Chapter 123: Burrowing

The battle between Meng Yifan and Wang Zhanbiao, while long to describe, actually lasted less than 0.5 seconds from the moment Shuke suddenly attacked Wang Zhanbiao to the moment Wang Zhanbiao was decapitated.

Meng Yifan exhausted his trump cards and attacked rapidly, finally managing to slay the Third Grade Middle Tier Wang Zhanbiao just before Zhang Chao rushed over.

"You bastard! I'm going to tear you into ten thousand pieces and scatter your ashes!" Zhang Chao roared. Wang Zhanbiao was a Vice Thousand-Man Commander of the Divine Machine Battalion, had followed Zhang Chao through battles in the north and south for seven or eight years, and was Zhang Chao's capable right-hand man.

Most importantly, Wang Zhanbiao was also related to Zhang Chao by marriage; seeing Wang Zhanbiao beheaded right before his eyes, how could Zhang Chao not be burning with rage?

Meng Yifan gripped his Ghost Head Blade with Shuke crouching at his side. With two Third Grade combatants facing Zhang Chao alone, Meng Yifan felt fully confident and not the least bit intimidated, shouting, "Come on! Let's see who kills whom?"

"Overconfident brat." Zhang Chao sneered, his True Qi surging as he channeled it into the Dharma Artifact Shield in his hand.

The Dharma Artifact Shield twisted and deformed, once again turning into a hemisphere that enveloped Zhang Chao, protecting his body entirely. Not only that, he also cast the Divine Bell Cover once more.

With the Dharma Artifact Shield on the outside and the Divine Bell Cover on the inside, two layers of protective barriers shrouded Zhang Chao, causing his defensive power to soar to an incredible level.

Such terrifying defensive power was enough to withstand the close-range bombardment of an Explosive Shell, which placed Zhang Chao in an invincible position.

Meng Yifan looked at these two layers of turtle shells with a grave expression, realizing that this battle would not be easy to fight.

Having just fought Wang Zhanbiao, he had personally witnessed the terrifying defensive power of the Divine Bell Cover; even if Meng Yifan gave it his all, he could barely make the tip of his Ghost Head Blade poke through, and that was only because Wang Zhanbiao had been severely wounded and lacked sufficient True Qi to maintain the Divine Bell Cover at full strength.

Zhang Chao was a Third-Grade High-Level Martial Artist, whose own strength was already a level higher than Wang Zhanbiao's. Added to the Dharma Artifact Shield, this resulted in Zhang Chao's defensive power being freakishly strong; with Meng Yifan's current attack power, he certainly could not break Zhang Chao's double-layered defense.

"How is this supposed to be fought?" Meng Yifan frowned, rapidly pondering a way to break the enemy. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and thought of a method that might be able to finish off Zhang Chao.

Meng Yifan and Shuke shared a telepathic connection; with a shift of his mind, he transmitted the battle plan into Shuke's mind. Shuke understood immediately and nodded, then Meng Yifan and Shuke launched an attack on Zhang Chao simultaneously.

Meng Yifan pulled three Congreve Rocket Launchers from his back and began firing them at Zhang Chao.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Three Rockets exploded against the Dharma Artifact Shield. The violent explosion caused the Dharma Artifact Shield to vibrate incessantly, and the center of the explosion even caved in significantly, but the shockwave was blocked by the Divine Bell Cover behind the Dharma Artifact Shield, failing to cause any damage to Zhang Chao inside.

The explosion of the three Rockets filled the area with smoke and flying dust, as if shrouded in a thick fog, affecting the vision of both sides.

"Haha, it's useless, brat. Go to your death." Zhang Chao manipulated the Dharma Artifact Shield, causing a half-meter-long spike to protrude from its front, and then launched a thrust at Meng Yifan.

Meng Yifan was startled; he hadn't expected that Zhang Chao's Dharma Artifact Shield could be used this way. This opened his eyes, and he coveted this Dharma Artifact even more. Once he finished off Zhang Chao, Meng Yifan would be able to obtain another precious Dharma Artifact.

The double-layered protective barrier, combined with this half-meter-long spike, made Zhang Chao look like an armored tank, fearless of Meng Yifan's attacks, charging and ramming as he attacked Meng Yifan.

Meng Yifan swung his Ghost Head Blade with all his might, striking the Dharma Artifact Shield, but only managed to produce sparks and flickering light, failing to break the defense.

Just as Meng Yifan was holding off Zhang Chao from the front, Shuke took advantage of the smoke and dust from the Rocket explosions, its claws flying as it began to burrow into the ground.

Shuke was a Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat, and a rat's innate talent was digging holes. At this moment, under Meng Yifan's command, its body instantly drilled into the ground, then advanced underground, rushing beneath Zhang Chao's double-layered protective barrier.

Zhang Chao's Dharma Artifact Shield and Divine Bell Cover were both hemispherical, capable of blocking attacks from all directions, but they could not defend against an attack from underground.

Meng Yifan's battle plan was for Shuke to dig a hole and launch a surprise attack from underground.

Zhang Chao was advancing rapidly when suddenly, a rat's head popped out from beneath his feet and bit his right leg.

"Ah!" Zhang Chao screamed in pain and threw a punch, knocking Shuke flying. However, Shuke's fangs were extremely sharp, and as it was knocked away, it tore a large chunk of flesh from Zhang Chao's leg.

"Gulp!" Shuke tilted its neck and swallowed the chunk of flesh from Zhang Chao's right leg. Fresh blood dripped down the corners of Shuke's mouth, looking exceptionally ferocious.

"You beast!" Zhang Chao roared and launched an attack at Shuke.

"Thud!" Zhang Chao kicked out with his left leg, carrying a terrifying whistling sound as it struck toward Shuke.

Shuke's current combat power was only comparable to a Third Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist, and Zhang Chao's speed was much faster. Facing this kick from Zhang Chao, Shuke had no way to dodge.

Yet, just as this powerful kick was about to blow Shuke apart, Zhang Chao held back some of his strength at the last moment, only kicking Shuke away.

Shuke grimaced in pain, then fearlessly rushed over again, waving its sharp claws and launching a frenzied attack on Zhang Chao.

Zhang Chao was powerful and could crush Shuke, but he knew that a Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat would explode violently before death. With the explosive power of a Third Grade Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat, if it exploded inside the Dharma Artifact Shield, Zhang Chao would be severely wounded even if he didn't die.

Precisely because of this, Zhang Chao was constrained and dared not exert his full strength, feeling very stifled.

Zhang Chao had considered dropping the double-layered protective barrier to kick the Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat out first; that way, even if it exploded, he would be separated by the double-layered barrier, and the injury Zhang Chao sustained from hard-tanking the explosion would be much smaller.

But Meng Yifan was gripping his Ghost Head Blade, watching like a tiger from the outside. Black mist swirled around the tip of the Ghost Head Blade, and the Yin Soul of Zhang Butou was faintly visible; clearly, he was waiting for Zhang Chao to drop the protective barrier so Meng Yifan could launch a Yin Soul attack.

Zhang Chao had seen Meng Yifan's Ghost Head Blade release a Yin Soul, which had strongly interfered with Wang Zhanbiao. Zhang Chao was very wary of this move and dared not try it lightly. It was precisely because of this that he had activated the double-layered protection of the Dharma Artifact Shield and the Divine Bell Cover right from the start.

Zhang Chao and Shuke clashed repeatedly inside the Dharma Artifact Shield. Zhang Chao dared not exert his full strength; although he knocked Shuke away every time, Shuke's claws also left streaks of wounds on Zhang Chao's body, which filled Zhang Chao with a bellyful of rage.

The more Zhang Chao fought, the more anxious he became. He had considered using his speed to shake off Meng Yifan and take the opportunity to kick the Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat out, but he helplessly discovered that Meng Yifan's speed was even slightly faster than his own. No matter how he changed direction, Meng Yifan was always like a maggot on a tarsal bone, following him closely, which made Zhang Chao so angry he wanted to curse.

Zhang Chao knew that a Third Grade Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat could survive for at most ten minutes before it would automatically explode.

This meant that Zhang Chao had to come up with a way to break the situation within this time; otherwise, once the time was up, he would have to endure a violent explosion.

Outside was Meng Yifan, gripping a Dharma Artifact Ghost Head Blade and ready to launch a fatal blow at any moment; inside was a fearless Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat. Zhang Chao felt a massive headache, not knowing how to deal with this situation.