Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 735 - 709: Ascending to Sagehood

In the distance from Zhao Palace, countless people were watching Zhou Leng’s back.

In the shadows, there were also many eyes watching him.

Zhou Leng stopped, like everyone else, captivated by the Celestial Ladder.

The light of the three-layer Celestial Ladder pierced through the misty sky.

The stairs were transparent, shimmering with starlight inside, as if containing a galaxy.

On Blue Star, everyone, no matter where they were, even underground, could see the Celestial Ladder high in the sky. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Three-layer Celestial Ladder was extremely rare.

A single layer of the Celestial Ladder could enhance the power of a nation, while a three-layer Celestial Ladder could possibly enhance the power of the entire planet and all its people.

Yu Zhimin was revered as a Martial Ancestor not only because of his plan to perish with the gods.

But also because that battle was declared a victory for Blue Star, earning a Golden Crystal and unlocking the Seed of True Qi, this Clan Divine Power, benefiting the entire Blue Star.

Now, the whole Blue Star has only this one Clan Divine Power.

People all over the world gazed at the three-layer Celestial Ladder, discussing it fervently.

Many were filled with joy because, no matter what, the three-layer Celestial Ladder was tremendously good news.

Yet some were filled with fear.

Because each time the Celestial Ladder appeared, it signaled a great battle.

This time, with its display before the whole world, could it drag the entire globe into a battlefield?

The major powers worldwide sprang into action, preparing for war.

Amidst the global chaos, a white divine light column from the three-layer Celestial Ladder shot towards Dragon Country, heading to Xiong City, to Zhao Palace, landing right above Zhou Leng.

In front of Zhou Leng appeared an ancient Oriental-style jade platform.

The jade platform was carved with dragons and phoenixes, elegant and grand.

On the jade platform, four items appeared.

The first item, a Golden Crystal.

The second item, an ancient brass sword.

The third item, a Martial Shadow Wall.

The fourth item, a jade bottle, with a drop of dragon-shaped Divine Blood suspended inside.

As the battle ended, nearby networks reconnected, and some people began to broadcast live online.

The news of the Celestial Ladder focusing on Zhou Leng spread rapidly worldwide.

Only then did people realize it was a reward from the Celestial Ladder.

Some began speculating about what the four items were.

But more people had their imagination run wild.

"Damn! So killing Zhao Hao grants a Celestial Ladder reward!"

"I see now, Zhou Leng probably has that legendary system, and this time the system quest was to conquer the Zhao Palace instance. Completing the quest rewarded him with a three-layer Celestial Ladder?"

"As everyone knows, the Celestial Ladder is a power of high-level civilization. This means that even high-level civilizations couldn’t stand Zhao Palace’s actions, so they opened a hidden quest for Zhou Leng to take."

"Now, even if the surrender faction in Dragon Country enacts all their laws, it’s useless."

"Zhou Leng: As you can see, it wasn’t me who wanted to kill Zhao Hao, it was the Celestial Ladder that wanted me to do it."

"It’s known that annihilating the myriad demons rewarded humanity with a Celestial Ladder, and Zhou Leng killing Zhao Hao also rewarded humanity with a Celestial Ladder. This proves that killing Zhao Hao is equivalent to annihilating the myriad demons. Certified by high-level civilizations, that’s settled."

"Zhao Hao’s reputation is finished..."

In the light, Zhou Leng looked at the four items.

The Golden Crystal was familiar, but this one was even brighter than those before.

The second item was a Starry Sky ancient sword, a true Starry Sky Divine Artifact.

The third item was an Inner Power Heart Method that directly leads to Peak Martial Saint.

The fourth item was Star Dragon Blood, which upon consumption, could imbue part of the Star Dragon’s bloodline power, evolving the body into an incomplete Starry Sky Body.

It was learned through information exchange that this was a reward from the Great Battlefield.

Because he had killed the Celestial Calamity Envoy.

However, the two places were too far apart, so it only arrived now.

Zhou Leng gazed at the Star Dragon Blood.

Once again, he faced a choice as challenging as the previous one.

Last time it was the choice between Golden Crystal and Dragon Scale Vermilion Fruit.

One might enhance the collective, the other would absolutely enhance the individual.

Zhou Leng raised his head, looking around.

Ultimately, he couldn’t let go of this magnificent land.

He reached out to grab the Golden Crystal and chose to activate it.

Boom...

A gigantic sacred light with a diameter of a kilometer spread out, transforming into a majestic golden pillar of light, shooting up to the sky, straight into outer space.

With an explosion, the clouds and rain dispersed, and the pillar of light shattered into countless golden light particles, scattering all over the world.

Together with the sunlight, it fell on everyone.

Every human, regardless of gender or age, regardless of wealth or status, regardless of their identity.

As long as one had human blood, they felt a surge of warmth in their body.

Because most countries did not have "Martial Arts Perception" as a National Divine Technique, most people didn’t know what they had gained.

The people of Dragon Country, who possessed "Martial Arts Perception," immediately realized they had gained a divine technique.

The name was a bit odd.

East Monarch Light Body.

This was humanity’s second Clan Divine Power, after the Seed of True Qi.

Everyone quickly realized that Zhou Leng must have named this Clan Divine Power.

As people perceived it carefully, countless individuals displayed a look of ecstatic joy.

The East Monarch Light Body surprisingly had two major functions.

The first function allowed absorption of all light power, converting it into one’s own strength. As one’s realm increased, the ability to absorb more and stronger light would grow.

The second function was phototherapy. Everyone could gain extraordinary healing abilities under the light, especially for physical injuries.

Not far from Zhao Palace, a few bold martial artists took out knives and cut open the skin on their hands.

"Ten times, at least ten times the recovery speed," one martial artist exclaimed.

"According to my perception, it’s about eight times, maybe because I didn’t believe in light? From now on, I believe," another martial artist said, staring at the wound on his hand with joy.

"I’ll buy a Saint Zhao statue to put in my house later."

"Place a Zhou Leng statue next to it."

"I think that’s a good idea."

At the frontline of West Sea Demon City.

A troop of a thousand men fell into a bitter battle.

Golden light descended.

The wounds on each martial artist’s body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Martial artists already had strong recovery abilities, in just a while, many heavily injured martial artists were jumping around energetically.

Even those who had sustained internal injuries that rendered them powerless to fight suddenly found themselves fine.

"Long live the East Monarch!"

Feeling the presence of the East Monarch’s Light Body, their morale soared, counter-attacking the Sea Sirens and achieving a great victory.

At the same time, in the Blue Star hospitals, more and more patients walked out of their rooms, bathing in the sunlight or starlight.

Their bodies healed faster.

Illnesses gradually eased.

Some surgeons on operating tables were a bit bewildered and urgently changed their surgical plans.

In the Demon City connected to the Blue Star, thousands of battles, big and small, were underway.

Golden light descended.

A few seconds later, the injured martial artists stood up one after another, fierce as tigers and wolves.

Zhou Leng looked down at his body.

As the initiator of the Golden Crystal, his East Monarch Light Body’s power was about five to ten times that of an average person.

Stacking other divine techniques, in just a few seconds, the minor injuries that would have needed days to heal were healed completely.

The actual healing effect formed after different types of divine techniques were stacked directly increased by a magnitude.

Tenfold.

Zhou Leng suddenly felt a light movement in his abdomen, realizing he was about to ascend to sainthood, he took big strides and dashed towards Rucheng.

After this battle, the once vague martial ambition gradually became clear.

For the future of humanity.

Therefore, every factor causing a future without humans must be eliminated.

Humanity’s enemies must die.

Zhao Hao must die.

The Zhao Palace that betrayed the East Monarch must die.

The next step for humanity can only be to surpass the East Monarch, not return to a darker past.

Both materially and spiritually.

A step must not be retracted, retreating means eternal doom.

At this moment, Zhou Leng’s will was firm, his mind clear.

The starry sky true energy and the physical body began to slowly merge.

On the way, Zhou Leng contacted Xu Qingjin and then rushed to Ruge Mountain.

The news of the battle of Zhao Palace and the third layer of the Celestial Ladder spread online.

Initially, major forces were keeping their mouths shut.

Finally, they couldn’t cover it anymore and released the news.

The Martial Arts Q&A website had a question which was especially popular.

"How do you evaluate Zhou Leng’s latest battle and acquiring the third layer of the Celestial Ladder?"

Among them, the most popular answer consisted of only ten words.

"Feet stamping a thousand official tombs, fists cracking three generations’ palace."

Then various answers followed.

"I saw over ten thousand suns rising simultaneously behind Zhou Leng."

"With Zhou Leng, humanity’s hope endures."

"In the future, if any humans dare provoke Zhou Leng, he can slap their faces: I gave you half a life."

"The next East Monarch is born; the next battle of the Ten Realms is hoped for."

"Thankfully there is Zhou Leng, otherwise, the heroic blood inside and outside Zhao Palace would have been washed away by heavy rain."

"After this, reform in Dragon Country and humanity is bound to come."

"According to inside sources, without the resistance from Zhao Palace, actions have already begun above, just wait and see."

The next day, the Supreme Court issued a command.

Major media did not over-promote, but all media published it.

The command had nothing particularly special, just announced that Dragon Country was about to launch another round of strikes against the Demon Worship Sect.

Such orders are issued every one or two years on average.

But unlike before, this command featured four relatively important terms.

One was "time is urgent," indicating the situation had reached its limit.

One was "no upper limit," indicating a significant resolve.

One was "the knife pointed inward," indicating the beginning of clearing internal rotting flesh.

The last was "Martial Saint presiding to guide."

This meant that the Supreme Court had finally unified its thoughts.

The downfall of Zhao Palace and the news of the third layer of the Celestial Ladder continued to ferment, shaking the Blue Star and stirring up great waves across the Ten Realms.

In the remote mountains of the Demon Spirit World, where even demon spirit communication didn’t reach.

The Celestial Calamity God turned into the son of a farmer who lost his land, taking along a female Demon Spirit Master, began the road to conquest.

In the Fierce Beast World, beneath the Frost Giant Tree.

Zhou Leng rushed under the tree.

Except here, nowhere in the Ten Realms was safe.

He greeted Elder Tree, sat cross-legged on the ground, and operated the Great Sun Divine Skill.

At first, the Great Sun Divine Skill resembled warm light, shuttling back and forth within the body.

Slowly, the true energy singularity began to change, expanding and contracting at times.

The power outside the true energy singularity seemed to form a sun, emitting strong heat.

The Great Sun Divine Skill kept spinning.

The solar shield plate beside him released the starry sky true energy, all absorbed.

Large amounts of light streamed down from the sky, entered the body, with a very small portion converted into starry sky true energy.

Zhou Leng thus cultivated in a cycle.

No knowing how much time had passed, the power in his abdomen suddenly became unbalanced.

The true energy singularity exploded, scattering outward.

The external solar light then collapsed inward.

The two powers collided ferociously.