# Chapter 310: City of Death
"What terrifying swords."
Golden Leaf Cloud watched as the barbarian elephant soldiers fell one by one, her expression turning somewhat grim. She immediately activated her movement technique and rushed into the distance, preparing to escape.
Facing two such formidable young swordsmen, fear had already begun to grow in Golden Leaf Cloud's heart. She felt that even fifty barbarian elephant soldiers would not be able to defeat them.
But just as Golden Leaf Cloud had rushed out a little over ten zhang, she saw A Le, dressed in gray clothes, blocking her path ahead.
"Who exactly are you? Why are you helping Zhang Ruochen?" Golden Leaf Cloud asked.
"A dead person has no right to speak with me," A Le replied.
"Another arrogant brat!"
Golden Leaf Cloud, confident in her profound cultivation, decided to kill one person before leaving.
She channeled her true qi to both palms, and a "crackling" sound emanated from her palms as sharp, crystalline ice spikes condensed. With a flick of her wrists, dozens of ice spikes flew simultaneously toward A Le.
"Mysterious Shadow Sword Technique!"
A Le swung his sword, and seven afterimages appeared, as if he had executed seven sword strikes in succession, shattering the ice spikes Golden Leaf Cloud had launched into powder.
"Go to hell!"
Golden Leaf Cloud's voice rang out almost right beside A Le's ear.
While launching the ice spikes, she had already rushed forward rapidly. Now she was right in front of A Le, less than a meter apart.
She struck out with her palm, producing a series of "crack" sounds as the air exploded.
The powerful palm force struck toward A Le's abdomen.
Before the palm even struck A Le's body, the chilling aura had already formed a thick layer of frost on the surface of his body.
After all, Golden Leaf Cloud was at the late stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, while A Le had not yet reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm. The gap in their cultivation was enormous.
A Le didn't even have a chance to dodge.
"Bang!"
Golden Leaf Cloud's palm struck A Le's abdomen, sending him flying into the air. His clothes shattered, scattering like butterfly-like fragments of cloth.
"Haha!"
Golden Leaf Cloud let out a loud laugh and immediately followed up with a second palm strike, hitting A Le in the chest.
A Le spat out a mouthful of blood. The sound of bones breaking echoed from within his body, and his ribs collapsed inward.
"Bang!"
A Le crashed to the ground, landing on his knees. Blood continuously flowed from his chest, completely staining his robe red.
"This ends now!"
Golden Leaf Cloud's five fingers formed a blade-hand and chopped toward A Le's neck.
But at that moment, A Le, who had been barely breathing, suddenly erupted with a surge of deathly qi. Using the last of his strength, he lifted his iron sword and thrust upward.
This strike was executed in one fluid motion.
It seemed like a desperate struggle, yet also like a sword strike he had been preparing all along.
How could Golden Leaf Cloud have expected that A Le still had the strength to counterattack?
"Pfft!"
The iron sword pierced through Golden Leaf Cloud's protective heavenly armor, penetrated her heart, and emerged from her back, revealing half a foot of a bloody sword tip.
Golden Leaf Cloud's entire body trembled. She looked down at the position of her heart, still unable to believe that she had died by the sword of someone who was severely wounded and on the verge of death.
"How... how could this..."
A Le withdrew his iron sword, and Golden Leaf Cloud's corpse fell heavily to the ground.
A peak late-stage Heavenly Extreme Realm expert had died like this, dying with extreme unwillingness. Even after death, her eyes remained fixed straight at the sky, her eyelids never closing.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen cut down the last barbarian elephant soldier with his sword and immediately rushed over. He took out a healing pill and handed it to A Le. "Take it quickly."
The exchange between A Le and Golden Leaf Cloud had happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Zhang Ruochen arrived, Golden Leaf Cloud was already dead beneath A Le's sword.
A Le glanced at the healing pill and shook his head. "I don't take... healing pills. The more severely I'm injured, the faster my martial arts cultivation progresses. Have you forgotten? I cultivate the 'Nine Cycles of Life and Death Art'? Placed in death, then reborn; injured to the extreme, then growing stronger. Cough!"
A Le clutched his chest and spat out another mouthful of blood.
But he still insisted, refusing to take the healing pill. Instead, he supported himself with his hand on the ground and stood up resolutely.
The "Nine Cycles of Life and Death Art" was truly miraculous. A martial artist must experience nine brushes with death before becoming strong.
Even if injured, one must not deliberately heal. One must rely solely on the body and true qi to recover naturally. Only then would one's cultivation increase.
This was a tremendous test of a martial artist's willpower!
A timid or cowardly person could not even succeed in the first layer, let alone cultivate the technique to its highest level.
In the past two years, A Le's cultivation had grown so rapidly, which showed that he had undoubtedly suffered countless injuries, experienced countless life-and-death trials, and endured torments that ordinary people could not bear.
Someone like him, as long as he wasn't killed by others, would surely become a saint in the future—and a top-tier expert among saints.
Zhang Ruochen put the healing pill away and said, "In the past two years, your heart has grown colder, and your will has become firmer. For you, I wonder if this is a blessing or a curse?"
A Le stared at Zhang Ruochen, looking at the blood covering Zhang Ruochen's hands, and revealed a stiff smile. "In the past two years, haven't you changed a lot too? I remember that two years ago, you wouldn't kill people."
Zhang Ruochen looked at the piles of corpses on the ground, his brow furrowed. "Before, my identity was different. No one dared to kill me, so naturally, I didn't need to kill. But now, it's different. There are too many people who want to kill me. If I don't kill, I'll be the one who dies. I don't want to die yet. I still have very important things to do, so I must kill. Perhaps this is what it means to be helpless in life."
A Le said, "A general's achievement rests on ten thousand bones; a saint's sword kills a thousand men. Every saint's sword must be stained with the blood of millions. Benefactor, I can feel that the path of cultivation you must walk will be even more difficult than mine."
A Le dragged his severely wounded body and quickly left, returning to the Underworld Gate.
Zhang Ruochen headed in another direction, continuing his journey to the City of Death.
Half an hour later, Jin Chuan, Zhang Tiangui, and Guo Shisan arrived with fifty barbarian elephant soldiers.
A thick smell of blood permeated the forest.
Around them, some barbarian beasts, attracted by the scent of blood, were gnawing on the corpses.
Fifty barbarian elephant soldiers rushed out and stabbed to death all the barbarian beasts that were feeding on the corpses.
"A squad of barbarian elephant soldiers has been completely wiped out!"
Guo Shisan gripped his heavy sword tightly, a cold anger in his eyes.
"Consort Jin's body is here."
A barbarian elephant soldier searched the forest and found Golden Leaf Cloud lying in a pool of blood.
"Yun'er!"
Jin Chuan rushed over, picked up Golden Leaf Cloud's corpse, and immediately burst into tears, wailing in grief.
Jin Chuan was Golden Leaf Cloud's father.
"Zhang Ruochen is so ruthless, actually killing Consort Jin." Zhang Tiangui said with a sinister look. "Senior Jin Chuan, you must avenge Consort Jin."
"Zhang Ruochen!"
Jin Chuan let out a roar. A powerful gust of wind burst from his mouth, like a hurricane, shaking all the leaves off the trees in the entire mountain forest. They flew into the air, making a "rustling" sound.
Within a radius of a thousand zhang, all the trees became completely bare, not a single leaf in sight.
All the birds and beasts in the forest were also shaken to death.
"Chase him! We must catch up to Zhang Ruochen. I will personally cut him into a thousand pieces!" Jin Chuan roared.
...
...
The Tongming River Basin was the territory of aquatic barbarian beasts and a forbidden zone for humans.
To clear the Tongming River, humans had built a city only a hundred li from the deadly stretch of the river—the City of Death.
The City of Death housed troops from over a dozen commandery states, with a total of over a million soldiers.
Almost every month, human soldiers would pilot warships into the waters to clear out barbarian beasts.
Every year, a large-scale battle would be held, where barbarian beasts and human armies would fight fiercely, causing massive casualties on both sides.
Besides the military, many martial artists from various commandery states also came to the City of Death, hoping to hunt barbarian beasts in the Tongming River Basin and find treasures in the water.
There were more cultivation treasures in the water than on land. Even finding just one could greatly boost a martial artist's cultivation.
Because there was profit to be made, even though everyone knew the Tongming River was dangerous, a large number of martial artists still came to the City of Death every day, joining the ranks of adventurers.
Some indeed lost their lives, sinking to the bottom of the water; others obtained cultivation treasures and became martial arts experts from then on.
This was a place full of opportunity and danger, where legends and death coexisted.
When Zhang Ruochen arrived at the City of Death, what he saw were towering city walls, densely packed warships docked at the harbor, and an endless stream of martial artists coming and going.
"I heard that Zhao San Tu dug up a blood coral in the Tongming River and sold it for two million silver coins. He made a huge fortune."
"There was another martial artist conflict on Grass Market Street. I heard over sixty people died, blood flowing like a river. Among them were Earth Extreme Realm martial arts experts."
"This morning, the army of the City of Death dispatched thirteen warships into the deadly stretch of the river. They say they're going to hunt a fourth-rank mid-level barbarian beast, the 'Mysterious Cold Octopus.' I wonder if they'll succeed?"
"The Vermilion Bird Tower has ten new charming young ladies. Tonight, their first nights will be auctioned off. I wonder who will win the top prize?"
...
Walking along the bustling main street, Zhang Ruochen heard all kinds of news—some about the discovery of certain treasures, some about the arrival of important figures in the City of Death, and some about the appearance of a powerful barbarian beast...
The City of Death was truly a place where dragons and snakes mingled together.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen seemed to sense something. He looked up toward a distant restaurant and seemed to see a familiar figure.
"It's her."
Zhang Ruochen narrowed his eyes, staring at a woman in purple standing on the third floor of an ancient building beside the street.
That woman in purple stood gracefully, with a very clear and beautiful face and a slender figure. She appeared delicate, but her martial arts cultivation was very high. Moreover, her five senses were sharp, and she seemed to sense someone watching her.
So she turned around and looked in the direction from which the gaze came, just in time to see Zhang Ruochen standing in the middle of the street.
(Requesting votes!)