Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 531 - 514: Comprehending the Stele

The giant dragons glanced at each other; truly, the collaborator of the Red Eyes is full of cunning, turning simple-minded fierce beasts into something else!

On second thought, this person is too wicked; it’s best to show ample respect, or he will undoubtedly get them killed.

The human wiped his sweat; this person’s guts are massive, playing the part of a profiteer in front of the fierce beasts, truly fearless.

Soon, both parties laid out their conditions and sat down to negotiate.

Under Zhou Leng’s manipulation as a profiteer, both sides quickly signed a contract, guaranteeing not to initiate attacks, at least during the trial of the star monument.

Although the contract was binding, it was better than nothing.

The two major factions were at peace for the time being.

Just after the negotiation, a Rusted Iron General ran to the fierce beasts, full of humility and flattery, taking out items from Demon Purgatory for exchange.

The towering fierce beasts, as tall as five or six-story buildings, looked down at the small demon, swarming together like a herd of elephants trampling on a rabbit, crushing the Rusted Iron General and taking all his possessions, forming a circle to distribute them, occasionally bursting into laughter full of the joy of bounty.

Everyone shuddered at the scene, suddenly remembering the key to fierce beasts was not the beast, but the fierceness.

They turned to Zhou Leng silently.

Ruthless person, the most ruthless in the Ten Realms.

Even the four villains of the Ten Realms in the past weren’t this ruthless.

Dragons and demons silently thought to themselves, "We respect the contract."

Zhang Xinglie introduced Zhou Leng to the present martial artists, holding a brief meeting to explain the situation.

After the meeting, the three of them walked to a deserted place, looking at the star monument replica, whispering.

"You’re finally here, we’ve been waiting for you." The voice of Mountain and River Origin came sincerely, as he had joined the Ancient River Sect early on.

"You haven’t deciphered this star monument replica yet?" Zhou Leng asked.

"What monument?" The two asked in unison.

Zhou Leng was silent, and the two were silent as well.

"What have you been doing these days?"

"Just sitting." Zhang Xinglie said, with Mountain and River Origin nodding.

Zhou Leng scanned the camps of various tribes, asking: "None of the tribes succeeded?"

"Better not say hurtful things." Zhang Xinglie said.

Mountain and River Origin followed with: "Just think of us as having just arrived today, three minutes earlier than you."

"What did your Celestial Ladder say? The trial content should vary by location."

Zhang Xinglie and Mountain and River Origin looked at Zhou Leng with clear eyes, blinking, their eyelashes fluttering lightly.

Innocent like children in kindergarten.

Looking at the untainted eyes of the two, Zhou Leng sighed: "I asked too much."

"Does anyone have the ability to record the voice of the Celestial Ladder? I remember some Demon Spirit Artifacts can do that." Zhou Leng said.

"There actually is, I’ll fetch it." Zhang Xinglie’s eyes lit up, standing up immediately, and ran back and forth like a messenger.

He placed down a device resembling a phonograph, with a complicated Demon Spirit Artifact below and a big conch on top.

He gently pressed it, and the sound of the Celestial Tier Trial started playing.

Zhou Leng listened repeatedly, then began crafting three-dimensional Divine Text on his Demonized Watch.

Zhang Xinglie and Mountain and River Origin craned their necks to watch from behind, occasionally exchanging glances, seeing pure bewilderment in each other’s eyes.

Finally, Zhou Leng said: "I won’t claim it’s accurate, but it won’t be too far off."

"Your First Layer trial is to comprehend this star monument replica. This kind of star monument is created by a Divine Spirit using the divine corpses of other deities to make a celestial Divine Text..."

"The Second Layer trial, after entering behind the star monument, leads to a trial ground where you’ll face some kind of test. Specifically what, I can’t translate, it’s a new term, but it should be some intermediate starry sky trial. Congratulations, not bad."

"The Third Layer trial is a high-level trial; according to the text, it’s extremely challenging, likely a trial of comprehensive ability."

"Overall, your trial is simpler than the Remnant Heaven Bone trial, with lighter consequences. After all, the deity of the star monument has fallen, while the Remnant Heaven Bone trial still forces us to be its warriors."

The two asked some questions about the Remnant Heaven Bone Trial.

"I actually think the Remnant Heaven Bone trial is better; enduring mental and physical torment is better than this incomprehensible torment."

"Indeed. The star monument trial is actually more suitable for you."

Zhou Leng glanced at the star monument and said: "Yes."

"So, sending you here, that deity of the Remnant Heaven Bone is actually quite kind to you."

Zhou Leng shook his head: "You’re underestimating the deity. Everything I experienced there, the deity had no time to pay attention to. It might be that everyone who passes through the final place will come here."

"I hope we can also pass through our final place."

Mountain and River Origin said: "You’ve come a long way, too tired; get some sleep before translating the star monument, we’ll stand guard for you."

"Alright."

Zhou Leng took out a tent, went inside, and slept.

Zhang Xinglie and Mountain and River Origin carefully watched over their hope.

After a good long sleep, they felt refreshed and alert.

The three of them cooked a large pile of meat and devoured it heartily. Zhou Leng began to slowly translate the content of the star monument.

The inscriptions on the star monument were similar to the ancient script of the Dragon Country, top to bottom, right to left.

Each character emitted a restrained golden light, different from the cubic Divine Texts, these Divine Texts were carved in a star shape.

Fortunately, with the Tower Book in hand, having seen a large amount of ornamental Divine Texts in the Demon Spirit World, learning this kind of star Divine Text wasn’t difficult.

After a day, Zhou Leng made a preliminary breakthrough.

While looking at the fragmented Divine Texts, Zhou Leng translated for the two of them.

"The entire monument consists of more than three thousand Divine Texts. If fully translated, it would roughly amount to a hundred thousand words."

"However, my skills are lacking; currently, I’ve only translated about three hundred Divine Texts, and many contents are not coherent."

"Let me tell you the important content from the monument."

"This deity doesn’t mention his name, but it says he was respectfully called ’Tujun’."

"He was a prodigy in his youth, advancing step by step in the cosmic nation, from an initial Martial Artist to a Void God, almost without obstacles. If I understood correctly, he reached the Void God state around the age of eighteen, equivalent to our human age."

"That’s intense..." Zhang Xinglie murmured, while Shanhe Yuan was also dumbfounded.

At eighteen, they were still only at the Qi Blood Realm.

"When he advanced from Void God to the next stage, generally called True God, he finally encountered slight setbacks, but just minor ones. The first attempt failed, but he succeeded on the second try."

"Some parts are quite interesting, like how he and a rival became close friends."

"For instance, there are very few ways to advance to True God. The orthodox method seems to involve competing for qualification with countless geniuses from the starry cosmos, and the process is extremely brutal. Even a genius like him, a Void God at maturity, was defeated in the first attempt by a millennia-old Void God."

"After that, he recounted some experiences. Unfortunately, there were too many specialized terms. A single Divine Text stroke often numbered over a hundred, surpassing my understanding. It’s pointless to translate them forcefully, so I won’t.

"There are some insights into Martial Arts, but translating them is very difficult. I’ll pass them to you once I’ve translated them."

"Additionally, some star Divine Texts contain too much power. Even if I could comprehend them, it would be useless because they involve matters at the divine level, and forcefully translating them would harm my brain."

"Finally, concerning the star monument. After reaching a certain realm, he felt a bottleneck, so he continually cultivated and comprehended, eventually arriving at many truths of Martial Arts. In their terminology, it can be translated as ’Martial Arts Divine Understanding’."

"At their divine level, it seems they have the custom of creating various legacy items, and he chose to emulate an Epitaph Star Monument."

"Parts of it suitable for our Innate Realm learning are fragmented, with only about ten characters remaining."

"These ten characters all discuss Martial Arts Will, especially focusing on the Mountain River Guardian Technique, and how to infuse Martial Arts Will’s power into combat to enhance destructiveness."

Zhang Xinglie and Shanhe Yuan’s eyes gleamed simultaneously.

Shanhe Yuan primarily studied the Mountain River Guardian Technique. Guidance from a deity would surely elevate his strength further.

Zhang Xinglie had already mastered the No Return Battle Technique. Though not adept at the Heart and Mind Shadow Splitting Battle Technique, he had been learning the Mountain River Guardian Technique, aligning with his direction.

Zhou Leng continued, "I am also exploring the Mountain River Guardian Technique, beneficial to all three of us, especially the part involving the divine understanding of Martial Arts Will. It will significantly enhance our Martial Arts Will."

"Nevertheless, it is, after all, a deity’s insight, somewhat profound for us. Let’s combine our efforts to comprehend it."

"Shanhe Yuan, you mainly practice Mountain River Guardian, with rich experience. Zhang Xinglie, you have strong talent and sharp intuition. I am adept at Divine Texts; the three complement each other well."

Thereafter, Zhou Leng shared the preliminary translations with the two of them.

Soon, Shanhe Yuan pointed out some differing opinions, after which, the eager test subject Zhang Xinglie practiced and offered insights based on his sensations.

Zhou Leng integrated the opinions of both, referencing his understanding of Divine Texts to amend the translation.

The trio kept exploring, their understanding of the monument rapidly advancing.

Soon enough, related ten star monument characters emerged vividly in Zhou Leng’s mind, slowly rotating, naturally deepening his comprehension.

Divine Text is self-indicative; once known, it’s known forever.

Divine Text is difficult to learn and comprehend, but once mastered, it’s never forgotten, as if existing in an independent space; even if everything else is forgotten, these Divine Texts remain remembered.

During their studies, other parties were also diligently monitoring the monument.

This stone monument continually emanated Tujun’s power, endlessly stirring the battle intent among all.

Their battle intents became increasingly hard to suppress, ultimately leading Wind of Grey Steel to come up with a method for sparring contests within each group to release their battle intent and prevent losing control.

Thus, groups engaged in sparring to vent their battle intent.

After learning the star Divine Texts, Zhang Xinglie smacked his forehead, saying, "Look at my brain, should have mentioned earlier, I forgot. The ’Mountain Slaying Battle Body’ I obtained shares a lineage with the monument."

"Tujun, Mountain Slaying Battle Body... No wonder. I’ll go back and retranslate the Mountain Slaying Battle Body."

While speaking, Zhou Leng revisited the Mountain Slaying Battle Body content recorded in the Demonized Watch, cross-examining it with the monument, researching repeatedly, yielding significant benefits.

Ultimately, the trio combined efforts to piece together two Martial Arts. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

One is a temporary enhancement method for Martial Arts Will, named ’Dawn Will Method.’

The other slightly augments the Mountain River Guardian Technique; its name is ’Rivers of the Mountain,’ not named by the trio, but the initial stage of this complete Cultivation Technique.

The full title of this Cultivation Technique is ’Apparition of the Ultimate Void.’

It’s just that their current realm is too low to comprehend the profound parts, and they can only extract a segment to study.

Completing the basic preparation, the trio faced the Epitaph Star Monument, commencing cultivation together.