Chapter 50: Disgraced Himself
“But that guy is half-step into the nature level. You will be in an unfavorable position!” said Tank Yang anxiously.
Sun Zhao nodded in agreement and said, “Yes, Tank is right. Zen, this fight will be unfair for you.”
Martin wanted to stop Zen as soon as he heard what they had said. He knew of Wu's strength. Wu was one of the best among the soldiers who were half-step into the nature level. Zen would be at a disadvantage if he fought with him.
But before Martin could stand up, Roger put a hand on his shoulder, shook his head in disapproval, and said, “Let Zen make the choice. We have to believe in his abilities. After all, he joined the Imperial Army to fight the blade locusts with the soldiers. He needs to prove his worth to them.”
“But...” Martin thought over what Roger had said. However, he remained unconvinced. He wanted to say more, but before he could, Roger interrupted him again. Roger murmured, “I think Zen is extraordinary even though he is at the marrow refining level.”
After all, Roger Meng was one of top disciples in the nature level, and so his foresight naturally differed from others.
Once Roger showed confidence in Zen's abilities, Martin had no reason to try and dissuade Zen. Although he decided to keep quiet, his hesitance was reflected in his expression. Wu didn't care as much about Zen's reputation.
“Haha. In spite of his inferior strength, this guy is brave enough to accept my challenge. Buddies, come here. Let's move these tables and chairs so that some space can be made for the fight!” Wu yelled.
The sounds of shuffling feet and scraping chairs filled the tavern as the other soldiers positioned themselves so that they could watch the fight.
Tavern brawls were common between soldiers at Dragon Fort. The waiters who had been watching the argument hurriedly moved the tables and chairs away. At last, a large space was cleared.
Wu stood in the center of the space. A grin spread on his lips as he gestured at Zen before saying, “Brat, come here!”
Zen nodded. The gentle look in his eyes transformed into a keenness, as though he was able to see everyone's true nature despite their pretenses.
With each step Zen took, his demeanor changed.
His soul was far more powerful than an ordinary person's. Hence, Zen naturally looked mighty.
He became mightier every step he moved forward. After taking seven steps forward, Zen seemed to have turned into another person. He looked like a domineering devil with terrifying strength who had just finished his refinement in the purgatory.
By now, Zen's soul still didn't have intent. If he had, it would have been possible for Zen to hurt the bystanders by the strength from his soul alone.
As soon as the bystanders felt Zen's power, surprise and shock were reflected on their faces.
Even Roger was astounded.
When Roger saw how skillfully and proficiently Zen had fought with the strong man Gordon at the Bluesky Parking Ground, he concluded that Zen was more powerful than he appeared.
But now Roger, who was very skilled at the nature level, was also scared by Zen's mighty strength.
'This guy is only at the marrow refining level, but he is more than what he seems. How many skills is he concealing?' thought Roger.
At that moment, Wu felt foolish. The domineering strength sensed by others was only a portion of the strength exuded from Zen's body.
When this force radiated by Zen attacked him, Wu felt as if he had gotten stuck in mire. Even the air around him seemed to have stagnated.
Wu moaned and groaned as he felt the pressure of Zen's domineering strength. He already knew that Cloud Sect disciples were not weak. But Zen had just reached the marrow refining level.
He couldn't believe that a person at the marrow refining level could be so powerful.
'Has he cultivated some skills to enhance his strength? Or perhaps his actual strength is very mediocre and not so domineering as it appears?' As this thought came to his mind, Wu gritted his teeth and decided to use his greatest advantage, power, against Zen.
A person's power was associated with his level regardless of the skills he was cultivating.
The higher a person's level, the fewer the impurities inside his body, and thus, the greater the person's power.
It was beyond doubt that Wu's power was greater than Zen's since Wu was a half-step into the nature level while Zen was still at the marrow refining level.
Moreover, the Giant Ape Iron Fist that Wu had been cultivating could double his power. At the same level, very few people were more powerful than Wu.
Thinking of all this, Wu felt more confident. He mobilized all his power and fiercely swung his fist at Zen.
“Puff!” A muffled noise was heard.
Despite the strength used by Wu, Zen used only his palm to defend himself. He caught Wu's fist mid-air and held it tightly in his hand.
At first, Wu was astonished by the block. When he regained his composure, Wu tried to direct his strength to his arm. He wanted to see if he could shake Zen's hold on his fist.
But Zen remained undaunted. He stood calmly with Wu's fist secured firmly in his.
Wu tried hard to push his fist forward, but he couldn't budge Zen's hold.
Then, he attempted to pull his fist out of Zen's hand but failed at that as well.
Drops of sweat collected on Wu's forehead. He had exerted himself so much that his face and neck had turned dark red. In the current situation, Wu found himself in a dilemma. He could neither advance nor retreat.
A weaker cultivator had just defeated him.
All the bystanders inside the tavern were taken aback when they saw this incredible scene.
Since they were his battle companions, they knew of Wu's strength.
They hadn't expected that Zen, who was only at the marrow refining level, would be able to grab Wu's fist with a single hand.
This was not an ordinary feat. Even Martin, who had reached the nature level, couldn't do that. This indicated that Zen was more powerful than Wu.
What others didn't know was that Zen had woken up four dragon scales, and was hence almost as powerful as a strong man at the nature level.
Seeing that Wu couldn't shake off his grip, Zen took a deep breath. Soon afterward, he swung his arm and pushed Wu back.
Wu's eyes widened with surprise and fear when he felt Zen's power flowing through his arms. Before he could process what had happened, Wu found himself flying backward. He crashed through several rows of tables and chairs before colliding with a wooden cabinet. All the furniture Wu had been hurled through now lay on the floor in a pile of shattered wood. At last, Wu collided with the wall before falling to the floor in a motionless heap.
At this display of power, silence descended in the tavern.
Fights between the Imperial Army and Cloud Sect were very common.
Although disciples of Cloud Sect were highly skilled, soldiers of the Imperial Army were strongmen who had experienced combats extensively. They had acquired valuable practical skills from fighting. This gave them a slight advantage and brought them at par with the Cloud Sect disciples.
However, a soldier had now been humiliated by a young cultivator at the marrow refining level.
All the soldiers felt ashamed.
Under normal circumstances, the entire tavern would have been involved in a skirmish like this.
But, today, everyone knew that Wu had deliberately provoked Zen. What made them more hesitant to get involved was that Wu had instigated a junior disciple at the marrow refining level to fight him.
Although the soldiers in the Imperial Army were not physically well-groomed, they were sensible. Today, Wu was totally out of luck as he had disgraced himself. He shouldn't blame Zen who was at the marrow refining level.
At that moment, even Martin felt a little embarrassed.
Zen had joined the Green Haze Group at Martin's invitation. Martin was now in a quandary. On one hand, it would be rude for him to embarrass Zen because Wu had chosen to incite the young disciple in a show of strength. On the other hand, Zen's strength had been astounding. As a result, he humiliated Wu completely. Seeing that Wu was still lying motionless on the floor, Martin resented him a little. After all, both he and Wu were members of the Imperial Army.
Thus, Martin felt that he had been humiliated by association. 'Wu overestimated his abilities after drinking some wine. Cloud Sect is a sacred place of martial arts. Its students are talented in different skills. Since Wu chose to disgrace himself, he deserves the insult, ' thought Martin.
In this situation, Martin's only choice was to smooth things over, and to this end, he said, “Well, the fight is over. Tomorrow, we have work to do. I think it's best if we rest early...”
While the explanation was feeble, it gave the soldiers, including Wu, a reason to excuse themselves from the tavern without further embarrassment or confrontations.
On hearing Martin's words, Wu got up from the floor. He shook his hands and legs. Judging from his rosy complexion, the onlookers concluded that he hadn't been hurt. Though no one voiced their concerns, the soldiers knew that Zen had perhaps restrained himself from using his full power. Had he not done so, Wu would have been severely wounded.
Wu was a soldier. He was frank and upright, albeit not amenable to reason. Even though a weaker opponent had beaten him, he would behave fairly. At last, he walked to Zen, cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said, “You are a disciple from Cloud Sect. You have potent strength and abilities. I am really astonished by you. What happened today was my fault.” After saying this, he looked around and said, “I have embarrassed myself. I apologize!” As soon as he had finished, Wu looked up and left.
Martin didn't explain to others like Zen and Roger why Wu showed hatred for Cloud Sect's disciples until Wu had left the tavern.
Previously, Wu had led his Evergreen Squad to fulfill tasks, and some members of the squad were disciples of Cloud Sect.
In executing their tasks, the squad was besieged by blade locusts. While the Cloud Sect disciples were able to escape from the blade locusts' siege because of their skills, they left soldiers from the Evergreen Squad behind. Although the squad persevered and eventually escaped, scores of soldiers had lost their lives.
All these soldiers had risked their lives under Wu's command. Had the Cloud Sect disciples not deserted the Evergreen Squad, they wouldn't have lost so many soldiers.
“He must have felt great pain to see his soldiers who had risked their lives with him being killed by the blade locusts in front of him,” Martin said while shaking his head with a heavy sigh.
Zen nodded sympathetically and said, “I can understand. Wu is righteous, and he is not a bad man.”
“It's great that you can understand him, Zen!” As Martin spoke up, he burst into laughter, and continued, “It's too late in the evening. At present, insect epidemics occur here and there. There must be some tasks for us to fulfill tomorrow. Let me arrange accommodation for the four of you to rest.”
A little while later, all the soldiers and Cloud Sect disciples settled in their rooms.
...
That night, another huge flying chariot landed in Dragon Fort.
After the door of the huge flying chariot opened, Cloud Sect disciples alighted.
Liam Cao was the last to step out.
Behind him stood two slender and tall young men.
Both young men looked pale. Since one man was light-complexioned, he looked ghostly white, while the other, a black-skinned man, appeared as though a layer of ash covered his skin. As they neither said much nor looked at the bystanders, it appeared as though the young men were introverted. However, they looked fierce, which showed that they were cultivators at the nature level.
“Hey, buddies, we have arrived!” Liam said politely.
“Dang it! We traveled so far for a guy at the marrow refining level,” complained the white-skinned young man unpleasantly.
Liam replied with a smile, “We can surely gain some benefits when we get this done for Fren. Dealing with that guy is a piece of cake for us. Let's just think of this as a fun trip.”
Hearing this, the black-skinned young man snorted and said, “Don't talk nonsense. Do you think I would have come to the Dragon Fort with White Fiend, had Fren not asked us for a favor? Are you sure that the guy Zen is at the Dragon Fort?”
Liam nodded and replied, “Yes, I am very certain about this.”
“If so, ask him to come out so that I can kill him with a slap and fulfill Fren's task. Am I right? After that, we can go right back on the flying chariot,” both young men said simultaneously.
Liam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as his head throbbed. He recalled that the white-skinned man was called White Fiend, and the black-skinned one was Black Fiend. The two formed a group known as Black Fiend and White Fiend.
Although the two young men were very powerful, they were also unruly and grumpy. They would beat and kill people on impulse as long as they were enraged.
Recalling Fren's promise, Liam tried hard to suppress his anger upon hearing what White Fiend and Black Fiend had said. He patiently explained, “Dragon Fort is under the control of the Imperial Army. Do you think you will survive after you kill a person here on a whim?”
“Then, what should we do? Do we really have to kill that guy after he leaves here?” White Fiend asked with a gloomy face.
“Since he was willing to come to Dragon Fort, he will eventually get out here to hunt and kill blade locusts. When that happens, you will have many chances to kill him. If we plan it well, we might think of many funny and entertaining ways to kill him. Who knows, we might not even have to get involved directly,” as Liam said this, a cunning smile grew on his face.