Chapter 294: Two Million Cubic Crystals
Acalanatha's virtual shadow pushed Patrick's palm, and the result was equal to Tracy's grip as she aimed at Zen.
But obviously, Patrick's strength was more powerful.
His strength wasn't due to bloodline heritage but from Acalanatha's reincarnation.
On the golden palm were rows of Sanskrit flowing and spreading golden light continuously.
Feeling the power of the golden palm changed Rocher's expression. He finally escaped from Patrick's Samsara of Buddhism, but that meant suffering from the horrible pain.
He wondered, 'Is this Patrick's real strength?' Staring at the huge palm while gritting his teeth, Rocher borrowed more vitality from heaven and earth, and additionally, some of heaven's power. The sharper extreme thunder sword intent, from the bottom all the way up, tried to resist the palm.
This move would decide the victor and loser.
Rocher thought, 'If I win, it will be my pleasure; if I lose, it will be my destiny.'
Bang!
The loud sound was a result of the golden palm meeting the blue thunder light, and this dazzling glow made it difficult for people to open their eyes because it felt like a star exploding in the competition field.
However, Zen, who was outside the competition field, was not one of them.
The light spots reflected on his brown pupils as he watched every movement of the two people fighting.
Shaking his head, Zen predicted, 'Rocher will be defeated.' Earlier, Rocher said his chance of winning over Patrick was fifty percent now, and this would increase to ninety percent once he entered the Illuminating Soul Realm. Rocher had clearly underestimated his opponent.
With his current strength, Rocher didn't even have a ten percent chance of winning against Patrick.
To be fair, Rocher had a fantastic breakthrough. He had comprehended the consummate sword intent and washed his blade in the Sword Washing Pool, the semi-sacred place.
And this strength should be enough to cover the shortage of his lower level. In other words, Rocher thought that if he stepped into the Illuminating Soul Realm, he had a ninety percent chance of beating Patrick. But he was quite naive to think that.
Acalanatha's reincarnation of Patrick was too powerful.
And this was quite disturbing.
If Rocher had a next better chance and broke into the Illuminating Soul Realm, he would probably have the strength to compete with Patrick.
The radiance on the competition field had disappeared. Rocher supported his shaky body with the Blood-corroding Sword. His lean, controlled face now had a sad look.
A youth confident of becoming more powerful with every battle suffered defeat repeatedly. He now seemed frustrated.
But frustration had a different effect for every individual.
There are extremely arrogant people whose dedication to martial arts is limited. So, once defeated, this kind of person easily breaks. Eventually, he would stop training and even suffer from mental problems, making it difficult to make a comeback for the rest of his life.
On the other hand, there are arrogant people with a stronger commitment to martial arts. Thus any setback only serves to develop their courage, and they practice harder for the future. These people seek more opportunities to win and ultimately have the last laugh.
“I was defeated!”
With this declaration, Rocher put the Blood-corroding Sword on his back, and the sorrow earlier seen in his face, immediately disappeared. Apparently, he was the latter.
“You are the first one with the strength of nature level consummation to force me to release the honored Acalanatha. You don't need to have the metal load. With your developing gift, if you're in the same realm as me, I probably won't defeat you,” Patrick stated casually. As he said this, the virtual shadow of Acalanatha behind him gradually scattered.
Saluting, Rocher replied,“ I have just lost. I can't deny the truth. I will not find an excuse on our different levels. But I hope we will have another chance to learn from one another here in the future.”
Acknowledging the salute, Patrick nodded. He had to respect such an opponent.
After coming down from the competition field, Patrick focused his eyes on Zen and said calmly,“ Zen, there's only one round left in the All Peaks Competition. And that's the match between you and me.”
The young disciple nodded and wondered what made Patrick say that.
“I need several days to summon my Acalanatha again after I use it once. Would you like to fight today or in three days?”
Patrick was hoping the answer would be in his favor.
The Acalanatha was powerful, but with Patrick's present strength, he had no energy to release it continuously. Once this was summoned, it would take several days to recover before it could be put to use again.
What Patrick wanted was for Zen to choose what day they would compete.
If they fought now, Patrick couldn't use all his strength.
At the end of the All Peaks Competition, both Zen and Patrick would lose interest in their ranking.
The champion of the All Peaks Competition could receive a Turbidity Clearing Pill and a fairy weapon.
Besides, the top three earned the right to walk on Cloud Road.
Even if Zen was defeated, Kenneth could probably reward Zen with the Turbidity Clearing Pill and fairy weapon. His decision would depend on the strength and the talent Zen had displayed.
“If I can't compete with your peak strength, my warrior spirit won't be pleased,” Zen smiled.
Fighting did not faze Zen. If Patrick's strength was not at its peak, even if he defeated Patrick, the battle Zen had looked forward to for a long time wouldn't be perfect. There would be no satisfaction with that kind of victory, so Zen didn't have a reason to choose to fight now.
So, it was best to wait.
“Okay, in three days. I will wait for you!” Patrick nodded in acknowledgement.
That meant the All Peaks Competition, which had lasted for a few days would be paused.
In fact, the results had already come out, but only the No. 1 and No. 2 positions were held in suspense to see who between Zen and Patrick would occupy the slots.
The No. 3 spot belonged to Rocher, Tracy came in at No. 4, and Jacques was No. 5.
This was how the Cloud Sect List looked at present.
Of the thirty-three peaks, Drizzle Peak was suddenly on top, with Skytop Peak dropping to second place. The other thirty-one peaks had new rankings.
All the disciples outside the competition field started to leave. Zen went up to the platform, directly to where Kenneth was seated.
In the past, someone would hoot at Zen before he even came close to the platform, demanding him not to go any nearer.
But now, the saints and elders remained silent. It was now quite clear that Zen was a person that Kenneth paid great attention to. Moreover, this little guy's future attainment would be hard to evaluate. Yet, it would still be easy for him to surpass those saints.
“Sir,” Zen greeted Kenneth with a salute as he stepped on the platform.
“What is it that you want?” Kenneth asked.
But with his insights, how could he not figure out what Zen was thinking?
The talented disciple came to him now because of Yan.
“I want to see my younger sister,” Zen replied.
“You mean Yan?” Kenneth inquired.
He was curious to know more.
Zen nodded and said,“ I hope you can release her. One thousand years, one million points, equal to two million cubic crystals. I can pay for that.”
His offer came as a surprise for Kenneth.
As it was previously announced, Yan would be locked in Hell Mountain for a thousand years. But there was a rule in Cloud Sect that if someone paid one thousand points, her sentence would be reduced by one year. Therefore, it would take a million points, equivalent to two million cubic crystals, to save Yan.
But two million cubic crystals was no joke. And Kenneth was very curious how Zen could accumulate so many cubic crystals.
It was not easy to take out two million cubic crystals even for any of the top seven noble clans. After all, these families possessed fixed assets, and how could they have so much cash?
Yet here was Zen, a warrior from a poor family. Knowing the fortune of the Luo family, getting even several cubic crystals would be difficult, let alone several million.
Finally, he had to ask. "Where...
Where did you get so much money?"
It was out of curiosity that he was asking.
"Hmmm, it doesn't matter where I got that much money. The point is, can these cubic crystals be used in exchange for my sister's freedom?
If it can, I certainly have so many cubic crystals to pay you," Zen explained.
With his current method, it would be so easy to make money.
Fifty drops of Heavenly Essence could be sold for 250 thousand cubic crystals at an auction. He refined only a hundred mysterious weapons and got hundreds of drops of Heavenly Essence.
Even if a large quantity of Heavenly Essence was on the market, and the price would go down, it was still not difficult to collect two million cubic crystals.
Furthermore, Zen could seek Wurth's assistance. It was believed that given Zen's current performance, he could get enough favors from the Zhang Clan. It would not be a problem to borrow two million cubic crystals from the clan. After all, they were the wealthiest family in the Eastern Region, and even the top seven noble clans were poor compared to the Zhang Clan.
Though Kenneth seldom showed up at Cloud Sect, he was very clear about the Eastern Region territory. If Zen was confident to take out two million cubic crystals, Kenneth could easily guess that it had something to do with the Zhang Clan. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the disciple to accumulate such a large fortune.
With Zen's current talent and strength, he had a very promising future and would be worth the investment of the Zhang Clan, Kenneth thought.
Finally, Kenneth sighed,“ Alas...”
“No?”
The young disciple was a jumble of nerves, but outwardly, he looked calm.
Since entering Cloud Sect, Zen was clear about his purpose: to save his sister and get her away from Hell Mountain at the soonest possible time.
If it was possible, Zen didn't want Yan to stay at that mountain one minute longer.
That was why he always strove for the one million points. Even if he had to spend some points in practicing cultivation methods, he only invested in himself when he had the confidence to earn more points.
However...
“No. Even if you pay two million cubic crystals, which are one million points, you can't take her away,” Kenneth said while shaking his head.
“Why?” Zen implored.
As he gritted his teeth, his heart raced faster and his eyes were slowly turning red.