Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 422 - 407: Downline

Lou Fei Qiong’s text quickly filled the document.

"For example, earlier, I clearly saw him woo Zhao Nandi, thinking it was just a student-teacher interaction."

"But upon reflection, it wasn’t. He already knew Zhao Nandi’s identity and pretended not to, wanting to use this opportunity to climb up Zhao Nandi, the big tree."

"As for why I discovered this, it’s because he did the same in the Tree-man World."

"He actually befriended the elves, and his relationship with the Elf Saintess is quite good."

"The temperament of the elves is well-known throughout the Ten Realms; no foreigner becomes their friend."

"So, there are only two possibilities. Either he used some despicable methods, or he excessively catered to the elves."

"I originally thought he came to the Tree-man World to cultivate wholeheartedly, but now I realize his intentions are impure, not focused on Extreme Martial Arts."

"If I’m not mistaken, his purpose in entering the Tree-man World is to associate with the Tree-men and elves."

"Just like he did with Zhao Nandi."

"I conclude that such a Martial Artist has a very low possibility of advancing to Grandmaster."

"To put it in a ten thousand steps back, even if he advances to Grandmaster, his strength won’t be too strong."

"However, one thing indeed requires attention. He gained quite a few resources through associating with the Tree-men and elves, rapidly growing."

"But this rapid growth is just a castle in the air, actually damaging his foundation."

"The faster he grows, the less stable his foundation is."

"Considering various intelligence, it’s still impossible to determine if he has the potential of a Grandmaster. We can only judge that he has a deep mind and heavy scheming. Be wary of Zhao Nandi being deceived by him. However, I have a magical image of his ambiguous relationship with the Elf Saintess. If Zhao Nandi is truly deceived by him at that time, we can expose him."

"At this stage, there’s no need to pay too much attention to him."

"At least wait until he completes Bone Forging and enters the Muscle Stage before making a determination."

Lou Fei Qiong finished writing this family report in the Demonized Smart Brain, reviewed it several times, made some slight wording changes, and saved it.

He turned his head to look out the window, pale green morning light casting on his weary face.

After many days, in a safe place, Zhou Leng had a comfortable, good sleep.

When he opened his eyes, Silver Lake Moon lay beside him.

Zhou Leng left the room, walked out of the Tree Root Cave, and went to the Tree of Life.

The sun hadn’t risen, the first batch of cultivation hadn’t started, and many people had already gathered around the square.

Some were meditating and cultivating outside the railing of the Tree of Life.

Zhou Leng quietly looked at the massive Tree of Life.

Before long, Cyan Flame came over.

"Any news?" Zhou Leng asked.

Cyan Flame hesitated for a moment, sighed, and said, "There’s news."

Zhou Leng opened his mouth but said nothing.

Cyan Flame slowly said, "Vigorous Root and his group just reached the edge of the Vigorous Tribe when they were surrounded by a swarm of giant insects, fought bitterly for a long time, unable to get free, and Vigorous Root was critically injured, near death. Xiaoyong tried to save Vigorous Root from underground, but Vigorous Root refused to retreat."

"After Vigorous Root’s death, Xiaoyong broke out of his cocoon, transformed into a blue giant butterfly, advanced to Grandmaster, swept through the scene, and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of giant insects."

"Unfortunately, there are too many Grandmasters among the giant insects, and Xiaoyong died in battle. Right before dying, he used the shed insect shell to wrap Vigorous Root’s Tree-man heart and threw it towards the Vigorous Tribe."

"Vigorous Root’s heart has been sent to the Mother Tree."

The two remained silent for a long time, Zhou Leng asked, "Can the Tree-man heart be resurrected?"

"The Mother Tree can resurrect the Tree-man heart. After resurrection, it will become a brand new Tree-man, with no connection to the previous one."

"Will it remember anything?"

"Nothing at all."

The two quietly stood, looking at the mountain-like Tree of Life.

Sunlight scattered, the first batch of cultivation of the Tree of Life began, Zhou Leng walked over.

He encountered Zhao He and greeted him.

Zhou Leng’s heart was a bit disturbed; when the white mist covered for a long time and he felt the gentle Power of Life, he calmed down and began cultivating.

After experiencing the Tree-man inheritance, his body and True Qi rapidly grew, immediately reaching the peak of Blood Shock.

Next, he only needs to consume the Shock Blood Three Pills to advance to the Bone Forging Stage.

Within the Undying Star Body, there’s a technique called "Star Forging Technique", which, when paired with Bone Forging Stage cultivation, is extremely effective and can forge a Martial Artist’s bones to unimaginable levels.

After ascending to Martial Saint, the effect of the Star Forging Technique is even greater.

The Power of Life is abundant here, more suitable for cultivating the "Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique."

Early concentration of myriad feathers brings stronger healing abilities sooner.

Focus on cultivating, dedicate to gathering star phoenix feathers.

One, two, three...

The bell rang, Zhou Leng opened his eyes.

In just one hour, he gathered 37 feathers.

The amount of life force absorbed and the efficiency of gathering far exceeded before.

Previously, under the tree during the first batch of cultivation, only 8 feathers could be gathered in an hour.

Improved nearly fivefold.

During cultivation, awareness continuously monitors the cultivation technique route, involuntarily establishing connections with some body cells, sensing cellular activity.

The number of cells in the Life Over-refinement increased by 273 in an hour.

Zhou Leng looked up at the Tree of Life.

The absorbed Power of Life has increased significantly compared to before, also nearly fivefold.

Approaching the absorption level of a Tree-man Grandmaster.

Walking out of the Cultivation Land, Zhao He said with a smile, "To celebrate escaping from Flute Forest, I’m planning to throw a party tonight. How about joining us?"

Zhou Leng replied, "Thanks for the invitation, but I’ve been busy these past two days and can’t make it."

Zhao He noticed Zhou Leng’s low spirits and said with a grin, "Let’s talk about it next time then. If you go to Xiongjing, make sure to contact me. I will definitely extend my hospitality."

"Alright."

After seeing Zhao He off, Zhou Leng was headed back to the Tree Root Cave when Jax approached with a smile.

"Brother Leng, nice to see you again."

"Are you all doing well?" Zhou Leng asked.

"Not bad, my luck’s been quite good."

Zhou Leng glanced at Jax and said, "Congratulations on advancing to the Innate Realm." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Thank you, thank you, your strength has also increased. Your aura is truly intimidating."

Jax wasn’t exaggerating at all.

On the surface, Zhou Leng looked just a bit more robust than before, but having experienced numerous battles along with the blessings from the Elf King and the Tree-man’s legacy, his demeanor was entirely different from before.

His entire body was filled with overwhelming vitality, even exuding a hint of ferocity akin to that of a giant insect or demon.

"How are Aiden and the others doing?" Zhou Leng wanted to probe Jax’s words.

Jax quickly handed over a Magic Spirit Bag, saying, "My cousin is truly grateful for your help, offering this humble gift to express his heartfelt gratitude."

Zhou Leng skeptically accepted the Magic Spirit Bag, wondering when exactly he had helped Aiden; they had only met briefly near the mural hall.

Last time in Broken Candle City, he had gotten Jade Wings intoxicated, and this time he took the Ant Queen’s brilliant insect juice. Was Aiden speaking sarcastically?

Upon opening the Magic Spirit Bag, Zhou Leng’s eyes lit up.

It was filled with Shock Blood Three Pills, a hundred of each.

There was also an Ancient Tree Fossil, a Dragon and Tiger Pill, four pieces of Spirit Land Jade, and some unknown items.

"These are from me to you." Jax then took out a transparent gift box, inside which lay numerous Star Conches.

Zhou Leng accepted the Star Conches with ease, raised the Magic Spirit Bag, and asked, "What does Aiden mean by this?"

Jax was taken aback and said, "I don’t know, honestly. He insisted I hand this over to you personally and express his gratitude. I haven’t touched anything inside. If you don’t believe me, when we return to Rucheng, I can arrange a video call with you and Aiden."

Still suspecting the pill, Zhou Leng wondered who would express gratitude with such a lavish bounty?

With each of the Shock Blood Three Pills totaling a hundred, their value was six hundred million.

Together with the other items, it was easily ten billion.

Deep in thought about how he had helped Aiden, Shen Jun’s message came through on Guan Canglong’s Martial Faith.

He opened to browse.

"Master, thanks to your acquaintance with Blood of Tyranny, we managed to drive away those demon grandmasters, preserving both our wealth and our lives."

"I’m just a Little Innate, not much to offer, but I’ll pack up half of the remaining Ancient Tree Fossil and deliver it to you later."

"Additionally, I’ve obtained a batch of potent Innate magic potions, which I’ll send you along with my gratitude for saving my life."

"At first, we were scared and didn’t think clearly, but then we realized that without you and Blood of Tyranny, those demon grandmasters would certainly have killed us after taking our treasures. The Four-sided Duke has dignity, but the other demon grandmasters don’t."

"In the future, any Innate Realm demon magic potion you need will be covered by me."

Zhou Leng suddenly understood, realizing Aiden was expressing gratitude for this matter, something he hadn’t considered before.

He relaxed and accepted the Magic Spirit Bag, engaging in small talk with Jax.

After chatting for quite a while, he basically understood that Aiden deeply regretted teaming up with the Radiance of the Bright Candle, and that this so-called thank-you gift was mostly an apology.

Jax had done something similar in the past.

Zhou Leng looked at Jax, revealing an expression of appreciation, thinking this Treasure-Sending Child could even develop networks, a talented individual indeed.

As the conversation came to a close, Jax cautiously asked, "Brother Leng, have you seen Tu Rong?"

Zhou Leng recalled the photo and asked, "You’ve seen that picture?"

"Yes, I have," Jax replied.

"Do you know he’s trying to report to me?"

Jax sighed and said, "I sent him... no, he wanted to go, and I agreed, even helped him cover it up."

"What relationship does he have with my uncle?" Zhou Leng asked.

Jax slowly recounted the story.

"He was involved in shady dealings as a child, discovered by Principal Lu and Ma Xingkong..."

Once Jax finished speaking, Zhou Leng was overcome with emotion.

Unexpectedly, there was such a relationship between them.

Unexpectedly, those intruders who broke into his home had taken pictures, which ended up in Tu Rong’s hands.

"After he handed me the map, he passed away," Zhou Leng said.

"Did the map help you?"

"A great deal, it helped me evade the Great Innate."

"Good, good, his spirit in heaven must be gratified," Jax said.

"I will give him a proper burial," Zhou Leng said.

Jax said, "Let me handle it, your status might make it inconvenient."

"True," Zhou Leng handed the Magic Spirit Bag containing Tu Rong’s corpse to Jax.

"No need for your Magic Spirit Bag..."

"It contains all of his belongings. If he has family, give it to them," Zhou Leng said.

"Of course."

"Your inheritance rank will rise again after you return, right?" Zhou Leng asked.