Chapter 749: Extraterritorial Battlefield (I)

"The Divine Martial Guard isn't stationed in the Hall of the Gods or Black Tortoise City. The place where they're based is called the War God Hall, and it's actually one of the secondary venues of the Ascension Assembly. However, since the Divine Martial Guard only recruits martial artists born into the Wei Family, the place is usually deserted. Even martial artists rarely go there to join in the excitement, because there's nothing to gain except a beating. Still, I think someone like you would probably be interested." Ji Haozhong chuckled.

The balance of power within Great Wei was not particularly complicated. The entire empire was effectively under the control of the strongest clan, the Wei Family, which was also Great Wei's imperial family. To put it nicely, it was a cooperative system in which numerous clans and sects operated under the leadership of the Great Wei imperial family. To put it less politely, all of those factions were merely vassals dependent on the imperial family for their continued existence.

The Great Wei imperial family had also established numerous state institutions in the name of the empire. Through these institutions, it recruited talented cultivators with particular natural talents from the major sects and clans. Thus, the Ascension Assembly was also a grand occasion for Great Wei to recruit outstanding talent and replenish its ranks. The War God Hall was essentially one of Great Wei's state institutions, and it had likewise been opened to outsiders during this Ascension Assembly.

"The War God Hall? Does it have anything to do with the War God Sect in Guanghua Region?" Lin Zheyu asked.

"The War God Sect? There does seem to be some connection. I was curious about it before, so I specifically looked into the matter and managed to uncover a little information. The War God Sect was originally a Martial Dao faction founded by an expert from the War God Hall, with the aim of recruiting martial cultivation talents from among the common people. Later, for some unknown reason, the War God Sect was abandoned, and the Divine Martial Guard completely stopped recruiting martial artists from outside the Wei Family. Great Wei has made many similar attempts involving martial cultivation, such as the Demon-Suppressing Army, Demon Sealing Valley, and so on," Ji Haozhong explained with a smile.

The two walked at an unhurried pace through the central district of Black Tortoise City, familiarizing themselves with the main venue of the Ascension Assembly. Aside from its many secondary venues, the main venue itself contained plenty of interesting places, such as challenge arenas, the Discussion Pavilion, marketplaces, and more.

Lin Zheyu nodded and continued asking, "I see. But if the Divine Martial Guard doesn't recruit other martial artists, why would the War God Hall be made one of the secondary venues? What can anyone even do there?"

The two chatted as they leisurely toured the main venue of the Ascension Assembly. Many cultivators had arrived early, making the surrounding area extremely lively. There were plenty of handsome young men and beautiful young women among them, making for quite a pleasant sight.

"Well... I suppose the War God Hall became one of the secondary venues because they took pity on us and decided to let us glimpse the Divine Martial Great Dao that can reach the heavens... maybe?" Ji Haozhong shrugged. "There's no real benefit to going there. Only martial cultivation geniuses like you would be interested in it."

The War God Hall was extremely quiet and sparsely attended. Neither martial cultivators nor immortal cultivators showed much interest in it. The War God Hall was not even mentioned in the promotional material for the Ascension Assembly, so many young cultivators did not necessarily know that such a secondary venue existed. Only a small number of geniuses from the Immortal Dao and Martial Dao showed any interest in the Divine Martial Dao, which perfectly fused the two systems.

"Then I really should go take a look and see this legendary Divine Martial Dao for myself." Lin Zheyu nodded with a smile.

Inside a restaurant beside the street, several young and beautiful female cultivators sat by the window, laughing and chatting as they watched the cultivators passing below.

A cool and aloof-looking woman pointed toward the man on the street below. "Yunshu, look! Isn't that Fellow Xiao Zhe?"

The woman's name was Luo Shu, and she was a good friend of Lei Yunshu. With Lei Yunshu acting as an intermediary, she had once approached Lin Zheyu to purchase a Golden Core.

"Mm, that really is Fellow Xiao Zhe... Senior Xiao." Lei Yunshu corrected herself midway and spoke softly, a hint of melancholy in her voice. "I heard Senior Xiao advanced to the Shackles realm several years ago. He's now the most prominent genius in the Martial Alliance."

Suddenly, Lei Yunshu noticed Lin Zheyu looking in her direction. He waved to her and gave her a friendly smile. Lei Yunshu froze for a moment before greeting him from afar, a radiant smile spreading across her face.

"Huh? An old flame of yours?" Ji Haozhong exclaimed softly, his face lighting up with gossipy curiosity. He chuckled and raised his head to greet Lei Yunshu and the others.

"She's just a fellow friend I'm on good terms with," Lin Zheyu replied irritably.

"The way she looks at you is rather interesting. If you wanted, all you'd have to do is crook a finger, and she'd probably throw herself straight into your arms," Ji Haozhong said with a wicked chuckle.

Lin Zheyu gave him a sidelong glance, having no desire to entertain this gossiping fellow.

"Boring." Ji Haozhong curled his lips. "I've pretty much told you everything about the Ascension Assembly. You can explore the rest yourself. I'm going to take a look around Qionghua Garden. Are you really not coming? There aren't just otherworldly beauties there. They also have music performances, Go, calligraphy, painting, rites, archery, horsemanship, and more. It's quite interesting."

"Forget it. I'm not interested." Lin Zheyu waved a hand and said, "I'll go wander around Kangning Street and see if I can find anything interesting."

The area around Kangning Street served as the marketplace for this Ascension Assembly. Besides shops operated by the major factions, there were also many stalls set up by individual cultivators. With so many cultivators gathered here, there was always a chance of stumbling across some hidden treasure.

Ji Haozhong nodded. "All right, then. See you in three days."

He tidied himself up a little, then confidently strode toward Qionghua Garden with a distinctly flamboyant air. Lin Zheyu watched him leave and shook his head slightly. In truth, Ji Haozhong was not really as frivolous as he appeared. His dedication and obsession with martial cultivation were no less intense than anyone else's.

Ji Haozhong's current behavior was merely his way of relaxing and adjusting his state of mind. Every martial artist developed a different martial will, and their methods of unwinding differed as well. For some martial artists, battle itself was a form of relaxation. The martial artists from the War God Sect, for example, were a bunch of battle-crazed lunatics. As for Senior Wang Zhengtian, flirting with women was his preferred method.

As for Lin Zheyu, he did not particularly care either way. His martial will was not pure. Or rather, even now, he had yet to truly form a pure martial will that belonged entirely to himself.

Lin Zheyu had indeed comprehended numerous martial cultivation true intents in the past. If he allowed those true intents to continuously influence his spirit, spiritual soul, and state of mind, gradually changing them over time, he could eventually form his own martial will.

However, Lin Zheyu had deliberately interrupted that process. Those martial cultivation true intents had all been comprehended from true intent diagrams or techniques. They did not originate from within Lin Zheyu himself, nor were they the expressions most suited to his heart.

Lin Zheyu did not want to form his martial will in such a manner. The feeling of having his spirit and will forcibly altered by techniques and martial cultivation true intents made him deeply uncomfortable. It felt almost as if the techniques and true intents were violating his mind, forcibly reshaping his spirit and will until he lost his sense of self. This feeling had been particularly pronounced when he comprehended the Dominance true intent.

The sense of wrongness in Lin Zheyu's heart was intense, leaving him deeply uncomfortable. How was that any different from being brainwashed and losing oneself? Furthermore, because of the unique nature of Origin Force, it provided little help in tempering and strengthening martial will. It was difficult to raise his martial will to a level matching his cultivation and strength within a short period of time. Thus, he had simply given up on it. He focused only on strengthening his spirit and spiritual soul without deliberately tempering his martial will.

"Martial will..." Lin Zheyu murmured softly. "Martial will is to martial cultivation what the soul is to a person. It is one of its foundations, just as indispensable as the martial body. So does the path I'm following now truly count as martial cultivation?"

As his realm rose, as he broke more shackles and drew ever closer to the limit of the Shackles realm, Lin Zheyu's contemplation of the fundamental nature of martial cultivation grew increasingly profound. The issue of martial will became ever more prominent. If he wanted to forge a true path of martial cultivation that belonged entirely to himself, he first needed to understand what martial cultivation truly was.

Did the path he followed now actually count as martial cultivation? This question had remained buried in Lin Zheyu's heart for a long time, yet he had never found an answer. If it did, then his martial cultivation differed from the traditional path because it lacked a powerful and condensed martial will. His martial cultivation was incomplete. But if it did not count as martial cultivation, then what was it? Some kind of mongrel path that was neither one thing nor another?

Lin Zheyu murmured softly, "What is martial cultivation? What does it mean to be human? What is an immortal? What is a god...? Must I really follow the definition of martial cultivation laid down by those who came before me?"

"If I don't follow their path, can I still forge a viable road of my own? And if I can, what kind of path would it be?" Lin Zheyu murmured as his thoughts wandered.