Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 618 - 598: Sacred Canon

"He seemed like an adult when he was with the grown-ups, but like a child with us, always telling us jokes. Sometimes we didn’t get them, but he laughed so hard that he made us laugh too."

"His talent in martial arts was strong, and his martial arts abilities were powerful. When he gave me guidance as a child, my grandfather saw it and said he had the highest martial arts talent among the descendants of Saint Zhao, with a small chance of advancing to Martial Saint."

"I remember very clearly, he said he never wanted to enter the Martial Mansion. He only wanted to join the Demon City Army, exorcise demons and destroy evil, and learn from Saint Zhao, using his own fists to carve out a world for the Human Race."

"But in the end, he still entered the Martial Mansion, and during that time, he was very unhappy."

"Maybe... after he got married, I felt he suddenly changed, not matured, but gained a kind of gloom, an indescribable feeling."

"Until after his wife died, he became more mature and didn’t change again, becoming a... somewhat qualified senior official in the Martial Mansion."

"After that, our relationship faded a lot."

Chen Shouhu said, "Didn’t you two just meet at the Tree-man Base?"

Li Shenkong’s gaze darkened, he moved his lips and said, "I feel like he’s changed a bit again. What do you think?"

Chen Shouhu thought for a moment and said, "I’m not a direct relative of Saint Chen, just a distant relative, so I can’t enter your circle. But I consider myself someone who knows Zhao Cong since childhood, because people always took him as an example to compare with."

"What kind of person he really is, and the truth of those rumors? I can’t make a definitive judgment."

"Everyone in Dragon Country knows an old saying: Listen to their words and observe their actions. But actually, unless we have complete information about a person, we can’t make the right judgment."

"Zhou Leng is the best example. When he was initially slandered, how many people who didn’t know him could discern the truth? Not a single one."

"It wasn’t until his deeds came out that many realized and regretted deeply."

"Should another Zhou Leng come along, can even they or us make the right judgment? Without the right judgment, we can’t possibly know all the information. Most of the time, we’re in our assumptions until a lot of information is disclosed."

"At least in my hands, there’s no solid evidence to prove what kind of person Zhao Cong is or isn’t."

"Of course, there is some other evidence, but I can’t show it to you, nor can I be 100% sure about Zhao Cong or the Zhao Family."

In the end, Chen Shouhu said self-deprecatingly, "Good people are actually quite unlucky. If someone has 1% good in them, they instinctively care about evidence. Even those like me, half-good and half-bad, have to care about evidence."

Li Shenkong sighed and said, "Yes, evidence is needed. By the way, Brother Hu, the date for the Life and Death Platform is coming up, how’s your preparation?"

Chen Shouhu smiled slightly and gently shook his neck, saying, "No real preparation, I’m just going for it."

"I’ll come watch and cheer for you."

"Don’t, just watch neutrally. If you cheer for me, your Li Family will be very passive." Chen Shouhu said.

"That’s true..." Li Shenkong hesitated for a moment and said, "I heard that you and Brother Xiong are doing this to avenge Ma Xingkong?"

"You could say that." Chen Shouhu did not hide it at all.

"I’ve heard about that incident, but I don’t quite understand. To avenge Ma Xingkong, offending sixteen major families and even involving Martial Clans like the Zhao Family, is it worth it?"

Chen Shouhu remained silent for a moment before slowly explaining.

"When I first met Ma Xingkong, I heard him say a sentence, he said, ’I hear the sound of flutes.’"

"I never understood what it meant."

"Because of the different environments I grew up in with him and Wang Boxiong, we’re much more alike."

"I grew up in harmony, my parents were very kind to me, and when I was in university, I publicly declared ’my mom loves me so much’ without feeling embarrassed."

"But do you know, most parents, under the heavy pressure of life, can’t tell their children ’I love you.’ They’re weighed down by life, filled with guilt towards their children. Yes, I fundamentally understand, it’s what Wang Huaixiong said; don’t look at me as an adult now, but I still half-understand."

"I wasn’t particularly wealthy growing up, but I never wanted for anything. I felt that even with threats outside from the Demon, this land was safe."

"Why? It’s simple. From childhood till now, whether classmates, teachers, friends, relatives, or other high-status people, they treated me well. I grew up in the goodwill of the world."

"Later I understood, the reason my world was filled with goodwill is because I had a distant relative named Chen Shaohuang, who was a Martial Saint."

"It wasn’t until I went to university, and my mind started to clear, that I began to see the differences between people and started to understand various things, that I vaguely comprehended."

"Most people, while growing up, endure much more malice than I did, a lot of it."

"For a long time, I couldn’t understand what Ma Xingkong meant by hearing the sound of flutes."

"Then later, I heard about his misfortune."

"I couldn’t imagine such a kind, positive, optimistic, and righteous classmate would be killed by people, by people I used to think were my own."

"So I started investigating the matter until I uncovered a corner of the heavenly palace."

"But I still don’t understand what the flutes were."

"Until one day, Wang Boxiong said, when he graduated from junior high, he also heard the sound of flutes."

"He said that in ancient times, night watchmen, upon discovering danger, would blow whistles, bone flutes or bang loud tools."

"People sleeping safely in caves or houses couldn’t perceive the danger."

"Other night watchers who found themselves in danger would always hear the flutes first."

"The death of Ma Xingkong was the first time I heard the flutes."

"Afterwards, I heard them again and again."

"Until I heard a new flute with Zhou Leng, accompanied by footsteps, identical to the one Ma Xingkong made."

"I suddenly felt like, since I experienced so much goodwill from the world, shouldn’t I do something for these people living in malice?"

"Thus, I wielded my blade against the sixteen families, standing on the Master Challenge Platform, and blew the bone flute."

Li Shenkong seemed half-understanding, saying, "But... reality doesn’t seem that hostile, reality isn’t like that."

Chen Shouhu stared at Li Shenkong, and said slowly, "I’ve said such things too, do you know what Ma Xingkong, Wang Boxiong, and Tong Tianxia said?"

Li Shenkong shook his head.

"They said they envy me very much."

Li Shenkong was momentarily stunned, feeling as though his heart was being tugged.

"I kind of get it now." Li Shenkong said softly.

Chen Shouhu got up, patted Li Shenkong on the shoulder, and turned to walk outside.

"I’m leaving now, I don’t have the right to persuade others, because I’m only a halfway there myself. I just hope that at least those of us who didn’t grow up in the sound of the bone flute don’t create more malice."

Li Shenkong compared Chen Shouhu’s and Zhao Cong’s words, compared the things they had done, and suddenly realized he seemed to have grown up a bit.

"I’ll cheer you on under the Life and Death Platform!" Li Shenkong stood up and said.

"Don’t overlook the sound of the flute." Chen Shouhu said before leaving.

"The sound of the flute..." Li Shenkong murmured to himself, his mind conjuring up the silhouette of Zhao Cong in the Demon camp.

Throughout the country, more and more grandmasters and innates gathered in Rucheng.

Trup Family’s hidden estate.

Mad Prince Aiden heard the news of the grandmaster life and death battle, and smiled.

"I also want to go and see it, but alas, I’m too busy..."

As he spoke, he toyed with a piece of light black amber, about the size of an egg.

Inside the amber, a water droplet-shaped ice crystal glistened surrounded by layers of snow and ice.

"I still managed to get it..."

Mad Prince’s eyes filled with enchantment.

This was his goal at the Great Battlefield.

He accomplished it.

Ice Snow Tear.

Before long, Jax knocked and entered, saying, "Your Highness, news has come from the Ice Snow Divine Sect that they are already preparing the new generation of ’Sacred Canon’, and selecting the new generation of Holy Son or Saintess."

Aiden was overjoyed, asking, "Is the news accurate?"

"Accurate, it is revealed by the demigod of the Ice Snow Divine Sect in person, and now the entire sect is preparing for the Sacred Canon."

"Indeed, everything as I expected! The Sacred Canon of the sect shall crown me!"

Aiden stared at the Ice Snow Tear, his eyes glowing.

After a while, Aiden asked, "How are they dealing with Zhou Leng?"

"Very strangely, Zhou Leng is obviously cut off from martial arts, but the attitudes of those demigods towards him have not decreased but increased. According to our intelligence, Zhou Leng participated in a Divine Text conference in the Demon Spirit World, where he was greatly respected— even the demigods honor him as a teacher."

"Huh?" Aiden’s gaze moved away from the Ice Snow Tear and fixed on Jax. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Jax shrugged, saying, "According to the Ice Snow Divine Sect, they are not only not reducing Zhou Leng’s resources but are preparing to increase them. Moreover, they are thinking of ways to persuade Zhou Leng to transform into a Demon Spirit Master. You know, the methods of Demon Spirit Masters are varied. I also heard that Demons, Giant Dragons, and Giants are all vying for Zhou Leng. They don’t just want his name, they want Zhou Leng to give up martial arts and switch to cultivating their methods."

"So exaggerated?" Aiden felt uneasy, as his competitive relationship with Zhou Leng in the Ice Snow Divine Sect grew increasingly intense.

Due to Zhou Leng’s presence, his status in the Ice Snow Divine Sect kept declining, and cultivation resources kept decreasing.

"More than exaggerated, I heard the Giant Dragons are even discussing whether to sacrifice a dragon egg born of a demigod just to let Zhou Leng transform into a Giant Dragon," said Jax.

"Problematic..." Aiden frowned.

"Actually, Zhou Leng is no longer a threat to you. You have the Ice Snow Tear, which is equivalent to the envoy of the Ice Snow Goddess. In this Sacred Canon event, your ’divine blessing’ will undoubtedly be the strongest, and now you have half a seat on the Holy Son’s throne."

Aiden laughed, "That’s what is said, but I still feel uneasy about Zhou Leng, this person is very uncanny. Especially since he also knows the Blood of Tyranny... By the way, did you spread the rumor that he is colluding with the Blood of Tyranny in secret?"

"I spread it; even online in Dragon Country there are people discussing him," Jax said helplessly, he also didn’t want to offend Zhou Leng, but had no choice.

Aiden sighed deeply, saying, "Once I stabilize my position as Holy Son, I’ll definitely reduce the resources given to him. As long as he remains in the Ice Snow Divine Sect, I will find no peace."

Jax hesitated momentarily, saying, "In fact, you are already the leader of the Trup Family and the future Holy Son of the Ice Snow Divine Sect. There’s no need to worry about someone whose martial arts are cut off."

Aiden said helplessly, "I don’t want to either. But the elders in the family were mostly killed by a mysterious Martial Saint; the ashes of everyone in the family were scattered. The family now, no longer deserves to be called a financial dynasty. If I can’t monopolize the resources of the Ice Snow Divine Sect, then the Trup Family will surely fall before me."

"You’re right," Jax said, also filled with helplessness. After the mysterious Martial Saint wreaked havoc, the entire Eagle Alliance’s structure had changed dramatically.

The Trup Family, teetering, and the families and other Demon Worship Sect forces they had offended back then were already testing the waters.

The Ice Snow Divine Sect’s Holy Son is the Trup Family’s and Aiden’s last hope.

Fail to become Holy Son, and it would spell the end of the family.

Who told their elders to make so many enemies.