Chapter 279: An Unsolved Mystery
Jacques had just woken up and he was confused. Unconsciously, he reached for his dragon-bone spear, only to discover it was missing.
“Now, where is my spear?” questioned Jacques feeling the panic welling up.
His dragon-bone spear was extremely important to him, and he had a connection to it after owning it for such a long time, which was why he discovered so quickly that it had gone missing.
“Is it in your space ring?” asked Elder Xu curiously.
Elder Xu and Kenneth had glanced around and didn't see Jacques' dragon-bone spear either and wondered if he had put it away.
“No,” responded Jacques, but, then he wondered if he could be wrong, so he searched his space ring, and still didn't find it. “Impossible! How could my dragon-bone spear just vanish?!” exclaimed Jacques, giving Zen a suspicious glimpse.
Zen motioned to Jacques with a wave indicating he didn't have anything to do with it.
“Jacques, what happened when you and Zen were battling? Why did I hear a dragon roaring?” Elder Xu enquired about the incident again, even though he'd asked Zen earlier. What Zen told him hadn't made him feel any better.
Jacques racked his brain trying to think, 'Where did I put my dragon-bone spear?' He remembered that he was stunned by the roar of the dragon as soon as he started fighting with Zen, so, the details of his fight with Zen were fuzzy.
“I... I don't recall. I can remember the deafening sound of a dragon roaring, and the fight with Zen, but, beyond that, everything is a blur. I don't even know what happened later,” Jacques said, shaking his head as he tried in vain to remember anything more.
Jacques' account of what happened relieved Zen because he would've been in trouble if Jacques told them it was Zen that made the dragon roar. Zen had previously used his demonic life vitality to block their vision, and that would raise suspicions since Elder Xu and Kenneth were both pretty smart guys. It wasn't easy to fool them.
“The roar comes from within your dragon-bone spear, right? Why's it so powerful? Is it because the explosion of your dragon-bone spear caused such a powerful dragon roar?” Since Jacques couldn't remember any details, Elder Xu offered some suggestions.
“That's right?” What Elder Xu said made Jacques hesitate. Although he couldn't remember what had happened, the final roar was far louder than what the dragon-bone spear had done previously. The shock of the roar was like a red-hot iron poker being seared into his heart, and he'd probably never forget how it felt.
'But, where did that last roar come from?'
Jacques remembered that Brady, the great weapon refiner who built the dragon-bone spear told him that there was still a remnant of a dragon soul within the bone. However, this dragon spine and its soul were tens of thousands of years old. Over time, this soul had almost disappeared, so, its power was feeble.
Brady hadn't completely destroyed the soul, but he had used runes to seal it. To him, the soul had long since lost its power of resistance, and sealing it within the spear increased the dragon-bone spear spirit.
“Did the dragon soul break the seal and choose to destroy itself?”
Jacques wondered aloud.
Elder Xu nodded in agreement as he pondered, 'That could be what happened, but where did the glow come from?' As he thought about it, he asked, “Jacques, did you see a colorful glow in your mind?”
“Colorful glow?” asked Jacques bewildered, and wondered, 'A colorful glow? I was out like a light. How could I possibly see any glow?'
“Well. Does it feel like your soul is any stronger?” Elder Xu questioned.
“Huh? My soul?” As soon as Elder Xu asked him, Jacques realized that his soul did feel different. His soul seemed to feel more sensitive and somehow steadier. It felt stronger.
At the Cloud Sect, there were some secret medicines for soul cultivation, which had healing effects on the soul. If the disciples here wanted to strengthen their souls, they had to take the medication for decades. However, even when they did, the effects weren't noticeable. Jacques' soul had become much stronger in the blink of an eye, which made him extremely happy.
But, Jacques was frustrated at the loss of the dragon-bone spear.
If it had happened to anyone else, they would have fainted at the shock. However, Jacques wasn't just talented, and he was also lucky. Although he was devastated at the loss, he believed his luck would drop something better in his lap.
After all, his dragon-bone spear exploded, and now his soul was much improved. If he had to choose between strengthening his soul and owning the dragon-bone spear, he would've given up the dragon-bone spear without hesitating since the means of improving a soul were few and far between.
And he just knew, he would land a better weapon down the road.
However, he didn't realize that it was because of Zen that his soul had grown stronger. Of course, Zen wouldn't be so obtuse as to tell him.
Elder Xu gave up questioning after asking twice without a clear explanation.
Kenneth shot a meaningful look at Zen before leaving. He hadn't detected anything wrong with the story, but deep down, his gut told him Zen had something to do with what happened.
It was just a guess. Kenneth liked Zen very much, so even if he were keeping something to himself, Kenneth wouldn't interfere.
The battle's effects were so great
that all the disciples were affected in various degrees with the exceptions of Rocher and Patrick.
Many of the disciples had to take medicine to heal their souls because of the damage done to their souls. If Elder Xu hadn't intervened in the battle in time, the consequences would have been severe.
After the break, the All Peaks Competition continued with a new referee on the field.
It shocked many spectators when Jacques failed, and Zen was more and more frightening to everyone.
How many people could survive a dragon roar like that? Many of the audiences believed the champion of the All Peaks Competition would be Zen, but, there were still some who did not feel that way.
After all, Patrick had an unfathomable power, Rocher still hadn't used his sword, and Evan was top-ranked on the Cloud Sect's list, and hadn't shown up yet!
Zen was able to resist the terrifying dragon roar though, which suggested he had an unusually strong soul, but so what?
Fighting other contestants shouldn't rely on their soul strength alone. It should also include their cultivation method along with their life vitality. Since everyone had different styles, Zen's soul strength ranking didn't necessarily mean that he would win the competition. No matter how great his soul was, he couldn't resist Rocher's sword, and he couldn't break through Patrick's defenses either.
It led many of the disciples to believe that Zen wouldn't be the All Peaks Competition champion.
These three sat out while everyone else continued participating in the competitions. As the competition went on, the peaks' rankings were determined.
Rocher, a Skytop Peak disciple, and Zen representing Drizzle Peak were in the top three, which meant one of those two peaks would be the winner, and the other would be the runner-up.
That meant that Drizzle Peak, the peak that was the lowest ranked, would surely be one of the top two of the thirty-three peaks! Add to it, if Zen defeated Rocher, then Drizzle Peak would jump from the bottom straight to the top.
This rise in rankings would mean massive changes for Drizzle Peak. For example, Drizzle Peak would get a monthly stipend along with more medicine, and the statuses of the disciples of Drizzle Peak would increase. Additionally, Cloud Sect would give them more resources, such as building practicing platforms on Drizzle Peak. In short, Drizzle Peak would enjoy many more perks than previously.
So, even if the final results weren't out yet, everyone was excited at Drizzle Peak already.
Both the inner and outer Drizzle Peak disciples had a gleam of excitement. Having been selected as members of Drizzle Peak had been very trying for the disciples because it was the worst of the thirty-three peaks. None of them had expected that a disciple who singlehandedly improved Drizzle Peak, brought it up until it was one of the top two. And more surprising was that he was still only at the second grade of natural level.
The Drizzle Peak disciples never dreamed there would be such a great achievement, and still had a difficult time believing it, even though they were there, and witnessed it!
Zen's best friends, Wurth, Sean and Nory were all excited. Like the other Drizzle Peak disciples, they were proud of Zen's achievements, and even felt honored to know Zen.
They had all seen Zen's strength and thought Zen to be an extraordinary person, so they believed he could win! When the All Peaks Competition had begun, they thought Zen would at least make it into the top one hundred. However, when Zen made it into the top one hundred with ease and then the top eighty, fifty, twenty, five and now the top three, they felt he could make it to the number one ranking.
Every improvement was a miracle. If the competition was a play, then the ending would reveal that Zen was the son of a miracle.
Master Wen's eyes were filled with pride. He was content seeing how much Zen had achieved. He would be satisfied if Drizzle Peak became the second ranked of the thirty-three peaks.
“During the last competition, Yan, Zen's sister, miraculously brought the Lady Peak up to rank two by herself. Now, three years later, Zen is performing the same miracle,” said one of the Drizzle Peak masters as he sighed admiringly.
Master Wen shook his head as he said, “It's a miracle, but, then again, Zen's much stronger than Yan!”