World’s Best Martial Artist
chapter-304

Pu!

Blood splashed in all directions.

In one move, a Rank-2 martial artist who charged at them was slashed to death by Fang Ping. He asked doubtfully, “Middle-ranked ones are all dead?”

Both of them returned to the valley. Their initial plan was to take advantage of the dark to trick the powerhouses who were on guard.

In the end, other than encountering a Rank-4 in the courtyard—killed quickly in a joint effort—the rest of them were all low-ranked martial artists.

In the dark, these low-ranked martial artists could not see anything at all.

Killing them was as easy as chopping melons.

Qin Fengqing grinned. “We’re gonna be rich!”

Unexpectedly, there was only one Rank-5 martial artist here. If he had known, he would not have brought Fang Ping along. He could have cultivated a bit more and hogged everything on his own.

“Should we go in?”

Right now, both of them were standing in the courtyard and had not gone in yet.

Qin Fengqing thought for a while and said, “You go on in and take a look first…”

Fang Ping did not utter a word, turned around and continued pulling out the herbs. Qin Fengqing was not slow either as he started pulling them out rapidly. His clothes had already swelled up long ago.

“Is this outfit of yours tailor-made?”

“Try guessing.”

“The Catacombs beast hide?”

“Of course not. It’s Earth’s technology.”

Qin Fengqing was constantly giggling. Quickly and easily, both of them had harvested all the herbs in the herb garden.

Then they turned to look at the big ceremonial hall behind them again. Their eyes met, nodding silently, striding toward it together.

…

Walking through the huge entrance that was several meters high, they were greeted by a spacious and vacant concourse.

The layout was similar to that of an assembly hall.

Toward the center at the end sat what seemed like a stony throne of a wolf head carving.

On both sides of the concourse, more than ten stone chairs were seen.

Some of them had wolf head carvings, while others had other Catacombs beings’ carvings.

An energy light was hanging from the top of the concourse.

At this moment, the concourse was not entirely deserted.

A woman and three men. The woman was already in her middle age. Right now, she was standing straight and tall beside the throne, whereas the three men wore sorrowful expressions, wielding their weapons, shielding the woman.

“Who are you?”

The middle-aged woman asked in the Catacombs language. Although she looked pretty ghastly, she was fairly well-composed.

Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing exchanged glances, but neither made a sound.

“… is the one you’re working for?”

The woman asked once more.

The few words in front were probably the name of a place or the name of a powerful figure. However, Fang Ping could not understand it. What he had picked up was only the basics, some common Catacombs language usage.

Names of places were the most complicated ones. Moreover, both sides called them differently. Sometimes it was really hard to distinguish.

Fang Ping still did not utter a word, but he was thinking hard. This woman might have gotten the wrong idea.

He and Qin Fengqing were still dressed in Catacombs martial artists’ attire at this moment.

None of the people in the building had strong abilities. The powerhouses had been eliminated earlier.

The four people in the concourse were all martial artists, though they were of three-lower-ranks abilities. When Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing killed the martial artists earlier, these guys where nowhere near, hence they might not have sensed the Vitality Force.

Seeing that both of them refused to answer, the woman sighed softly. She said again, “If you kill me, Master won’t let you get away with it. Perhaps you are trying to disguise yourselves as the martial artists from the Land of Hope, to make Master join the war?”

Fang Ping made a wild guess making out what those sentences meant.

However, his heart skipped a beat.

It seemed like… things had gotten a little complicated!

He had guessed the word “Master” from the woman’s muttering. It could be a husband, could be an owner…

Of course, the meaning was still the same.

“Is that Rank-5 earlier the master?” Fang Ping guessed in his heart, yet he thought that it was somewhat unlikely.

After all, both of them were standing here now. There was a high chance that the guy was already dead. The woman would have known.

If that was the case… it meant that the Rank-5 martial artist was not the owner of this land.

When the woman said “Land of Hope”, Fang Ping could understand that because the words “Land of Hope” were transliterated from them.

To disguise as Hope City’s martial artists?

No, they were the real deal!

Was the woman implying that someone would disguise themselves as Hope City’s martial artists to kill her, so the owner of this land would join the war in order to avenge her?

Or perhaps, the owner of this land had never thought of joining the war to fight against Hope City?

Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing’s eyes met. This was all ancient Greek to Qin Fengqing. Nevertheless, he could still make out some of it.

“I think… we’ve stirred up some trouble…”

QIn Fengqing’s mouth moved and spoke in an almost inaudible voice.

A powerhouse who had no intention of getting involved seemed like he was about to join the war to fight against Hope City because of them.

“A Rank-6?”

Fang Ping made a guess. Then, Fang Ping’s eyes moved all of a sudden. With a cold and stern voice, he commanded, “Kill!”

Qin Fengqing did not hesitate at all. Both of them leaped forward. In no time, the three people blocking in front were killed on the spot.

A hint of despair was evident in the middle-aged woman’s eyes. She yelled, “Master will avenge me! Humans of the Land of Hope!”

Pu!

Fang Ping’s glaive slashed in one fell swoop. Letting out a cold humph, he said, “How dare you set us up!”

It was clear that this woman knew where they came from. Perhaps she was trying her luck by saying that on purpose, hoping that the humans did not know that she had already figured out where they came from.

Maybe, in order to cause conflicts within the Catacombs, Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing might even let her go on purpose.

If it was not because he had sensed something unusual, Fang Ping would have been hoodwinked.

After killing these guys, Qin Fengqing asked in a low voice, “There’s an owner here?”

“Yes. Guess what rank?”

“Rank-6, at least. After all, there’s a Rank-5 working under him. Maybe…”

Qin Fengqing shook his head. He did not finish his sentence.

“Let’s stop talking. Since no one is here, let’s search around quickly. Gather our things and let’s get out of here.”

On the side of the throne in the concourse, there were two doors connected to the backyard.

Fang Ping and Qing Fengqing quickly gathered the booty from the bodies that they had killed, then dashed toward the backyard quickly.

The backyard was dim, but a few rooms were lit up, the room doors left ajar.

All was quiet in the backyard. Fang Ping had just walked into the backyard when a muted longsword was suddenly pointed at the side of his throat.

Beside him, Qin Fengqing’s changdao sliced through in a flash. A shadow collapsed to the ground in the dark.

“I saved your ass! Your glaive and leather armor are mine!” Qin Fengqing looked satisfied.

Fang Ping replied peevishly, “Get lost. I can let him kill me all he wants and I still won’t die!”

Whether it was an Upper-stage Rank-3 martial artist or a Catacombs Upper-stage Rank-3, they were different from human martial artist geniuses. It was almost impossible for them to kill a Middle-stage Rank-4 martial artist prodigy.

“Together or split up?”

“Together!”

Qin Fengqing looked resolute while Fang Ping frowned. Qin Fengqing scoffed. “Your Mentality is stronger than mine. You can locate treasures much easier than me.”

Fang Ping did not reply. Ignoring him, he quickly rushed into a room with the door left ajar.

There was nothing special in the room.

Wooden bed, blankets made from animal coat and skin, and a table. The rest were some other daily necessities.

Fang Ping made a quick search. Wasting no time, he turned and left.

It was obvious that this was not the chamber of a powerhouse.

Qin Fengqing did not stick around either and left with him.

In no time, they were in the second room. Fang Ping searched for a while and found a few basic energy stones instead of cultivation-aiding energy stones.

Fang Ping frowned slightly. Qin Fengqing explained, “Cultivating-aiding energy stones are really precious. Not all Catacombs martial artists will draw on energy stones to cultivate. As they are rich in energy themselves, many lower-level martial artists rely on themselves to cultivate.”

Humans were not any different, really.

The status of the lower-level Catacombs martial artists was actually quite similar to that of the human casual martial artists.

However, casual martial artists could rely on themselves to work hard, earn some money to buy pills to aid cultivation.

The Catacombs martial artists, especially those in the lower-level, could not.

However, the energy in the Catacombs was richer than on earth. Over here, even if lower-level martial artists did not have energy stones to aid cultivation, their cultivation speed was still faster than humans.

Fang Ping did not waste any time and continued searching other rooms.

Right now, both of them followed a sequence, searching outside-in. Powerhouses might be staying further inside.

As expected, as they went inward, they started finding more valuables.

Cultivation-aiding energy stones, some herbs encased in wooden boxes, beast coats and skin…

They did not even forget about the energy light, efficiently disassembling the energy stones inside.

Actually, selling it as a whole would fetch them a handsome sum, but it was inconvenient to carry.

Fang Ping’s burlap sack was already filled to the brim now.

Qin Fengqing no longer stuffed anything inside his clothes. Instead, he took out a cloth bag. God knows where he was hiding it earlier.

After searching more than ten rooms in a row, whenever both of them encountered goods with slightly higher energy levels, they would take all of them whether they recognized them or not.

Finally, they arrived at the final room.

Fang Ping pushed the door and went in. His eyes narrowed.

Under his breath, Qin Fengqing gasped, “Maybe… it’s really a Rank-7!”

This was the owner’s room.

Both of them had already found the Rank-5 powerhouse’s room earlier. However, there was nothing fancy about the interior of the room. Other than a few energy stones, there was nothing valuable.

Whereas this room was completely different.

The greatest disparity was a separate bookcase.

That was right—a bookcase!

This was Fang Ping’s first time seeing books in the Catacombs!

The books were not of paper but were made out of animal skin. There were huge amounts of them, a hundred books, at least!

Qin Fengqing looked thoughtful at first, then he said suddenly, “These things are worthless, but they do hold some research value. I’ll just take them away first…”

“Get lost!”

Fang Ping snarled. He said bitterly, “You think I’m an idiot. Catacombs’ books are the most valuable. Sometimes they’re even comparable to cultivation-aiding energy stones, or equal in value!”

Books are the best medium to record the legacy of civilization.

After battling for many years in the Catacombs, only a few Catacombs books were seized. They were hard to come by.

In some villages, perhaps not even a single book could be found. They were really precious. Non-powerhouses could never own these things.

When powerhouses were in battle, they would never bring these things along.

Only by raiding a powerhouse’s lair would one be able to stand a chance in laying hands on them.

After so many years, humans had seized only a handful of Catacombs books. The character analyst and language experts were constantly deciphering them.

Though because of the limited quantity, the progress of deciphering them was a slow one.

The more books they had, the more things were recorded, the faster the progress of deciphering them.

The government, martial arts universities and some big corporations would purchase these books at handsome prices. Of course, under normal circumstances, they were usually sold to the government. The big corporations that purchased them would only make a copy before handing over the original to the government.

Fang Ping did not waste any more time talking to Qin Fengqing. He walked forward and picked up a beast-hide book from the table and scanned through. It was giddying to look at.

He had only learned the spoken Catacombs language instead of the written one.

Not only him, but even the experts might also find it difficult to match the spoken words with the written ones.

Right now, most of the Catacombs language was used for daily exchange.

They came from human powerhouses who had recorded them tediously, lurking in villages, listening to how the Catacombs humans communicate. Then, they figured out what they meant and handed them over to the research institute to conduct research analyses.

However, many of the Catacombs books came with illustrations. This was also one of the tools used for research.

The beast-hide book in Fang Ping’s hands was not thick, roughly ten pages or so.

He flipped through the pages to take a quick look. There were not many wavy wordings, but there were a few illustrations.

“What an ugly drawing!”

Fang Ping saw one of the illustrations, it was a drawing of a fort. He shook his head. How brave of them to document an illustration as ugly as this. Had they no shame?

While he was judging, Qin Fengqing had already opened up his sack, sweeping huge amounts of books into it.

Fang Ping took a glance and let him be. If this fellow did not share more than half with him, Fang Ping would kill him.

Besides, books were too heavy and an inconvenience to carry.

This might just be a high-ranked powerhouse’s living quarter. Fang Ping started releasing his Mentality and began scanning.

Very soon, Fang Ping found some valuable goods.

A few cultivation-aiding energy stones and some pieces of jewelry that were perhaps used by the woman. However, Fang Ping sensed that the metal forged into the jewelry carried high energy waves. It might be a valuable metal, better than the weapons’ metals.

After taking a quick peek at Qin Fengqing, Fang Ping quickly stuffed the items into his military bag hanging in front of his chest.

He stuffed things like the energy stones into this bag. Only other larger items would he stuff them into the burlap sack.

Whereas Qin Fengqing had already started dismantling the bookcase.

He realized that a few energy stones were actually embedded in the bookcase. At this moment, he did not care if the bookcase was worth more.

Both of them tore down every construction in the building like madmen. They cared nothing for the energy light that was magnificently-forged. After disassembling the energy stone, they crumpled the metal handle of the light, stuffing it into their packs.

Qin Fengqing dismantled the metal structures of the ornate bed; Fang Ping disassembled the outer skin of the bedding.

After ten minutes or more of savage destruction, the burlap sack and cloth bag in Qin Fengqing and Fang Ping’s hands were so full that there was no way of stuffing anything else inside.

As for the herbs squashed at the bottom, none of them was worried that they would be damaged. These energy-yielding herbs were tough and durable.

Once they were done, both of them looked at each other. With a tacit understanding, they ran out quickly.

They had no idea if they had raided a high-ranked lair. It was at least a Rank-6 powerhouse’s lair.

They did not gain many energy stones. Maybe the other party had taken them away or had used them.

Other things, however, were plentiful.

Both of them came empty-handed. Right now, they both carried massive packs as they were leaving, weighing hundreds of catty at least.

While walking, Qin Fengqing whispered, “Should we set the place on fire?”

“You can set a fire?”

“I can’t. Take some of your energy stones out, blow this place up, obliterate all traces of evidence!”

“You take yours.”

“I don’t have many…”

“I don’t have many as well.”

Both of them stopped talking. Forget it. Obliterating all traces of evidence was not very effective. It was better to save it.

If the owner returned and got to the root of this, he would easily pick up clues and trails.

After leaving the concourse, Qin Fengqing took a look back, exhaled and asked, “Should we return now?”

“What are we supposed to do here if we don’t return now? We’re carrying so many things. We can still continue if we have a Storage Ring. If we don’t leave now, are we supposed to wait for the boss to come back and get ourselves killed?”

“You’re right.”

After saying those words, both of them picked up speed. Running at the speed of light, there was no time to pay attention to Vitality consumption. They had gained a huge fortune and would run now while they still could.