Seeing that even after several seconds Bai Zemin did not say anything, Shangguan Bing Xue gently squeezed his hand feeling a little apprehensive in her heart.
Although she knew that Bai Zemin was not a person that judged based on race, she still couldn't help but worry in her heart.
"What do you think?" she asked with a somewhat rigid smile.
Bai Zemin was a bit overwhelmed so he didn't realize what her feelings were. He looked into her eyes and said with a sigh, "This is awesome, Bing Xue."
Shangguan Bing Xue immediately let out the dark air she was holding in as she heard his words, "Thank heavens..."
It was only then that he realized that she was more worried than he was about everything that was happening.
"Are you okay?"
"Right now I feel better than ever." Shangguan Bing Xue smiled brightly and gently squeezed his hand again, "Not only did my race change and I received a huge boost in my stats but I also obtained a new subclass which immediately granted me two news skills."
Bai Zemin knew that the current Shangguan Bing Xue was much, much stronger than before. However, when he looked at her, he could not help but feel that her change was not limited to only racial changes and the acquisition of a subclass.
Indeed, her next words confirmed Bai Zemin's thoughts 100%:
"I am currently a level 200 soul evolver and only have to complete two more requirements to evolve to the Fourth Order."
Shangguan Bing Xue was a level 193 soul evolver previously, but after Lenna handed her records to her she directly jumped to level 200 and when she chose her path to continue walking the remaining records of the former Elf Queen immediately helped complete one or two of the requirements needed to advance.
Bai Zemin nodded, and wisely turned his eyes away from Shangguan Bing Xue as he asked softly, "Bing Xue, what's with those elves?"
Shangguan Bing Xue's charm was very high, and he was not used to looking at her like that.
Lilith was different because she was his lover and Bai Zemin had been with her since day 1, but Shangguan Bing Xue was not his partner after all.
Shangguan Bing Xue didn't seem to notice his thoughts or pretended not to.
"Before Elf Queen Lenna passed her records to me, she told the twelve elves that from today onwards they should follow me." She explained with her eyes on the twelve elves several dozen meters away, "As I understand it, they are all soul evolvers above level 190. Also, when the twelve of them work together with the Elf Queen in a forest it is possible to use a skill called Spiritual Synchrony. As long as there is one of them left alive no matter how many times the others are killed the only thing they will lose is a spiritual body which holds all their strength but they will not suffer any substantial loss."
Bai Zemin nodded slowly, remembering the previous battle.
Earlier, no matter how many times Bai Shilin and the others smashed the pale blue light bodies, they kept appearing one after another as if there was no end to them. Bai Zemin now finally knew what such an ability was due to.
Suddenly, Shangguan Bing Xue squeezed Bai Zemin's hand that she had not let go all this time and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Regarding Felix... Should we make our move now?"
Bai Zemin sighed upon hearing her words, but he didn't blame her because he knew that while Shangguan Bing Xue herself was against betraying her allies she was only thinking of his good.
In reality, Bai Zemin knew that this was a golden opportunity to get the records of the Saint of the Absolute; an opportunity that would most likely never happen a second time.
Here in Hero City, Bai Zemin was like a god.
Not only did he have control over more than 1500 magic energy cannons capable of shattering Fourth Order existences and over 100 cannons that could threaten Higher Existences as long as they were provided with the necessary energy; with Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun assisting him, Bai Zemin was 200% sure that no matter how fast Felix could not escape his fate.
Besides, Lu Cai and the other ex-members of the former Sky Faction were also watching everything from the clouds. Therefore, this was a good opportunity for Bai Zemin to show them his power.
However...
Bai Zemin glanced at Felix and shook his head, "Our Transcendent faction does not betray its allies. Even if he is only a temporary ally, an ally is an ally no matter what."
"You are stubborn..." Shangguan Bing Xue sighed in relief and suddenly smiled, "But I like that about you."
While she would not mind helping him achieve his goals, Shangguan Bing Xue had fallen in love with a Bai Zemin who stuck to his principles firmly and would not be blinded in search of power. If he agreed to kill Felix now just because the circumstances were optimal, Shangguan Bing Xue would inevitably feel a little uncomfortable for a while.
Shangguan Bing Xue soon walked towards the elves and began to say something to them.
On the other hand, Bai Zemin approached Felix and looked at him silently for a few seconds before extending his right hand: "Saint of the Absolute Felix, thank you for your help. I mean it from the bottom of my heart, it's clear to me that if it wasn't for you it would have been difficult to enter Hero City with so many enemies targeting me and my team."
Felix looked back at him calmly, and after a moment of hesitation took his hand with a serious expression, "I can feel the heat of the Heavenly Devouring Flame burning inside you... how could I not after so many years fighting that demon? The fact that you killed Shun means a lot to me. Besides, our alliance was formed because of mutual benefits, so there's no need to thank me."
The feud between the Demon of Corruption Shun and the Saint of the Absolute Felix had existed for a millennium. Because the two had different fortresses but similar overall strength, Shun could not kill Felix but Felix also could not kill Shun nor avenge the millions of innocents who were killed by him.
Felix's main class, Saint of the Absolute, had a skill similar to Bai Zemin's Immovable Heart skill that affected his emotions and thus his actions.
Felix could not take innocent lives just like that, it was against his core principles. Of course, he also could not tolerate the existence of beings like the Mana Eater Tree or Corruption Demon.
"Right now I have full control over Hero City." Bai Zemin announced as he let go of Felix's hand, "Although the 48 hours of time we were allowed to be here has not yet expired, I will expel everyone except Bing Xue and the others. Is that okay with you?"
Honestly, Felix was not surprised that Bai Zemin had gained control over Hero City. For starters, he already had a ring that allowed him to control the city's ancient weapons to a certain extent.
Furthermore, the fact that Bai Zemin managed to return from the space storm with the Heavenly Devouring Flame proved that he now had the strength to kill Shun even if the latter had been injured before.
What surprised Felix to the point where he stared at Bai Zemin as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard was something else.
"You... won't you try to take my records?"
"This is a golden opportunity, I have it clear." Bai Zemin shook his head at Felix's disbelief, "But you and I agreed to be allies until matters in Hero City were over, remember? I will keep my word no matter what. Besides, you don't need to worry either since I won't attack you once I expel you from the city."
Felix stared at him for a long while before sighing with closed eyes, "Just like that old elf woman named Lenna said, I can smell the blood covering your body from afar. It's really hard to believe that someone who killed so many innocent people has such a firm code of righteousness."
Felix would have liked to be friends with Bai Zemin, but in this life both men knew that such a thing was not possible.
Not only did Bai Zemin need Felix's life to obtain his records, but Felix would also not be able to befriend a person who had killed so many innocents.
"The next time we meet we will be enemies." Bai Zemin took a step back as he gazed at Felix with a serious expression, "Don't show me mercy as I won't either."
"Even if I wanted to show you mercy I'm afraid it's not something I can do just because I want to." Felix stared at him before nodding, "I hope our next meeting will not be any time soon."
Bai Zemin nodded before waving his hand, "Ejection system activated."
Felix panicked slightly as he felt an irresistible force dragging him somewhere but he quickly calmed down. He looked at the people he had fought shoulder to shoulder with and slightly lowered his head just before disappearing.
"Are you sure to let him go?" Naomi suddenly couldn't help but frown as she looked at Bai Zemin clearly with restrained anger at the person who had killed the man who had raised her.
Bai Zemin did not look at her when he replied, "If he were another enemy without principles then I would have killed him even if that was supposed to go against my own ethics. But Felix is different. He will not seek trouble for my faction openly and he will not attack innocent survivors... Our enemies are those invaders who play at being our Gods, that's all."
Without waiting for a reply, Bai Zemin waved his hand again as he muttered under his breath, "Get out of my city, every one of you."
* * *
The Fifth Order angel Sonnata was waiting patiently on the outskirts of Hero City's location in the depths of the ocean.
Next to the Fifth Order angel was the Eastern Sea King, who was anxiously awaiting everyone's departure. He was particularly anxious because he didn't know what was going on in there, but the outcome of the battle between the First Prince and the Seventh Princess was definitely what worried him the most.
He consoled himself: 'It's okay... Xian Luo not only has our family's legendary sword that allows him to control some of Hero City's weapons but by his side are the Supreme Pontiff and other powerful soul evolvers.'
Fire Sorrow was also anxious until recently, but when Lilith returned after disappearing for almost two days her nerves calmed down when she saw the smirk on her companion's face. Although Lilith didn't tell her anything about what was going on, Fire Sorrow was smart and experienced enough to know that she would soon see something interesting.
Swoosh!
"Mm?" Sonnata suddenly turned his head in astonishment as he felt a fluctuation not far from his position.
A flash of blue light shone, and an instant later a figure appeared standing in the middle of the ocean.
"... Felix?" Sonnata murmured with widening eyes, "What's he doing here? And how...?"
However, no one answered his question as only an instant later something shocking happened.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! ...
One by one, flash after flash of blue light illuminated the surroundings as the dazed and confused soul evolvers that were inside Hero City began to be expelled without warning.
* * * * * * *
A/N: 3 chapters more before next reset
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