Chapter 1052: More problems targeting Earth

"... I think Little Snow will need to expand further if we continue at this rate."

In the blue sky, just above the white clouds where the wind was blowing especially hard and the pressure was much higher, Nangong Lingxin's somewhat helpless voice was barely heard by her companions.

Kang Lan glanced at a certain someone out of the corner of her eye before turning her attention back to the front, and after a moment of silence she remarked, "I think that's why our Leader chose only four people besides him for this operation."

Although Little Snow was a Third Order mutant beast, her body was far from massive compared to other creatures. She was a mutant beast more focused on speed and ripping strength so while she was much larger than a normal dog it still wasn't enough to fit a large group of people on her back.

When Bai Zemin chose Nangong Lingxin, Bai Shilin, Shangguan Bing Xue, and Kang Lan he did so not only because of their individual characteristics and strength but also because of the physical build each of them had such that they would definitely be fine riding Little Snow's back.

But the joining of a sixth person broke that balance and now they were all squeezed together.

Feng Tian Wu didn't look at Kang Lan but her words were clearly directed at her, "Maybe one of you should have stayed behind then?"

"What do you mean by that?" Shangguan Bing Xue stared at her with a slight frown and pointed out, "It was you who did as you pleased. Are you a five-year-old child?"

Feng Tian Wu finally looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and her eyes flashed weirdly as she said in a voice no longer so indifferent but more confident, "This is a very important operation so the more firepower we have the better, right?"

"You're right. But that doesn't take away from the fact that you acted like a 5-year-old brat." Shangguan Bing Xue emphasized.

Feng Tian Wu ignored her words and continued, "Nangong Lingxin can defend, Kang Lan heal, and Bai Shilin has a skill that allows her to see the future minutes in advance in addition to her physical strength comparable to the strongest. As for me... other than Bai Zemin, there is no one who can defeat me in the entire faction, not even your mother Shangguan Xinyue can do it."

A glint of dangerous light shone in Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes as she said in a low ice-cold voice, "...You sound too confident for someone who neither participates in any training together nor was part of the most terrifying battles in recent times."

"I'm simply pointing out facts, that's all." Feng Tian Wu replied indifferently as she used her slightly fire-red eyes to look into Shangguan Bing Xue's ice-blue eyes, "As I said, other than Bai Zemin, there is no soul evolver in our faction capable of defeating me. Not Shangguan Xinyue, not Evangeline... and not you either."

Shangguan Bing Xue stared into her eyes and suddenly let out a chuckle, "You think because you are of a higher level you are stronger than me?"

"I don't think so, I'm sure of it." Feng Tian Wu continued as indifferent and aloof as ever, "In fact, if I'm honest I don't understand why you are here."

Shangguan Bing Xue's expression changed slightly, but Feng Tian Wu didn't give her a chance to say anything as she immediately continued, "Your ice can probably affect a peak level Third Order soul evolver, but this time we will be facing Fourth Order enemies, won't we? I think between us who is left over here is you, Second Leader."

Shangguan Bing Xue's pupils trembled slightly and her beautiful face turned light pale when she heard Feng Tian Wu's words.

As her emotions slightly went out of her control, the temperature immediately plummeted and the air cooled to the point where semi-transparent ice particles began to rain down from all directions.

"Feng Tian Wu, are you forgetting that Shangguan Bing Xue's status is higher than yours?"

When Bai Zemin's cold voice that had remained silent until now rang out, Feng Tian Wu's expressionless face finally showed a small crack.

She looked at him, and noticing the small but unmistakable trace of anger in his eyes she couldn't help but sigh.

Feng Tian Wu looked at Shangguan Bing Xue, and after a brief hesitation said in calm, "I apologize for just now, I said too much."

Although her voice was soft, everyone could tell the sincerity with which she was apologizing. This came as a great surprise to Kang Lan and Nangong Lingxin as they both knew how proud this woman was.

Feng Tian Wu was rarely willing to participate in hunting missions with any team unless they were all extremely powerful soul evolvers. In fact, she even preferred to carry out other missions such as capturing an enemy base by herself rather than teaming up with those who in her eyes were drags; this was not her disdaining others but her being too rational.

At the end of the day, Feng Tian Wu was no longer who she was in the past. She simply knew that everything would work out better if she did things alone since everything would be over faster and no one on the team would have to risk their lives.

Unfortunately, Feng Tian Wu's rationality that was based on a win-win situation was seen as pride and arrogance by others.

It was precisely because of this that Nangong Lingxin and Kang Lan were very surprised to hear the sincerity in her voice when she apologized to Shangguan Bing Xue.

In fact, even Bai Zemin was taken by surprise.

Shangguan Bing Xue looked at Feng Tian Wu for a few seconds before shaking her head without saying anything.

Seeing her fall silent, looking off into the distance with an unreadable expression on her seemingly calm face, Bai Zemin could not help but frown slightly in his heart.

He was really worried about Shangguan Bing Xue as she seemed more prone to losing control over her emotions compared to the past, and Bai Zemin noticed that while this increased since she got stagnant as well as her strength from not being able to evolve beyond level 100, the truth was that he knew she became more and more emotional with each evolution and new class she acquired.

...

Little Snow's speed was certainly very high as not only was her Agility stat was far above what a mutant beast of her level should have but she also had passive and active skills that boosted that already monstrously high movement speed to even higher altitudes.

However, the size of Earth was at least 3 or 4 times larger after evolving to the Third Stage, so traveling from Beijing to America was not something that could be done in a day or two, much less a few hours of constant flight.

Even if Bai Zemin wanted to rush to the United States before something big happened, he and his group needed at least four days to accomplish it.

He and the rest of them could only wish the American team well.

* *

While things on Earth were getting more and more out of control, the rest of the universe wasn't particularly calm either.

If the universe in general was a big ocean then the planet Earth was nothing more than a small boat in the middle of its vastness, and to bring down a small fishing boat all that was needed was a strong enough storm.

Coincidentally, that storm seemed to be brewing fast, and the creators were none other than Higher Existences.

...

Kram World, Higher World in its Seventh Stage and the main headquarters of the Demonic Army.

The faction led by Lucifer had recently fought at the Chaos Wall against the invaders of The Golden Domain, and although the losses were not small for them the result ended up being much better than everyone thought; all thanks to the existence of Lilith who had never participated in previous wars against The Golden Domain since she was not only less than a century old but had recently joined the faction.

Although they had completed their task, however, other factions went looking for trouble with them and attacked the members of the Demonic Army who were roaming other worlds.

Fortunately, however, things did not escalate and after a day or two what seemed to be a new war between factions of Higher Existences finally died down.

Due to the many deaths during the war against The Golden Domain and the relatively few that occurred during the minor war against the other factions, the castle where Lucifer lived was not as crowded as on past occasions.

In the meeting room whose giant stone door was firmly closed, only two of the seven seats around the round table were occupied.

With a slightly pale face similar to that of a person with pressure problems due to a lack of sugar in their blood and large black circles under his eyes, Lucifer looked with a dead expression at Fire Sorrow's constantly changing face.

Due to everything that had happened lately Lucifer had expended a lot of energy and was unable to sleep even for a second. As a result, his face was a mess just like his hair and his usual lazy expression had turned sour like someone who had eaten three kilograms of lemon.

"So..."

His voice was low and weak, so that were it not for the silence in the room the wind gently rushing through the window would carry it far from being heard.

"You're telling me that Earth, our home world, the planet that we saw with our own eyes being destroyed, reappeared."

Fire Sorrow nodded silently, and in response he nodded as well, "I see."

"So... This Earth you saw has only been evolving for less than two years but it is already in its Third Stage," Lucifer asked.

After a slight hesitation, Fire Sorrow nodded, "Not only that. Lucifer, I'm telling you it's our Earth. There are many dreadful treasures there that were left behind. There are even some capable of killing Higher Existences if given the required energy."

"Mhm." Lucifer nodded and after a brief pause said calmly, "Fire Sorrow, I think you need to take a nap. How about 3 years?"

Fire Sorrow stared at him for a few seconds, and after a brief pause pointed out, "Wasn't it you who told me that you saw Lilith coming out of nowhere coincidentally where in the past our world was located? Don't tell me you didn't think she might be on Earth, Lucifer. I know you well enough."

Lucifer sighed and plopped down on the table as he muttered in a tired voice, "Fire Sorrow, did we not see with our eyes how Earth was destroyed? But put that aside and let's say it was an illusion... Were the records lost when that stupid wolf directly killed 90% of the life on Earth including most of our faction also false?"

Back then, Lucifer, Fire Sorrow, and other important roles with subclasses that granted them power depending on the number of the headcount their faction had lost a lot of strength when Sirius, the Leader, destroyed everything for some reason.

"That's..." Fire Sorrow frowned, but any trace of doubt disappeared as soon as it appeared.

She knew what she had seen and experienced.

"Lucifer, do you remember the guy you saw with Annihilation of the Falling Sky stuck in his chest?"

"Mm?" Lucifer raised his head slightly before letting it fall once more, "What's up with that? It was you who sent me to sleep telling me I was crazy when we got back."

"Well, it turns out you weren't crazy. I met that guy on Earth, and he can wield Annihilation of the Falling Sky."

"..." Lucifer finally lifted his head from the table albeit ever so slightly, but Fire Sorrow noticed the strange glint in his eyes as he said this time in a clearer voice than before: "Go on."

Knowing that she now truly had his attention, Fire Sorrow finally became serious and continued to narrate what she had seen and experienced in the last while away from the faction.

But what neither she nor Lucifer knew was that they were not the only ones talking about Earth nor were they the only ones who had learned for various reasons that a new planet in its Third Stage had suddenly appeared in the universe.

In a world of blazing fire and lava where the rocks were so hot that a Second Order soul evolver would be incinerated in seconds if they stepped on them, a beautiful woman with bright red hair as fiery as the mightiest flame stared in a certain direction with a frown as many other beautiful human-like existences and beautiful phoenixes gathered around.

The Leader of a faction did not always discover immediately when a Higher Existence member of their group died, but this particular faction was slightly different.

* * * * * * *