Martial arts ascend to the gods

Chapter 612 Intent
Ahead of the eight-toothed mammoth, several giant earth-splitting lizards fled in panic.

Several hours later, the Earth-Splitting Giant Lizard charged into the Demon World.

The eight-toothed mammoths hesitated for a moment, then followed and continued the pursuit.

Rucheng, Guhe Research Bureau.

After a few days of rest, Zhou Leng's physical and mental exhaustion from the series of battles gradually dissipated.

Just as I was preparing to delve deeper into my cultivation, the Snow Mountain Wolf sent me a message.

"Your Highness Zhou Leng, the lifespan of the Holy Son of the Divine Sect is nearing its end. According to the sect's rules, the selection of the next Holy Son or Holy Daughter will begin ahead of schedule, and the 'Holy Ceremony' will be held. The Elders' Council has ordered me to invite you to the Ice and Snow Divine Sect to participate in the Holy Ceremony."

"Do we have to go?"

"The sacred texts are the most important ceremonies in our religion, without exception."

"Okay, when?"

"Three days later."

What preparations are needed?

"No need, but you should be prepared to be chosen as the Holy Son."

"Me too?"

"Anyone could be involved. However, I've heard that the Mad Prince Aiden is vying for the position of Holy Son and is acquiring a certain secret treasure. If nothing unexpected happens, he will likely become the Holy Son."

"What selection criteria did you use?"

“God’s favor. Other things can be lied about, but God’s favor cannot.”

"Aren't there any other criteria? Like extra achievements or something?"

"Yes, it did, but then the cult was in turmoil, its strength was greatly reduced, and it became a second-rate force."

"It sounds like a very sad story. I'll prepare for a day, and I'll go with you tomorrow."

"We eagerly await your arrival."

Zhou Leng prepared for a day, and on the second day, he boarded the Ice and Snow Cult's demonic carriage, passed through the Water Continent Demon City, entered the Demonic World, and flew to the Ice and Snow Cult.

Approaching the Holy Snow Mountain of the Ice and Snow Cult, the carriage descended and stopped at the city gate of Holy Snow City at the foot of the mountain.

As soon as I stepped out of the carriage, I heard the sounds of battle coming from not far away.

Some people are waiting and seeing.

Zhou Leng looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of eight-toothed mammoths fighting against several giant earth-shattering lizards.

Zhou Leng paused for a moment, these eight-toothed mammoths looked somewhat familiar, one of them...

"Xiao Ba!" Zhou Leng shouted.

Xiao Ba, who was fighting, paused for a moment and looked over in the direction of the sound.

"Awooo..." Xiao Ba cried out excitedly, then pointed at the giant lizard with its nose, indicating that it would talk about it after it was done fighting.

Behind Xiao Ba, a dark figure suddenly stopped, using the massive size of the eight-toothed mammoth to hide, then rolled on the ground, transforming the black wolf into a yellow dog.

Without saying a word, Zhou Leng ran over and shouted, "Where's Da Huang?"

Xiao Ba suddenly blinked and fell silent.

"Wang!"

A yellow shadow darted out, its mouth agape, a large tongue lolling out, eyes narrowed, as it rushed towards them.

Zhou Leng's face darkened, and he said sternly, "Who told you to come to such a dangerous place?"

Feeling guilty, Da Huang swayed slightly, then rushed onto Zhou Leng, licking him wildly with his tongue, ignoring what Zhou Leng was saying.

Zhou Leng's face was covered in saliva from Da Huang's licking, so he had no choice but to reach out and grab the dog's head, pushing it outwards with force.

Big Yellow kept pushing forward and wagging its tail frantically.

"Alright, alright, I won't scold you anymore."

Dahuang then stopped being so clingy, tilted its head back, squinted and smiled, panting heavily.

The fighting had stopped not far away.

The remaining eight-toothed mammoths cleaned up the battlefield, while Little Eight hopped and skipped over like a giant puppy.

The demon spirit master on guard in the distance looked on incredulously. What kind of ferocious beast is this?

The Snow Mountain Wolf communicated with the Frost Hand and quickly flew over.

Zhou Leng asked Da Huang, "Were you chasing the Earth-Splitting Giant Lizard and accidentally wandered into this place?"

Big Yellow nodded repeatedly.

"Is there anything else?"

Big Yellow shook its head, then barked at Little Eight.

Little Ba barked a few times, and Big Yellow raised its paw and pointed at Holy Snow City.

"They want to stop by the city to take a look around, maybe do some trading or something?"

Big Yellow nodded.

The Snow Mountain Wolf approached and asked, "Your Highness, do you recognize these ferocious beasts?"

"Hmm." Zhou Leng didn't want to explain further.

"That's wonderful. Master Frosthand said he hopes to invite these ferocious beasts to participate in the Holy Scripture, so as to enhance the prestige of our Ice and Snow Cult."

"That guy really likes to take advantage..." Zhou Leng understood what was going on as soon as he heard it. He just wanted to take the opportunity to spread the word that the Ice and Snow Cult was related to the ferocious beasts and show off his strength.

Zhou Leng asked Da Huang, "Is the Eight-Toothed Mammoths reaching their expansion limit and needing more resources? I remember the Mammoth Elder mentioned something similar before, so you wanted to stop by Holy Snow City to take a look?"

Big Yellow nodded repeatedly.

Zhou Leng glanced at the Eight-Toothed Mammoth, then at the Ice and Snow Cult members, and said, "How about this, I'll take the lead and facilitate cooperation between the Ice and Snow Cult and the Eight-Toothed Mammoth. Let's go, let's go into the city first and talk."

Zhou Leng led Da Huang and the eight-toothed mammoth into the city. When the Ice and Snow Cult learned that there was a collaborator from the Beast World, Frost Hand personally came to greet them.

The magic users used animal language to communicate with the eight-toothed mammoth race.

With Zhou Leng acting as an intermediary, both sides lowered their guard and engaged in friendly preliminary negotiations.

Both sides raised some demands or conditions, but no substantial progress was made. After all, the only leader was a Grandmaster Eight-Toothed Mammoth, and they still had to go back to consult the Mammoth Elder.

After the discussions, half of the eight-toothed mammoths stayed to participate in the sacred ceremony, while the other half returned to the tribe with the negotiated results, preparing for the next detailed discussions. Big Yellow and Little Eight stayed behind with the eight-toothed mammoth master.

Zhou Leng spent the day playing with the two of them. On the day of the Holy Ceremony, they walked to the top of the mountain with everyone and stood in front of the temple gate.

Zhou Leng had participated in initiation ceremonies before, so he was very familiar with the process.

Xiao Ba and Da Huang looked around, whispering to each other from time to time.

As the Holy Ceremony approached, envoys from various powers arrived, and many of them came specifically to pay their respects to Zhou Leng.

Before long, Emerald Wing, representing the Dragon Clan and considered a member of the Ice and Snow Cult, rushed over.

"You're not dead?" The enormous green dragon grinned foolishly. His body had grown several sizes larger, and he had already advanced to the Grandmaster level.

"Ok?"

"I mean, I heard that not only did you not die, but you also regained your Grandmaster-level power? How did you regain it?"

“It uses a kind of alien power. Let me introduce you, this is Big Yellow, this is Little Eight…” Zhou Leng continued, “This is the Emerald Wings, a green dragon, get to know it.”

In the eyes of humans, there isn't much difference between dragons, animals, and ferocious beasts.

When Emerald Wings first met the eight-toothed mammoth, it used animal language to communicate with Little Eight and Big Yellow.

Before long, the three of them became friends, barking and howling together, chatting and boasting about everything under the sun.

"Your Highness Zhou Leng."

Zhou Leng looked in the direction of the sound and saw the Mad Prince Aiden and Jax, along with other members of the Trupp family, walking over.

The mad prince was dressed in a white tailcoat, with an elegant appearance, but his eyes held a powerful surge of energy and a hint of madness.

He has successfully advanced to the rank of Grandmaster.

"Hello, Aiden, Jax," Zhou Leng greeted politely.

“I have heard about your story and sincerely admire your strength. I congratulate you on your recovery,” Aiden said.

"Thank you. I've heard that you have a high chance of becoming the Holy Son of the Ice and Snow Cult?"

Aiden quickly replied, "It's all just rumors. I'm just like everyone else, a child of God, with equal opportunities."

After chatting for a while, Aiden and Jax left as the ceremony was about to begin.

The Snow Mountain Wolf watched from a distance, and after Aiden left, he approached.

"Your Highness Zhou Leng, be careful of Aiden."

"Ok?"

"As far as we know, he is quite dissatisfied with you, but he just took the initiative to make amends, which I find a bit strange."

"What happened?" Zhou Leng asked.

“Previously, Aiden was the only collaborator of the Church on Blue Star. After you appeared, the Church gradually shifted its focus to you. Later… although he did not take any explicit action, according to some intelligence, the Trupp family was teetering on the brink of collapse. He wanted to gain greater support from the Church and complained about you many times. It seems that he had the intention to get rid of you.”

"I see." Zhou Leng narrowed his eyes, recalling his encounters with Aiden. This man wasn't as crazy as the rumors suggested; on the contrary, he was quite cunning. If someone like him were to target him, it would be a major disaster.

"The reason I'm reminding you now is because he is very likely to become the next Holy Son. Once he becomes the Holy Son, you should leave the Ice and Snow World immediately to avoid being retaliated against by him."

"Is his treasure really that powerful?"

"Because many years ago, a demon spirit master did indeed swallow the Tears of Ice and Snow, gain the highest divine favor, and was selected as a holy son."

Zhou Leng seemed to casually brush past Aiden.

“Alright, if he advances to the rank of Holy Son, I will leave immediately,” Zhou Leng said.

"I have prepared a magic carriage for you in advance."

Zhou Leng and Emerald Wings walked forward, with Da Huang and Xiao Ba following behind, chatting endlessly.

A large number of Ice and Snow Cult members headed to the square in front of the main gate of the temple.

Non-members of the cult stood outside the square and were not allowed to go in.

Zhou Leng and Emerald Wings entered the square, followed by Da Huang and Xiao Ba.

Zhou Leng told them to stand outside the square and not to come in.

Emerald Wings immediately stopped moving and stood on the inner edge of the square, continuing to whisper with Little Eight and Big Yellow.

Zhou Leng stopped and scanned the area ahead.

All members of the Ice and Snow Cult, regardless of age, gender, or spiritual level, stood at the temple entrance without taking a seat, symbolizing equality before the god.

The sacred texts are performed in three steps.

The first step is "awakening".

The temple first eliminated members who lacked divine favor or had none at all, to avoid angering the God of Ice and Snow.

The second step is "bestowing grace," which formally determines the extent of divine favor.

The third step is "coronation," where the person with the most divine favor is chosen as the Holy Son or Holy Daughter to serve as the nominal leader of the Ice and Snow Cult, but who has voting rights in the council of elders, essentially a demigod.

When the time came, a demigod mage at the front recited the contents of the divine scriptures, and everyone followed along with a line of the scripture.

After the recitation was completed, the demigod and legendary magic masters collectively activated the power of the temple.

A massive white light array rose from the ground, illuminating all the members of the Ice and Snow Cult in front of the temple.

At first, everyone was enveloped in white light, but as time went on, the white light on one Ice and Snow Cult member after another dissipated.

Some people walked out of the square dejectedly, while others wept softly. A few ran out crying, unable to bear it any longer.

Big Yellow and Little Eight looked on curiously.

Emerald Wings stood at the edge of the plaza, glanced at the white light emanating from his body, and said, "I'm not bragging to you two, but with my strength, I'm sure I can be chosen as a Holy Son. However, I, this dragon, prefer to keep a low profile and will restrain my divine favor, never becoming a dragon that stands out."

Xiao Ba and Da Huang pouted, looking disgusted.

Zhou Leng felt it was possible; given the Jade Wings' despicable nature, there was no way they could become the Holy Son.

Before long, nearly half of the members of the Ice and Snow Cult left the square.

"Please step forward, everyone."

Zhou Leng and Emerald Wings then left the edge of the plaza and walked towards the temple entrance.

(End of this chapter)