I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

"What the hell are you looking at?" he snapped.

The muscular man immediately stopped in his tracks: "Huh? What's wrong with looking at you? You think I can't look?"

A slap descended from mid-air, pressing down on the muscular man's crown, and then slowly fell to the ground.

Muscles, bones, internal organs... the sounds of various things inside the human body shattering rang out incessantly. The muscular man's originally tall body was compressed to less than five centimeters in a second. Before he could even scream, he turned into a puddle of pancakes.

It was like a fleshy bag full of blood bursting open, squeezing out the dark blood and spraying it over a radius of seven or eight meters.

The passersby paused slightly upon seeing this, but only glanced in this direction before walking away as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, as if killing someone in the street in such a cruel way was just a trivial matter.

"You bastard, you've dirtied my hands."

The man shook his hands, which were covered in meat scraps, with a hint of disgust, then turned and swaggered away.

……

Five hours later.

The plane, traveling at full speed, crossed the outer ring of the seventh metropolitan area and entered the inner ring.

Xue Jing looked out the porthole and down, and saw snowflakes falling continuously from the clouds.

"...It's snowing."

Xue Jing stared at it for a while.

He was born in the fifth metropolitan area in the south, and he has never seen snow in his life.

"The Seventh Metropolitan Area is close to the Arctic, so the climate is quite strange. Sometimes it can suddenly snow even in the middle of summer, such as July or August."

Ning Yuantai spoke up.

Upon hearing this, Xue Jing nodded and said, "I see... It must be due to the influence of 'Heavenly Ice'."

Previously, when he was in Yuancheng, he had a chance encounter with Otogisuka and a female Grand Duchess of the Arctic Federation, who was also a member of the Mischief Makers.

Out of curiosity about why the Grand Duchess wanted to capture the Forge Nobles, he also learned a little about the situation in the Arctic Federation.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the Arctic Federation was currently facing an exceptionally difficult situation... all because a super creature codenamed 'Sky Ice' was lurking deep within the Arctic continent.

'Tianbing' possesses a strange ability to erode boundaries, continuously expanding its territory.

This has led to the already harsh climate of Siberia becoming even colder, and the living environment of the Arctic Federation has been continuously compressed, resulting in a large number of citizens freezing to death every year.

The 'Forge Noble' is one of the very few species that can resist this kind of erosion, and therefore it is in extremely high demand in the Arctic Federation.

Ning Yuantai nodded and sighed, "Since its emergence, Tianbing has been expanding continuously, and it will eventually have to be dealt with... But the one who is most capable of restraining and most confident in defeating Tianbing has some entanglements with the Arctic Federation. Even though the federal government has lowered its stance to ask him to take action, it still hasn't received a response."

"If this continues, our entire nation will also be greatly affected..."

The plane kept moving forward, with clouds and mist swirling outside the window. After a while, it finally broke through the clouds and the view opened up before us.

Xue Jing looked up—

Suddenly, in the far distance ahead, a towering white pillar, resembling the mythical 'Jianmu' tree, came into his view.

Xue Jing looked surprised and asked curiously, "That's the Skyscraper Center of the Seventh Metropolitan Area?"

Ning Yuantai also looked over and laughed, "Brother Xue, this one in the Seventh Metropolitan Area is different. It should be called—'Extreme Martial Heavenly Palace'!"

As he spoke, Ning Yuantai's eyes revealed reverence:

"This is a sacred place in the hearts of martial artists all over the world, and also the largest, best, and strongest place for martial artists to exchange ideas!"

"Forty-six thousand nine hundred and seventy-two floors! That's the exact number of floors. Starting from the first floor, countless martial artists compete and fight each other. The competition becomes more and more intense with each floor you go up."

"Any martial artist with lofty ambitions will inevitably come here and try to reach the 'Heavenly Palace'!"

……

Failure is a constant throughout life.

There's so much I want to say, but suddenly I feel a deep sense of powerlessness.

They clearly had the ability, but they just couldn't overcome that wall.

I'm so sorry I didn't ask for leave. The next chapter should be updated around noon today...

I even wrote the congratulatory message for the lottery in advance, it's really disgusting.

In that instant, I felt as if the last breath I was holding onto was completely drained, and a piece of my life's puzzle was branded with a regret, small but unsightly.

Fine, I'll just write something exciting in my novel, okay?

I want to see rivers of blood...

……

Chapter 317 Testing the Waters? Xue Jing: You can't possibly test it out. (4K)

"Speaking of which, why is it called 'Supreme Martial Arts Ascension to Heaven Palace'?"

Xue Jing asked with a hint of doubt.

The name sounds familiar.

"Is it possible..."

Ning Yuantai laughed and said, "You guessed right. The word 'Extreme Martial' in 'Extreme Martial Ascension Palace' comes from that Extreme Martial King."

"More than a hundred years ago, not long after the end of the Eternal Night War, the Supreme Martial King alone occupied the 'Sun Pillar' of the Seventh Metropolitan Area and claimed it as his own territory."

"Later, many things happened... The Sun Pillar of the Seventh Metropolitan Area gradually became a place for martial artists from all over the world to exchange ideas. The Supreme Martial King has lived in the 'Heavenly Palace' on the top floor for many years. The process of martial artists climbing up the layers to challenge the Supreme Martial King is called 'Ascending to Heaven'."

"The name of the Supreme Martial Heavenly Palace comes from this."

"Of course, for political reasons, this is a secret that cannot be made public. The official explanation for the name is that it means 'the ultimate in martial arts'."

"After all, what he did before he took control of Cangting..."

Ning Yuantai hesitated for a moment, then said tactfully, "It wouldn't have a good impact on society."

"Although decades of information blockade have made it virtually impossible to find any information about the Supreme Martial King, and his existence is only rumored among a small group of people, the Cangting Court had already set the tone and issued documents on this matter back then, and they probably won't bother to change it now..."

Xue Jing asked, "And now? Is the Supreme Martial King still living in the 'Heavenly Palace' on the highest level?"

Ning Yuantai shook his head and said, "After taking over Cangting, the Supreme Martial King has never returned to the Seventh Metropolitan Area. The 'Heavenly Palace' has been empty ever since. Those new generation people who don't know about the Supreme Martial King's existence only think that reaching the top is equivalent to 'ascending to heaven,' but they don't realize that even if they reach the top, they only have the qualification to challenge the Supreme Martial King..."

"And since the departure of the Supreme Martial King, no one has been able to ascend to the Heavenly Palace for decades."

Xue Jing asked curiously, "Oh? Is it that difficult?"

The Supreme Martial King is the pinnacle of martial arts, far surpassing all other martial artists in the world by countless levels.

It's difficult to gain the right to challenge him, Xue Jing understands that, but for no one to have done it for decades... that's just too exaggerated.

With such an enormous base, countless brilliant talents could emerge over several decades, and all that's needed is the right to challenge them... and yet no one can achieve that?

Ning Yuantai explained, "Brother Xue, you may not know this, but the Extreme Martial Heavenly Palace has 46,972 floors. The last 72 floors are no longer referred to by their floor number because of their extreme height, but are called 'Heaven' instead."

"Each heaven is controlled by a 'God of Heaven,' and there are seventy-two Gods of Heaven. They are all ruthless people who have obtained titles in the past, and half of them are even eternal title holders!"

"For any challenger who intends to 'ascend to heaven,' there are ways to skip the first 40,000-plus floors, but once you reach the last 72 floors, you must fight your way up one floor at a time."

"Only the Lord of the highest heaven can enter the Heavenly Palace... and if he doesn't go in, others must defeat him and become the new Lord of the highest heaven before they can enter."

“Over the decades, the position of ‘Supreme God’ has indeed changed hands several times… But after practicing martial arts to this level, they understand the terror of the Supreme Martial King far more deeply than ordinary martial artists.”

"From a frog in a well looking at the moon in the sky to a mayfly gazing at the blue sky... all the highest gods simply stood at the gate of the heavenly palace, shook their heads, and retreated."

Xue Jing nodded, then exclaimed in realization, "I see."

The Supreme Martial Arts Ascend to Heaven Palace boasts seventy-two Heavenly Lords, half of whom hold eternal titles... What an exaggerated lineup!

Is it possible that all the existing eternal beings are inside?

Even at the theoretically fastest rate, it would take at least five years for seven permanent titles to appear, and even with the addition of the three major titles in the Far East, that's only ten.

There are at least thirty or so in the Extreme Martial Heaven Palace... Even if they didn't wipe out all the existing Eternal beings, they probably wouldn't be far off.

"Besides the seventy-two days, there is a floor master for each of the next nine hundred floors. This is the purpose of most people climbing the Extreme Martial Heaven Palace... As long as you become one of the floor masters of these nine hundred floors, you can get a considerable income and martial arts resources every month, as well as a great reputation."

"Brother Xue, shall we go and take a look at the Extreme Martial Ascension Palace first?"

Ning Yuantai suggested.

"While it's still too early for you to reach the Seventy-Two Heavens, taking over one of the nine hundred individual floors shouldn't be a problem!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Jing shook his head: "No, let's go to Yincheng first."

He did intend to visit the Extreme Martial Heavenly Palace, but not now.

Xue Jing is now extremely wary of the probability of running into trouble. If he goes to the Extreme Martial Ascension Palace first, he guesses he will suddenly offend someone and be held back, thus delaying his important business.

His goal was clear: to finish the important business first, and then let whatever came his way, he wouldn't be afraid.

Danger and opportunity have always been two sides of the same coin for him. Encountering trouble means there will be gains. At worst, he can still gain some skill experience, which he doesn't mind... as long as it doesn't affect his main business.

……

The seventh metropolitan area, the inner ring, Yincheng.

An airplane tore through the sky, leaving a trail of contrail, and arrived above the city.

Xue Jing looked down through the porthole.

This is a very large city, much larger than Yuancheng, the inner-ring city that Xue Jing had visited before. However, its overall construction is not advanced, at least not as advanced as Yuancheng. There are not many high-rise buildings that look modern or even futuristic.

The plane slowly approached the ground.

In the snow-covered streets, many local residents and passersby looked up at the scene.

"Ok?"

Xue Jing raised an eyebrow slightly, looking thoughtfully at the slightly bristling hairs on his arm.

A faint sense of crisis flashed through my mind for a moment, but quickly disappeared.

Ning Yuantai seemed oblivious to everything and said to Xue Jing, "Brother Xue, let's go to the Zhige branch base in Yincheng to land the plane first, and then go to exam room number nine."

Xue Jing rested his elbow on the armrest, propped his chin on his hand, looked out the window, and nodded, saying, "Let's do it this way."

Looking at his inexplicably nonchalant demeanor, Ning Yuantai secretly sighed, "So handsome!" and said with a smile, "Alright."