Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 629 - 609: Tiger and Bear

Zhao Cong sighed lightly and said, "You should know, I was filled with goodwill towards you. Back then, the Zhao Family had the manpower to take you down, but I said, wait a moment, a martial artist like Wang Boxiong shouldn’t suffer such treatment."

"I have heard of it." Wang Boxiong said calmly.

"I don’t understand, why wouldn’t you accept my goodwill? Is it just because of that jade cong? I personally went to your father, kowtowed, apologized, and acknowledged the Zhao Family’s mistake!"

Zhao Cong’s words were forceful, and coupled with his identity as the governor of the two rivers, it moved people deeply.

For most people hearing this, it would soften their frozen hearts.

Wang Boxiong remained unmoved, and slowly said, "In my childhood, because of that jade, I hated your Zhao Family for ten years, but in recent years, the hatred has gradually faded. Because I’ve slowly realized a truth; everyone will hear some flute sounds, everyone will feel some winds. We cannot take some coincidences as inevitabilities, then brood over them endlessly, and forget to move forward."

"As humanity moves forward, it will undoubtedly pay the price, occasionally having a speck of dust from the times land on one’s head is very normal. Living in this era, one must have such awareness."

"Just as in chaotic times, one must be prepared for the awareness of dying at any time."

"I acknowledge it, many of my friends acknowledge it; countless people have acknowledged it."

Wang Boxiong’s voice was deep, as if a millstone was rolling in his throat.

Zhao Cong said, "Then why do you still oppose the Zhao Family?"

Wang Boxiong’s mouth slightly curled, revealing a peculiar look of mockery.

"You don’t understand?"

"I don’t understand." Zhao Cong replied.

"I don’t understand either, why is it always us! I more so don’t understand, why is it always you! Why can’t it be you!"

The millstone in Wang Boxiong’s throat seemed to explode, shaking the night into incessant roaring.

An unnatural look flashed across Zhao Cong’s face, he understood.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Cong slowly said, "Natural selection, survival of the fittest."

Wang Boxiong lit a cigarette and looked into the deep sky.

"Yes, I once thought like you. Until a question arose, insects are like this, beasts are like this, beastmen are like this, demons are like this, if humans are like this too, then are humans just monkeys with tools? Just beastmen who know martial arts? Just demons with a sense of morality?"

"If it’s only this far, it seems quite normal until I read the translations by Zhou Leng of some high-level civilization information. A question arose, what should high-level civilization be like?"

"Just monkeys with divine spirit powers? Beastmen piloting starships? Demons with slightly better temper?"

"I couldn’t find the answer. But I know, a true higher civilization should not be like this."

"So, I always feel that I, Wang Boxiong, shouldn’t only be a monkey with tools. I should try to break through something, to surpass the limits of an elementary civilization, and move closer to a high-level civilization."

Zhao Cong said, "I don’t oppose your view, but the road must be taken step by step, meals eaten one bite at a time."

Wang Boxiong turned his head, looking at Zhao Cong with a strange gaze.

"Can’t you see, the food has all been eaten by you, we’re almost starving?"

"That’s going too far, the Martial Mansion has been ensuring livelihoods through various means, doing their utmost not to starve people to death."

"See, this is our biggest disagreement. You think we’re pigs, only fit to eat feed, only needing assurance not to starve, only needing to maintain standards to keep from revolting. But we think, we are human."

"You are a grandmaster, you can be human." Zhao Cong said meaningfully.

"Zhou Leng, on the Life and Death Platform, asked a question, which I also ask you, can you help me find clarity? If after I advance to a grandmaster like you, how do I persuade the me who looked at the report card trying to awaken my sleeping father? How do I persuade the me who believed in fairness, justice, and kindness? How do I persuade the me who scattered my friend’s ashes in the river? How do I persuade the me who is inherently human?"

Zhao Cong opened his mouth, but had no words to counter.

Wang Boxiong turned and headed towards the barracks, speaking as he walked.

"I originally forgave your Zhao Family, but your winds, blowing against me time and again, have never ceased. I hear my father’s flute sounds, hear Ma Xingkong’s flute sounds, hear Tong Tianxia’s flute sounds, hear Zhou Leng’s flute sounds. Until what you regarded as a small whim, blew me and Chen Shouhu onto the Life and Death Platform. Then, I heard the flute sound blowing from my own mouth."

He walked a few more steps.

"Tell me, is there any possibility in a normal society, I, Wang Boxiong, shouldn’t have suffered such treatment even without you speaking? The same goes for Ma Xingkong, Zhou Leng, and everyone else."

Zhao Cong lit a cigarette, which he hadn’t smoked in a while for the sake of martial arts and advancement.

He took a drag, gently exhaled the smoke, threw the cigarette on the ground, and stomped it out.

"Being monkeys wielding forks and knives is not too bad." He seemed to be defending himself, yet also mocking himself.

Wang Boxiong’s voice echoed from afar: "You think you’re sitting beside a round table covered in white cloth, with white dishes before you, but behind you, larger monkeys holding larger forks and knives sit by an even larger table, looking down at you, the round table covered in white cloth before you is just their white dishes."

Zhao Cong’s lips trembled.

He understood.

Only by overturning the table before him could he leap from others’ dishes.

It’s too difficult.

With head bowed, eating as much as possible while he could.

Zhao Cong slowly started to smile, slowly lifting his head, straightening his chest.

He looked at Wang Boxiong’s back, and shouted, "Do you dare to go to Zhao Palace?"

Seemingly in mockery, yet also in self-mockery.

Wang Boxiong walked ahead, seemingly not hearing.

The next day, the army returned.

Shuizhou Demon City, on a small mountain.

By the cliff, the strong wind blows.

Chen Shouhu, wearing a black hood, walks towards Tong Tianxia.

"It’s rare for you to seek me out actively." Tong Tianxia’s skin glows with a dark golden hue, looking toward the horizon.

"Count me in for what you mentioned."

"Why did you suddenly change your mind? Haven’t you always opposed us doing this?"

Chen Shouhu remains silent for a long time before speaking.

"I always felt that as I continued my cultivation, as I climbed higher, I would surely find a better way, a peaceful way that all parties could bear. Unfortunately, I can’t find it. Moreover, there’s no more time."

Tong Tianxia says, "I remember you always said before that ascending to become a Saint is the most important thing, nothing is more important than that. Many times, you were even more diligent than Wang Boxiong."

"I used to truly believe in that until Wang Huaixiong asked me what was the purpose of ascending to become a Saint? I suddenly realized that I actually didn’t care whether I became a Saint, I just always thought since I was young, once I become a Martial Saint, I can eliminate those evil ones. So..."

Chen Shouhu pauses for a moment and continues, "I found that some things are more important than me becoming a Saint. I can’t just watch as those things happen repeatedly and ignore them to peacefully cultivate; I can’t do it. I’ve tried many times, but I can’t."

"Because you were forced onto the Life and Death Platform?"

"I thought after I advanced to Grandmaster, at least I could have a seat at the table, but when the Zhao Family made a move, I realized I was just standing on an even larger plate."

Chen Shouhu’s gaze is peaceful, entirely unlike the impulsive and irritable Chen Fenghu from the past.

"Didn’t you say only a Martial Saint can resolve this?" Tong Tianxia asks.

"They are old, sight failing, hearing impaired. They can see the demons afar but can’t hear the flute beside them."

"What about the future generations?"

Chen Shouhu suddenly chuckles self-deprecatingly and slowly says.

"Do you remember that widely circulated news screenshot? A reporter standing in a carriage interviewing passengers, asking, ’Did you get a ticket?’"

"I was the kind of person who had a ticket since I was young; I always sat in the carriage, occasionally complaining the seat was too narrow, the smell too strong, the boxed meals too expensive and hard to eat, occasionally lamenting the scenery outside the window."

"Until one day, I suddenly saw a child carrying a big bundle, running outside the train."

"I watched with a smile, praised the child’s courage, even gave a thumbs-up to the child, I even fantasized that we would meet at the next station."

"Later, we indeed met at the next station."

"Not only did he not get into the carriage, but he didn’t even get onto the platform."

"His ticket was snatched away."

"He was sweating, carrying a burden, looking at me with shiny black eyes."

"The train started, I didn’t know what happened, I could only watch as the child got further and further away from me."

"Until the train turned, I saw beneath the tracks behind the train, filled with white bones as sleepers, blood not yet dry."

"I once witnessed star after star being crushed alive under the weight left by predecessors. Too many, do you know? So many that I even felt those people were meant to end like this—it was all very normal."

"Until I saw Zhou Leng, who seemed like a newly risen sun, almost crushed to death by the same burden, chilled all over."

"It can’t continue like this; we can’t let more descendants like Zhou Leng be filled in under the tracks; they should be sitting in the train, moving forward, continually forward."

"I don’t want to say who is right or wrong, nor do I want to blame anyone. But..."

"I can’t throw the burden we created onto the shoulders of future generations. Our Shang Ganling, we take it."

"Alright." Tong Tianxia responds.

Chen Shouhu hesitates for a moment, says: "Don’t look for Wang Huaixiong, he is the most rotten, leaving him could harm more demons."

Tong Tianxia does not respond.

After the two separate, Tong Tianxia wanders around Shuizhou Demon City, ensures there’s no tailing, and enters an abandoned mine.

After several twists and turns, he enters a dimly lit underground cave.

A tall figure stands inside.

"Has the time been set for that matter?" Wang Boxiong, wearing a black hood, looks at Tong Tianxia as he enters.

"Need to communicate with the Hell Knight Order to unify the time and act simultaneously."

"Do those vehicles need my help?"

"Not needed for now."

"This is the latest evidence of the Zhao Family." Wang Boxiong says as he hands over a folder.

Tong Tianxia takes it.

After chatting for a while, Tong Tianxia checks the time and says, "I have to pick someone up, I’ll leave first."

"Alright, talk later."

Desert Demon City, at the border between the Demon Spirit World and the Fierce Beast World.

A team of Eight-toothed Mammoths runs at full speed, and on one, a massive black-armored wolf stands, its long hair flowing, extremely cold.