Chapter 163: Clash

Just as they had reached what appeared to be the deep parts of the forest, an earthquake seemed to strike the earth... So much for coincidence. Bai Zemin secretly sneered and prepared to fight.

In fact, it wasn't just him who thought that way.

After losing her balance at first after being taken by surprise, Shangguan Bing Xue immediately recovered, and just like Bai Zemin did she began to move with short steps and delicate jumps on the ground she was standing on.

Although it was relatively more difficult for her, Wu Yijun also managed to find her balance shortly after her childhood best friend.

[Blood Will: 21%/50%]

"Here they come. There are so many of them!" Bai Zemin announced gravely as his Second Order passive skill came into play. 

Shangguan Bing Xue nodded and her eyes flashed with chilling coldness as she looked forward and stood in front of Wu Yijun to protect her in case of need.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Not only did the ground rumbled, but the surrounding giant trees were also knocked down. Some of them were even directly sent flying through the air before falling with a thunderous bang several hundred meters away.

My Danger Sense skill didn't activate until now so there shouldn't be a Second Order existence. Bai Zemin thought silently as he drew his trusty sword from the scabbard strapped to his waist.

Only a few seconds later, the enemies appeared in sight of the group of three.

Just as Bai Zemin had said, there were many of them.

There were mutated white wolves, wolves with blue fur, mutated dogs, mutated cats, there were even meter-high ants. However, the most striking were ten frontal charging enemies; two of them in particular.

Two three-meter tall bulls whose skin was as red as lava, three nearly four-meter tall rhinos with a strange metallic black color shining all over their backs and a huge metallic gray horn just above their noses, three lions the same height as the two red-skinned bulls but whose fur seemed to be covered by frost and whose eyes were as blue as the sky, and two huge ten-meter tall elephants that looked like steel machines instead of living creatures with two bigs ivories sticking out of the sides of their mouths.

Seeing the lineup of First Order creatures, Bai Zemin secretly clicked his tongue.

It was relatively easy for him to defeat them, the problem was that except for the apparently weak fur of the three ice lions, the other seven monsters seemed to be focused on strength and defense. This meant that it would be incredibly difficult for him to finish them off with a single blow. After all, the edge of his Xuanyuan Sword was not enough to cut through the defense of monsters clearly infinitely close to level 50.

Furthermore, aside from the ten First Order giants, there were also approximately two hundred other enemies that were not weak by any means and if they joined forces they would be a force to be considered. 

"I'll take care of the two hundred small ones." Shangguan Bing Xue stood beside him and declared, "Although it is not something I like to admit, you are actually stronger. You can fight against the ten leaders. If you finish your work first, then you help me. If I finish my work first, then I help you. How about it?"

Bai Zemin looked at her for a second and it was only then that he remembered that he was not alone. That fighting alongside him was another being who could not be ignored, let alone underestimated. Someone whose talent for controlling Mana was even superior to his own.

"I'll fight too." Wu Yijun stepped forward with determination, "Although I may not be of much help, I think I'll be able to kill two or three of them."

Although Wu Yijun's level was only 23 and was still even far from the First Order, her skill Plant Empowerment could boost her power to new heights within a forest filled with greenery like this. Therefore, even fighting against several level 24 or 25 mutated beasts without evolving would not be an impossible feat for her.

Bai Zemin sheathed his sword again and nodded with a smile, "Then I'll go help you quickly." 

Shangguan Bing Xue secretly rolled her eyes upon hearing his brazen confidence but had no words to refute. Instead, her eyes glittered with competitiveness and she charged forward without waiting.

"Ice Spear." 

Her cold voice echoed in the surroundings and with a wave of her delicate hand, ten ice spears appeared in the air before shooting out towards ten different enemies.

Without even having crossed the first true stage of evolution, four mutated wolves, three mutated dogs, and three mutated cats whose specialization was Agility, did not even have time to react when their heads were pierced and frozen in a cube of ice that soon spread all over their bodies.

[You have obtained the Soul Power of Dark Wolf level 23. Agility +4]

[You have obtained the Soul Power of Speed Cat level 24. Agility +3]

[You have obtained the Soul Power of Saber-toothed Dog level 25]

...

Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes flashed brightly as ten messages crossed her retina in the blink of an eye. Her red lips curved into a charming smile that, unfortunately, only the beasts in front of her could appreciate.

This was the first time she had fought since her evolution to First Order and seeing that she only needed to consume half the Mana she would need in the past to defeat enemies above level 20 she couldn't help but get excited. 

Furthermore, they were all slaughtered with a simple wave of her hands, something that even for her was hard in the past as her level had been stuck at 25 with no possibility of advancing beyond that.

Wu Yijun did not stand idly around either. She opened the leather sack around her waist and took out several dozen small seeds before pointing in front of her with one hand.

"Catch them!"

At her command, the vines among the thick fodder seemed to come to life as they crawled along the ground like snakes before coiling around the bodies of three mutated beasts.

The creatures that  exceeded level twenty roared furiously and fought with all their might causing the Wu Yijun empowered vines holding them back to start showing signs of breaking into pieces.

Just then, the more than forty small seeds glowed with a strong fluorescent green radiance and under Wu Yijun's command shot out of her hand at speeds impossible for a normal living being to glimpse.

Some of the empowered seeds struck the legs, back, ears, and other body parts of the mutated beasts. Blood began to spurt out seemingly uncontrollably as the creatures writhed in pain and fury.

However, the monsters' struggle only lasted a second as in the next instant several more seeds streaked across the sky and pierced their heads. Although they were small, the empowered seeds were really hard and powerful so the heads of the three mutated monsters were filled with holes and their lifeless bodies fell to the ground with a thud.

Bai Zemin surveyed the situation unfolding at lightning speed and thought that the two women would probably be fine alone. Besides, with Shangguan Bing Xue present, Wu Yijun's safety was practically assured so he could focus on the ten leaders of the pack of mutant beasts.

The muscles in his legs tensed to the maximum as he leaned slightly down and forward. His blood began to bubble with the excitement of battle, probably an effect of his Blood Berseker unique class.

BANG!

With a bang that shook the earth several meters around him and with fine cracks that stretched for nearly ten meters in length, Bai Zemin seemed to disappear from his position.

The next instant, he appeared right in front of one of the two robotic-looking elephants. Bai Zemin extended both arms forward and his two hands clutched tightly onto the creature's two ivories.

BOOM!

At the same time that the bodies of both flattened the ground, creating a large hole of several meters in diameter with them as the center, the resulting clash between the robotic-looking elephant's charge and Bai Zemin's own charge caused a thunderous blast. The shockwave destroyed the trees two hundred meters around and many mutated beasts whose constitution was weaker exploded into pieces of bloody flesh.