Blood Warlock: Succubus Partner in the Apocalypse

After hearing the reasoning made by Meng Qi, Bai Zemin was surprised and stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

The skill Stone Heart was born as a consequence of his past, this was an undeniable fact. Both Lilith and Bai Zemin speculated that the reason why the skill Stone Heart was born was because those past records that shaped his personality after being betrayed by people he trusted were magnified tremendously as a consequence of the particularly strong soul of Bai Zemin; this was a fact that neither of them could prove yet due to lack of information but probably wouldn't be too far from reality either.

However, Bai Zemin had never considered in retrospect what the birth of the skill Stone Heart meant in more depth. One of the main reasons why this skill was formed was because he and his feelings were betrayed and crushed by the person he once loved, so wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that in order for this skill to disappear or grow further it was first necessary to close that past that was still present?

Meng Qi's theory and reasoning suddenly sounded very plausible to Bai Zemin's ears. Maybe, just maybe, he was facing the last lock, the last lock that was preventing the skill Stone Heart from fully evolving even though Bai Zemin was 100% sure that his current him loved Lilith; perhaps, the reason why the Soul Record had not yet crossed out that requirement as fulfilled was because Bai Zemin first needed to put a clear end to the past love and completely let go of any burden he may have inside him at the moment.

At the end of the day, regardless of whether Bai Zemin did not hate Feng Tian Wu, it was true that he always had a question he wanted to ask her.

"Alright." Bai Zemin nodded after a moment of silence. He looked at Feng Tian Wu and said calmly, "Give me a minute."

"Sure."

Bai Zemin sent Meng Qi glancing over and watched her back until she finally met Shangguan Bing Xue more than 500 meters distant. While he couldn't hear what the two women were talking about, he did manage to faintly watch as Shangguan Bing Xue looked in his direction curiously, her eyes mainly fixed on Feng Tian Wu which meant that at the very least Meng Qi hadn't told her who Feng Tian Wu had been to Bai Zemin in the past.

"So..." Bai Zemin turned and looked at Feng Tian Wu with a serene expression on his face. "What did you want to talk with me about?"

"I-"

Feng Tian Wu suddenly closed her mouth and seemed to have problems finding words to say. She had wanted to talk to the person in front of her for a long time and now that by things of destiny the two of them met again many years later she really didn't know quite what to say.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes again. The eyes of Feng Tian Wu met Bai Zemin's and a glint of resolve flashed in her eyes as she bowed her head and said as honestly as she could:

"I apologize for what I did to you in the past. I know you are well within your rights not to forgive me and I will understand if you choose not to do it.... I just wanted to let you know that not too long after that happened... After that happened what happened, I have been regretting it ever since. I know very well that what I did was not correct, so I apologize to you."

After saying those words, Feng Tian Wu, who was an extremely proud woman to the point that her pride kept everyone away from her, did not raise her head immediately and instead remained silently looking at the ground. She, who only bowed her head before her father, at this moment looked like a weak criminal waiting for the verdict of the magistrate.

Bai Zemin had no idea what kind of life the woman in front of him, a woman he had come to love and then hate at some point in his life, had led over the past few years. However, he could tell that Feng Tian Wu had really matured a lot and grown tremendously as a person.

The sincerity in her every word was more than evident and the regret in her tone of voice was impossible to mistake. If she was frightened by the strength of Bai Zemin or by the fact that in the near future he might be leading the entire base of the Chinese Renaissance it was highly unlikely that her words of apology would come from the bottom of her heart.

Bai Zemin remained silent for a full minute; a minute during which while he looked at her without saying a single word, Feng Tian Wu did not raise her head to look at him and simply stood there silently as well.

"Okay. I forgive you."

"Eh?" Feng Tian Wu abruptly raised her head and looked at the man in front of her with surprise flashing in her pretty eyes.

Bai Zemin smiled slightly and said in a sincere voice, "To be honest with you, Feng Tian Wu, it's been a while since I don't hold grudges against you for what happened in the past. Not only do I not hold grudges against you, but the same also goes for Sun Jie. The reason why I beat him yesterday has nothing to do with our past but because of what you heard during the party."

"This..."

Feng Tian Wu felt as if her tongue was tangled as no words came out of her mouth. She looked at Bai Zemin with wide eyes and really didn't know what to say as she could feel his honesty and the sincerity of his words.

He was really forgiving her just like that? Feng Tian Wu expected to be scorned, she even expected to be humiliated... But what she least expected was to receive such words and in such a tone of voice. She now did not know how she should react or what she should say.

"Actually, I have always wanted to ask you a question. May I?" said Bai Zemin suddenly, taking her by surprise.

"Uh... O- Of course!" Feng Tian Wu was still not out of her surprise and before she knew it she found herself nodding vigorously as if she wanted to at least clean up her past ugly attitude a bit despite knowing that answering a trivial question wouldn't do it.

Bai Zemin nodded and before he asked his question he sat down on the large pile of rubble. He rested both arms on his knees and leaned his body forward as he rested his chin on his right hand and looked at the woman in front of him with calm eyes.

"Do you want to sit down?" he pointed to his left.

However, Feng Tian Wu shook her head and began to feel very awkward. The more casual Bai Zemin treated her, the more embarrassed and guilty she felt. At this point, Feng Tian Wu even wished he would yell at her, pointing his finger at her, even if he hit her Feng Tian Wu would not complain at all.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of the current Bai Zemin, Feng Tian Wu was not worth it and he had no real reason to humiliate her as any hatred he ever felt for her had died long ago.

"Actually, the question I want to ask you is simple.... Although it doesn't happen as often as it used to and we could say it's no longer of great importance to me, occasionally this question pops into my head and now that we're here I'd like to clarify it." Bai Zemin also rested the other half of his chin on his left fist and while looking at Feng Tian Wu with genuinely curious eyes asked in a perplexed voice, "Would you mind telling me the why?"

"Why...?" Feng Tian Wu looked at him in surprise as she was expecting a somewhat more direct question.

"Yeah, I'd like to know why." Bai Zemin nodded and as he changed his posture to a more comfortable one he remarked in a voice that contained some self-mockery, " Indeed, I know well that my appearance back then was nothing outstanding, my family also had no power, I had no money.... Except for my excellent grades, I know better than anyone that my past self was nothing compared to Sun Jie... But was it really necessary to go to such an extreme?"

This was a question that occasionally pricked Bai Zemin's side but there were no possible means for him to answer on his own. If Feng Tian Wu had simply rejected him back then, Bai Zemin's feelings might not have escalated so high and while he would be sad, he would accept it.... But why did she have to do something that cruel?

Feng Tian Wu smiled bitterly when she heard Bai Zemin's question. She did not dare to look him directly in the eyes as she said in a low voice filled with disdain for herself:

"There is no dignified reason nor is there any logical excuse.... The me of that time was just an immature brat who under the protection of her parents knew nothing about life. At that time, I thought I was in love with Sun Jie, mistaking my appreciation for his good looks as love.... As you said, my then self could never have appreciated a person who came from an ordinary family and whose appearance was of little note."

She finally seemed to gather the courage to look at him and with a bitter smile culminated, "No one forced me, that's just the way my past self was.... That sweet and kind outward appearance you saw was nothing but a big lie made up by myself."

Bai Zemin's expression did not change at all as he listened to Feng Tian Wu's explanation. When she finished, he finally brought both arms behind his body and rested his palms on the rubble as he raised his head to look up at the almost completely black sky.

"I see..." Bai Zemin sighed as a worry-free smile appeared on his face.

"Thank you for answering, Feng Tian Wu." He said suddenly, surprising her again. Bai Zemin lowered his head to look at her and said with a genuine smile, "Also, thank you for rejecting me back then."

"...Thank you...? Are you thanking me for what I did to you?" Feng Tian Wu's pupils twitched as her lips moved and she whispered in shock.

"It sounds a bit crazy, I know." Bai Zemin slowly stood up and chuckled.

With the end of the sunset behind him, as she looked at that figure standing tall like a mountain, for some reason that she could not understand at that moment, Feng Tian Wu felt her heart clench a little.

"But, I am genuinely grateful to you." Bai Zemin stretched both arms to shake off the laziness in his body and said in a clear voice, "Thanks to you rejecting me back then, today I was able to meet the woman I genuinely love. A woman I do love for real, and not a fake image that never existed."

Bang!

Bai Zemin felt something deep in his soul shatter into pieces and he immediately felt lighter. He closed his eyes and bathed in the not-so-warm breeze of the impending night and as the messages flashed across his retina he whispered softly, "If the one I loved never existed, then I don't think that was really love."

[Congratulations!]

[All evolution requirements have been successfully fulfilled.]

[Do you wish to evolve the skill Stone Heart to the next Order?]

Bai Zemin chuckled and said in a clear voice, "You really like playing with me, don't you? Soul Record."

Although he did not give a 100% clear answer, maybe, the entity known as Soul Record, that seemingly omnipotent being who had the life of the entire universe in its control understood his intention by feeling the beating of his now free heart.

[Evolving skill... Congratulations, you have unlocked a UNIQUE Fourth Order skill.]

[You have learned the passive skill Immovable Heart.]