Chapter 369 - Entering the City
Chapter 369: Entering the City
The next day.
At daybreak, Fang Ping found a group of martial artists traveling from Gigantic Pine City.
A Rank-4 martial artist was leading the team, in addition to two Rank-3 martial artists.
Fang Ping launched a surprise attack, instantly cutting down the two Rank-3 martial artists, and under the deterrence of his Mentality, injured the Rank-4 severely.
With proficiency, he destroyed the corpses and quickly took the gravely injured Rank-4 into a grove.
This time, Fang Ping had to spend more effort.
Maybe he knew that he would die, or maybe it was because he was in the middle-rank and had a stronger will. Either way, this martial artist from Gigantic Pine City held his tongue for a long time.
Under the devastation from Fang Ping’s Mentality, coupled with physical torture, the other party finally revealed some information.
The people from Gigantic Willow City indeed went to Gigantic Pine City to seek for help.
The king of Gigantic Pine City had also agreed to support and took several Venerable powerhouses from the city to hunt down the king from the foreign territory.
Apart from this, Fang Ping also asked about several other people, but this person from Gigantic Pine City did not know anything.
When he set out from Gigantic Pine City, the people from Gigantic Willow City had just arrived, and he had no time to hear any news.
In addition to this news, Fang Ping also managed to gather some information that was unknown to him before.
“Gigantic Willow City wants to open up the Fountain of Life, that was why we rushed over through the night.”
“What is the Fountain of Life?”
If the other party could not tell that Fang Ping was a foreigner when he had done his questionings previously, at this moment, this middle-ranked martial artist had zero doubts that Fang Ping was from the Foreign Territory!
Not knowing what kind of thoughts he was harboring, this time the other party was very cooperative and said immediately, “In the underground of the Royal City, where the life stones converge, the tutelary usually absorbs the overflowing Energy of Life and concentrates it into a pool of life essence.
“This time, several Venerables and commanders-in-chief of Gigantic Willow City had suffered injuries. According to experience, the tutelary will open up the Fountain of Life. ”
“For the healing of injuries?”
Fang Ping’s eyes changed slightly. The so-called Fountain of Life should be a place similar to the MCMAU’s Energy Room?
No, surely the effect would be much stronger!
At the core of a large energy mine, the high-ranked Monster Plant would usually absorb the overflowing energy, store it, and converge it into a pool of water. What kind of concept was this?
After all, even cultivation using energy stones was not 100% pure!
The formation of energy stones was the attachment of energy particles to some impurities to form a solid.
Real energy particles were not solid, nor were they liquid.
It was normal that the high concentration of energy particles formed into something similar to the liquid form of pool water.
In other words, the Fountain of Life was an energy essence formed by a large number of energy stones releasing energy.
Fang Ping could imagine what it was like, which was similar to that in the MCMAU’s Energy Room, where countless energy stones released energy to flood the energy room, allowing people to swim in the ocean of energy particles.
Fang Ping felt like swallowing his saliva, but as he was facing the martial artist from the Catacombs, he could not embarrass himself.
This guy had bad intentions!
“When the Fountain of Life opens, can anybody enter?”
“Of course not!”
The other party was still honest and said immediately, “Our purpose is that at that moment of opening the Energy of Life overflows. If we are closer to the Fountain of Life to absorb the overflowing Energy of Life, it would be very helpful to our cultivation.”
“Since it is for the injury treatment for a few commanders-in-chief, why wasn’t it opened yesterday?”
“The opening of the Fountain of Life needs preparation, unless the king and the tutelary force it to open, otherwise it will take some time to prepare…”
“Why not forcibly open it?”
The martial artist of Gigantic Pine City strangely looked at Fang Ping, but still replied honestly, “If it is forcibly opened, it will disperse a large amount of Energy of Life. The Fountain of Life belongs to the king and the tutelary. If the injuries are not too serious, the king will never open it.”
Fang Ping was clear, this thing was the private property of the king.
To let them treat their wounds was being gracious to them. If too much energy was dispersed, that would be a great loss for the king. It would be better to let them hold on for one more day as they would not die anyway.
Fang Ping glanced at him and said lightly, “Are you trying to ensnare me? Is it that straightforward? There must be something that you left out. Do you think that I wouldn’t know? Idiot!”
The word idiot was spoken by Fang Ping in the Mandarin language. He felt more energetic shouting it, as the swear words in the Catacombs were too lengthy.
Under the resistant gaze of the Rank-4 martial artist, Fang Ping shattered his brain with one palm.
He dug out the heart and packed up all the other things.
This included energy stones, some dried beast meat, and some round clear crystals that looked similar to energy stones.
On the crystal was a lifelike pine-like plant.
“Is this a coin of the Catacombs?”
Fang Ping squeezed it. It was hard, but there was no energy fluctuation.
He recognized these objects.
This was the crystal left behind after an energy stone was exhausted, but it was rarely seen on earth. There were not many energy stones on earth, and it was too luxurious for daily use.
As rare things were precious, there were few crystals left, so it was naturally impossible to become a universal article.
In the Catacombs, it was much easier to obtain energy stones. Some energy stones with low purity were used in daily life, and so there were more crystals available.
Thus, it was understandable that they would use this as coins.
However, Fang Ping had not seen it before in Magic City’s Catacombs. He could not tell if it was because he never encountered it or the martial artists that he had killed were poor, or they had simply broken away from the restrictions of using coins.
No matter how beautiful this object was, it was still useless. The powerhouses still preferred to use intact energy stones.
Although Fang Ping had not seen it before, he had seen it in class during the Catacombs general knowledge class. Some Catacombs would also use these as coins.
“Old Man Li, the energy pool that is used for injury treatment for the Rank-7 and Rank-8, would you explode if you absorb it?”
Fang Ping mumbled; the meat lump on his back moved.
Fang Ping exhaled, “I don’t know if the energy of the energy pool is gentle enough. As long as it is not as riotous as the Catacombs passageway, absorbing it would be much gentler than Vitality Force.
“A large amount of energy should enable you to recover, right?
“Before this, my biggest dream was to find an energy mine and cultivate inside.
“Thinking about it now, the energy overflowing from an energy mine, no matter how concentrated it is, would it be more invigorating than an energy pool filled with energy particles?
“Only this is considered as having a mine at home!
“Compared to the Catacombs, we are so weak. When Chen Yunxi had an energy stone that is the size of an egg, I thought she was really rich. If all the energy from the egg-sized energy stone was concentrated, how many drops can there be?”
“Unfortunately, it would be very dangerous! I am guessing that the tutelary in their midst would be Rank-9.
“If we include the lord of the city, that would be two Rank-9s.
“Adding on those powerhouses who went to heal their injuries… Old Man Li, if we do it, then we would be stirring up a hornet’s nest.
“But now, I’m a little tempted. With your half-dead appearance, if I were to kill some monster beasts and transfuse their blood to you, till what age and time will you recover?
“Even if you return to the human world, would the upper management be willing to spend countless resources for a disabled person like you to recover?
“Even if you recover, would you still have combat strength?
“Do you think that they will spend billions or even tens of billions to save a disabled old man, hmm?
“Even if they would, are you not embarrassed to let others spend so many resources to save you? If in a moment of agitation you commit suicide, wouldn’t that be wasting my countless pills?
“Hey, forget about it. Let’s take one step at a time and examine the situation properly first. If it’s too dangerous, don’t blame me for not saving you.
“Originally I just wanted to scout for some information, but now we got an unexpected windfall. Unfortunately, I am too weak.
“…”
Fang Ping talked incessantly for a while and changed his clothes. The clothes were stripped off the two Rank-3s just now. The clothing style here was slightly different from that of Magic City.
After changing clothes, Fang Ping did not pin on the medal of the Rank-4. Instead, he pinned on a Rank-3 medal since a Rank-4 would attract attention.
With no hurry to enter the city, Fang Ping wandered on the road for a while and encountered several martial artists who just came from Gigantic Pine City.
These people also noticed Fang Ping, but as he was injured in the face, and he did not look familiar, the few passersby ignored him.
Every royal city was huge!
Adding on the affiliated towns, the jurisdiction of a royal city was at a minimum of 2 million people of the Catacombs and could be as many as 5 million. There were also many martial artists.
With many martial artists, it would be normal if a low-ranked martial artist was not recognizable.
Take for example Fang Ping, not to mention the martial artists of the whole Sino Nation, even the students of MCMAU. If they changed clothes, Fang Ping himself would have a hard time recognizing them.
“It seems that it would not be too big a problem!”
Fang Ping felt much relieved. When he saw a group of people passing by, Fang Ping silently followed them.
…
Gigantic Willow City was getting closer and closer.
The closer he got, the more Fang Ping felt depressed energy!
Over the sky of the huge city, the energy particles were so dense that they almost dripped down like raindrops.
And these energies were restricted to a small region.
A towering giant tree with its canopy reaching into the sky was interwoven in the dark clouds of energy and was constantly consuming and expelling energy.
People seemed to be used to it, and no one was looking at this scene.
Fang Ping’s gaze shifted slightly. This big tree was very far away from him, but he could still see it from outside the city. How tall was it?
50 meters?
100 meters?
No wonder there were so many martial artists in the Catacombs. With the boundless energy from above, even a little dispersion was enough for countless people to cultivate.
These energies were not only derived from the world of the Catacombs but also underground energy mines. The energy that was dispersed from the energy mines was all concentrated there.
While Fang Ping was still watching the towering giant tree, from the huge city gate came a team of fully armored soldiers who were walking out quickly.
Nearby, someone whispered and said, “The Gigantic Willow Divine Guards have been dispatched. Is this the start of a war with Cretaceous City?”
The number of armored soldiers going out of the city was not considered many. Fang Ping looked at them briefly and estimated it to be around 50 people.
However, their strengths were tremendously strong!
They were all middle-ranked powerhouses!
The armored powerhouse that was leading the group, had a strong fluctuation of energy and was at the least a Middle-stage Rank-6, maybe even Upper-stage or even Peak. Fang Ping did not dare to probe closely.
Of the 50 people, those of Rank-5 were not few and were at least seven or eight people.
This kind of strength was not considered weak in the Catacombs.
Furthermore, Gigantic Willow City had suffered a heavy loss yesterday. To be able to dispatch so many soldiers at this moment was not an easy task.
“It is not a battle with Cretaceous City. Last night, Willow Leaves Town which was about 50 miles away was destroyed, and all the martial artists there were killed!”
Fang Ping listened attentively. He did not know for sure if it was about 50 miles. The Catacombs probably did not use this measurement unit, but the general context was about right.
A town more than 50 miles away, had all its martial artists killed!
The ordinary people had fled the night before under the circumstance that countless people had lost their way. At dawn, there were still a lot of them who relied on the faint lights of the Royal City and made their way here.
Upon receiving the news, Gigantic Willow City had immediately dispatched their trump force, a team of Divine Guards fighters.
Fang Ping heard the people around him discussing that Rank-5 powerhouses were guarding the Willow Leaves Town.
Among the surrounding towns, they were not considered weak.
There were also several Rank-4 powerhouses.
However, they were still slaughtered last night.
“I heard that there were three people who killed without batting an eye, and they also seized the town’s life stone that was blessed by Divine Willow.”
“What? The life stone blessed by Divine Willow was taken away? Then it must not be the deeds of the people of Gigantic Willow City, nor was it by the people of Monster Plant Clan. There is an 80 to 90 percent possibility that it was done by the people of Cretaceous City!”
“Besides them, who would dare to take the life stone blessed by Divine Willow?”
“…”
The martial artists in the Catacombs were also gossipmongers.
Fang Ping was not in a hurry to enter the city anymore. As he listened to the gossip of these people, there might be some gains.
For example, in the small town under Gigantic Willow City, the big energy stone that glowed was not entirely for illumination but was also meant to drive out the monster beasts.
Energy stones were also a fatal attraction for monster beasts.
However, if the energy stones were saturated with the aura of a Rank-9 plant guardian, the monster beasts would not dare to attack the town.
The powerhouses of the Monster Plant Clan would not easily take away this kind of energy stones, because it would be easy for the powerhouses to detect the difference in the aura, leading to the deterioration of the relationships between them.
The people of the Monster Life Clan were always in discord with the Monster Plant Clan, and to take the stones away would be common.
“Seizing the energy stone and killing all the martial artists…”
Fang Ping listened for a moment, and the corner of his mouth twitched. This looked like the doing of those guys…
“Have they begun with their attack already?”
“I hope these guys are careful, the team being sent over this time did not look very easy to deal with.”
With a Middle-stage and above Rank-6 powerhouse, adding on seven or eight Rank-5s and dozens of Rank-4s, without Fang Ping around, those three might not be able to handle it.
Besides, these martial artists were military martial artists.
These were not comparable to those stragglers and scattered fighters previously. These military martial artists, no matter how poor their standards, would not run away from a battle. Yesterday, many folk martial artists had the urge to run.
Fang Ping had a headache; these guys were not saving him the worries.
Fortunately, he was not with them. Otherwise, he might be hunted down to death now.
Fang Ping just noticed that the team of martial artists that went out of the city brought along with them a few wolfhound monsters.
No doubt, they must be the military dogs of the Catacombs.
The piece of energy stone was saturated with the Willow Tree Monster’s aura, and these military dogs would be able to smell it.
“You guys are in big trouble, but I can’t help you. Just take it easy.”
Fang Ping shook his head and became a little more vigilant. Next time he had to be careful. He did not expect that there would be such a military dog creature in the Catacombs. Next time, if he killed to silence anybody, even the aura had to be taken care of.
He did not further bother with those guys. Once entering the Catacombs, each person had to take care of themselves as everyone was in the face of danger. They were considered lucky to not have high-ranks hunting them down.
“If you have the ability, then continue to make trouble and lead away all those high-ranks. If you can lead away this Willow Tree Monster too, then I will consider you all as awesome!”
Fang Ping prayed in his heart, hoping that Wu Chuan also lent a bit of strength to lead these powerhouses away.
Then this would enable him to make a fortune in Gigantic Willow City!
“Something might happen! Two days for tomorrow and the day after, if Nanjiang comes to aid and the war starts, the powerhouses here will have to join the war. Then at that time, it will be my chance!”
Fang Ping deduced that there were still opportunities.
Wu Chuan and the rest would not give up the passageway. If their deaths had not been confirmed, humans would not give up so easily on a Rank-9 powerhouse Grandmaster either.
Working in collusion from inside and out, the strength of Gigantic Willow City alone would be unable to withstand it.
“After entering the city, I must first investigate the intelligence and then wait for the opportunity. Once the outside war breaks out, and the Gigantic Willow City’s powerhouses go to war, then I will attack from the rear!” After Fang Ping had made his plan, he felt satisfied with it.
No longer thinking about Qin Fengqing and the others, Fang Ping stepped toward the city’s gate.
The city gate had a main entrance and a side entrance.
At the main entrance, the martial artists were queuing, and there were not many people.
At the side entrance, some ordinary people of the Catacombs were queuing up. The queue was quite long and many of them were from the surrounding towns.
Fang Ping had the Rank-3 medal on him. At the city gates, it was considered as not too weak. Of course, it was not very strong. There were also one or two middle-ranks.
The people in front of him were entering one by one. Everything went smoothly, and the guards who guarded the gate did not strike up conversations.
When it was Fang Ping’s turn, Fang Ping followed what the others were doing. A residual crystal of an energy stone was thrown into the side basket by him, and this was regarded as the entrance fee.
As he was just about to enter, the guard at the gate suddenly frowned and said, “Pass through again!”
Fang Ping was slightly stunned but did not show it. He took a step backward and walked through again.
This time, Fang Ping also noticed something strange!
As he walked by… There was a sapling that was about a man’s height at the city gate and it was scanning him with a frail Mentality!
As he had just restrained his Mentality at the time, he did not notice it.
At this moment, Fang Ping maintained a straight face but his heart was thumping.
Sh*t, the Catacombs even had access control!
The weak Mentality scanned Fang Ping again. Fang Ping had no problem. His energy shield was active, and his Mentality had converged some energy particles to camouflage his stats interface. Even if he was scanned by Mentality, unless it could penetrate his body, nothing could be seen.
However, the Old Man Li who was carried on his back was a problem!
The soldier who was guarding the gate also saw the animal skin rucksack behind him and frowned slightly.
Without saying anything, Fang Ping opened the hide and said indifferently with a hoarse voice, “Prey!”
The guard glanced over briefly, exhaled gently, and without delay said in a low voice, “Pass!”
Fang Ping did not say much and strode into the city.
The ball of meat behind him seemed to smack him one time.
Fang Ping’s mouth twitched. ‘It’s pointless to get angry. If you looked in the mirror now, you would also believe that you are a skinned little piglet.’
…
Once inside the city.
The towering giant tree that he had seen outside the city now looked even more gigantic!
He did not see the trunk before, but now, Fang Ping got a clear view!
In fact, it should not even be associated with an ugly, rough tree trunk!
It was a massive crystal column!
The giant column was crystal clear, golden yellow silk threads seemed to run through it. Fang Ping’s eyes were solemn; that was not silk thread, but it was the golden color blood that only the indestructible golden body powerhouses had.
This giant tree had become a monster!
Did it have intelligence?
It was understandable if animals had intelligence. But did plants have it too?
Of course, the world was so vast that anything was possible.
“With such a height, how much energy could be stored? If this were to break out, its strength would probably be extremely strong!”
Fang Ping made a judgment in his heart. Would Wu Chuan and the rest of the Rank-9s be possible opponents for this tree monster?
What kind of energy mine could sustain such a huge monster, and could also support millions of people in the Catacombs?
Gigantic Willow City is big. Very big!
It was so big that Fang Ping could not see the end at a glance. The only thing he could see was the huge willow tree.
After passing through the city gate, in front of him were strips of wide and flat stone roads. These pavements were all laid with giant stones, and it was not known how much manpower and resources were expended.
The roads led to different directions. For a while, Fang Ping did not know which direction to take.
This was even more uncomfortable than in other foreign territories. In foreign countries, even if he did not know the way, or even if he did not understand the language, he could ask without hesitation or expressed it with body language.
But here, he did not dare to ask, nor could he ask!
Fang Ping did not act rashly and stopped for a while, watching carefully for a moment.
Most ordinary people took the left turn.
The martial artists, with goods and prey, generally went to the right.
The empty-handed ones would mostly go straight.
Behind him was the city gate.
Fang Ping no longer hesitated and stepped toward the right. In his heart, he was thinking if it was a market on the right.
If Old Man Li found out that he had been taken to a monster beast slaughterhouse… Would he recover instantly in a moment of anger, or would he smack Fang Ping dead?