Bai Zemin sighed a heartfelt sigh of relief as he looked at Wu Yijun smiling bitterly at the same time as Ingrid shook her off her shoulders with tears threatening to fall at any moment.

'Although several unexpected things happened, it seems that Yijun benefited more than Ingrid from that strange contract.' Bai Zemin decided to ask for confirmation from Kali later, but for now, things seemed to be fine so there was no need to worry too much.

"Ingrid, I'm sorry... " Wu Yijun seemed genuinely sorry as she explained, "I don't think we can break the contract... You also feel like one part of our souls merged with the other don't you?"

"My soul is the one that is subordinate to yours!" Ingrid took a step back and pointed at her noisily, "If I die you're still alive but if you die I die, what kind of baby logic is this?!"

"N-No... Even if you ask me I don't know the answer..." Wu Yijun looked away.

"You clearly know the answer don't you?!" Ingrid looked like she wanted to tear her hair out. Then, she suddenly took a deep breath and calmed down, "Very well... There is no use crying over spilled milk, you humans often use this saying. Besides, it is true that for better or worse I have become more powerful than before..."

As Bai Zemin wondered if Ingrid was suffering from some dual personality disorder, he secretly thought, 'Could this be due to the interference of the World Tree Heart Fragment?'

The World Tree Heart Fragment was a Demigod grade treasure that was directly connected to Wu Yijun's soul. Since Ingrid was of the plant race and was born from nature, the World Tree Heart Fragment that was part of the legendary World Tree should be able to suppress her without her noticing.

'Be that as it may, this is good for Yijun and all of us.' Bai Zemin looked at the beautiful beauty with blood-red hair and milk-white skin with an unreadable expression as he secretly thought, 'Ingrid is an incredibly strong plant-type soul evolver, and by being subordinate to Yijun her loyalty is guaranteed.'

Thus, the Transcendent faction had acquired a new unshakeable ally.

"I'm sorry but I'm just too tired right now." Ingrid finally sighed, looking nothing like her previous childish toddler attitude. She looked at Wu Yijun with a complicated expression as she slowly said, "Apparently I'll become stronger by simply sleeping inside your body so that's what I'll do."

Wu Yijun opened her mouth to say something, but even faster than her, Ingrid turned into a flash of red light and in an instant disappeared inside her.

"And she is gone." Wu Yijun smiled wryly before looking at Bai Zemin, "I feel a little sorry for Ingrid... I saw part of her memories before, she's not a bad person."

"Then is she a bad plant?" Bai Shilin's eyes sparkled as she asked this.

"Hahahaha!" Eleanora couldn't help but burst out laughing as she gave Bai Shilin a thumbs up, "That was a good one!"

"Eh?" Bai Shilin tilted her head with a puzzled expression on her face.

Naomi's shoulders shook as she did her best to hold back the urge to laugh as well. She was having a hard time because of Eleanora's laughter though.

Matthew glanced at his younger sister out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help the corner of his mouth from curling up slightly as he saw her trying to hold in her laughter.

Bai Zemin stroked Bai Shilin's hair, gaining a giggle from her.

"Yijun, you didn't do anything wrong." He pointed out casually, "There's no need to feel bad about what happened. What happened already happened, you can't change it no matter what. Besides, didn't Ingrid say that her class changed? Sounds pretty strong, not to mention that she can become more powerful just by sleeping in your body."

What soul evolver wouldn't pay anything for the sake of gaining the ability to become stronger simply by sleeping in a safe place? There was definitely no one who would not want to have such an ability.

Wu Yijun slowly stopped frowning, and after several seconds nodded feeling better about herself after hearing Bai Zemin's words, "I understand..."

Bai Zemin nodded with a satisfied smile when suddenly his expression changed abruptly again.

Boom!His body turned into a blur and the winds spawned by his speed pushed everyone back except for Bai Shilin who quickly followed him straight into the center of the forest, followed then by Wu Yijun whose body simply disappeared underground.

Eleanora and Xian Mei'er exchanged glances, and after the former carried the unconscious Angelo they both followed Bai Zemin and Bai Shilin.

Naomi and Mateo nodded to each other at the same time before following them as well.

As for Felix... He was the fastest and was following Bai Zemin with ease.

Less than a minute later, Bai Zemin slowed down gradually until he finally came to a complete stop while staring at the scene in front of him with a dazed expression on his face.

About 20 to 30 meters away was a large stone square surrounded by twelve huge pillars, each 200 meters high. The square, like the pillars, was covered by a large magic circle that was composed of tens of thousands of tiny runes.

There were blue and green lines of light covering the outline of the magic circle, but by the time Bai Zemin and the others arrived these lights were beginning to fade and it would not take long before they were completely out.

The twelve elves were standing in front of the twelve stone pillars, all of them with serious expressions looking towards the center of the magic circle even though crystalline tears were falling on their perfect faces.

Standing silently like a sleeping goddess, Shangguan Bing Xue whose eyes were closed did not move at all even after the magic circle stopped glowing. Her white hair which swayed every time the wind blew from the south had become a little longer than before, falling below her butt, and there were some strands that shone with a tinge of light blue under the radiance of the warm sun.

However, this was not all.

Slowly, her closed eyes opened softly. Her pupils glowed brightly like two flashlights, and two beams of cold light shot forward before exploding.

Bang!!!

In an instant, everything over 3 kilometers away turned to ice, and the sun seemed to disappear as snowflakes and ice shards began to flutter everywhere.

"C-Cold!" Eleanora subconsciously took a step closer to Bai Zemin as her whole body began to shiver fiercely.

The rest were not much better off, and except for Bai Shilin whose physical body was terrifyingly powerful only Felix and Bai Zemin were able to withstand the cold temperatures without shivering from the cold.

Bai Zemin waved his right hand casually without taking his eyes off Shangguan Bing Xue.

When the Endless Blue Lotus Flame began to burn, making a circle of fire around the group, everyone affected sighed in relief as they felt their body temperatures slowly recover to normal.

The twelve elves fought against the cold, and ignoring the sadness they felt in their hearts they knelt down and lowered their heads as they chanted almost in unison.

"We greet Your Majesty the Queen!"

"We greet Your Majesty the Queen!"

...

Shangguan Bing Xue's ice-cold gaze seemed to have become even colder than before. Moreover, her entire aura had completely transformed.

If she exuded disdain and grace before, all that others felt when looking at her was self-embarrassment.

Unrivaled prestige, arrogance from the bones, pride from the depths of her soul; it was as if nothing and no one was worthy of a single glance from her, and not even the twelve elves were glanced at even though they had knelt down.

However, when Shangguan Bing Xue looked at them, a rare flash of gentleness shone in those two cold orbs of hers."Stand up... All of you."

The twelve elves obeyed and remained with their heads down. Besides, even though they were doing their best to hide it, it was only too obvious that all of them were still weeping with sadness.

Bai Zemin calmed down after almost a minute, there was no need for him to ask questions because he knew perfectly well what had just happened.

He sighed as he looked up at the sky with an extremely complicated expression: 'Thank you and... Sorry for everything.'

Elf Queen Lenna's aura had vanished, and looking at the current Shangguan Bing Xue as well as the elves' respect for her one didn't need to be too smart to have a fairly accurate idea of what just happened.

Shangguan Bing Xue decided to give the elves some time after seeing that they were still struggling with their own emotions. Seeing that her team was staring at her, she turned and began to slowly walk towards them as the snow piled up behind her with each step she took.

​ She paused only for a moment as she looked at Wu Yijun, "Congratulations."

"T-Thank you..." Wu Yijun muttered in a daze as she looked at her with wide eyes, "Bing Xue, you..."

Shangguan Bing Xue simply nodded towards Wu Yijun before focusing her attention on Bai Zemin.

His heart skipped a beat and stopped for a moment when those blue eyes that sparkled like precious sapphires looked at him.

He already knew that Shangguan Bing Xue was in love with him, but the way she looked at him now was different and there was absolutely no way to compare it to the look she gave to others; even the way she looked at Wu Yijun who was closer to her than the closeness between two sisters was different.

"What's wrong?" Shangguan Bing Xue smiled slightly and narrowed her eyes.

Naomi hurriedly looked away as her heart began to beat erratically, but when she looked to her side she saw her brother stunned and muttering something to himself.

Eleanora and Xian Mei'er also seemed to have fallen prey to Shangguan Bing Xue's smile.

Only Felix, who was wise and quick enough to react, managed to protect his mind using mana.

'This level of Charm...' Bai Zemin never thought that he would ever say such words but, 'Isn't she now too close to Lilith?'

Bai Zemin had never felt Lilith's overwhelming Charm to its 100%, and his Immovable Heart skill protected him from becoming a puppet in love. However, Shangguan Bing Xue's Charm currently definitely did not lose to Lilith's to the level that Bai Zemin had felt so far.

He couldn't help but reach his hand out as he looked at those two long ears, however, she hurriedly stopped him.

"Don't touch them." Shangguan Bing Xue whispered sheepishly.

Felix couldn't help but look away as he muttered to himself, "What a horrible woman..."

"You..." Bai Zemin didn't remove his hand when she grabbed it. He stared at her as he softly asked, "Your race is now Elf?"

Not only had Shangguan Bing Xue's hair grown and undergone some almost imperceptible color changes but she had become two or three centimeters taller, her body was now curvier, her eyes deeper, and her ears lengthened outward and ended in a pointed shape.

"You verify it." She gently squeezed his hand as she looked into his eyes as if she didn't want to look away for even a second.

Bai Zemin nodded as he stared at her just as she did, and getting her permission immediately linked a part of his soul with Shangguan Bing Xue's.

The connection between their souls was immediate, with no pain or inconvenience whatsoever.action

The records she shared showed up in his eyes in a moment.

[Subclass: Elf Queen.]

[Race: Charming Elf.]

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