Chapter 40 Black Rock City

At the very beginning of the escape, Tang Zhen was actually quite tempted to activate the teleportation feature and flee.

This was because after running for only a short while, his legs already felt intensely sore and numb, while his chest grew tight and his breathing rapidly became labored.

However, when he inadvertently glanced back to observe, he discovered that apart from the relentless Corpse Monster Centurions hot on his heels, several dozen other people were also following closely behind, yet not a single person had fallen behind during the entire chase.

While admiring these people's perseverance, Tang Zhen also suddenly realized that he might have become far too reliant on those applications, thereby neglecting the cultivation and improvement of his own physical strength.

It was merely three Corpse Monster Centurions, and yet they had already driven him into such a wretched and flustered state. If the Spirit-Brain Corpse King were to personally hunt him down, what on earth would he use to fight back?

At this thought, Tang Zhen felt a twinge of a guilty conscience.

In terms of cultivation level, he definitely could not compare to the Spirit-Brain Corpse King. After all, the other party was a dignified corpse king, and any random subordinate commander picked out from its ranks probably possessed a Lord-tier cultivation level!

Since resisting head-on was a losing battle, he could still activate teleportation to escape.

However, initiating teleportation also carried a certain degree of risk. What if the Spirit-Brain Corpse King had the ability to crack or restrict teleportation? Then he would truly be left dumbfounded.

Had he not witnessed how the infrasound application was forcefully shut down when the corpse king's divine soul descended? This clearly demonstrated that the adversary possessed power and methods far beyond his ability to resist.

Furthermore, what the enemy had projected was merely a wisp of a divine soul. If this divine soul were even slightly more powerful, the situation would likely turn extremely grim, and it remained uncertain whether he could escape unscathed.

When none of these external reliances could be depended upon, the only thing that could truly help him was his own strength.

Strength came from arduous training and cultivation; this was an eternal and unchanging truth!

Tang Zhen questioned himself: among cultivators of the same rank, he should easily be able to completely defeat wandering rogue cultivators, and that was because his physical constitution was superior to ordinary vagrants.

Yet when facing Lou Cheng cultivators, he doubted he had any certainty of victory. After all, he had previously witnessed the combat scenes of Lou Cheng cultivators on several occasions, and through comparison, he discovered that their combat prowess was not just a little bit higher than his own.

They were all of the same rank, so why was their strength so astonishingly high? Was it not obtained through bitter cultivation?

Even though the cultivation conditions of Lou Cheng cultivators were far superior to those of wandering rogue cultivators, Tang Zhen's own conditions were not the least bit inferior to theirs, and might even far surpass them.

That being the case, why should he be any worse than them?

It seemed that all along, he had relied far too heavily on external objects, thereby overlooking the enhancement of his own intrinsic strength!

Thinking up to this point, Tang Zhen's gaze turned resolute. Since that was the case, he would start working hard from this very day and see whether he could truly break through his limits!

He would not place himself in desperate danger, but rather push his ultimate strength to the surface to the greatest extent possible.

Once things truly reached a point of absolute impossibility, he would still activate teleportation and leave.

Thus, Tang Zhen gritted his teeth and persisted. Even though he was completely exhausted during the run, he still felt he had not reached his limit, so he continued to grit his teeth and hold on.

Enduring like this time and time again, Tang Zhen did not know how long he had been running. Until he felt his consciousness growing somewhat hazy, he sensed another burst of energy erupting from the depths of his body.

Even though this strand of power was as fine as a gossamer thread, it still filled Tang Zhen's heart with joy. He knew this was the ultimate potential strength he had been pursuing.

This very power was the fundamental reason for the vast disparity in strength among cultivators of the same rank. Lou Cheng cultivators could awaken this power through inheritance and auxiliary means.

As for rogue cultivators, due to numerous issues involving inheritance and resources, only a very few individuals were able to awaken this power!

Because of the awakening and stimulation of this ultimate strength, Tang Zhen once again felt his entire body surging with power. Just as he intended to resume his mad dash, he suddenly discovered a gigantic building appearing right ahead of him.

Looking closely, it was none other than Black Rock Lou Cheng, the overlord of the nearby wilderness.

At this moment, a team of cultivators had already rapidly charged out from the gates of Black Rock City, riding on battle steeds and rushing straight toward him.

Presumably, these were the guards of the Lou Cheng who had spotted the Corpse Monster Centurions trailing behind him.

Charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the security of Black Rock City, these cultivators naturally would not allow the Corpse Monster Centurions to approach even half a step closer, otherwise it would constitute a dereliction of their duty.

Simultaneously with the appearance of these city-guarding cultivators, Tang Zhen noticed abnormal movements within the interior of the Lou Cheng as well.

At a window fifty meters above the ground of Black Rock Lou Cheng, Tang Zhen saw several figures flickering, as if operating some sort of machinery.

Moments later, several black dots shot out fiercely from the window, targeting the Corpse Monster Centurions that were in hot pursuit behind him.

"Thud!"

Following several muffled impacts resembling the piercing of tough leather, those three Corpse Monster Centurions let out long roars to the heavens as they were pierced clean through by several massive black arrows!

The colossal black arrows protruding from the bodies of the several-meter-tall Corpse Monster Centurions presented a deeply striking and shocking spectacle.

The destructive power of these black arrows was extremely formidable. Even though the physical bodies of the Corpse Monster Centurions were immensely tough, they still could not withstand this kind of powerful defensive weapon of the Lou Cheng.

Taking advantage of the window when the Corpse Monster Centurions were injured and slowed down, the pursuers and reinforcements swarmed forward simultaneously, launching a fearless and frantic encirclement and slaughter against the corpse monsters.

A multitude of ants could kill an elephant; a fierce tiger feared a pack of wolves!

In mere minutes, the heavily wounded three Corpse Monster Centurions were hacked down to the ground, and after struggling for a short while, they were completely annihilated.

Witnessing all this from his hidden vantage point nearby, Tang Zhen felt an even more intense yearning to possess his own faction.

Having subordinates run errands so he didn't have to lift a finger, and having them swarm forward at his command during a fight—just thinking about it felt immensely exhilarating.

No, he had to talk to Qian Long about this later. With crises lurking on all sides right now, he needed to recruit soldiers and horses as quickly as possible.

If he could gather a group of powerful subordinates, then even if the Spirit-Brain Corpse King came, he would have helpers. Would his chances of winning increase by a few points?

The more Tang Zhen thought about it, the more tempted he became, and he couldn't wait to run back to the wandering survivors' town to discuss it with Qian Long. However, he hadn't expected that his legs were already overwhelmingly sore and numb, causing him to collapse to the ground the moment he tried to stand up.

Tang Zhen could only respond to this with a wry smile. Although he had successfully stimulated his ultimate strength this time, the toll it took on his body was not insignificant; he would probably need a proper period of recuperation.

Unable to move for the time being, Tang Zhen retrieved a pair of binoculars from his storage space and began to carefully observe the situation of Black Rock City.

From the outside, Black Rock City looked quite similar to ordinary residential apartment buildings in the primal world, only appearing more archaic and heavily built, as sturdy and indestructible as a black boulder—perhaps this was how Black Rock City got its name.

Unlike residential buildings, most of the windows on the exterior of this Lou Cheng were sealed shut or remodeled into firing platforms. At the very top of the Lou Cheng, several bizarrely shaped giant ballistas were positioned.

As for the ordinary residents of Black Rock City, they lived in the inner courtyards encircled by the Lou Cheng and within the massive interior spaces. For many Lou Cheng residents, the Lou Cheng was the entire world of their existence; some of them had never stepped half a step outside the gates of the Lou Cheng from birth to death.

This was the Lou Cheng world, where the inside and the outside of the city formed two completely distinct realms!