Chapter 654 – Shangguan Bing Xue’s suspicions
Regardless of whether it was Bai Zemin, Shangguan Bing Xue, or Wu Yijun; none of the three had the slightest idea of what Sun Ling was thinking. The three of them, like everyone else, were focusing solely and exclusively on doing their jobs to the best of their ability and had no time for distractions.
Among all those present, only Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue were capable of fighting thousands of First Order enemies at the same time for long periods of time without fear of running out of Stamina or having their reflexes and reaction speed deteriorate over time due to extreme focus in the midst of battle. This was because only the two of them possessed sufficient amount or purity of Soul Power to achieve such a thing.
While it was true that Bai Zemin could destroy any mechanical golem as soon as it came out of the gate using his abilities or simply by turning Annihilation of the Falling Sky into a greatsword and while it was true that Shangguan Bing Xue could freeze all the golems in the place without affecting her allies thanks to her exquisite control over her Mana and her skill Ice Maker, neither of them were willing to do such things for obvious reasons.
To begin with, this whole operation was meant to test Bai Zemin’s leadership. Moreover, this operation would also serve to win the hearts of the most powerful soul evolvers in the entire Chinese Renaissance because while proving that he could wipe out all the enemies by himself was a good thing, the effect would be far better if he saved the lives of a few of them in the process.
After all, who wouldn’t be grateful after someone saved their life? Bai Zemin and his closest subordinates had used this approach before and it always worked to perfection 90% of the time.
The second reason was very simple but just as important as the first.
Right in front of them, Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue had the perfect battlefield.
The stone square seemed indestructible no matter how much both of them broke loose, the number of enemies was large enough that both he and she had to process all kinds of information with their brains in record time in order to react accordingly and avoid being hit. Moreover, while the enemy’s strength meant nothing to them, the weapons in the hands of the mechanical golems were undoubtedly sharp enough to hurt them a bit if they were careless.
As if the previously mentioned was not enough, they could let these powerful soul evolvers improve their combat experience against large numbers of enemies whose overall strength surpassed them by a wide margin, improve their overall physical abilities, and of course, improve in the use of their main skills.
In consequence of all the above, although it was a bit risky, both Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue came to the same tactical agreement; without even a word, they both understood each other’s thoughts and without hesitation set to work for it.
Finally, after about two hours of non-stop combat, the last mechanical golem whose strength was comparable to that of a First Order soul evolver collapsed on the ground after having its head shattered by a mana arrow shot by Chen He.
Chen He slowly released the oxygen inside his lungs as he slowly lowered his bow.
“… Finally… It’s over.”
Even Chen He who was on the verge of becoming a Second Order existence but whose true power was already comparable to that of one could not help but feel his hair stand on end as he looked at the mountains of shattered golems.
“I can’t believe we actually won…” Feng Tian Wu could barely stand upright at this point.
Her gorgeous face was sickly pale and her pink lips had lost their color. Everything within her vision was blurry; a clear consequence of enormous Mana consumption and lack of it in her organism.
There were several mages who fainted as soon as they knew the battle was over while most of them fell to the ground gasping for air. The melee fighters were not much different except that some of them began to grunt under their breath as the wounds over their bodies began to ache now that the adrenaline was starting to recede.
“You all have done a good job.”
Bai Zemin’s voice caught everyone’s attention and those who could still keep their eyes open immediately turned to look at him.
Walking slowly amidst thousands of crushed metal pieces that had once composed the bodies of the mechanical golems, Bai Zemin walked shoulder to shoulder alongside Shangguan Bing Xue in the direction of the south of the square where the vast majority of the group was.
Bai Zemin was still wearing the same deep dark blue armor he took from the asura race whose name was Scales of the Sea General and which provided him with over 700 points of defense and also had the ability to decrease the side effects of ice/water type skills by 10%.
In contrast to her silver-white hair, Shangguan Bing Xue wore armor that also provided around the same defense as the Scales of the Sea General that Bai Zemin wore only that on top of it were several layers of compressed ice to the point where its color had become very close to Bai Zemin’s armor.
“Those two… Are they really humans?” Xia Ya could not help but mutter as she watched the two of them advance with steady steps and completely composed, neutral expressions which meant that they were not exhausted in the slightest despite the great battle they had gone through.
Bai Zemin ignored the looks of veneration as did Shangguan Bing Xue. He surveyed everyone present and after a moment’s consideration he commanded in a loud voice:
“Zhong De, Shangguan Bing Xue, Wu Yijun, and Meng Qi. These four people will be the ones to accompany me to explore the inside of the second pagoda.”
“What?” Huang Tian looked at him with wide eyes and noted, “What about the rest of us then?”
“Of course, everyone else will stay behind.” Bai Zemin said indifferently. He swept his eyes over the top and announced slowly, “Many of you are injured and while it is nothing serious it is best that you take this time to recover and eat something. The day is still long and you probably won’t have time to rest during the night so you’d better take advantage of these rare opportunities for rest that you are given.”
Bai Zemin intended to explore every last pagoda today even if he had to go without sleep for another day as the faster they left this mountain range the better he would feel. It was already past 15 o’clock in the afternoon so it was necessary to keep moving.
Huang Tian looked at the bloody wound on his right arm and gritted his teeth in frustration. Finally, he sighed and his shoulders slumped as he nodded obediently; even if he wanted to help and get more benefits, continuing to be stubborn here would only give everyone more trouble.
Everyone understood that the leader was not going to change his mind and knew in their hearts that his words were valid so while some wanted to follow Bai Zemin and the others in the exploration of the ancient ruins no one said anything.
Bai Zemin nodded and after giving some orders to Sun Ling and the rest he turned around with the intention of leaving.
However, he and the others had not walked more than a few steps when a loud voice stopped their steps:
“Wait!”
“Mm?” Bai Zemin turned slightly and looked at the person who had just stopped them. With a calm expression on his face, he asked, “Do you have something to say?”
“I-” Feng Tian Wu bit her lip as she tried her hardest to sound confident. She looked Bai Zemin in the eyes and said in a strong voice, “I would like to go with you to explore! My skills have a lot of magic damage power and low cooldown, I also have a large-scale crowd control skill that I haven’t used yet. If there are still enemies in the ruins I’m sure I can help!”
She looked sideways at Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun, feeling as if a flame was burning in her chest the more she looked at them. Feng Tian Wu was a mage just like the two of them but those two women who had been fighting all this time looked to be close to optimal condition while she could barely stay up.
Especially Shangguan Bing Xue. Feng Tian Wu had always been proud of herself, but for the first time, she felt inferior in every aspect not only as a woman but also as a soul evolver. Therefore, she wanted to prove to herself that she did not lose to anyone!
“No.”
Bai Zemin’s cold voice brought her back to reality and when she met his black eyes all she saw was indifference; those eyes were the eyes with which someone usually looked at a stranger on their way home.
“You barely have any Mana remaining, your physical abilities are barely above those of an average soul evolver and your Stamina has been mostly consumed.” Bai Zemin pointed out her current weaknesses calmly and finished, “If we find danger within the ruins, with your current condition you will be nothing but a burden.”
Bai Zemin turned to leave along with the rest and said in a leisurely voice, “Make the most of it to recover. Your strength will probably be needed in the immediate future.”
Feng Tian Wu wanted to say something but in the end, she closed her mouth and clenched her fists in frustration as she watched the backs of the five people disappear beyond the pagoda door, clearly going into an isolated room as before.
Finally, she sighed and let her fists relax. Sitting on the ground and feeling somewhat defeated, Feng Tian Wu paid heed to Bai Zemin and used the time she had been given to recover.
At the end of the day, although she was a proud and stubborn woman, the Feng Tian Wu of the past was gone; the current Feng Tian Wu was mature enough to understand when others were right.
Feng Hong was in a better overall condition compared to Feng Tian Wu, after all, he was stronger than his daughter. He sat down next to her and after watching her silently for several seconds asked in a low voice, “Tian Wu, do you know the leader from somewhere?”
Feng Tian Wu did not answer immediately and instead asked, “Why do you ask?” She kept her eyes closed, trying to recover her Stamina and Mana to acceptable levels as fast as possible.
“No, for nothing in particular. It’s just that I felt that was the case.”
Feng Tian Wu opened her eyes and as she looked at the huge silver pagoda where the group of five had just entered she thought for a moment before replying, “In the past, I met a person named Bai Zemin. But the Bai Zemin I knew and this Bai Zemin who is leading us are not the same person.”
Feng Hong looked at his daughter in confusion but as he saw her closing her eyes again he shook his head and did not continue with the matter as he could feel that things were not that simple. He had already stepped into his daughter’s life once and would not do it again a second time, he would simply try to support her in any way possible.
Feng Tian Wu opened her eyes again after her father closed his, and as she looked at the pagoda several meters distant, she couldn’t help but think of another possibility…. Maybe, the Bai Zemin she knew was always this Bai Zemin who led them, it was just that her past self had no way of noticing it.
Because in the end, she never paid any real attention to him.
* * *
On the other hand, after Bai Zemin stepped past the door of the second pagoda he and the others immediately felt that weird sensation of stepping through an invisible curtain. By the time they all opened their eyes again, they were in a space completely different from what the inside of a pagoda should be like.
This place was different from the previous one in all aspects, except that like the room where the pills were, in this one there were also several magic circles drawn on the walls, on the ceiling, and on the floor.
The walls were stained with a faint purple-black color, the floor was covered with ashes, there was a simple furnace set up near a workbench right next to a mountain of mana-filled charcoal, an ancient welding machine, a grinder useful for cutting and polishing metals, pliers/pincers/tongs, chisels of different sizes, and a few items more.
But Shangguan Bing Xue was so distracted in her own thoughts that she was not even paying attention to the room and her focus was on Bai Zemin. She for some reason felt that the female fire mage from before whose name she couldn’t be bothered to remember seemed to know Bai Zemin.
The two of them had been talking alone previously and now she was also the only one who even after hearing Bai Zemin’s words tried to change his mind.
‘Friends? Or could it be…’ Her thoughts were interrupted by Wu Yijun’s astonished voice.
“Blacksmith shop?” Wu Yijun blinked curiously as she looked at the surroundings somewhat disappointed, “This room looks so small and there are so few goodies…. Don’t tell me this is the treasure?”
Bai Zemin said nothing and with bright eyes took the first step forward.
He picked up the hammer resting on the workbench and as he saw the tool’s records his eyes lit up even more and his heart sparkled with delight.
This place was clearly a huge treasure even though the size of the room was thousands of times smaller compared to the previous one!
“Em. Size isn’t always important after all.” Bai Zemin nodded to himself.
“But if it’s big it’s better!” Lilith cut in with a mischievous voice.
