Martial Ascent to Divinity

The battle became particularly strange.

In the inner circle, more than twenty humans struggled to defend themselves.

In the middle circle, over a hundred Demons surrounded these people and attacked fiercely.

In the outer circle, Zhou Leng circled around the Demons in the middle circle, killing them ferociously.

In the outermost circle, a group of Demons chased Zhou Leng, yet they couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.

Xu Kang'an shouted, "How are you even more formidable than in the Celestial Ladder? And it's not just by a little bit."

"Hold back a bit, or I'll have no hope of catching up with you in this lifetime," Rao Mingxian laughed.

The girl taking care of Elder Song looked curiously at Rao Mingxian and the others who were fighting.

Moments ago, these people were still trapped in despair, looking dead as ashes.

But once Senior Brother Zhou Leng arrived, they seemed like different people.

Facing the great enemy, they were talking and laughing, their fear and despair seemed to have drifted away somewhere.

Even those adults who were fighting still had the same old look.

This feeling seemed like suddenly seeing Elder Song completely recover at a critical moment.

The others glanced at Rao Mingxian and his group without saying a word and continued to hold on bitterly.

While fighting, everyone suddenly felt something was amiss.

The Demons that had originally surrounded them tightly began to thin out.

"Why are there suddenly fewer Demons?"

"It's not fewer; they're lying on the ground."

At this point, everyone carefully observed in the night and saw Demons lying all over the outer circle.

"Zhou Leng…"

The others understood why Rao Mingxian and his group were suddenly talking and laughing freely.

Rao Mingxian laughed, "In the Celestial Tier Examination Hall, Zhou Leng killed the enemy this way. As long as they weren't Body Refining Stage Demons, no matter how many, they weren't enough for him to kill. You guys don't know, he's nicknamed 'Demon Lawnmower.'"

The number of Demons decreased as more chased after Zhou Leng, making it impossible for him to kill them as before. With a leap, he jumped into the inner circle.

Zhou Leng said, "No need to fight to the death. We should fight and retreat, withdraw towards the Shuizhou base. Staying here might attract more Demons."

"Listen to Zhou Leng!" Rao Mingxian said.

Rao Mingxian was valiant in battle among everyone, and none doubted him.

After speaking, Zhou Leng took out a Demonized Crossbow and handed it to a young man with low Realm but practical experience.

"Keep the Demonized Crossbow prepared to guard against powerful Demons."

Several wounded were still lying on the ground.

Elder Song Juesi and the Body Refining Stage bodyguard were unconscious.

"You students, carry the wounded. The others, fight and retreat, and I'll hold the rear."

After a bit of preparation, they began to move.

The number of Demons was insufficient to fully surround; they could only pursue Zhou Leng's group from one side.

Zhou Leng and his group fought and withdrew at the same time.

Slowly, the number of Demons dwindled, but the human casualties increased, with some carrying a wounded on each shoulder.

When only thirty to forty Demons were left, Zhou Leng shouted in Demon Language, "Are you few really looking for death by pursuing?"

Rao Mingxian and others glanced at Zhou Leng, amazed at how quickly his Demon Language had progressed, as in the Celestial Tier Examination Hall, he could only stammer out words one by one.

Some Demons hesitated, causing a chain reaction as they gradually ceased their pursuit.

Everyone in the team breathed a sigh of relief.

"How's Elder Song?" Zhou Leng looked at the girl carrying Elder Song.

"Elder Song is probably just old, and the excessive fighting injured his meridians and blood vessels. I've given him pills, and he'll recover after some rest." The girl's voice was sweet and crisp, her eyes blinking as she stared straight at Zhou Leng.

"That's good." Zhou Leng glanced at Song Juesi.

The old man's Martial Arts Realm was high, but his body could not withstand prolonged battle, and at such an age, his blood vessels and meridians were likely severely aged.

"We should be safe now, but we can't relax. Keep running, reach the Red Spot Forest."

"Should we use the signal gun?" a student asked.

"No, it will attract more Demon creatures."

Everyone discussed while quickly heading towards the Shuizhou base.

The group of Demons originally was growing distant, but somehow, they suddenly rushed over faster and faster.

"Oh no…" Rao Mingxian said.

"Something must have happened, otherwise they wouldn't chase us."

Zhou Leng said slowly, "They probably received reinforcements and orders to pursue. I reckon they are right behind them but can't see clearly due to the night."

"What should we do?"

Everyone panicked; they had just escaped only to be hunted again.

Zhou Leng gazed toward the Demons, narrowed his eyes, and said slowly, "There's only one way. I'll distract them, and you all keep running."

Rao Mingxian said, "No way, there are so many Demons, what if you…"

"Plus, they might not even follow you." Xu Kang'an said.

"I'll give it a try; if it doesn't work, I'll come back. I'm currently looking up a few demon insults in the database to see if there are any taboos; it should draw most of them away."

Zhou Leng said as he flipped through the database contents.

Indeed, he found some Demon Purgatory curses.

Zhou Leng mimicked a few lines, then glanced at the approaching Demons.

Sure enough, a group of black dots appeared behind those Demons.

Zhou Leng looked back at everyone and said, "I'll go distract them; if I fail, I'll come back and fight alongside you. If I succeed, wait for my news at the Shuizhou base."

"You…" Rao Mingxian didn't know what to say.

Zhou Leng said, "Don't worry, I have plenty of Qi Nourishing Pills and Blood Replenishing Pills in my hand; they can't catch me."

"Senior Brother Zhou Leng, catch this." The girl carrying Elder Song suddenly tossed something to Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng caught it; it was a brand new Magic Spirit Bag, still fragrant, with some anime character stickers on it.

"Use as much of the medicine inside as you need. Consider it mine. There's my contact information inside; just return what's left."

At night, the girl's glittering eyes were fixed on Zhou Leng.

As Zhou Leng hesitated, Rao Mingxian said, "Don't refuse it, you take it first."

"Okay! Thank you." Zhou Leng didn't stand on ceremony and put the Magic Spirit Bag into his backpack.

Zhou Leng charged towards the Demon.

"Senior Brother Zhou Leng, be careful. My name is Liang Baiyin." The girl looked at Zhou Leng's back and smiled.

Zhou Leng waved his hand, continuing to run.

Before long, he encountered the Demons ahead.

Those Demons all stopped in their tracks, their faces mildly panicked.

This human is somewhat strong.

Zhou Leng extended his right hand, thumb and index finger forming a circle, the other three fingers raised, making a gesture similar to an OK sign.

But in Demon Purgatory, this gesture is equivalent to humans flipping the middle finger.

The panic in the Demons' eyes instantly turned into rage.

Then, Zhou Leng, while holding up the provocative gesture, cursed in Demon Language.

"You bunch of scum born from the Tentacle Beasts of the Rotting Swamp..."

"Aoo..."

The Demons' eyes were about to burst as they charged madly at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng was startled for a moment, wondering while running, in Demon Purgatory, are the Tentacle Beasts of the Rotting Swamp really so detestable?

The human translation is bastard, but it doesn't seem so insulting...

Zhou Leng circled around, rushing towards the second new group of Demon troops coming up from behind.

A full two hundred plus.

Amidst the Demons, two blood-red-robed Prayers were surrounded, their large mouths cracked open, staring here coldly.

A Middle-Rank Prayer, equivalent to a human Body Refining Stage.

Zhou Leng, however, breathed a sigh of relief; Prayers have weak bodies and can't run fast.

If it were a Body Refining Stage Demon known for its physical prowess, it would be difficult.

Zhou Leng made the insulting gesture of Demon Purgatory towards the two Prayers and the other Demons, then repeated the same words as before.

"You bunch of scum born from the Tentacle Beasts of the Rotting Swamp..."

"Aoo..."

The group of Demons also turned red-eyed, disregarding their formation, charging together.

Only about a dozen Demons around the two Prayers remained still, but they were also panting heavily.

Zhou Leng, however, wasn't afraid of them, leading them towards the direction away from the fleeing team.

He didn't even use the Lightweight Skill, just ran relying on Qi Manipulation.

Even so, Zhou Leng's speed surpassed all the Demons.

While running, he took a glance at Liang Baiyin's Magic Spirit Bag.

Zhou Leng's eyelid twitched.

He had seen good stuff in recent days, but he had never seen anything like this.

Inside, the Replenishing Essence Pills, Qi Nourishing Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills, etc., were all unopened, neatly packed in boxes by the hundreds.

The Embracing Essence Pill, Concentration Pill, and Concentration Incense, which even Innate Masters could barely afford, also had more than a dozen portions inside.

The most outrageous thing was, there were two Wishing Pendants made of Spirit Land Jade, wrapped in some unknown silver Demonized Metal, some years old, with excellent quality, providing at least ten times the Spiritual Qi.

Each piece was worth at least two or three million, or even more.

Zhou Leng placed the two pieces of Spirit Land Jade Wishing Pendants in his inner pocket to wear for now, intending to return them later.

Seconds later, Zhou Leng clearly felt the surrounding Spiritual Qi rushing towards him, much more apparent than with his ordinary Spirit Land Jade.

"More than ten times, possibly close to fifteen times..."

With the two pieces of Spirit Land Jade, the recovery of True Qi suddenly accelerated.

Zhou Leng briefly glanced inside, seeing many gold and silver jewelry and even treasures.

He quickly came across some personal items of the girl, hurriedly closing it up, and didn't look further.

Seeing these Pills, Zhou Leng felt at ease, even if encountering a Body Refining Stage Demon, he could use the Pills to wear down one or two of them.

Zhou Leng glanced back, the Demons were still far behind, roaring.

Occasionally, Zhou Leng raised his hands, making the provocative gestures of the Demons, sometimes changing up the insults with that Demon Language.

"Why are you all gathered together? Could it be you're from the same brood of the Tentacle Beasts of the Rotting Swamp?"

The Demons exploded at once, howling and frantically pursuing.

Zhou Leng led this group of Demons running for more than an hour, feeling it was about enough, then turned, fully using the Flying Crane Technique, and ran towards the Shuizhou Base.

Within a few minutes, he had left the Demons far behind.

While running, Zhou Leng took Qi Nourishing Pills and Blood Replenishing Pills from Liang Baiyin's Magic Spirit Bag, keeping his True Qi at about seventy percent.

After running for a dozen minutes, passing through a grove of trees, a familiar feeling arose in his heart.

"This... seems a bit like near the final battle at the Celestial Tier Examination Hall."

Zhou Leng vaguely sensed something was amiss, as if something mysteriously was attracting him, yet he couldn't clearly perceive it.

The Demons were gathered again nearby, even attacking humans, it didn't make sense.

Logically, at such times, the Demons would either distance themselves or act wary.

After a few more steps, Demon shadows appeared ahead.

He had seen other Demon races before, only the tallest and strongest Demon, Zhou Leng was seeing for the first time.

It was a woman in silver armor, red-haired, covered in armor except for her head.

Her face was adorned with strange black symbols.

Her mouth seemed heavily painted with lipstick, forming a red smile.

Her face twisted and trembled lightly, showing an expression of pain.

In her left hand, she held reins; in her right, she grasped a Bone Sword, as if a spine ground smooth, its blade bristling with spikes.

Her mount was a wolf the size of a calf, its eyes glowing green, staring at Zhou Leng.