North of Hero City, elves' area.

Bai Zemin sighed after expelling all those who were not his friends or allies from Hero City.

"Alright, now it's just us." He said looking at everyone. Then, his eyes stopped on Angelo: "What happened to him?" he asked with a frown.

Eleanora shook her head as she replied, "According to what Felix told us, Angelo managed to cut off one of the Corruption Demon's arms when you were chasing him. If that's true I'm afraid Angelo possibly used his strongest but most dangerous skill to get power, and the sacrifice he made surely wasn't small."

Previously, Angelo's level was around 230 at best. While his battle power was higher than that, Shun was a level 400 soul evolver whose Soul Power did not lose to Angelo's in terms of purity.

With a difference of 170 levels, combat experience, and with the quality of their skills in different leagues, it was absolutely impossible for Angelo to cut off Shun's arm that easily unless he paid a considerable price in return.

​ Bai Zemin nodded in understanding as he thought to himself, 'Angelo seems to have lost some records... I guess I'll have to give him something good later so there won't be any discomfort on his part.'

Angelo's talent was definitely top notch, and not for nothing was he one of the most powerful human beings and soul evolvers on all of Earth. Bai Zemin needed his existence to fight in the future.

"So what do we do now?" Matthew Sanchez approached Bai Zemin and asked in a serious voice, "According to what His Majesty Israfel said, my sister and I will help you take control of the Holy Church. It will take some time to convince some people so the sooner we start working the better for everyone."

"We'll take care of that in no time." Bai Zemin nodded, "Let me bring you all a little up to date regarding some matters first."

Just then, Naomi approached with an indifferent expression, "Use the power of your King subclass on me and make me your Loyal Follower just like you did with my brother."

"... Are you sure?" Bai Zemin glanced at her doubtfully.

"If you don't make me your Loyal Follower I can't guarantee that I won't do something stupid later." Naomi gazed at him with the same indifference and coldness as before as she said calmly, "It will be best for everyone if you do."

Bai Zemin looked at her unblinkingly for a few seconds before nodding, "Very well. In that case..."

Naomi's body shuddered slightly as the Soul Record's notification flashed across her retina, however, she didn't hesitate to nod to herself.

Soon, Bai Zemin felt a much deeper connection between his soul and Naomi Sanchez's.

"Now we can both rest assured." Bai Zemin did not look at her but turned to look at Shangguan Bing Xue, who still seemed busy with the elves.Honestly, Bai Zemin did not regret killing Israfel even if he felt it was a pity that mankind lost such a powerhouse. At the end of the day, Israfel was not only a King with a huge faction behind him but he would definitely not hand over the power of the Holy Church just because Bai Zemin asked him to.

Under these circumstances where the two were destined to clash no matter what, Naomi and the other members of the Holy Church could only choose to oppose or surrender, which would ultimately lead to death or survival.

He owed Naomi and Mateo nothing, and if they both wanted to be angry with him they had every right to be and Bai Zemin understood their feelings. But that was it, nothing more and nothing less.

"All of you head for the north wall of the city first." Bai Zemin looked at Xian Mei'er and slowly asked, "Seventh Princess and soon to be Queen of the East Sea, do you have the First Prince's head with you?"

Xian Mei'er's body shivered slightly when she heard Bai Zemin's words.

Yes, she was the Seventh Princess of the East Sea and she thought it would be so for the rest of her long life. She had no ambitions for more and hated war, she would be happy with that position if it were not for the fact that while her people suffered her family did nothing but look for endless trouble.

But, everything changed that fateful day on the bridge where zombies, beasts, sea creatures, and two humans met to fight.

Xian Mei'er stared at Bai Zemin and knew that at this point there was nothing and no one who could stop him, and thus, her fate as Queen of the East Sea was set in stone.

She nodded as she lifted up a blue-stained cloth sack, "Here it is."

"Take it with you." Bai Zemin sneered as he sat on the Throne of Creation, "I'm sure your good father will be happy to see his son's face for the last time."

As Xian Mei'er made a pout, Bai Shilin immediately ran to Bai Zemin and sat on his lap. She looked at him with her big pearl-like shining eyes as she said in a sweet voice, "Father, can Shilin go with you?"

Bai Zemin chuckled as he nodded.

"Yay! Hehe..." Bai Shilin smiled like a rose in full bloom. In reality, she knew that no matter what she asked or wanted her dear father would definitely not say no as long as it didn't involve her safety; particularly if she spoke to him in a sweet and soft voice.

If Bai Zemin were to know that his adorable little daughter was slowly starting to learn ways to manipulate him he definitely wouldn't know whether to laugh looking up at the sky or cry in a corner.

"Yijun, help Bing Xue in case she needs it and go to the north wall as quickly as possible after that."

"Okay!"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Throne of Creation was swallowed by a pale blue portal that disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

...

An instant later, Bai Zemin appeared several kilometers distance away and above Hero City's cloud level.

"Uh?" Bai Shilin immediately looked at the group of twenty people in front of her. Her expression changed and her body tensed noticeably as she whispered, "Father, these people..."

Having the records of a mutant weaver ant, Bai Shilin's senses were simply monstrous to the point where they could rival or even surpass Bai Zemin's when it came to pure instinct.

Bai Zemin stroked her hair to reassure her as he looked at Lu Cai and the rest, "I'm sorry that no fight broke out where my strength is needed."

To Bai Zemin's surprise, Lu Cai shook his head after exchanging glances with his teammates.

"Your Majesty, we saw everything clearly." Lu Cai looked at him with rather complicated eyes as he calmly said, "That plant woman became your ally, and that human variant was your ally for a short period of time... Actually, all of us are amazed that you didn't use the power of the city to kill the human variant you called Felix."

The emerald-haired female whose name was Valery nodded as she said softly, "The qualities for a good Emperor we are willing to follow have changed a bit after seeing the fate of Elf Queen Lenna and the other elves."

One of them clenched both fists and lowered his head as he said through gritted teeth, "His Majesty Yin, he... Why did he do that to the elves?"

While Bai Zemin was still shocked, Lu Cai explained in a nostalgic voice, "Actually, Elf Queen Lenna would probably have been a powerhouse above the 700 level considering the enormous amount and purity of records she absorbed over hundreds of thousands of years during His Majesty Yin's conquests... She would have been stronger than most of us, and she saved more than a few comrades' lives. We owe much to her, as well as to the elves."

Bai Zemin finally understood, and when the realization hit him he couldn't help but sigh at the wonders of fate.

Apparently, his behavior was considerably different compared to the former Sky Emperor when it came to dealing with allies and potential enemies. What Bai Zemin didn't expect was that him letting Felix go despite being able to finish him off right there would become a turning point.

"We've decided to follow you for now." Lu Cai nodded with a faint smile before clearing his throat, "Though there's really little we can do for you."

Bai Zemin frowned slightly upon hearing this. He was naturally happy that Lu Cai and his companions were following him, but Bai Zemin did not understand what he meant by his last line.

"Because we are not part of a Higher Existences faction, Valey and the rest of us cannot leave Hero City." Lu Cai explained upon seeing the confusion on Bai Zemin's face, "The moment we leave the city walls we will immediately be struck by the law of time and turn to ashes minutes later."

It was then that Bai Zemin realized and recalled his conversation with Lu Cai in the throne room.

"To be honest, none of us know why we are alive." Lu Cai sighed, "Although Hero City is indeed amazing, it is actually nothing more than the core of Sky City... A mere core shouldn't have the ability to ignore the Soul Record and the laws that rule the universe."

In theory, Lu Cai and the others should have already been dead for billions of years. However, the twenty of them were living and breathing in front of Bai Zemin.

'It seems that the Sky Emperor heading to the Golden Domain is not as simple as it seems.' Bai Zemin's eyes flashed at this thought.

There were many unknowns and mysteries... But Bai Zemin could feel that he was getting closer to the truth of it all much faster than he thought he ever would.

* * * * * * *

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 <3