Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 565 - 548: The Choice

Their coordination was skillful, advancing and retreating in an orderly fashion, with great strength and boundless patience.

Especially those Demons known for their speed, never attacking head-on, always lurking behind Zhou Leng and launching surprise attacks from time to time.

Zhou Leng’s back was torn and bleeding, bones exposed.

The elongated Knight’s Spear was no longer suitable for an all-around assault, nor were Palm Techniques, Swordsmanship, or the Void-Breaking Finger suitable for such a chaotic battle.

Zhou Leng wielded a large saber in his left hand and a massive axe in his right, swinging them madly.

Completely abandoning all Martial Arts techniques, simplifying complexity.

The fastest and fiercest, that was the best.

A place of despair.

A moment of lifelessness.

The more he fought, the more intense the blood-red light, blood mist, and golden cross star became in Zhou Leng’s eyes.

Gradually, in his eyes, the entangled blood-gold light was like a reverse-flowing flame, emerging from his eyes, surging upwards, and hanging three inches high.

Zhou Leng grinned.

At this moment, neither living nor dead, worry-free, fearless.

His mind clear, without any other thoughts.

Only battle, only slaughter.

Amidst the tumult of blood and flesh, one by one, the Demons fell.

But the further it went, the more patient and ferocious the Demons became.

Several Demons called out the name of the Celestial Calamity God, exchanging injury for injury with Zhou Leng.

Each Demon, like a pack of hyenas, tacitly tore off chunks of Zhou Leng’s flesh, either devouring, burning, or chewing it.

Though the torn flesh could heal quickly.

But the growth rate slowed significantly once the flesh was detached.

When only sixteen Demons remained around him, not an inch of Zhou Leng’s skin was intact.

Large swaths of muscle and veins were exposed.

Pieces of white jade bones, shimmering with silver, peered through the flesh intermittently.

At this moment, Zhou Leng resembled the Skinless Warlock.

Yet, in his eyes, there was no fear, no dread.

The battle never ceased.

Zhou Leng was strong, and the Demons were no less formidable.

One by one, comrades fell, trampled into pieces and muck; they did not care.

The wounds on their bodies multiplied; they did not care.

The terrifying cold Qi of Zhou Leng relentlessly eroded their organs; they did not care.

Their demon nature fully roused, like fearless beasts, continuously tearing at their prey.

For the Celestial Calamity God.

From afar, Zhao He watched this scene, deeply shaken.

He did not expect Zhou Leng to be so strong.

Even less, did he expect Zhou Leng to be so mad.

In many places, not even flesh remained, leaving only the exposed white bones like jade.

Yet, Zhou Leng did not roar, did not rage, did not fear, nor did he retreat.

The closer to the end, the calmer he became.

As if this were merely a sparring match.

His heart clear of all else, focused only on the techniques themselves.

No Celestial Calamity Envoy, no enmity between two races, no crisis of life and death, no decaying flesh — none of it mattered.

Everything was just about the battle itself, everything just about Martial Arts itself.

Because, this was the only possible path to victory.

Zhao He stared directly at Zhou Leng, countless heroes from textbooks, the internet, and others’ tales, surfacing in his mind.

He grew up listening to his grandfather’s stories, countless stories many times.

But his life was one of luxury and opulence, without truly experiencing heroic grandeur.

At this moment, he saw, felt it.

His admiration for his grandfather blazed up like flames.

It turns out, it was all true.

It turns out, there really were people who could be like this.

Zhao He felt a crack open in his heart by the bloodied figure before him.

Even a compulsion arose, to do what ought to be done, like his grandfather.

Those things, many and varied, but they shared a common name.

Mission.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the Celestial Calamity Envoy, and his hot blood instantly cooled.

Unfortunately...

Impossible to defeat.

Just as humans cannot defeat Demons.

The Ten Realms, sooner or later, would belong to the Demon Purgatory.

Zhao He looked at Zhou Leng, and his heart, as sympathetic as it was, became as hard.

On the other side, Zhang Xinglie and Mountain and River Origin jointly attacked Deep Dark Fury.

Though Deep Dark Fury was undeniably strong, Mountain and River Origin and Zhang Xinglie were also top Innate kings.

The two had fought alongside countless times on the Great Battlefield, forming a combat rapport.

Sole reliance on spells was no longer enough to threaten them.

Deep Dark Fury finally separated its clawed arms from its chest, descending to attack.

Spells continuously launched, dragon claw power surging.

Whenever he was in danger, the three small heads on his primary head and back would simultaneously breathe Dragon Breath.

Under the four paths of Dragon Breath, not to mention Mountain and River Origin and Zhang Xinglie, even two newly crowned Grandmasters could only retreat.

At first, Deep Dark began shedding scales.

Gradually, wounds appeared on its body.

Eventually, its dragon wings were damaged, making flight unstable, forcing it to land and battle the two.

Zhang Xinglie and Mountain and River Origin had far fewer wounds than Zhou Leng.

Yet, their injuries were even more severe.

Innumerable magical power accumulated on their bodies, especially from the Demon Dragon’s mastery of fire-based spells.

This caused their entire body to turn pitch black, with many parts carbonized and completely necrotic.

Fighting to the end, a dragon wing of Deep Dark Fury was torn off by Mountain and River Origin, its tail shattered by Zhang Xinglie, with multiple fractures throughout its body; two heads on its back were smashed by Zhang Xinglie.

Mountain and River Origin had one eye burned into a black hole, one ear missing, a large hole in its abdomen with internal organs clearly visible.

Zhang Xinglie’s entire scalp was gone, exposing the cracked, blackened skull, right chest caved in, both arms reduced to carbonized shards, leaving only two pitch-black arm bones, like a skeleton.

The unimaginably fierce battle continued.

Zhou Leng was strong.

The Demon was not weak.

When the Finger Sword Qi pierced through the last Innate king’s skull, Zhou Leng’s body collapsed heavily.

After sitting for a long while, he finally stood up slowly by leaning on the tall Demon corpse as if it were a wall.

Zhou Leng had lost most of his flesh and blood from head to toe, leaving him almost as a thin layer of flesh wrapped around bones.

Most of his ribs were gone, and his abdomen was empty; stomach, intestines, liver, gallbladder, and others had long vanished.

Inside his chest and abdomen, there were only less than a quarter of his lungs, barely keeping him breathing.

The only parts of his body that were truly intact were his heart and brain.

The surface of his heart glowed with a faint icy light.

The power of the Ice Snow Divine Sect, the primordial power, remained unactivated.

Zhou Leng stared ahead, through eyes full of cracks he saw the sky and earth drenched in blood, the world like a web.

In his eyes, there was no trace of emotion left.

This battle had exhausted his body and drained his soul.

Zhou Leng stood blankly, as if everything before him had nothing to do with him.

Even he seemed disconnected from himself.

Not far away, Deep Dark Fury struggled to stand on the ground.

Mountain and River Origin sat on the ground, his legs covered with cracks, unable to rise.

He still stood with his broken upper body.

Zhang Xinglie leaned slantingly against Mountain and River Origin.

He glanced at Deep Dark Fury who was spitting blood profusely and then turned to look at Zhou Leng.

Their gazes met, and there was nothing in their eyes.

There was nothing in the world.

Zhao He took a slow half-step forward but seeing the emptiness in Zhou Leng’s eyes, he slowly withdrew his right foot.

He had no chance of winning.

He didn’t know why.

Zhou Leng was clearly on his last breath, a mere puff was enough to knock him over, a single finger could kill him.

But Zhao He felt he had no chance.

Just like Zhao He always felt he could never become his grandfather.

Some things can never be accomplished.

The battle stopped.

On the grand chair, the Celestial Calamity Envoy raised his hand and clapped three times.

"It’s been many years since I’ve seen such an exciting Innate War, you four have brought me long-lost enjoyment."

"I was not originally happy."

"My original plan for this Great Battlefield was to collect the White Lake Mother Fruit and then lead the Demon to sweep across the Ten Realms."

"But, as I went along, inexplicably, I became a lone commander."

"The last batch of soldiers was also completely decimated by you three."

"However, the battle was thrilling."

His voice was perfectly normal, like everyday conversation, yet it could be heard clearly by Zhou Leng and others several kilometers away.

The Celestial Calamity Envoy regarded the three, and lastly, looked at Zhang Xinglie.

Zhang Xinglie didn’t move; his eyes didn’t even shift.

He could no longer speak.

The Celestial Calamity Envoy said, "You have decent talent and strength, and have received the Tujun heritage."

"I’ll give you a small choice."

"Option one, I kill you all."

"Option two, you cut off one arm and one leg, and I will spare the three of you."

Zhao He looked at the Celestial Calamity Envoy in confusion.

Zhang Xinglie stared at the Celestial Calamity Envoy, his lips moved but no sound came out.

His throat was already shattered, nearly breaking his neck.

The Celestial Calamity Envoy smiled, "I know what you’re thinking, you suspect I’m deceiving you, but, do you have any other choice?"

Zhang Xinglie’s eyes flickered gently.

The smile on the Celestial Calamity Envoy’s face grew bigger.

Zhao He vaguely understood that the Divine Spirit didn’t care.

He didn’t care about mortal lives, didn’t care about the survival of Demon Purgatory, didn’t care about the victory or defeat in the Ten Realms.

He was more like an emperor outside the gladiatorial arena, only interested in what’s entertaining inside the arena.

Zhang Xinglie slowly stretched out his right arm, took a Demonized Blade from the Magic Spirit Bag, and slashed down his left shoulder.

The left arm severed at the shoulder.

The right hand swung the blade again, slicing through the base of the right thigh.

The right thigh broke and fell to the ground.

He trembled as he leaned against Mountain and River Origin, motionless.

"Interesting, very interesting."

The Celestial Calamity Envoy stood, and in a blur before everyone’s eyes, he appeared before Zhang Xinglie in a stride spanning several kilometers.

He was now a young Giant with a youthful face, shorter than Mountain and River Origin.

Yet, in the eyes of the three, he was as towering as mountains and vast as the sky.

At this moment, Zhou Leng, Zhang Xinglie, and Mountain and River Origin finally understood how powerful the Celestial Calamity Envoy was.

Just this speed alone rendered the three of them helpless before him.

The Celestial Calamity Envoy reached out, touched Zhang Xinglie’s wound, withdrew his hand, and looked at the blood on his fingertips.

Familiar scent.

An indelible feeling.

Even after billions of years, it was as if right before your eyes.

With a slight smile, the Celestial Calamity Envoy said, "Today you learn not to trust your enemy’s words. I have deceived you."

The Celestial Calamity Envoy extended his right hand and gently pointed.

For a moment, everyone felt an illusion.

He seemed to casually point forward, appearing to aim at Zhang Xinglie.

But in reality, his finger pointed simultaneously at Zhou Leng, kilometers away from Mountain and River Origin.

Bang!

Bang!

Both their heads exploded, brain matter scattered everywhere, covering the ground.

Zhou Leng and Mountain and River Origin fell to the ground simultaneously, the light gradually fading in their eyes.

Finally, the sky in their eyes slowly dissipated.

Zhang Xinglie fell alongside Mountain and River Origin, his body gently trembling.

His expression was blank, the face already necrotic.

His gaze was calm, his eyes had lost most of their function.

His tremor was a scream from his soul.

Threads of red-black flames emerged from the bones, enveloping his entire body.

The Celestial Calamity Envoy saw the familiar power and nodded with a smile.

Mountain Slaying Battle Body, forming.