Chapter 8: A bountiful rewards

Waking to the sound of footsteps, Hu Zhu instantly awoke from her sleep and pointed in the direction of the sound.

"Calm down" Bai Zemin raised both of his hands casually, signaling her he meant no harm.

"What do you want?" Her cold emotionless eyes and monotone voice is present as always.

"Just wanted to say thank you for helping me, I owe you one" Bai Zemin said, Hu Zhu noticed the bandaged body as well as the hostile eyes of Bai Zemin seemed to have lessened, that is why Hu Zhu thought Bai Zemin hated women and that thought stays the same as she notice he seemed to always stay away from them, even to Shangguan Bing Xue.

"It's nothing, we are a team, and losing someone capable of fighting will be a major detriment" Hu Zhu patted down her clothing before readying to leave, but remembering something she looked at her backpack, specifically the treasure orbs she had gotten last night from the Great Venus flytrap and the scroll Qiao Long dropped.

She turned to Bai Zemin who seemed to have the same idea.

"You can open up your treasure first" Both of them spoke in unison.

"How do you know I have treasure orbs in my backpack" Hu Zhu cast a suspicious glare at Bai Zemin.

"I accidentally saw them when you were carrying me yesterday" Bai Zemin admitted, casting a doubtful glance, her suspicious lessen as that is plausible.

"You can open up your treasure in the other corner, I won't peek" Hu Zhu dismissively waved her hand, Bai Zemin studied her face to see if she was lying but agreed.

Bai Zemin walked away but glanced briefly to see Hu Zhu facing the wall, covering her backpack.

Bai shook his head to distract himself from glancing any further.

"Huhu, seems like you two are getting along" Lilith appeared next to the unsurprised Bai Zemin.

"Lilith, can you give me the orbs now" Bai whispered.

"Hmm? I wonder what you're on about".

"Don't pretend, spit the orbs" Bai Zemin didn't want to beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"Boo, spoilsport, boring man, meany" She pouted cutely for a moment and raised her left hand, and the golden ring on her finger shined a little, summoning 2 orbs and a scroll that Bai has gotten from the Blazing beetle, but his attention was more into the ring that Lilith has.

"What is that ring?".

"It's a space storage ring, it can store stuff in its spatial dimension" Surprisingly a ring like that usually depicted in novels and fantasy existed, but then again a beetle that is on fire and a mantis that can move faster than the normal eyes can see, it's not surprising to see this kind of ring existing.

Bai Zemin wonder if the concept of the storage ring originated from the soul record, but that is just speculation with no basis and proof.

"I wonder if I could get one in this orb".

"Bah, give up, this ring is only dropped by Legendary grade or above" Bai Zemin turned to the 2 orbs the Blazing beetle dropped and proceeded to open them, but Lilith's attention wandered somewhere else, specifically the other female in this empty cafeteria quietly opening her orbs.

Her demeanor, her attitude, and the way she looked at everyone were indifferent, and cold, even when she tried to hide it with nice gestures and thoughtful actions she couldn't hide the emotionless eyes she always had.

Her whole character almost perfectly matched a higher being, someone who already attained the status of Fifth Order and above, she looked at everyone as if they were ants, a chess piece to just move.

"Little Bai, have you and that woman interacted before?" Bai Zemin who was about to read the scroll turned to Lilith and turned to who she was referring to. Hu Zhu.

"No, She and I never interacted before the apocalypse started, it only occurred to me that She existed on our campus as if she didn't exist before, I didn't even hear any news relating to her," Bai said what he had in mind, though he was a careful man, especially around the opposing sex.

He trusted Lilith a little, she had helped him multiple times when the apocalypse started, giving useful information and such though Bai Zemin didn't know what her goal was, Lilith said she and his goals were ultimately the same.

"Why do you ask?" He continued to look at Hu Zhu's back.

"Nothing, just that girl is already close to attaining first order".

"Huh!?" Bai Looked at Hu Zhu with a dumbfounded expression, First order? , it hadn't been a week since the soul record arrived on Earth and she was already close to attaining First order.

"How? Lilith how do I attain first order".

"Well, you need to reach level 25 first" Lilith playfully smirked, intentionally hiding more information from Bai, Bai Zemin who is level 20 from defeating the blazing beetle realized he was already close to attaining it as well, but he also realized Hu Zhu must have already fought a stronger creature than the blazing beetle or fought multiple high leveled opponent.

It must have been before she found Bai Zemin dying on the ground that she managed to kill them, not only did she fight a harder battle, but she was in a much better condition versus him who was left almost dead after the battle with the blazing beetle, Bai Zemin realized, there are more talented people than him which deflated his ego a little.

"Don't worry about it little Bai, you'll be at her level soon anyway, honestly your speed of what you leveling up is already crazy enough, even for the higher beings, you're the first to reach this kind of strength in this short amount of time" Lilith dismissively waved her hand

"I see" Bai Zemin nodded, and was quite happy that he was leveling up quite fast

Lilith is secretly suspicious of Hu Zhu, either she is a hidden Higher being disguised as a survivor or a reincarnated Higher being that retained her memory.

The reason Lilith accompanied Bai Zemin in the first place is because she saw a peculiar soul named Bai Zemin, his soul, was missing some pieces, and cracks were apparent as if someone intentionally trying to shatter it.

Whoever it is either a higher or lower being, messing with the lower being will result in the perpetrator being heavily punished.

After finishing all the unboxing Bai Zemin attained the following:

[Blazing Ring (Rare Treasure): A ring that contains the power of burning fire within it. When equipped, Magic +10 points. Once per day, it can release a flare of fire that can be used to attack or defend].

[Broken Bronze Bell (Magic Treasure): An ancient bell that was broken and whose current defensive power is practically non-existent. When worn it automatically increases magic power and mana by 20 points. Effect: When the user is attacked, the Bronze Bell automatically releases a shield that protects the user from imminent danger. The amount of damage received affects the duration of the effect and after exhausting all its energy it takes 24 hours to recharge its power].

[Elephant Skin (Unclassified Passive Skill) Level 5: Increases Stamina by +50 points].

The scroll disintegrated and several grey particles were absorbed into his body, deep within his soul, a dull grey rune formed, and Bai Zemin suddenly felt he had become much sturdier than before.

But suddenly another notification appeared.

[Evolution requirements fulfilled. Do you wish to evolve Elephant Skin's skill to the next level?].

"What? Woah" What happened he hadn't done anything and yet a skill could already be evolved.

~

Hu Zhu who was on the other side of the corner and didn't hear Lilith and Bai Zemin talking was minding her own business and opening her rewards, first would be the three orbs, first opening the red one.

[Normal Treasure Orb: a normal category treasure inside.].

Crushing the orb, it turned white for a moment and transformed into a pair of boots.

[Sound suppressing boots (Normal grade treasure): Suppress the sound footsteps the wearer produces].

Satisfied with the boots she next turned to the rare treasure orb.

[Saber tooth dagger (Rare grade treasure): A dagger carved out of a saber tooth's tooth, it can pierce any defense that is level 30 or below].

"Tch" She is annoyed at the reward, this dagger is useless to her as she already has a main weapon, so this treasure will probably be left in obscurity at the bottom of her backpack.

But all that feeling was left as she turned to the last orb she had, the magic treasure orb, the first time she encountered such an orb so she was excited to see what it contained.

[Broken chains of binding (Magic grade treasure): Once per day you can summon multiple chains that bind the target, the strength of the chain depends on the health the target has, the higher the health the stronger the chains].

First Hu Zhu was pleased with what she got, a long rusty, and old set of chains she held, this chain could give her a huge advantage in battle, restricting her opponent and setting her up for a heavy blow with her glaive.

Now she turned to the last two items, a necklace and a scroll dropped by Qiao Long whom she killed.

first was the scroll.

[Air Manipulation (First Order active skill) Level 1: Air Manipulation is the universal law that allows you to control the air.].

[The scope of the skill depends on knowledge, magic power, and purity of records. Its activation requires 5 Mana points but the consumption may vary depending on its use, being higher but never lower.].

An active skill, which was the first kind she had gotten, all these times she always had gotten passive skills, she thought only passive skills existed but this changed her mind.

Instantly learning it, a greenish particle flew off the scroll and into her, as the scroll disintegrated, she felt alive, and her senses had been enhanced, she could feel the wind around her, as if it was another limb.

Nodding in satisfaction she turned to the necklace which was a bit lackluster compared to the last two rewards she had gotten.

[Hurricane necklace (Rare grade Treasure): Contains great wind-like elements inside. Once a day it can release a hurricane in a straight line and send nearby targets flying. When equipped, Magic +10].

But a treasure is a treasure, she can't complain about another utility tool that she could take advantage of.

But after putting on the necklace a notification appears before her.

[Synergy found gale glaive and Hurricane necklace! Enhancing both treasures].

?!? A dumbfounded noise came from Hu Zhu and she quickly looked at her glaive.

[Storm Glaive (Rare grade Treasure) [Enhanced]: A glaive that is once hailed to tear hurricane and storm asunder each strike mimics the destructive power of storms, the blade is infused with the power of wind and lightning. When equipped, 40+ Strength, 40+ Agility, 50+ stamina].

[Eye of the Storm necklace (Rare grade Treasure) [Enhanced]: Said to seal the eye of the storm that once terrorized a great kingdom, it was sealed by a hero who wielded a mighty glaive, Once per day you can summon a storm and every target who is hostile to you will be struck by lightning. When equipped, 50+ Agility, 50 + magic].

Still shocked at what happened, her brain took a second to process what in any star alignment, did she ever get this lucky, but her weird face quickly returned to the normal expressionless but inside her mind, she was quite satisfied.

[Evolution requirements fulfilled. Do you wish to evolve your Agility boost skill to the next level?].