Zhang Tao had suddenly broken through, and the aura around him had grown stronger. Xie Zhaoyang watched, already dumbstruck. Was this what a prodigy was? He'd only entered Rank 7 a few days ago, and now he was already at the mid-stage of Rank 7?
He realized that ever since Zhang Tao had gone to the Culture Academy, he couldn't make sense of him anymore. Every move Zhang Tao made was even harder to understand than the last.
Or was this what a genius was? Those so-called geniuses from before hadn't been geniuses at all. This was a true genius.
"Pfft!" A flash of blade light streaked toward him. Xie Zhaoyang instinctively dodged, but it still cut across his chest, and blood gushed out.
"Looking to die!" Xie Zhaoyang saw that a Rank 7 Catacombs warrior had ambushed him. He'd been an idiot to let himself get distracted on the battlefield. He had it coming.
Xie Zhaoyang put all that aside and started fighting the several Rank 7 warriors in front of him.
Zhang Tao moved across the battlefield, mainly helping the older Grandmasters fend off enemies and kill them. Before long, the Rank 7 battlefield began to turn in their favor.
Just as the Rank 7 Grandmasters thought they had this in the bag, a loud explosion rang out in the distance. All the Grandmasters' expressions changed. That was a Rank 8 self-detonation—and the one who'd detonated himself was on their side.
Zhang Tao stopped and looked into the distance. Had someone at Rank 8 already blown himself up to kill the enemy?
"If you can't beat them, blow yourselves up!" A voice carried over from far away, borne by spiritual power. Zhang Tao's expression changed. It was a True King's spiritual transmission.
Clearly, the True King had also noticed what was happening here, especially Zhang Tao. Those words were obviously directed at the Rank 7 warriors on Zhang Tao's side.
Sure enough, two Rank 7 Catacombs warriors' expressions changed. They glared viciously at Zhang Tao, and their bodies swelled in an instant. Another refused to be outdone. The two of them quickly blew themselves up.
Zhang Tao had no time to dodge. He could only hold the God-Slaying Blade upright in front of him, then surge his blood energy throughout his body to defend himself.
A powerful wave of energy swept across the entire Rank 7 battlefield. Zhang Tao and an older Grandmaster were at its center. The others were fine; the explosions hadn't gone off near them. But the older Grandmaster was swallowed by the sea of energy.
Zhang Tao was struggling to protect himself and had no strength left to help the older Grandmaster.
The older Grandmaster clearly didn't care that he was about to die. He'd been prepared to die when he came down to the Catacombs this time. So he didn't even try to defend himself. Instead, he raised a spiritual barrier in front of Zhang Tao.
"Boom!" The explosion faded, but the older Grandmaster hadn't even had time to leave a last word before he was killed.
Thanks to the older Grandmaster's help, along with his own blood energy and the God-Slaying Blade, Zhang Tao had escaped with little more than the Golden Bone exposed on his arm. Otherwise, he was unhurt.
"Elder Li!" Zhang Tao called out, but there was no answer.
"It works! Everyone, attack!" a Rank 7 Catacombs warrior shouted.
Zhang Tao was simply too strong, and no one knew what kind of weapon he was holding. No one could stop him wherever he went. At this point, they would die if they just kept fighting him, so they might as well sacrifice a few people and blow themselves up. That would cripple Zhang Tao too.
Their plan sounded good, but it might have worked against the Zhang Tao of before. Now, though, Zhang Tao had the Kongtong Seal, and his blood energy recovered at an incredible rate. The arm where his Golden Bone had been exposed had already healed completely. That was how fast he recovered.
Soon, another three Rank 7 warriors flew over. When Xie Zhaoyang saw them, he immediately roared, "Stop them!"
Zhang Tao couldn't be allowed to die. He was their hope for the future.
But Xie Zhaoyang's shout came too late. Some Grandmasters had already rushed over before he even called out. The three Rank 7 Catacombs warriors exploded too quickly, though, and another massive wave of energy swept across the battlefield.
The Grandmasters who'd rushed over were sent flying outright.
Zhang Tao hadn't expected the Catacombs warriors to be so reckless. Wasn't it said that the Catacombs were full of cowards afraid of death? Old Eagle, you lied to me!
The self-detonation of three mid-stage Rank 7 warriors packed enough power to rival a Rank 8 strike.
At the center of the explosion, Zhang Tao's flesh was completely dissolved by the energy.
Just as the Catacombs warriors thought they'd succeeded, a golden light flickered over Zhang Tao's body. His dissolved flesh instantly re-formed, and he recovered.
"What? Indestructible Substance?" someone cried out. After all, only Life Essence or Indestructible Substance could restore someone that quickly.
And both were golden.
Only Zhang Tao knew that it wasn't Indestructible Substance, but something the Kongtong Seal had given him. He called it the Power of Luck.
"Heh!" Zhang Tao was furious. They dared to bully him like this. Self-detonation? Too bad it still wasn't enough.
He charged out at once, ignoring the fact that he was completely naked. With one slash, he finished off a Rank 7 warrior who was about to blow himself up, then roughly ripped off the man's clothes and threw them on. He charged back into the fight.
The Rank 7 warrior Zhang Tao had targeted let out a roar as his body swelled. Zhang Tao sneered and slashed from a distance, then flew backward. That way, even if he got caught in the shock wave, he'd be fine. As long as he wasn't at the center of the explosion, what could they do to him?
Before long, the numbers on the Rank 7 battlefield were even again. The Rank 7 warriors tried to blow themselves up and badly wound Zhang Tao, but none of them succeeded. They only threw their lives away for nothing. Gradually, the Rank 7 battlefield began to settle down.
"Whoever kills this man will be rewarded..." Xuan Yu's voice rang out again. He'd seen everything clearly. This warrior from the Land of Rebirth was a little too monstrous. He had to be eliminated as soon as possible!
Some of the people in the Rank 8 area began to stir. The reward for killing a Rank 7 warrior was so generous. How could they not be tempted?
"Don't let a single one of them get away!" Wang Zanghai roared.
How could he not have heard that? If someone at Rank 8 really went over there, Zhang Tao would be in danger.
"Hold them off. I'll be right back!" One of the Rank 8 Catacombs warriors couldn't hold back any longer and immediately flew backward. The other Rank 8 warriors shouted, "We'll split the reward!"
The retreating Rank 8 warrior looked displeased, but still said, "Fine!"
He had no choice. Without them holding the others back, getting to the Rank 7 battlefield wouldn't be easy.
"Don't let him get away!" Wang Zanghai roared furiously and tried to chase after him, but was quickly blocked.
"Zhang Tao, be careful!" Wang Zanghai could only shout as loudly as he could.
Zhang Tao was in the middle of slaughtering his way across the Rank 7 battlefield when he froze. Wang Zanghai was shouting like that—could it be that an Rank 8 warrior was coming to kill him too?
At that moment, Zhang Tao suddenly understood a little of what Fang Ping would feel like later.
"Zhang Tao, run!" Xie Zhaoyang shouted too. The Rank 7 battlefield had stabilized by then, and honestly, they could handle things just fine on their own.
Zhang Tao pondered for a moment. Instead of running away, he charged toward the Rank 8 battlefield.
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