Martial Ascent to Divinity

But Zhou Leng was faster than him.

He lunged forward and landed a palm strike on his back.

Poof...

The man's back and chest exploded, flesh and blood sprayed everywhere, leaving a huge hole in his upper body as he fell to the ground.

He lay on the ground, crawling with his hands and legs a few times before stopping.

Zhou Leng heard the dense footsteps behind him and rushed to the side.

"Something's wrong, there's only one set of footsteps left, and they're moving to the left. Stop! Walk slowly," Yu Baocheng's voice echoed.

The seven-man team suddenly stopped, gathered together, and proceeded cautiously.

They arrived at the location of the two corpses and saw two foreign martial artists in strange death postures.

One's face cracked from the bottom up, the other's upper body had a large hole.

The seven were chilled to the bone.

"What on earth..."

All seven were experienced practitioners, instantly recognizing the ferocity of the attacker's strike.

The two who died were in the late stage of Blood Transport and capable of using Qi to protect themselves.

Yet their bodies were as fragile as dried leaves.

The seven felt a tumult of waves in their hearts but dared not utter a single word.

"Go! This place isn't safe for long." Yu Baocheng, true to his reputation as a big rascal, turned and left without the least concern for his image.

Zhou Leng initially thought they would hunt him down, but after hesitating momentarily, he returned to where the two bodies lay and put their backpacks into his magic spirit bag.

Zhou Leng glanced at the darkening sky, slightly hunching his back like a hunting tiger, and pursued in the direction the seven were fleeing.

The sun set, darkness shrouded Demon City.

The seven were fearful and anxious in the dense forest, the sound of footsteps on leaves behind them tightened like a noose around their necks.

The sound of feet crushing leaves grew closer, the noose tighter.

Soon, Yu Baocheng shouted, "Zhou Leng, I admit I was wrong! It was that bastard Tu Rong who incited me, saying he'd give me half a million just to injure you. We never intended to kill you, just to hurt you, truly. We've messed up – you name it, and we'll compensate you!"

"Drop your backpacks and weapons, immediately," Zhou Leng's voice came from behind.

The six others looked at Yu Baocheng.

Yu Baocheng urgently replied, "No, without our weapons and what's in our backpacks, we're dead for sure."

"Sadly, I gave you a chance."

Zhou Leng's footsteps approached once more.

The seven kept running while glancing back frequently.

A few minutes later, a thug in the early period of Blood Transport shouted, "It's got nothing to do with me! It was Yu Baocheng who wanted to kill you, I never wanted to!"

After speaking, that person dropped his demonized crossbow and backpack and ran off to the right.

"Damn it!" Yu Baocheng cursed, glancing back at the demonized crossbow and backpack on the ground.

A shadow swept by, picking up the demonized crossbow and backpack.

"Fine, I won't kill you," Zhou Leng said while collecting the backpack and demonized crossbow.

The fleeing man looked back once and vanished into the dense forest.

"Brother Bao, sorry," another in the middle period of Blood Transport dropped his backpack and fled left.

"You all..." Yu Baocheng's heart sank to the bottom.

"Brother Bao, apologies," a martial artist in the late stage of Blood Transport discarded his backpack and also fled.

Zhou Leng picked up the two backpacks, suddenly accelerated, and struck the back of the slowest fleeing martial artist in the early period of Blood Transport with a palm.

The man fell to the ground, his demonized crossbow flying from his grasp.

"Little brother..." Yu Baocheng glanced at his fallen little cousin, his anger boiling over, his chest tight, and his steps quickened.

Zhou Leng retrieved the demonized crossbow and backpack, placing them in his magic spirit bag.

Two of the most threatening demonized crossbows were dealt with.

Zhou Leng suddenly accelerated, rushing toward the remaining three.

In the moonlight, a shadow chased three others, weaving through the trees.

Getting closer and closer.

"Let's fight!" Yu Baocheng said.

"Let's fight!"

The three turned to face Zhou Leng together.

Zhou Leng did not stop for a moment, charging at them with unimaginable speed.

"Kill!"

Three fists swung from three directions, while Zhou Leng moved like flowing clouds to circle to the left toward the middle period Blood Transporter.

Both hands reached out, like a giant pincer grabbing his right fist, True Qi surged, a withdrawal, a push, a shake, in a blink, the man's power was neutralized.

Finally, a fierce pull.

Tear...

The man's right arm, along with his sleeve, was entirely ripped off.

Blood gushed from his shoulder, hissing.

"Ah..."

The other two launched punches and kicks, Zhou Leng stepped with Eight Trigrams Step to dodge, then rushed at the one-armed man, sidestepping, shoulder striking.

Zhou Leng's shoulder and upper arm slammed into the man's chest and abdomen.

Crack...

The man's chest and abdomen caved in, his body flew backward, struggling on the ground for a moment before dying.

The other two came charging with punches straight on.

Zhou Leng turned back, stepped into a bow stance, steadied his lower body, and met their punches with both palms.

Two Dragons Emerging from the Water.

The surging and culminated Sea Suppressing True Qi burst forth like a flood through opened gates, rumbling out.

The two collided with Zhou Leng's punches and palms.

Crack...

Crack...

Both arms broke, and they staggered back, screaming.

Zhou Leng took two steps forward to catch up and executed another Two Dragons Emerging from the Water, pushing both arms forward.

Directly hitting both men in the chest.

They spat blood, flew backward, and landed heavily on the ground, with their chests caved in.

The two of them instinctively kicked the ground with their four legs, kicking away dirt and leaves, creating four shallow pits, and gradually stopped.

The shattered breastbone and ribs pierced their internal organs and skin, with blood slowly flowing.

Under the dim night, both of them stared with wide eyes, their faces twisted.

Motionless.

Zhou Leng stepped on the head and finished them off.

He took off their backpacks, gathered all the backpacks together, picked out useful and valuable items to keep, and set the rest on fire.

Zhou Leng looked at the mohawk-haired Yu Baocheng's corpse and was silent for a few seconds.

"Farewell."

Zhou Leng first sat down to manipulate Qi, and after his True Qi recovered, he strode towards the Shuizhou base.

Zhou Leng did not pursue the others; firstly, he didn't want to kill too many people, and secondly, if they hid somewhere, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack, wasting time.

As for their boss, the fifth of the Five Tigers of Shuizhou, Yan Fenggang…

Find a time, wear the Apprentice Martial Guard badge, invite Uncle Li or Instructor Deng Zhijue, and have a cup of tea.

If it comes to that, have another duel.

Zhou Leng continued to march forward.

The path under his feet became smoother.

He seemed to have become familiar with this forest and this Demon City.

Also familiar with the rules in the forest.

As Zhou Leng ran towards the Shuizhou base, he recalled the battle just now, reviewing the gains and losses.

Before long, Zhou Leng vaguely felt the surroundings looked familiar, occasionally seeing some decayed or shriveled limbs.

Zhou Leng glanced at the map on his Demonized Watch.

This place is located in the Celestial Tier Examination Hall.

It's said that the Seventh Division has swept through the nearby several hundred kilometers several times, so it should be very safe.

Zhou Leng continued to run, heightening his vigilance.

Through a grove, in the pitch-black night, lights flickered ahead, casting shadows.

Upon closer inspection, Zhou Leng saw hundreds of Demons besieging some humans.

This scene was almost a reenactment of the Celestial Tier Joint Examination.

Without hesitation, Zhou Leng dashed over.

Once close, he crouched to observe carefully.

He saw several tall Demon corpses lying at the edge of the battlefield, including a Whip of Suffering and Evil Tumor Guard, equivalent to humans in the Body Refining Stage.

Not far away lay a Candleholder of the Body Refining Stage.

They each had some Demonized Arrows stuck in them.

Those alive Demons were all in the Blood Transporting Period, far from reaching the Body Refining Stage.

Suddenly, a gap appeared in the besieged crowd, and Zhou Leng saw two familiar faces.

One was the elderly man Song Juesi, who had a high realm in External Skills, lying on the ground.

The other was a student of his, an extremely beautiful girl whom Zhou Leng remembered, even without paying her particular attention.

The girl was taking care of Elder Song.

Zhou Leng speculated that Song Juesi and the Body Refinement bodyguard likely teamed up, using their injuries as the cost to kill those Body Refining Demons, thereby creating a chance of survival.

Zhou Leng observed for a moment longer and identified the most important Demons among the group.

Three Prayers in the Late Stage of the Blood Transporting Period.

Prayers had a humanoid shape, wearing black cloaks.

Under the hood of the cloak was a bizarre human face.

The face was covered in scars, the mouth located in the center of the face, the corners extending to both ears, making it extremely large, occupying one-third of the face.

When they opened their mouths, it split their face in two.

Zhou Leng circled behind the three Prayers.

The three Prayers noticed long ago, pointed casually, and a squad of ten Humpbacked Horse Demons, responsible for guarding them, charged at Zhou Leng.

The Horse Demons from the Silent Mountain Legion were adept at charging. Having only encountered them individually before, the formation now felt completely different.

Ten Humpbacked Horse Demons formed four rows in a triangular shape, resembling an arrowhead, charging straight at Zhou Leng.

Amidst the ground shaking sounds, their headless chrysanthemum necks spewed out fleshy whips, covering their entire body.

The Humpbacked Horse Demons charged ever harder, rapidly becoming unstoppable like boulders rolling downhill.

This small squad was enough to overturn a troop carrier.

Zhou Leng first feigned to charge at them, but as he got close, he swiftly sidestepped, dodging them, and rushed towards the three Prayers.

The Horse Demons turned urgently, pursuing Zhou Leng, but it was already too late.

In just a few blinks, Zhou Leng had covered thirty meters, reaching close to the Prayers.

The three Prayers cast spells in unison, flashes of various colors illuminating: white mental shockwaves, blue mind calls, gray totems of agony.

The three powers struck Zhou Leng simultaneously, even condensing into substance, blowing wild grasses into the air.

In Zhou Leng's eyes, a faint shadow of a mountain peak appeared.

Zhou Leng passed through the Triple Mental Attack unimpeded, launching a Two Dragons Emerging from the Water strike on two of the Prayers whose bodies were as strong as ordinary humans.

Tidal Force exploded instantly.

The two Prayers' bodies and garments shattered into pieces, splattering everywhere.

The third Prayer retreated in shock while casting a spell.

Zhou Leng charged fiercely, delivering a punch to his chest.

Crack…

The Prayer's chest was sliced horizontally, with the upper body flying out, the lower part left on the ground, blood gushing.

"It's Brother Zhou Leng!" the girl beside Song Juesi shouted loudly.

"Zhou Leng? It's us!" Rao Mingxian's voice rang out from the crowd.

"What's going on?" Zhou Leng asked while employing his most skilled combat method from the Celestial Tier Examination Hall.

Not attacking head-on, not fighting to the death, but relying on agile body techniques, circling the encirclement, constantly assaulting Demons with their backs turned to him.

Rao Mingxian shouted, "On our way back by car, we were attacked by Horse Demons from the Silent Mountain Legion, and then we encountered Elder Song and the others. There seem to be quite a few Demons nearby, unclear if they're new arrivals or remnants."

"Hold on, just some Blood Transporting Period Demons!"

With no Body Refining Stage Demons, Zhou Leng was unstoppable.

At this moment, it felt like returning to the Celestial Tier Examination Hall.

One palm, one punch, one elbow, one shoulder, each strike clean and swift.

Zhou Leng's stepping and body technique were too agile, the pursuing Demons couldn't do anything to him.