Seeing the silver radiance released by the Third Order Soul Stone, both Lilith and Shangguan Bing Xue exchanged glances for a moment before looking at Bai Zemin.
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at the sleeping little princess first before looking him in the eyes and whispering softly, “What skill are you evolving?”
Bai Zemin stroked Bai Shilin’s hair and replied in a low voice, “I’m evolving my passive skill ‘Special Forces Soldier’.”
“It’s about time you did.” Shangguan Bing Xue nodded.
She was aware that Bai Zemin possessed a very rare and hard-to-obtain skill that passively granted him not only vast amounts of knowledge about Earth’s firearms and bladed weapons but also granted him enough experience to fly a fighter plane as if he were a professional pilot. Not to mention the fact that thanks to this skill, a normal person like Bai Zemin now possessed knowledge and real combat experience in several different martial arts from diverse countries on Earth.
The skill Special Forces Soldier was so rare that so far only Bai Zemin possessed it in the entire Transcendent faction. There were other passive skills such as Soldier, Firearms Expert, Experienced Swordsman, Machinist, and so on but those were below. At least so far, Special Forces Soldier was the only known skill that granted all in one.
Lilith nodded at Shangguan Bing Xue’s words, and as she watched the silver glow slowly entering Bai Zemin’s body, she couldn’t help but point out, “That skill of yours, Special Forces Soldier, you obtained it when you killed the level 25 Swift Mantis while you weren’t even level 10 on the first day after the Soul Record arrived on this planet. That’s probably the reason why you acquired such a rare skill scroll, even I know few Higher Existences with that skill.”
“Well, it’s not like Higher Existences really need this skill, is it?” Bai Zemin pointed out as the silver radiance released by the now vanished Third Order Soul Stone surrounded his body and slowly began to be absorbed into his soul.
“Although we Higher Existences need not worry about the passing of time, which grants us the peace of mind of being able to lock ourselves away and train for centuries or millennia until we master a field, the skill you possess is the great foundation towards something very great.” Lilith smiled slightly. Her eyes flashed as she whispered softly, “To be honest, when you acquired that skill back then I was really surprised.”
Bai Zemin’s eyes lit up and a smile formed on his face as he said softly, “I guess I can expect something good to come then.”
With Shangguan Bing Xue’s even more intense attention wishing to know what kind of skill Special Forces Soldier would become after evolving to the next stage, Bai Zemin felt his heart pounding in anticipation.
Approximately one minute later, all the silver radiance that covered his body was absorbed into his soul. More specifically, what absorbed the silver glow was the skill rune that represented the skill Special Forces Soldier.
At the same time that the silver glow was completely absorbed and the rune attached to Bai Zemin’s soul changed its shape and design to a much more complicated and mysterious one, several green messages flashed in his retina.
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[Your skill ‘Special Forces Soldier’ has successfully evolved into a First Order skill.]
[Special Forces Soldier ————> Super Warrior.]
[Super Warrior (First Order passive skill) level 1: Its previous version granted the possessor of this skill knowledge and experience of the elite troops of the world it was born in, but the Super Warrior skill has taken that a step beyond by granting the user knowledge and experience of futuristic weapons from other worlds, as well as the ability to learn faster everything related to melee combat and martial arts –
[Increases the speed of learning different martial arts through combat by 500% of normal.] [ALL] N O VEL [F ULL]
[Passively increases the user’s knowledge of the space and once every 7 days allows the user to open a space gate to teleport to any allied area within the home world. To open the space gate the user must be out of combat.]
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After several seconds, Bai Zemin said quietly and somewhat dazed: “Well…. That was something I expected but did not expect.”
Shangguan Bing Xue rolled her eyes and whispered softly but with some urgency, “Can you stop saying weird words and explain a little better?”
Actually, it wasn’t that Bai Zemin didn’t want to explain his words but that he really didn’t even know how he felt at that moment.
After several seconds of silence, Bai Zemin finally managed to organize his thoughts, and while looking at Shangguan Bing Xue, he asked, “Bing Xue, do you remember that empress of the asura race?”
Shangguan Bing Xue didn’t have to stop to think about it when she nodded, “Of course, I remember,” she said in a serious voice.
The terrifying explosions that shook the earth for over two hours even though she was hundreds of kilometers away from the battlefield on which Bai Zemin and the empress of the asura race clashed was something Shangguan Bing Xue would probably not forget for a long period of time. That had been the first battle in which an enemy managed to fight against Bai Zemin’s fierce and merciless attacks without falling.
“That empress named Glineira gave me a good beating in close combat despite my Special Forces Soldier skill, her moves were very strange and she was using several martial arts together at the same time to create a style that was very difficult to defend against.” Bai Zemin explained calmly.
He knew that back then if not for the factor that his greatsword was a higher quality weapon than his enemy’s and because his attacks were extremely destructive in large areas rather than concentrated, Glineira would have defeated and decapitated him in a matter of minutes due to the colossal difference in experience and expertise in close combat.
Bai Zemin continued, “That woman mysteriously appeared in the city I destroyed. At the time I thought she had used some kind of invisibility skill or the like so I was attentive during the entire combat, but only now do I realize that she actually arrived in that city by teleporting.”
“Teleporting?” Shangguan Bing Xue was a little surprised at first but then calmed down.
Hadn’t she witnessed the existence of runes and teleportation magic circles? However, Bai Zemin’s next words really surprised her.
“Em, she used a skill to break through space, open a door, and teleport to my location.”
“… That changes things.” Shangguan Bing Xue muttered with wide eyes. “Could that skill be similar to your skill to move between worlds but in a smaller range?”
“Em, something like that.” Bai Zemin nodded before revealing, “That empress, Glineira, told me that the name of her skill was Super Warrior before the battle ended. Although I thought that my Special Forces Soldier skill could evolve to Super Warrior in the next or maybe the next stage, what I didn’t expect was that this skill also had an attached skill that allows the user to move to any allied zone within the world the user was born in.”
After a moment of silence, Shangguan Bing Xue looked at Lilith and asked in a calm voice, “How about you give your opinion?”
“It’s a very strong skill.” Lilith smiled slightly.
Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue rolled their eyes. They already knew that the skill was very strong, what they cared to know was something else!
Lilith chuckled as she saw the two’s expression and shrugged her shoulders as she said in a low voice, “I am not a possessor of the skill Super Warrior, but I can at least say that it is a skill with a lot of potential. As for the ability to teleport to an allied area, it needs to be studied in depth.”
Bai Zemin nodded without saying anything.
What was an allied area? Any part of Earth where there were subordinates or friends of his? Or did only territories that were under the control of the user or the faction to which the user belonged count as an allied area? Depending on which was the case, the space gate could be used in different ways.
As Bai Zemin looked at his skills, he couldn’t help but notice that he had several skills related to space in some way or another.
Void Fist, a skill capable of compressing huge amounts of power into a single point and with the ability to break through space defenses.
Shadow Blink, a skill that, while relying on shadows, allowed him to teleport short distances.
And now even the Super Warrior skill that not only granted him the ability to open a space door but also increased his knowledge of the space element passively.
Seeing Bai Zemin’s narrowed and shining eyes, Shangguan Bing Xue and Lilith couldn’t help but exchange glances, and even though neither of them said anything they understood what the other meant.
‘Looks like this guy is thinking of something crazy again!’
Indeed, Bai Zemin was thinking something crazy. Unfortunately, it was something that could not be carried out now given the circumstances or else Bai Zemin would really put his Brillian Mind title to good use.
“I will evolve Blood Manipulation to Third Order now.” He said suddenly.
“… Looks like you made up your mind to spend a good fortune tonight.” Shangguan Bing Xue shook her head but didn’t say much about it.
“Bing Xue, do you want to evolve some of your skills? I’ll give you some Third Order stones.” Bai Zemin said calmly.
After all, the Third Order Soul Stones that Bai Zemin had were not only acquired by him alone but Shangguan Bing Xue helped greatly in acquiring each of them. Furthermore, the stronger Shangguan Bing Xue was the better it would be for Bai Zemin, which is why for 48 hours out of 60 he forged new equipment for her that with Meng Qi’s help became equipment godly for any warrior on Earth today.
Shangguan Bing Xue was silent for a moment and her eyes soon seemed to stop on a fixed point as if she was looking at something that only she could see. After a few seconds and as if she had thought of something, she whispered, “Give me 2 Third Order and 5 Second Order, please.”
“Okay.” Bai Zemin asked no questions and handed her what she requested.
As she prepared to evolve some skill, Bai Zemin initiated the process of evolving Blood Manipulation.
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[Creates or learns a False Domain with Blood Manipulation: Complete]
[Kills enemies using Crimson Flame: 100,000 / 100,000]
[Kills First Order enemies with a single attack using Blood Manipulation: 50,000 / 50,000]
[Kills Second Order enemies using Crimson Flame: 200 / 200]
[Kills Third Order enemies using Crimson Flame: 5 / 5]
[Second Order Soul Stone: 10 / 10]
[Third Order Soul Stone: 2 / 2]
[All requirements have been successfully completed. Do you wish to evolve this skill to the next stage?]
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The requirements to evolve Blood Manipulation to the Third Order were really brutal. If not for Bai Zemin being a special existence he would never be able to complete such requirements at his current stage of power.
In fact, were it not for the existence of the Brilliant Mind title, Bai Zemin was sure that it would have taken him at least a few more months to learn or create a False Domain with Blood Manipulation.
The False Domain that he learned since he did not dare to say that he was the creator was that strange ability to completely freeze all enemies that came within a certain range with him as the center, leaving those enemies completely powerless waiting to be slaughtered even by those weaker than them.
With several bright flashes, a total of twelve Soul Stones shot forward and floated silently before they all took on a faint, ominous deep red color.
Actually, while the process of Shangguan Bing Xue’s skill evolution was in progress, two different energies intertwined for a moment before separating.
One of those energies was full of charm and beauty, releasing an exquisite aroma of fresh roses.
On the other hand, the other energy was darker and more sinister, releasing a smell of burning iron that in just an instant flooded half the room.
Although the smell of burning iron only lasted for a brief moment, Bai Shilin’s little nose wrinkled and her little body squirmed on the couch as if she was having a bad time with the foul smell of the place.
After a few minutes, both Shangguan Bing Xue’s skill and Bai Zemin’s skill evolved correctly and each received several but different green messages in their retinas.
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[Your ‘Blood Manipulation’ skill has successfully evolved into the Third Order.]
[Blood Manipulation (Third Order active skill) Level 1: Second Order Blood Manipulation level 5 power multiplied by 4. Your blood weapons have a 25% chance to inflict a critical hit when hitting an enemy. Increases the body’s healing and cell regeneration capacity by 30%.]
[Crimson Flame (Second Activation): Consume 20 Mana points to activate and 1 Stamina point every 5 seconds. Envelop your weapon or a part of your body with a crimson blood flame, increasing your physical attack power and magical attack power by 30%.]
…
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When Bai Zemin’s eyes moved further down and he encountered a Third Activation, the first thing he felt was surprise. However, when he saw the name and ability of this Third Activation, that surprise he felt turned into shock.
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