"This woman really is a monster." One of the soul evolvers who previously belonged to the side of Baiquan Camp muttered under his breath as he smiled bitterly.
Those beside him could not help but smile bitterly as they heard the soul evolver's words and as they looked at the scene before them they felt extremely complex inside.
The battle that had been waged several minutes ago between the soul evolvers of both factions was finally over. The outcome surprised everyone, even the winner could not believe the relative ease with which they managed to defeat their enemies.
There were approximately 370 enemy soul evolvers teaming up with around 3000 armed soldiers. This large army made up of a mixture of evolved humans and humans with modern weaponry outnumbered the army of the Transcendent faction by a wide margin, however, they were still defeated.
Of the army of approximately 3000 men armed with modern firearms, about 70% were slaughtered by a force of about 500 soul evolvers belonging to the faction led by Bai Zemin before the other 30% finally put down their weapons and submitted after realizing that there was no hope of survival if they continued to be stubborn.
Among the 30% who submitted were a few who had been soldiers who had previously been part of Commander Jin Shun's troops and there were also police officers so Bai Zemin was more than happy to welcome these kinds of people with real training. He had his ways of gradually pushing them to become powerful soul evolvers that together with the tactical training they received in the past would turn them into monstrous killing machines that would pave the way for him.
Of course, in that 30% there were also many normal survivors who without a gun in their hands were no different from a harmless child in this dangerous world. However, Bai Zemin did not intend to kill them just for this reason either. In fact, Bai Zemin did not hate these people since the only reason this war had started in the first place was because they were all standing on opposite poles.
Of course, defeating the army of 3,000 armed men was not something that had been accomplished loss-free. Of the approximately 500 soul evolvers belonging to the Transcendent faction who had fought, around 200 of them perished on the battlefield.
Such losses were not small considering how valuable the soul evolvers were, more so considering that those soul evolvers possessed purer Soul Power than most of those at their levels. However, Bai Zemin and the rest of the Transcendent faction leaders were already prepared to suffer losses; although most of them were young, they were not naive children to assume that they could win without human losses.
Sure, if Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue personally attacked the enemy camp then it was highly likely that they would win without suffering casualties. However, if they did that then Bai Zemin's goal in which he aspired to train and forge an iron troop with blood would never be achieved. What Bai Zemin wanted was fierce troops like lions that feared nothing and not a bunch of hothouse flowers that looked super cool but in reality could not withstand the wind of storms.
When the army of 3000 armed men fell, it wasn't long before the approximately 180 soul evolvers of the Transcendent faction claimed victory over the approximately 370 soul evolvers of the enemy side.
Although the soul evolvers of the Transcendent faction were far fewer, the average strength and even the average level were above that of their enemies, so, in the end, they managed to take the victory after losing about 40 allies.
Another great loss of soul evolvers, but also understandable. Considering that many of them were facing three or more enemies at the same time, the casualties were actually not that high if one looked at it from that perspective.
Once the allied First Order soul evolvers killed or forced the enemy First Order soul evolvers into submission, the battle between the evolved humans was finally over.
In the end, apart from the approximately 900 armed enemy soldiers as well as more than 30 modified off-road motorcycles along with more than 2700 rifles, machine guns, pistols, shotguns, and some other weapons that were recovered from the slain enemies the Transcendent faction also managed to acquire 190 enemy soul evolvers who immediately joined their troops under the careful observation of several First Order soul evolvers to avoid possible traitors in the midst of the chaos.
In conclusion, the losses had undoubtedly been painful. However, the gains far outweighed them; not only had they managed to make up a little for the loss of soul evolvers allied with enemy soul evolvers, but they had also gained nearly a thousand men with a few thousand weapons and ammunition.
"If that ice woman would have joined the battle I'm afraid it would have been over before it even began." Ye Jiao, the First Order soul evolver who had lost an arm after facing Zhong De, muttered bitterly.
After receiving one healing from Kang Lan, her wound had stopped bleeding and at least it no longer hurt to the point of being unbearable.
It was worth mentioning that Kang Lan's Lesser Healing skill had finally advanced to the next stage no more than three days ago, now becoming a Second Order level 1 skill; even the name had been modified after evolving, now being called Recovery.
Kang Lan's healing ability soared to another level not only due to the evolution of her skill but also because she had finally advanced to First Order after completing the requirements that the Soul Record imposed on her. Now, she had officially received the Venomous Healer job.
The skill Recovery could be used 5 times every 24 hours and the power was multiplied by 3 times compared to her previous Lesser Healing. Above all, the biggest change was undoubtedly that Recovery could make the body's cells work at twice the normal speed as long as it was used once every 24 hours on the injured person; which meant that even when an injured person no longer received Kang Lan's healing their wounds would heal faster than normal as a passive of the remaining effect of the Recovery skill.
Of course, Kang Lan was still far from being able to regenerate limbs with her skill. That was a realm that was beyond her reach at present and would probably continue to be like that for a long time.
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at Bai Zemin after taking care of the flames that threatened to destroy everything in its path and asked in a low voice, "What will you do now?"
Bai Zemin did not look at her. His eyes scanned the forest that previously suffered from the high temperatures now frozen and he had no choice but to admit that the ice-like skills were indeed the most beautiful.
The trees, the flowers, the grass, everything had been sealed into statues of semi-transparent white ice. This in conjunction with the light frost particles surrounding the area as well as the light mist made for a scene worthy of a fairy tale.
"It's time to put an end to all this." He said after a long time. He turned around to look at the Blood Spear Legion troops who were looking at him with determination as he announced loudly:
"Many of you, like me, were once citizens oppressed by society. Some of you were factory workers, others were farmers, some businessmen, students, even ex-convicts. However, none of that matters now! Society has collapsed and today's world is no longer yesterday's world, we must make everyone understand that the rules of the past can no longer suppress us! North Camp was the first to fall and the Baiquan Camp behind my back will be no exception…. Today, each of you proved that even those terrifying firearms are no longer invincible! Each of you proved to have an amount of courage that few possess and that is something that I, Bai Zemin, admire from the bottom of my heart."
They all stood in silence as they listened to his words. Some of them clenched their fists secretly, others felt their bodies tremble uncontrollably as they felt that enormous rush of adrenaline and rejoicing coursing through their veins. The look of pride in their eyes was impossible to hide.
Two months ago, most of them were just citizens of the lower rungs. But only two months later, they were powerful and proud evolved humans who together with a magnificent leader were heading for absolute conquest.
No one knew whether they could achieve it or not. None of them knew whether this seemingly crazy goal would lead them to glory or destruction. Many were just going with the flow. However, if there was one thing they all had in common, it was that under the leadership of the young man before them they had never lost a single battle, and today seemed to be no exception to this rule.
"Many brothers and sisters died here today. Their bodies will be properly buried and those with families will receive the support of the faction to ensure that they do not suffer after losing the livelihood that fed them. As for the corpses of our enemies…" Bai Zemin's eyes flashed coldly, and after pausing for a moment, he said cruelly, "There is no need to show mercy to them even in death… Their heads will be split open and the Soul Stones inside them will be stripped. Even after death the fall of our enemies will only make our path to the top even more paved! We will use their Soul Stones to grow the strength of our skills in order to never again have to see our allies fall before us!"
Many soul evolvers immediately became excited upon hearing Bai Zemin's speech. They had seen him pierce the heads of enemies to take Soul Stones so some feared that he would not spare even fallen allies. Now that they not only knew that their allies would be able to rest in peace and their families would not be left stranded, many could not help but let some tears fall silently down their faces.
Some of them felt guilty after remembering how right before their eyes one of their precious brothers or sisters was killed by the enemy. That feeling of helplessness and weakness was something they had rarely experienced until now as in the past there was always someone overwhelmingly powerful beside them to get the trouble out of the way. That kind of feeling that squeezed the heart tightly as if it wanted to crush it was one they never wanted to feel again.
Bai Zemin noticed the emotions in his subordinates' eyes and felt extremely satisfied in his heart. With this battle he had achieved his main goal by far, which was to train his troops to face other humans and intelligent existences. Moreover, as an additional reward, the loss of loved ones would only serve to boost everyone's desire to become stronger, which would eventually end up benefiting Bai Zemin himself as well.
As for the matter of not piercing the heads of the bodies of his fallen subordinates, although it was a pity, that was a line that Bai Zemin could not step over no matter how strong his heart was.
Those people died for him and for his cause. Even if they were receiving payments and benefits in return for their services, Bai Zemin was not capable of treating those who fell following him like pigs. This was an absolute boundary for him, one that regardless of the circumstances he could not afford to cross since if this were the case Bai Zemin might no longer feel human.
It was those little bindings that held Bai Zemin firm and reminded him that even though his heart was closed by a stone shell he was still, for better or worse, a human.
"You have all fought enough for today." He said in a deep voice. Then, with a slightly arrogant look on his face, he announced, "Now just sit back and rest…. It will all be over before you realize it."
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Really thank you very much to all who give gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
