GP
After calming his excitement over the new boots and the attached powerful skill whose side effect would not affect Bai Zemin in the future thanks to his natural Agility points exceeding by a wide margin the threshold required to ignore the immobility, he took off the old pair of Normal grade treasure boots and replaced them.
"You two have done well, you deserve a good rest." He patted each boot as he put them aside.
These boots had been his second pair of boots as the first pair had been destroyed during his first battle against a First Order existence. However, this second pair of boots had been with him longer than almost all of the equipment he wore on his body with the Blazing Ring and the Broken Bronze Bell being the only two comparable. Therefore, to him, they had a bit of special meaning.
After his happy mood returned to neutral, he picked up another treasure; a ring.
The ring had a rather unique aspect as instead of being completely circular with a hole in the center through which the finger would pass, it actually had the symbol of a tree on the top and instead of being completely circular, it had four root-like extensions growing from the tree which served to hold it firmly on the finger.
It was the first time Bai Zemin had seen such a strange ring but he had to admit that the model looked quite interesting.
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[Green Defender Ring (Magic Grade Treasure): It was forged using branches from a powerful Third Order plant-type creature several centuries ago and it is said that part of the creature's will now resides within the ring. When equipped, it automatically increases the user's Mana by +20 points and Health by +15 points, in addition, one time every 24 hours you can activate the attached skill Treant Defender Summon. Treant Defender Summon: Convoke the Treant Defender creature using the remaining will of its past self. The creature's power is equivalent to that of a Second Order beast initial stage and possesses its own skills. The duration of the skill is 2 hours.]
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Reading the information contained in the records of the Green Defender Ring, Bai Zemin sighed.
It really was an item worthy of being a Magic grade treasure. In fact, it was probably one of the most powerful Magic grade treasures from many points of view.
At this stage of the apocalypse, probably very few humans could contend with a Second Order existence and surely all of them were either great fighters or had incredibly high luck to reach the point of being in possession of so much power. However, the oddly shaped ring in Bai Zemin's hands granted its possessor the skill to summon a plant-type creature with a power equivalent to a Second Order existence.
Even if it was only Second Order initial stage, a Second Order creature was still a Second Order creature!
Moreover, the summoned plant-type creature would possess its own skills, which made it even more terrifying. Plant-type creatures were in some ways the most terrifying nemesis of large-scale armies; this was because many of these creatures possessed the ability to strike with long tentacle-like whips and others could even hide their roots underground to wreak havoc in the midst of armies.
Unfortunately, this ring was of little use to Bai Zemin
If he were someone weaker, then he would gladly equip the Green Defender Ring immediately and jump up and down with joy. However, his power at this point was clearly beyond a normal Second Order existence. In fact, the current Bai Zemin even doubted that a peak Second Order could defeat him even if it put up a bit of a fight.
In other words, what use was it to him to summon a creature in the Second Order initial stage to fight against a Second Order peak or even Third Order? Probably not much since the difference between an initial Second Order and a peak Second Order was completely different from the difference between an initial First Order existence and a peak First Order existence.
After all, to reach the absolute maximum of the First Order stage one "only" needed to climb 25 levels and would immediately find oneself on the threshold of the next stage. However, from the initial Second Order stage to the absolute maximum Second Order stage there was a difference of 50 levels.
More difference in levels equaled more difference in stats and consequently greater was the difference in power. This would only increase more and more with each Order and there would come a point where it would basically be impossible to jump levels to fight unless one had hundreds or even thousands of stat points above one's own level. This was also the reason why existences capable of level jumping were so rare and distant from each other.
As he rolled the eccentric ring between his fingers, Bai Zemin thought for a moment what to do with the object. However, he didn't have to think about it too much as he immediately decided who the future owner of the ring would be.
Hadn't he previously thought that he should start looking for some defensive equipment for when he found his family in the near future? This Green Defender Ring was a good start.
"It will be for her." He decided as the image of a young girl 3 years younger than him flashed in his mind.
Although it had only been about 6 months since he had last seen his younger sister Meng Qi, a lot had happened during the past span of time. Bai Zemin felt that a lifetime had passed since the last time he hugged his loved ones and now he regretted tremendously for taking for granted all those hugs and kisses he shared with his family in the past, believing that it was normal and would always be like that.
When the effect of his Stone Heart skill kicked in, it was hard to get his mind back to normal. It took Bai Zemin almost ten minutes to return to his previous state of mind once he thought of those three people who were always in his subconscious.
After putting away the Green Defender Ring inside his bag, Bai Zemin picked up the fourth Magical grade item and the second to last one.
This item was actually a deep black bracelet with two thin dark purple lines that intertwined several times with each other like a string of genetic code along the length and width of the bracelet.
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[Purple End Bracelet (Magical Grade Treasure): It was forged using Rank 2 metals and possesses some of the power of a Rank 3 lightning seed. When equipped, it automatically increases the user's Magic stat by +30 points, and one time every 6 hours you can activate the attached skill Lightning Chain. Lightning Chain: As the name of the skill suggests, it releases a chain of purple lightning and strikes all enemies within a range of 50 meters in front of the user without distinguishing between allies and enemies. The power of the attack is proportional to the user's Magic stat as well as the magic attack power.]
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Although it was not as amazing as the Green Defender Ring, the ironic reality was that the Purple End Bracelet was of more use to Bai Zemin compared to the ring.
After taking off the Earth Bracelet, Bai Zemin equipped the Purple End Bracelet and his Magic stat received a +20 boost, which was equivalent to 10 levels if one wanted to obtain that many st
status points in Magic.
Now there was only one Magic grade treasure left, the last of the five.
Bai Zemin looked at the final treasure and scratched his head in confusion.
This last Magic treasure turned out to be a hand mirror whose edges and back were black with pure white decorations. But the most striking thing was that this mirror was actually broken, BROKEN! He couldn't even see his own reflection clearly there!
Still, this was the first time Bai Zemin had seen such a treasure so he somehow estimated that it should be a rarity among rarities even if it was broken. After all, it was a treasure that came out of a Magic grade orb, and so far he had never been disappointed even if in the end he couldn't use the treasure or if it didn't match him.
After finding no answers for himself, he finally gave up and stretched his hand forward to read the item's records.
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[Remnant Inner 'heart' Mirror (Magic Grade Treasure): This was once a great treasure that enjoyed great power and mystical abilities, however, it now only possesses a single skill but even then it was greatly weakened. One time every 24 hours you can use the skill 'Inner Heart'. Inner Heart: To activate the skill it is necessary to point the mirror at another entity so that their appearance is reflected in the crystal. Effect: You can discover when someone is telling you the truth or lying but it only works on beings that are no less than one stage below you.]
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"What?" Bai Zemin couldn't help but exclaim in surprise as he read the information of the artifact in his hands over and over again.
However, it was clear that the records in the mirror did not change just because Bai Zemin read them several times and they would not change no matter how many more times he read them.
It really was an impressive treasure! A treasure that had the ability to tell who was lying and who was not!
Even if this mirror didn't give any statistics, only its single attached skill was insanely powerful and useful!
To many, this mirror may not be of much use compared to a strength-enhancing treasure, however, in Bai Zemin's eyes, it was a priceless treasure! This was because he was a faction leader!
What was in the factions? By nature, every faction had traitors! But with the mirror in his hands, he could catch the traitors or would-be traitors before things got out of hand!
Soon, however, he frowned as he realized a not at all minor problem.
"One stage below..."
Simply put, the difference had to be one Order for the mirror effect to work on the other party.
The current Bai Zemin was a First Order existence and he would probably stay there for a good while longer. Even if his actual power was far beyond what his current stage represented, it was indisputable that he was still in the First Order of the power scales. This also meant that he could not use the effect of the Inner Heart skill to know whether or not another First Order existence was lying regardless of whether or not Bai Zemin was tremendously more powerful.
However, the frown on his face soon stretched and his expression returned to normal.
Even if the treasure was currently useless against other First Order existences due to Bai Zemin's own incapacity, the truth was that the number of First Order humans he had met so far were not too many. Most of the soul evolvers were still Unclassified existences.
Bai Zemin could use the mirror effect to clean out as many traitors as possible before they all break through and in case he was still in the First Order. Although the 24-hour cooldown time was somewhat cumbersome as it would waste many uses in case the other person had no evil thoughts, from another perspective it could also be said that the mirror would help Bai Zemin trust a little more his own subordinates who fought for him and deserved a certain level of trust.
Unconsciously, Bai Zemin thought about Wu Yijun, and remembering her possible feelings
for him, he felt that the mirror effect might be good to confirm it. However, he soon dismissed such thoughts.
Even if he ignored the fact that Wu Yijun had already advanced to First Order, Bai Zemin felt that it would be disrespectful to do such a thing. If Wu Yijun really loved him as it seemed that she did, then she would surely be hurt if he brought up something like that.
Since Bai Zemin had already experienced how painful heartbreak was, he naturally did not want to make someone else suffer because of him. At least not as far as was reasonably possible.
One of his life mottos was the simple but precise phrase that went like this:
"Don't do what you wouldn't want others to do to you."
Therefore, the thought of using the mirror on Wu Yijun once he advanced to Second Order was only there for a second before it died as quickly as it was born.
First of all, he would have to make sure to talk to her to clarify many things, and then, he needed to make his priorities clear so that she would understand that nothing would be easy. As for love... To be honest with himself, Bai Zemin was still somewhat afraid of such an emotion.
Otherwise, his Stone Heart skill would not have been born.
After he finished observing and analyzing the broken mirror, which turned out to be an awesome treasure but at the same time slightly complex to use due to Bai Zemin's own limits, he carefully put it on the nightstand next to the bed.
Although he knew that destroying the treasures that appeared from the treasure orbs was not a simple task, Bai Zemin could not help but want to be careful. What if the mirror was broken even more than it already was? Wouldn't he be taking a great loss? Better safe than sorry.
Eventually, Bai Zemin's eyes focused on the last treasure orb that still lay on his bed if one ignored the number of red orbs piled to the side as if they had been discarded.
"What a beautiful green color." He rubbed his hands together excitedly before finally picking up the orb that represented an Epic grade treasure.
Although Bai Zemin had killed three Second Order existences, his luck was not as good this time and he only obtained a single green-colored treasure orb. However, he was also not dissatisfied with the result because, to be honest, Bai Zemin knew perfectly well that the battle had been much easier than he initially estimated.
The goblin army and the goblin leaders had basically come to say goodbye to Bai Zemin and as a farewell gift they gave him a large spoil of war; that was how things really seemed.
With a firm grip, the green orb in his right hand was soon filled with cracks and a brief moment later the sound of something similar to a glass cup breaking after falling to the floor rang out in the silent room.
Flash!
Green light flashed for a few seconds, forcing him to close his eyes for a brief moment. When he opened his closed eyelids again, Bai Zemin was very surprised to notice that the flash of green light slowly changed to a blue flash.
But the most surprising thing was that the temperature inside the room rose abruptly and without warning!
Unconsciously and with his mind on constant alert, Bai Zemin quickly jumped back as he gazed at the ball of green light that gradually became more and more navy blue. Even without him holding it, the ball of light floated more than a meter above the floor with no problem at all!
About five seconds later, the green light had completely disappeared and the ball of light was nowhere to be seen anymore.
"This... What's this all about?!" Bai Zemin couldn't help but raise his voice as he stared wide-eyed at the object or whatever it was floating a short distance away from him.
In fact, Bai Zemin knew perfectly well what this "object" that floated suspended above the floor as if gravity had no effect on it was. However, even he could not believe it.
The reason behind his disbelief stemmed from the fact that this was by far the strangest treasure Bai Zemin obtained from a treasure orb; even many several times stranger than Infinite Reduction!
The "object" was navy blue in color and its color deepened more and more as one moved away from the edges to look toward the core. It was about the size of a palm at this point, looked small, and swayed gently as it floated there.
The crackling sound filled the room and the ambient temperature rose to what seemed to be the temperature of the worst summers experienced in China. In fact, Bai Zemin believed for some strange reason that this temperature could rise even higher than this.
"Fire? A flame?" Bai Zemin wondered dumbfounded as he curiously watched the dancing flame a short distance away.
Although he knew inwardly that nothing bad would happen, his wariness toward the world in general and distrust toward the unknown made Bai Zemin only dare to take one step at a time, very carefully approaching the blue-colored flame.
When the distance between him and the flame closed to only two or three steps, a green message flashed across Bai Zemin's retina.
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[Endless Blue Lotus Flame wishes to establish a Soul Pact with you and become your subordinate. Do you wish to accept?"]
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Bai Zemin's expression froze when he received the message from the Soul Record expressing the intention of the small flame in front of him.
After he finished comprehending what was happening, his expression changed and slowly became somewhat weird as he looked at the flame that was still dancing carefree through the world.
This was, without a doubt, the strangest message Bai Zemin had ever received in his life if one left out the first day of the apocalypse when the Soul Record arrived on Earth.
Even though it felt a little strange in his heart, he didn't even hesitate so when he came out of his initial astonishment he said as if he was giving a verbal command to Siri or Alexa, "Accept."
Of course, the Soul Record didn't respond as those two artificial intelligences would. Instead, what happened left Bai Zemin dumbfounded for the second time in less than a minute.
Swoosh!
The palm-sized blue flame suddenly shot out at full speed and due to the surprise as well as his naturally lowered guard after receiving the message from the Soul Record Bai Zemin couldn't even react. Before he knew it, the flame had struck his chest.
Bai Zemin's face turned slightly pale at the thought that he had just received a fatal injury and a thousand thoughts flashed through his head in just an instant. Even if his Health stat was high, if his chest was pierced and his heart destroyed then even if God himself descended to this world he could not save him....
However, he soon realized that he felt no pain, and as he looked down, he did not notice any bloody holes. Just when his mind was blank and with no answers, another message from the Soul Record flashed in his retina.
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[In the past. It was one of the 5 most powerful flames born under the forces of the universe and carefully bred by a talented warrior to become a terrifying combat weapon. After the fall of its previous master in combat, the Endless Blue Lotus Flame refused to submit to another master and despite the numerous efforts of countless beings to subdue or destroy it, none succeeded because, as its name suggests, the Endless Blue Lotus Flame is a limitless flame that never goes out as long as it still has Soul Power to consume. However, over the last thousand years, the Soul Power reserved by the Endless Blue Lotus Flame was almost entirely consumed, causing it to fall from a God-grade natural treasure to its current pitiful state, an Epic-grade natural treasure.
After hesitating for a long time, the barely conscious little will of the Endless Blue Lotus Flame submitted to the Soul Record and until now has been waiting for a new holder.]
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HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!"
Bai Zemin shouted so loudly that he was sure his voice had been heard even to the outside of his mansion.
However, how could he care about that now!!!!
At first and while reading the extremely long message from the Soul Record, Bai Zemin's expression was quite calm and not too surprised; this was so even though he read that the flame he had just formed a strange pact with under the name of Soul Pact was one of the 5 most powerful flames in the universe (at least in the past).
However, as he read more and more, the surprise in his heart grew to the breaking point; this breaking point was when he learned that the little palm-sized flame that had just given him the scare of his life had once been a God-grade treasure!
God Grade!
"HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!"
At such a thought, Bai Zemin cried out again as he sat down on the bed heavily.
Although he had no idea how difficult it was to obtain a God Grade treasure, there definitely shouldn't be many in the universe. According to what Lilith had once told him while she was being lazy, God grade treasures possessed the strength to challenge the most powerful beings in the universe.
However, as he thought about it, Bai Zemin's excitement cooled down considerably and his face became slightly serious as he muttered, "Wait a moment.... If a God Grade Treasure possesses power capable of challenging the mightiest in the universe, then how did the Endless Blue Lotus Flame master fall...?"
After thinking about it for a long time, the only plausible answer Bai Zemin found to this terrifying question was that probably the previous master of the Endless Blue Lotus Flame had fallen prey at the hands of another being just as powerful or slightly above and possessing a God grade treasure as well. He did not want to think beyond that because he inadvertently felt that only despair would wait ahead.
Pushing the terrifying thought deep into his head, Bai Zemin finally came to the conclusion that the treasures coming from the orbs falling from the body of slain enemies were once in the past forged artifacts and even entities nurtured by another living being.
Bai Zemin estimated that probably the Soul Record used the Soul Power that failed to be absorbed by the winner to move a treasure worthy of victory depending on the difference in strength and sealed it inside a treasure orb. Then, when the treasure orb was crushed by the winner, the item sealed there would come out.
Now that Lilith was not there with him, his natural intelligence began to flow rapidly and his thoughts became much more fluid. After all, not having someone to depend on or rely on to know everything, Bai Zemin could only handle everything by himself.
"Alright, let's see what's going on with this." Bai Zemin took a deep breath before closing his eyes and focusing on the depths of his body.
More precisely, on his soul.
Bai Zemin's soul had no form, it was like a strange reddish-colored gas or smoke that was simply there inside his body. However, as he became stronger, he could feel how little by little that gas became denser and denser. He wondered if it would ever become liquid or even solid in the higher Orders.
But right in the middle of all that scarlet cloud of gas, Bai Zemin perceived a faint deep blue light flickering steadily.
This faint deep blue light was the small flame with which Bai Zemin had just formed a Soul Pact. He knew it since after forming that strange pact he could feel the small flame inside him and if he was calmer before he would have even realized that the small flame did not have the slightest evil intention towards him so he would not have been panicked.
Bai Zemin stretched both hands forward and said in a low voice, "Endless Blue Lotus Flame, come out."
At first, Bai Zemin wondered what was happening. Soon, however, he noticed how both his hands lit up with a faint blue flash.
Slowly, a small flame of fire emerged from inside his hands and a few moments later Bai Zemin found himself watching the small flame the size of a baby's palm gently swaying as it was floating an inch or two above his hands.
His face lit up at the blue glow of the small flame. What was most surprising was that in stark contrast to the previous temperature spike this time the temperature of the room did not change at all.
As he stared at the small flame and marveled at its beautiful color, suddenly Bai Zemin's heart fluttered. For an instant he felt as if someone was watching him or trying to tell him something but the next moment that feeling simply disappeared, making him wonder if he was going crazy.