Chapter 61: All Living Creatures Below The Nature Level
There was an old saying that best described the refining of martial arts. 'All living creatures are below the nature level.'
To some extent, the journey of martial arts only started after entering the nature level.
After stepping into the nature level, life energy was completely transformed into life vitality. The refiner could then continuously absorb the vitality from the outer world, from heaven to the earth, and became a creature of a higher level.
Once they had attained this transformation, refiners at the nature level were called nature creatures. Although they were still human, they were very different from a normal person. A clear boundary separated nature creatures from normal humans!
This boundary was called longevity.
The life span of an ordinary human being was about 70 to 90 years. Although a few humans could live until 100 years of age, they were considered to be very old and long-lived.
However, these natural creatures had a minimum life span of 150 years! Being able to live longer and stronger was one of the most fascinating aspects of martial arts.
This was the reason why refiners at the nature level were called nature creatures, thus differentiating them from ordinary humans.
The white smoke and black smoke that was being generated from the life vitality of White Fiend and Black Fiend covered Zen from head to toe.
Zen looked up and around. Except for the black and white smoke, everything else around him had disappeared. He could not even see Martin who had been standing right next to him.
This smoke could not only obstruct a person's vision, but it could also mute sounds. Because of this, Zen could not hear any other sound, except his breathing.
In the face of such a bizarre scene, Zen stood quietly without moving around. He knew it would be wise for him to remain calm and adjust to the changing surroundings. He needed to think carefully before taking any action.
The black smoke and white smoke was so strange that their function could not be limited to isolating a target. There must be some other purposes that Zen did not know of so far.
Zen remained alert to solve this mystery. Before long, the mass of black smoke began morphing into a human figure brandishing a long knife. Then it headed straight for Zen!
'Wrap yourselves in smoke to hide your figures and attack under this camouflage. If that is another function of the smoke, then it is not hard to deal with!' Zen thought after analyzing the situation quickly.
Without any hesitation, Zen rushed toward the smoke and punched it before the long knife could injure him.
Zen channeled all his power to his fist. As his blow landed on the black human-shaped smoke, a deafening sound replaced the silence.
Then the smoke exploded and dissipated.
Zen frowned when the smoke vanished. He hadn't been expecting this result.
He had thought that White Fiend and Black Fiend were hiding in this cloud of smoke. But now, it seemed as though the human figure and the knife were illusions generated by the smoke.
After he scattered the black smoke, other masses of black smoke floated toward him from the side. This smoke also transformed into human shape, armed with a long knife aimed at Zen, just as the previous smoke had done.
“Bum!” “Bum!”
Faced with three clouds of smoke, Zen aimed two punches at the nearest clouds of human-shaped smoke. They, too, disappeared like the previous smoke.
Just as Zen was about to attack the third cloud of smoke, a black fist silently appeared and landed a blow on Zen. Since Zen had not been expecting this, he was caught off-guard.
“Peng!”
The sound of the fist punching his body was deafening. It also indicated the extent of the power wielded by a refiner at the nature level.
Besides his powerful punch, Zen was defenseless. He wasn't even dressed in armor! As a result, he was pushed back dozens of feet before he landed on the ground. The impact and force were so strong that Zen rolled on the ground several times before coming to a stop.
'The power of a refiner at the nature level is terrifying! Fortunately, I have refined my body to be a spiritual weapon. Otherwise, I would have been severely injured by this punch!' Zen thought as he slowly stood from the ground. After his body had been refined to a weapon, Zen noticed that there had been considerable improvement in his resistance against strikes. So, he had absorbed almost all the power of the Black Fiend's punch.
The warm current coursed in his blood-vessels, refreshing his body. But Zen was not satisfied.
He had not found a solution to break through barriers set by the black smoke and white smoke.
Since Black Fiend was hiding in the black smoke, White Fiend must be in the white smoke. These two people's talents were peculiar! Zen could not spot them even though he had been studying the smoke all this while.
He stood still, observing his surroundings. It was not long after he stood up that a mass of white smoke began changing its shape. And this time, it turned into thousands of troops that rushed toward Zen.
Soon, Zen was encircled by the smoke-troops. Unsure of what to do, Zen cautiously studied the smoke-troops. It was hard for him to identify the location of White Fiend from the smoke around.
At this moment, Zen had not yet been a half-step into the nature level. Although he could form mature life energy, he could not release his life energy to disperse these thousands of troops quickly.
He could only fight against them passively. Zen steadied himself and began attacking the smoke-troops nearby to disperse them. Equally, he was quick to dodge any attacks from the smoke-troops.
“Go to perdition!” Zen shouted to the smoke. As quickly as he could, Zen launched a series of attacks.
Bam! Bam! Bam! The sound from the break-up of the smoke followed Zen's punches.
Instantly, more than ten clouds of smoke in human form were smashed by Zen's ceaseless blows.
However, as quickly as Zen had broken up these clouds of smoke, new smoke appeared.
It appeared as though White Fiend and Black Fiend were generating the smoke-troops and attacking Zen continuously. In this situation, Zen could not get a break. He began struggling with defending himself from the smoke-troops that were running toward him from all directions.
“Hahaha! Let me see how long you can withstand our attacks!” While people were easily exhausted, the smoke-troops generated by White Fiend and Black Fiend would never get tired. They recovered soon after Zen smashed them. This was the reason why White Fiend was very proud of his abilities. It was also why he spoke to Zen with arrogance and confidence.
As soon as White Fiend finished his provocation, he formed a fist from a cloud of white smoke and punched Zen in the ribs.
“Bash!”
The blow was so mighty that Zen was pushed back again. He seemed like a kite with a broken line. With this attack, Zen found himself flying dozens of feet before hitting the ground. The force was so strong that a loud sound echoed in the otherwise quiet scene.
Since Zen's body was a spiritual weapon, it was not easy to injure him. However, he could still feel the pain from the blows. Thus, the piercing pain that resulted from the punches still made him groan. Despite the agony, Zen stood and took several deep breaths to ease the pain.
At the same time, he was watchful. It would be careless of Zen not to pay attention to the smoke around him. The thick black smoke and white smoke mixed and billowed around Zen, forming human figures now and then.
Maybe Zen's injuries instigated Black Fiend and White Fiend. They began forcing the smoke toward Zen much quicker than before. Shrieking with crazed laughter, they rushed toward Zen under cover of the thick smoke. In their minds, Zen was like a lamb to the slaughter. He could not escape.
However, Zen was far from what they thought. He had been observing the smoke. Since he couldn't see clearly, Zen had also been listening carefully. He wanted to identify the location of the two arrogant rivals by their distinguished laughter.
Soon, he noticed a cloud of black smoke forming beside him. Not surprisingly, a laugh like that of Black Fiend came from inside this block of smoke. Without hesitating, Zen swung his fist into the smoke and broke it up. However, there was nothing in it. Black Fiend was not there.
“I am here! You brat!”
White Fiend's voice echoed from far away. But strangely, his fist connected with Zen's Back.
Zen staggered forward several steps. However, before he could gain his composure, Black Fiend's leg appeared before him. Zen could not dodge this time, and the kick landed on his belly...
Owing to the thick smoke and the unexpected appearances of his rivals, Zen was bounced back and forth just like a ball, beaten by White Fiend and Black Fiend. Sometimes, he could avoid a blow from White Fiend, but soon, he found himself under attack of Black Fiend.
Even though Zen seemed to be in a passive state, inside his body, the warm currents were refreshing his marrow through his blood vessels. In this way, his energy was recovered, and his strength and power improved tremendously. Stimulated by the warm currents, Zen could not feel more comfortable.
However, he knew that this assault by the two rivals at the nature level could not continue. Zen thought, 'I must think of a way to deal with them.'
Their voices were sometimes far away and sometimes nearby. Their laughter might originate on Zen's left and immediately after, be heard on his right. It was hard for Zen to locate them by their sounds. That meant, if Zen could not find their actual bodies in the smoke, he could only stay in this impasse.
'What can I do?' After a few more rounds, Zen lay on the ground, gasping for breath. He did not stand up immediately as he had done previously. He used this short break to think of a strategy.
The beating had lasted for a long time, and Zen needed a reprieve.
Meanwhile, White Fiend and Black Fiend had finally figured out that Zen's body had anomalies.
“Black Fiend, this guy is indeed a little weird. Even if a stronger refiner at the nature level were standing here, I am afraid that he would not be able to stand after so many punches. But you see how this guy is now?” White Fiend asked him while still hiding in the smoke.
“Yes, buddy. I also think so. Despite our beatings, he still looks fresh! There is little change in his body. On the contrary, he looks more energetic than before. That is so strange!” Just as White Fiend had noticed, Black Fiend also sensed the abnormality in Zen.
“Maybe he knows some special refinement methods or has magical defensive weapons to guard his body.” On thinking this, White Fiend felt excitement surging through him.
“Ha-ha, that could be! Let's kill him. We will not only complete Fren's assignment, but we will also gain his magical weapons or refinement methods. My buddy, let's channel all our power and use our best skills. I don't believe that his body is made of iron and that it cannot be smashed!” Black Fiend laughed wildly.
“Well, I could not agree with you more, buddy. We have played with this boy for a long enough time. Now it's time to let this boy know what real fear is!” White Fiend nodded as he replied.
“Taste my Nine-dragon kill!”
The black smoke and white smoke billowed and rolled up to the sky.
Then the two clouds of smokes mixed and transformed into nine giant dragons. They hovered in the sky, before roaring and flying around. Their mouths were wide open, showing their sharp teeth. The environment changed suddenly as huge clouds rolled up accompanied by thunder and lightning.
After the nine dragons formed by the smoke circled in the sky several times, they roared and rushed to Zen from nine directions.
Seeing the nine flying dragons approaching at high speed, Zen frowned in deep thought.
This thick smoke was only deceptive tricks.
And they were formed by White Fiend's and Black Fiend's life vitality. So, the thick fog would not cause any trouble to these two Fiends.
What was more, the two Fiends' speed and strength were also significantly improved when the smoke camouflaged them.
However, while the fog could cover their bodies, it could not conceal White Fiend's and Black Fiend's strong killing intents!
It seemed that Zen finally found a way out of this dilemma. He closed his eyes when he thought of this.
People had six senses.
They were sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and feeling.
The first five senses corresponded with vision, audition, olfaction, gustation, and somatosensation. And the sixth sense, feeling, was the most metaphysical.
When humans turned off one of these six senses, the other senses would be enhanced.
For example, the senses of touch and hearing in visually-handicapped people were more powerful than those of ordinary people. They could recognize uneven braille with their fingertips.
And people who had lost their sense of hearing used their eyes to compensate. For instance, they read lips as people spoke, which was difficult for a normal person to learn.
Since the attack by White Fiend and Black Fiend began, Zen's senses of hearing and sight were pointless as the smoke prevented him from seeing and hearing correctly. Now, he could only rely on his consciousness!
At this thought, Zen closed his eyes. Then he made a conscious effort not to use his other senses.
Zen's soul was far more powerful than an ordinary person's. Since the soul directly affected the agility of the consciousness, Zen's ability to 'feel' was stronger. With no other alternative, Zen had complete confidence that he could use his consciousness to identify White Fiend's and Black Fiend's location.
Although these nine black and white dragons were rushing toward Zen, he closed his eyes and began searching for the direction of killing intents from his rivals.
At this point, a surge of obscure consciousness was emitted from Zen's body and formed a circle around him.
In this circle space, Zen found that he could feel many details that he had not noticed when he was seeking the two Fiends through his sense of sight.
The uneven ground, small stones, and even the sand scattered on the ground, as well as growing low weeds, even cicada pupae which had been dormant underground for several years. All these appeared vividly before his closed eyes.
This was a wonderful feeling, as marvelous as the time when he managed to forget himself at the Drizzle Peak.
But Zen had no time to enjoy this special feeling. When the nine black and white dragons rushed into his circle, Zen found what he was searching for in an instant.
White Fiend and Black Fiend were hiding in between two of the nine dragons. One dragon was in front of Zen, while the other was behind him. They were standing amid these two smoke dragons. Each Fiend held a halberd in his hand.
Their faces were twisted because of their strong killing intents. It seemed as though the two Fiends wanted to kill Zen in one attack!