Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 432 - 417: Poetry Commentary

Zhou Leng took out two roughly packaged bottles of beauty water and handed them over, saying, "This thing is packaged very high-end on Blue Star, but it’s sold in street stalls in the Tree-man World. After washing your face, apply a couple of drops; it’s better than all other skincare products."

"I think I’ve heard of this." Xu Qingjin, being a girl, couldn’t get enough of the otherworldly skincare products.

"It looks like there’s little inside, but the capacity is large enough to last you two or three years."

"Really?" Xu Qingjin turned it over and over in her hands.

Zhou Leng went on, handing over armor of the Innate level, which looked like a layer of thin gauze.

"This is a leather armor made from Giant Insect skin used by elves. It’s very thin but can easily withstand Innate attacks. You can wear it under your clothes when going out."

Xu Qingjin asked quietly, "Isn’t it too valuable?"

"It’s valuable on Blue Star, but in the Tree-man World, it’s worthless. I got it for free."

"Really?"

"Of course it’s true," Zhou Leng was truthful. He had taken it for free from the elves’ treasury. At that time, he saw that the armor was thin and light, perfect for Xu Qingjin.

"Then... then I’ll accept it." Xu Qingjin slightly lowered her head, turned, and glanced at the flowers and plants by the roadside, her heart pounding.

Zhou Leng stuffed the veil-like white leather armor into Xu Qingjin’s hands.

Xu Qingjin gently caressed it, smiling sweetly.

"Let’s go, I’ll first mail some things to Elder Song and Zhang Xinglie."

The two first went to the Martial Arts post office. Zhou Leng packed some Ancient Tree Fossils, Ant Eggs, Aphid Honey, and elven weapons, among other Tree-man World specialties, to mail to Elder Song and Zhang Xinglie.

He mailed some Tree-man World specialties to Zhao Nandi.

The two chatted and laughed as they entered the Martial Arts Mall.

Upon entering, Zhou Leng realized he had a lot of treasures on him but no cash.

So while Xu Qingjin was browsing, he opened Martial Arts City to check his Civilian Contribution Points.

His civilian title was still at the "Yangtze River Scholar" stage.

The contribution points soared to over 600,000, equivalent to six hundred million Long Guoyuan.

sets of Bone Forging Pills cost a total of 1.2 billion.

Zhou Leng had killed many Demons along the way and acquired the wealth of that Grandmaster Black Dragon, so he went to the Martial Arts Bank to exchange otherworldly currency, continuously searching through his Magic Spirit Bag.

Demon currency, Giant Dragon currency, Giant’s, Beastman’s, Sea Siren’s, Dwarf’s...

A whole jumble of them.

Xu Qingjin had never seen so much otherworldly currency. Occasionally, she would take some in her hands to examine closely, and Zhou Leng casually gifted her some as small tokens.

Even the well-experienced staff at the Martial Arts Bank had never seen such an intense person.

The bank verified his identity, discovered that Zhou Leng was a Major in the Martial Arts Brigade and also a premium customer, and immediately dispatched a manager to assist with exchanges.

Without even selling the treasures, the currency exchange alone totaled over 500 million, nearly 600 million.

Add that to the previous money, and it barely pulled together 1.2 billion.

Zhou Leng was filled with emotion, realizing once again that exorcising demons and destroying evil were indeed profitable.

The Xue Family in Rucheng had some small stature; after toiling hard, networking, and managing relationships, it’s exhausting and not even as profitable as running a company and a factory for ten years.

And yet, people still covet it.

Xu Qingjin was bemused, knowing that Zhou Leng would be wealthy after advancing to Innate, but she hadn’t realized he would be this wealthy.

As they exited the bank, Xu Qingjin, with her neck shrinking back, cautiously asked, "Over 500 million, where did you get so much money?"

"I came across the dead body of a Grandmaster Giant Dragon and ran off with these things."

"That’s so much, I’ve never seen this much money, not even online."

"This money is far from enough."

"What’s it not enough for? Buying lives?"

Zhou Leng was amused by Xu Qingjin’s remark and said, "You’ll find out in a moment."

When Zhou Leng purchased a total of 400 Bone Forging Pills from multiple merchants, Xu Qingjin fell silent.

"Now it’s really gone." The 1.2 billion was all spent, emptying the account balance.

"Does being Innate cost so much?" Xu Qingjin asked.

"It doesn’t have to, but if you want to become a strong Innate, forcefully advance to Grandmaster or even Martial Saint, this is the only way to spend. For a Martial Artist, anything solvable with money is relatively easy. The truly difficult things can’t be bought, even with money," Zhou Leng replied.

Xu Qingjin mused, "I suddenly understand why so many Innate Masters seem ordinary, aside from living in good places; they have no luxury cars, no extravagant goods because they spend it all on this."

"Martial Arts is the greatest luxury," Zhou Leng said.

"Indeed."

Xu Qingjin glanced at Zhou Leng from the corner of her eye, her emotions complex.

Even if they were childhood sweethearts, this colossal change and disparity still struck her.

She was just a very ordinary girl.

Xu Qingjin felt a bit lost.

Zhou Leng, holding Xu Qingjin’s hand, raised the Demonized Watch and smiled, "Come, let’s take a selfie, say cheese."

Xu Qingjin hadn’t expected Zhou Leng to take the initiative for a photo, so she leaned her head towards Zhou Leng, squeezed out a smile, and took a picture.

Upon seeing it, Zhou Leng said, "The smile isn’t happy enough, let’s take another."

The second one still didn’t work.

Zhou Leng held Xu Qingjin’s head against his chest, disregarding her resistance, and took a picture forcibly.

Clicking on the photo, a light screen showed Zhou Leng with a bright smile and white teeth, while Xu Qingjin, with disheveled hair pressed against her face, looked frantic and distorted.

"Delete it! Delete it now!" Xu Qingjin was about to go crazy; it was simply blackmail material.

"This one’s great," Zhou Leng said.

"No way! I’ll smile! Isn’t it enough if I smile?" Xu Qingjin, having known Zhou Leng for many years, was well aware of his methods; he was just forcing her to take a good picture.

"I didn’t force you," Zhou Leng smiled.

"You did!" Xu Qingjin was frustrated to the point of grinding her teeth. Zhou Leng had been like this since they were kids—harmless on the surface, but once he decided to be mischievous, he was a force to be reckoned with.

Xu Qingjin slowly tidied her hair and reapplied lipstick.

Zhou Leng draped his left arm over Xu Qingjin’s shoulder. The two of them put their heads together and smiled, taking multiple photos in a row.

Zhou Leng picked a photo and sent it to Xu Qingjin for editing.

After the editing was done, Zhou Leng put it away.

"I’ll post it on my Moments once everything gets sorted out."

Xu Qingjin’s heart was pounding; the vague worries she had before slowly faded away.

"Okay." She held Zhou Leng’s hand, squeezing it a little tighter.

"Tonight, I’m going to have dinner at your house, and I’ve brought some local specialties from the Tree-man World for Auntie," Zhou Leng said.

"Okay." Xu Qingjin maintained a calm expression, but her steps were all over the place, walking unsteadily.

Her head was a bit dizzy; her eyes were sparkling.

The two of them bought some things and went to Xu Qingjin’s house, where they had dinner with her family.

Mrs. Xu occasionally looked at the two of them and smiled from time to time.

After taking Xu Qingjin back to school in the evening, Zhou Leng started to reply to other messages.

While scrolling through Moments, he saw Xu Qingjin’s latest post.

It was a picture of a heart-shaped cloud in the sky.

With the caption: I like today’s wind and today’s clouds.

Zhou Leng gave it a like.

Subsequently, he saw the Moments of "Blood of Tyranny." Although he didn’t want to read those doggerels, he was curious about the current situation, so he clicked to see.

A picture of a mountain peak was posted.

With a line of text below.

At the top of the mountain, I am the peak.

Zhou Leng breathed a sigh of relief; at least it wasn’t another doggerel.

Just as he was relieved, "Blood of Tyranny" added a new video to his Moments.

In the video, a dozen Grandmasters were fleeing frantically.

Zhou Leng was at a loss between laughter and tears. "Blood of Tyranny" was actually recording a video while chasing down Grandmasters, those Grandmasters must be seething with rage.

Below the video was "Blood of Tyranny’s" new work.

Grandmasters like watermelon, split in two with a single slash. I am a hero, killing them in a series.

Zhou Leng was silent for a moment, exited, and pretended he hadn’t seen this rhyme.

Suddenly, a message from "Blood of Tyranny" popped up.

"How was my new poem? Give me your critique."

Zhou Leng remained silent for a long time, then replied, "I’ll be honest, senior brother, don’t take it to heart. Your level is a bit below Li Bai and Du Fu, and slightly inferior to Su Shi and Lu You. To say every piece is a classic would be an overstatement, but occasionally, a few can compete with Meng Haoran or Bai Juyi. Especially your unique domineering style, which can be compared with the works of Huang Chao and Zhu Yuanzhang."

"Really?"

"Really. It’s a pity you’re in the Sea Siren, if you were in Dragon Country, you might have already founded a ’Blood of Tyranny Poetry Symposium’."

After finishing, Zhou Leng thought to himself that his conscience was thoroughly tainted.

"Then why didn’t you like it?"

Zhou Leng was silent, can a soon-to-be Martial Saint Grandmaster say such words?

Where’s the Grandmaster’s demeanor? Where’s the Martial Saint’s dignity?

Helplessly replied, "I might not have the habit of liking Moments, I’ll go do it now."

He sighed and liked the two latest posts from "Blood of Tyranny."

After a while, "Blood of Tyranny" asked again, "You didn’t like my other poems because they aren’t good?"

"You..."

Zhou Leng held back his anger and liked all of "Blood of Tyranny’s" Moments in order.

Fortunately, "Blood of Tyranny’s" Moments was set to be visible for only the last six months, so no matter how many there were, it was limited.

Scrolled to the last post visible from the past six months.

Breathed a long sigh of relief.

Upon refreshing, it changed to show all moments.

"I..."

Zhou Leng continued to like.

Wishing he could find a like-bot.

After giving thousands of likes, his head was spinning.

The main issue was those doggerels were too soul-wrenching, felt like all the poems and essays memorized over the years were destroyed by this person.

His mind felt like a piece of paper that had been spun in a washing machine three times.

After liking the last post, Zhou Leng breathed a sigh of relief.

Oh well, a few thousand likes in exchange for part of a Martial Artist Black Dragon’s wealth, it’s worth it.

Not long after, "Blood of Tyranny" replied, "I’m going back to the Sea Siren World to advance to Martial Saint, and likely won’t be able to break through the Two Realms Barrier. If you need anything, you can find the Blood Navy in the Sea Siren World."

"I wish senior brother success in advancing to Martial Saint, unifying the Sea Siren World, dominating the seas and reaching the stars."

"Next time we meet, I’ll assess your martial arts progress, if you don’t meet the standards, I’ll punish you on behalf of our master."

"Yes."

Zhou Leng thought to himself, I’ll just close Moments in a while, I’d rather die than be polluted by your doggerels.

Suddenly, an idea struck Zhou Leng, he asked, "Senior brother, do you have any extra Battlefield Shield Orders?"

"I actually got one from killing a Giant Dragon, do you want it?"

"Yes, I want to enter the Great Battlefield to find Dragon Scale Vermilion Fruit."

"I’ll have someone mail it to you, is it Ruda Zhou Leng?"

"Yes, thank you, senior brother."

Zhou Leng thought for a moment, Moments could stay open, a few more likes wouldn’t take much time.

Liking posts, low effort, super high return.