Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 523 - 506: Ten Thousand Lanterns

The person on the throne said, "He has the breath of the stars on him."

"Yes, lord."

"On Blue Star, a little guy with such good fortune has appeared."

"His strength far exceeds ours back in the day."

"Keep him."

"He may be the hope of Blue Star."

"Keep him."

"As you command."

"You are a warrior of God."

"My God above all."

"Is one of the trial takers the child of your comrade?"

"I’ve never seen his child."

"Go back."

"I take my leave."

The human with a ossified head left the palace and appeared outside the city gate.

He stood under the city wall, expressionlessly scanning the front.

In the vast square, one by one, azure teleportation gates lined up, with many Celestial Bone Warriors coming and going.

He stepped towards a large house.

"Lord He..."

The passing Celestial Bone Warrior bowed his head to address him.

He Pengfei walked back into the tall building with the metallic shell, entering the circular office center, and in the blink of an eye, the wall in front of him transformed into a screen, forming an overhead view of the purple mist.

Then, the whole screen quickly expanded, surrounding the entire room.

The entire room formed a three-dimensional image, as if He Pengfei was above the purple mist.

He looked at Zhou Leng, still sleeping on the ground, and then turned his gaze to someone in the five-thousand-step area.

Xu Ming was in the five-thousand-step area, slowly advancing.

He Pengfei focused on Xu Ming’s face.

Although half his face was covered in scars, the other half looked very much like Xu Yong.

He Pengfei still remembers the face of Xu Yong.

Xu Yong entered the Remnant Celestial Bones sixteen years ago; He Pengfei came in six years ago.

He still remembers the first thing Xu Yong said.

"On your shoulders are the missions of the people and the organization. Regardless of which god’s follower you become, or even a god, remember that."

Later, the two gradually became familiar.

"Seeing you reminds me of my child. I wonder if I will see him on the Great Battlefield."

Later still, the two, along with other Celestial Bone Warriors, entered the azure teleportation gate and fought on various fronts.

"Before we became Celestial Bone Warriors, we were people of the Dragon Country. Never forget our mission."

In one desperate situation.

"In this photo, there is my wife and two children. Now, the two children should be a bit older. The eldest has great talent; he might enter the Great Battlefield in the future. If you see him, don’t let him stay here."

"You can tell him yourself."

"I can’t bring myself to say it."

The last battle.

"That one is indeed a madman, didn’t expect that only one of us would stay. It’s a bit regrettable, but who doesn’t have regrets? My path has come to an end, but you can take one more step forward and continue our mission. If you see my child enter here, please don’t let him stay, thank you."

"Brother Xu..."

"Live well."

"Brother Xu."

The scenes from the past float before He Pengfei’s eyes.

His eyes grew increasingly blood-red.

The True Qi around him erupted like flames, distorting the three-dimensional light curtain.

Outside the purple mist.

Xu Ming dragged his exhausted body back.

All the human Martial Artists had left the old camp, all moved outside the purple mist to start the comprehensive trial.

As everyone kept striving and experimenting, they gradually grasped more information about the purple mist.

Xu Ming wasn’t happy.

He looked at Wang Yunbo and asked, "Any news of Zhou Leng?"

Wang Yunbo shook his head.

After eating, Xu Ming walked into the tent and was about to sleep when Wang Xiong walked in.

"Xu Ming, how was the trial today?"

"Cultivating in the five-thousand-step area, I can’t feel the impact anymore. Starting tomorrow, I’ll enter the six-thousand-step area. What about you?"

"Almost the same."

"That’s good."

Wang Xiong hesitated for a moment and said, "If I’m not mistaken, you’re also part of the Ten Thousand Lights Plan, right?"

Xu Ming nodded, already too drained to talk about secrecy and discipline.

Wang Xiong said, "Since you and I are part of the Ten Thousand Lights Plan, our mission and intelligence are the same, so there’s no need to keep secrets anymore."

"Mm," Xu Ming replied.

"Do you think it’s Zhou Leng?"

Xu Ming shook his head and said, "Before he came in, he just finished training his muscles. When we joined the Ten Thousand Lantern Plan, he should have still been in the Qi Blood Realm. No one could have imagined that he would appear in this Great Battlefield."

Wang Xiong suddenly smiled and said, "Although I’m not convinced, I know that your talent and hard work surpass mine. The more I learned about you, the more I was shocked by your diligence. I never thought a genius could be so hardworking."

"I worked hard first, then became a genius," Xu Ming said.

Wang Xiong said, "Based on my and some friends’ speculation, you can, unsurprisingly, stand shoulder to shoulder with Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong. You are one of the most likely to be promoted to Martial Saint in our generation. So I’m very curious, why did you join the Ten Thousand Lantern Plan? Theoretically, you shouldn’t be allowed to join, because... I heard your father is also a member of the Ten Thousand Lantern Plan."

Xu Ming was silent for a long time and then slowly said, "With my background, it’s impossible to get the Battlefield Shield Order. The only way to get the Battlefield Shield Order is to join the Ten Thousand Lantern Plan."

"Did you join the Ten Thousand Lantern Plan for the Martial Arts resources of the Great Battlefield? But once you join the Ten Thousand Lantern Plan, you might remain here forever."

Xu Ming was silent for a moment and said, "I came to the Great Battlefield to see my father. He must still be alive."

Wang Xiong thought of Xu Ming and his brother’s matter, sighed softly, and said, "With our talent, we could probably pass the test of the purple mist and become the legendary Celestial Bone Warriors. But... let me stay behind."

"Why?" Xu Ming asked.

Wang Xiong smiled and said, "You have more talent than I do. You stay on Blue Star and can play a bigger role in the final Ten Realms battle."

"Are you willing to stay here forever?"

"When I joined the Ten Thousand Lantern Plan, I was already prepared."

"You’re not inferior to me."

"I know. But I prefer you to stay in Dragon Country, to build Blue Star. No matter what, Blue Star is our ultimate hope," Wang Xiong said.

Xu Ming asked, "What do you think of Zhou Leng?"

"He’s good, his talent should be above yours. He shouldn’t have come in, it’s a pity... However, compared to Zhang Xinglie, Zhou Leng seems slightly inferior," Wang Xiong said.

Xu Ming nodded and said, "I’ve heard of Zhang Xinglie. He’s likely the brightest genius among humans after Li Shenkong. I even specifically borrowed images of him using the No Return Battle Technique, far surpassing me of the same age and Realm."

Wang Xiong lamented, "Many of my classmates lamented that Li Shenkong overshadowing the Jinghua two schools was nothing; his background was too strong. But Zhang Xinglie overshadowing everyone in the two schools deserves the respect of all of us. It can be said that apart from Li Shenkong, Zhang Xinglie is almost the only young figure expected to be promoted to Martial Saint."

"Zhou Leng should be about the same," Xu Ming said.

Wang Xiong said, "When we entered the Great Battlefield from the Giant Royal Court, Zhang Xinglie had already completed Bone Forging before entering the Great Battlefield. I sparred with him in three aspects: body, Qi, and technique. Can you guess the scores?"

Xu Ming thought for a moment and said, "He might have won in one aspect, I guess it’s 2 to 1?"

Wang Xiong smiled and said, "3 to 0."

Xu Ming said, "Then he didn’t... wait... he 3, you 0?"

Wang Xiong nodded.

Xu Ming examined Wang Xiong closely, found that he didn’t look like he was lying, and sighed, "I didn’t expect it, new talents emerge with every generation. I thought you and I were the leaders of the younger generation, didn’t expect to be surpassed by Li Shenkong, and then successively surpassed by Zhang Xinglie and others."

Wang Xiong said, "After losing, I couldn’t sleep all night, but slowly I figured it out. This is a good thing, it shows that our Dragon Country has more hope. Therefore, after entering the Great Battlefield, I suddenly felt that perhaps, my purpose for coming in this time was to make way for you."

"Don’t say that, you also have the potential to be promoted to Martial Saint," Xu Ming said.

Wang Xiong gently shook his head and said, "I know my condition very well."

As Wang Xiong spoke, he stretched out his right hand and slowly said, "Then let’s agree, if possible, I will join the Celestial Bone Warrior and stay in the broken Celestial Bone. You bring the gains from the Great Battlefield back to Blue Star, and prepare together with everyone for the final battle."

Xu Ming looked at Wang Xiong and after a long while, extended his hand.

The two hands clasped each other tightly.

In the purple mist.

Zhou Leng went through doubt after doubt, becoming increasingly doubtful of life.

Encountering the Gate of Purgatory under the Frost Giant Tree was bad enough; who knew this place would be just as miserable as the Gate of Purgatory.

No, even worse.

At least at the Gate of Purgatory, there was Elder Tree as a base support.

What’s here?

Who knows if the next moment, you might die here?

Zhou Leng sat cross-legged on the ground, rubbing his sore head.

These days, he fainted too many times. If it weren’t for the obvious growth, he would suspect his brain had been smashed by a meteor.

Zhou Leng sighed. There was no choice. Since he was brought to the broken Celestial Bone, he could only rush through.

After breaking through here, he’d return to the camp to find Xu Ming and the others, who were likely worried about him too.

Originally, he just wanted to come in and take a look and then leave, but ended up on a thief’s ship, always thinking of at least breaking through to ten thousand steps before leaving.

The Dragon Skull had long been drained, disassembled and discarded.

Inside the tent, Zhou Leng took out a large number of Star Conches and began to cultivate.

Although he suffered from the torment of meteors these days, the benefits were indeed too abundant.

The Realm of the Star Gazing Technique, Undying Star Body, and Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique surged upwards.

The efficiency of cultivating in the purple mist was hundreds of times that on Blue Star.

After finishing cultivating the Star Gazing Technique and Undying Star Body, Zhou Leng began to cultivate the Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique.

Thanks to the pressure from meteors, the growth of the Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique’s Realm accelerated.

The starry energy here was also extremely abundant, feeling the Star Phoenix Feather grow one by one, he became more reluctant to leave.

Qi Blood surged, and the Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique continued to operate.

Suddenly, Zhou Leng’s body moved slightly.

In the center of his back, the long spinal bone seemed to emit a silver starlight flame, bursting through the skin.

Then, the starlight flame converged and retracted into the spinal cord.

Two thousand Star Phoenix Feathers formed.

Zhou Leng slowly opened his eyes, his gaze steady.

The life force within his body was as intense as water, far surpassing Tree-men of the same Realm, and even the few Tree-man Grandmasters he had encountered before, the aura of their Power of Life was not as strong as his current self.

Since reaching nine thousand eight hundred and one steps, repeatedly advancing and retreating, no matter how hard he tried, at that point, a meteor the size of a basketball court would invariably knock him out.

He wouldn’t even utter a single groan more.

His Martial Arts Will could endure, but his body could not.

Now with two thousand Star Phoenix Feathers, there might be a chance.