Autumn Chrysanthemum City 3

At this moment, Zhang Tao had no idea that the Autumn Chrysanthemum City riot was entirely his and Li Zhen's doing.

When Zhang Tao arrived at the Kyoto Catacombs, Li Zhen also hurried over. The two exchanged a glance, unable to fathom what had gotten into Autumn Chrysanthemum City. They had to keep in mind that they hadn't raided the city; they had merely killed a Rank 7 who didn't know his place. Could it be that Autumn Chrysanthemum City was going to start a war with humanity over a single Rank 7?

In the past, let alone Rank 7s, humanity had killed plenty of Rank 8s without such a reaction.

"You're here. Get to the Rank 7 squad!" Su Zhigang said immediately upon seeing the two.

Zhang Tao and Li Zhen nodded quickly and headed toward the Rank 7 Grandmasters.

"Aha, young Zhang is here. This might be a massive battle, so don't go getting reckless, kid. Stick with me!" a burly man with a face full of steel-like whiskers shouted when he saw Zhang Tao.

Zhang Tao walked over with a grin and said, "Brother Xie, you said it yourself—you've got to protect me!"

This burly man with the steel whiskers was Xie Zhaoyang, the director of the Kyoto Martial Arts Hall. He had clawed his way up to the late stage of Rank 7 through sheer grit. Zhang Tao had studied at Xie Zhaoyang's martial arts hall during his early days before being discovered by Li Xianling and brought to the Culture Academy, so the two had a very close relationship.

"Of course your Brother Xie will protect you. Speaking of which, your cultivation speed is truly insane. I heard you were Rank 7 just two days after I got back. It's unthinkable—you really are a genius. I wanted you to hold down the fort at my hall back then, but unfortunately, Director Li snatched you away!" Xie Zhaoyang said with a hint of resentment.

He was the one who had discovered Zhang Tao, but Li Xianling hadn't played by the rules, and there was nothing he could do about it. Of course, he was also genuinely happy that Zhang Tao had better prospects.

"Haha!" Zhang Tao laughed it off, and the matter was left at that.

Soon, Xie Zhaoyang turned solemn. "Young Zhang, in all seriousness, this is very dangerous. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's just Autumn Chrysanthemum City. We just discussed it, and it's highly likely that the Kyoto Catacombs are about to erupt into a full-scale riot. Usually, other cities are the main force while Autumn Chrysanthemum City just tags along, but this time, they've actually launched an offensive. The other cities definitely won't sit idly by. Seriously, kid, don't get reckless!"

Zhang Tao frowned. He hadn't expected the Catacombs to riot so quickly. The key was that he had thought they were only dealing with Autumn Chrysanthemum City, but after hearing Xie Zhaoyang's analysis, he realized he had oversimplified things.

"This won't do. I need to head out for a moment!" Zhang Tao said immediately.

Xie Zhaoyang was stunned. You want to leave at a time like this? That's going to be tough.

Zhang Tao ignored him and went straight to find the Kyoto City guardian, Su Zhigang. Su Zhigang frowned as he listened to Zhang Tao's awkward excuse about having forgotten his divine weapon.

Heh, aren't divine weapons nurtured within the Three Burner Gates? Do you really need to go get it?

However, he knew Zhang Tao must have a reason, and he also knew that Zhang Tao was definitely not someone who feared battle, so he said, "Go ahead, but come back as soon as possible. You know a massive battle is about to break out."

Zhang Tao nodded and quickly returned home.

"Brother Cat, Brother Cat, help me out!" Zhang Tao shouted before he had even stepped through the door!

The Grey Cat, who was watching television in the living room, tilted its head and said, "What is it? Let's get this straight: I don't do fighting!"

It naturally knew why Zhang Tao had rushed back in such a panic—the Kyoto Catacombs were rumored to be rioting, and Autumn Chrysanthemum City had invaded. It just didn't want to get involved since it didn't fight or kill.

"Brother Cat, I'm not asking you to fight. I just want to borrow a blade. I have a use for it!" Zhang Tao said immediately. He had never intended to ask the Grey Cat to join this kind of battle.

"How do you know I have a blade?" The Grey Cat's eyes widened. When had it ever shown its fish-slaying knife in front of this kid? It definitely hadn't. How did he know?!

"Heh, Brother Cat, I saw it in some ancient texts!" Zhang Tao laughed. It was always safe to blame those mysterious ancient texts.

"I see. If you borrow my blade, you have to return it. Those who borrow things from a cat and don't return them never end well!" The Grey Cat muttered before tossing out its fish-slaying knife. In reality, this was the God-Slaying Blade, the weapon of the Western Emperor from years ago, though it was somewhat damaged.

The God-Slaying Blade was capable of entering the Origin Dao, but it was damaged now and had lost that function.

However, for the current Zhang Tao, it was more than enough. Let alone Rank 7, even a peak-level expert would find it useful. After all, the God-Slaying Blade was a divine artifact, not something a mere divine weapon could compare to.

After storing the God-Slaying Blade in his Three Burner Gates, Zhang Tao said, "Brother Cat, thank you! I'm off!"

Watching Zhang Tao rush off again, the Grey Cat shrugged. It was just a blade; it had plenty of divine artifacts.

Since it had chosen to come out of seclusion and follow Zhang Tao, the Grey Cat had naturally thought things through. Moreover, this might be the final time, so it had no choice but to give it its all.

Thinking of this, the Grey Cat silently left Zhang Tao's home and headed toward the Forbidden City Catacombs. It needed to get some things.

Back at the Kyoto Catacombs, the high-rank battle hadn't started yet, so after returning, Zhang Tao hid in a small room and began to rapidly refine the God-Slaying Blade.

Li Zhen had originally wanted to chat with Zhang Tao, but seeing this, he could only extinguish the thought and silently crouched to the side.

At this moment, between Kyoto City and Autumn Chrysanthemum City, low and mid-rank martial artists were already locked in combat. This was standard procedure. Of course, if Autumn Chrysanthemum City's forces were too overwhelming, it would turn into a defensive siege.

As of now, the forces of Autumn Chrysanthemum City were not yet enough to force the human side into a defensive siege.

At the front lines, Ju Ming glanced at the battle below and immediately reported, "King, shall we join the fray?"

The Mulberry King shook his head and waited calmly. He knew someone would respond. For years, their Chrysanthemum King City hadn't wanted to fight, but being on the front lines meant that sometimes, you had to fight whether you wanted to or not. Of course, they had just been tagging along in the past, but this time was different. Since he had initiated the war, those other city lords would surely respond; they had long wanted to wipe out Kyoto City.

"Hahaha, Chrysanthemum King, you finally saw the light!" At this moment, a burst of laughter rang out. A figure stood amidst the crowd like a towering mountain. His physique was tall and upright, radiating an aura of majesty that made people feel a sense of awe. His steps were steady and powerful; every stride felt as if he were treading upon the earth, making the very world tremble. He flew over just like that, followed by three Rank 8s and ten Rank 7s.

"Mulberry King, long time no see!" the Chrysanthemum King said indifferently. This person was the lord of the Divine Mulberry City, the most bellicose of them all. Look at him—the moment he heard Autumn Chrysanthemum City had mobilized, he couldn't wait to arrive.

"What are we waiting for? Let's attack together!" the Mulberry King said after taking a look.