won't die. None of us will. Not now. Not this time... Not today." Bai Zemin didn't lie saying he was fine, but at least he didn't say discouraging words either.
"I... see..." Wu Yijun whispered before nodding weakly, "I believe in you." Then, she looked at her friend and rephrased her words, "We believe in you."
Shangguan Bing Xue did not say anything, she did not even nod but stared at Bai Zemin's back as if she wanted to engrave his form deep in her memories. In less than an hour, she thought she would never again see that back that she had inadvertently started to follow not because of competitiveness but because she did not want to be left behind.
If she had doubts before this, Shangguan Bing Xue no longer had any doubt about the fact that she definitely liked Bai Zemin. She liked him not only as a friend but also as a man. As for where this would lead... Shangguan Bing Xue didn't know what she wanted to do with these feelings; but she certainly didn't want it to end like this.
Regardless of what Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun might be feeling, Bai Zemin looked at Thao Zhi and couldn't help but sigh at how much of a difference there was now.
"You and I are both seriously injured... Actually, my condition is even worse than yours." Bai Zemin stretched out his right hand and this simple movement caused several of his muscles to tear as if to prove his words. "But... Now that I reached the Second Order you cannot defeat anymore."
Bai Zemin's physical body had become far more powerful than before, so much so that the difference between his self from a minute ago and his current self was simply too massive to explain with numbers. Even so, his serious injuries were still serious; except that he was now healing a lot faster thanks to the terrifying Health boost along with Overlap Regeneration.
In fact, Bai Zemin could have close to or even over 10,000 Health points if he used Overlap Regeneration; this meant that the current him could recover at least 10 times faster than before!
"I can't defeat?" Thao Zhi trembled not out of fear but out of anger. He laughed softly and said slowly, "And what makes you think so? I still have a lot of Mana to use and I don't think I need to lecture you on whether my magical power is capable of damaging you or not."
Bai Zemin looked at Thao Zhi but his mind was elsewhere. He secretly wondered if what he had seen before was just an illusion or not... But on second thought, Bai Zemin remembered having a dream with an atmosphere very similar to that.
'Probably just a lucid dream.' He said to himself before dismissing what had just happened.
At the end of the day, he had been at the bottom of the sea all this time with Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun as witnesses of this fact.
"Well... Regarding your question." Bai Zemin looked at the blood on his body, and it wasn't hard for him who was aware of the change to notice the small golden tint almost undetectable amidst the deep red.
[You have leveled up and reached level 100. You have received 200 status points to distribute freely].
[Your Second Order class, Blood Mystic, raises your race by one league].
[Congratulations, now that your race has been raised by one league your Strength, Agility, Health, Stamina, Mana, and Magic increase by +1000 natural points each].
[Your level has reached the peak of the Second Order and therefore part of the records gained during the evolution process could not be absorbed and will be added to your soul once you select your Third Order class and successfully evolve to the next power league].
[With the league of your race going up by one and the improvement of your physical body, your passive skill First Order Superhuman Health level 5 has been raised to the next Order in a natural way].
[With the league of your race going up by one and the improvement of your physical body, your passive skill Third Order Golden Bones level 1 has been raised to level 5 in a natural way].
[... your passive skill First Order Enhanced Dexterity level 5 has evolved to the next Order in a natural way].
[By absorbing the records of a being with the skill Clairvoyance you have learned more about the mystique of seeing events before they happen, which grants you the privilege of being a friend of time].
[Your passive skill Unranked Danger Sense level 5 has evolved to the next Order].
[Congratulations, by becoming Blood Mystic your Third Order Blood Manipulation level 5 skill is leveled directly to the max level of the Fourth Order].
...
There were several records that needed to be checked, but given the circumstances it was impossible for Bai Zemin to do it right now.
However, there was one thing that was certain.
"My advancement to Second Order is not just a matter of stats, Thao Zhi." Bai Zemin said softly. His eyes filled with exhaustion flashed for a second as he slowly said, "I'll show you... this new power I obtained. More specifically, a pretty scary skill."
As Bai Zemin said, his breakthrough was not merely about statistics.
Although he was not yet aware of all the records he had gained and would only be able to check them once things calmed down a bit, there was something Bai Zemin knew.
And it was the fact that his current self was disgustingly strong.
* * * * * * *
