Chapter 144: The Force Of One Hundred Men
However, at this moment Zen's primary concern was revolving around what the current test was all about.
“Saul, as you mentioned, this test was set by an immortal. But I'm only half-step into the nature level. How could I possibly undergo that test successfully?” Zen asked with a wide frown across his face.
If in fact the legendary immortal did set all the problems which would appear in the test, let alone Zen, even the greatest masters of all times from the Eastern Region would probably fail it.
Saul grinned upon hearing the response as he pointed to the things in the yard and said, “Look at everything in this courtyard carefully. Aren't they all over a hundred times bigger than you?”
Upon giving everything a second glance, Zen gave an accepting nod. It was evident that the courtyard was designed by immortals. Every wall there was over thousands of feet high, which made Zen feel like a little ant crawling on the ground as he walked through the courtyard.
“Don't you think it is strange that I showed up before you in this appearance?” Saul asked again, with a wide smile still persisting on his face.
The entire scene was indeed rather strange. From the moment he entered the fairy palace, all the objects were of massive proportion, except the puppet Saul who was about Zen's size.
“The test is designed to find the most suitable successor, so the candidate's strength is primarily taken into consideration. But obviously if the immortal modeled the test based on his own ability and strengths, then chances are that no one would inherit the fairy palace,” Saul continued in a bid to instill confidence. “The test formulated only for pushing your limits. It means that the stronger a candidate is, the more difficult the test will be. If you can surpass your limits and excel your own standards, then you can pass the test!”
“Oh, now I understand. This is fair enough,” Zen said, as he sighed in relief while his heart swelled up with adoration, 'The immortal really has far-reached supernatural power and intuition. The test is tailor-made for the contestants and the best of their abilities!'
The Desperate Melee was well-designed as well. The design would eliminate all unqualified competitors in the beginning, leaving behind the one true participant for the test.
Then Zen moved on with Saul. Soon they were in an enormous building with a threshold at the height of a few dozen feet. Saul then crossed the threshold with a hop.
Zen walked right over to the threshold, then he slammed his feet against the ground, and he came to the threshold's other side.
And on the other side, Zen saw a small talisman on the ground, and Saul was standing right beside it.
“Come here. Stand on this talisman and begin your test,” Saul said patiently.
Zen found the palace like a minefield. Keeping in mind what Saul said earlier, he knew that the test would be very dangerous.
If and when Zen passed the test, he would be the fairy palace's owner. Inheriting such a majestic and esteemed fairy palace would be an enormous benefit to Zen.
With Zen's current strength and capabilities, he was far more superior than the other masters at the same level, he was even equipped to defeat nature creatures without much effort, but when the enemy was in the Illuminating Soul Realm, the situation was different...
For example, even though he actually did defeat Seymour today, one could not ignore that he was seriously injured too!
Besides, Vale was the disciple of the Cloud Sect, and was evidently more powerful than Seymour! Could Zen be his match and defeat him?
To be precise, if he wanted an actual shot to save his sister, he would not only have to deal with Vale, but also many other powerful masters in Cloud Sect.
Internally, Zen thought he was still too weak in Cloud Sect...
Bearing this idea in mind, Zen, without any hesitation, placed his foot on that talisman.
Not even a second after he placed his foot on the talisman that his head began to spin. The landscape around him changed within a fast flash and now Zen found himself in another world.
In this new contrasting different world, bright flashes of lightning lit up the sky and meteor shower fell in the distance, sounding their presence and the ground shook in waves like those of a majestic sea.
“The first thing is to test and quantify your strength,” Saul's voice came through to Zen's ears. Zen very clearly understood that what he was seeing was just an illusion. But even then he could not deny that the environment looked and seemed very real, over a hundred times more real than mirage in Cloud Sect's Bloody Mountain, including the wind, rain, thunder and lightning or vegetation.
The fact to remember was that it was a test of strength!
But Zen didn't know how his strength would be tested at this point in this unfamiliar world.
He walked for a while before his eyes chanced upon a rope. There were many bare-chested men with powerful muscles standing along side the rope. The men appeared quite burly.
After counting the men standing across from him, Zen realized there were about a hundred men.
“Humph!” Upon seeing Zen approaching, the men leading the gang handed the strong rope over to Zen.
Zen grabbed the rope and suddenly felt light. His vision got blurry before the landscape changed yet again.
As his vision became clear again, Zen was standing on the top of a high mountain, still holding onto the rope. Those burly men were standing across him, holding the rope's other end.
Between the mountain tops was a ravine. Some preying birds were circling over the cliffs, looking at Zen insidiously. It felt like they were keenly waiting for the moment he would fall into the ravine, so they could swoop in and peck at his flesh.
In addition to this horrifying scene, the bottom of the mountain ravine was swirling with molten hot lava...
“It looks like if I fail or even flutter, I'm going to die,” Zen muttered softly.
“Humph!” The strong men across the ravine grabbed the rope, drew a circle and tied it around their shoulders. Then they motioned Zen to tie himself with the rope, just as they did by imitating their actions.
“Is the test of strength a tug of war? How could I possibly match the strength of 100 men all by myself?” Zen, grasping the powerful men's intention and the test's concept, gently swung the rope and tied it around his shoulder in a strong loop.
Then Zen tugged at the rope and nodded at those men. The test of strength had been initiated.
“Hey-oh!”
With a sudden roar, the hundred intimidating men began to pull at the rope as hard as they could.
Even though Zen was well prepared, he suddenly lost his strong footing due to the sheer force of the hundred mighty men and slowly slid toward the cliff's edge.
After being dragged six or seven steps toward the opposite side, Zen put an end to it with all the strength he could muster. His feet gripped the ground, like a bull, and he stopped sliding as he adjusted to the steady position.
“This strength test is not so easy to pass and is deceptively tough!” Zen tried to lean back, stretching the rope straight and asserting more strength.
The collective strength of a hundred men was so great that despite his best efforts, Zen was dragged towards the cliff's edge.
Zen had not launched the power of dragon scales just as yet. He relied solely on his own strength against the strong men.
He gritted his teeth, flexed every muscle and every tendon bulged. However, even with all his strength, he could not hold his ground and slid toward the cliff's edge inch by inch.
'This is the limit of my physical strength, ' Zen realized. 'I'm only two or three steps away from the drop. If I don't utilize the power of dragon scales, I'm afraid I will fall into the ravine!'
“Come on!”
Zen shouted, and the dragon scales lit up in his head, giving off a green glow. Then, a rush of strength pushed into every muscle of his body like a sudden surge of electricity.
In a flash, Zen's power had exploded beyond what he expected!
Upon Zen's sudden surge of tremendous power, the rope creaked, and the hundred strong men were shocked into a movement towards the cliff's edge!
Just moments before the mighty men standing across were about to fall into the ravine, they suddenly let out a roar again at the same time.
“Hey-oh!”
The hundred men simultaneously pulled the rope and withstood the test of power while stopping it from moving toward Zen.
Thus, Zen and the strong men were in a match all over again!
'How did that happen?' Zen's mind was bubbling with curiosity. Over a hundred dragon scales inside his body had been ignited, and the force of each dragon scale was very terrifyingly mighty, not at the very least weaker than the strength of any man standing across him.
Earlier, Zen was barely able to withstand the power of these men only based on his physical strength. So now he activated the power of dragon scales, and his power would greatly surpass that of his opponents.
But with a loud yell, yet again the strong men actually steadied the rope!
What did this mean?
It simply meant that the strength of those men was not fixed and varied depending upon the opposition. As Zen's strength grew, so did their strength to level the field.
With the rope on Zen's shoulder, Zen used his overwhelming strength to confront the strong men in the dual yet again.
Neither side would budge and it grew tedious. Whenever Zen took a few steps back, the men then pulled him forward a few steps.
As a result, the tug-of-war became like a game of seesaw, with one side retreating and the other moving forward and then vice versa.
Zen's brow furrowed at the situation.
'It can't go on like this!' Zen thought to himself.
The men across him, his competitors were not real beings, but were magically made by the owner of this fairy palace with the help of illusions.
Moreover, this proved their strength was simply inexhaustible.
Unlike their unwavering strength, not only would Zen's strength fail, but his dragon scales would deter after overuse and needed a little rest before he could recover.
Evidently, if it went on like this, sooner or later Zen's strength would be exhausted and he would be dragged into the abyss by those men standing across him!
'I must win this situation as soon as possible. The more time this takes the lesser chances I have, ' Zen told himself.
But all of this was easier said than done. This strength test was too difficult than what he first anticipated!
“Boy, having a tug-of-war with a hundred people does not require only strength, as one may think, but also skills!” Saul's voice came through again motivating him. “If you had paid attention to the minute details, you'd have figured it out by now!”
“Details?” Zen was startled for a second upon listening to Saul.
“Yes. I can't tell you what they are. If I give you too many hints, I might be wiped out, so that's all I can say. The rest is up to you and I have said enough,” Saul said in a soft motivating tone.
'Details?' Zen was lost in thoughts. 'On the face of it, the strength test seems like an unsolvable puzzle.
The strength of the hundred men opposite is equal to mine each time. So, when my strength is increased ten times, the strength of the opposite too will be increased ten times, and when my strength is increased a hundred times, the strength of the opposite will also be increased to the same level to balance the scales and make it a fair match.
That is to say, no one can win the opposition.
So what are these minuscule details?
There are a hundred mighty men...
When I pull the rope hard, they too pull it with equal might. The only difference is when they all tug at the rope together they all let out a roar.
Why must they always roar?
The roar... This difference doesn't enhance their strength. The immortal would not add any unnecessary element when setting the dreamland, so this was deliberately arranged and placed here. Everything has meaning and significance.'
The thought of that terrifying roar reminded Zen of a story he read as a child.
It was the tale of Lancang River. There was a shallow section of the river which small boats could cross, but big ships could not maneuver through.
In order for the big ship to pass smoothly, it must be pulled by men. Boat trackers pulled a ship along the shore with ropes on their backs, assisting the ship to move forward through the shallow water slowly yet steadily.
But despite dozens of men were towing a ship, their power was uneven and insufficient. If there was no unified force, it was impossible to drag the ship deep in the mud.
In order to combine the power of dozens of people, they would sing songs, which were actually some rhythmic slogans driving motivation and synchronous movements!
These slogans were used to synchronise their movements and combine their forces to ensure mobility and success.
At the thought of this, an idea suddenly occurred to Zen!