Chapter 352: Disqualified
He might have been powerful, but Zen had already consumed most of his strength and energy to cut off the tail of the mobula using his consummate sword intent. He was still confused as to the composition of the mobula's broken tail.
After picking it up and briefly inspecting the broken tail, Zen tucked it inside his space ring. Beast tails like this were quite rare. In the future, he could probably use it for refining weapons. If not, he could make money out of it by selling the rare object at a high price.
“My friend, thank you very much for saving my life,” said the warrior, whose hands were cupped to express his heartfelt gratitude to Zen. Naturally, it was clear to this warrior that the tail of the mobula was of great value. But since Zen was his savior, he thought it was inadvisable to battle it out with him for this rare and valuable object.
This warrior was among those from the other grade-two sects, who were at levels much higher than Zen's. Zen was only at the third grade of the nature level. Thus, it would be understandable if these warriors looked down on Zen. Warriors at these levels would have taken for granted that the young fighter lagged far behind them. But since Zen was his savior, the warrior completely changed his mind and even began to admire him. He had attempted to kill the evil fire mobula by using his skilled blade intent and harnessing all his strength.
But his blade didn't even hurt the mobula's tail at all. On the other hand, Zen easily sliced off the tail with his sword. The warrior guessed that Zen even hadn't used all his strength when he did this.
As he analyzed what had just happened, the warrior decided that he couldn't rashly annoy this guy with such mighty strength.
“That's alright. Since we're taking the same path, it's natural and unavoidable to need each other's help!”
Even before he could finish speaking, several more mobulas jumped up, one after another, to attack the warriors on the stone pillars.
In the face of these beasts' assaults, the warriors masterfully displayed their unique and incomparable skills.
How would it be possible for them to pass the Cloud Road easily? If they were unlucky, they would risk their lives on their way to complete the trial. At this critical time, every warrior was giving his best to fight off the beasts. Rushing forward, they tried every means to slay the mobulas, whose numbers never seemed to dwindle.
“Ahhhh!” one warrior screamed.
A mobula had dragged him into the lava pit. His life vitality protected him from being hurt, while he was only stuck in the lava for a short while. Then, another five or six mobulas emerged and pulled the warrior deeper into the lava.
At the sight of this, several warriors' faces turned ghastly pale. That was the first warrior killed on Cloud Road.
All other warriors present there were top disciples from different sects. They were all exceptional fighters honed by a variety of life and death situations. What was clear to every warrior was that if they wanted to get out of their present situation, emotions like fear or anxiety had no place there. Their only option to get out of this dangerous situation was to fight desperately.
They stood a better chance of moving ahead if they continued to fight, but death would be inevitable if they so much as flinched.
Most of them knew this to be true, but it was still hard for them to act accordingly. In this situation, elite disciples were perceived to have been mentally stronger than ordinary disciples.
“Fight! Run faster!” they heard the suggestion.
“Be careful. Don't just concentrate on attacking the devil fishes. For us, what's more important is to dodge their assaults as fast as we can!”
Silver flowers flashed on Zen's long Streamer Sword. He had no intention of killing all those mobulas at all because these devil fishes attacked him in large quantities. Thus, it was utterly impossible for him to kill every single one of them. And because the devil fishes were not small, more time would be needed if Zen wanted to harm any of the fishes seriously.
While Zen weighed the pros and cons, he was busy dodging and would counterattack when a devil fish got close to him.
By fighting and dodging this way while running, the warriors at least managed to dash seven or eight miles. It was only then that they gradually escaped the clutches of the devil fishes.
Except for Zen, most of the warriors had run out of breath. What was worse, the two female disciples from Iridescence Sect were sweating all over, and appeared to be extremely exhausted.
But staring at the boundless Sea of Raging Fire and dense stone pillars, no one could rest at ease. For the time being, they could do nothing but grit their teeth and run ahead nonstop. If they slowed down their pace moving forward, tides of lava would rise. Then, they would be on the verge of death.
One of the warriors patted his pocket. Instantly, ten medicinal pills appeared in his hand. As he swung his hand randomly, the pills flew in different directions towards the other warriors, so every person present got one pill. Soon afterward, he ordered, “Eat it! These pills are helpful for you to restore your physical strength and life vitality to certain extent.”
To cultivate and produce life vitality within their bodies, warriors needed to meditate. Pills that were effective for replenishing life vitality were of great value wherever they were. Today, this warrior contributed ten medicinal pills all at once. This contribution was considerable.
Contributing the pills was a wise move. Defeating the flock of devil fishes by himself was impossible. He needed the collective effort of every warrior to defeat the creatures. He thought that replenishing the warriors' life vitality and enhancing their physical strength would double their efforts to escape before they finally left the place.
And he was right. The warriors no longer encountered any other ferocious living creatures. Unfortunately, another disaster awaited them.
“Tides of lava are rising!” a warrior exclaimed.
“I also saw that. But now, we're not quite far away from the next high platform. It's right ahead of us!” another disciple responded. He pointed towards the direction of the coming platform.
It was the second high platform in the Sea of Raging Fire, and was much bigger than the first one. It looked like a castle in the air. Beneath it, the platform was supported by dozens of pillars. Beside this platform was a road extending forward. What was intriguing was a small island near the platform!
The island was just amid the Sea of Raging Fire.
“Rush over quickly to the platform! Then, we will be safe!”
While they might have been considerably surprised to see an island in the middle of the Sea of Raging Fire, the warriors still focused their attention on the high platform. They had to talk about everything else after they handled the problems at hand.
Hope was coming. All of the warriors put their hopes on the high platform ahead. Consciously, they quickened their pace without being reminded by other disciples. As they reached the towering platform, every warrior heaved a sigh of relief. This platform was about thirty feet high. When the warriors arrived, all of them leaped onto the platform.
There were no exceptions, because Zen also steadily stepped onto the high platform and then planted his feet there securely.
“This high platform is in the middle of the Sea of Raging Fire. In other words, we are somewhere halfway,” a warrior explained while wiping the sweat on his forehead.
“It is said that there is a hidden test on this high platform. Substantial benefits await the one who can successfully go through this test,” another warrior blurted out, as he stared at the island behind the platform.
“A hidden test?” Zen said curiously.
His heart was throbbing as he correctly guessed that the hidden test should be on that small island.
Top masters of Cloud Hall badly wished to gain benefits from the Cloud Road, but they couldn't come here on their own owing to their higher cultivation levels. As a result, they had no choice but to train younger disciples so that they could have the chance to come here and explore for them.
Compared to the elevated platform they had just passed, there were many more people crowding this platform. The previous platform was merely for warriors to protect themselves against the tides of lava. However, the second platform was a resting place for warriors. At this time, about twenty warriors filled the platform, including disciples from Auspice Sect, Brumous Sect, Iridescence Sect, and Cloud Hall.
But why were Patrick and Rocher not there? Craning his neck, Zen didn't see any disciple from Cloud Sect.
'Perhaps, they have moved ahead, or stepped into the hidden test, ' Zen thought.
“Shall I go to the island?” Zen suggested. There was no hesitation in his voice when he spoke. He knew it was a rare chance for him to get the qualification he needed to step onto the Cloud Road. And Zen wanted to seize this chance.
Although there were tremendous risks in undergoing the hidden test, Zen was convinced that enormous possibilities were going to open for him.
At the thought of this, Zen didn't sit down for meditation like other warriors. On the contrary, he walked straight towards the passageway at the end of the high platform.
His decision to go to that small island shocked other warriors. Zen was only at the third grade of nature level. But did he want to face the challenges in the hidden test? Did he want to die?
Every time when disciples took the Cloud Road, many of the elite warriors undertook challenges at the hidden test. But how many of these fighters were lucky enough to get the chance to succeed? Instead of gaining any benefit, challengers were either severely injured inside, or worse, ended up dead after going through that pass. As the saying goes, people die in pursuit of great wealth, while birds die for food.
Everyone was welcome to take risks to go through the test, but they must be fully aware of their abilities to determine if they could survive the pass or not.
Beside the entrance of the passageway stood two disciples dressed in white robes. Both of them were from Cloud Hall.
When they saw Zen walking up to them, their mouths curved at the corners. There were hidden sneers in their eyes, both directed at Zen. When the young disciple reached the entrance, one of the disciples yelled, “Stop!”
Looking at the two guys who stood in his way, Zen, his eyebrows slightly furrowing, shot back, “What's wrong?”
“Now that disciples of our Cloud Hall are in there for the test, all other people are not allowed to enter.”
It was one of the Cloud Hall disciples who spoke with a sneer.
“What? Ahhh... hahaha! Every person here is taking the test of Cloud Road. So, why are we not authorized to enter?” Zen demanded. A dark cloud seemed to hover over his face as he spoke. In this world, it seemed there were always people looking down upon others, especially those they believed were inferior to them.
For instance, in the beginning, when Zen just joined Cloud Sect, disciples from noble clans believed themselves to be superior and looked down upon the young disciple. Now, disciples from Cloud Hall were behaving in the same manner. Did they truly believe that Cloud Road was developed only for them?
But Zen guessed it right.
And it was true that these disciples took that for granted. After all, they were the rightful representatives of Cloud Hall. In their opinion, all guys from grade two sects under the jurisdiction of Cloud Hall were inferior and not qualified because they were not on equal footing with them.
Since some of the Cloud Hall disciples had already entered the passageway for the hidden test, the two men at the entrance thought those from other sects were naturally “unauthorized” and disqualified for going through the pass.