Chapter 155: The Heaven-destroying Cudgel
Zen stood still, without operating his life vitality.
The four men stood in four distinct positions with their heaven-destroying cudgels in hand. They aimed their weapons and struck at Zen simultaneously.
The four of them were at grade five of the nature level and had extraordinary strength. Moreover, the heaven-destroying cudgels could strike the body with a force unmatched.
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
The weapons hit Zen's body hard, making dull sounds.
'People in the Commandment Hall do have some methods. The ordinary nature creatures could be beaten to death if hit hundreds of times in this manner, ' Zen thought, still not budging an inch. 'But my body is a middle-grade spiritual weapon. The cudgels' hit can't injure me with their moderate force!'
Under the beating of the cudgels, warm currents continuously surged in Zen's body, soaking his belly.
The four nature creatures kept hitting at him hard. After all, it was a rare opportunity.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
They hit him more than a hundred times in one breath.
Zen still stood unmoved and looked at Murry, who was looking on from a distance.
Murry was puzzled. The heaven-destroying cudgel was a good weapon to strike a nature creature. In the past, it had proven to be useful in beating them half to death. Why did this young man look unharmed even after being hit so many times?
“Hit him hard!” Murry shouted.
The four men were masters at grade five and had an endless stream of power in their bodies. At Murry's words, the force in their hands increased in an instant. In no time, sweat was built on their foreheads. Their cudgels struck blow after blow at Zen.
Poof...
The cudgels pounded Zen over and over, but he only felt a sense of happiness as the warmth soaked through his belly, lulling him into a kind of comfort.
If the cudgels continued to thrash him, the warmth would stroke his belly all day long, and in a short period of time, his strength would increase from grade one of the nature level to grade two...
Unfortunately, good things didn't happen so frequently or easily. He needed to seize this opportunity with both hands to make sure it happened.
If they sensed something wrong, they would stop hitting him. Suddenly, Zen twisted his face in agony and screamed.
“Ah... Oh...” He gritted his teeth and howled as if in pain, looking like he couldn't stand it.
Murry saw his expression and smirked. The guy finally couldn't bear it. “Beat him. Hit him hard! I want to see a fight!”
If Zen was beaten to death, Murry would get into trouble. According to the rules, the Commandment Hall could not put a disciple to death.
This little episode was not too troublesome for him though. In any case, someone or the other would help him cover it up.
“Ah, ah...”
The heaven-destroying cudgels beat Zen incessantly. His screams echoed in the Commandment Hall.
Tired of the thousands of beatings, the four men soon grew exhausted. It had taken up all of their strength. However, they soon sensed that something was wrong.
Even after being beaten up for so long, Zen still stood on steady legs. The expression on his face was miserable, but his complexion seemed fine. He didn't seem injured or hurt. He actually looked like he found the hits pleasant. Was he enjoying this? What was going on?
Murry too perceived that something was odd. The man screamed without inflection. His voice didn't break and he didn't choke on gasps when he yelled in pain. Did the bludgeoning actually affect him, or was he faking it? How could it not hurt him? Was he not afraid of being clubbed to death?
That was possible!
Murry knew that the heaven-destroying cudgel was ineffective against the masters of the Illuminating Soul Realm, but many nature creatures who were struck by the weapon in the past eventually knelt on the ground and implored for their lives, their bloody wounds clear evidence of their pain.
How could it have no effect on Zen?
Impossible!
“Hit him hard! I don't believe you are not afraid of being beaten!”
The four men thrashed him harder, putting even more strength behind the blows of their cudgels.
If such strong power was directed against a large boulder, it could turn it to dust. Against a block of gold or iron, it would cast a depression in it. But against Zen's body, it left no injuries whatsoever.
The nature creatures didn't have bottomless stamina. After hitting him with all their strength, the four men finally huffed their breaths and gave up, feeling like they had lost.
Now that they had used up all their energy, Zen dropped his masquerade and laughed out loud. “Hit me then. Continue to hit me. I haven't enjoyed this enough!”
Seeing the expression on Zen's face, Murry heaved a deep breath, wondering if he was dealing with a monster.
The four men stared back at him blankly, finding themselves in a fix. They still held the heaven-destroying cudgels in their hands.
There was no point in continuing to strike the boy because he was not afraid of being beaten. The four of them were merely wasting their respective strengths. But they couldn't stop hitting him, because Murry hadn't yet ordered them to stop...
They waved the heaven-destroying cudgels about, becoming more spiritless.
“There's no strength behind your attacks. Don't do it.” Zen sighed and shook his head, but the strength in his body expanded gradually, until it shook with a tremor.
When the next blow of the heaven-destroying cudgel fell on his body, it repelled against the great force in him and the weapon shattered into several pieces, falling to the ground.
Zen immediately removed the life-vitality rope of thorns that was tied around his wrists.
“My time is valuable. I didn't come back to Cloud Sect for this mischief. I know who was behind what happened today, but I advise you not to get involved with me. Otherwise you will regret it!” Zen said, pointing at Murry who stood on the platform, before turning to leave.
He didn't come back to Cloud Sect to participate in this farce.
“How... how dare you! You dare to revolt against me in public!” Murry saw him leaving and was overjoyed. He could not take on Zen until now because he didn't have a legitimate reason to kill him before.
Zen could be in league with the demon. Murry could have put him to death after charging him for this crime, but he didn't have the right to do so within the laws. So he had just convicted Zen and hoped he would be beaten to death by the cudgels. But Zen survived easily. Murry wondered what his body was made of, or why he was not fearful of being bludgeoned.
If Zen had obeyed him just now, Murry wouldn't have known how to deal with him.
But Zen just revolted against him in front of an audience. He ridiculed the Commandment Hall, which gave Murry an admissible reason.
“You dare rebel against the Commandment Hall and try to escape. According to the rules, I can kill you!” Murry shouted, a judgment pen in his hand. He moved behind Zen.
At the same time, he saw a shadow of a figure appearing at the gates. The intruder laughed. “I come here by accident. Master Qin, why are you shouting?”
It was Fren.
He hated Zen to the bone.
Zen had beaten Yale almost to death during the trial for slaying demons. He killed Josef too, who had been appointed as the counselor to the imperial army with the help of the Zhuge Clan.
The incident had angered the Zhuge Clan. Their leader had announced that as long as any of them encountered Zen, they were allowed to take his life straightaway.
So Fren had come up with a plan. He told Murry to send someone to guard Drizzle Peak. When Zen finally came by, they took him to the Commandment Mount and charged him with a crime.
Regardless of whether he confessed to the crime, they decided to find a way to kill him.
If Zen didn't resist, they would beat him to death. If he resisted, it would be even better. In Cloud Sect, it was forbidden to kill one another for no reason.
But if Zen disobeyed the order of the Commandment Hall, they were allowed to kill him in Cloud Sect within rights.
It was a dead end either way, a trap especially set up for Zen.
Now Zen had revolted in public, so Fren naturally “happened to” pass by with an intention to rightfully kill him.
It was easy for the Zhuge Clan to kill an outer disciple of the Cloud Sect.
“Young master Fren! This guy didn't obey the order of the Commandment Hall. Instead, he has rebelled against us in public and tried to make an escape. I hope you can help me in this,” Murry responded, playing along with the act.
Zen watched Fren for a while and then turned to Murry. “Do you really need to put on an act? I know what's going on,” he sneered.
Fren laughed at him. “It doesn't matter if this is an act. Either way, you are going to die today! We want you to enjoy the show. It will be your very last source of entertainment!”
As Fren finished speaking, the momentum of his body increased. He was certain that this day was Zen's last. Even the Gods couldn't save him now.
Zen was cornered. He faced Fren in his front and Murry at his back. Still, he didn't let a hint of panic pass his face.
Fren was not a master of the Illuminating Soul Realm. Judging from his momentum, it seemed that his strength had increased since they had met last, but he was at about grade nine of the nature level. He had not yet reached the peak level.
Murry, who was approaching Zen from behind, was at the same level as Fren.
As long as they were not the masters of the Illuminating Soul Realm, Zen could handle them with his current strength.
The dark life vitality surged quietly from the acupoints on Zen's arm.
“Fren, I said last time that my life remains in my hands only. If you want to take it, you can have a try... Unfortunately for you, you've missed the opportunity!” The demonic life vitality leaped out of Zen's arm. The subtle dark-purple force exuded a kind of darkness that appeared as if it could kill someone at any moment now. “With your present strength, you are not qualified to take my life. But I can take yours any time I like!”
Back at the auction house, Zen couldn't have admitted this to Fren, for he hadn't truly been the opponent.
But today, Zen had edged through the level and become a nature creature.
The change from life energy to life vitality was quite qualitative.
Moreover, he had contemplated on the Sun Moon Stars Picture and grasped the power of the stars. The demonic life vitality had made a spurt of progress.
The expression on Fren's face betrayed no fear. He could tell that Zen's body had undergone a transformation, but Fren had a good reputation in the Cloud Sect for his strength. Moreover, lately it had increased. “Hah. You arrogant man, you are just at grade one of the nature level, yet you're so conceited? I wonder if someday you get to enter the Illuminating Soul Realm, will you kill everyone in our Zhuge Clan? I doubt you'll get the chance though, because you will be dead today!”
“Oh? If I enter the Illuminating Soul Realm someday...” Zen wrinkled his brows as if in thought. “I won't just stop with the Zhuge Clan. If the top seven noble clans make me unhappy, I will take all of their lives!”