Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Fang Ping walked toward the direction where he felt the energy density was highest. He did not know which city was closest to the entrance. Which direction, which one?
In short, going forward was as good as it got.
When the outline of a gigantic city appeared in front of him, Fang Ping was slightly shocked.
It was very majestic and spectacular!
For a moment, Fang Ping was at a loss for words. He had been to Hope City several times, but Hope City was a confined space, a military town that was specially prepared for war.
However, cities at the Catacombs were different. This city here was almost like a grand kingdom.
The periphery was an unending city wall of massive proportions!
Fang Ping could not even see where the end of the wall was!
Inside the city, some towering buildings were faintly in view. It was not what he had imagined; he had expected small, low houses.
In the Magic City’s Catacombs, Fang Ping had never gone near any cities.
The closest he got to one was the time at the Jiao’s Forest. However, because the Jiao’s Forest had obstructed the view, Fang Ping did not see anything.
This time, however, he saw it crystal clear!
Not only was there a city, but there were also villages and a market town.
Outside the huge city, there were several small villages. At this moment, Fang Ping could see everything. Just less than a kilometer away, there was a small village, maybe it could also be considered as a town.
In the town, people were coming and going, which created a very lively atmosphere.
This kind of situation would not exist in the Magic City’s Catacombs or any other Catacombs.
Wars battered humans on earth, and the same applied to the Catacombs.
In other Catacombs, the villages near these cities had long been wiped out due to wars and hunting.
As the martial artists from the Catacombs attacked human strongholds, humans would sneak up on theirs as well.
The defensive capability of the cities was too strong. Consequently, the surrounding villages and towns outside became the targets of hunting.
Wars would always hurt ordinary people.
There was no right or wrong!
Humans had hunted people in Catacombs in waves of slaughtering and pillaging. Some Grandmasters had even been known as butchers in the Catacombs.
However, this did not mean that he was wrong.
Wars along racial lines were just that cruel.
Enemies to each other, heroes to their own!
Fang Ping did not have the moral high ground to say that the human martial artists were wrong. The martial artists from the Catacombs also rushed onto the grounds and slaughtered humans.
Therefore, human powerhouses would do anything necessary to avoid the battlefield to be on the earth.
If the humans did not take the initiative to enter the Catacombs this time around, there would not have been so many deaths of the powerhouses. The sacrifices of these powerhouses could have been avoided.
If the passageway to the Catacombs was fully opened and the martial artists from the Catacombs were allowed to rush out, the humans would be able to annihilate them at a lower price.
However, sometimes selflessness was what made a person human.
If the powerhouses of the Catacombs stormed the earth and were eventually annihilated...
The confrontation between the powerhouses could easily spell the destruction of the entire city.
No one would be able to bear such a price!
Ordinary people might seem insignificant in the battles with the Catacombs, but these people were the cornerstones of civilization.
Powerhouses like Zhang Dingnan proceeded without hesitation. Even though they knew very well of the dangers involved, and that the powerhouses from the Catacombs might not even rush out to destroy Nanjiang, they still adamantly chose to enter the Catacombs when the passageway had just stabilized.
As long as there was such a possibility, Zhang Dingnan did not want the battlefield to take place in the land of Nanjiang.
He deeply loved the place where he was born and raised.
If it were up to Fang Ping, he might not be able to do this.
He might have chosen a more cost-effective method. Even if the people in several cities nearby Auspicious Peace had to migrate, as long as one less Grandmaster was sacrificed, Fang Ping would still feel that it was worth it.
Such an idea was not something that only Fang Ping alone thought of.
However, to set the battlefield in the Catacombs had eventually become the mainstream policy of Sino Nation. Call it hypocrisy or short-sightedness, but the sacrificing of the powerhouses in exchange for the carefree of the weak had become the goal pursued by generations of martial artists.
A cruel, apocalyptic environment might not necessarily be an exchange for more powerhouses.
Even if it was, would these powerhouses be counted as humans?
Warmth, affection, love, protecting the home and the country, all these might bring forth more powerful forces from human beings.
If they were to live in an eschatological environment, would the human martial artists be able to lay down their lives to protect their homes and their homelands still?
If the powerhouses were to give up on the ordinary citizens, and if a powerhouse were to rise from among the ordinary people, would they still fight to protect humanity?
...
Fang Ping’s thoughts were drifting.
Looking at the carefree people from the Catacombs, whose appearances were not much different compared to the humans, walking on the streets in front of him, and the children were playing outside the town, he felt a bit emotional. This however quickly changed to indifference.
No matter how warm it was, this was the warmth of the outsiders!
In the battle between the races, one must not be soft-hearted. One day, if it were necessary, he, Fang Ping, might also become a butcher and executioner in the eyes of these people.
Breathing lightly, Fang Ping did not enter the town.
He also did not continue to move forward but found a small forest, sat cross-legged, and began his cultivation.
It was getting dark, and it would be not too late to enter the town when night fell. Before making further preparations, it would be better to access the situation first.
...
Nights at the Catacombs came suddenly.
The huge energy Sun was also the main reason for verifying if the Catacombs were one body.
However, in each Catacomb, the energy Sun that could be seen as slightly different. Thus it was also difficult to ascertain for the time being whether each Catacomb had their energy Sun or whether it was a Sun shared by all.
As soon as it got dark, the town ahead became much quieter.
Quiet, but not complete silence.
The tallest building in the town emitted a faint light, which enabled people to still see the outline of the town at night.
Fang Ping suddenly understood how Qin Fengqing and the others had managed to discover the energy stone!
“So this was how!”
“The thing that they grabbed every time was this kind of illuminating energy stone?”
The radiation range was so wide, even if it was not a cultivation-aiding energy stone, or even a basic energy stone, the block size would be incomparably huge!
As to whether it was or not, Fang Ping had not got hold of it and thus could not make a judgment for the time being.
“When I leave, if there is nothing of value that I could get in the city, the least I must do is grab this!”
As Fang Ping did a mental calculation, the huge city in the distance was emitting a faint light.
Fang Ping swallowed. There was no need to look at it anymore. In the city, there would be lamps made of energy stones. There should be many as he could see the light across the far distance. In all likelihood, there was not only one but countless energy lamps.
Disregarding anything else, these alone were huge assets for humans!
Patting the lump of meat on his back, Fang Ping whispered, “I’ll sneak in first, Old Man Li, don’t make any noise. This time, we are destined to make a fortune!”
The lump of meat said nothing.
Fang Ping considered carefully and exhaled slightly. “Don’t pretend to be dead, if you pretend to die, I will really think that you are dead.”
Old Man Li ignored him and continued to be silent.
Without further nonsense, Fang Ping opened up his energy shield, his feet gathering speed as he stepped into the air. Soon, he reached the periphery of the town.
Around the town was a circle of shabby walls. It was perhaps the city wall, but it seemed to be no higher than a man’s height. Presumably, it was there to prevent the intrusion of monster beasts.
As far as Fang Ping was concerned, with that kind of height, it made no difference whether there was a wall or not.
With a slight jump, Fang Ping sailed over the walls and entered the small town.
The town at this moment was not as busy as during the day. In addition to the light shining above the tallest building in the center of the town, there were also a few faint lights in the town.
Fang Ping’s Mentality was freely hovering around, mainly to sense the intensity of the fluctuations of energy.
If he found a place with a lot more people talking, he would be able to learn more.
Mankind’s knowledge of the Catacombs mostly came like this.
High-ranks were holding the fort in the city, which made it difficult for human powerhouses to enter. However, if it were the small towns, it was not difficult for the Grandmaster powerhouses to sneak in, and sometimes they could gather some useful information.
After a moment of induction, Fang Ping moved and walked quietly toward a slightly more populated place.
...
In the darkness, Fang Ping stood at the corner of the houses. Unless someone was looking intently, it would be difficult to notice him.
Opposite him was a two-story building with a large door.
The houses in the Catacombs were mainly built out of boulders and wood and were slightly rugged. The decorations were mainly animal skins, horns, and teeth.
From this perspective, the people from the Catacombs were more like ancient human tribes.
However, architecture did not represent anything. It was only a different style.
The Catacombs’ humans had their own language heritage, martial arts inheritance, system institution, and structured army. These all meant that the Catacombs’ mankind were not uncivilized savages, but a new civilization which took a different path in their development.
On the opposite side was a place that resembled a human bar, teahouse, clubhouse, or something of the sort.
At this moment, the light was slightly dimmed, but there were many people inside.
Almost all were martial artists!
The Catacombs had a clear classification of ranks. Fang Ping did not know whether it was because the expenditures were so high that ordinary people could not afford to enter, or if they were not allowed to at all. He saw that the few people of the Catacombs who were without energy fluctuations seemed to be all service personnel.
The others, whether strong or weak, had energy fluctuations.
From Fang Ping’s judgment, they were all weak and were not much different from the Rank-1 and Rank-2 of the human martial artists. He could hardly see any Rank-3s except for one person who was sitting alone on the second floor. With this level of strength, Fang Ping did not even need to lift a finger. Once his Mentality was unleashed, the strong might not be shaken, but to kill the weak would be but a blink of an eye.
Of course, Fang Ping was not here to kill.
Fang Ping’s ears twitched slightly. As he had completed the honing of his ossicles, if he listened carefully, he could even hear the ants crawling within the range of a few hundred meters.
The martial artists on the opposite side were drinking liquor... Fang Ping guessed that it was liquor because the way they were chatting and goofing around was very similar to that of the humans.
As they drank, they were chatting away at the same time.
Due to their heavy accents, Fang Ping could not make out their words the first time he heard it. After listening a bit longer, he found it easier to grasp some meaning.
For a foreign language, with some basic knowledge, adding on the tone, attitude, and expression of the speaker, it was not too hard to discern the general meaning.
Today’s headlines focused on one thing: it was a big battle that happened during the day.
That battle between 20 high-ranks took place about 500 miles away from this place. In the later battles, there was even a battle of Rank-9 in a place less than a hundred miles away from everyone. The coercion from the powerhouses was overwhelming, covering the land and these people felt it.
At this moment, these low-ranked martial artists were high-spiritedly discussing this huge battle that had never been seen before.
“Brother Duanmu, you are well-informed. Did the king personally attack during the day?”
“Brother Duanmu, was it Cretaceous City that invaded us?”
“I heard that a lot of generals had fallen this time, is it true?”
“...”
“It wasn’t the powerhouses from Cretaceous City that invaded us, it was powerhouses from a foreign territory!” Among the crowd, a young Rank-2 martial artist smiled lightly. “Everyone knows that our Nine Southern Territory is not the only territory out there.
“This time, it seems that the territory boundary is open, and the powerhouses from the territory adjacent to us wanted to invade our Nine Southern Territory.
“The King and several Venerable chieftains had long been prepared and ambushed the opponent.
“There were countless casualties and injuries among the foreign powerhouses. Although Gigantic Willow City suffered some damage, it was not serious. With the presence of the king and the venerable chieftains, the foreign powerhouses couldn’t do much.
“I heard my father saying that the king had sent someone to contact Gigantic Pine City to join forces to kill the king-ranked powerhouse from the foreign territory.
“We only needed to kill the foreign king who broke through the boundaries, and the matter will be resolved.”
“Are there also kings in foreign territory?”
“Of course, but our king is the strongest among the kings. Besides, there is Divine Willow in Gigantic Willow City. The foreign king would not dare to fight our king in Gigantic Willow City as he will die!”
“Brother Duanmu, I heard that a lot of general powerhouses have died this time. Then, Master Duanmu ... The next time we see Brother Duanmu would be when you go to the main city.”
“Careful with your words...”
“...”
In the bar, the people on the first floor were chatting with excitement. There were no signs of panic due to the attack of the foreign king.
As long as King Willow was present, there was peace and safety. This notion had been deeply rooted in the people’s hearts for hundreds of years.
Even the powerful King of Cretaceous City could not get the upper hand against King Willow.
The power of a king was well known to everyone, and everyone completely trusted in King Willow.
...
Opposite the bar.
Fang Ping was still constantly trying to discern the meaning of their words. By listening to more people’s chatter, even if he did not understand everything, he could gradually get a general context.
“Senior Wu is unscathed but... this city’s Rank-9 seems to be in cohort with the Rank-9 of another city to kill Senior Wu. Will things go bad for Old Wu?”
“It would be at least until the day after tomorrow for the passageway to be stable for the second time. And when it’s the second time that it is stable, it is difficult to say whether or not any Rank-9 will enter... After all, no one returned to report this time.”
According to the original plan, if the passageway of the channel was secured, then when the passageway was stabilized for the second time, there would be someone sent back to report.
But now, since the passageway could not be secured, sending a report was out of the question.
On Nanjiang’s side, they might not continue to let the powerhouses take risks. According to the original plan, the expendables might be sent in to investigate the situation.
If there were no backup... Wu Chuan might not be able to last long in the face of the encirclement and suppression of the two Rank-9s.
“It is also difficult to say, as there were so many high-ranks entering, maybe there will be Rank-9 powerhouses coming to support in the second batch. Old Wu should have anticipated it.
Fang Ping shook his head. Although he was the president of MCMAU’s Martial Arts Society, he was not a Grandmaster powerhouse. He had no right to know of certain decisions.
All he knew was surface information.
“It would be nice to mingle with the top management.”
Fang Ping whispered in his heart, and then carefully tried to discern what “Duanmu” had said.
Despite not being able to understand much, Fang Ping still knew that this old man seemed to be someone of importance. Should he capture him to obtain information?
If he were to capture him, then he would have to kill to silence him.
If he were to kill this time, his rash actions would alert the enemy, thus hindering his subsequent infiltration into the cities.
“All these years, human Grandmasters didn’t press for any information? Even with the language barrier in the past, it wouldn’t be difficult for the Grandmaster to capture some people. Even if they were not afraid of death when they reached the ground, were they also not afraid of death in their home base at the Catacombs?”
“Sometimes, it does not necessarily require language communication to source for information.”
Fang Ping stroked his chin. He had always felt that many things were being concealed by the human’s higher-level management. This felt inefficient.
To be fair, Fang Ping himself had also concealed a lot of things that should be common knowledge to the public.
Without reaching a certain level, the knowledge would be useless.
He was a Rank-4 martial artist. From the perspective of the human high-level management, he would only be active nearby the stronghold. Knowing too much would not be of much use and instead would only easily cause panic or despair.
“Forget it, I will find a way to understand these things when I am back to the ground. The important thing now would be to capture someone over for some information, the kind that wouldn’t attract others’ attention.”
Fang Ping’s sight aimed at the lone man on the second floor!
A Rank-3 martial artist should also know a lot, right?
In a small town like this, a Rank-3 would not be considered a weak person. If he were to suddenly disappear for a few days, not many people would enquire about it, right?
Martial artists from the Catacombs would also go out to hunt, to explore, or to search for treasures.
The only setback was if he had strong family members or friends. If they were to discover the disappearance of the person, they might be able to deduce the connections.
“I don’t care!”
Fang Ping gritted his teeth. He was not going to stay for long anyway. After a few days, he might have returned to the ground.
He would capture him and ask for information first. It would be better to be exposed in the town than in the city. At least Fang Ping still had the confidence to be able to kill and escape from here.
Once he arrived at the city, then he would not be so sure.
...
In the dark, Fang Ping was very patient and slowly waited.
On one hand, he was listening to the conversations of the people. On the other hand, he was paying attention to the movements of the lone man on the second floor.
After a while, the man on the second floor went downstairs.
When he came downstairs, the owner of the bar and the guests on the first floor all showed respectful expressions, lowering their heads when sending him off. Even “Master Duanmu” was no exception.
That guest from the second floor looked straight ahead and walked out, while the others did not show any displeasure at this.
Looking at this situation, Fang Ping had a clearer understanding of the strict classifications of the rankings in the Catacombs.
In Sino Nation, although everyone respected high-ranking martial artists, they had not reached this point.
“You are the one!”
In the night, Fang Ping’s Mentality was strapped onto the other party and followed him along the way. It would be better to assess the situation first.
If the other party was to go out on his own, or if there were nobody else at home, it would be more convenient to attack.
“Maybe I should capture another one to make sure this guy doesn’t trick me.”
Fang Ping continued to think about it. This was a matter of life and death, which he had always taken seriously. He was not like Qin Fengqing. Being as easy-going as him would sooner or later lead to death.