Chapter 73: The Guards Of Mountain
The room was filled with an uneasy atmosphere as Master Su and Zen stood face to face.
From the nuances of both very strong figures, it was quite evident how strong yet irking the personality of the master was. Her hostility was the product of having to grow up isolated in the Burning Sky Palace. She surely must have been distanced from most of the civilization. With a childhood such as the master's, who would not have walls built around themselves? Nevertheless, she was a Royal Family member, and no one would dare disobey her.
Although she had long surpassed the seclusion of the palace, trying to forget how royalty ran in her blood, she had inherited the stubborn character of the king and queen. This was something she could never outgrow—whatever she wanted, she had to have her way. Being born in sovereignty, obstinacy was a trait that she could never grow out of.
This was why the other masters at the Cloud Sect who knew of her identity would argue with her only if they absolutely had to.
Once they noticed the slightest hint of irritation from Master Su, they would immediately set aside their opinions and ideas if it meant they did not have to argue with the woman. Master Su, possessing the beauty of a thousand splendid women, also possessed a fiery dragon inside of her that would awaken every time someone got on her nerves. That being said, anyone would hate to become the man Master Su would spite.
And at this very moment with Zen in front of her, it was easy to tell that she was about to snap.
Several masters of Drizzle Peak came over when they heard the rage of Master Su, trying to find out what was going on that the dragon within had to come out. The expression on her face resembled the sky before a storm, and when they saw that this was the case, they all came crawling back to their respective lives, not wanting to get involved.
However, Zen was different—unlike everyone else, he was not afraid of Master Su. He was even fearless enough to ask for his card back, gravely repeating his request, “Master Su, give me my card back.”
Usually, Master Su would burst out in flames, but this time she chose to clench her teeth in desperate attempt to become as levelheaded as possible. With an imperceptible grievance plastered on her face, she pouted and hummed quietly to herself before tossing the card back to Zen.
When Zen finally got a hold of his card, he thanked the master and left immediately, as if he did not brew a storm.
Although Zen knew that the master was mad at him, he knew for sure that Master Su would never harm him; that her questions were only meant to relieve her of her own worries as she was concerned with Zen.
As much as it would be the right choice to stay and settle things with Master Su, he did not want to waste a second delaying his venture to Perdition Mountain so the feelings of the woman were the least of his concerns.
Zen walked down the path at Drizzle Peak and headed toward his destination.
The same amount of apathy Zen felt for Master Su was the same amount of worry Master Su had for Zen. She paid him mind from the moment that he left to the seconds that followed after his departure. She could not help but wonder about the mysterious guy. 'What could be so important to him that he was so anxious to leave? What was he hurrying about?' the master thought, 'I have no idea now, but I'll be sure to find out what exactly that man is up to.'
She walked out of the room to take care of her self-assigned business. The master approached the pavilion by the mountain ridge for a Picture Slab located at the center of the canopy.
The master congratulated herself silently for having such a swift plan at monitoring Zen from afar by attaching something on his disciple's card before she handed it back to him. The slab that she was now operating was something she could use to monitor Zen
Through the picture, she saw that Zen went down Drizzle Peak and headed to the northwest of the Cloud Sect.
Master Su frowned and wondered, 'In Cloud Sect, all thirty three peaks are distributed in the south while the Heavenly Library is up at east. The northwest corner of the Cloud Sect is surrounded by wild life and mountains, so why is this man going in that direction? It makes no sense.'
The master was trying to reconcile and piece the puzzle together and thought, 'What is in the northwest?'
And it was then that she realized what Zen was planning. 'Hell Mountain, ' she successfully resolved, 'He's going to Perdition Mountain.'
The only thing left for the master to find out was what Zen wanted from the mountain.
The so-called mountain was located at the very edge of Cloud Sect, so it was not a very ideal place for a man to visit. As Zen was about to finally arrive at his destination, a dark mountain emerged in front of him, blocking his shot.
There weren't any trees or vegetation growing around that mountain, If you looked at it from a distance, the mountain almost seemed as if it was completely pitch black. It made perfect sense why people referred to it Mountain.
A dense gray smoke was constantly being released at the top of the crater that resembled the steams of torture.
The smell coming from the cloud had the smell of strong sulfur. This smell quickly filled the air.
Zen had lost his peace of mind when he thought about his sister, Yan, possibly inhabiting the cruel place.
The closer he got to the mountain, the more he got suffocated by the smoke surrounding him. But, he thrived. He thought of his sister, like he always did in his trivial times because every time he did this he would be an inch closer to his goal. He finally made it to notice a very distinct demarcation line.
Outside the defining line was where Zen stood, with a scenery that was full of vigorous plants and life but inside was covered with black gravels; the two opposing sides could be compared to heaven and hell.
In his fascination, he did not second guess to approach the other side. However, unexpectedly, two people appeared right in front of Zen.
They appeared to look like beggars who wore clothes that were torn and ragged.
When the two men looked at him, Zen began to feel an indescribable pain; the kind of pain that made Zen feel like he was being punctured by needles.
Zen had a feeling that the two were very strong. In fact, he thought that they might be stronger than Randall and that they could be compared with the people like Floyd, the Flying Dragon General.
“Are you going to Mountain, boy?” The two men stood on the demarcation line as they asked Zen.
“Yes, I am. Who are you?” asked Zen
“We are the guards of Mountain. You said you were going to Perdition Mountain. Since this is the case, we would like to know if you know the rules,” the mountain keeper wondered. The guards looked like they meant Zen no harm, but it was difficult not to feel uncomfortable around them. They curiously observed Zen who they deemed as a man who was at a low refining level. The mountain keepers thought to themselves, 'Very few people at such a level would come here.'
“It takes a hundred points to get in, doesn't it?” Zen asked. Before the keepers could answer, Zen already had his disciple's card out, pointing out that he was fit to enter the mountain the guards were safekeeping.
One of the guards took the card and poured his orange-red life vitality onto it. After he had deducted a hundred points, the mountain keeper told Zen, "Going to Perdition Mountain is not just a simple matter of a hundred points loss.
Once you go over this line right here, you will lose all protection coming from the Cloud Sect. You will be on your own, and if you are killed, the Cloud Sect will have no accountability over your grave. Judging from your current state, it is dangerous for you to cross the line."
Mountain was as the guards said it was; a chaotic place wherein no life was spared. No man who entered the domain was safe, let alone protected.
There was a reason why people referred to it as Mountain.
Many people feared being imprisoned in the wicked mountain. A lot of people would prefer to be punished than to be exiled and entrusted to the people that resided Hell Mountain.
That was because the people who were in Hell Mountain were notorious criminals who were sent to the mountain by the Cloud Sect to be punished for their heinous deeds.
There were no rules Mountain. The world within it was an absolute jungle that left every man for himself.
There was no way out for the weak except being trampled on by people stronger than they were.
The politics within Hell Mountain was known for its corruption, with stronger people that had stronger influences doing whatever they wanted to, leaving those who were weak to fend for themselves if not used as slaves.
Talented disciples from Cloud Sect would wander into Hell Mountain on purpose in order to increase their strength, turning the mountain into their own training field.
The guards did not have to ask twice; in their eyes, Zen was merely at marrow refining level and was ignorant to the fact that there were cruel things in the mountain that he would not see anywhere else. They were worried that it would not take long for the man to be killed within the confines of torture Mountain.
“Thank you for your precautions. I understand well and clear what I am getting myself into. However, I really do wish to cross this line,” Zen said firmly and confidently. His eyes wandered around the mountain as if he were looking for a place to stay in, but little did the guards know that he was trying to determine where his sister could be.
The guards, realizing that Zen would not back down, stopped trying to talk the man out of it. They returned his card and made way for Zen to step in.
Zen appreciated the notion done by the guards and stepped in. There was no turning back anymore.
After walking what seemed like a mile, Zen finally arrived at the foot of the mountain.
In front of him was a very steep path and on both sides of the path, there would be red embers glowing at intervals as if the rocks were coals that burnt relentlessly.
Without much thought, Zen began to climb.
Mountain was an active volcano that spit fire and emitted smoke. Whatever they told about the mountain was not tale.
There were several scattered valleys that could be seen from the mountainside.
Some of those valleys were covered in ash while the other valleys were magma-infested.
Zen had already encountered many people from the Cloud Sect who were exiled for punishment in Hell Mountain.
The people who he crossed paths with were not mere weaklings. In fact, these people were powerful and strong.
Some of them had already become the nature creatures.
Judging by their imposing manner and their respective structures, some of the people were even stronger than Randall.
Most of them could care less and had nothing to say about Zen passing by.
However, there were still people whose eyes lingered unkindly at Zen's presence. Some of them would even follow Zen, threatening his survival.
Observing that not a lot of people in Hell Mountain were very accommodating, he took his broken flying knife out of his space ring and kept it in his hand the whole time he wandered around the mountain, with hope to find his sister with both of them alive.