Chapter 345: Envy
The Cloud Road was a trial where all new disciples had to test their art of refining. Moreover, it was also a path of opportunities.
It was full of various challenges that the disciples must do their best to overcome. The whole process manifested their strengths and exposed their weaknesses. Additionally, whether some of the disciples would be lucky enough to find their opportunities or not would come to light. Some disciples might have the ingrain abilities to practice, but they might not have the chances to acquire the precious instruments on Cloud Road. Some of them might be lucky, but they might be incapable of seizing those kinds of opportunities.
The Cloud Road was unlike the transmission array, as Zen realized that the Cloud Road felt quite different, and nor did it resemble the Bloody Mountain of Cloud Sect since the Cloud Road wasn't a magic array made through some kind of skill.
Zen felt as if he had just stepped into a door when he walked into the whirlpool. Suddenly the surroundings changed, much to his surprise.
“Another world...” Rocher murmured. His curious eyes attentively looked into the distance.
He saw a world that he had never seen or heard of. It was a world of decay and destruction.
Before they had set out, Kenneth had told them about Cloud Road's situation in full detail.
There were indeed some special places of mystery in the world, but they were unknown to ordinary people. These places of mystery didn't physically exist as they could only be accessed by people who achieved enlightenment in thinking. Zen went into the Killing Sword Mountain only after he had grasped the essence of the consummate sword intent. Now, the Killing Sword Mountain did not belong to the world the naked eye could see. It belonged to another world, and so did the other places of mystery.
This section of the road before them was actually a valuable place where an ancient sect practiced the refining arts many years ago, but it was now in ruins.
The ancient sect might have declined and finally vanished thousands of years ago. Thus, the place had been forgotten and was left as a relic. Visitors from the outside world were rare. However, opportunity brought it to the hands of the Cloud Hall, and they sealed all the other entrances to this place except for the one where the transmission door was built. Since then, the Cloud Hall had always controlled this world of mystery and its possessions.
However, all the precious instruments and heritage items in the relic were long gone before the Cloud Hall had taken over it. It seemed that they chose this place as one session of the Cloud Road because it was also where the ancient sect's disciples tested their refining techniques. The Cloud Hall took advantage of the place's former design and used it as its own testing site for the disciples of the grade-two sects led by the Cloud Hall and the Cloud Hall disciples.
Anyone who passed the test would be viewed as an elite disciple of the Cloud Hall, and would be awarded and trained with their best resources.
“Let's go! I'll wait both of you at the end of the Cloud Road!” Patrick grinned before stepping ahead towards the unknown world. Before them was a wide road which branched into numerous trails that led into different directions.
Of course, Cloud Road was highly likely to be made of various roads and various possibilities. One's choice of road to take would definitely make a difference to the difficulties and challenges they would have to face.
Meanwhile, Rocher nodded and walked ahead as well.
However, Zen stayed instead of following his two companions. He was in a trance again.
In a complete and intact world, it was impossible for one to perceive the world's edges no matter how far their eyes could see. The best view there would be was no further than the horizon that could be seen on top of the highest mountain in the world. And the view beyond it was unknown, as all the naked eye could see was sheer blurriness.
But, the world Zen saw was shattered. The sky was split into huge fragments with wide clefts between them. Some clefts had jagged shapes as if a wild dog had bitten them. Some had straight and narrow edges and spread far to the ends of the sky as if they were lines drawn by Mother Nature. Overall, the place painted a weird picture beyond imagination.
Zen had become sensitive to the space ever since he had understood some rules of the space. Those irregular clefts were no more than entangled lines in the eyes of others, but they were beautiful as far as Zen was concerned.
What mighty and powerful force shattered the world into fragments? That kind of force was beyond Zen's imagination. He just stood on where he was, and meditated on the force that caused the place to be such a shocking scene. But of course, he knew that the time given to finish the Cloud Road was limited and the entrance would be closed if all the supreme life vitality had run out. However, he couldn't figure out the reasons behind the ruins.
Meanwhile, Kenneth observed their actions outside the entrance of Cloud Road at the same time Zen was in contemplation. He began to get worried.
It wasn't hard for all the sect heads to observe the actions of each of their disciples through the Picture Slab. All the disciples had set out their journey on the Cloud Road, except for Zen. He just stood by the entrance and blankly watched the sky. His weird behavior definitely caught the attention of every sect head.
“What's the problem with Zen?” Kenneth asked. He was fully aware of the kind of person Zen was as well as the destiny he must face. Unlike Evan, Zen was careful enough not to do anything irrational. But why had he stayed there for a long while since his entry to the Cloud Road, and refused to leave? 'Was there anything wrong? What happened?' Kenneth could not help but ask internally.
Suddenly, Eddy burst into laughter. “Wow, will it happen again, Kenneth? I still remember how Evan fell asleep on the Cloud Road three years ago! If I'm not wrong, he's a disciple from the Cloud Sect, right?”
His words brought back the memories to all the other sect heads. They all burst into a fit of laughter because of Evan's funny story.
In truth, Evan was a talented refiner. He would've entered the Cloud Hall if he hadn't fallen asleep on the Cloud Road. It was also highly possible for him to have outperformed all the other disciples in the contest. However, his careless nature prevented him from being the first place. Nobody expected for him to fall asleep along the way! They could still recall how enraged Kenneth was by Evan's doing. He looked so terrifying at that time that they all feared he would kill Evan as punishment.
Would history repeat itself?
“Don't worry Kenneth. You have brought your most excellent disciples, and they're all smart. Even your third most excellent disciple captured the essence of the consummate sword intent. This disciple might have found something and meditated for that reason. Do you agree, Kenneth?” Eddy said in a seemingly joking tone. He had somehow harbored a kind of animosity towards Rocher. It wasn't because he hated him, he just felt envious of Cloud Sect's good fortune. He really didn't expect that a disciple from Cloud Sect had understood the consummate sword intent.
“What did you say, Eddy? Did you say that a Cloud Sect disciple has understood the consummate sword intent?” Fernandez turned towards Eddy and asked in astonishment.
“Yes, Master Fei. The disciple is just the third most excellent disciple in the Cloud Sect. I wonder how smart the first and the second most excellent disciples of the Cloud Sect are if the third best one is at such a high level?” Eddy said with a smile.
Fernandez nodded his head, showing his interest. “That's interesting. The consummate sword intent is of great importance. Even the Cloud Hall would be extremely interested in the disciple who has understood it. I'm really surprised that the disciple is just ranked third in the Cloud Sect. Kenneth, would the first and the second most excellent disciples defeat the one who has understood the consummate sword intent?” he continued.
Those were the words Eddy wanted to hear from Fernandez. Since he and Kenneth were of equal status, Kenneth could ignore him and refuse to answer his questions. However, he couldn't do that to an elder from the Cloud Hall.
A smile formed on Kenneth's face. “Master Fei, all disciples of the Cloud Sect have witnessed the All Peaks Competition. We have hundreds of thousands of disciples in the Cloud Sect and we treat them all equally. It's impossible to fabricate the competition results. Rocher is the disciple who has understood the consummate sword intent and is ranked at the third place in the competition. The disciple who is in the trance at the stone gate is Zen, the first among all excellent disciples of the Cloud Sect ranked according to the competition results,” he responded politely.
“He? The first among all excellent disciples of the Cloud Sect? But he is at the grade three of nature level!” Fernandez exclaimed dubiously. He found it hard to believe that a disciple who was just at the initial stage of refining could defeat Rocher, who had mastered the consummate sword intent.
Fernandez's capabilities exceeded far beyond those of the sect heads of the Internal Elixir Realm in front of him. But even with his tremendous wisdom, he couldn't figure out how Zen had defeated Rocher.
Kenneth felt uneasy of Fernandez's doubts. He just smiled and said in an honest tone,“The consummate sword intent is of course, powerful, but it is not invincible. Besides, Rocher is not the only person to grasp the essence of the consummate sword intent. Zen has understood it, too. In addition, Zen got a precious opportunity after he understood it. It was an opportunity that led to a more valuable secret place than the Sword Washing Pool!”
Eddy suddenly coughed a few times because of Kenneth's words. As a cultivator in the Internal Elixir Realm, his ability to control his body under extreme conditions was beyond ordinary people's imagination. However, he couldn't stop coughing and couldn't put his mind at ease. He was so shocked by what Kenneth had said that he lost control of himself.
Almost everyone were surprised by Kenneth's words as well. They all looked confused, as if they couldn't figure out what Kenneth meant when he said “The consummate sword intent is of course, powerful, but it is not invincible.” Eddy felt extremely proud when he had finally cultivated a disciple who mastered the successful sword intent. He had never thought that Kenneth had trained his disciples to use the consummate sword intent, not to mention he had successfully trained two of them!
All the other sect heads also wore faces of shock or envy. Even Fernandez was suspicious.
“Zen is at the grade three of nature level. How could he be bestowed with such a great opportunity? According to the records of some ancient books, the Sword Washing Pool is a semi-holy site. Kenneth, you said the opportunity Zen acquired had brought him to a place much better than the semi-holy site. Did he visit a sword holy site?” he asked.
Kenneth nodded,“Zen didn't tell me where he went, but I have sensed a substantial amount of malicious aura in him. So I guess he must have gone to the Killing Sword Mountain, one of the three sword holy sites.”
Fernandez's face finally changed after Kenneth's explanation. The holy sites were sacred places all refiners dreamed of going. They were categorized into more sacred and less sacred kinds. The Killing Sword Mountain was one of the most famous sword holy sites, and the best one among all the sacred places. Fernandez never expected that such a young man, who had just achieved the grade three of nature level, had gone to that famous holy mountain. Envy gradually surged within him.