Grey Cat nodded even more contentedly at Zhang Tao's words. Why had it come out on its own? Why had it gone to the trouble of preparing all this for Zhang Tao? Wasn't it all so it could live more splendidly in the future and eat Sea Suppressing Envoy's big fish head?
"Excellent, Little Tao. From now on, I'm counting on you!" Grey Cat said without a trace of guilt.
Zhang Tao chuckled. Since he'd decided to bring the cat home, he'd already made up his mind to get rid of every problem it might face in the future. Besides, the cat had helped him so much already.
Just then, Nan Yunyue finally managed to bend her Bridge of Heaven and Earth. She had only just entered Rank 6, after all, so everything was still malleable.
As the three gates descended and Nan Yunyue's own qi and blood washed over her, her Brain Core soon emerged. She felt her spiritual power rise and was instantly overjoyed. Sure enough, with this, what would have taken her ten years to Seal Gate before would now take only five.
"That's wonderful!" Nan Yunyue jumped up, then reined herself in when she saw Zhang Tao and Grey Cat. Grey Cat ambled off; it was going back to sleep. That trip had been rather tiring.
"Here, take these. They'll help you Seal Gate faster." Zhang Tao took several Energy Fruits from his ring and tossed them to Nan Yunyue.
Nan Yunyue fumbled as she caught them, then stared wide-eyed. Energy Fruits—Zhang Tao actually had some! What made her even more envious was that he'd just used a Space Ring. Good heavens, wasn't that a legendary Divine Artifact? How had Zhang Tao gotten one?
Zhang Tao didn't care what she thought. "Nan Yunyue, some things can be talked about, and some can't. I'm sure you understand how important this is."
Nan Yunyue was taken aback, then understood what Zhang Tao meant. She nodded and turned to leave.
As soon as Nan Yunyue was gone, Zhang Tao hurried back to his room, took out the Heavenly Gold Lotus, and started munching on it. He needed to raise his spiritual power to three thousand hertz as quickly as possible.
While Zhang Tao worked hard to improve himself, Li Zhen returned and was soon restored with Life Essence by the people of Zhenxing City. Li Zhen knew that time was money, so he didn't hesitate. Once recovered, he began eating Heavenly Gold Lotus too. He also wanted to reach the late stage of Rank 7 as soon as possible.
After three days, Zhang Tao's spiritual power had reached three thousand hertz. He'd already been at the middle stage of Rank 7, and after eating Heavenly Gold Lotus and refining it over the past two days, he quickly reached three thousand hertz of spiritual power and advanced straight to the late stage of Rank 7.
Zhang Tao had used only two Heavenly Gold Lotuses and stored the rest. He looked at the ring, which held a great deal of Indestructible Substance. He could use some of it to temper his skull quickly. In his estimation, he needed only a little over twenty days to finish tempering it and advance straight to the Rank Eight Golden Body Realm.
That day, Zhang Tao was tempering his skull as usual when Li Zhen's excited shout came from outside.
"Zhang Tao! Zhang Tao!" Li Zhen sounded thrilled. Zhang Tao wasn't sure what was going on, but he checked his progress and figured he could reach Rank 8 in another ten days or so.
He went downstairs and asked, "Li Laoer, what's up?"
Li Zhen didn't mind Zhang Tao's nickname at all. This was already pretty good, wasn't it? The guy used to call him Li Hanhan. Which sounded better, Li Hanhan or Li Laoer?
"Zhang Tao, a great opportunity has come! Zhenxing City and the other five Holy Lands have a number of spots to enter the Land of King Battles. I got you one!" Li Zhen said excitedly. Before, when they'd only been at the early stage of Rank 6, they wouldn't have gone in, of course. Now they were Rank 7 and could at least protect themselves, so they could go looking for opportunities inside.
Zhang Tao's eyes lit up. The Land of King Battles was a great place—the place where Fang Ping had made his fortune. But he wasn't short on resources now. Maybe he didn't need to go.
He quickly tossed that thought aside. How could he not go? This time, he had to kill some promising Catacombs fighters. Otherwise, the next few decades would be unbearable.
As for opportunities, Zhang Tao figured they were nothing special. What opportunity could compare with the cat?
"What do you think? Pretty good of me, right? This was originally an event for the Six Great Sacred Lands. I went to a lot of trouble to get you included!" Li Zhen said smugly.
Zhang Tao chuckled and humored him. The Land of King Battles was no big deal. The Boundary Points were the real opportunity. Zhang Tao planned to go there once he reached the Apex, take on the trials, put on a little show, and improve his strength along the way. Then he'd develop quietly, beat the Heavenly Emperor into submission, and everything would be settled.
Li Zhen was very unhappy with Zhang Tao's reaction. Damn it, he'd gone to all that trouble to bring him the good news, and Zhang Tao was acting like he couldn't care less. It put Li Zhen in a foul mood.
He immediately grabbed Zhang Tao by the neck and roared, "Do you know how rare this opportunity is? What kind of attitude is that?"
Zhang Tao stuck his tongue out as Li Zhen choked him and said helplessly, "All right, all right, I get it. Don't get worked up!"
Only then did Li Zhen let go of Zhang Tao. He snorted. "Come with me. We're going to Zhenxing City!"
Zhang Tao was stunned. That soon?
"Wait a moment. I need to make arrangements!" Zhang Tao hurried over to the phone and dialed.
"Hello, Brother Xian? It's Zhang Tao. I may need to go away for a while. Sorry for the trouble, but could you come to my house and make something tasty for Cat?" Zhang Tao said as soon as the call connected.
After the other person replied, Zhang Tao called upstairs, "Cat, I'm going to the Land of King Battles. Brother Xian will come over and cook for you for a while!"
"Meow. Go on, go on," Grey Cat replied lazily.
Lately, Brother Xian had been the one in charge of the cooking. He was descended from the imperial chef, and his palace dishes were exquisite. Grey Cat was very pleased. Brother Xian was a clever fellow too. Knowing Zhang Tao was capable, he did everything he could to show off his cooking skills, earning both Zhang Tao's and Grey Cat's approval.
"Hmph, let's go," Li Zhen said, urging him on.
Soon, the two of them drove toward Zhenxing City.
No members of the Demon Sect appeared to block them along the way. They soon arrived at Zhenxing City. Following Li Zhen, Zhang Tao entered the city for the first time. It looked like a paradise, protected by a vast barrier.
Many people watched Zhang Tao curiously. They'd heard his name, especially the story of him Sealing three gates in a single day, which had spread like a legend. How could they not be curious?
"Grandpa, we're here!" Li Zhen walked up to an old man at the head of the group and spoke to him.
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