Time passed in silence as Bai Zemin stared silently at the empty space in front of him. Around him, there was nothing but ice-cold water, sea beasts of enormous size a little farther away, and some mutant plants that wailed after losing that warm pale green light that shone like a small sun under the ocean.
More than five minutes had passed since Lilith and Fire Sorrow left, but in spite of this Bai Zemin did not move from his place and just stared. Thousands of thoughts ran through his head, trying to understand what Lilith wanted to do.
Logically speaking, Lilith certainly wouldn't go courting death. If she wanted to die she would have done it when she was at her lowest point and not now that she was in love and with a family waiting for her at home. It was exactly this what helped Bai Zemin to calm down and think things through rationally.
"I'm quite surprised you didn't say something to stop her, though." Shangguan Bing Xue spoke.
She had remained silent until now as she wanted to give him some time to calm his spirit and heart, but she finally couldn't take it anymore and said what was on her mind.
"It's not that I didn't want to do it, to be honest." Bai Zemin said lightly. He shook his head and sighed to himself, "But would that have been the right thing to do?"
Shangguan Bing Xue stayed silent but subtly shook her head.
Lilith could be very affectionate and loving towards Bai Zemin, so much so that no trace of her usual coldness and cruelty could be seen whenever they were together. However, after nearly three years of being together and gradually getting to know each other, Shangguan Bing Xue was aware that Lilith was a stubborn and determined woman.
It was not for nothing that she had made it to the Sixth Order, after all.
"An eternity is too long, Bing Xue." Bai Zemin turned to look at her and said with a somewhat forced smile, "We have to do our best not to leave regrets in our path as even the strongest ones cannot turn back time."
Shangguan Bing Xue nodded and said softly, "I know. That's why you didn't want me to kill that man."
That man she was talking about was, of course, her father; Xuanyuan Wentian.
Bai Zemin nodded: "That's how it is... So, Lilith probably doesn't want Lucifer and the Demonic Army to get into life and death trouble because of her."
Actually, Shangguan Bing Xue didn't need Bai Zemin to explain it all. She was smart after all, and even though she didn't like Lilith, Shangguan Bing Xue admitted in her heart that the woman had great values of her own.
Even though Lilith said nothing, how could Bai Zemin not understand the gestures and expressions of the woman he shared a bed with for so many nights? He knew even her most involuntary gestures and with a little effort could easily discover her thoughts even before she put them into words.
"If Lucifer instructed Fire Sorrow to take Lilith with her Lilith would most likely have refused without a second thought, leaving them to their own fate. She wouldn't feel indebted to a faction that surrenders its own under pressure." Bai Zemin slowly explained, "But since Lucifer is willing to take the risk there is no way Lilith, whose personality is proud and arrogant but at the same time warm and gentle, would stand still without paying back."
"Then that's why you didn't say anything despite the danger that going to that Kram World entails," Shangguan Bing Xue sighed with complicated emotions slipping inside her.
"So that Lilith can continue walking her path without looking back with feelings of attachment, reluctance, or pains and regrets." Bai Zemin nodded with a serious expression. He clenched his fists and pointed more to himself than to anyone else, "Lilith already suffered too much... That's why I hope she can live a good life from now on."
Shangguan Bing Xue nodded silently and no longer spoke. She realized that although Bai Zemin let her go seemingly easily, he was probably raging a fierce battle in his heart all this time.
The selfishness of wanting to keep the woman who owned his heart close at all times to keep her from putting her life at risk even if it meant compromising her smiles in the long run was a force too great and too difficult to defeat. Very few men could do this.
"Let's go," Bai Zemin swam easily to her and took her hand without hesitation, "We have work to do as well."
Shangguan Bing Xue nodded and let herself be led on. However, a thought flashed in her mind and she couldn't push it away at all.
Bai Zemin... seemed to have changed? Rather than evolving into the Third Order and becoming stronger, his mentality...
... It didn't take the duo long to get back to where Feng Tian Wu and Shui Meiying were waiting.
After arriving, Bai Zemin immediately glanced at the old King of the Coral Kingdom. His eyes which were previously filled with emotions while talking about and with Lilith or while interacting freely with Shangguan Bing Xue were now like two bottomless sinkholes, threatening with devouring the royal merman's life.
After a moment of silence, Bai Zemin calmly asked, "Shui Meying, how would you describe your relationship with your father?"
Shui Meiying immediately answered without hesitation, "A little closer to that of a boss and his subordinate but not as close as that of a father and his daughter."
Bai Zemin nodded and said indifferently, "In that case that makes it easier."
Seeing Bai Zemin raising his hand, the current King of the Coral Kingdom suddenly felt an enormous pressure on his back as every spine in his body began to crack. His skin fissured in an instant and large volumes of blood gushed out of his pores.
"How... How is this possible
The King of the Coral Kingdom had never felt so helpless and powerless in his entire life except when the various Higher Existences appeared in front of him... No, this time it was even worse since those Higher Existences did not hurt him at all!
Even though the King of the Coral Kingdom knew that the three humans in front of him, particularly the two females, had enough strength to fight him and even threaten his life... He never expected that the male with the lower level actually would be so overwhelming once he made his move!
"If there is a next life remember to mind your own business and not plot against those you know nothing about."
Hearing those words that were no different than his sentence, the King of the Coral Kingdom immediately called out trying to explain himself, "W- Wait a moment. I-"
Boom!!! Like a swollen balloon that took in a lot of air all at once, the body of the now former King of the Coral Kingdom puffed up before exploding with a loud boom. His crushed flesh and blood mingled with the broken scales of his tail, floating around without direction.
After a moment of deathly silence, Shui Meiying gasped and her pupils trembled as she stared at her father's smashed corpse.
This... She literally didn't have time to say a single word, let alone react!
Wasn't this a little too much? Even though Shui Meiying knew that Bai Zemin had the ability to defeat and perhaps kill her father, she never expected the difference between the two sides to be this immeasurable!
One needed to know that her father was a Fourth Order soul evolver far above her level!
'N-No wonder these two proud and powerful females are willing to follow him.' Shui Meiying could feel her own heart pounding fiercely inside her chest and rejoiced that she had made the right decision.
Even now, Shui Meiying had not realized that the Bai Zemin in front of her was not the same Bai Zemin she met in Hero City.
Bai Zemin reached out and with a grabbing gesture took back two small glowing items that were being swept away by the deep currents.
One was a small deep blue rock; the former King's Fourth Order Soul Stone.
As for the other object...
"W-Wait, you..." Shui Meiying suddenly thought of something when she saw the purple-colored gem in Bai Zemin's hands, "You... You killed my father but now how am I supposed to become Queen of the Coral Kingdom?"
"Naturally I have my ways. Rest easy." Bai Zemin shook his head.
He killed the Coral Kingdom King for three reasons.
To begin with, the relationship Bai Zemin had with First Princess Shui Meiying was not at all as close as the relationship he and Xian Mei'er had. Shui Meiying was just an associate and it could be said that they were both using each other, but Xian Mei'er was someone whom Bai Zemin considered his friend after realizing that she was still the same peace-loving mermaid who hated war even if they could give her power.
Second and more important than the initial and final point, the King of the Coral Kingdom had colluded with the Army of Heaven to kill him. But what sealed the fate of the now former King was that partly because of him Lilith had to take great risks that even now she was not completely free of.
Third, Bai Zemin did not need the old King for Shui Meiying to ascend to the throne of Queen. And since he never made a promise as he did with the little mermaid Xian Bao Bao back then, he killed him to suppress some of the raging fire in his heart.
"You have your ways, you say..." Meiying gazed at him incredulously and quickly pointed out, "Aren't you confused? It takes going through a ceremony to change my racial records from Mermaid Princess to Mermaid Queen. I-"
"That's fine, you don't need to say," Bai Zemin interrupted her impatiently and waved his hand, pulling out a small wooden pagoda from somewhere as if by magic.
Bai Zemin threw the small wooden pagoda to the bottom of the ocean and said loudly, "Grow!"
The nearby waters churned as from the dark depths shone a flash of pale blue light, illuminating everything 500 meters out as if the daytime sunlight was shining into the Mariana Trench.
Bai Zemin ignored the look of shock on Shui Meiying's face and used the Fourth Order Soul Stone he had just obtained to activate the second level of the Limitless Pagoda. Fortunately, what he planned to do was not a total racial change so the drain was also infinitely lower; thanks to this, a single Fourth Order Soul Stone was enough for the runes of the second level to turn on.
When the pagoda door opened, Shui Meiying was surprised to find that some sort of invisible screen blocked the water from flowing in.
"Take this with you and go inside," Zemin handed her the small purple jewel and said calmly, "Head straight to the second level and wait there for the change to end."
Despite her doubts, Shui Meiying nodded obediently. As far as she was concerned, Bai Zemin didn't need to go through so many headaches if he wanted to harm her given the strength he had just displayed.
Her long fishtail glowed, turning into a pair of beautiful slender white legs.
After she entered the pagoda, the double doors closed with a deep rumble behind her. Taking a pause, Shui Meiying took a deep breath and walked straight to the stairs that would take her to the second floor.
Outside the pagoda, Shangguan Bing Xue looked at the lights shining beyond the second floor and asked, "Are you sure it will work?"
"It probably will." Bai Zemin nodded calmly, "It's only a minor racial change after all, and the second floor of the Limitless Pagoda allows you to change a living being's race completely. Since Shui Meiying has the jewel with the Queen/King records everything should be easy and smooth."
Recalling the prince of the East Sea who once plagued them with tens of millions of sea beasts thanks to the pagoda's power, Shangguan Bing Xue nodded silently.
Bai Zemin glanced sideways at Feng Tian Wu who was silent. Even though there was someone else present, he trusted Feng Tian Wu at least 80% so he did not hide anything and spoke directly about what was on his mind.
"Bing Xue, I need you to help me with something."
"Mm?" She gave him a puzzled look and said without hesitation, "Just say it straight out. Don't you find it weird all of a sudden to be so polite?"
Bai Zemin coughed to clear his throat, and after a brief pause, he said,"I want to turn all the asuras in to humans and bring them to Earth.
"Oh, it turns out that's what it is. Shangguan Bing Xue nodded as if it was nothing, but suddenly her expression froze as Bai Zemin's words finally settled inside her head.
"This... What did you say again? I think I got water in my ears so I didn't hear properly."

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