Chapter 104: Real Courage
Zen, Lenard, and Cleve were the quickest to react.
But the three of them weren't as fast as the demon general.
After the demon general was close enough, he reached out snatching Nina up under his rib and then ran rapidly.
When Nina used the Shock Dragon to attack the demon general, she didn't realize that the demon would come after her. A terrified, uneasy expression was on her face as she struggled hard.
Unfortunately, her strength was no match against the demon general who squeezed her lightly, making her pass out.
Everyone grimaced as they watched the demon general take Nina away.
The female disciples from Lady Peak turned pale. After all, Nina was the center of Lady Peak.
“What do we do now?” “Nina was abducted by the demon general!”
“Who will rescue her?”
“She may not live!”
The female disciples wailed.
Cleve, Lenard and some other inner disciples were upset too. They thought with Zen there was a chance to win if they fought a demon general today. It was an odd twist when the demon general took one of them.
Should they chase him? That was unrealistic.
Even though Lenard could fight against a demon general, it was almost impossible for him to kill or chase a demon general.
Zen stood watching the demon general with an impenetrable expression on his face.
Usually, Zen would mind his business and not rush headlong to save the life of some woman who was irrelevant to him.
But the expression on Nina's face as she was swept up by the demon, reminded him of his younger sister, Yan.
Zen hadn't seen Yan's expression that day on Hell Mountain, but, he imagined she must have felt as helpless as Nina looked.
“Get him!”
Zen yelled through clenched teeth. The demonic life energy flowed through him, and power converged to his legs.
Running wildly, Zen followed the demon general.
Everyone present saw Zen's strength and knew he was the only one who could kill the demon general. If anybody present could save Nina, it was Zen.
Each disciple was filled with hope.
After Zen was out of sight, the others cleaned up the battlefield.
It was surprising to find only a few disciples injured, and none perished during the battle against the demon soldiers and their two generals.
They all knew that without Zen, it wouldn't be a matter of a few injured, most if not all of those present would have died.
Ten disciples from the Cloud Sect showed up after Zen left.
The ten disciples were members of Skywrath Peak. Compared to the disciples from other peaks, they were luckier. The demons hunting was going well for them. Except for some demon soldiers, they hadn't unexpectedly come across any demon generals.
The inner disciple, Yale Zhuge, led the members from Skywrath Peak.
Yale ranked second amongst the disciples from Skywrath Peak.
The disciples in the Zhuge Clan were far superior to other disciples, including Howard, Fren, and others in Skywrath Peak. So, Yale's position at Skywrath Peak rose accordingly. None of the other disciples dared offend a member of the Zhuge Clan.
As soon as Yale was close, he looked at Cleve with a straight face and asked, “Where's Zen? Did he die? His life should be mine to take. He wasn't good enough to die at the hands of a demon soldier,”
stated Yale. He mentioned someone everyone else was worrying about. Zen had saved everyone there just now, and here was Yale boasting as he strode onto the scene. Disciples from Skytop Peak, Drizzle Peak, and Lady Peak heard him and all at once were furiously glaring at him.
Cleve had an unfriendly tone as he asked, “Zen's most certainly alive, but you think you can take his life?” Cleve sneered and shook his head commenting, “You're not capable.”
“How dare you! Care to repeat that?” shouted Yale coldly.
“Who do you think you are? Drizzle Peak is ranked the lowest out of the thirty-three peaks. How dare you say that?”
“You're Cleve, right? You might be a little famous at Drizzle Peak, but at Skywrath Peak, you wouldn't even be an inner disciple. Haha!”
taunted the two inner disciples on either side of Yale.
Cleve appeared ready to risk everything as he unsheathed the treasured bright silver light sword, pointing at the disciples from Skywrath Peak. “I'm nobody, but that doesn't mean I'm afraid of death. With your ability, none of you from Skywrath Peak is skilled enough to challenge Zen, let alone take his life!”
Cleve was impressed with Zen during the trial to slay demons.
Before this trip, Cleve was biased and even made threats against Zen. However, regardless of the past, Zen unexpectedly saved him from danger.
Cleve wasn't ungrateful, along with that he knew the gap between his strength and Zen's. He was open and brave about his shame.
After Cleve unsheathed his sword, one by one the other members from Drizzle Peak pulled their weapons out too, and soon the disciples from two peaks were facing off at sword point.
A sly smile spread across Yale's face as he stated, “Since when are the disciples from Drizzle Peak so tough? Do you really think you can defeat the members from Skywrath Peak?”
Skywrath Peak was ranked sixth, while Drizzle Peak was the lowest and ranked thirty-third.
Last time when the outer disciples from Drizzle Peak responded to a challenge issued by Vulture Peak, Zen saved the day alone.
It could only be imagined what the difference was between members of Drizzle Peak and Skywrath Peak.
So, Yale didn't take them seriously, except for Cleve who could resist, the rest weren't good enough to last for three rounds against him.
The members from Drizzle Peak bit the bullet and with terrible-looking expressions stood firm, even though they knew they were weaker than the disciples from Skywrath Peak.
But Zen had influenced them when he'd shown them that real courage was doing something even when you knew you couldn't win!
The battle was about to start, neither side was backing down, and Lenard slowly walked over, wielding the black and white swords.
“It may be difficult for Drizzle Peak to defeat Skywrath Peak. What if Skytop Peak joins?” commented Lenard casually.
“What? You Lenard?” stated Yale while keeping a straight face.
Among the Cloud Sects thirty-three peaks, Skytop Peak was the most powerful.
While Lenard wasn't the strongest inner disciple at Skytop Peak, he wasn't weak either.
Lenard nodded saying, “I agree with Cleve. You... You aren't good enough to go against Zen!”
Yale's face was clouded with frustration, and he asked, “Lenard, do you really want to be involved? Aren't you afraid of the Zhuge Clan?”
Lenard smiled, “I'm not a disciple from one of the noble clans, but Yale, do you think everyone is afraid of the noble clans?”
The Cloud Sect always favored disciples who had real strength and talent, and Lenard was definitely one of them. With Lenard's current position at Skytop Peak, even if the Zhuge Clan wanted to offend him, they would have to think it over and determine if the cost was worth it.
The Zhuge Clan wouldn't pay a price that large to deal with Lenard just because of Yale's trifling.
So, with the others at his back, Lenard feared nothing.
“Why? Why would your Skytop Peak stand up for Zen?” asked Yale. He was confused as were the rest of the disciples standing behind him from Skywrath Peak.
As the disciples from the most powerful peak of the thirty-three peaks, the disciples from Skytop Peak always had a very high opinion of themselves. When would they think much of a disciple from another peak?
But, unexpectedly, here they were, willing to stand up for Zen. There must be some reason.
Lenard chuckled and counted how many disciples from Skywrath Peak out loudly, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Stay alive everyone. It's interesting here in Sky Forest, right?”
“Why did you say that? We've met several groups of demon soldiers,” commented Yale as he wrinkled his brows, wondering what Lenard was talking about.
Lenard snickered and said, “The demon scouts in Sky Forest aren't just demon soldiers like before; now, there are quite a few demon generals.”
“Huh? Demon generals?” asked Yale as his expression changed suddenly.
All the disciples from Skywrath Peak looked frightened.
They were relaxed while it was only demon soldiers. After all, as long as the inner disciples performed well, then the task was as easy to deal with as blinking for them.
But, they knew the danger they faced once they heard Lenard say demon generals were here. After all, none of the members from Skywrath Peak could handle a demon general. If they met one, they probably wouldn't be able to escape. They'd have no choice but to die.
“Do you know why I said you can't go against Zen?” asked Lenard, a slight smile flickered in his eyes, and he added, “Zen killed a demon general.”
Cleve interrupted, “No! He killed two demon generals! He killed one before today!”
While listening to Lenard and Cleve, Yale's complexion paled, and his expression became twisted as it transformed. However, at last, he firmly stated, “I won't believe it!”
Waving his black and white swords, Lenard didn't want to talk to Yale too much but said, “I don't care whether or not you believe it. If you go against Zen someday, you can challenge him as you like. I'm sure you'll be beaten like a dog. Now, I advise you not to cause trouble here. If you're afraid of death, just stay with us. If you're not, you can leave. But, if you keep making a fuss here, I think none of you ten guys can be my opponent.”
Lenard's words made all the disciples from Skywrath Peak stop and think.
It was too shameful to stay there with the guy jeering at them.
They said there were demon generals in Sky Forest. If they met a demon general, how miserable would their fates be?
However, all the disciples from Skywrath Peak thought over for a long time and finally decided to remain. It wasn't a big deal to lose face, but, it was a big deal to lose life!
As for the issue of Zen and the Zhuge Clan... That was Yale's business and had nothing to do with them.