Martial Ascent to Divinity

Zhou Leng had a dream.

He dreamed that he became a small shriveled star, at first just cosmic dust, later muddling along into an asteroid, and then into a planet.

In the end, during a great upheaval of the universe, he muddleheadedly became a star.

After that, he drifted slowly through the universe.

He drifted for so, so long that eventually, aside from the boundless starry sky, there was nothing else.

A long time later, Zhou Leng lay atop Dragon Slaying Mountain and slowly opened his eyes.

His gaze was indifferent, like an ancient well without ripples.

Only after quite a while did a hint of color appear in his eyes, slowly returning.

He blinked once, a flash of light passed, and Zhou Leng’s consciousness returned.

He took a deep breath and got up.

His expression was still wooden, but at least there was finally a bit of human warmth.

Sitting on the ground, stars shuttled through his mind; empty, desolate, prolonged, lonely—various hard‑to‑describe feelings circled above his heart, lingering for a long time.

As the memories of his life surged up to replace the starry‑sky memories, Zhou Leng finally recovered completely.

Oh, so I’m not a star—I’m an Ascendant of the Stars. I must calm the seas and eradicate Demons, I must climb the starry sky.

Zhou Leng exhaled heavily, slowly stood up, and began to move his body bit by bit.

Within his senses, he had obtained a new Divine Technique: Great Star Patrol.

He lifted his head and looked again at the myriad stars overhead, and inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity.

It was like, after you’ve grown up, walking along the roadside and suddenly seeing a line of students hopping and skipping, each one resembling a playmate or classmate from your past.

A hundred flavors welled up, and turned into a slight lift at the corner of his lips.

He looked toward the summit of Dragon Slaying Mountain.

At this moment, more than a hundred figures were standing there.

Mostly Giants, with a very small number of Alien Races mixed in.

The Celestial Light Giants, Black Sky Giants, Radiant Lions and the others from before were all there.

None of the Giants he had known earlier had managed to stand here.

Zhou Leng felt a bit of regret in his heart and turned his head to look down the mountain.

He couldn’t see anything; perhaps, they had already failed and left.

The Giant Race had more than ten thousand branches, but the ones truly remembered by all races of the universe were only the Hundred Giant Clans.

The highly ranked Insect Giants, listed in the top twenty of the Hundred Giant Clans, ultimately still hadn’t made it here.

Every one of those present had the qualifications for Ascension to Divinity.

Of the Hundred Giant Clans, the first‑ranked Celestial Light Giants had more than thirty in attendance here.

Among them, one Celestial Light Giant with fair skin and a body seemingly shrouded in violet aurora was grinning as he held up a World Instrument, walking to different Giants to add them as friends.

That World Instrument was like a Celestial Instrument, with its rings slowly turning.

Walking up to Zhou Leng, the Celestial Light Giant smiled and said, "You’re Zhoutian Jihan, right? I’m High Sky Wall. You’re already a bit famous on the Ancient Star Bridge, and I didn’t expect you to make it here. I heard from a friend that at the start, a hundred beams of light flashed at once—that was your aura?"

Zhou Leng nodded lightly.

"Impressive! Let’s add each other as friends. If we meet in cross‑Celestial Region trials in the future, or enter the same Giant Trial, we should try to fight side by side. Giants don’t fight Giants."

Zhou Leng took out his own World Instrument, and the two World Instruments lightly touched, adding each other as friends.

In the distance, some alien star races kept glancing at Zhou Leng. A Celestial Light Giant adding other Giants made sense, but to also add this human as a friend—could it be that the Celestial Light Clan had sensed something extraordinary about this person?

As the first of the Hundred Giant Clans, the Celestial Light Giants were among the top great powers in the universe.

After that, several other outgoing Giants came over as well, using their World Instruments to add Zhou Leng as a friend.

Zhou Leng walked to a vacant spot, sat down, began Cultivation, and sensed his body.

As soon as he operated the Great Sun Divine Skill, a vast amount of Star Power descended from the heavens, forming a brilliant waterfall of starlight that poured down over his head.

Some Trial Takers in the distance saw this and nodded slightly. A flow of Star Power on this level was indeed rare; among those present, aside from those with Divine Son bloodlines, no one should be able to stir up such a quantity of Star Power.

The first thing Zhou Leng felt was heaviness.

The Ascending Star Stone he carried at the beginning had not only been a test of Power, but also a way of tempering the body through Cultivation.

Every part of his body was reforged, and his body density increased once again.

Yet Demigods already possessed the ability to control their weight; otherwise, if they fell toward Earth uncontrollably, they could directly crash into the deep underground, heading straight for the core.

Not long after, Zhou Leng heard the voice of the Starry Giant.

Those who have completed the trial may leave.

With Blue Star on his mind, Zhou Leng chose to leave.

A pillar of light descended and enveloped his body.

An intense vertigo spread through him; only Divine Spirits could remain unaffected by ultra‑macroscopic, starry‑sky teleportation.

Colored lights flickered before his eyes and space twisted.

He didn’t know how long had passed when an overwhelming gravity pressed down on him, and in the next instant, heavenly radiance flashed.

Zhou Leng stood steadily on a vast plaza—this was the Giant World he had come from.

Crack...

The ground collapsed, and within a ten‑meter radius the paving fractured in unison; the stones and soil beneath slowly floated up.

The fragments and earth formed a ring, hovering in the air, revolving around Zhou Leng.

"Lord Frost Giant King, you have returned." The guarding Giant hurriedly greeted him.

"Mm." Zhou Leng looked up at the Ascension to Divinity steps high in the sky.

When he had left, only the first three layers of the Ascension Divinity Ladder had been open.

Now, the fourth layer of the Ascension Divinity Ladder had opened.

It was packed with dense ranks of Demigods.

"Has the fourth layer of the Ascension Divinity Ladder been open for a long time?" Zhou Leng’s expression was calm.

"Yes."

"I won’t return to the Giant Royal Court. I’m going back to Blue Star to take part in the Ascension Divinity Ladder."

"You..."

Boom!

Zhou Leng shot up into the sky, flying straight toward the inter‑world passage.

He wasn’t sprinting—he was flying.

At this moment, he already possessed full‑environment flight capability.

On the ground, countless Giants raised their heads to look.

High above, one after another, enormous white shockwaves slowly spread out, multiplying in the azure sky.

Some Demon Spirit Masters in the Giant World hurriedly calculated his speed.

"Not even going all out, and it’s at least seventy times the speed of sound..."

"An ordinary Middle-Rank Demigod, even going all out, can only manage about Mach 50."

Several Demigod Giants sensed Zhou Leng’s speed and quietly let out a breath of relief.

Fortunately, they had snatched Zhou Leng back from the treacherous Giant Dragon; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Zhou Leng passed through Shuizhou Demon City and plunged into Blue Star.

The noon sunlight bathed the land; heaven and earth were bright and vivid.

Feeling the long‑missed rays of the sun, Zhou Leng’s body and mind relaxed.

He didn’t check the dense flood of messages; first, he reported his safety to Xu Qingjin, then lifted his head to look at the Ascension Divinity Ladder.

His body turned into a point of starlight and shot straight up the Ascension Divinity Ladder.

At the same time, news of Zhou Leng’s return to the Giant World spread throughout the Ten Realms.

Now, he was someone all races in the Ten Realms were paying close attention to.

When the Demigods of the Demon Alliance learned of this, they all wore smiles.

Because the Minor Achievement Ninth Heaven of the fourth layer of the Ascension Divinity Ladder was about to end, and even if Zhou Leng were given ten more days, it would still be absolutely impossible for him to traverse the Minor Achievement Ninth Heaven.

The difficulty of the Minor Achievement Ninth Heaven far exceeded imagination.

If one only completed the lowest level of difficulty, the growth would be limited.

If he wanted to fight for a "Super Ascension" rating, it was absolutely impossible—there was no time.

After all, the Minor Achievement Ninth Heaven had been open for more than half a year.

The major powers of the Humanoid Alliance all expressed regret.

The human Martial Saints in particular sent messages to comfort Zhou Leng one after another.

Zhu Shiji said, "You stayed on the Vast Ancient Road the longest, far exceeding the other Giants, which means your gains were the greatest. That was a universe‑level trial; the fourth layer of the Ascension Divinity Ladder is just a Ten Realms trial—its value to you isn’t that great."

Lin Yingshun said, "For us, the Ascension Divinity Ladder is extremely significant, but for you, it probably doesn’t mean much."