Chapter 238: Flying
The Phoenix Crystal in Zen's right arm was a special kind of crystal. The Phoenix Crystal was said to be a feather that a phoenix once dropped as it streaked across the sky in ancient times.
When the feather fell to the earth, it was enveloped by the resin of a pine tree. After thousands of years of evolvement, the tiny piece of essence that had been concealed in the feather spread through the resin and eventually formed the crystal.
That was the legend. No one knew exactly how the Phoenix Crystal came into being.
But a weapon refiner from the Eastern Region discovered the unique features of the Phoenix Crystal. He then inlaid the Phoenix Crystal into a weapon and found that it could reduce the weight of the weapon.
For instance, when the Phoenix Crystal was embedded into a ghostly machete that weighed 1000 pounds, its weight reduced to less than 200 pounds.
Although the Phoenix Crystal was pretty rare, there were still quite a number of weapons equipped with one. However, no one had ever tried to inset a Phoenix Crystal into a man's flesh!
After all, a human body was very different from a weapon. But due to the peculiar weapon refining method Zen had been practicing, he had managed to convert his body into a weapon. This was why he was able to embed the Phoenix Crystal into his arm.
When faced with Cecil's Twins Chaos Cyclone, Zen activated the Phoenix Crystal in his right arm. A smile appeared on Zen's face when he felt the energy from the Phoenix Crystal spread through his body.
As the energy of the Phoenix Crystal poured into his body, Zen felt his weight decrease sharply...
“Phew...”
With a whirl of wild wind, Zen began to move.
Zen was surprised that he didn't need to use any strength. Since he was as light as a feather, the wind simply picked him up. Now, he was flying over the arena in the wind, following the route of the wind and spiraling up.
“Gee, Zen is flying!”
“Only practitioners at the Illuminating Soul Realm can fly. But can he do it?”
“Something is not right. It looks like the wind has caught him. He is merely at the second grade of the nature level. It's impossible for him to fly.”
“Nonsense! Caught by the wind? How can that be? Does he look like a kite to you? Even if the cyclone summoned by Cecil can carry people, it can't lift them like that!”
Disciples of Drizzle Peak burst into excited whispers. They were clueless about how Zen was able to fly.
Right now, Zen was circling over the arena along with the wind. Since he kept flying downwind, he was soaring in the same direction and at the same speed as the wind blades generated by the whirlwind. This direction kept him safe from those sharp wind blades.
Cecil, who was standing in the middle of the arena, was shocked. His mouth fell open in disbelief.
For a combatant like him who had entered the Illuminating Soul Realm, flying was not a difficult task. More specifically, since Cecil had been practicing using his life vitality like the wind, he was knowledgeable about airflows and wind momentum. He never thought that Zen would fly.
After hearing the discussions of the other disciples, Cecil was at a loss as well. 'Can this guy fly with the wind like a kite?
If Zen keeps heading in the direction of the whirlwind that I summoned, then there is no way for me to hurt him.
He is flying downwind, right?' Cecil's brows furrowed. Once more, he held up the feather fan. But this time, he fanned frantically in the opposite direction.
The Twins Chaos Cyclone was devised to cause a colossal whirlwind by letting the life vitality released from the Twins Fan in his hand disrupt the direction of airflow. Cecil could also control the wind blades inside the tornado.
It could be said that he was able to cut everything within the scope of the whirlwind into pieces with the wind blades.
However, since Zen was heading along the direction of the wind, he was able to dodge the numerous wind blades.
Having noticed that the Twins Chaos Cyclone had failed to harm Zen, Cecil began fanning in the opposite direction...
His actions generated a second Twins Chaos Cyclones. Never had Cecil done such a thing before, and so he had no idea what would happen.
“Bang—”
The two powerful but opposite direction cyclones crashed into each other. The clashing of the wind blades produced an ear-piercing noise. After that, the bigger turbulences that were caused by the collision hammered into one another at varied angles. The whole arena was in chaos and looked quite appalling.
Many disciples seemed horror-stricken. They all gasped.
In previous battles, practitioners at the Illuminating Soul Realm fighting against cultivators at the peak of the nature level did not go all out. Even during the battle between Rocher and Kim, they stopped attacking at an appropriate time. Although it was quite an excellent battle, it was less fierce than this one.
Now, as Cecil had demonstrated such intimidating power in an instant, several disciples imagined what they would do if they were sucked into the cyclone—'I'm afraid I'll be sliced within a second...'
Even Cecil himself looked rather tense. He was rooted to the center of the arena.
Since Cecil did not have complete control of the cyclone after he summoned it, the word “Chaos” had been used in the title of his attack method. In fact, the power of the Twins Chaos Cyclone was so horrid that everything within a 100-foot radius would be torn apart by the wind blades.
However, at the eye of the cyclone, the power of the wind was not as destructive.
This, however, changed since the two cyclones had collided with each other. When the two cyclones, which were equally powerful but headed in opposite directions, smashed together, they disturbed the airflow in the arena. Even being near the eye of cyclone was not as safe as before.
Cecil who could sense the change of airflow as it occurred understood that he would need to move along with the eye of the cyclone to assure his safety. If not, he would be hurt by the wind blades as well.
As light as a swallow, Zen had been brought to the sky by the cyclone. He let the turbulent airflow propel him, and drifted with the wind.
Although Cecil's wind blades were quite sharp, they were inferior to James' sword energy.
James had condensed a ton of dreadful sword intent into his sword energy. If Zen were struck by his sword energy, it was no doubt that he would be cut in half. Zen had no hope to fight against James's sword energy unless he upgraded his body to the level of a fairy weapon.
What was more, Cecil's cultivation method was not quite suitable for a one-on-one challenge. Instead, if he were fighting on a battlefield, his Twins Chaos Cyclone might have played a significant role, because the range of the Twins Chaos Cyclone was large and it would destroy all combatants sucked into it.
To be frank, none of the members of the Zhuge Clan were good at fighting alone. Among the many cultivation methods passed from one generation to another within the Zhuge Clan, loads of them were on military strategy and tactics, as well as famous military formations. That was why the Zhuge Clan often dispatched their members to the Imperial Army as counselors. They were born to lead troops.
Thus, even if the wind blades cut Zen's robe, they did not have the power to penetrate his spiritual weapon-like body.
Gusts of violent wind carried Zen in the air. He was like a butterfly fluttering along with the wind and rain. Some thought he looked like a small boat rocked by a storm and frequently got swept away by huge tides but instantly steadied itself.
Quite a few people were anxious as they watched Zen. Sweat beaded their foreheads as they worried about his safety.
The All Peaks Competition, after all, was a contest designed to test the strength of disciples.
Very few would put up a desperate fight when they were still in the group stage unless they were contending for the top 50.
It would not matter if one lost one or two matches during the group stage. As long as they did not get eliminated, their goal was fulfilled. Some disciples would even go so far as to hide their real strength. Even if they went head-on with a much stronger opponent, to conceal their real power, they would often admit defeat on purpose to avoid exposing their ace cards too soon.
Accordingly, it was not wise to doggedly pursue a win during the group stage.
Zen, however, was an outlier. He would never admit defeat. Over time, Zen had gained a better understanding of his martial arts capability.
'To reach the top rank in martial arts, I cannot use tricks. Even when I know that there are thistles and thorns ahead, I should grit my teeth and power through instead of sidestepping them.
Though it's fine to sidestep a difficulty, my aspiration will fade if I continued to do that. What's worse is that I won't advance on the road of practicing martial arts. Since I am determined to head far down this road, I must not cheat. No matter what my challenge, I will march forward with gritted teeth!'
While Zen wanted to test his limits and push himself for the sake of his growth, what forced Cecil to the extreme was the enmity between Zen and his family. 'Killing Zen during this match would be perfect!'
Spurred by their motives, the moment Cecil and Zen faced each other, they began a life-and-death combat!
As the cyclone in the arena grew stronger and stronger, the airflow also grew intensive. All kinds of odd-shaped blades clashed with each other, before ricocheting in all directions.
“Thump...”
A wind blade flew right toward Zen. It cut through his robe and sank into his flesh.
Zen let out a muffled snort, but his heart leaped with joy—the wind blade could not harm him. It left a shallow scratch on his body, but it did not harm him severely. The impact of the wind blade, however, stimulated the warm currents, which in turn, started to cleanse his corporeal body.
'Now that these wind blades can't hurt me, I don't need to avoid them. Instead, I can let them strike me!'
Before, Zen had tried to curl as much as possible to avoid the blades. But now, he stretched out his arms and legs in the air.
“Zen is in luck. He has managed to not be hit by a wind blade until now. But, I'm afraid injury from this one collision will not be easy to bear! The blade probably severed his bowels!”
“Well, given the immense power of the Twins Chaos Cyclone, he is really, really lucky for not being minced yet. But this blow is the first of many. With a few more accidental hits like this, he will be mangled...”
“Why hasn't he surrendered? If I were him, I would have given up a long time ago. While there is life, there is hope. Even if I lose this year's All Peaks Competition, I can try again in three years. Regardless of this guy's strength, he is definitely a lunatic!”
As the disciples murmured between themselves, a huge wind blade suddenly flew in Zen's direction.
Imagining the damage the massive wind blade would do to Zen, many female disciples began shrieking.
The battle referee looked grave, and his complexion paled. According to the rules of the arena, only when Zen admitted defeat would the referee be able to rescue Zen. Now, with the wind blade about to hit Zen, he anxiously waited for Zen to shout “I give up!”
However, to the referee's surprise, Zen would rather collide with the wind blade than surrender!