Chapter 257: A Murder Plan
After several dramatic turns took place between Zen and Vale, there were heated discussions among the crowd. At this point, they paid little attention to the other fights going on in the arena.
As Vale and Zen damaged the arena during the battle, a team of craftsmen from the Cloud Sect transported huge stones to the area and used them to fill in the damage done to the battle grounds. Later on, the elders helped rearrange the array and enchanted barriers before a new round began.
In this round, two personal disciples appeared on the stage but their opponents were all at the peak of the nature level. Their opponents had outstanding strength, based on the fact that they had come a long way before finally entering round robin. However, they were unlike Rocher who was extremely excellent, leaving them unlikely to make any surprise moves. As expected, the two personal disciples easily defeated them and won the victory.
After that, the round robin proceeded normally. All the personal disciples, save for Vale, won the battles.
The disciples from various peaks had also done an outstanding job this year. Jill, Rocher, and Wing all had winning streaks but their success came too easily as they didn't encounter any opponents stronger than them. That was why Sheeny from Skytop Peak failed when he battled against Willie Huo, a personal disciple.
The fight between the top disciples and the personal disciples was the highlight of the All Peaks Competition and what the disciples most anticipated to see. Zen and Vale's battle was indeed a feast for their eyes. Features of the fight had many twists and turns, including thrilling moments when the audience was certain that one of them would be killed—these scenes lingered in their memories.
In the corner of the area, Saint Viana sat on a cattail hassok, overlooking the entire arena and competition. As his eyes brushed past the large crowd, his eyes remained fixed on Zen.
His dry and stiff face, resembling pine bark, looked sullen.
"The last three generations of Luo Clan are all very ordinary. The last generation only has one nature creature. But in this one two super talents popped up consecutively. Yan is extraordinary with her rare, special body. But I didn't expect Zen to appear. Not only does he have innate superhuman strength, but his corporal body is tremendously strong and tough, almost to an extent of an abnormality. Moreover, he mastered the cultivation method of the powerful Heavenly Ogre Fist!
He may not be as gifted as Yan, but his strength in actual combat is even more terrifying than hers. I once offended him and punished Yan for a crime as well. Now, he certainly wouldn't cease his revenge. We'd better seize this chance when he hasn't yet fully grown into a master and knock him off his perch. This way we can avoid any future troubles." As he explained, Saint Viana was deep in thought.
Sitting in another cattail hassock was Saint Zara who was in repose with his eyes closed. Upon hearing Saint Viana's words, he simply shook his head and said, “You once said that you have arranged a disciple to assassinate Zen in the All Peak Competition. I don't know who the assassinator is, but if he wants to kill Zen, he must have at least the ability to match him in battle. In my opinion, it's very difficult to find such a person.”
It was true that Saint Viana arranged an Illuminating Soul Realm disciple to assassinate Zen on the arena but the disciple wavered after he watched Zen defeated Dick.
Even as the top Illuminating Soul Realm disciple in the peaks, the assassinator was still no match for Dick. If the Illuminating Soul Realm disciple couldn't even beat Dick then how was he supposed to beat Zen? If he couldn't beat Zen then it was impossible for him to kill Zen.
Zen's true strength was revealed in the battle that made Saint Viana's plan go down the drain.
“Yes, it is indeed difficult to find someone in the Cloud Sect who could do the job. But there's a candidate.” With a pointed look, Saint Viana slowly suggested a chance.
“Who?” Given the circumstances, Saint Zara was very curious to see who the other was talking about.
“Johanson Jiang,” he replied.
“Do you mean that you want Johanson to join the round and kill Zen?” The idea had Saint Zara raising his voice.
With sharp eyes, Saint Viana said in a voice laced with sarcasm, “Saint Zara, you can say that louder, I don't think everyone heard you.”
Although they were seated far from the arena, there were still many elders around and the leader of the sect was also present. If they really wanted to hear what they were talking about, it wouldn't be too difficult to do so.
Saint Zara's face turned pale and he lowered his voice. “I suggest that you give up. Johanson is my apprentice. If he kills Zen, are you sure Aura won't blame it on me?”
The idea made the other sneer. “If it were one month ago, I wouldn't dare have Johanson do the job as he is your apprentice. I had to look for someone from the disciples of the thirty-three peaks. But now, things have changed. Aura always gets involved in the internal strife of the royal family. Rumor has it that she was put under house arrest. She's now greatly troublesome herself. Do you think she has any time to mind Zen's business?”
In spite of the reasoning, Saint Zara still looked hesitant. “But Zen's excellent performance has already attracted the leader's attention. If Johanson takes action to kill, won't he anger the leader?”
“One can only be favored while he is alive. A dead talent is no longer a talent, he's merely a corpse,” Saint Viana said with a sneer.
Finishing his words, he turned to look at Saint Zara who still had a hint of reluctance in his expression. Scornfully, he continued, “Don't forget that you also contributed to getting Yan into Mountain before. If Zen isn't killed, he will certainly enter the Cloud Hall with that talent or even become a core disciple. No matter how far he goes, there is possibility that he will suppress Cloud Sect by taking advantage of the Cloud Hall. Do you think we'll get away with that?”
Magnificent and superior, Cloud Hall stood high above the Cloud Sect or maybe even the entire Eastern Region.
If even only a core disciple from the Cloud Hall came to Cloud Sect, the leader would greet him in person. Just from this, one could see that the Cloud Hall was much more superior to the Cloud Sect.
Because he knew that what Saint Viana was saying was right, Saint Zara remained at a loss for words.
If Zen could really enter the Cloud Road and then the Cloud Hall, the rest of their lives would be spent in fear. If Zen truly became a core disciple of the Cloud Hall or he made some contributions and got promoted to some important position in the Cloud Hall, it would be a piece of cake for him to get his revenge.
Probably, the best way to exchange their fate was to come for Zen now.
“Ah! I didn't expect that Aura would be trapped in the internal strife of the Burning Sky Empire so soon. If I had known this earlier, I would have killed Zen during the court trial!” With a firm voice, Saint Viana remained indignant.
On the day the court trial began, Saint Zara didn't take move because Aura had the Emperor's Token. The emperor of the Burning Sky Empire had strength, much about the same as Kenneth. It was said that the emperor even enjoyed a higher position than Kenneth did in the Cloud Hall.
If Aura had gone all out to confront Saint Viana and used the Emperor's Token, the latter would be in great trouble.
In the past two months, he didn't expect that the Burning Sky Empire had any internal strife. Of all the abundant news he heard about it, the most shocking one was that Kane had already died. Since the news came from the royal palace, it couldn't just be a rumor.
In fact, Kane was the person behind Aura. Now that he was gone, and the several princes were busily rivaling for the throne. In this situation, Saint Viana no longer felt afraid of Aura.
As Saint Viana analyzed the advantages and disadvantages, Saint Zara already got an answer. Now, it seemed that Zen was a threat they had to get rid of, otherwise, he would eventually become their biggest trouble.
Johanson was Saint Zara's pride. While Saint Zara ranked the last among the ten great saints of the Cloud Sect in terms of strength, his disciple Johanson made him feel honored. Although there were seldom any chances for personal disciples to compete with each other in daily life, they had to test their real strength in the competition and acknowledge their rankings.
In Saint Zara's eyes, he was not sure whether or not Johanson could get the first prize, but he was rather confident that Johanson could enter the top five.
That was to say, in the Cloud Sect, there were no more than four or five people that could pose a threat to him.
With that, Saint Zara firmly believed that the task of killing Zen would be as easy as a wink for Johanson with his great strength.
Confident in his disciple's abilities, Saint Zara sent a message to Johanson through life vitality, telling him to be prepared to enter the arena for a fight.
Meanwhile, Saint Viana arranged everything to make sure that Zen and Johanson would land in the same round.
All the while, Zen remained oblivious to the inner workings of the competition, clueless about a whole murder plan unfolding, leaving his death on its way.
At this point in battle, the entire arena turned heated.
“Jill from Lady Peak vs. personal disciple Tracy!”
The Cloud Sect had very few female disciples. So far, Jill was the only disciple from Lady Peak that hadn't yet been knocked out from the competition, while Tracy happened to be the only female personal disciple.
Both of them were God's favored ladies and both were very beautiful. A dainty woman, Jill was graceful and vivacious like a sika deer walking out of a forest in the early spring. Her natural beauty and friendly manners put people at ease.
Tracy Mo, on the other hand, was a tall, fair-skinned woman. In comparison to Jill, she was less lively and more attractive, her sexy figure making her look even more mature.
Even though it was a battle between two gifted, female warriors, truthfully, their strength far exceeded the majority of male disciples. Even if they were not flashily strong themselves, they could still attract much attention.
Like Zen, Jill also maintained her winning streak so far. While Tracy was a personal disciple, it was her first time entering the arena.
As she sat beside Patrick, she heard Jill's name be announced, followed by her own. “Patrick, I hate fighting women,” she said, her lips pursed.
“Aren't you a woman yourself?” with a chuckle, Patrick said.
“Too weak,” Tracy concisely spat out.
With a warning tone, Patrick interrupted.
“Jill is not weak. You don't know how many strong disciples lost to her. You'll regret it if you take her lightly.”
The comment made Tracy's lip curl as her expression turned disdainful. With a sneer, she said, “Patrick, the strong disciples you mentioned are only rubbish among the thirty-three peaks. You hateful hypocrite! Obviously, their strength isn't worth mentioning, and I know you thought of them the same as I did. Yet you still referred to them as powerful ones. Did you say that intentionally to hint that you are a lot better than them? Let's just drop it. Since Jill is really so strong, then I'll end her winning streak now. I wonder how strong I will be if I defeat her.”
Finishing her words, Tracy walked towards the arena with grace in ladylike steps.
Having been mocked by Tracy, Patrick smiled helplessly and continued to sit in meditation, his eyes remaining shut.