Chapter 224: Earthen Armor
Langdon was proud of his strength.
If he wielded his hammers with his full strength, even the warriors who had reached the Illuminating Soul Realm wouldn't be able to defend against the attack.
Zen, who just entered the second-grade of the nature level, couldn't struggle to free himself from Langdon's Deadly Swamp Trap. It seemed that Zen would soon be a dead man.
Zen stretched his hands to deflect the hammers before they could hit his body.
“You're dead meat,” Langdon shouted.
He snorted and struck. He didn't believe that Zen would dare to stop the hammers with his hands. The hammers had the power to destroy his body.
“Bang!”
Zen's two hands caught the hammers.
Langdon was wrong about Zen being too foolish and bold. Zen had managed to catch the hammers.
“Impossible!” Langdon couldn't believe what had happened.
“Unbelievable! The kid is also naturally strong.”
“So that's how he qualified for the All Peaks Competition despite being at the second-grade of the nature level,” one disciple murmured. Langdon was born with infinite strength. Even the warriors at the Illuminating Soul Realm couldn't fight him easily and confidently. However, Zen caught his hammers with his bare hands. What tremendous strength Zen had!
Operating the two hammers was much easier than defending against them with bare hands.
Although Langdon was arrogant, he wouldn't dare to catch his hammers once they were in motion.
The fact that Zen could do so successfully implied that Zen enjoyed much greater power than Langdon. Langdon gulped at the idea that he might be fighting a losing battle.
Besides, the bronze hammers had been launched by Langdon at an accelerated speed. They could destroy warriors who had reached the peak of the nature level if they dared to use their bare hands in the fight.
Zen was unscathed and safe. 'What is his body made with?' Langdon wondered.
Zen had used a third of his dragon scale power to catch the bronze hammers. He had faith in his strength and knew that his body could use this power to resist the hammers.
Confidence was reflected in Zen's eyes as he stared at Langdon and smiled.
However, the smile on Zen's face looked terrifying to Langdon.
Langdon was proud of his strength. He refused to believe that another person could have greater physical strength.
Unable to control the emotions surging through his body, Langdon's eyes reddened. He couldn't believe that he had been humiliated by an inferior person.
“Wild striking!” Langdon roared.
Then, the hammers in his hands began to spin wildly.
“Bang, bang, bang.”
No matter what strategy Langdon used to hit Zen with his bronze hammers, Zen would avoid them easily.
This fight was only an exercise to Zen.
Whenever his hands touched the bronze hammers, he felt warm currents being produced in his body. Finally, they accumulated in his belly.
Since the currents were refining his body, Zen wasn't in a hurry to finish this battle, although he could do that easily. He chose to defend against the bronze hammers with his two bare hands.
Even though there were nine fights inside the Arena, the battle between Zen and Langdon had drawn the attention of the audience.
“Zen is mad. Why doesn't he fight back? Is he a little masochistic?”
“These bronze hammers are one of the best mysterious weapons. And yet, Zen isn't hurt. Look at the large dents on the surface of the hammers. Is Zen's body harder than the mysterious weapon?”
Most disciples were shocked. Zen looked like a monster. They wondered what would happen if they had to defend against those two hammers.
“I wondered why a guy who has just reached the second-grade of the nature level was allowed to participate in the All Peaks Competition. Is nobody better than him among his generation of disciples at Drizzle Peak? Now I have the answer. He has tough skin to protect his body.” Kenneth, sitting and watching Zen closely, nodded and smiled.
“Your grace, you are so wise. I guess Zen has great opportunities ahead of him if he has such an indestructible body.” The elder named Xu chimed in hurriedly.
“I don't think so. So many young people have attended the All Peaks Competition. If Zen only enjoys superhuman strength and hasn't exercised any other martial arts, he won't go far,” an elder named Huang interrupted with a disapproving shake of his head.
Kenneth disagreed and added, “I know that all disciples attending the All Peaks Competition hold at least one trump card. This young man, with his tough body, seems to have survived the attack of the two hammers. How can you be sure that his tough body is his only trump card and he has no other secret weapons to help him win?”
“What? Do you think he will survive and win?” asked Huang, shocked. As far as he knew, nobody could take a shortcut and win the competition. Even if Zen survived this fight against the wielder of the two hammers, his opponents in subsequent fights would be cautious. They would be well prepared and would work out other ways to beat Zen. Then, Zen's situation would be way more dangerous than this fight. Although his seemingly indestructible body was comparable to one of those mysterious weapons, Zen's future opponents would cut through his skin and meat with unknown weapons.
“Let's wait and see,” replied Kenneth. “Anyway, All Peaks Competition is always fascinating as one gets to meet interesting young men.”
At the other side of the fighting arena, a young man in purple robe sat on the ground, with his arms crossed before his belly. Pale yellow life vitality flowed inside his body. It was strange and terrifying to see Sanskrit words formed by his life vitality dancing around him.
This man looked majestic and handsome.
“Do you see the guy in the arena?” a soft voice was heard. Standing beside the young man was a girl in purple clothes. Her hair was midnight black, and her skin was white and unblemished.
“Yes. He's very conspicuous,” answered the young man. His eyes remained closed. But how could he know of Zen's performance in the arena if he hadn't seen it?
The girl in purple clothes giggled. “But, can you win against him?”
The young man paused for a moment before replying without any emotion, “I suppose he must have exercised some special martial arts to build his body to perfection. However, warriors from Eastern Region rely on life vitality. If anybody dares to dedicate himself only to bodybuilding, he would be a fool, because his skills and inner power couldn't be polished further at later stages. Even though my body is inferior to his, my impenetrable defense built by my life vitality is much better. Yes, I can win against him.”
“I agree with you. This guy is really interesting. I don't know where he comes from, but I want to drill two holes in his body,” said the girl with a chuckle. Despite her beauty, the girl seemed bad-tempered and violent. If weaker warriors dared to fix their eyes on her, they would regret doing that.
“I don't think he will be among the top 100 warriors in this All Peak Competition since he just reached the second-grade of the nature level, although his body seems to be impenetrable. It's unlikely that you'll fight with him in the arena,” said the young man.
“Ha-ha. I wish him good luck,” replied the girl. She stopped talking and shifted her attention to the fight in the arena.
Although personal disciples of Cloud Sect were prohibited from attending the competitions during the early stages, there had been one exception. Three years ago, Jacques who just reached the second-grade of the nature level had to start at early stages and fight a way out so as to attend the next round of competitions.
“Bang, bang, bang.”
The bronze hammers hit Zen's body again and again. The sound was deafening and echoed through the arena.
The other eight battles had finished. After the results were announced, the participants exited gradually. Only the fight between Zen and Langdon continued.
Langdon faced a dilemma. He wondered why his hammers could hit Zen's body but failed to hurt him. Zen was smiling despite being repeatedly hit by the two hammers. Langdon cursed. He desperately wanted to smash Zen's head.
When the hammers returned to Langdon, he was shocked to find they were filled with dents and cracks.
The noble clan where Langdon came from was neither rich nor powerful. It couldn't compare to any of the top seven noble clans.
There were only a few good-quality hammers for him to choose from. What was worse, it was extremely difficult for Langdon to pick two hammers with the level of top-grade mysterious weapon. He knew that he couldn't afford to lose his two hammers in this fight and buy new ones later. There was only one way out. He should try to find a capable hammer-smith to repair his hammers.
He had to win. Otherwise, he would lose both, this fight and his weapon.
If he lost his hammers in the fight with Zen, Langdon's fighting capacity would be significantly weakened. He didn't know what weapon he would wield in his next fight.
“Rolling Lightning Hammers,” Langdon shouted.
Langdon suddenly stooped and directed the hammers to travel in a curved path. They seemed to be flying toward Zen's legs.
He hoped that Zen's legs weren't as hard as his body.
During the battle, Langdon had tried to defeat Zen by striking his face and chest. His Rolling Lightning Hammers attacked his opponent's legs, which usually were vulnerable owing to a lack of protection and exercise. If he succeeded, Langdon was sure that Zen's legs would be broken.
Then, Zen would have to beg for mercy.
His move was unexpected and a surprise to Zen. Langdon rejoiced when he saw the surprise reflecting in Zen's expression.
However, before he could act further, Zen's fists shot out toward the hammers.
“Bang!” Zen's iron fists pounded the bronze hammers. Two holes appeared on the special-processed ground of the arena as the two hammers landed on it.
Langdon tried to retrieve his hammers, but couldn't. Zen held the hammers tightly to the ground as if they were inset into the floor.
Participants of the All Peaks Competition were strong-willed and refused to give up easily.
Knowing that Zen couldn't be beaten without playing his trump card, Langdon decided to abandon his weapon. He shouted, and his life vitality was released. Instantly, it formed an earthy yellow armor around his body.
“Earthen Armor!”