Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 585 - 566: Shield Disc

Zhou Leng didn’t enter the village; he took the path up the mountain, his figure disappearing into the dense forest.

Wang Boxiong sat in the car for a long time.

Entering the long-unseen cave, passing through the familiar large pine needle forest, seeing the white tree trunks like giant walls, Zhou Leng sighed softly in relief.

Scanning the surroundings, there were traces of Huang’s presence.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Leng walked over to a Grandmaster-level barbell.

The lever of the demonized barbell was obviously bent and then pressed back by tremendous force, leaving the surface uneven.

"Surely it’s Xiaoba’s rough use..."

Zhou Leng leaned against the Frost Giant Tree, slowly recounting the events of recent days.

At the end, Zhou Leng softly muttered to himself.

"A bit tired..."

After speaking, he fell into a drowsy sleep.

Who knows how long passed, his face was damp.

He opened his eyes to see Huang, now a bit bigger, sticking out his tongue, licking his face noisily.

Zhou Leng smiled and asked, "How have you been these days?"

"Woo woo..."

Huang howled at the sky, then extended his paw, pointing at Zhou Leng’s chest and abdomen area, looking worried.

Zhou Leng briefly explained what happened, saying, "Encountered the Celestial Calamity Envoy, no choice. From now on, I’m no longer a Martial Artist."

Huang stared blankly at Zhou Leng, his eyes slowly wetting, tears flowing down like beads.

Zhou Leng gently rubbed Huang’s head, saying, "It’s okay, accept the change. In a while, we’ll live together in the Demon Spirit World, even though it’s no different from Blue Star."

Huang nodded repeatedly, tears flowing uncontrollably.

"Let’s go, head to Mammoth Lake, and see if we can quickly heal my wounds."

"Woo woo..."

Huang wiped his tears dry and followed Zhou Leng out of the forest, looking back at the towering Frost Giant Tree after taking a few steps.

Out of the forest, Mammoth Lake emerged before them, Xiaoba stood up like a giant dog and ran joyously towards them.

"Woof woof!" Huang barked wildly.

Xiaoba stopped abruptly, approached slowly, and examined Zhou Leng carefully.

"Injured, nothing much, just the body can’t take your antics right now," Zhou Leng said.

Saying this, Zhou Leng took out waterproof demonized medical supplies, covering two large bowl-sized wounds, and slowly entered Mammoth Lake.

Without True Qi, but still with underwater breathing ability, he quietly soaked in the water, eyes closed.

His mind surged with thoughts.

Huang accompanied Zhou Leng for a while, barking at Xiaoba not to leave, then dashed back to the forest.

Growing bigger as he ran, finally becoming a giant wolf over two meters tall.

With fur in yellow and black, adorned in unique armor, majestic and powerful.

Returning to the Frost Giant Tree, Huang showed a submissive smile, pointed towards Zhou Leng’s direction, pointed at his own navel, sat on the ground, raised both front paws, and made a bowing gesture.

Huang kept bowing, tongue sticking out, smiling submissively.

The Frost Giant Tree remained motionless.

Huang pondered, knelt on the ground, continually standing then bowing, expression becoming increasingly submissive.

The Frost Giant Tree remained motionless.

Huang’s smile froze, stayed for a while, continued smiling submissively, and started kowtowing to the ground.

Kowtowed nine times, looked up to see the Frost Giant Tree without reaction.

Huang continued kowtowing, completing nine loud bangs, and so the cycle went.

Finally creating a deep pit on the ground, the Frost Giant Tree still did not react.

Huang lay in the pit, staring blankly at the Frost Giant Tree.

After a long time, Huang walked to the Frost Giant Tree, his head facing the tree.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

Each kowtow felt like a full force punch from the Great Innate King.

The ground was firm, but Huang remained unscathed.

The Frost Giant Tree was different.

After Huang completed the nine full-strength kowtows, his skin cracked and he felt dizzy.

Blood flowed slowly down the forehead, along the dog fur.

Huang seemed oblivious to the pain, sticking out his tongue, smiling, looking upwards.

The Frost Giant Tree remained motionless.

Without hesitation, Huang once again fiercely kowtowed to the Frost Giant Tree.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...

Cycle after cycle of nine times each...

Crack!

Huang’s body fell backward, the skull cracked, but no blood flowed out.

The blood had already run dry.

Large patches of dried blood stained the tree trunk flowing to the ground, Huang covered in thick dried blood.

Huang looked at the snowflake-like leaves above, vision blurred.

Dimly, his mind flashed scenes from long, long ago.

It was a sunny, warm summer afternoon.

Dappled shadows of the trees fell upon a woman, who squatted down, her long hair cascading.

She gently stroked Huang’s head.

"Little Huang, make sure to protect your brother, okay?"

"Woof!" The little Huang wagged his tail vigorously, tongue out, grinning.

The first eyes Huang opened saw was that woman.

That day was the last time Huang saw that woman.

Tears dampened the dried blood, flowed slowly down Huang’s eyes.

Huang slowly stood up.

Skull cracked, deep in the wound brain matter was visible squirming.

He staggered every few steps.

His mouth couldn’t close, tongue lolling sideways out of his mouth, drool flowing.

He used all his strength to stand before the Frost Giant Tree, struggling to squeeze out a smile.

Front legs together, devoutly bowed and bumped his head against the tree.

Bang!

Huang staggered backward, lying on the ground, four legs twitching slightly as if electrocuted.

The vast white land returned to calm.

Uncertain how much time has passed, Zhou Leng opened his eyes.

Above was the surface of Mammoth Lake, bright blue, with the gigantic silhouette of Xiaoba floating diagonally ahead.

His surroundings were enveloped in darkness.

It felt like sinking to the ocean floor.

Upon looking down, Mammoth Lake’s reputed prowess showed itself, as the wound had notably shrunk.

It seemed, in just a few days, the wound would completely heal.

Zhou Leng rose and walked to the lakeside, sitting down, staring blankly at the azure lake, distant snowy peaks.

Xiaoba stayed close by.

After a long while, Zhou Leng came to his senses.

Though True Qi was interrupted, there was still another type of power he could cultivate.

Undying Star Body.

With True Qi, the training is more effective; without it, training is still possible.

The Ten Reversed Beast Fist can also be trained without True Qi, just with slightly lesser effects.

Zhou Leng exhaled deeply, took out a massive quantity of Star Conchs, and spread them on the ground.

At the moment, the total number of Star Conchs had soared to over 200,000, truly forming a small mountain.

Too many Alien Races and Demons were slain on the Great Battlefield.

Zhou Leng leaned against the pile of Star Conchs, stayed silent for a while, then suddenly furrowed his brow.

This was a change following severe injuries.

Previously, with True Qi support, the physical state was excellent.

Without True Qi, the body loses nourishment, also affecting consciousness and Martial Arts Will.

The brain occasionally wanders.

Roughly, the body tissue goes through heavy fortification, becomes overly strong; without True Qi, it’s akin to a regular person in a prolonged oxygen deficiency state.

Zhou Leng forced himself awake, cultivating the Undying Star Body.

Divine Texts rotated in his mind.

Within the Will Space, Ceres’s light illuminated.

Invisible forces surged into the body without passing through True Qi, strengthening the physique.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Leng suddenly ceased cultivating, looked around.

While training the Undying Star Body, he sensed a power that shouldn’t exist within the Ten Realms.

Cosmic Energy.

Even with the universe’s vastness, only a few Star Zones possess this power.

It’s the power needed by Divine Spirits for cultivation.

Zhou Leng rummaged through the Magic Spirit Bag, quickly found an item exuding Cosmic Energy, took it out.

Prior to entering the Great Battlefield, he obtained a shield fossil from the Dwarf World, intending to comprehend it along the way.

Instead, he completely forgot about it.

Now, the shield fossil’s surface cracked open, revealing a peculiar metallic sheen.

Zhou Leng hit and tapped forcefully, the outer layer of rock fully shattered, fell away, revealing a shield-shaped metal disc.

The metal shield featured a radiating golden sun emblem at the center, with a slightly red gemstone embedded in the middle, surrounded by layers of strange black gold lines.

Among the lines, numerous twisted and complex symbols were attached.

The gemstone’s glow was dim, its interior slow to change, sometimes bright, sometimes dark.

It looked nothing like a shield, more like an array or a unique divine artifact.

Zhou Leng observed closely, sensing that the Cosmic Energy emanated from the gemstone at the shield’s center.

"Let’s call it the Solar Shield Disc..."

Zhou Leng examined the Solar Shield Disc thoroughly, tried all methods, yet was unable to activate it.

In the end, he could only speculate that it absorbs and releases Cosmic Energy, functioning as a storage-type treasure.

Looking at this Starry Sky Divine Artifact unprecedented in the Ten Realms, hope subtly kindled within Zhou Leng.

Could Cosmic Energy, being a more advanced form of power, entirely replace True Qi?

Zhou Leng held the Solar Shield Disc with both hands, operated the Undying Star Body.

Cosmic Energy flowed continuously into his body.

Under the influence of advanced power, the body’s recovery ability enhanced steadily.

Until his entire body felt sore, Zhou Leng ceased cultivating.

Looking down, the wound had shrunk to the size of a fist.

However, the Cosmic Energy within had reached its limit, halting further cultivation.

Zhou Leng slowly sensed the Cosmic Energy.

Having lost True Qi, where previously his body seemed hollow, now it brimmed with strength.

Even more filled and abundant than with just True Qi alone.

"No wonder it’s higher-level power..."

With bodily recovery of strength, his spirits weren’t fatigued, his Martial Arts Will wasn’t dwindling.

Scanning the surroundings, thriving, everything appeared positive and upward.

"Once the body fully recovers, I’ll attempt to channel Cosmic Energy into the original Dantian, simulating True Qi power."

"Cosmic Energy, being a cultivation power, perhaps doesn’t require meridians for cultivation..."

Zhou Leng imagined possibilities, while searching for Huang.

"Where’s Huang?" Zhou Leng asked.

Xiaoba’s nose pointed to the forest.

Zhou Leng returned to the forest, saw Huang sleeping heavily under the Frost Giant Tree.

Zhou Leng walked to the tree, ruffled Huang’s head, took out numerous Magic Spirit Bags and treasures from the Great Battlefield from the space wooden box, began to sort them.

Even after consuming many Pills on the Great Battlefield, some still remained.

A heap of Pills, a heap of known Medicinal Fruits, and a large heap of unknown Medicinal Fruits.

Some Medicinal Fruits even reached one or two meters in length, far larger than those in the Ten Realms.

An assortment of undamaged Innate-grade weapons and equipment, a heap of Legend-grade weapons and equipment, and a mountain of damaged broken weapons and equipment.

Familiar rare materials forming a mountain, unfamiliar ones forming five whole mountains, with the tallest exceeding a hundred meters.

With many giant object fragments, bones, and abandoned metal buildings.

This harvest, immensely significant.

Especially the various materials seized from Alien Races, enough to further advance Ten Realms material science.

Finally, examining his own body.

The strength seemed to have elevated significantly again.

Previously assuming the loss of True Qi would render his body weak.

Instead, there’s an illusion now that even just with physical power, he could overpower an ordinary Great Innate.