An offshoot of the White Mountains.
In a giant sinkhole.
The smoke began to fade away.
The entire mountain was now utterly silent.
After some time—no one knew how long—some gravel lying in the sinkhole moved ever so slightly.
Soon, a head with severe injuries emerged from the bottom of the sinkhole.
“I’m...not dead!”
A voice filled with strong resentment rang forth!
The middle-aged man struggled to crawl out of the sinkhole. Right now his body was a wreck; both of his legs were missing.
As the man continued his struggles, the gravel nearby started to move once again.
A golden skeletal creature clawed its way out of the gravel, shaking its injured head. “I’m...not dead yet. Lucky me...but it’s only a matter of time!” His voice rang out, loud enough to wake the dead.
Fang Ping was really disoriented at present. Fortunately, he still had Wealth points available; he was healing his injuries non-stop.
Fang Ping was alright. He was not going to die anytime soon.
However, he continued digging through the gravel for some time... until he unearthed a severely battered corpse-like body. “I’m so sorry. Brother Wang, are you still alive?” Once again Fang Ping’s hoarse voice sounded.
As he spoke, he brought out a few high-ranked energy stones in his hands. These were the last of his supply.
Fang Ping crushed the energy stones into pieces and stuffed them directly into the “corpse”.
Fang Ping then waited for a moment. Soon, the “corpse” made some faint movements, so he muttered softly, “Are you...are you dead?”
“No.”
Fang Ping turned his head and looked at the still-crawling half-body of the middle-aged man and said coldly, “Crawl all you want. If you can crawl out of here, kudos to you.”
The middle-aged man was not dead, but the bottom half of his body was gone, thanks to the explosion.
The upper part of the man’s body was also extremely damaged. Fang Ping determined that his Sanjiao Gate had also blown been up—there was absolutely no sign of Vitality Force fluctuation within him at all.
This fellow must have had really strong survival instincts to survive all that.
He might have survived, but there was no chance of him living very much longer.
Fang Ping was too exhausted to try and kill him, and the man could not crawl out of here anyway.
After catching his breath slightly, Fang Ping noticed that the middle-aged man was still struggling to crawl out of the sinkhole. He asked with difficulty, “Why struggle? Do you think you’re just like us? Our bones and bone marrow have mutated—you think you’ve mutated as well? You may as well just kill yourself and get it over with...”
“The Divine Sect...won’t let you get away with this!”
The middle-aged man’s blurry eyes showed a hint of despair.
He was going to die!
As Fang Ping had pointed out, his injuries were so severe that his Sanjiao Gate was destroyed. Even if he managed to escape this place, he was not going to survive.
That is, unless he could bathe in some Energy Essence and heal his injuries.
However, Energy Essence was a precious substance—even the Rank-9s venerated it beyond measure and treated it like treasure. He was merely a Rank-6 martial artist. Even if any of the evil sects had Energy Essence, they certainly would not give him any.
His injuries could not be healed with a mere handful of Energy Essence; it would probably take more than a few catties’ worth.
That amount would be more than enough to train a Rank-7.
“Divine Sect? To hell with the Divine Sect!”
As Fang Ping was replenishing his Vitality Force and Mentality with his Wealth points to keep his injuries from getting worse, he quipped, “Relax, those bastards will be joining you soon!
How dare you ambush me? I didn’t die—so now you’re finished, all of you!
You could have gone on with your squabbling. I wouldn’t even have had the time to meddle with you clowns if you hadn’t messed with me!
You just had to provoke me, didn’t you...just you wait, I’ll kill you all once and for all!”
Fang Ping continued, “It really makes me wonder... you evil sects have enough internal conflicts to worry about, yet they sent you, a Rank-6, to kill me? Don’t you know I’ve killed countless other Rank-6s in the Nanjiang Catacombs?
If we weren’t in the human world, do you think a mere Rank-6 like yourself could force me into a situation like this?
If the evil sect had any sources of information in the Catacombs or among the higher-ups in the human world, they would be aware of this.
Forget about Rank-6—down in the Catacombs, even Rank-9s couldn’t kill me.
A mere Rank-6 like you should ask yourself—if it wasn’t because I didn’t want to hurt innocents, do you really think you would be able to put me in such a situation?
It’s a dog-eat-dog world; seems you’ve pissed someone off and been set up as well.
You haven’t even achieved Mentality-Vitality Fusion and you want to kill me?
No wonder I got a text message at night saying someone was going to ambush me. I was wondering who would tell me such a thing. Who knows? It might have been your enemy.”
Although the middle-aged man had started to lose consciousness while Fang Ping was speaking, he heard what Fang Ping said. His battered body stiffened slightly and he stopped crawling.
Wang Jinyang, lying beside them, had already given in to his fatigue, yet this fellow could still talk so much.
Currently, the man could not even move for fear he would fall apart.
Fang Ping’s breath came in panting gasps. He said wearily, “Looks like someone’s been trying for a promotion after we killed those evil sect high-ranks last time. A Peak Rank-6 like you might have had the same idea, right?
Is the evil sect planning to train more Peak Rank-6s so they can become high-ranks?
Whose plans did you get in the way of?
I’ve heard that there are many different branches even in evil sects. Could the other sects be trying to frame you?
Three Rank-6s just died. If they were members of your sect...I’m afraid you guys are finished this time.”
The middle-aged man looked as if he were already dead. He sprawled on the ground, his breathing almost imperceptible.
Upon seeing that, Fang Ping no longer bothered with him. He started gasping for breath again and whispered, “These evil sect bastards. Do they really think I killed those high-ranks? If they hadn’t been double-crossing each other, there wouldn’t be so many high-ranks dead...
“Humanity has really lost its way!
“It’s fine. The more people die, the better...”
Wang Jinyang suddenly whispered, “He’s dead, stop toying with him.”
Fang Ping nonchalantly said, “Do you think I’m toying with him? I’m telling you, someone gave me a heads-up; if not, I would have been killed by three Rank-6s. However, they didn’t harbor any good intentions as they only warned me at the last minute. It looks like they wanted to see us fight to the death.
No guesses necessary; it’s either the evil sect or the two major companies.
If it were someone else, they wouldn’t warn us on such short notice.”
“You...you mean it?” Wang Jinyang asked, befuddled.
Fang Ping murmured, “Of course I mean it. It’s probably his enemy though. Dog eat dog, that’s nothing new.”
“That’s true.”
As the two went on, the seemingly-dead middle-aged man suddenly muttered, “Upright Sun...Upright Sun Martial Arts Dojo...Liu He...Nanjiang Pill Company...Zhao...Zhao Yu...”
“He’s one of you?” Fang Ping’s gaze altered slightly.
“Kill...kill them...”
The man’s injured head lolled over suddenly as he muttered his last words.
Fang Ping carefully sensed the man out for a moment before saying, “He’s really dead this time!”
Although Wang Jinyang had the urge to fall asleep, he suppressed it and murmured, “Could he...could he be giving us all that nonsense on purpose?”
“No idea, I’ll check on that later. There are always clues left behind. These two people he mentioned...do you know them?”
“Peak Rank-6s...the last few Peak-Ranks in Nanjiang...
“Director Zhou died in battle...Liu He took over Upright Sun Martial Arts Dojo!” Wang Jinyang said, his face as white as a sheet.
Upright Sun Martial Arts Dojo was Nanjiang’s largest Martial Arts Dojo; most of Nanjiang’s casual martial artists trained there.
After Zhou Zhengyang died in battle, Liu He had taken over the martial arts dojo. If he was really a member of the evil sect, that would be a very big problem indeed.
As they continued their conversation, Fang Ping sensed a monstrous momentum heading their way and hurriedly said, “Hold on, keep quiet!”
“What?”
“There are less than two Grandmasters, keep quiet!”
“Alright.”
Wang Jinyang instantly understood what Fang Ping meant. Fang Ping probably did not trust a single soul right now—not even Commander Bai.
While Wang Jinyang was still lost in his thoughts, Fang Ping suddenly started moving. He wormed his way through the gravel and whispered, “Just tell them you have no idea where I am—hold them off, at least until another Grandmaster gets here!”
Wang Jinyang had no idea what to say. Did this fellow really suspect Commander Bai of being a member of the evil sect?
The probability of that was way too low.
Commander Bai was the leader of the local Military Department. If he could not be trusted, then Nanjiang truly was in danger.
Nevertheless, Fang Ping wanted to do things this way. There was no harm in being careful, so Wang Jinyang just kept quiet.
Very soon, Fang Ping had wormed his way underground. Wang Jinyang then shifted his body to cover the resultant hole. Once underground, Fang Ping could not be detected at all.
Right after Fang Ping had hidden himself, a tall figure appeared. It was Commander Bai in his military uniform. Expression serious, he looked around before breathing a sigh of relief and hurrying over to Wang Jinyang.
Upon seeing Wang Jinyang so weak he could barely breathe, Commander Bai instantly took out a bottle of pills and poured the contents into his mouth. Knitting his brow, he asked worriedly, “Jinyang, where’s Fang Ping?”
Wang Jinyang looked as if he had just woken up, gasping for air. “I...I’m not sure...”
“Who attacked?” Commander Bai pressed.
Wang Jinyang seemed as if he were incapable of speech. His lips moved, yet no words came out.
“You’re critically injured. Let me look for Fang Ping first. Once he’s found, we’ll go back for medical treatment immediately!”
Commander Bai did not continue with his questions. His Mentality spread out, searching the area.
After a short while, Commander Bai’s expression changed. He sensed nothing!
Was Fang Ping dead?
Only a dead man with no signs of life could hide from him.
A moment later Commander Bai rose into the air and searched the entire area.
If Fang Ping was dead, they were headed for disaster.
At the very least, those fellows in MCMAU would certainly not let this slide.
Right as Commander Bai alighted on the ground after a futile search for Fang Ping, several powerful forces were already close by.
Commander Bai said nothing more, but injected round after round of Vitality Force into Wang Jinyang’s body to help him suppress his injuries.
After about three to four minutes, two figures descended from the heavens.
“Old Bai, what’s wrong?”
One of the two, a square-faced man, asked as soon as he landed.
“What’s going on?” The other, a skinny old man, also asked, his expression difficult to read.
In no time at all, they saw Wang Jinyang’s severely damaged body on the ground and their faces changed color.
“Where’s Fang Ping?”
Commander Bai shook his head and said, “No sign of him.”
These two newcomers were powerhouses of the neighboring provinces.
One was the Donglin powerhouse, while the other one was the Nanhu powerhouse.
As for Nanjiang’s local powerhouses, only Commander Bai had hurried here.
Under normal circumstances, Zhang Dingnan would be here too. However, Zhang Dingnan was seriously injured. Even if he got wind of this, he still would not be able to make it.
Fang Ping remained underground and did not show himself yet.
He wanted to wait a bit longer, at least until someone he was familiar with arrived.
However, Magic City was quite far away from Sun City. Even the people from MCMAU could not get here that fast.
After a few more minutes, two more Grandmasters from neighboring provinces showed up above ground.
Five Grandmasters had arrived!
Only now did Fang Ping feel safe. All five Grandmasters could not possibly be members of the evil sect. If things had come to such a pass, the evil sect would have opened the passageway a long time ago.
As the Grandmasters searched the area, they helped Wang Jinyang to stabilize his injuries as well. While they were quietly conversing with each other, the gravel below them moved slightly.
They immediately went on the alert and prepared to attack.
A little while later, a shocking scene took place.
A golden skeleton crawled out from the ground. At present Fang Ping had no more flesh on both his arms. Other parts of his body were in slightly better condition, but they were also badly mutilated and mangled.
As he crawled out from the ground, Fang Ping saw the Grandmasters eyeing him threateningly. Hurriedly he gasped, “It’s me, Fang Ping from MCMAU!”
“You’re alive?”
One of the Grandmasters blurted out.
It was utterly astounding!
This fellow was severely injured. Although the Grandmaster did not take a closer look...well, there was no need for a closer look. Just one glance at Fang Ping and even an idiot would know he was critically injured—yet somehow, he had survived!
Fang Ping’s badly mutilated face did not show much change of expression, but he was obviously in bad condition.
“Grandmasters, do any of you have some Resurrection Pills? I’m dying...”
As soon as he spoke, several Grandmasters immediately took out some pills. Without another word, Fang Ping took them. He did not even bother swallowing them, he stuffed them into his body through the hole in his chest.
The Grandmasters’ face changed color again as they watched the scene unfolding before their very eyes.
Fang Ping’s vital force was extremely tenacious!
They could see all his internal organs clearly; the majority of them were shattered.
After Fang Ping had inserted the pills into his body, he asked, “Grandmasters, do any of you have some Energy Essence? Please lend me some for now. MCMAU will repay you—I can’t hold on any longer...”
The Grandmasters looked at each other. An elderly man among them smiled wearily and said, “We really don’t have any, Fang Ping...can you hold on for just a bit more?”
Fang Ping’s injuries would not be easy to heal!
All the Grandmasters felt helpless; they did not know what to do. For Wang Jinyang, they could at least still keep his injuries from getting worse.
In Fang Ping’s case, however, the injuries he had suffered were such that healing them would be very difficult indeed.
As for the Energy Essence, what a joke—as if it were something that everybody had at hand!
Commander Bai took a deep breath and said, “We’ll wait for just a little longer till a Rank-8 golden body powerhouse gets here!”
A Rank-8 golden body powerhouse possessed the imperishable substance.
If it were a large amount, the Rank-8s would probably be unwilling to part with that much of it.
However, most people would not say no to using some of their imperishable substance to aid in healing Fang Ping’s injuries.
The Grandmasters had no choice but to wait.
They did not ask any more questions. At that moment, both Wang Jingyang and Fang Ping were in critical condition; the main thing was to stabilize their injuries first.
As for the corpse on the side...they had all seen it. All of them were shocked to the very core.
The dead man was a Peak Rank-6 martial artist!
He had died here. If it was one of their own powerhouses who had attacked him, they should have already seen them by now.
Since it was certainly not one of them, how did this Peak Rank-6 die?
Also, what was going on with the explosion of Celestiality before this?
Furthermore, what had happened to Fang Ping’s bones?
All the Grandmasters had excellent eyesight—these were actual golden bones!
A Rank-5 martial artist had somehow developed golden bones—this was unbelievable!
The reason Fang Ping could survive until now had a lot to do with his golden bones.
.
Could Fang Ping be the one who had killed the Peak Rank-6?
Uncertainty after uncertainty rose in their minds. At that moment, all the Grandmasters had far too many questions they wanted to ask.
However, since Fang Ping and Wang Jinyang were focused on healing their injuries, the rest could only wait.
...
After waiting for a while longer, the first powerhouse with a rank higher than Rank-7 finally arrived.
It was none other than Wu Chuan!
Back at the Nanjiang Catacombs, someone had managed to enter and report the news.
Celestiality had just exploded at the Nanjiang boundary—this was a significant connection. Zhao Xingwu was still in the Catacombs. Both parties had not yet started a Rank-9 war. Wu Chuan was weaker than Zhao Xingwu, but he immediately left the Catacombs and headed to the border once he got the news.
Once Wu Chuan arrived, Fang Ping, who was busy healing his injuries, suddenly called out, “Senior Wu, help!”
“Fang...Fang Ping?”
Wu Chuan was stunned, he really did not recognize Fang Ping.
He took a closer look. Fang Ping’s face was badly mutilated, but still recognizable. Having seen the situation, Wu Chuan could care less about Fang Ping’s golden bones. He immediately clapped his hands onto Fang Ping and wisps of light golden substance passed from his palms into Fang Ping’s body.
A short while later, Fang Ping’s bones started growing some flesh.
The split flesh on Fang Ping’s face also began to heal.
Fang Ping could feel the changes and was immediately overjoyed at the effects of the imperishable substance!
In the midst of his rejoicing, Wu Chuan stopped suddenly.
Fang Ping was stunned for a moment. Dully he begged, “Senior Wu, a little more—just a little more, I really am dying.”
Wu Chuan smiled wryly and said, “You’re not going to die...that’s about enough. I can’t use any more substance. If I continue using it, I’ll be affected when war erupts in the Nanjiang Catacombs.”
If he was not tasked with guarding the south, Wu Chuan could still help Fang Ping.
Right now, however, Wu Chuan was now on a mission. The Rank-9 war could erupt anytime soon, so he could not use too much imperishable substance.
Fang Ping should be able to survive right now.
This fellow’s injuries looked extremely serious. However, Wu Chuan could also sense his extremely tenacious vital force.
The benefits of golden bones had also started to show. His bones were thriving with life energy.
Compared to Fang Ping, Wang Jinyang’s injuries were much more problematic.
While he was thinking about this, Wang Jinyang, who had been sitting cross-legged, suddenly began exuding pale golden rays from within his body!
Everyone present was stunned!
“This...this...”
All the Rank-7 Grandmasters were so shocked they did not know what to say!
What was going on?
Were these two prodigies really Rank-5?
One had formed golden bones while the other’s body was now radiating imperishable substance and helping Wang Jinyang heal!
They were shocked, but Fang Ping’s pupils contracted!
It was true!
MCMAU’s conjectures were right after all!
The imperishable substance really did exist!
Anomalous martial artists like Old Wang really were powerhouses reborn!
These imperishable substances revived them when they were at the point of death!
Apart from MCMAU’s several powerhouses, only the central government knew about the conjectures that MCMAU had made. The current central government had not disclosed that information to the public. After all, it was only a conjecture; nothing had been proven yet. Besides, once this got out, the impact would be huge.
The others did not know about this. Wu Chuan should have been aware of it, but he had been in the Catacombs all this time and had not received any news.
Now, upon seeing Wang Jinyang exuding imperishable substance from his body, Wu Chuan studied him for a while. Then he tilted his head and glanced at Fang Ping.
Suddenly, Wu Chuan smacked his head!
‘Am I in the right place, or am I dreaming?
These two Rank-5s...are they really Rank-5?
Are both of them Rank-8s disguised as Rank-5s?’
While Wu Chuan was still lost in his thoughts about this, Fang Ping suddenly put his arms around Wang Jinyang with a look of dissatisfaction and said longingly, “Brother Wang, go on, exude a little more. Let me have some of it; I can’t grow flesh on my own. I don’t want to be a walking skeleton, let me have some of that substance!
Brother Wang, don’t be so stingy. You’ve collected this for thousands of years. You should have plenty, give me some of it!”
Fang Ping vigorously rubbed himself against Wang Jinyang. Everyone watching was completely dumbfounded.
Could someone tell them what on earth was going on?
At present, all of them were doubting the meaning of life.
Everything that had happened today had completely overturned everything they know.
Golden bones, the explosion of Celestiality, the appearance of imperishable substance... In addition to all that, all the Grandmasters were now dumbfounded at the sight of a golden skeleton rubbing itself against someone else’s imperishable substance.