Chapter 89: Chapter 82: Legacy
Zhou Leng quickly made a judgment in his mind.
"In words often used on the forums, those seven people should all be the ’Fifty Million Body’, having consumed no less than fifty million pills and received guidance from renowned teachers."
"Students who have only spent a few million on pills aren’t this strong."
"These seven should have been carefully calculated and planned by their parents. They couldn’t gain much in the Top Ten Martial Arts, so they settled for competing in the Top Hundred."
"After all, the resources of the first position from Ruda, if managed well, far exceed the average level of West Sea Martial Arts Academy."
Students from the eighteen schools rushed forward like a migrating herd of zebras.
In the distance from the fifty thousand students, military vehicles sped along, drones hovered, forming a massive encirclement strictly controlling all Demons.
The journey of several dozen kilometers was too simple for the students of the first squad.
When Zhou Leng and others arrived at the Red Spot Forest, the drone’s voice again echoed.
"The first round is not yet over, keep running. Penetrate one hundred kilometers; there will be your battlefield."
Zhou Leng and the other students kept running.
Another two hours passed, they entered deep into Demon City, and the drone voice was heard again.
"Very well, stop for rest and meals, then proceed to the second exam."
Students from the rear gradually arrived.
Shuizhou base welcomed a fleet.
Almost all officers of the Seventh Division went to greet them.
Zhao Tong, dressed in a white evening gown, stepped off the car with a smile, glanced over the crowd, and after exchanging pleasantries, asked, "Is Brother Chen Shouhu not here?"
"He’s tasked with protecting fifty thousand examinees."
"What a pity. We..."
Just as Zhao Tong spoke, the ground shook.
Six Innate Masters skimmed the ground, rushed around Zhao Tong, encircling him.
Each of them emitted a faint white glow, Innate Gang Qi.
The crowd looked around, then exchanged glances, not knowing what happened.
"World collision, Spiritual Energy Tide." Zhao Tong gazed at the sky with a slight smile.
"Indeed, Zhao’s Third Young Master is the best among people, with auspicious signs upon arriving at Demon City," said one person cheerfully.
The crowd nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, darkness fell upon the world.
All of Shuizhou Demon City turned from day to night sky.
The night sky tore open, and a long strip emitting white light descended from the high sky.
The white light strip resembled a layer of steps.
Upon closer inspection, within the white light, the step body was colorless and transparent.
Within the steps, the Milky Way streamed, stars arrayed.
It felt like a universe.
"Celestial Ladder..."
Everyone’s breath quickened, tightly fixed on the Celestial Ladder.
Commander Chen Changyi immediately issued orders to the entire army to prepare for the highest level of combat readiness, then reported separately to the Sea Suppression Army headquarters and Demon City Military Headquarters.
Zhao Tong smiled, and said, "Heaven helps me."
The leaders of the Seventh Division sighed inwardly, with Zhao’s Third Young Master present, none of those present could contend for the Celestial Ladder.
Chen Shouhu barely stood a chance.
Meanwhile, in the monitoring room.
Everyone stood, staring at the densely clustered red dots on the screen.
The duty lieutenant hurriedly picked up the red telephone and reported with a dry voice.
"Report, countless Demons are invading, scale not less than a million..."
Suddenly, the Celestial Ladder burst into brilliance, covering vast areas of the Demon City.
Then, the light quickly converged into a hemispherical light shield, covering parts of the Demon City, forming an isolated area with a diameter of several hundred kilometers.
The crowd looked at the massive distant light shield, silently.
Soon, reports from various directions came in.
"Report to the commander!"
"A large number of Demons invaded."
"All examinees from the eighteen schools were sucked away by the white light, presumably entering the light shield."
"There are also some young people from the military affected."
"Everyone from Early and Middle Blood Transporting Period was absorbed."
"Most of the Late Blood Transporting Period students remain, only a few absorbed."
"Not only were students absorbed, but many Demons too."
"Like the examinees, only lower-rank Demons were absorbed, higher realm Demons remained outside."
"Some foreign Pioneer Teams were among them, including a new team from Hafu Martial Arts Academy."
Soon, videos were distributed to everyone’s hands, and they lowered their heads to watch.
In the videos, invisible suction appeared in the sky, pulling countless people or Demons into the air, disappearing without a trace.
Nearby generals occasionally whispered.
"Seems like it seals the Celestial Ladder, specifically targeting Blood Transporting Period kids."
"We have no chance then."
"Just one layer of Celestial Ladder, doesn’t impact the situation much, likely no forces will dispatch troops."
"Pity, still don’t know the type of Celestial Ladder."
"Hope those kids stay safe; over fifty thousand Martial Arts Seeds..."
Chen Changyi turned and said, "Zhao’s Third Young Master, military duties call, I won’t accompany you."
"General Chen, as you wish, military tasks are pressing."
"Let’s go." Chen Changyi led the leaders to turn and leave.
Zhao Tong frowned, retinal screens from the Advanced Demon Brain projected, displaying new messages.
After contemplating for a while, Zhao Tong said, "Before the Celestial Ladder is resolved, we’ll stay at Shuizhou base."
An Innate elder said, "Young Master, with our strength, we’re capable of traversing Shuizhou Demon City."
"I dare not disobey my mother’s words. Besides, I’ve received information... forget it, let’s just observe first."
"Understood."
Inside the Celestial Ladder light shield.
Zhou Leng, dizzy, slowly got up and gazed around.
The forest was dense, wild grass thrived, without sight of any Demons.
Zhou Leng breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the sky.
A massive white light shield covered the world, Celestial Ladder hung high.
"Celestial Ladder..."
Zhou Leng’s mind was filled with complexity.
Celestial Ladder is a wonderful thing, thrilling.
But for the Qi Blood Realm, the Celestial Ladder is also highly toxic.
This time, how many will die?
Suddenly, the Celestial Ladder emitted a streak of white light, illuminating the heavens and earth.
The white light enveloped Zhou Leng, and he immediately received dense information, which was translated into Chinese.
Zhou Leng was stunned for a moment, as if seeing some Divine Texts floating before him.
This kind of information is Divine Technique communication.
It’s not in the form of text or language but rather brainwaves or thoughts.
This communication formed a peculiar feeling within Zhou Leng.
It’s like a person on an isolated island, reading a book, having learned Chinese characters all his life but never spoken or pronounced them.
Now, suddenly, someone appears, points at the words in the book, reads them one by one, accurately and clearly, and translates them into an understandable language.
Some incomprehensible parts of the Divine Text suddenly became clear, mastered without a teacher.
The most important aspect of language learning, daily use, was supplemented by this Divine Technique communication.
Two Divine Texts spun rapidly in his brain.
Zhou Leng simplified the Divine Technique communication into Chinese, recording it in the Demonized Watch.
"This layer of the Celestial Ladder is a Legacy Ladder."
"Within the range of the Celestial Ladder, there are three ’Inheritance Grounds’: the Book of Spirituality, the Moonlight Shadow Wall, and the Land of Extreme Cold, each with different legacy content."
"Each Inheritance Ground has a corresponding Spiritual Light."
"You must obtain the corresponding Inheritance Spiritual Light to connect to the Inheritance Ground and undergo the trials and inheritance."
"Within a radius of one kilometer from the Inheritance Ground, no action is allowed; violators will be executed."
"Outside the aperture of the Inheritance Ground, the Inheritance Spiritual Light can be freely seized."
"If no one completes the inheritance by the deadline, the Celestial Ladder will depart."
"This Celestial Ladder is for exclusive inheritance and must not be disclosed to non-inheritors."
"Only those who obtain all three types of inheritance can retain the Celestial Ladder in their own world."
"This time, the Celestial Ladder will slowly develop a new Inheritance Ground, which will then manifest and belong to a world."
Zhou Leng took a deep breath.
The Legacy Celestial Ladder is one of the most valuable Celestial Ladders, perhaps even unparalleled.
Though exclusive inheritance has little effect on the race, the Inheritance Ground formed thereafter is immensely significant.
Across the entire Human Race, only two known Inheritance Grounds exist, allegedly enterable only by Grandmasters and Martial Saints, and their legacy remains unknown.
Among the four National Divine Techniques of Dragon Country, there’s one called "Inheritance Continuation."
It can enhance all the nature powers of legacy, culture, civilization, etc.
If I truly obtain one of the inheritances, the effects will be stronger than for people from other countries.
"This is probably my most valuable opportunity in the next decade or even my lifetime, and I must not miss it!"
Thinking this in his heart, Zhou Leng gently twisted his neck and moved his wrists.
Zhou Leng looked around and then took out a map to deduce his direction.
After confirming his general location, Zhou Leng ran towards the center of the light shield.
Since the whereabouts of the Inheritance Ground and Inheritance Spiritual Light are unclear, he decided to start exploring from the center.
Zhou Leng carried his large backpack and began to run.
After only running for three minutes, Zhou Leng suddenly stopped, looking towards a patch of grass.
A familiar feeling.
"Come out, I can see you."
There was no change.
Zhou Leng slowly moved forward.
Since it’s a Celestial Ladder legacy, there shouldn’t be overly strong Demons here.
With my current strength, even if I encounter a Demon in the late Blood Transporting Period, I can escape.
A blue-black figure leaped forward.
Blue-backed Demon Wolf.
Two months ago, Zhou Leng had a solo battle that ended in failure.
Battle intent surged in Zhou Leng’s eyes, he dropped his backpack, and charged towards the Blue-backed Demon Wolf.
His feet stomped on the ground, dirt flew everywhere, and the fierce wind split the grass.
The Blue-backed Demon Wolf snapped at Zhou Leng from above, while Zhou Leng slightly lowered his body, his right palm rising from below, ascending towards the sky.
Storm Assaulting Heaven.
His arm shot upward like a dragon ascending to the heavens.
His right palm was surrounded by purple patterns, precisely hitting the demon wolf’s throat.
Bang!
"Aow..."
The demon wolf let out a sound like a whimpering dog, flying backward and crashing onto the ground.
Zhou Leng walked over and looked down, seeing the demon wolf’s neck broken.
Killed with one palm.
"Too slow."
Zhou Leng marked it with a War Merit Token and continued running.
Along the way, he frequently encountered various magical beasts, and even lower-rank demons.
No matter how fierce the opponent, they couldn’t withstand ten moves in front of Zhou Leng.
Demons and beasts in the middle period or lower of the Blood Transporting Period were no match under ’Qi Follows Body Movement’.
At the Great Martial Arts Hall, Hall Master Room.
A group of instructors, usually wearing stern faces, sat one by one on small stools, with their backs facing Wang Boxiong’s office desk, looking at the projection screen.
In the projection, it was supposed to show the rank of all War Merit Tokens.
But now, it’s blank.
"Hall Master, since the Celestial Ladder appeared, if something happened, would the joint test be terminated?"
Wang Boxiong behind the office desk remained silent.
The instructors were used to Wang Boxiong not speaking and chatted among themselves.
"Let’s see what happens, but since it’s a closed layer of the Celestial Ladder, neither side will act."
"But this time, the appearance of the Demon Purgatory Army is strange; are they here for the Celestial Ladder or for another reason?"
"Who knows? However, most demons appearing this time are low tier, so they won’t pull our forces."
"It’s a pity for those kids."
"Is communication still not possible?"
"The communication car, communication drone, and communication airship are all ready, but they were isolated by the Celestial Ladder’s power."
"I guess we’ll have to wait for the Celestial Ladder test to conclude to see the rankings."
Suddenly, the projection screen in front flashed frequently, and dense rankings appeared.
The rankings kept changing.