Just reading the name of the item in his hands caused Bai Zemin's heart to start beating erratically at a slightly faster speed than usual. However, after he read the entire description of the item, his heart began to beat so fast that for a moment Bai Zemin himself was frightened.
[Liquid Storage Jewel (Epic Grade Treasure): All stats +20. Storage equipment focused on preserving the purity of liquids. Can store up to 500,000 liters of any liquid substance and keep that substance in good condition. Inside the jewel, there are different separate storages, which makes it possible to keep different liquids at the same time without having to worry about mixing them. The weight of the jewel does not increase regardless of the volume of liquid. Current status: There is no liquid presently stored inside the jewel.]
An involuntary gasp escaped from Bai Zemin's mouth when he finally finished processing all the information from the pearl in his hands.
What was the thing he had been longing for most as far as treasures were concerned? A storage ring! This had been so from the first moment he saw Lilith's storage ring during the early days of the apocalypse when she brought out the treasures she was guarding for him when he fell unconscious back then.
How could Bai Zemin not desire such a treasure? A storage ring was the same as making his life infinitely easier in every aspect. Even now he had to carry a leather bag attached to his waist or a huge mountaineering backpack on his back for too long trips. Such a thing was too inconvenient and in a fatal death combat would cause all the meticulously stored items to be destroyed.
However, with a space storage ring such things were not a concern.
Now, while the jewel in Bai Zemin's hands was not as valuable or as amazing as Lilith's spatial storage ring, such a thing was completely natural. After all, Lilith's spatial storage ring was a Legend grade treasure while the Liquid Storage Jewel was an Epic grade treasure; even if the difference was only one grade away, the actual difference between those two grades was as great as wanting to compare mud to white clouds.
Even so, Bai Zemin was incredibly happy when he learned what the treasure in his hands could do.
Leaving aside the fact that the treasure itself granted a total of 120 stat points overall, the mere fact that it was able to contain liquid substances and separate them at the same time to avoid mixing problems was already incredibly valuable from Bai Zemin's point of view. As if that wasn't enough, the small jewel in his hand could hold a terrifying 500,000 liters!
However, Bai Zemin's excitement soon dimmed a bit after he thought of something.
"I can't just accept this like this." He shook his head as he looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and sighed in his heart.
Although he really wanted it and had in fact indirectly contributed to the death of the Second Order giant ape, the truth was that Bai Zemin was clear that he had basically made no effort at all. After all, all he really did was cast a skill and that was it. The person who actually made an effort and had a battle to the death to get this treasure was actually Shangguan Bing Xue.
Shangguan Bing Xue pursed her lips upon hearing his words. She said a little annoyed, "Even though I already knew that you would say that I must admit that it is really annoying."
Bai Zemin shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. Such was his personality and his principles; such things were not so easy to change overnight.
Seeing that he had no intention of giving in, Shangguan Bing Xue fell silent and lowered her head to think for a moment. After about a minute or two, she finally looked at him again and calmly proposed, "I know you want that treasure as you will be able to store huge amounts of blood there... So how about we do something? There is a Magic grade treasure here too, added to the three we found in the tiger the sum of Magic grade treasures would increase to four."
Bai Zemin's ears twitched slightly and he listened to her carefully as he somehow liked where the conversation was going.
"Four Magic grade treasures and even the treasures we must search for from the Second Order mutated spider you killed earlier." Shangguan Bing Xue continued while looking at him calmly, "If the mutated spider dropped an Epic grade treasure, then I will have priority over that treasure before you. Otherwise, in case we don't find another Epic grade treasure and they happen to be all Magic grade, you will let me pick 3 Magic grade treasures first regardless of whether you have them or not. How about that?"
Bai Zemin contemplated Shangguan Bing Xue's proposal, but after a few seconds, the answer he came to was obvious.
If Bai Zemin managed to possess the Liquid Storage Jewel, his overall strength would take a big step forward. This was not only due to the large amount of stat points, it was mainly due to the fact that if he were to keep this treasure, he would have the ability to instantly store 500,000 liters of blood!
That's right! Bai Zemin did not plan to store water or anything similar, the only thing he wanted to store in it was blood!
With the jewel's ability to divide liquids, Bai Zemin would be able to separate the blood of Unclassified, First Order, Second Order, and so on. This would make his life much easier on a level never seen before!
In addition, the display of power that his Second Order Blood Manipulation skill could show off would be much far more powerful. Bai Zemin's slaughtering ability would be raised to a whole new level!
"Sounds good to me. Let's do as you say then." He finally nodded without much more to say.
"Congratulations." Shangguan Bing Xue looked at him with a slightly amused smile and joked, "You are literally a walking blood bank now."
Bai Zemin forced a smile when he heard this. It really was weird.
But what could he do about it? His main skill demanded it after all!
Suddenly, Shangguan Bing Xue began to approach Bai Zemin slowly, which momentarily confused him. Soon, however, a glimmer of understanding shone in his heart and he walked towards her.
"Look. This is the skill the ape dropped. If you want it then just keep it, that skill does not suit the path I walk and wish to walk." Shangguan Bing Xue handed him the skill scroll without regrets.
Bai Zemin took it and quickly obtained the skill information contained within the scroll.
[Beast Strength (Second Order active skill) Level 1: After activating this skill it increases the user's Strength stat by +200 points for a period of 2 hours and has a cooldown time of 24 hours.]
The description was incredibly simple but enough to detail what the skill did, for how long, and how often it could be used.
Despite the fact that the effect was very good, Bai Zemin shook his head, "I don't want it at all. Leaving aside the fact that I currently can't learn any more active skills before reaching Second Order, this skill really doesn't suit me."
The increase in Strength was undoubtedly noticeable. However, this skill would probably be good for someone who walked the path of a barbarian and this was not the path Bai Zemin aspired to.
"Then how about giving it to Zhong De?" Shangguan Bing Xue proposed and pointed out, "Although Nangong Yi is more powerful than Zhong De, he is still relatively new within the faction so I don't think it would be good to give him more than what he has already received for a while."
Bai Zemin agreed with what she had just said.
If Nangong Yi received too many benefits in the short term, his arrogance might rise too high and the other generals of Bai Zemin's faction would naturally not be too happy. Besides, Zhong De was one of the first men to follow Bai Zemin and probably one of the few people who would not betray him considering how much trust he placed in him.
In the end, the skill Second Order Beast Strength would be given to Zhong De when they met again. Bai Zemin also had to hand over a Lightning Fruit to him, so Zhong De's power was going to receive a huge boost after learning two active Second Order skills practically in one go.
"Now look at this..." Shangguan Bing Xue suddenly became serious and with slightly trembling hands handed him an old scroll made of sheepskin.
She hadn't even reacted like this when Bai Zemin showed her the construction plan for the power generator, so Bai Zemin's expectations suddenly became high.
[Electromagnetic Rail Gun (Construction Plan Fragment) 1/5: The electromagnetic rail gun is a weapon with the power to pierce through the defensive mana layer of a First Order existence with ease and with the power to threaten Second Order beings. ....]
The information, description, and image of a construction model for a type of futuristic weapon that Bai Zemin had only seen in movies or read about in fantasy books began to flash in his mind one by one.
For a moment he was stupefied and finally understood the reason why Shangguan Bing Xue had reacted that way earlier.
"If we could craft that kind of weapon, our soldiers would receive a massive boost in strength, propelling the faction to new heights." Shangguan Bing Xue said in a serious voice. "Furthermore, since it is a weapon that technically comes from the Soul Record, everyone can absorb Soul Power from whatever they kill with it. Even the weakest human being could slay several First Order beasts with this kind of weaponry and become a Soul Evolver with ease."
The power of humanity would rise to entirely new heights!
"We need to find the remaining four fragments no matter what." Bai Zemin said in a deep voice, "Although First Order and Second Order existences are still relatively rare and cannot be found casually in the middle of the road, in the future that will not necessarily be the case. Humanity is too weak and most of them don't really have the courage to fight hand-to-hand."
But if only they could make the electromagnetic rail gun, everything would be different and mankind could finally see a glimmer of light after so much darkness.
Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and said with extreme seriousness, "Shangguan Bing Xue, remember that you cannot tell the existence of these plans to anyone. I myself will set up a gathering when we return to the main base where I will inform the higher leaders about it."
The confidentiality of the construction plans had to be treated with extreme care and caution. At this point in the apocalypse the value of those seemingly worthless papers to the naked eye was in no way inferior to Bai Zemin's Thousand Lightning Plant.
Of course, the value of the electromagnetic rail gun would fall in the later stages. However, by then mankind would probably have better weaponry or they might even have found a way to improve such a weapon.
Shangguan Bing Xue naturally understood the importance of the matter so she nodded. Then, suddenly, she said out of nowhere, "By the way, you can call me Bing Xue if you wish."
Bai Zemin blinked a couple of times and looked at her. However, he didn't think too much as it didn't seem like a big deal to him so he simply nodded, "Okay. I'll call you Bing Xue when we're alone then since if a certain good-looking guy hears me call you that way he might confuse a lot of things. As for you.. Well, you can call me whatever you want."
Shangguan Bing Xue smiled bitterly as she heard this. The matter with her childhood friend was one that had been giving her headaches for quite a few years now.
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Thanks a lot to all those who use their Golden Tickets to vote for BW <3