Zhang Chen turned his head towards Chen Ping. At this moment, Chen Ping’s clothes were stained with blood, and many holes had appeared on his body.
Even martial artists who have refined their Qi Blood find themselves in a fierce struggle against the tides of people, eventually exhausting their strength. Especially with soldiers clad in iron armor, moving as wolves and tigers in perfect coordination, even a martial artist with Qi Blood can end up with more holes in their body if careless.
Faced with a mighty army, martial artists appear rather insignificant. If not for the three Blood God Children guarding the carriage, who came and went freely, absorbing the iron-armored men around them in an instant, this carriage would likely have turned into a beehive by now.
"Even those who wield Superpowers, without large-scale destructive power, can only protect themselves against such an army," Zhang Chen mused inwardly.
The seven-tier Blood God Child is not weak, yet still struggles to protect those within the carriage.
Zhang Chen took action to seal Jin Dou, burying him underground. With order broken, the troops at Tiger Soul Pass collapsed amidst cries of despair: "The Grand General has been killed! The Grand General is dead!"
Wails echoed as chaos befell Tiger Soul Pass, iron-clad soldiers fell apart, and refugees rushed in like a tide, crossing over the Great Wall into the boundary between Pingbei Marquis and Prince Pingbian.
Zhang Chen casually walked towards the carriage. At this moment, Chen Ping knelt on one knee, clutching a spear, with blood constantly dripping from his body, looking extremely miserable. It was unclear whether it was his blood or the enemy’s.
"Zhang, am I dead? To see you in the legendary Underworld?" Chen Ping’s vision blurred, eyes fixed on the approaching Zhang Chen, filled with sorrow: "I regret failing to meet your expectations, failing to lead our family out, not avenging you by killing Jin Dou."
"Hahaha, Jin Dou has already been sealed by me, Tiger Soul Pass is broken, we can cross over now," Zhang Chen said with a smile.
"Bang~"
Chen Ping directly fell to the ground, closed his eyes, and fainted. A nearby Blood God Child lifted Chen Ping, and Zhang Chen, examining Chen Ping’s injuries, showed solemnity in his expression: "The injuries are severe; the internal organs are pierced. If not for the strong life force of a Qi Blood Martial Artist, he would have perished."
After scrutinizing for a while, Zhang Chen took out an elixir and placed it in Chen Ping’s mouth. Then, with the Blood God Child carrying Chen Ping, Zhang Chen led the carriage through the chaotic crowd and away.
"Brother, what happened to my father?" At this moment, the carriage curtain was lifted, revealing a young girl with reddened eyes and falling tears.
"Your father just fell asleep; when we cross this Heroic Pass, he will awaken again," Zhang Chen reassured with a smile.
"But his wounds are severe..." The girl watched blood droplets continuously fall from Chen Ping’s body, her eyes filled with worry, like a frightened deer.
Zhang Chen patted the girl’s head: "Don’t worry, once we cross this Heroic Pass, you’ll have a healthy father back."
Hearing Zhang Chen’s promise, the girl reluctantly pulled her head back, while inside the carriage, Mrs. Zhang grasped her dirty hands, comforting: "Good child, rest assured, since your big brother spoke, there’s nothing he can’t accomplish in this world. If he says your father will be alright, then he will be, don’t worry. Even if your father truly dies, he will bring him back."
The carriage threaded through the chaotic crowd; Tiger Soul Pass was in disarray. Led by Zhang Chen with a five-tier Demon Horse, no one dared to block their path as they smoothly crossed the Heroic Pass, entering the town behind Tiger Soul Pass, heading towards another city gate.
Inside Tiger Soul Pass lies a border region town, home to the Border Army and passing merchants, with most civilians being family of the army.
With Tiger Soul Pass broken, civilians hid indoors, fearing to come out.
Zhang Chen traversed the lengthy street, seeing the southern gate open and soldiers absent from the city walls.
Zhang Chen crossed the city gate easily, gazing into the distance, suddenly dumbfounded, as a familiar dry breeze greeted him.
Breathing the crisp air, Zhang Chen muttered: "This is right; the Northern Land should be dry and refreshing. Tiger Soul Pass’ opposite was muddled by Prince Pingbian, making one think it’s the south."
"How strange that the Pingbei Marquis doesn’t deploy troops near Tiger Soul Pass despite neighboring Prince Pingbian," Zhang Tuowei voiced his curiosity.
"Although the territories border, only important towns have stationed troops. Towns are meaningful for garrison and defense, while ordinary countryside and villages aren’t even worth discussing, nor can they afford a large military," Zhang Chen explained.
To head south across the border, a Travel Permit isn’t actually needed; as long as one avoids entering cities along the way, no one checks for a Travel Permit.
This explains why Northern Land civilians can escape south. Without Prince Pingbian issuing Travel Permits for them, how else could they leave their homeland and escape?
Zhang Chen certainly had no intention of entering the towns of the Northern Land; he only wanted to head to the Jiangnan Water Village to hide, develop secretly, and once he grew stronger, he would have the capital to wrestle with the imperial capital.
After such a long time of traveling, Zhang Chen’s Sun Embers experience points were about to reach its peak, and he would have his first ninth-level skill.
After the refugees entered the Pingbei Marquis’ territory, they scattered and fled, but with the blessing of a demon horse, Zhang Chen’s speed was not slow. He just needed to gallop along the official road.
After traveling a hundred miles in half a day, he had already left Tiger Soul Pass far behind. Quietly, the Blood God Child following him disappeared, returning to the Northern Land to begin absorbing the battlefield’s blood. Zhang Chen would not let the Blood God Child stay by his side and waste its time. He only left a Blood God Child to carry Chen Ping.
Upon reaching the wilderness, seeing the sky gradually darken, he stopped the carriage and said to the people inside: "We have reached the Pingbei Marquis’ territory. Let’s set up camp here for the night and continue our journey tomorrow."
Now Zhang Chen was the backbone of the family, and when he spoke, naturally the family had no objections.
Once the family settled their tent, Mrs. Zhang began to stew the meat again. Zhang Chen arranged Chen Ping properly, and the Blood God Child turned into blood light and disappeared. Zhang Chen then stepped forward to carefully check Chen Ping’s injuries, and after a while, smiled with joy: "Not bad! Not bad! He’s about to recover."
"Uncle, how is my father?" The young girl looked at Zhang Chen with an anxious face.
Zhang Chen patted the little girl’s head: "If nothing unexpected happens, your father should wake up tonight."
"Really? That’s wonderful!" The girl’s eyes lit up after hearing this, eagerly watching over Chen Ping. Even when Zhang Chen told her to eat, she wouldn’t go, just staying there to watch.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen brought the stewed meat to her, telling her to eat by Chen Ping’s side, while he himself went to meditate and cultivate.
In the middle of the night, Chen Ping slowly opened his eyes. Zhang Chen, sensing the change in Chen Ping’s aura, said, "You’re awake?"
"Am I dead?" Chen Ping slowly sat up.
"Father!" The young girl lunged over, her voice tinged with tears: "You’re not dead! Uncle saved you."
Zhang Chen teased from the side: "Can the dead feel pain in their bodies?"
Feeling the burning sensation all over his body, Chen Ping’s face immediately showed joy. Though the pain made him grimace, he was still full of joy, because he was alive, wasn’t he?
Chen Ping stroked the girl’s face, consoling the tearful girl, then turned to look at Zhang Chen: "Younger Brother Zhang, I owe you a debt in this life that I cannot repay."
"Haha, fate brought us together, no talk of debts." Zhang Chen brought a bowl of stewed meat to Chen Ping’s side: "Eat, I knew you would wake up tonight, so I kept stewing the meat for you."
Chen Ping did not stand on ceremony, picking up the stewed meat to feast on while speaking to Zhang Chen: "Younger Brother, I truly was blind not to see your abilities. How did you escape from Jin Dou?"
He did not believe Zhang Chen could defeat Jin Dou, only that Zhang Chen used some unknown means to escape from Jin Dou’s grasp.
"Jin Dou has Copper Skin and Iron Bones, essentially a Steel Body, and he can even become liquid and gather and disperse formless, but he has two fatal weaknesses." Zhang Chen held up two fingers.
"Fatal weaknesses? Two of them?" Chen Ping was astonished, even pausing his eating. That Jin Dou’s Steel Body was immortal; he couldn’t imagine what weaknesses it had. That stubborn, hard lump of iron even a Yang God True Man couldn’t handle; where could there be weaknesses? If there were, a Yang God True Man wouldn’t be helpless.
"The first weakness is his soul. Though his physical body is strong, his soul is not as strong as his body," Zhang Chen said with a smile.
"That may be, but Jin Dou’s combat power is formidable, with his body protecting the soul, making it difficult to shake his soul without a unique Secret Technique." Chen Ping replied after hearing Zhang Chen’s words.
You must know the strength of the shell determines the difficulty of shaking the other’s soul; with such a body of Steel Bones, shaking his soul is as hard as reaching the sky.
"The second is the Sealing Technique! Though he is Vajra Unbreakable and Immortal, his bloodline level isn’t high, and if you master the Sealing Technique to seal him, you can take him down. The Sealing Technique counteracts this kind of Superpower!" Zhang Chen said with a smile.
After hearing Zhang Chen’s words, Chen Ping swallowed the stewed meat in his mouth: "Sealing-type Superpowers are rare; I’ve traveled the Martial World for years and seen much, but I’ve never heard of anyone mastering the Sealing Technique."
ps: Brothers, happy Little New Year.