Chapter 361: The Blood Vigor Of A Nine-headed Dragon
The disciples from Cloud Hall at the base of the cliff were stunned by Zen's astounding performance.
They had imagined many possible ways to withstand that flame, but nobody had ever thought that someone would dare to and be able to pass through it in this way.
“It seems that his body is immune to fire. Gosh, I didn't know there was something like this in this world!” some disciples couldn't help but blurt out in astonishment.
Lennon, who was standing on a rock, fell silent as he stared at Zen. He revealed no emotion on his face—it was as if he were numb with shock.
As a disciple of Cloud Hall, he knew how difficult it was to reach each of those treasure chests. According to the tales he had heard, the one who had been the furthest was the head of the Cloud Hall who had managed to reach a silver treasure chest.
Now, Zen was about to succeed in opening a blue treasure chest. It was highly likely that Zen would reach the silver ones next.
Lennon thought, 'But, he is just at the third grade of the nature level. Does it mean that he has greater potential than me?'
Lennon understood that he was no match for Frank, but he could hardly convince himself that he was weaker than this young man from a grade two sect.
Immediately, Lennon felt his heart flooding with many complex emotions, including resentment and reluctance. It was difficult for him to accept this fact.
The flame on the cliff was being belched out by a magical device, but it couldn't threaten Zen as his body was covered with gold runes.
All that he needed to look out for was the second-phase attack in this cave—the huge fireball.
That man in a cloak had been chased away by that huge fireball after he passed the flame, and Zen wouldn't repeat the mistake.
“Hoo...”
The flame gradually went out as he moved on. Zen became more cautious as he knew that the second-phase attack was imminent.
Unlike the man in the cloak who had approached the treasure chest rashly, Zen was calm and composed as he stared at the cave.
Those who tried to chance their luck usually lacked confidence in themselves, and that was why their efforts would fail. If that guy in the cloak had tried his best and employed all of his means when he confronted the fireball, he might have managed to get the treasure.
Zen stopped at a distance from the treasure chest. He held the Streamer Sword in his hand and created six demonic phantoms around his body.
Although his demonic phantom wasn't his most powerful means, it was useful on many different occasions and was convenient to use.
As soon as the flame disappeared, a ray of red light shone from inside the cave. After that, Zen heard the sound of a rolling rock coming from in front.
“Bang!”
With a loud rumble, a huge fireball appeared out of the blue and shot toward Zen with unstoppable momentum.
The platform on which Zen stood was very narrow while the rolling fireball was as tall as Zen. There was no place for him to hide at all.
With the huge fireball approaching him quickly, Zen directed the six demonic phantoms to fly toward the fireball, one after another.
“Boom!”
The first phantom shattered as soon as it collided with the fireball.
“Boom!”
The second disappeared as well.
“Boom!”
And then, the third.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Zen's demonic phantoms were very powerful, but they were as fragile as porcelain in front of the fireball and quickly fell apart.
The inability of the demonic phantoms to stop the fireball didn't trouble Zen much. He had already achieved his purpose of using those phantoms to slow down the fireball. With a sharp glint in his eyes, Zen then let out an enthusiastic shout and lifted his sword.
His body was bursting with the power from the dragon scales, and his figure grew in size and strength because of that.
“Stop here! Break now! Flick the sword!”
Zen's Streamer Sword shone brightly as it filled with his life vitality. It yielded tremendous power as Zen swung it at the fireball.
Even though there was a hill in front of Zen, it would crumble under his powerful attack. The inside of the fireball was a round rock that was as hard as iron. It rolled toward Zen with great momentum but was eventually stopped by his sword.
Zen was pushed back several feet by the fireball, but he quickly managed to steady himself.
He yelled again in excitement. At the same time, he tightened his grip on the sword and swung it.
With a snapping sound, a crack appeared on the surface of the rock.
The crack spread and soon, the fireball split into numerous smaller pieces and flew in different directions.
Fragments of the rock kept burning as they fell from the platform and onto the base of the cliff. The disciples below cried out with fear when they saw that and scattered in all directions to avoid those fragments.
“I made it!”
Zen felt his heart beating with excitement, and his face beamed with pleasure. He returned his Streamer Sword into his space ring and sauntered toward the blue treasure chest.
He could almost feel the envious glare of the other disciples and the resentment flooding their hearts.
Zen slowed his pace purposely as if he was enjoying that wonderful moment before he opened the treasure chest. He wanted to annoy the Cloud Hall disciples.
Anyhow, the platform was only seven or eight meters in length, and Zen soon reached the treasure chest and put his hand on it.
Although he was excited, Zen's enthusiasm grew by leaps and bounds when he actually touched the treasure chest.
He thought, 'The red treasure chest at the lowest rank contained a valuable drug that could strengthen my soul. What will the blue treasure chest hold?'
Suddenly, a snapping sound came from inside the treasure chest.
After that, it started to shake severely.
“Oh my goodness! What's this?” Zen was taken by surprise by the sudden change and moved one step back. He thought a fierce beast was about to rush out and attack him.
In the next second, the treasure chest opened by itself. A red shadow popped out from inside and lunged at Zen.
Without a second thought, Zen lowered himself as soon as possible and tried to dodge it. However, the red shadow moved quicker than him. Although it failed at its first attempt, the shadow quickly changed its direction in the air and rushed at Zen again. It moved like a living creature full of fresh vigor.
It was too late for Zen to escape this time. He could only watch helplessly as the red shadow flew toward his chest and merged with his heart.
The instant before the red shadow entered Zen's body, he saw its shape. The shape reminded Zen of a creature he had met in the past.
Zen had encountered some nine-headed snakes when he was in the Fairy Palace. This thing in front of him looked the same as those creatures, although it was only a shadow made of blood.
After the blood shadow disappeared in his body, Zen felt as though his heart had stopped.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Soon thirty seconds passed by, but Zen still didn't regain his heartbeat. An ordinary person would have been at death's door when his heart stopped beating for such a long time, but Zen only felt as though his body was in a peculiar state.
After staying still for a while, a loud sound was heard as his heart began to beat again.
“Lub!”
“Lub!”
“Lub-dub!”
His heartbeat was so loud that all the disciples of the Cloud Hall below could hear it clearly.
Zen's heartbeat had to have been tremendously powerful as it could be heard from such a long distance!
All the other disciples at the base of the cliff looked up at Zen with stunned expressions.
Lewis licked his lips and shook his head before spitting enviously, “Dang it! I would have tried my best if I had known that there was such good stuff inside the treasure chest. I would have got it if I hadn't given up!”
He felt very regretful. There were many other trials in Cloud Road, so he wanted to hide some tricks up his sleeve. After all, his main goal was to pass the Cloud Road test. However, he hadn't expected that the treasure inside the blue chest could strengthen a cultivator's vigor. He had seen the process, and he knew that Zen's heart had become much stronger after the blood shadow merged with him.
Fernandez shook his head as he watched the scene in the Picture Slab. He said, “Goodness, it's a blood vigor of a nine-headed dragon! What's more, it's a mature nine-headed dragon! Does this remind you of something?”
“Elder Osmond used to be chased by an enemy who cut his hands in their fight. He ran away at full speed and evaded the enemy. After three days, when he returned, his hands had recovered. Although his new hands were still weaker than the ones he lost, he managed to kill his enemy with a surprise attack.” Kenneth nodded at Fernandez's question before sharing the story. He was Osmond's best friend, and so, he remembered this matter.
“We all know that Osmond has a powerful vigor, but few of us know that it's due to this treasure inside the blue treasure chest. The blood vigor of the nine-headed dragon can strengthen the vigor of a cultivator. Zen is fortunate enough to get it.” The head of the Auspice Sect said with a sigh. He felt it was a pity that Lewis didn't get it.
Fernandez smiled and said, “Well, maybe it's just a part of it. I bet that Zen is unsatisfied even though he has the blood vigor. His next goal is the silver treasure chest. The head of Cloud Hall was the only one to open a silver treasure chest. I wonder whether Zen will also get it...”
“Huh, are you kidding?” Lady Long interrupted with a cold sneer, “It is just dumb luck that he reached the blue one. You say that he still wants to open a silver one? Maybe in his next life!”
“What do you mean by that, Lady? Zen didn't do anything wrong to irritate you, nor did he contend against Frank, your disciple's fiance. Why do you keep making disparaging comments about him? Do you think that I, the head of Cloud Sect, am deaf to your words?” Kenneth shouted with fury. He had tried to endure Lady Long's sarcasm, but he couldn't contain his temper anymore.