Kang Guiying watched silently as the events unfolded. But despite the indifferent expression on his face, only he knew that he felt a slight regret in his heart.
Just during his previous clash, his first strike, he had planned to refrain himself and in theory his first attack was going to be an attack to warn Bai Zemin that an enemy was an enemy from the moment they challenged you in any way possible. Kang Guiying wanted Bai Zemin to understand that in this world, friendship was something that all-powerful and supreme beings could afford, and that those who thought that just because someone was their friend would not stab them in the back at the opportune moment, then what awaited them was a rude awakening.
Kang Guiying himself lived with that kind of mentality all his life, but in a moment of carelessness in the past, the person he least expected to betray him used the skill Infinite Chains on him while he was fighting against the king of another realm, which led him to suffer the wound from which he was not able to recover and the main reason why he was neither human nor ghost today.
However, Kang Guiying made a small mistake… He did not expect the young man who called himself Bai Zemin to be so, so terrifyingly strong.
That golden aura that surrounded him before, that frightening Strength capable of rivaling a peak Third Order existence added to the colossal attack power of that giant sword surrounded by crimson lightning caused Kang Guiying to forget for an instant that the person he was facing was a First Order existence, and as someone who had fought all his life was excited for a good fight after only the gods knew how many years of darkness and confinement.
“… Double Strength, a skill that multiplies my Strength stat by two for ten seconds at the cost of suffering broken bones and tears but since I have no real physical body it has no side effects on my current self.” Kang Guiying muttered under his breath and a regret-filled sigh slipped from his lips as he watched in the distance as Bai Zemin’s immobile body was once again surrounded by that godly golden aura. “That skill of that child…. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve seen something like that…. What a pity, to think that for a moment of carelessness I would end the life of such a talented warrior of my human race.”
Finally, Kang Guiying shook his head and took a step forward in preparation to end what was left of his last will. At the end of the day, even though it was a pity, he was no longer an existence of this world and really shouldn’t interfere too much with things that had little or nothing to do with him; he was already dead, and soon, the last of his soul would also disappear without leaving the slightest trace of his existence.
“Xia Ya!”
“Mm?”
Kang Guiying stopped when in the distance he saw a silver silhouette approaching at full speed in his direction. He had no difficulty identifying her as one of the two women who had been standing next to the young warrior from earlier, and from what he had observed from the darkness before, she looked to be a very powerful and talented woman with extraordinary and varied skills that made her a nightmare for anyone on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, seeing her pale face and hesitant look, Kang Guiying knew immediately that she was powerless at the moment.
“What a shame… If she could take an attack from me or persist 400 seconds it would be her team’s victory…” Kang Guiying sighed again as he shook his head.
There was something that perhaps Bai Zemin and everyone else had misunderstood, or perhaps due to the shock he received after learning what was happening on the current Earth, Kang Guiying forgot to explain himself more clearly.
This trial was a trial of challengers since Bai Zemin had stormed the fourth pagoda as a team with two people. So, even if the two women helped him before, Kang Guiying would have no complaints; much less considering that they were simply two Second Order existences and one First Order.
Regardless, Shangguan Bing Xue did not look at Kang Guiying at any time even though deep in her heart she wished nothing more than to bring him back to life and be able to tear every fragment of his body into a million pieces, her heart felt too heavy to care about anything other than saving Bai Zemin’s life.
Xia Ya was frozen in fear at this point. She had not moved from her place and simply stood there with a completely pale face as she looked at Kang Guiying as if she was looking at a mythological beast that would soon devour the entire world.
Even Bai Zemin who was the most terrifyingly strong person Xia Ya had ever seen in her entire life was probably already dead after a single punch of the remnant soul thread of the existence in front of her…. There was nothing she could do about it!
Maybe… Maybe if she had cast one of her curses earlier the outcome might have been different. But Xia Ya shook her head at such a thought.
How could she possibly keep up with the speed of a Fourth Order existence that decided to attack out of nowhere? It was impossible!
“XIA YA!”
Shangguan Bing Xue shouted through gritted teeth and a flash of murderous intent shone in her blue eyes as she extended her right hand at lightning speed and tightly squeezed Xia Ya’s shoulder to the point that the bones crackled slightly as if they might break at any moment.
“Wh- What…” Xia Ya immediately turned around.
The pain in her right shoulder, as well as the chilling cry, brought her out of her daze and when she turned around she was met with Shangguan Bing Xue’s ghost-like pale face.
“Cure Bai Zemin, hurry!” Shangguan Bing Xue said loudly in an authoritative voice and in fact did not even wait for confirmation from Xia Ya.
Cure? Right, heal!
Xia Ya immediately regained some of her reason when she suddenly felt the world around her become a blur. Everything around her flashed and her body felt lighter but before she could fully regain herself the scene in front of her changed.
“Cure him.” Shangguan Bing Xue ordered in a cold voice and her expression was as hard as stone as she pointed at Bai Zemin on the ground.
She even drew her sword and glared at Xia Ya without caring about anything other than forcing her to do whatever she had to do regardless of what was right or wrong.
Xia Ya quickly nodded and took out a bright white First Order Soul Stone.
She took out a golden magic wand without saying a word and after bringing the Soul Stone close to the wand all its energy was soon sucked out to the point where the rock exploded and turned into a pile of useless dust.
Xia Ya hesitated for a moment but finally gritted her teeth and while pointing the golden wand towards Bai Zemin she chanted loudly, “Healing of the Cursed!”
Immediately after those words left her mouth, Xia Ya’s face turned pale and her eyes trembled at the same time as several beads of sweat began to slide down her lovely body.
Shangguan Bing Xue frowned as she saw that Xia Ya seemed to be in great pain, but upon feeling the sound of bones rattling on the ground and after realizing that Xia Ya’s skill together with Bai Zemin’s golden aura were working perfectly in sync, she did not care whatever was happening to Xia Ya.
At the end of the day, Xia Ya to her was simply an unknown woman and between her and a precious friendship, there was no doubt who Shangguan Bing Xue would choose.
“Healing of the Cursed!”
“Healing of the Cursed!”
…
In a span of 30 seconds, Xia Ya activated her skill three times.
However, she seemed to be on the verge of collapsing as at this moment her eyes were wavering and if not for Shangguan Bing Xue who had supported her in time she might have fallen to the ground.
Her skill Healing of the Cursed allowed her to heal those she identified as her allies. This skill tripled the target’s Health stat for 5 seconds which naturally greatly accelerated the healing speed depending on the other’s Health, however, Xia Ya suffered horribly every time she used this skill.
The first activation of Healing of the Cursed caused Xia Ya to experience 20% of the pain the target felt, the second activation forced her to experience 30%, the third 40%, and so on up to a maximum of 80%.
Healing of the Cursed was really an obscure skill as it did not even harm the caster but it also did not allow Xia Ya to faint so her mind was really experiencing a monstrous amount of pain right now.
She didn’t even understand how it was possible that someone could still be alive with Bai Zemin’s wounds and with the pain that should have forced him to faint as the mind’s safety system.
In the distance, Kang Guiying felt the fast improvement of Bai Zemin and raised an eyebrow in astonishment before a smile of happiness crossed his face for an instant.
“Oh? This little lady seems to have some good skills too….. That’s good, that’s good…. Now I just hope that child can stand up soon…”
Kang Guiying still had about 300 seconds left, and he did not mind waiting until the last moment. Although he did not believe that someone could get up after suffering such huge damage, Kang Guiying waited for a miracle.
…
Bai Zemin could feel the bones in his body twisting, he felt his torn flesh begin to be reattached by new tissue, even the birth of new cells did not go unnoticed. However, despite the pain he should be feeling, he felt nothing.
In fact, Bai Zemin subconsciously even used Blood Manipulation to promote the movement of stem cells and birth of others while at the same time he activated Overlap Regeneration from time to time and converted all his Agility into Health points.
At this moment he should be experiencing at least several times more pain than when Kang Lan healed him after he returned safely from Oblon World. However, far from feeling any pain, he felt nothing… This was because before his eyes, an unfamiliar scene was taking place just like a movie that was cut into parts and without much clarity.
* * *
A pair of slender hands appeared and could only be described as extremely beautiful surrounded by a mysterious light and strange energy. One finger in particular bore a ring that had been carved in the shape of a dragon.
But these beautiful hands carried a sharp knife that cut open the stomach of the baby lying on a soft bed, causing blood to gush out. The baby let out a wail.
The hands did not stop for the baby’s cry and instead continued to move as if searching for something until finally they seemed to find what they were looking for as the owner of the hands laughed gleefully as it pulled out a weird rainbow colored bone the size of a fingernail.
That bone was very small, but somehow, it was not tainted by the slightest drop of blood. It glittered brightly and even possessed some natural glowing lines.
After that, a bottle appeared in one of the hands and, quickly, a small ball of gas was sealed inside.
Soon after, a syringe appeared in the other hand, piercing the baby’s heart. Fresh blood filled it. This blood did not look the same as ordinary blood. Instead of being scarlet, it was rainbow-colored just like the little bone from before.
After the multicolored blood was drawn, the baby’s body immediately darkened as if a shiny jade vase had suddenly become worn and cracked.
Then, that person laughed again and as it raised the knife high, the dragon ring on its hand flashed reflecting the sunlight before cutting downward.
