A few minutes later, Fang Ping reappeared only to block the two men in their tracks with his saber.
“Nayagukali!”
Fang Ping taunted, infuriating the two men across from him, who felt as if they were being toyed around with.
“Kagu!”
The martial artist wielding a saber was bleeding profusely from his shoulder. The wound had been inflicted by Fang Ping—he had almost hacked the man’s arm off.
The saber-wielding martial artist was all fired up and ferocious. On the occasions when a Catacombs martial artist came across his human counterpart in the Catacombs, it would always be a fight to the death. If there was no way to escape, it was either kill or be killed.
He did not believe that this Rank-3 human martial artist was invincible.
Although Fang Ping’s Vitality was strong and his recovery period insanely short, this did not mean he could not be killed. The only reason why these Catacombs martial artists were in such a fix right now was that they had badly underestimated their human opponent since they were all at Rank-4.
The next moment, the saber-wielding martial artist’s weapon gleamed crimson in the night, brightly enough it illuminated their surroundings.
Seeing that, Fang Ping immediately took off!
He could not counter a Rank-4 martial artist’s lethal move.
The moment Fang Ping dashed off, the female archer made her move. A long arrow enveloped in bright light blocked his way.
The saber-wielding martial artist caught up to him instantly.
Fang Ping had run away from the few previous life-threatening confrontations.
Did he really think that they had come unprepared?
Fang Ping, on the other hand, was determined not to face their attacks. Balls of his feet brushing the ground, he leaped up, using the trees beside him as springboards, and continued to escape.
Fang Ping had truly underestimated the Catacombs Rank-4 martial artists, especially those who were close to death and refused to go down without a fight.
The Catacombs martial artists had fought against humans countless times. How could they possibly be that weak?
Just as Fang Ping launched himself forward from the tree trunk he had landed on, the female archer’s arrow suddenly changed direction, appearing behind him!
The hair on the back of Fang Ping’s neck rose. His Mentality kept alerting him—danger!
“A Tracking Arrow!”
Those three words flashed through Fang Ping’s mind and his expression changed rapidly.
“Hah!” Fang Ping snarled. A loud ringing sound emitted from his spine, and a blood-red aura appeared at once over his back. This was a Vitality shield that Fang Ping had erected using his Vitality.
“You can’t kill me!” Fang Ping shouted loudly, probably to bolster his own confidence. Before he could finish his sentence, the arrow lodged into his back!
Crack!
Metallic creaking sounds could be heard from the arrowhead as if the arrow had been fired into a slab of alloy metal.
However, this was an arrow fired at full strength by a Rank-4 martial artist. Even though Fang Ping had shielded his back with his Vitality, the creaking sounds very rapidly became the sound of an arrow piercing through flesh.
Fang Ping paled immediately, but his face regained its color in an instant. At this moment, however, the saber-wielding martial artist caught up to him in silence. The saber’s scarlet glow was enough to illuminate several square meters around the spot Fang Ping was currently standing in.
Fang Ping gritted his teeth and moved. Stepping on air, he forced himself to dodge to the right!
The arrow had distracted him for a short while though, making it possible for the martial artist’s saber to graze his left arm.
His left hand was instantly covered in blood, droplets falling onto the dead leaves and turning them crimson.
Fang Ping did not pay attention to his wound. This was his chance to retaliate—the two Rank-4 martial artists were weak, their Vitality fluctuating after utilizing their lethal moves, and they could not recover their Vitality as fast as he could.
He struck backward with his saber without turning around!
Clang!
The loud sound of clashing metal could be heard. The saber-wielding martial artist countered the attack, retreating swiftly to join the female archer.
The two of them had expended massive amounts of Vitality to kill Fang Ping, but things had not gone as planned.
This was because of Fang Ping’s swift recovery period.
His Vitality was constantly replenishing itself as he protected himself from the woman’s Tracking Arrow, mending the cracks in his Vitality Shield. Although the shield had finally been shattered, he had only been injured by the arrow, instead of being killed.
Anyone else would have found it difficult to counter the saber-wielding martial artist’s powerful attack after being shot, especially when their Vitality was depleted from being used to construct a defense.
Fang Ping, though, had used a large amount of his Vitality to dodge the deadly attack and thus avoid it.
...
The two Catacomb martial artists looked at each other, pale-faced and bitter.
They were not weak; any other human Rank-4 martial artist would most likely have been dead by now.
This person in front of them, however, was something completely unexpected.
He was not particularly strong but his seemingly unlimited Vitality enabled him to continuously be in top form.
Martial artists battled with outbursts; many times it took only a few minutes, or even a few seconds for a fight to be concluded.
It was rare for a battle to turn out like this, with one party exhausted mentally and their Vitality depleted after being cornered for hours.
Fang Ping repulsed his opponent with a sweep of his saber but did not follow it up with another attack.
Gritting his teeth, Fang Ping wiggled his back muscles, forcing out the arrow lodged in his flesh. Blood spurted from the wound, but Fang Ping’s back muscles shifted again to staunch it.
He had treated his back wound very simply. His left hand had been pierced by the point of his enemy’s saber, injuring his meridians and polluting his Vitality. He would not be able to use his left hand any time soon in battle even after his Vitality had been replenished.
“I’ve underestimated you!”
Fang Ping gritted his teeth, sweat dripping from his brow.
“Your Vitality is almost done for! I’m not going to let you escape, just so that you can bring other people here to kill me!”
As he spoke, his saber flashed toward the two martial artists with a whistling sound.
The eyes of the two Catacombs martial artists met. The one holding a saber said something that made the female archer’s face fall, but she did not reply.
The saber-wielding martial artist said nothing more. As Fang Ping’s saber swooped toward them, the martial artist used up the last of his Vitality and a red aura glowed from his palm. He grabbed Fang Ping’s saber and dragged him backward with a howl of rage!
Fang Ping, at Rank-3, fell short in terms of brute strength and stumbled as he was being dragged back.
His adversary did not fare much better, of course; the martial artist’s hand was already covered with blood.
The Catacombs martial artist did not continue pursuing Fang Ping after he had closed the distance between them, opting to lunge toward Fang Ping instead. In the blink of an eye, he imprisoned Fang Ping’s arms in a crushing bear hug!
“Kagu!”
Already spent, the saber-wielding martial artist suddenly growled, and slammed his head against Fang Ping’s skull!
The female archer, who had not moved previously, already had her bow at the ready. An arrow, once more enveloped in a glowing red aura, was aimed at both men’s heads!
Fang Ping could not see what was happening, as his line of sight was obscured, but his Mentality sensed a ripple in the energy around him!
Fang Ping struggled to free himself, expression full of dread, but he failed to break from the other’s clutches—the saber-wielding martial artist wanted to die with him!
As the other’s head rammed forward, Fang Ping let out a low growl, and an arrow of blood spewed out from his mouth!
Fang Ping’s opponent had put up no defenses, not when the distance between them was so small, and so the blood arrow punctured his eye and went right through his skull!
The saber-wielding martial artist did not die though, maintaining his death grip on Fang Ping.
Sensing great danger, Fang Ping flung his head back forcefully, not caring if he snapped his neck!
At the same moment, swift as ever, the female archer’s arrow pierced through the saber-wielding martial artist’s skull, going through the tip of Fang Ping’s nose.
Severe pain stabbed through his nose and then a sticky wetness. Fang Ping knew that his nose was probably disfigured but he still regarded himself as lucky—the arrow had not pierced his skull after all.
“F*ck!” Fang Ping cursed furiously. He had not expected these Catacomb martial artists to be so savagely violent, or that they might choose to give up their own lives just to drag him with them in death.
Their prior discussion was probably the saber-wielding martial artist asking the female archer to shoot both of them.
Now, the saber-wielding martial artist was finally dead for real.
Fang Ping used his elbow to land a blow and the dead martial artist flew several meters away.
The female archer nearby looked on, face pale with exertion. The two consecutive outbursts after her Vitality was exhausted had pushed her to her limits, rendering her unable to even escape.
When she noticed that Fang Ping had survived with mere injuries to his face, the female archer’s eyes flickered, betraying her desperation.
The next moment, as if an idea had come to her, the female archer suddenly reached her hand into the cloth bag tied around her waist, fished something out, and spat a few mouthfuls of blood onto it. The rivulets of blood wriggled on the surface. In the blink of an eye, the clear, pure energy particles that Fang Ping’s Mentality had picked up became a clouded mess.
Fang Ping realized what had happened. He gritted his teeth. “I’ll kill you!”
This woman had polluted the cultivation-aiding energy ore with her Vitality, rendering the stone impure!
She knew that death was inevitable; her first thought was to destroy the stone so that Fang Ping would have nothing to gain.
In his anger, Fang Ping slashed at her with his saber!
The female archer grinned but did not resist. She punched her own chest hard, and Fang Ping could hear a sound like glass shattering as the female archer slumped to the ground.
Fang Ping froze, his body covered in blood, saber in hand.
The other had shattered her own energy heart!
Her close-range combat prowess was nothing remarkable, and her Vitality was depleted. She had no way to run and nowhere to run to, so she destroyed both her energy ore and her energy heart—how resolute!
Fang Ping felt slightly at a loss when he saw the expression of disdain the female archer had on her face, even in death.
“Is this what war is?” Fang Ping murmured. Even if he had to die, he would not let his opponents take advantage of him.
It was not unlike the wars waged in the past. Soldiers, desperate in the face of defeat, would destroy their own firearms. Even if they died, their opponents would not benefit much from them.
Fang Ping said no more. He slumped to the floor, panting.
Three Rank-4 martial artists were dead, but he did not come out of the battle well either. He had scars over his entire body...most importantly for him though, he might end up disfigured.
His nose was still throbbing with pain. “My nose might end up becoming like a pig’s...”
Fang Ping muttered. He put his small backpack down on the ground, took out a Resurrection Pill and swallowed it. His insides had suffered heavy injuries as well; he had been holding the pain at bay until now. He had no choice but to take a pill.
After taking the Resurrection Pill, Fang Ping drank some Healing Water and applied some ointment on his external wounds.
He only had a few Healing Pills left in his backpack.
He had not brought too many pills with him this time. He had brought no Vitality Pills and only one Resurrection Pill to keep him from dying; he did not expect to have to take the Resurrection pill so early.
After a moment’s rest, Fang Ping got up and went toward the dead saber-wielding martial artist. He searched the body for a while, took off the man’s cloth bag and badge, and took the saber for himself. He then went to where the female archer was lying and did the same thing.
...
A few minutes later.
Fang Ping organized his spoils. This time, he had killed three Rank-4 martial artists and another Rank-3 martial artist.
He had looted two weapons—one changdao weighing about 20 catties, which was only made from D-grade alloy.
The other was a bow, quite finely made. It was a pity that it was made out of wood. Despite that, it was quite sturdy; Fang Ping wondered what kind of wood it was made from.
Along with the bow, there were 12 arrows with metal tips and wooden shafts. Fang Ping was not really an expert on this, so he could not identify the type of wood that was used.
“There are 5 basic energy ores weighing about 60 grams in total.
“Only 3 cultivation-aiding energy ores—those of 90% purity and above—weighing about 10 grams.
“Several portions of provisions...”
Fang Ping was close to tears. These Catacomb martial artists were destitute!
Taken together, the energy ores could be valued at about 10 million in total, maybe a little more.
The changdao could be only be sold for a maximum of 5 million.
The bow and arrows were difficult to price currently.
“Oh right, I hid a sword and a long spear as well. The spear’s more valuable...”
The crystallized hearts of middle-ranked martial artists could also be sold for a handsome sum of money.
Fang Ping looked around. The female archer had destroyed her own heart. When dealing with the spear-wielding martial artist from before, Fang Ping had not thought of cutting his heart out, as he was short on time...
Now, the saber-wielding martial artist was right before him...
“This is war! Leveling myself up with everything at my disposal is the right thing to do!”
Fang Ping gritted his teeth. He had to get used to all of these things.
‘If I die here today, I’ll end up as gruesome a corpse as they did!’
...
A few minutes later, Fang Ping tucked the crystallized heart into the cloth bag he had taken from the dead martial artists.
He hesitated for a while before digging two large pits with his saber and burying the two corpses inside.
Whatever his motive was—either to wipe out his tracks or something else—they were still martial artists. They deserved to have a place to themselves after death.
Not until this moment did Fang Ping check the fluctuation of his Wealth.
Wealth: 80300000
Vitality: 999cal (999cal)
Mentality: 539Hz (539Hz)
Bones honed: 177 bones (90%), 29 bones (30%)
“My Wealth increased by 16 million...”
Fang Ping was relieved after skimming his stats. It seemed like he was safe now; these spoils were well and truly his.
He had expended about 15 million Wealth points to kill the three martial artists though.
The spoils he had taken were just enough to fill the gap.
It was mainly because the few of them were too poor. They were Rank-4 martial artists, for God’s sake!
Three Rank-4 martial artists—no, there was one more Rank-3 martial artist—and yet he had only earned so little!
’16 million is too little. The system discounted everything again
,’ Fang Ping thought ruefully. The energy ores, the weapons, plus the energy heart...according to the prices, he should not have ended up with so little.
The system was annoying like that. It would only give him less but not more. How stingy!
“I should go look for the sword and long spear I buried...I should be able to increase my Wealth a bit more. Maybe it’ll reach 100 million!”
At the thought, Fang Ping set off to look for his buried treasure. The spear, in particular, would fetch a handsome sum.
...
Fang Ping felt dizzy after bumbling around in the woods for over an hour. He could only figure out his direction from the damage his battles had inflicted on his surroundings. He could not pinpoint the exact route, but the aftermath of the battle made it evident which was the general direction that he ought to take. Fang Ping followed this route as he searched.
An hour and a couple of minutes later, Fang Ping finally found the place where he had left a marker!
The sky was already bright by then!
Fang Ping was close to weeping with elation. He had found the place! Luckily he had not lost anything!
He was even closer to crying for joy when he got his hands on the long spear and the sword.
They were really good items!
The spear and the sword together increased his Wealth by 15 million points!
“They’re definitely as valuable as C-grade alloy!”
Fang Ping was thrilled beyond words. His Wealth had reached a new level of 95.3 million!
“My Wealth has increased by 31 million points. If I can sell those weapons at a price higher than that, I can earn more.”
Fang Ping felt a headache coming on soon. He had four weapons in hand–five, if his own was included–and they were quite cumbersome.
Only then did he look around. Without exception, everywhere around him were trees. ‘Where am I?’
At that moment, Fang Ping started to feel lost.
It was already daylight, but with the “sun” hanging directly overhead, Fang Ping could not pinpoint his position
The trees were also ramrod-straight. The canopy did not slant in any particular direction.
“The direction of those martial artists’ escape route from before... Did they head outside, or to their lair?”
Fang Ping was unsure if he should head toward the direction they had escaped toward. What if it took him straight to Sky Gate City?
If the exit was indeed outside Sky Gate City...Fang Ping would cry.
“One can only pinpoint directions in the Catacombs by...the topographical features of a place...the topography...”
At the thought, Fang Ping quickly dug his hands in the soil. He stared at the dark soil, muttering, “Is there any difference in topographical height?”
What he had heard in class was that the north side had higher topography.
If he walked toward the lower areas, he would be heading toward the south, which was where Sky Gate City was.
Now, though...he could not discern any difference in the topography at all!
After some thought, Fang Ping dug holes in all directions, moved to stand in the middle of each hole, and tried to decide for himself.
“Is the topography higher here?”
“No, this other side seems higher!”
“Nope...”
Fang Ping’s head hurt. It was the same height every-f*cking-where to him!
“I can’t stay here for long. Whatever, I’ll wing it after I leave the woods. If I really do arrive in front of Sky Gate City—well, the map didn’t show any woods by Hope City, so it should be just nearby. I might still be able to make it back.”
At this point, Fang Ping did not hesitate anymore. Better to move than to wait in the woods for death to come calling.
After exiting the woods and finding some landmarks, he would hopefully be able to return to Hope City more rapidly.