Chapter 347: A Sea Of Lava
“Lady Long, do you think it is necessary for me to continue?” Kenneth said with a smile.
Lady Long glared at Kenneth but said nothing. She merely sniffed. After all, she was suffering humiliation now because she laughed at Kenneth unreasonably.
“The movement is very strange. He must have learned something about space rules, but only a few,” Fernandez Fei said with surprise as he stared at Zen who was moving in the Picture Slab.
“A few?” The leader of Auspice Sect shook his head and added, “Master Fei, please forgive me for disagreeing. If I am not wrong, Zen's using Saint Morphens' Mystical Pace. Anyone who wants to try Mystical Pace can't do so without understanding the first level of the space rules!”
The leader of the Auspice Sect dressed in white was older than Kenneth. Fortunately enough, he had gotten the chance to enter the Sumeru Space of Cloud Hall to study the space rules inscribed on the stone. Though he hadn't earned mastery in the methods about space rules, he had studied and learned enough to be able to speak confidently with Kenneth about it.
Zen's movement was the same as that of Saint Morphens' Mystical Pace. They both seemed to be moving forward along an invisible line while keeping the same body posture. After mastering Saint Morphens' Mystical Pace, a person could move a long distance. However, Zen could only move a foot at a time because he wasn't familiar yet.
Fernandez nodded and said, “It's true! It is Mystical Pace, but the young guy is only a beginner, and he has understood very little of these space rules. This is why he can only move in such a broken space. Can't you see that the guy appears to be staggering as if he were looking for something?”
The leaders stared at the Picture Slab and noticed that Zen wasn't moving along the test road in a straight line but a wiggly one—he was taking a few steps left and then turning to the right.
“If my guess is correct, he must be using the seams of the broken world to practice Mystical Pace,” Fernandez said slowly. “The test road is part of the fragmented world, which isn't stable. In the broken world, besides the severed seams in the sky, many other spaces have begun to collapse. Even though the space of the test road isn't crumbling, there are enough existing seams for Zen to move like that!”
Fernandez was very confident in his conclusion because he believed a common person could never work out the space rules so easily. “It can't be denied that Zen did learn something about the space rules. However, in the outside world, it will be difficult for him to find the seams of the broken world, and he can't create the seams like Saint Morphens does... It's astounding, though. Zen is so young, and yet, he has learned such things, which makes us old men feel terribly ashamed!”
Fernandez was very powerful, but he hadn't mastered space rules yet. When he failed to comprehend space rules years ago, he had turned to fire rules to make himself stronger.
The leaders also nodded in agreement because Zen's performance was truly extraordinary and they admired his ability to learn so quickly
Since there were so many branches along the test road and the time was limited, Zen had to decide a direction after he had tried to find out the right road many times, and reach the destination before the Cloud Road closed.
So, Zen chose one of the lines along which to move forward.
The test road was a secret place in the ancient palace. Flying was not allowed here, so even though the disciples of the Illuminating Soul Realm had been walking for some time, they couldn't be far ahead of Zen.
The surroundings of the test road were very strange. Peculiar lowlying plants grew everywhere. The air was thick with a weird mist that appeared mysterious and dismal.
Zen had run for about 8 miles but had not encountered any danger.
The test road was also called Cloud Road. Passing this test secured a disciple's admission to Cloud Hall. So, there was no doubt that as a participant moved forward, he would encounter more challenges. The more easily Zen moved forward, the more careful he became as he knew that unknown dangers were just around the corner.
“A diversion!”
“A second diversion!”
As Zen ran along the road, he found that several diversions had been placed. Each detour led to a different area with varying difficulty levels.
Zen picked a direction and went forward. Soon, the small plants along the road changed.
The plants that had earlier been below his knee level grew increasingly. A few short moments later, they were taller than a strong man.
As Zen walked carefully on the road, a plant moved.
The plant, as tall as a man, looked like a weeping willow with many drooping branches. As Zen walked under a branch, it lashed at him.
Each time the branch moved, there was an earsplitting sound. Countless jagged spines appeared at the end of the branch.
A common warrior would not have been able to dodge these surprise attacks. He would soon have many gashes on his skin and would be covered in blood.
What was more, it was difficult to avoid the lashes as the branches were flexible, and they could adjust their length. Once a person neared the plant, he would be surrounded by its branches.
“Squeak...”
Just at that moment, the plant squeaked like a rat. It appeared to be excited!
But just as the branches were about to swing toward Zen, he released sword intents.
“Consummate Sword Intent!”
“Creak, creak, creak...”
The sword intents formed a cyclone. In it were several pairs of sharp scissors, and all the branches trying to reach Zen were cut into small pieces and scattered all over the ground. No branch could get through Zen's sword intents to hurt him.
“Squeak!”
The plant screamed when hurt by the sword intent. The ground shook as the plant uprooted itself and drew back.
“Amazing! The tree can run...” Zen was stupefied.
The uprooted rhizomes looked like spider legs crawling on the ground. The plant, now mobile, drew back quickly and after a while, it disappeared into the thick bushes.
Zen didn't chase the plant because killing strange plants was not a requirement of the test. He also knew that this plant wasn't powerful as it hadn't been able to wound him. However, that didn't mean that more dangerous things would not be waiting for Zen in the thick brushes.
Without further thought, Zen went on his way.
Being attacked by such a plant relaxed Zen a little.
He was convinced that the test road was used to confirm a cultivator's worth. The challenges on the road were not placed to kill him. However, the road wasn't under the supervision of Cloud Hall, and so there might be some dangerous places beyond the control of Cloud Hall. Zen believed that he should patiently follow the road and that the beasts or monsters around wouldn't be much more powerful than that plant.
And Zen was right. The difficulties in the first part of the test road were easy to overcome. Most disciples were attacked during that period. Even though the attacks varied depending on the path they chose, the cultivators who accepted the test were mainly the best disciples from the grade two sects, and nearly all of them passed the test.
During his time on the road, Zen was attacked by several plants, one of which was shaped like a big fan with sharp teeth on its edge. It had tried to swallow Zen, but he smashed the plant to pieces. Another plant looked like a Mimosa Pudica with big leaves spreading on the ground. As Zen stepped on a leaf, all the other leaves engulfed him.
The green leaves seemed to be very tender, but actually, they were unbelievably tough. Using the power of the dragon scales, Zen forcefully broke the leaves.
After overcoming such difficulties, Zen finally got to the end of the path. An unusual warmth enveloped him. Dazzling bloody light shone from behind the hill in front of Zen.
As Zen climbed to the top of the hill, he found a sea of lava on the endless ground...
“How can I cross it?” Looking at the endless sea of lava, Zen felt a little helpless. Though he had a body of top-grade spiritual weapon to protect himself in the fire, it was unrealistic for him to swim across the sea.
Zen wondered how the other people had crossed it. After all, they didn't have the secret weapon he did. The test road couldn't be designed like this! Something must be wrong!
At that time, Zen noticed several other disciples standing beside the lava. They seemed to be waiting for something to happen.