Chapter 175: The Report
Daylily Peak ranked fourth among the thirty-three peaks at Cloud Sect. As a result, it was a sought-after peak for the powerful clans. Moreover, most members of the Meng Clan opted to cultivate at this mountain. If Zen chose to shift to Daylily Peak, no one would dare to make things hard for him. Besides, Zen could benefit a lot if he was transferred to the peak.
Zen shook his head and said, “Thanks for the invitation. But I feel good at Drizzle Peak. Besides, it will not be easy for you to facilitate the transfer. I think it's unnecessary.”
To transfer Zen to Daylily peak was more challenging than to reach outer space for an ordinary disciple. But it was a piece of cake for Roger. All he needed to do was to ask a favor from a member of his family to settle this matter. But Roger sensed that Zen had no intention of accepting his offer. As Zen had declined politely, Roger stopped trying to persuade him.
However, Roger sighed and said, “As you have not yet been promoted to inner disciple, I am afraid that you can't participate in the All Peaks Competition.”
“All Peaks Competition?” Zen's heart flipped when he heard Roger.
“Oh? Don't you know that the All Peaks Competition is around the corner?” Roger asked curiously.
Zen shook his head. He had heard about the All Peaks Competition—it was held every three years at Cloud Sect. The results of the competition would decide the rankings of the thirty-three peaks.
All the disciples attached great importance to the All Peaks Competition as the rankings of the peaks would directly affect the assessment of the inner disciples and outer disciples, as well as various benefits attached.
Most importantly, the interval between the competitions was three years. Almost every three years, some disciples would make an impression in the All Peaks Competition and became the new shining stars.
“The All Peaks Competition will be held as scheduled at the start of the next year. With your strength, I believe you will perform well. But you're not qualified to participate in the competition until you become an inner disciple of Drizzle Peak.” After thinking for a while, Roger added, “I don't know why Drizzle Peak hasn't promoted you to inner disciple yet. For outer disciples who want to ascend to inner disciple status, they need to participate in the annual inner disciple practice trial. But you have far exceeded the general outer disciples in regards to both strength and realm level. They should make an exception and promote you to inner disciple. If someone at Drizzle Peak is intentionally making things difficult for you, please tell me…”
Roger had overthought. And he did speak freely for Zen's benefit. It was indeed bizarre that Zen hadn't become an inner disciple with his strength.
However, what Roger didn't know was that no one was trying to sabotage Zen's growth at Drizzle Peak. Zen nodded and showed his gratitude to Roger for his friendliness. He also told Roger that he would try to become an inner disciple as soon as possible so that he could qualify for the All Peaks Competition.
Zen would never miss such a good opportunity!
By taking part in the All Peaks Competition, not only could he test his strength, but it would also serve as a challenge for Zen in his pursuit of martial arts. Moreover, he could cut a striking figure in the All Peaks Competition and win respect from everyone at Cloud Sect.
Till now, the strength Zen had shown far exceeded that of his counterparts. However, ever since joining Cloud Sect, he either encountered conflicts with noble clans or irritated the saints at Cloud Sect.
He needed an opportunity to show his progress and potential. And this competition was the perfect chance. He would surely grasp it as it was so important to him.
“Thank you for your support, Roger. I'm fine at Drizzle Peak. No one is trying to undermine me. I will definitely become an inner disciple before the All Peaks Competition starts.” To become an inner disciple was not a very difficult task for Zen.
Seeing that Zen had no problem and seemed so confident, Roger nodded and said, “But you offended Bob today. He will surely act against you. In fact, I stopped you at the beginning because I didn't want you to get involved in a dispute between noble clans. But now I'm afraid…”
Today, Zen kicked Bob and rendered him unconscious. This was certainly a great humiliation to Bob. Bob was a vengeful man, and he would not let it go easily.
Zen had made another enemy for Roger's sake now.
Upon hearing Roger, Zen laughed, “Roger, I got into the fight, not because of the dispute between the Meng and Pei Clans. Even if I had been a bystander, Bob would not let me go. Do you think I will let someone like him insult you?”
If Zen hadn't stepped out at the right time, Bob would have crushed Roger.
Roger felt moved by Zen's words. All of a sudden, a sentiment surged to his chest that prompted him to say, “Okay. Forget it. There's no use dwelling on it. I feel so lucky to have a friend like you! Meng Clan and Pei Clan have always been on bad terms. If Bob wants to cause trouble for you, he needs to go through me first!”
The disputes among clans were tricky issues.
As much as the members fought with swords and spears on the battleground, equally they would intentionally sabotage each other. If the Meng Clan supported Zen, then members from other noble clans would consider consequences before hurting Zen.
When at Dragon Fort, Roger had helped Zen, but he hadn't pledged the support of the Meng Clan then.
Today, Roger showed his firm support toward Zen. One could see that he considered Zen to be a true friend.
Before Roger made this promise to Zen, he had thought it through. Bob was not the only person that Zen had offended. Previously, Zen had conflicts with the Zhuge Clan. By offering his family's support, Roger knew that the Meng Clan would risk offending the Zhuge Clan.
Nonetheless, Roger believed in Zen. Roger also believed that his decision was prudent.
Zen knew that Roger was being sincere, but at the back of his heart, he only regarded Roger as a friend. He didn't have the slightest intention to attach himself to the powerful Meng Clan by taking advantage of Roger.
Since leaving the Luo Clan, Zen had realized through numerous life-and-death battles that in this world, sometimes he could get a boost through the help of power and influence from others. However, such power and influence were never his own. He clearly knew that he still had to work hard to grow more powerful himself.
Zen continued to concentrate on practice after leaving the Lake of Magical Fish.
Although with his current strength, Zen could even beat any opponent at the consummation of nature level, he was still dissatisfied with his growth in the martial arts.
But this was what he had to endure if he wanted to reach a higher level. From the half-step into the nature level to the nature level, there was an obstacle he needed to overcome. After he got through this process, the road ahead would be smoother for him.
Although there was a small obstacle between the first-grade and the second-grade of the nature level, it was relatively less challenging to overcome.
Every cultivator knew that several obstacles existed between levels and that each difficulty was different. The only thing a cultivator needed was a good environment for practice.
For example, to refine in the Lake of the Magical Fish, the point one had to consume was beyond the standard that a normal person could bear.
This was expensive even for a person like Zen. He didn't have many points left in his disciple card, and they could only support him to practice about eighteen hours in the Lake of the Magical Fish.
In the following days, Zen visited the Lake of the Magical Fish to practice for two hours every day.
The first time that Zen dived into the Lake of the Magical Fish, he reached about 130 meters in depth. At that level, he would encounter Murlocs whose bodies were completely dull red.
The red Murlocks were huge. Even their eyes would glow red in the darkness. Once they started moving, the water would be stirred by their huge bodies.
Although Zen was able to shake them off temporarily, the number of Murlocks at that depth was overwhelming. Even if Zen managed to ditch one Murlock, several more would come for Zen.
One day, Zen tried to force a breakthrough, but unfortunately, he was besieged by the red Murlocks. He had no choice but to return to the surface.
Cao felt almost numb about Zen's performance in the Lake of the Magical Fish.
Zen had reached the 130 meters' depth, and this was the highest record he had till now. If Zen continued to dive deeper and reach 150 meters or 180 meters, then he would break the record of other disciples at Cloud Sect.
The stewards of the Cloud Sect, especially those in charge of the practice realms had an additional responsibility to record and report activities in the places that they guarded.
Zen's performance was eligible to be reported to the top executives. In this way, the top leaders would pay more attention to him or even give him more resources for practice as a reward.
Thinking of this, Cao recorded Zen's performance and submitted the file to the top leaders. If they saw the record and intended to cultivate Zen, Cao would be rewarded for discovering talent.
Cao assumed that an extraordinary talent like Zen would definitely catch the leaders' eyes. It was true that there were already numerous talented disciples at Cloud Sect, and there was no lack of prodigies. However, as the Cloud Sect was large in its scale, it was always thirsty for more talents to join.
However, to Cao's surprise, his report seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. It turned out that no one from the top was paying any attention to Zen.
To Cao's knowledge, this was impossible. He suspected that his report had gone missing somewhere and that perhaps the top leaders hadn't seen it.
With such a thought, Cao submitted another report.
The result was the same as the last time. There was no response or any news from the top leaders.
At Cloud Sect, it was not easy to get a position as a steward. Cao was a very smart man. He soon figured out the reason.
“I submitted the report twice, but there is no feedback from the top. This only means one thing—that the top leaders are giving Zen the cold shoulders deliberately,” Cao thought. But as to who was behind all this and what was the person's intention, Cao didn't bother to think further. No matter who the person was, Cao was not in a position to worry. He was only an obscure steward, and he couldn't afford to offend anyone at Cloud Sect. Thus, he gave up the idea of claiming the credit of discovering talent.