In the world of "Covering the Sky": An Analysis of the Ancient Sacred Body at the Start

Chapter 116 Zhang Tao

City of Hope, a stronghold of humanity in the Southern Seven Regions, is a city built with countless lives lost, or perhaps more accurately described as a military town.

The entire City of Hope is over 5,000 meters long and over 4,000 meters wide, covering an area of ​​over 20 square kilometers.

The city has a permanent garrison of over 50,000 troops, and during wartime, external troops will be stationed there, numbering over 100,000. Military settlements have been built in front of and on both sides of the city.

"Halt! You three look unfamiliar. Please come over for an inspection—"

The three arrived in the City of Hope, where they were stopped by soldiers at the city gate and asked to undergo inspection.

"I think it's unnecessary!"

Fan Xian took out a black token from his pocket. This kind of token was specially made by Zhang Tao for the chat group members and could be used to freely enter and exit various underground caves.

The soldier's expression changed slightly upon seeing the black token, but he let them pass without saying a word.

Along the way, the city was heavily guarded, with sentries everywhere, everyone armed, martial artists everywhere, and patrol teams passing by from time to time.

The warriors were not carrying firearms, but standard weapons, including spearmen, swordsmen, and even shieldmen.

Because the rules in underground caves are different from those on Earth, thermal weapons on Earth, including missiles, nuclear bombs, and other weapons of mass destruction, will be ineffective in underground caves.

If nuclear weapons could be used in underground bunkers, the situation of humanity on Earth wouldn't be so dire.

A dozen minutes later, the three arrived at their destination, a heavily guarded hall with a tightly sealed alloy door at the far end.

The alloy gate slowly opened, revealing a passageway behind it. Passing through the passageway would lead to Earth.

The three stepped onto the passageway. There was no one on either side of the passageway. They walked out of the passageway and entered a huge and empty hall.

"Fan Xian————"

As soon as the three of them stepped out of the passage, they saw a man leading a group of people toward them.

"Brother Yu, this is Zhang Tao—"

Upon hearing this, Yu Yi looked at Zhang Tao. His face was handsome and resolute, his military uniform was neat and crisp, and he gave people a serious impression, with a strong military demeanor.

"Fan Xian, why was the chat group suddenly disbanded? Everyone's been complaining about me all day long ——————"

Zhang Tao used his mental power to secretly transmit a message. When Yu Yi and the others entered the City of Hope, Zhang Tao received the news immediately. Coincidentally, he was on business at Magic Martial Arts School, so he rushed over right away.

"I'll explain the chat group disbandment later. Hope everyone's doing well?"

Fan Xian was unsure how to explain. Should he tell Zhang Tao that he invited Ye Fan to the group, which led to the group being disbanded and him losing his position as group owner?

"this----"

Now it was Zhang Tao's turn to be speechless, because after the chat group disbanded, all the group members who had traveled to the global martial arts world were trapped here and couldn't go back.

Group members also need to cultivate, and cultivation requires energy stones. Zhang Tao cannot provide energy stones to them for free, otherwise the local martial artists will definitely have objections.

In order to obtain energy stones, the group members had no choice but to enter the underground caves to fight, which inevitably resulted in casualties. Zhang Tao alone could not take care of so many people.

Over the years, of the dozen or so group members who were originally trapped in the global high-martial arts world, only four remain; the others have all died in the underground cave.

"It's my fault for not taking good care of everyone. Now only Ying Zheng, Xu Fengnian, Wanwan, and Ding Chunqiu are still alive. Everyone else is dead."

Ding Chunqiu joined the chat group later, but he is not the Ding Chunqiu from the Tianlong novel or TV series; rather, he is the Ding Chunqiu from the movie version of the world.

"Knowing you're back, I've already called Xu Fengnian and the others. They happen to be in Shanghai too, so they should be here soon—"

Just as Zhang Tao finished speaking, a group of people walked into the hall from outside; it was Xu Fengnian and his group.

Yu Yi had met Ying Zheng, Xu Fengnian, and Wanwan before. The tall, white-haired old man with the three of them should be Ding Chunqiu.

"Brother Yu, Ye Fan, I'd like to add them back to the chat group. What do you guys think?"

"Ying Zheng, Zhang Tao, Xu Fengnian, and Wanwan can be added to the chat group, but Ding Chunqiu is out of the question."

Ye Fan had no objection to adding other people to the chat group, but he had no liking for Ding Chunqiu and definitely couldn't add him to the chat group.

"I also disagree with adding Ding Chunqiu to the chat group. Let's not let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch."

Yu Yi had absolutely no liking for Ding Chunqiu, a man of questionable character who betrayed his sect and murdered his brother and master. It was already a miracle that he hadn't slapped Ding Chunqiu to death.

"Fine, then let's not have Latin Spring and Autumn Annals—"

Soon, Zhang Tao, Ying Zheng, Xu Fengnian, and Wanwan all received a chat group notification. Naturally, they didn't refuse and all agreed to join the chat group.

[Xu Fengnian: Rejoining the chat group, I can finally go home and get some rest. I wonder how Beiliang has been these past few years —]

[Ying Zheng: @Fan Xian, weren't you the group owner? How did you become an administrator?]

Fan Xian: ————

Ying Zheng deliberately brought up a sore spot, but after repeated questioning from everyone, Fan Xian had no choice but to tell them the truth about why the chat group was disbanded.

[Xu Fengnian: Holy crap! Wow, this is amazing! I just joined a group, and they changed the chat group name right away?]

[Wanwan: Mr. Ye Fan, do you need a maid to warm your bed? What do you think of me?]

[Fan Xian: Ye Fan, you're married now, so don't go around having affairs. If your wife finds out, you'll be kneeling on a washboard when you get home.]

Ye Fan: ————

[Zhang Tao: I feel like something's missing? Oh right! Ding Chunqiu hasn't joined the group yet.]

As they chatted, everyone belatedly realized that one person was missing: Ding Chunqiu hadn't joined the group yet.

[Fan Xian: Let's forget about Ding Chunqiu! We won't drag him along; Ye Fan and Brother Yu don't like him either.]

[Xu Fengnian: Since the two big shots don't like Ding Chunqiu, then we won't add him to the group. People like Ding Chunqiu are indeed not very likable.]

Although they had fought side by side in the underground cave for several years, their relationship wasn't very deep, and neither of them wanted to offend Yu Yi and Ye Fan for Ding Chunqiu's sake.

[Zhang Tao: @Ye Fan, @Yu Yi, what are your current cultivation levels? Are you confident you can handle those emperors in the source land?]

[Yu Yi: Not for now. My current strength is only comparable to those who have broken through to the seventh or eighth level, not a match for an Emperor, unless I break through another major realm.]

[Ye Fan: If even my senior can't do it, don't count on me. I just broke through to the Dragon Transformation Realm not long ago.]

[Zhang Tao: With your cultivation speed, surpassing those emperors is only a matter of time. There are still more than ten years before the story begins, so there's plenty of time.]

Regarding the plot of the global martial arts novel, everyone had heard Fan Xian mention that Fang Ping was eighteen years old, the plot had only just begun, and there were still more than ten years to go.