Martial arts ascend to the gods

Chapter 474 Half Sword
"I've never seen these pictures before, but they look familiar..."

Zhou Leng recalled seeing it in the Divine Tower of the Demon Spirit World.

He took out the Tower Book and quickly collected relevant information about the Demon Spirit World. Soon, he discovered bamboo and wood divine scripts that were hundreds of times more abundant than those on Earth.

Unfortunately, according to regulations, this content cannot be disclosed to outsiders. To publish it, one needs to apply for permission and also needs to consume points.

Zhou Leng combined the different bamboo and wood divine inscriptions and quickly gained a more complete understanding.

Unlike the jade and stone divine inscriptions that mainly record martial arts, these bamboo and wood divine inscriptions record more history, politics, figures, laws, religion, life, and cosmology.

Because of the high level of divine script, these contents were not as profound as martial arts divine script, and at first, I was able to understand them quickly.

The more I looked, the more engrossed I became.

However, obstacles arose when we tried to understand the matter further.

The characters are recognizable, but the specific content is difficult to understand, which is the exact opposite of the ancient river sect's divine script.

Much of the content is knowledge from advanced civilizations, and it's completely different from everything in the Ten Realms Civilization.

It's roughly equivalent to talking about drones and smartphones to people from the Three Kingdoms period thousands of years ago. Without a detailed explanation, they might never be able to guess what they actually look like.

The bamboo and wood divine text contains concepts such as "complete brain," "fourth brain domain," "spiritual brain," "primary body," and "higher body." Based on the context, I can barely understand some of them, but not much.

Subsequently, Zhou Leng sent a request to Shenta, asking to translate and disseminate the information.

The Tower Book and the Tower Spirit are always connected to the Divine Tower, unrestricted by space.

Within minutes, the Divine Tower replied, allowing translation and sharing with the Humanoid Alliance.

So Zhou Leng translated all the way back to the Frost Tree in Rucheng and continued translating.

The body's flesh and blood are still developing and not suitable for strenuous exercise.

So, after spending some time under the Frost Tree, he went to soak in Mammoth Lake and continued translating the divine text.

For three days, aside from eating and sleeping, they spent all their time translating the divine text.

Through continuous translation and understanding, coupled with basic knowledge of theological texts, I gradually came to understand some new concepts and knowledge.

The shock was no less than that of ancient barbarians seeing the prosperous world of the Tang and Song dynasties, or that of ordinary people in the Qing dynasty coming to a modern metropolis.

Some of these contents would be considered astonishing if placed in a primitive civilization or on Earth.

Although much of the content is difficult to understand accurately, fortunately, the divine script, like the script of the Dragon Kingdom, has ideographic characteristics, unlike the alphabetic script which cannot express meaning.

So even if you can't understand it precisely, you can still get a general idea.

It took three days to translate, and another three days to understand and proofread.

Afterwards, it was released in the Demon World and the Dragon Kingdom respectively, using Demon Language and Dragon Kingdom Language.

The content caused a stir in the theological community as soon as it was released.

A few days later, things developed as expected, and some theologians began to study these bamboo and wooden inscriptions.

Zhou Leng received a message from Zhao Nandi.

"Old Song has made new progress? He even communicated with the Demon Spirit World. He truly deserves to be called a master among masters."

"Don't just focus on martial arts. Take some time to learn the new bamboo and wood divine script. It will broaden your horizons and help with your cultivation."

"The new content can only be described as explosive. The morality, rationality, and wisdom of advanced civilizations completely surpass those of rudimentary civilizations, to the point that we cannot comprehend them. We are like primitive people, unable to understand airplanes, nor can we understand judicial fairness... well, even primitive people can understand it, but..."

"If you have time, publish more papers, study more divine texts, and strive to become the youngest expert on divine texts!"

"Xu Qingjin often asks me for help with divine script, but you, on the other hand, almost never ask me to learn anything..."

"You must not neglect the divine scripture. Sharpening your axe won't delay your woodcutting work, and it won't hinder your martial arts..."

Zhou Leng received the message while on the bus. He glanced at it and then put it away.

When the bus arrived at the station, Zhou Leng and Li Linhan got off together and walked towards a villa.

"You're too tight-lipped. If San'er hadn't let it slip, I wouldn't have known you'd reached the Innate Realm." Li Linhan's face was flushed, and his back was straight. He seemed even happier than if his own son had advanced to the Innate Realm.

"I was thinking of waiting a little longer."

"You're not wrong either. After all, there were people watching back then, but that shouldn't be the case now."

"Hmm." Zhou Leng didn't say much, afraid that he would worry.

"How many years has it been since you last saw the old platoon leader? Five years, right?"

"More or less. The last time I saw Uncle Zhao was in the third year of junior high school."

“When we ate together before, he would always ask about you. I was so happy this time that I mentioned it in the comrades' group chat. After he saw it, he insisted that you come to his house for a gathering. A whole bunch of us old men have been waiting for you.”

Although Zhou Leng didn't want to go, they were all his father's old comrades-in-arms, and even knew his mother and uncle. So he could only say, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. You don't need to worry about me next time. I'll come to you when I get back."

"You're taking the initiative? You're always nowhere to be seen, I haven't seen you for months. I know you don't like socializing, but once we've had enough of talking, I'll take you away."

“No need, I’m currently recuperating and haven’t been cultivating much,” Zhou Leng said.

"That's perfect. But I bet the old platoon leader will do what he always does, pulling you aside to brag about his glorious achievements back then, especially about that broken sword."

"Huh? After all these years, he's still bragging? I've met him four times, and each time he dragged me along to brag about Zhao Sheng's Broken Sword."

"How could he not brag? It's a demonized sword bestowed by Emperor Zhao Shengqin. Once this thing appears, even a high-ranking official has to treat it with utmost respect. If I had one, I could brag about it for the rest of my life."

Zhou Leng followed Li Linhan into Zhao Lianshuo's house.

Zhao Lianshuo is born with a natural talent and lives in a villa community.

In the living room on the first floor, there were two tables where some middle-aged people were already sitting, chatting loudly and laughing loudly from time to time.

As soon as Zhou Leng and Li Linhan entered, everyone stood up, smiled at the two of them, and scrutinized Zhou Leng more closely.

Zhou Leng looked over and recognized most of them, only a few he didn't know.

Fan Haoshan and Wan Xingde helped out in the boxing match last year, having met many times since childhood.

Zhao Lianshuo was a middle-aged man with half-gray hair, tall and with a prosthetic left leg. He walked over quickly, took Zhou Leng's hand, and introduced him to everyone.

"This is Xiaomin's child... born with a special talent... I saw something in this kid back then... Hmm?"

Zhao Lianshuo, like an ordinary old man, praised Zhou Leng repeatedly, and the others smiled and nodded, happy for the child of their fallen comrade to be promoted to the Innate Realm.

However, Zhao Lianshuo was, after all, a master of innate skill. Even if he remained at the initial True Liquid stage for his entire life, he would still be very experienced.

He was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly turned to look at Zhou Leng and observed him closely.

The others were stunned, looking at Zhao Lianshuo with confusion.

Zhao Lianshuo stared at him for a while before asking, "Are you a sophomore?"

"Yes."

"Just twenty?"

"Yes."

"Good! Good! Good! I've raised a fine son. Come, sit next to me today! Let's drink until we drop!"

The group were all veterans and guessed what Zhao Lianshuo had discovered, but they didn't know exactly what it was.

Only Li Linhan vaguely understood that Zhao Lianshuo must have discovered that Zhou Leng was stronger than he had imagined, and not just an ordinary innate cultivator. His son, Li Yuanhe, was far less talented than Zhou Leng, yet he had already advanced to the True Liquid stage; Zhou Leng's realm must be even higher.

Some veterans looked at Zhou Leng and thought, "This kid is going to have a bright future."

Not only did he advance to the Innate Realm at such a young age, but he was also highly regarded by Zhao Lianshuo.

After Zhao Lianshuo was transferred to civilian work, he rose to the position of number two in Ruge District. Even now that he has retired to the second line, his influence in Rucheng is still enormous.

Every year during the Spring Festival, when No. 1 and No. 2 of Rucheng extend New Year's greetings to the veteran comrades, he is always included.

Every year during festivals, the Zhao family of Xiongjing would never forget to send a gift. Previously, when Zhao Tong and Zhao He came to Rucheng, they made a special trip to visit Zhao Lianshuo and pay homage to their grandfather's relic, the Zhao Sheng Broken Sword.

At that time, as long as Zhao Lianshuo says a few nice words, Zhou Leng will surely rise to prominence.

After all, Zhao Lianshuo not only shared the same surname as Zhao, but also helped Zhao Sheng resolve a crisis back then because he was familiar with the terrain of Jiangnan.

After everyone was seated, it was just like most gatherings of old friends.

Let me just talk about food and drinks.

After drinking for a while, we started talking about the people and events from back then.

In the past, when we talked about it, my eyes would often well up with tears. But as I've gotten older, I still feel nostalgic and sentimental, but I've become more indifferent to many things.

As they got into the conversation, they sang military songs together. Zhou Leng had heard them since he was a child and could sing a few lines along.

After singing military songs, we chatted and chatted until now.

Then they started talking about how great we were back then, and how outrageous we are now...

After saying almost everything, several veterans familiar with Zhao Lianshuo started to egg him on, and it was time for their usual routine.

The others burst into laughter.

Zhao Lianshuo didn't mind his friends' teasing. He stood up with a smile and said, "Wait here, I'll go get it right away."

A short while later, Zhao Lianshuo returned carrying a semi-transparent display box.

Inside the display case, a demonized broken sword lies horizontally on a yellow silk ribbon.

Without anyone saying a word, Zhao Lianshuo smiled and repeated the story countless times.

"You know, but Xiao Zhou might not know, I was talking to him..."

"Back in the day, I wasn't good at much else, but I was amazing at memorizing topographical maps..."

"Hey, I didn't expect it to actually come in handy, and it helped Zhao Sheng a lot..."

"Zhao Sheng saw that I was clever, so he transferred me to his side..."

"He was so kind and approachable, without any of that haughty air about him..."

“Deep down, he felt that we were just like him, lacking any arrogance whatsoever…”

"So, all of us who followed Zhao Sheng have picked up his temper. No matter how tall or big you are, even Zhao Sheng treats us like brothers, so who the hell do you think you are?"

"If I were really willing to scheme, with the Zhao family connections, would I only be the number two in the district? I'm just following Zhao Sheng's teachings. There are some things we can't do, and we don't want to do!"

"Back then, Ma Xingkong was Zhou Leng's uncle. What a good person he was, a top student from Yunhua. How did the Shuizhou Gang do this to him? I knew I couldn't speak up back then, because if I did, people would hold a grudge."

"But I'm Zhao Sheng's soldier, who do you think you are? I stood up and spoke up at the meeting, and hey, I haven't been promoted since. But I don't regret it at all!"

"Right, where was I? Right, right, I haven't told you about the origin of the broken sword yet."

"That day we were chatting with Zhao Sheng, and as we talked, we got onto the topic of demonized weapons."

"Those days were much tougher than now, and demonized weapons were treasures."

"Zhao Sheng asked me why I didn't have a demonized weapon. I said I couldn't afford it, and I exchanged all my battle merits for pills."

"He remembered my kindness, saying that someone as brave as me couldn't do without a demonized weapon; someone who can't bleed can't even afford a weapon. Then he turned around and looked..."

"Guess what? Zhao Sheng wasn't using weapons anymore, and neither was he, hahahahaha..."

"Just then, he caught a glimpse of the broken sword out of the corner of his eye."

“Let me tell you, this broken sword is of great significance to him.”

"This was a trophy he acquired when he was in his innate form. Later, in a very important battle, he used this sword to kill a powerful demon, but the sword broke in the process. To commemorate that battle, he kept the broken sword with him."

"He didn't have any enchanted weapons on hand, and he was too embarrassed to give me someone else's, so he took off this broken sword and gave it to me."

“He told me that what he had, I should have too. If I didn’t have it, then he should give me half. He left half of this sword on the battlefield, and the other half was for me.”

"At that moment, I was so moved that tears streamed down my face, you wouldn't believe it..."

"He truly cared about me, truly cared about us..."

“He wasn’t just dividing up a sword; he was treating me like a human being.”

“They always say this is an imperial edict, but I never say that! This half of it is for me, and also for all of us.”

"Tell me, if I took Zhao Sheng's sword and then return this or that, would I still be considered a human being?"

……

Zhao Lianshuo became more and more excited as he spoke, and started to ramble on and on, mentioning things that Zhou Leng had never heard of before.

I didn't understand it back then.

I understand now.

Finally, Zhao Lianshuo said, "You should educate your children well. Whoever becomes successful in the future, I will give this sword to them! I will never leave it to my children, just as Zhao Sheng did not leave this sword in the Zhao Palace."

"You must make sure your children remember that we are human beings, we are Zhao Sheng's soldiers, and we are different from them!"

Zhao Lianshuo talked for a while, and then, as usual, he talked about some interesting private matters concerning Zhao Sheng, and the atmosphere gradually eased.

Then, everyone started drinking, singing, and chatting.

Late into the night, Zhao Lianshuo got completely drunk and started crying for no apparent reason. He was taken upstairs to his bedroom by the others.

He held onto the broken sword tightly, refusing to let go.

After everyone finished tidying up the living room, they left one after another.

Leaving Zhao Lianshuo's house, Li Linhan was even more excited because Li Yuanhe and Zhou Leng had both advanced to the Innate Realm and had made a name for themselves in front of their old comrades. This was the happiest thing for him in recent years.

He was frugal his whole life and couldn't bear to take a taxi. Since the last bus had stopped running, he walked and chatted with Zhou Leng.

"Don't let the old platoon leader's boasting fool you; he's truly capable. He's honest and upright, otherwise, why would we bother coming to his house for a gathering..."

"Back then..."

At the dinner table, Li Linhan was slightly more restrained than usual, afraid that people would say something about how his two children would become congenital.

Once they reached a secluded spot, he set aside his worries and, just like any other ordinary elder, reminisced about the old days.

Zhou Leng didn't like these things when he was a child, but as he went to the battlefield more and more, he gradually accepted those words.

After spending a night at home, Zhou Leng declined all invitations and returned to the Beast World to recuperate and begin moderate-intensity training.

(End of this chapter)