Chapter 278: Explanation
Apparently, more than one person wanted to know the result. And Master Wen was the most anxious.
Except for the disciples who had fainted, all other onlookers stared intently at the fighting court.
As the demonic life vitality cleared slowly, a thin figure was seen standing in the arena. He didn't appear to be athletic, but he was full of strength. He was not tall, but people looked up to him.
“Zen!” Master Wen could not help exclaiming in excitement. At this moment, his eyes were full of tears, and he almost cried.
A fierce discussion began among the disciples. “Unbelievable! Unbelievable! Who can tell me what happened just now? Why is Zen standing there while Jacques is lying on the ground?” one disciple asked with disbelief.
“Are you asking me? I don't know either. I actually don't understand this fight at all!” another disciple answered.
“It was obviously Jacques who was attacking Zen. After all, his attack method used the roar of a dragon. But why is Zen standing while Jacques seems to be hurt? This makes no sense!” a third disciple exclaimed with an astonished look.
The result of the fight was beyond the expectation of the audience. They could not understand what had happened.
Zen shook his head. The Streamer Sword in his hand trembled when he took a deep breath. His eyes became brighter than before as his soul had upgraded once again.
Facing Jacques' attack method, Multiple Stabs of the Dragon Bone Spear, Zen could bear it with his Streamer Sword. But he felt it difficult to stand the power of the flood dragon attached to it. Even though Zen had tried his best, he was unsure of Jacques' defeat as the power of the flood dragon was so strong.
However, when Zen started fighting with his Streamer Sword, the cyan dragon in his mind also joined in. The cyan dragon roared and controlled the power of the flood dragon in a second. When Jacques heard the cyan dragon's roar, he was stunned.
This reaction gave Zen enough time to summon the black fire inside his body. In the blink of an eye, the black fire consumed Jacques' flood dragon bone spear.
Zen didn't expect the result of the melting process. Previously, the black fire would melt a weapon and extract heavenly essence. However, when the black fire melted the flood dragon bone spear, some drops of blood were extracted. These blood drops were different from a person's blood. Regular blood was liquid in form and would splash when it fell on the ground. But these blood drops bounced against the ground like a ball...
In the end, the black fire transported the drops of blood into Zen's mind and gave them to the cyan dragon. Of course, the cyan dragon swallowed them.
At the same time, two rays of shining light appeared from the mysterious melting furnace. One of them went into Zen's head, and the other flew into Jacques' head.
The shining light contained mysterious strength, and it could speed up the recovery of an injured soul. Even if someone's soul had been severely hurt, the shining light could help the soul become as healthy as it was. This was exactly what had happened when Zen opened the mysterious melting furnace for the first time. The refinement process repeatedly destroyed Zen's soul, but the shining light helped it recover every single time.
The cyan dragon roared with such a great force a moment ago that Jacques' soul had probably been irreversibly damaged. If the shining light had not been used to treat Jacques, he would probably become an airhead.
The seven-colored shining light not only healed Jacques' soul, but it also strengthened it. Zen was certain about this.
As Zen had sacrificed Jacques' flood dragon bone spear to the cyan dragon, he felt it was his responsibility to give something in return. Hence, his action was like a secret trade. Considering that the seven-colored shining light healed and strengthened Jacques' soul, it was probably equal to if not more valuable than the spear. From this perspective, Jacques did not suffer a loss at all. The only debatable point was whether or not Jacques would have agreed to swap his precious weapon for the service of the seven-colored shining light.
With the Streamer Sword in hand, Zen waved to the audience to show that the fight had ended.
The referee had woken up by now. He swallowed a pill to nourish his soul. Even though he had been injured and didn't have any strength, he struggled to announce expressionlessly, “Zen Luo from the Drizzle Peak won. And the personal disciple, Jacques Wang has been defeated!”
Just as Zen was leaving the arena, Kenneth and Elder Xu appeared in front of him.
“Your graces,” Zen cupped his hands and bowed to them. What goes around, comes around. Zen had known that it would be impossible for him to leave without permission since such an unusual thing had happened to him.
The expression on Kenneth's face showed that he was still in shock. And it was the same with Elder Xu!
They felt the same way as the other disciples in the audience area—they were confused and didn't understand what had happened in the fighting court.
Kenneth thought that he knew everything about Zen. He had learned that Zen was practicing the Heavenly Ogre Fist. And he also knew that the Heavenly Ogre Fist had been inherited from the ogres. A copy of the book, Heavenly Ogre Fist had been preserved in the Heavenly Library and Zen had borrowed it.
Kenneth knew that Zen's soul attacking method was called the Spiritual Thorn and that it was a tier four cultivation method. As per Kenneth, it was an excellent achievement for Zen to have reached such a high level. It was also commendable that he had strengthened his soul despite being so young. While he could understand all these things, Kenneth was still in awe of what Zen had accomplished.
Zen's flying knife, although broken, was still a precious weapon with a long history. He must have obtained it by sheer luck. It was hard to tell its worth, but Kenneth didn't pay much attention to it at all. As the head of Cloud Sect, he would never be jealous of a disciple's precious weapon. Not to mention that the flying knife was not a perfect one. Kenneth wasn't that impressed with the flood dragon bone spear either.
Another advantage that Zen had was his mysterious basic swordsmanship. Kenneth guessed that Zen must have learned this on his own. Kenneth also spoke highly of the fact that Zen was intelligent and that he had tremendous potential.
All of these facts dictated how Kenneth felt about Zen. Such a talented disciple had impressed Kenneth to the point where he had decided to send Zen to Cloud Hall!
As a matter of fact, Kenneth had been quite precise in his evaluation of Zen. If Zen was measured by the talent system of 'heaven, earth, and human', Zen was at least at the heaven grade. Kenneth used the two words 'at least' as he thought that Zen had the potential to reach a higher level of talent than a 'heaven-grade' person.
Regardless of Zen's talent and his abilities that differentiated him from ordinary people, he could not have survived the dragon roar!
Kenneth had examined Zen's body using his senses. He didn't feel as though Zen had suffered from any injuries. On the contrary, Zen's soul seemed to be stronger than before! If Kenneth, the head of Cloud Sect, could speak rudely, he would have asked, 'What happened? Who can tell me?'
“Zen, congratulations on winning this fight,” Elder Xu spoke to Zen first. He had noticed that Kenneth had chosen to stay silent. After quickly glimpsing at Kenneth Shi, Elder Xu continued, “Could you tell us what happened here? Why is Jacques lying on the ground?”
“Elder Xu. I don't know how to answer your question. Jacques and I competed in the arena. One of us had to lose, and one of us had to win. It was either him or me. I'm not sure what else you expect me to say,” Zen answered. Although he wore a serious expression, Zen's eyes gleamed with slyness.
Elder Xu smiled mockingly. And then he added, “I hasted to ask my question. Perhaps I wasn't clear. I want to know what happened during your fight. How did you defeat Jacques?”
“Actually, I don't know either,” Zen replied in a confused tone. “Jacques came at me with his flood dragon bone spear. When he used the Multiple Stabs of the Dragon Bone spear, I had to use my sword to fight back. Just at that moment, Jacques released a dreadful dragon roar. I felt lost, and I couldn't think clearly. Soon after the roar, some rays of seven-colored shining light appeared. That was when Jacques fainted. Strangely, when the seven-colored rays of shining light touched me, I healed...”
Since Zen had swallowed Jacques' flood dragon bone spear, he had to make up this story. In his explanation, some parts were real, and some were not. These statements came together, and no one could tell whether his story was true or false.
“Seven-colored rays of shining light?” Elder Xu asked in surprise. He thought hard but still could not tell what a seven-colored ray was. Even more confusing was its quick-healing effect on a severely injured soul. He knew some pills were particularly helpful in treating people with damaged souls. But these pills could not work so quickly. If a person's soul had been damaged too severely, the pills might not work at all! The soul of a person was very fragile and difficult to heal.
“Seven-colored rays of shining light?” Kenneth also felt puzzled. He repeated the words as he thought of the possibilities. 'Could it be from the Seven Star Herb? But that is impossible. There should not be such a herb in the Eastern Region, ' Kenneth thought. 'The Seven Star Herb is a legend. It is said that if one is close to a Seven Star Herb, the herb will give off rays in seven colors. It is good for the soul. But if a Seven Star herb does exist, it will change the color of the heaven and
the ground. Everyone will be able to see it. It is impossible to hide the herb. How could such a thing happen to Zen and Jacques today?'
Zen was glad to see that he had successfully misled Kenneth. So he continued his explanation, “I don't know what happened just now. And how is Jacques?”
At this moment, a steward walked up to Jacques and examined his body. After that, he said, “You graces, Jacques seems to be all right. He is unconscious, but he will wake up soon.”
Kenneth nodded and remained silent as he contemplated his options. He furrowed his brows as he glanced at Zen. He was still confused as Zen's explanation had not answered his question.
“Let me wake Jacques, and we can ask him,” Elder Xu said. As soon as he had finished speaking, his hand glowed with a green life vitality. Elder Xu walked up to Jacques and directed the green life vitality to Jacques's body in a steady stream.
After a while, Jacques blinked his eyes. “Where am I?” he asked slowly.
Zen became nervous. After all, Jacques was the closest to him when he had swallowed Jacques' flood dragon bone spear. If Jacques had seen that, and he reported it to them, there would be trouble.