Chapter 977: A new King rises!

"Blood Berserker's Wrath turned off..."

Amidst the sound of the wind blowing from the surroundings, the murmur of a male was almost inaudible. However, it wasn't as if there was anyone nearby capable of hearing his voice anyway.

The only existence capable of hearing his voice had been killed by his own hands seconds ago after all.

Bai Zemin took out a potion to increase his recovery rate and drank it with trembling hands.

The pain and exhaustion were both really a bit too much now that his body's sensors had been fully activated once again.

The reason behind Zhong De's death, the root cause of it all was none other than Liang Peng.

It was because Liang Peng started the war between factions by lying and asking for some time to form an alliance with other factions that the blood of countless living beings of different races had flowed like rivers throughout the land of Inner Mongolia.

With Liang Peng being killed by his hands, the triggers of the skill Blood Berserker's Wrath went back into passive mode, waiting for the next cause that would trigger its activation.

"Good thing I waited to kill Liang Peng." Bai Zemin shook his head and began to slowly walk away as he muttered in a tired voice, "If I had attacked the base with a full scale attack and he went down how was I supposed to fight that alligator at full power?"

Behind him and as he walked away, a blue flash glowed for a second before disappearing.

An instant later, a blue line separated the earth in two. Bai Zemin's black eyes flashed faintly as blue flames danced in the background, incinerating everything there bit by bit and devouring the remaining Soul Power in Liang Peng's corpse to strengthen itself.

"Two more Third Order enemies..." Bai Zemin whispered to himself with a hint of regret.

It was a pity that the requirement is to kill Third Order enemies alone, otherwise the fall of the beast called Lin Yun who was in the portal opened by the Fourth Order alligator would have counted. But with Shangguan Bing Xue and Shangguan Xinyue restraining and wounding the creature such an opportunity was gone.

"It's not like I could do anything considering the circumstances at the time."

"Now... I think it's about time to complete that other stupid requirement."

* * *

Two weeks later.

Half a month had passed since the end of the war that dyed the white snow of Inner Mongolia in red.

Half a month since that day when millions of lives were lost.

A war always broke out for a reason no matter how stupid or senseless that reason was.

In this case, the war had broken out because one side wanted to control and the other did not want to lose what little control it had, eventually dragging in other non-human factions that joined the battle in search of benefits promised by the weaker side.

The winner took all and the loser was left with nothing, that's how cruel war was.

But... Was that really cruelty or was it fairness? Didn't the winner deserve to get everything? At the end of the day, no one knew if they would eventually become the victor or if they would fall and become just another chapter written in the story of the winner.

Whoever was willing to risk it all deserved to get everything their opponent had.

At least from this point of view, war was not cruel but just fair.

Those who suffered most, however, were the families of the fallen.

Having lost more than twenty thousand men, the number of families that were devastated in the Transcendent faction was not small even though many of those men and women had only a few partners they had taken casually.

Despite the pain, however, and although it was not a consolation, those families were not abandoned to their fate after losing the livelihood that kept them afloat.

The rules of the faction were harsh for those who inflicted the law, but for those who fought for the common good they were nothing but advantages; a great source of peace of mind.

Knowing that their loved ones would be well taken care of even if they died, the soul evolvers of the Transcendent faction could fight more at ease and without thinking about how bad the future would be for those who could only survive in this new world thanks to them.

This rule established by the upper echelons was certainly followed to the letter, and only a few days after the war in the north ended the families of all the fallen were informed about it while being assured that they and their next generation would receive the same treatment they were receiving thanks to the existence of the fallen warrior.

There were also soul evolvers who had been disabled and could not return to the battlefield no matter how much they wanted to.

Some had lost a limb, others had lost more than two or more. There were some soul evolvers who had lost their eyesight after being hit by an enemy magic skill and there were others who were so badly injured that they would probably need at least a few months to recover and were only alive thanks to the power of the healers.

Standing on top of a large building over 600 meters high, Bai Zemin dressed in casual clothes looked off into the distance as the wind from the heights blew hard on his face.

He had fully recovered thanks to spending a good amount of time in the Collector's Pocket World. He did not even require to receive healing from Kang Lan but instead, he asked her to help Xia Ya take care of Feng Tian Wu.

Feng Tian Wu was still unconscious, and her skin kept getting redder and redder with each passing day. According to Kali, she didn't have much time before her soul was completely consumed by the flames so without any other choice, Bai Zemin took her out of the Collector's Pocket World where time was running faster and brought her back to the outside world.

She was currently more than 100 meters underground in an ice room built by Shangguan Bing Xue and no one was allowed to go near there as even inside the ice room the temperature was terrifyingly high.

Thousands of thoughts and memories flashed through his head as he looked towards the southern wall in the process of reconstruction after the collapse caused by the battle half a month ago.

"What are you thinking?"

A soft, melodious voice sounded behind him, bringing Bai Zemin out of his inner world.

"No..." Bai Zemin shook his head and sighed as he replied to Shangguan Bing Xue, "I was just thinking about how long the road has been to get here... It's only been a little over a year but somehow it feels like a lifetime."

"Well... A lot of crazy and hard to believe things have happened." This time it was Fu Xuefeng who spoke.

"Don't even mention it..." Cai Jingyi sighed exaggeratedly and said helplessly, "If a year ago someone told me that I would eventually become an assassin capable of running faster than the wind I would certainly have recommended a good mental therapist."

"Jingyi, do you think if a year ago someone told you that eventually your reserved personality would turn into a playful one you would have recommended a good mental therapist?" Kang Lan smiled.

"Are you the one to say that?" Cai Jingyi rolled her eyes.

"I guess I am not." Kang Lan chuckled. A nostalgic expression appeared on her face as she looked at everyone present one by one, "It's a pity we're not all present here... The small founding flock."

"... Right." Wu Yin nodded with a sad expression.

Not many were with Bai Zemin at the moment, they only numbered five including him and all of them had said at least one word.

This small group of young adults who a year ago were nothing more than a group of students with different lives and virtually no connection to each other for the most part was the true founding group of what was now known as the most powerful faction in all of China and the only human faction.

Who would have thought that one day this small group apparently gathered by coincidence and fate would eventually become so powerful and so close-knit...? Probably no one.

"Chen He is in the United States, and Zhong De..." Shangguan Bing Xue looked at Bai Zemin's back before saying, "Zhong De is waiting for us."

The four beside her nodded, and after a moment of silence Bai Zemin asked, "Yijun, are you sure?"

"Definitely, please be confident in me." She nodded firmly. "It shouldn't be long before most humans in Inner Mongolia will consider you their Leader. I already moved my last card so it should be taking effect soon."

"...I see." Bai Zemin nodded before falling silent.

Due to his order to slaughter all the soldiers and soul evolvers that had been part of the enemy forces during the previous war, Bai Zemin was seen as a tyrannical demon by all the humans on the base.

To say that his reputation was on the ground was no exaggeration, and he simply could not understand how Wu Yijun could be so confident to solve that problem in just half a month.

The group of five waited patiently. They had founded all this with blood, sweat, and sleepless nights.

Therefore, they wanted to witness what was about to happen.

They wanted to see the moment when the one they had decided to follow to the bitter end finally ascended to a higher stage.

Fortunately, the Soul Record seemed to feel the young people's longing and did not keep them waiting too long.

As if he could feel his records being modified and evolving into something greater, Bai Zemin slowly opened his eyes as green letters flashed across his retinas.

[Congratulations! It's been a long journey for you!]

He just read the first few words and slowly closed his eyes.

They, who were just normal students months ago, were forced to discard their former selves for the sake of survival.

They ignored the pain in their bodies and ignored the tears falling from their eyes all for the sake of living at least one more second.

With a long sigh, he opened them again and said softly, "Really...it's been a long journey...for everyone."

They just wanted to build a quiet and safe place, and they were certainly far from achieving it.

However, this was a good start.

* * * * * * *