Martial Ascent to Divinity

"This is the illustrious Ancient King Family. I'll give you a few addresses, all of them shops of the Lava Mountain Tribe, where you can inquire about them."

The waiter finished speaking and took out a piece of paper, writing down several shop names and addresses.

Zhou Leng put away the note and said, "How can one obtain a dwarf identity, preferably a title?"

The waiter pondered for a moment and said, "Our Dwarf Alliance grants the human race a hundred dwarf resident identities every year. You can negotiate with the humans."

After Zhou Leng translated, Zhang Xinglie shook his head.

"What about the second option?"

"Then you'd have to stay in our dwarf world, join the 'Foreign Mercenary Corps', and keep fighting. As long as you kill enough beastmen, you can obtain a dwarf identity."

Zhou Leng said, "As far as I know, above the dwarf resident identity is the dwarf warrior. Is the dwarf warrior the lowest title?"

"Yes."

"How long does it take for a regular dwarf to earn the warrior title, and what about us humans?"

The waiter showed a look of regret and said, "Even outstanding steel dwarves need a year or two to be promoted to dwarf warrior. As for the Foreign Mercenary Corps, the war merit requirement is even higher, at least two to three times the merits to be promoted to warrior."

"Is there no faster way?" Zhou Leng asked.

"There is, if you marry an heir of our Ancient King Race and spend a little orange gold, you can become a dwarf warrior."

After Zhou Leng translated, Zhang Xinglie helplessly shook his head.

A tuft of chest hair floated before their eyes.

"What about beyond that?" Zhou Leng continued to ask.

The waiter suddenly smiled and said, "There's also the Ancient King's Treasure. If you can acquire a dwarf treasure within the Ancient King's Treasure and hand it over to the tribes, you can easily earn a title. Not just a dwarf warrior, but even a dwarf elite, and some humans have even attained higher-ranking dwarf general titles."

"Is there no other way?"

"There is, but... once discovered, you risk losing your identity and being hunted down," the waiter said.

Zhou Leng roughly understood and said, "No, we want to obtain a legitimate identity."

"Then there's no way. It's just like how humans find it hard to acquire a legitimate military rank."

Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie quietly discussed and agreed that the Ancient King's Treasure was the best choice for them for now.

Zhou Leng asked again, "What do you know about the Ancient King's Treasure of the Mountain Melting Furnace?"

"You've certainly asked the right dwarf. These days, the whole city is abuzz with talk about the ancestral treasure..."

Then, the waiter enthusiastically talked about this Ancient King's Treasure, more thoroughly than what Zhao Le had mentioned before.

Zhou Leng listened while taking notes, forwarding them to Zhang Xinglie.

Zhang Xinglie only mastered the Demon Spirit Language, so he couldn't understand the Dwarf Language and lazily relied on the translation from the Demonized Watch, just reading Zhou Leng's translated content.

He occasionally glanced at Zhou Leng, feeling moved, as he never expected that after a few months of not seeing him, Zhou Leng could already handle matters independently.

Not only did his martial arts progress, but his divine text skills and various languages far exceeded those of other top students of the same cohort.

Patrons and the dwarven bartender occasionally interjected with various trivial things.

The Mountain Melting Furnace, being the 'eternal ancestor' of the steel dwarves, had its Ancient King's Treasure highly revered.

The dwarves almost all grew up hearing stories about him.

The information Zhou Leng gathered increased, and in his joy, he bought drinks for everyone, including the waiter and bartender.

This gesture enlivened the tavern, and those dwarves who were passed out drunk quickly sobered up.

They drank exuberantly and loudly offered various information and advice to Zhou Leng.

The major forces of the human race had invested heavily in the dwarf world, and the Humanoid Alliance's kinship was deeply rooted in their hearts.

Far beyond the days when propaganda strongholds were occupied by demons.

Especially since humans entered the martial arts civilization, individual strength not only hadn't declined but instead rose, earning a name in the Ten Realms.

Throughout the morning, Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie gained a clearer understanding of the dwarf world and the Ancient King's Treasure.

After bidding farewell to the tavern dwarves, Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie returned to the inn to discuss in detail for an entire afternoon.

"Our target is clear, it's not the Eye of the Ancient God, but the dwarf treasure."

"Exactly, vying for a treasure of that caliber, one wrong move could cost us our lives. Our goal is merely the dwarf title."

"With a goal, things will be easier moving forward."

"Let's find the Molten Hammer first. Having someone familiar makes things easier, and being life-and-death comrades and descendants of the Ancient King, at least we won't get cheated."

"If we really can't find the Molten Hammer, we'll have to seek out human crews."

"Then we'll draft an agreement, nothing else required, just the dwarf-titled treasure, even if it costs more money..."

"Beyond that..."

After discussing the details, the two headed straight to the addresses provided by the waiter to inquire about the Molten Hammer.

The Ancient King's Treasure would open in three days, so they couldn't delay too long.

The two went to five shops of the "Lava Mountain" tribe in succession.

Three had never heard of it, while two said they had seen it a few days before and promised to help with contact.

The two couldn't wait idle and headed straight to the "Mercenary Guild" to first announce their search for the Molten Hammer.

Then, based on recruitment notices at the Mercenary Guild, they contacted teams preparing to enter the Ancient King's Treasure to negotiate.

They talked to several groups, but either their realm was deemed inadequate to be allocated a dwarf treasure.

Or, the conditions set by the other party were particularly harsh.

By night, they hadn't reached any results.

The next morning, the two went back to the Mercenary Guild.

As they walked in, they saw an old acquaintance.

Zhao Le was leading a few humans and a dwarf out of the Mercenary Guild.

"Zhang Xinglie, you guys came too?" He said 'you guys' but seemed not to see Zhou Leng, only looking at Zhang Xinglie.

"We're just taking a walk around." Zhang Xinglie replied.

"Have you made up your mind?"

"Haven't decided yet."

"Even if it's at the last moment, we sincerely welcome you." Zhao Le said, then left with the people behind him.

This group walked for a while.

A Pioneer asked, "Just the two of them rejecting Young Master Lou's invitation?"

"Yes."

"That Zhang Xinglie didn't even rank in the top fifty among the new students in the national rankings. No need to be so polite, right?"

Zhao Le responded as he walked.

"Many things shouldn't only be seen in the present; we need to look long-term."

"Zhang Xinglie's college entrance exam scores weren't even in the top two hundred in the national rankings."

"But the result? He advanced all the way in Xiong City and has now made it to 78th in the national rankings for new students."

"This ranking doesn't seem like much, but do you know how many Martial Arts resources those ranked above him have thrown at it? And how few pills he's consumed?"

"Once he makes up for his shortcomings in pills and cultivation, he'll be eligible to compete for the top ten among new students in the national rankings!"

The person exclaimed, "Young Master Lou might not even be able to compete for the top ten new students in the national rankings, right?"

"That's why Young Master Lou is making every effort to invite him. Sadly, he's too proud; unless we lower our status and offer enough benefits. But... Martial Clan disciples can't bow down." Zhao Le sighed.

He himself could set aside his pride, but he only has the name Zhao by chance, actually having no real connection with the Zhao Clan, even if he got into Yunhua, the Zhao Clan wouldn't notice him.

He can only be a bystander, advancing through Divine Texts.

Lou Fei Qiong and Zhao Tong refuse to lower their heads, so no matter how hard this bystander tries, it's useless.

Zhao Le smiled and said, "Actually, you don't have to worry. Other Ancient King's Treasures might require only fists, but the Mountain Melting Furnace is also a Divine Text Master, and his treasure contains a large amount of Divine Texts."

"Right, not every team has someone as proficient in Divine Texts as you are." someone said.

A mysterious smile appeared on Zhao Le's face as he said, "This treasure is ancient, if Zhang Xinglie and Zhou Leng aren't prepared, even with proficiency in Divine Texts, they'll stumble..."

Zhao Le and his group brushed past a team of humans dressed in camouflage.

Captain Mark looked back at Zhao Le and his group, then spoke after walking quite a distance.

"He just mentioned Zhang Xinglie and Zhou Leng."

Tu Rong said, "I heard it too."

"Do you think Zhang Xinglie and Zhou Leng will affect us?" Mark asked as he walked.

Fan Zhixing's mind conjured the image of the bear-like shadow in the forest at night and shook his head, "Not sure, Zhou Leng is ruthless."

Tu Rong said, "That Zhou Leng is actually quite principled. As long as we don't provoke him, we should be fine. Moreover, that Zhang Xinglie beside him is trouble. If one harms someone ranked high in Yunhua, the authorities will definitely investigate."

Mark nodded and said, "On the way, I secretly observed Zhang Xinglie cultivating. Although he is in the Mid-Stage Body Refining stage and I am in the Late Stage, if we were to truly fight to the death, I would have no chance."

"Really?"

"When I was in the Mid-Stage of Body Refining, I sparred with someone in the Early Stage from Yunhua. The score was 11 to 1, and you should know who was 1."

Everyone was shocked, Mark is a rare expert, originating from Hafu Martial Arts Academy affiliated with the Eagle Alliance, and yet he was beaten like that against the odds.

Mark's eyes darkened, "Zhang Xinglie's body is far more formidable than the average Mid-Stage Body Refining. He probably has some kind of gift. That Zhou Leng is obviously not ordinary either."

"Then what do we do?"

Mark shook his head and said, "We can only rely on Jax; he's in the Late Stage of Body Refining, and he's from Pulin Martial Arts Academy, the only academy in the world that can compare with Yunhua Jinjing."

"When is Mr. Jax coming?"

"Before lunch."

The group entered the guild hall and briefly saw Zhou Leng and the others.

Fan Zhixing turned pale at the sight of Zhou Leng and quickly turned his head.

Tu Rong bowed his head to greet him.

Zhou Leng glanced at them and walked elsewhere with Zhang Xinglie.

"The Trup conglomerate's team is also here." Zhou Leng said.

Zhang Xinglie replied, "I've seen quite a few experts these past two days, some of whom I've seen in Xiong City, including second-year students from Yunhua and ones from Jinjing. It seems this time, the Ancient King's Treasure has gathered many Body Refining stage experts from both the Human Race and the Dwarf Race."

"I've also seen some Demon Spirit Masters, but I heard from the waitstaff that they have too many spellcasting methods and aren't allowed in. Furthermore, many Ancient King's Treasures have set up Forbidden Demon Areas, making Demon Spirit Masters rather useless." Zhou Leng stated.

"Still no news from Molten Hammer?"

"No."

"A bit troublesome."

"Let's wait a bit longer, there's still two days' time."

At night, the two ate and drank their fill and headed to the inn.

As they neared the inn, they were met by four drunk dwarves.

Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie sidestepped, deliberately avoiding them.

The next moment, a drunken Steel Dwarf pointed at Zhang Xinglie and said, "Human, do you dare to mock us dwarves for drinking in our own territory?"

Numerous nearby Steel Dwarves turned their heads, glaring at Zhang Xinglie and Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng quickly finished translating and whispered, "Something's not right."

"Let's go."

The two turned to run.

The four Steel Dwarves lunged straight at them.