Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 457 - 442: Imperial Son-in-law

The two instructors discussed a few more things. Instructor Zou announced the dismissal, added Zhou Leng as a friend on Martial Faith, and happily went back to recuperate.

Liang Baiyin rushed to Zhou Leng’s side, looking up with a smile, and said, "Brother Zhou Leng, did you come specifically to see me?"

Zhou Leng, unable to say he was just passing by, replied, "Yes, I’m here in Xiongjing for business, and incidentally, I thought I’d check in on you and Zhang Xinglie."

Liang Baiyin seemed to have thought of something, looking aggrieved, and said, "Brother Zhou Leng, you promised to treat me to some snacks, but kept saying you were busy, busy, busy. If you hadn’t come to visit, I’d have thought you didn’t want to pay attention to little Baiyin anymore."

"No, I really am very busy," Zhou Leng said.

"Then in the next few days, can you keep little Baiyin company in the evenings?" Liang Baiyin pleaded sweetly.

Zhou Leng said, "No, today I’ve made plans with Zhang Xinglie, and tomorrow I have to go to the Relic Museum."

Liang Baiyin said, "That’s great! I also have a pass to the Relic Museum. I’ll go with you tomorrow and then we can explore Xiongjing together, okay? I’m not familiar with this place at all, and it’s rare to encounter you. Please don’t abandon little Baiyin. Brother Zhou Leng, please?"

Liang Baiyin’s voice was charming and she seemed like she could start wiggling her little hips and swing her little tail anytime.

Zhou Leng said, "I’m going there to cultivate, so I may not have time for you."

"Little Baiyin will be good and not disturb you. Besides, Elder Song always tells you to take care of me. You can’t just abandon me," she said.

Seeing her bring up Elder Song, Zhou Leng said helplessly, "Alright then, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my cultivation, it’s fine."

"Great!" Liang Baiyin laughed happily, eyes bright, her purity and beauty shining through.

Suddenly, Zhou Leng asked, "Weren’t you living in Xiongjing when you were a child, then moved to Rucheng?"

"Yes, you also know that was when I was a child. Now I’m more familiar with Rucheng."

"That’s true."

"Are you going to find Zhang Xinglie now?"

"Yes."

"Then I’ll walk with you for a bit until you meet him, and then I’ll leave. I’ll take you around Yunhua first."

Checking the time, Zhou Leng said, "Alright, let’s take a walk around Yunhua first."

"Great, wait for me a moment."

Liang Baiyin said as she ran to a nearby restroom. Soon, she emerged wearing a white floral spaghetti strap dress and black leather shoes, her skin glowing fair and smooth.

The two walked side by side, touring Yunhua together.

Yunhua was much bigger than Rucheng, so Liang Baiyin only picked a few famous spots.

Approaching the appointed time, the two headed to Zhang Xinglie’s dormitory.

Approaching the dorm building, they could see Zhang Xinglie from afar, chatting and laughing with a few classmates from Yunhua Martial Arts Academy.

"Zhou Leng!" Zhang Xinglie waved excitedly at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng smiled and walked over.

The students around Zhang Xinglie kept glancing back and forth between Zhou Leng and Liang Baiyin.

"Brought your girlfriend?" one person laughed and said.

Zhang Xinglie said, "No, just a regular friend. His girlfriend is in Rucheng."

"This girl seems like the freshman Liang Baiyin, quite famous among the new students. I heard her military training video got uploaded online, with tens of thousands of likes," someone said.

"This Zhou Leng is quite something," another remarked.

Zhang Xinglie explained, "Liang Baiyin is our junior and also from Rucheng."

The two sides met, introduced themselves, and Liang Baiyin greeted her seniors respectfully before leaving.

Zhou Leng and the others walked out together, planning to eat.

Zhang Xinglie’s friends were all from Yunhua Martial Arts Academy, with the weakest at the Vitality Stage and the strongest at the True Liquid Innate, none as advanced as Zhang Xinglie.

They had heard Zhang Xinglie mention Zhou Leng many times before and found him familiar, quickly getting into conversations.

Moreover, they had to save face for Zhang Xinglie, so there were no airs, and everyone was jovial.

Besides, they could all see that Zhou Leng’s realm was higher than theirs.

Halfway through, several of Liang Baiyin’s classmates approached from ahead.

The classmates greeted, "Hello, Instructor Zhou."

Zhou Leng nodded lightly in acknowledgment.

Zhang Xinglie and his friends looked at Zhou Leng curiously.

"We are honestly here in Yunhua as students, and you secretly became an instructor? How did that happen?" Zhang Xinglie asked.

Zhou Leng replied, "I’m a Special Martial Guard, and since I was passing by, Hall Master Wang gave me a task, so I just taught them a bit."

"Wang Boxiong the Grandmaster?" someone asked.

"Yes."

Everyone fell silent. Even the prodigies of Yunhua would pale compared to Wang Boxiong.

Wang Boxiong was a renowned alumnus of Yunhua.

It was only then they understood—Zhang Xinglie brought them not to expand Zhou Leng’s network but to expand theirs.

Martial artists are known to eat a lot, so eating stir-fried or hot pot would be too cumbersome. They went straight to a barbecue shop, got a private room, and began eating, drinking, and chatting.

The group assumed the host’s role, while Zhou Leng was the guest, with everyone centering their conversations around Zhou Leng.

Given that they were all friends of Zhang Xinglie, other than keeping privacy, Zhou Leng was open about everything else.

They first talked about the Tree-man World, then the Demon Spirit World, and finally mentioned that soon he would go to the Dwarf World for the Divine Blood Lava trial.

The Yunhua students outwardly appeared unaffected, but inwardly they were deeply moved.

They were all the same age, yet while they were steadily cultivating step by step, Zhou Leng had already ventured into other worlds, traveled thousands of miles, and mingled with the Ten Realms.

One student raised a glass and said, "I used to think you were just naturally gifted, while inherently believing Xiongjing was the world’s best. We all used to persuade Zhang Xinglie to have you come to Xiongjing, fearing Rucheng would delay your martial arts progress. Now it seems we are the star-gazers, and you are in the stars! No wonder every time Zhang Xinglie returned to Xiongjing after seeing you, he was all fired up, clearly inspired by you. Come, I toast to you, wishing for the flourishing of martial arts!"

Zhou Leng clinked glasses and drank it all in one go.

At the table, with much drinking and chatting, relationships naturally became close, with all topics, both serious and light-hearted, being discussed.

Zhang Xinglie rarely relaxed this much, not using True Qi to sober up, and drank until his face was flushed.

The conversation drifted to the Battle of the Spirits.

Everyone lamented the shortsightedness of the Elves and the Tree-men sticking to outdated ways.

Zhou Leng bought a lot of little gifts in the Tree-man World, so he took them out and distributed them to everyone.

Though these items could also be found on Blue Star, getting them from the place of origin felt different, and everyone was very pleased.

Zhang Xinglie held a leaf imbued with elf spells and asked, "You get along well with the elves?"

"Not bad," Zhou Leng replied.

"So... what do elves feel like?" Zhang Xinglie, reeking of alcohol, asked.

The others had also drunk a lot, and the room’s atmosphere suddenly became ambiguous.

"Not sure, but I guess it’s better than the taste of beastmen," Zhou Leng replied with a straight face.

"Pfft..."

"Hahahahaha..."

Some people spat out their drinks on the spot, while others slapped the table with laughter, all eyes on Zhang Xinglie.

Zhang Xinglie’s face turned red like a monkey’s butt.

"To the Beastman Prince Consort!" Zhou Leng raised his glass high.

"To the Beastman Prince Consort!" Everyone else raised their glasses in unison.

Zhang Xinglie cursed under his breath and downed his drink.

As they chatted and laughed, the topic shifted to martial arts and the Ten Realms.

Zhang Xinglie and the others were in Xiongjing, always getting first-hand information, talking about a wide range of subjects.

They were all young and full of ambition, praising Dragon Country’s progress one moment, and then discussing some ugly phenomena the next.

However, everyone stopped at the right moment, without expressing intense emotions.

Not long after, they started talking about martial arts again.

Eventually, the conversation turned into a discussion between Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie, with the others listening in.

Their understanding of martial arts was far ahead of the others.

The other participants didn’t want to interrupt but were busy listening and taking notes, afraid of missing critical martial arts knowledge.

At the end of the conversation, Zhang Xinglie said, "Your understanding of martial arts has progressed quickly; could it be related to your experience in the Demon Spirit World?"

"Thanks to the demon spirit trials, my Divine Text level has improved a lot," Zhou Leng said.

Someone asked, "What’s roughly your level in Divine Text? Expert? Chief Scholar? Or Candidate Academician?"

Some people laughed; being a Candidate Academician is not something you casually say.

Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie exchanged a glance.

While others didn’t know, Zhang Xinglie was very aware of Zhou Leng’s Divine Text abilities.

He had long realized that the recent improvement in the Divine Text level across not just Dragon Country, but the entire Ten Realms, was due to Zhou Leng’s efforts.

Zhang Xinglie covered for him, saying, "He’s about an expert level."

"He must be the youngest Divine Text expert in the world. Cheers!"

This was already at the limit of everyone’s understanding.

Late at night, after finishing their meal, they parted ways; Zhou Leng went to the hotel he had booked near Yunhua.

The next morning, Zhou Leng heard the doorbell ring early.

He had given his address to Liang Baiyin the day before, not expecting her to come so early.

Zhou Leng opened the door in a fitted white undershirt.

"Brother Zhou Leng!" Liang Baiyin walked in cheerfully, carrying a bag of fruit.

They went downstairs together, had breakfast at the hotel, and then took a car to the Relic Museum.

On the way, Liang Baiyin chatted non-stop like a chatterbox.

After getting off the car, they stood in front of the museum entrance, and Zhou Leng suddenly asked, "You took a day off?"

Liang Baiyin quickly replied, "Today’s my day off, no military training."

Zhou Leng didn’t expose her lie, "Let’s go."

As they arrived at the entrance, Liang Baiyin casually asked, "You made a reservation yesterday, right?"

"You need a reservation?" Zhou Leng, lacking experience, had not been briefed about such details by Wang Boxiong.

Liang Baiyin slapped her forehead and said, "I forgot, you rarely come to Xiongjing, resources are tight here; many places require reservations. How about... we come back tomorrow and explore Xiongjing together today?"

Zhou Leng eyed Liang Baiyin suspiciously, thinking perhaps she wanted to spend more time with him.

"I’ll give it a try, maybe I have access." Zhou Leng was confident, thinking his status as a Yangtze River Scholar in the Divine Text domain would grant him sufficient clearance.

People from the Divine Text Bureau often visited the Relic Museum.

"Give it a try," Liang Baiyin said with a cheerful smile.

She originally considered asking her family for help but changed her mind, thinking if they couldn’t get in today, it would mean another day together. So, she decided not to help.

Zhou Leng took out his Martial Arts City ID QR code and inquired at the entrance.

The staff took a careful look at Zhou Leng, then scanned the code, and checked the screen.

"Beep..."

The staff smiled and said, "You can enter directly, no reservation needed."

"Thank you."

Zhou Leng turned around and waved to Liang Baiyin.

"We can go in?"

"We can," Zhou Leng replied.

The smile on Liang Baiyin’s face faded, and she walked over somewhat sullenly, wondering what kind of privilege Zhou Leng was using.

The Relic Museum was not an ordinary place; even people with high ranks couldn’t enter without special applications.

After entering the museum, they followed the general route to the ordinary exhibition hall.

Although Wang Boxiong said they could go straight to the advanced exhibition hall, Zhou Leng was always curious about this place and believed the regular exhibition halls might have interesting things as well.