CHAPTER 83: CHAPTER 76: WEAPONS

On the left, a colossal blood sun hovers, its surface rising and falling like a heart.

At the edge of the gigantic sun, massive bloody eyeballs are exposed, forming a circle.

The ring-eyed great sun gazes upon all beings.

A cord dangles from the blood sun, plunging into the neck of a headless cow.

That cow towers tens of thousands of meters high, its body swollen, flesh blurred, veins coiling, blood vessels spreading, with no skin.

The cow stands upright, countless small, blurred calf heads protruding from its belly, densely packed, gazing deeply at Zhou Leng.

The ring-eyed cow mother.

On the right stands a castle like a mountain, in black and white.

The castle is composed of sinister human faces.

Doors, walls, houses, rocks, bridges, ground...

All are twisted human faces, white faces with black eyes, black mouths and noses.

The myriad-faced ancient castle.

An overwhelming sea of evil intent, divine might, malice, violence, death, and slaughter surge in like a tsunami, submerging Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng glanced once, flipped his eyes, and passed out.

The Gate of Purgatory spun in reverse, flinging Zhou Leng out.

Zhou Leng bled from the seven orifices, falling onto the grass, barely breathing.

Huang widened its eyes, kicking all four legs, barking madly at the Frost Giant Tree.

"Woof woof woof... Woof woof woof..."

It continued relentlessly.

The more it cursed, the worse it got.

After a while, the frost leaves of the Frost Giant Tree gently swayed, and a dense shower of white light descended from the sky.

Ten times denser than last time, it fell separately on Zhou Leng and Huang.

Huang barked twice, ran to the distance, avoiding the white light.

The two beams of white light merged, falling into Zhou Leng’s body.

At the same time, wisps of black energy flew from Zhou Leng’s body, returning to the Gate of Purgatory.

In the deep of night, Zhou Leng’s fingers twitched, then he slowly opened his eyes.

His whole body ached, his mind a mush, feeling as if a mountain pressed upon him.

Cold wind whistled through the gaps in his bones.

Zhou Leng slowly rose and looked around.

Huang stuck out its tongue, burrowing into Zhou Leng’s arms, whining wildly.

Zhou Leng gazed blankly, then, after a while, turned to look at the Gate of Purgatory.

He vaguely remembered being sucked in, then...

The words "Gate of Purgatory, Tenth Layer, Evil God’s Gaze" surfaced in his mind.

Zhou Leng completely forgot what he saw inside, not knowing why, he felt an urge to curse.

Zhou Leng reached out to hold his throbbing head, swallowing down the "Fuck."

"It’s strange, why is my urge to curse so strong?"

Huang lay on Zhou Leng, eyes eagerly looking at him.

Zhou Leng faintly understood some possibility, because it felt familiar.

"I’m alright, you don’t have to worry." Zhou Leng patted Huang’s back.

Huang came closer, eyes focused, full of watery innocence.

"Really." Zhou Leng said.

"Whimper..." Huang lay on Zhou Leng’s leg, dispirited.

Zhou Leng, akin to being hungover, sat for a while, then picked up the third Golden Page to read again.

It stated that the Gate of Purgatory had nineteen layers, used to temper the will.

Entering the tenth layer directly, surviving was like a fortuitous life.

Zhou Leng sat for a while, feeling unwell, forcefully practiced Qi cultivation, then consumed any consumable pills, and fell into a deep sleep again.

It was unclear how long had passed when Zhou Leng awoke.

Feeling something amiss, he hurriedly picked up the Demonized Watch.

Slept for a whole day and night.

Never mind, since there are plenty of lice, itches are not feared, and I’ll take leave when I head out in the morning.

Zhou Leng felt much more comfortable, continued the usual warm-up cultivation.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Leng noticed that his martial awareness seemed a bit clearer.

His mastery of martial arts also seemed stronger.

The silken chill in the middle of his Dantian grew more robust, increasingly resembling a Qi Marvelous Body.

Zhou Leng glanced at the Frost Giant Tree.

"Always feels like something’s off..."

Zhou Leng sneaked a look at Huang, Huang hesitated for an instant, then walked over with a cheeky grin, wagging its head and acting all innocent.

Okay, playing dumb, its acting skills have improved a lot.

Zhou Leng felt energetic, walked to the Gate of Purgatory.

After watching for a long time and pondering deeply, with thoughts of the upcoming joint examination, his expression became resolute.

"Gate of Purgatory, First Layer."

The Gate of Purgatory emitted a faint golden glow, forming a blue vortex within the door frame, drawing Zhou Leng in.

Huang sat in front of the Gate of Purgatory, full of worry.

Zhou Leng’s vision darkened and brightened.

The words "Land of Blades" emerged in his mind.

Under the black-bright sky, the world seemed like an ancient battlefield.

A myriad of weapons were planted across the earth, endless, dense like wheat fields.

The wind blew, the weapons jingled softly.

Suddenly, a rusted broadsword soared, slashing toward his left shoulder.

Zhou Leng instinctively dodged, but his body remained still.

Pu!

The blade cut to the bone.

Zhou Leng let out a light cry, sweat beading his forehead in pain, instantly comprehending what the Gate of Purgatory was, what the Land of Blades was.

Next was sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, hooks, forks...

The weapons on the ground flew up one by one, attacking every part of Zhou Leng’s body.

Hacking, slicing, piercing, pounding, hammering, crushing...

Zhou Leng initially only let out small cries, later suffering greatly, screaming in agony.

The ceaseless waves of pain and relentless attacks came one after another, never stopping.

Afterward, Zhou Leng no longer called out.

Because he could no longer make a sound.

With each stab of the sword, Zhou Leng’s body trembled; with each slash of the blade, Zhou Leng flinched.

The new wounds had no more blood to shed.

Time passed by without notice, and Zhou Leng couldn’t even feel pain anymore.

Flesh and blood covered the ground, spreading around like a carpet of gore.

Zhou Leng’s blood-soaked bones were exposed.

On the bones, flesh was scantily scattered.

In the end, Zhou Leng’s body collapsed, with his skeleton shattered.

"So this... is what death feels like... so comfortable..."

In an instant, the world spun, and Zhou Leng was flung out by the Gate of Purgatory.

Huang circled Zhou Leng several times, barking at the Frost Giant Tree.

This time, the Frost Giant Tree remained motionless.

Huang silently walked to Zhou Leng’s side, curled up, rested its chin on Zhou Leng’s chest, quietly gazing at his face.

After another day and night, Zhou Leng slowly opened his eyes.

Zhou Leng’s eyes were vacant, his gaze dull, as if his soul had left his body.

From body to mind, he was still numb.

It was self-protection formed by the body after extreme pain.

Dead like withered wood.

Zhou Leng stared blankly for a quarter of an hour before the light slowly gathered in his eyes.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Leng blinked and instinctively checked his body, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Woof!"

The bloodshot-eyed Huang suddenly jumped up and rubbed hard against Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng hugged Huang, patting it gently to comfort.

A few seconds later, Huang closed its eyes and lay on the ground, snoring away.

Zhou Leng gently touched Huang’s belly and sat with him for a long while.

Zhou Leng stood up, chaotic memories flashing through his mind.

The trial in the Land of Blades was still fresh in his memory, as if every weapon was before his eyes, every pain just happened.

Zhou Leng looked toward the Gate of Purgatory.

The Gate of Purgatory unexpectedly sent forth a message.

First level, Land of Blades, 1791/10000.

It seemed that passing the Land of Blades trial required enduring ten thousand weapon attacks.

Last time, he endured 1791 times.

"As expected from the Gate of Purgatory, such terrifying demands. Is it really meant for cultivating people? Or perhaps, for cultivating even stronger beings?"

Even after enduring two trials, with a rapidly advancing Martial Arts Will, seeing the number ten thousand caused his heart to quiver.

In the face of ten thousand attacks, the pain he endured before seemed insignificant.

Then again, being able to endure thousands of blades was already quite outstanding.

Zhou Leng looked down at his body.

In his Martial Arts perception, his body showed no changes.

However, within his body, at the center of his mind, a peculiar power had formed, profound and extraordinary, yet indistinct.

"Unexpectedly, this should be the further strengthening of the embryonic form of the Martial Arts Will."

Zhou Leng clenched his fists, the muscles on his right arm tightening and bulging.

Martial Arts Will is akin to spiritual muscles.

A flicker of confusion crossed Zhou Leng’s eyes.

Although he had just taken Replenishing Essence Pills and other pills the day before, in his Martial Arts perception, those pills were quickly depleted, and his body emitted signals of hunger, as if feeling cold.

"Could it be that the tempering of the Gate of Purgatory, or the growth of the Martial Arts Will, is also connected to the body and pills?"

Zhou Leng took all the pills once more, and only then did the cold feeling in his body gradually dissipate.

Zhou Leng exited the mysterious world.

Just back at Xiaoru Village, the internet was connected, and his Demonized Watch popped up with numerous messages.

Many people were asking what had happened, including Li Linhan.

Zhou Leng checked the time, 5 a.m., then began his morning training, only replying to everyone at 6 a.m.

Deng Zhijue replied, helplessly.

"You really are... forget it, as long as you’re fine."

"The Mountains and Rivers, Rivers and Lakes joint exam has been announced, and preliminary tests will be conducted today. It’s good that you can catch up."

"Additionally, Ruda’s advanced personal scholarship has been issued, thirty thousand yuan. Come and sign to receive it."

Zhou Leng headed straight to the cafeteria, and unlike before, he first ordered a lower-rank meat herbal cuisine worth 1000 yuan, followed by a Great Nourishing Pill, and then ate his meal.

After eating, Zhou Leng left.

The cafeteria staff were quite surprised.

"Why did he only eat 14 rounds today, with no improvement at all?"

"Is he going to lose his position as the Martial Saint of the cafeteria?"

"Don’t talk nonsense, didn’t you see that he added a serving of meat herbal cuisine? There’s still the small box of the Great Nourishing Pills left on the table, the two combined are equal to five meals."

"Wait, does that mean he ate even more?"

"It seems so..."

"Rankings might be deceiving, but appetite doesn’t lie. Anyone with a daughter, you’d better figure out how to get to know him..."

"He already has a girlfriend; the other day, she brought him a big pot of meat, I saw it clearly."

"Oh? That’s already known?"

"After all, he is the Martial Saint of the cafeteria..."

Zhou Leng walked into the Martial Arts Dojo, where his classmates were chattering, initially not noticing his entrance.

"I didn’t expect it would be the Eighteen School Joint Exam, quite fierce..."

"But we still have to pass the preliminary tests."

"We’re basically on par; after all, this is the Eighteen School Joint Exam, not the Top Ten Martial Arts Exam."

"There’s news that the rewards this time will be substantial. Besides the usual Replenishing Essence Pills, Qi Nourishing Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills, there should be high-level elixirs."

"What could it be?"

"It should be Embracing Essence Pills, Concentration Pills, or something like that. Although Embracing Essence Pills can compress True Qi and enhance its strength, I prefer Concentration Pills."

"Concentration Pills are the ones that can enhance Martial Arts Will, right?"

"Right. Concentration Pills are rarer than Embracing Essence Pills, and they’re out of stock all year round. If the state didn’t strictly control them, they’d be completely monopolized."

"It’s said that after advancing to Innate, Martial Arts Will is crucial."