Chapter 223: Huge Hammers
Despite the overwhelming number of rings made from Benjamin's life vitality, there were still some gaps between each of the rings. Just as the fluttering of the life vitality rings made gaps that were large enough, Jill launched her attack.
Jill dashed forward, rapidly weaving through the life vitality rings!
Benjamin felt sort of complacent at first. He hadn't expected much from his opponent who seemed to be a delicate beauty. He would totally beat her in the first round without effort. But before his words faded, Jill's yellow figure was charging straight at him at an incredible speed.
But Benjamin's reaction was swift as well. At this juncture, he let out a howl and directed the scarlet machete in his hand at Jill. Then he swung the machete three times.
“Three strikes of Bloody Heck!”
“Clank, clank, clank!”
Jill was still smiling. Her pretty little face looked quite lovely. But absolute strength was concealed beneath her lovely appearance.
The jade sword in her hand was much smaller than Benjamin's scarlet machete—only at the length of two chopsticks or so. However, the short jade sword easily fended off the overwhelming power generated by the three strikes of Bloody Heck.
Disbelief was written all over Benjamin's face now. He attempted to launch another strike, but as a jet of cyan light flashed, the jade sword was pressed against his neck...
“Jill won. Benjamin lost!”
The referee announced the result of this match.
Yehudi did not realize what had happened until the result was declared. He had expected that Jill might turn the table with certain secret moves. But it really took him by surprise that Jill had made it in such a brisk and fierce fashion.
At this time, Yehudi shot Zen a look of deep significance. 'This guy does have sharp vision.'
The nine matches finished quickly. Disciples on the stage filed out, and the second group of disciples immediately marched into the arena.
Zen was among the members of the second group.
“Eh? Are my eyes deceiving me? Why is there a guy at the second grade of the nature level? Where did he come from?”
“It's true that he is only at the second grade of the nature level. Well, for a man who is two steps into the nature level, he must be pretty good for ranking among the contestants. I remember three years ago, Jacques who was also at the second grade of the nature level, made it to the top 100. So, don't think lightly of others! Bear this in mind—never measure the sea with a bushel, and never judge a book by its cover!”
“Shoot! Think about how awesome Jacques was! He is a personal disciple, and astonishingly talented. Breaking through ranks and battling are just games for him. Both his cultivation method and life vitality are more powerful than his peers at the same rank. But this guy is a disciple of Drizzle Peak. Drizzle Peak is ranked last at Cloud Sect. That shows the quality of disciples at the peak! A man at the second grade of the nature level should be at the top of all its disciples and allowed to participate in the All Peaks Competition. How ridiculous! My younger brother reached the eighth-grade of the nature level this year. He was not eligible to represent our peak in this competition. Had I known this earlier, I would have transferred him to Drizzle Peak to help him qualify!”
Compared with the other 700 disciples, Zen was the least eligible for the competition. Only at the second-grade of the nature level, he was too conspicuous. And, so he attracted everyone's attention the moment he stepped onto the stage.
Even Kenneth's eyes were locked on Zen. Pointing at Zen, he asked, “Xu, what's going on? Drizzle Peak sent a kid at the second grade of the nature level?”
The All Peaks Competition was an opportunity to display the power of the most outstanding disciples from the 33 peaks.
Those who were selected to participate in the All Peaks Competition were considered elites of all the disciples. Among them, the weakest was at the eighth or ninth grade of the nature level. Some of the stronger contestants had reached the pinnacle of the nature level, and some had even entered the Illuminating Soul Realm!
Thus, it was not shocking for Kenneth to ask specifically about this contestant who was merely at the second grade of the nature level.
“Er...” The elder named Xu was a bit taken aback as well. He was also clueless as to why Drizzle Peak had dispatched a little guy at the second grade of the nature level to participate in the competition. After all, the ranking of the 33 peaks was determined according to their strength instead of their subjective calculations. Nonetheless, Kenneth's remarks were somewhat offensive. 'Is Drizzle Peak really so lame?' 'They can only send a guy at the second grade of the nature level to battle?'
“Well, perhaps the guy is strong or powerful,” Kenneth muttered to himself.
By saying so, Kenneth gave Xu a chance to avoid embarrassment. “Some disciples may have obtained enlightenments by luck, so it's possible for a low-ranked man to challenge those at higher ranks.” When speaking out loud, the elder named Xu found that his explanation was unconvincing, even to his ears.
There were indeed some geniuses who could fight against higher-ranked opponents. However, such geniuses never came from Drizzle Peak, because a majority of disciples from Drizzle Peak were from grassroots families or marginalized disciples in noble clans, who, since childhood, were fostered and cultivated with inferior resources compared to others!
If Zen were a personal disciple, Xu might have looked forward to his performance. However, Zen was an inner disciple, particularly an inner disciple from Drizzle Peak. What was more, was that he was only at the second grade of the nature level. 'Does he want to make a show of himself at the All Peaks Competition?' The elder named Xu was a bit miffed. 'Later, I'll question the masters of Drizzle Peak to find out what on earth is the matter!'
At the squared arenas, all the disciples were ready. The battle could be triggered at any moment.
Although nine combats were going on simultaneously, most eyes were focused on Zen's fight. The reason was simple—Zen's cultivation was just too eye-catching.
“Well, well, well, how lucky I am. I happen to be fighting a guy at the second grade of the nature level in my first round!” The man speaking was Zen's opponent, Langdon Zhou.
Langdon Zhou was not tall, but he was heavyset. So, he looked quite burly.
Azure Peak was ranked fifth among the 33 peaks. Naturally, Azure Peak had many strong combatants. Even though they were allowed to send 33 disciples for the All Peaks Competition, the number was still small when compared to the number of disciples at Azure Peak. To qualify for the All Peaks Competition, each of these 33 disciples must have battled each other fiercely!
Langdon Zhou had defeated a practitioner who had reached the peak of the nature level even though he was only at the ninth grade of nature level. In doing so, Langdon Zhou became eligible to enter the competition.
Zen gazed at Langdon Zhou blandly, saying nothing.
But Langdon Zhou furrowed his brows and said, “I really can't figure this out. The rules of the All Peaks Competition are loathsome, too loathsome. I've busted my rear just to get entry to this competition. But you, a little guy only at the second grade, qualified as well. I wonder why. Now that a guy like you can participate in the All Peaks Competition, I think it's time to scratch Drizzle Peak off the list of the 33 peaks.”
Zen cracked a smile. 'This Langdon Zhou already despises me. Yet he still feels the need to provoke me with words. Perhaps it's an old habit of his.
When combatants duel, one often tries to provoke the other by remarks to force the opponent to reveal a flaw as he strikes. This is a widely known trick. But Langdon Zhou, a man who obviously doesn't take me seriously, still speaks condescendingly. He is too overbearing.'
“Your brain is too simple to figure out how I'm going to beat you. So you might as well stop thinking about it!” Zen bellowed all of a sudden.
“Really...” Langdon Zhou cackled. When the referee announced that the fight could begin, Langdon Zhou lifted two copper hammers from the ground and swung them at Zen.
Langdon Zhou was born with marvelously immense force. He was almost as powerful as those at the Illuminating Soul Realm. He stomped on the ground with the two copper hammers in his hands before charging at Zen as if he were a wild beast from a savage land.
The fact was that Langdon Zhou had more talents than just his amazing strength. His power was often underestimated. In the Eastern Region, human practitioners mainly focused on cultivating their life vitality, and the cultivation of their human bodies was merely subsidiary. Corporeal body cultivating was divided into five steps, which solely aimed at purifying the physical body, thus making it more compatible with a practitioner's life vitality.
And the impressive thing about Langdon Zhou was that he not only had immense strength, but he was also very deft at exercising his life vitality.
Just as he lifted the copper hammers, a wave of life vitality quietly spread out from his feet. This wave of life vitality was yellowish-brown. If one looked carefully, its stately aura could be detected.
“Deadly Swamp Trap!”
His life vitality oozed out and wrapped itself around Zen's legs, layer by layer, like a swamp, thus firmly rooting him to the spot...
Zen gasped with surprise. The attack Langdon Zhou made was pretty unique—simply forcing his opponent to stay still and then hurling the copper hammers at him.
The two-step move might seem very clever, but in Zen's view, it was too childish.
This move could be effective when used on nature creatures, as nature creatures were unable to fly. Langdon Zhou's Deadly Swamp Trap would certainly strand them. But what would be the effect of this attack on those at the Illuminating Soul Realm? Since practitioners who had reached the Illuminating Soul Realm could fly, this move could not harm them.
So how would Langdon Zhou deal with opponents who were stronger than he was?
Just as the two huge hammers were about to land on Zen, a tiny smile broke out on Zen's face.
“That brat at the second grade of the nature level seems to be in danger now. Will he be crippled by Langdon Zhou's hammer strikes?”
“That guy does have bad luck for having Langdon Zhou as his opponent! No nature creatures can possibly escape Langdon Zhou's Deadly Swamp Trap.”
Many disciples started to murmur. They did not care whether Zen would win or not. At present, they were concerned about whether or not Zen would die. After all, on more than one occasion contestants had accidentally killed their opponents in the arena.
“Zen, get him! You and Yehudi are the only hope of Drizzle Peak. Don't be defeated in the first round!” Master Wen whispered...