A few minutes later, Fang Ping once again blended into the crowd.
At this moment, the Catacombs powerhouses had surrounded the Rank-6 powerhouses and were cutting them down. Fang Ping snuck in among the crowd without alarming anyone. Nobody paid him any attention.
Only now did Fang Ping fully realize the sheer number of enemies from the Catacombs in the battle!
As far as he could see, the place was swarming with at least 5000 military martial artists!
Most of them were of the three lower ranks.
Meanwhile, middle-ranked martial artists were scattered everywhere. There were at least a few hundred of them.
In the center of the chaos, around ten enemy Rank-6 martial artists were closing in on the human Rank-6 martial artists.
Fang Ping had not included those dispatched by Old Man Li into the total yet. If Fang Ping summed them all up, a force of this magnitude was stronger than the entirety of the Nanjiang’s strength.
However, it seemed like the Nanjiang Catacombs lacked a certain... ruthlessness in their murderous intent.
Fang Ping witnessed first-hand the army in the Magic City Catacombs before—the army at Sky Gate City was overwhelmingly malicious!
Now, this army seemed somewhat lackadaisical in comparison.
With the powerhouses at war in front of them, a few of the military martial artists still had the nerve to talk on hushed whispers. This was something unseen at Sky Gate City; the military martial artists at Sky Gate City were mindless killing machines.
Avoiding the military martial artists, Fang Ping passed through the crowd and headed toward the peculiarly clothed martial artists.
These were the civilian martial artists from the Catacombs!
...
After reaching the front, a few Rank-4 or 5 martial artists were in flight stance and kept guard of the perimeter.
The center was the designated battlefield for the Rank-6 martial artists.
Those Rank-4 or 5 powerhouses who were in flight stance did not participate in the fight. However, many of them held longbows; they would release a few shots from time to time to disrupt the human martial artists.
Fang Ping used a Midair Step. Someone next to him glanced at him but did not say anything.
Now, Fang Ping finally got a grasp of the situation.
Dead bodies were littered all over the place!
The ground was dyed in a sea of bloody red.
Among the 18 Rank-6 powerhouses, there were six or seven of them who were at Peak Rank-6. Undoubtedly, they must have been prepared for death when they entered the Catacombs.
Who among the human Rank-6 martial artists did not experience countless wars?
Who among them never committed countless massacres?
Compared to the martial artists from the Nanjiang Catacombs, human martial artists were more experienced in slaughtering their enemies. It did not matter even if the Rank-6 enemy martial artists from the Nanjiang Catacombs were at least twice their number and amounting to nearly 50 people!
However, following the stream of slaughter, there were only around 20 enemies left assaulting Old Man Li and the others in the middle of the crowd.
Meanwhile, on the humans’ side...
Fang Ping scanned the area once and clenched his teeth. He froze on the spot.
There were only 5 people left!
Although these humans murdered countless powerhouses, they were completely surrounded without any opportunity to pile up on their opponents. More than half had already died in the fight. As for the surviving few, they were all covered in blood.
Old Man Li was still adamant about not unsheathing his sword. Like the rest of them, his body was drenched in blood. It seemed like his golden body had no effect.
The weakest among the four golden rays above his head seemed like it was on the verge of extinguishing.
On the other side, 5 Grandmasters teamed up to fight 9 of their enemies. Their fight had approached the most critical stage.
Fang Ping heaved a small sigh. Nearby, two martial artists from the Catacombs seemed to think that the winner of the fight had been determined, and started chattering in a low voice.
“It’s about to end. But the powerhouses from the Land of Rebirth are truly cruel. Do we really want to attack the Land of Rebirth?”
“I don’t know. That was what Willow King said... But now...”
What happened in the past should stay in the past. Before this, everyone thought little of the Land of Rebirth. Added with the fact that the king wanted something from the Land of Rebirth, they did not mind joining the attacking force.
As it turned out, the residents from the Land of Rebirth charged at them first and killed off many of their powerhouses.
If not for their greater numbers, they would have gotten annihilated by the army from the Land of Rebirth.
Would the Willow King continue with his plan of attacking the Land of Rebirth?
“Venerable Wood and the rest are about to kill the venerable from the Land of Rebirth!” Someone whispered.
Everyone turned around to look.
Above the horizon, three beams of golden light surrounded the golden beam in the middle. The beam in the middle started to dim.
Fang Ping was watching too, but his eyes were glued to Old Man Li.
Seeing Old Man Li placing his right hand on the hilt of his sword, Fang Ping inhaled sharply. Fang Ping must not obstruct him. If he obstructed Old Man Li, death would await Zhou Dingguo. Once he was dead, human beings would have lost this fight. The first group of people who entered the Catacombs might die too.
It was not only Old Man Li who saw the danger of the situation; all human powerhouses knew how critical it was.
Meanwhile, in a different area.
Covered in blood, Zhang Dingnan noticed what was going on with the corner of his eyes. Abruptly, he growled, “Commander Zhou must live! Li Changsheng is getting ready but he can’t kill a Rank-8! Someone must keep his opponent occupied for this to work!”
After saying that, he continued in a low voice, “This is the horror that has plagued our beloved Nanjiang! Thank you, everyone, for sacrificing your lives for the sake of Nanjiang’s people today!”
Beside him, Upright Sun Martial Arts Dojo’s director gripped his dark gold long staff.
Sorrow flashed across his eyes. Soon enough, Zhou Zhengyang muttered, “Later, I’ll detonate my weapon. It’ll hurt a few people. Mr. Governor and Vice-chancellor, keep the two Rank-8s occupied and buy Li Changsheng time. Let him kill one!”
The Grandmasters were not indecisive people. Among the 5 Grandmasters, 3 of them originated from Nanjiang.
In this war, when it came to being sacrificed, it went without saying that Nanjiang’s Grandmasters would go first!
Liu Polu and the Grandmaster from the Detective Department nodded simultaneously.
In the next second, Zhou Zhengyang roared. His long staff pierced through the void and expanded a hundred times its original size. It seemed like the long staff appeared before everyone’s eyes in a blink.
The high-ranked powerhouses opposite them appeared unaffected. Various flora and fauna appeared out of thin air in front of them and gathered at the long staff.
Greed gleamed in their eyes!
Not everyone could own a Divine Weapon. Not even if they were powerhouses in the Catacombs. At least, among the 9 Rank-7 martial artists here, none of them owned one!
Boom!
The sound of the explosion blasted into everyone’s ears. In the next moment, the dark gold longstaff started to shine brightly!
Zhou Zhengyang’s face instantly became ghostly white as mouthfuls after mouthfuls of light gold blood dripped onto the ground!
A peak powerhouse that was about to achieve a golden body state!
Once in the golden body state, your blood would become golden. Seeing how Zhou Zhengyang’s blood was light gold, it was a sign that he was not far from achieving a golden body.
Kaboom!
Another explosion, louder than when the Rank-6 detonated himself, resonated again.
High above the air, it seemed like a second energy Sun had appeared.
...
Below.
The expression on Fang Ping’s face changed drastically. He could not see it properly, but... did a human Grandmaster just detonate himself?
Fang Ping was not given the chance to mull on it as two beams of light flashed across from the area where the Rank-7s were fighting toward the four beams of golden rays.
Fang Ping recognized one of the light beams!
That was Zhang Dingnan’s energy blade!
The blood-red energy blade engulfed the entire sky and it was as though the entire land was boiling red.
The energy blade flashed across swiftly and lashed at one of the golden body powerhouses.
On the other side, the vice-chancellor of NMAU corporealized his Mentality too. Another blood-colored long staff shot toward the second golden body powerhouse!
With both of their departure, there were only Liu Polu and two others left fighting 9 high-ranked martial artists!
Despite Zhou Zhengyang detonating his Divine Weapon, he only managed to harm two enemies. Everyone else was unaffected. The situation had worsened significantly.
Zhang Dingnan’s assistance gave Zhou Dingguo a breather. Yet, Zhang Dingnan and his partner could not defeat the Rank-8s. They were forced into retreating and their Mentality started to erode with time!
If this went on, the two of them would not last any longer and would end up getting killed.
The passageway had not been opened up for the second time. Unlike in the Catacombs elsewhere, human powerhouses could provide backup after a while.
For now, they only had themselves to depend on.
...
The war fought on the horizon had reached its peak.
Similarly, the war that was going on at the surface reached its climax too.
Only 3 were left standing among the 5 Rank-6 powerhouses.
Meanwhile, only around ten Rank-6s were left from the original group of enemies that surrounded them.
Most of the Rank-4 to 5 martial artists started moving in. The expression on everyone’s face darkened—they lost too much in this fight at Gigantic Willow City!
They lost innumerable general-level powerhouses.
In Gigantic Willow City, generals still ranked high among the top powerhouses, coming in after the almighty king, the few venerables, commander-in-chief, and those on the chieftain-level.
After all these years, general-level powerhouses rarely died—there might not be a single death in ten years—despite the ongoing war between Gigantic Willow City and Cretaceous City.
Yet, more than ten of them died today!
Everyone started closing in, ready to eradicate the last of their enemies. However, the expression on Fang Ping’s face changed again. He took a few steps back.
Human powerhouses never intended to die in vain!
At this point, not just Old Man Li, even the other two would not wait for death to knock on their doors!
True enough, the two powerhouses seemed eager to make a move, as though they were looking for an opening to initiate self-destruction.
However, they were pulled behind Old Man Li in no time. Old Man Li swished his longsword around in front of the two powerhouses without uttering a word.
Suddenly, the situation of the battle changed once more!
A loud explosion sounded!
This time, someone actually detonated himself.
“Zhengyang!”
A sorrowful howl came from Zhang Dingnan!
One of the five High Grandmasters from Nanjiang, Zhou Zhengyang, might not be a member of the political and military circles, but he loved Nanjiang deeply.
To fight this war, Zhou Zhengyang went against everyone’s advice and insisted on descending to the Catacombs even though he was on the verge of achieving a golden body.
Zhou Zhengyang, who was currently at Peak Rank-7, first detonated his Divine Weapon, and then, did a Mentality-Vitality Fusion to detonate his own body!
As Mentality-Vitality Fusion transformed into Celestiality, the near golden body powerhouse’s self-destruction caused a massive force to engulf heaven and earth!
On the surface, large groups of armored soldiers were instantly crushed into piles of minced meat!
Even Fang Ping and the people around him lost their footing and fell from their flight stance.
Since Fang Ping’s Mentality was adequately strong, he fared alright.
Watching the people around him fall, cunning malice flashed across Fang Ping’s eyes and he triggered a sudden Mentality Outburst. He unleashed his Mentality in a large amount and instantly crushed the few Rank-4 to 5 martial artists who were still in a state of confusion.
No one else noticed anything abnormal. Many people around him were unconscious.
Amidst the crowd, Old Man Li shook slightly.
Zhou Zhengyang’s self-detonation was not meaningless—it did not allow the crowd time to react. Only 7 people were left from the 9 Rank-7 powerhouses, and all of them seemed to be staggering from the aftermath.
However, everyone saw the end coming!
The strongest among the human Rank-7s was already dead. It would not be long for the rest to join him in death.
The moment the thought came up, Zhang Dingnan’s angry roar sounded from the Rank-8’s battle area and a blood-red energy blade cleaved through heaven and earth!
“Kill!”
Zhang Dingnan’s face was as pale as paper. It had not been long since he broke through to Rank-7, but his combat strength was in no way inferior!
This fight would decide whether Nanjiang would become a warzone!
If they could not take down this stronghold, Nanjiang would become a warzone. From then onward, Nanjiang would be stripped off of its people and the prosperity that they were enjoying today!
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
The soaring murderous intent sent the sky shaking and stained the horizon red!
The Chaos-vanquishing Saber in Fang Ping’s hand... No, the Bandit-slaying Saber started to chirr!
Simultaneously, below him, Li Changsheng burst out in a peal of maniacal laughter!
Swoosh!
The ringing of his sword resonated across the land. Starting from below his skull, Li Changsheng glowed in blinding gold light. In the blink of an eye, the golden light extinguished as a strong power was transferred into his longsword!
Away from the crowd, Fang Ping suddenly triggered a Mentality Outburst and loaded insurmountable Mentality into the longsword.
Old Man Li seemed to be resisting at first. After feeling the familiarity from the burst of energy, he stopped resisting and peered at Fang Ping who stood in the crowd. Li Changsheng burst into laughter.
Swoosh!
The sword chirred louder now!
A beam of energy blade soared into the sky!
Its effect was instantaneous. The powerhouses around him revealed expressions of shock and terror. A lot of powerhouses began to run toward the exit!
Yet, no matter how fast they were, they could not outrun his energy blade.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
Wave after wave of blood splattered in all directions. Li Changsheng laughed loudly and cried, “You should be honored that I’m the one killing all of you insignificant ants!”
Once he said that, he broke through the crowd and soared into the air with his sword aimed at the golden body powerhouse who was fighting Zhang Dingnan!
Simultaneously, Zhang Dingnan and NMAU’s vice-chancellor triggered a sudden outburst and locked onto the two other golden bodies.
Old Man Li’s figure appeared in midair at high speed. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the battle scene.
The golden glow on his body dimmed all of a sudden.
Then, another energy blade that was even more blinding than before appeared!
Clang!
The sound of clashing swords rang like a huge bell and resonated through the sky.
“Impossible!”
An anguished roar of despair sounded at the same time. The powerhouse who opposed Zhang Dingnan used all his might to unleash his powers. His Mentality underwent a partial outburst and sent Zhang Dingnan’s blood-red changdao exploding in the next second.
Like a porcelain doll, Zhang Dingnan’s face started to crack. Even so, he continued to grit his teeth and ensure his opponent was still tangled up with him. He created a xue dao with his Mentality and slashed at his opponent!
“No!”
Boom!
The blinding gold rays dimmed suddenly, followed by yet another outburst made of a brighter gleam that exploded across the void.
“This old man’s sword can cut down a Rank-8! Believe it or not! Hahaha...”
Maniacal laughter rang across the land!
Below him, there was no one left standing before the two surviving human Rank-6 martial artists. Sadness leaked from their eyes as they Flight Stepped out of the place swiftly without turning back.
As they flew outside, another figure shot past them via Midair Step and disappeared in a flash.
...
The golden body was destroyed!
The gold light in the sky was so blinding, no one could keep their eyes open.
Fang Ping gritted his teeth and leaped into the air. His hand gripped onto a tattered figure and he left, soaring across the air toward the exit!
Currently, everyone was still tangled up in their respective fights. Yet, he had no time to care about everyone else’s lives.
Not even Old Man Li’s life!
The only thing Fang Ping could do was to collect Old Man Li’s dead body after Old Man Li pulled out his sword!
No, Fang Ping might still be able to save him!
Was that not merely his golden body that was completely destroyed?
It was fake anyway!
While frantically running away, Fang Ping retrieved a bottle of pills from his storage space and stuffed some into the mouth of a severely distorted-looking Li Changsheng. To be honest, Fang Ping could no longer make out whether it was Li Changsheng’s mouth that he stuffed the pills into, or one of the openings on Li Changsheng’s cracked face.
‘Stubborn old mule of a bastard!
‘You deserve to die!’
Fang Ping let out internal strings of profanities. After a complete outburst, Fang Ping sensed someone catching up with him. Fang Ping gulped down a Vitality Outburst Pill and felt his speed increase threefold. Then, he disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye!
He suffered a great loss this time!
If Old Man Li died, Fang Ping would hate that old man to the core!
“If you die, I’ll dig out your grave and sell your bones!”
Fang Ping continued swearing until he felt the breaths from the humanoid lump of meat in his hand weakening with time. A fiery red burnt in Fang Ping’s eyes. “Damn it, if you know you’re going to die, why are you so kind to me? Goddamnit, if you know you’re going to die, you should’ve gone to someone else. Why the hell did you come to me?”
Fang Ping continued to complain, but he did not slow down. Leaving a fleeting shadow in the air, he vanished within a second!