Chapter 23: I Refuse To Accept It
Everyone's attention was drawn to Zen and the astonishing aura he was sending out.
Even the large group of noble clan disciples that stood further away looked over with spirited looks. Everyone seemed to pivot their attention toward what was happening automatically.
“Haha, Billy sucks. He led a group of people against a weak person from the bottom. Shouldn't he know that a cornered dog will jump over the wall in desperation? I guess this boy is building up the strength to fight back,” a young noble clansman dressed in white shaking his jade fan whispered.
“So what? Trust me. You are way overthinking this. Although this boy is in a desperate situation, he's not strong enough to strike back. Moreover, he is just at the organ refining level, and there's no way he could fight someone that much stronger than him. But, then again, Billy really knows how to have fun, to even bother dealing with a guy at the organ refining level...” another noble clansman nodded in agreement with what he heard.
The bodyguard, however, standing beside him saluted, glanced at Zen and said, “Mr. Huo, you will take part in the Blooded Test later. You'd better watch out for this young man.”
“Why? What do you mean 'watch out for this young man'? Tell me what you know.” Mr. Huo asked patiently. Mr. Huo knew his bodyguard wouldn't speak up for no reason, and things must be not as simple as they seemed. His bodyguard had spent many years at the nature level and was strong. Besides, he recently safely returned from the cruel Shura battlefield as a master at reading people. Mr. Huo trusted him a lot.
The bodyguard continued, “I don't know why, exactly, but I have a feeling, even though he is only at organ refining level, he is a very dangerous and mighty opponent. We'd better be careful.”
Hearing his trusted bodyguard, Mr. Huo raised his eyebrows. He noted with interest, “Things are getting more interesting. So, Billy will be in a little trouble this time.”
The relationship of the young men from these noble clans was not unbreakable, and they were not united as one. There were even differences among some noble families. So, Mr. Huo didn't think that he had to warn Billy. Even his bodyguard gave Zen a very high evaluation, and he still believed that for Billy, it was just a small trifle. Billy could handle Zen perfectly fine.
As one noble clan was to others, only the disciples from noble clans clearly knew Billy's abilities.
On the other side, Perrin and those young noble clansmen all wore long faces. Apparently, Zen's words roused echoes in their hearts.
The butterfly jade pendant was deftly spun and turned in between Billy's fingers quietly. His face was calm, but Billy's eyes flashed with an intent to kill. “Death to you, in fact, is the most relaxed way to relief. I have a lot of ways to render you pain in a living death. Want to think it over again?”
“I don't need to! My life may be a humble one, but keep in mind, I won't die easily!” snapped Zen sarcastically.
“What are you waiting for, brother? Cut the garbage! Stop wasting time! Kill him!” Unable to stand by waiting any longer, a tall young man rushed out from behind Billy. He raised his fist and brought it down squarely on Zen's head.
The young man's strength was at the peak of marrow refining level!
A series of runes subtly flowed over both of his fists, which was a strong fist position.
As powerful as the punch was, Zen?didn't flinch. Instead, he raised his fist to meet the oncoming powerful punch!
The people watching shook their heads, thinking that although Zen had determination, he shouldn't have talked the way he did. To beat a master in the marrow refining level with his organ refining level, was like pounding a stone using an egg. Zen fought against a noble clansman. The practicing theories of someone in a noble clan were far greater than Zen's.
Such a hard thrust could break Zen's arm.
Nory wasn't standing far away. His mouth opened wide, and his eyes were full of worry. Nory knew Zen's strength and that he wasn't as weak as he looked, but he did not see the last scene yesterday. In his mind, even though Zen was not simple, there was no way he could win against a master at the peak of marrow refining level. This time, Zen was in big trouble.
But, what everyone presumed, did not happen.
The two fists made contact with a loud?“Cra-ack!” as flesh and bone made contact with bone and muscle.
All they could see was Zen?still standing in the same place, his legs firmly under him on the ground. A warm flow circulated through his body, and offset the strength of the punch that the tall young man sent to him.
The tall young man, however, stumbled back several paces, almost falling to the ground, his hand falling to his side, wounded, and his face was flushed.
The majority of people did not expect the result and were surprised, and they looked at Zen with a faint touch of admiration. To take on the strength of marrow refining level with the strength of organ refining level, this was not something any ordinary person could do. But Zen did!
In particular, watching Zen teach a lesson to a noble clansman, in the presence of over one thousand grassroots members, left an unspeakable pleasure in their hearts.
On the contrary, Billy's people could no longer stay quiet. They shouted as they surrounded Zen intent on attacking him.
Zen took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. If they rushed him, then the only thing he could do was to try harder. He would not wait for his doom, but, he would fight! Even if he didn't kill them all, he would take as many as he could before his life ended.
At this point, a booming voice was heard, “What the heck are you doing? Today is your Blooded Test day. You are not here to fight each other!”
Looking around, they saw thirty chariots headed towards them, and the one who shouted stood on the first flying chariot. Joshua wore ragged overalls and had a squared face. He was the supervisor of the Blooded Test.
Joshua jumped off the flying chariot and strode up to Zen purposely, demanding loudly, “Who was fighting just now?”
“It was him! He was fighting, examiner!” accused Perrin as he stepped forward pointing at Zen.
“It takes two to fight. Who is the other one?” asked Joshua.
“It was me,” admitted the tall young man from Wang Clan.
Joshua nodded and said gravely, “Very well, your eligibility?to compete in the Blooded Test is canceled!”
Zen's face paled immediately. It would be unfair if he were disqualified. He was forced to defend himself. “Examiner, I didn't start the fight. I was forced into fighting. Why should I be disqualified from the test?”
“No matter who you are, if you dare to fight here, then you should have the mindfulness that you will be driven out of the Cloud Sect, without exception!” Joshua did not want to listen to Zen's explanation at all. He asked nothing more before making his decision.
The tall young man from Wang Clan said, "Supervisor, I am an inner disciple of Cloud Sect and not a participant in the Blooded Test.
“Inner disciple?” Joshua asked, “which peak?do you belong to?”
“I am from the Skytop Peak, examiner,” responded the tall young man.
“Hmm, Master Xu of Skytop Peak is here too. Since you are an inner disciple, the punishment is that one hundred points will be deducted from the peak!” declared Joshua.
There was a smile on the tall young man's face, and he looked relaxed. ?As everyone knew, one hundred points was a lot to the helpless grassroots, but for the noble clan disciples, it was nothing. Such a punishment was meaningless to him.
They might have lost a hundred points, but Zen would be kicked out of the Cloud Sect, which was precisely what they wanted.
More than one thousand students stood there, looking angry about the unjust decision. This punishment was close to no punishment at all. Joshua was helping the influential.
At that moment, all thirty-three peak masters in the Cloud Sect arrived on flying chariots.
After the students passed the Blooded Test, each master would pick students who met their requirements. They would choose the right talents for their folds, based on the performances and examination results of the students.
To have better development of their respective peaks, each master followed the principles of selecting the best students for their peaks.
Of course, Zen understood how bad his situation was. Joshua was obviously on the side of the noble clans. But, he continued to think that he didn't want to miss out on his life for something he had no control over. He argued, “Examiner, I wasn't the one who started the fight. You have to believe me. Everyone here saw it. I was forced into the fight. It's unfair to disqualify me from the competition arbitrarily like this!”
“It's not fair? Now then, tell me, were you fighting?” Joshua had no expression as he asked.
“Yes,” Zen responded honestly. He did fight, but, he was forced into it. If he hadn't, he would be dead now.
“Okay then, we're all set! You don't need to say anymore. Just hand over your disciple card! And afterward, leave the Cloud Sect!” stated Joshua?as he extended his large hand for Zen to hand over his disciple card.
Zen took two steps back and in a positive tone said, “Examiner, it is unfair to punish me like this. I refuse to accept it, and I think there are more than one thousand students present who also refuse to accept it!”
Joshua did not expect a humble temporary disciple would dare to speak to him like that, let alone question him. Who did he think he was talking to? Joshua raged. “How dare you!”
Angered, he raised his hand to slap Zen.
Although Joshua?didn't use any internal strength or skills on his hand, the force alone was enough to severely hurt Zen because Joshua had been at the nature level for many years, and his strength had surpassed the physical limit. One could imagine how destructive his hand was.
Facing the possible force of Joshua's hand frightened Zen, even if his body was a mysterious weapon, and would offset some of the power from the examiner, he was not indestructible. The strength of Joshua's hand was beyond what his body could bear. If he were hit, Zen would be seriously injured.
But just as Joshua was about to slap him, a clear voice was heard, “Joshua, what do you think you're doing?”
Zen and Joshua turned in the direction of the voice and saw a beautiful woman wearing aqua blue standing not far away, looking over at them.
Zen remembered her well. He met her after he passed the initial exam yesterday.
As angry as Joshua was, at the sight of her, he immediately calmed, and tried keeping an even tone as he explained, “Nothing special, just punishing a disciple for his unruly behavior.”
To Joshua, the woman in front of them was irritating, and once she caught wind of his failings, he would be in trouble. So, he didn't want to discuss this matter in depth with her, and just hoped this matter would be laid to rest here, silently.
The fact of it was though, that Master Su had been watching for a while, and understood the cause and effect very well. She wouldn't care if it was another student Joshua?toyed with. Even if she was energetic, she could not go everywhere, minding others' business.
But she did care very much that Joshua?was about to hit Zen. She would not let that happen.
Master Su chose Zen early. Because she already regarded Zen as the most prominent among the disciples recruited this year. 'You dare to touch my student? You will go through me first!' thought Master Su. Master Su would not allow Zen to be attacked.
“For his unruly behavior? Which rules did he break?” inquired Master Su.
“He fought with another disciple here, which is a violation of the Cloud Sect regulations,” replied Joshua in a quiet voice. He knew Master Su was here to save Zen and knock him around at the same time.
“I didn't start a fight with anyone. They attacked me! It's not my fault that I was forced to defend myself!” exclaimed Zen, as he seized the opportunity to defend himself.
In that instant, Joshua's facial expression changed, and he had the urge to hit?Zen. However, Master?Su's cold voice from behind Joshua stilled his thoughts as she said, “Joshua, as an examiner, you should distinguish between right and wrong. Why didn't you give this student a chance to argue his side? What are you up to?”
The sharp twinge in Master Su's voice struck Joshua's heart, and it felt far from ideal. Hearing the anger in her voice, Joshua realized he wasn't getting through this matter easily. Smiling complacently, Joshua said, “Master Su, it's such a small matter, surely it's not worth getting angry about......”
“Well, if it's a small case, then let him clarify! You, tell all of us. What happened?” asked Master?Su.
“They did it!” declared Zen as he pointed to Billy, Perrin, and their followers. “They came at me with no reason. One of them rushed at me and hit me, forcing me to fight back!”
Joshua sneered. “Young man, you'd better think over what you are saying. Your accusations are one-sided. Do you have anyone who can prove your tale?”
Everyone stopped talking at once, and the noisy crowd suddenly became deathly quiet. A light smile spread across Billy's face, while Perrin gloated silently. They knew that the sons of the noble clans would not offend Billy, and among the more than one thousand disciples from ordinary families, if they were smart, none would stand up for Zen.
Just as expected, even though this happened in full view of all of them and they were outraged moments ago, none of them dared step forward and speak out for Zen.
Anyone who would stand up for Zen would be a target of Billy's, and who would be stupid enough to risk getting his rear beaten? It made no sense to offend Billy without strength to back it.
“I can prove it!”