Almost Died

The Heaven-Chosen Martial Arts Hall

The other nine individuals, positioned to the side, were not significantly affected.

As Liu Shen was under attack,

the nine of them struck simultaneously.

The moment nine sonic booms erupted,

the nine figures almost instantly reached Zhang Bowen's vicinity.

A look of excitement appeared on Zhang Bowen's face.

He simultaneously activated the Nine Yang Divine Art and the Nine Yin Manual.

His entire body erupted with a brilliant golden light.

At the same time, he enveloped his Invulnerable Vajra Body with a layer of Innate Protective Qi.

His fists and palms struck out together, while his legs executed the Wind God's Leg technique.

Instantly, he created a circular qi barrier,

using the Tripartite Unity to envelop himself within it.

As he looked at the besieging crowd, he simultaneously aimed his right index and middle fingers, pressed together, at the weakest among them, Li Kong, and thrust out a finger.

Tripartite Divine Finger.

Li Kong showed no intention of dodging.

He activated the Nine Yang Divine Art, and nine fiery, sphere-like afterimages appeared behind him.

With all his might, he unleashed a move of the Seven Injuries Fist, intending to clash head-on with Zhang Bowen.

Even if it cost him his life, he was willing.

His only goal was to cooperate with the others to kill Zhang Bowen at the fastest possible speed.

Even saving a single second would be worth it.

The moment their energies collided,

Li Kong's right arm instantly exploded, blasted into a mist of blood.

His entire body was also sent flying backward.

Zhang Bowen fared even worse.

Struck by the full-force attacks of the remaining eight Martial Saints,

the entire building instantly collapsed with a thunderous roar.

Zhang Bowen's Tripartite Unity and Innate Protective Qi were completely shattered.

Even his Invulnerable Vajra Body now bore several deep dents.

His right scapula was fractured.

His left ribs were caved in.

His abdomen was pierced clean through by a sword.

"Heh heh heh..."

"Hmph hmph hmph..."

From within the cloud of dust, Zhang Bowen's low chuckle could be heard.

Followed by violent coughing.

Zhang Bowen spat out several mouthfuls of blood, mixed with fragments of internal organs.

Then, a hoarse voice emerged.

"That was almost the end!"

The remaining eight Martial Saints were aghast.

The combined full-power strike of eight Martial Saints

had actually failed to kill Zhang Bowen outright.

This shocked them immensely.

Everyone present knew they certainly could not have withstood that blow themselves.

"Kill him quickly!"

"Delay breeds complications!"

From within the dust, Zhang Bowen activated the Wind God's Leg technique and swiftly fled into the distance.

Simultaneously, he pulled from his pocket a Vermilion Fruit that had already been smashed to a pulp.

"Completely ruined, but fortunately, the effect remains."

He quickly swallowed the Vermilion Fruit.

The injuries on his body began to heal at a visible, rapid pace.

"Trying to run? Too late!"

The two Martial Saints from the Wei family pursued Zhang Bowen at an even greater speed.

The other six followed closely behind.

Li Kong, who had been blasted away earlier, now stood up, pulled out a prepared Vermilion Fruit from his person,

swallowed it in one gulp, and chased after Zhang Bowen's direction.

Liu Shen also joined the pursuit at this moment.

The ten Martial Saints attacked simultaneously once more.

Only this time, Zhang Bowen did not choose a head-on confrontation.

Instead, he began to fight while retreating.

Relying on the potent medicinal effect of the Vermilion Fruit to endure.

The entire city of Kunlun also descended into chaos at this moment.

Yang Honghui immediately organized personnel for evacuation.

He had received the information in advance.

But the Association President had forbidden him from evacuating the populace ahead of time,

fearing it would alert their quarry and cause Zhang Bowen not to appear.

Now, with this sudden clash of titans, Yang Honghui was instantly overwhelmed and swamped with work.

Just then, an urgent report suddenly came from the border.

"A large number of experts from the Western Continent are invading."

Yang Honghui's eyes widened. After hanging up the phone, he felt as if he were in a dream.

"The war has begun!"

...

Holy Capital.

A few sonic booms suddenly cracked across the sky.

Then, one after another, figures appeared atop the Wei Family Group skyscraper.

Within the core villa district of the Holy Capital,

there was a secluded park about one square kilometer in area. At its very center stood a dilapidated mansion.

That was the ancestral home of the Wei family.

Wei Qianqiu gently set down his teacup.

"They've finally come. I never imagined Zhang Bowen would want to wipe you all out in one go."

"What exactly is he trying to achieve?"

Dugu Family.

Dugu Jianmo also sensed immediately the appearance of seventeen powerful auras of blood and qi in the Holy Capital.

He propelled himself upward from where he stood, the sword energy emanating from his body piercing through several layers of the roof.

The next moment, a gigantic sword silhouette appeared in the sky above the Holy Capital.

The Vice President of the Martial Arts Association, who was already privy to the inside information,

immediately organized the evacuation of the populace.

He hadn't truly believed that anyone would dare to attack the Great Xia Holy Capital.

When the Association President had first speculated this possibility,

he had been rather skeptical.

He never expected it to be true.

Only, the arrival of seventeen Martial Saints at once was something he had never anticipated.

However, he soon received another piece of intelligence.

Aside from the eastern front, all border cities

were facing invasions by large numbers of experts.

The Holy Capital was the northern gateway of Great Xia, closest to the Northern Continent.

Soon, nearly a hundred Martial Masters invaded Great Xia.

Grandmaster-level experts were also arriving in succession.

The Northern Continent was mobilizing the strength of an entire continent in an attempt to destroy one of Great Xia's cities in one fell swoop: the Holy Capital!

On top of the Wei Group building,

the seventeen Martial Saints sensed two powerful auras of blood and qi approaching.

"These two Great Xia Martial Saints actually didn't flee immediately."

"Great Xia still has many tough ones. But where is the other one?"

"Perhaps they're coming to surrender."

"Don't you feel that the blood and qi of these two seems a bit... intense?"

"Probably peak-level Martial Saints. But before us seventeen Martial Saints, they're completely outmatched."

Just then, an elder with Great Xia features spoke:

"Indeed, using seventeen Martial Saints to kill three is truly overkill."

"How about this: you fourteen stay here and deal with them."

"The three of us will go support Zhang Bowen."

Everyone looked at the elder.

It was the champion of the previous World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament, a Martial Saint who later emigrated to the Western Continent.

"Mi Chuan!"

"What do you mean?"

"That wasn't our original plan."

A Martial Saint from the Western Continent frowned and asked.

Mi Chuan chuckled:

"I merely wish to help Mr. Zhang Bowen kill a couple more Martial Saints."

Having said that, regardless of the others' reactions, he turned, shattered the air with a step, and headed west.

The other two Martial Saints, who had fled from Fusang to the Western Continent, also followed Mi Chuan westward.

The original seventeen were suddenly reduced to fourteen.

The Martial Saints from the Southern and Northern Continents

all looked at the four from the Western Continent.

Originally, the Western Continent had seven Martial Saints, making it the strongest among the three continents.

Including Zhang Bowen, the Western Continent boasted as many as eight Martial Saints.

However, only four were native to the Western Continent.

Adding the Great Xia emigrant Mi Chuan, the two refugee Martial Saints from Fusang, and the temporary collaborator Zhang Bowen, they had managed to gather eight Martial Saints.

But in the blink of an eye, only the four native Western Continent Martial Saints remained.

One Western Continent Martial Saint cursed:

"I always knew that traitor Mi Chuan was unreliable."

"We were counting on that traitor to guide us to find the one Martial Saint who hasn't shown up."

Another, feeling something was amiss, said:

"But why did those two Fusang refugees follow Mi Chuan?"

"Shouldn't they stick with the strongest main force?"