Chapter 3: Battlefield (Seeking Recommendations and Collections)

  "Big brother, don't try to persuade me, have you forgotten our oath?" Zhang Huaming's eyes shone with a sharp light as he stared at Zhang Kaifu.

  "You...". Zhang Kai Fu originally wanted to persuade a few more sentences, after all, the result of staying behind would be clear to everyone. To put it nicely, it was a desperate last stand, and to put it harshly, it was just being cannon fodder to delay the enemy's pursuit, a scene of nine deaths and one life. But when he felt his third brother's firm gaze, thinking about his second brother's temperament, he unconsciously said: "Alright then! At that time, you follow me."

  "Hmm." Zhang Huaming nodded slightly.

  "I'll go out and arrange things first, then I'll get Second Brother to come pick you up."

  "Okay."

  Zhang Kai said goodbye and left the wounded tent, Zhang Huaming watched his big brother leave, a familiar feeling rose up in his heart again. Comrades are worth relying on with their lives, and he decided to stay because when he woke up, he found that his previous life's cultivation had brought him into this body. The acquired boundary, crossing over to this space, actually preserved the boundary of existence at the time of the battle with the Knife King? It was a great luck in misfortune. The dense white mist in his dantian was the manifestation of his previous life's boundary. When he discovered this secret, he himself was stunned. According to the memories of the owner of this body, his current cultivation was roughly equivalent to the level of Wuzong in this world. He believed that on the battlefield, it would be no problem to keep his own life safe, unless several opponents of the same level joined forces to attack him. To know that his master who taught him back then was a high-ranking monk from Shaolin Temple, and what he learned was very mixed. The 72 absolute techniques of Shaolin Temple were all learned, but none of them reached the highest boundary. His master often blamed him, saying that if he focused on cultivating two or three absolute techniques, he would have become a great master long ago.

  To prepare for the final battle tomorrow, Zhang Huaming sat cross-legged on the ground, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to heal his wounds, striving to recover from all injuries before dawn the next day, in order to face the impending fierce battle.

  "What a rich spiritual energy!" When he started practicing the Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms technique passed down by his master from his previous life, his heart couldn't help but tremble with excitement. He discovered that the spiritual energy in this space was several times thicker than on Earth. His master had always regretted one thing since he started learning martial arts - the spiritual energy on Earth was too thin. If the spiritual energy were rich enough, he might have truly had a chance to become the second master of Shaolin Temple to fully grasp the 72 ultimate techniques.

  Could it be that I might have another breakthrough in the realm of martial arts? It's worth noting that although the acquired and innate realms differ by only one level, the gap between them is like heaven and earth. If a high-ranking innate expert wants to eliminate an acquired expert, it would take no more than a snap of their fingers. If the acquired realm is like a small river, then the innate realm is like a vast ocean. Moreover, once you reach the innate realm, you can possess the ability to fly through the air for a short period of time, completely different from the scene of lightness and agility in running.

  "Huh, isn't this the Chaos Pearl? How did it appear in my dantian? What's going on?" Zhang Huaming suddenly felt a shock throughout his body as he discovered a familiar object in his own dantian. The Chaos Pearl, which was filled with legend and had been the target of his mission in his past life, had somehow followed him into this space and even entered this physical body. How did this happen?

  After a long time of contemplation, Zhang Huaming also gave up on thinking. Since he couldn't figure it out, why waste brain cells? Anyway, he had a strong premonition that his survival was closely related to the Hunyuan Pearl in his Dantian, including how he ended up in this space.

  Zhang Huaming concentrated on operating the technique, and an hour passed, two hours passed. Unbeknownst to him, he had already sat in meditation for a full ten hours. He didn't even notice when the wounded soldiers inside the tent left. It was clear how deeply absorbed he was in absorbing the spiritual energy. For a time, he entered a state that was difficult to express in words.

  "Kill! Clang!! Clang clang!!! Clang clang clang!!!!!" The waves of killing sounds, the waves of clashing weapons finally woke up Zhang Huaming who was in meditation.

  "What the...?!" Zhang Huaming's eyes snapped open, his face twisted in anger. Not only had he just finished treating his injuries, but he had also faintly sensed the boundary of the Xiantian realm. And now, at this very moment, someone was interrupting him. The fury that rose up within him was palpable.

  "Is it dawn? What time is it?" Zhang Huaming was stunned for a moment, and the next moment he woke up to find himself no longer in his original space. His mind immediately recalled what his elder brother had said the night before, and he quickly lifted the tent flap and walked out.

  "Bloody, smoky, and gunpowder-like." This was Zhang Huaming's first impression as he lifted the canvas of his tent.

  "Kill!!! Let's settle this with those Japanese scums!" A furious roar rose up.

  The entire Cloud City has fallen into chaos, with endless enemy troops pouring in from the city gate, while the soldiers of Cloud City are desperately fighting to hold onto the gate, engaging in a life-and-death struggle. The small area of land at the gate, less than a few dozen square meters, has been dyed red with blood, and the surrounding area is littered with severed limbs and bodies. Meanwhile, the defending soldiers on top of the city wall are constantly blocking the endless enemy troops that keep climbing up from the wall.

  "Where's Big Brother?" Zhang Huaming immediately looked for his three sworn brothers, and with a sweep of his eyes, he found that his three brothers were now leading a small team outside the fighting circle in the center of the city, staring intently at the situation inside. In the fighting circle, a burly middle-aged man was holding a large knife and fighting against three other burly men. Judging from the armor on the four men's bodies, he knew that these four people were probably the generals of this battle. The general who was fighting alone against three others must be Qin General from his own side, while the other three men were undoubtedly the Three Generals of the enemy army.

  "Big brother."

  Zhang Kai Fu heard the shouting sound beside him, first startled, and then when he saw the appearance of the person who came, a slight surprise expression appeared on his face. Immediately afterwards, his face turned gloomy, with a hint of tension in his tone, he instructed: "Old Three, you're awake. I was just about to let Old Two go wake you up. Now hurry and retreat with Old Two and Old Four first."

  "No, big brother, we agreed to share good fortune and bad together. If we leave now, will we still have the face to live in this world?" Xing Ziyue shook his head on horseback.

  "That's right, big brother, third brother is correct. If we leave now, we will live with guilt for the rest of our lives. I absolutely won't leave." Shi Wu said with a determined expression.

  "You guys." Zhang Kai Fu saw the determined expressions on his three brothers' faces, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh of resignation. In his heart, he was both angry and moved. He was angry that these three knew staying behind would be suicidal yet still chose to stay, but at the same time, he was moved because they were truly loyal and righteous, not the kind of people who would prioritize their own lives above all else. It's hard to come by a few true friends in life, and having brothers like this made it all worthwhile.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!!!! A loud crash awakened Zhang Huaming and the others, and as they looked up, they saw Qin Xiao Tian's figure retreating several steps before stabilizing.

  "Got hurt." With Zhang Huaming's cultivation, Qin Xiao naturally opened his mouth and said that he was injured.

  "Qin Xiao Tian, if you surrender now, I can spare your life. If you resist, don't blame me for being ruthless." a man with a long sword said coldly.

  "Get lost! You think I, Qin Xiao Tian, would be captured so easily? Dream on."

  "Qin Xiao Tian, I know you've sent for your main force, the Ferocious Tiger Legion, but you also understand that even by the fastest route from here to Longhua City, it'll take at least two days. At this point, you no longer have any reinforcements coming. I know you're not afraid of death, but don't you care about your subordinates? Are you willing to watch them die before your eyes?" The man holding the long sword seemed to be well aware of Qin Xiao Tian's temperament and added a softer tone.

  As expected, after his words fell, Qin Xiao Tian, who was originally still thinking of putting on a desperate appearance, suddenly fell silent. His tiger eyes scanned the surrounding battlefield, and his eyebrows furrowed instantly.

  "General, no! We would rather die in battle than see you humiliated." The surrounding area erupted into a chorus of shouts.

  Qin Xiao Tian heard the shouts around him, his face grew increasingly gloomy, and the man holding the long sword saw Qin Xiao Tian's changes, furrowed his brow, and waved his hand: "Kill!"

  "Kill!! Kill!!!"

  At this moment, Yunzhong City can be said to have completely fallen, and the remaining soldiers of the Měng Hǔ Tuán who were still fighting in fragments around the city were also forced by the Dongguo enemy army to surround Qin Xiao Tian.

  "General." A burly man covered in blood came to Qin Xiao Tian's side and shouted.

  "A top-notch expert." Zhang Huaming saw this man and immediately discerned his cultivation realm. If categorized according to the levels of this space, this man's cultivation had already reached that of a high-ranking martial artist. Moreover, from the memories stored in this body, he knew that this man was none other than Hu Tian, one of the three great generals of Qin Xiao Tian's Vanguard Camp.

  Qin Xiao Tian's expression changed as soon as he saw Hu Tian alone. His tone was serious: "Where are Lao Tian and Lao Feng?"

  "General, Lao Tian and Lao Feng have..." Hu Tian said this matter, a pair of tiger eyes turned red.