Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 708 - 687: Leading the Way

The demons were skeptical, but couldn’t help but look up at the crown of the Mother Tree.

The more they looked, the colder their hearts became.

The Celestial Calamity Envoy was a divine incarnation.

When the divine descended, the Demon Prison Lord personally welcomed Him.

Many Demon Prison Lords themselves were merely incarnations, with their true forms as divine spirits in the distant stars.

The status of the Celestial Calamity Envoy surpassed that of the Demon Prison Lords; he has been the actual Demon Prison Co-Master in recent years.

Whatever he wanted, the Eighteen Layers of Demon Purgatory complied, even allowing Beastmen, giant insects, and Sea Sirens to be commanded at will.

Such a divine spirit, to say he died?

No demon believed it.

Anyone daring to say such a thing would surely incur divine punishment.

They looked at Zhou Leng.

Like fire spreading.

Why hasn’t the Celestial Calamity Envoy punished him?

Could it really be...

Under the night sky, the master of the fiery circular blade leapt into the throngs of demon chickens like a lion or tiger, trampling rather than battling.

Some of those demigods incarnates wore protective half-divine artifacts, some wielded powerful spells.

Theoretically, even a newly ascended demigod couldn’t possibly kill them all within such a short time.

Yet, they all ended up dead.

Some Grandmaster Demons glanced at Zhou Leng’s chest and abdomen.

Previously, when he killed the demigod incarnations, his chest and abdomen roared with booming sounds and dazzling light.

Now, the light was slowly dimming.

What kind of power was that, enough to stir the throbbing in the demon’s bloodline?

The giant insects, having lost their mother insect, were now mad, killing recklessly.

Beastmen and Sea Sirens charged fiercely.

The demons hesitated, neither daring to gamble everything nor retreat decisively, pulling themselves back and forth.

At this moment, Zhou Leng, using the half-divine artifact, massacred amidst the vast demon horde.

He would spin around, sweeping away all demons within a diameter of over fifty meters.

He would open with dual swords and charge forward, fire feathers flowing, leaving a wide open space paved with corpses.

Except for a few who used half-divine artifacts for preemptive defense in vulnerable focus points, managing to evade a strike, no demon could withstand a single move under the Flame Greatsword.

Those who evaded one strike often died under the second.

Gradually, the demon army began to panic.

Because Zhou Leng exclusively targeted Grandmasters.

Each strike took out large groups.

After several rounds of killings, the demons suddenly realized the Celestial Calamity Army’s number of Grandmasters was now less than that of the Humanoid Alliance.

In the Ten Realms war, without demigods engaging in battle, Grandmasters were the decisive force on the battlefield.

Some of the Humanoid Alliance’s Grandmasters now faced Innate Demons as opponents.

Lions and tigers emerged together.

Among these Innate Demons, every Grandmaster was like Zhou Leng.

Large sectors of the Celestial Calamity Army’s battle lines collapsed and retreated.

"Celestial Calamity Envoy!"

"Your Majesty!"

Countless demons nearly broke down, crying out the name of the Celestial Calamity Envoy.

But no one responded.

Crack... crack... crack...

The massive sound of breaking echoed through the world.

Everyone looked towards the sound, seeing the trunk of the Mother Tree emitting massive cracking noises, with giant fissures extending from bottom to top.

As if an invisible axe shattered the wood stumps.

Rumblings...

Massive tree trunks and branches collapsed, falling to the ground, throwing up clouds of dust.

Before long, the Mother Tree completely crumbled.

As the dust dispersed, only fragments of the shattered tree trunks and branches remained, all leaves already withered yellow.

No mother insect, no Celestial Calamity Envoy.

"Mother Tree and Celestial Calamity Envoy along with the mother insect perished together. For the Mother Tree!" A Grandmaster Tree-man shouted.

"For the Mother Tree!"

The Humanoid Alliance surged with momentum.

Beastmen followed their millennia-old survival tradition and were the first to flee.

When the Beastmen fled, the Sea Sirens followed suit.

Soldiers of the Humanoid Alliance who spoke Demon Language or Insect Race Tongue shouted one after another.

"Celestial Calamity Envoy is dead!"

"Celestial Calamity Envoy is dead."

A wind of fear and cowardice dispersed the remaining fighting spirit within the Celestial Calamity Army.

Initially, there was small-scale demon flight.

Then, massive swathes of demons fled.

Finally, the giant insects broke down and ran.

Thus, a massive, all-encompassing pursuit unfolded in the Tree-man World.

The Grandmasters, unrestrained, hunted Innate Demons.

The Innates, without reserve, hunted Qi Blood Demons.

Slaying the enemy was the grandest celebration feast.

The pursuit lasted until midday the next day when the Humanoid Alliance officially ceased their attack.

The Grandmasters gathered beneath the Mother Tree.

The Tree-men guarded the Mother Tree, preventing a single leaf from escaping.

The Grandmasters of various races looked on enviously but were helpless.

Zhou Leng seemed to have become incredibly noble, completely indifferent to the leaves and branches, only collecting the remaining dense Star Core, and returned to the human Grandmasters.

As he walked past, all the Grandmasters lowered their heads in salute.

The foremost Grandmaster King of the Ten Realms.

Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong looked at Zhou Leng, full of gratified expressions.

The child who used to hold Ma Xingkong’s urn has finally stepped onto the world stage.

He’s only one step away from reaching the summit.

Everyone exchanged pleasantries for a bit, explained the situations in various places, and reached a consensus.

The Tree-men suffered a miserable defeat, lost their Sacred Tree and a significant number of Demigods, and could no longer survive in the Tree-man World; they must either move to other worlds or migrate to hidden places.

Finally, Chen Shouhu asked in a low voice, "What happened to the Celestial Calamity Envoy, the Mother Insect, and the Sacred Tree?"

"All three perished together," Zhou Leng replied.

"Why did you suddenly ascend?"

"The Sacred Tree’s dying wish was for me to go," Zhou Leng said.

"You took quite long to come down, unless I’m mistaken, you were knocked out by the aftershock of the Divine Spirit, right? How are your injuries?"

"I’ve already recovered."

"Your body is really abnormal," Chen Shouhu said.

"After a while, let’s have a good match," Zhou Leng said.

Chen Shouhu’s face darkened, "Can you act like a human?"

"Do you want to spar now?"

"Oh no, I can’t..." said Chen Shouhu, clutching his chest and leaning toward Wang Boxiong.

Wang Boxiong shifted aside to avoid him.

Chen Shouhu sat on the ground, "I can’t, I’m seriously injured, quickly take me to the hospital."

Everyone found it both amusing and exasperating; among the human Grandmasters, only Chen Shouhu didn’t care about his Grandmaster dignity.

The battle was over, and everyone was chatting and laughing.

Wang Boxiong repeatedly instructed Zhou Leng to first go to Elephant Country and quickly prepare for the Martial Saint Battle Path.

Zhou Leng thought of the fragmented corpse of the Celestial Calamity Envoy and said, "I have some urgent business and may leave for a few days first. Let Xu Qingjin know that they don’t need to wait for me."

The quickest way to return to the Frost Giant Tree is to teleport from the Tree-man Base to the Demon Spirit World and then straight to Mammoth Town.

The Ice Snow Divine Sect has already established teleportation beacons in Mammoth Town and Mammoth Mountain for quick support to the Eight-toothed Mammoth tribe.

This matter should not be delayed, not even for a second.

Just as Zhou Leng was preparing to leave, the remaining Tree-men gathered around.

The Grandmaster Tree-men bowed in salute.

The Sky Beard, who had previously hosted Zhou Leng, said, "With the Sacred Tree God’s fall, the Demigod Gathering, our race has lost all support. We kindly ask you, esteemed Ancient Crown, to lead our race onto a new path."

"Me?" Zhou Leng had heard of the Ancient Crown, equivalent to the chief leader among Tree-men beneath the Sacred Tree.

"Yes, your cultivation a few days ago was actually the Ancient Crown’s ceremony."

Zhou Leng recalled the final divine command of the Celestial Calamity Envoy which he survived and the Sacred Tree’s last words.

"I can only remain on Blue Star for long periods."

"We will branch out a group to follow you and remain on Blue Star, keeping the Tree-men’s last roots. The remaining Tree-men will stay here and continue fighting."

Zhou Leng himself was the Deputy Sub-Minister of the Dragon Country United Front, though having no real internal power, he had a degree of autonomy for external cooperation.

Hence, he called Sky Beard aside for a soft conversation.

Sky Beard noted down Zhou Leng’s instructions.

Having prepared everything, Zhou Leng left the crowd and, using the powers of the Demon Spirit Master, teleported directly to the Tree-man Base.

From the Tree-man Base, he teleported to the Demon Spirit Base, and then directly to Mammoth Town.

Ignoring meeting Silver Lake Moon and other elves, he headed directly under the Frost Giant Tree.

It turned out that Huang surprisingly seemed like a human, sitting cross-legged on the ground, body upright, practicing breathing.

Only when close did Huang notice him, looking frightened, as if caught rummaging through a trash can by its owner.

Zhou Leng pretended not to notice, chatted with Huang for a little while, and Huang returned to being lively.

Zhou Leng lifted his head to gaze upon the Frost Giant Tree, sincerely saying, "Elder Tree, I have been under your care for many years, I am unworthy of reciprocating. Today, I discovered a great treasure, thought deeply, and in this whole world, only your esteemed self is truly worthy, thus I offer it as a fertilizer. Please do not disdain it, and when the opportunity arises, I’ll let you try fertilizers from the Ten Realms."

Then, he dug beside the tree roots, burying the blood drops, fragmented flesh, bone fragments, and blood-stained Sacred Tree branches left by the Celestial Calamity Envoy into a deep pit.

Covering the soil, he stomped to firm it down, restoring everything back to normal.

Throughout the process, Huang looked on in puzzlement, blinking repeatedly.

After finishing everything, Zhou Leng casually retrieved a large branch from the Sacred Tree, on which green leaves grew, different from the later withered yellow ones.

Even with just a few branches, they covered the ground.

Huang lightly sniffed the scent of the Sacred Tree’s branches and leaves, his dog eyes widened in surprise, tilting his head, then appeared frightened, constantly pawing at Zhou Leng, looking around.

Zhou Leng patted Huang’s head, saying, "These Sacred Tree branches will serve as your dog house. I’ll get you a bigger Magic Spirit Bag, and later, I’ll give some to Xiaoba."

Saying this, he placed a new large Magic Spirit Bag on Huang’s neck.

Huang pointed at the large Sacred Tree branches, then pointed at himself, going back and forth, his dog eyes widened.

"They’re truly for you."

Huang pointed at Zhou Leng.

"I still have more."

Huang looked around.

"Don’t worry, the Sacred Tree is gone; these are the last ones I’ve collected, there’s plenty. Think about it, the Sacred Tree was so large that these are insignificant compared to the dog hair on your body." Zhou Leng gently stroked Huang’s fur.

Huang grinned, jumped onto the thick dog house made from Sacred Tree branches, bouncing around and rolling over.

Zhou Leng looked at the dog house made of tree branches, the life essence was so rich, far beyond any Tree of Life.

After all, this was the Sacred Tree, and the difference with the Tree of Life was greater than that between the Tree of Life and ordinary trees.

After battling with the Celestial Calamity Envoy, his superficial injuries had healed, but hidden wounds remained unresolved.

Even a sliver of the Void God’s power isn’t something that can be easily dispelled.

This was also the second reason for quickly returning to the Frost Giant Tree.

Zhou Leng leaned against the Frost Giant Tree, meditating with Great Sun Divine Skill.

He didn’t use the star energy stored within the Solar Shield Disk initially, relying solely on the Tree-man Divine Techniques to absorb external power and convert it into star energy.

The Great Sun Divine Skill already integrated the Divine Spirit’s traces and Saint Zhao’s insights, granting Martial Saint level power.

Coupled with the Undying Star Body and the Tree-man’s Divine Techniques, whenever activated, the light within several hundred meters would faintly distort.