BANG!
The trident seemed to break through all possible barriers as more than twenty Mach cones appeared across the night sky. At the same time, a thin crimson line of fire seemed to join the heavens with the earth just before a powerful explosion shook everything for over fifty kilometers around!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
The earth shattered, the trees were swept away, the beasts that were three kilometers around the impact would have been annihilated had it not been for the fact that only the kings of this forest lived in the central area.
Bai Zemin's face changed as he realized that he greatly underestimated the effect his 386 Strength points plus a 15 times gravity increase would have on Crimson Blood Judgment.
A huge sphere of fiery red fire grew from a small luminous point to a degree where it swallowed everything within a kilometer like a raging flame beast. The top of the fire dome reached over two hundred meters high and the heat alone made Bai Zemin feel how his Rank 2 armor seemed to have difficulty keeping up.
Shangguan Bing Xue hurriedly activated Ice maker unconsciously and formed several ice barriers in front of both of them. However, each ice wall only managed to resist the heat for a moment before melting into nothingness.
"I can't hold it back anymore!" She had no choice but to shout for her voice to be heard amidst the explosion, "My ice skill can't contain this flame!"
Bai Zemin didn't need her to tell him that.
What a joke!
Shangguan Bing Xue's skill was probably still First Order, but he not only cast a Third Order skill but the power with which the blood trident charged skill was powered by a gravity multiplied by 15 times!
If a First Order skill could stop a Third Order skill powered by another powerful peak First Order skill, then it would be the biggest joke of the year!
Not to mention the fact that Bai Zemin's Strength stat had also been added into the equation!
Just as the last ice barrier erected by Shangguan Bing Xue was about to be destroyed and the flames to consume them, Bai Zemin turned his body with difficulty and kicked with all his might.
Bang!
The powerful kick that contained every point of his total Strength caused the ice barrier already weakened by the oncoming flames to burst into a million tiny fragments that a second later were engulfed by the rising flame.
The body of Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue shot out in the opposite direction of the huge fire dome that was growing with seemingly no sign of stopping. In just a few seconds, the fire dome reached five hundred meters high and everything within five kilometers was burned to ashes!
Just a moment before their bodies were engulfed by the flames, the Broken Bronze Bell flew out from inside Bai Zemin's armor and released a magical barrier that covered both; him and Shangguan Bing Xue in his embrace.
The magical barrier shuddered but endured long enough for Bai Zemin to have time to activate Gravity Manipulation in reverse to fall like a parabola in the opposite direction of the rising fire hell.
...
From the distance, alarms rang inside the base and the armed troops began to become busy.
Trucks and all vehicles modified to survive the apocalypse were mobilized towards the west end and every soul evolver was ordered to move towards the northwest walls in preparation for possible combat.
Within ten minutes, the west side was crawling with over 600 men armed with machine guns, vintage rifles, snipers, pistols, and other firearms. In addition, more than four hundred soul evolvers whose levels ranged from 2 to the highest level being First Order existences were also on the scene wielding all kinds of weapons.
Xuanyuan Swords, Crocodile Tooth Sword, Magic Wands, Light Rapier, there were even some who used sharp and powerful bones or teeth of evolved beasts as weapons.
Among the crowd, Lu Yan had a serious expression as he looked towards the center of the forest.
Although the fire cupule slowly disappeared, the roars of the beasts inside the forest were so terrifying that every soul evolver and armed man present shuddered in fear.
In that forest, there were definitely hundreds of thousands and even millions of beasts! If they were all charging now... There was only destruction awaiting for mankind in this base!
Next to Lu Yan was his number 1 trusted man and one of the most powerful soul evolvers in the entire base; Yan Tu.
Yan Tu's expression was also terribly serious and the muscles of his body tensed to the max as he wore a suit of armor constructed from the materials of a First Order beast that he himself had killed in the past. In his right hand was a mace made of bone that weighed at least 450 or 500 kilograms; this was his main weapon at the moment.
Next to them were also Evangeline, Nangong Lingxin, and Kang Lan. The three women had extremely grave and tense expressions on their faces.
As for Nangong Yi and Fu Xuefeng, they were both in charge of suppressing the disturbances inside the base. With such a huge commotion, it was simply impossible to expect that all the survivors would obediently stay indoors waiting for possible death.
Since the explosion went off in the distance, even though it was at least a hundred kilometers deep in the forest, the earth shook slightly even inside the base and the flare of fire that rose more than half a kilometer high was visible even from a distance in the middle of such a dark night.
There were many survivors who went crazy and began to assault, beat, kill, and those more insane even began to sexually abuse others.
Lu Yan knew that such a thing could happen at any time and if they didn't deal with it quickly then the base would fall from inside even if the forest beasts didn't attack. Therefore, he kindly asked Nangong Yi and Fu Xuefeng to take a team of 50 soul evolvers to wipe out the internal chaos.
"What do you think that is?" Nangong Lingxin asked apprehensively.
Her honey-colored eyes looked up at the flames dancing in the sky that even after twenty minutes had not been extinguished despite the storm and the lingering fear in her heart seemed about to drive her mad.
"This is the first time I've seen something like this." Yang Tu replied in a hoarse voice.
Evangeline remained silent and seemingly indifferent. However, from the way she was holding onto her Magic grade treasure dagger, it was obvious to anyone that her heart was not as calm as her expression on the surface.
"According to what the guards who were on duty said, the leader and Miss Shangguan went into the forest several hours ago." Lu Yan frowned and said in a deep voice, "Apparently, the leader had managed to hunt two powerful huge beasts before going deep with Miss Shangguan, and so far they have not come out again."
Although no one said anything, as they recalled the explosive power of the fire dome, everyone felt their hearts sink into an abyss of frozen ice. The fact that Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue had disappeared into the forest just the same night that such a devastating attack happened definitely did not look like a good omen.
"I'm afraid that both of them might have met a beast that is too powerful..." Lu Yan sighed and did not continue.
However, even though he did not continue, everyone knew what he meant by his words.
Nangong Lingxin and Kang Lan's faces turned pale; especially Kang Lan's face.
Both women had entrusted everything and bet their lives on Bai Zemin becoming the new hegemon of this lands. However, none of them believed in their hearts that Bai Zemin would be able to survive such a terrifying attack.
As for him being the cause, neither of the two women thought so.
Although Kang Lan had seen Bai Zemin incinerate a small forest just before leaving the university back then, the magnitude and difference in power between that attack and this one was like wanting to compare the brightness of a light bulb against the natural brightness of the sun; there was simply no place to compare.
"What a pity..." Evangeline sighed and shook her head.
Even though she wasn't particularly close to Bai Zemin or anything, she liked the way he was.
Not only he was not evil nor did he use his power to casually abuse whomever he pleased, but he also retained a great deal of his humanity, unmoved by the power that evolution bestowed upon him. He had even gone so far as to think about the future of the children, who at this moment were no more than a burden to most of the leaders since they could not work and only consumed valuable food.
Besides, Evangeline herself had attached great hopes on the young man with black hair and eyes. However, she was not naive enough to think that a human being could launch such a powerful attack and cause such far-reaching destruction.
Unconsciously or not, practically everyone felt that Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue should have died after facing off against a powerful beast.
Lu Yan felt complicated inside. Although he felt that it was a pity that a talented, powerful, brave, and intelligent young man like Bai Zemin died just like that since even Lu Yan himself had high hopes on him; he actually also felt a little joyful since this way he could at least have a chance to regain his power as a leader and perhaps obtain that subclass he lost a few days ago.
Just then, however, someone exclaimed loudly:
"No! He definitely did not die!"
Everyone looked toward the source and saw Kang Lan shaking her head again and again. The young woman's face was as pale as a sheet but her dark eyes held a glint of certitude that left many not understanding where her confidence came from.
"Even though I don't want any of them to die either. If he and Shangguan Bing Xue were inside that forest it is unlikely that they would survive unless they were in the opposite direction of the explosion." Nangong Lingxin reasoned and sighed with a complicated glint in her seductive eyes, "But being honest, it's too much to be a coincidence. Such an attack happens just as he and she sneak into the forest... I'm afraid..."
"If I said he didn't die, then he didn't die!" Kang Lan said firmly and looked at everyone as she said in a clear voice, "Bai Zemin bestowed to me and Cai Jingyi a subclass called Loyal Follower, which makes us his dependents. This subclass allows me and her to use 5% of his total power at times when our lives are in danger... Since that subclass is still latent in my status window, I refuse to believe he's dead!"
"Subclass?"
Everyone looked at Kang Lan with wide eyes filled with surprise.
This was the first time many of them had heard about subclasses. In fact, Evangeline and Yan Tu were the only First Order existences among those present, and even though they both had their classes this was the first time they heard the term subclass.
"Subclass?" Lu Yan muttered and looked at Kang Lan in disbelief, "The leader has the ability to bestow a subclass that grants 5% of his power to others?"
How strong was Bai Zemin really? None of those present were aware.
However, just from what they had seen, and from what he had demonstrated, his overall strength had definitely reached a frighteningly high degree. To those who had seen the attack where Bai Zemin annihilated all the troops led by Wang Zedong with a single wave of his hands, controlling hundreds of blood spears, he was basically the graphic representation of a superhuman.
* * * * * * *
2/3 today
Thanks a lot to all those who use their Golden Tickets to vote for BW <3