Golden Bone

"Holy crap!" Li Zhen, who had been watching Zhang Tao the whole time, swore outright. What had he just seen? A golden bone? That made no sense! How had that damn deadbeat Zhang Tao forged a golden bone at Rank 6?

There were people who forged a half-golden body at Rank 5 or 6. Plenty of the young masters in Zhenxing City did it, though it came at a huge cost. Li Zhen had decided against it when he learned it would consume Life Essence. After all, he wasn't some pampered young master. But when had Zhang Tao forged a golden bone?

Zhang Tao had noticed his own golden bone too. He grinned and said he didn't know—though he wasn't sure anyone would believe him. He genuinely had no idea. He'd thought the Kongtong Seal had merely healed him back then. He hadn't expected it to forge a golden bone for him as well. It was incredible.

Li Tingxiu, trailing behind them, fell silent. Were the warriors of the outside world really this wild? Zhang Tao had only just reached Rank 6, and he already had a golden bone? Judging by its quality, it didn't seem any worse than his own. Damn it, he wanted to yell that this made no sense.

"Golden Body!" Another high-stage Rank 6 warrior from the Catacombs was so terrified he nearly lost his soul. He didn't even bother to see whether he could finish Zhang Tao off, and immediately turned to run.

But Zhang Tao gave a cold laugh and flung his long blade. Powerful qi and blood clung to it, and it pierced straight through the man's head. What a fool. He'd dared to turn his back on Zhang Tao. Wasn't that just asking to die?

By then, Li Zhen had also finished off his opponent. Zhang Tao had only just entered Rank 6, yet he'd killed three mid-stage Rank 6 warriors and two high-stage ones. Li Zhen had to admit he was impressed. He himself couldn't fight like that.

Zhang Tao recovered a little, drew his long blade, and charged at another nearby enemy to help his companions. Soon, they had cleared out the Catacomb Inhabitants. Zhang Tao said, "Hurry and dig a pit. Bury them for now—we still have to keep moving!"

After arranging everything, Zhang Tao plopped down on the ground. The wound on his chest had begun to heal slowly, and it no longer looked as bloody and mangled as before.

"How'd you get that golden bone, you brat?" Li Zhen came over and asked quietly. Zhang Tao was a penniless nobody, after all. If he could manage it, then maybe Li Zhen could too.

Zhang Tao chuckled. Knowing exactly what Li Zhen was thinking, he said, "I was pushed to the brink of death, then came back stronger. It happened naturally."

Li Zhen gave Zhang Tao a skeptical look. There was no helping it. That damn deadbeat couldn't say two honest words to save his life. But aside from that explanation, there didn't seem to be another one.

"Let's go. If we're late, we might not even get a taste." Zhang Tao stood up, stretched a little, and ran ahead. The others hurried after him. This time, they didn't run into any large groups.

They encountered a few Catacomb warriors here and there, and simply swarmed them.

When they reached the small mountain range, Zhang Tao looked at the tunnel he'd dug and pondered for a moment. Then he said to Li Tingxiu, "There are at least forty or fifty people over there. I don't know whether any high-ranked ones are among them, though. Senior, why don't you go take a look?"

Li Tingxiu nodded. Wasn't that exactly why he'd come?

He immediately flew off, while Zhang Tao and the others crouched there, waiting for Li Tingxiu's signal.

Before long, a battle broke out over there. Zhang Tao instantly sprang to his feet and shouted, "Attack!"

They had agreed that if Li Tingxiu started fighting, it meant they could take them on. If he ran straight back, it meant there was a powerful expert over there, and they'd have to forget about the mine.

With Zhang Tao and Li Zhen leading, everyone charged over at once. Another battle began. When Zhang Tao and the others arrived, they saw Li Tingxiu fighting a Rank 7 Catacomb expert. It was impossible to tell who had the upper hand for now. Zhang Tao glanced at the Catacomb warriors. There were plenty of them, but most were only Rank 5. No wonder Li Tingxiu had started the fight.

"Attack!" Zhang Tao roared, charging straight at a high-stage Rank 6 warrior. Li Zhen was no slower. His Void-Breaking Sword Art struck first, targeting another high-stage Rank 6 warrior.

The others followed close behind and rushed forward. Once they dealt with this lot, they could claim the spoils of victory.

The Catacomb forces outnumbered them, but the humans who'd come this time were all elites. Every one of them had seen countless battles, and none held back. Some even fought in ways that would leave both sides badly wounded, all to end the battle as quickly as possible.

Zhang Tao stood out most of all. He even used the Blood Blade Art, a technique that injured the user to injure the enemy. He'd already used it several times. He was testing the Kongtong Seal inside him, and the results proved that even without a system, the Kongtong Seal was incredibly useful. He had no idea what the Kongtong Seal consumed, but Zhang Tao recovered quickly, at any rate.

"You've definitely got something strange going on!" Li Zhen shouted.

He'd already seen Zhang Tao use the Blood Blade Art several times. He knew the technique too, but after using it, Zhang Tao didn't even take a pill. He just sprang back to life again. Damn it, even Life Essence couldn't restore someone that fast.

Zhang Tao ignored Li Zhen. What was he yelling about? Of course something strange was going on.

"%&***%¥..." A Catacomb Inhabitant shouted, spouting a string of gibberish. Zhang Tao knew some Catacomb Language and more or less understood what he meant, so he roared, "Don't let a single one of them escape!"

The Catacomb Inhabitant had just been telling someone to send for help. How could Zhang Tao let that happen?

The people on Zhang Tao's side attacked even more fiercely. Several of them were already badly wounded, but they kept fighting anyway.

Zhang Tao hurried over to help them. His arrival eased the pressure on the group, and they finally had a chance to swallow a few pills.

Up above, Li Tingxiu had finished his fight and flew over. With a single sweep of his sword, he easily killed more than ten Rank 6 warriors. With Li Tingxiu joining them, the enemies were cut down like vegetables.

Zhang Tao and the others couldn't even stop to recover. They hurried into the mine, where the Catacomb Inhabitants had already dug out a considerable amount of ore and stacked it neatly. It was a windfall for Zhang Tao and the others.

"Quick!" Zhang Tao called.

A Rank 7 battle could easily draw the attention of powerful experts. They didn't have much time.

Everyone took out their bags and began stuffing them full, starting with the high-quality ore. There was no time to bother with the low-quality stuff.

"Go!" Li Tingxiu shouted. He'd sensed powerful experts approaching. Zhang Tao didn't hesitate. "This way!"

Everyone followed him and sped off through the tunnel he'd dug earlier. Now it was a race against time. As long as they ran fast enough, they could get away unharmed.