It was around that time, just as a new major threat was approaching at high speeds from a distance, that Xia Ya finally managed to end the life of the red-colored weaver ant she had been fighting all this time.
The weaver ant’s body fell lifelessly on the ground right in the middle of its charge toward Xia Ya and she cleverly dodged the creature’s fall.
Surprisingly, the body of the previously red weaver ant had now several black clouds with images of white skulls coming out of it and in moments all its blood was sucked out as if an invisible monster was silently absorbing it.
This was one of the most powerful curses among Xia Ya’s skill package and it worked as a slow poison that when cast, would slowly begin to corrode the inside of the enemy system without the enemy noticing. This curse was very difficult to notice unless the enemy of Xia Ya was paying special attention, something that in the middle of combat was hard to do since usually, one or two things managed to slip through when they were beyond what one could see or feel.
The name of the curse was ‘Dead Soul’ and its power was truly horrifying as it had the ability to slowly drain the enemy system’s stats, making the enemy weaker with each passing second. Moreover, it also had another special feature.
Xia Ya opened her mouth wide after receiving the Second Order Ant’s Soul Power and a surprising suction strength came out from inside as if there was a black hole inside her body.
That gloomy smoke that came out from inside the body of the red-colored weaver ant was attracted toward Xia Ya’s mouth and in an instant was devoured by her.
[You have received 10 Strength points.]
Xia Ya nodded in satisfaction at the green message that flashed in her retina; effect and result of the second activation of her skill Dead Soul, the name of the second activation was Extraction of Soul and its function was to extract the Soul Power left behind in the flesh, bones, and blood of the defeated enemy.
Although 10 Strength points might not seem like much, but considering that Xia Ya could use this kind of skill with relative ease it was actually a lot of stat points once one started to pile them up!
The only disadvantage that was actually not a disadvantage but something completely reasonable was that the effect of Extraction of Soul only worked on existences of equal or higher level to Xia Ya’s, or else she would get nothing at all.
Xia Ya was really powerful, she had the talent and the means to become one of the most powerful existences on the entire Earth if she received the support of the right person; she could even potentially overcome Shangguan Bing Xue in the future depending on her destiny. Precisely because of this, Xia Ya decided to bet on Bai Zemin just like Nangong Yi, Nangong Lingxin and Evangeline did back then.
Moreover, since Bai Zemin would soon be becoming the lord of China since Xia Ya did not believe that there was anyone stronger than him considering that Bai Zemin had even emerged victorious after facing a Fourth Order existence, Xia Ya did not have to worry about being marked as a traitor of anything.
Soon, Xia Ya entered into combat with the red Second Order ant charging from afar. Although Xia Ya was strong, her Stamina was a problem as it was not particularly high, and because by nature she was mostly a mage, having to fight a melee enemy was really a source of headaches.
Fortunately, she had managed to absorb quite a bit of Soul Power so it was getting easier for the current Xia Ya to fight the Second Order weaver ant.
However, no more than five seconds passed before two additional red flashes flickered in the distance, leaping along the walls with surprising agility.
Everyone who saw the two red flashes felt despair in their hearts, and even Wu Yijun, who had decided to give her 101%, could not help but turn pale and become greatly discouraged.
The human group was barely holding on and the number of wounded kept increasing; it was a miracle that no one had died during the last few seconds after Huang Tian’s fall.
How could they then deal with two more Second Order enemies when Chen He was exhausted after killing one and wounding another severely? How could they contain a Second Order existence until Xia Ya became free of her current enemy?
It was just impossible…
Chen He bit the flesh inside his mouth so hard that blood began to run down the corner of his lips. But the determination in his eyes did not waver, and the movement of his hands, far from slowing down due to the arrival of despair, actually increased even more and the arrows he shot became more and more fierce.
He had decided that if he had to die, then he would try to save at least one more second for the others!
Fortunately, however, Chen He’s decisiveness in calling for help managed to save many this time.
Roar! Roar!
Two strange roars similar to those of a legendary dragon resounded inside the passageway at the same time, and when everyone turned around in surprise, they saw two deep blue flashes of light approaching at high speeds from the distance, illuminating the areas it passed through for just an instant and leaving a fiery tail-shaped flash behind it.
Only people who had been following that person for the longest time knew of that distinctive flame that glowed beautifully but also dangerously.
“Finally it’s here.” Chen He sighed in relief and subconsciously felt weaker the moment he thought it was all over, barely managing to stand his ground.
Although Chen He saw Bai Zemin as a rival and a target he wished to overcome, his trust in him was practically blind when it came to battles. Chen He, like all those who knew Bai Zemin well enough, also believed that any battlefield on which Bai Zemin set his eyes would definitely be crushed soon.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Chen He caught a glimpse of just two blue flashes passing over his head, it was not difficult for him to distinguish that they were actually two deep blue spears with a dark shadow inside.
The two red-colored weaver ants had just jumped from both ends of the long passageway of the cave and their eyes were fixed on Chen He, who returned their gaze indifferently.
In the middle of the jump and with no chance to change their trajectory, the big eyes of the red-colored weaver ants reflected the two big fire spears for an instant before everything disappeared.
Bang! Bang!
The two bodies of the Second Order weaver ants exploded but not even a drop of blood fell to the ground as everything disappeared after being hit by the fire spears. Besides, the power behind the spears did not stop as it continued to charge, and as if they had a mind of their own, they began to slaughter thousands of weaver ants per second with fist-sized flames falling everywhere and spreading out rapidly, increasing from thousands per second to tens of thousands per second and rapidly growing to hundreds.
Except for Xia Ya, who was still fighting the other red-colored weaver ant, they all watched with complicated expressions on their faces because, in a matter of a few minutes, all the ants before them disappeared without even a trace of them except for small Soul Stones glowing amidst the sea of blue flames.
They had fought to the bitter end practically…. But they failed to win and could barely resist the annihilation.
However, the casual attack of one person had just annihilated the frontal army so easily that it was hard for them to comprehend. Even the new weaver ants appearing from deep within the colony were being burned alive as they charged stupidly into the still burning sea of deep blue fire.
Looking back, they all saw the sea of weaver ants that had surrounded them exploding in numbers of several hundred thousand. The smell of blood and the fragments of broken bodies flew everywhere, creating an image similar to the hell described in stories and the bible.
On one side was the beautiful but powerful sea of blue flames, on the other side was a hell of blood and flesh.
Bai Zemin in the company of his small group walked amidst the constant explosions, destroying all the weaver ants that came within range of his small domain of control. Considering that the passage was not particularly wide and taking into account that each step they took actually crossed at least several meters due to the speed at which they moved, the number of ants that fell within Bai Zemin’s control domain was always replenished before the previous number exploded.
[You have killed two Second Order existences using Blood Manipulation. Count: 260/2000]
Before they walked into this ant colony which was actually the main ruin where the most important treasure left behind by the Kang Kingdom was buried, Bai Zemin had just 230 in his count but now he had an extra 30 more; this was because, on the way, Bai Zemin and his team had been obstructed by some red-colored weaver ants that came out of the canal where Shangguan Bing Xue was located.
The only reason why Bai Zemin was not so worried about the ice princess and the rest was the fact that even without having entered the passageway where she had led the rest of the team, it was not difficult to feel the magical explosions inside. But since Shangguan Bing Xue nor anyone else had requested help, then they should be temporarily fine and it was just that they didn’t seem to be able to retreat so easily.
A few minutes later, Bai Zemin arrived in front of the human group and immediately frowned upon seeing the current situation of the team.
95% of those present were injured, among them, at least half had suffered severely and could no longer continue fighting. In addition, there was a 20% who had lost one or two limbs and it would probably be difficult for them to continue advancing too far in the future unless a way of replacing those lost limbs was found.
However, the frown on Bai Zemin’s face deepened when he saw Huang Tian’s decapitated corpse.
Although Bai Zemin had only met Huang Tian briefly at the Chinese Renaissance base and then the two had not interacted too much, the honesty and righteousness of Huang Tian, as well as his bravery, were characteristics that Bai Zemin liked very much and appreciated.
Seeing a level 50 soul evolver who was just a small step away from breaking into the Second Order and who was brave, as well as talented, beheaded like this, Bai Zemin was naturally not happy. However, he did not say anything as there was no need for explanations when he saw several red ant corpses on the ground; it was already a miracle that the team had not been annihilated as Bai Zemin himself was clear about how strong those red-colored weaver ants were.
He looked at Xia Ya, who was still facing the red-colored weaver ant, and pointed with his right hand.
However, just when Bai Zemin was thinking of stepping in to help Xia Ya, something that surprised him a lot happened.
Xia Ya naturally noticed Bai Zemin appearing so she hurriedly shouted, ” Shared Strength!”
“Uh?”
Bai Zemin’s eyes widened in shock as he felt something inside him touch his soul, it was a truly peculiar feeling that he had never felt before. However, since it didn’t seem to be anything bad, he didn’t struggle and stayed silent wanting to see what would happen next.
Xia Ya immediately got a surge of over 200 Strength points filling her body and her eyes sparkled with unmatched excitement; it was as if a thousand stars suddenly filled her eyes.
A faint smile began to form on her face as she shouted, “Shared Agility!”
Xia Ya’s Agility dropped for an instant as she severed her connection with Sun Ling, but in less than a second, she received a boost of 300 points!
She had just obtained over 500 stat points just like that!
Usually, Xia Ya was a neutral woman who did not show expressions to anything and even her voice was monotone to the world. However, she was currently so excited that she couldn’t control herself.
“I knew it… I wasn’t wrong about him…” Xia Ya whispered in a voice that only she could hear.
Swoosh!
Xia Ya’s figure suddenly became blurry before the red-colored weaver ant’s eyes and for an instant, it froze. However, the world of the red-colored ant soon seemed to start spinning and a second later the creature saw its own headless body falling to the ground before the spark of life in its eyes vanished.
The blood of the weaver ant slowly dripped from Xia Ya’s palm; the palm with which she held part of the neck she had ripped off the weaver ant before cutting off its head. She activated Extraction of Soul again and gained another 10 Strength points, as well as 2 Agility points.
Finally, under Bai Zemin’s shocked eyes, she turned to look at him, and with a beautiful smile that brimmed with happiness, joy, and excitement as if she had just found her purpose in life, she said while pointing at him with her free hand:
“I decided…. You will be mine!”
Bai Zemin’s eyes widened in shock. But that shock did not come from Xia Ya’s words since actually, he had not even heard her…. His shock came from the fact that he felt another strange thread touching a part of his soul so Bai Zemin finally realized what was going on… but he couldn’t believe that there was such a broken class like this!
However, just because Bai Zemin didn’t care about Xia Ya’s words that had been spoken in a moment of excitement didn’t mean that other people didn’t care.
In this case, a demon; a succubus to be precise.
Lilith folded her arms and raised both eyebrows as she looked at Xia Ya saying offended, “Excuse me? Little baby, I think you are looking at the wrong man. Go find another one for yourself, because this one already has a mistress!”
