Turmoil 3

The martial artists of this era were not like those of later generations; they knew far more. The reason the following decades were able to remain peaceful was entirely because they had carved that peace out, one blade strike at a time.

Zhang Tao nodded. The Forbidden Zone? He hadn't expected the Forbidden Zone to send people to join the war. It seemed his own previous campaign had truly dealt the Catacombs a heavy blow.

It made sense; before Fang Ping, who had ever slaughtered the True King Descendants of the Catacombs Forbidden Zone like this? It was precisely because Zhang Tao was unconstrained by any taboos that the Catacombs had been goaded into launching this war.

"Gentlemen, let us turn this world upside down today!" Wang Zanghai roared and charged out first, with Zhang Tao following closely behind. Wang Zanghai unleashed a single slash, and a golden blade aura instantly manifested, striking directly at the opposition.

Facing Wang Zanghai's strike, the Rank 8 opponent on the other side was clearly no pushover. His body shimmered with golden light as he thrust his spear forward. A small, eerie vortex appeared at the tip of the spear; the golden blade aura was instantly twisted upon contact and vanished into nothingness.

Wang Zanghai was not the least bit surprised. After all, they were both Rank 8, and judging by the opponent's demeanor, he was at the peak of Rank 8. If he could be finished off with a casual strike, the Catacombs wouldn't be anything to fear.

"Sever!" By now, Zhang Tao had already drawn his Rank 7 Divine Weapon. He had been nurturing this blade within his Three Burner Gates for a long time—over two months, to be exact. Even though it had only been two months, Zhang Tao's Life Essence was not something Li Changsheng could compare to.

Li Changsheng had nurtured a single sword strike for ten years to slay a Rank 8; Zhang Tao's two-month strike would certainly be no less formidable.

After all, the quality and intensity of Zhang Tao's Life Essence were far superior to Li Changsheng's.

Since the opponent was so strong, Zhang Tao intended to take out this leader first; perhaps things would become easier afterward.

"Hmph!" The opponent sneered. A kid who had just entered Rank 8 wanted to kill him? What a joke. Did he really think his status as a peak Rank 8 was for show? If he hadn't been unwilling to enter the weak Rank 9 stage, he would already be a Rank 9 by now.

Rank 9 was a miraculous existence, divided into weak Rank 9 and strong Rank 9. A strong Rank 9 had walked their own path—the Origin Dao—while a weak Rank 9 had merely discovered the Origin and sensed it on the Origin Floating Island without actually walking their own path.

Without the reinforcement of the Origin Dao, there was little difference between a weak Rank 9 and a peak Rank 8.

"What?" Just as this peak Rank 8 thought he could easily neutralize the attack with a casual spear thrust, he discovered that the opponent's blood-red blade aura showed no signs of weakening; instead, it was exceptionally condensed.

"Impossible!" the peak Rank 8 exclaimed, as the blood-red blade aura had already struck his body, causing his Golden Body to crumble.

One had to realize that he possessed a Six-Forged Golden Body, which was a formidable existence even in the Catacombs. Most people would go to advance to Rank 9 after reaching Five-Forged, but he had reached Six-Forged.

His ambitions were yet to be fulfilled; he hadn't even entered the Divine General realm yet. How could he die so carelessly in the Outer Region?

His mental energy erupted frantically, attempting to maintain his Indestructible Substance, but Wang Zanghai would not just stand by and watch. He unleashed a strike in an instant. Since Wang Zanghai was an equal to his opponent, catching him while he was vulnerable made it easy to imagine just how frustrated this Rank 8 powerhouse felt.

Just like that, the two of them combined their efforts to finish off this peak Rank 8 existence in three strikes.

This undoubtedly served as a shot of adrenaline for their side, while the morale of the Catacombs forces plummeted. Their leader had been killed in three strikes—were the martial artists of the Land of Rebirth really this fierce?

"You bunch of rabble, gentlemen, follow me and slaughter them!" Wang Zanghai would never let such an opportunity pass, and he roared instantly to boost morale.

Of course, he knew exactly what had just happened. It was a pity that Zhang Tao could only unleash an attack of that caliber once, but this was already excellent. At the very least, this opening was far better than he had anticipated.

"Stay close to me!" Wang Zanghai said in a low voice before charging forward. Zhang Tao followed closely behind, unleashing his Blood Blade Art as if it cost nothing. For a time, no Rank 8 dared to approach the pair.

Wang Zanghai was astonished by how quickly Zhang Tao could recover his Life Essence, but he asked nothing. This was a personal stroke of luck; some people simply defied common sense, especially Zhang Tao. Who had ever seen someone level up so quickly in all the time prior?

"What do we do?" Zhang Tao asked. At this moment, these Rank 8s were surrounding the two of them, but none dared to charge.

Wang Zanghai transmitted his voice: "This is a good thing. At the very least, we've tied down over a dozen Rank 8s. Let's stall for a while!"

Hearing Wang Zanghai's transmission, Zhang Tao gave a bitter smile. True, they had tied down over a dozen Rank 8s, but the enemy had a hundred of them. Splitting off these dozen didn't hurt their foundation at all, and the others would be in dire straits soon.

As if sensing Zhang Tao's thoughts, Wang Zanghai continued to transmit: "Zhang Tao, you must understand, we are not gods. Being able to entangle a dozen Rank 8s is already our limit!"

Zhang Tao glanced at the battlefield. Although they had tied down a dozen, the others were not faring well, each being attacked by four or five Rank 8s simultaneously. He noticed that some of the human Grandmasters already had their Golden Bodies collapsing.

"What do I do?" Zhang Tao pondered. The more critical the situation, the more he needed to stay calm. Suddenly, Zhang Tao froze. That's right, he had Life Essence! How could he have forgotten?

"Senior Wang, I have a way. I have Life Essence, take me and charge out!" Zhang Tao transmitted instantly.

He erupted with a powerful aura, gathering his Indestructible Substance and coating it onto his Divine Weapon before unleashing a slash. Upon hearing Zhang Tao's transmission, Wang Zanghai's body jolted. He actually had Life Essence? Why the hell didn't this kid say so earlier?

To be honest, it was a case of Zhang Tao being unable to see the forest for the trees. He hadn't remembered it for a moment. The cat had given him resources, and he had only thought they were enough for his own cultivation, ignoring them subconsciously. Of course, the main reason was that he was a transmigrator, not the real Zhang Tao. Compared to the monstrous strategic planning of the original Zhang Tao, he was truly a bit of a novice.

Even with the memories of the former Zhang Tao, his ability to adapt to changing circumstances remained insufficient.

Of course, now was not the time for Zhang Tao to reflect, as they were still on the battlefield.

Once Wang Zanghai knew Zhang Tao had Life Essence, he no longer held back. He had no choice; his mission was to protect Zhang Tao. Although it was cruel, there was no other option.

Watching his old comrades fall into desperate straits while he was unable to rescue them—or even dared not to—was the tragedy of their generation of martial artists.

Now, with the Life Essence, everything would be different.