Chapter 498 - Steel Tenacity
Several minutes ago, while the different factions of Higher Existences led by their respective founders questioned the emperor of the asura race to find out exactly what was going on.
...
Swoosh!
Bai Zemin's body was forcibly pulled out of the Cosmos Gate and the explosive surge of light on the other side forced his eyes to automatically close for a brief moment as after experiencing for hours the darkness of the Oblon World and the darkness in the gray corridor his pupils had widened as much as possible to adapt to the change.
"Bai Zemin!"
"Leader!"
"Your Majesty!"
...
Bai Zemin's eardrums were immediately flooded with cries of joy and relief that soon turned into exclamations of terror.
When Bai Zemin opened his eyes and surveyed the surroundings, the first thing he naturally noticed were the several hundred thousand corpses belonging to the members of the asura race that had invaded Earth using the then-stable gray passageway. Blood still pooled among some of the mountains of corpses and the area, in general, was not unlike a scene from an Oscar-worthy horror movie.
The next thing that came into his line of sight were a few hundred giant branches swinging in the air like tentacles of some sort of legendary monster; there was no doubt that this was Wu Yijun's evolved skill or perhaps a part of the job she obtained after joining the First Order.
But what most caught Bai Zemin's attention was the armed army before him.
They were not so many compared to the various armies of asuras that Bai Zemin faced before, only around 5,000 or 6,000 armed men and women among which there were approximately 500 soul evolvers of which around 370 belonged to the Transcendent faction that had accompanied Bai Zemin from the north heading south to conquer the Baiquan Camp; something that after a war that lasted less than expected but that was as cruel as any war they managed to do.
There were about 50 armored vehicles with machine guns mounted on them, about 70 modified motorcycles with modern weapons on their sides, 15 IFVs, and 12 battle tanks now fully operational after the electromagnetic bombs stopped affecting the operation of 10 of them.
Bai Zemin realized that before him stood approximately 95% of the total forces available from the Baiquan Camp. But this was also understandable considering the possibility of an alien race invading them and most likely the other 5% that was not present had been left scattered on the other three walls of the camp to prevent any zombies or beasts from sneaking through the clearly weakened defenses.
Ninety-nine percent of those present had frightened expressions as they looked at the hundreds of thousands of corpses and the miserable conditions in which they were found. In fact, it was a miracle that despite their shaky legs they did not fall to the ground and pee their pants.
But in fact, with the current situation, the asura race was not the only worry of the Baiquan Camp as with so much smell of blood there was the likelihood that the beasts in the nearby forests would decide to come out and feast and this would lead to another fierce war between humans and beasts.
Therefore, even though the current Baiquan Camp was in no condition to fight another war after suffering a crushing defeat under Bai Zemin's forces, they had no choice but to mobilize for the sake of their families and their homes or whatever reason each of these soldiers and soul evolvers were fighting for.
However, there was one problem present: the condition of the current Bai Zemin.
"You... How..." Shangguan Bing Xue looked at Bai Zemin in shock.
She couldn't even produce a complete sentence correctly as her blue eyes trembled exposing her current emotions. But how could she not be in shock? A matter of two or three minutes ago, Bai Zemin was considerably well and even though his body was covered with wounds of different magnitudes it couldn't compare to his current miserable state!
Wu Yijun, who was commanding the plants to become her temporary warriors, looked at Bai Zemin's severed arm being held by a fake blood arm and then looked at the golden spear impaled on his chest along with two huge bloody holes that even let her see through his body before her vision went completely dark.
Chen He, despite being as shocked as everyone else, reacted and held on to the fainting body of his childhood friend.
Despite having lost her consciousness, two thin lines of tears slid silently down Wu Yijun's beautiful face as proof of how much fear she was experiencing at the prospect of losing the person who had inadvertently taken over her heart.
"B- Big brother, you, you..." Fu Xuefeng could not believe what he was seeing.
In the eyes of Fu Xuefeng, Bai Zemin was a divine and invincible existence that could not be defeated no matter how many enemies came or how powerful the counterpart might appear to be. From the beginning of the apocalypse until now, he had overcome all the obstacles that had stood in his way and the number of times he had been seriously injured could be counted by the fingers of one hand... But this was undoubtedly the first time that Bai Zemin appeared before them in such a miserable physical condition.
In fact, the current Bai Zemin did not look much different from a person who had just been defeated and crushed; his black eyes that were always steady and bright struggled to stay open, the exhaustion that weighed on his soul and the physical pain that embraced every fiber of his being caused his posture to waver, and even the grip on his weapon that never trembled looked weak and poor.
All of this coupled with the fact that he had a spear stuck in his chest and the fact that his left arm had been cleanly severed did not at all represent that unbeatable warrior that everyone had formed in their minds.
"Heh." Bai Zemin chuckled curtly as he noticed how some of the people present had strange looks in their eyes.
Only he and Shangguan Bing Xue knew what had happened in the Oblon World; in fact, she did not know that at the end Bai Zemin had faced death several times in a matter of seconds when the Fourth Order Ghost Emperor Jack appeared blocking his path of retreat.
Therefore, all these people had no idea that despite his current miserable state Bai Zemin was never defeated by anyone and never bowed his head to another existence.
Even the mighty Ghost Emperor Jack who was 3 Orders and who knows how many levels above Bai Zemin could only have taken him to the grave at the cost of his own life!
In fact, none of them except Shangguan Bing Xue knew that he actually had a potion that could restore his physical condition to almost 100% immediately!
Bai Zemin's tenacity was so powerful and steadfast that even in his current condition he was not willing to waste that precious potion unless he really had no choice. How many were capable of achieving such a thing? How many could proudly say that despite having lost a limb and despite having mortal wounds that went from one side of their body to the other, they stood firm not only physically but also mentally? Let alone a young man in his 20's even a war veteran would probably collapse!
It was just that none of those present would ever be able to comprehend Bai Zemin's thoughts. What was a little pain? A missing limb? So what? Bai Zemin was clear in his heart that if he wanted to achieve that great goal he had set for himself and if he wanted to live up to the hopes that naughty woman had placed upon him, then he needed at least as much tenacity and decisiveness.
"Don't worry." Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue with a forced smile and said slowly, "Actually, it's not as bad as it looks."
Shangguan Bing Xue stared at him and gradually her eyes were tinged with anger that threatened to burn everything. She bit her lower lip so hard it was a miracle they didn't split.
"You bastard! You better sit there and let Kang Lan heal you or otherwise.... Otherwise..." Shangguan Bing Xue pointed at him with her hand but not knowing what else to say she simply made a fist gesture and punched forward.
"Pfft- Hahahahah- Ugh..." Bai Zemin laughed out loud but the pain forced him to stop. He looked at her with a smile on his pained expression as he slowly said, "You know, ice princess? If you keep acting like this in front of so many people you will not only lose your title but also steal the hearts of many men."
Far from looking threatening, Shangguan Bing Xue looked simply too cute and charming with every gesture she made despite being angry.
In fact, hundreds of men were left stunned as they looked at her with smitten expressions without knowing that they had just dug a sinkhole from which it would be difficult to escape.
"This..." Chen He was simply dumbfounded not only by Bai Zemin's miserable condition but also by Shangguan Bing Xue's attitude. He had known her for about 20 years but Chen He did not remember seeing Shangguan Bing Xue act in such a way in front of anyone let alone a man, so he was extremely confused at this moment.
"Bai Zemin!"
Suddenly, a shout rang out from the crowd-drawing everyone's gaze.
A burly man whose muscles were so exaggerated that even his plate armor could barely cover up emerged from the ranks.
But this man did not belong to the soul evolvers of the Baiquan Camp but was part of the soul evolvers that made up the Blood Spear Legion of Bai Zemin's Transcendent faction.
He was precisely Yan Tu, whose physical power was even higher than Nangong Yi's and Zhong De's and whose power scale could break into the top 5 of the faction.
Bai Zemin looked at him indifferently while Shangguan Bing Xue narrowed her eyes.
Chill shone in Shangguan Bing Xue's beautiful blue eyes as she noticed how Yan Tu clenched his fists tightly and tensed his muscles. However, just as she was about to take a step forward, Bai Zemin's soft voice sounded beside her:
"It's okay, Bing Xue. Leave it to me."
"Won't your injuries get worse?" She looked over her shoulder at him and asked with apprehension.
"I fought and killed Third Order beings and even survived the brief but deadly clash against two Fourth Order..." Bai Zemi smiled slightly and closed his eyes as he shook his head. Then, he looked at Yan Tu and said in a low voice, "One of First Order.... I'm afraid it's not necessary for me to face him personally and only my clones could do the job. But I really want to do it."
Shangguan Bing Xue naturally understood Bai Zemin's thoughts so she didn't say anything even though she had doubts regarding the matter of the two Fourth Orders. She simply looked at Yan Tu coldly and took a step back.
Bai Zemin gently put down his greatsword, the item he obtained when Jack died after being pierced by the golden spear, and his severed arm on the ground. Then, he took the golden spear that was stuck in his chest and effortlessly pulled it out and then put it on the ground along with the rest of the things before walking toward Yan Tu.
His leather armor was in tatters, his body riddled with wounds among which were two huge bloody holes piercing his torso from side to side, one of his arms was made of red blood clearly barely being held by magic power.
On the other hand, Yan Tu was completely unharmed and full of energy after recovering from the previous war after resting for several hours.
The difference between the two sights was so great that anyone with logical sense would say that the winner was decided before the battle even began. However, even Yan Tu himself was not sure of this.
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