Chapter 93: Walk With Difficulty
There was no doubt that Johnson Qiu was a skilled master.
He had been a half-step into the nature level since many years ago, and would reach the nature level when he overcame the difficulty he faced in changing his life energy into life vitality.
But he had stayed at a half-step into the nature level all these years despite his disciplined practice at Drizzle Peak as he hadn't overcome the difficulty yet.
Any practitioner of martial arts knew this:
A challenge could only be surpassed through patience and diligence. Only by experiencing continuous fights could a martial artist become more powerful.
If Johnson had chosen to continue practicing diligently at Drizzle Peak, it might take him a decade to cross into the nature level.
So Johnson desired to grab this opportunity to push his limits with the hopes that he would make quicker progress to the nature level.
He didn't shrink when confronted by the demon.
The evil spirit intruded his body and raised a terrible fear at the bottom of his heart.
He seemed to hear a voice that asked him to run away quickly.
However, at that moment, Johnson worked up the nerve to walk closer to the demon, in full view of the other disciples.
Quickly, Johnson stepped over the outermost circle drawn by Aura.
The demon's ugly eyes focused on Johnson as he came closer.
Although the demon was physically weak and couldn't hurt people, its innate evil spirit had not weakened.
“Goo Gha,” the demon mumbled as its mouth opened and closed. Although the disciples couldn't understand what the demon was saying, it seemed to be laughing at Johnson.
Suddenly, all the blood disappeared from Johnson's face. Not only had his face paled, an overwhelming instinct to run away coursed through Johnson's body.
Since he was the fourth most powerful martial artist from among the outer disciples, Johnson took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and forced his leaden legs to take a step forward. As he was working against his instincts to run away, his walking posture looked very strange.
The second circle....
The third circle....
When Johnson walked into the fourth circle, the demon opened its huge mouth and released a roar.
“Goo——”
Johnson's hard-earned courage vanished at the roar.
He turned and tried to run but tripped and fell. With no courage left, Johnson whimpered as he crawled away from the demon on his hands and knees.
Silence descended in the plaza as the disciples witnessed how terrified Johnson had been.
Most disciples were residents of the Imperial Capital, which was located far from the Shura Battlefield. The White Emperor City, home to millions of soldiers of the Imperial Army, separated the Imperial Capital from the Shura Battlefield. Since the residents of the Imperial Capital had never confronted a demon, they had not experienced its power.
They knew from rumors that demons were particularly powerful and that their evil spirit could cause a human to feel terror.
They had all naively thought that they could overcome this fear.
However, after seeing the demon and witnessing the firsthand terror it could spread, the disciples understood how difficult it would be to overcome this fear.
All the outer disciples at Drizzle Peak knew how powerful Johnson was.
And if a person like Johnson could be subdued with fear, what chance did any ordinary disciple have when facing the demon?
Any martial artist was fiercely determined and never admitted defeat.
To some degree, Johnson's failure increased the trepidation of the disciples, and they became more hesitant at the thought of volunteering for the test. However, there were still a few who were brave enough to step into the circles.
This time, an outer disciple at the marrow refining level volunteered to get close to the demon.
Most of the onlookers were unfamiliar with the identity of this outer disciple as his power wasn't anywhere close to that of the top-ranked disciples at Drizzle Peak.
Although the outer disciple hadn't been thought highly of previously, the onlookers regarded him with respect once he stepped into the sixth circle. Someone at the marrow refining level had made more progress than one of the top-ranked disciples at Drizzle Peak. This feat certainly stirred the other disciples who had been watching.
The more circles he stepped into, the closer he would get to the demon.
The sixth circle was about ten feet away from the demon.
However, as he stepped into the sixth circle, the outer disciple stopped. Suddenly, his legs began to tremble violently.
Even so, the outer disciple whose power was far below that of Johnson's behaved remarkably. He concealed his fear, turned around, and walked away from the demon. During his retreat, the disciple maintained the same speed as when he had first started walking toward the demon. He hadn't fallen nor had he scrambled away in terror as Johnson had!
Seeing this, a realization dawned upon the outer disciples at Drizzle Peak.
Bravery had nothing to do with power. Just like a small mantis would be overestimating its abilities by attempting to stop a car, its courage to face such a mammoth challenge could not be denied.
Aura recorded the name and progress of each disciple that tried to approach the demon. Based on their performance, she would then select the five disciples who got the closest to the demon. These disciples would then practice how to kill demons.
The outer disciple who was at the marrow refining level but had reached the sixth circle, helped many people to regain their confidence. Now that they had understood that bravery, not power was needed they felt more convinced that they could confront the demon.
One after another, hundreds of outer disciples tested their mental agility against the demon's evil spirit. The results varied from person to person. However, the worst performance came from a disciple who had broken down immediately after stepping into the first circle, while the best performer was Henry Hao.
Ranked first among the outer disciples, Henry had set a good example.
Confronted with the demon, he walked steadily towards it with a three-foot cyan-blade sword in his hand. The disciples watched with bated breath as he confidently stepped into the seventh circle. To everyone's delight, he didn't slow down until he got into the eighth circle.
After the demon roared at him, Henry turned back. His complexion had turned grey.
Although the disciples could see that Henry hadn't succeeded in overcoming the effects of the demon's evil spirit, they took some consolation in the fact that the only indication of fear Henry showed was his grey pallor.
All in all, Henry proved to be the bravest among them.
As Henry left the circles drawn by Aura, he put up his arms and inhaled and exhaled to calm himself. It was only after the deep breaths did his relaxed smile return.
Soon, Henry scanned the faces on the disciples. He stopped when he noticed Zen.
The outer disciples noticed that Zen had caught Henry's attention.
During the competition against Vulture Peak, Henry should have been one of the contestants. However, at that time, Henry had been cultivating in isolation. He thus missed the chance to compete with the disciples from Vulture Peak.
Once Henry finished his practice, he heard of the outcome of the competition. The other disciples couldn't stop praising a particular disciple who had won the competition on behalf of Drizzle Peak.
It was Zen.
Zen had heard of Henry's skills before.
Henry, however, hadn't paid much attention to Zen before. He had first heard about this prodigious disciple when Zen had competed with Leo during his first few days at Drizzle Peak. Zen as a newcomer then had beaten Leo who was ranked among the top 30 at Drizzle Peak. His feat had impressed many.
Henry didn't think too much about Zen at that time. Although Henry was aware that each peak had many geniuses, he felt secure in his ability to maintain his position as the highest ranked disciple at Drizzle Peak. Henry also remembered that when he was at Zen's age, he had been powerful enough to challenge many people in a row. Finally, through hard work, luck, and talent, Henry had risen to become an outer disciple.
However, during the inter-peak competition, Zen defeated several people easily, including Jesse who was ranked first at Vulture Peak.
This Henry had not expected.
After practicing in isolation for a while, Henry had finally overcome the difficulties and stepped into the nature level.
Attributable to his progress, Drizzle Peak would accept him as an inner disciple in the upcoming year. This achievement had thrilled Henry.
However, after Henry stepped out of isolation, he heard rumors about Zen. Some of the outer disciples at Drizzle Peak had thought that Zen was powerful enough to defeat Henry even though the latter had now reached the nature level.
Henry became annoyed when he heard such rumors.
This was why Henry was eager to seize the opportunity to show Zen who was more powerful.
Many other outer disciples had noticed the hostility reflecting in Henry's eyes. And Zen was no exception.
Zen knew what Henry was thinking about, but he had no interest in competing for the title of the highest ranked disciple at Drizzle Peak. And so, he ignored Henry.
Anyway, he must join the mission to kill demons.
As a martial artist, there was more pressure on Zen then on the other disciples.
Compared with other people who desired to improve their power in the shortest time, Zen seemed to be more anxious.
He had promised Yan to take her away from Hell Mountain, but many people would try to stop Zen from doing that. So only when Zen made himself powerful enough could he successfully free Yan. Otherwise, his promise would just be empty words!
“Anyone else?” Aura's beautiful voice resonated through the square.
The outer disciples who had tried were considered to be the bravest from among all the disciples present. However, there were still many disciples who hadn't dared to volunteer as they were either scared or lacking confidence in themselves.
Aura was a little disappointed, and finally, she looked at Zen.
Aura knew that Zen wouldn't give up such a good opportunity to improve himself. Her assumption was based on the enthusiasm Zen had previously shown when volunteering for tasks from Cloud Sect.
Since Zen hadn't stepped forward yet, she was confused. Why wasn't Zen trying? In fact, by asking her question, Aura was reminding Zen that he should have a try now.
With a smile, Zen walked toward the center of the square.
All the disciples present at Drizzle Peak looked at Zen.
Since Zen had won the last competition against the disciples from Vulture Peak, he had become a legend in the heart of all the outer disciples.
So everyone present was eager to witness Zen's performance.
“Zen, come on!” Nory cried suddenly.
“Come on!” Sean shouted as well.
Zen nodded at them, then looked at the demon in the distance, and walked toward it slowly.
Although evil spirit from the demon was a kind of intent, this intent was different from other types of intent.
Most times, intent could be regarded as a method to attack people. However, the purpose of the demon's intent was to raise the fear people felt.
It was not advisable to assume that a demon and a beast are equally powerful and equally terrible, just because the evil spirit of the demon invoked such a response from people that made it seem as though the demon was far scarier than a beast. This was a natural ability for a demon.
Zen had tremendous power and a strong soul. Normally, the common intent could not bother him as it did to others.
The demon didn't intend to hurt Zen, but its evil spirit conveyed to Zen that it was extremely horrible.
As Zen walked into the first circle, he felt the evil spirit, and involuntarily, a feeling of fear appeared in Zen's heart.
Fortunately, the fear wasn't overwhelming. Zen smiled and relaxed. Then he walked into the second circle without any hesitation.
So far, Zen had been the only person who could wear a smile in front of the demon.