Near the shore of the river, a group of men and women seemed to be having a strategic meeting. Bai Zemin activated Invisibility and held Kali's body as he jumped nimbly and without making much noise landed on a thick branch while listening carefully to the conversation.
He was not an expert in English and naturally could not compare to native speakers, however, Bai Zemin could defend himself in this language. At the end of the day, it was not for nothing that he had been the top scorer in his prefecture during the college entrance exam.
"Alisha, are we really going to do it? The snake that rules this part of the river is a ferocious mutant beast that has already wiped out half of our village." A stout man with a bald head and healthy skin looked at the woman in front of him with some doubt.
The bald man's words seemed to be the thoughts of the others.
A man who looked to be about 50 years old took a step forward as he held a strange, ancient looking tree branch but surrounded by a layer of unnatural mana. His eyes glittered with fear as he gazed at the peaceful waters of the river and said in a low voice, "Alisha, you are a Second Order warrior and the strongest of our people. However, have you forgotten what happened to your father three months ago when he challenged that creature? Your father was even stronger than you but even then he could not..."
The old man did not finish his words but everyone knew what he meant.
The girl named Alisha was just a young girl with wheat-colored skin, honey-colored eyes, and slightly frizzy black hair who looked to be around 23 or 24 years old. Her beauty was undeniable and could easily be compared to any great white-skinned beauty, but unlike those urban beauties, Alisha's beauty was more wild like that of a untamed Amazon.
She gritted her white teeth and held tightly to the spear in her right hand as she said in a firm voice, "Our people have been cut off from all civilization for almost a year since the world changed, food started to be scarce months ago but somehow we managed to survive thanks to this river. However, the mutant snake of these waters is devouring all the fish that come from above and within a week we will have nothing left to eat. We are the last 7 soul evolvers that remain alive, it is either the mutant snake or that strange creature that is blocking our path to reach civilization. You choose."
Hearing the words 'that strange creature' coming out of Alisha's mouth, the six soul evolvers in front of her had drastic changes in their expressions. Even the old man and the sturdy man from before no longer dared to say anything.
After a moment of silence, the sturdy man held tightly onto his sword and nodded heavily, "Alright! Let's do it!"
The old man sighed and after a slight hesitation nodded. His expression turned serious as he looked at everyone present: "I hope you haven't forgotten the two basic rules of our people.... Rule number 1, soul evolvers must fight or they won't eat... and rule number 2, the families of the deceased must be treated with respect and cared for by the rest."
"Of course."
"In case something happens to me, remember to take care of my little daughter please."
"Let's hurry up and go home, all of us, together!"
Alisha looked at the men in front of her and nodded in satisfaction. She turned around and swung her spear as she ordered, "Throw that thing to the river!"
Bai Zemin narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the old man pull something out of his bag. The old man opened a small nylon wrapper and tossed the contents into the air before waving the branch he held.
The wind howled and the strange glowing dust soon spread over a good part of the river, covering at least 5000 meters up and 5000 meters down. At first, there was nothing strange, but about two minutes later the peaceful waters began to move uncharacteristically.
A strange shriek similar to a beast's howl of pain shook the forest and the expressions of the seven soul evolvers became serious.
"Ready to fight!" Alisha shouted and lunged forward as a strange energy covered her leather boots. Her speed gained a sudden great momentum and in an instant she was right on the bank of the river.
She stabbed forward with her spear in a fluid motion as she shouted in a booming voice, "Absolute Groundbreaking!"
Just as it seemed that Alisha was stabbing into the air, a head that was easily five times the size of her body shot out from the deep waters of the river. The snake whose scales were silver in color hissed furiously and opened its mouth wide as it spat out a ball of water that was easily two or three times the size of Alisha.
Boom!!!
The water ball exploded in the face of Alisha's attack and the power of her spear only diminished a bit as the bright white tip continued on its way.
The giant snake shrieked again in pain as its body was pierced and several of its scales were shredded. The water of the river was soon stained slightly crimson with the creature's blood but it did not give up but counterattacked with greater ferocity than before.
Alisha was taken by surprise as the giant snake shot forward and at lightning speed burst out of the waters, revealing its body over 500 meters long and as thick as an oak tree.
"Wind Shield!" The old man waved the branch in his hands and a thick shield of gray wind swirled between Alisha's body and the tail of the giant snake.
Unfortunately, the wind shield was easily smashed by the creature's physical strength and its tail was only contained for a fraction of a second. However, that split second was enough for Alisha to move back and away from any danger.
"Giant's Sword!" The stout man roared as he leaped mightily and slashed downward with his sword. His sword seemed to be enveloped by the ghost of a colossal sword as it struck right in the middle of the snake's body.
The beast's eyes widened in shock as dozens of its scales split into pieces. Its flesh peeled away and its blood soon formed a huge puddle in the surrounding area as it writhed uncontrollably because of the pain.
The stout man was shocked and caught off guard. He quickly raised his sword high to cover himself but could only put up little resistance as the bones in his hands turned to fine dust and his sword was sent flying in pieces.
"Charles!" Alisha cried out as she saw the stout man's body being sent flying backwards, stopping after splitting more than ten large trees in half; his life or death being unknown.
Her eyes became bloodshot as she looked at the slowly recovering mutant snake. Although the others were also attacking, they were only First Order soul evolvers and there was even one level 25 that had not yet been able to break through, therefore, they were simply too weak to hurt the snake whose scales were even tougher than the armor of a battle tank.
The only ones who could really do anything were the old man and the sturdy man next to Alisha, the others could only do their best.
"Uncle Victor!" Alisha shouted as she rushed forward to face the snake.
The old man's expression was serious as he said loudly, "Tornado!"
The giant snake was charging towards Alisha but its movements suddenly stalled. Its eyes widened as it suddenly saw itself being lifted over 50 meters before falling back down being pulled by gravity.
Alisha lowered her center of gravity slightly, and as she stabbed with her spear, she roared like a lioness, "Sequential Strikes!"
The snake howled in pain and before falling heavily to the ground its body was stabbed over 500 times in just one second. Its once glorious body was now riddled with wounds, many of which seemed to be rotting from some kind of strange energy slowly corroding it.
It was just at that moment that Alisha felt that something was wrong. She hastily jumped back as she screamed in a panicked voice, "Dodge!!!"
Her voice had barely left her lips when the giant snake opened its mouth wide and began to spit out tiny balls of black-tinged water like a machine gun.
The ground became filled with holes and the earth hissed as poisonous steam spread from the acidic water. The old man named Victor managed to use several wind skills to deflect almost all of the acidic water balls heading in his direction, and even managed to save two teammates at the cost of losing an arm, unfortunately the others were not so lucky as after being hit several times they collapsed to the ground with their bodies covered in bloody holes.
"Damn beast!" Alisha howled with anger and pain on her face as she charged forward. Her body was engulfed by a series of burning sparks of fire that soon gathered around her spear as she stabbed towards the snake's head, "Flaming Spear!"
The snake tried to counterattack and move away, but its movements had become slower after suffering severe wounds repeatedly. The previous attack had also consumed most of its Mana, so under its sluggish eyes, Alisha's fierce expression grew along with the flame-wrapped spear.
Bai Zemin watched indifferently as the spear of the female soul evolver pierced the forehead of the giant snake. The flames seemed to incinerate the brain as the creature didn't even struggle at all when it collapsed heavily on the ground.
Alisha gasped for air as she slowly pulled her spear out of the dead creature's head. Her face was slightly pale since although the combat had been short it had been fierce enough to force her to use several of her more powerful skills.
She felt a little better as the largest and purest orb of light of all went into her body, and after looking around, a glint of sadness shone in her honey colored eyes.
The old man grunted in pain as he walked under the support of the two young soul evolvers he had helped.
"Well done, Alisha. You managed to kill that beast." Said the old man, Victor, as he sweated all over trying to endure the pain of losing practically his entire left arm.
Alisha shook her head and was about to say something when her pupils contracted fiercely. She turned abruptly and looked up, her eyes met a pair of eyes as red as those of a demon looking at her with indifference.... No, those eyes were not looking at her, Alisha felt in her heart that those eyes seemed to look at the world itself with coldness and without any interest for anything in this life.
Victor and the other two also became aware of Bai Zemin's existence thanks to Alisha.
Victor's face turned pale as he whispered in a low but apprehensive voice: "That man.... How long has he been standing there and for how long has he been watching us without our knowledge?!"
"Bullet, it looks like you've been found out." Kali said calmly.
"I wasn't found out, I revealed myself." He replied as calmly as she did.
Bai Zemin jumped forward and his body plummeted towards the ground, but before hitting solid ground, his falling speed slowed down to the point that his feet made no sound at all.
Alisha and the three behind her immediately became alert.
"Chinese?" Alisha muttered with a slight frown.
She looked at the European-looking girl that the Chinese man in front of her was carrying on his back and immediately judged that the young girl who looked like a porcelain doll was suffering from some kind of serious disease as her eyes were not only closed but her face was simply too pale, almost like a real ghost.
Bai Zemin made use of his somewhat broken English to communicate and calmly asked, "Can any of you tell me what country and region of the world this is?
* * * * * * *
A/N: 2/3 chaps today cause of yesterday
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up
Near the shore of the river, a group of men and women seemed to be having a strategic meeting. Bai Zemin activated Invisibility and held Kali's body as he jumped nimbly and without making much noise landed on a thick branch while listening carefully to the conversation.
He was not an expert in English and naturally could not compare to native speakers, however, Bai Zemin could defend himself in this language. At the end of the day, it was not for nothing that he had been the top scorer in his prefecture during the college entrance exam.
"Alisha, are we really going to do it? The snake that rules this part of the river is a ferocious mutant beast that has already wiped out half of our village." A stout man with a bald head and healthy skin looked at the woman in front of him with some doubt.
The bald man's words seemed to be the thoughts of the others.
A man who looked to be about 50 years old took a step forward as he held a strange, ancient looking tree branch but surrounded by a layer of unnatural mana. His eyes glittered with fear as he gazed at the peaceful waters of the river and said in a low voice, "Alisha, you are a Second Order warrior and the strongest of our people. However, have you forgotten what happened to your father three months ago when he challenged that creature? Your father was even stronger than you but even then he could not..."
The old man did not finish his words but everyone knew what he meant.
The girl named Alisha was just a young girl with wheat-colored skin, honey-colored eyes, and slightly frizzy black hair who looked to be around 23 or 24 years old. Her beauty was undeniable and could easily be compared to any great white-skinned beauty, but unlike those urban beauties, Alisha's beauty was more wild like that of a untamed Amazon.
She gritted her white teeth and held tightly to the spear in her right hand as she said in a firm voice, "Our people have been cut off from all civilization for almost a year since the world changed, food started to be scarce months ago but somehow we managed to survive thanks to this river. However, the mutant snake of these waters is devouring all the fish that come from above and within a week we will have nothing left to eat. We are the last 7 soul evolvers that remain alive, it is either the mutant snake or that strange creature that is blocking our path to reach civilization. You choose."
Hearing the words 'that strange creature' coming out of Alisha's mouth, the six soul evolvers in front of her had drastic changes in their expressions. Even the old man and the sturdy man from before no longer dared to say anything.
After a moment of silence, the sturdy man held tightly onto his sword and nodded heavily, "Alright! Let's do it!"
The old man sighed and after a slight hesitation nodded. His expression turned serious as he looked at everyone present: "I hope you haven't forgotten the two basic rules of our people.... Rule number 1, soul evolvers must fight or they won't eat... and rule number 2, the families of the deceased must be treated with respect and cared for by the rest."
"Of course."
"In case something happens to me, remember to take care of my little daughter please."
"Let's hurry up and go home, all of us, together!"
Alisha looked at the men in front of her and nodded in satisfaction. She turned around and swung her spear as she ordered, "Throw that thing to the river!"
Bai Zemin narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the old man pull something out of his bag. The old man opened a small nylon wrapper and tossed the contents into the air before waving the branch he held.
The wind howled and the strange glowing dust soon spread over a good part of the river, covering at least 5000 meters up and 5000 meters down. At first, there was nothing strange, but about two minutes later the peaceful waters began to move uncharacteristically.
A strange shriek similar to a beast's howl of pain shook the forest and the expressions of the seven soul evolvers became serious.
"Ready to fight!" Alisha shouted and lunged forward as a strange energy covered her leather boots. Her speed gained a sudden great momentum and in an instant she was right on the bank of the river.
She stabbed forward with her spear in a fluid motion as she shouted in a booming voice, "Absolute Groundbreaking!"
Just as it seemed that Alisha was stabbing into the air, a head that was easily five times the size of her body shot out from the deep waters of the river. The snake whose scales were silver in color hissed furiously and opened its mouth wide as it spat out a ball of water that was easily two or three times the size of Alisha.
Boom!!!
The water ball exploded in the face of Alisha's attack and the power of her spear only diminished a bit as the bright white tip continued on its way.
The giant snake shrieked again in pain as its body was pierced and several of its scales were shredded. The water of the river was soon stained slightly crimson with the creature's blood but it did not give up but counterattacked with greater ferocity than before.
Alisha was taken by surprise as the giant snake shot forward and at lightning speed burst out of the waters, revealing its body over 500 meters long and as thick as an oak tree.
"Wind Shield!" The old man waved the branch in his hands and a thick shield of gray wind swirled between Alisha's body and the tail of the giant snake.
Unfortunately, the wind shield was easily smashed by the creature's physical strength and its tail was only contained for a fraction of a second. However, that split second was enough for Alisha to move back and away from any danger.
"Giant's Sword!" The stout man roared as he leaped mightily and slashed downward with his sword. His sword seemed to be enveloped by the ghost of a colossal sword as it struck right in the middle of the snake's body.
The beast's eyes widened in shock as dozens of its scales split into pieces. Its flesh peeled away and its blood soon formed a huge puddle in the surrounding area as it writhed uncontrollably because of the pain.
The stout man was shocked and caught off guard. He quickly raised his sword high to cover himself but could only put up little resistance as the bones in his hands turned to fine dust and his sword was sent flying in pieces.
"Charles!" Alisha cried out as she saw the stout man's body being sent flying backwards, stopping after splitting more than ten large trees in half; his life or death being unknown.
Her eyes became bloodshot as she looked at the slowly recovering mutant snake. Although the others were also attacking, they were only First Order soul evolvers and there was even one level 25 that had not yet been able to break through, therefore, they were simply too weak to hurt the snake whose scales were even tougher than the armor of a battle tank.
The only ones who could really do anything were the old man and the sturdy man next to Alisha, the others could only do their best.
"Uncle Victor!" Alisha shouted as she rushed forward to face the snake.
The old man's expression was serious as he said loudly, "Tornado!"
The giant snake was charging towards Alisha but its movements suddenly stalled. Its eyes widened as it suddenly saw itself being lifted over 50 meters before falling back down being pulled by gravity.
Alisha lowered her center of gravity slightly, and as she stabbed with her spear, she roared like a lioness, "Sequential Strikes!"
The snake howled in pain and before falling heavily to the ground its body was stabbed over 500 times in just one second. Its once glorious body was now riddled with wounds, many of which seemed to be rotting from some kind of strange energy slowly corroding it.
It was just at that moment that Alisha felt that something was wrong. She hastily jumped back as she screamed in a panicked voice, "Dodge!!!"
Her voice had barely left her lips when the giant snake opened its mouth wide and began to spit out tiny balls of black-tinged water like a machine gun.
The ground became filled with holes and the earth hissed as poisonous steam spread from the acidic water. The old man named Victor managed to use several wind skills to deflect almost all of the acidic water balls heading in his direction, and even managed to save two teammates at the cost of losing an arm, unfortunately the others were not so lucky as after being hit several times they collapsed to the ground with their bodies covered in bloody holes.
"Damn beast!" Alisha howled with anger and pain on her face as she charged forward. Her body was engulfed by a series of burning sparks of fire that soon gathered around her spear as she stabbed towards the snake's head, "Flaming Spear!"
The snake tried to counterattack and move away, but its movements had become slower after suffering severe wounds repeatedly. The previous attack had also consumed most of its Mana, so under its sluggish eyes, Alisha's fierce expression grew along with the flame-wrapped spear.
Bai Zemin watched indifferently as the spear of the female soul evolver pierced the forehead of the giant snake. The flames seemed to incinerate the brain as the creature didn't even struggle at all when it collapsed heavily on the ground.
Alisha gasped for air as she slowly pulled her spear out of the dead creature's head. Her face was slightly pale since although the combat had been short it had been fierce enough to force her to use several of her more powerful skills.
She felt a little better as the largest and purest orb of light of all went into her body, and after looking around, a glint of sadness shone in her honey colored eyes.
The old man grunted in pain as he walked under the support of the two young soul evolvers he had helped.
"Well done, Alisha. You managed to kill that beast." Said the old man, Victor, as he sweated all over trying to endure the pain of losing practically his entire left arm.
Alisha shook her head and was about to say something when her pupils contracted fiercely. She turned abruptly and looked up, her eyes met a pair of eyes as red as those of a demon looking at her with indifference.... No, those eyes were not looking at her, Alisha felt in her heart that those eyes seemed to look at the world itself with coldness and without any interest for anything in this life.
Victor and the other two also became aware of Bai Zemin's existence thanks to Alisha.
Victor's face turned pale as he whispered in a low but apprehensive voice: "That man.... How long has he been standing there and for how long has he been watching us without our knowledge?!"
"Bullet, it looks like you've been found out." Kali said calmly.
"I wasn't found out, I revealed myself." He replied as calmly as she did.
Bai Zemin jumped forward and his body plummeted towards the ground, but before hitting solid ground, his falling speed slowed down to the point that his feet made no sound at all.
Alisha and the three behind her immediately became alert.
"Chinese?" Alisha muttered with a slight frown.
She looked at the European-looking girl that the Chinese man in front of her was carrying on his back and immediately judged that the young girl who looked like a porcelain doll was suffering from some kind of serious disease as her eyes were not only closed but her face was simply too pale, almost like a real ghost.
Bai Zemin made use of his somewhat broken English to communicate and calmly asked, "Can any of you tell me what country and region of the world this is?
* * * * * * *
A/N: 2/3 chaps today cause of yesterday
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up
