Martial Conquest of the Nine Desolates
Chapter 427 - 423: The Mysterious Tong Zhan

Chapter 427: Chapter 423: The Mysterious Tong Zhan

(PS: Sorry, I was dizzy and took a day off yesterday. I’ll make up for the days I owe this month.)

In the Third Zone of the Ancient Genius Graveyard, Xiao Ye and his three companions became alert upon seeing the green-robed youth, Tong Zhan, make a move.

With the strength of a Prince Level, even if one proceeds alone, as long as they are cautious, there wouldn’t be much danger. Hence, the reason to join them seemed rather far-fetched.

Moreover, with Tong Zhan’s capabilities, he should have been considerably famous during the first level, and they should have known him. After all, there were only so few strong practitioners at the Prince Level, and Tong Zhan was not among them.

Most strangely, in the Third Zone’s yin wind, even Xiao Ye struggled a bit, having to sustain a protective shield to resist, while Tong Zhan seemed not to require such, moving forward with ease.

Harboring these deep doubts, when the group continued on their way, Xiao Ye probed indirectly to uncover Tong Zhan’s intentions for following them.

But Tong Zhan answered smoothly, without any slip-ups, mentioning that it was only during the second level of the Dynasty Battle that he had broken through to the Prince Level.

"Hoping it’s just me overthinking," Xiao Ye thought to himself, deciding not to probe further.

After all, the participants of the Dynasty Battle came from the Four Great States in large numbers. It was normal not to recognize someone if they previously weren’t exceptionally outstanding.

The Third Zone of the Talent Cemetery was vast and boundless, with no known end.

The further forward Xiao Ye and his group went, the more eerie and somber the atmosphere felt, as if they had entered the underworld. The whistling of the yin wind added a desolate appearance to the place.

After moving forward for two hours, Xiao Ye and his companions only encountered a few scattered attacks by ancient geniuses, all of which were enthusiastically eliminated by Tong Zhan.

Moreover, most of the tombstones along the way were empty, with several fresh corpses lying around, having met very tragic deaths.

Xiao Ye’s gaze swept over, his heart silently mourning; these bodies all belonged to young participants from the Four Great States.

"No matter how glorious you were in life, in the end, you turn into a handful of dust, sleeping with the earth, your fate no different from that of ants and dead leaves."

"Even for the Human Race Four Emperors, they only left behind legends that would be passed down through the ages, unable to achieve eternal life in heaven and earth. So what’s the point of our relentless pursuit of martial arts?"

The green-robed youth, holding a long spear, gazed at the immense Heavenly Pride tombstones and the corpses of the youths from the Four Great States, sighing deeply.

East Emperor’s Prince, East Emperor’s Princess, and Nangong Xingyu were startled, not expecting Tong Zhan to suddenly speak such words.

Only Xiao Ye, hearing this, his eyes flickering, felt the deepest impact. Born humble, he had met a strand of the Supreme Empress’s energy avatar at the Emperor’s Cultivation Land and profoundly understood these words.

Xiao Ye stepped forward, looking up at the heaven, and spoke leisurely, "As martial artists of our generation, we should strive for glory while we can. Why compare ourselves to ants? At least we had our moments of brilliance in life, while ants just lead a mundane existence."

"I, Xiao Ye, pursue martial arts for my own beliefs, only by reaching the peak of this world and experiencing all its wonders, can I say I haven’t lived in vain."

Tong Zhan, upon hearing this, trembled, his eyes blazing as he burst out laughing, "What a striving for momentary glory, Brother Xiao truly is a peerless genius. If there’s a chance, I definitely need to have a drink with you, Brother Xiao, and we won’t stop until we’re drunk."

"If that opportunity arises, I would be more than happy," Xiao Ye replied with a slight smile, then stretched open his power defense to ward off the attack of the yin wind, leading the way forward.

Tong Zhan watched Xiao Ye’s back, a strange light flashing in his eyes, then took big strides forward holding his long spear.

Xiao Ye and his companions entered the Third Zone quite late; even after ten days, they had not encountered any of the Four Great State Talents, but the number of Ancient Heroic Spirits and Ancient Corpses around them increased, each possessing combat power akin to Level 5 of Virtual Martial, extraordinarily strong.

At this point, the overly enthusiastic Tong Zhan also felt strained, finding himself surrounded by a large number of Ancient Corpses, at least two hundred in sight.

Tong Zhan’s potent combat power absorbed all the attention of these Ancient Corpses, all of them attacking him frantically.

"Damn it, can you guys come over and help?!" Tong Zhan shouted as he fought fiercely.

Xiao Ye and his companions stood aside, looking at the information on the huge tombstones around, immersed in the deeds of the Ancient Geniuses and occasionally discussing among themselves, looking quite at ease.

Hearing Tong Zhan’s words, they all burst out laughing, East Emperor’s Prince even jokingly said, "Haha, Brother Tong, every time the Ancient Geniuses appear you’re the first to deal with them. We’re used to it now, sorry about that."

After these ten days together, the four of them had become familiar with Tong Zhan, their initial wariness dissipating, treating each other as friends.

"Brother Tong, don’t rush, I’m coming to help you!" Xiao Ye stepped forward, dashing like lightning.

"Die!"

An ancient corpse, with dry flesh but fierce light surging in its eyes, noticed Xiao Ye approaching. Raising its decaying weapon, a deep-blue Mysterious Lotus appeared above its head, aiming an attack at Xiao Ye, surrounded by overwhelming waves.

"To think it reached the First Realm of Mystical Water? Unfortunately, it’s still too weak for me," Xiao Ye shook his head, his body erupting in intense golden light, creating a golden protective shield around him, illuminating the Third Zone like a sun.

Boom Crack!

The decayed weapon chopped onto the golden shield, emitting a clanging sound, then it broke apart directly.

The Ancient Corpse paused, seemingly also unexpected that its own weapon could not even break through Xiao Ye’s defense.

"You have already fallen; you should return to this heaven and earth," Xiao Ye spoke, then a tremendous Grotto Heaven rose behind him, with terrifying power that instantly engulfed the Ancient Corpse, turning it into powder drifting between heaven and earth.

Boom Boom Boom!

Carrying the Grotto Heaven, Xiao Ye stimulated the Infinite Radiant Sun Fist, rushing into the troop of Ancient Corpses. His fists, like two dazzling meteors, burst forth with the utmost rigid and positive energy, surging through the Nine Heavens.

Boom!

Xiao Ye didn’t even need to regard the Ancient Corpse’s attack, for the opponent’s attack could not do anything to his Ten Thousand Refining Golden Body. With the Infinite Radiant Sun Fist fiercely unleashed, it lifted boundless airwaves, as if the two golden fists were forged from gold, the power erupted, instantly shattering several Ancient Corpses.

Since Xiao Ye was enhanced to another realm of Cultivation by the Emperor’s Divine Ability, his strength increased seven to eight times, but he had been consolidating his power. Now, he could fully control his body and exhibit peak combat power, dealing with these Ancient Corpses with ease.

"What strong power!" Tong Zhan was full of shock, watching Xiao Ye charging through the Ancient Corpses’ troops, looking unstoppable and displaying an invincible stance.

These were Ancient Geniuses, strong contenders among their peers during the ancient times, yet before Xiao Ye, they were beaten without the power to fight back, even being instantly annihilated in large groups.

With Xiao Ye’s involvement, all the Ancient Corpses were drawn to him like a flood surrounding him, rendering Tong Zhan idle.

"It seems I greatly underestimated Brother Xiao’s strength," Tong Zhan followed, chuckling wryly.

"Haha, with Brother Xiao’s current strength, he can undoubtedly be called the strongest in this Heavenly Pride Cemetery. Once he makes a move, there’s nothing for us to do," Prince Donghuang laughed.

"Oh?" Tong Zhan’s eyes flickered with a strange light, "I heard that the South Emperor’s Prince has gained control of a Quasi-King Artifact; perhaps he is the most powerful existence in this Heavenly Pride Cemetery?"

Hearing the name of the South Emperor’s Prince, Prince Donghuang’s expression darkened.

Seeing this, Tong Zhan curiously probed, and Prince Donghuang did not conceal it, briefly sharing about the South Emperor’s Prince.

"So that’s the case, I hadn’t expected there to be such a despicable person in the world," Tong Zhan spoke indignantly, yet Prince Donghuang and others didn’t notice the cold glint flowing in Tong Zhan’s eyes.

Soon, all the Ancient Geniuses were killed by Xiao Ye, and the group set off again.

Having witnessed Xiao Ye’s strength, Tong Zhan firmly decided not to take action anymore, leaving all the Ancient Geniuses they encountered along the way to be eradicated by Xiao Ye.

With Xiao Ye’s current strength, he virtually swept through the Third Zone unchallenged, any Ancient Genius, no matter how strong, was no match for him.

However, Xiao Ye did not relax, not knowing if the South Emperor’s Prince had laid any traps in the Third Zone.

Time slowly passed, and after ten days, a burst of intense fighting noise reached them, invigorating Xiao Ye and his group.

"It must be the Young Talents from the Four Great States!" Xiao Ye and his people swiftly moved forward.

"Are we about to part ways so soon? Truly reluctant," Tong Zhan said with a face full of regret, then followed with a dejected demeanor.

Before long, Xiao Ye and his companions paused, seeing ahead on a slope, two youths with tattered robes and covered in scars were surrounded by seven Ancient Geniuses, in great danger of falling at any moment.

"Mo Ye!"

Xiao Ye slightly startled, his gaze fell on the evil-charming youth, who was none other than Mo Ye, who had been incredibly lucky and entered the second phase of the Dynasty Battle.

He had thought that Mo Ye entering the Heavenly Pride Cemetery might not even pass the First Zone, yet unexpectedly he had made it this far, which was indeed peculiar.

"The young man is my old acquaintance, wait here for me, I’ll go save him!" Xiao Ye left a message and quickly rushed towards the slope.

Killing seven Ancient Geniuses was of course not a difficult matter for Xiao Ye. In just a few breaths’ time, he had resolved them all.

"Xiao Ye, I didn’t expect it to be you!" Mo Ye, seeing Xiao Ye, instantly burst with excitement and hurriedly came up to meet him.

Xiao Ye smiled faintly, he was also happy to meet an old friend in such a place, especially since the grudges between him and Mo Ye had long since vanished.

Before the two could reminisce, Mo Ye caught a glimpse of Tong Zhan in the distance, his pupils contracted and his face showed a look of terror, as if seeing a fearsome flood beast. His stepping foot also froze mid-air.

The youth who was rescued along with Mo Ye was even more unbearable, scared to the point of falling on the ground, then quickly scrambled up and turned to run.