Chapter 30: Fight Tooth And Nail
At that time, the masters were waiting outside Bloody Mountain. They had all locked onto Ryan through their picture slabs.
Ryan had shown the most potential in the blooded test, but most masters had lost interest in him. While it was true that the masters used the test to hunt for potential disciples, they had their reasons for not focusing on Ryan.
Firstly, although Ryan was the strongest candidate in this blooded test, the masters believed that he would want to join Dragon Peak because his relative, Master Fang, was the head of Dragon Peak. If Ryan had no intention of considering other peaks, then the masters would not waste their time trying to recruit him as a disciple.
Zen was another reason that drove the masters' attention away from Ryan. The masters had been watching the examinees who had entered the second and third layers of the blooded test. They had seen Zen on their picture slabs, and his abilities had caught their attention. They had been watching Nory for a long time since Zen had saved him. Although disciples from noble clans had surrounded Zen, he still risked himself to save Nory. Since Zen and Nory seemed to be friends, the masters thought they would stay together.
However, to their great disappointment, they failed to find Zen. Zen didn't seek out Nory in the next layer.
The masters assumed that Zen might like fighting alone and dislike having contact with others. Perhaps Zen was a man who preferred coming and going freely.
After a long while, when no master had been able to find Zen on their picture slabs, one master switched to Ryan. That was when he noticed the fight beginning between Ryan and Zen. Once he had alerted the other masters, excitement surged through them. They all shifted their picture slabs to Ryan right away.
Given the potential of both Ryan and Zen, the masters knew that a great fight lay ahead. Adding to the excitement were the odds that were now in Ryan's favor since he had cast a large net entrapping himself and Zen inside.
Ryan had been the most promising candidate during the test. But Zen was an unexpected successful entrant. Ryan's choice for which peak he would join was obvious and settled, however, Zen was different since he came from a low-level clan. He had no one to depend on. Since he was a person of extraordinary ability, all the masters intended to secure him as their disciple and cultivate him with all their strength to create a bright future for their peaks.
Seeing the battle between Ryan and Zen, the interest of all masters was aroused.
“Who do you think will win?” One master whispered to the master next to him.
“I think Ryan will win!” The master answered.
“Why?”
“Look at the weapon in Ryan's hand. Don't you know that dagger? It's called the Cut-All-Like-Air Dagger! The energy filaments emitted by this spiritual weapon were capable of destroying anything, no matter how strong. Zen would be knocked out of the blooded test as soon as the energy filaments cut him.”
Before long, all the masters were debating about the odds of the fight between Ryan and Zen. Some supported Ryan, while some thought Zen would win. They could not reach a consensus.
Only one master remained silent. Master Su was very upset. She sulked like a little girl who had hidden a toy of great interest to her from others but had lost it before she found the chance to take it home on the sly.
Her expression conveyed her disappointment and anxiety.
Zen stared at Ryan who was standing across from him. He gathered his strength and enveloped his body in an eerie iridescent purple light.
At this time, Ryan was one of the strongest enemies he had ever encountered. Zen knew that this was just the beginning. He would face many enemies on his path, and they would be stronger than Ryan. Although Ryan was at the marrow refining level, he put great pressure on Zen.
While many children idled away their time, many children from noble clans cultivated hard and possessed incredibly powerful strength.
They had access to the best resources in the world. If they could cultivate hard, they would make rapid progress and gain higher combat effectiveness than cultivators from ordinary families at the same level.
Zen circled Ryan. After circling Ryan twice, neither Zen nor Ryan had attacked. Ryan started his attack on Zen when Zen circled him for the third time.
With a malicious smile on his face, Ryan pulled a bright blue filament from the dagger in his hand and then threw the filament at Zen.
Under normal conditions, Ryan looked gentle and quiet. However, he was in a frenzied state when he was fighting with others. It seemed that mutilating his opponent was the only way to calm Ryan.
Zen jumped up without hesitation and rolled back to avoid the bright blue filament, but he was a little slow. The bright blue filament flew past his forehead and cut off some of his hair.
This narrow escape shocked Zen. He felt ashamed at not being able to dodge the attack completely. Zen gulped when he realized that had he been any slower, the filament would have sliced his head off.
Ryan gave Zen no time to catch his breath. He rotated the dagger in his hand and generated many chaotic bright blue filaments in a minute. Then he ran toward Zen with the intention of slamming Zen with the bright filaments.
The treacherous filaments would cut Zen into pieces, and he would die a tragic death if Ryan were to succeed.
At the moment, Zen had no other choice but to run!
Zen could not attack Ryan when the filaments surrounded him.
Running straight at the person holding the filaments would increase Zen's odds of being shredded. Zen needed another plan.
The day had not turned out the way Zen had expected. The test had been going well. After all, Zen had enough crystal shards to pass the blooded test. But now when he was so close to success, he did not expect anything like this to happen. What could he do? With no other alternatives, Zen smiled bitterly.
The large net covered Ryan and Zen. The net encompassed hundreds of feet, but there was little space for Zen to dodge.
Since Ryan was relentless in his attacks, Zen had no choice but to retreat several steps. At last, Zen was cornered. There was nowhere left for him to go.
Ryan realized Zen's predicament, and a big, cynical grin grew on his handsome face. His eyes narrowed as he studied his target. Ryan knew that Zen had potential. His combat experience and his skills had given Ryan a challenge. Although Zen had come from a low-level clan, he had a strong mind and excellent cultivation abilities.
However, Zen had sealed his fate when he dared to offend the Fang Clan.
Killing him during the blooded test and ensuring that Zen could no longer attain his dream, which had been spun by faith, willpower, and endeavor, were very alluring for Ryan. It made the blooded test more interesting.
Zen stood in the corner. The filament net was behind him. If he took even one small step backward, the net would cut him into small pieces. He would die right away. Ryan stalked toward Zen. A thick layer of chaotic filaments writhed in his hand.
For Zen, this seemed like the end.
'Alas, will I lose this time?'
Zen did not want to lose. He could retake the blooded test and join Cloud Sect next month! But he had worked hard and thought that he deserved this win.
Every time Zen thought of Yan and her predicament, he felt pressed for time. She was trapped in Hell Mountain, and he had no idea what had happened to her. Equally, Yan had no clue what was happening in their Clan. A small voice inside Zen kept urging him forward. 'Don't waste time. Hurry up! You have to save Yan as soon as possible!' were the thoughts that drove Zen to accomplish his goals.
'The filaments are lethal, and I am trapped. What can I do? My bones withstood Evil Lan's attacks. Perhaps they are strong enough to resist damage from the filaments.' In his moment of despair, Zen stumbled on a risky but brilliant idea. He decided to roll the dice. He put one of his hands behind his back and touched the net with one finger.
The moment his finger touched the net, Zen felt a sharp pain. He knew that the filaments had cut through the skin of his finger. In spite of the agonizing pain, he pushed his finger a little further. It was time to test his theory! The bones of his finger successfully stopped the filaments.
'Aha, my bones can resist the damage of the filaments!' Zen was thrilled!
He cast a sideways glance at his finger and found a shallow scar on the bone. The filaments had also hurt his finger bones, however, the filaments had been unable to cut through. His bones could resist the cutting force of the filaments!
'Well, let me fight tooth and nail!
I am in the magic array. No hurt I get is real. Even if I risk my life, I will not die for real. The worst thing that can happen is that I will be removed from the test. It is not such a big deal.'
Zen was determined not to let Ryan get his way without a proper fight. Now that he knew that his body could handle the filament's cutting force, Zen planned to surprise Ryan. He waited quietly as Ryan approached him, step by step.
When Ryan was just one step away from him, Zen raised his arms to protect his face and pounced on Ryan!
Ryan was stunned. He knew how dreadful the cutting force of the filaments could be, and so his first thought was that Zen was out of his mind. However, Ryan soon regained his composure. 'How dare Zen pounce on the filaments like this? Doesn't he know that he would be cut into small pieces by the filaments?
Is he surrendering so hopelessly?'
At that moment, not just Ryan
but also the masters paying close attention to the fight thought so.
It seemed to them Zen would be knocked out of the blooded test.
Zen's decision did not change how the masters felt about his potential. A strong warrior would not be crippled by defeat. Instead, he could stage a comeback in the next test. Joining Cloud Sect should not be too hard for Zen.
The masters had thought of everything. They had planned to find out where Zen lived as they intended to visit him after the blooded test. Regardless of the result of the test, they wanted to show some kindness to him. Finding a disciple like him was rare.
All the masters stared at their picture slabs when Zen pounced on Ryan.
Zen felt the filaments cut into the skin on his arms and legs. As the filaments worked their way through his flesh, tissue, and muscle, the pain became unbearable. Zen gritted his teeth and pushed forward. There was no option for retreat.
At last, the filaments stopped when they reached the bones and failed to cut through. As expected, his bones could resist the cutting force of the filaments!
Ryan thought Zen would be cut into small pieces by the filaments, but to his surprise, Zen was wounded, but not shredded.
Startled, Ryan stared at Zen. Taking advantage of this situation, Zen punched him in the face. The force used by Zen was so strong that Ryan's pretty face was badly mutilated with the first blow. Even so, Zen still managed to catch the shock reflecting in Ryan's eyes.
Ryan was known as the elite among the disciples from noble clans, and he deserved the title. In spite of slow response, he twisted his body, roared, and tried to stab Zen in the abdomen with the dagger.
But Zen had foreseen the attack. He quickly seized Ryan's arm and hit Ryan with his elbow. Ryan returned the attack with his other hand. They were locked in a dogfight.
Over and over, both of them rolled on the ground, like two children fighting.
The difference was that their attacks were intended to kill the opponent on the spot.
The two men didn't follow any particular movements nor techniques of martial arts during the fight. They simply followed bodily resistance to attack.
Who could be better than Zen in bodily resistance to attack?
Slowly, as time went by, Ryan became weaker and weaker. His body could barely resist Zen's attacks. Zen closed his eyes for a brief moment and called forth the eerie purple light. Then before Ryan realized what was happening, Zen punched Ryan three times.
Each fist carried the full force of the Purple Fist Strength.
Muffled sounds came from Ryan's body.
Since Zen could manage seven damages with each blow of the Purple Fist Strength, twenty-one lesions could be worked on Ryan's body. Ryan could not help but writhe in pain. Panic overwhelmed him as Ryan realized that he had lost.
Seconds later, bright light spots enclosed Ryan, and he disappeared from the Bloody Mountain. Although he had lost, Ryan couldn't help wondering what Zen's body was made of and why his dagger and the filaments had failed to cut him into pieces.
Now the fight was over, and they had a winner. Obviously, Ryan was out.