Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 497 - 480: Twenty Thousand

Zhou Leng was overjoyed, isolating the magma with True Qi, he sent the medicinal fruit into his mouth and sat cross-legged to absorb it.

The surging medicinal power poured into his body, simultaneously creating a peculiar feeling of intoxication.

Originally, the body had already accumulated endless amounts of ground Divine Blood, unable to absorb it fully.

Under the effect of this magma medicinal fruit, all the ground Divine Blood compressed.

The immense power surged back and forth within the body, as if a swarm of snakes were wriggling wildly.

Zhou Leng centered his mind on the Mountain of Will, operating Star Gazing True Qi and Undying Star Body, sitting calmly in the magma without panic.

The heat inside him gathered and gathered more intensely.

Eventually, the highly condensed heat burrowed into his meridians.

A violent tearing sensation spread throughout his body.

With prior experience of the Gate of Purgatory, Zhou Leng, although sweating from the pain, remained mentally steadfast and focused.

Those threads of heat rummaged through the meridians but gradually transformed into liquid power, entering the walls of the meridians, merging into them.

Time passed second by second...

The twelfth hour.

"Time’s up." The loud voice of the Giant Furnace resounded, reaching the depths of the Divine Blood Lava ten thousand meters below.

Before long, a massive black shadow rose from the volcano’s center, raising a mighty wave of magma, akin to a demon king emerging, exuding dominance.

His dragon scales only showed slight melting without extensive damage.

"Lord Deep Dark Fury, can it be that you resisted with just your body without using Dragon Power?" a Demon inquired.

Deep Dark Fury nodded.

Everyone was immensely envious.

Even the Dwarf Grandmasters nodded in admiration.

The true powerhouses of the Ten Realms always commanded respect from all.

Subsequently, a giant with a charred-black body crawled up the side of the volcano, standing on the crater.

His entire body was covered in a thick blackened crust, standing motionless.

The others waited quietly, not disturbing him.

After several minutes, a continuous cracking sound was heard as the charred crust shattered.

Revealing a brand-new Mountain and River Origin.

On the skin of the Mountain and River Origin, a series of crimson streaks appeared, resembling flowing lava.

"Lava Body..."

The crowd gasped in amazement, not expecting the second Lava Body of the Giant Race to emerge, as before, only one Golden Celestial River possessed it.

Deep Dark Fury glanced indifferently.

His body was too strong, such a trial could not grant him greater power.

The crowd chatted while waiting.

After waiting for over ten minutes, no one else emerged.

The Dwarf Grandmasters stared blankly at the fiery red Divine Blood Lava within the crater.

Zhou Leng had not appeared.

According to the trial rules, it could already be determined as death.

"Where’s Zhou Leng?" Mountain and River Origin looked around.

No one answered.

"Where’s Zhou Leng!" Mountain and River Origin shouted loudly.

Aiden sighed and said, "Forget it, everyone has accidents sometimes."

Zhao He sighed, "What a pity..."

"He won’t die." Mountain and River Origin recalled the experience on the Giant Highland, where Zhou Leng also emerged alive from the Armor King’s Tomb.

"He won’t die." Mountain and River Origin repeated again.

After a while of discussion, the Dwarf Grandmasters decided to wait one more hour, leaving after thirteen hours had passed.

Soon, the thirteenth hour ended.

The Giant Furnace said, "The trial is over, let’s descend the mountain."

His large eyes, reflecting the Divine Blood Lava, had lost their luster.

"I’ll wait for him here, he won’t die," Mountain and River Origin said.

"Fool. Let’s go."

The Giant Furnace, with a grim face, led everyone away.

While descending the mountain, Deep Dark Fury glanced back at the solitary Mountain and River Origin with a long sigh, then flew towards the foot of the mountain.

Divine Blood Melting Furnace Workshop.

The domain of the Dwarves.

It’s located underground of the Divine Blood Volcano, connected to the Divine Blood Lava.

The Dwarf Race crafted a complete set of powerful half-divine artifacts, extracting Divine Blood Lava for refining various powers or materials.

Molten Hammer entered here for the first time, touring slowly under the guidance of his friend Black Helm.

At last, they reached the famous Crystal Hall.

Black Helm pointed ahead, saying, "Magnificent, isn’t it?"

Molten Hammer looked up.

Ahead was a crystal wall ten meters tall, inside which the Divine Blood Lava roiled.

Below the crystal wall, Divine Blood Lava naturally seeped out, flowing into various passages, used by the Dwarves and Demon Spirit Masters to refine essential powers or materials.

As Black Helm introduced, he boasted.

"This crystal wall is a half-divine artifact, not only can it detect the internal situation of the Divine Blood Lava, but it also isolates harmful powers within..."

"Look, we can directly view the Divine Blood Lava inside, how powerful it is."

"Not to brag, but in the future, I’ll definitely be able to bathe in Divine Blood Lava."

Black Helm boasted gleefully.

Molten Hammer said, "We are twenty thousand miles from the mountain top here, do you mean, you can dive two thousand meters down from the mountain top to reach inside this crystal wall?"

Black Helm’s face darkened, "That’s impossible."

"Then what the hell are you boasting about?"

"I enjoy boasting!"

"Look at Zhou Leng, so much stronger than you, never brags!" Molten Hammer, often scolded by the Giant Furnace, started retorting to his old friend.

"Ever since you met Zhou Leng, you keep boasting about him, is it fun? Zhou Leng is truly amazing, make him dive two thousand meters, come to the crystal wall... what... what the heck..."

Black Helm suddenly jumped back, pointing at the crystal wall, eyes wide as if seeing a ghost.

Molten Hammer was startled and looked ahead.

He saw two hands pressing against the crystal wall, and then, two feet appeared.

It was a human.

However, the rest of this person’s body was obscured by the divine blood lava, making their appearance indistinguishable.

"Sound the alarm quickly! The divine blood lava has given birth to a god’s child!" Black Helm shouted, pulling the alarm.

The Innate Dwarves and the Dwarf Grandmaster responsible for guarding rushed to the crystal hall.

They saw a pair of human hands and feet pressing against the crystal wall, first exploring the crystal wall and then climbing upward.

"What’s going on?" a Dwarf asked loudly.

Black Helm said, "It must be the god’s child born from divine blood lava! It must be!"

A group of Dwarves rolled their eyes, thinking Black Helm had quite the imagination.

An Innate Dwarf said, "Probably a Trial Taker coming down. But wait, this is 20,000 meters deep, even at the Grandmaster level, it’s very challenging at this depth."

A Dwarf Grandmaster was stunned for a moment, then said, "Look carefully, there’s no protective power on the surface of this person’s body, just resisting the divine blood lava at 20,000 meters deep with pure physicality—I can’t even do that."

"Which human Trial Taker is this strong?"

"Saint Zhao’s grandson, Zhao He?"

"Impossible, even I, a Dwarf, know that the Martial Clan descendants are good at everything but Martial Arts."

"Then is it Mad Prince Aiden?"

"He’s the Mad Prince, not the God Prince."

Molten Hammer slowly said, "Could it be Zhou Leng?"

"That Dwarf Duke?"

"You know Zhou Leng?" the Dwarf Grandmaster looked at Molten Hammer.

"I brought him here."

The Dwarf Grandmaster looked at the time and said, "It’s been over thirteen hours, and no one has announced the results from above. They’re likely waiting for someone, delaying the time. It’s probably this person. His climbing speed is slower than the external climbers. Come, I’ll take you up the mountain for a look!"

Without waiting for Molten Hammer to answer, the Dwarf Grandmaster grabbed Molten Hammer by the neck and dashed out of the workshop, heading to the top of the mountain.

Grandmasters climb the mountain as if walking on flat ground.

Molten Hammer sighed, feeling more miserable as he went, being carried everywhere he went.

Soon, they met the people coming down the mountain.

The Dwarf Grandmaster rushed up to the Giant Furnace, gathering the other Dwarf examiners, and whispered about the crystal wall situation.

The Dwarf examiners were momentarily stunned.

Giant Furnace said, "You all go down the mountain and wait; we’re going up."

With that, the group of Dwarf Grandmasters darted up the mountain like a group of rabbits.

The Trial Takers didn’t hear, looked at each other puzzled, and slowly descended the mountain.

Soon, Giant Furnace and Molten Hammer, along with other Dwarves, reached the top, standing at the edge of the volcano’s crater.

Molten Hammer ran to Mountain and River Origin, fearful yet determined.

Mountain and River Origin was expressionless, clearly believing Zhou Leng couldn’t die, yet still showing sadness in his eyes.

"Are you waiting for Zhou Leng?" Molten Hammer asked.

"Yes."

"He’ll climb up soon."

"Hmm?" Mountain and River Origin looked down at Molten Hammer.

Molten Hammer explained what happened in the divine blood Melting Furnace workshop, concluding, "Delving 20,000 meters deep like this, besides a brute like Zhou Leng, I don’t think anyone else would dare. I think that naked human Martial Artist inside must be Zhou Leng."

Mountain and River Origin’s eyes slowly brightened, a smile emerging on his face.

"It must be him!"

Giant Furnace took a step and jumped down, saying, "I’ll go find him."

Boom...

He dived into the divine blood lava like a cannonball, a powerful Anger Blood force emerging to protect his entire body, quickly swimming toward the depth.

Soon, he sensed Zhou Leng below.

"It’s me, Giant Furnace, you are Zhou Leng, right?" As a Grandmaster, Giant Furnace communicates through sound isolation within the lava.

Zhou Leng did not respond.

"What’s wrong with this child? Why isn’t he speaking? Is his brain corroded by the lava?"

Giant Furnace rushed to Zhou Leng’s side, grabbed his shoulder, and charged straight up.

Boom!

The two broke through the divine blood lava, flying to the volcano crater’s edge, and stood firm.

"Zhou Leng!" Mountain and River Origin and Molten Hammer burst into smiles.

"Thank you, Brother Giant Furnace," Zhou Leng finally spoke.

Giant Furnace’s face stiffened, realizing Zhou Leng couldn’t speak in the lava, making himself seem like the one whose brain was corroded by lava.

"Tell us, is that you down at 20,000 meters?"

"Let me see!" Molten Hammer and the Grandmaster rushed up to Zhou Leng, examining his hands and feet carefully.

"It’s these hands and feet! I’d recognize them even if they were ashes!" the Dwarf Grandmaster clutched Zhou Leng’s wrist and declared loudly.

Zhou Leng said, "What’s the big deal? I just ate a magma Medicinal Fruit, is it that exaggerated? How much does it cost, I’ll pay."

The Dwarves burst out laughing, explaining the crystal wall situation.

Zhou Leng suddenly understood; no wonder there was a place where the wall was very smooth, with a different texture from other areas, and after a long search, he found nothing else.

Later, he saw the watch time in the Magic Spirit Bag and then began to climb up.

Giant Furnace asked, "Tell us, how did you manage to dive 20,000 meters deep with just your physical body? None of us Grandmasters here could achieve that."

Everyone stared at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng sprang to life and said, "The Medicinal Fruit! I ate a magical Medicinal Fruit inside, then temporarily gained strong physical resistance. Once the effect faded, I couldn’t withstand it anymore."

"Really?" Molten Hammer asked.

"What did the Medicinal Fruit look like?"

Zhou Leng said, "I couldn’t see it, but it was about the size of a ping pong ball and had a wine fragrance."

The Dwarves erupted into an uproar, some even beating their chests and stamping their feet.

"What a waste! That was a Divine Fruit used for brewing divine wine! It’s been years since the world of Dwarves had a Divine Fruit for brewing divine wine!"

"What a squandering brat!"

"Anything else you could eat, but how could you eat the Divine Fruit for wine!"

"You must have been sent by the Beastmen’s faction! I’ll fight you to the death!"