Soon, it was November.
Zhang Han had lit up 320 acupoints in half a year. The speed was quite impressive.
As a result, the treasures had been depleted too.
There was only half a bottle of Holy Spirit Water left. The fifth-grade and sixth-grade spirit treasures had all been consumed. Even the low-grade crystals had run low, not to mention the top-grade ones.
After half a year, Chen Changqing, Mu Xue, Jiang Yanlan, Lei Tiannan… and many others had proceeded to the Earth Realm.
Of course, Ye Longyuan and Shi Fenghou, whose strength was similar to Mu Xue’s, had also entered the Earth Realm. Their breakthrough was no big news. But when the demons appeared in their hearts afterward, it gave the two quite a turn.
Compound interest?
“I owe Zhang Han 80,000 now?” Shi Fenghou shook his head.
“Really? You gotta be kidding. When I owed you 40,000, I already didn’t want to pay you back. So, how could I pay you 80,000? The last time you spared me, I promised you that I’d repay you. Alas, I can never gather 80,000. I shall just focus on paying the 40,000 first.”
“40,000 crystals already?”
After Ye Longyuan broke through and heard the news, he was quite frustrated. There was a hint of confusion on his face. “What’s with Zhang Hanyang? The demon in my heart seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Does it mean that if I break through and enter the Heaven Realm, my debt will bump up to 80,000?
“Should I figure out a way to pay back the money first? But where can I get 40,000 crystals?
“I’ve really got nothing to say. I shouldn’t have messed with that freak.”
…
Many of those in the security group had also made it to the God Realm. Their progress was really fast.
When it came to the third month, members of the Heavenly Knights Sect started going down to the Ancient Mine. The riot in Dragon Scale City had appeased. In the other two cities on Hidden Dragon Land, Si Nan, City Lord of Dragon Scale City, had become a laughingstock.
Concubine Lan was expecting? Like hell! She had been played like a fiddle.
City Lord of Dragon Scale City was so mad that his rage still had not been placated even though he had killed two Heaven Realm martial artists from the secular world.
He felt wronged.
That incident seemed to have become a stain on his life.
During that time, members of the Heavenly Knights Sect had come down to Dragon Scale City several times to observe the situation. So, some news eventually reached Zhang Han’s ears.
Seeing that Zhang Han’s resources were running out, Dong Chen wondered whether Zhang Han, the greatest gold-thirsty beast, would visit the Ancient Mine again.
Time flew.
On June 1st, Zhang Han went to participate in the sports meet. At the same time, in the Dark Fire Mountain Range in the Ancient Mine—
“Bang, bang, bang, bang…”
A series of muffled noises were heard at short intervals. A two-headed tiger roared, unwilling to die. However, it had no alternative. The other two Beast Kings in the mountains would not come to help it at all because the three Beast Kings were also in competition.
“Howl!”
The two-headed tiger king still had not lost consciousness. Knowing that every part of its dead body would be a treasure in the eyes of poachers, how could it lie there and let them have its body?
“Kaboom!”
It voluntarily imploded.
Sadly, the fight during the last few days had exhausted its energy, and the blast did not cause big damages. Just like that, the first Beast King and its force had been destroyed.
Grand Elder of Wind Snow School and the others had taken down the first Beast King at the cost of the lives of 10 Heaven Realm martial artists, but that was still within the tolerance range.
“Phew…”
Caprice Mo Sect Leader, who was quite disheveled, yelled, “There are three Beast Kings. This was just the first one, but it turned out to be so difficult to take down. Didn’t they say that this first one was the weakest? In that case, will we be able to take down the other two?”
“Now we’ve gone so far already; doubting our ability isn’t gonna help. We’ve triumphed over the first Beast King and obtained a lot of resources. Now, I care about nothing other than getting a treasure that can help me rise to the peak stage,” the head of the Ten Tiger Sect said.
“Me too.” The head of the Limitless Sect was with him.
Noticing their confident looks and manners, Grand Elder of Wind Snow School laughed but said nothing.
But there was a cold light flashing across the depths of his eyes.
If these people got too greedy, he would perhaps have to have them whacked.
It was just that he didn’t want to do it unless he had to.
“Take a rest for nine hours, then we shall continue. The second Beast King is a Gold Stone Rat. The rats will be more troublesome to deal with. So a Heaven-earth Formation is needed…” First Elder gave the order.
On the day when Zhang Han’s treasures were exhausted, Grand Elder of Wind Snow School and the others also successfully made a breakthrough.
They killed the Gold Stone Rat and its followers with the formation.
This time, the cost was relatively small. Only three martial artists at the Heaven Early-stage were killed in the fight.
In face of this situation, the last Beast King led hundreds of its followers up into the air and drifted around at a low altitude.
The Beast King in the lead was the most powerful of the three Beast Kings in the Dark Fire Mountain Range. It was the Golden-horned Beast.
It had an ox’s body, tiger’s claws, and a rhinoceros’ head. It was 30 meters tall, and its golden horns were more than 10 meters long.
Undoubtedly, judging from its imposing air alone, it was a Beast King that had surpassed the Heaven Peak Stage!
A beast could be a Beast King once it reached the Heaven Peak Stage. However, the strength of Beast Kings varied.
“It seems that we’ll have to go through a tough battle.”
Grand Elder of Wind Snow School whispered softly, “Great fortune comes from bold adventures! If we take it down, we will have the power to dominate the world!”
“…”
That remark cheered up Caprice Mo Sect Leader and the others. Ahead them was the last Beast King. If they defeated it, they would really have their lucky break.
“When we come back next time, it will be the day when you will be sacrificed to heaven.”
The sect heads were thrilled. What they wanted to do was to get out and go to Xiangjiang to crush Mount New Moon.
Two weeks later, it was Mengmeng’s birthday. Zhang Han decided to spend the whole day with her.
This time, the family of three thought that they would spend the day all by themselves. But to their surprise, people started to come and give Mengmeng gifts early in the morning.
“Happy birthday, Mengmeng.”
“I wish my little sister, Mengmeng, a happy birthday. I hope you will become more and more beautiful,” an eight-year-old boy said with a smile.
“…”
There were a ton of gifts, which made Mengmeng very happy. But the happiest time was when she went out to play with PaPa and MaMa in the afternoon.
Now, Mengmeng could walk and run with a great sense of balance. She seldom fell unless she was completely relaxed when playing. It was all accredited to Zhang Guangyou’s martial arts lessons. Mengmeng could even do a nice kick now.
The day after her birthday—
“Ahem, sweetie, Daddy has something to tell you,” Zhang Han coughed and said on the way back home after picking up Mengmeng from school.
“What’s the matter?” Mengmeng asked.
“Daddy is going to take a business trip. I’ll be gone for about 10 days or so.”
Zhang Han stole a glance in the rearview mirror while driving.
Sure enough—
Mengmeng, who was happily licking a strawberry-flavored lollipop, immediately looked disappointed after hearing these words.
“PaPa, why are you going out again?” Disgruntled, Mengmeng said, “If you’re off, no one will escort me to and from school anymore. There are many bad guys these days. I don’t feel safe. MaMa can’t do the job. MaMa is still a delicate woman.”
“Buzz!”
The corner of Zhang Han’s mouth trembled slightly.
The girl was only five years and a few months old. The Chinese New Year would arrive in two months. By then, she would be six. She was now getting more and more ideas and was becoming a bit naughty. What’s more, she had even learned how to manipulate people.
“If it’s just for a few days, you can go. I think I’ll try to deal with it.”
Mengmeng pouted, staring at her fingers, and said, “How about three days? PaPa, come back in three days, okay?”
Although Mengmeng knew how to count and do simple calculations, she still habitually counted things with the help of her little fingers.
Normally, kids wouldn’t start to learn simple math until they were in the first grade. But Saint Kindergarten had really been dedicated to educating their kids. The faculty there understood the importance of a head start and had been teaching those kids advanced knowledge. That was the education concept they advocated.
But when it came to studying, kids had their own pace. In her class, Mengmeng might not have been the number one student, but she had always been in the top three. Regardless of her grades, every teacher who had taught her said that she was the smartest. After all, beauty prevailed in this era. Mengmeng’s little face was indeed a joy to look at.
Zhang Han didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard Mengmeng’s words.
Shaking his head helplessly, he said, “Three days is really too short. Daddy will be gone for 10 days. In 10 days, I’ll come back and stay with Mengmeng until the Spring Festival is over.”
“In that case, I want to go too.” Mengmeng pursed her lips and asked, “PaPa, will you take me with you?”
“If it was for fun, Daddy would definitely take you there, but it’s a business trip.”
“Hmph, I don’t like you anymore.”
Seeing that Zhang Han could not be persuaded, Mengmeng snorted, reluctance written on her face.
“Don’t be like this…”
Zhang Han hurriedly started to coax her.
It was not until the car arrived at the castle that he finally made peace with the little princess.
As always, she was fine after she accepted the facts.
Soon, Zi Yan came back home and played with her for a while. The castle was filled with laughter again.
The next day, Zhang Han sent Mengmeng to school.
The little girl was still reluctant to let Zhang Han go.
“PaPa, please, please come back soon. You promised me that you’ll be gone for only 10 days. If you’re even a bit late, I’ll stop liking you. But if you come back early, I’ll love you more.”
“Huh?”
Zhang Han felt both powerless and surprised. His daughter was really a caring girl that kept him warm.
Just when he was about to say something, Mengmeng added, “PaPa, I will cry if you come back late.”
“Okay, I won’t be back late. I’ll be on time. Let’s make a pinky swear.”
“Hmm, pinky swear on this.”
After that, Mengmeng went to school with satisfaction.
Then, Zhang Han drove the panda car to the company. Dong Chen and Third Elder were also there, accompanied by Mu Xue and Chen Changqing, as well as Zhao Feng, Instructor Liu, and another master. Leng Yue and six members of the security group at the God Realm Late-stage were also there, eager to go on the trip and broaden their horizons.
Soon, the group got on a plane and set off. By the old route, they arrived at Sanmen City and flew to the entrance in the Kun Xu World. Without returning to the Heavenly Knights Sect, they headed directly to the Ancient Mine Plain and found the nearest entrance.
“This time going down to the Ancient Mine, we should stay in the group and never separate. This is the first time you’re entering the Ancient Mine, so you have no idea how dangerous it is. It’s easy to get lost down there if you don’t have a good sense of direction…”
“Enter!”
After Zhao Feng made his speech, all of them entered the Ancient Mine.
The sky in the Ancient Mine was still grayish. Zhang Han looked up to study the sky and saw a few dark clouds.
It was nighttime.
But dawn was about to break.
“This time, we’ve landed in the safe area. Come on, let’s go to Dragon Scale City and meet our old friends,” Dong Chen said in an awe-inspiring tone, his face devoid of expression.
Third Elder curled his lips and ignored him.
“Why are you playing the hero here? Like we don’t know you! If you encountered that City Lord of Dragon Scale City, you would run away at once.”
After flying north for two hours, they landed on a mountain that was more than 1,000 meters high. From that mountain, they remotely saw the Dragon Scale City.
“That is Dragon Scale City? It’s so big! So grand!” Zhao Feng’s pupils shrank.
Others reacted in the same way. Yet, Instructor Liu was the first one to come to his senses.
“Holy cow! How rich is that City Lord?”
Instructor Liu chuckled and said, “Grand Elder, since you and City Lord are old friends, hurry up and call him out to pick up the guests. Let’s go into that city and have a tour. Is there any special food there? Tell him to prepare some good wine and delicate dishes…”
“Huh???”
Dong Chen’s face darkened.
“Do you really think that that City Lord and I are old friends? Can’t you hear the sarcasm in my tone?
“No wonder that girl surnamed Jiang beats him all the time. He really deserves it.”
“Whack!”
Dong Chen flung his arm and punched Instructor Liu into the earth, with his head sticking out.
“Why hit me? Boss, he is bullying me.”
Zhang Han glanced at him, shook his head slightly, and said nothing.
“Whoosh!”
With a leap, Zhang Han rose into the air and began to fly at a low altitude, quickly heading toward Dragon Scale City.
This time, he was doing it with great ease.
“This…”
Zhao Feng was taken aback.
“How could Master fly there? Is he going to enter the city? Didn’t they say that the people in the Ancient Mine would fight us to the death once they spotted us?”
“Hehe, that’s the normal situation, only that your master is not a normal person,” Third Elder answered and chuckled.
He had been silent for quite a while, but he got a retort when he first made a remark.
“You are the abnormal one, old man.”
Mu Xue snorted coldly and gave him a harsh look.
Her remark made Third Elder’s facial muscles twitch slightly. Eventually, he didn’t say anything to refute.
Under everyone’s gaze, Zhang Han began to transform. Soon, he completely became a Dark Warrior and stood in the line waiting to enter the city.
