Chapter 338: I Will Protect You
Deep inside, Zen thought that as the massive face went away, he sneered at him.
When a cultivator made so incredible cultivation achievements, he would occupy an unimaginably high position. For such a cultivator, feminine charms were probably not that important.
No matter how many women he wanted, he could have them anytime and all the time.
Rather than attach great importance to Yan's appealing looks, he attempted to take her virginity only for the Lustful Demon Array and cultivation.
Perhaps, this person had the wrong impression when he saw Zen holding Yan in his arms. But, great men like him were quite indifferent to people like Zen, whose existence was like that of ants.
The final sneer he gave reflected disdain, contempt, indifference and disregard.
It wasn't until the massive face was out of sight that Yan finally raised her head. Even she was shocked by her own reactions. It had been a long time since something terrified her. But maybe she only seemed fragile because she was with her elder brother.
"Brother, what shall we do?
I don't want to be captured and taken away by him!" Yan said anxiously.
She looked seriously worried about the possible things that would happen to her.
And her brother was helpless to make her stop thinking about it.
In truth, it was even impossible for him to take Yan away from Cloud Sect. First of all, based on Zen's current strengths, he was no match for Kenneth. Second, the person projecting the enormous face in the sky had left imprints on Yan's body. It might be impossible for them to elude this man in the case that Zen managed to escape with his sister.
“Yan, that man will do nothing to you before you reach the Internal Elixir Realm through cultivations. Now, what you have to do is wait,” Zen said in a firm tone, as he stared at her slightly innocent face, hoping to make Yan calm down.
Coldly, Zen vowed, “Wait... we will make him wait, and then I will put him to death.”
“Put him to death...” Yan murmured.
Generally, ordinary people would never think of resisting such a strong master, but Zen's firm assurance made Yan think her brother would really do what he said.
Could her brother make good his vow?
'Perhaps, brother only said this in an attempt to console me and make me calm down, ' Yan thought.
That man who projected the enormous face in the sky might be a top master in the Central Region. And it was a fact that these masters' tactics were sometimes incredible. They were even capable of destroying mountains, rivers, and streams by merely raising their heads and feet. And this was what made them the top leaders of the warriors' world.
If Zen stood before these top figures, he would seem like an ant to them. But he solemnly vowed to challenge and kill the lion. Would that be possible?
Although Yan didn't believe that, she still nodded at her brother in acknowledgment with a forced smile.
But Zen had an inkling as to Yan's thoughts since his sister wasn't very good at hiding her feelings. When he noticed the skepticism, he reached out to tousle Yan's hair and asked her with a smile, "Well, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
When you were on Hell Mountain, did you ever think that I could win the All Peaks Competition?
Did you believe that I could get you out of torture Mountain?"
She somehow knew her brother was teasing, so her mouth twitched. After a few moments, she winked at him and then quickly gave him an honest response, “No, I didn't believe that!”
“Ahhh... so, only when things happened did you choose to believe in me. Yan, you don't trust your brother, do you?”
He smiled at Yan with a raised eyebrow.
While his words sounded a little plausible, they were not entirely right. Yes, Zen had created some incredible miracles, and Yan acknowledged her brother's remarkable achievements.
However, to create similar miracles again in the Central Region might be more difficult for Zen this time.
Maybe, one hundred men as mighty as Kenneth would be no match for that top master even if they fought together against him.
“Yan, look at me,” Zen appealed while fixing his eyes on his sister. In a serious tone, he continued, “I swear to you with my loyalty to martial arts that everything I have said to you is true. I promise to kill that person!”
“Ahhh...” Yan stammered.
She covered her mouth with one hand before she could finish her statement. After several seconds, Yan went on, “Brother, you don't have to use your loyalty to martial arts to make a vow.”
It was inadvisable to swear so rashly and arbitrarily. If Zen failed to keep his vow, his promise would bewitch him during his cultivation of martial arts in the future. At the same time, his strengths would not improve at all, unless he fulfilled his promise.
Thus, very few warriors were willing to swear with their loyalty or dedication to martial arts.
Nonetheless, it was clear to Zen that the master with that enormous face had already become a barrier to him, the one that he must clear if he ever wanted to reach the peak of martial arts. Whether Zen swore to do that or not had no difference because he was aware that he would be able to achieve greater things in martial arts as long as he killed that man.
And he made that vow only because he expected to set his little sister's mind at rest and ease her worries.
“Bam! Bam! Bam!”
As he descended from the sky, Kenneth clapped his hands loudly. Aura was beside him. Before this, the princess was on the hillside, but when she sighted the weird image in the sky and heard the enormous face speak, Aura naturally knew that the face appeared because of Yan. So, she rushed over by taking a flying chariot.
"Well, that's great. Well done!
Cloud Sect disciples are, without a doubt, heroic.
Aura, you truly have an eye for choosing such an excellent disciple for Drizzle Peak!" Kenneth declared.
The laughter that followed echoed everywhere.
“Master Shi,” Zen stood and greeted him with a salute.
To acknowledge Zen's greeting, Kenneth nodded and said, “I think you have heard what that man said.”
“Yes, I did,” Zen replied with a nod.
“That man is so powerful that I dare not go against his orders, so I can do nothing but take Yan away and hand her over to him. I hope that you won't blame me for not looking out for Yan's safety, Zen,” Kenneth said while shaking his head as a show of extreme helplessness regarding the current situation.
“Master Shi, you're thinking too much. How can I blame you for this?” Zen responded.
He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
“While I fully support you in your vow with your loyalty to martial arts to put him to death, let me remind you that it is quite challenging to kill him... In the Central Region, there are still several people who can be paired up to fight that man, but it might be impossible to find someone to kill him,” Kenneth sighed.
No one in the Central Region was powerful enough to kill him?
When Kenneth said this, Zen was slightly surprised before he realized that the man was indeed a top strongman in the Central Region.
There were distinctions between winners and losers in top strongmen's fights. But killing their opponents in these battles was a little difficult for them. After all, warriors were neither timber piles nor beasts. Aside from their exceptional strength, top strongmen were skilled at fleeing and dodging. When two top strongmen fought with each other, it was extremely hard for either of them to kill the other if anyone ever tried to escape.
Other than being shocked, Zen's eyes didn't dim at the information fed to him. Shortly after, his eyes gleamed to manifest his inherent self-confidence.
Seeing the young disciple still look that confident with so great willpower for fighting, Kenneth could not help but admire Zen tremendously.
Although Kenneth was mightier than Zen, he knew not to speak out when in front of that prominent figure. Instead, he held his breath in fear, as was a common practice among warriors. The weak ones had no choice but to yield to protect themselves. If they didn't know how to measure and consider the current situation, given their weak strengths, death was inevitable.
It was clear to Zen the enormous disparity in strength between that man and himself, but he chose to maintain his self-confidence. It was unexpected for Kenneth to realize that Zen was much more loyal to martial arts. The greater his loyalty to martial arts, the higher the likelihood for Zen to achieve greater things in his career as a martial artist in the future.
“Master Shi, I have yet another question,” Zen blurted out.
“What is it?” Kenneth prodded with a firm nod.
“Just say it!” he said loudly as Zen hesitated.
“What on earth is that man's name?” Zen demanded.
He wanted to know who this mighty person was.
“His name?” Kenneth asked in surprise.
After thinking awhile, he continued, "He is known as Evil East Lord in the Central Region.
But his real name is Eddie Cui!"
“Evil East Lord... Eddie Cui,” Zen repeated that man's names several times to imprint them in his mind. Then, nodding, he said, “Master Shi, thank you for telling me this.”
Since Eddie had given orders to capture Yan and turn her over to him, Kenneth decided it was no longer wise to make the same excuse that Yan was training in Hell Mountain. For fear that he would be on the receiving end of Eddie's might, Kenneth had to send Yan out of Cloud Sect. As head of Cloud Sect, he also felt somewhat depressed for not being able to protect his disciple. Kenneth was helpless to do anything to save Yan.
But he had to face up to realities. In terms of strength, Kenneth was far stronger than Zen. And since he held a higher position, he was also far-sighted. Hence, he had a clearer understanding of how dreadful and horrible Eddie was.
However, Zen had one advantage over Kenneth, and that was his youth. Since he was still very young, Zen had infinite potential for further exploration. There are ups and down in every human being's life, and no one could accurately predict his or her destiny. If Zen could put the Evil East Lord to death as he had sworn to do, this would be entirely dependent on his luck.
To this end, the first step for Zen was to take part in the subsequent test of Cloud Road. His final destiny would depend upon the achievements he would collect along Cloud Road, and if he could gain support from the Cloud Hall.
In the early morning of the following day, Yan was set to leave. As she stood on the Bluesky Parking Ground, Yan turned back from time to time while heading towards the chariot. Judging by her eyes, it was evident that she was reluctant to leave her brother Zen.
With one foot already on the staircase extending towards the enormous flying chariot, Yan abruptly turned around, ran over to her brother and gave him a bear hug.
Since she was ten years old, she and Zen had been seldom together. After this separation, the two didn't know when they would meet again, or if they even would.
Parting was just a matter of time. Although she was reluctant to leave, Yan finally stepped aboard the huge flying chariot, which ascended slowly towards the sky.
Staring through the glass window of the huge flying chariot, Yan sat there still in a daze. On the other side of the glass, Zen gently waved his hand and then assumed a pose.
His posture was quite familiar to Yan, who had seen it in Hell Mountain. So, naturally, Yan understood what this indicated.
It meant 'I will protect you!'