For a moment, it seemed as if time had stopped.
At the contact of the greatsword and the most powerful weapon in Bai Zemin's possession with the rampaging tentacle and empowered by every active skill that increased the physical attack power of the zombie leader, the world fell silent.
Eyes as black as the night met eyes as red as the blood. Both gazes were bloodthirsty and the only emotion visible in the other's eyes was murderous intent born from the depths of the soul.
The wind stopped blowing, gravity stopped working, the sounds coming from the bridge and its surroundings no longer could be heard, and with the moon as a witness high in the sky, the world surrounding the area seemed to enter under a strange pause effect.
However, that strange pause did not last more than a second because as Bai Zemin and the zombie leader stared into each other's eyes, the awaiting hell that was ready to be unleashed finally broke all restraints that held it back.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
Shangguan Bing Xue had never seen or heard the explosion of a nuclear bomb in her entire life. Furthermore, since she had not been present at the battle to the death between Bai Zemin and Glineira or the short confrontation between Bai Zemin and Emperor Thannath when they invaded Oblon World, she also did not know how powerful a swing of Bai Zemin's sword at full power could be.
However, this had been by far the most terrifying sound of explosion she had ever experienced in her life.
The clash between Bai Zemin's greatsword and the zombie leader's tentacles not only caused a thunderous explosion but the expansive shockwave spread far enough that even someone like the sea princess could not see the limit of its growth.
Waves of colossal size rose more than 5000 meters high and the sea below the bridge shook with such force that the land more than 50 kilometers away in a northerly direction opened up as cracks more than 200 meters in diameter covered the ground.
The bridge rumbled and one of the columns collapsed causing many more zombies to fall into the sea. Had it not been for Shangguan Bing Xue's quick action, what would have collapsed would have been not just a secondary pillar but the entire bridge!
In the sky, as if gravity could no longer affect them, Bai Zemin and the zombie leader seemed to freeze as a huge bubble of vacuum in which even the air had been expelled enveloped them.
The red flashes of lightning from the greatsword sizzled furiously inside the vacuum bubble as more and more black lightning with golden edges threatened to sneak into the world from the thin spatial rift that had opened up above their heads.
The face of the zombie leader distorted into a hideous grimace filled with hatred and his eyes widened to the maximum extent possible as he let out a choked roar. However, in the next instant, his expression of hatred froze as his tentacled body blasted into a mist of purple-blackish blood that partially blocked the inner view of the vacuum bubble from the outside world.
Boooooooooooooom!!!
Another terrifying explosion rumbled as the vacuum bubble was shattered once Bai Zemin's greatsword lost whatever was obstructing its path.
The large blade of the giant sword quickly widened before the frightened but mostly disbelieving pupils of the zombie leader and before his body was sent flying by the ferocious shockwave brought by the weapon, his head was firmly struck.
Boom!!!
Like a watermelon falling from a tenth floor, the head of the zombie leader not only exploded but was practically pulverized. Black-tinged blood along with brain matter and small pieces of shattered skull flew everywhere and rained down on the sea waters once the world's gravity pulled them in.
[You have received the Soul Power of Apocalyptic Power Zombie 'Xun Shin' level 101…]
While the records of the Apocalyptic Power Zombie were stored deep within the soul of Bai Zemin, waiting to be absorbed when he completed his mission to advance to the Second Order, his arms went horribly numb after facing the unrestrained attack of the now-dead zombie leader.
The Apocalyptic Power Zombie was truly worthy of the name. Even someone as powerful as Bai Zemin felt his chest tightening along with the blood inside his body stirring disorderly. He barely managed to restrain the urge to spit out blood thanks to his skill Blood Manipulation.
While it was true that the Apocalyptic Power Zombie had the advantage in the previous clash as he was in a more elevated position when attacking while Bai Zemin had to strike from a disadvantageous position at the same time lifting horrendous weight from his weapon, considering all the passive buff Bai Zemin received from his various skills was proof of how terrifying the zombie leader had been while he was alive.
"Bai Zemin!"
A loud call filled with urgency forced Bai Zemin back to reality despite the terrifying pain that overwhelmed his senses not only attacking him from the physical side but also from the spiritual side.
With the vacuum bubble bursting and disappearing, the Earth's gravity pulled Bai Zemin back onto the bridge. However, in his free fall, Bai Zemin noticed a flash of purple light thanks to the shine of the bright moon.
Soul Stone!
Bai Zemin's eyes lit up with excitement at the realization that the Apocalyptic Power Zombie had formed a Third Order Soul Stone in his head. However, in the midst of the pain and excitement, Bai Zemin spotted a shadow swiftly charging towards the Soul Stone.
A giant monster stretched across the sky and an extremely long tentacle charged like lightning towards the Soul Stone.
The expression of Bai Zemin changed dreadfully as he realized that it would be difficult for him to reach the Soul Stone before the giant monster.
In a flash of inspiration and with his heart burning with anxiety, he opened his mouth wide and his throat moved strangely. Bai Zemin did not even realize that he had unconsciously activated one of his newly learned skills.
Roar!!!!
The sound wave traveled swiftly, striking the leviathan of the sea princess and hitting its spirit on the spot. The sky blue eyes of the creature clouded over and as if it had suddenly fainted in mid-flight its body began to plummet towards the sea.
Boom!!!
The massive body of the leviathan hit the sea and a great wave of more than 500 meters rose into the sky at the same time that the creature momentarily disappeared from sight under the cover of the waters that swayed uncontrollably over its body.
Under the anxious eyes of the sea princess, Bai Zemin extended his hand forward, and taking advantage of the drops of blood from the corpse of the Apocalyptic Power Zombie that still fell next to the corpse itself, he activated Blood Manipulation.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!…
The small purple-blackish drops quickly coalesced into a large blood string and under Bai Zemin's control the string coiled around the Third Order Soul Stone.
With a strong pulling and a few meters before hitting the bridge, Bai Zemin forcefully pulled the blood string and caught the Soul Stone before quickly activating Gravity Manipulation in reverse to reduce his falling speed.
When Bai Zemin's feet touched the bridge again, Shangguan Bing Xue hurriedly charged forward and approached him.
"Are you okay?" was the first thing she asked.
"I'm fine," Bai Zemin replied dryly. He waved his hand casually and put into his storage ring the corpse of the Apocalyptic Power Zombie that landed next to him. Then, he looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and said this time more softly, "Thank you for everything, Bing Xue. If not for you, I'm afraid tonight my plans would have failed terribly."
While it was true that Shangguan Bing Xue had not obeyed his command to stay at the base, the distance between the Baiquan Camp and the bridge center was just over 300 kilometers; with her movement speed, she could close that distance in a matter of minutes.
In fact, so far it had been perhaps 40-50 minutes since Shangguan Bing Xue had arrived.
Moreover, even though Bai Zemin could have won this battle with or without Shangguan Bing Xue, his main objective which was to prevent the bridge from falling definitely could not have been completed. It was thanks to Shangguan Bing Xue that the concrete bridge withstood so many physical, magic, and shockwave attacks capable of bringing down buildings.
However, who knew that instead of feeling praised by Bai Zemin's words, Shangguan Bing Xue would shake her head.
She looked into his eyes with a pale face and said softly, "Don't thank me yet."
Bai Zemin looked at her blankly. However, Shangguan Bing Xue's next words chilled his blood.
"I am running out of Mana. Although right now the ice I created after freezing the waves is holding this bridge, that ice only has a little over 10 points of Mana in it and I've been holding it up until now barely as the wind here is blowing too hard and the sea waters are too wild."
Shangguan Bing Xue made a pause and whispered in a voice that only both of them could hear, "If we are lucky, only part of it will fall and we can make up for that with our skills….. But if not, I'm afraid the bridge might break in half and sink into the sea forever."
The expression on the face of Bai Zemin sank when he heard this and unconsciously his gaze went to the place where practically 70% of the width of the bridge that had frozen under Shangguan Bing Xue's prompt reaction was missing.
If when the ice disappeared what fell was the remaining 30% of that part, then Bai Zemin didn't have to worry since when it came time to let those following him cross he simply had to activate Blood Manipulation to prepare a short platform for everyone to go through; even Shangguan Bing Xue could do this.
However, if the entire bridge collapsed after losing the remaining 30% of that part, then Bai Zemin really wouldn't know what to do.
After all, even though he was powerful, his Blood Manipulation skill was not powerful enough to stretch 100 kilometers across and build a new temporary bridge; Bai Zemin would either run out of Mana before achieving such a thing or lose contact with the blood due to his "low" Magic stat.
Just at that moment, the voice of the sea princess reached Bai Zemin:
"Human leader, you really succeeded in killing the beast leader."
Bai Zemin turned his body to look in the direction of the sea princess and his eyes flashed with a hint of coldness that soon disappeared without a trace.
Xian Mei'er looked at the human on the bridge and for obvious reasons controlled the sea waters to stay away. Furthermore, she forced the leviathan to stand between her and the bridge as a primary protective measure.
After all, although she and Bai Zemin were in an alliance, it was an alliance born out of common interests. Now that the enemies had been practically annihilated, it was hard to know what would happen next.
"Not just the beast leader. You even managed to kill the zombie leader with a single blow. I must admit, you surprised me. This is the first time in my life that I don't feel disgusted for a human." She said. Her clear voice was extremely pleasing to the ears in itself and hearing her speak words of praise was like casting a love spell on a normal man.
However, Bai Zemin was not a normal man. Even without the skill Stone Heart it was unlikely that something as simple as the voice of the mermaid princess could affect his reasoning.
"You praise me, Princess of the Sea." Bai Zemin replied with a slight polite smile on his face. "Had it not been for the fact that the zombie leader was in full flight, it would have been impossible for me to use my strongest weapon like that and thus it would not have been possible to end his life so easily."
The mermaid princess looked at the bridge before looking back at Bai Zemin and saying in a strange voice, "I've noticed it before but…. It seems that you and that human woman next to you have interest in this bridge?"
With the intelligence of Xian Mei'er it was naturally impossible to hide Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue's desperate attempts to protect the bridge. Therefore, Bai Zemin did not try to hide it when he realized that the obvious had been exposed.
"Indeed. This bridge is important to me. I need it to move my troops to the other side or otherwise it will take me months to go around two whole districts to get to the place I need to reach." He said honestly but without giving too much detail about it.
The eyes of Xian Mei'er flashed strangely, and after a moment of silence, she said with a beautiful smile, "Since that's the case, how about I help you hold this bridge steady while you and your troops walk over?"
A flash of coldness as quick as lightning flashed in the gaze of Bai Zemin. With no change of expression, he said with a smile, "Oh? Since it is like this, then I'll have to thank the sea princess beforehand."
Bai Zemin already found it strange that the sea princess did not say anything about the Third Order Soul Stone that he obtained after turning the zombie leader's head into tomato pulp. However, now that he heard her "kind" proposal, things became more than clear.
Xian Mei'er chuckled at Bai Zemin's clear attempt to play dumb. She waved her staff and moved a little closer to the bridge but not too close; just enough so that everyone could see each other more clearly.
"Let me introduce myself…. My name is Xian Mei'er. Seventh Princess of the Eastern Sea and tenth contender for the throne of Lost City. Daughter of King Xian Xiu, current temporary ruler of the place you humans know as Atlantis."
And so, Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue learned that apparently, this legendary place known among humans was actually not just a legend.
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Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
