Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 547 - 530: Old Affairs

Xu Ming hesitated for a long time, then slowly withdrew his force: "Forget it, I probably can’t stimulate more of your power. In less than a month, your growth has been so astonishing... However, on second thought, it’s normal. You have completed the trials of the three Divine Spiritual Lands simultaneously. If you still can’t crush us Great Innates, the Divine Spirits would be furious."

"I just had some good luck," Zhou Leng said.

Xu Ming pretended not to hear, saying: "You can defeat the Undying Knight, which means that from now on, you are already standing at the pinnacle of the Ten Realms of Great Innates. Even Deep Dark Fury might only win by half a move at most and not be able to kill you. However..."

"Be careful of the Celestial Calamity Envoy," Xu Ming said solemnly.

"I know."

Xu Ming shook his head and said: "You might not know. In fact, the Humanoid Alliance once sent a Grandmaster to assassinate him. Do you know the result?"

"First time hearing about this."

"Twelve Grandmasters were killed by him in one move."

"This..." Zhou Leng found it hard to believe for a moment, as this completely exceeded previous estimations.

"He can mobilize a weak Divine Spirit’s power, and even with various restrictions, the power is beyond imagination. Therefore, you can’t consider him as a Great Innate, or even a Grandmaster. You must treat him as a Martial Saint."

"It seems we should never encounter him," Zhou Leng said.

Xu Ming said: "Because of the Celestial Calamity Envoy, many people gave up entering the Great Battlefield. Otherwise, how could I have obtained the Battlefield Shield Order? Li Shenkong was originally going to suppress his realm and enter this Great Battlefield. Later, when the Li Clan learned that the Celestial Calamity Envoy was entering this Great Battlefield, they decided against sending Li Shenkong, allowing him to advance to Grandmaster early."

"So that’s how it is."

Xu Ming said: "So, you can disregard any Demon or Giant Dragon, but if you see the Celestial Calamity Envoy, run as far away as possible."

"However, I heard he never actively kills, probably out of the Divine Spirit’s pride," Zhou Leng said.

"Yes, he rarely kills actively, and seldom gets his hands bloody. But do you know how many people the Demons have killed to summon more of his power? Tens of millions."

"How can it be so many, then the missing people over the years..."

Xu Ming nodded and said: "Some of them were to guide his power’s descent, and some were used in other evil sacrifices..."

At this point, Xu Ming’s eyes flickered, and he finally said solemnly: "Beware of Zhao He, I suspect their family has dealings with the Demons."

"Rumor or evidence?" Zhou Leng asked.

Xu Ming said helplessly: "There can’t be any direct evidence, that is the Zhao Clan. Do you remember the Celestial Tier Trial during the eighteen-school joint examination?"

"Of course, I remember."

"You remember the Magic Bag Garden inside, right?"

"I remember."

"All investigations point to someone wanting to sacrifice the children of the eighteen-school joint examination and mass-produce Magic Bag Beans for Zhao Tong. At that time, Zhao Tong happened to be in Shuizhou Demon City. Of course, we don’t have direct evidence; it’s all circumstantial."

Zhou Leng’s mind was swirling with thoughts, and he had heard this speculation from more than one person.

Unfortunately, there was still no evidence until now.

After all, the Zhao Clan is the Zhao Clan.

Zhou Leng asked: "Then Saint Zhao..."

Xu Ming sighed and said: "He indeed passed away, but for some reason, the Zhao Family has not announced his death."

"Truly ruthless..." Zhou Leng sighed.

"In any case, stay away from the Celestial Calamity Envoy and don’t trust Zhao He."

Zhou Leng nodded.

The two chatted about some miscellaneous matters, then returned to their rooms.

Zhou Leng sat down to cultivate, alternating between the Star Gazing Technique, Undying Star Body, and Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique, continuously absorbing the power gained from the Dragon God’s Seal.

After completing the cultivation of the three techniques, he began to practice the "Subduing Serpent Chapter" of the Ten Reversed Beast Fist.

Now his body could withstand the practice of the Subduing Serpent Chapter.

After practicing the Subduing Serpent Chapter, he began to train in the Dragon God Combat Technique.

While practicing this combat technique, his body could absorb the residual Dragon God Blood Mist power in his veins faster.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Leng’s body grew thicker, stretched by the power of Dragon God Blood Mist.

The blood vessels on his body’s surface, which looked like armor, finally appeared much more normal.

However, through the skin, one could still see the exceptionally large blood vessels.

It might take a few months to fully recover.

Looking at his coarse blood vessels, Zhou Leng comforted himself, thinking that thicker vessels are less prone to blockages, which is a good thing.

Walking out of the room, in the plaza outside stood multiple trial takers, all of whom were the finest Great Innates from the Five Races, Xu Ming among them.

They were all the same, though they had not encountered the Final Place, they had all crossed the passing line.

The trial takers came over to greet them, all amazed at how quickly Zhou Leng had grown.

Xu Ming called Zhou Leng to a place with no one around and handed over a micro hard drive.

"Inside here is a micro hard drive, containing crucial information. When you return to Blue Star, give it to Chen Shouhu or Wang Boxiong, don’t give it to anyone else."

"I roughly understand." Zhou Leng took the micro hard drive and stored it safely.

"However, what do you mean by this?" Zhou Leng asked.

Xu Ming said: "Next, all of us will enter the Second Layer Trial, reportedly being thrown into a brutal Multiverse Battlefield. It’s not a trial at all, just pure combat. Even the toughest individuals may die. The item is given to you just in case."

Zhou Leng said: "I hope we leave the Great Battlefield together and return to Blue Star."

"I hope so too," Xu Ming laughed.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle came from the plaza.

"The second trial has begun!" shouted a Dwarf trial taker not far away.

"I’m leaving first... We’ll meet again later." Xu Ming waved as he walked into the distance.

Zhou Leng watched Xu Ming’s figure, feeling a sense of loss.

Xu Ming walked a little farther, picked up the Demonized Watch, and said something.

Before long, Zhou Leng looked at his own Demonized Watch.

It showed a voice message from Xu Ming.

"This is Xu Ming, I’m at the Great Battlefield."

"Zhou Leng is one of the most talented martial artists among the young people I know."

"He is not perfect; there are things he is not good at."

"But when comrades need him, he has never backed down."

"We once encountered a demon ambush, and he acted secretly, dealing with the demons that ambushed us, causing their plan to fail."

"Later, when the demons besieged us, with all human martial artists on the brink of death, he descended like a saint, leading us to slaughter the demons."

"He not only possesses a strong martial arts talent but also a righteous heart."

"I, Xu Ming, with my character and martial arts, guarantee to the Demon City Army and Martial Mansion that his future is immeasurable."

"I don’t know if I can return to Blue Star, but I firmly believe Zhou Leng can, and must be able to."

"If I can’t return to Blue Star, I ask all my friends to treat Zhou Leng well."

"If I can’t return to Blue Star, I will donate all my possessions to the Demon City Army."

"If you would fulfill one of my wishes, please award Zhou Leng’s war merits at the Great Battlefield to him, as an award for everyone left here."

"I firmly believe that one day humanity will step out of Blue Star and move toward the stars."

"The premise is that people like Zhou Leng continue to live."

"Zhou Leng, please forward this voice message to the Demon City Army."

"May we meet again in a future where humanity exists."

Zhou Leng gritted his teeth and looked ahead.

The Celestial Bone City passed through the faint mist, Xu Ming and the others’ figures becoming blurred, eventually walking together into a massive Teleportation Gate, entering the unknown Battlefield of Myriad Realms.

Before stepping in, Xu Ming raised his right arm and waved.

"We will definitely meet again in a future where humanity exists."

After speaking, Zhou Leng stepped firmly toward He Pengfei’s residence.

He Pengfei stood at the door, watching the enormous Teleportation Gates.

"Did he give you the hard drive?" He Pengfei asked.

"Yes." Zhou Leng replied.

"From today, you are part of the Great Lantern Plan."

"Hmm?" Zhou Leng looked at He Pengfei.

He Pengfei simply gazed into the distance and slowly elaborated.

"Not everyone is truly human."

"But there are always some people who are human."

"In the year 2000 of the Old Era, the Ten Realms connected, demons invaded, but strong demons couldn’t enter in the short term."

"Under normal circumstances, if the Human Race united, they could completely defeat the demons, even if it meant trading space for time."

"Unfortunately, two large groups of traitors appeared."

"One group was the Demon Worship Sect. They were originally followers of various cults, believing the Divine Spirits of Demon Purgatory were their deities or devils. They only regarded themselves as human, not others. Coupled with the widespread fear of combat, the Demon Worship Sect grew like a snowball, eventually becoming a behemoth."

"The other group were carefully selected by the demons; they used succubi and other demons to control them."

"Until the eve of the final battle, they erupted."

"These people killed or influenced their forebears, leaked a great deal of classified information at the time, betrayed the Human Race, and sided with Demon Purgatory. Now almost all have become Grandmasters, living in luxury in Demon Purgatory, serving as demonstrations of human submission."

"A popular saying on the internet back then was, ’the strong never complain about the environment because it was their offspring who destroyed it.’"

"Later, aspiring individuals in Dragon Country discovered that countries had ulterior motives, preventing true unity, and thus formulated the Great Lantern Plan."

"The Human Race can face extinction, but must not sit idly by."

"Therefore, some people were tasked with defending Blue Star and others with exploring outward to seek survival hopes for humanity."

"Among those in charge of outward exploration and backups was the Great Lantern Plan."

"I, Xu Yong, and Xu Ming, are all part of the Great Lantern Plan."

"The Martial Saint of Huang Xuan Pavilion was also part of the Great Lantern Plan. He would have stayed here forever with us."

"However, other Great Lantern Plan members realized he had the potential to ascend to sainthood, so they took his place here."

"Xu Ming told me that after leaving the Great Battlefield, Huang Xuan Pavilion’s nature changed drastically, turning from a gentle scholarly martial artist to a direct and crude one."

"Only great changes can alter a person."

"I have remained here, unable to leave."

"I’m not certain you can leave, but since Xu Ming left the micro hard drive with you, I will do everything possible to facilitate your departure."

"However, you have already caught the attention of several distinguished people. They mentioned some things I don’t quite understand."

"They seem to think highly of you and believe you deserve to enter a place called Ascension to Divinity or something."

"Still, whether you can leave depends on your fate."

"Come on, to imprint the blood mark of Celestial Bone on you, and they will issue you a personal Triple Trial."