Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 612 - 592: Heart-to-Heart Conversation

Connecting to the Tree-man Base network, Li Shenkong glanced at the messages from Martial Faith.

Seeing the "Xu Ming’s Reputation" group, Li Shenkong’s eyes dimmed.

The group was originally called "Xu Ming’s Good Friends," created by Xu Ming.

After Xu Ming’s message to Zhou Leng was made public, the administrator changed the name.

The members of this group were all comrades who had fought alongside Xu Ming over the years.

In the group, Li Shenkong went by Xiaoli, only a few of Xu Ming’s old friends knew it was him.

Li Shenkong looked at the messages.

It turned out that the unit under the Demon City Army Martial Arts Brigade that Xu Ming once led was officially renamed "Xu Ming’s Company."

The members of Xu Ming’s Company received orders from above to come to the Tree-man World for cooperative exchange.

Although the Tree-man World refused to trade resources for aid from Blue Star, always sticking to outdated ways, small-scale cooperation never ceased.

Back then, Li Shenkong was in Xu Ming’s Company.

Recalling those familiar faces, Li Shenkong used the Demon Spirit ring to slightly disguise himself back to his former appearance, and quickly headed to the residence of Xu Ming’s Company at the Tree-man Base.

On the way, he sent a message to an old comrade.

Just as he reached the entrance, a group of Vitality Stage members and several Innates excitedly rushed over.

"Xiaoli, long time no see!"

"You’re also at the Tree-man Base?"

"Master!"

Li Shenkong looked at Erhuzhi, whose face was full of a silly smile yet still carried a hint of innocence.

"How is your martial arts progress?" Li Shenkong asked with a smile.

"Thanks to your guidance, Master, I’m now at the Late Vitality Stage, progressing quite quickly."

An Innate laughed and said, "Your senior disciple is a bit dull, but his efforts surpass the entire company. I estimate he will be promoted to Innate next year. You once said that when he advances to Innate, you would officially take him as your disciple."

Li Shenkong looked helplessly at everyone and said, "Of course."

"Thank you, Master!" Erhuzhi bowed in salute.

"Don’t call me that yet!" Li Shenkong was quite helpless, encountering such a straightforwardly silly subordinate, he ultimately had no choice but to become an honorary master.

"Let’s go, let’s check out the company."

"Can we get in?" Li Shenkong asked.

"It’s just normal cooperative exchange, nothing confidential, most of the people in the company are our own. Besides, the old company commander..."

The speaking Innate suddenly stopped.

The air became tense.

"Let’s go."

Xu Ming’s Company, Li Shenkong rejoined the team.

Li Shenkong had always been an honorary member of the Martial Arts Brigade, he hadn’t truly left, except for the new recruits, everyone knew him.

After chatting for a while, he learned that this exchange was about heading to Flute Forest for small-scale confrontation with Demons and giant insects.

The company members all hoped he would stay because the current company commander was only a Muscle Innate, and there was quite a gap to Great Innate, leaving them somewhat uneasy.

Li Shenkong hesitated at first, but couldn’t resist his comrades’ coaxing and the fact that he hadn’t had such training in a long time.

More importantly, after watching Zhou Leng’s video, the fighting spirit in Li Shenkong’s heart was ignited.

He repeatedly watched Zhou Leng’s videos, confident that he was on a similar level, but there was one aspect in which he was worlds apart from Zhou Leng.

That kind of solitary, life-or-death critical battle, he had never experienced.

Zhou Leng’s exploits ignited a fire in his heart.

As his comrades crudely but aptly put it, what does Li Shenkong have over Zhou Leng?

If Zhou Leng can fight alone at the risk of his life, why is he always so well protected in battle?

Because he’s the grandson of a Martial Saint?

Xu Ming, who protected him, had already died in the Otherworld, does he need another Xu Ming for protection?

I am already a Grandmaster.

I should learn to protect those who need protection, just like Xu Ming.

A giant baby is destined not to reach sainthood.

"I’ll go back to pack, and formally rejoin the team tonight!"

"Great!"

Everyone was overjoyed.

Li Shenkong returned to his residence, packed up, and explained to the people who came with him from home.

Just as he stepped out of the Tree Root Cave, a team came up to him.

The entourage was quite grand, with Martial Guards clearing the way at the front and backing up at the rear.

Aside from those in camouflage uniforms, most wore jackets or suits.

The leader wore a black jacket, appeared to be in his forties, with a broad face and big ears, dignified in appearance. His expression was calm, yet he exuded authority as if he were a high-ranking official.

"Brother Cong?" Li Shenkong looked at Zhao Cong in surprise. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Zhao Cong had previously seen Li Shenkong’s disguised appearance, so he first signaled others to leave, then walked over and patted Li Shenkong’s shoulder like an elder brother.

"Good kid, haven’t seen you in a year, your realm is almost catching up with mine." One is an Upper-Rank Grandmaster, the other a Great Grandmaster.

Li Shenkong was taller, while Zhao Cong’s body was broader.

"Why are you here?" Li Shenkong asked.

"Just took office, inspecting the various bases of Shuizhou Demon City and communicating with different clans, it’s part of the necessary process. Also, I came to visit you along the way. I have some cultivation time left in the Tree Root Cave, so I might as well cultivate for a few days. Killing three birds with one stone."

"Are you going to work now then?"

"Let them wait, our matter is more important. Come on, I know a place where we can talk."

Zhao Cong took Li Shenkong and found a Tree-man hotel, entering a private room.

The two of them ordered dishes and began to chat freely.

They had known each other since childhood, and even if they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, they quickly returned to the feeling of being old friends.

Halfway through the conversation, Zhao Cong sighed and said, "The Zhao Family has produced some degenerates, and I can’t deny my responsibility. My mission this time in Liangjiang is to eliminate those degenerates. The Dragon Country has been severely infiltrated by the Demon Worship Sect, even our Zhao Family isn’t spared, isn’t that ridiculous? Isn’t it tragic? Do you know why I’m telling you this?"

Li Shenkong shook his head.

"A distant cousin of mine, born and raised in the Dragon Country, was particularly well-behaved as a child. After going to the Eagle Alliance, he actually started attacking our Martial Mansion widely. Those words of hatred, I simply couldn’t understand. I had someone investigate and found out that he was turned after going to the Eagle Alliance and became a member of the Demon Worship Sect. My dad was also infuriated by him."

Zhao Cong continued, "Such cases are numerous. My dad and I painfully reflected on it and quietly investigated, and the findings were shocking. In the coming months, our Zhao Family will first cleanse ourselves, and once the results are out, we’ll report to the Supreme Court and eradicate the remaining dregs of the Demon Worship Sect!"

Li Shenkong contemplated Zhao Cong’s status and their past friendship, and his suspicions dissipated completely. He remarked, "The Zhao Family is indeed known for its ability to self-reflect, acting swiftly to innovate when problems arise. Honestly, brother, I used to suspect that your Zhao Family had changed, but not anymore."

Zhao Cong spoke earnestly, "You can’t condemn a whole ship because of a few. We martial clans aim to cure, not to kill. Everyone is human, fellow practitioners of martial arts, all grown up eating the grains of the earth; how can we not fall ill? Who doesn’t make mistakes? Correcting a mistake restores one’s honor as a good martial artist!"

"You’re right!"

Li Shenkong, who grew up purely focused on cultivation, usually with a simple mind, felt even more at ease after hearing Zhao Cong’s explanation.

"It seems that Zhou Leng’s matter has nothing to do with your family."

Zhao Cong sighed, "I can’t say it has nothing to do with us, only that it’s the misfortune of the family. Gao Tianlong, my cousin, did he seize Zhou Leng’s mine? Yes, he did, undeniably. The first thing I did when I arrived in Rucheng was to nationalize the mine, that’s the Zhao Family’s stance."

"Not bad, Brother Cong." Li Shenkong showed restraint and respect.

"As for the matter with the Sixteen Families and Zhou Leng, that’s a historical issue, as you may know, involving the Sixteen Families and Ma Xingkong. Do you say Ma Xingkong was wrong? No, he maintained righteousness and refused to fall in with evil, not a bit at fault. What about the Sixteen Families? Like the Lou Family, they were kicked out of the Martial Mansion, the young were killed, the old died of anger, and the larger family almost couldn’t hold on. They were wrong, but should we execute their entire clan, is that going too far?"

Li Shenkong didn’t think much and nodded.

Zhao Cong continued, "Frankly speaking, the young members of the Sixteen Families were just acting out, trying to teach Zhou Leng a lesson, and the misunderstanding between the two sides escalated uncontrollably. If the Sixteen Families really wanted to harm Zhou Leng, would they need to falsely accuse him? They could have just sent someone to kill him. People say our Zhao Family is this or that, but they don’t consider that we didn’t even intervene when it came to Ma Xingkong back in the day, so why would we bother with Zhou Leng?"

"I believe you, your Zhao Family wouldn’t go that far with Zhou Leng. Or rather, if you really did intend something, Zhou Leng indeed wouldn’t survive."

"Exactly. However, to say the Zhao Family is entirely innocent isn’t possible. I can’t speak with others, but to you as family, every house has some dirt, right? But can it be completely prevented? No, it can’t. The smaller issues can sometimes be overlooked, but the bigger ones require action. The challenges of the country, the difficulties of big families, ordinary people don’t understand, but we, being from martial clans, naturally do."

Li Shenkong sighed, he had also heard of some matters regarding his own family, and even his grandfather was helpless, let alone Zhao Cong.

The two brothers opened up to each other, restoring their relationship to how it had been before.

After eating and drinking to their heart’s content, the two went to the Martial Arts Dojo, sparring physically without using True Qi.

One a genius Upper-Rank Grandmaster, the other a seasoned Great Grandmaster, ended up evenly matched for quite some time.

After sparring, they were both flushed, breathing heavily.

"The older the ginger, the spicier it gets. You’ve been in the Martial Mansion all these years and haven’t lost any skill." Li Shenkong admired.

Zhao Cong laughed, "Can’t keep it up forever. The Yangtze’s waves push the old; I guess at most in a year, you’ll surpass me."

Li Shenkong smiled, "You don’t need to be modest. It’s obvious there’s still power hidden in you, you were clearly holding back."

Zhao Cong’s eyes flickered, his expression unchanged, he smiled, "Who doesn’t have a few skills up their sleeve?"

The two discussed martial arts until they parted the next day.

Li Shenkong joined Xu Ming’s brigade, heading towards the Flute Forest.

Zhao Cong, along with Liangjiang members, visited the Tree-man World, staying for a few days.

Three days later, the Battle of the Flute erupted.

The Celestial Calamity Envoy arrived as demons and giant insects stormed in like tides.

They fought for three days and nights, the Tree-men and Humanoid Alliance retreated.

The troops fled for five days and nights before successfully returning.

Li Shenkong was also in the retreating troops, finally returning to the Shuizhou Base with the team.

He hadn’t slept for three days and nights, just sat there dazed.

Because information kept leaking, the Tree-man army was at a disadvantage everywhere.

Xu Ming’s brigade was nearly wiped out, only ten survived, all severely injured.

His informal disciple Tigress was killed in battle.

He had a persistent doubt in his heart.

Why, that night, when he and his comrades attacked the Demon Camp, did he see Zhao Cong?

Even if it was just a side profile, even if it was far away, the eyes of an Upper-Rank Grandmaster wouldn’t make a mistake.

He stared blankly ahead, the world before his eyes turning upside down, collapsing.

After occupying the Flute Forest, the Demon Alliance Army advanced north.

Under the land of Oldworth.

Zhou Leng, having completed his cultivation in the land vehicle, slept for a while.

Upon waking, he rose to the surface.

In front, the giant insect army advanced like a dark cloud, countless scarlet eyes stared back.