Rout

Zhu Wusheng had been stuck in the Rank 7 Domain lately, and he was getting frustrated. He had spent several days searching, but still hadn't found Zhang Tao and the others. It was as if they had vanished into thin air.

He had all this energy and nowhere to use it, like throwing a punch into cotton.

After cursing a couple of times in frustration, Zhu Wusheng began searching for ancient ruins. Whatever else happened, finding some ruins could bring good fortune. If he got lucky, he might even advance to Rank 8 sooner.

In the Catacombs, strength was everything. The reason he was so fixated on hunting down Li Zhen was because killing him came with a hefty reward. Now that he couldn't find anyone, he had to settle for something else.

"My lord, could they have gone to the Rank 6 Domain?" one of the commanders beside Zhu Wusheng asked quietly.

Zhu Wusheng froze. They'd gone to the Rank 6 Domain? Could they really be that shameless?

Then he remembered how Zhang Tao had ambushed them right after they entered, showing not the slightest regard for fair play. Zhu Wusheng shuddered. It was possible, all right.

After all, it wasn't the first time people from the Land of Rebirth had acted shamelessly.

"Come on, we're going to check the Rank 6 Domain!" Zhu Wusheng shouted. He no longer mentioned searching for opportunities. Li Zhen was the greatest opportunity of all.

At that moment, Zhang Tao was tempering the last piece of his skull. He had no shortage of Indestructible Substance, and using it made the process faster.

As soon as he finished tempering the last piece and drew in his vital energy, he broke through to Rank 8. A golden light blazed around him, and even Li Zhen and the others, who had been cultivating nearby, opened their eyes.

"Rank 8... He's Rank 8?" Su Changqing stared at him in disbelief. That was way too fast. Compared to Zhang Tao's cultivation speed, they felt like turtles crawling.

It had only just come out that Zhang Tao had reached Rank 7. By the time he arrived in Zhenxing City, he was already in the late stages of Rank 7. And now, just a few days after entering, he had reached Rank 8. Even a rocket couldn't climb that fast.

Li Zhen felt the same way. He was already exceptionally talented, and he had no shortage of cultivation resources. Yet he still needed to temper around twenty more pieces of his skull before reaching Rank 8. Zhang Tao, meanwhile, had already made it. Li Zhen couldn't help but feel impressed.

Zhang Tao drew in his golden light and clenched his fist. Not bad—Rank 8. He felt far stronger than before. The gap between Rank 8 and Rank 7 was substantial. The biggest difference was that Rank 8 cultivators could fight using Indestructible Substance. It had originally been used for battle, and was also known as Destruction Power.

Just then, a hole appeared in the Boundary Wall beside them, and someone's head poked through. Zhang Tao froze, then immediately flew up and pressed himself against the wall. Su Changqing and the others reacted just as quickly, following his example.

Once the head had come through, it looked from side to side. Seeing no one, the person began forcing his way through the Boundary Wall and called out, "My lord, it's clear!"

Zhu Wusheng nodded from the other side. "Cross over!"

Several Rank 7 cultivators immediately began breaking through the Boundary Wall and squeezing inside. They didn't have Zhang Tao's God-Slaying Blade, so crossing over was hardly easy.

Zhang Tao saw more than ten Rank 7 cultivators trying to squeeze through at once and grinned. Were they seriously just handing over their heads?

He sent a quick message to Li Zhen and the others, then plunged down in an instant and swung the God-Slaying Blade. Three Rank 7 heads fell.

Li Zhen and the others attacked as well. In almost no time, ten Rank 7 cultivators had been decapitated. The ones who had just been straining to squeeze through suddenly went limp. Zhu Wusheng finally realized what had happened. In a flash, he pulled the ten bodies back. Every one of them was headless.

A chill ran through Zhu Wusheng. He had brought more than forty people this time, but Zhang Tao had already cut down over ten of them at the entrance. Now he had lost another ten. With only around twenty people left, Zhu Wusheng suddenly felt cold—bone-chillingly cold.

"Move!" Zhu Wusheng shouted. He didn't want to stay here any longer.

But then a massive crack suddenly split open in the Boundary Wall. Zhang Tao charged through first, swinging the God-Slaying Blade at a Rank 7 cultivator. Li Zhen and the others followed close behind, attacking as well.

Zhu Wusheng was horrified. These people had actually fought their way out! The Boundary Wall was so strong, yet Zhang Tao had split it open with a single slash.

Seeing Zhang Tao cut down a Rank 7 cultivator in an instant, Zhu Wusheng hurriedly pulled a Mental Power Avatar from his ring and shouted, "Don't come any closer, or we'll all die together!"

This was his final trump card. He knew that unless he stopped Zhang Tao immediately, he was as good as dead.

At Zhu Wusheng's words, Li Zhen and the others stopped attacking. A Mental Power Avatar was a guaranteed kill here. One wrong move, and they would all be finished.

Zhang Tao ignored him and shouted, "Kill them! If we die, we die! Don't let Zhu Wusheng get away!"

Li Zhen couldn't help feeling exasperated at Zhang Tao's reckless attitude. If he really didn't care, he wouldn't have said, "Don't let Zhu Wusheng get away." Wasn't that basically reminding him to run?

As it happened, seeing Zhang Tao act like that made Zhu Wusheng panic too. As the saying went, better someone else die than yourself. He was a True King Descendant—how could he possibly be willing to die?

Zhu Wusheng made up his mind in an instant. He couldn't save this group. He'd better run first!

So Zhu Wusheng ran. Seeing him flee, Zhang Tao breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, he had a trump card here too: if Zhu Wusheng really had used the Mental Power Avatar to take them all down, he would have led Li Zhen and the others back to the Rank 6 Domain. They were right by the Boundary Wall, after all, and could move freely in either direction.

The remaining Rank 7 cultivators had lost heart as well, and fled in all directions. Zhang Tao chased down a few, but there was nothing he could do about the rest. They had killed more than a dozen this time. It was fair to call it a great victory.

"Not bad. Rank 7 cultivators really are richer than Rank 6 ones!" Zhang Tao said as he sorted through the spoils. He even found three storage rings. It couldn't get much better than that.

"What do we do now?" Li Zhen asked. He didn't say anything about Zhang Tao taking all the spoils. He knew Zhang Tao could make better use of them than Zhenxing City could. The people of Zhenxing City lived relatively comfortable lives, after all.

Su Changqing and the others had no objections either. More than anything, Zhang Tao was terrifyingly strong—and he didn't care if he lived or died. Even when the enemy brought out a Mental Power Avatar, he hadn't so much as flinched. He was a ruthless man. They had no desire to offend someone with unlimited potential over a few trinkets.

"Obviously, we're going back to the Rank 6 Domain!" Zhang Tao replied without hesitation.

Li Zhen, Su Changqing, and the others were all bewildered. Back to the Rank 6 Domain again? Were you really that determined to wipe out everyone there? Li Zhen was starting to feel sorry for the Rank 6 cultivators of the Catacombs. It was their rotten luck to run into someone so shameless.

After all, Zhang Tao was Rank 8 now, yet he still wanted to hang around in the Rank 6 Domain. If that wasn't rotten luck for them, what was?