Boom!
Bai Zemin’s body fell from the sky and like a lifeless rock hit hard on the stone ground of the square. Fortunately, despite the superficial cracks, the only thing that occurred during the heavy fall was a slight trembling but it did not damage the magic circle at all.
Bai Zemin’s chest rose and fell heavily with each breath, and as he looked up at the starry sky free of any clouds in a rather large range as a secondary consequence of the clash between his and Kang Guiying’s attack, he couldn’t stop his face from contracting into a horrible grimace of pain.
Although Bai Zemin might have had a fall as light as a feather, the pain that struck every cell in his body and the sadness that assaulted his soul for a moment after the eternal departure of who could have been an excellent friend made him unable to focus at all enough to activate Gravity Manipulation.
“Ugh.”
As he immediately tried to stand up, the blood vessels in the muscles of his legs broke into pieces and blood began to leak from the cracks that now plagued every piece of equipment he wore. As for his precious battle gauntlets, they had been destroyed earlier and there was nothing left of them.
Swoosh!
A light breeze gently swayed Bai Zemin’s dark hair, which at this moment was practically completely red due to his own blood.
“Are you okay?”
“… At the very least, I am not dying.”
“… Silly.”
Lilith helped Bai Zemin, but when he thought she would help him to his feet, he was actually a bit surprised when all she did was carefully lift his top to allow his head to rest comfortably on her soft, fluffy thighs.
Even though the black silk dress was between skin and skin, it wasn’t necessary for him to feel them directly to know that they would definitely be labeled as the Eighth Wonder of the World…. In fact, Bai Zemin felt that he was most likely underestimating them considering Lilith’s identity and her position within the universal scale of power and beauty.
“Your dress will be stained with my blood.”
“Don’t worry, your blood won’t stain my dress thanks to the layer of mana surrounding it.”
“… Couldn’t you just have said that you don’t care at all?”
“Do you think this is one of your favorite light novels you used to read?”
“Hahah- Ugh…”
Bai Zemin grimaced and then took a slow breath as he gently closed his eyes.
A few seconds passed during which they were both silent, with only the wind blowing away the smell of Bai Zemin’s blood but bringing the smell of blood from the large number of mutant beasts and other evolved creatures that were killed by the aftershocks of the brief but deadly battle that had just ended.
“… Hey, Lilith.”
Bai Zemin whispered softly, not opening his eyes yet.
“Mm?”
Lilith inquired with a melodious hum as she looked with tender eyes at his exhausted and pale face while using her soft and delicate hands to carefully remove the bloodstains.
“These kinds of battles… Do they happen very often?”
Lilith’s hands paused for a moment before she continued using her palms to wipe the blood from Bai Zemin’s face, then wiping the blood from her hands with her mana, and repeating the process with utmost care as if she was taking care of something extremely delicate and precious to her.
“You mean a battle where you have to face an enemy that is not actually your enemy?” she asked calmly in a soft voice.
“Mm.”
Bai Zemin nodded slightly without opening his eyes, enjoying the caresses of the woman who had managed to help him heal any existing traces of his past emotional scars and who to this day had become one of his highest priorities, if not the highest of all of them.
“No… These kinds of battles are by no means normals.”
Lilith gently shook her head even though she knew that Bai Zemin could not see her. After removing the blood, she went on to gently caress his face as she watched his Health with the help of Blood Manipulation regenerating the damaged tissues.
After a short pause, she continued: “Battles like the one between you and the person called Kang Guiying are so rare that most living beings do not experience one in their entire lives, there are even many Higher Existences tens of thousands of years old who have never experienced such a fate…. At the end of the day, there are usually only three paths that two existences can walk when it comes to relationships.”
“Three paths?”
“Mm. The first path is that of neutrality, where no one interferes in the life of the other. The second path is that of animosity, where both existences fight to the death either for the sake of evolving higher, for some kind of personal resentment, for the idea of stealing something from the other party, or many other reasons. And finally, the third path is that of an alliance. In this third path fall friendship, romance, common interests, and so on.” Lilith explained using the same low, sweet tone of voice.
Then, she culminated, “It is very rare for a fourth path to appear…. The path in which two existences that are clearly not enemies and in fact could be good friends or even a couple, have no choice but to fight due to different circumstances that life put in front of them.”
“I see…” Bai Zemin slowly opened his eyes, and at the same time as he sighed, he couldn’t help but lament softly, “Guess I was unlucky…”
After saying those words, Bai Zemin tried to stand up; which naturally caused the wounds on his legs and arms to worsen. However, he pushed himself up until with the help of Lilith, who seemed to understand how he felt, he managed to get back on his feet.
“Thank you.”
“Do you need to thank me for something like that?”
Bai Zemin didn’t say anything and instead dragged his tired body to the place where in theory Kang Guiying’s body would be if not for the fact that the man had no real physical body anymore.
With the help of his Blood Manipulation skill, after taking several steps, he finally managed to partially heal his wounds and thus prevent the blood from continuing to run out of his body. Even then, it was far from enough to be recovered, and according to Bai Zemin’s estimation, at this rate of healing, it could take him at least a week or two to get back to his optimal condition.
Luckily enough, however, with a godly skill such as Regeneration and its second activation ‘Overlap Regeneration’, Bai Zemin would be able to reduce that time tremendously while with the support of a healing mage it might only take him a day or two to get back to full recovery.
After walking approximately two hundred meters, Bai Zemin finally reached in front of the fourth pagoda and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a small object the size of a fingernail, glowing.
Bai Zemin’s pupils trembled slightly as he subconsciously muttered, “That’s…”
Lilith was surprised for a moment before she sighed and said softly, “Although it’s a shame that it can’t be used to evolve any skills or something similar because it has barely any energy left, that little one still has many uses….. Maybe, the man named Kang Guiying was planning to leave it to you from the beginning.”
Bai Zemin gritted his teeth and a flash of sadness crossed his black eyes that with the deactivation of the two levels of Blood Berserker’s Wrath had returned to their normal tone. He did not say anything, nor did he charge forward as any other Lower Existence in the universe would do in this kind of circumstance and in the face of such a treasure.
Instead, as if what was in front of him had a deeper meaning in his eyes and in his heart, Bai Zemin gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore the abysmal pain as he forced himself to lean his upper body such that his figure formed a perfect right angle.
Bai Zemin was a very proud man. Even before he evolved, long before he became the leader of a huge faction and long before he discovered that he had the potential to rule over myriads of people and even races, his pride was firmly imprinted in each and every one of his bones. For him, the action of bowing 90 degrees was only and exclusively available to those people who somehow or other managed to earn his respect or become an important part of his life and only his parents had seen him kneeling.
However, Kang Guiying had called Bai Zemin ‘brother’ just before he left this world forever.
Even though the two had only met for a couple of minutes, even though life had not given them time to chat as they probably both would have liked, Teng Hua and Liang Jing were right when they said that relationships forged on the battlefield were often stronger and firmer than any relationship with years of talk.
Kang Guiying’s principles and ideals seemed to synchronize practically perfectly with those of Bai Zemin; both were men who fought or fought for the good of their kind, were willing to make sacrifices for a bigger good, had clearly marked bottom lines, with a view on friendship and enmity close enough that both of them despite not wanting to, faced each other with the intention of destroying the other side… and probably many more.
Then, given that a Fourth Order existence and someone who had been a true King was willing to call him brother, what reason did Bai Zemin have to refuse?
“I, Bai Zemin, am honored to have been able to meet a person like you in my life. Although we did not drink under the moonlight, it is the honor of me, Bai Zemin, to be your sworn brother. Brother Kang, thank you very much for everything! ” He said in a respectful and slightly choked voice.
Kang Guiying had been Bai Zemin’s first sworn brother, but as soon as he took him, he lost him too.
As hundreds of thoughts raced in Bai Zemin’s head and his heart felt considerably bitter, the light sound of silk moving and the scent of roses he loved so much embraced him for an instant.
“You…”
Bai Zemin’s eyes widened in shock as he saw that, just like him, Lilith had bowed 90 degrees with a respectful expression on her face.
For Bai Zemin to bow was one thing…. But for Lilith to do so was another entirely!
Not only had she been ranked as one of the two most beautiful women in the history of the cosmos, but she was also a proud Higher Existence of the Sixth Order! Lilith was the holder of two Firmament Fragments left behind by existences that surpassed the limits of the Soul Record and one of the most powerful powerhouses in the universe!
The fact that someone with such a background would bow to a Fourth Order existence was simply unheard of in the history and Kang Guiying was probably the first one to achieve something like this!
“Why are you looking at me with those astonished eyes?” Lilith looked at him sideways and said in a low voice, “Even though I am Lilith, a succubus of the Sixth Order and part of the Demonic Army, I am also your woman… If you, Bai Zemin, respect someone else enough to bow down and accept him as your sworn brother, then I as your woman must naturally show respect to him.”
Leaving Bai Zemin still shocked, Lilith lowered her head and said in a gentle voice, “Brother Kang, thank you for everything.”
Bai Zemin stood dumbfounded for a few seconds before he closed his eyes and a smile slowly dawned on his face.
He really managed to catch a great woman!
After a minute, both of them straightened their postures and kept silent before Bai Zemin said in a serious voice:
“Lilith, I made my decision.”
“Mm? Decision?” Lilith tilted her head as she looked at him in confusion.
Bai Zemin pointed forward and said in a firm and arrogant voice, “The core of the universe, the most important city of all and the most brilliant one the history books have ever registered… Its name will be Kang City!”
