Infinite Fighting

Chapter 74: Chapter 65: Escape, Zenar Desert

Guning Country has four great Imperial Guards.

They are [Feather], [Claw], [Eye], and [Sense].

Feather is responsible for handling ordinary external affairs.

Claw is responsible for assassinations and warfare.

Eye is responsible for reconnaissance and information gathering.

Sense is responsible for protecting high-ranking members of the royal family. They are also the kingdom’s executive figures, possessing the greatest strength.

The four united as one form the national symbol of Guning Country: the undying phoenix, the Sun Divine Spirit.

Falin Montu.

The current commander of the [Feather] Imperial Guard.

Three days had passed since he received his mission and arrived in New Fuerlos.

He could have killed Robby directly at that moment, but he witnessed something so incredible that he halted his mission.

Falin saw Zhang Ji in the sunlight. The purity of his bloodline was such that, for a moment, he wondered if Zhang Ji was a forgotten descendant of the Sun Divine Spirit.

After all, the Sun Divine Spirit had been quite promiscuous, though few of his unions ever produced offspring.

It wasn’t until he prepared to move closer that a tremor ran through his heart.

It was the tremor a bloodline feels in the presence of its progenitor.

In the past, he had only felt this sensation when worshipping the divine husk of his ancestor.

Immediately, he grew furious!

’This is blasphemy!’

’An Alchemist has desecrated our ancestor’s bloodline! An unforgivable crime!’

At the same time, a sliver of fear took root in his heart.

’If the Divine Blood can be transferred at will, the royal bloodline will no longer be supreme.’

There was also another emotion, one he couldn’t quite identify himself.

He, too, seemed to be having impure thoughts about his ancestor’s blood.

’If others can have it, why can’t I, a descendant of a god?’

And so, he hesitated. He dismissed the guards who had followed him and waited alone.

He didn’t want to cause too much of a commotion.

It was best if he was the only one who knew about this.

Falin wanted to capture the two of them, learn their secrets, and infuse his own body with the blood of the first-generation god.

...

"I’m in deep trouble!"

Zhang Ji froze in place, his eyes locked with Falin’s.

He’d seen those wings more than anything else in the game.

The man before him was even an old acquaintance.

’In the game, it wouldn’t even take me a minute to beat him, but that was when I was B-rank and had my player status.’

In his current, real-world situation, he really couldn’t take on a [B-] rank bloodline fighter.

’Speaking of which, I knew my favorability with the Guning Country faction would drop after obtaining the Sun Blood, but isn’t that only supposed to take effect once I enter Guning Country?’

’How did they detect me from so far away? Is this the butterfly effect?’

"What’s wrong? Why are you just standing there?" Robby asked Zhang Ji.

"I think I know why now," Zhang Ji muttered upon hearing Robby’s voice.

’He’s probably here for Robby. I’m just the one who got dragged into this.’

His thoughts raced as he considered his escape routes.

This was a bona fide B-rank master. A [B-] was still B-rank, a completely different concept from C-rank.

The one silver lining was that his opponent was a bloodline fighter from the [Profound Heart Stream]’s [True Flame Sect], and they were by the sea.

’Without the home-turf advantage of a desert or volcano, he can only draw power from the clear sky. He’ll be lucky to use thirty percent of his strength.’

Thirty percent...

’That’s probably still enough to crush me.’

"WHOO WHOO~!"

The smuggling ship’s horn blew, signaling its imminent departure.

Robby hurried onto the ship with his luggage and said to Zhang Ji, "Hurry up, we’re leaving."

"You’re on your own. I can’t handle what you’ve brought here, so I’ve got to run," Zhang Ji said without looking at Robby.

"What?" Robby asked, confused.

But in the next instant, he saw Zhang Ji’s figure blur into motion, sprinting directly toward the ocean and dashing away across the waves.

"Huh?" Robby was first stunned to see Zhang Ji walking on water, then wondered aloud, "Does he think the smuggling ship is too slow? Is he planning to go to the Roman Country like that?"

The other people on the ship who saw this also stared with wide eyes, leaning over the railings to watch Zhang Ji’s distant figure.

「Elsewhere.」

Falin glanced at Robby, then unhesitatingly went after Zhang Ji.

Robby was just an ordinary person.

He could easily capture Robby anytime he wanted.

But Zhang Ji was different.

He was the possessor of the first-generation Divine Blood and had strength comparable to an Imperial Guard. He could not be allowed to escape.

"BOOM~!"

A sonic boom erupted as Falin’s body broke the sound barrier. He too stepped onto the sea, rapidly chasing after Zhang Ji.

Seeing this, Robby finally realized what was happening, and his scalp tingled in terror.

He had witnessed with his own eyes just how powerful the Royal Imperial Guards were.

"How was I exposed? Wait... could it be Douglas...?"

....

....

Regardless of Robby’s reaction,

Zhang Ji could already feel the piercing sensation at his back growing more intense.

It was the premonition of a crisis.

"BOOM~!"

The air shattered and the seawater was torn asunder as a heavy punch was thrown.

Zhang Ji was prepared. A waterfall of seawater surged forth as he instantly entered his Tiger and Celestial Serpent stances, simultaneously using his shoulder to try and absorb and block the attack.

"PFFT PFFT PFFT~! BANG~!"

Zhang Ji’s water defense was instantly shattered.

His fully mastered [Waterfall Drop], despite its home-turf advantage, had little effect on Falin. He tore through it with ease, and his fist landed on Zhang Ji, sending him flying. He skipped across the water several times before finally managing to stop himself.

But the moment he stopped, another punch came flying at him.

A dazzling blue light shone as Zhang Ji entered his Wild Leopard stance, his claws swinging in a direct slash.

However, his opponent’s move didn’t change.

"BANG~! CRACK~!"

Zhang Ji’s fingers, capable of severing iron and steel, broke, and his body was sent flying once again.

As for Falin’s fist, it only had a few white marks, causing him to feel a slight sting of pain.

This was the difference between C-rank and B-rank.

Even though his opponent’s main discipline wasn’t the [Solid Body Sect], his physical body was still ridiculously strong.

In Ultimate Fighting, the gap between ranks grew exponentially.

A [D+] fighting a [C-], without external items, a player could possibly win. With a good skill setup and some kiting, they could beat most [C-] fighters.

But a [C+] fighting a [B-], without external items, had only happened seven times in the version of the game Zhang Ji played. Not one of the video replays had less than fifty million views.

Those were all cases where players had completed every side quest, maxed out their skill builds, and pushed their mechanics to the absolute limit just to eke out a slim chance of victory.

Even if you asked those same players to do it again, they might not be able to repeat the feat.

Zhang Ji’s mind raced. At this very moment, he had only one path to survival.

’Just like when I destroyed that missile, I can combine all five forms and unleash my Divine Dragon Primordial Qi with full force to push him back.’

’No, it’s better if I can actually injure him.’

’Just pushing him back won’t stop him from chasing me again.’

’How can I land a solid hit?’

A crazed look appeared in Zhang Ji’s eyes.

’Trading injuries with a B-rank master while being out-leveled... what a crazy idea!’

"This one’s for the highlight reel!"

Muttering to himself, Zhang Ji faced the incoming attack without dodging or evading, directly circulating his breath to brace for the impact.

The fist landed on Zhang Ji’s body. At the same time, the Primordial Qi within him was fully mobilized. A blue light flickered and gathered in his palm, then was unleashed in an instant.

"ROAR~! BOOM~!"

The two-meter-wide blue divine dragon made Falin freeze for a second, but they were too close. He couldn’t dodge and could only take it head-on.

The light of the great sun suddenly dimmed. A crimson light flowed from Falin’s body, the intense heat evaporating a massive amount of seawater.

The blue divine dragon pushed him back across the sea, parting the water on either side to form walls two to three meters high.

Soon, the divine dragon was spent.

A mangled, bloody wound was left on Falin’s left arm.

But Zhang Ji had already dived into the sea and disappeared.

Falin frowned. His Spirit could no longer detect Zhang Ji’s location.

Without a second thought, he immediately changed direction and pursued the ship Robby had taken.

But when he arrived on the ship, he found that Robby had also disappeared.

Falin closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were filled with rage.

Then, the entire smuggling ship was engulfed in flames. A short while later, the whole vessel sank into the sea.

* * *

On the surface of the sea, Zhang Ji’s head popped up.

Feeling the pain in his fingers, his arm, and even his internal organs, he was truly a bit speechless.

He had already written the whole script in his head.

Obtain the Sun Blood, head to the fighting capital of the Roman Country, lead the remaining disciples of the Five Elements Sect to strive and advance, reach B-rank, hit up a few nearby fortuitous encounter spots, and then return to the Eastern Extreme Country with unstoppable momentum.

He would make a grand entrance, heralding the king’s return.

But he had just finished healing his leg, and now this happened.

Under the sunlight, Zhang Ji’s body felt warm, and his wounds were itching as they healed.

He straightened the bones in his fingers and fumbled with his chest, manipulating his muscles to realign them.

It hurt a bit, but compared to the true fire that had burned his body when he transplanted the bloodline, it was much easier to bear.

Honestly, if he hadn’t gained a few more essences from the Iron Body Skill this time, he likely wouldn’t have escaped with just minor injuries.

He’d probably have been critically wounded and might not have gotten away at all.

Zhang Ji became even more certain about his path.

’I have to train my body to be tougher.’

Before reaching A-rank, he absolutely had to get an outstanding [Solid Body Sect] Horizontal Training Combat Skill.

The kind that couldn’t be broken even by a missile.

’The "Indestructible Vajra Body Divine Skill" would be perfect.’

But to get that, he would probably have to go to a Ruins Realm. The entrance was at the Buddha statue in the ruins of the Vajra Sect. He didn’t remember the exact location. Back then, he’d just seen someone take on an entire army alone and gotten interested. He casually watched some guide videos and learned that a combat skill like that was in there, and to get it, you had to fight eighteen B-rank bronze automatons.

’I’ll have to wait until I go back to the Eastern Extreme Country for that. For now, I’ll just practice the Iron Body Skill as a stopgap.’

After basking in the sun for half a day, as the sun began to set in the west, Zhang Ji felt most of the pain in his body had disappeared, leaving only a slight ache.

Zhang Ji figured out his direction, made a rough estimate, and then rode the waves forward, heading straight for the Roman Country.

「Two days later.」

Zhang Ji reached land.

However, the sight of the vast desert before him left his expression a little dazed.

"Where the f*ck did he send me? Is this still the Roman Country?" Zhang Ji grumbled.

After his complaint, he began to walk along the border where the sea met the desert.

By staying near the sea, he could at least find some food.

If he entered the desert, his only means of recovering stamina would be relying on the Moonlight Cup and "photosynthesis" from sunbathing.

After walking for the better part of a day, with the sun slanting in the west, Zhang Ji had roughly determined his location.

He had looked at a world map before setting out, so he naturally knew where this was.

The Zenar Desert, also known as the Wind God Desert.

It was within Guning Country’s borders and served as a natural demarcation line between Guning Country and the Roman Country.

Zhang Ji remembered there was even a Ruins Realm instance here.

Moreover, it was a relatively peaceful, fortuitous encounter-type Ruins Realm instance, with only a C-rank gatekeeper monster that would attack on sight.

The NPCs inside were relatively friendly and neutral.

Players passing through the desert could even enter it to restock on supplies.

There was also a challenge minigame inside. If you successfully cleared it, you could obtain an (Outstanding Seven Stars) [Divine Wind Sect] combat skill.

"Well, since I’m here..."

Thinking this, Zhang Ji decided to check it out. After all, even if he settled down in the Roman Country, he would have come back for this anyway. It was already one of his planned objectives.

The problem now was that he didn’t have a satellite map, so finding the place would be a bit difficult.

However, he seemed to remember another way to get there.

At night, by looking at the stars, the position of the corresponding Wind God Star would be the location of the Ruins Realm.

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