Chapter 1003: Evolution Requirements & WeirdPetition
[You have chosen Blood Warlock as your breakthrough class to the Third Order.]
[Warlocks, beings born with one of their parents being an exceptional warrior with incomparable talent and the other being a mage without paragon on the path of mysticism. By merging the two paths, there is some possibility for a Warlock to arise in the universe].
[Warlocks possess the potential to become ruling figures of entire worlds, but few have managed to grow enough to reach a stage of power with which they can stand their ground against all winds and tides].
[Blood Warlock, a path that has only been opened for you who have walked a short but rougher and bloodier path than the longer paths that others have walked].
[Prove that you are worthy of mastering the power of the bloodlines, making yours and your allies' what does not belong to them. Prove your worthy to go against fate itself with each and every one of your actions, replacing talents at will and building monstrous legions with your own hands].
[Complete the following requirements to advance to the next Order -
[Evolve your Void Fist skill to Fourth Order: Incomplete].
[Evolve your Shadow Blink skill to Third Order: Incomplete]
[Take control over 5 of the 6 fragments of the Key of Destiny: 1/5].
[Absorb the fragments of the Key of Destiny: Incomplete.]
[Use the first activation of your Record Devastation skill, Record Degradation, and take over the deepest records of the following ancient existences:
9-Headed Immortal Dragon: Incomplete.
Saint of the Absolute: Incomplete.
Demon of the Corruption: Incomplete.
Mana Eater Tree: Incomplete].
[Get control over the Earth and make the other factions no choice but to retreat].
[If you join a faction or submit to any other Leader you will fail the trial and will not be able to advance to the Third Order].
"Cool." Bai Zemin slapped his thigh with the palm of his hand and said matter-of-factly, "At the very least I don't have a time limit at all which is cool, no? Hahaha!"
Bai Zemin laughed and laughed for what seemed like an eternity. His laughter echoed amidst the darkness, slowly becoming weaker as he stopped laughing like a lunatic as time passed.
"Hah..." Bai Zemin breathed all the air out of his lungs heavily and fell silent for several seconds before taking a breath and sighing again.
"Evolving those two skills in itself are already two difficult requirements to achieve but they are actually the easiest of all the ones I need to complete." Bai Zemin closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "Fragments of the Key of Destiny? Where the hell am I supposed to find them? No, for starters, what the hell is this Key of Destiny? And how the hell do I have 1 of the 6 that exist? This daddy can't remember ever getting anything this good in his whole life."
Putting aside the fact that apparently Bai Zemin already had one of the five fragments he needed to get even though he had no idea when did he obtain it or what it was, he had no idea where those fragments were.
He didn't even have a clue what the Key of Destiny was, how was he supposed to seek something he didn't know what it was?
Still, Bai Zemin wasn't stupid and the Soul Record certainly wouldn't put impossible requirements before him to complete... At the very least, there had to be a 0.00000000001% chance of success or else the "fairness" that the Soul Record was known for would disappear.
"Four fragments..." Bai Zemin looked at the fifth requirement he needed to complete and his eyes glittered peculiarly, "9-Headed Immortal Dragon, Saint of the Absolute, Demon of the Corruption, Mana Eater Tree... I have no idea who those are but they're probably from Thao Zhi's time or even older according to what this Soul Record message says."
Coincidence or not, Bai Zemin needed 4 fragments and there were 4 beings he needed to defeat to subsequently snatch their records.
"The problem is once again I don't know where those four old farts are. To begin with, how the hell are those old things still apparently alive after their mothers know how many years?" Bai Zemin sat down as he cursed under his breath.
Thao Zhi survived for some coffin whatever but now it seemed that there were four beings just as old or even older than him.
Besides, unlike Thao Zhi who was an alligator, these four new enemies definitely made Bai Zemin feel bad vibes just from their names.
As for the last requirement and the warning at the end... Bai Zemin didn't know what to think about it.
Conquering Earth was something that in some sense Bai Zemin had already seen coming and in fact was one of his goals so it wasn't particularly surprising. The problem here was that he needed to conquer Earth to kick "the other factions" out of this world.
"Soul record, could you tell your daddy who these other factions you're telling me about are?" Bai Zemin grumbled.
[...]
Of course, there was no response.
It wasn't like he was expecting for one anyway, Bai Zemin was happy that the Soul Record didn't seem to be a sentient being or it would have definitely killed him with a lightning strike for referring to himself as "your daddy".
Be that as it may, Bai Zemin was at a complete loss.
"I have no idea about which direction to go."
Bai Zemin couldn't help but laugh as he thought of a gif he saw when he was younger in which a yellow dog sat around a table drinking a cup of coffee with everything around it on fire.
"It's fine." He stood up still smiling cheerfully. "What I have to do hasn't changed."
Right. What Bai Zemin needed and had to do had never changed. From day 1, he had only one option so it wasn't really an option but an obligation, a necessity.
He just had to look straight ahead and keep moving forward, only then would he get anywhere. Standing still was not an option unless his wish was to die.
...
Bai Zemin opened his eyes after an unknown amount of time and immediately grimaced in pain.
He didn't even have to look down and look at his body, he could feel everything after all. The grimace of pain on his face turned into a grimace of helplessness and bitterness as he realized that his arm still needed to regenerate. The regeneration process of his arm had not even begun as after healing his major wounds his system began to focus on regrowing his left leg.
The thing was that regardless of how much time had passed, Bai Zemin couldn't help but notice that his leg from the thigh down had only just caught up to the formation of the knee.
"Holy fuck, that damn son of a bitch Thao Zhi. I should have made him suffer a little longer before turning him into a proper alligator." Bai Zemin wailed with a dark expression on his face.
"You're awake, Little King."
"Em?"
Hearing a beautiful voice beside him, Bai Zemin looked to his right and his black eyes met a beautiful pair of deep blue eyes.
Who else besides Shangguan Bing Xue's mother used to refer to Bai Zemin using the title "Little King"?
Shangguan Xinyue pursed her lips into a daydreamy smile and sighed as if she was remembering something, "You were awesome last night. Looks like you brought your wild fighting style to bed while wielding a different greatsword."
"Wh-"
Bai Zemin almost fell to the ground and only now realized that he was lying on a comfortable expensive-looking bed that although not as good as his treasure bed was still comfortable and large.
With a pale face, he subconsciously lifted the sheet that covered him softly.
Seeing that he was still wearing the same shorts from before and not noticing anything unusual, Bai Zemin let his head fall back on the pillow and exhaled in relief.
"...That's rude you know?" Shangguan Xinyue was not happy at the young man's reaction in front of her. "You have this beautiful little sister next to you but instead of getting happy at the possibility of losing your virginity what you feel is scared? Are you sure you only lost your left leg in the battle before? No, for starters, did you ever have one, to begin with?"
Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue's mother feeling a little speechless.
Until not too long ago, Bai Zemin and Shangguan Xinyue were not particularly close as they had never really exchanged many words. However, the two had naturally grown closer after fighting to the death against Thao Zhi not once but twice.
Even so, Bai Zemin did not believe that Shangguan Xinyue would joke with him in such a blatant and direct manner as this.
'Were it not for the fact that I do now know that beneath the ice layer covering Bing Xue actually lurks a teasing little seductress I would rather be beaten to death before associating the two women with each other as mother and daughter.' Bai Zemin did not know whether to laugh or cry.
But, since Shangguan Xinyue was poking at him then Bai Zemin wasn't going to be polite.
"Little sister?" Bai Zemin smiled slightly and said feigning confusion, "Auntie, where is the little sister you are talking about? In this room it's just you and me. I am 21, as for you..."
Bai Zemin had not finished his words but Shangguan Xinyue's expression was no longer all smiles as before.
"... Little King, at this rate your reign might not last long you know?" Shangguan Xinyue glared at him.
"Hmph." Bai Zemin snorted.
After a minute or two of silence, he inquired in a low voice, "How long has it been?"
"Fifteen days." Shangguan Xinyue calmly responded. After a short pause, she slowly explained the situation of each member that took part in the battle against Thao Zhi: "Evangeline has recovered to 50% thanks to Yijun and multiple potions. Bing Xue will still probably need another 30 days to return to her peak since the bones in her arms literally turned to dust. Kong Jun is resting on that treasure bed of yours in a different room, and although his life is not in danger he will probably need 3 to 4 months in this pocket world before he recovers 100%."
After a few seconds of silence, Bai Zemin nodded, "... I see."
Fifteen days in the Collector's Pocket World was equivalent to 1 and a half days in the real world so it really wasn't much from the point of view of all living beings who were living their lives normally in the outside world.
Evangeline would be 100% recovered in another fortnight or so, and by then only 3 days would have passed in the outside world.
Although Shangguan Bing Xue's overall injuries were not life-threatening, the bone pulverization on both arms was not something that could be healed overnight. Considering that a normal fracture could take a minimum of 2 to 6 months for a normal human, pulverizing the bones was probably irreparable in a lifetime; of course, Shangguan Bing Xue was far from being a normal human and so she could probably recover within several more days after Evangeline's full recovery.
As for Kong Jun...
"Bing Xue and Yijun told me that it was thanks to your blood that Kong Jun is alive now. Although the time he needs to fight at full strength again is high, your blood kept him from the clutches of death." Shangguan Xinyue gazed at Bai Zemin curiously.
"Yes, well. It's really a great fortune for everyone that my race evolved, improving my physique and blood to new heights." Bai Zemin sighed. "I feel like an elixir walking."
Shangguan Xinyue's eyes shone, and after a few seconds of silence, she whispered, "Little King... Could you... Could you give me some of your blood?"
Bai Zemin began to cough furiously when he heard the words of the woman lying next to him. His surprise was so big that he didn't even feel pain despite the sudden movements that coughing repeatedly brought with it.
Seeing him like this, Shangguan Xinyue rolled her eyes before licking her lips and saying softly, "Although that little wooden pagoda of yours gave me back my humanity, I occasionally feel a certain desire to drink blood. It's not that I can't restrain it, it's really no big deal and doesn't affect me. But..."
Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xuen's mother in shock as she grinned like a hungry little cat.
"I didn't lie when I said your blood was yummy back then... I'm sure it's much tasty now!"
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