Chapter 15: Provocation
Zen knew that he would meet Perrin at Cloud Sect sooner or later. However, he did not expect to encounter Perrin even before he had taken the initial exam.
After hearing what Perrin said, Zen realized that his cousin knew about the events that transpired on Family Practicing Day. If that was true, then Perrin would be aware that Zen had maimed Andrew in such a way that he would be unable to cultivate permanently.
“Cloud Sect is open to people from all over the world. You can join it, so can I!” Zen said calmly.
Perrin laughed and replied, “You are the rebel of the Luo Clan. After all that you have done, everyone in the Clan wants to kill you. You want to join Cloud Sect? Dream on! I'm gonna maim you today!”
Then, Perrin's body shone with a purple light. He stepped toward Zen with a contemptuous sneer.
Zen snorted. Perrin was behaving just as he had predicted! All of Zen's muscles tightened as he took a defensive stance. Perrin's strength seemed to have improved with his training at Cloud Sect. But Perrin didn't know that Zen had become stronger as well! 'I have already defeated Evil Lan, a master who was mid-way to the nature level. How can Perrin beat me?' Zen thought.
Just then, a black-robed disciple caught Perrin's left arm and said, “Hey, Perrin, calm down! We are at Cloud Sect. You've got to be careful not to violate the rules, or you will receive severe punishment.”
Perrin frowned when being reminded of the rules. Apparently, the penalty for breaking Cloud Sect's laws was severe. And so he hesitated.
Then, a young man with distinguished bearing, named Billy, walked out from amongst the black-robed disciples. It appeared as though Billy was the big shot amongst these guys. He said, “ Perrin, has this guy ever clashed with you?”
Perrin bowed respectfully to Billy before nodding and replying, “Yes, he is a rebel of my Clan. As the young master of the Luo Clan, I am obliged to punish him.”
“Kill him then! Though the rules of Cloud Sect are strict, this guy has just registered for the initial exam. Thus, it doesn't break the rules if you kill him, and I can cope with any trouble that you may encounter after that,” Billy said impassively. It sounded almost as though Billy could determine whether Zen would live or die.
Perrin had intended to fight with Zen, but he gave up this idea after hearing what Billy Wang said. It was all known that there was no free lunch, so Perrin didn't want to owe Billy one due to Zen. So Perrin turned to Billy and said, “I'm in no hurry! I'd like to see if this guy can pass the exams to enter Cloud Sect. If he fails, I will kill him as easily as I can kill an ant. If he succeeds, I will be able to find many opportunities to kill him in the future.”
Then Perrin turned to Zen and said, “I will let you live for a few more days. Don't get comfortable though. I will kill you someday soon!”
Zen split his sides laughing at Perrin's threat. He pointed at Perrin with his index finger and said, “Ha-hah! That's complete trash! Perrin, did no one from the Luo Clan tell you the truth? I defeated Ken Luo not just Andrew! How can you kill me?”
After saying that, Zen exuded an aura using his full strength. His body had been refined and burned by Evil Lan's fire for twenty hours. The intensity of his body had thus reached the level of a mid-grade mysterious weapon.
Although Zen was still at the organ-refining level, his exuding strength was so powerful that Perrin felt as though a tsunami was crushing him. The intensity was too much to bear, and Perrin found himself short of breath.
Perrin took a step back when faced with Zen's power. Two days ago, a Luo Clan carrier pigeon had brought a letter to Perrin. The note had been very brief. It had only mentioned that Zen had made Andrew unable to use his power any more. It said nothing about the fact that Zen had beaten Ken Luo.
Not long ago, Zen had been at the flesh refining level. But now, it seemed as though his strength had increased tremendously.
Originally, Perrin was quite confident about his ability to beat Zen. He had taken the Magical Pill, which had led to an incredible improvement in his cultivating speed. Moreover, as Perrin had built a friendly relationship with Billy, he had been accepted as an inner disciple at Cloud Sect.
In the past, Perrin's strength had been far superior to Zen's, and so he had never felt threatened by Zen.
Since it was said in the letter from the Luo Clan that Zen must have died because he had been grabbed by an evil weapon refiner Evil Lan, Perrin didn't pay much attention to it. He had almost forgotten about Zen.
However, Perrin didn't expect that Zen was still alive and would show up in front of him. Furthermore, Zen's strength had improved to the extent where Perrin was worried that Zen was no longer weaker than him.
Seeing Zen's arrogance, the faces of several inner disciples standing by Perrin's side darkened.
Zen was even not a disciple of Cloud Sect. Even if Zen successfully passed the exams and entered Cloud Sect, he would only be an outer disciple. How could he be so arrogant in front of a group of the inner disciples?
The only thing they were eager to do now was to teach Zen a lesson with their fists.
They all stared at Billy because of his status in the group.
Billy smiled calmly before speaking to Perrin. “ Perrin, it seems that this barking dog of your Clan is a bit fierce and annoying. What are you waiting for? Go beat him!”
The second Billy had finished giving the order, Perrin got ready to fight Zen.
Just at this moment, a flash emerged from inside Cloud Sect and a flying chariot shot out toward them.
Two armored people stood on the flying chariot. They seemed to be patrolling the area.
“They are inspectors,” said a black-robed disciple.
Perrin's expression turned sour when he saw the flying chariot. According to the strict rules of the Cloud Sect, battles among disciples were forbidden.
However, there were so many disciples in Cloud Sect, and each had been cultivating martial arts that battles could not be avoided altogether. All the disciples knew that they needed to be careful about the inspectors catching them fighting with each other.
Since the inspectors were just above the crowd, Perrin and his friends could not do anything.
Aware of the current situation, Billy sneered at Zen. Then he patted Perrin's left shoulder before strutting away with his hands crossed behind his back.
Perrin said to Zen, “You are very fortunate today! Although you have come to the Imperial Capital, no matter whether you join Cloud Sect or not, there is no chance for you to live! I will not fight you today. However, be ready! I will wait for the right opportunity to kill you! If you are smart, you'll find poison or another means to commit suicide in some street corner. That death will be less painful than what I will do to you. The choice is yours!” Then Perrin and the other black-robed disciples turned and followed Billy.
After the group of black-robed disciples left, Nory who had been standing far away, slowly approached Zen. His voice was full of admiration as he said, “Zen, you are so brave! Even the outer disciples don't dare to provoke the inner disciples. You dared to anger them even though you've only just signed up for the initial exam? You rock!”
In addition to Nory, many people who had signed up for the initial exam cast an ineffable look at Zen. While some thought that Zen had been too impetuous, others admired Zen's bravery. But most of them felt that Zen had been stupid to offend the inner disciples. They believed that Zen would no doubt meet an unfortunate end.
Zen sighed in resignation and forced a smile. Who liked to offend other people for no reason? Cloud Sect only selected the best warriors. It was expected that the disciples would have immense talent. Zen was just a rebel of a little Clan. The best way for him to survive and succeed was to keep a low profile and focus on cultivating his strength.
However, Zen still had a mission. He had to avenge his father's death! Thoughts of his father's death left Zen uneasy. Over the past two years, he had been unable to sleep. He might not have had the resources or the power earlier, but that hadn't stopped Zen from planning his revenge. He had sworn never to forget this blood feud!
Nory was also a member of a clan. So when he saw Zen's indignant look and thought of what transpired between Zen and Perrin, he nearly guessed what might have happened. It was normal to see a power dispute within the Luo Clan. Nory would not interfere in the internal affairs of another Clan. But he still reminded Zen, “From amongst those black-robed disciples, you should pay special attention to the last one.”
“Who is that guy?” Zen had also noticed how special the others had behaved toward Billy. Those disciples all turned to Billy for advice. As Perrin had paid his respect to Billy, Billy just remained an arrogant posture because he thought he should deserve Perrin's great respect due to his social status.
“If I haven't made a mistake, I believe that person is a member of the noble Clan called the Wang Clan,” Nory said.
Noble Clan?
Now everything made sense! Perrin could wear a black robe that was reserved for an inner disciple of Cloud Sect because he had been associating with a member of a noble Clan!
It was widely known that the noble Clans belonged to the privileged classes in the Empire. Some of their privileges were even written into the laws of the Empire.
Even so, it was impossible for Zen to bow to any threat. He could only desperately resist any attack in the worst situation.
After leaving Cloud Sect, Zen found a hotel to stay.
The Imperial Capital was different from C County. The prices for almost all commodities in the Imperial Capital were two or three times higher than those in C County. However, Zen had grabbed Evil Lan's space ring in which there had been many valuable treasures. Those cubic crystals alone carried great value. The value of one cubic crystal could make Zen stay in a more luxurious hotel than the one he had selected.
At night, Zen blew out the flame of the candlestick before climbing onto the bed and sitting cross-legged. He did not intend to sleep now.
He took the blood-red sledgehammer out of the space ring and placed it in front of himself.
Earlier, the black fire in the furnace of Zen's mind had inexplicably flown out to swallow Fire Sword. Then it lit up a dragon scale, which had significantly increased Zen's strength. If Zen could light the second dragon scale, his strength would increase manifold.
Prior to his meeting with Perrin, Zen had not been eager to light up the second dragon scale. However, after having met Perrin, Zen knew that joining Cloud Sect was going to be more difficult than he had anticipated. This was a turning point for Zen.
To deal with the crisis, Zen needed to increase his strength as he did not have anyone to rely on in the Imperial Capital.
After all the preparation had been done, Zen closed his eyes and meditated. He was trying to communicate with the furnace in his mind.
The black fire had previously appeared in Zen's mind on its own initiative. As a result, it had melted Fire Sword into iron essence.
Would the black fire reappear or not? Zen was unsure.
The huge furnace quietly floated in Zen's mind. There seemed to be no movement that would indicate the appearance of the black fire. Zen's spirit slowly approached the furnace in an attempt to rouse it.
Zen circled the furnace two times, but nothing happened. How did the furnace start?