Martial arts ascend to the gods

Chapter 493 Regret
Just as Zhou Leng was about to step into the entrance of the Great Battlefield, he noticed a new message notification on his Demonic Wristwatch out of the corner of his eye. He had already taken a step forward and didn't look at the message.

Behind him, Xu Ming sent a message to Zhou Leng, smiled, and then entered the chat.

As the last person entered, the entrance to the great battlefield—the Giant's Royal Court, Dragon Mountain, and the Beast World—trembled simultaneously.

Three beams of divine light shot into the sky, breaking through the endless void and converging at a single point.

Divine light clashed, and heavenly splendor burst forth.

As the light faded, throughout the Ten Realms, one could see, looking up, that the three-tiered staircase floated in the center of the sky.

The staircase is shaped like a transparent, sparkling crystal and stretches for tens of thousands of meters.

Inside the Heavenly Staircase, stars swirled and shone brightly.

The three layers of starry sky steps are connected together, illuminating the ten realms.

Throughout the ten realms, all living beings look up to them.

Water Island Magic City.

For his victory in the Battle of Shuizhou, Chen Shouhu was promoted to Commander No. 1 of the Seventh Division.

He stood in the command post, looking up at the sky.

"The frequency of Heavenly Rank events has been increasing in the past two years. Could it be because of the final battle?"

"It seems the attempt to obtain the Heavenly Rank last time failed; hopefully this time..."

"Could it be that the target of the Heavenly Calamity Envoy is the Heavenly Rank?"

"It is said that even advanced civilizations attach great importance to the Heavenly Rank."

"Unfortunately, Zhou Leng was a bit too hasty. If he had been allowed two more years, and had reached the Great Innate Perfection stage again, he would have been a completely different person."

Rucheng, Wuwei Bureau.

Wang Boxiong took one last look at the curator's office and strode out of Rucheng Martial Arts University.

Today, he took office as the No. 1 of the Rucheng Armed Police Bureau.

The celestial steps suddenly appeared, and he looked up and gazed upwards.

"As long as we can get out safely, that's all that matters. Back then, we didn't gain much from inside, but even just being there was far better than what our peers who had never been there..."

Like a large classroom.

Xu Qingjin's gaze was unfocused.

She was worried about Zhou Leng, not knowing where he had gone, but many people had been looking for him a few days ago, so something serious must have happened.

On the other hand, he was worried about his mother, who had become more and more haggard since she was captured and rescued by the Demon Worship Cult.

She was rescued, but some of her relatives and friends never came back.

At Hu Yi's home.

Hu Yi prepared a meal for his father, watched his father staring blankly, silently finished eating, and went downstairs.

He looked up at the celestial staircase high in the sky, stared blankly for a moment, then realized it had nothing to do with him and continued working.

Lou family.

Lou Shanding sat behind his desk, calmly watching his son.

"We have just received news from the Dragon World that Zhou Leng has forged his bones with thunderous force and his flesh has become strong enough to form a dragon."

"I've never heard of it; it's probably just hearsay," Lou Feiqiong said.

Lou Shanding gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, before slowly regaining his composure.

He sighed dejectedly and said, "Sit down first."

Lou Feiqiong glanced at his father, whose temples were graying, and silently sat down, remembering his father's efforts over the years.

Lou Shanding looked at his son, smiled, and said, "I still remember when you were little, you were so well-behaved and sensible, so sensible that it broke my heart."

"But when you get stubborn, you're more stubborn than a donkey. Do you remember what happened in elementary school? One of your best friends offended the Xu family, and they framed your friend. You stood up for her and made that little princess of the Xu family lose face. The Xu family's matriarch is notoriously mean, and she actually disregarded her status and wanted to teach your friend a lesson. You stood in front of her, and things almost escalated. In the end, I took the initiative to go to the Xu family and had a long talk with them all night. I drank so much that I vomited, and that's how I resolved the matter."

"A master of innate skill vomited like that, I can't even remember how many cases of Moutai he drank."

"However, when I found out later that you had stayed up all night for me, it was all worth it."

Lou Shanding looked at Lou Feiqiong with loving eyes.

Lou Feiqiong's gaze softened, and he turned his head slightly away, not daring to look at his father.

Lou Shanding said slowly, "Ask yourself honestly, have I ever mistreated you?"

Lou Feiqiong remained silent for a long time before saying, "No."

"Did I do something to wrong you?"

"I never thought of that." Lou Feiqiong felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. A father saying such a thing made him feel ashamed.

Lou Shanding slowly said, "I've watched you grow up from childhood to adulthood. These past few days, I've thought about it over and over again, going over your affairs more than a dozen times. I still can't understand how you could have changed so much in just one year. What exactly happened that made you become so disloyal to the family for Zhou Leng, and even try to pull me down from the position of family head?"

Lou Feiqiong looked flustered and said, "Dad, I didn't mean that. I'm not interested in that position."

"Then I don't understand. This year, every move you've made has been a checkmate against my army and the Lou family's army, hasn't it?"

"I wouldn't dare," Lou Feiqiong said.

"Then why are you doing this?" Lou Shanding asked.

Lou Feiqiong lowered his head and remained silent.

Lou Shanding sighed deeply and said, "I've seen more of the world than you have. Your uncles are all shrewd people. They trusted you before and didn't interfere, so naturally they didn't know. Now, having received information and intelligence from various sources, they naturally understand everything. Today, let's speak frankly and openly, and explain everything from beginning to end, shall we?" Lou Feiqiong moved his lips but remained silent.

“I’m your father, would I harm you? Besides, things have come to this point, what can’t we talk about? Do we, father and son, really have to end up as enemies, with our blood ties severed?”

"I don't know what to say." Lou Feiqiong ultimately couldn't bring himself to do it.

Lou Shanding sighed softly and said, "Then tell me why you protected Zhou Leng. Explain it from beginning to end."

Lou Feiqiong remained silent for a long time, then his gaze shifted as if he were looking at an old painting, and he slowly began to speak.

“You just mentioned my childhood, so let’s start from when I was a child.”

"Most of my childhood memories are blurry, but there are a few that are very clear, and one of them is related to you."

"That day, I came up to you and asked you, 'What does the saying mean, "Your bodies and names will perish, but the rivers will flow on forever"?'"

“You led me to the world map.”

"You mean that some people are shameless scoundrels, while others are as sagacious as the sun and moon. Those shameless scoundrels always like to attack the sages who are as sagacious as the sun and moon. But in reality, as time goes by, the bodies and reputations of the shameless scoundrels disappear into the long river of history, while the great people they attack are like the mighty rivers on the earth, flowing eternally and remembered by mankind."

“You said back then that my son and I should work together to become an everlasting force in humankind, instead of shameless scoundrels.”

"So I secretly resolved to do as you said and strive for eternal flow."

"Now I want to ask, do you remember what happened that day?"

Lou Shanding tried hard to recall, and finally said, "I don't want to lie to you, but I really have forgotten about this."

"Yes, you forgot, but I remember." Lou Feiqiong seemed to have known the answer all along.

"And then?" Lou Shanding asked.

"Three months after that conversation, I stood up for my classmate who had been falsely accused."

The father and son looked at each other.

Lou Shanding was taken aback, while Lou Feiqiong continued his story.

"Unfortunately... as I grew older, I finally came to realize a fact."

"I am neither a shameless coward nor an eternal river; I am just an ordinary person somewhere in between."

“I will never become an eternal river, but I don’t want to be a shameless coward. Or rather, it is because of your education that I have drawn a bottom line for myself since I was a child: not to be a shameless coward.”

“You always encouraged me to read more books, especially history books. You said that history books contain everything and you can learn everything from them.”

"I will do as you said and study history carefully."

"I heard that when you read history books, you see political intrigue and power struggles."

"I heard that when Lu Xun read history books, he saw cannibalism."

"Different people will always see different things when they read history books."

"When I read history books, what I see more of is regret."

"Shang Yang, who stood at the city gate with a wooden pole, became a victim of compromise and power after the reforms."

"Han Xin, a military genius, died in the calamity of Lü and Liu."

"Yue Fei, who fought across tens of thousands of miles throughout his life, died on the throne of an emperor."

"There are many, many more."

"Such regrets permeate the pages of books, spanning a thousand years."

"At first, I didn't understand why I was doing this."

"During my confinement, I reread history books and the Dongjun Miscellaneous Collection. When I thought of Zhao Sheng weeping with his face covered in tears in his later years, I understood."

"No matter how I live my life, I am only one of the better disciples of a great clan. At best, in the long river of history, I am only a third-rate or even fourth-rate one."

“Zhou Leng is different; he might be able to become a saint.”

"All I've done is try my best to prevent the regret of my generation, named Zhou Leng, from being recorded in history books and read by future generations."

Lou Shanding stared blankly at his son.

He was initially filled with anger and even felt betrayed.

However, his fatherly love made him suppress all his anger and want to have a heart-to-heart talk with his son.

After hearing these words, he was still angry, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to lash out.

The phrase "You forgot, but I remember" kept echoing in my ears.

"You... are just like you were when you were a child, full of ambition and courage." Lou Shanding's voice was somewhat weak.

“I have always followed your teachings,” Lou Feiqiong said.

Lou Shanding sighed softly and asked, "If you do this, the rest of the Lou family won't let it go easily, nor will the other major clans or even the Zhao family. Soon, I might step down from my position as the head of the Lou family, and you, not to mention the head of the family, might even lose all the martial arts resources. Is it all worth it?"

Lou Feiqiong said, "Actually, I've also been confused and doubtful. I'm not sure if it was worth it, but you can ask Grandpa, ask your fallen comrades, ask the corpses scattered all over the earth, do you think they thought it was worth it?"

Lou Shanding was speechless.

He wanted to scold him as he always had, to yell and glare at him as he always had, but for some reason, he didn't want to do anything.

Perhaps, I'm just getting old.

Lou Shanding stood up, walked to the door, and turned to look at Lou Feiqiong, who had stood up.

"Even if you risk your future, he will eventually die at the hands of us. What's the point of everything you've done?"

(End of this chapter)