Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 560 - 543: Flesh Lotus

Dragon World, Dragon Mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, various buildings stretch out, with dragons hurriedly coming and going in the sky.

Four masked humans slowly walk through the city.

The four are wearing ordinary camouflage clothing, with an extraordinary aura, even some Innate Demons and dragons instinctively keep their distance.

When they reach a deserted place, they talk as they walk.

"Sending us four old guys to kill one Innate youngster, even they have the gall to do it." The speaker is an Upper-Rank Grandmaster.

"After all, he is Ma Xingkong’s nephew, you and I have heard of the events from years ago. If something happens again, the Zhao Family’s influence in the Martial Mansion might be entirely wiped out."

"Back then, the Lou Family was toppled, and it was known nationwide. At the end of the day, it was their own fault for pushing Ma Xingkong to a dead end."

"We were entrusted, so we should be loyal. Once this is done, I will have repaid the favor to the Dong Family."

"I had someone look into it, this Zhou Leng seems to have a good relationship with Wang Boxiong and Chen Fenghu."

"After all, Ma Xingkong was their classmate back in the days. So we act discreetly, strike to kill, then escape without leaving any traces."

"What if Zhou Leng dies on the Great Battlefield?"

"My people say that if he dies on the Great Battlefield, it would still count as us having accomplished it."

"That’s not bad."

"Once Zhou Leng is found dead, Chen Fenghu will probably trouble the Lou Family and others, and most likely engage in a Grandmaster life-and-death duel. Chen Fenghu wouldn’t let it go without killing a few."

"He might have done that in the past, but not necessarily now. Moreover, if various families join forces, they might not fear him."

"If a Grandmaster life-and-death duel happens, would you participate?"

"I was stupid to owe a favor to the Dong Family, I don’t want to make the same mistake twice."

"I owe the Xu Family too much, if they initiate a life-and-death duel, I would have no choice but to get involved. How about you guys?"

"Doesn’t matter, as long as the price is high enough, I don’t mind stepping in."

"If you make a move, the odds are greatly in our favor."

The other three look at the Upper-Rank Grandmaster, Su Fenghe.

He calls himself a free-spirited wanderer, but is deeply connected with various families and the Zhao Family, worshiped by many.

Gifted from youth, he has had a glorious journey, befriending many Martial Saints.

If not for being injured, he would at least be a Grandmaster now.

He once worked under Saint Zhao, his strength and prestige far surpassing the other three.

One Grandmaster quietly says, "I’m afraid if things get out of hand, we’ll be implicated."

"No, various families are prepared, already contacted the relevant personnel, and prepared hundreds of media. Once the Great Battlefield ends, regardless of whether Zhou Leng is alive or dead, his negative news will spread widely."

"What negative news does he have?"

"The families say he has it, so he will. Everyone necessary is bought off, just watch and see. They have used this tactic for decades."

"Won’t it be the same old framing trick? In my youth, I hated this atmosphere the most... Alas... Better to finish early and leave this place of trouble."

"It’s a pity, I heard he is a promising candidate for Grandmaster..."

Great Battlefield, Green Pine Cliff.

Zhou Leng stands on the cliff, observing the lakeside camp for a long time.

Some demons and Demon Cultists are within.

The intelligence says the Celestial Calamity Envoy is a black sun intestine, but none of those demons match that description.

Zhou Leng thinks to himself, since it’s the demons’ doing, he’ll interfere where he can, and if that doesn’t work, he’ll leave.

He quietly leaves the cliff, transforms into the appearance of Rusted Iron General, and enters the Demon Camp.

Many demons are either busy or cultivating, no one pays him any attention.

Zhou Leng takes a casual stroll and heads towards the lake.

Before he even gets close, his Great Innate’s powerful vision spots the dense white floating in the lake.

Zhou Leng’s face changes slightly, his breathing quickens.

"No way... Maybe it’s too far away, perhaps I’ve mistaken..."

The closer Zhou Leng walks, the slower his steps become, and the more grave his expression.

As he gets near, shadows deep within his eyes begin to tremble.

His entire body turns cold, nearly frozen.

Zhou Leng stands by the lake, staying still for a while before his body gradually regains sensation.

"How could this happen..."

Zhou Leng thinks to himself, his right hand clenched into a fist so tightly that his knuckles turn white and nails dig into his palm without him noticing.

Round white bellies float on White Lake.

Those bellies are so swollen that the blue-black veins under the skin are clearly visible, and even traces of torn subcutaneous fat and muscle can be seen, forming bizarre patterns.

Dense and closely connected, stretching endlessly.

No less than a million.

Upon seeing the objects floating on White Lake, Zhou Leng’s mind recalls the way people spoke about White Lake, and he finally understands why their expressions always seemed peculiar.

Even Xu Ming, who wouldn’t bat an eye slaughtering demons on the battlefield, displayed a slightly twisted expression.

Linked to the high swollen white bellies are the ghastly pale faces of women, each with wide eyes staring vacantly.

Zhou Leng halts, not moving forward.

The opened eyes resemble harrowing demons, immobilizing his steps.

Behind him, the chill rises and thickens.

Previously accumulated information churns in his mind.

So, this is where all those missing people ended up.

So, this is White Lake.

White belly like lotus, white arm like lotus root.

Two demons walk to the lakeside dozens of meters away, chatting while reaching into the lake to pull out a corpse.

One demon uses its sharp claws to carve a cross-shaped wound into the large white belly, peeling back the skin.

Inside the belly, the flesh lotus bud hasn’t blossomed, its layers of blood-red petals gathering like an egg.

The demon patiently peels it open petal by petal, finally revealing a seed-sized fruit at the center of the flesh lotus.

White at the bottom, green at the top.

"Half white, half green, it’s almost ready."

"Thanks to the Perfect Garden’s Golden Flower, otherwise it would take a long time for the fruit to mature. Be cautious, if anything goes wrong, you and I will end up as demon fertilizer."

"The Zhao Family spent a fortune, we all benefited, naturally, we must handle this with care."

"Last time, the Zhao Family didn’t get the Original Demon’s blood and lost a legitimate son. This time, the Zhao Family has gone all out. Without any surprise, the White Lake Mother Fruit will go to Zhao He."

"Will the Celestial Calamity Envoy give it to him?"

"To us, the White Lake Mother Fruit rivals the Dragon Scale Vermilion Fruit. To the Envoy, the White Lake Mother Fruit is nothing special, doesn’t matter."

"True, it’s just a meat lotus."

The demon kicked the meat lotus back into the White Lake and turned away.

The two demons glanced at the dazed Rusted Iron General, ignored him, and slowly walked outside.

Listening to the demon’s words, it felt as if something exploded in Zhou Leng’s mind.

Last Celestial Tier Trial, the Star of Dim Light led demons, attempting to refine the Eighteen School Joint Exam students into magic potions, and it was indeed related to Zhao Tong.

This whole lake of meat lotuses is connected to Zhao He.

Zhao He, as a Martial Clan descendant, rarely took risks, yet entered the Great Battlefield and even came to the Perfect Garden.

No wonder, no wonder...

Zhou Leng felt his whole body grow cold and only recovered after a long time.

Like a walking corpse, he slowly walked along the lakeside, occasionally glancing at the meat lotuses in the lake.

The unimaginable shock resonated in his brain.

Suddenly, Zhou Leng stopped abruptly, staring fixedly at a meat lotus dozens of meters away.

He stepped forward, then slowly withdrew.

"That is..."

Hu Yi’s mother.

Her face pale, eyes vacant.

Zhou Leng recalled the first encounter at school, Aunt Hu carrying a steaming lunch box filled with large chunks of braised meat.

She gently shook the lunch box, the braised meat quivering like jelly.

The alluring aroma and color lingered in Zhou Leng’s mind.

His throat suddenly itched, as if crawling with countless white maggots.

Zhou Leng gritted his teeth, shifted his gaze, and looked at the other meat lotuses.

Another familiar face came into view.

Zhang Meiqin, Zhang Xinglie’s aunt.

Zhou Leng was stunned; he hadn’t heard about it in Rucheng, and Zhang Xinglie hadn’t mentioned it.

Seeing the familiar face, the itch in his throat reached its peak.

"Ugh..."

Zhou Leng couldn’t stop retching.

He had seen dead people.

He had seen deceased acquaintances.

Zhou Leng had no reaction.

But when acquaintances appeared before him in this way, called meat lotuses by demons, his body seemed to lose control.

Constant retching.

His entire stomach felt like it was turning inside out.

Images of Hu Yi’s mother and Zhang Meiqin flickered in his mind.

Zhou Leng walked, retched, and looked away.

In the blur, he saw one familiar face after another.

Like past neighbors, like elementary school teachers, like a cousin’s sister...

Since becoming a martial artist, Zhou Leng had repeatedly faced crises, even near-death.

But he had never broken down.

At this moment, however, Zhou Leng felt dizzy, his face as pale as a meat lotus, and he walked step by step towards the camp’s edge.

His Martial Arts Will was trembling.

"How could this be, how could this be..."

The impact of the mountain of corpses and sea of blood paled compared to the ocean of meat lotuses.

In Zhou Leng’s mind, those familiar faces flickered incessantly.

No matter how hard he tried, no matter how he reminded himself not to think, it was all to no avail.

The dense lake of meat lotuses, flooding into his mind, filling every piece of memory.

After a long time, in Zhou Leng’s eyes, wine-red blood, golden cross star, bloody mist, slowly spread.

Both eyeballs turned blood-red.

Veins around his eye sockets bulged, veins interlaced.

"Damn it... you really deserve to die..."

Zhou Leng rushed into the White Lake, treading on the water, retrieving Hu Yi’s mother’s and Zhang Xinglie’s aunt’s bodies.

In the camp, an ear-piercing alarm sounded. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"It’s a human in disguise!"

"It’s that Zhou Leng, he harmed Ten Horns!"

Demons surrounded him from all sides.

Zhou Leng stood at the shore, taking a deep breath, Star Gazing True Qi roared to life.

Far more ferocious than any previous instance, the True Qi surged out.

The dense white True Qi burst from his pores, covering his entire body, like waves over wind, layer upon layer resembling scales.

Dragon Scale mist, True Qi took form.

The level of True Qi, originally only attainable by a Grandmaster, appeared on Zhou Leng.

The powerful True Qi condensed into a water-blue Taiqing Sea Robe.

The new Taiqing Sea Robe, semi-transparent in other places, while the chest, abdomen, and arms were solidified.

"If you deserve to die, then just die."

Zhou Leng, like a leopard, charged towards the demons ahead.

As he neared, his lower legs were wrapped in Dragon Scale True Qi, pushed off the ground, propelling his body forward.

Speed breaking 400 meters per second, approaching 450 meters.

The grass beneath his feet was plowed by the terrifying force, splitting the wild grass in two, leaving a clear straight long mark.

In the blink of an eye, he crossed nearly a hundred meters.