Shangguan Bing Xue quickly hid behind a giant tree beside her and crouched down as she carefully observed the scene before her eyes in wonder.
In the center of what appeared to be a clear patch of grass was a small lake of crystal clear water; a lake that if she remembered correctly was only a small island where there was a small rose and tulip garden.
Next to the lake, there were at least thirty or forty beasts of all kinds. Some of them had several legs, some others were standing on two legs, and others were just casually crawling on the ground.
Strange-looking snakes whose bodies stretched almost fifteen meters, giant elephant beetles, fat bees measuring more than thirty centimeters, dogs, cats, all kinds of creatures were there without a fight.
Even though they occasionally looked at each other with fighting desire and eyes filled with murderous intent none of them took the first bite; therefore, the place was in peaceful silence where the sound of an occasional growl or the rippling water of the lake was the only thing that could be heard along with the wind blowing through the treetops.
Suddenly, a strange creature that was surrounded by several other First Order creatures slowly crawled from its position to the shore of the lake. The other First Order creatures began to move carefully allowing the strange creature to pass but everyone's eyes remained fixed on the beast as if they were its guardians or its captors and feared it would slip out of their sight.
Shangguan Bing Xue could not help but feel a surge of disgust when she finally caught a glimpse of the appearance of the creature which Chen He had described the day before.
The creature was actually a huge worm. Its more than three-meter-long body left a trail of disgusting-looking sticky liquid every time it crawled everywhere. Its stomach moved strangely as if there were millions of living objects moving inside it.
For a moment Shangguan Bing Xue had thought that perhaps the huge worm was pregnant and perhaps about to give birth. However, she soon realized that this was not the case.
The giant worm was extremely slow so even though it was relatively close to the shore it still took a couple of seconds for it to reach the water to start drinking. After a few gulps, the giant worm suddenly stopped its movements and its mouth opened wide revealing a terrifying-looking set of teeth inside.
Howl!
The creature let out a high-pitched howl that caused ripples and raised some waves in the previously calm lake. The previously calm forest suddenly became agitated and Shangguan Bing Xue thought she had been discovered.
However, soon everything calmed down again and what happened next was something she could never forget.
The giant worm's puffed-up stomach began to shrink at a speed visible to the naked eye as a thick cloud of sapphire-colored air came out of the creature's mouth. The sapphire-colored air soon spread to the surrounding area and began to blend in with the forest.
The trees began to become more alive, the plants began to grow slowly, and the animals and insects began to suck in deeply.
Mana! Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes lit up and she finally understood everything, solving the mystery that none of them could solve before.
Why were there so many First Order creatures in this place? How was it possible that the small front garden of the university suddenly turned into a forest that looked like something out of a prehistoric movie? Why weren't all these monsters fighting each other to evolve?
It was all caused by that giant worm!
Apparently, the giant worm had the ability to create and produce Mana inside its body to evolve. However, the amount was so much that it had no choice but to release much of it or else it would die; the other beasts simply took advantage of the situation and began to slowly grow!
Shangguan Bing Xue suddenly felt a bad premonition and hurriedly turned around. Her expression froze as she saw what seemed to be hundreds of tiny leeches crawling towards her and slowly surrounding her.
If she fought the leeches naturally she could kill them all easily. However, if she fought here she would attract the attention of the other creatures and that wasn't exactly part of the plan.
"I have no choice."
She gritted her teeth and shot out of her hiding place. Her speed burst into full gear making wonderful use of all her Agility and in no time she had almost completely closed the distance between her and the lake.
However, the First Order creatures noticed her and began to move while roaring ferociously. The synchronized roars of dozens of First Order existences were so terrifying that even an unnatural sound wave shot out towards her!
Because Shangguan Bing Xue was focused on reaching her target, she could not afford to stop to defend herself or avoid the attack because if she did that she knew that the entire previously devised plan would fail. Therefore, she could only continue to move forward independently.
"Ugh..."
Her face turned slightly pale and her steps faltered for a moment, giving her a frail and pitiful appearance; however, she endured the dizziness she felt and bit her lips fiercely. Her cold eyes had a look of resolve and she continued to charge forward.
Swoosh!
Suddenly the wind seemed to be cut in two by an object moving at high speed and Shangguan Bing Xue felt a horrifying pressure from her back. However, she ignored that attack and continued forward without stopping.
What was behind her was a snake that was almost twenty meters long and was currently swinging its heavy tail at her! If she was hit directly by that attack, even if she survived it was unlikely that she would be able to get up for quite a while!
However, just as she was about to be whipped, a small ragged-looking bronze bell came out of the pocket of her Combat Robe and floated above her head releasing a yellow glow that soon surrounded her completely.
Bang!
The one-meter-thick tail ferociously slammed into the yellow barrier creating a thunderous explosion that echoed throughout the forest.
The barrier shuddered slightly and the yellow glow dimmed a little. However, that was all; Shangguan Bing Xue continued to move forward without being injured in any way and had soon left behind the snake that was the fastest creature close to her.
This small bell was precisely the object that Bai Zemin had given her just before she entered the mutated forest. It was his Magic Grade Treasure that he had acquired when he killed his first First Order beast and that treasure had saved her life, preventing the plan from collapsing and making everything more dangerous!
Due to her speed and lightness, Shangguan Bing Xue sprinted a few meters above the water of the lake and just before she started to submerge the water under her feet froze into small ice plaques.
She stopped her footsteps abruptly and kicked hard as she made a full 360-degree turn.
A wave of water several meters high rose as c
rose as consequence and before the wave of water fell on the giant worm Shangguan Bing Xue pointed her magic wand and shouted, "Freeze!"
A cloud of frost came out from the tip of the wand and she fed it with her own Mana. When the frost cloud touched the giant wave of water it froze it completely, creating a beautiful ice sculpture almost twenty meters high.
Moreover, the most impressive thing was that apart from the beauty of the ice wave, it was curiously pointed at the giant worm that was howling furiously at her.
At this point, she had already done her best to pinpoint the main target that needed to be eliminated, thus fulfilling her main part in this whole business.
"Now it's your turn to play your part, Bai Zemin."
Shangguan Bing Xue muttered as she ran in the opposite direction, being fervently pursued by the snake that had attacked her earlier and was now crawling through the water as it hissed with its tongue and glared fiercely at her.
But she was not intimidated and on the contrary, making use of the lake water, Shangguan Bing Xue made dozens of ice pikes and began to attack the snake as she retreated.
As Shangguan Bing Xue went into the mutated forest to fulfill her most important part of the whole plan that had been worked out for part of the evening and most of the night, the atmosphere outside the forest was considerably quiet.
The survivors were in the library several streets away, anxiously awaiting the triumphant return of the four main leaders of the group.
While Fu Xuefeng, Cai Jingyi, Zhong De, and Kang Lan had stayed with the survivors to protect them since with their current strength they had no chance against a First Order beast, they all knew that if Bai Zemin, Shangguan Bing Xue, Chen He, and Liang Peng were defeated then it was extremely improbable that the rest would be able to survive.
After all, if even the four of them could not defeat the beasts in the forest then it was only a matter of time before they were all devoured since they would have no way to safely leave the university.
On the other hand, Chen He and Liang Peng held on to their weapons tightly while their eyes remained fixed and focused on the trees and bushes several meters away. If a mutated animal or insect appeared they were both prepared to attack immediately.
Unlike the two of them, Bai Zemin was apparently more relaxed. Standing on top of one of the tallest buildings in the area, he stared ahead for several seconds in silence before asking in a low voice:
"So... You're sure it's not a Second Order beast, right?"
Lilith chuckled and said lightly, "I already told you it's not... The creature inside that forest has a strange ability but it's only at the top of the First Order. It hasn't been able to advance yet... But if it's left as it is, then it could be problematic in the future."
Bai Zemin secretly sighed in relief. As long as his enemy was not in the Second Order, even if it was a level 49 or 50 First Order existence he was confident of coming out victorious regardless of what kind of skill his enemy had.
"What a pity... If only the death of that Platinum Ape yesterday had counted at this point I might have successfully evolved to First Order by now." He couldn't help but scratch his head with his free hand and sighed a little regretfully.
"You think the Soul Record is that simple?" Lilith couldn't help but roll her eyes charmingly and pointed out, "Countless beings tried to circumvent the Soul Record and tried to explore or find some sort of loophole when it came to fulfilling evolutionary requirements but they all failed miserably."
"Tell me more about it please." Bai Zemin's ears perked up immediately and he felt curious about the story.
"Whenever the Soul Record presents an evolution requirement, that requirement must be completed correctly and only by the person who wishes to evolve." Lilith responded briefly but concisely, "Outside help is not allowed in any way. Also, if you use weapons of mass destruction or long-range weapons that you did not create with your own hands you are likely to fail as well."
Bai Zemin frowned and said hesitantly, "This... So, let's say I shoot a First Order creature in the head..."
"Hahaha..." Lilith couldn't help but laugh. She looked at him with amusement and questioned, "You think Mana. an energy capable of forcing all existences to evolve or die, is that simple? Bai Zemin, except against zombies or other animals without evolving properly, normal firearms do not have the power to pierce the natural Mana surrounding a First Order beast. To kill one, you'll probably need missiles or battle tanks... Maybe heavy machine guns will also do the trick."
"In fact, if you had used a firearm to kill your first enemy back then, there is a possibility that the Soul Record would deny you the loser's Soul Power depending on the circumstances." Lilith shrugged her shoulders and her voice was a bit bitter before concluding, "As for how this works, don't ask me. The Soul Record is an entity that is still being studied even to this day."
Bai Zemin couldn't help but gasp when he heard this and his and his eyes trembled with fear.
Humans were weak by nature and most of them didn't even have the courage to fight. If firearms lost their effect, then how was humanity going to survive this apocalypse?
As if she knew his thoughts, she reassured him with her soft voice: "But don't worry too much... First Order creatures are not so normal since it's only been eleven days since the Soul Record reached this galaxy. As for Second Order... Let's hope there aren't any yet or humanity in that area would be annihilated unless they had truly outstanding military might."
Bai Zemin smiled bitterly and shook his head. He only knew the world inside this university, how was he to know the situation outside? The only thing he hoped was that his loved ones or otherwise... He didn't even want to think about that.
At least now he knew that the Soul Record was not an entity to be played with casually. Although it was pretty obvious if he thought about it more carefully. After all, just like Lilith said before; how could an entity capable of causing so many changes in the blink of an eye be simple?
It was probably for the reasons Lilith mentioned earlier that those driving the buses did not receive any experience even though they killed several zombies by crushing them mercilessly.
As Bai Zemin was lost in thought, a terrifying howl coming from inside the mutated forest caused his face to change and his expression turned serious.
"It's finally starting." He muttered as he raised the blood trident that glowed like a ruby over his shoulder, leaned his arm as far back as possible, and used Blood Manipulation on himself, focusing all his power and ability to perform a single strike!
With his right foot behind and his left foot forward, Bai Zemin leaned his body slightly backward. His bright eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of frost as he looked up slightly in search of the accorded signal.
Bang!
An explosion echoed from within the mutated forest and soon after a wave of water more than twenty meters high rose into the sky. However, under the gaze of the three men present, the water wave moved in a strange direction before freezing into an ice statue.
The corner of Bai Zemin's mouth curved upward slightly and he could not help but praise, "What a beautiful sculpture."
The right foot behind him suddenly stepped forward, overtaking the left foot by a wide margin, and the muscles of his right arm expanded to the maximum extent possible. Without delay, his right arm became like a whip that shot forward at full speed and after reaching its maximum extension he released his grip on the blood trident.
A split second before the blood trident left his hand, the Blazing Ring on his finger glowed and immediately a crimson radiance surrounded the trident covered by a layer of Mana, raising the temperature of the surroundings to impressive heights. However, that was not all.
Bang!
The Hurricane Necklace resting on Bai Zemin's chest shone with a green glow and a tornado of wind perpendicular to the ground shot forward, reaching the blood trident surrounded by crimson flames in less than a second.
BANG!
With the strong wind impulse added to the great force with which Bai Zemin had launched it, the blood trident containing over 240 Mana points broke the sound barrier, disappearing from everyone's sight and leaving several mach cones behind.
[You have learned the Third Order Active Skill 'Crimson Blood Judgment' level 5].
Inside the forest, Shangguan Bing Xue was engaged in a death match with the First Order mutated snake.
In her left hand was the magic wand, boosting her Mana and Magic stats by a large margin. In her right hand was an ice sword that had cost over 50% of her mana to make. Her beautiful angelic face was quite pale but her eyes were as cold as the sword she wielded.
Although the mutated snake's scales were incredibly tough and Shangguan Bing Xue could not pierce them, her physical and magical attacks contained a large amount of freezing power inside so every swing of her sword or every time she crafted different ice weapons to attack a part of the snake's body over twenty meters long was frozen.
The mutated snake hissed and its bloodshot eyes looked at its enemy with murderous intent. Its body shook and the layers of ice that were beginning to form broke into countless pieces that slowly fell to the ground. However, its blood was slowly beginning to cool and its movements were becoming increasingly stiff.
Shangguan Bing Xue suddenly felt overwhelming danger of death after seeing how the mutated snake had its maw wide open. She didn't even think about it for a second as she immediately erected a thick wall of ice several meters high between her and the creature.
A green cloud came out from inside the mutated snake's mouth a second later and clashed against the ice wall. The seemingly super sturdy ice wall began to erode at astonishing speeds visible to the naked eye.
Bang!
Suddenly there was a powerful explosion a few kilometers away and the next thing Shangguan Bing Xue could see out of the corner of her eye was a bright crimson flash approaching at speeds impossible for her to comprehend.
BANG!
Before she could even comprehend what was happening and after a huge blast that shook the earth slightly, the mutated forest began to burn fiercely and the beasts within began to howl and roar in anger and pain as the flames raged mercilessly.
The mutated snake was distracted for a moment and stopped its skill. The beast seemed to notice something wrong and quickly began to slither towards the lake where the rest of the First Order monsters were.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Followed by two whistles of wind, two ice spears pierced the beast's two eyes crudely. The mutated snake stopped dead in its tracks and began to shake its body all over the place in pain.
Shangguan Bing Xue hurriedly backed away while keeping her gaze fixed on the beast. The snake that was over twenty meters long slammed into some trees that were on fire in the process of constantly writhing and knocked them down with ease.
She knew the crimson flames would soon reach her position but instead of retreating she decided to rely on the Bronze Bell and charged forward, launching attack after attack at the now sightless First Order creature.
As the victory drew closer and closer, she could not help but marvel and be frightened by the earlier attack. She had no idea what it was that Bai Zemin had fired before but the destructive power of that attack did not lose in the slightest to the destruction that a couple of missiles could cause.
However... She knew there were no missiles here, let alone ways to use them even if there were!
* * *Third Order Active Skill? Bai Zemin's mind rushed at the speed of light as he saw the green message flashing across his retina at the same time as he marveled at the trail of crimson fire blazing in the sky.
However, circumstances did not allow him to focus too much as a flurry of green-lettered messages began flashing in his retina one after another.
[Critical Hit!].
Bai Zemin's lips curved upward. His face pale from all the Mana consumption recovered as if by magic and he could feel himself becoming much, terrifyingly much stronger than before...
He had succeeded.
He had completed a task that had been given to him alone in all recorded history as he was the only person with the qualifications to fulfill it.
[You have acquired the Soul Power of First Order Mana Embryo level 48...].
[Kill Unranked enemies using Blood Manipulation with a single attack. 100/100].
[Kill First Order enemy using Blood Manipulation on yourself. 2/2].
[Kill First Order enemy with a single attack using Blood Manipulation on yourself. 1/1].
[You have successfully evolved to First Order and have become Blood Berserker. Attack power increases by 20% when using axes, spears, swords, maces, or bare hands. Your blood attacks become 20% more effective. When facing more powerful enemies, your attack power increases by 20%].
[You have learned Second Order Passive Skill 'Blood Will' level 5].
[You have reached level 31 and get 12 status points to distribute freely].
[All Soul Power accumulated during the evolution process has been calculated. You get additional stats: Strength +65, Agility +43, Stamina +43, Magic +40, Health +35, Mana +30].
[You have fulfilled the necessary requirements to evolve two skills].
[You have received the title 'One Hit to Kill'].
After calculating the Soul Power of the Shadow Tiger, the Platinum Ape, the Mana Embryo, as well as that of a few thousand zombies, insects, and mutated animals, Bai Zemin obtained a stat boost of approximately 30% compared to his previous one before evolving.
Because he had already hunted some First Order creatures, the additional stats he obtained from enemies within that category gradually became less as his own Soul Power began to adapt to that range of evolution.
In fact, now that he had reached the First Order it was likely that the Soul Power he obtained from such enemies would become even thinner as he was also within the same category unlike in the past.
However, a boost of approximately 30% in overall strength was something fearsome, not to mention that he was currently past level 30 and had several tens of status points reserved for times of crisis.
The number of green-lettered messages flashing across his retina were too many, so Bai Zemin could not pay attention to them all at the moment as the battle had only just begun. After all, all he had done was to kill the central problem that had been marked with masterful accuracy by Shangguan Bing Xue but there were still more enemies left inside the forest.
But none of that mattered at the moment, Bai Zemin could read in careful detail when all this was over once and for all. Because the most important thing was that he had finally leveled up, fully recovering to his maximum and going even higher!
The level up that occurred in the process of the wall blocking his growth became completely ragged and that was all that mattered. His path was finally clear once again and he didn't have to worry about stagnating!
ROAR!
The thunderous roars of dozens of mutated monsters echoed everywhere as the mutated forest began to burn increasingly out of control, fueled by the wind from the previous hurricane as well as the gasoline and infamous oil that had been spread by the group led by Fu Xuefeng and Zhong De earlier.