Chapter 231: Heaven-Fire Killing Array
Mack seemed unconcerned, but nothing escaped his attention. He deliberately pretended to curse and mock Zen as he thought little of him.
However, he tried to remember every small detail of every potential opponent in the arena.
Mack used his unique methods to estimate everybody, including Rocher Hua from Skytop Peak, Vittoria Zhu from Lady Peak, and even Stark Xia from his own peak.
Mack?had seen Zen's strength, his speed and his impenetrable defense.
Despite of his feigned composure, Mack remained vigilant. Now that he was confronting Zen, he chose to use his Star-Shifting Flag first.
The Star-shifting Flag was considered to be one of the best spiritual weapons, not for the horrible damage that it could cause, but for the revolving magic array and the enchanted rune barrier inset on the flag.
Anybody who dared to come close to the Star-shifting Flag would find himself spinning uncontrollably. The spinning wouldn't stop until the enchanted barrier was broken or the Star-shifting Flag was destroyed.
However, shattering the Star-shifting Flag was extremely difficult.
Even the warriors who reached the Illuminating Soul Realm found it challenging and time-consuming to break the enchanted rune barrier.
But, none of those warriors was like Zen. He hit the enchanted barrier with his fist, and it broke. It seemed impossible. But it was true! The?barrier couldn't be broken by regular strength. But, Zen succeeded with brute force.
Mack was confused.
He?had no idea that the Emerald Crystal on Zen's left arm was the bane of the enchanted barrier. Even the barrier created by warriors who had already entered the late stages of the Illuminating Soul Realm could be easily restrained by the power of the Emerald Crystal. The enchanted barrier on the Star-shifting Flag couldn't endanger Zen.
The enchanted barrier was produced by inscribing runes on it. It would cost crystals to activate it. However, the Emerald Crystal could smash the barrier easily.
When Zen applied the power of the Emerald Crystal to the barrier, it formed bloody lines on it just like a spider web. He punched it again, and the barrier shattered.
“Bang!”
A loud noise was heard as if a glass had been smashed to pieces. Then, Zen wielded his fist and broke the flagpole.
The?Star-shifting Flag was a spiritual weapon—even the flagpole was made of rare wood. It was tenacious and couldn't be easily damaged by a sword. However, Zen was so strong that the flagpole broke into two pieces.
“My flag...” Seeing this, Mack trembled.
When he saw Zen step over the broken flag and walk toward him, Mack realized that there was little time left.
“How dare you break my flag? I'm gonna ruin you!” There was profound hatred in Mack's voice. Flames of fury were kindled in Mack's mind at the loss of his precious spiritual weapon. As a master of the magic array, Mack was often asked to set all sorts of magic arrays for the Cloud Sect. In return, he could earn cubic crystals or accumulate more points than other disciples. However, the destruction of one of his spiritual weapons was an irreparable loss.
Mack stretched his hand, and an array flag appeared. He murmured to himself, “Great and honorable warriors, please arise and fight for your humble servant! Heaven-Fire killing array! Go and kill my enemy!”
Nine array flags, with special killing spells inscribed on each, flew toward Zen and surrounded him.
It seemed that there was no escaping them!
It was a magic killing array.
Ordinary arrays could only produce illusions. Thus they imposed little threat to the people inside. The illusions were more likely to disturb people's minds, confuse them, and then trap them.
However, the magic killing array was different. These illusions could kill people.
What was worse, masters who produced the magic killing array, were good at hiding, being patient, biding their time, and finally striking a deadly blow.
“Heaven-Fire killing array!”
Although he was also a talented master of magic arrays, a saint from Cloud Sect was shocked.
To his surprise, he found a disciple from Cloud Sect who was capable of setting the Heaven-Fire killing array.
“I never thought that a disciple from the inner circle of Blackrock Peak would succeed in producing such a perfect and powerful Heaven-Fire killing array. Master Yu, you're well prepared, aren't you?” The saint smiled and said to Master Yu who came from Blackrock Peak.
Master Yu was proud of the praise he received from a saint. “Saint Yang, please. You're embarrassing me. Although Mack did this, its power is nothing when compared to yours,” he replied.
Saint Yang shook his head and answered, “It's marvelous that a disciple who has consummated the nature level can set a Heaven-Fire killing array. With several years of practice, I believe that nobody in Cloud Sect will be able to beat him in the magic array. He's a real genius. I can give him that,” said Saint Yang honestly.
Saint Yang?could only succeed in setting the Heaven-Fire killing array after he had reached the Illuminating Soul Realm. In that regard, Mack was more talented than him.
On the other side, the force of the Heaven-Fire killing array was terrifying.
“The force of Heaven-Fire is stored in this killing array. I intended to use it when I battle with those personal disciples. However, I have to use it here and now, because you destroyed my Star-shifting Flag. Believe me, you'll regret your foolishness soon,” laughed Mack wildly. He pulled out a magic array tablet from his robe and fiddled with it with his fingers. Then, lights of life vitality were connected with the array flags through the tablet.
Zen, surrounded by the Heaven-Fire killing array, felt as though the sky and the earth were spinning. Soon, he was engulfed by complete darkness.
This killing array separated people inside from the outer world. The audience had no idea what was happening inside.
Zen had witnessed the workings of a magic array many times. The illusions were created by the array flags to confuse an enemy.
Cloud Sect's Bloody Mountain and all other mysterious places used by warriors to practice their martial arts, had been using magic arrays. However, none of those magic arrays were as good as the fairyland in the fairy palace.
Zen entered another space after the magic array engulfed him.
Inside, it was extremely hot. The parched earth was full of cracks, like the wrinkles on the face of a ninety-year-old woman. Zen looked around and saw several fire pits surrounding him.
Not far away, Mack was floating in the sky, smiling hideously.
“Zen, I love seeing my enemies suffer more than anything else. Seeing your face burn will cheer me. Your skin will feel scorched, and your face will be a mess. Your pain will excite me the most. Ha-ha! Now, I'm gonna burn every part of your body, and soon, you'll beg for mercy.” Lights flickered on the magic array tablet. Then, the fire pits surrounding Zen were refueled, and a burning smell filled the air.
“Are these illusions? Is Mack an illusion?” Zen stood quietly and kept a sharp lookout. He wouldn't act till he figured out how this magic killing array worked.
“Bang!”
Flames erupted from the countless fire pits and flew into the sky. Then, dozens of stone men crawled from the fire pits.
The stone men were burning red, and flames could be seen extending behind their backs as if they were red cloaks that stretched into the sky.
The?stone?men?stood and then ran toward Zen. As the air became hotter, Zen felt as though his face was being scorched.
“The force of this Heaven-Fire killing array is formidable! I intended to advance from the group competitions while hiding my real strength and only using my body as my weapon. However, disciples of Cloud Sect are much stronger than regular warriors from the outer world.”
Ordinary warriors who had reached the pinnacle of the nature level stood no chance to defeat him. However, Mack did impose a significant threat to Zen. Apparently, Zen made a mistake by underestimating disciples from Cloud Sect. They weren't like the weak warriors from the other parts of Eastern Region.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
The stone men's footsteps echoed. As they approached, Zen finally responded.
The magic killing array, if created by some real masters, could lower the martial arts abilities of the people inside it. On top of that, the gravity inside the magical land could also be changed so that opponents couldn't walk, let alone fight or defend themselves.
Luckily, Mack had a long way to go, and his arrays had a weakness. Zen rushed to one of the stone men.
Since the burning stone men were nothing but stones, Zen planned to smash them one by one with his fists.
However, as he approached them, Zen felt the temperature rising sharply. The heat was almost unbearable.
“Go, before it's too late.”
Knowing that he couldn't resist the crushing heat, Zen had to retreat.
“Ha-ha! I'm the God inside my magic killing array. I made the stone men, and they exist in my illusions. I imagined that they are made of falling stones from the sky. The fires are heaven fire, not regular fire. There's no escaping this, although it's said that your body is indestructible.” Mack laughed coldly.
“Are?you the God in your magic array?” asked Zen. A sardonic grin lit up Zen's face. “Don't be a blasted fool. You set this incredible magic array. I will give you that. But you're weak, and this is all that you can achieve. I'm sorry, but you lack imagination,” he added.
A magic array master could set a magic array. But its power was limited, as it depended on the strength of its creator.
“Don't talk nonsense. Die!” Mack?stretched his hand and pointed a finger at the burning stone men. In the next instant, they quickened their steps and moved toward Zen.
Seeing?the looming threat, Zen gritted his teeth and rushed to one of them.
Although the heaven fire burning on those stone men's bodies was intense, Zen's body was extremely strong. It was equivalent to a mid-grade spiritual weapon and capable of resisting such kind of fire.
“Bang!”
Zen lashed out at the burning stone man closest to him. His fist penetrated its body, and a hole appeared. Seconds later, the hole became bigger, and many narrow cracks formed.
“Bang!”
The stone man shattered.
Mack uttered a heartrending cry.
Some of his spirit had been put into the stone men. When Zen smashed one of the stone men, Mack felt the pain and screamed.
“They're weak, just like you. I'm gonna smash them one by one.”
The fire left Zen feeling miserable, even though no real harm was caused to his body. He could bear more considerable pain than this.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
Zen moved quickly and killed another two stone men within seconds.
Before Zen could turn and attack another stone man, he heard Mack shout, “Flame of meteorite, in my name, please burn everything! Explode!”
Zen was confused and hesitated for a moment.
Then, he saw the stone man explode. Since he was standing in front of the stone man, Zen was engulfed by the fire.
“You killed four of my stone men. That's quite impressive. Even practitioners at the Illuminating Soul Realm can't do that. But it is a joke that you're so confident and that you believe you can beat me,” Mack?said to Zen and smiled coldly, as he floated in the sky.
The fire crackled on the ground. A long time passed before the fire finally died out.
The magic killing array could create illusions and use them to kill people inside. While people trapped in the array could get hurt, it wasn't their body that got damaged, but their spirit.
If Zen were burned to death inside the magic killing array, his soul could be severely wounded, and he would become an idiot.
“Burn, burn! After you know nothing and remember nothing, I'll take you out of this killing array. Then, I'll teach you how to behave yourself. Ha-ha!” He smiled. Mack could imagine the tremendous pain being inflicted on Zen. He imagined Zen was burning alive, and begging for mercy desperately. He would be like a fish thrown into a frying pan, and only death awaited him.
When the fire finally died out, a figure appeared. His body emitted a golden light, like a God. He looked intimidating.
Mack didn't expect this. His pupils dilated as if he had seen a ghost.