Chapter 280: I Believe In Zen Too
Yan was undeniably a superb talent of Cloud Sect. An idea of her talent could be taken from the fact that she had bested Zen in both grade and speed. When it was time for the All Peaks Competition, she had already reached the Illuminating Soul Realm, and if that wasn't enough, she was only 15 years old at the time.
On the other hand, Zen was 17 years old at the moment but was merely at grade two of the nature level. So compared to Yan, Zen was quite slow in cultivation speed. However, that did not mean he had been totally overtaken.
When it came to fighting capacity, he was several notches above Yan.
Not only her, he was above almost all personal disciples. In the previous All Peaks Competition, the performance of disciples which were competing on behalf of some peak was not so good.
The top three, and even the top five places were all occupied by personal disciples, who had easily outwitted the disciples from the peaks.
But this year, the competition had been fiercer than ever and of the top 3 contenders, two were fighting on behalf of peaks. They were Zen and Rocher. What was more, neither one of them was at the Illuminating Soul Realm. This was the first time in history that such a result had been seen and until today, such a result was beyond anyone's imagination.
Zen and Rocher weren't the only black horses to break the record. The top inner disciples from other peaks like Wing, Sheeny, Jason, and Jill had also managed to defeat the personal disciples quite easily.
So this time, the peak disciples had prevailed over the personal disciples in the All Peaks Competition.
Among the personal disciples, only Patrick had managed to land a spot amongst the top five. It was up to him now.
As the pillar of the personal disciples, he had mastered the mysterious Buddhist cultivation method and his real strength was too deep for common men to predict. It was all on him now to defend the dignity of the personal disciples. If he lost too, then the year was going to be remembered forever as one when the personal disciples failed completely.
“Zen, Zen..” Master Xu of the Skytop Peak murmured the name, lost deep in some thought.
Master Xu had a good memory, and even if he hadn't, Zen wasn't the sort of person he would have forgotten easily. He still remembered the time when Zen had entered the Bloody Mountain for the trial practice. Not only had he managed to defeat a master like Ryan, he had also killed the only grade five unreal beast of the Bloody Mountain in the end. That way, he had earned the only black crystal fragment for his practice. This was a remarkable achievement, because ever since the time the Bloody Mountain was established, no disciple had ever earned the black crystal fragment.
From that moment onwards, Master Xu had become determined to get Zen on his side. He wanted to invite Zen and ask him to join the Skytop Peak. For this sole purpose, he had even gotten into quite an argument with Aura.
Unfortunately, not only did that argument go south for him, Aura had also won Zen's heart first. He didn't know what kind of method she had used to persuade Zen, but he was completely devoted to her now.
Foiled in his attempts, all Master Xu could do was think viciously, 'Although Zen is a potentially expensive diamond in the rough, does this Drizzle Peak which ranks the last possess any ability to carve him into a shining jewel?'
Zen had swept everyone aside and stood aloft in majesty. He had shown extraordinary talent in the All Peaks Competition and had even become the key opponent of the strongest disciple of the Skytop Peak - Rocher.
If Master Xu was given another chance, he would have definitely made another offer to him at a higher price when he was at the Bloody Mountain. As it turned out, Master Xu's initial assessment was wrong. A diamond needed to be polished. Zen... Zen was Platinum. He shone everywhere! There was no need to polish him. He seemed to be gold replenished with ever growing spells.
But alas! Master Xu had already missed him and that much could not be changed. Aura had already beaten him and enlisted Zen first. Master Xu heaved a sigh and shook his head. Fortunately, Rocher was there fighting for the Skytop Peak. His strength and potential was not lesser than Zen. It was yet to see who was going to be declared the final winner.
The round robin continued. More and more disciples whose names were in the lottery box were wiped out. With each passing round, the probability of Patrick, Rocher, and Zen getting pitted against each other increased.
Under every one's gaze, the steward went on drawing lots to decide the competitors of the next round. Finally, after numerous rounds, when he gave the names of the next contenders to the referee, the referee immediately announced, “Rocher of the Skytop Peak Vs Zen of the Drizzle Peak!”
“Finally it happens!”
“The showdown between two super talents of the Cloud Sect! I feel like my blood is going to rush out any moment!”
“Will Rocher use the sword? I really want to see his sword. What does it look like? Draw the sword!”
Rocher looked very calm. He slowly walked towards the arena. Against his graceful steps, Zen also ambled inside, looking calm and relaxed.
After they had arrived at the center of the arena and were now facing each other, Zen smiled and asked, “Everyone wants to see your sword today, Rocher. Is it really your plan to let it hang at your back during the entire competition?”
Rocher shook his head and smiled as well, “I said this before, I didn't use my sword because there was no need to. I never wanted to make a mystery out of my sword.”
“But what about now?” Zen asked.
“Of course I am going to draw my sword.” The crowd hooted after Rocher finished his words, Rocher reached out his slim fingers and grasped the sword on his back. He slowly drew it out from the sheath, inch by inch, each unit making the crowd go wild.
“Rocher is finally drawing his sword! We have waited for the moment for so long. It looks like Zen is the opponent that he is really worried about!”
“What kind of sword on earth is that? I really can't wait to see it!”
All the disciples gazed at Rocher's hand without batting an eyelid, curious about what the weapon was going to look like.
When Rocher finally took the sword completely out of the sheath, all the people were amazed.
“What's this? A rusty sword? Hang on, do swords rust?”
“No silly. They don't.”
“So what, is that a common iron sword? My goodness! The sword that Rocher has kept with him all the time is turning out to be a load of garbage!”
“Huh! Only a narrow-minded person like you is going to think it's garbage. With Rocher's strength and knowledge, do you honestly think he is going to put a piece of garbage on his back?”
“Okay, you're smart. So tell us what kind of precious sword would rust.”
The sword Rocher had taken out was indeed covered with red spots.
The weapon refining skills of the Eastern Region had made it possible for any weapons, even the mysterious ones, to get preserved for decades. If well maintained, the spiritual weapons were supposed to last several hundred years without rusting out or losing their shine and sharpness. As for fairy weapons, they could last as long as a span of thousands of years.
A sword that wouldn't rust wasn't sure to be the best, but a rusty sword was definitely not a good choice.
However, here, the strongest swordsman among the young generation of the Cloud Sect was using a rusty sword. It was hard for the disciples of the Cloud Sect to accept this. They had great expectation for the sword.
Rocher was unaware of what was being discussed among the crowds at the moment. He slowly lifted the rusty sword and pointed it at the ground. “This sword is called the 'Blood-corroding Sword'.” He slowly said, “The red spots on the blade are not rust spots, though they look like them. They're droplets of blood!”
Zen was a little astonished on hearing Rocher's words. The disciples who were mocking the fact that what Rocher was flashing was only a rusty sword also received a shock.
But whose blood would remain so fresh even after thousands of years?
Generally speaking, if the blood from a common human had splashed on the sword, it would have become dry immediately and formed some blood spots. But after a period of time, the spots would fade and gradually disappear. No human blood stains would last for over three years.
But the stains on Rocher's Blood-corroding Sword had lasted for thousands of years! Was it the blood from some legendary beast?
“How can blood remain fresh for so long?” Zen was also very curious. There was a feeling inside him that the blood could emit some magical power.
Rocher shook his head and replied, “I don't know. But this Blood-corroding Sword has helped me a lot in comprehending the sword philosophy. It also has its own soul that connects with mine. I am telling you this as the courtesy a fellow swordsman shows to another.”
Zen smiled. Rocher was an interesting person, and polite too! Zen also took out his sword from the space ring. With a tinkling sound, the Streamer Sword was drawn out from its sheath.
“My sword is named 'Streamer Sword'. It's a low-grade fairy weapon. The body of the sword was made by Chase,” he told his opponent slowly.
“It was made by Chase?” Rocher asked curiously.
As a swordsman, Rocher was interested in all kinds of swords. The last time that Zen had taken out this sword in battle, Rocher had curiously felt that it was somewhat familiar, as it was almost the same one he had seen at the second floor of the Weapon Pavilion. Several unfinished swords made by Chase were placed there.
But he clearly remembered that the swords he had seen hadn't been condensed yet, so he was thinking whether he could have been wrong.
But when he heard that the Streamer Sword was also made by Chase, Rocher was sure that it was the same one he had seen at the second floor of the Weapon Pavilion.
But that sword hadn't been condensed, how could it suddenly become a fairy weapon?
To clear his doubts, Rocher immediately blurted out, “If I remember correctly, this sword was one of the three weapons that Chase had refined before he died. But it was only an unfinished work as he hadn't managed to condense it yet. I wonder who helped you in finishing the final condensation process.”
To Rocher's knowledge, the three great weapon refiners who were still alive did not have the ability to condense a fairy weapon of this grade. He was asking this out of curiosity. He then added, “I am only a little curious to know which master is able to refine a fairy weapon and helped Chase finish his work after Chase died. If you don't want to comment, or are not allowed to, you can stay silent.”
Generally, a weapon refiner was more familiar with the weapon that he had refined himself. And it was easier for him to infuse his comprehension of the Heavenly Law into the weapon in the condensation process.
If someone other than the refiner himself wanted to condense an unfinished sword of Chase into a fairy weapon, it would have been very difficult.
At least no one in the Eastern Region could have accomplished it.
Hearing Rocher's question, all the disciples were also very curious to know the answer. It seemed that there was a story hidden behind the sword. As the disciples of the Cloud Sect, they more or less knew about the legend of Chase. And quite a lot of people knew that Chase had left this piece of his work unfinished before his death.
They were also itching to know the answer.
“Haha! I can tell you. This sword was condensed on the Quenching Peak by me,” Zen answered honestly after thinking for a while. Rocher had been frank with him, so he didn't want to hide anything from him. Moreover, Zen had no qualms about letting everyone know this. Since he had chosen to attend the All Peaks Competition, he was going to gain a lot more influence and fame now. As long as he gained enough influence, several of his problems were going to be automatically solved, like Aura, Yan, and some of his own problems.
“You condensed it all by yourself? At the Quenching Peak?” Rocher was deeply surprised and his pupils narrowed.
Zen nodded. “To put it more precisely, I used the weapon refining smelter of the Quenching Peak to condense it.”
Hearing this, the crowd burst into an uproar.
“Oh boy! Did I mishear? Zen condensed a fairy weapon by himself! Has he already reached the level of a weapon refining master?”
“Come on! A weapon refining master? That gets on my nerves now. Can't you ever stop exaggerating?”
“He must be bragging unreasonably about this. Any person's energy has got limits. He would have had to practice martial arts to reach such extraordinary level of fighting. Is it really possible for him to condense a fairy weapon at the same time?”
“But this is not something easy to brag about. Anyone can find out. There are so many disciples in the Quenching Peak. If it is a lie, they would expose it immediately. Zen has no reason to tell such a stupid lie.”
Hearing this, Kenneth exhaled deeply. He glanced at Elder Xu who was sitting next to him.
Getting his message even without him saying anything, Elder Xu nodded and said, “I will send someone to the Quenching Peak to confirm it.”
Weapon refining masters were also very important to the Cloud Sect. No wonder that Kenneth was attaching such great importance to the matter.
“Do it immediately. Then get news to me as quickly as possible. But I don't think the result really matters.” Kenneth heaved a sigh and shook his head.
Elder Xu asked, “Do you believe Zen's words that he condensed the sword himself?”
“What do you think?” Kenneth asked back.
“I believe him.” Elder Xu replied with a smile.
Kenneth pointed his fingers at Elder Xu. He didn't know what to say about Zen's talents that he had shown along the way. He finally replied, “I believe in Zen, too. He has already given me a lot of surprises. Forget about the claim that he can refine a fairy weapon himself. Even if he claims that he is the reincarnation of an immortal, I will also believe it.”
There was probably not a single other soul in Cloud Sect who could get such a comment from Kenneth.