On a land hundreds of li near the entrance.
In a small valley.
Fang Ping slaughtered a monster that looked like a wolf. Wasting no time, he picked up the carcass and drizzled its blood on another “corpse” on the other side.
The “corpse” seemed to have sensed it. It quivered a little now, as though it was resistant.
Fang Ping paid no mind to its actions. He humphed, “I can’t find your head. Just suck on the blood however you want to. It’s good for you.”
At this moment, Li Changsheng looked like a lump of meat, a skinned one at that. It was ghastly to look at.
“Show off. Acting like an idiot. You’re pretending to die, aren’t you?”
“Gee, ‘I, Li Changsheng, sliced a Rank-8 with my sword today. How mighty am I!’”
“Motherf*cker. I’m carrying a meat lump back. Take a guess, do you think others can recognize you?”
Fang Ping threw curses around. Then, he exclaimed agitatedly, “Tell me what I should do now! All your bones have been crushed. Anything that can be exploded has exploded. There’s nothing left. Why are you even alive!”
“Tell me, how am I supposed to save you now?”
“Why aren’t you speaking! You can’t find your mouth, so you can’t speak?”
As he ranted on, Fang Ping became slightly dejected. Rubbing his forehead, he said helplessly, “Can’t you leave a way out for yourself? Almost all your bones are crushed. Now you’re just a rotten meat lump. How am I supposed to save you like that? I’m surprised that you’re still breathing. Do you have any unfulfilled last wish?”
“Why don’t you try writing it down? I’ll help you complete it and then you can just go ahead and die.”
What he said seemed to have provoked Old Man Li.
That lump of badly mutilated meat moved and moved… With what may have been its fingers, it rubbed a scrawl on the ground…
Very quickly, Fang Ping lowered his head to take a look.
After a moment, he held his chin and said, “Yo, you’re so moved by me that you can write now? That’s not easy. What kind of stuff are you writing…’get lost’?
“You old brat, it’s fine that you don’t cherish my sentiment, but you’re even asking me to get lost now?
“If I leave now, you’ll end up as monster dung. You sure you want me to get lost?”
On the ground, the meat lump continued to squirm around. The bloodied words “get lost” were much visible now.
Fang Ping slapped the meat lump, saying grumpily, “Don’t move around like that. What if you stuck your nose into your mouth somewhere I can’t even find? What should I do if I can’t take it out?”
Without paying Old Man Li any more attention, Fang Ping mulled it over and said, “Your injuries are too severe. Even my Resurrection Pills have run out from feeding them to you. Right now, it’s difficult on my side too. Over there at the entrance, I’m not even sure how Governor-General Zhang and the rest are doing now.
“Sigh, so what if you’ve killed one? There are two more!
“There are still 7 Rank-7 enemies. How many do we have on our side?
“Director Zhou has died. I can’t tell how Old Liu is doing either. Before I left, I saw that fellow Zhang Dingnan probably can’t hold on any longer. I think chances are slim for Vice-chancellor Chen too…”
Having said that, Fang Ping took a look far into the distance and added, “We may still stand a chance. I think Old Wu hasn’t died yet. They’re fighting quite an invigorating fight.
“Old Wu is rather useless too. Whatever the case, he’s still in the top ten of all Rank-9. How hard is it for him to fight a Rank-9!
“If we’d known, we should’ve gotten the top Rank-9 to come in. Let Military Department Commander Li come in!
“If Commander Li came with us, would we even need to sacrifice so many people?
“What are these powerhouses thinking? They’re not cultists, are they? Sending us to our deaths on purpose.”
What he said seemed to have pissed off the meat lump. Once again, it ground and ground, scrawling a word that read: “Piss off”.
“Piss off my ass. Where should I piss off to? I can’t piss off anywhere. You can do it, though. Why don’t you try pissing off!”
Fang Ping jeered, then sighed. “I know you’re going to say that there must be compelling reasons for them to do so. Or perhaps, Commander Li is unable to take action at all.
“Maybe when Commander Li comes, it will turn into a full-on war between both worlds then. That’s what you want to say, right?
“A war between both worlds means that the casualty rate is much higher. Hence, it’s alright to send some of these guys to die. For mankind, for our country, right?”
As he said that, Fang Ping shook his head, saying, “No matter how we put it, we’re still weak! Don’t admire Commander Li and the rest so much. They’re also a bunch of weaklings. If they’re really that powerful, they would’ve conquered the entire Catacombs straightaway. Would they even need to compromise?
“Why did he compromise?
“Isn’t it because he can’t defeat them?
“So, how the Catacombs decides to fight, that’s the only way he can fight.
“If the Catacombs said that our highly powerful Rank-9 powerhouses are not allowed to enter, then he won’t have the guts to enter!
“Brother Wu is placed ninth on the Rank-9 ranking. From what I can see, it’s just bullsh*t. If the ninth in Rank-9 is so weak, Sino Nation would’ve been destroyed a long time ago!
“Whatever the case, I think that Brother Wu’s ability is only average. If fighting a city lord is so tough, can he even fight an entire Catacombs?
“With all the Rank-9s in top ten going out all at once, would they still find it impossible to conquer at least one Catacombs?
“What are they still fighting for then!
“Thus, I’ve come to the conclusion that there must still be powerhouses around. Of course, that has nothing to do with you. It does have something to do with me, though. When I conquer the Catacombs in the future, I may even need to discuss it with them.”
Fang Ping chattered to himself, saying, “If I become the Military Department’s commander-in-chief, or let’s be straightforward—mankind’s leader, then, I’ll definitely be stronger than Commander Li and the rest.
“These guys can’t lift their heads in front of the Catacombs.
“When I become the leader, then, the Catacombs powerhouses must bow their heads to me.
“I’ll attack any Catacombs as I wish. That’s what I call satisfying.”
After a long-winded rant, Fang Ping was slightly helpless again. He said, “Alright, back to business. Can you recover?”
The meat lump scratched the ground again. Very soon, a word appeared—Vitality.
“Vitality Force?”
Fang Ping pondered, saying, “I tried inserting it for you, but you can’t. Your condition doesn’t allow you to handle something that strong. Your fake golden body has been blown to bits. Right now, your physique is much worse than an ordinary person… No, it’s slightly better. You, this lump of meat does have a pretty strong physique.
“Perhaps the reason you’re still breathing has something to do with your golden body.
“And you, old fellow, are still not teaching me. If you teach me, I may become an indestructible golden body too. How awesome is that?
“But… didn’t that golden body of yours crumble after employing that one slash? What they say about it being indestructible are just empty words. The key is still to appreciate life.”
“My Vitality is too strong, you can’t take it.” As Fang Ping said that, he laughed. “When was the last time this thought has ever crossed your mind, that you can’t even bear my Vitality Force? Tsk, tsk. Didn’t you use to be so arrogant, standing there unmoving, asking me to strike you? Why don’t you bring out that arrogance now and we’ll try it out?”
The meat lump seemed to grow so pissed that it did not want to move anymore, not the slightest stir.
Fang Ping was pleased. Then, he chuckled. “Alright. You want Vitality, don’t you? I’ll look for some weakling monsters and hack them to death, get you some blood to drink.
“Sigh, I’ve no idea where Qin Fengqing and the rest went. Or else, I’ll at least have someone to run errands for me.”
Fang Ping felt rather regretful. It was a pity.
Otherwise, he would not have to do all the grunt work himself now.
…
Meanwhile.
The Catacombs exit.
A bunch of military troops was sealing off the vortex.
At this moment, in front of the military troops, a few powerhouses stared solemnly at the vortex.
The one standing furthest in front was wearing a golden imperial crown.
After a long time, the golden crown powerhouse said with a heavy heart, “The Land of Rebirth… is really powerful!”
The outcome of this battle was out of his expectations!
A venerable died in battle!
Four chieftains died in battle!
General powerhouses… completely wiped out!
Other than the twenty-something generals who stayed to guard Gigantic Willow City, the generals whom he had brought over were all annihilated!
Whereas the other party’s king-level one had escaped.
The venerable had also made an escape with three other chieftain powerhouses with critical injuries.
Further, what they witnessed, based on the information from the Restricted Area, was not the other party’s entire ability. Very soon, the other party’s second batch of reinforcements would come.
When that happened, under the circumstance of working in collusion with outside forces, even if he could escape, what about the rest of Gigantic Willow City?
He let out an inaudible sigh. The Land of Rebirth… The Seed of Rebirth…
Without thinking about it any further, he looked at the vortex. Imperial crown powerhouse questioned under his breath, “To fight or to retreat?”
Fight, then they would have to continue sealing off the passageway, though the people from the Land of Rebirth would never give up.
Retreat, then it would have to wait until they rebuilt the city, forming a to-and-fro tussle like other districts.
After the imperial crown powerhouse had posed the question, a person beside him muttered, “Gigantic Willow City’s ability is not sufficient. Willow King, unless we call out to Monster Plant Clan and a few other cities, we can only retreat!”
“All I’m worried about is… our heavy casualties will give Monster Life Clan a chance to attack us!” Willow King sighed.
“Then, ask the Restricted Area to send reinforcements!”
Willow King nodded slightly, saying, “Right now the Restricted Area is unwilling to show themselves. The Land of Rebirth has highly powerful kings too!”
“Highly powerful kings…” That expression of the person standing beside him changed slightly. He muttered, “So, if we enter the Land of Rebirth, we can’t conquer them at all!”
“No, if we really launch our attacks into the Land of Rebirth, then the Restricted Area will take action!”
As Willow King was speaking, he switched the topic, muttering, “Did Venerable Mu really die in the hands of a general?”
“It’s a general… but…” The man beside him hesitated, then muttered, “it feels like he’s not a general, but more like a venerable imposter!”
“Venerable imposter?” Willow King looked somewhat surprised. “What do you mean?”
“A huge part of the indestructible body seemed to have been formed… However, the indestructible divine seemed to have… seemed to have shattered…”
“Hmm?”
Willow King frowned a little. After a moment, he felt at ease, asking, “He deserves to die after killing Venerable Mu. Have you found the person whom you said had escaped with his corpse?”
“Not yet.”
Having said that, the person said softly, “Willow King… maybe the people from Cretaceous City are behind this!”
Willow King’s expression changed slightly.
“That person who carried away the corpse does not have the Land of Rebirth’s aura. Earlier, he has been hiding amidst our own too…”
“Cretaceous City!”
Willow King looked cold and stern, saying icily, “This time we have suffered great losses. Cretaceous City won’t just sit around and watch if they know this. Lead a few chieftains to keep an eye out for Cretaceous City!”
“What about the things over here…”
“I, the king, will guard this place in person! Also, send someone to seek help from Gigantic Pine City. Just say that it’s an order from Restricted Area!”
“But…”
“There are no buts. I, the king, will explain it to the Restricted Area in person. Otherwise… Gigantic Willow City can only retreat, unable to guard the Rebirth Passageway any longer!”
“Yes, sir!”
This person said no more, leading a few chieftain powerhouses and left quickly.
…
On the other side, the boundary at five, six hundred li away from the vortex.
Qin Fengqing plucked a piece of grass, chewing it with a crunch. His face lit up with joy, saying, “As expected, just pick up anything random on the ground and it’ll turn out to be something valuable—how awesome!”
Wang Jinyang darted him a look, saying in a low voice, “I wonder how Fang Ping and the guardians are doing.”
Qin Fengqing said heartlessly, “Will worrying change a thing? Being a useless piece of trash yourself, you can’t assist in anything yet only know how to worry about these things. What’s the damn point!
“You are only qualified to worry about these things after becoming strong.
“No, if you’ve really become strong, you’d have full control in turning the situation around!
“This time, if we can become a Rank-6 or even a Grandmaster overnight, only then we’ll have the right to control these things. Right now, we need to hold our puny lives tightly in our hands. That’s the most important thing.
“Hiding here sighing and groaning? And with that, they can win?
“Old Wang, don’t be a fool!
“I’ve come to realize a long time ago. If your ability is not enough, you can only become a lackey. Weeping and wailing all the time, are you also waiting for someone to feed you milk?
“Let’s not talk about others. If that scum Fang Ping dies, I’ll have the guts to kill high ranks right now itself. What nonsense!”
Having said that, Qin Fengqing crushed the grass roots in a bite, not minding the mud. Looking at the indistinct buildings ahead, he gritted his teeth and said, “Let’s cut the crap and go check it out. If their ability is not weak, we’ll annihilate the town and villages, snatch a big one and run!
“If they’re too weak, then let’s not act rashly and alert the enemy. We’ll find a better place to seek treasure!”
Seeing that he was high in spirits, Li Hansong could not help but ask in a dejected way, “Aren’t you heavily injured earlier? You’ve recovered?”
‘But I have golden bones!
‘Why do I feel like I’m the weakest!
Right now, these two fellows even had the free time to think about these things. Why was he the only one thinking of healing his wounds first?
Qin Fengqing scorned, “Are you an idiot? Why do you care about your injuries! There are so many valuable things in the Catacombs. Maybe we’ll snatch some kind of holy fountain, take a sip and our injuries will recover. Aren’t we just wasting time healing our wounds?”
Li Hansong gaped in astonishment!
You could put it that way too?
Since when did injuries become something insignificant? So, as long as you could snatch valuable goods, then it was possible to heal injuries? What if they could not snatch any?
Healing wounds had somehow become a waste of time!
Yet, this statement had actually obtained approval!
In the next moment, Wang Jinyang nodded as well, saying, “Yes, healing wounds is very much a waste of time. Let’s go and make a fortune first!”
This was beyond common sense!
Li Hansong could not stand it anymore!
This was not how it should be. This was not how the university taught us!
If one was injured, it was only natural to heal one’s wounds first. Otherwise, if the wounds worsen, it would waste even more time. Moreover, if the wounds were left unattended for too long, it would jeopardize the foundation…
Li Hansong still wanted to argue, but Qin Fengqing had already started heaving his saber, standing up. He said pleasantly, “Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s make a big fortune this time. Say, do you think there are still any powerhouses keeping watch at the nearby fort over there? They sent a big bunch of them this time. What a pity.
“If we’ve entered the fort that time, maybe we could have raided their lair!”
Wang Jinyang shook his head, saying, “It’s too risky. This needs to wait until we’re at least Rank-6. Right now, we might not be able to raid them.”
“Indeed, we can’t. But, Fang Ping can!”
Qin Fengqing was green with envy, gulping, “He can sneak in! Next time I meet him, I must learn this move even if it means I have to call him my grandfather. This is too damn useful!”
It was the largest disparity between the Catacombs martial artists and human martial artists!
The difference in aura!
If one could conceal it, then sneaking into the fort would be the most awesome thing ever.
Wang Jinyang was in a more sober state than him. Instantly cutting him down, he said blandly, “If everyone can do it, do you think that he will conceal it and keep it hidden without telling anyone about it at all?”
Fang Ping was stingy when he needed to be. However, if one had grasped a secret technique like this, it would bring great advantages to mankind. Fang Ping would not be so petty as to conceal it and keep it hidden.
Qin Fengqing understood what he meant. “I know. Talent, right? I have enough talent. There won’t be a problem!”
Both of them were talking animatedly, not paying Li Hansong any attention, and strode off into the distance.
Li Hansong was mentally and emotionally tired. I was really injured!
Were these two fellows not injured too?
This was the time to heal and recover!
Sadly, he had no say in this. If Fang Ping was still around, he would advise them against it, right?
Others could not keep Qin Fengqing under control, but Fang Ping could.
Unfortunately, Fang Ping had been separated from them. He doubted that it would be secure to follow these two madmen now!
This was the one second when Li Hansong missed Fang Ping a little.
…
Meanwhile.
Fang Ping looked at the meat lump, sighing, “It’s not easy. I think someone’s hunting us down. Old Li, why don’t I bring you into the city? I can conceal my aura now. You… you don’t have any aura. Others will even believe me if I say that you’re a wild animal that I hunted.
“Why don’t we enter the city?”
Meat lump quivered!
‘Motherf*cker. This kid had a death wish. Even if I was a meat lump, I had the will to live too!’
“Don’t be too excited. I know, there are many treasures in the fort, but they’re not ours. I’m just going to take a look at whether there are any herbs or anything that can cure you. Once you’re cured, I’ll leave. Old Li, so we’ll enter the city, alright? I’ll take it as a yes since you didn’t say anything. Basically, you have no say in this.”
Having said that, Fang Ping picked up a beast hide, wrapped the meat lump in it, and slung it behind his back. Marching out of the valley, he chattered to himself, “Will there be an identification procedure or anything like that at the Catacombs fort?”
“Do different forts visit each other?”
“After going there, what should I do if someone notices a stranger like me?”
“I wonder where the House of City Lord is, and whether their guards are strong?”
“Forget it. I’ll go and pry for information and figure out certain things before I go. Maybe I can even raid their lair.”
“Old Li, this time we’re really going to make a fortune. Your what’s-that-called slashing a Rank-8 is really nothing.”
“…”
The meat lump continued to quiver!
‘You were only a f*cking Rank-4. Why did I have a feeling that you were already a Rank-9 from your tone!’
Entering the city!
Even a Rank-9 powerhouse would not dare to do so. Were you crazy!
You must be crazy!
At this moment, Li Changsheng was truly regretful. He might not have killed himself, but his chances of getting tormented to death by this kid were certainly high!
