Chapter 20: Shock
Master Su had displeased the masters of the other peaks by disobeying the rules for the benefit of Drizzle Peak.
However, considering Master Su's background, no one really dared to confront her. The chief examiner was only in charge of the initial exam. He would never have the courage to offend Master Su. What he could do was preach to her, given his seniority. If Master Su did not listen to him, he would not say anything else.
As for the boy who was being beaten, the chief examiner thought that it was likely that he had practiced some unique refining skills or had some peculiar physique. These were the only explanations to justify how he could be beaten to this extent and not be injured.
While the chief examiner was surprised to see such a talent, he wasn't entirely shocked. Cloud Sect recruited many gifted people from among the imperial geniuses. This boy was nothing in comparison to the evil geniuses of the empire. Yes, he had passed the initial exam. But the next test was not as simple. Who knew whether or not he would pass the next test.
Thirty miles away, the four men surrendered to exhaustion. They fell to the ground, gasping for breath. They were so tired that they were no longer able to continue.
They had also registered for the initial exam. Killing that boy was only an incidental task. But now they were too tired to pass the initial exam, much less kill the boy. There were still about five or six miles away from the stone tablet that denoted their goal. But in their current state, the thought of standing and trying to run the last few miles was too much to bear.
Zen swung his arms. He felt refreshed and energetic. The beating had refined his body. He could tell how far he had advanced from the impurities that had been washed away from his organs. He wondered if he could reach the peak of the organ refining level if he were punched a few more times by cultivators at the marrow refining level.
It was a pity that this kind of opportunity didn't come more frequently. Zen was apparently thrilled with how much his body had been refined.
Still looking for a fight, Zen walked up to and squatted next to the scholar-like man who had been glaring at him maliciously. Then Zen asked, “I just heard you talk about Billy. Were you referring to Billy Wang?”
The scholar-like man sneered and said coldly, “Since you know that, why don't you just kneel and wait for death? Billy is from a noble family, and you have provoked him. Do you think he will let you live? Even if you enter Cloud Sect and become a disciple, you can't escape death.”
Zen nodded, smiled, and said, “Help me pass a message to Mr. Wang. I have no grievance with him, so he should not get involved in the business between Perrin Luo and me.”
“Haha, are you kidding? Who do you think you are? Why should Mr. Wang listen to you? And what makes you think you are in a position to negotiate with him? Killing you will be a piece of cake for him...” continued the scholar-like man with a sneer.
“Peng!”
Halfway through his speech, the scholar-like man felt a sharp pain. Zen had struck him on the jaw! The force of the attack sent the man flying backward. Then he flipped around and fell to the ground. The impact broke the scholar-like man's teeth and his mouth filled with blood. The man, now unable to make a sound, nursed his injured jaw.
Zen rubbed his fists and said coldly, “Asking you to pass Mr. Wang a message might not be such a good idea. You keep talking and complaining. Do you really think that I don't have a temper? You hit me for so long and didn't manage to injure me. I gave you one punch. Now, look at you. Did you think I was too weak or afraid to fight back?”
Zen was telling the truth. The four men had chased Zen for a long time, and they had been encouraged to run after him by his lack of attack back. Zen had fled all this way without a single counterattack. So they naively believed that Zen would not pose a threat to them.
But Zen flattened the scholar-like man with one brutal wallop. His attack had been swift and merciless!
The other three men instantly realized that this guy was as fierce as a lion!
Fear enveloped the other three men. They despaired at their situation as they watched Zen Luo. The pressure on the path, the long run, and the beating they meted out to Zen had exhausted them so much that they could barely stand. Even if they wanted to run away, they couldn't. What terrified them more was that they didn't have the power to fight back.
Zen looked at the strong man and asked, “Did you hear what I just said? Or would you like me to repeat the message?”
“No, no,” said the strong man. A weak smile grew on his face as he attempted to disguise his trepidation. “I heard you clearly. I will convey your message to Mr. Wang.” The strong man was smarter than the scholar-like man. He knew that if he didn't obey Zen, he would end up as hurt as his companion. He would not ask for trouble.
Zen nodded contentedly. He stood and continued his journey without another look at the four men.
Zen was the only person on the road now. Although he had succeeded in passing the initial exam, he wanted to see if he could move on.
When he tried to run for a while, Zen found that he could advance more miles. He knew that if he continued, he would reach the end of the test for participants at the marrow refining level. He wanted to push his limits.
Under the pressure of four thousand pounds, his speed was already extremely slow. Zen managed to cover the distance by jogging slowly. It took him half an hour to complete the distance to the stone tablet.
If a cultivator at the marrow refining level reached this stone tablet, it would show that he had passed the initial exam. But the end of the road was not in sight yet. Zen didn't know how much the pressure would increase by if he crossed this stone tablet.
After mulling over the situation, Zen decided to try. He stepped over without any hesitation.
Just after, Zen felt a terrible pressure enclose him.
“Bump!”
Zen was pinned to the ground as though someone had placed a mountain on him.
“The pressure is too much!” Zen moaned.
His face, stomach, and limbs were firmly attached to the ground as if they were stuck in viscose. He could not budge an inch.
He tried to lift his head, but Zen's head felt as heavy as tens of thousands of pounds. No matter how hard he tried, Zen could not raise his head again.
Disappointment filled Zen. The first 10-mile road was under a pressure of 1, 000 pounds. The second 10-mile road was under a weight of 2, 000 pounds. The final distance Zen had managed, the third 10-mile road stretch was under a pressure of 4, 000 pounds. If the same math was being followed, this section of the 10-mile road should be under a pressure of 8, 000 pounds. But now Zen felt the force of tens of thousands of pounds. The pressure seemed to have increased tenfold!
'I'm confident that I can overcome this pressure!' Zen tried to motivate himself to continue struggling under the immense pressure.
The pressure gave him a lot of energy. He communicated with the two dragon scales in his body before putting their power into his body. With a roar, Zen mustered all his strength.
“Get up!”
He felt the strength gathering in his body. His muscles bunched and swelled to their limit, giving off a bronzed glow.
With a brutal force, Zen held up his body with his hands.
But he remained close to the ground. Zen realized that he had been unable to get up completely.
“Once more!”
Zen took a deep breath and roared. He gathered all the strength in his body and infused it in his legs. With hands placed on his thighs for support, Zen managed to stand up slowly although in a rather awkward posture.
He got up very slowly, almost inch by inch.
It took him an hour to go from squatting to standing upright.
By this time, he was sweating profusely, and his chest heaved violently with the effort to breathe. The process seemed to have depleted the strength from his whole body.
But he had made it!
Now that Zen had completed the task of standing, he tried to take a step forward. However, the immense pressure made it impossible for Zen to take a step.
As predicted, the moment Zen tried taking a step, he lost his balance and fell on the ground, head first.
But it was at this moment that the warm currents began flowing through his body.
“What is going on?” Zen mumbled.
There was a constant flow of warmth emerging from his arms, torso, and legs. The warm currents surging through his body seemed to be stronger than before.
A look of bemusement spread across his face. He was not being beaten now, how could there be warm currents?
“I get it!” Zen said when he figured it out. Ecstasy replaced the bewilderment Zen had felt a moment ago.
His body was capable of producing warm currents because the power of the outside world was pouring into his body. His body had transformed that power into warm currents, which in turn, was refining his body.
It was true that no one was beating him now, but the external pressure had reached a horrific level. And the pressure was no less powerful than the beatings. So this was why his body was producing the warm currents!
Since the pressure was constantly flowing, it was evenly affecting his whole body. Therefore, warm currents were spreading and circulating all across his body.
This kind of high-pressure environment was the perfect training place for Zen. He was so happy that he stood where he was, closed his eyes, and let the warm currents remove the impurities from his viscera.
While Zen was on the road, enjoying the feeling of being refined, the chief examiner and Master Su were shaken by what they had witnessed.
The first 30-mile road had been designed to test participants at the bone refining level, the organ refining level, and the marrow refining level. In general, candidates would be promoted to the next test when their jade pendants turned red.
But the area after the first 30 miles was a training place for participants at the nature level!
The pressure on this stretch of the road reached the horrendous force of 50, 000 pounds. That meant a person had to bear 50, 000 pounds of pressure on their body.
In the face of such terrible pressure, all participants at the marrow refining level, and even those who had just stepped into the nature level were deterred. The pressure could only be borne by participants who had stepped into the nature level completely.
General cultivators at the bone refining level and the organ refining level would be crushed immediately upon entering the area.
Though the boy's body was strong enough to bear the attacks of the four men at the marrow refining level, he should have died under the pressure of 50, 000 pounds.
Aware of the seriousness of the problem, the chief examiner and Master Su jumped into their flying chariots and rushed over to the site.
With the speed of the flying chariots, they arrived in an instant despite the distance being 30 miles.
When they jumped off their flying chariots, they found that Zen was not only alive, but he had managed to get up from the ground.
Seeing this, the chief examiner murmured, “I have presided over so many years of the initial exam, but I have never seen …this is the first time... ...”
Master Su put her hands over her mouth in surprise. She was startled, too. The boy was only at the organ refining level. How could he resist the pressure of 50, 000 pounds and stand up?