Martial arts ascend to the gods

Chapter 561 Cake
Xiongjing, the headquarters of the Demon City Army.

Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong stood in front of the commander-in-chief's office, knocked on the door, and pushed it open to enter.

"General." The two bowed in unison to Huang Xuan Pavilion inside.

Huang Xuange was about forty or fifty years old. He had a refined appearance, with only one strand of white hair, while the rest of his hair was jet black.

His nose was straight as a knife in profile, and his eyes reflected the light of the demonized screen.

He kept processing information and casually said, "Sit down and talk."

As the number one officer of the Demon City Army and one of the eleven people with the highest status in the National Government, he has to deal with a huge amount of important matters every day.

Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong went through a great deal of trouble to finally agree on a time to return to Xiongjing from Rucheng.

"We came for Zhou Leng."

"Hmm? How's his injury?"

Wang Boxiong looked puzzled, while Chen Shouhu, ever outspoken, said, "General, don't you know he was framed and the whole internet knows?"

"Hmm?" Huang Xuange looked away from the light screen and at the two of them.

"You don't usually go online?"

“I don’t have that time,” Huang Xuange said.

"It's not in our internal reports either. With such a huge uproar, why isn't it in yours?" Chen Shouhu asked.

Chen Shouhu was still puzzled, but Wang Boxiong and Huang Xuange exchanged a glance and instantly understood.

Wang Boxiong quickly searched for information in the Magic Brain.

"Tell me what happened first."

Chen Shouhu rattled off everything that had happened in the past few days.

"Hmm? Someone has mobilized the supervisory team?"

They both nodded.

Wang Boxiong slowly said, "I just checked, and all similar cases, no matter how much public opinion they cause, are not reported in the internal reports. Even if someone reports them, they are deliberately suppressed, so... some people don't know or understand the changes in public opinion and how intense the social conflicts are."

Huang Xuange glanced at Wang Boxiong.

If Chen Shouhu had said this, it would have been considered outspoken.

But coming from Wang Boxiong's mouth, those words were truly malicious.

To put it nicely, it's making excuses for the Supreme Court; to put it bluntly, it's pointing fingers at the Supreme Court and accusing it of being out of touch with the people and holding a position without doing its job.

Huang Xuange was too familiar with the two of them. He glared at Wang Boxiong and quickly flipped through the relevant information, especially the recent intelligence about Zhou Leng.

The more you look at him, the darker his complexion becomes.

"Absurd!" Huang Xuange shouted in a low voice.

Chen Shouhu said, "General, please give me your answer. If even the Demon City Army won't take action, then I will have no choice but to act as a martial artist."

Huang Xuange gazed ahead for a long time before saying, "We cannot let heroes shed blood and tears."

"Alright, with your words, everything's settled." Chen Shouhu was about to say something about going all out when he looked at Wang Boxiong.

Huang Xuange also looked at Wang Boxiong and asked, "What do you think?"

Wang Boxiong said, "You know how things have been done over the years. This matter can't be resolved by just laughing it off or handling it privately; we have to go through the real trouble."

"Is the situation that serious?" Huang Xuange asked.

Wang Boxiong said, "I don't believe you didn't see similar news when you were young. I'd really like to know, what were your thoughts when you encountered something like this when you were young?"

Huang Xuange tapped the table lightly with his right index finger and said, "Zhou Leng is a member of the Demon City Army. The two of you will take the lead and form a special task force to handle this matter. I will assign someone to cooperate and investigate thoroughly, no matter who the other party is. Let me know before the final operation."

"Yes!" The two bowed in unison.

Wang Boxiong said, "There's something I need your cooperation on."

"explain."

"I hope that the Battle of Shuizhou can be commemorated ahead of schedule, and that Zhou Leng can be awarded the Order of the Dragon and the title of National Hero in front of the Monument to the Heroes."

Huang Xuange said, "This matter has already been decided and involves all parties. It would be inappropriate to bring it forward rashly. Besides, the New Year is just around the corner."

Huang Xuange is only the number one of the Demon City Army, not the number one of the Martial Academy.

The Martial Mansion No. 1 is truly the No. 1 of the Dragon Kingdom.

"The calamity is closing in, and the world of the Tree People is in grave danger. Awarding medals ahead of schedule will boost morale and give us more time to prepare, so as to avoid being caught off guard and having the awarding process interrupted."

Huang Xuange vaguely understood Wang Boxiong's meaning. Remembering Zhou Leng's contributions, he nodded and said, "I'll make this happen. You set a time."

"The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the Little New Year."

Huang Xuange glanced at Wang Boxiong and said, "Okay."

After bidding farewell to Huang Xuange, Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong walked outside.

"What are you going to do next, Wang Huaixiong?" Chen Shouhu asked.

“Zhou Leng has titles in various circles, and they often send him stipends. Send someone to inform them to send them together the day before the Lunar New Year.”

"No problem. When will Zhou Leng's battle achievements and full identity be announced?"

"Of course, it was in front of the Monument to Heroes and on the 7 o'clock news on Tianjin TV."

Chen Shouhu gasped, even he, impulsive as he was, knew the gravity of the situation.

He said, "The media department... has always been like the King of Hell, even Zhao Sheng can't do anything about it, how are we supposed to deal with it?"

“They’ve forgotten, and we need to make them remember, that a knife can be sheathed or held to their necks,” Wang Boxiong said.

“Very good.” Chen Shouhu grinned.

Everything seems calm.

Neither the police nor the inspectors showed up, and the Divine Script Academy did not take any further action. All media outlets blocked the news that Zhou Leng was a Divine Script Master; not a single word was leaked.

If any researchers discuss the mythical texts online, or if someone posts screenshots, they will be deleted immediately, and in severe cases, the account may even be banned.

When Zhou Leng woke up, Zhao Nandi fed him food and medicine like a caring older sister.

Zhou Leng refused, but Zhao Nandi ignored her and forced him to eat.

After finishing his meal, Zhou Leng noticed a message popping up on his magical wristwatch. He picked it up, paused in mid-air, remained silent for a while, and then put it back in its place without reading it.

The magical wristwatch is too heavy.

"How will you tell your relatives and friends?" Zhao Nandi asked.

Zhou Leng said, "I am on an important mission and cannot be contacted."

Zhao Nandi looked at Zhou Leng and sighed inwardly.

"Sister Nandi, you should go back. I don't need anyone here. I'm more comfortable on my own."

“It’s not that I want to stay, it’s that the Divine Script Academy entrusted me with the full responsibility of taking care of you, this…mysterious master.” A hint of embarrassment and annoyance flashed in Zhao Nandi’s eyes.

Zhou Leng remembered the message he had sent to Zhao Nandi earlier and immediately said, "Then I'll start cultivating."

After saying that, he closed his eyes and entered the Heavenly Trial Grounds to adjust for the second trial.

Zhao Nandi looked at Zhou Leng, her mind in turmoil.

As time passed, Zhou Leng continued to undergo trials and make modifications in the trial space to better suit the needs of Blue Star warriors.

This trial site is unnamed, but because it originated from the Water Continent Demon City, it is named the Water Continent Trial.

In the trial space, Zhou Leng seemed to have returned to the past, with his dantian, meridians, and true qi flowing smoothly.

But every time he left the trial space and returned to his hospital bed, feeling the emptiness of his body, a huge sense of loss descended upon him.

It even felt like being choked and suffocated.

"Pity……"

Zhou Leng would occasionally give up adjusting the trial space because he suddenly realized that he had lost his martial arts skills, so what was the meaning of the trial space to him?
Does such a world deserve the trials of advanced civilization?
But when I thought of all the things, the disasters on Earth, the countless people in the swamp, and the enormous threat facing all of humanity, I mustered my strength and went into it.

Reaching a score of 120 on the advanced difficulty level requires an extremely long time.

In order to quickly adjust all the trials, Zhou Leng only adjusted it to medium difficulty. Once he reached 120 points on medium difficulty, he immediately entered the next space.

The Martial Arts Shadow Wall for the Void God Teaching will be kept for now, until the trial grounds are properly set up.

Time passes quietly.

Every now and then, videos or news articles would pop up, never mentioning Zhou Leng, but constantly portraying how miserable and depressed the victims were, with doctors, education experts, police officers, inspectors and others appearing to give interviews.

These news reports constantly remind the public that hell is empty and all the devils are here on earth.

Large cities like Ruda continue to suffer from organized cyberbullying.

Gradually, people of different identities began to appear online, fabricating various false information about Zhou Leng and spreading rumors about things that Zhou Leng never did.

Some claimed to be classmates, some claimed to be neighbors, and some claimed to be relatives.

Unbeknownst to most people, Zhou Leng has become the unforgivable villain with heinous crimes.

Only a very small number of people who have been exposed to the internet, possess rational logic, and have independent consciousness, have become increasingly convinced of Zhou Leng's innocence because they have not seen any evidence to date and have witnessed many similar incidents.

But they were powerless to solve anything.

Wuhan University in Heyin.

Lu Yuanhao and a group of classmates who had participated in the Tianjie Joint Examination gathered together.

He silently finished his cigarette and said, "Do you know why I would stand up for Zhou Leng, even at the cost of going against the school?"

The crowd shook their heads.

"When I was five years old, my family owned a cake shop."

"Later, another one opened nearby. My dad is a very skilled baker. He uses high-quality ingredients and never cuts corners. Almost all the customers in the neighborhood are regulars."

"The owner of another cake shop cuts corners, has extremely poor skills, likes to use various internet celebrities for promotion, and is particularly good at advertising."

"But nobody's stupid. After eating it for a while, they'll naturally be able to tell the difference."

"Then, a fair-minded food review influencer happened to compare our two establishments, praising mine and criticizing hers."

"You can probably guess what happened next: my shop was packed, and nobody went to that shop."

"Not long after, the shop owner brought her daughter to my house, saying she wanted to learn. She spoke sincerely and kept talking about her hardships. My dad is a very honest man. Seeing how pitiful she was to be raising her child alone, he taught her patiently."

"But the cakes from that shop were never good because they weren't focused on making cakes at all. They were always thinking about cheating and swindling, and they even suspected that my dad was hiding his skills from her."

“Until one day, she called the police and said that my father had raped her daughter, who was the same age as me.”

"The whole street was in an uproar."

"As a result, after repeated investigations by the police, they pulled up the surveillance footage and found that my dad wasn't at the cake shop at all that day; he was out getting supplies."

"Moreover, the surveillance footage proves that her daughter was on the first floor the whole day and never left the surveillance area, leaving no trace of forced entry."

"The forensic examination also proved that there were no traces to prove that the child had been harmed."

"I thought the matter would end here."

"As a result, the shop owner spread rumors online that my father raped her daughter and fabricated all sorts of false evidence."

"The whole internet was outraged. Countless people rushed to my house, blocked the door, smashed the windows, threw eggs, and forced my family to close the shop."

"The shop owner successfully garnered sympathy and attracted a large number of people who wanted to buy her cakes."

"But it just doesn't taste good, and her restaurant is getting fewer and fewer customers."

"Even without my family's cake shop, nobody would want to eat her shit."

(End of this chapter)