Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 500 - 483: The New Era

Zhao He, emboldened by his drunkenness, shouted, "Just because I couldn’t last 10 hours in the Divine Blood Lava trial like my big brother, my dad says if I had trained properly I wouldn’t be this bad. Is that necessary? My big brother is a genius on the same level as Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong, why compare me to him?"

"I said Zhou Leng was great and hoped to recruit him personally, but they just don’t believe me, saying my so-called friends couldn’t possibly be that good. Are all fathers in the world like this?"

"Sure, I couldn’t compare to my big brother since I was young, but I’m better than the third son, right? Yet my dad always believes him over me."

"Being the second son really sucks, neither high nor low. The third one died, and just because I couldn’t get Tong Tianxia to take revenge, my dad looks down on me even more."

"Tong Tianxia isn’t an idiot. You couldn’t even handle him yourself, why blame me?"

"And this nonsense about considering the bigger picture, that if we really wanted to recruit Zhou Leng, other big families would definitely oppose. Ha, do they really not realize they’re just raising a bunch of losers, always making a fool of themselves in the news? Can those people compare to Zhou Leng’s little finger?"

"I’m not talking about you guys, you all, you’re the elite among the big families, a hundred times better than those people."

Lou Fei Qiong and others knew Zhao He was drunk, so they didn’t mind.

Until late at night, Zhao He saw off everyone and gently manipulated his Qi to clear the drunkenness.

He let out a long sigh.

There were some things he didn’t say.

His father Zhao Haoming forbade him from getting closer to Zhou Leng and even hinted that if the opportunity arose, he should have someone kill Zhou Leng to eliminate future troubles.

Even his big brother Zhao Cong encouraged him to do so.

Zhao He naturally understood the reasoning behind it, but thinking about how the family stopped him from whatever he wanted to do always vexed him.

"But, I heard Zhou Leng’s rise has already drawn the attention of other big families. If Zhou Leng is dealt with now, perhaps..."

Lou Fei Qiong left Zhao He’s house and returned to the Lou Family’s old residence. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Just as he entered, he was called to the conference room.

Walking into the conference room, he saw several familiar elders smiling, except for his father, the patriarch of the Lou Family, who had no hint of a smile on his face.

"Back from Zhao He’s?" Lou Shan Cauldron asked.

"Yes."

"What did Zhao He say?"

Lou Fei Qiong sighed and said, "Zhao He values Zhou Leng highly and complained about the Zhao Family obstructing his recruitment of Zhou Leng. I’m really conflicted; I’m afraid if I investigate Zhou Leng hard, it might result in falling out with Zhao He. So, I haven’t reported the matters of Zhou Leng to the family."

The other elders continued smiling while Lou Shan Cauldron snorted coldly.

"So, you’ve been hiding things about Zhou Leng?"

"Huh? Hiding what? It’s all in the report, I didn’t hide anything," Lou Fei Qiong replied perplexed.

Lou Shan Cauldron asked, "Why didn’t you report Zhou Leng’s quick promotion to the Bone Forging Stage?"

Lou Fei Qiong smiled wryly, "I just found out from Zhao He too, there was no evidence before."

"Then why didn’t you report the massive resources he acquired in the Tree-man World, accelerating his cultivation?"

Lou Fei Qiong said helplessly, "Although I investigated, I didn’t know the specific amount of treasures he obtained. Without specific data, how could I report to the family? Didn’t you always teach me to speak with hard evidence? I was afraid you’d say I was seeking credit, so I was always looking for proof."

"And the news of Zhou Leng in the Demon Spirit World, why didn’t you report that?"

Lou Fei Qiong replied, "Dad, it’s not that I didn’t want to report it. Just think, what benefits could a Martial Artist gain from the Demon Spirit World? Besides, I still can’t confirm if the ’Circulation of Extreme Cold’ is Zhou Leng. Zhou Leng praises people to their face and entices women, scheming daily. Even if he gains something in the Demon Spirit World, it’s normal. But such a person will never achieve great heights!"

"He advanced to Bone Forging! He stayed in the Divine Blood Lava for 13 hours!" Lou Shan Cauldron said.

"But the Zhao Family Patriarch personally told Zhao He he doesn’t believe Zhou Leng could stay 13 hours, insisting he had the help of Dwarves."

"Silence!" Lou Shan Cauldron slammed the table.

Lou Shan Cauldron angrily said, "In less than half a year, Zhou Leng advanced from the Vitality Stage to the Bone Forging Stage; his talent is terrifying, and you’re still pretending. Stop monitoring Zhou Leng. From now on, you stay home and are forbidden to go anywhere. If Zhou Leng can be dealt with, things can be handled discreetly, but if Zhou Leng causes trouble in the future..."

Lou Shan Cauldron stared at Lou Fei Qiong and slowly said, "You will be expelled from the Lou Family, removed from the family records!"

Lou Fei Qiong looked incredulously at his father and quickly appealed to the elders, "Uncles, you can say I’m slow to act or overly cautious, but why are you imprisoning me?"

"Fei Qiong, don’t blame your father for being angry. The Huang Family, Dong Family, and Xu Family joined forces with evidence, and approached your father to ask whether to eliminate Ma Xingkong’s successor, and questioned your father’s relationship between you and Zhou Leng."

"Fei Qiong, this isn’t imprisonment. Just stay home and work on your cultivation. Once we’ve dealt with Zhou Leng, the sky will be the limit, nothing to worry about."

"You’re not young anymore; you should empathize with your father."

Lou Fei Qiong remained silent, his heart cold as ice.

He vaguely understood that the Lou Family members had already suspected his actions, but until it blew up, his father intended to handle it discreetly by confining him first.

Lou Shan Cauldron reached out and said, "Hand over all your external communication devices to me. From today, you’re prohibited from contacting the outside world, absolutely."

Lou Fei Qiong sighed softly, realizing there was no way out at this point.

The ruthlessness of these elders was beyond imagination.

It was not surprising that they were ready to join hands with other major families to deal with Zhou Leng.

Their fear of Ma Xingkong exceeds everything.

Zhou Leng, I can only help you this far.

I truly hope you survive and become someone different, unlike these people.

Lou Fei Qiong glanced at the elders as he took off items like the Demon Brain.

Lou Fei Qiong loved studying history and suddenly felt that although his elders used the items of this era and spoke the language of this time, their minds stayed millennia, tens of thousands of years ago, or even more ancient times.

Like animals in documentaries, doing nothing but fighting over a piece of meat.

Lou Fei Qiong felt at peace within his heart.

When he decided to help Zhou Leng, he had already considered the consequences.

He knew all too well about what happened back then.

The things the Lou Family and other major families did were equally clear to him.

I am different from you.

Zhou Leng is different from you.

I, Lou Fei Qiong, do not eat people.

If joining the clan register requires eating people, then I would rather not join.

He turned around and walked out of the meeting room.

Inside the meeting room, the roar of Lou Shan Cauldron echoed.

Dwarven World, Ancient King Array.

In the vast underground cave, it was filled with countless ancient relics.

Some belonged to the dwarves, some to various races, and there were even traces from the starry sky.

Zhou Leng entered every morning, quickly sensing.

He ignored everything unrelated to Martial Arts, unless the sensation was particularly strong.

He sensed each Martial Arts trace for only one minute.

There were too many things and too little time.

It took a full three days to sense thirty-seven ancient traces.

The intensity of each trace was no less than that of the high-level exhibition hall at the Xiongjing Ruins Museum.

Among them, three traces were the most intense.

One was a shield-shaped fossil, carved with complex patterns, unrelated to Martial Arts, but somewhat resembling the shape of the Battlefield Shield Order from the Great Battlefield.

Another was a broken blade, clearly a starry sky weapon, but unfortunately fragmented.

The third was a three-eyed crystal, a colorless, translucent crystal, with three eyes of an unknown creature floating inside.

It always gave the impression that the eyes were alive.

The function of the three-eyed crystal had already been discovered by the Steel Dwarves, who used it for refining Spiritual Power, i.e., Martial Arts Will.

When the time was up, Zhou Leng walked out of the Ancient King Array.

Molten Hammer was waiting outside, and upon meeting, he approached.

"So, have you made a choice?"

Zhou Leng shook his head and said, "No rush, let’s wait a few more days. I’ll start sensing carefully tomorrow."

The next day, just as the two arrived at the entrance of the Ancient King Array, a Green Dragon flew over.

"Zhou Leng!"

Zhou Leng and Molten Hammer turned their heads to see it was Jade Wings.

Jade Wings landed and said, "Come, follow me to the Red Dragon’s Nest."

"Why?"

"Her Majesty the Queen has agreed to your request, granting the Battlefield Shield Order, ensuring you acquire the Giant Dragon Blood Marvelous Body, and additionally signing an ally blood pact with you, with a promise not to harm you. She also privately told me you are allowed to do business in the Dragon Race’s name, but she wants 20% of the net profit."

"If I’m not mistaken, Red Eyes has a terrible reputation in the Dragon World. Using her name, I’d be jinxed."

"No worries, you can use the entire Red Dragon clan’s name, there won’t be any issues," said Jade Wings.

Zhou Leng said, "Let’s wait a few days, I need to comprehend inside the Ancient King Array."

"Alright, I’ll wait here for you."

Zhou Leng walked into the Ancient King Array.

Jade Wings and Molten Hammer exchanged glances.

"Are you very familiar with Zhou Leng?" asked Molten Hammer.

"He’s okay, I guess. What about you?"

"We’re great buddies," said Molten Hammer.

"I remember you; you were also at the Armor King’s Tomb, though you’re still quite weak," Jade Wings commented.

"You are indeed strong," Molten Hammer replied.

"Nonsense, I am weaker than you; I’m the weakest dragon in the whole Dragon Race," Jade Wings shouted loudly, afraid that others wouldn’t know.

Molten Hammer paused and asked, "You prefer it this way?"

"I like to tell it as it is."

"I see..."

The two chatted somewhat intermittently, initially not interested in each other.

But with Zhou Leng inside all day, they couldn’t just sit idly by, so they gradually started conversing.

With Zhou Leng as assurance and Molten Hammer being a social maverick capable of talking to anyone, the two soon became warm with each other.

When evening came and Zhou Leng came out, one dragon and two people drank, ate, and chatted away, having a great time.

On the third day, Zhou Leng entered again.

Jade Wings and Molten Hammer were chatting when a red dragon with innate power flew over.

"Jade Wings, Her Majesty the Queen wants you to take Zhou Leng back to the Red Dragon’s Nest immediately, the Great Battlefield might open at any moment!"

"So soon?"

"It’s already later than the last time, quickly find Zhou Leng, where is he?"

Molten Hammer said, "I’ll find him right away."

Molten Hammer rushed into the Ancient King Array and, under the guidance of the guards, found Zhou Leng and explained the situation.

Zhou Leng, walking as he spoke, said, "So soon? It’s too sudden."