When Bai Zemin knocked with his right hand on the surface of the giant iron door of the gymnasium, the people inside were mostly frightened.
Everyone who was supposed to be there was already there now, so who could be knocking on the door now?
It couldn't be a monster... could it?
It was only because 'Shangguan Bing Xue' had been waiting for that sound all this time that things quickly calmed down.
"Did you finish doing what you had to do?" she asked after he walked into the place and the doors were once again closed.
Bai Zemin made a pause but nodded somewhat hesitantly, "Sort of... Pretty much."
Actually, there was one thing he had forgotten and didn't realize until now.
The skills he got from Israfel and his equipment.
'Nevermind... I can do it when I enter the Collector's Pocket World in the next few hours.' Bai Zemin shook his head and walked towards the same place where he had been sitting the entire time before leaving.
However, it seemed that a person had other plans for him.
Bai Zemin's footsteps stopped as a handsome man and a beautiful woman appeared in front of him, blocking his path into the shadows.
"... What?" he inquired calmly with both hands in his pants pockets.
The female took a deep breath as if trying to calm her irregular heartbeat, and after several seconds she spoke a little too fast as if she was nervous about something: "Your name is Xun Tian? I asked Bing Xue. My name is Wu Yijun, and I would like to thank you for helping us."
Actually, 'Shangguan Bing Xue' and the others who had seen 'Qiao Long' yesterday and knew that he was a bastard willing to use the mutant beasts to his advantage to kill other humans told the whole truth to the small group of less than ten people who did not flee the building and could be rescued.
Therefore, they now knew that 'Xun Tian' killing 'Qiao Long' was to save them from an assured hell.
"It's nothing." Bai Zemin nodded with a calm expression on his face.
However, the pair still didn't move.
It was then that the handsome young man stepped forward and with a friendly but somewhat awkward smile extended his right hand.
"Hi. My name is Lian Xuan, secretary of the Student Council of our Beijing University... Really thank you very much for earlier."
Bai Zemin looked at the person in front of him for a moment as memories of his dimension resurfaced from deep within his memory.
The Lian Xuan that Bai Zemin knew was the former Vice President of the Student Council, he wore gold-rimmed glasses, his hairstyle was neat and slicked back... Not to mention his sly thresher eyes.
But, the 'Lian Xuan' that Bai Zemin had in front of him was very different.
He was no longer Vice President of the Student Council but Secretary. There were no glasses on his face and his hair was slightly turned to the left side of his face. Furthermore, Bai Zemin noticed that although this guy was smart and cunning, he didn't seem to be a bad person even if Bai Zemin was fully aware of the slightly hostile look he was giving him.
'Of course...' Bai Zemin smiled with irony in his heart as he realized what was going on.
A man's jealousy might not be as scary as a woman's, but it was certainly malicious.
Such seemed to be that not only were the physical appearance of 'Lian Xuan' and 'Wu Yijun' different in this dimension but their relationship didn't seem to be particularly normal.
"It's okay. You two don't need to thank me for anything." Bai Zemin shook his head and decided to end the conversation there, "If you want to thank someone then you should thank them. I just finished off an exhausted opponent and nothing else."
After saying this, Bai Zemin took a step forward and subtly forced both of them to open up to let him pass.
"Wait a moment please!"
Unfortunately or not, his steps hadn't gotten very far when an urgent and somewhat anxious voice practically begged him not to go yet.
Bai Zemin kept his expression and turned slightly, "What is it?"
"I..." 'Wu Yijun' subconsciously took half a step back with an anxious and embarrassed expression on his face, "I- It's nothing..."
After looking at her silently for a few seconds Bai Zemin nodded, and without another word, he walked away. He walked so far away that only the strongest within the place were able to faintly see his silhouette in the shadows.
The pretty face of 'Wu Yijun' glowed with extremely complicated emotions as she turned to walk back to her place.
'Shangguan Bing Xue' looked at her back silently before looking at the distant 'Xun Tian' with a curious glint in her eyes.
Her friend felt that she had seen that person somewhere but could not remember anything, as if it was just a wrong feeling. Wu Yijun' herself had told her so.
There would be nothing strange about that were it not for the fact that 'Shangguan Bing Xue' felt the same way.
'Weird. Too weird.'
She knew that 'Xun Tian' was a fake name, and she also knew that there was very mysterious surrounding that person. It was just that she still didn't know where the key to the question was.
...
A couple of hours later, Bai Zemin used the second activation of his Crimson Lightning Flash skill to create a clone of himself at the same time as he entered the Collector's Pocket World.
With the clone taking his place for a few minutes, no one would notice that he wasn't there unless someone approached to talk to him.
However, Bai Zemin had also covered this area by letting his clone remain with its eyes closed as if it was asleep so it was unlikely that anyone would wake it up.
After going to see Kali and helping her to go to bed to sleep, Bai Zemin left the mansion and sat under the giant tree that towered into the sky over 1500 meters.
Although Kali still had no news regarding Annihilation of the Falling Sky or Longinus, Bai Zemin was not disappointed. He was in no hurry, as he still count on the practically supreme power of Longinus for his future battles.
First, Bai Zemin took out the three pieces of equipment he obtained after killing the Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Church.
A pair of blue boots, a silver-colored earring with a hard sapphire in the center, and a silver bracelet with golden edges.
_______________
[Windsong Walkers of the Cataclysm]
[Type: Boots]
[Rank: 4]
[Physical Defense: 10.000]
[Magic Defense: 9500]
[Movement Speed: 20.500]
[Durability: 59.285 / 60.000]
[Special Options-]
[1) Increases Agility by 1000 points when equipped]
[2) Increases Resistance against Wind by 15%]
[3) It uses the surrounding mana to help the user to walk in the sky. If the user can already fly by themselves the boots will help the wearer to increase their speed in the sky]
[Attached Special Skill-]
[Windsong: All wind-type skills have their power multiplied by 2 for 5 minutes and the Mana consumption to activate such skills is reduced by 20% for the user]
[Description: Boots surrounded with Imperial Flying Worm fabric, an extremely rare Fourth Order mutant insect. In the past they belonged to the Sky Emperor but were later set aside after being replaced by a better pair]
_______________
Bai Zemin sighed in admiration as he felt the soft, fresh texture of the boots in his lap: "These boots are at least four times better than mine... Really, comparing yourself to others never does any good."
Thanks to the terrifying heritage of the Holy Church, Israfel whose authority used to be supreme naturally enjoyed a good number of high-level treasures.
Although Bai Zemin was the Leader of the Transcendent faction and his battle power was higher than Israfel's, trying to match the legacy left behind by who knows how many generations past was not a simple thing to do. Particularly considering that Bai Zemin was just an ordinary human like most of the human population until a little less than two years ago.
"Besides, these boots belonged to the Sky Emperor at some point..." Bai Zemin frowned at the thought of Hero City, the nucleus of the legendary Sky City.
That palace in the center of Hero City most likely belonged to the Sky Emperor in the past, and the Throne of Creation, as well as that mysterious silver scepter, seemed to be artifacts that the Sky Emperor used.
How strong was the Sky Emperor? Bai Zemin could not know, but there was one thing he did know for certain.
"The Throne of Creation has 3 legendary Immemorial Runes, and I dare say that that silver scepter is no weaker... That means that the Sky Emperor owned at least 4 of the 100 Immemorial Runes that exist."
This fact alone was enough for Bai Zemin to know that the Sky Emperor was definitely not weaker than Sirius and might even have been stronger!
_______________
[Spatial Storage Earring (Legend Grade Treasure): ...]
_______________
Bai Zemin stared at the earring in his right palm for a long time before scratching his head with some frustration, "I can't use two spatial storage equipment at the same time and I already have my ring.... Besides, can't wear two earrings in the same ear so my ring is definitely better."
He had ten fingers to wear rings but only two ears after all.
In addition, the two earrings that Bai Zemin currently wore were perfect for him even if he rarely used them; one passively protected him and the other had the ability to boost one of his attacks horribly depending on the situation.
After thinking about it for a moment, Bai Zemin decided that he would gift the Spatial Storage Earring to Shangguan Bing Xue since his cherished second-in-command still used a leather bag to carry her items of value.
"But first..." Bai Zemin made a connection with the earring and was quickly able to look inside.
"Just this..." A glint of disappointment shone in his eyes as he saw the three items inside the spatial storage earring, as he was expecting to find more things considering who such treasure used to belong to.
However, Bai Zemin quickly calmed down as he remembered the treasury of the Holy Church.
It was highly likely that Israfel left all valuables there whenever he got the opportunity. That way he could have his spatial storage earring free to store more things when needed.
"Uh?" Bai Zemin's eyes were suddenly drawn to a fourth object that, were it not for the fact that he had good senses, would have gone unnoticed.
"What is this..." He muttered to himself as he held the small object between his index finger and thumb.
Dark golden color, old, thin, long...
It looked a bit like a needle for sewing but it clearly wasn't a sewing needle.
[????]
Suddenly, Bai Zemin's eyes widened in shock and his pupils shrank fiercely as he stood up abruptly.
"Don't tell me...!"
He felt as if a thousand-ton hammer had fallen on his head as he remembered that he had seen an object extremely similar to the one he was holding right now not long ago in the illustration of a book Fire Sorrow had once shown him...
The more he thought about it, the more he realized it made sense!
The needle in his hands looked very much like that God-grade treasure that was lost in the first war against the Golden Domain countless years ago, even before Fire Sorrow's birth!
No, but more importantly...
Bai Zemin finally remembered where the hell had he seen a place where that needle could fit in.
His own Collector's Pocket Watch!
The Collector's Pocket Watch was incomplete and therefore had fallen, becoming a Demigod treasure of its previous God rank!
* * * * * * *
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3