Chapter 1328.1: Emperor & Empress (Part 1)
1328 Emperor & Empress (Part 1)
This white-haired, red-eyed young man was, of course, Bai Zemin who had come all the way here to look for someone after finishing some important business and settling some things in Beijing.
As for the elegant silhouette dressed in a black leotard and a scarf covering 90% of her face was, of course, Evangeline whom Bai Zemin had not seen in over 8 months.
Sensing the irregular aura and extremely fragile vitality of this person, her pupils trembled slightly and a voice as sweet as a baby's but full of disbelief came from her lips, "You... how...?"
"Ah... This?" Bai Zemin gently tossed his hair with a hand and with a hint of helplessness replied, "I had no choice but to use my vitality in exchange for strength, that's how I came to be this miserable... But hey, putting my life on the line to win is something I'm used to anyway. I'm not complaining, at least I'm still breathing but my opponent isn't."
"I..." Evangeline suddenly didn't dare look him in the eyes after hearing that.
She was one of the few Loyal Followers that Bai Zemin had. To say that he trusted her with his life was not necessarily an exaggeration. However, while he was fighting to the point of consuming over 90% of his life force, she was still missing.
"But, you've become really powerful in just over half a year." Bai Zemin looked at the fallen Fourth Order monster and sighed with some emotion, "There are times when I can't help but remember the past. At that time our strength at most would allow us to destroy a few buildings and a few streets, but now we can wipe out entire cities in a matter of seconds if we want to."
In truth, Evangeline's large-scale destructive power was probably the lowest among all the Fourth Order powerhouses Bai Zemin had encountered so far. However, it was precisely this that made her so terrifying.
99% of high-level soul evolvers could unleash colossal natural disasters with a single skill, but Evangeline belonged to that few remaining 1% that could not. This did not mean that she was weak, quite the opposite in fact.
Because the full force of her attacks was focused on her dagger, every time she attacked all hell would break loose on her enemies. Therefore, she was basically a certain death for her opponents in a 1 vs 1 battle.
The two remained silent for a long while, lost in their own thoughts before Evangeline took the initiative to speak.
"Did you come to ask me to come back?"
Evangeline expected Bai Zemin to nod, which would be normal.
She was, after all, one of the empire's most powerful guardians. Besides, for better or worse she had to do her duty since Bai Zemin and the faction gave her a "safe" place where she could grow up to this point.
If it were not for Bai Zemin and the rest, today there might not be Evangeline, let alone be this scary.
However, Bai Zemin smiled slightly and shook his head.
"No?" Evangeline whispered with wide eyes, clearly in shock.
"I came here for three reasons, to be honest." He said.
Bai Zemin looked up at the sky with a slightly complicated expression. Snowflakes swirled downward and the wind scattered them over this frozen land, creating a wonderful sight that masked countless dangers.
To be completely honest, the current Bai Zemin was not even 50% confident in reaching a level of power that high in just over 2.5 years. Even if he had a lot of self-
confidence and knew that he could not measure himself by the same standard as others, he still had to be realistic with the reality in front of him.
'I don't know if I'll be able to safeguard all of this...' A bit of unwillingness shone in his eyes, but because he was looking up, Evangeline didn't notice.
"First of all, I would like to invite you to a wedding." Bai Zemin looked back down at her with a faint carefree smile and waited.
"Wedding?" Evangeline looked at him completely dumbfounded.
"That's right, a wedding." Bai Zemin chuckled and, a little sheepishly, blurted out, "You only met her 1 or 2 times but you should know who I'm talking about."
An extremely beautiful woman with black hair and an extremely seductive body sparkled in Evangeline's memory after hearing his words. Even she had to admit that this woman left a very deep impression on her even though they practically never exchanged words with each other.
"Wait, you're getting married?" Evangeline was clearly surprised.
Bai Zemin nodded with a smile and explained, "A lot has happened during the time you were gone, Evangeline. Lilith is no longer a Higher Existence but fell to a Lower Existence, so she is now like us... Plus, due to certain circumstances I want to give her the place she deserves with an official title and make my parents happy while I'm at it."
Because he didn't know if they could have their longed-for happily ever after, Bai Zemin hoped to at least bring a smile to those he cherished and owed the most.
Although he didn't say much and didn't give any summary, his words were enough for Evangeline to understand that she really had been gone for a long time... too long.
Just by looking at Bai Zemin and his current appearance it was more than evident that nothing was what it used to be. In fact, even the Transcendent faction was no longer what it used to be; it had grown from a small baby composed of a semi-ruined country to a large empire with over 1 billion humans and other races.
Eight months was not that long in the long and seemingly endless path of evolution... But eight months in this era when powerhouses fell from the sky like shooting stars and heroes rose from the mud to shine brighter than anyone else was too long.
The universe was in danger and was exhausting all its forces to prepare its mightiest warriors in a desperate attempt to resist. It definitely wouldn't wait for Evangeline or anyone else as every second counted, let alone more than half a year.
"The second thing I came for is this." Bai Zemin gently rubbed his spatial storage ring and pulled out a black token. He threw it to Evangeline and when she caught it, he explained, "At the bottom of the Mariana Trench is an underwater base under the protection of the two unique sea Kingdoms as well as the joint forces of our Transcendent Empire. It was built in the last few months and what is hidden there is a huge portal that covers about 3000 smaller portals. Each portal leads to a different world."
Evangeline stared at the black hexagon-shaped token with a large drop of red blood imprinted on it. Every word Bai Zemin said made her heart beat fiercely, and by the end she was biting her lower lip so hard that she almost drew blood from it.
Really... It had been too long.
So long that she didn't even know something as important as this and missed the whole process, let alone help to obtain something so priceless but for sure dangerous.
"If you inject your mana into that token it will show you a map with the specific location of the place. There are also several magical barriers surrounding it as well as a large army, but as long as you show that token they should let you pass." Bai Zemin looked at her silently and then continued, "You can go visit other places if you wish, maybe go look for powerful enemies there. You have 3000 worlds to choose from."
Evangeline suddenly raised her head abruptly and looked at him in disbelief.
She finally understood what he was doing.
"The third thing I came here for, other than to see you, was to do this." Bai Zemin took a deep breath and then did what he had already prepared beforehand.
Two notifications appeared before Evangeline.
['Blood Warlock' Bai Zemin level 200 has annulled the Soul Contract between you and him. You no longer need to be loyal and the restriction of never betraying has been removed].
[Your Special Title 'Loyal Follower' has been deleted. All advantage records are erased from your soul].
Evangeline froze.
"Although you will become slightly weaker because of this, with your strength it shouldn't be a big deal." Bai Zemin nodded and then said with a tone of voice filled with self-blame, "Evangeline, a lot has happened and everything will become even more complicated soon. I myself couldn't keep the promise I made to you back then so you don't need to follow me anymore nor do you need to hide... you don't owe anything to anyone. On the contrary, life owes you too much... That's why I hope you can at least be happy or live in peace during this time."
Evangeline's eyes trembled and she opened her mouth to say something but couldn't. Everything that was happening was too much for her after eight months of loneliness.
Seeing her in silence, Bai Zemin sighed.
In fact, Bai Zemin knew what Evangeline's decision was from the moment he saw her using the space practically at her will. Even if she was a genius among geniuses, it was simply impossible that in only eight months she could manipulate space to such a magnitude.
Furthermore, Bai Zemin tried to secretly search for Khristina's aura but could not find it anywhere.
Both sisters suffered far too much in this life, and not even a true divinity could have the qualifications to point out which was right or which was wrong.
It was true that Khristina committed many sins... But she did it all for the sake of her younger sister.
It was also true that Evangeline suffered colossal torments essentially because of her older sister's decisions... Even though those decisions were what saved her life 18 years ago.
Evangeline was only able to survive all these years because the vengeance pushed her forward and did not allow her to fall down dead... Meanwhile, Khristina always lived with remorse and regrets inside her that would probably haunt her forever.
Because Bai Zemin could not judge right or wrong between the two sisters, he let them decide between them. He didn't know if he did the right thing or not, but even now he had no regrets and if he had to choose again he would make the same choice a thousand times more.
Maybe this was also a good ending... Only the future could tell later on.
"If there is a future, that is." Bai Zemin chuckled softly and shook his head.
"'Anyhow. Visit Beijing in two days... the preparations started two days ago and everything will be ready soon."
When Evangeline snapped back to her senses, Bai Zemin's silhouette became a blur and just before he disappeared she saw him nodding in her direction with an apologetic expression on his face.