Chapter 973: Feng Tian wu collapses

"Little King, what will you do now? That alligator ran away."

Bai Zemin did not immediately respond to Shangguan Xinyue's question but instead stared at the horizon towards where Thao Zhi had fled with an indifferent expression on his face.

This had been Bai Zemin's most difficult battle to date, and although in theory it could be considered a battle won as the enemy was forced to flee like a homeless dog, he did not see it that way.

Thao Zhi was strong, very strong. Frighteningly strong, in fact.

His magical power was so high that he even surpassed Bai Zemin using Overlap Regeneration under the boost of Soul Manipulation.

In fact, Thao Zhi was so powerful that even with the union of Bai Zemin, Shangguan Bing Xue, and Shangguan Xinyue, he not only managed to break out alive but had also managed to damage all three of them enough to send them to bed for a whole week if they wanted to make a full recovery.

Bai Zemin used practically everything he had and even used the enemy's Cosmic Particle Cannon to his advantage. He gave everything of himself, Shangguan Bing Xue gave everything of herself, Shangguan Xinyue gave everything of herself... and yet, Thao Zhi managed to escape alive.

Bai Zemin still did not understand how it was possible that his enemy could have survived the power of his Blazing Blood Punishment. Even if Bai Zemin had restrained himself when he launched it since he didn't want to destroy his world, killing everyone and dying in the process, he was sure that the power behind that attack was terrifying enough to kill almost anything below level 290.

In fact, the Blazing Blood Punisment he cast was so powerful that the shockwave injured him as well as the two women beside him even though Shangguan Bing Xue and Shangguan Xinyue had contained most of the power of the skill within the fortified ice creation.

Of course, Bai Zemin had no way of knowing that Thao Zhi should be dead and the only reason he survived was because he was so lucky that it was simply hard to believe.

He simulated the battle several times in his head, and found that the only way he could have won and killed Thao Zhi was practically impossible to accomplish in the first go.

This was because in order to have any chance of defeating such an opponent, Bai Zemin needed to use Soul Manipulation to boost Magic Break to a higher stage. However, Bai Zemin did not know that his enemy was a mage and therefore could not simply take the risk of evolving Magic Break; if the enemy turned out to be a warrior that skill would be as good as useless on the battlefield.

The fact that Thao Zhi was able to flee alive was certainly a big problem, but Bai Zemin also felt a bit of relief.

At the end of the day, his injuries were not light and Shangguan Bing Xue could no longer rely on skills so she could only use physical attacks. As for Shangguan Xinyue, she still had Mana to spare as she hadn't consumed that much but she was certainly injured enough that she couldn't give her 100% in combat.

It was a pity, and it was certainly a problem... But considering that Thao Zhi was badly injured, there probably wouldn't be any problems soon.

Besides, Bai Zemin knew instinctively that it wouldn't be long before the two of them would meet again to bring this unfinished episode to a complete closure.

Shangguan Xinyue and Shangguan Bing Xue looked at him worriedly seeing his serious expression as he said nothing till he finally broke the silence.

"For now, let's take care of what we have on hand."

Bai Zemin looked off into the distance, into the sea of golden flames, and his blood-red eyes met with a bright pair of golden eyes staring back at him.

So much destruction... so much danger... But the 5 minutes limit Feng Tian Wu had set for him earlier had not yet passed.

"These flames..." Shangguan Bing Xue seemed to realize something when she saw Bai Zemin looking off into the distance.

"Yeah, it's Feng Tian Wu." Bai Zemin nodded and put Nangong Lingxin down gently on the ground.

Thanks to the fact that the girl's injuries were not really life-threatening, he did not have to exert much effort to give her a potion to drink to boost her recovery speed by 20%.

Seeing Bai Zemin walk towards the center of the sea of golden flames, Shangguan Bing Xue simply closed her eyes and tried to recover as quickly as possible.

"Hey, hey, Bing Xue." Shangguan Xinyue sat down next to her daughter and said in a low voice, "Don't you think that Tian Wu girl looks at our Little King with peculiar eyes? I've been thinking about it for a while but there are even rumors about those two..."

Actually, there were not a few people who said that Bai Zemin and Feng Tian Wu shared some kind of past.

Even if the people who knew about the background between the two did not divulge the truth for whatever reasons, it was not hard to tell that something was not right when Feng Tian Wu seemed to pay special attention to him whenever he appeared while he subconsciously kept his distance.

Shangguan Bing Xue had a theory about it, but she wasn't sure either and didn't feel it was her place to ask about it, thereofore, she always kept her thoughts to herself.

"Mom, don't be a gossip."

"Eh~ but, but!" Shangguan Xinyue immediately began to play bratty.

On the other hand, Bai Zemin approached Feng Tian Wu and calmly said, "Feng Tian Wu, you can deactivate your skill now. The enemies we had to defeat were defeated, and the ones that have to be defeated will fall soon."

Feng Tian Wu was looking at the ground, but when she heard his voice she raised her head again to look at him. Her appearance was not completely human, but this did not mean that her current state was ugly, not at all. She was an exotic beauty, different from normal but beauty nonetheless.

She looked at his pale face and the blood running from his forehead before asking in a weak voice, "We won?"

"We did." Bai Zemin nodded and said calmly, "Thanks to you this time, otherwise I'm afraid it would have been troublesome."

"I wonder about that." Feng Tian Wu looked beyond him, towards the now practically completely collapsed southern wall of the base, and said in an unreadable tone of voice, "Even if I did nothing, those two women would have arrived a few minutes later and with the two of them here victory would have been only a matter of time wouldn't it?"

Bai Zemin said nothing at first. What she was saying was true after all. However, it was undeniable that this victory was thanks to the woman in front of him and whatever happened in the past was just that, past.

As a Leader, Bai Zemin had the obligation to be fair to his people... and that was exactly what he planned to do.

"We don't need to assume something that didn't happen. It is undeniable that the enemies fell mainly thanks to you." He said in a serious voice before assuring her, "You will be rewarded accordingly, that's how things work in our faction. If I remember correctly, you have to be a level 3 Noble now? I will upgrade your status to a level 2 Noble and you will begin to receive the benefits you are entitled to. Oh, I also plan to start forming approximately 2 more legions, you will have priority in the leadership of one of them."

Those soul evolvers nearby looked at Feng Tian Wu with a envious look when they heard Bai Zemin's promise. After all, there were only two Rank 2 Nobles in the entire faction which were namely Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun.

Moreover, being the highest commander of a legion was basically everyone's dream. Being the top commander of a legion would immediately raise one's speaking rights and prestige to the clouds and beyond; even the main leader, Bai Zemin, listened to them and appreciated their opinions greatly.

However, none of those present believed that Feng Tian Wu did not deserve such rewards. Not when she had annihilated the enemy forces at the faction's worst moment.

"Rewards..." Feng Tian Wu lowered her head and muttered to herself before nodding, "Of course..."

"Mm?" Bai Zemin frowned when he noticed that she didn't seem satisfied.

If Feng Tian Wu was excited he would understand, and actually that would be the natural reaction.

He would even understand if she simply nodded indifferently.

However, she seemed dissatisfied and not because of the rewards per se, leaving him perplexed.

Just as he was about to tell her that if she had something she wanted he would help her get it as long as it was within his ability and not something too crazy, the golden flames simply disappeared without a trace and Feng Tian Wu's appearance returned to normal; even her red robe was there even though it seemed to have turned to ashes before.

However, before anyone could say or even think anything, Feng Tian Wu's eyes rolled to the back of her head at the same time as her eyelids closed.

Bai Zemin's expression changed abruptly and when he saw her weak body falling he hurriedly moved forward to avoid the collapse.

However, Bai Zemin soon realized a giant problem and while ignoring the gasps of surprise and concern around him he could not help but feel grateful to the fact that his body's pain sensors were deactivated.

With Feng Tian Wu in his arms, Bai Zemin felt his entire armor overheat to the point where he began to sweat right away. The durability of all his equipment began to plummet, especially that of his gloves which in a matter of blinks began to melt.

When he looked at the increasingly red skin on Feng Tian Wu's face, he finally understood a little more the reason why she hadn't made use of that fire domain before or even mentioned about it.

"Kang Lan!" Bai Zemin bellowed in a deep voice as the frown on his face became more and more pronounced.

Kang Lan hurriedly advanced and without waiting for orders pointed her magic staff at Feng Tian Wu in his arms.

"Mystic Healing."

Mystic Healing was the strongest healing skill Kang Lan had at the moment. It was a Third Order level 5 skill that not only speeded up natural recovery by 300% but also empowered the target with 700 Health points for 20 minutes. The skill could even grow small body parts such as fingers and was also 200% more effective when treating fatal wounds or diseases.

It was a skill that Kang Lan had paid a great price for, she had been saving up from her monthly salary to buy high quality Soul Stones from some fellow soul evolvers and spent entire nights hunting alone to get the materials needed to level it up.

Furthermore, the fact that Kang Lan was considered a genius when it came to magic only below 3 or 4 people in the entire faction certainly was demonstrated when the effect of Mystic Healing, which was based on the Magic stat and magic power of the user, turned out to be a lot stronger than it would normally be in the hands of any other healer.

Therefore, she was very proud and had full confidence in Mystic Healing. It was precisely this skill that brought Cai Jingyi and Shen Mei back from the brink of death in just two days of time.

Kang Lan did not believe that there was anything or anyone in this world that her skill could not handle as a single use always showed improvement regardless of how bad the other party's condition was.

But, there were always exceptions in the vast universe and Kang Lan was, after all, very young.

Kang Lan felt her Mana decrease and saw with her own eyes as a silver beam of light shot out from the tip of her magic staff and went into Feng Tian Wu's body.

However, even after several seconds, not only was there no improvement but everyone could see at a glance how the skin of the girl in Bai Zemin's arms became redder and redder.

* * * * * * *