Chapter 217: Ranking First Among The Inner Disciples
“Snap-hiss...”
The sword intent formed countless tiny whirlpools, which rolled round and round in front of Zen. They rotated in different directions and at varying speeds, shredding all the phantom warriors who were drawn into the vortex to pieces.
Although the sword skills used were still basic, they were different from earlier. After being simplified, these sword skills demonstrated the maximum power of the sword intent.
Zen swished his sword aggressively.
The Streamer Sword shuttled among the warriors at the sixth-grade of the nature level. It was so quick that it looked like flying silver light. The simplified sword skills were so mysterious and powerful that the warriors had no defense against them.
However, since the warriors had stepped into the sixth-grade of the nature level, Zen couldn't defeat them as easily as before. He needed to spot their weaknesses and then adjust his swordplay to kill them with one blow.
Even so, it didn't take him long to kill the twenty warriors at the sixth-grade of the nature level.
'I'm far from reaching my limit. But if this continues, the next group of opponents will be more difficult.'
Since there were twenty warriors at the sixth-grade of the nature level this time, Zen assumed that the next enemies would be warriors at the eighth-grade. Zen felt that he couldn't deal with twenty opponents at the eighth-grade of the nature level simultaneously.
Just as the thought crossed Zen's mind, a swirling mist covered the area. In the next instant, Zen saw some dim figures appearing in the white fog.
At the sight of the figures, a wry smile spread on his face. Zen's speculation seemed to have been too conservative. The opponents turned out to be ten warriors at the consummation of the nature level.
Despite the challenge, Zen was unwilling to give up. Zen knew that he would not be hurt in the magic array, and he saw it as a good opportunity to test his strength. Holding the Streamer Sword tightly in his hand, Zen strode toward the ten opponents at the culmination of the nature level. He wielded the sword and moved the basic swordplay to the extreme, the sword intent surging all over him.
Outside the magic array, the outer disciples of Drizzle Peak became restless as they had been waiting for a long time.
The time spent by the disciples who had participated in the test previously varied from person to person—it ranged from a few short breaths to several quarters. But, Zen had been in the magic array for almost an hour.
“Is something wrong with the magic array?”
“No, there isn't. The runes on the magic array are running well, and no rune has been damaged. How can the magic array go wrong so easily?”
“It's likely that Zen is so powerful that the phantoms inside the magic array are not strong enough to kill him.”
“I'm not sure what is happening inside. We'd better wait a little longer, and then we'll find out.”
Although the outer disciples of Drizzle Peak had a heated discussion about it, most were optimistic. Henry had stayed in the magic array for fifteen minutes, and he had won more than 5, 000 points. Since Zen had stayed in the magic array for almost an hour, the outer disciples wondered how many points that would have earned him.
The masters of Drizzle Peak had more information than the outer disciples, because of the magic array plate that was in their hands. They couldn't see what was going on inside the magic array, but they were able to read information about the magic array through the plate.
“Zen is stronger than his peers. Despite his abilities, how can he defend against ten opponents at the consummation of the nature level for such a long time?” one master asked as he gazed at the magic array plate in his hand. Although the master's strength was comparable with Aura Su's, he couldn't resist for as long as Zen had.
A glimmer of surprise showed in Aura's eyes.
She knew that Zen was growing stronger at an unprecedented rate. When he joined Cloud Sect and became an outer disciple at Drizzle Peak, he was only at the organ refining level. But he could defeat an opponent who had reached a half step into the nature level. While he was in the marrow refining level, he could defeat an opponent at the first-grade of the nature level. All of these victories showed that Zen's strength was far beyond his level of martial arts.
It was well known that there was a limit to how strong a person could be.
Judging from Zen's past performance, Aura knew that he could beat any opponent who was at a higher level than him. It was unsurprising, as many factors affected the strength of a person, such as the level of cultivation methods, the grade of weapons used, and many other various manmade factors.
A good example was that the disciples of Cloud Sect who were at the first-grade of the nature level could easily beat opponents from other counties in the Eastern Region, who had reached the second or third-grade of the nature level.
But, there was usually a limit to this kind of overstepping challenge. Zen's performance was far beyond her expectations. While he was only at the second-grade of the nature level, he could kill twenty opponents who had reached the sixth-grade of the nature level. What had amazed her even more was that Zen was able to resist the attacks of ten warriors who had reached the pinnacle of the nature level.
He was so powerful that no one could deny that Zen was a rare genius.
Aura's eyes widened in surprise. She could not believe what she had seen. Given the success Zen had achieved, she inferred that he was qualified to challenge a strong man who had just reached the Illuminating Soul Realm. It was incredible!
Aura didn't know that Zen had already killed a strong man who had reached the Illuminating Soul Realm. While Hugh, another person who had also reached the Illuminating Soul Realm, suffered tremendously in the battle against Zen.
Initially, Aura had asked Zen to take part in the All Peaks Competition just because she had wanted him to experience such a wide-scale challenge. After all, Zen's cultivation realm was too low, and he was only at the second-grade of the nature level. What was more, he was only 17 years old!
If Zen could continue to cultivate and improve himself at his current rate, she believed that he could get a good ranking at the next All Peaks Competition, which would be held three years later. Given that there were so many gifted disciples at Cloud Sect, Aura had thought that she had overestimated Zen's potential and capabilities when she advised him to participate.
She hadn't expected Zen to demonstrate such extraordinary strength during the test!
Although the phantom warriors at the pinnacle of the nature level in the magic array only had the basic strength of this level and were not as powerful as the real ones, Aura could only deal with 2 or 3 simultaneously. During the test, she remained undefeated. However, she could not kill them. But Zen performed better than her. Not only did he resist the opponents, but he also found opportunities to fight back!
A red dot on the magic array plate disappeared in a few moments.
Every red dot on the magic array plate represented a phantom warrior who had reached the peak of the nature level. The disappearance of one red dot meant that Zen had managed to kill that phantom.
“He can fight back despite being attacked by ten men at the highest grade of the nature level. How does he manage to do that?” Aura and the other masters were wondering whether Zen had managed to elude his enemies by running away with some kind of rare body movement and footwork. But the warriors being killed in the magic array indicated that Zen was not running away. On the contrary, he was fighting back.
There was a huge gap between the inner and outer disciples at Drizzle Peak.
The outer disciples were reserved talents for the inner disciples, and only the ones that qualified could become inner disciples. Even at Drizzle Peak, which ranked last among the 33 Peaks at Cloud Sect, there was an inner disciple who had reached the pinnacle of the nature level.
While in the peaks ranking at the forefront, such as the Skytop Peak, some inner disciples had reached the Illuminating Soul Realm.
But Zen's performance proved that he was a top elite even though he was an outer disciple of Cloud Sect!
An hour later, people outside the magic array noticed that the white fog had begun to disperse. Finally, they could see Zen.
“It's over at last. He is a genius!”
“I want to know how many points he got.”
Many outer disciples had been waiting for nearly two hours to see how many points Zen earned in the test. They hadn't thought that they would have to wait for such a long time.
The master checked the magic array plate and shouted, “Zen Luo, 55, 000 points!”
“Ooh ...”
Upon hearing the score, the disciples erupted with excitement. Several heated discussions began.
It was a staggering figure.
Wurth's and Nory's eyes were wide with excitement. As Zen's friends, they knew that he was strong. But neither of them had fought with Zen, and so they could not provide specific numbers to quantify his strength.
But the score helped settle the matter.
55, 000 points!
The number was twenty times more than Wurth's.
“Does this mean that Zen can beat twenty men of my strength simultaneously?” Wurth smiled and said.
Nory laughed and answered, “Twenty men? Is that all? I'm sure he can handle more. Haha!”
Obviously, a man's strength couldn't be measured by a specific number. Wurth couldn't win against Zen with his strength. If he decided to challenge Zen with support from others, he would need an army composed of soldiers of the same strength as him. A large number of people could drain Zen's power enough to defeat him.
Hearing Zen's score, Ben's heart sank. A reluctant smile replaced the hope he had felt. He knew he didn't have a chance anymore.
He had been overconfident before Zen finished the test. He had thought that Zen was only at the second-grade of the nature level. Ben had rationalized that no matter how strong Zen was, there was a limit. Ben had been practicing martial arts since his childhood, and he was the best in his family. With the help of the top three family clans of his county, Ben had entered Cloud Sect at a young age. Then he became the inner disciple without much effort.
Up until now, he had been the pride of his family.
So Ben had decided that if Zen's score exceeded his, he would challenge Zen. Although he was not quite sure of his victory over Zen, Ben still wanted to try. He wouldn't be willing to admit defeat if he didn't try once.
But when he heard the master announce that thrilling score, Ben gave up his plans.
55, 000 points!
Yehudi Zuo, who ranked the first among the inner disciples, had scored a little more than 40, 000 points. Yehudi had reached the peak of the nature level, while Zen was only at the second-grade of the nature level. It was shocking that Zen was stronger than Yehudi!
Considering Yehudi's strength, Ben had no courage to challenge him. Now that Zen seemed to be stronger than Yehudi, Ben was sure that Zen would trounce him. With that thought, Ben decided not to humiliate himself.
Zen earned 55, 000 points when he was at the second-grade of the nature level. He ranked first among the inner disciples at Drizzle Peak as soon as he became an inner disciple.
The news spread through Drizzle Peak like wildfire!
There had always been a huge gap between the inner disciples and the outer disciples. Any inner disciple could beat an outer disciple and become the top one among them.
However, Zen's progress was unparalleled! In less than a year of being a disciple at Cloud Sect, Zen had become an inner disciple at Drizzle Peak with such a remarkable achievement. This was a situation that had never happened since the founding of Cloud Sect. He had set a new record.
Although Zen was about to be promoted to inner disciple, he was still an outer disciple. So now, he represented the glory of the outer disciples!
Once he became an inner disciple, Zen would get more pills and money, and access to a few secret cultivation places that were reserved only for inner disciples. Although these secret cultivation places were not as good as the Lake of the Magical Fish and the Seven Star Sword Light Platform, disciples would not need to spend points when using these places. This made it an excellent alternative for inner disciples who came from ordinary families. Even some disciples from noble clans would choose to practice in these secret cultivation places, because not every gentry child could get the full support of their family.
The inner disciples lived on the top of Drizzle Peak, which was also the highest point of Drizzle Peak.
So, after passing the test, Zen was assigned a new house. He packed his luggage, put it into his space ring, and moved into his new accommodation.
As he climbed from the hillside to the top of the peak, he met many inner disciples dressed in black robes, all of whom cast curious glances at him.
In general, compared with the newcomers, the inner disciples who had entered the Inner Door earlier had strong psychological advantages. They looked down at the newcomers—like an experienced person looking at a green hand.
After all, the new inner disciples couldn't match them in terms of strength.
Zen, however, was an exception!