Chapter 1043: Crucial question

Before he began to tell his story together with Lilith, the first thing Bai Zemin did urgently was to head to the room where Shangguan Bing Xue was trying to contain Feng Tian Wu's flames under control by using her skills to release large amounts of cold energy.

Of course, when Shangguan Bing Xue saw the condition in which Bai Zemin appeared she had a drastic change in her expression. However, even before she could say anything there was someone who beat her to it.

Bai Shilin let out a sharp cry that contained both anger and fear when she saw her father so badly injured.

This was quite possibly the first time the young girl had seen her beloved father with injuries of this level.

It was quite a challenge for Bai Zemin to calm Bai Shilin down... In fact, he failed to completely calm her down and the little daughter continued to cry for more than twenty minutes before falling asleep in his arms.

"... I think I now understand a little bit what my parents felt when they saw me sad in the past." Bai Zemin shook his head at the same time as using his healthy hand he tenderly caressed the dried tears on his little angel's face.

Shangguan Bing Xue seemed worried about Bai Shilin as well, but she could not move from her place so she could only watch from afar.

"You... Are you alright? It seems like the fruit guardian was really powerful to be able to hurt you to such a level."

A wry smile automatically formed on Bai Zemin's face when he heard Shangguan Bing Xue's words.

"Oh, if only you knew... I was half a hair's breadth away from not being able to tell the tale."

Shangguan Bing Xue's face turned slightly pale as she heard his words, but before she had a chance to say anything she saw Bai Zemin take out a fruit that looked a bit like a peach but redder and slightly smaller.

"For now... Let's end one problem before another one starts." He smiled bitterly.

"... Mhm." Shangguan Bing Xue nodded.

She watched silently for a few seconds as Bai Zemin covered his body using flames and ice before squatting down next to Feng Tian Wu.

"It's quite amazing that even with all this protection on me I can still feel the heat of these flames." Bai Zemin remarked casually.

Fortunately for him, he still had time and the effect of Soul Manipulation would continue to run for a few more hours, which meant that the skill Diamond Body was still present and increasing the defense of Bai Zemin tremendously.

'If it wasn't for Diamond Body it probably would have been quite a question whether I could get close to her like this.' He really wanted to know what kind of flames these were to be able to be this fierce, even more so than his Endless Blue Lotus Flame whose power was that of a peak Third Order flame at this point.

The magic happened when Bai Zemin brought the fruit close to Feng Tian Wu.

The temperature of the place immediately dropped considerably, and although it was not that noticeable at a glance both he and Shangguan Bing Xue saw a slight improvement in Feng Tian Wu's practically crimson skin.

Shangguan Bing Xue: "Just out of curiosity but... How will you feed her that fruit?"

Bai Zemin: "... That's a good question."

Shangguan Bing Xue: "... Don't tell me you plan to do what I'm thinking."

Bai Zemin: "... It seems that I need to sacrifice myself for the common good."

Shangguan Bing Xue: "... Are you really going to kiss this woman the same way you did with me in Oblon World?"

Bai Zemin: "Kiss? Little Bing Xue, when was it that you and I kissed (¬‿¬)?"

Shangguan Bing Xue: "You... I'll freeze you to death."

Bai Zemin: (─‿‿─)

Bai Zemin brought the fruit close to Feng Tian Wu's lips, and after he stopped joking he slowly explained, "Well, jokes aside... things are different now."

"Different?" Shangguan Bing Xue was slightly startled.

"In the past, my Blood Manipulation skill was not strong enough to allow me to control the body of other living beings."

Under Shangguan Bing Xue's well-attentive eyes, Feng Tian Wu's small mouth opened delicately, and when Bai Zemin placed a part of the fruit between her teeth her lips closed again.

"Although in normal times it would not be possible for me to control the body of a Third Order soul evolver, especially not that of a soul evolver whose Soul Power is as pure as Feng Tian Wu's, at least I can reach this level at present." Bai Zemin explained as the sound of chewing mingled with the sound of ice forming and cracking as a consequence of the heat sounded inside the room.

For every mouthful of fruit that entered Feng Tian Wu's mouth and subsequently went down her throat, her body temperature dropped and consequently, the amount of Mana Shangguan Bing Xue had to expend to prevent the Sky Destroyer from being destroyed from the inside became less and less.

About a minute or two later, Bai Zemin sighed in relief as he slowly stood up.

He watched for a few seconds as the red on Feng Tian Wu's skin slowly receded and finally looked at Shangguan Bing Xue with a faint smile that exposed his exhaustion, "You see? No need for kisses this time."

Shangguan Bing Xue blushed very slightly at his words. She snorted and said in a cold voice, "You make it sound like there was a kiss that time."

"Mhm? That time? About when are you talking about, little Bing Xue?"

Shangguan Bing Xue: "... Bai Zemin, do you really want to become an ice cream popsicle?"

Bai Zemin: "If you are going to lick me like you lick one then I will take the challenge (─‿‿─)"

Shangguan Bing Xue: "...I will tell your Little Succubus about this (￢_￢;)"

Bai Zemin: "Soon you will be a Little Succubus too if you go on like this ╰(▔∀▔▔)╯"

Shangguan Bing Xue: "Ever since we played that stupid game proposed by your Little Succubus your shamelessness shot through the roof (＞﹏＜) "

...

Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue waited until Feng Tian Wu's body temperature decreased enough to not affect the warship before heading to the control room where the rest of them waited.

Fortunately, although the Divine Daydream Pomegranate that Bai Zemin fed Feng Tian Wu wasn't nearly as powerful as the one Fire Sorrow had shown him for reference, a Rank 5 consumable item was still beyond what in theory a Lower Existence should be able to manage to get their hands on except for very particular circumstances.

"When do you think she'll wake up?" Shangguan Bing Xue asked as they walked toward the control room with Bai Shilin in her arms.

"Shilin? Probably in an hour or two." Bai Zemin replied calmly.

"You know very well I'm not talking about Shilin." Shangguan Bing Xue sighed. "To be honest with you, I don't understand why you would help the person who in the past caused you so much harm."

Shangguan Bing Xue knew that there was a girl in the past who hurt Bai Zemin's heart by playing with his feelings, and although he never said this girl's name the truth was not too hard to guess with all the clues along the way.

She looked sideways at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the front, and after a brief pause she said slowly, "Don't tell me you still have any romantic feelings for her."

"As if." Bai Zemin rolled his eyes. His voice was calm and unfluctuating as he slowly said, "Feng Tian Wu apologized to me a year ago, and I forgave her wholeheartedly. After all, it was thanks to her that I realized I had been in love with someone that didn't exist in the first place."

"...If you forgave her as you say, then why do you keep a clear distance from her?" Shangguan Bing Xue questioned.

"Forgiving and forgetting are two different words and even more different things, Bing Xue." Bai Zemin paused outside the control room for a moment before adding, "Feng Tian Wu is a valued subordinate to me. Her strength is needed, and you know it. Besides, she is loyal and has never caused any kind of trouble since she joined our ranks."

Shangguan Bing Xue frowned slightly but finally nodded as she found no way to refute his words.

"If my subordinate is willing to do so much then my duty as their Leader is to respond in the same manner. Nothing more, nothing less."

At that moment, the door slid aside and the eyes of everyone inside the room that had been focused on Lilith turned towards the two newcomers; three, counting little Bai Shilin who was sleeping in Shangguan Bing Xue's arms.

Bai Zemin took Bai Shilin and sat on the throne-like seat, and without a word, Lilith stood to his right.

After a moment of silence, he nodded, "All right, now we can begin."

And so, for the next hour as the Sky Destroyer flew smoothly back to Earth, Bai Zemin told the story of how he and Lilith met. She also joined in and added a comment or two occasionally to emphasize details that he treated as if they were normal routine stuff.

When he finished they paused and waited for the questions they knew would come, and the first to break the silence was none other than Wen Yan, the quieter and shyer of the two twins.

"So... Gods and demons do really exist?"

"Well, I think at some point in history all the gods we know probably existed." Bai Zemin nodded. "Not sure, but that's what I think."

Seeing that he stopped, Lilith slowly explained: "At present, there are only eight beings that we can call Gods or Demons since the power of these eight is at least a little above any other living being in the universe. But, as Zemin just said it is likely that the gods you know existed at some point. For example, in Norse mythology, there is the Ice Goddess Skadi, and this was a title that had a being even more powerful than the most powerful eight today."

"... So, God and angels really do exist..." Meng Qi muttered to herself in astonishment. She looked at Lilith's four wings and quickly asked, "The color of your wings is black, you are a fallen angel?"

"At least within my knowledge, there is no faction of fallen angels." Lilith gently shook her head. She flapped her wings lightly, to the amazement of the two little twins who exclaimed in surprise, and said in a serious voice, "I belong to the Demonic Army led by Lucifer."

The room immediately fell silent as Lilith said these words. A needle could be heard falling.

"Demonic Army... " Ye Linger hesitated and looked at Lilith with some caution, no longer daring to be as casual as before after knowing that she was facing a legendary being on the level of the angels that mankind revered so much.

Lilith smiled with some bitterness at this. She tried to be as warm as possible as she said softly, "Mother, now that you know who I am you don't need to change your ways towards me. Regardless of my identity, the fact that I love Zemin from the bottom of my heart has not changed nor has the fact that you are my family now."

Lilith's words calmed Ye Linger down a bit, but it would probably take a couple of days for her to be able to act normal in front of Lilith again.

"Then... Lilith." Meng Qi looked at her much calmer than the rest and directly asked what many were wondering, "You're a Demon, aren't you? And you work for Lucifer, the Devil."

"My current race is Succubus, a demon." Lilith nodded before shaking her head, "But you're wrong, I don't work for Lucifer. I follow his orders since he is the one who leads the Demonic Army, but unlike the other Higher Existences who need a faction of Higher Existences to survive, I am very young. This means that even if I wish to leave the Demonic Army and fall to a Lower Existence I will still live on without any problems, do you understand what that means?"

Meng Qi nodded silently.

Simply put, Lilith could refuse Lucifer's orders to a certain extent because she wasn't really bound to the need to be a Higher Existence to continue existing, and Lucifer certainly wouldn't want one of his strongest demons to go away.

"Are demons evil as told in the legends?" Wen Yun asked suddenly.

Lilith chuckled as she shook her head, "Angel or demon, dragon or phoenix... We are all soul evolvers just like you except that we are no longer bound by the law of time. Good and evil live within every existence, Higher or Lower, none of that matters. In the Demon Army, there are certainly many who are cruel and bloodthirsty but there are also such among the ranks of the Army of Heaven; some of them are even worse than demons."

After a brief pause that was seized by Meng Qi, even Bai Zemin's ears twitched slightly as she asked something that no one, not even he, knew if Lilith would answer.

"In that case, would you mind telling us why you chose my brother out of so many humans?" Meng Qi asked slowly and with narrowed eyes, "I understand that you were interested in Blood Manipulation, but according to your story you were already close to him at the time everything happened, am I wrong?"