Chapter 344: The Gate To The Cloud Road
All the Red Sect's disciples instinctively turned their attention to Zen when Kenneth finished talking and some of them were looking forward to competing against Zen.
No matter how powerful Rocher claimed Zen was, his strength was only at the third grade of the nature level, which was an unchanged fact at the moment. From their experiences, the gap could be narrowed by real strength, however, the larger the gap, the more difficult it was to narrow the expanse.
They held the strength of the Illuminating Soul Realm while Zen was only at the nature level. The gap between them was... incredible, indeed. Perhaps, they would be able to save face and reclaim their honor by defeating Zen.
Eddy, the head of the Red Sect, naturally had an opinion too. He considered the various aspects as he mulled things over, 'Akiba is our Sect's top-ranked disciple, and he was defeated quickly, which was humiliating to me. We'll lose face if we aren't able to beat any of their disciples. That would be quite a blow to confidence in the Sect. Hoffman ranks second here, and his strength's almost on par with Akiba's. Come to think of it, Akiba had only a slight advantage over Hoffman when they battled.
Maybe, if I were to send Hoffman out against Zen now...'
Feeling as though he were being stared at, Eddy stopped meditating on his next moves and looked around. He then caught a glint in Kenneth's eyes and a hint of a sly smile on his lips. Almost intuitively, he realized he shouldn't go with the idea he had.
Another thought struck him, 'Wait a minute, Kenneth knows Zen's ability is only at the third grade of the nature level, and yet, he invited our disciples to compete against Zen. What could it mean?
Hmmm, Kenneth's confidence in his capabilities must mean Zen is far more powerful than Rocher!
I'd be an idiot not to believe what Kenneth told me earlier. If Zen's that extraordinary, he might really have some insight into the space rules...'
Although Eddy had reached the result himself, he still found it difficult to believe. Flipping back and forth, he also knew his summation was based on sound facts. So, in the end, he decided to trust his instincts.
“Sir, I would like to challenge Zen,” volunteered Hoffman.
Eddy shook his head and said firmly, “No, you need to conserve your strength for the upcoming trial of the Cloud Road!”
“Bu-but!” stammered Hoffman in protest, not wanting to give up. He didn't understand Eddy's concern. If he were beaten by Zen though, it would be another humiliation for Red Sect, and Eddy couldn't bear a second humiliation in a single day!
“I said no, and that's final!” stated Eddy in a terse tone as he scowled.
Hoffman's heart sunk as he witnessed the dark expression that crossed Eddy's face. As the leader of the Red Sect, Eddy's word was law. He had the final say, and what he said was more effective than any command given by the Emperor.
While Hoffman didn't want to give up so easily, he had no choice but to follow Eddy's order. In the end, Hoffman retreated after a brief nod of respect to Eddy. As he backed up, he glared at Zen.
Unable to witness the failure of the disciple of the Red Sect, Rocher and Patrick frowned, and a trace of pity showed in their eyes. Earlier, they were both beat by Zen and suffered humiliation, and thus, seeing anyone else being beat by him would have thrilled them.
At that moment, there were more people headed towards them, and they were getting closer.
“Look, the members of the Auspice Sect are coming,” Kenneth announced in a light, casual tone as he squinted to make out the people headed towards them.
The small group was walking quickly, and in a few seconds, they were there. The leader of the newest group, was a healthy, yet, much older man in white and with a ruddy complexion. He led seven disciples from the Auspice Sect to participate in the trial, which was fewer than the Red Sect. Consequently, based on how many participants there were from each Sect, the overall power of the Auspice Sect was slightly weaker than that of the Red Sect.
After the groups greeted to each other, the older man in white led his disciples to an empty spot to quietly await the trial of the Cloud Road. The disciples from the Auspice Sect stared intimidatingly at their competitors.
Any disciple able to participate in the trial of the Cloud Road was a top disciple from each sect, and since they stood out as the top-ranked members of their respective factions, they also tended to be arrogant and proud. The disciples from each sect weren't just egotistical about their skills, but they also thought very little of the geniuses from other sects.
Soon after the arrival of the members of the Auspice Sect, the disciples from the Iridescence Sect showed up.
Instead of casting disapproving glances at the newest arrivals, all the other disciples' faces brightened and they openly stared in admiration.
Of course, there was only one reason these male disciples reacted in such a manner, and that was because the Iridescence Sect was a faction of all-female disciples!
The top female disciples were as beautiful and delicate as flowers in full bloom. More importantly, they were highly talented and quite powerful, which made them perfect counterparts to the men present in regard to together cultivation. It was a method that allowed a man and a woman to train side by side to develop their respective and mystical martial arts, while it also would significantly improve their health, longevity, and power.
As the Iridescence Sect's disciples appeared, many disciples that were already present had a strong desire to chat the ladies up, and there were a few men who were unable to contain their excitement and whistled.
Unfortunately, the head of the Iridescence Sect was an older lady who always had a sour, severe expression with a fiery temper that matched. She squelched the growing tension and desires felt by the male disciples with a pure raging cry. Kenneth, Eddy, and the older gentleman in white kept silent because they knew exactly the consequence of irritating the sour-faced older woman.
After another five minutes ticked by, the Brumous Sect's disciples showed up, followed by the disciples of the Cloud Hall.
In addition to the top disciples from the five second-grade sects, offshoots of Cloud Hall, participating in the trial of Cloud Road, there were also the primary disciples from Cloud Hall who would join the trial.
The trial of the Cloud Road actually took place in a secret area, so, alongside the trial, there were immense opportunities to earn treasure waiting within.
But, there was also an upper limit of a disciple's strength permitted. The Cloud Hall would only allow disciples who were below the third grade of the Illuminating Soul Realm in, and the disciples with higher levels couldn't enter.
That was why the highest cultivation level of the disciples in the Cloud Sect was the third grade of the Illuminating Soul Realm. Once a disciple reached above that level, he would be removed from the list of the Cloud Sect's disciples and become a Cloud Sect's steward.
For instance, after making consecutive breakthroughs, Evan was now at the sixth grade of the Illuminating Soul Realm, and wouldn't have a chance to participate in the trial of the Cloud Road.
The Cloud Hall's disciples all wore the same white robes and were staring ahead with blank expressions as if they were oblivious to the presence of disciples from other sects.
“Hey, did you notice how overbearing and arrogant those Cloud Hall's disciples are!” whispered Rocher.
Zen nodded, and in a low voice, he replied, “Well, it's not really a surprise. According to our leader, each sect has a different grade classification. Our Cloud Sect, as a small sect of second grade, is developed with the support of the Cloud Hall, whereas the Cloud Hall, as a fourth-grade sect, is a more powerful sect. It couldn't be more natural for them to be arrogant.”
Zen realized the Cloud Hall disciples weren't just overbearing, but some of them were emitting intense vigor and momentum even.
When disciples of the Illuminating Soul Realm sent out such powerful momentum, Zen guessed that they might have true blood from some legendary beasts, just like Tracy, or they might have some secret cultivation methods.
Indeed, this meant that the Cloud Hall's disciples shouldn't be underestimated.
The disciples of Cloud Hall were headed by a middle-aged man who looked about the same age as Kenneth, but, clearly, his status and strength were superior to the other leaders present.
As soon as he arrived, the leaders of other sects, including Kenneth, Eddy and so on, walked up to him, each greeting him with a low, respectful bow.
The middle-aged man, Fernandez Fei, was an Elder of the Cloud Hall, and his title was much higher than that of the other sects' leaders, who were ordinary stewards of the Cloud Hall.
“Well, since the disciples from each sect have arrived, the gate will be open and the trial of the Cloud Road will commence soon. I believe you have been fully warned about the dangers and any risks present during the trial, so, I won't repeat them!” announced Fernandez.
After delivering his short declaration, he jogged to the other end of the platform.
At the end of the platform stood a circular, arched door that had small holes dotting it. Fernandez stood under the arched door and then life vitality crystals shot from his space ring nonstop as he waved his arms gently.
The life vitality crystals were dense and all embedded themselves into the small holes that dotted the arched door.
“Wow! Those stones are all supreme life vitality crystals! I think there are more than two hundred holes! That means there are over two hundred supreme crystals being used!” Zen exclaimed while he rubbed his nose. The Cloud Hall was very different, and as a fourth-grade sect, it would be that generous.
Zen had believed himself rich. By melting, refining mysterious and spiritual weapons, he could easily earn a lot of cubic crystals. Yet, one million cubic crystals were equal to a single supreme life vitality crystal while two hundred supreme crystals equaled four hundred million cubic crystals...
It crossed Zen's mind that with such a large fortune, the Cloud Hall could even buy the top seven noble clans!
Naturally, Zen wasn't the only one startled. Except that the Cloud Hall's disciples looked calm, the other sects' disciples all were staring at the arched door with mouths agape.
When all the supreme crystals were inlaid, the door trembled, and a gray swirl appeared in the middle of the doorway. It continued to spin, as if it would suck the onlookers in and drag them to perdition.
Many disciples were itching to attempt diving into the whirlpool, and taking the preemptive leap into the secret area, in order to gain an advantage, until they heard Fernandez loudly declared, “The gate to the Cloud Road is now open. Disciples of the Cloud Hall will enter first!”
Cloud Hall's disciples in white proceeded slowly, and confidently toward the portal. Meanwhile, they raised the corners of their lips slightly as they walked by the disciples of other sects.
Other disciples looked their condescending faces and wanted nothing more than to soundly thrash them on the spot, teaching each one a lesson, and rubbing their smug expressions off. However, considering how famously powerful the Cloud Hall's disciples were, they didn't dare to do that and just bore their arrogant attitudes in silence.
“They're in now, Zen. It's time for us to go inside!” stated Patrick.
Zen nodded as he walked towards the whirlpool.