Chapter 179: More Heavenly Essence
In fact, there were points of the mountain wall that remained strong.
The disciples from Drizzle Peak climbed the mountain wall continuously. Wherever other disciples tramped, there were marks left behind.
As time went on, tiny hollows were etched into the mountain wall.
As some disciples practiced more, they discovered these hollows, and using them, they could climb higher.
Some hollows were used frequently, and they gradually sunk.
Viewed from below, the wall appeared smooth and flat, but in reality, it had many recesses.
After climbing its face hundreds of times, some disciples could remember each hollow. They needed to pay attention to where it was safe to tread the first few steps after they made the leap.
So, the experience in climbing this mountain wall was very important. Zen didn't have the experience and climbed it with just his strength. It was believed he would surely suffer losses.
Wyatt was able to reach a height of 47 meters because he was nimble and made good use of the recesses. From ancient to modern times, the people who could reach the summit was far less than those who initially set out climbing, so the higher one went, the fewer recesses in the face of the wall. They were also more indistinct and difficult to find, the higher one scaled.
Zen lacked the experience to find the niches in the mountain wall, but, he had an advantage, speed.
The Phoenix Crystal's energy played an important role. He slapped the mountain wall with both hands continuously while at the same time he tramped his feet into the surface quickly.
Zen was well aware that with the strength he currently possessed, he could slice into the hard mountain wall easily and catapult himself up to the top. But if he did that, it would be considered cheating, so he decided against it.
Zen could control his strength in a manner that it was imperceptible to see and as he slapped and tramped nonstop, his speed was once more quickened, unexpectedly.
“Wow, look at Zen's speed increase again unexpectedly. My Gosh!” shouted one of the outer disciples.
“Seriously? How'd that happen? It's beyond reason!” commented some of the outer disciples in confusion.
Normally, when disciples climbed the mountain wall, the higher they went, the slower they became.
At the bottom, the disciples would be at their strongest and speediest, and then because there was no place they could apply their force to at the midway, speed decreased, making the climb upward grow slower and slower.
Nobody could change the rules of relativity.
However, halfway up the wall, Zen's speed suddenly increased...
What did that mean? It meant Zen didn't need to store his force when he was at the bottom. He was even able to skip the dashing to accelerate. He could climb the mountain wall with the same stamina, whether he went 30 meters, 100 meters or even 1000 meters. It didn't seem to make a difference to him whether he climbed the mountain wall or ran on flat ground.
Given the information, this test to climb the mountain wall had no real impact on Zen.
First Zen passed the 30 meters mark, then 40, and accelerating as he went, he reached 55 meters and continued. Soon enough, he'd gone further than the palm print.
Stopping at 60 meters, Zen stretched his hand to pound the mountain wall.
“Smash!”
After battering at the stone surface until a deep handprint became visible, Zen turned and fell straight down.
“He's made a new record when he climbed for the first time. He's a nature creature and certainly different from us!”
“It's not a matter of him being a nature creature. The fact is, I've seen powerful inner disciples take the test, and although they reached 60 meters, it didn't go smoothly and they weren't anywhere near as fast as Zen...”
“Right. What other people have accomplished means nothing to Zen. If he wanted to, he could climb the mountain wall as easily as strolling across flat ground!”
While the other disciples were discussing Zen, he reached the bottom and approached Wyatt. While walking, he removed the weight-bearing suit and handed it to Wyatt, smiling as he commented, “I didn't do a very good job!”
Wyatt's expression remained stiff and bitter.
He wasn't just the outer disciple at Drizzle Peak who was ranked number one, but, he was also a fairly abnormal person. Nobody could find an outer disciple among all peaks of the Cloud Sect let alone at Drizzle Peak who could rival him. Which begged the question; why was Zen still an outer disciple?
Challenging Zen this way, was like him asking to be insulted...
Wyatt felt a deep sense of frustration.
After delivering the weight-bearing suit back to Wyatt, Zen went over to Wurth and patted his shoulder.
Wurth reacted deliberately with an exaggeratedly startled expression, but after Zen patted him, he had a smile on his face and laughed wildly as he said, “Ha-ha! I knew you would succeed. Zen, but, wow, you didn't just make it, did you?”
While he praised Zen, Wurth glanced from time to time over in Wyatt's direction. Zen had helped Wurth vent his anger. When he'd thought about Wyatt's earlier expression, Wurth had become enraged.
Given his station, Wurth didn't need to be annoyed about a warrior who was merely a half-step into the nature level, especially one who hailed from a poor family. He didn't take disciples who completed the nature level seriously, let alone one who was merely at half-step into the nature level.
The Zhang Clan wasn't powerful, but its wealth was famous throughout all of the Eastern Region.
Customarily, only a few of the disciples from the Cloud Sect were able to enter the Illuminating Soul Realm, and most of those masters were from distinguished noble clans. Of course, it was impossible for noble clans to have all the advantages, and there were always a few rare talents from impoverished families.
Most of the masters in the Illuminating Soul Realm whose families were common went to work as officials for the Zhang Clan.
Those officials who had reached the Illuminating Soul Realm answered directly to the Zhang Clan.
It was the reason that while the Zhang Clan wasn't among the top seven noble clans, it was able to advance alongside any of them, at an equal pace.
Since Wurth was the third son of the Zhang Clan, even the officials at the Illuminating Soul Realm respected him. So, he didn't need to take Wyatt into account.
Being inherently robust, Wurth enjoyed immersing himself in studying martial arts presently, even though he didn't plan on going that far.
Having been crushed many times by Wyatt had left Wurth feeling enraged.
So, even though he didn't personally defeat Wyatt, it thrilled Wurth to have Zen's assistance venting his anger.
Wurth walked over to the pavilion alongside Zen, and then they sat on a stone bench.
Cloud Sect boasted a beautiful scenery and Kite Skydeck flanked Drizzle Peak which had an amazing view of the mountain to the west that they could watch.
“Zen, you specifically came here today. What is it that you want?” asked Wurth. A quick thinker, Wurth guessed that Zen owned something valuable that he wanted to commission Wurth to sell at auction. However, propriety kept him from blurting that out and he feigned ignorance.
Zen nodded and replied, “Wurth, I do want you to help me with something. But, I hope you can keep it under wraps for me, for now!”
Wurth gave Zen a deep, meaningful look as he said, “Zen, you are like a brother to me. You don't need to ask me to keep it a secret. Regardless of what it is, I won't tell anybody, even if someone is to try and kill me.”
Zen chuckled, feeling rather embarrassed and said, “I know, I worry too much. Please, forgive me, Wurth. I know you're reliable, and I just over analyze things.”
“No worries Zen. It's always best to be cautious! You've piqued my curiosity now, and it makes me believe you want to commission me to sell something very important for you,” said Wurth eagerly. He knew Zen wasn't shortsighted and wouldn't tell him to make such a promise unless it was of great importance.
Last time, it was a crystal core of fire scorpion lion that Zen commissioned Wurth to sell, but, at the time, Zen didn't act as seriously as he did now. Wurth wondered if what Zen had now was much more valuable than a crystal core of fire scorpion lion.
Seeing the curiosity etched into Wurth's face prompted Zen to tap his space ring lightly. He opened it, and pulled a small cup from it.
Nobody was near them at the pavilion, and even if someone were to see it, it was highly unlikely any of the outer disciples from Drizzle Peak possessed the knowledge to recognize the substance that was in the cup. However, Zen still covered it covertly with his hand before handing it over to Wurth.
As Wurth stared at what was in the cup, his eyes widened, and in a hushed tone with a hint of surprise, he whispered, “Heavenly essence?!”
When Zen had the crystal core at auction, someone was selling some heavenly essence.
Wurth still recalled at the time, that the heavenly essence netted 120 thousand cubic crystals.
If one of the bidders hadn't given up and stopped bidding, the price of the heavenly essence would probably have kept rising in cost, to what could only be imagined.
“It appears that you have at least as much heavenly essence as what sold at the Blessed Auction House last time we were there. How many drops do you have here?” asked Wurth, his voice trembling in excitement as he wondered where Zen could have gotten any heavenly essence.
“I have 55 droplets of essence in this cup,” replied Zen.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Wurth said, “Well, that explains why you were so hesitant. In your shoes, I would be even more cautious.”
Zen chuckled and told him, “Well, I wouldn't if I only had the one cup of heavenly essence. I can offer you this much heavenly essence spread out over intervals of time. Please, Wurth, help me sell it at auction.”
“Wait, what are you saying? Spread out over intervals! You mean, you have more than this?” asked Wurth. He was shocked, and took a sharp breath of air, the chilliness hurting his nose.
Heavenly essence was such a very mysterious substance that even now, nobody could figure out how it was produced. Even what they had sold at auction was unintentionally obtained by some warriors.
What Zen was implying though was that he had more heavenly essence, and because it was such a large quantity, it needed to be sold over time...
What did it all mean though?