The decorations inside the house that the government had gifted Shangguan Bing Xue within the privileged residential area were extravagant, to say the least. Not only was the house large enough to comfortably accommodate a family of up to six but even the cheapest paint that decorated the walls in the past could have been sold for more than 40,000 yuan; not to mention the furniture and the construction itself.
However, both Meng Qi and Bai Zemin stopped being surprised by such things as decorative luxuries a long time ago. Instead, the two of them focused on the woman before them immediately after taking a seat.
"So... When did you break the barrier between the First Order and the Second Order?" Bai Zemin asked in awe as he looked at Shangguan Bing Xue in shock.
Not only had she become more beautiful than before by a considerable margin but the aura surrounding her body at this moment was a mix between ice and fire especially tempting for any man with the power and desire to conquer a challenging woman. What was most remarkable, however, was that Bai Zemin could feel how the Soul Power of Shangguan Bing Xue was pure and strong enough at this point to present a slight threat to his life.
Considering how strong Bai Zemin was on this point, it was not difficult for him to judge that Shangguan Bing Xue at present should be able to face an initial Third Order existence without any problem and in fact her chances of victory would definitely not be low.
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at Meng Qi with a hint of coldness and calmly asked, "Before answering your question, don't you think you need to introduce me and this young lady?"
Meng Qi already expected to receive this kind of gaze of Shangguan Bing Xue from the moment her big brother warned her about what kind of person she was towards strangers so Meng Qi didn't feel awkward. In fact, she smiled in a friendly manner and introduced herself before Bai Zemin could say anything:
"How are you? My name is Meng Qi and I am his adopted younger sister."
"Oh?" Shangguan Bing Xue raised both eyebrows and the coldness emanating from her receded considerably once she heard Meng's background even though it didn't completely go away. She looked her up and down attentively as if she was making sure of something before nodding and slowly saying, "You really are pretty... Your big brother has told me a lot about you, even praised you as someone outstanding so I've also been curious to meet you... It's a pleasure to finally have the honor. I can see that you really are an impressive young woman even though this is our first meeting, Meng Qi."
Meng Qi smiled slightly and said humbly, "Even though I don't think I'm outstanding enough to catch the attention of someone like you, I'll accept your compliment. My big brother has talked about you a lot over the past week so I was curious to meet you, one of the reasons for our visit."
Shangguan Bing Xue raised both eyebrows and looked at Bai Zemin somewhat reproachfully as she said a bit doubtfully, "Your brother has mentioned me a lot? And here I was thinking that he had forgotten his old friendships, disappearing for so long without even caring about the life or death of others."
The corner of Bai Zemin's mouth twitched a couple of times but knowing that Shangguan Bing Xue was partially right he said nothing. At the end of the day, the current world was becoming more dangerous by the day so even someone as powerful as Shangguan Bing Xue could fall in combat if something unexpected happened not to mention the others; Bai Zemin had become so immersed in his joy of meeting his loved ones that he actually subconsciously forgot to ensure the safety of other people who in their own way were also important to him.
"Haha..." Meng Qi laughed somewhat awkwardly before saying in a low and somewhat perplexed voice, "Your personality... It's a bit different from what I expected to find after hearing the description of my brother about you."
Bai Zemin had previously told her that Shangguan Bing Xue was cold, indifferent, and did not measure her words when talking to other people. However, he had also told her that this was just her strong exterior, a kind of defensive armor that acted as a defense on herself and thus avoided being harmed by others; in a way quite similar to the skill Stone Heart in Bai Zemin's possession except that Shangguan Bing Xue did not seem to have any of such passive skill.
But unlike what Meng Qi expected, the woman in front of her was quite friendly and even joking, which confused her a lot as now she didn't know how to react.
"Regarding that..." Shangguan Bing Xue sighed and a glint of hidden bitterness flashed in her beautiful blue eyes as she said softly, "It's not something I can control in this kind of circumstance..."
"Is it because of your evolution?" Bai Zemin, who had been sidelined all this time, immediately intervened.
"... In fact." Shangguan Bing Xue nodded and slowly explained, "When I reached level 50, three paths presented themselves in front of me. The first path was called Frost Queen, a special job. The second path was called Ice Reaper, another special job... Finally, the third path was called Ice Soul Charming Demon, and of course, it was this last one the one I chose as it is clearly a continuation of the path I have been walking since I chose my first job when I stepped into the First Order."
"Ice Soul Charming Demon?" Bai Zemin was surprised and quickly asked, "Bing Xue, that job of yours increases your charm passively, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Shangguan Bing Xue nodded and calmly explained while tucking a strand of silver hair behind her ear with a really charming movement, "My First Order job increased my natural charm by approximately 20% while my current job, Ice Soul Charming Demon, increases my natural charm by 35% in addition to improving my outward appearance considerably."
Bai Zemin looked at her with weird eyes and couldn't help but think on Lilith. At this rate, wouldn't Shangguan Bing Xue end up becoming something similar to a succubus in the future? However, he did not dare to make such a comparison with Shangguan Bing Xue present as he knew that she had a strong rivalry with Lilith and she probably would not like being compared to her "enemy" very much.
"Hey, Bing Xue."
"Mm?"
"Can you tell me about the requirements you had to complete to evolve?" Bai Zemin asked carefully as this was a rather private matter. "If possible, I would also like you to explain a bit about your new job. Qualities and the like."
Revealing something as important as one's class to another person was an extremely dangerous thing to do as the other person could use that knowledge to exploit your weaknesses. However, Bai Zemin could only really count on Shangguan Bing Xue in times of real urgency such as the appearance of a single powerful enemy against whom numbers were but useless numbers. Precisely because of this, he needed to connect with her in a special way on the battlefield.
However, Bai Zemin's concerns were unnecessary as Shangguan Bing Xue nodded easily.
In fact, she thought the same as him and also did not fear that he would do something wrong to her since their trust had grown to a very high point after facing so many dangers. Especially what happened in Oblon World during the Asura invasion; the events that occurred there brought Shangguan Bing Xue and Bai Zemin very close, mostly in terms of trust where they were even able to trust each other with their lives.
However, Shangguan Bing Xue suddenly thought about something and instead of directly speaking to Bai Zemin she extended a hand forward.
Bai Zemin looked at the hand extended in his direction in clear invitation and was forced to admit in his heart that were it not because he was used to Lilith, Shangguan Bing Xue's current charm might have clouded his thoughts for a moment; that's how beautiful and charming the current her was, every gesture dangerously perfect.
"What's wrong?" he asked in confusion.
"Let's link records." Shangguan Bing Xue said, leaning her body slightly forward so that a few strands of hair fell to the sides of her face. With her right leg on top of her left one, the white-colored dress that previously reached her knees was lifted up to partially expose her soft white thighs.
However, the words she spoke did not allow Bai Zemin to enjoy the beautiful view.
"... Do you have a fever?" He asked with an exhausted sigh. "Did you forget that if something goes wrong your soul can get hurt? Even Chen He had to spend a few days hunting to recover the damage to the quality of his Soul Power."
Shangguan Bing Xue did not take her hand away and while staring him straight in the eyes replied in a clear voice, "But neither you nor I know if we will not be able to link records through our souls, right?"
Bai Zemin had no way to reply this time so he remained silent, looking at her hand hesitantly as he did not want to hurt her. At the end of the day, although the current Shangguan Bing Xue was closer to him in terms of power, her soul would surely be damaged significantly considering the purity of his Soul Power.
"Besides, if my soul gets a little hurt, aren't you there to protect me as I recover? It's not like because of an injury I'm going to be weakened to the point where a First Order or perhaps Second Order existence can kill me." Shangguan Bing Xue pointed, pressing him to take her hand as she opened the palm in his direction.
Bai Zemin sighed and after some consideration finally gave up. Under Meng Qi's confused and worried eyes, he extended his bare hand forward and a moment later both hands closed in a mutually agreeing grip.
Meng Qi did not know what was going on nor did she have any idea that the records could be linked or the possible consequences this could have on the souls of those involved. However, it was not necessary to know too much about the matter or be a genius to realize that it was something dangerous and not to be trifled with judging from the conversation she had just heard. That was precisely why she was worried and anxious since the last thing she wanted was for one of the people most important to her to get hurt.
"Are you really sure? I don't see the need to do this at all and if you're worried about revealing such private information because of Meng Qi's presence then we can wait until when it's just the two of us to touch on this matter again." Bai Zemin said in an attempt to persuade her.
"In fact, I can go to the outer courtyard now for you two to chat more quietly." Meng Qi even stood up when she said this as she was really worried about Bai Zemin. Besides, she also understood that what they were talking about here was extremely important and private so an outsider like her who did not know Shangguan Bing Xue at all should not listen.
However, Shangguan Bing Xue was a woman of strong and independent personality so once she made her decision it was practically impossible to change her mind.
"I'm sure." She said with certainty before smiling slightly and saying softly, "This has nothing to do with your younger sister's presence at all. I'm doing this out of my own curiosity and also to get a doubt out of my mind that's been bothering me lately."
Bai Zemin opened his mouth to say something but was forced to close it when he felt Shangguan Bing Xue's intention trying to link a part of her soul with his.
It had been a while but the two would finally see if they could link records or not.
At this point, even Bai Zemin wondered if his soul could be linked to Shangguan Bing Xue's soul and if that was the case he also wondered if it would be as smooth as when he linked with Lilith.

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