THE MARTIAL KING, VOLUME 3 - Season 11 Episode 62

The continent in front of Zen that belonged to the four divine kingdoms was vast and boundless, and even he found it difficult to determine just how big it was.

But he guessed that it was much larger than the Sea God Continent and the Central Region.

“Which divine kingdom’s territory is this?” Zen asked.

Francis smiled slightly before he replied, “We’ve come all the way from the Central Region and crossed the Chaotic Ocean of Stars. The Fire Divine Kingdom is part of the border of the Chaotic Ocean of Stars, while the York Divine Kingdom is the other part. I think this territory belongs to the Fire Divine Kingdom.

Which divine kingdom would you like to enter?”

“I’ll choose to enter the Fire Divine Kingdom then.”

Zen did not intend to cultivate and develop in any of the four divine kingdoms. His goal was clear; he wanted the life stones.

Since he couldn’t enter the Feather Holy Sea, he had to choose a martial house.

Zen was not familiar with the four divine kingdoms. In the same way, no one in the four divine kingdoms knew him. This time wouldn’t be like the first time he had entered the Sea God Continent and was hunted down by ogres the moment he had arrived.

But he still had to be wary of the Holy Maiden of the divine kingdom.

Since Zen had killed the prince of the York Divine Kingdom in Mist’s celestial tomb, the Holy Maiden had vowed to kill him for revenge. He wouldn’t be as foolish as to choose to enter the York Divine Kingdom of his own volition.

There were a lot of people living in divine kingdoms, but powerhouses were rare everywhere. There were very few Virtual Tribulation Realm warriors in divine kingdoms. If Zen chose the York Divine Kingdom, he would be in a lot of trouble with the Holy Maiden.

Francis had no objection to Zen’s choice and followed him, albeit carefully. He had survived in the Central Region. Although he had become Zen’s slave, if Zen died or the day came when he was no longer needed, the day of his freedom would surely come.

As Francis had mentioned, the area near the sea was sparsely populated. They had been flying at a high speed for a long time but they hadn’t come across any city of any size. This place was even more desolate than the Central Region.

But as they flew on, the number of towns they came across gradually increased.

Zen looked around, only to find that most people in these towns were ordinary people. Even if there were martial artists, they had only reached the nature level.

Of course, he wasn’t about to linger here and continued onward.

Further into the Harlen Divine Kingdom, there were a few medium-sized cities.

And then, slowly, a few large cities came into view.

The layout of this divine kingdom was completely different from that of the Central Region. The cities in the Central Region were scattered across the continent like chess pieces. In the divine kingdom, however, as they went deeper, they met more people and saw larger cities.

Zen had found quite a few martial houses in these cities, some of which had reached the third or even the fourth level. But he did not stay. As Francis had told him, only those martial houses that belonged to grade 5 and above were qualified to explore the Feather Holy Sea.

A few days later, Zen finally laid eyes on a huge city.

At the front gate of the city stood a stone statue that was over three thousand feet tall, almost the size of a small mountain.
Watching Zen size up the statue, Francis told him, “This is the first emperor of the Harlen Divine Kingdom, War King Harlen. He established the Harlen Divine Kingdom.”

“Oh? Is he dead?” Zen asked, curious. Internal Elixir Realm warriors could live for hundreds of years. Virtual Tribulation Realm warriors could live for one to two thousand years. Life and Death Realm warriors could live for thousands of years. Soul Sea Realm masters could live for over ten thousand years. There must be many legendary warriors in the divine kingdoms who had lived for over ten thousand years.

“Yes. The Harlen Divine Kingdom has a long history. War King Harlen had lived for 13, 000 years, but he still died in the end,” Francis said pityingly.

There was a curse on all martial artists of the four divine kingdoms. They would all die in the end; no one could escape it.
Usually, after reaching the Soul Sea Realm, one could fly to the Upper World and obtain a higher level of life. But there was no way one could do so in this great world.

Since ancient times, almost no one in the Central Region had been able to reach the Soul Sea Realm. Whether they could fly to the Upper World or not didn’t mean much. The Life and Death Realm warriors were the strongest, and most of them died when they went through life and death crises.

However, there were a lot of Soul Sea Realm masters in the four divine kingdoms. They couldn’t fly to the Upper World even when they gathered together. In the end, their lifespan would run out and they would die under the curse of the Five Aging Processes.

As the saying went, martial artists had to struggle for their life against the heavens. But this great world didn’t have enough resources for their cultivation. How could they possibly fight for their life?

All the powerhouses of divine kingdoms were helpless against this quandary.

But many masters of the Sea God Continent, including Amber, were also facing this problem.

The Demon Night, however, was different from other races and could communicate with the Upper World. If something happened in the Upper World to attract the attention of the Demon Night, they had their means to fly up there. The Genuine Dragon also had Dragon Soar Arenas and could break through the restrictions.

The large city that loomed up before Zen was called the Crane City. It was the second largest city in the Harlen Divine Kingdom, only second to the capital.

Such a large city surely had an air ban, and moreover, Zen wouldn’t be so arrogant as to fly directly into the city. It was only when he entered the city that he felt its aura.

There were only a few dozen Virtual Tribulation Realm martial artists in the Central Region. This was an astonishingly small proportion since the number of mortals and martial artists in the massiveness of Oracle City added up to over a hundred million.

However, not long after Zen had entered Crane City, he encountered many Virtual Tribulation Realm martial artists. The proportion in this city was by no means larger than that of Oracle City, but their absolute number was much larger.

“The Jade Martial House in the city is as strong as a sixth-grade sect, and is famous among the four divine kingdoms. With your current strength and cultivation, you should be able to join them,” Francis said to Zen.

Zen nodded, but he still had his doubts. “Martial houses usually recruit warriors at lower realms, right?”

For example, the Cloud Sect in the Eastern Region usually recruited learners who were at the first stage. Also, the Cloud Hall wouldn’t recruit disciples who were at the Internal Elixir Realm. The larger sects would reject independent warriors. After all, it would be hard for them to remain loyal if they thought of joining a sect.

Francis shook his head and said, “Master, you’re worrying too much. The divine kingdoms are very different from the Central Region. Everyone in the divine kingdoms is considered a member. Martial houses don’t want to train their own disciples; they do it for the sake of the divine kingdoms.”

Zen had compared martial houses to sects, but in fact, he should have been comparing sects to divine kingdoms.

For example, if the Cloud Hall was compared to a divine kingdom, then martial houses were like the Elite House within the Cloud Hall. It was not an independent sect, so all resources in the martial houses were given directly by divine kingdoms.

Even if Zen called himself an independent warrior, no martial house would truly view him as one. Instead, they would view Zen as part of the divine kingdom.

The moment he stepped into the Harlen Divine Kingdom, he was considered a member of the kingdom, not an independent warrior.

Only now did Zen finally understand.

He asked for directions to the Jade Martial House and headed towards it, Francis in tow.

Since he couldn’t fly within the city, he went ahead on foot. A particular street in the city had a red wall to his right. The faint sound of waves could be heard from beyond it and he could smell the saltiness of the sea.

“There’s the smell of the sea. Could it be…?”

Zen had walked deeper into the Harlen Divine Kingdom, staying far away from the Chaotic Ocean of Stars. If there was seawater outside the walls, it would most likely be the Feather Holy Sea.
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Francis nodded and said, “You’re right. The Feather Holy Sea is right outside these walls.”

Just how mysterious was the Feather Holy Sea? He wasn’t allowed to enter or even look at it.

But why? Zen was even more puzzled now.

Francis wasn’t surprised at Zen’s confusion. He smiled and said, “The Feather Holy Sea is related to the ruling position of the four divine kingdoms. This inland sea is their forbidden land. Normal martial artists aren’t qualified to even take a look at it.”

“What happens if I do?” Zen asked.

Francis laughed. “A single glance will take your life.”
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